,the ,legacy of ,,greece  ,essays by    
,,gilbert ,,murray1 ,w4 ,r4 ,,inge1 ,j4 
,,burnet1 ,,sir ,t4 ,l4 ,,heath1        
,d',,arcy ,w4 ,,thompson1 ,,charles     
,,singer1 ,r4 ,w4 ,,livingston1 ,a4     
,,toynbee1 ,a4 ,e4 ,,zimmern1 ,,percy   
,,gardner1 ,,sir ,,reginald ,,blomfield 
,edited by  ,r4 ,w4 ,,livingstone       
,illustration  ,,oxford  ,,at ,,the     
,,clarendon ,,press   ,,printed ,,in    
,,england ,,at ,,the ,,university       
,,press1 ,,oxford ,,by ,,john ,,johnson 
,,printer ,,to ,,the ,,university       
,in spite of many differences1 no age   
has had closer affinities with ,ancient 
,greece than our own2 none has based its
 deeper life so largely on ideals which 
the ,greeks brought into the world4     
,history does not repeat itself4 ,yet1  
if the twentieth century searched       
through the past for its nearest        
spiritual kin1 it is in the fifth and   
following centuries before ,christ that 
they would be found4 ,again and again1  
as we study ,greek thought and          

literature1 behind the veil woven by    
time and distance1 the face that meets  
us is our own1 younger1 with fewer lines
 and wrinkles on its features and with  
more definite and deliberate purpose in 
its eyes4 ,for these reasons we are     
to-day in a position1 as no other age   
has been1 to understand ,ancient        
,greece1 to learn the lessons it        
teaches1 and1 in studying the ideals and
 fortunes of men with whom we have so   
much in common1 to gain a fuller power  
of understanding and estimating our own4
 ,this book--the first of its kind in   
,english--aims at giving some idea of   
what the world owes to ,greece in       
various realms of the spirit and the    
intellect1 and of what it can still     
learn from her4  ,,the ,,editor4        
,october #aiba4     ,,contents          
,,page  ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,greece ,,to
 ,,the ,,future ,,of ,,the ,,world4 ,by 
,,gilbert ,,murray1 ,f4,b4,a41 ,regius  
,professor of ,greek in the ,university 
of ,oxford                              

#a  ,,religion4 ,by ,w4 ,r4 ,,inge1     
,d4,d41 ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's           
#be  ,,philosophy4 ,by ,j4 ,,burnett1   
,f4,b4,a41 ,professor of ,greek in the  
,university of ,st4 ,andrews            
#eg  ,,mathematics ,,and ,,astronomy4   
,by ,sir ,t4 ,l4 ,,heath1 ,k4,c4,b41    
,k4,c4,v4,o41 ,f4,r4,s4                 
#ig  ,,natural ,,science4 ,by ,d',,arcy 
,w4 ,,thompson1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,professor of
 ,natural ,history in the ,university of
 ,st4 ,andrews      #acg  ,,biology4 ,by
 ,,charles ,,singer1 ,lecturer in the   
,history of ,medicine in ,university    
,college1 ,london                       
#afc  ,,medicine4 ,by ,,charles ,,singer
                                        
#bja  ,,literature4 ,by ,r4 ,w4         
,,livingstone1 ,fellow of ,corpus       
,christi ,college1 ,oxford              
#bdi  ,,history4 ,by ,,arnold ,,toynbee1
 ,koras ,professor of ,byzantine and    
,modern ,greek ,language1 ,literature1  
and ,history in the ,university of      
,london                                 

#bhi  ,,political ,,thought4 ,by ,a4 ,e4
 ,,zimmern1 late ,wilson ,professor of  
,international ,politics1 ,university   
,college of ,wales1 ,aberystwyth   #cba 
,,the ,,lamps ,,of ,,greek ,,art4 ,by   
,,percy ,,gardner1 ,f4,b4,a41 ,merton   
,professor of ,classical ,archaeology in
 the ,university of ,oxford     #cec    
,,architecture4 ,by ,sir ,,reginald     
,,blomfield1 ,f4,s4,a41 ,r4,a4          
#cig     ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,greece    
,,to ,,the ,,future ,,of ,,the ,,world  
,if the value of man's life on earth is 
to be measured in dollars and miles and 
horse-power1 ancient ,greece must count 
as a poverty-stricken and a minute      
territory2 its engines and implements   
were nearer to the spear and bow of the 
savage than to our own telegraph and    
aeroplane4 ,even if we neglect merely   
material things and take as our standard
 the actual achievements of the race in 
conduct and in knowledge1 the average   
clerk who goes to town daily1 idly      
glancing at his morning newspaper1 is   

probably a better behaved and infinitely
 better informed person than the average
 ,athenian who sat spellbound at the    
tragedies of ,aeschylus4 ,it is only by 
the standard of the spirit1 to which the
 thing achieved is little and the       
quality of mind that achieved it much1  
which cares less for the sum of         
knowledge attained than for the love of 
knowledge1 less for much good policing  
than for one free act of heroism1 that  
the great age of ,greece can be judged  
as something extraordinary and unique in
 value4  ,by this standard1 if it is a  
legitimate and reasonable one to apply1 
we shall be able to understand why      
classical ,greek literature was the     
basis of education throughout all later 
antiquity2 why its re-discovery1 however
 fragmentary and however imperfectly    
understood1 was able to intoxicate the  
keenest minds of ,europe and constitute 
a kind of spiritual ',re-birth'1 and how
 its further and further exploration may
 be still a task worth men's spending   

their lives upon and capable of giving  
mankind guidance as well as inspiration4
  ,but is such a standard legitimate and
 reasonable8 ,we shall gain nothing by  
unanalysed phrases4 ,but ,i think surely
 it is merely the natural standard of   
any philosophical historian4 ,suppose it
 is argued that an average optician at  
the present day knows more optics than  
,roger ,bacon1 the inventor of          
spectacles2 suppose it is argued that   
therefore he is1 as far as optics go1 a 
greater man1 and that ,roger ,bacon has 
nothing to teach us2 what is the answer8
 ,it is1 ,i suppose1 that ,roger ,bacon1
 receiving a certain amount of knowledge
 from his teachers1 had that in him     
which turned it to unsuspected          
directions and made it immensely greater
 and more fruitful4 ,the average        
optician has probably added a little to 
what he was taught1 but not much1 and   
has doubtless forgotten or confused a   
good deal4 ,so that1 if by studying     
,roger ,bacon's life or his books we    

could get into touch with his mind and  
acquire some of that special moving and 
inspiring quality of his1 it would help 
us far more than would the mere         
knowledge of the optician4  ,this truth 
is no doubt hard to see in the case of  
purely technical science2 in books of   
wider range1 such as ,darwin's for      
instance1 it is easy for any reader to  
feel the presence of a really great     
mind1 producing inspiration of a        
different sort from that of the most    
excellent up-to-date examination        
text-book4 ,in philosophy1 religion1    
poetry1 and the highest kinds of art1   
the greatness of the author's mind seems
 as a rule to be all that matters2 one  
almost ignores the date at which he     
worked4 ,this is because in technical   
sciences the element of mere fact1 or   
mere knowledge1 is so enormous1 the     
elements of imagination1 character1 and 
the like so very small4 ,hence1 books on
 science1 in a progressive age1 very    
quickly become 'out of date'1 and each  

new edition usually supersedes the last4
 ,it is the rarest thing for a work of  
science to survive as a text-book more  
than ten years or so4 ,newton's         
,principia is almost an isolated        
instance among modern writings4  ,yet   
there are some few such books4 ,up till 
about the year #aijj the elements of    
geometry were regularly taught1         
throughout ,europe1 in a text-book      
written by a ,greek called ,eucleides in
 the fourth or third century ,b4 ,c4#a  
,that text-book lasted over two thousand
 years4 ,now1 of course1 people have    
discovered a number of faults in        
,euclid1 but it has taken them all that 
time to do it4      #a ,since this paper
 was first written ,euclid1 ,book ,i1 in
 the     ,greek1 has been edited with a 
commentary by ,sir ,thomas ,heath       
7,cambridge ,press1 #aibj74 ,it is full 
of interest and instruction4  ,again1 ,i
 knew an old gentleman who told me that1
 at a good ,english school in the early 
nineteenth century1 he had been taught  

the principles of grammar out of a      
writer called ,dionysius ,thrax1 or     
,denis of ,thrace4 ,denis was a ,greek  
of the first century ,b4 ,c41 who made  
or carried out the remarkable discovery 
that there was such a thing as a science
 of grammar1 i4 e4 that men in their    
daily speech were unconsciously obeying 
an extraordinarily subtle and intricate 
body of laws1 which were capable of     
being studied and reduced to order4     
,denis did not make the whole discovery 
himself2 he was led to it by his master 
,aristarchus and others4 ,and his book  
had been re-edited several times in the 
nineteen-hundred odd years before this  
old gentleman was taught it4  ,to take a
 third case3 all through later antiquity
 and the middle ages the science of     
medicine was based on the writings of   
two ancient doctors1 ,hippocrates and   
,galen4 ,galen was a ,greek who lived at
 ,rome in the early ,empire1            
,hippocrates a ,greek who lived at the  
island of ,cos in the fifth century ,b4 

,c4 ,a great part of the history of     
modern medicine is a story of           
emancipation from the dead hand of these
 great ancients4 ,but one little        
treatise attributed to ,hippocrates was 
in active use in the training of medical
 students in my own day in ,scotland and
 is still in use in some ,american      
,universities4 ,it was the ,oath taken  
by medical students in the classic age  
of ,greece when they solemnly faced the 
duties of their profession4 ,the        
disciple swore to honour and obey his   
teacher and care for his children if    
ever they were in need2 always to help  
his patients to the best of his power2  
never to use or profess to use magic or 
charms or any supernatural means2 never 
to supply poison or perform illegal     
operations2 never to abuse the special  
position of intimacy which a doctor     
naturally obtains in a sick house1 but  
always on entering to remember that he  
goes as a friend and helper to every    
individual in it4  ,we have given up    

that oath now3 ,i suppose we do not     
believe so much in the value of oaths4  
,but the man who first drew up that oath
 did a great deed4 ,he realized and     
defined the meaning of his high calling 
in words which doctors of unknown       
tongues and undiscovered countries      
accepted from him and felt to express   
their aims for well over two thousand   
years4  ,now what do ,i want to         
illustrate by these three instances8    
,the rapidity with which we are now at  
last throwing off the last vestiges of  
the yoke of ,greece8 ,no1 not that4 ,i  
want to point out that even in the realm
 of science1 where progress is so swift 
and books so short-lived1 the ,greeks of
 the great age had such genius and      
vitality that their books lived in a way
 that no others have lived4 ,let us get 
away from the thought of ,euclid as an  
inky and imperfect ,english school-book1
 to that ancient ,eucleides who1 with   
exceedingly few books but a large table 
of sand let into the floor1 planned and 

discovered and put together and         
re-shaped the first laws of geometry1   
till at last he had written one of the  
great simple books of the world1 a book 
which should stand a pillar and beacon  
to mankind long after all the political 
world that ,eucleides knew had been     
swept away and the kings he served were 
conquered by the ,romans1 and the       
,romans in course of time conquered by  
the barbarians1 and the barbarians      
themselves1 with much labour and        
reluctance1 partly by means of          
,eucleides' book1 eventually educated2  
so that at last1 in our own day1 they   
can manage to learn their geometry      
without it4 ,the time has come for      
,euclid to be superseded2 let him go4   
,he has surely held the torch for       
mankind long enough2 and books of       
science are born to be superseded4 ,what
 ,i want to suggest is that the same    
extraordinary vitality of mind which    
made ,hippocrates and ,euclid and even  
,denis of ,thrace last their two        

thousand years1 was also put by the     
,greeks of the great age into those     
activities which are1 for the most part 
at any rate1 not perishable or          
progressive but eternal4  ,this is a    
simple point1 but it is so important    
that we must dwell on it for a moment4  
,if we read an old treatise on medicine 
or mechanics1 we may admire it and feel 
it a work of genius1 but we also feel   
that it is obsolete3 its work is over2  
we have got beyond it4 ,but when we read
 ,homer or ,aeschylus1 if once we have  
the power to admire and understand their
 writing1 we do not for the most part   
have any feeling of having got beyond   
them4 ,we have done so no doubt in all  
kinds of minor things1 in general       
knowledge1 in details of technique1 in  
civilization and the like2 but hardly   
any sensible person ever imagines that  
he has got beyond their essential       
quality1 the quality that has made them 
great4  ,doubtless there is in every art
 an element of mere knowledge or        

