advantage of such a beginning? How much
is told of the hero? By what means is his heroism emphasized? How is
Browning's departure from the legend a gain? Observe the abrupt energy
of lines 39-40; the repetition, in 79-80; the picture of Herve Riel in
stanzas viii and x.

PHEIDIPPIDES. (PAGE 30.)

The story is from Herodotus, told there in the third person. See
Herodotus, VI., 105-106. The final incident and the reward asked by
the runner are Browning's addition.

[Greek: =Chairete, nikomen=]. Rejoice, we conquer.

4. =Zeus=. The chief of the Greek gods (Roman Jupiter). =Her of the aegis
and spear=. These were the emblems of Athena (Roman Minerva), the
goddess of wisdom and of warfare.

5. =Ye of the bow and the buskin=. Apollo and Diana.

8. =Pan=. The god of nature, of the fields and their fruits.

9. =Archons=. Rulers. =tettix=, the grasshopper, whose image
symbolized old age, and was worn by the senators of Athens. See the
myth of Tithonus and Tennyson's poem of that name.

13. =Persia= attempted a conquest of Athens in 490 B.C. and was
defeated by the Athenians in the famous battle of Marathon, under
Miltiades.

18. To bring earth and water to an invading enemy was a symbol of
submission.

19. =Eretria=. A city on the island of Eub[oe]a, twenty-nine miles
north of Athens.

20. =Hellas=. The Greek name for Greece.

21. The Greeks of the various provinces long regarded themselves as of
one blood and quality, superior to the outer barbarians.

32. =Phoibos=, or Ph[oe]bus. Apollo, god of the sun and the arts.
=Artemis= (Roman Diana), goddess of the moon and patroness of hunting.

33. =Olumpos=. Olympus. A mountain of Greece which was the abode of
Zeus and the other gods.

52. =Parnes=. A mountain on the ridge between Attica and B[oe]otia,
now called Ozia.

62. =Erebos=. The lower world; the place of night and the dead.

80. =Miltiades= (?-489 B.C.). The Greek general who won the victory
over the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C.

106. =Akropolis=. The citadel of Athens, where stood the court of
justice and the temple of the goddess Athene.

109. =Fennel-field=. The Greek name for fennel was [Greek: ho
Marathon] (Marathon). Hence the prophetic significance of Pan's gift
to the runner.

Compare the story in Herodotus (VI., 105-106) with Browning's more
spirited and poetic version. Observe how the strong patriotism, the
Greek love of nature, and the Greek reverence for the gods are brought
to