Introduction
During the Greek Revolution of 1821-1829, against the Ottoman Empire, Irishman Edward Blaquière found his fund-raising in London hampered by doubts over whether today’s Greeks were worthy of their ancient forebears. Blaquiere showed them that the spirit of Achilles, wrathful hero of the Trojan War, lived on.
THE following anecdote, illustrative of the veneration in which the Greeks held the immortal bard of Scio,* is extracted from an account of the expedition sent into the Mediterranean in 1769, under Orloff.*
Captain Plagent,* who commanded one of the ships in this expedition, going on shore at Naxos,* took an old school edition of the Iliad which he happened to have on board,* and showed it to some of the natives, who begged it of him with the most earnest importunity.
The Captain complied with their wishes; and on going on shore again the next day, he saw an old man with his back to a wall reading the speeches of the ancient Greek heroes with all the fury of declamation, to an audience of fourteen or fifteen persons!
Scio is the Italian name for the Greek island of Chios, the traditional birthplace of Homer, author of the epic poems ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. For many generations, authentic Greek identity was overlaid by the Islamic culture of the Ottomans and also by the Roman Catholic culture of the Franks and Venetians, who controlled many parts of Greece before and after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
In 1769, Empress Catherine the Great orchestrated a revolt among the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire, which had been their repressive masters since the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The ultimately unsuccessful campaign was headed by Count Aleksei Orlov. (Blaquière’s account mistakenly prints 1789.)
Scotsmen John Elphinstone, Thomas MacKenzie and Samuel Greig were senior commanders in Russian Empire’s navy, and brought their own mostly Scottish proteges with them. The fleet, which included hired British ships with new names such as ‘Graf Tchernyshev’, was based on the neighbouring island of Paros, at Naousa, from 1770 to 1775. The Turkish fleet relied in much the same way on French seamen.
A large island in the Aegean Sea, one of the Cyclades group. According to Greek mythology, Zeus was raised here in a cave; and after Theseus slew the Minotaur of Crete with the help of Ariadne, he abandoned her on Naxos, where the god Dionysius fell in love with her. See Theseus and the Minotaur.
The Iliad is an epic poem narrating the Trojan War of the early 12th century BC, which took place in and around Troy or Ilion, now Hisarlik in Turkey. The poem has traditionally been ascribed to a Greek poet named Homer, who also composed the ‘Odyssey’. For our summary of the plot, see The Siege of Troy.
Précis
In the Orlov Rebellion of 1769, a naval captain docked at the island Naxos in Greece. He showed an old copy of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ to an islander, who asked if he could keep it. Next day, the captain saw him reading portions of the epic to a knot of fascinated islanders, stirred by renewed hopes of liberation from Turkish rule. (60 / 60 words)
In the Orlov Rebellion of 1769, a naval captain docked at the island Naxos in Greece. He showed an old copy of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ to an islander, who asked if he could keep it. Next day, the captain saw him reading portions of the epic to a knot of fascinated islanders, stirred by renewed hopes of liberation from Turkish rule.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, just, or, since, until, whether.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Day. Hero. Into.
2 Ancient. Edition. Ship.
3 Much. Next. Veneration.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Show. 2. Hold. 3. Man. 4. Following. 5. Reading. 6. Board. 7. Account. 8. Command. 9. Wish.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
mg (5+1)
image. magi. mega. mug. omega.
mag.
