Agamemnon Had 160 Ships; The Athenians Fifty; Menelaus,
King Of Sparta, Sixty; But Some Of His Ships Seem To Have Been Furnished By
His Allies; Whereas All The Athenian Vessels Belonged To Athens Alone.
We
have already mentioned that Thucydides is contradicted by Homer, in his
assertion that the Greek ships, at the siege of Troy, had no decks;
perhaps, however, they were only half-decked, as it would appear, from the
descriptions of them, that the fore-part was open to the keel:
They had a
mainsail, and were rowed by oars. Greece is so admirably situated for
maritime and commercial enterprize, that it must have been very early
sensible of its advantages in these respects. The inhabitants of the isle
of Egina are represented as the first people in Greece who were
distinguished for their intelligence and success in maritime traffic: soon
after the return of the Heraclidae they possessed considerable commerce, and
for a long time they are said to have held the empire of the adjoining sea.
Their naval power and commerce were not utterly annihilated till the time
of Pericles.
The Corinthians, who are not mentioned by Homer as having engaged in the
Trojan war, seem, however, not long afterwards, to have embarked with great
spirit and success in maritime commerce; their situation was particularly
favourable for it, and equally well situated to be the transit of the land
trade of Greece. Corinth had two ports, one upon each sea. The Corinthians
are said to have first built vessels with three banks of oars, instead of
galleys.
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