science1 and that element is            
progressive4 ,but there is another      
element1 too1 which does not depend on  
knowledge and which does not progress   
but has a kind of stationary and eternal
 value1 like the beauty of the dawn1 or 
the love of a mother for her child1 or  
the joy of a young animal in being      
alive1 or the courage of a martyr facing
 torment4 ,we cannot for all our        
progress get beyond these things2 there 
they stand1 like light upon the         
mountains4 ,the only question is whether
 we can rise to them4 ,and it is the    
same with all the greatest births of    
human imagination4 ,as far as we can    
speculate1 there is not the faintest    
probability of any poet ever setting to 
work on1 let us say1 the essential      
effect aimed at by ,aeschylus in the    
,cassandra-scene of the ,agamemnon1 and 
doing it better than ,aeschylus4 ,the   
only thing which the human race has to  
do with that scene is to understand it  
and get out of it all the joy and       

emotion and wonder that it contains4    
,this eternal quality is perhaps        
clearest in poetry3 in poetry the       
mixture of knowledge matters less4 ,in  
art there is a constant development of  
tools and media and technical processes4
 ,the modern artist can feel that1      
though he cannot1 perhaps1 make as good 
a statue as ,pheidias1 he could here and
 there have taught ,pheidias something3 
and at any rate he can try his art on   
subjects far more varied and more       
stimulating to his imagination4 ,in     
philosophy the mixture is more subtle   
and more profound4 ,philosophy always   
depends in some sense upon science1 yet 
the best philosophy seems generally to  
have in it some eternal quality of      
creative imagination4 ,plato wrote a    
dialogue about the constitution of the  
world1 the ,timaeus1 which was highly   
influential in later ,greece1 but seems 
to us1 with our vastly superior         
scientific knowledge1 almost            
nonsensical4 ,yet when ,plato writes    

about the theory of knowledge or the    
ultimate meaning of ,justice or of      
,love1 no good philosopher can afford to
 leave him aside3 the chief question is 
whether we can rise to the height and   
subtlety of his thought4  ,and here     
another point emerges1 equally simple   
and equally important if we are to      
understand our relation to the past4    
,suppose a man says3 ',i quite          
understand that ,plato or ,aeschylus may
 have had fine ideas1 but surely        
anything of value which they said must  
long before this have become common     
property4 ,there is no need to go back  
to the ,greeks for it4 ,we do not go    
back and read ,copernicus to learn that 
the earth goes round the sun4' ,what is 
the answer8 ,it is that such a view     
ignores exactly this difference between 
the progressive and the eternal1 between
 knowledge and imagination4 ,if ,harvey 
discovers that the blood is not         
stationary but circulates1 if           
,copernicus discovers that the earth    

goes round the sun and not the sun round
 the earth1 those discoveries can easily
 be communicated in the most abbreviated
 form4 ,if a mechanic invents an        
improvement on the telephone1 or a      
social reformer puts some good usage in 
the place of a bad one1 in a few years  
we shall probably all be using the      
improvement without even knowing what it
 is or saying ,thank you4 ,we may be as 
stupid as we like1 we have in a sense   
got the good of it4  ,but can one apply 
the same process to ,macbeth or ,romeo  
and ,juliet8 ,can any one tell us in a  
few words what they come to8 ,or can a  
person get the good of them in any way  
except one--the way of vivid and loving 
study1 following and feeling the        
author's meaning all through8 ,to       
suppose1 as ,i believe some people do1  
that you can get the value of a great   
poem by studying an abstract of it in an
 encyclopaedia or by reading cursorily  
an average translation of it1 argues    
really a kind of mental deficiency1 like

 deafness or colour-blindness4 ,the     
things that we have called eternal1 the 
things of the spirit and the            
imagination1 always seem to lie more in 
a process than in a result1 and can only
 be reached and enjoyed by somehow going
 through the process again4 ,if the     
value of a particular walk lies in the  
scenery1 you do not get that value by   
taking a short cut or using a fast      
motor-car4  ,in looking back1 then1 upon
 any vital and significant age of the   
past we shall find objects of two kinds4
 ,first1 there will be things like the  
,venus of ,milo or the ,book of ,job or 
,plato's ,republic1 which are           
interesting or precious in themselves1  
because of their own inherent qualities2
 secondly1 there will be things like the
 ,roman code of the ,twelve ,tables or  
the invention of the printing-press or  
the record of certain great battles1    
which are interesting chiefly because   
they are causes of other and greater    
things or form knots in the great web of

 history--the first having artistic     
interest1 the second only historical    
interest1 though1 of course1 it is      
obvious that in any concrete case there 
is generally a mixture of both4  ,now   
,ancient ,greece is important in both   
ways4 ,for the artist or poet it has in 
a quite extraordinary degree the quality
 of beauty4 ,for instance1 to take a    
contrast with ,rome3 if you dig about   
the ,roman ,wall in ,cumberland you will
 find quantities of objects1 altars1    
inscriptions1 figurines1 weapons1 boots 
and shoes1 which are full of historic   
interest but are not much more beautiful
 than the contents of a modern rubbish  
heap4 ,and the same is true of most     
excavations all over the world4 ,but if 
you dig at any classical or             
sub-classical site in the ,greek world1 
however unimportant historically1       
practically every object you find will  
be beautiful4 ,the wall itself will be  
beautiful2 the inscriptions will be     
beautifully cut2 the figurines1 however 

cheap and simple1 may have some         
intentional grotesques among them1 but  
the rest will have a special            
truthfulness and grace2 the vases will  
be of good shapes and the patterns will 
be beautiful patterns4 ,if you happen to
 dig in a burying-place and come across 
some epitaphs on the dead1 they will    
practically all--even when the verses do
 not quite scan and the words are       
wrongly spelt--have about them this     
inexplicable touch of beauty4  ,i am    
anxious not to write nonsense about     
this4 ,one could prove the point in     
detail by taking any collection of      
,greek epitaphs1 and that is the only   
way in which it can be proved4 ,the     
beauty is a fact1 and if we try to      
analyse the sources of it we shall      
perhaps in part understand how it has   
come to pass4  ,in the first place1 it  
is not a beauty of ornament2 it is a    
beauty of structure1 a beauty of        
rightness and simplicity4 ,compare an   
athlete in flannels playing tennis and a

 stout dignitary smothered in gold      
robes4 ,or compare a good modern yacht1 
swift1 lithe1 and plain1 with a         
lumbering heavily gilded                
sixteenth-century galleon1 or even with 
a ,chinese state junk3 the yacht is far 
the more beautiful though she has not a 
hundredth part of the ornament4 ,it is  
she herself that is beautiful1 because  
her lines and structure are right4 ,the 
others are essentially clumsy and1      
therefore1 ugly things1 dabbed over with
 gold and paint4 ,now ancient ,greek    
things for the most part have the beauty
 of the yacht4 ,the ,greeks used paint a
 good deal1 but apart from that a ,greek
 temple is almost as plain as a shed3   
people accustomed to arabesques and     
stained glass and gargoyles can very    
often see nothing in it4 ,a ,greek      
statue has as a rule no ornament at all3
 a young man racing or praying1 an old  
man thinking1 there it stands expressed 
in a stately and simple convention1 true
 or false1 the anatomy and the surfaces 

right or wrong1 aiming at no beauty     
except the truest4 ,it would probably   
seem quite dull to the maker of a       
mediaeval wooden figure of a king which 
,i remember seeing in a town in the east
 of ,europe3 a crown blazing with       
many-coloured glass1 a long crimson robe
 covered with ornaments and beneath them
 an idiot face1 no bones1 no muscles1 no
 attitude4 ,that is not what a ,greek   
meant by beauty4 ,the same quality holds
 to a great extent of ,greek poetry4    
,not1 of course1 that the artistic      
convention was the same1 or at all      
similar1 for treating stone and for     
treating language4 ,greek poetry is     
statuesque in the sense that it depends 
greatly on its organic structure2 it is 
not in the least so in the sense of     
being cold or colourless or stiff4 ,but 
,greek poetry on the whole has a        
bareness and severity which disappoints 
a modern reader1 accustomed as he is to 
lavish ornament and exaggeration at     
every turn4 ,it has the same simplicity 

and straightforwardness as ,greek       
sculpture4 ,the poet has something to   
say and he says it as well and truly as 
he can in the suitable style1 and if you
 are not interested you are not4 ,with  
some exceptions which explain themselves
 he does not play a thousand pretty     
tricks and antics on the way1 so that   
you may forget the dullness of what he  
says in amusement at the draperies in   
which he wraps it4  ,but here comes an  
apparent difficulty4 ,greek poetry1 we  
say1 is very direct1 very simple1 very  
free from irrelevant ornament4 ,and yet 
when we translate it into ,english and  
look at our translation1 our main       
feeling1 ,i think1 is that somehow the  
glory has gone3 a thing that was high   
and lordly has become poor and mean4    
,any decent ,greek scholar when he opens
 one of his ancient poets feels at once 
the presence of something lofty and     
rare--something like the atmosphere of  
,paradise ,lost4 ,but the language of   
,paradise ,lost is elaborately twisted  

and embellished into loftiness and      
rarity2 the language of the ,greek poem 
is simple and direct4 ,what does this   
mean8  ,i can only suppose that the     
normal language of ,greek poetry is in  
itself in some sense sublime4 ,most     
critics accept this as an obvious fact1 
yet1 if true1 it is a very strange fact 
and worth thinking about4 ,it depends   
partly on mere euphony3 ,khaireis horn  
fs is probably more beautiful in sound  
than ',you rejoice to see the light'1   
but euphony cannot be everything4 ,the  
sound of a great deal of ,greek poetry1 
either as we pronounce it1 or as the    
ancients pronounced it1 is to modern    
ears almost ugly4 ,it depends partly1   
perhaps1 on the actual structure of the 
,greek language3 philologists tell us   
that1 viewed as a specimen1 it is in    
structure and growth and in power of    
expressing things1 the most perfect     
language they know4 ,and certainly one  
often finds that a thought can be       
expressed with ease and grace in ,greek 

which becomes clumsy and involved in    
,latin1 ,english1 ,french or ,german4   
,but neither of these causes goes1 ,i   
think1 to the root of the matter4  ,what
 is it that gives words their character 
and makes a style high or low8          
,obviously1 their associations2 the     
company they habitually keep in the     
minds of those who use them4 ,a word    
which belongs to the language of bars   
and billiard saloons will become        
permeated by the normal standard of mind
 prevalent in such places2 a word which 
suggests ,milton or ,carlyle will have  
the flavour of those men's minds about  
it4 ,i therefore cannot resist the      
conclusion that1 if the language of     
,greek poetry has1 to those who know it 
intimately1 this special quality of keen
 austere beauty1 it is because the minds
 of the poets who used that language    
were habitually toned to a higher level 
both of intensity and of nobility than  
ours4 ,it is a finer language because it
 expresses the minds of finer men4 ,by  

'finer men' ,i do not necessarily mean  
men who behaved better1 either by our   
standards or by their own2 ,i mean men  
to whom the fine things of the world1   
sunrise and sea and stars and the love  
of man for man1 and strife and the      
facing of evil for the sake of good1 and
 even common things like meat and drink1
 and evil things like hate and terror1  
had1 as it were1 a keener edge than they
 have for us and roused a swifter and a 
nobler reaction4  ,let us resume this   
argument before going further4 ,we start
 from the indisputable fact that the    
,greeks of about the fifth century ,b4  
,c4 did for some reason or other produce
 various works of art1 buildings and    
statues and books1 especially books1    
which instead of decently dying or      
falling out of fashion in the lifetime  
of the men who made them1 lasted on and 
can still cause high thoughts and       
intense emotions4 ,in trying to explain 
this strange fact we notice that the    
,greeks had a great and pervading       

instinct for beauty1 and for beauty of a
 particular kind4 ,it is a beauty which 
never lies in irrelevant ornament1 but  
always in the very essence and structure
 of the object made4 ,in literature we  
found that the special beauty which we  
call ,greek depends partly on the       
directness1 truthfulness1 and simplicity
 with which the ,greeks say what they   
want to say1 and partly on a special    
keenness and nobility in the language1  
which seems to be the natural expression
 of keen and noble minds4 ,can we in any
 way put all these things together so as
 to explain them--or at any rate to hold
 them together more clearly8  ,an       
extremely old and often misleading      
metaphor will help us4 ,people have     
said3 ',the world was young then4' ,of  
course1 strictly speaking1 it was not4  
,in the total age of the world or of man
 the two thousand odd years between us  
and ,pericles do not count for much4    
,nor can we imagine that a man of sixty 
felt any more juvenile in the fifth     

century ,b4 ,c4 than he does now4 ,it   
was just the other way1 because at that 
time there were no spectacles or false  
teeth4 ,yet in a sense the world was    
young then1 at any rate our western     
world1 the world of progress and        
humanity4 ,for the beginnings of nearly 
all the great things that progressive   
minds now care for were then being laid 
in ,greece4  ,youth1 perhaps1 is not    
exactly the right word4 ,there are      
certain plants--some kinds of aloe1 for 
instance--which continue for an         
indefinite number of years in a slow    
routine of ordinary life close to the   
ground1 and then suddenly1 when they    
have stored enough vital force1 grow ten
 feet high and burst into flower1 after 
which1 no doubt1 they die or show signs 
of exhaustion4 ,apart from the dying1 it
 seems as if something like that        
happened from time to time to the human 
race1 or to such parts of it as really  
bear flowers at all4 ,for most races and
 nations during the most of their life  

