Читать книгу The Natural History of Pliny (Vol. 1-6) - Pliny the Elder - Страница 371

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Before we quit the consideration of the nature of man, it appears only proper to point out those persons who have been the authors of different inventions. Father Liber1363 was the first to establish the practice of buying and selling; he also invented the diadem, the emblem of royalty, and the triumphal procession. Ceres1364 introduced corn, the acorn having been previously used by man for food; it was she, also, who introduced into Attica the art of grinding corn1365 and of making bread, and other similar arts into Sicily; and it was from these circumstances that she came to be regarded as a divinity. She was the first also to establish laws;1366 though, according to some, it was Rhadamanthus. I have always been of opinion, that letters were of Assyrian origin, but other writers, Gellius,1367 for instance, suppose that they were invented in Egypt by Mercury: others, again, will have it that they were discovered by the Syrians; and that Cadmus brought from Phœnicia sixteen letters into Greece. To these, Palamedes, it is said, at the time of the Trojan war, added these four, Θ, Ξ, Φ, and Χ. Simonides,1368 the lyric poet, afterwards added a like number, Ζ, Η, Ψ, and Ω; the sounds denoted by all of which are now received into our alphabet.1369

Aristotle, on the other hand, is rather of opinion, that there were originally eighteen letters,1370 Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ, and that two, Θ namely and Χ, were introduced by Epicharmus,1371 and not by Palamedes. Aristides says, that a certain person of the name of Menos, in Egypt, invented letters fifteen years before the reign of Phoroneus,1372 the most ancient of all the kings of Greece, and this he attempts to prove by the monuments there. On the other hand, Epigenes,1373 a writer of very great authority, informs us that the Babylonians have a series of observations on the stars, for a period of seven hundred and twenty thousand years, inscribed on baked bricks. Berosus and Critodemus, who make the period the shortest, give it as four hundred and ninety thousand years.1374 From this statement, it would appear that letters have been in use from all eternity. The Pelasgi were the first to introduce them into Latium.

The brothers Euryalus and Hyperbius1375 were the first who constructed brick-kilns and houses at Athens; before which, caves in the ground served for houses. Gellius1376 is inclined to think that Toxius, the son of Cælus, was the first inventor of mortar, it having been suggested to him by the nest of the swallow. Cecrops1377 gave to a town the name of Cecropia, after himself; this is now the citadel of Athens. Some persons will have it, that Argos had been founded before this period by King Phoroneus; others, again, that Sicyon had been previously built; while the Egyptians declare that their own city, Diospolis, had been in existence long before them. Cinyra,1378 the son of Agriopas,1379 invented tiles and discovered copper-mines,1380 both of them in the island of Cyprus; he also invented the tongs, the hammer, the lever, and the anvil. Wells were invented by Danaus,1381 who came from Egypt into that part of Greece which had been previously known as Argos Dipsion.

The first stone-quarries were opened by Cadmus at Thebes, or else, according to Theophrastus, in Phœnicia. Walls were first built by Thrason;1382 according to Aristotle, towers were first erected by the Cyclopes,1383 but according to Theophrastus, by the Tirynthii. The Egyptians invented weaving;1384 the Lydians of Sardis the art of dyeing wool.1385 Closter, the son of Arachne, invented the spindle for spinning wool;1386 Arachne herself, linen cloth and nets;1387 Nicias of Megara, the art of fulling cloth;1388 and Tychius, the Bœotian, the art of making shoes.1389 The Egyptians will have it that the medical art was first discovered among them, while others attribute it to Arabus, the son of Babylonis and Apollo; botany and pharmacy are ascribed to Chiron, the son of Saturn and Philyra.1390

