A history of Greek literature

Preface

This book is an attempt to recount the history of Greek literature, not so much to classical students as to those who have no direct knowledge of the subject. Albert Wolff's " Pantheon des Classischen Alterthums" (Berlin: Hempel, 1881), a volume of the excellent series of the " Classiker aller Zeiten und Nationen," has served as a model.

Among many things which doubtless demand apology is the reference (p. 442) to Windisch's interesting hypothesis on the influence of the New Comedy upon the Sanskrit drama, which is spoken of as if it were a fact. Prof. L. von Schroeder, in his interesting " Indiens Literatur und Cultur in historischer Entwicklung" (Leipzig, 1887), nas shown that the hypothesis is untenable.

It has been thought undesirable to mention all the authorities used; the "general reader" does not care for, and the scholar does not need, the frequent footnote in a book of this sort.

The author tenders his warmest thanks to Mr. A. P. C. Griffin, of the Boston Public Library, who, with the utmost kindness, saw about four-fifths of the book through the press, during the author's absence from the country; to Mr. Louis Dyer for many valuable suggestions and much good counsel, as well as for permission to use his manuscript translations of Euripides; to Mr. J. G. Croswell for kind aid ; and to the many writers who allowed him to make use of their published translations in this book. He, moreover, desires to express his indebtedness to Mr. E. E. Treffry, of New York, who read the proofs, not only with untiring patience, but also with friendly zeal.

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Contents

INTRODUCTORY.

PAGE

The Independence of the Greek Literature.— Its Influence. — Its Artistic Qualities. — The People; their Earliest History. — The Country ; its Geography. — The Possible Influence of Climate, etc.— The Language __-_-!

Chapter I. The Homeric Question

I. — The Beginnings of Literature. — The Influence of Religious Feeling. — The Traces of Early Song. II. — The Hexameter, and its Possible Growth. III. — The Homeric Poems. — The References to an Earlier Period. — The Ionic Origin of the Poems. — The Existence of Homer. IV. — The Long Discussion of this Subject : Bentley, Wolf, etc. Possible Date of the Compositions of these Poems. — Archaeological Illustrations -- - - - - - - - -12

Chapter II. The Iliad

I. — The Subject of the Poem. — The Admiration felt for it. — Its Fate at Different Periods of Ancient and Modern History. — Adaptations and Translations : Chapman, Pope, etc. II. — An Analysis of the Poem. III.— Some of the Qualities of the Heroes : their Unconventional Timidity ; their Relations to the Gods. IV. — The Greek Epic Treatment compared with that of other Races. V. — The Illustrative Extracts ----------- 30

Chapter III. The Odyssey

I. — The Difference between the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the Resultant Discussion. — An Analysis of the Latter Poem. II.— Some of the Qualities of this Poem. — Its Coherence and Simplicity. — The Naivete of the Heroes — The Explanation of the Poem as a Solar Myth. III. — Illustrative Extracts - - - 82

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. THE EPICS IN GENERAL, AND THE HOMERIC HYMNS. page

I. — Extravagance of some of the Praise given to Homer by Over-enthusiastic Admirers. — Some of the Points of Resemblance and Difference between the Iliad and Odyssey, as in the Relation of Gods to Men, etc. ; the Different Kinds of Similes in the two Poems ; of Epithets.— The Moral Law as it is Implied and Stated. II. — The Other Compositions ascribed to Homer; Hymns, Parodies and Minor Poems. — The Light that the Hymns throw on Early Religious Thought. — The Myths not invented as Stories, but Attempted Explanations of the Universe. — The Mock-Homeric Poems. III. — Illustrative Extracts. IV. — The Later Epics : their Subjects ; their Relation to the Homeric Poems ; and their Merit - - - 118

Chapter V. Hesiod

I. — All our Positive Information about this Poet most Vague. — His Boeotian Origin ; All that This Implies in Comparison with the Ionic Civilization. — The Doric Severity and Conservatism. — The Devotion to Practical Ends. II. — The Story of Hesiod's Life. — His " Works and Days " Described. — Its Thrifty Advice Combining Folk-lore and Farming. — The " Theogony," a Manual of Old Mythology. — His Other Work ; its General Aridity. — Illustrative Extracts - - - 136