are not progressive but simply stagnant1
 sometimes just managing to preserve    
their standard customs1 sometimes       
slipping back to the slough4 ,that is   
why history has nothing to say about    
them4 ,the history of the world consists
 mostly in the memory of those ages1    
quite few in number1 in which some part 
of the world has risen above itself and 
burst into flower or fruit4  ,we        
ourselves happen to live in the midst or
 possibly in the close of one such      
period4 ,more change has probably taken 
place in daily life1 in ideas1 and in   
the general aspect of the earth during  
the last century than during any four   
other centuries since the ,christian    
era3 and this fact has tended to make us
 look on rapid progress as a normal     
condition of the human race1 which it   
never has been4 ,and another such period
 of bloom1 a bloom comparatively short  
in time and narrow in area1 but         
amazingly swift and intense1 occurred in
 the lower parts of the ,balkan         

peninsula from about the sixth to the   
fourth centuries before ,christ4  ,now  
it is this kind of bloom which fills the
 world with hope and therefore makes it 
young4 ,take a man who has just made a  
discovery or an invention1 a man happily
 in love1 a man who is starting some    
great and successful social movement1 a 
man who is writing a book or painting a 
picture which he knows to be good2 take 
men who have been fighting in some great
 cause which before they fought seemed  
to be hopeless and now is triumphant2   
think of ,england when the ,armada was  
just defeated1 ,france at the first dawn
 of the ,revolution1 ,america after     
,yorktown3 such men and nations will be 
above themselves4 ,their powers will be 
stronger and keener2 there will be      
exhilaration in the air1 a sense of     
walking in new paths1 of dawning hopes  
and untried possibilities1 a confidence 
that all things can be won if only we   
try hard enough4 ,in that sense the     
world will be young4 ,in that sense ,i  

think it was young in the time of       
,themistocles and ,aeschylus4 ,and it is
 that youth which is half the secret of 
the ,greek spirit4  ,and here ,i may    
meet an objection that has perhaps been 
lurking in the minds of many readers4   
',all this1' they may say1 'professes to
 be a simple analysis of known facts1   
but in reality is sheer idealization4   
,these ,greeks whom you call so noble   
have been long since exposed4           
,anthropology has turned its            
searchlights upon them4 ,it is not only 
their ploughs1 their weapons1 their     
musical instruments1 and their painted  
idols that resemble those of the        
savages2 it is everything else about    
them4 ,many of them were sunk in the    
most degrading superstitions3 many      
practised unnatural vices3 in times of  
great fear some were apt to think that  
the best medicine was a human sacrifice4
 ,after that1 it is hardly worth        
mentioning that their social structure  
was largely based on slavery2 that they 

lived in petty little towns1 like so    
many wasps' nests1 each at war with its 
next-door neighbour1 and half of them at
 war with themselves6'  ,if our         
anti-,greek went further he would       
probably cease to speak the truth4 ,we  
will stop him while we can still agree  
with him4 ,these charges are on the     
whole true1 and1 if we are to understand
 what ,greece means1 we must realize and
 digest them4 ,we must keep hold of two 
facts3 first1 that the ,greeks of the   
fifth century produced some of the      
noblest poetry and art1 the finest      
political thinking1 the most vital      
philosophy1 known to the world2 second1 
that the people who heard and saw1 nay  
perhaps1 even the people who produced   
these wonders1 were separated by a thin 
and precarious interval from the savage4
 ,scratch a civilized ,russian1 they    
say1 and you find a wild ,tartar4       
,scratch an ancient ,greek1 and you hit1
 no doubt1 on a very primitive and      
formidable being1 somewhere between a   

,viking and a ,polynesian4  ,that is    
just the magic and the wonder of it4    
,the spiritual effort implied is so     
tremendous4 ,we have read stories of    
savage chiefs converted by ,christian or
 ,buddhist missionaries1 who within a   
year or so have turned from drunken     
corroborees and bloody witch-smellings  
to a life that is not only godly but    
even philanthropic and statesmanlike4   
,we have seen the ,japanese lately go   
through some centuries of normal growth 
in the space of a generation4 ,but in   
all such examples men have only been    
following the teaching of a superior    
civilization1 and after all1 they have  
not ended by producing works of         
extraordinary and original genius4 ,it  
seems quite clear that the ,greeks owed 
exceedingly little to foreign influence4
 ,even in their decay they were a race1 
as ,professor ,bury observes1 accustomed
 'to take little and to give much'4     
,they built up their civilization for   
themselves4 ,we must listen with due    

attention to the critics who have       
pointed out all the remnants of savagery
 and superstition that they find in     
,greece3 the slave-driver1 the          
fetish-worshipper and the medicine-man1 
the trampler on women1 the bloodthirsty 
hater of all outside his own town and   
party4 ,but it is not those people that 
constitute ,greece2 those people can be 
found all over the historical world1    
commoner than blackberries4 ,it is not  
anything fixed and stationary that      
constitutes ,greece3 what constitutes   
,greece is the movement which leads from
 all these to the ,stoic or             
fifth-century 'sophist' who condemns and
 denies slavery1 who has abolished all  
cruel superstitions and preaches some   
religion based on philosophy and        
humanity1 who claims for women the same 
spiritual rights as for man1 who looks  
on all human creatures as his brethren1 
and the world as 'one great ,city of    
gods and men'4 ,it is that movement     
which you will not find elsewhere1 any  

more than the statues of ,pheidias or   
the dialogues of ,plato or the poems of 
,aeschylus and ,euripides4  ,from all   
this two or three results follow4 ,for  
one thing1 being built up so swiftly1 by
 such keen effort1 and from so low a    
starting-point1 ,greek civilization was1
 amid all its glory1 curiously unstable 
and full of flaws4 ,such flaws made it1 
of course1 much worse for those who     
lived in it1 but they hardly make it    
less interesting or instructive to those
 who study it4 ,rather the contrary4    
,again1 the near neighbourhood of the   
savage gives to the ,greek mind certain 
qualities which we of the safer and     
solider civilizations would give a great
 deal to possess4 ,it springs swift and 
straight4 ,it is never jaded4 ,its      
wonder and interest about the world are 
fresh4 ,and lastly there is one curious 
and very important quality which1 unless
 ,i am mistaken1 belongs to ,greek      
civilization more than to any other4 ,to
 an extraordinary degree it starts clean

 from nature1 with almost no            
entanglements of elaborate creeds and   
customs and traditions4  ,i am not1 of  
course1 forgetting the prehistoric      
,minoan civilization1 nor yet the       
peculiar forms--mostly simple           
enough--into which the traditional      
,greek religion fell4 ,it is possible   
that ,i may be a little misled by my own
 habit of living much among ,greek      
things and so forgetting through long   
familiarity how odd some of them once   
seemed4 ,but when all allowances are    
made1 ,i think that this clean start    
from nature is1 on the whole1 a true    
claim4 ,if a thoughtful ,european or    
,american wants to study ,chinese or    
,indian things1 he has not only to learn
 certain data of history and mythology1 
he has to work his mind into a          
particular attitude2 to put on1 as it   
were1 spectacles of a particular sort4  
,if he wants to study mediaeval things1 
if he takes even so universal a poet as 
,dante1 it is something the same4       

,curious views about the ,pope and the  
emperor1 a crabbed scholastic           
philosophy1 a strange and to the modern 
mind rather horrible theology1 floating 
upon the flames of ,hell3 all these have
 somehow to be taken into his           
imagination before he can understand his
 ,dante4 ,with ,greek things this is    
very much less so4 ,the historical and  
imaginative background of the various   
great poets and philosophers is1 no     
doubt1 highly important4 ,a great part  
of the work of modern scholarship is now
 devoted to getting it clearer4 ,but on 
the whole1 putting aside for the moment 
the possible inadequacies of            
translation1 ,greek philosophy speaks   
straight to any human being who is      
willing to think simply1 ,greek art and 
poetry to any one who can use his       
imagination and enjoy beauty4 ,he has   
not to put on the fetters or the        
blinkers of any new system in order to  
understand them2 he has only to get rid 
of his own--a much more profitable and  

less troublesome task4  ,this particular
 conclusion will scarcely1 ,i think1 be 
disputed1 but the point presents        
difficulties and must be dwelt upon4    
,in the first place1 it does not mean   
that ,greek art is what we call         
'naturalist' or 'realist'4 ,it is       
markedly the reverse4 ,art to the ,greek
 is always a form of ,sophia1 or        
,wisdom1 a ,techn with rules that have  
to be learnt4 ,its air of utter         
simplicity is deceptive4 ,the pillar    
that looks merely straight is really a  
thing of subtle curves4 ,the funeral    
bas-relief that seems to represent in   
the simplest possible manner a woman    
saying good-bye to her child is         
arranged1 plane behind plane1 with the  
most delicate skill and sometimes with  
deliberate falsification of perspective4
 ,there is always some convention1 some 
idealization1 some touch of the light   
that never was on sea or land4 ,yet all 
the time1 ,i think1 ,greek art remains  
in a remarkable degree close to nature4 

,the artist's eye is always on the      
object1 and1 though he represents it in 
his own style1 that style is always     
normal and temperate1 free from         
affectation1 free from exaggeration or  
morbidity and1 in the earlier periods1  
free from conventionality4 ,it is art   
without doubt2 but it is natural and    
normal art1 such as grew spontaneously  
when mankind first tried in freedom to  
express beauty4 ,for example1 the       
language of ,greek poetry is markedly   
different from that of prose1 and there 
are even clear differences of language  
between different styles of poetry4 ,and
 further1 the poetry is very seldom     
about the present4 ,it is about the     
past1 and that an ideal past4 ,what we  
have to notice there is that this kind  
of rule1 which has been usual in all    
great ages of poetry1 is apparently not 
an artificial or arbitrary thing but a  
tendency that grew up naturally with the
 first great expressions of poetical    
feeling4  ,furthermore1 this closeness  

to nature1 this absence of a unifying or
 hide-bound system of thought1 acting   
together with other causes1 has led to  
the extraordinary variety and           
many-sidedness which is one of the most 
puzzling charms of ,ancient ,greece as  
contrasted1 say1 with ,israel or        
,assyria or early ,rome4 ,geographically
 it is a small country with a highly    
indented coast-line and an interior cut 
into a great number of almost isolated  
valleys4 ,politically it was a confused 
unity made up of numerous independent   
states1 one walled city of a few        
thousand inhabitants being quite enough 
to form a state4 ,and the citizens of   
these states were1 each of them1 rather 
excessively capable of forming opinions 
of their own and fighting for them4     
,hence came in practice much isolation  
and faction and general weakness1 to the
 detriment of the ,greeks themselves2   
but the same cause led in thought and   
literature to immense variety and       
vitality1 to the great gain of us who   

study the ,greeks afterwards4 ,there is 
hardly any type of thought or style of  
writing which cannot be paralleled in   
ancient ,greece1 only they will there be
 seen1 as it were1 in their earlier and 
simpler forms4 ,traces of all the things
 that seem most un-,greek can be found  
somewhere in ,greek literature3         
voluptuousness1 asceticism1 the worship 
of knowledge1 the contempt for          
knowledge1 atheism1 pietism1 the        
religion of serving the world and the   
religion of turning away from the world3
 all these and almost all other points  
of view one can think of are represented
 somewhere in the records of that one   
small people4 ,and there is hardly any  
single generalization in this chapter   
which the author himself could not      
controvert by examples to the contrary4 
,you feel in general a great absence of 
all fetters3 the human mind free1 rather
 inexperienced1 intensely interested in 
life and full of hope1 trying in every  
direction for that excellence which the 

