,^34 HISTORY OF GREECE. This song is curious, as indicating the hopes and fears preva- lent among Athenians of that day, and as affording a measure of their self-appreciation. It is moreover among the latest Grecian documents that we possess, bearing on actual and present reality. The poet, addressing Demetrius as a god, boasts that two of the greatest and best-beloved of all divine beings are visiting Attica at the same moment — Demeter (coming for the season of her mysteries), and Demetrius, son of Poseidon and Aphrodite. " To thee we pray (the hymn pro- ceeds) ; for other gods are either afar off — or have no ears — or do not exist — or care nothing about us ; but thee we see be- fore us, not in wood or marble, but in real presence. Fu-st of all things, establish peace ; for thou hast the power — and chas- tise that Sphinx who domineers, not merely over Thebes, but over aU Greece — the JEtolian, who, (like the old Sphinx) rushes from his station on the rock to snatch and carry away our persons, and against whom we cannot fight. At aU times, the ^tolians robbed their neighbors ; but now, they rob far as well as near.i" Effusions such as these, while displaying unmeasured idolatry
- Athenaeus, vi. p. 253.
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