Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/167

ALKIBIADES AT ATHENS. 14$ and washed or cleansed under s. mysterious ceremonial, by the holy gens, called Praxiergidae. The goddess thus seemed to turn away her face, and refuse to behold the returning exile. Such at least was the construction of his enemies ; and as the subsequent turn of events tended to bear them out, it has been preserved ; while the more auspicious counter-interpretation, doubtless suggested by his friends, has been forgotten. The most extravagant representations, of the pomp and splen- dor of this return of AlkibiadGs to Athens, were given by some authors of antiquity, especially by Duris of Samos, an author about two generations later. It was said that he brought with him two hundred prow-ornaments belonging to captive enemies' ships, or, according to some, even the two hundred captured ships themselves ; that his trireme was ornamented with gilt and silvered shields, and sailed by purple sails ; that Kallippides, one of the most distinguished actors of the day, performed the func- tions of keleustes, pronouncing the chant or word of command to the rowers ; that Chrysogonus, a flute-player, who had gained the first prize at the Pythian games, was also on board playing the air of return. 1 All these details, invented with melancholy facility, to illustrate an ideal of ostentation and insolence, are re- futed by the more simple and credible narrative of Xenophon. The reentry of Alkibiades was not merely unostentatious, but even mistrustful and apprehensive. He had with him only twenty triremes ; and though encouraged, not merely by the as puninces of his friends, but also by the news that he had just been reelected general, he was, nevertheless, half afraid to dis- embark, even at the instant when he made fast his ship to the quay in Peirseus. A vast crowd had assembled there from the city and the port, animated by curiosity, interest, and other emo- tions of every kind, to see him arrive. But so little did he trust their sentiments that he hesitated at first to step on shore, and stood upon the deck looking about for his friends and kinsmen. Presently, he saw Euryptolemus his cousin, and others, by whom he was heartily welcomed, and in the midst of whom he landed. But they too were so apprehensive of his numerous enemies, that they formed themselves into a sort of body-guard, to sur- 1 Diodor. xiii 68 ; Plutarch, Alkib. c. 31 ; Athenae. xii, p. 535. VOL. VIIL 7 lOoc.