,greeks called aret1 and guided by some 
peculiar instinct toward ,temperance and
 ,beauty4  ,the variety is there and    
must not be forgotten2 yet amid the     
variety there are certain general or    
central characteristics1 mostly due to  
this same quality of freshness and      
closeness to nature4  ,if you look at a 
,greek statue or bas-relief1 or if you  
read an average piece of ,aristotle1 you
 will very likely at first feel bored4  
,why8 ,because it is all so normal and  
truthful2 so singularly free from       
exaggeration1 paradox1 violent emphasis2
 so destitute of those fascinating      
by-forms of insanity which appeal to    
some similar faint element of insanity  
in ourselves4 ',we are sick'1 we may    
exclaim1 'of the sight of these         
handsome1 perfectly healthy men with    
grave faces and normal bones and        
muscles6 ,we are sick of being told that
 ,virtue is a mean between two extremes 
and tends to make men happy6 ,we shall  
not be interested unless some one tells 

us that ,virtue is the utter abnegation 
of self1 or1 it may be1 the extreme and 
ruthless assertion of self2 or again1   
that ,virtue is all an infamous mistake6
 ,and for statues1 give us a haggard man
 with starved body and cavernous eyes1  
cursing ,god--or give us something      
rolling in fat and colour4444'  ,what is
 at the back of this sort of feeling8   
which ,i admit often takes more         
reasonable forms than these ,i have     
suggested4 ,it is the same psychological
 cause that brings about the changes of 
fashion in art or dress3 which loves    
'stunts' and makes the fortunes of      
yellow newspapers4 ,it is boredom or    
ennui4 ,we have had too much of ,a2 we  
are sick of it1 we know how it is done  
and despise it2 give us some ,b1 or     
better still some ,z4 ,and after a      
strong dose of ,z we shall crave for the
 beginning of the alphabet again4 ,but  
now think of a person who is not bored  
at all2 who is1 on the contrary1        
immensely interested in the world1 keen 

to choose good things and reject bad    
ones2 full of the desire for knowledge  
and the excitement of discovery4 ,the   
joy to him is to see things as they are 
and to judge them normally4 ,he is not  
bored by the sight of normal1 healthy   
muscles in a healthy1 well-shaped body2 
he is delighted4 ,if you distort the    
muscles for emotional effect1 he would  
say with disappointment3 ',but that is  
ugly6' or ',but a man's muscles do not  
go like that6' ,he will have noted that 
tears are salt and rather warm2 but if  
you say like a modern poet that your    
heroine's tears are 'more hot than fire1
 more salt than the salt sea'1 he will  
probably think your statement  apithanon
 'unpersuasive'1 and therefore  psychron
 'chilling'4  ,it is perhaps especially 
in the religious and moral sphere that  
we are accustomed to the habitual use of
 ecstatic language3 expressions that are
 only true of exalted moments are used  
by us as the commonplaces of ordinary   
life4 ',it is a thousand times worse to 

see another suffer than to suffer       
oneself4' ',true love only desires the  
happiness of the beloved object4' ,this 
kind of 'high falutin'' has become part 
of our regular mental habit1 just as    
dead metaphors by the bushel are a part 
of our daily language4 ,consequently we 
are a little chilled and disappointed by
 a language in which people hardly ever 
use a metaphor except when they vividly 
realize it1 and never utter heroic      
sentiments except when they are wrought 
up to the pitch of feeling them true4   
,does this mean that the ,greek always  
remains1 so to speak1 at a normal       
temperature1 that he never has intense  
or blinding emotions8 ,not in the least4
 ,it shows a lack of faith in the value 
of life to imagine such a conclusion4   
,it implies that you can only reach     
great emotion by pretence1 or by        
habitually exaggerating small emotions1 
whereas probably the exact reverse is   
the case4 ,when the great thing comes1  
then the ,greek will have the great word

 and the great thought ready4 ,it is the
 habitual exaggerator who will perhaps  
be bankrupt4 ,and after all--the great  
things are sure to come6  ,the power of 
seeing things straight and knowing what 
is beautiful or noble1 quite undisturbed
 by momentary boredoms or changes of    
taste1 is a very rare gift and never    
perhaps possessed in full by any one4   
,but there is a profound rule of art1   
bidding a man in the midst of all his   
study of various styles or his pursuit  
of his own peculiar imaginations1 from  
time to time se retremper dans la       
nature--'to steep himself again in      
nature'4 ,and in something the same way 
it seems as if the world ought from time
 to time to steep itself again in       
,hellenism3 that is1 it ought1 amid all 
the varying affectations and            
extravagances and changes of convention 
in art and letters1 to have some careful
 regard for those which arose when man  
first awoke to the meaning of truth and 
beauty and saw the world freely as a new

 thing4  ,is this exaggeration8 ,i think
 not4 ,but no full defence of it can be 
attempted here4 ,in this essay we have  
been concerned almost entirely with the 
artistic interest of ,greece4 ,it would 
be equally possible to dwell on the     
historical interest4 ,then we should    
find that1 for that branch of mankind   
which is responsible for western        
civilization1 the seeds of almost all   
that we count best in human progress    
were sown in ,greece4 ,the conception of
 beauty as a joy in itself and as a     
guide in life was first and most vividly
 expressed in ,greece1 and the very laws
 by which things are beautiful or ugly  
were to a great extent discovered there 
and laid down4 ,the conception of       
,freedom and ,justice1 freedom in body1 
in speech and in mind1 justice between  
the strong and the weak1 the rich and   
the poor1 penetrates the whole of ,greek
 political thought1 and was1 amid       
obvious flaws1 actually realized to a   
remarkable degree in the best ,greek    

communities4 ,the conception of ,truth  
as an end to pursue for its own sake1 a 
thing to discover and puzzle out by     
experiment and imagination and          
especially by ,reason1 a conception     
essentially allied with that of ,freedom
 and opposed both to anarchy and to     
blind obedience1 has perhaps never in   
the world been more clearly grasped than
 by the early ,greek writers on science 
and philosophy4 ,one stands amazed      
sometimes at the perfect freedom of     
their thought4 ,another conception came 
rather later1 when the small ,city      
,states with exclusive rights of        
citizenship had been merged in a larger 
whole3 the conception of the universal  
fellowship between man and man4 ,greece 
realized soon after the ,persian war    
that she had a mission to the world1    
that ,hellenism stood for the higher    
life of man as against barbarism1 for   
,aret1 or ,excellence1 as against the   
mere effortless average4 ,first came the
 crude patriotism which regarded every  

,greek as superior to every barbarian2  
then came reflection1 showing that not  
all ,greeks were true bearers of the    
light1 nor all barbarians its enemies2  
that ,hellenism was a thing of the      
spirit and not dependent on the race to 
which a man belonged or the place where 
he was born3 then came the new word and 
conception  anthrpots1 humanitas1 which 
to the ,stoics made the world as one    
brotherhood4 ,no people known to history
 clearly formulated these ideals before 
the ,greeks1 and those who have spoken  
the words afterwards seem for the most  
part to be merely echoing the thoughts  
of old ,greek men4  ,these ideas1 the   
pursuit of ,truth1 ,freedom1 ,beauty1   
,excellence are not everything4 ,they   
have been a leaven of unrest in the     
world2 they have held up a light which  
was not always comforting to the eyes to
 see4 ,there is another ideal which is  
generally stronger and may1 for all we  
know1 in the end stamp them out as evil 
things4 ,there is ,submission instead of

 ,freedom1 the deadening or brutalizing 
of the senses instead of ,beauty1 the   
acceptance of tradition instead of the  
pursuit of ,truth1 the belief in        
hallucination or passion instead of     
,reason and ,temperate ,thought1 the    
obscuring of distinctions between good  
and bad and the acceptance of all human 
beings and all states of mind as equal  
in value4 ,if something of this kind    
should prove in the end to be right for 
man1 then ,greece will have played the  
part of the great wrecker in human      
history4 ,she will have held up false   
lights which have lured our ship to     
dangerous places4 ,but at any rate1     
through calm and storm1 she does hold   
her lights2 she lit them first of the   
nations and held them during her short  
reign the clearest2 and whether we      
believe in an individual life founded on
 ,freedom1 ,reason1 ,beauty1 ,excellence
 and the pursuit of ,truth1 and an      
international life aiming at the        
fellowship between man and man1 or      

whether we think these ideals the great 
snares of human politics1 there is good 
cause for some of us in each generation 
at the cost of some time and trouble to 
study such important forces where they  
first appear consciously in the minds of
 our spiritual ancestors4 ,in the       
thought and art of ancient ,greece1 more
 than any other1 we shall find these    
forces1 and also to some extent their   
great opposites1 fresh1 clean and       
comparatively uncomplicated1 with every 
vast issue wrought out on a small       
material scale and every problem stated 
in its lowest terms4  ,,gilbert         
,,murray4     ,,religion   ,those who   
write about the ,greeks must beware of a
 heresy which is very rife just now--the
 theory of racialism4 ,political        
ethnology1 which is no genuine science1 
excused the ambition of the ,germans to 
themselves1 and helped them to wage war2
 it has suggested to the ,allies a      
method of waging peace4 ,the false and  
mischievous doctrine of superior and    

inferior races is used to justify       
oppression in ,europe1 and murder by    
torture in ,america4 ,it will not help  
us to understand the ,greeks4 ,the      
,greeks were a nation of splendid       
mongrels1 made up of the same elements1 
differently mixed1 as ourselves4 ,their 
famous beauty1 which had almost         
disappeared when ,cicero visited        
,athens1 was mainly the result of a     
healthy outdoor life and physical       
training1 combined with a very becoming 
costume4 ,they were probably not        
handsomer than ,oxford rowing crews or  
,eton boys4 ,their flowering time of    
genius was due to the same causes which 
produced similar results in the ,italian
 ,renaissance4 ,the city-state is a     
forcing-house of brilliant achievement1 
though it quickly uses up its human     
material4 ,we cannot even regard the    
,greeks as a homogeneous mixed race4    
,the ,spartiates were almost pure       
,nordics2 the ,athenians almost pure    
,mediterraneans4 ,the early colonists1  

from whom sprang so many of the greatest
 names in the ,hellenic roll of honour1 
are not likely to have kept their blood 
pure4 ,nor was there ever a ,greek      
culture shared by all the ,greeks4 ,the 
,spartan system1 that of a small        
fighting tribe encamped in a subject    
country1 recalls that of ,chaka's       
,zulus2 ,arcadia was bucolic1 ,aetolia  
barbarous1 ,boeotia stolid1 ,macedonia  
half outside the pale4 ,the             
consciousness of race among the ,greeks 
counted practically for about as much as
 the consciousness of being white men1  
or ,christians1 does in modern          
civilization4  ,greece for our purposes 
means not a race1 but a culture1 a      
language and literature1 and still more 
an attitude towards life1 which for us  
begins with ,homer1 and persists1 with  
many changes but no breaks1 till the    
closing of the ,athenian lecture-rooms  
by ,justinian4 ,the changes no doubt    
were great1 when politically ,greece was
 living ,greece no more1 and when the   

bearers of the tradition were no longer 
the lineal descendants of those who     
established it4 ,but the tradition1     
enshrined in literature1 in monuments1  
and in social customs1 survived4 ,the   
civilization of the ,roman ,empire was  
not ,italian but ,greek4 ,after the     
sixth century1 ,hellenism--the language1
 the literature1 and the attitude       
towards life--was practically lost to   
the ,west for nearly a thousand years4  
,it was recovered at the ,renaissance1  
and from that time to this has been a   
potent element in western civilization4 
,the ,dark ,ages1 and the early ,middle 
,ages1 are the period during which the  
,west was cut off from ,hellenism4 ,yet 
even then the severance was not         
complete4 ,for these were the ages of   
the ,catholic theocracy2 and if we had  
to choose one man as the founder of     
,catholicism as a theocratic system1 we 
should have to name neither ,augustine  
nor ,st4 ,paul1 still less ,jesus       
,christ1 but ,plato1 who in the ,laws   

sketches out with wonderful prescience  
the conditions for such a polity1 and   
the form which it would be compelled to 
take4 ,even in speculative thought we   
know that ,augustine owed much to the   
,platonists1 the ,schoolmen to          
,aristotle1 the mystics to the pupil of 
,proclus whom they called ,dionysius4   
,only ,greek science1 and the scientific
 spirit1 were almost completely lost1   
and a beginning de novo had to be made  
when the ,west shook off its fetters4   
,hellenism then is not the mind of a    
particular ethnic type1 nor of a        
particular period4 ,it was not          
destroyed1 though it was emasculated1 by
 the loss of political freedom2 it was  
neither killed nor died a natural death4
 ,its philosophy was continuous from    
,thales to ,proclus1 and again from     
,ficino and ,pico to ,lotze and         
,bradley1 after a long sleep which was  
not death4 ,its religion passes into    
,christian theology and cultus without  
any real break4 ,the early ,church spoke

 in ,greek and thought in ,greek4 ,in   
the days of ,greek freedom to be a      
,greek had meant to be a citizen of a   
,greek canton2 after ,alexander it meant
 to have ,greek culture4 ,none of the   
great ,stoics were natives of ,greece   
proper2 ,zeno himself was a ,semite4 ,of
 the later ,greek writers1 ,marcus      
,aurelius was a ,romanized ,spaniard1   
,plotinus possibly a ,copt1 ,porphyry   
and ,lucian ,syrians1 ,philo1 ,st4      
,paul1 and probably the ,fourth         
,evangelist were ,jews4 ,these men all  
belong to the history of ,greek culture4
 ,and if these were ,greeks how shall we
 deny the name to ,raphael and ,michael 
,angelo1 to ,spenser and ,sidney1 to    
,keats and ,shelley8 ,when ,blake       
wrote--      ,the sun's light when he   
unfolds it1     ,depends on the organ   
that beholds it1  he was summing up1 not
 only the philosophy of the ,lake ,poets
 but the fundamental dogma of the       
maturest ,greek thought4 ,would not     
,plato have rejoiced in ,michael        

