Home life in Hellas, Greece and the Greeks - eBooks4Greeks.gr

THE GREEK MAINLAND 9remind us of the Black Country. 1 The capitalwith its port and the lead mines form the chiefeconomic assets of Attica, which isagriculturallyinsignificant. The ungrateful soil supports onlya sparse population almost wholly Albanian.There is a point in Central Greece where itsspine, the steep chain ofPindus, sinks to a lowpass. But immediately south of it there is asudden rise, and a mountain knot sends forthranges east and west and south, (Eta to the Boeotianshores, the tangle of intersecting ridges inCEtolia, and the lofty summits Corax, Parnassus,Helicon, Cithasron, which stand as sentinels overthe Corinthian Gulf. South-eastward throughlower Attica extend lower ranges to its extremepoint, " Sunium's marbled steep." The systemdoes not end with the mainland, but reappears inthe JEgean isles, Zea, Kythnos, Seriphos, Siphnos,which are but the tops of submergedmountains of the same formation. This region,unproductive, thinly peopled by wandering shepherdsand rare villages of hardy mountaineers, isas rich in natural beauty as in the myth of theworld's youth. Cithseron is still gloomy andsavage, as it was to the poets of old.Helicon, at1The Lavrion mines were probably discovered and worked bythe Phoenicians. It is almost sure that they furnished a revenueto ^Egina before they became the property of the Athenians.They are mentioned by jEschylus and Xenophon. The present companyexploits the refuse thrown away by the miners of antiquity.It was imperfectly smelted, and yields a good percentage of leadand a certain quantity of silver. The supply seems inexhaustible,and gives an idea of the magnitude of the ancient workings.