Travels and Discoveries in the Levant/Volume 1/Letter XV
XV.
Rhodes, May 12, 1853.
I have just returned from an excursion, in which I was accompanied by a Koskiniote mideteer, named Panga, a sort of Rhodian Gil Bias, witty, clever, ready to turn his hand to anything, good or bad. The shrewd, roguish twinkle in his eye told me at once that he would be an admirable mezzano in purchasing antiquities from the peasants. He is an excellent cook, and a very agreeable companion to any one who knows Greek.
Our first object was to pay a visit to Lindos, the site of that most ancient city which traded with Egypt long before Rhodes was founded, and which is mentioned by Homer in the same line in which he records the names of Ialysos and Kamiros. Our road lay along the south-eastern shore of the island. We slept the first night at our muleteer's village, Koskino, and started for Lindos at 5 a.m. the next morning. For the first three hours of our route we kept along the sea-shore, passing over a barren sandy country, thrown into fantastic shapes by earthquakes. At 8 a.m. we turned a little inland along an ancient road cut in the rock. Be- tween this pass and the sea there is a high craggy mountain. After traversing this pass, we entered a more hilly country, passing on our left the village of Archangelo, and on our right the ruins of a fortress called Pollanda. At four and a half hours' distance from Kosldno, we crossed the last ridge of hills, and descended into a plain, in which is the village of Mallona, surrounded by fertile gardens, planted mth orange, lemon, fig, pomegranate, and walnut trees. From this village the road keeps along a level shore till within a short distance of Lindos, to which we ascended by a steep and broken
road, flanked by tombs on each side. The town Plate 14.
RHODES. LINDOS.
London. Published by Day & Son, Lithrs to the Queen.
(LIMITED)
on the summit of which the ancient Acropolis stood, and which is now crowned by a mediæval castle, built by the Knights. This rock is joart of a headland jutting out towards Egypt, and makes a very conspicuous sea-mark on the southern coast. From the centre of the castle walls rises a tall palm-tree, the feathery lightness of which forms a striking contrast to the stern and massive battlements from which it springs. In the castle are some apartments ornamented with the remains of landscapes painted in fresco, and inscribed with Gothic legends; the fleur-de-lys of France is sculptured over one of the chimney-pieces. On the walls of one of the rooms are the arms of the Order, and of the Grand Master D'Amboise.
Lindos is full of specimens of the architecture of the Knights. The streets are most picturesque, with . arched passages thrown across them. The houses, though more than three centuries old, are fresh as if built yesterday; and it is curious that in this obscure corner of the Turkish empire we have as well pre- served specimens of the military architecture of Europe in the 15th century as perhaps anywhere in Europe itself. The Turks have here, as at Rhodes, done little injury to the buildings left by the Knights. The principal church is Byzantine, with a cupola. At the west end is a bell-tower added by the Knights of St. John, with the arms of one of their Order sculptured on the wall; the walls and vaulted roof inside are covered with frescoes representing Christian legends. On the wooden screen which separates the templum, or chancel, from the church, are two curious paintings; one representing our Saviour, the other the Virgin with the infant Christ in her arms. The Saviour hokls a book in his hand. Under this picture is the following inscription in Byzantine Greek.
"Remember also thy servant George and his wife."
The letters are in brass, ornamented with a kind of fleur-de-lys. The features are coarsely shaded. The face of the Christ has probably been repainted. The eyebrows of the Virgin meet. The nimbi, extremities, and dress of these figures, and the book held by the Savioiur, are relieved in metal, which appeared to be silver-gilt.
From the style of the painting and metallurgy, I should infer that these pictures were perhaps of as early a period as the 12th century, though it is very difficult to judge of Greek paintings in churches, as they are constantly renewed and beautified, to repair the damages sustained by the intense kissing they go through at the feasts.
On one of the walls of this church is a fresco representing a number of angels playing on musical instruments; a figure is lying down, to whom they are ministering.
On the south side is a rude relief, of Roman times, representing a palm-tree, above which is a rosette.