,angelo's confession of faith1 which    
,wordsworth has translated for us8      
,heaven-born1 the soul a heavenward     
course must hold2     ,beyond the       
visible world she soars to seek         
7,for what delights the sense is false  
and weak7     ,ideal ,form1 the         
universal mould4     ,the wise man1 ,i  
affirm1 can find no rest     ,in that   
which perishes2 nor will he lend        
,his heart to aught that doth on time   
depend4  ,has the highest aspect of     
,greek religion ever been better        
expressed than by ,wordsworth himself1  
to whom1 as to ,blake1 it came by       
inspiration and not from books8         
,while yet a child1 and long before his 
time     ,had he perceived the presence 
and the power     ,of greatness2 and    
deep feelings had impressed     ,so     
vividly great objects that they lay     
,upon his mind like substances1 whose   
presence     ,perplexed the bodily      
sense4  ,the spirit of man does not live
 only on tradition2 it can draw direct  

from the fountain-head4 ,we are dealing 
with a permanent type of human culture1 
which is rightly named after the        
,greeks1 since it attained its chief    
glory in the literature and art of the  
,hellenic cities1 but which cannot be   
separated from western civilization as  
an alien importation4 ,without what we  
call our debt to ,greece we should have 
neither our religion nor our philosophy 
nor our science nor our literature nor  
our education nor our politics4 ,we     
should be mere barbarians4 ,we need not 
speculate how much we might ultimately  
have discovered for ourselves4 ,our     
civilization is a tree which has its    
roots in ,greece1 or1 to borrow a more  
appropriate metaphor from ,clement of   
,alexandria1 it is a river which has    
received affluents from every side2 but 
its head waters are ,greek4 ,the        
continuity of ,greek thought and        
practice in religion and religious      
philosophy is especially important1 and 
it is necessary to emphasize it because 

the accident of our educational         
curriculum leaves in the minds of most  
students a broad chasm between the      
,stoics and the ,christians1 ignores the
 later ,greek philosophy of religion    
altogether1 and traces ,christian dogma 
back to ,palestine1 with which it has   
very little connexion4  ,our sense of   
continuity is dulled in another way4    
,there is a tendency to isolate certain 
aspects of ,hellenic life and thought as
 characteristic1 and to stamp others1   
which are equally found among the       
ancient ,greeks1 as untypical and       
exceptional4 ,in the sphere of religion1
 with which we are concerned in this    
essay1 we are bidden to regard ,plato   
and ,euripides as rebels against the    
national tradition1 and not as normal   
products of their age and country4 ,i do
 not feel at liberty to pick and choose 
in this fashion4 ,a national character  
may be best exemplified in its rebels1 a
 religion in its heretics4 ,if          
,nietzsche was right in calling ,plato a

 ,christian before ,christ1 ,i do not   
therefore regard him as an unhellenic   
,greek4 ,rather1 ,i trace back to him1  
and so to ,greece1 the religion and the 
political philosophy of the ,christian  
,church1 and the ,christian type of     
mysticism4 ,if ,euripides anticipated to
 an extraordinary degree the devout     
agnosticism1 the vague pantheism1 the   
humanitarian sentiment of the nineteenth
 7rather than of the twentieth7 century1
 ,i do not consider that he was a freak 
in fifth-century ,athens1 but that      
,greece showed us the way even in paths 
where we have not been used to look to  
her for guidance4 ,i am equally         
reluctant to assume1 without evidence1  
that the later ,platonism1 whether we   
call it religion or philosophy1 is      
unhellenic4 ,it is quite unnecessary to 
look for ,asiatic influences in a school
 which clung close to the ,attic        
tradition4 ,it is more to the purpose to
 show how a religious philosophy of     
mystical revelation and introspection   

grew naturally out of the older         
nature-philosophies1 just as in our own 
day metaphysics and science have both   
been driven back upon the theory of     
knowledge and psychology4 ,it should not
 be necessary to remind ,hellenists that
 ',know thyself' passed for the supreme 
word of wisdom in the classical period1 
or that ,heracleitus revealed his method
 in the words ',i searched myself'4  ,we
 shall come presently to certain parts  
of our modern heritage which are not    
,greek either by origin or by affinity4 
,these will not be found in ,euripides  
or ,plato any more than in ,herodotus or
 ,sophocles4 ,but some developments of  
religion which our ,hellenists          
particularly dislike1 and are therefore 
anxious to disclaim as alien to ,greek  
thought and practice1 such as           
asceticism1 sacramental magic1 religious
 persecution1 and timid reliance on     
authority1 are maladies of the ,greek   
spirit1 and came into the ,church from  
,hellenistic and not from ,jewish       

sources4 ,it was ,cleanthes who wished  
to treat ,aristarchus as the ,church    
treated ,galileo1 for anticipating      
,galileo's discovery4 ,it was ,plutarch1
 or rather his revered father1 who said1
 ',you seem to me to be handling a very 
great and dangerous subject1 or rather  
to be raising questions which ought not 
to be raised at all1 when you question  
the opinion we hold about the gods1 and 
ask reasons and proofs for everything4  
,the ancient and ancestral faith is     
enough2 and if on one point its fixed   
and traditional character be disturbed1 
it will be undermined and no one will   
trust it'4 ,it is true that ,celsus     
accused the ,christians of saying1 ',do 
not inquire2 only believe4' ,but this   
was not the attitude of ,clement and    
,origen1 still less of that most        
courageous pioneer ,st4 ,paul2 it was   
rather the attitude of the average      
devout pagan4 ,at this time the defence 
of popular superstition was no longer a 
matter of mere policy but of heartfelt  

need4 ,marcus ,aurelius was a great     
immolator of white cows4 ,the           
,christians were disliked1 not as       
superstitious1 but as impious4          
,alexander of ,abunoteichos expelled    
',christians and ,epicureans' by name   
from his sances4 ,lucian is the         
,voltaire of a credulous age4 ,as for   
sacerdotal magic1 ,ovid explicitly      
ascribed the ex opere operato doctrine  
to the ,greeks4      ,graecia principium
 moris fuit2 illa nocentes       impia  
lustratos ponere facta putat1     a     
nimium faciles1 qui tristia crimina     
caedis       fluminea tolli posse       
putatis aqua4  ,the ,christian ,church  
was the last great creative achievement 
of the classical culture4 ,it is neither
 ,asiatic nor mediaeval in its essential
 character4 ,it is not ,asiatic2        
,christianity is the least ,oriental of 
all the great religions4 ,the ,semites  
either shook it off and reverted to a   
,judaism purged of its ,hellenic        
elements1 or enrolled themselves with   

fervour under the banner of ,islam1     
which ,westcott called 'a petrified     
,judaism'4 ,christian missions have had 
no success in any ,asiatic country4 ,nor
 is there anything specifically         
mediaeval about ,catholicism4 ,it       
preserved the idea of ,roman            
imperialism1 after the secular empire of
 the ,west had disappeared1 and even    
kept the tradition of the secular empire
 alive4 ,it modelled all its machinery  
on the ,roman ,empire1 and consecrated  
the ,roman claim to universal dominion1 
with the ,roman law of maiestas against 
all who disputed its authority4 ,even   
its favourite penalty of the 'avenging  
flames' is borrowed from the later      
,roman codes4 ,it maintained the        
official language of antiquity1 and the 
imperial title of the autocrat who      
reigned on the ,seven ,hills4 ,nor were 
the early ,christians so anxious as is  
often supposed to disclaim this         
continuity4 ,at first1 it is true1 their
 apologetic was directed to proving     

their continuity with ,judaism2 but     
,judaism ceased to count for much after 
the destruction of the ,holy ,city in   
,a4 ,d4 #gj1 and the second-century     
apologists appeal for toleration on the 
ground that the best ,greek philosophers
 taught very much the same as what      
,christians believe4 ',we teach the same
 as the ,greeks'1 says ,justin ,martyr1 
'though we alone are hated for what we  
teach4' ',some among us'1 says          
,tertullian1 'who are versed in ancient 
literature1 have written books to prove 
that we have embraced no tenets for     
which we have not the support of common 
and public literature4' ',the teachings 
of ,plato'1 says ,justin again1 'are not
 alien to those of ,christ2 and the same
 is true of the ,stoics4' ',heracleitus 
and ,socrates lived in accordance with  
the divine ,logos'1 and should be       
reckoned as ,christians4 ,clement says  
that ,plato wrote 'by inspiration of    
,god'4 ,augustine1 much later1 finds    
that 'only a few words and phrases' need

 be changed to bring ,platonism into    
complete accord with ,christianity4 ,the
 ethics of contemporary paganism1 as    
,harnack shows1 with special reference  
to ,porphyry1 are almost identical with 
those of the ,christians of his day4    
,they differ in many points from the    
standards of #ejj years earlier and from
 those of #a1ejj years later1 but the   
divergences are neither racial nor      
credal4 ,catholic ,christianity is      
historically continuous with the old    
civilization1 which indeed continued to 
live in this region after its other     
traditions and customs had been         
shattered4 ,there are few other examples
 in history of so great a difference    
between appearance and reality4         
,outwardly1 the continuity with ,judaism
 seems to be unbroken1 that with        
paganism to be broken4 ,in reality1 the 
opposite is the fact4  ,this most       
important truth has been obscured from  
many causes4 ,the gap in history made by
 our educational tradition has been     

already mentioned4 ,and our histories of
 the early ,church are too often warped 
by an unfortunate bias4 ,christianity   
has been judged at its best1 paganism at
 its worst4 ,the rhetorical             
denunciations of writers like ,seneca1  
,juvenal1 and ,tacitus are taken at     
their face value1 and few have          
remembered the convention which obliged 
a satirist to be scathing1 or the       
political prejudice of the ,stoics      
against the monarchy1 or the            
non-representative character of         
fashionable life in the capital4 ,the   
modern ,church historian1 as ,mr4 ,benn 
says1 has gathered his experience in a  
college quadrangle or a cathedral close1
 and knows little enough about his own  
country1 next to nothing about what     
morality was in the ,middle ,ages1 and  
nothing at all about what it still is in
 many parts of ,europe4 ,in the most    
recent books1 however1 there is a real  
desire to hold the scales fairly1 and   
,christianity has nothing to fear from  

an impartial judgement4  ,there is also 
an assumption1 which we find even in    
such learned writers as ,harnack and    
,hatch1 that the ,hellenic element in   
,christianity is an accretion which     
transformed the new religion from its   
original purity and half-paganized      
,europe again4 ,they would like to prove
 that underneath ,catholicism was a     
primitive ,protestantism1 which owed    
nothing to ,greece4 ,the truth is that  
the ,church was half ,greek from the    
first1 though1 as ,i shall say          
presently1 the original ,gospel was not4
 ,st4 ,paul was a ,jew of the           
,dispersion1 not of ,palestine1 and the 
,christianity to which he was converted 
was the ,christianity of ,stephen1 not  
of ,james the ,lord's brother4 ,his     
later epistles are steeped in the       
phraseology of the ,greek mysteries4    
,the ,epistle to the ,hebrews and the   
,fourth ,gospel are unintelligible      
without some knowledge of ,philo1 whose 
theology is more ,greek than ,jewish4   

,in the conflict about the nature of the
 future life1 it was the ,greek         
eschatology which prevailed over the    
,jewish4 ,st4 ,paul's famous            
declaration1 ',we look not at the things
 which are seen1 but at the things which
 are not seen2 for the things which are 
seen are temporal1 but the things which 
are not seen are eternal'1 is pure      
,platonism and quite alien to ,jewish   
thought4 ,judaic ,christianity was a    
local affair1 and had a very short life4
  ,further1 too much is made of the     
conflict between the official cults of  
paganism and ,christian public worship4 
,it is forgotten how completely1 in     
,hellenistic times1 religion and        
philosophy were fused4 ,without         
under-estimating the simple piety which1
 especially in country districts1 still 
attached itself to the temples and their
 ritual1 we may say confidently that the
 vital religion of the empire was       
associated with the mystery-religions   
and with the discipline of the          

'philosophic life'4 ,it is in this      
region that the continuity of           
,catholicism with ,hellenism is mainly  
to be found4 ,the philosophers at this  
time were preachers1 confessors1        
chaplains1 and missionaries4 ,the       
clerical profession1 in nearly all its  
activities1 is directly descended from  
the ,hellenistic philosophers4  ,this   
claim of continuity may seem paradoxical
 when we remember the savage            
persecutions of the ,christians by the  
imperial government4 ,of these          
persecutions there were several causes4 
,the empire1 like all empires of the    
same type1 rested partly on religious   
support4 ,augustus encouraged his court 
poets to advocate a revival of piety and
 sound morals4 ,a government cannot     
inquire into religious conviction1 but  
it can enforce conformity and outward   
respect for the forms of worship as 'by 
law established'4 ,the ,christians and  
,epicureans were held guilty of the same
 political offence--'atheism'4 ,the     

