herefore sent a message to the Turks, warning them that bands of armed
men, who did not belong to the regular army, were on the frontier, and
that he would not be responsible for any of their acts.
On March 8th, fifteen hundred of the members of this League crossed the
frontier, and were met by some Turkish soldiers, who fought them and drove
them back again.
But this band was not the only one. Another column of Leaguers made a raid
into Macedonia, took possession of two towns, and established themselves
in a strongly fortified spot.
Yet another attack was made on the Turks at Mount Olympus, and after a
struggle the Greeks succeeded in planting their flag on the sacred
mountain.
Mount Olympus was supposed by the ancient Greeks to be the dwelling-place
of the gods whom they worshipped.
You have all of you heard of Jupiter, Juno, Cupid, Venus, Diana, Minerva,
Apollo, and Neptune. These were all Greek gods, and there were many, many
more gods and goddesses besides, whom the Greeks worshipped, and whose
deeds have been sung for us by every poet since the great Homer. The faces
of these fabled personages are even familiar to us, through the beautiful
Greek sculpture and through the art of famous painters, until the names
and stories of these gods and goddesses have become household words to us.
Mount Olympus, as we have said, was supposed to be the dwelling-place of
the gods. It was there that the great Jupiter was supposed to hold his
court and rule the destinies of men.
To every one who has studied mythology, as the history of the heathen gods
and goddesses is called, Mount Olympus is an object of the greatest
interest; and if this is the case with foreigners, how much more must this
mountain be venerated by the people whose whole history is connected with
its rocky masses.
The Greeks love Mount Olympus. They feel that it is their very own
property, and much of their discontent against the Turks is that it is no
longer on Greek soil, no longer a part of Greece, but belongs to the hated
Turk.
It is curious that the two mountains most sacred to the Greeks should be
on Turkish soil. Mount Ida, the birthplace of Jupiter, is in Crete.
It must have been a proud moment for the Greeks when they saw their
beloved flag waving over Mount Olympus.
The Turks are, of course, extremely indignant over these various raids,
and insist that they were made by regular soldiers of the Greek army.
This King George denie
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