Within the castle are many marbles from the ancient Acropolis, among which are a number of inscriptions discovered and published by Ross. They contain numerous dedications to Athene Liudia and Zeus Polieus.82 Near the governor's house is a piece of wall which Ross recognized as part of the cella of a Doric temple. Fragments of its architecture still remain in situ. On the S.E. side of the Acropolis, and on its highest point, is the wall of another temple, built on the very edge of the precipitous rock, and hence incorporated in the subsequent wall built by the Knights round their castle. Ross found very few traces of the architecture of this temple, but supposes that it was Doric, like the other. He thinks that the temple on the summit of the Acropolis must from its commanding position have been that of Athene Lindia, who from the evidence of the inscriptions found here seems to have occupied a higher place in the worship of Lindos than Zeus, with whom her name is associated in these dedicatory inscriptions. The temple of Athene Lindia was of remote antiquity; its foundation was attributed in Greek legend to Danaos and his daughters. Many precious and celebrated works of art were stored up here as votive offerings, the earliest of which were ascribed to the mythic period. Here were shown a brazen caldron inscribed with Phœnician characters and dedicated by Cadmus, and the model in electrum of a female breast, the offering of Helen on her return from Troy; here in the 5th cenury B.C., Amasis, king of Egypt, dedicated two marble statues and a cuirass of linen, a master-piece of textile art; and here, in letters of gold, was preserved a copy of the ode in which Pindar has immortalized the Olympic victory of the Rhodian Diagoras.83 The temple of which Ross discovered the remains, and which probably occupies the original site consecrated to Athene, was of very small dimensions, its scale being intermediate between that of the Erectheum and the Temple of Victory at Athens.
The site of the ancient theatre is south of the Acropolis. Most of the seats are cut out of the native rock, and face the S.E.; sixteen rows remain on one side; on the opposite side, the seats must have been constructed with masonry.
Immediately to the west of the theatre is the peribolos of an ancient temple, described both by Hamilton and Ross, and which we found in a fair state of preservation.
The walls are of blue limestone. "Within this precinct is a chapel, dedicated to St. Stephen, antecedently to which a Byzantine church on a larger scale probably occupied this site. On a square block lying here is an inscription, dedicated by a priest of Apollo and Artemis.84
To the west of the town are the remains of the interesting rock tomb, of which a view is given as the frontispiece to Ross's Travels, vol. iii. It consisted originally of a large sepulchral chamber cut in the native freestone rock, with oblong recesses, theeæ, cut in the sides for the reception of the dead bodies. Externally the tomb has been cut in the form of a Doric façade with engaged columns, the centre part of which is now broken away. Above this façade the rock is cut so as to form a level platform, on which have been placed a number of round sepvdchral cippi, ornamented with bulls' heads and festoons. One of these seems to be still in position; four others are lying on the ground in front of the tomb.
Ross considers that this Doric façade is of the Macedonian period: it is very similar in character to some of the Hellenic tombs in Lycia.85
After leaving Lindos we rode along the shore tovfards Jannathi. At half an hour's distance from Lindos, we found some ancient quarries and tombs cut in the rock. After riding for an hour and a half more, we came to a place called Peukona at the end of a pine forest, where there is a heap of grey marble Ipng together so as to form a mound, probably the remains of a watch-tower. I noticed on the ground here an altar with festoons, and part of a cippus of grey marble; but no inscriptions. From this place to Jannathi I continued to note at intervals ancient remains alomy the shore. I noticed in this part of my route cattle of a very beautiful and classical form; the bulls had a slight hump, not so marked as the Indian bull's, and were finely modelled about the forehead. These bulls are said to be partially wild. The peasants of Rhodes call them ταῦροι, whereas the usual name for oxen is βόδι
Keeping along the shore, we got to Jannathi,86 distant about five hours to the south of Lindos. This village is a very miserable one, but the peasants were building a fine new church. Thence we crossed over a mountain-ridge to Apolakkia on the W. coast, where I had heard that some inscriptions had been found. The island is narrow here, and destitute of cultivation, with very few villages. On our right we saw Mount Atabyron, which on this side appears a bleak and naked mass, treeless, except at its base. On our left was Mesanagros.87 Near Apolakkia, at the distance of a quarter of an hour from the village, are the remains of a church called Agia Irene, which had just been dug up. Among the ruins were several columns and slabs of white marble, which appeared to be Byzantine of the 11th or 12th century. On one of the slabs I found a long inscription very legible. It contains a decree of the people of Netteia, which doubtless must have been a city in Rhodes, though I can find no trace of it elsewhere. The inscription also mentions a religious society called Euthahdæ, and several other curious particulars. I tried to buy this marble, and had completed the purchase with the προεστώς, or primate; but alas! I was thwarted by the priest of the village, who forbade the bargain; so I went away sorrowing, and on my return to Rhodes, addressed myself to the Archbishop, who promises to get me the stone in consideration of a small sum to be paid as a present to the church.