Book Ii.— The Lyric Poetry. Introductory

The Hexameter as an Expression Adapted to a Feudal Period, when Comparative Uniformity Prevailed. — Changing Circumstances, with Added Complexity of Life, Saw New Forms of Utterance Introduced into Literature. — These, however, had already Enjoyed a Long, if Unrecognized, Life among the People : Such were Liturgical, as well as Popular, in their Nature, and Run Back to Primeval Savageness - - - - - - - - - - -150

Chapter I. The Earlier Lyric Poets

I. — The Influence of Religion on the Early Growth of the Lyric Poetry. — The Traditional Origins : Orpheus and Musaeus. — The Importance of Music. — Its Condition in Early Times. — Its Use as an Aid to Poetry. — The Traditional Olympus, the Father of Music. II. — Callinus and the Elegy. — Its Use by Archilochus, and the Growth of Individuality. — The Value of the New Forms as Expressions of the Political Changes then Appearing. III. — Simonides and His denunciation of Women. — His Melancholy. — The Meagreness of the Lyrical Fragments Impedes our Knowledge. — The Extent of our Loss Conjectured - - - 154

CONTENTS. IX

Chapter II

THE LYRIC POETS— Continued. PAGE

I. — Tyrtseus, and his Patriotic Songs in Behalf of Sparta. — In Contrast, the Amorous Wail of Mimnermus. — Solon in Athens, as a Lawgiver, and as a Writer of Elegies mainly of Political Import. II. — The Melic Poetry, and its Connection with Music and Dance. — The Growth of Music ; the Different Divisions. — Alcman, Alcaeus, Sappho, Erinna, Stesichorus, Ibycus. — Anacreon, and his Vast Popularity. III. — The Elegiac Poetry. — Phocylides and his Inculcation of Reasonableness. — Xenophanes and his Philosophical Exposition. — Theognis and his Political Teachings.— Simonides, his Longer Poems and his Epigrams. — Bacchylides, Lasus, Myrtis, and the Predecessors of Pindar. — Translations of some Lyrical Poems ----- - - 165

Chapter III. Pindar

The General Condition of the Lyric Poetry. I. — Its Flowering in Pindar. — His Life. — His Relations with the Sicilian Tyrants. — A Comparison between him and Milton. — The Abundance of his Work, and its Various Divisions. II. — The Epinicion, or Song in Praise of a Victor at the Public Games. — The Games, and their Significance to the Greeks. — The Adulation which Pindar Gave to the Victors ; the Serious Nature of his Work ; its Relation to Religious Thought ; its Ethical Importance, all being Qualities that were Outgrowing the Bonds of Mere Lyric Verse. III. — Illustrative Extracts - - ----- 196

Chapter I. Its Growth And History

I. — The Prominence of Athens after the Wars with Persia. — The Qualities of the Athenians ; their Intellectual Vivacity ; the Aristocratic Conditions of their Society. — The Little Influence of Women and Books. — Their Political Training. — Their Literary Enthusiasm. II. — The Drama a Growth, not a Special Creation. — The Early Condition of Dramatic Performances. — The Celebration of Festivals ; the Dithyramb ; the Rudimentary Dialogues ; the Worship of Dionysus. — The Drama before ^schylus, and the Resemblance between its Growth and that of Modern Times. III. — The Mechanical Conditions. — The Theatres ; the Actors and their Equipment. — The Stage. — The Masks. — The Absence of Minute Detail, and Unlikeness to Modern Drama. — The Chorus ; its Composition and its Share in the Performance at Different Times. IV. — The Author's Relation to his Play.— The Tetralogy and its Obscurities. — Further Obscurities Besetting the Subject, such as the Symmetry of the Plays. — The Plays that Survive. — The General Development of the Drama, and its Dependence on the Life of the Time - - - 217