Aristotle supposes that Scythes, the Lydian, was the first to fuse and temper copper, while Theophrastus ascribes the art to Delas, the Phrygian.1391 Some persons ascribe the working of copper to the Chalybes, others to the Cyclopes. Hesiod says, that iron was discovered in Crete, by the Idæan Dactyli.1392 Erichthonius, the Athenian, or, as some people say, Æacus, discovered silver.1393 Gold mines, and the mode of fusing that metal, were discovered by Cadmus, the Phœnician, at the mountain of Pangæus,1394 or, according to other accounts, by Thoas or Eaclis, in Panchaia;1395 or else by Sol, the son of Oceanus, whom Gellius mentions as having been the first who employed honey in medicine. Midacritus1396 was the first who brought tin from the island called Cassiteris.1397 The Cyclopes invented the art of working iron.1398 Choræbus, the Athenian, was the first who made earthen vessels;1399 but Anacharsis, the Scythian, or, according to others, Hyperbius, the Corinthian, first invented the potter’s wheel. Dædalus1400 was the first person who worked in wood; it was he who invented the saw, the axe, the plummet, the gimlet, glue, and isinglass;1401 the square, the level, the turner’s lathe, and the key, were invented by Theodorus, of Samos.1402 Measures and weights were invented by Phidon, of Argos,1403 or, according to Gellius, by Palamedes. Pyrodes, the son of Cilix, was the first to strike fire from the flint, and Prometheus taught us how to preserve it, in the stalk of giant-fennel.1404

The Phrygians first taught us the use of the chariot with four wheels;1405 the Carthaginians the arts of merchandize,1406 and Eumolpus, the Athenian,1407 the cultivation of the vine, and of trees in general. Staphylus, the son of Silenus,1408 was the first to mix water with wine; olive-oil and the oil-press, as also honey, we owe to Aristæus, the Athenian;1409 the use of oxen and the plough to Buzyges, the Athenian,1410 or, according to other accounts, to Triptolemus.1411

The Egyptians were the first who established a monarchical government, and the Athenians, after the time of Theseus, a democracy. Phalaris,1412 of Agrigentum, was the first tyrant1413 that existed; the Lacedæmonians were the introducers of slavery;1414 and the first capital punishment inflicted was ordered by the Areiopagus.1415 The first battles were fought by the Africans against the Egyptians, with clubs, which they are in the habit of calling phalangæ. Prœtus and Acrisius1416 were the first to use shields, in their contests with each other; or, as some say, Chalcus, the son of Athamas. Midias, the Messenian, invented the coat of mail, and the Lacedæmonians the helmet, the sword, and the spear.1417 Greaves and crests were first used by the Carians; Scythes, the son of Jupiter, it is said, invented the bow and arrows, though some say that arrows were invented by Perses, the son of Perseus.1418 Lances were invented by the Ætolians; the javelin, with the thong1419 attached, by Ætolus,1420 the son of Mars; the spear of the light infantry1421 by Tyrrhenus; the dart1422 by Penthesilea, the Amazon; the axe by Pisæus; the hunting-spear, and the scorpion to hurl missiles, by the Cretans;1423 the catapulta, the balista,1424 and the sling, by the Syrophœnicians.1425 Pisæus, the Tyrrhenian, was the first to invent the brazen trumpet,1426 and Artemon, of Clazomenæ, the use of the testudo.1427 The battering-horse, for the destruction of walls, which is at the present day styled the “ram,” was invented by Epeus, at Troy.1428 Bellerophon was the first who mounted the horse;1429 bridles and saddles for the horse were invented by Pelethronius.1430 The Thessalians, who are called Centauri, and who dwell along Mount Pelion, were the first to fight on horse-back. The people of Phrygia were the first who used chariots with two horses; Erichthonius first used four.1431 Palamedes, during the Trojan war, was the first who marshalled an army, and invented watchwords,1432 signals, and the use of sentinels. Sinon, at the same period, invented the art of correspondence by signals. Lycaon was the first to think of making a truce, and Theseus a treaty of alliance.

The art of divination by means of birds1433 we owe to Car, from whom Caria derives its name; Orpheus extended it to other animals. Delphus taught us the art of divining by the inspection of entrails; Amphiaraüs1434 divination by fire; and Tiresias, the Theban, presages from the entrails of birds. We owe to Amphictyon1435 the interpretation of portents and of dreams, and to Atlas,1436 the son of Libya, the art of astrology, or else, according to other accounts, to the Egyptians or the Assyrians. Anaximander,1437 the Milesian, invented the astronomical sphere; and Æolus, the son of Hellen, gave us the theory of the winds.