There is a castle at Apolakkia very roughly built, in the walls of which is an escutcheon of the Knights of Rhodes; but the masonry appears rather Turkish than Christian. Tobacco, cotton, and corn are grown here. From this place we went along the shore northward, through a barren country to Monolithos, distant two hours. About halfway we passed a vast landslip stretching down to the shore: from this spot to Monolithos we remarked many fragments of pottery and traces of ancient buildings. The country seems to have been much disturbed by earthquakes. At a quarter of an hour from the village of Monolithos is a castle of the Knights, perched on the top of an isolated rock overlooking the sea. The name of the village, Μονόλιθος, "all marble," is derived from this rock.88 The situation of this fortress and its name reminded me of the village in Mytilene called Petra, from being perched in like manner on the top of a rock. The walls of this castle are roughly built. Within it is a chapel, in which I found a number of frescoes covered with cobwebs, which appeared to be Italian of the 15th century. They contained many figures of saints and armorial bearings of the Knights. Outside this chapel were two saucers of Lindos ware let into the south wall, a fashion very common in Italy. The arms of the Grand Master D'Aubusson appear among the decorations.
On a hill a little N. of the village, are the ruins of a square Hellenic tower, built of unwrought stones, with hewn lintels and door-jambs. We could trace out the foundations: the door-jambs with holes for the bolts are still standing. The length of the W. wall is 43 feet. On the S. side, the wall can be traced for 33 feet. North-east of this tower are the remains of another building. The W. wall of this measured 47 feet 8 inches, the N. side 39 feet 9 inches. These walls are built of large blocks of stone. One of the largest blocks is 6 feet 5 inches in length by 1 foot 10 inches in thickness.
Within this outer enclosure is an inner line of wall 24 feet 2 inches on the W. side: the foundations appear to be a square within the outer square.
From Monolithos we went to Siana, along the foot of Mount Akramytis, which runs towards the sea in a S.W. direction, and of which the height, according to the Admiralty chart, is 2,706 feet. At Siana I found another castle of the Knights, and evident remains of an Hellenic city.
About ten minutes to the N.W. of the village, on the side of a hill, was a rectangular basement, composed of large marble blocks of Hellenic masonry. The longest side, running N. and S., measured 10 feet 10 inches. One of the blocks was 7 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 8 inches by 1 foot 6 niches. Near this spot I observed a piece of Hellenic wall. Nearer the village was a stone seat cut in the rock, and by the side of it two steps, originally part of the same rock, but separated from it by a chasm. On the other side of the seat is a raised platform, with a deep groove at the side. The chasm between the seat and steps seemed caused by an earthquake. The platform reminded me of the bema in the Athenian Pnyx.
On this site are remains of rock tombs which seem to have been disturbed by an earthquake. A few yards higher up the hill was a large block of stone, 5 feet 7 inches by 3 feet 4 inches. In the centre of the block was a socket, 1 foot 10 inches by 1 foot 3 inches square.