X CONTENTS,

CHAPTER II. MSCHYLUS. page

I. — The Life of yEschylus ; his Part in the Persian Wars ; his Career as an Author ; his Death. II. — The Difficulties in the Way of our Comprehending the Greek Drama. — Its Spectacular Effect with the Choral Dances. — The Simplicity of the Plot compared with Shakspere's Art. — The Unities in the Greek Plays. — The Absence of Love as a Dramatic Inspiration. — The Flowering of the Drama in Athens, Paris, and London at a Moment of Victory. III. — The Earliest Play, The Persians. — Its Presentation of Historical Events. — An Analysis of the Play. — The First Appearance of the Drama in Western Literature. — The Prominence of the Chorus, and Diminutive Value of the Actors, and the Archaic Quality of the Infant Drama; Tableaux rather than Actions. — Solemnity of /Eschylus. IV. — The Seven Against Thebes Analyzed. — The Mythical Plot. — The Slow Growth of Dramatic Action. V. — The Suppliants. — The Predominance of the Lyrical Element, the Crudity of the Dialogue. VI. — The Prometheus Bound. — The Possible Significance of the Myth. — The Dramatic Treatment. — Its Apparent Irreverence — Our Meagre Comprehension of it. VII. — The Oresteian Trilogy, the Agamemnon, the Libation Poems, and the Furies, Analyzed. — The Significance of the Dramatic Treatment of Alleged Legendary History. — The Ethical Principle. — The Simplicity of ^Eschylus. — The Changes wrought by Time in the Drama - - 239

Chapter III. Sophocles

I. — The Life of Sophocles; his Relation to the Persian Wars. — The Position he Held. — His Relation to the Time of Pericles ; the Main Qualities of that Brilliant Period. — His Work Compared with that of ^Eschylus. II. — The Electra. Compared with the Treatment of the Oresteian Myth by ^Eschylus. — The Play Described. — Importance of Oratory among the Greeks Illustrated by the Plays. — Fullness of the Art of Sophocles. III. — The Antigone; its Adaptability to Modern Tastes. — The Modification in the Treatment of the Chorus. IV. — The King CEdipus. — Its Vividness and Impressiveness. V. — The CEdipus at Colonus. — Its Praise of Athens. VI. — The Ajax. — Its Treatment of a Bit of Homeric Story. — The Interference of a Deity. — The Growth of Individuality. VII. — The Philoctetes ; Again Homeric Characters. — The Individual Traits Strongly Brought out. VIII. — The Maidens of Trachis. — General View of the Art of Sophocles, with its Rounded Perfection - - - - - - - - - - 301

Chapter IV. Euripides

I. — The Changes in Greek Literature and in the Body Politic. — An Illustrative Quotation from Mr. J. A. Symonds. II. — The Life of Euripides, and an Attempt to Explain his Relation to his Predecessors. — His Movement toward Individuality not a Personal Trait, but Part of a General Change. The Religious Decadence; Political Enfeeblement. III. — The Work of Euripides; its Abundance. — The Hecuba. — The Prologue as Employed by this Writer. IV. — The Orestes and its Treatment. — The New Treatment of the Heroes as Human Beings. — The Phenician Virgins. — The Medea; its Intensity. — Extracts. V. — The Crowned Hippolytus. — Realism in the Treatment of the Characters. — The ■ Further Change in the Importance of the Chorus 352

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER V. EURIPIDES II. page

I. — The Alcestis of Euripides. — His Humanity Offensive to His Contemporaries. — The Andromache ; the Conversational Duels. II. — The Suppliants ; the Heracleidas ; their Political Allusions. — The Helen, with its Romantic Interest in Place of the Earlier Solemnity, and Its Enforcement of Unheroic Misfortune. — Its Lack of the Modern Dramatic Spirit. III. — The Troades, a Curious Treatment of the Old Myths. — The Mad Heracles ; its Representation of the Gods in Accordance with the New Spirit. — The Electra ; its Importance as a Bit of Literary Controversy. — Its Inferiority to the Plays of ./Eschylus and Sophocles on the Same Subject. — The Ion ; a Drama, not a Tragedy, and a Marked Specimen of the Change in Thought. — A Comparison between its Complexity and the Earlier Simplicity. — Condemnation of the Old Mythology. IV. — The Two Iphigeneias. — The dens ex machina. V. — The Bacchas, and its Importance in the Study of Greek Religious Thought.— The Feeling of Euripides for Natural Scenery; His Modern Spirit. — The Satyric Play, the Cyclops. — The Rhesus. VI. — The Successors of Euripides. — The Extended Influence of the Greek Drama, and especially of Euripides as the Most Modern of the Ancients - 398