,state had no quarrel with the          
mystery-religions1 which were a private 
matter1 but open disrespect to the      
national deities was flat disloyalty4   
,the pagans could not understand why the
 ,church would make no terms with the   
fusion of religions 7 theokrasia7 which 
seemed to them the natural result of the
 fusion of nationalities4 ,apuleius     
makes ,isis say1 when she reveals       
herself to ,lucius1 'cuius numen unicum 
multiformi specie1 ritu vario1 nomine   
multiiugo totus veneratur orbis'2 and   
she then recounts her various names4    
,this more than tolerant hospitality of 
the spirit seemed to the mixed          
population of the empire the logical    
recognition of the actual political     
situation1 and those who deliberately   
stood outside it were at least          
potentially enemies of society4 ,this   
was the real quarrel between the ,church
 and the empire4 ,it is the old ,state  
religion which ,augustine attacks1      
ridiculing the innumerable ,roman       

godlings whose names he perhaps found in
 ,varro4 ,it is true that ,plato1       
,euripides1 and ,xenophanes had attacked
 the official mythology with hardly less
 asperity2 but they did not escape      
censure1 and the ,christian alienation  
from the ,olympians was far more        
fundamental4  ,the pagan revival under  
the empire was rather like              
,neo-,catholicism in ,france4 ,it was   
patriotic1 nationalistic1 and           
conservative1 rather than strictly      
religious4 ,celsus1 in his lost book    
against the ,christians1 seems to have  
appealed to their patriotism1 urging    
them to support their country and its   
government in dangerous times4 ,as the  
,church grew in numbers and power1 and  
the old traditions crumbled away1       
largely from the fall in the birth-rate 
among the upper and middle classes1 the 
conservatives became more anxiously     
attached to their own culture1 and saw  
in ,christianity a 'shapeless darkness' 
which threatened to extinguish 'all the 

beautiful things in the world'4 ,we can 
partly sympathize with this alarm1      
though not with the foolish policy which
 it inspired4 ,the early persecutions   
were like ,russian 'pogroms'1 instigated
 or connived at by the government as a  
safety valve for popular discontent4    
,for at this time the common people     
hated the ,christians1 and half believed
 the monstrous stories about them4 ,the 
attacks were not continuous1 and were   
half-hearted1 very unlike the systematic
 extermination of ,jews and ,protestants
 in ,spain4 ,at ,alexandria ,hadrian    
found a money-loving population         
worshipping ,christ and ,sarapis almost 
indifferently4 ,a wrong impression is   
formed if we picture to ourselves two   
sections of society engaged in constant 
war4 ,the first real war was the last1  
under ,diocletian2 it was to decide     
whether paganism or ,christianity was to
 be the state religion4 ,however1 there 
is no doubt that the persecutions helped
 to seal the fate of the old culture4   

,harnack traces three stages in the     
,hellenization of ,christianity4 ',in   
the earliest ,christian writings1 apart 
from ,paul1 ,luke1 and ,john'1 he cannot
 find any considerable traces of ,greek 
influence4 ',the real influx of ,greek  
thought and life' began about #acj4 ,the
 exception is so important as to make   
this statement of little or no value4   
,after #acj1 he says1 'the philosophy of
 ,greece went straight to the core of   
the new religion'4 ,a century or so     
later1 ',greek mysteries and ,greek     
civilization in the whole range of its  
development exercise their influence on 
the ,church1 but as yet not its         
mythology and polytheism2 these were    
still to come'4 ',another century had to
 elapse before ,hellenism as a whole and
 in every phase of its development was  
established in the ,church4' ,the       
process which he describes began1 in    
fact1 as soon as ,christian preachers   
used the ,greek language1 and was never 
so complete as he says4 ,the            

,logos-,christology1 to which he justly 
attributes the greatest importance1 is  
already present in ,st4 ,paul's         
epistles2 the name only is wanting2 and 
the sharp contradiction which he finds  
between the ,christian idea of a        
revelation made through a person at a   
certain date1 and the ,greek idea of an 
apprehension of timeless and changeless 
truth1 always open to individuals after 
the appropriate discipline1 was faced   
and in part overcome by the ,greek      
,fathers4 ,harnack also regards         
,gnosticism as an embodiment of the     
genuinely ,greek view of revelation1    
forgetting that orthodox ,platonism was 
as hostile to ,gnosticism as the ,church
 itself4 ,in rejecting ,gnosticism1 the 
,church in fact decided for genuine     
,hellenism against a corrupted and      
barbarized development of it4 ,on the   
other hand1 there is no period at which 
we can speak of a complete conquest of  
,christianity by ,greek ideas4 ,there   
was a large part of the old tradition   

which perished with its defenders1 who1 
obeying the melancholy law which directs
 human survival1 died out to make way   
for immigrants and for the formerly     
submerged classes1 the people with few  
wants1 who were indifferent to a culture
 which they had never been allowed to   
share4  ,one more cause of              
misunderstanding may be illustrated from
 the writings of ,matthew ,arnold4 ,he  
divides the human race into ,hebraizers 
and ,hellenizers1 and classifies the    
modern ,english and ,americans as       
,hebraizers4 ,the fundamental maxim of  
,hebrew ethics1 according to him1 is    
',walk by the light you have'2 of ,greek
 ethics1 ',take heed that the light     
which is in thee is not darkness'4 ,the 
,hebraizer is conscientious but         
unenlightened2 the ,hellenizer is       
clear-headed but unscrupulous4          
,professor ,santayana has lately noted  
the same difference between the type of 
character developed by the ,latin       
nations and by the ,anglo-,saxons4 ,the 

,mediterranean civilization1 older and  
more sophisticated1 is careful to get   
its values right2 the northern man is   
bent on doing something big1 no matter  
what1 and follows ,clough's advice3     
,go6 say not in thine heart1 ,and what  
then1 were it accomplished1       ,were 
the wild impulse allayed1 what is the   
use and the good8  ,but ,santayana does 
not make the mistake of regarding the   
,reformation as a return to ,palestinian
 ,christianity4 ,this was1 indeed1 the  
opinion of the ,reformers themselves2   
but all religious innovation seeks to   
base itself on some old tradition4      
,christianity at first sought for its   
credentials in ,judaism1 though the     
,jews saw very quickly that it          
'destroyed the ,law'4 ,the belief of the
 ,reformers was plausible2 for they     
rejected just those parts of            
,catholicism which had nothing to do    
with ,palestine1 but were taken over    
from the old ,hellenic or ,hellenistic  
culture4 ,but the residuum was less     

,jewish than ,teutonic4 ,on one side1   
indeed1 the ,reformation was a return to
 ,hellenism from ,romanism4 ,early      
,christian philosophy was mainly        
,platonic2 early ,christian ethics 7as  
exemplified especially in writers like  
,ambrose7 were mainly ,stoical4 ,there  
had been a considerable fusion of ,plato
 and the ,stoa among the ,neoplatonists1
 so that it was easy for the two to     
flourish together4 ,augustine banished  
,stoical ethics from the ,church1 and   
they were revived only at the           
,reformation4 ,calvinism is simply      
baptized ,stoicism2 it is logically     
pantheistic1 since it acknowledges only 
one effective will in the universe4 ,the
 creed of nineteenth-century science is 
very similar4 ,puritanism was not at all
 like ,judaism1 in spite of its fondness
 for the ,old ,testament2 it was very   
like ,stoicism4 ,the ,reformation was a 
revolt against ,latin theocracy and the 
hereditary paganism of the              
,mediterranean peoples2 it was not      

really a return to pre-,hellenic        
,christianity4 ,it sheltered the        
humanism of ,erasmus and the            
late-flowering ,english ,renaissance1   
and ,christian ,platonism has nowhere   
had a more flourishing record than in   
,protestant ,britain4  ,at the present  
time a more drastic revolt is in        
progress among the plebs urbana1 which  
does in truth threaten with destruction 
'what we owe to ,greece'4 ,the          
industrial revolution has generated a   
new type of barbarism1 with no roots in 
the past4 ,for the second time in the   
history of ,western ,europe1 continuity 
is in danger of being lost4 ,a          
generation is growing up1 not           
uneducated1 but educated in a system    
which has little connexion with         
,european culture in its historical     
development4 ,the ,classics are not     
taught2 the ,bible is not taught2       
history is not taught to any effect4    
,what is even more serious1 there are no
 social traditions4 ,the modern townsman

 is dracin3 he has forgotten the habits 
and sentiments of the village from which
 his forefathers came4 ,an unnatural and
 unhealthy mode of life1 cut off from   
the sweet and humanizing influences of  
nature1 has produced an unnatural and   
unhealthy mentality1 to which we shall  
find no parallels in the past4 ,its     
chief characteristic is profound        
secularity or materialism4 ,the typical 
town artisan has no religion and no     
superstitions2 he has no ideals beyond  
the visible and tangible world of the   
senses4 ,this of course opens an        
impassable gulf between him and ,greek  
religion1 and a still wider gulf between
 him and ,christianity4 ,the attempts   
which are occasionally made1 especially 
in this country1 to dress up the ,labour
 movement as a return to the            
,palestinian ,gospel1 are little short  
of grotesque4 ,the contrast is well     
summed up by ,belfort ,bax1 in a passage
 quoted by ,professor ,gardner4         
',according to ,christianity1           

regeneration must come from within4 ,the
 ethics and religion of modern socialism
 on the contrary look for regeneration  
from without1 from material conditions  
and a higher social life4' ,here the    
gauntlet is thrown down to ,christ and  
,plato alike4  ,quite logically the new 
spirit is in revolt against what it     
calls intellectualism1 which means the  
application of the dry light of reason  
to the problems of human life4 ,it      
wishes to substitute for reason what    
some of its philosophers call instinct1 
but which should rather be called       
sentiment and emotion4 ,there is no     
reconciliation between this view of life
 and ,hellenism4 ,for science is the    
eldest and dearest child of the ,greek  
spirit4 ,one of the great battles of the
 future will be between science and its 
enemies4 ,the misologists have numbers  
on their side2 but ',nature'1 whom all  
the ,greeks honoured and trusted1 will  
be justified in her children4  ,the new 
spirit is especially bitter against the 

,stoical ethics1 which as we have seen  
were taken over1 with the ,platonic     
metaphysics1 by ,christianity4 ,stoicism
 teaches men to venerate and obey       
natural law2 to accept with proud       
equanimity the misfortunes of life2 to  
be beneficent1 but to inhibit the       
emotion of pity2 to be self-reliant and 
self-contained2 to practise self-denial 
for the sake of self-conquest2 and to   
regard this life as a stern school of   
moral discipline4 ,all this is simply   
detestable to the new spirit1 which is  
sentimental1 undisciplined1 and         
hedonistic4 ,it remembers the hardness  
of ,puritanism1 and has no admiration   
for its virtues4  ,it is often said that
 the modern man has entirely lost the   
,greek love of beauty4 ,this is1 ,i     
think1 untrue1 and unjust to our present
 civilization1 unlovely as it           
undoubtedly is in many ways4 ,it is     
curious that modern critics of the      
,greeks have not called attention to the
 aesthetic obtuseness which showed      

itself in the defective reaction of the 
ancients against cruelty4 ,it was not   
that they excluded beautiful actions    
from the sphere of aesthetics2 they     
never thought of separating the         
beautiful from the good in this way4    
,but they were not disgusted at the     
torture of slaves1 the exposure of      
new-born children1 or the massacre of   
the population of a revolted city4 ,the 
same callousness appears in the ,italian
 cities at the ,renaissance2 ,ezzelino  
was a contemporary of the great         
architects and painters4 ,i cannot avoid
 the conclusion that it is connected in 
some obscure way with the artistic      
creativeness of these two closely       
similar epochs4 ,the extreme sensibility
 to physical suffering which            
characterizes modern civilization arose 
together with industrialism1 and is most
 marked in the most highly              
industrialized countries4 ,it has       
synchronized with the complete eclipse  
of spontaneous and unconscious artistic 

production1 which we deplore in our     
time4 ,evelyn1 in the seventeenth       
century1 was still able to visit a      
prison in ,paris to gratify his         
curiosity by seeing a prisoner tortured1
 and though he did not stay to the end  
of the exhibition he shows that his     
stomach was not easily turned4 ,it is   
certain that our repugnance to such     
sights is aesthetic rather than moral1  
and probable that it is strongest in the
 lower social strata4 ,several years ago
 ,i went to the first night of a rather 
foolish play about ancient ,rome1 in    
which an early ,christian is brought in 
to be very mildly tortured on the stage4
 ,at the first crack of the whip my     
neighbours sprang from their seats1     
crying1 ',shame6 ,stop that6'2 and the  
scene had to be removed in subsequent   
performances4 ,the operatives in a      
certain factory stopped the engines for 
an hour because they heard a cat mewing 
among the machinery4 ,having with       
difficulty rescued the animal from being