About twenty minutes to the E. of the village, on the side of the hill, exactly facing the castle, I found traces of an Hellenic burial-ground. Fragments of large jars were lying about, such as I saw dug up by Mr. Calvert in the Hellenic cemetery near the Dardanelles. At the distance of about a quarter of an hour eastward of this spot I came to a small ruined church called Kyrà. Here are squared stones from some ancient building, and columns lying in the church. In the gateway is a sepulchral inscription. The ground was strewn with fragments of pottery ; whence this site is called Kerami. Advancing in the same eastward direction, I came to two more ruined churches. Agios Georgios and Aprasu, between which is the foundation of a great ancient wall, running N. and S. down the hill. Near it lie two colossal crouched lions half-buried in the ground. Their heads are broken off; their present length is about 5 feet 9 inches; they are very coarsely sculptured out of the blue marble of the district, and are probably from the entrance to a tomb. Inside the little church Aprasu is an Hellenic aqueduct, running from B. to W. and broken open here. It is covered with large slabs well squared, and is lined with blocks of calcareous stone.
One of the covering slabs measures 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 7 inches in width by 13 inches in depth. The aqueduct appears to terminate in a small well at the E. end of the church; but this well appears to have been made in Christian times. In a vineyard below the aqueduct are many squared blocks, and the surface of the field is strewn with pottery. It is evident that some Hellenic city, not yet identified, stood on or near the site of Siana.
This is a wild country; the women are all shepherdesses. Colnaghi, who had never seen a live shepherdess before, was very much disappointed when he saw these gaunt creatures striding along in great jack-boots, with drapery which appeared to him no better than a smock-frock, but in which I discovered a grand Phidiac composition of folds.
In the evening we had a dance in the open air; the elders and matrons all sat round a semicircular wall, some on the stone seat at the bottom, some on the top of the wall. It was moonlight; a wood fire in the centre of the dance cast its flickering light on the scene, which was most picturesque. I sat in the middle on the chair of state, and the primate of the village did me the honour of bringing me his own pipe, a particularly dirty one. The inhabitants were very kind, hospitable people, full of friendship and fleas.
I was so fortunate as to meet with at Siana the rare silver coin of Hidrieus, Prince of Caria, which I purchased for twelve piasters, or rather more than two shillings. While staying here I visited some ruins on the shore at a spot called Basilika, to the N.W. of Siana. Our road skirted the north side of Mount Akramytis, having Atabyron on the right. Thence we turned to the west, and came in sight of the sea. Descending towards the shore, we came to a place called Stellio, where is a rock with three square apertures cut in it, probably tombs. A little further on, we passed on the right the ruins of a tower of Hellenic masonry, the W. side of which measured 34 feet 10 inches, and the S. side 29 feet 10 inches. This place is called Marmaroulia. On our way we examined a hill called Agios Phokas, which is covered with brushwood. Ascending this hill, I found it fortified by a wall of polygonal masonry, within which were the foundations of an oblong cella or temple, 39 feet by 18 feet 8 inches. At the south end of this enclosure, a female statue lay as it had fallen, by the side of its base: it has been about 10 feet high, and is sculptured in white marble. The figure is draped to the feet. The sculpture is in a good style, but too much destroyed to be worth removing: the arms are wanting, and the body is in two pieces. Several smaller fragments of scidpture were lying about. The base is 4 feet 2 inches by 3 feet 7 inches. In the northern part of the enclosure was a large block 6 feet 3 inches long, and 2 feet 12 inch wide, lying parallel with the end walls. It has at one end oblong holes for clamps.
On the W. side of the hill the wall of the Acropolis is an exceedingly fine specimen of polygonal masonry, extending in length 100 feet: the present height is 8 feet 9 inches. The largest of the blocks in this wall measured 4 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 1 inch.
On examining the masonry, I noticed that on several of the largest blocks the face of the stone had been hatched Math lines forming bands of lozenges, chevrons, and other patterns, in which were plain traces of red colour.89
These ornaments were very similar to those which occur on the archaic Greek fictile ware, fragments of which have been found at Mycenæ and Tiryns, and which has been, therefore, referred with much probability to a remote antiquity.90
On the east the fine polygonal masonry ceases, and the wall is built of rough, unhewn stones.
The summit of Agios Phokas commands an extensive view of the shore and adjacent islands. The whole coast is seen from Cape Monolithos to Castellos. On the right is a promontory called Yamurtos, behind which is Castellos; on the left, the promontory locally known as Armanistes, but called in the Admiralty Chart, Cape Monolitho.