Chapter VI. The Comedy

I. — Obscurity of its Early History ; its Alleged Origins, in the Dionysiac Festivals, and in Various Places, as in Sicily, among the Megarians, etc. — The Earlier Writers of Comedy. II. — Aristophanes. — Comedy as he Found it ; its Technical Laws ; the Chorus, etc. — The Acharnians. — The Seriousness of all the Comedies; their Conservatism. — The Horse-play. III. — The Knights; its Attack on Cleon, and General Political Fervor. IV. — The Clouds, with its Derision of Socrates and of Modern Tendencies. V. — The Wasps, and its Denunciation of Civic Decay. VI. — The Peace, and its Political Implications. — The Poetical Side of Aristophanes. VII.— The Birds. VIII.— The Lysistrata, and the Thesmophoriazusae. — The Attack on Euripides directly, and indirectly on Current Affairs. — Hopelessness of the Position held by Aristophanes. IX. — The Frogs ; Euripides again Assaulted, and /Eschylus Exalted. X. — The Ecclesiazusse, and the Plutus. — The Altered Conditions. — The Unliterary Quality of Attic Comedy in its Early Days. — Importance of Aristophanes as a Mouth-piece of the Athenian People. XI. — The Later Development of Comedy. — Philemon and Menander; the Contrast between their Work and that of Aristophanes. — Its Relation to the Later Times _.-. 444

Chapter I. Herodotus

I. — The Origin of Prose. — The Predecessors of Herodotus. II. — Herodotus, his Life, his Travels. — His Methods, his Object. — The Criticisms of his Work. — His Stories.— His Authorities. III.— Extracts - 508

X11 CONTENTS.

Chapter II

I. — The Vast Difference between Herodotus and Thucydides. — The Life of Thucydides. — His Conception of the Historian's Duty.— His Modernness. — His Language. II. — His Use of Speeches. — His Self-control. III. — The Fame of his History.— Its Presentation of Political Principles. IV.— The Sicilian Expedition, 533

Chapter III. Xenophon

I. — Xenophon's Relation to Thucydides. — His Life. — The Anabasis. II. — The Hellenica. — Qualities of Xenophon's Style. — The Memorabilia. III. — The Cyropaedia, an Historical Novel. IV. — Xenophon's Minor Writings. — The Possible Reasons for his Great Fame. — His General, but Safe, Mediocrity. V. — Extracts - - - - - - - - - - - -.- -571

Chapter I. The Early Orators And I Socrates

I. — The Difference between Ancient and Modern Notions of the Function of Eloquence. — Our Theories mainly Derived from Roman Declamation. — The Greek Methods Different. II. — Development of Oratory among the Greeks. — The Influence of the Sophists ; the Varying Opinions concerning these Teachers. — Their Instruction in Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Physics. III. — The Growth of Dialectic in Sicily. — The Early Teachers, and their Modification of the Greek Prose Style. Its Imitation of Poetical Models, Compared with Euphuism. IV. — Antiphon, Andokides, Lysias ; Isocrates and his Artificial Style. His Political Yearnings. — Isasos. — The Diversity of Athenian Politics Expressed in the Oratory of Isocrates and in his Cunning Art. — Its Literary Qualities - 598

Chapter II. Demosthene S

I. — The Life of Demosthenes. — His Early Speeches. II. — His Opposition to Philip of Macedon. — The Divided Condition of the Greeks. III. — The Position of Demosthenes. — His Various Efforts to Arouse his Fellow-Countrymen. — The Olynthiac Struggle between Athens and Philip ; the King's Success. IV. — Last Years of Demosthenes. V. — Qualities of his Eloquence. — Hopelessness of his Position. — Contemporary Orators, Phocion, Hypereides, etc. — The Later History of Oratory. VI. — Extracts ---------- 622