 crushed they strangled it4 ,the        
explanation of this extreme             
susceptibleness must be left to         
psychologists2 but ,i am convinced that 
we have here a case of transferred      
aesthetic sensibility4 ,we can walk     
unmoved down the streets of ,plaistow1  
but we cannot bear to see a horse       
beaten4 ,the ,athenians set up no       
,albert ,memorials1 but they tortured   
slave-girls in their law-courts and sent
 their prisoners to work in the horrible
 galleries of the ,laureion             
silver-mines4  ,this emergence of a new 
spirit1 which seems to be almost        
independent of all traditions1 makes it 
difficult to estimate our present       
indebtedness to ,greece in matters of   
religion4 ,it would be difficult even if
 the industrial revolution had not taken
 place4 ,the northern ,europeans have   
hardly yet attained to self-expression4 
,their religion is a mixture of ,greek1 
,latin1 and ,hebrew elements which      
refuse to be harmonized1 and which in   

this country sometimes clash with the   
ideal of a gentleman1 that lay religion 
of the ,english-speaking peoples1 which 
has no longer any connexion with        
heraldry or property in land4 ,the      
,english gentleman is not a ,greek any  
more than he is a ,jew4 ,his code makes 
,odysseus an amusing rascal2 ,achilles a
 violent and sulky savage2 and          
,aristotle's  megalopsychos 7as has been
 said7 is rather like a nobleman in a   
novel by ,disraeli1 but not like any    
other sort of gentleman4 ,the           
,englishman is by nature religious2 but 
,christianity in its developed form is a
 ,mediterranean religion2 in all        
external features it might have been    
very different if it had been first     
planted north of the ,alps4 ,there is1  
therefore1 a chronic confusion in       
,protestantism which makes its conflicts
 with the ,latin ,church like the       
battles of undisciplined barbarians     
against well-drilled troops4            
,nevertheless1 though it is so difficult

 to separate out the various threads    
which make up the tangled skein of our  
modern religion1 it may be worth while  
to make the attempt to distinguish1     
first1 those parts of current           
,christianity which are not ,greek1 in  
the wide sense which ,i have chosen for 
the word1 and then those which1 in the  
same sense1 are ,greek by origin or     
affinity4  ,among those elements which  
are not ,greek1 the first place must be 
given to the original ,gospel1 of which 
,i have said nothing yet4 ,our records  
of the ,galilean ministry1 contained in 
the three synoptic ,gospels1 were not   
compiled till long after the events     
which they describe1 and must not be    
used uncritically4 ,but in my opinion1  
at any rate1 the substance of the       
teaching of ,christ comes out very      
clearly in these books4 ,no ,hellenic   
influence can be traced in it2 there is 
not even any sign of the ,hellenized    
,judaism which for us is represented by 
his contemporary ,philo4 ,but neither is

 it possible to call the ,gospel        
,jewish1 except with many               
qualifications4 ,christ came before his 
countrymen as a prophet2 he deliberately
 placed himself in the line of the      
prophetic tradition4 ,like other        
prophets of his nation1 he did not      
altogether eschew the framework of      
apocalyptic which was at that time the  
natural mould for prophecy4 ,but he     
preached neither the popular            
nationalism1 nor the popular            
ecclesiasticism1 nor the popular ethics4
 ,his countrymen rejected him as soon as
 they understood him4 ,the ,gospel was1 
as ,st4 ,paul said1 a new creation4 ,it 
is most significant that it at once     
introduced a new ethical terminology4   
,the ,greek words which we translate    
love 7or charity71 joy1 peace1 hope1    
humility1 are no part of the            
stock-in-trade of ,greek moralists      
before ,christ4 ,men do not coin new    
words for old ideas4 ,taken as a whole  
the ,gospel is profoundly original2 and 

a ,christian can find strong evidence   
for his belief that in ,christ a        
revelation was made to humanity at      
large1 in which the religion of the     
,spirit1 in its purest and most         
universal form1 was for the first time  
presented to mankind4 ,this revelation  
has to a considerable extent passed into
 the common consciousness of the        
civilized world2 but its implications in
 matters of conduct1 individual1 social1
 and international1 are still           
imperfectly understood and have never   
been acted upon1 except feebly and      
sporadically4 ,it is a reproach to us   
that the teaching of ,christ must be    
regarded as only one of many elements   
which make up what we call              
,christianity4 ,the ,quakers1 as a body1
 seem to me to come nearest to what a   
genuinely ,christian society would be4  
,secondly1 the ,greeks escaped the evils
 of priestly government4 ,the ,oriental 
type of theocracy1 with which they were 
familiar in the ,egypt of the ,pharaohs1

 was alien to their civilization4 ,their
 sacrifices were for the most part of   
the genial type1 a communion-meal with  
the god4 ,but even in ,greece we must   
remember the gloomy chthonian rites1 and
 the degradations of ,orphism mentioned 
by ,plato in the ,republic4 ',they      
persuade not only individuals but whole 
cities that expiations and atonements   
for sin may be made by sacrifices and   
amusements which fill a vacant hour1 and
 are equally at the service of the      
living and of the dead2 the latter sort 
they call mysteries1 and they redeem us 
from the pains of hell1 but if we       
neglect them no one knows what awaits   
us4' ,this exploitation of              
sacramentalism was common enough in     
,greece2 but the characteristic         
,caesaro-,papism of ,byzantium and      
modern imperialism was wholly foreign to
 ,hellenism4 ,it was introduced by      
,constantine as part of the             
,orientalizing of the empire begun by   
,diocletian4 ,as ,seeley says1          

',constantine purchased an indefeasible 
title by a charter4 ,he gave certain    
liberties and received in return passive
 obedience4 ,he gained a sanction for   
the ,oriental theory of government2 in  
return he accepted the law of the       
,church4 ,he became irresponsible to his
 subjects on condition of becoming      
responsible to ,christ4'  ,the ,greeks  
never had a book-religion1 in the sense 
in which ,judaism became1 and ,islam    
always was1 a book-religion4 ,but they  
were in some danger of treating ,homer  
and ,hesiod as inspired scriptures4 ,to 
us it is plain that a long religious    
history lies behind ,homer1 and that the
 treatment of the gods in ,epic poetry  
proves that they had almost ceased to be
 the objects of religious feeling4 ,some
 of them are even comic characters1 like
 the devil in ,scottish folklore4 ,to   
turn these poems into sacred literature 
was to court the ridicule of the        
,christians4 ,but ,homer was never      
supposed to contain 'the faith once     

delivered to the saints'2 no religion of
 authority could be built upon him1 and 
,greek speculation remained far more    
unfettered than the thought of          
,christendom has been until our own day4
  ,those who have observed the actual   
state of ,christianity in ,mediterranean
 countries cannot lay much stress on the
 difference between ,christian          
monotheism and pagan polytheism4 ,the   
early ,church fought against the        
tendency to interpose objects of worship
 between ,god and man2 but ,mariolatry  
came in through a loophole1 and the     
worship of the masses in ,roman         
,catholic countries is far more pagan   
than the service-books4 ,in the         
imagination of many simple ,catholics1  
,jesus1 ,mary1 and ,joseph are the chief
 potentates in their ,olympus4  ,the    
doctrine of the creation of the world in
 time1 which was denied by most pagan   
thinkers and affirmed by most ,christian
 divines1 belongs to philosophy rather  
than to religion4 ,the disbelief in the 

pre-existence of the soul1 a doctrine   
which for ,greek thought stands or falls
 with the belief in survival after      
death1 is more important1 and may be    
partly attributable to ,jewish          
influence4 ,but pre-existence does not  
seem to have been believed by the       
majority of ,greeks1 and in fact almost 
disappears from ,greek thought between  
,plato and the ,neoplatonists4 ,it is   
possible that the ,pythagorean and      
,platonic doctrine may still have a     
future4  ,there are some who will insist
 that these differences are             
insignificant by the side of the fact   
that ,christianity was the idealistic   
side of a revolt of the proletariat     
against the whole social order of the   
time4 ,this notion1 which made ,christ  
'le bon sans-culotte'1 has again become 
popular lately2 some have even compared 
the early ,christians with ,bolsheviks4 
,it is a fair question to ask at what   
period this was even approximately true4
 ,christ and his apostles belonged to   

the prosperous peasantry of ,galilee1 a 
well-educated and comfortable middle    
class4 ,the domestic slaves of wealthy  
,romans1 who embraced the new faith in  
large numbers1 were legally defenceless1
 but by no means miserable or degraded4 
,after the second century the comparison
 of the ,christians to modern           
revolutionists becomes too absurd for   
discussion4 ,there is a good deal of    
rhetorical declamation about riches and 
poverty in the ,christian ,fathers2 but 
unfortunately the ,church seems to have 
done very little to protest against the 
crying economic injustices of the fourth
 and fifth centuries4 ,from first to    
last there was nothing of the           
',spartacus' movement about the         
,catholic ,church4 ,as soon as the      
persecutions ceased1 the bishops took   
their place naturally among the         
nobility4  ,when we turn to the         
obligations of modern religion to       
,greece1 it is difficult to know where  
to begin4  ,the conception of philosophy

 as an ars vivendi is characteristically
 ,greek4 ,nothing can be further from   
the truth than to call the ,greeks      
'intellectualists' in the disparaging   
sense in which the word is now often    
used4 ,the object of philosophy was to  
teach a man to live well1 and with that 
object to think rightly about ,god1 the 
world1 and himself4 ,this close union   
between metaphysics1 morals1 and        
religion has remained as a permanent    
possession of the modern world4 ,every  
philosopher is now expected to show the 
bearing of his system on morality and   
religion1 and the criticism is often    
justified that however bold the         
speculations of the thinker1 he is      
careful1 when he comes to conduct1 to be
 conventional enough4 ,the ,hellenistic 
combination of ,platonic metaphysics    
with ,stoic ethics is still the dominant
 type of ,christian religious           
philosophy4 ,it is curious to observe   
how competing tendencies in these       
systems--the praise of isolated         

detachment and of active social         
sympathy--have continued to struggle    
against each other within the ,christian
 ,church4  ,the place of asceticism in  
religion is so important1 and so much   
has been written rather unintelligently 
about the contrast between ,hellenism   
and ,christianity in this matter1 that  
,i propose to deal with it1 briefly     
indeed1 but with a little more detail   
than a strict attention to proportion   
would justify4 ,it has often been       
assumed that a nation of athletes1 who  
made heroes of ,heracles and ,theseus1  
,achilles and ,hector1 could have had   
nothing but contempt for the ascetic    
ideal4 ,but in truth asceticism has a   
continuous history within ,hellenism4   
,even ,homer knows of the priests of    
chilly ,dodona1 the ,selli1 whose bare  
feet are unwashed1 and who sleep on the 
ground4 ,this is probably not1 as       
,wilamowitz-,moellendorff thinks1 a     
description of savage life1 but of an   
ascetic school of prophets4 ,for the    

fastdays which introduced the           
,thesmophoria were observed by the      
,athenian matrons in the same way2 they 
went unshod and sat on the bare earth2  
and we may compare the ,nudipedalia1    
ordered by the ,romans in time of dearth
 and mentioned by ,petronius and        
,tertullian4 ,prophets and prophetesses 
fasted at ,miletus1 ,colophon1 and other
 places4 ,national fasts were ordered in
 times of calamity or danger1 and       
,tarentum kept a yearly fast of         
thankfulness for deliverance from a     
siege4 ,the flagellation of boys at     
,sparta hardly comes into account1 being
 probably a substitute for human        
sacrifice2 but the continuance of the   
cruel rite till nearly the end of       
antiquity causes surprise4 ,the worship 
of ,dionysus ,zagreus in ,thrace was    
accompanied by ascetic practices before 
,pythagoras4 ,vegetarianism1 which has  
always played an important part in the  
ascetic life1 was obligatory on all     
,pythagoreans2 but in this school there 

was another motive besides the desire to
 mortify the flesh4 ,those who believe  
in the transmigration of souls into the 
bodies of animals must regard           
flesh-eating as little better than      
cannibalism4 ,the ,pythagorean and the  
,orphic rules of life were well known   
throughout antiquity1 and were probably 
obeyed by large numbers4 ,the rule of   
continence was far less strict than in  
the ,catholic 'religious' life2 but     
,empedocles1 according to ,hippolytus1  
advised abstinence from marriage and    
procreation1 and the tendency to regard 
celibacy as part of the 'philosophic    
life' increased steadily4 ,the ,cynic   
,antisthenes is quoted by ,clement of   
,alexandria as having expressed a wish  
to 'shoot ,aphrodite1 who has ruined so 
many virtuous women'4 ,but the          
asceticism of the early ,cynics and of  
some ,stoics was based not on           
self-devotion and spirituality but on   
the desire for independence1 and often  
took repulsive forms4 ,of some among    