Basilika is situated on a low hill, separated from Agios Phokas by a valley. The ruins here consist of the foundations of a number of houses built with square rough hewn blocks of Hellenic masonry. Ross considers these foundations as the remains of a medieval village built of ancient materials; a supposition which is not improbable. One of these houses measured 35 feet 3 inches by 38 feet 2 inches. The doorway was in width 4 feet 11 inches; it had an upright stone jamb on either side. The masonry of these houses was very like that of the foundations within the fortress at Chigri, in the Troad. (See ante, p. 129.) I could not discover traces of any wall round these ruins.
From Basilika we went to a place on the shore marked Kaniera in the Admiralty Chart. Here is a ruined modern village. Below, on the shore, was a square tower, which I did not examine.91
From Kamera we retraced our steps to Siana by a different route nearer Akramytis, and passed by some more Hellenic ruins on a hill called Campanis, on our left. Here were foundations of houses and walls, and an ancient well. A little further on we passed on our left a hill called Kemisalla, where are also some Hellenic walls. From this spot the road led straight to Marmaroulia, the spot already noticed when we branched off in going from Siana to Agios Phokas. The N.E. end of Akramytis seen from this road presents a curious study for geologists; some of the strata being vertical, others twisted and curled round like volutes.
Having heard of some other ancient remains in the neighbourhood of Siana, I determined to explore them. At about an hour's distance to the N., near the foot of Mount Atabyron, is a place called Agros, where is an angle remaining from a peribolos of Hellenic masonry. One wall running N.E. and S.W. is continuous for 29 feet, and may be traced in the same direction for 73 feet, where the corresponding angle has been carried away by mountain torrents. The other walls of this enclosure may also be traced at intervals. The height of the wall at the angle is 12 feet; the blocks are about 3 feet 9 inches by 1 foot 10 inches. There are traces of an inner wall running parallel mih the outer enclosure.
From Agros, turning nearly east, we rode for half an hour along the side of Atabyron, having Akramytis on our right, till we came to a ruined church called Hepta Amartias. In the walls are squared Hellenic blocks, and a sepulchral cippus with festoons. Thence we proceeded to a hill called Castello, about an hour south of Hepta Amartias, where I noticed traces of several walls. An Hellenic hill fortress probably stood here.
After these excursions we proceeded homewards along the skirts of Mount Atabyron, which here comes down almost into the sea, bulging out into great buttresses and spurs, so as hardly to leave room for the road, which is cut in places out of the solid rock. It is a barren, shapeless mountain on this side, very much less picturesque than the mountains of Mytilene, but exceeding them in its height, which, according to the Admiralty Chart, is 4,068 feet. I regret that I had not time to ascend to the summit to see the interesting remains of the temple of Zeus Atabyrios, which still exist there, and which are described by Hamilton, Ross, and Guérin.92 The ancient name of this mountain is now pronounced Ataryos. We continued to clamber over the picturesque road, below which deep ravines thinly clad with pines ran down to the sea, till we came to Embonas, a village where is excellent Avine. It is curious that the name ἄμβων is mentioned by the ancients as a Rhodian word, denoting a particular kind of steep mountain-ascent, very applicable to the country of Embonas.93
Close to Embonas, at a place called Koutzara, are a number of squared Hellenic blocks lying near the ruins of an old church. At the distance of rather more than an hour to the North is an ancient wall on a hill called Kitala. A little to the N.W. of Embonas is Castellos, where is a castle on the shore, perched on a steep rock. The village is a poor one. Between Castellos and Siana is a church called Panagia Amarto, where I noticed a fragment of a Greek painted vase. Between this church and the sea is a square tower in ruins, built with mortar.
After passing Embonas the coast gradually widens; the road passes through a country rather dischevelled by earthquakes, and covered with wheat; then into the rich garden-like strip of coast, which extends with intervals of barrenness to Rhodes. Here the palm- tree once more greeted our eyes in the landscape. We passed Villa Nova, where there is a stately old castle built by the Knights, and close to it a fine fountain, where the ample shade of plane-trees invites the traveller to halt and rest. The fountain is supplied by an aqueduct cut in the native rock, with square apertures in the sides to admit air. Thence we proceeded to Rhodes.