CONTENTS. Xlll

Book Vi.— The Philosophers. Chapter I

THE EARLY PHILOSOPHERS AND SOCRATES. page

I. — The Originality of Greek Philosophical Thought. — The Earliest Philosophers and their Views, Physical and Metaphysical. — The Ionians ; Pythagoras, and the Vague Report of His Life and Teachings. — Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Empedocles, etc. II. — The Atomists. — Our Dependence on Aristotle for Information, so that we Get but Glimpses of the Past, yet these Glimpses Attract Students. — Anaxagoras in his Relation to the Athenian Public. — The Sophists in Athens.— Their Evil Repute.— The Growth of Individualism in Philosophy Going on All Fours with its Spread in Literature. Ill — Protagoras, his Ethical Teachings. — Conservative Opposition to New Thought. — The Cosmopolitanism of Philosophy Distasteful to Patriotic Greeks. — Philosophy an Aristocratic Attribute, like Modern Letters, unlike Modern Science. IV. — The Fine Promises of the Sophists ; Rhetoric as a Cure for Life's Woes. — Contempt for Science. V. — Socrates ; his Life. — His Novel Aim, and Method of Instruction. — His Ethical Teaching. — His Practical Side. — His Cross-examination of Civilization. — The Story of his Death. — His Following. — The Cynic and Cyrenaic Schools - 656

CHAPTER II.

PLA TO.

I. — The Vast Importance of Plato to Modern Thought. — Mr. Benn on his Inconsistencies. — Platonism not to be Defined by one Word or Phrase. II. — The Life of Plato. — His Aristocratic Theories. — His Political Efforts for the Regeneration of Mankind. — His Journeys, etc. — His Work ; the Nature of the Dialogues. III. — His Accounts of Socrates; the Apology and the Crito. — Extracts. IV. — The General Dialogues: their Literary Charm. — Various Ones Analyzed: the Charmides, Lysis, Protagoras, Ion, Lesser Hippias, Meno. V. — The Symposium and the Phasdrus. — The Gorgias. — The Cratylus. — The Timaeus, etc. VI. — The Republic, its Utopianism and Aristocratic Longings. — The Generally Accepted Notion of Platonism. — His Theory of Ideas. VII.— His Followers and his Influence, and his New Foundation for Ethics. VIII. — Extracts -.-•-- 686

Chapter III. Aristotle

I.— Aristotle's Unfortunate Rivalry with Plato. — His Life. — His Influence, Especially in the Middle Ages. — The Consequences of Exaggerated Praise not Unknown to Aristotle's Fame. II. — His Relations to his Predecessors. — His Interest in Scientific Study. — His Writings; their Lack of Literary Charm. — The Manner of their Preservation. III. — His Conception of Philosophy, and his Division of its Functions. — The Breadth of its Interests. — The Politics, etc. — His Repellant Style Compared with the Charm of Plato's. — The Safe Middle Path which he Follows. — His Cool Wisdom. IV. — The Poetics ; its Importance to Modern Literature. V. — Extracts. VI. — The Peripatetics, and the Latest Course of Philosophy. — Epicureans and Stoics - - - - - - - - - - -715

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. ALEXANDRIA, THEOCRITUS. page

I. — The Succession of Alexandria to Athens. — The Intimate Relation of Alexandrinism to Modern Literature, through the Roman. — The Survival of Greek Intellectual Influence after Political Decay. — The Gradualness of the Change. II. — The Importance of Alexandria for the Cosmopolitan Sway of Greek Influence. — Its Generous Equipment for its New Duties. — The Beginnings of Scholarship. III. — The Learning Influences the Literature. — Theocritus, and his Work. — Its Relation to Contemporary Art. — Bion and Moschus. IV. — Extracts - - 741

CHAPTER II. THE TOE TR Y— Continued

I. — The Relation of the New Movement to the Later Condition of Athens. — Changed Treatment of Women, and their Influence.— The Pastorals and Elegies. — Antimachus. — The Growth of Literary Art, and Various Writers of Forgotten Fame. II. — Callimachus. — The Lyric Poetry. — The Drama. III. — The Epic Writers. — Apollonius Rhodius, and his Argonautics ; its Influence on Roman Writers. — The Didactic Poets: Aratus, Nicander, etc. — Some Minor Writers of Verse. IV. — Nonnus, and his Learned Epic. — Musaeus. V. — Quintus Smyrnasus, and his Unexpected Vigor. — The Gradual Dwindling of Poetry. VI. — The Anthology. — Its Gradual Formation. — Its Abundance. — The Epigram. VII. — Extracts from the Anthology ________ 762

