Volume 1

The Pillars of Hercules, or, A narrative of travels in Spain and Morocco in 1848 / By David Urquhart.

  • Urquhart, David, 1805-1877.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Pillars of Hercules, or, A narrative of travels in Spain and Morocco in 1848 / By David Urquhart. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    world was —whether an interminable plain, or a ball launched in space or floating on the water—whether the ocean was a portion oi it or supported it—whether beyond the “ Pillars”* was the origin of present things, or the receptacle of departed ones—whether the road lay to Chaos or to Hades. And something, too, of these feelings crept over me, even although I came hither merely to ruminate on the past deeds of men, the shadows of which I looked for on the face of that watery mirror, which was the centre of their solid globe—the resolver, the adjuster of all their contests. The Mediterranean has made the world such as it is. Ancient history has been balanced on its bosom; and without the passage con¬ necting it with the ocean, none of the events of recent history could have happened. To the dwellers on the skirt of Palestine she was a handmaid for a thousand years, affording a liquid way for the wares which they scattered over half the globe : From her bosom rose on all sides those sea-kings of the south, the Pelasgi. She bore the Etruscans to their Ausonian homes. She furnished to the African daughter of Tyre the elements of the power by which she was enabled to compete for the dominion of the world. * 'Y/xftf S’, co povcrai, <tko\'uis iveiroire KeXevOovs ' Ap^aptvai <TTOixr)8uv acj) icnripov 'Qiteavolo. Evda T€ Kcii arrfKai nep\ rippaaiv HpaKArjos ‘E (ttuctiv, ply a 6avpa nap ia^aToevTa TaSetpa, Maxpov inro npr]aivu. no^vanipecov 'AtAcivtwv, ' Hxt re (cat ^aXxctos if ovpavov eiipape kicov ’HXi/3error, nvKLvolai KaAvTtTopevos vecfiieaai. Dionysius Africanus.