Altogether I was very much pleased with this little expedition. The manners of the peasantry at Rhodes are very frank and obliging. The women have none of the affected prudery which distinguishes the Greek women of the richer classes, nor is there anything of the jealous reserve which makes the Greek bourgeoise into a mere female slave, who is ordered about by her husband, but never recognized before strangers by any conjugal token.
The Rhodian peasant does not fatigue his guest with cumbrous hospitality as the Greek bourgeois does; he does not poison him with rakee, clog him with sweetmeats, cram him with pilaff, and sicken him with narguilehs; he just lets him alone, and gives him the best food he can find without any needless apologies. In the morning he receives a small sum for the board and lodging, and is grateful, instead of asking his guest for British protection as the price of a night's hospitality, which happened to me several times in Mvtilene. There is a feeling of mutual satisfaction when you part with the peasant ; there is a feeling of mutual disappointment when you take leave of the bourgeois; you think him not quite so good a fellow as he seemed over his wine the night before, because he has asked you to do something which it would be discreditable to grant; he, on the contrary, grumbles in his heart at having wasted so much good cheer on a Consul who is "not of the right sort."
In reference to the character and social condition of the rural population of Rhodes, I ascertained the following particulars.
Most of the land in the island is in the hands of peasant proprietors. As each peasant generally holds as much land as he can conveniently cultivate with his own hands, and as the population is scanty in proportion to the extent of land capable of cultivation, there are in most districts but few spare hands available as labourers for hire. Again, the produce of the island is for the most part wheat. Richer products, such as silk, olive-oil, wine, tobacco, are not grown in sufficient quantities to create a class of wealthy landowners, but are either consumed in the villages, or exchanged for foreign commodities, such as coffee and sugar, imported by the Jews and Frank merchants established in the town of Rhodes. Thus the Rhodian peasant, fed and clothed for the most part by products grown on his own land, and forced to labour on in a cycle of primitive agricultural operations as in a treadmill, never accumulates that surplus of profits by which in the richer and more fertile islands trading and seafaring aspirations are fostered and developed. The amphibious race, half mariner, half agriculturist, who spend the summer in trading or piratical ventures, and the winter in desultory agriculture, or in lounging about the cafes of the Greek seaports, form only a very small part of the population in the villages of Rhodes.
This simple and contracted mode of existence has its advantages and disadvantages. The Rhodian peasant can seldom rend or write; and I was assured that, even if the villages could afford to maintain schools, few parents would be willing to give up their children's services long enough to enable them to learn anything. There is, too, an almost total deficiency of medical art, except in the town of Rhodes; whereas, in richer communities like Mytilene, schools are very generally to be found in the Aallages, and here and there a doctor with an European diploma.
On the other hand, the Rhodian peasant has many excellent qualities, which, as he advances in civilization, will, perhaps, deteriorate. I have generally found them industrious, thrifty, gentle, and obliging in their intercourse both with strangers and with one another, and far more truthful and honest than any Greeks I have ever had to deal with. Travelling is considered safe in every part of the island; and though outlaws are to be seen sometimes in the mountains, thieves and bad characters never find in any Rhodian village that countenance and shelter which is accorded to them in many of the islands.
Their small transactions among themselves are settled with little or no litigation, and with less of those complex intrigues arising from the constant interference of the rich and powerful with the course of justice, which are the bane of society in the Levant. If there is no wealth, there is, on the other hand, no pauperism. After riding all through the length and breadth of the island, I cannot call to mind that I was ever solicited to give alms, except by lepers.
Of course, wherever there are peasant proprietors, land has a constant tendency to accumulate in fewer hands, as want induces the peasant to mortgage his patrimony; and in Rhodes, as elsewhere in the Levant, small capitalists are not wanting, who, from purely philanthropical motives, as one of them gravely assured me the other day, lend money at high rates of interest.
But the wants of the Rhodian peasant are very limited on the one hand, and on the other, his power of parting with real property is very restricted, in consequence of its strict entail here, and elsewhere in the Archipelago, in the female line.94
The priests in the Rhodian villages are generally mere clowns, tilling their land like the rest, and knowing just enough Greek to read the services of their church. They have, however, considerable influence, not as spiritual advisers and searchers of hearts in the confessionals, but as the ministers of a ritual which alone can counteract the superstitious terrors with which the sunny and joyous mind of the Rhodian peasant is from time to time over-shadowed.