Chapter III. The Trose

I— The Wide Circle of Hellenistic Culture. — The Abundance of Intellectual Interests in Alexandria and Elsewhere. — The Growth of Scholarship. — The Spread of Scientific Study. — Euclid. — Archimedes. — Astronomy. — Ptolemy. II. — The Importance of this Greek Scientific Work. — The Study of Medicine. — Galen. — His Vast Influence, like that of Ptolemy and Aristotle. —Its Long Life and Final Overthrow, possibly Portending an Altered View of All Things Greek. III. — The Grecian Influence in Rome.— The Difference between the Greek and Roman Ideals. IV. — Polybius ; his History and its Importance. — Extracts. V. — Other Historians : Diodorus Siculus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Strabo, Flavius Josephus --.______--- ygg

Chapter IV. Plutarch

I. — Plutarch. — His Life and Work. — His Method. — His Attractive Simplicity. — His Influence. II. — His Naturalness and Impartiality. III. — Extracts. IV. — His Morals.— Extracts - - - - - -818

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER V. L UCIAN. page

I. — Lucian, the Satirist. — The First of the Moderns. — More Greek than the Greeks of his Time. — His Life. II. — His Onslaughts upon the Moribund Religion. — His Dialogues. III. — The Broad Burlesque which he sometimes Employs against Gods, Philosophers, and Men of Letters. IV. — His Later Fame. — His Notion of Hades. — His Treatment of Gross Superstitions. — Alexander the Medium. — Various Writings of his. V. — His Wit, Comparison between it and the Same Quality as Exhibited by Others. — His Denunciation of Science. — His Exhibition of the General Condition of the Greek Man of Letters in those Times 830

CHAPTER VI. PROSE WRITERS— Continued

I. — Literary Trifles not the Only Interests. — The New View of Moral Greatness. — The Life of Epictetus. II. — Marcus Aurelius. — His Work as a Writer. III. — Philostratus, ancfhis Discussion of Literary and Artistic Subjects. IV. — The. Final Gatherings from Antiquity. — Athenaeus, and his Collection of Anecdotes. — vElian. — Some Historians. V. — Pausanias. — Longinus, and his Literary Criticism. — The Later Philosophy. VI.— In 529, the Closing of the University of Athens, and th& Conversion of the Temple of Hermes into a Monastery. VII. — Further Fragments. — The Threshing of Threshed Straw - 845

Chapter VII. The Greek Romances

I. — This Confusion, Great as it was, Led to an Attempted Reorganization of Literary Work in the Romances. — The Method of Composition : Prominence of Love, Wildness of Incident, etc. II. — Iamblichus Xenophon of Ephesus. — Apollonius of Tyre. — Heliodorus. — The Modern Descendants of these Romances. III. — Achilles Tatius. — Chariton. IV.— Longus and his Pastoral. — The End - 860

THE MUSES.

GREEK LITERATURE.

INTRODUCTORY.

The Independence of the Greek Literature — Its Influence — Its Artistic Qualities. The People ; their Earliest History. The Country ; its Geography — The Possible Influence of Climate, etc. The Language.

ON E of the most striking qualities of Greek literature is its originality ; it sprang, so to speak, from the soil, without marked traces of foreign admixture, adopting, to be sure, the forms which are employed independently by every other race that makes use of letters as a method of expression, but developing them more completely than has been done elsewhere. Starting in this way free in the main from outside influences, it grew under the hands of the most wonderful people that the world has ever known, to be the model for succeeding civilizations. In literature, as everywhere, the best wins ; and in studying the literature of Greece we are really studying not merely forms of expression, rich thought, wise comment and explanation that are unfailing sources of delight and instruction, but also the foundations of nearly all the work that has been done since in every civilized country. The lines that the Greeks drew without rule or precedent have acquired an authority which has given them the force of literary canons to inspire and direct subsequent work of the world. The quality that characterizes their literature has proved a model for their successors ; it has been absorbed, at times, with much conscious effort that has blurred the force of its influence, and the ultimate consequence of the whole ripening of modern civilization has been to bring men back to wonder and admiration of their unparalleled performance. Naturally, Greek literature is not a unit ; when we speak of some of its most brilliant successes we should properly define it as Athenian literature; and, too, the later work of the Alexandrians, which was the only instance of the Greeks imitating instead of directly producing, has been the main source of modern inspiration ; yet it is to be remembered that even then they were Greeks copying themselves, and not outside barbarians laying on an artificial polish.

