g the northern and north-eastern
shores of Peloponnesus, and separated by the narrow barrier of the
Isthmus of Corinth. The former, especially, lays open AEtolia, Phokis,
and Boeotia, as the whole northern coast of Peloponnesus, to water
approach.... It will thus appear that there was no part of Greece proper
which could be considered as out of the reach of the sea, whilst most
parts of it were easy of access. The sea was thus the sole channel for
transmitting improvements and ideas as well as for maintaining
sympathies" between the Hellenic tribes.[19] The sea is not only the
grand highway of commercial intercourse, but the empire of movement, of
progress, and of freedom. Here man is set free from the bondage imposed
by the overpowering magnitude and vastness of continental and oceanic
forms. The boisterous and, apparently, lawless winds are made to obey
his will. He mounts the sea as on a fiery steed and "lays his hand upon
her mane." And whilst thus he succeeds, in any measure, to triumph over
nature, he wakes to conscious power and freedom. It is in this region of
contact and commingling of sea and land where man attains the highest
superiority. Refreshing our historic recollections, and casting our eyes
upon the map of the world, we can not fail to see that all the most
highly civilized nations have lived, or still live, on the margin of the
sea.

[Footnote 18: Cousin, vol. i. pp. 151, 170.]

[Footnote 19: Grote's "Hist, of Greece," vol. ii. pp. 221, 225.]

The peculiar configuration of the territory of Greece, its forms of
relief, "so like, in many respects, to Switzerland," could not fail to
exert a powerful influence on the character and destiny of its people.
Its inclosing mountains materially increased their defensive power, and,
at the same time, inspired them with the love of liberty. Those
mountains, as we have seen, so unique in their distribution, were
natural barriers against the invasion of foreign nations, and they
rendered each separate community secure against the encroachments of the
rest. The pass of Thermopylae, between Thessaly and Phocis, that of
Cithaeron, between Boeotia and Attica; and the mountain ranges of Oneion
and Geraneia, along the Isthmus of Corinth, were positions which could
be defended against any force of invaders. This signal peculiarity in
the forms of relief protected each section of the Greeks from being
conquered, and at the same time maintained their separate autonomy. The