C
THE SECRET WAY
By The Rt. Hon. Lord Lytton
The very striking legend which suggests the following poem is found in Athenaeus, book xiii. c. 35. It is there given as a quotation from the History of Alexander, by Chares of Mitylene.' The author adds, that the story is often told by the barbarians who dwell ia Asia, and is exceedingly admired; and they have painted representations of the story in their temples and palaces, and also in their private houses.' In constructing the plot of the poem, I have? made some variations in incident and denouement from the meagre outlines of the old romance preserved in Athenaeus, with a view of heightening the interest which springs from the groundwork of the legend. I should add that the name of the Scythian king's daughter is changed from Odatis, which, for narrative purpose, a little too nearly resembles that of her father, Omartes-to Argiope a name more Hellenic it is true, but it may be reasonably doubted whether that of Odatis be more genuinely Scythian. For the sake of euphony, the name of the Persian Prince is softened from Zariadres to Zariades. This personage is said by the author whom Athenaeus quotes, to have been the brother of Hystaspes, and to have held dominion over the country from above the Caspian Gates to the river Tanais (the modern Don). Assuming that he existed historically, and was the brother of Hystaspes and uncle to Darius I, he would have held the dominions assigned to him, as a satrap under Cambyses, not as an independent sovereign. But in a romance of this kind, it would be hypercritical, indeed, to demand strict historical accuracy. Although the hero of the legend would have been, as described, of purely Persian origin (a royal Achaemenian), and the people subjected to him would not have belonged to Media proper, in the poem he is sometimes called the Mede, and his people Medes, according to an usage sufficiently common among Greek writers when speaking generally of the rulers and people of the great Persian Empire. It may scarcely be worth while to observe that though in subsequent tales where the Hellenic deities are more or less prominently introduced or
