DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1004#0234
192
ORCilOMKNTS AND THEBES.
at the vertex, are the huge remains of the Treasury, and of the Temple of
the Graces, which canry back the thoughts of the beholder from the present
day to times winch preceded the siege of Troy.
On this steep was the citadel; it is approached by two flights of nearly
one hundred steps cut in the rock. It commands a magnificent view of the
lake and the plain.
The basin of Orchomenus is separated from that of Thebes by a moun-
tain-ridge at the south-east angle of the Copaic Lake. It resulted from
the natural formation of the country, that the political government of
Bceotia was vested in the two principal cities of these two plains. In the
earliest times, indeed, of Greek History, Orchomenus was not a part of
Bceotia, which, strictly speaking, was confined to the Theban region, while
that of Orchomenus formed an independent province. It seems also to have
arisen from similar causes, that, after a long struggle for the pre-eminence,
Thebes eclipsed her rival in affluence and power. Her soil was celebrated
for its produce of corn and wine ; its fertility is further shewn by the crops
of tobacco, cotton, and Indian corn, which cover it. Thebes had also the
advantage of a ready export for her productions, by her convenient position
in the vicinity of three seas.
The character of her inhabitants appears to have been affected in a remark-
ble manner by the physical properties of the place. The seven-gated citadel
ORCilOMKNTS AND THEBES.
at the vertex, are the huge remains of the Treasury, and of the Temple of
the Graces, which canry back the thoughts of the beholder from the present
day to times winch preceded the siege of Troy.
On this steep was the citadel; it is approached by two flights of nearly
one hundred steps cut in the rock. It commands a magnificent view of the
lake and the plain.
The basin of Orchomenus is separated from that of Thebes by a moun-
tain-ridge at the south-east angle of the Copaic Lake. It resulted from
the natural formation of the country, that the political government of
Bceotia was vested in the two principal cities of these two plains. In the
earliest times, indeed, of Greek History, Orchomenus was not a part of
Bceotia, which, strictly speaking, was confined to the Theban region, while
that of Orchomenus formed an independent province. It seems also to have
arisen from similar causes, that, after a long struggle for the pre-eminence,
Thebes eclipsed her rival in affluence and power. Her soil was celebrated
for its produce of corn and wine ; its fertility is further shewn by the crops
of tobacco, cotton, and Indian corn, which cover it. Thebes had also the
advantage of a ready export for her productions, by her convenient position
in the vicinity of three seas.
The character of her inhabitants appears to have been affected in a remark-
ble manner by the physical properties of the place. The seven-gated citadel