In the course of my journeys, I have collected the following curious particulars in reference to the local superstitions and customs. They are firm believers in certain supernatural beings called ἀνερᾷδες, anerades, and δαίμονες, or dæmons.
The anerades are female spirits, clad in white, who appear to unlucky benighted travellers when crossing rivers.
Their apparition portends speedy death to the hapless wight who sees them, unless a priest counter- acts the omen by reading verses from the Scriptures.
When a birth takes place, no person whatever is allowed to enter the house, except the midwife, till the child has been blest by a priest; and it is customary for forty days after the birth to close the house-door at sunset, and never to open it after that hour, for fear the anerades should enter and carry off the child.
The dæmons are met with in the forests. I asked a peasant what they were like. He said that he beheved them to have μέ συμπάθεια σᾶς (the equivalent of, con rispetto parlato), goat's legs and tails, and said they were like the figures painted on Greek vases. He admitted, however, that he had never seen one himself Ross points that the word νερό, which in the modern Greek still means "water," is the root from which must be derived Νηρεύς and Νηρηίδες, of which ἀνερᾷδες seems a corruption. The notion that the apparition of the anerades' portends speedy death may be derived from the fact that the rivers are the places where dangerous fevers are caught at night. The δαίμονες seem to be a tradition of the old Greek satyrs.95
The evil eye, called here μάτι (a corruption of ὀμμάτιον), is an object of much dread, the evil effects of which may, however, be counteracted by a fumigation with burnt olive-wood, or by palm branches given in church at Easter and blest by the priest.
At funerals they break a pitcher of water over the grave at the moment of interment. They also place on the mouth of the dead person a piece of ancient Greek tile, on which the priest inscribes the mystic sign called pentalpha, and the words Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς νικᾷ. This is supposed to prevent the dead from returning to earth as vampires, the belief in whose existence is very general in the Tui'kish Archipelago.
At Rhodes, the vampire is called καταχανάς; at Mytilene, βροκόλακο. There is no readier or more effectual way of getting rid of an importunate or tiresome Mytileniote than to say to him, "May the vampire take you." He immediately crosses himself, and withdraws.
I was told, that once in Rhodes a dead woman returned to earth in this unpleasant shape; upon which, the priest of her village laid on the ground one of the dead woman's shifts, over the neck of which he walked, held up by two men, for fear the vampire should seize him. While in this position, he read verses from the New Testament, till the shift swelled up and split. When this rent takes place, the evil spirit is supposed to escape through the opening. In Mytilene, the bones of those who will not lie quiet in their graves are transported to a small adjacent island, where they are reinterred. This is an effectual bar to all future vagaries, for the vampire cannot cross salt water.
When, in digging a grave, bones from a previous interment are discovered, they are washed in wine and then placed in a common receptacle for such remains.
At Easter, and their most important festivals, a lighted lamp is placed in the tomb by the pious care of relations. At stated intervals after a death, small comfits called kollyba are offered to every one at the church door. These comfits are made of wheat boiled in water and mixed with the seed of pomegranates, sesame, nuts, almonds, and wild peas. These offerino's are made at the successive intervals of one, three, sis, and nine months from the date of the death, and on the last day of the year.96
This takes place during the first year after the death; during each subsequent year the distribution only takes place on the anniversary of the death. The three last-mentioned customs are, I believe, very general among the Greeks.
On the eve of St. John the Baptist's feast, a bonfire is made before the door of each house, over which all the people who pass by have to jump; they have also water thrown over them. This custom is an evident symbol of the rite of Baptism; and the use of fire seems to be an allusion to the words,— "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."
Every Rliodian peasant on the day of his patron saint makes five loaves, called Pentarthi, which he cuts into small pieces and offers in church for the benefit of the poor. At a marriage, after drinking a health, they fling the glass down behind them; if it does not break, it is a bad omen.
Crossed knives are placed over the door of the house to which the bride is conducted, to keep off the evil spirits.