Amphion was the inventor of music;1438 Pan, the son of Mercury, the music of the reed, and the flute with the single pipe; Midas, the Phrygian,1439 the transverse flute;1440 and Marsyas, of the same country, the double-pipe.1441 Amphion invented the Lydian measures in music; Thamyris the Thracian, the Dorian, and Marsyas the Phrygian, the Phrygian style.1442 Amphion, or, according to some accounts, Orpheus, and according to others, Linus, invented the lyre.1443 Terpander, adding three to the former four, increased the number of strings to seven; Simonides added an eighth, and Timotheus a ninth.1444 Thamyris was the first who played on the lyre, without the accompaniment of the voice; and Amphion, or, as some say, Linus, was the first who accompanied it with the voice. Terpander was the first who composed songs expressly for the lyre; and Ardalus, the Trœzenian, was the first who taught us how to combine the voice with the music of the pipe.1445 The Curetes taught us the dance in armour,1446 and Pyrrhus, the Pyrrhic dance, both of them in Crete.

We are indebted to the Pythian oracle for the first heroic verse.1447 A very considerable question has arisen, as to what was the origin of poetry; it is well known to have existed before the Trojan war. Pherecydes of Scyros, in the time of King Cyrus, was the first to write in prose, and Cadmus, the Milesian, was the first historian.1448

Lycaon1449 first instituted gymnastic games, in Arcadia; Acastus funereal games,1450 at Iolcos;1451 and, after him, Theseus instituted them at the Isthmus.1452 Hercules first instituted the athletic contests at Olympia.1453 Pythus invented the game of ball.1454 Painting was invented in Egypt by Gyges, the Lydian,1455 or, according to Aristotle, in Greece, by Euchir, a kinsman1456 of Dædalus; according to Theophrastus, again, it was invented by Polygnotus, the Athenian.

Danaüs was the first who passed over in a ship from Egypt to Greece.1457 Before his time, they used to sail on rafts,1458 which had been invented by King Erythras,1459 to pass from one island to another in the Red Sea. There are some writers to be found, who are of opinion that they were first thought of by the Mysians and the Trojans, for the purpose of crossing the Hellespont into Thrace. Even at the present day, they are made in the British ocean, of wicker-work covered with hides;1460 on the Nile they are made of papyrus, rushes, and reeds.

We learn from Philostephanus, that Jason was the first person who sailed in a long vessel;1461 Hegesias says it was Paralus, Ctesias,1462 Semiramis,1463 and Archemachus, Ægæon. According to Damastes,1464 the Erythræi1465 were the first to construct vessels with two banks of oars; according to Thucydides,1466 Aminocles, the Corinthian, first constructed them with three banks of oars; according to Aristotle, the Carthaginians, those with four banks; according to Mnesigiton, the people of Salamis, those with five banks;1467 and, according to Xenagoras, the Syracusans, those with six; those above six, as far as ten, Mnesigiton says were first constructed by Alexander the Great. From Philostephanus, we learn that Ptolemy Soter made them as high as twelve banks; Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, with fifteen; Ptolemy Philadelphus, with thirty; and Ptolemy Philopater, who was surnamed Tryphon, with forty.1468 Hippus, the Tyrian, was the first who invented merchant-ships; the Cyrenians, the pinnace; the Phœnicians, the passage-boat; the Rhodians, the skiff; and the Cyprians, the cutter.1469

We are indebted to the Phœnicians for the first observation of the stars in navigation; the Copæ invented the oar, and the Platæans gave it its broad blade.1470 Icarus was the person who invented sails,1471 and Dædalus the mast and yards; the Samians, or else Pericles, the Athenian, transports for horses,1472 and the Thracians, long covered vessels,1473—before which time they used to fight only from the prow or the stern. Pisæus, the Tyrrhenian, added the beak to ships;1474 Eupalamus, the anchor; Anacharsis, that with two flukes; Pericles, the Athenian, grappling-irons, and hooks like hands;1475 and Tiphys,1476 the helm and rudder. Minos was the first who waged war by means of ships; Hyperbius, the son of Mars, the first who killed an animal; and Prometheus, the first who slew the ox.1477