And, too, it is towards the best of the native Greek literature that men have gradually made their way with ever growing respect. They have at times lost the way and have given their devotion to what was second-best, but with a wider knowledge has come frank reverence for only the most characteristic of their productions. As the tracks where the first settlers strayed become the streets of the established city, so have the different paths of the Greeks become highways on which alone modern men have been free to move. Their epics, their lyrics, their drama, their histories, their philosophy, have left their mark on the taste of later generations. They imposed the laws which have ruled since their day, not so much by legislation, however, as by doing naturally what has been afterwards attempted by earnest effort. Their unconscious ease has been succeeded by the more or less deliberate attempts of those who have seen in the beauty of Greek work an ideal as well as a model. This, then, marks the important difference between the literatures of Greece on the one hand and on the other that of Rome and modern civilizations, that the first grew up untrammeled, as the natural expression of direct vision, while ever since men have seldom felt themselves free from the necessity of referring to the foundations of literary art.

Yet the general resemblance in the growth of different literatures can not be always explained as imitation. The path in which the Greeks trod has been followed independently by different races, among which we find that uniformly poetry precedes prose, and that the epic appears before the drama, so that we may safely conclude that the course of the Greek letters was in accordance with a form of development that marks all literature, that there is a uniformity in the actions of different races as there is between individuals, and that in both the difference is in the accomplishment rather than in the ends aimed at. To what extent this hypothesis is true, will be seen in the further study

THE ORIGIN OF THE GREEKS. 3

of Greek writings, but, granting a general analogy, we shall nowhere find the same brilliant performance that we find in Greece. Its whole literature is distinguished by a keen artistic sense that is made up of freshness and truth to nature. Everywhere the Greek shunned exaggeration. Unlike the Sanskrit writers he was impressive without being grandiose ; unlike the Chinese, he was simple without being puerile, and when we compare the Greek with more familiar literatures that have been built upon it, the difference becomes even plainer. As Taine has well said in his Philosophic de Vart en Grece, " A glance at their literature in comparison with that of the East, of the middle ages, and of modern times ; a perusal of Homer compared with the Divina Commedia, Faust, or the Indian epics ; a study of their prose in comparison with any other prose of any other age or any other country, would be convincing. By the side of their literary style, every style is emphatic, heavy, inexact and unnatural ; by the side of their weird types, every type is excessive, gloomy, and morbid ; by the side of their poetic and oratorical forms, every form not based on theirs is out of all proportion, ill devised, and misshapen." Possibly this statement exemplifies the faults it names with profusion, but it also conveys the truth that the Greek work is distinguished by proportion, by moderation.

This moderation was a quality that it possessed from the beginning, in, say, the tenth century before Christ, until the classic Greek literature faded out of existence in the sixth century of our era, for so long was its life. What then were the conditions in which we find it appearing ? The Greeks belonged to the Aryan family, the great branch of the human race that included Kelts, Slavs, Teutons, Lithuanians, Iranians, Indians, Latins and Greeks, or, possibly, more exactly, the races that first spoke these languages. The early home of the Aryans was long held to be the high plateau, north of the Himalayas, in Central Asia, but of late this hypothesis, which rested rather on ignorance of the facts than on definite knowledge, has been much shaken, and it has been held with plausibility that the once heretical notion that it had its home in Europe has some interesting arguments in its favor. Together with this hypothesis, which seems to have owed its origin to the general impression that Asia, with its historical antiquity, must have been the mother of nations, there has also succumbed any wide confidence in a remote special connection between the Italians and the Greeks. In the absence of definite knowledge this theory has flourished, as a bit of inheritance from the loftier repute, doubtless, of Greek and Roman antiquity, but it is only a hypothesis by no means firmly established. It has been maintained that the two races, besides their common inheritance, owned reminiscences of a union merely between themselves sub-