them it may be said that they did not   
object to sensual pleasure1 they only   
objected to having to pay for it4       
,desire for self-sufficiency is always  
part of asceticism1 but in the          
,christian saints it has been a small   
part4 ,the ,greeks who practised it were
 from first to last too anxious to be   
invulnerable2 this was the main         
attraction of the philosophic life from 
the time of ,antisthenes1 and it        
remained the main attraction to the end4
 ,but ,cynicism and ,stoicism 7which    
tend to run together7 became gentler1   
more humane1 and more spiritual under   
the ,roman empire4 ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 
and ,marcus ,aurelius often seem to be  
half ,christian4 ,direct influence of   
,christian ethics at this early period  
is perhaps unlikely2 it is enough to    
suppose that the spirit of the age      
affected in a similar way all creeds and
 denominations4 ,self-mortification     
tended to assume more and more violent  
forms1 till it culminated in the strange

 aberrations of ,egyptian eremitism4 ,it
 is impossible to regard these as either
 ,greek or ,christian2 they indicate a  
pathological state of society1 which can
 be partly but not entirely accounted   
for by the conditions of the time4      
,after a few centuries a far more       
wholesome type of monachism supplanted  
the hermits2 the anchorites of the      
,middle ,ages retained the solitary     
life1 but were very unlike the crazy    
savages of the ,thebaid4 ,in modern     
times1 those who have been most under   
the ,greek spirit have generally lived  
with austere simplicity1 but without any
 of the violent self-discipline which is
 said to be still practised by some     
devout ,catholics4 ,the assiduous       
practice of self-mastery and the most   
sparing indulgence in the pleasures of  
sense are the 'philosophic life' which  
the ,greek spirit recommends as the     
highest4 ,the best ,greeks would blame  
the life of an ,english clergyman1      
professor1 or philosopher as too        

self-indulgent2 we often forget how     
frugally and hardily the ,greeks lived  
at all times4 ,but here we have to      
consider the differences of climate1 and
 the apparent necessity of a rather     
generous diet for the ,nordic race4     
,the influence of the ,greek mysteries  
upon ,christianity is a keenly debated  
question1 in which passion and prejudice
 play too large a part4 ,the information
 necessary for forming a judgement has  
been much enlarged by recent discoveries
 in ,egypt and elsewhere1 and1 as       
usually happens1 the importance of the  
new facts has been sometimes            
exaggerated4 ,protestant theology has on
 the whole minimized the influence of   
the mysteries1 and has post-dated it1   
from an unwillingness to allow that     
there was already a strong ,catholic    
element in the ,christianity of the     
first century4 ,orthodox ,catholicism   
has ignored it from different but       
equally obvious motives4 ,modernist     
,catholicism has in my opinion antedated

 the irruption of crude sacramentalism  
into the ,church1 and has greatly       
overstated its importance in the        
religion of the first-century           
,christians4 ,this school practically   
denies anything more than a             
half-accidental continuity between the  
preaching of the historical ,christ1    
whom they strangely suppose to have been
 a mere apocalyptist1 one of the many   
,messiahs or ,mahdis who arose at this  
period in ,palestine1 and the ,catholic 
,church1 which according to them        
belonged to the same type of religion as
 the worship of ,isis and ,mithra4      
,another bone of contention is the value
 of the mystery-religions of ,greece4   
,the very able ,german scholars who have
 written on the subject1 such as        
,reitzenstein and still more ,rohde1    
seem to me much too unsympathetic in    
their treatment of the mystery-cults4   
,lastly1 some competent critics have    
lately urged that this side of          
,christianity owed more to              

,judaism--,hellenized ,judaism1 of      
course--than has been hitherto supposed4
  ,plato in the ,phaedo says that 'those
 who established our mysteries declare  
that all who come to ,hades uninitiated 
will lie in the mud2 while he who has   
been purified and initiated will dwell  
with the gods'4 ,for1 as they say in the
 mysteries1 ',many are the              
thyrsus-bearers1 but few are the        
inspired'4 ,this sacramentalism was not 
unchallenged1 as we have already seen   
from ,plato himself4 ,diogenes is said  
to have asked whether the robber        
,pataecion was better off in the other  
world than the hero ,epaminondas1       
because the former had been initiated1  
and the latter had not4 ,but ,orphism1  
though liable to degradation1 purified  
and elevated the old ,bacchic rites4 ,as
 ,miss ,harrison says1 the ,bacchanals  
hoped to attain unity with ,god by      
intoxication1 the ,orphics by           
abstinence4 ,the way to salvation was   
now through 'holiness' 7 hosiots74 ,to  

the initiated the assurance was given1  
',happy and blessed one6 ,thou shalt be 
a god instead of a mortal4' ,to be a god
 meant for a ,greek simply to be        
immortal2 the ,orphic saint was         
delivered from the painful cycle of     
recurring births and deaths4 ,and       
,orphic purity was mainly1 though not   
entirely1 the result of moral           
discipline4 ,cumont says that the       
mystery-cults brought with them two new 
things--mysterious means of purification
 by which they proposed to cleanse away 
the defilements of the soul1 and the    
assurance that an immortality of bliss  
would be the reward of piety4 ,the      
truth1 says ,mr4 ,h4 ,a4 ,kennedy1 was  
presented to them in the guise of divine
 revelations1 esoteric doctrines to be  
carefully concealed from the gaze of the
 profane1 doctrines which placed in     
their hands a powerful apparatus for    
gaining deliverance from the assaults of
 malicious demonic influences1 and above
 all for overcoming the relentless      

tyranny of fate4 ,this demonology was   
believed everywhere under the ,roman    
empire1 the period of which ,mr4        
,kennedy is thinking in this sentence1  
and it has unfortunately left more      
traces in ,st4 ,paul's epistles than we 
like to allow4 ,the formation of        
brotherhoods for mystic worship was also
 an important step in the development of
 ,greek religion4 ,these brotherhoods   
were cosmopolitan1 and seem to have     
flourished especially at great seaports4
 ,they were thoroughly popular1 drawing 
most of their support from the lower    
classes1 and within them national and   
social distinctions were ignored4 ,their
 ultimate aim cannot be summed up better
 than in ,mr4 ,kennedy's words--'to     
raise the soul above the transiency of  
perishable matter through actual union  
with the ,divine'4 ,it has been usual to
 distinguish between the dignified and  
officially recognized mysteries1 like   
those of ,eleusis1 and the independent  
voluntary associations1 some of which   

became important4 ,but there was        
probably no essential difference between
 them4 ,in neither case was there much  
definite teaching2 the aim1 as          
,aristotle says1 was to produce a       
certain emotional state 7      ou       
mathein ti dein alla pathein74 ,a       
passion-play was enacted amid the most  
impressive surroundings1 and we need not
 doubt that the moral effect was        
beneficial and sometimes profound4 ,when
 the ,egyptian mysteries of ,isis and   
,osiris were fused with the ,hellenic1 a
 type of worship was evolved which was  
startlingly like ,christianity4 ,a      
famous ,egyptian text contains the      
promise3 ',as truly as ,osiris lives1   
shall he the worshipper live2 as truly  
as ,osiris is not dead1 shall he not    
die4' ,the thanksgiving to ,isis at the 
end of the ,metamorphoses of ,apuleius  
is very beautiful in itself1 though it  
is an odd termination of a licentious   
novel4 ,the ,hermetic literature also   
contains doctrine of a markedly         

,johannine type1 as notably in a prayer 
to ,isis3 ',glorify me1 as ,i have      
glorified the name of thy son ,horus4'  
,i agree with those critics 7,cumont1   
,zielinski1 and others7 who attach the  
'higher' ,hermetic teaching to genuinely
 ,hellenic sources4 ,but it is not      
necessary to ascribe all the higher     
teaching to ,greece and the lower to    
,egypt4  ,much of ,st4 ,paul's theology 
belongs to the same circle of ideas as  
these mysteries4 ,especially important  
is the psychology which divides human   
nature into spirit1 soul1 and body1     
spirit being the divine element into    
which those who are saved are           
transformed by the 'knowledge of ,god'4 
,this knowledge is a supernatural gift1 
which 7in the ,poimandres7 confers      
'deification'4 ,st4 ,paul usually       
prefers ',pneuma' as the name of this   
highest part of human nature2 in the    
,hermetic literature it is not easy to  
distinguish between ,pneuma and ,nous1  
which holds exactly the same place in   

,neoplatonism4 ,the notion of salvation 
as consisting in the knowledge of ,god  
is not infrequent in ,st4 ,paul2        
compare1 for example1 #a ,cor4 xiii4 #ab
 and a still more important passage1    
,phil4 ii4 #h-aj4 ,this knowledge was   
partly communicated by visions and      
revelations1 to which ,st4 ,paul        
attributed some importance2 but on the  
whole he is consistent in treating      
knowledge as the crown and consummation 
of faith4 ,the pneumatic transformation 
of the personality is the centre of ,st4
 ,paul's eschatology4 ',though our      
outward man perish1 our inward man is   
renewed day by day4' ,the 'spiritual    
body' is the vehicle of the transformed 
personality2 for 'flesh and blood cannot
 inherit the kingdom of ,god'4 ,the     
expression 'to be born again' is common 
in the mystery literature4  ,it would be
 easy to find many other parallels in   
,st4 ,paul's epistles1 in the ,johannine
 books which are the best commentary    
upon them1 and in the theology of the   

,greek ,fathers1 which prove the close  
connexion of early ,christianity with   
the mystery-religions of the empire4    
,twenty years ago it might have been    
worth while to draw out these           
resemblances in greater detail1 even in 
so summary a survey as this4 ,but at    
present the tendency is1 if not to      
over-estimate the debt of the ,christian
 religion to ,hellenistic thought and   
worship1 at any rate to ignore the great
 difference between the higher elements 
in the mystery-religions1 which the new 
faith could gladly and readily          
assimilate1 and the lower type1 the     
theosophy1 magic1 and theurgy1 which was
 not in the line of ,hellenic           
development1 and is not to be found in  
the ,new ,testament4 ,wendland1 always a
 judicious critic1 has said very truly  
that ,st4 ,paul stands to the           
mystery-religions as ,plato to ,orphism2
 they are not the centre of his         
religious life1 but they gave him       
effective forms of expression for his   

religious experience4 ,or1 as ,weinel   
says1 ',st4 ,paul's doctrine of the     
,spirit and of ,christ is not an        
imitation of mystery-doctrine1 but      
inmost personal experience              
metaphysically interpreted after the    
manner of his time4' ,writers like      
,loisy1 who say that for ,st4 ,paul     
,jesus was 'a ,saviour ,god1 after the  
manner of ,osiris1 ,attis1 or ,mithra'1 
and who proceed to draw out obvious     
parallels between the sufferings1 death1
 and resurrection of these mythological 
personages and the gospels of the       
,christian ,church1 surely forget that  
,st4 ,paul was a ,jew1 and that there   
are some transformations of which the   
religious mind is incapable4 ,he never  
speaks of ,christ as a ',saviour ,god'4 
,even more perverse are the arguments   
which are used to prove that the centre 
of ,st4 ,paul's religion was a gross and
 materialistic sacramental magic4 ,the  
apostle1 whose antipathy to ritual in   
every shape is stamped upon all his     

writings1 who thanks ,god that he       
baptized very few of the ,corinthians1  
who declares that ',christ sent him not 
to baptize but to preach the ,gospel'1  
is accused of regarding baptism as 'an  
opus operatum which secures a man's     
admission into the kingdom apart from   
the character of his future conduct'4   
,and yet in the ,epistle to the ,romans1
 as ,weinel says1 'baptism only once    
enters his mind1 and the ,lord's ,supper
 not even once'4 ,baptism for him is no 
opus operatum1 but a ceremony of social 
significance1 a symbol conditioning a   
deeper experience of divine grace1      
already embraced by faith4 ,these same  
critics proceed to illustrate ,st4      
,paul's doctrine of the ,lord's ,supper 
by references to the religion of the    
,aztecs and other barbarians4 ,but it is
 hardly worth while to argue with those 
who suppose that a man with ,st4 ,paul's
 upbringing and culture could have      
dallied with the notion of 'eating a    
god'4 ,the 'table of the ,lord' is the  

table at which the ,lord is the         
spiritual host1 not the table on which  
his flesh is placed4 ,does any one      
suppose that 'the table of demons' which
 is contrasted with the 'table of the   
,lord' is the table at which demons are 
eaten8 ,demons had no bodies1 as we     
learn from the     ouk eimi daimonion   
asmaton of a well-known passage in a    
,new ,testament manuscript4  ,crude     
sacramentalism certainly came in later4 
,its parentage may be traced1 if we     
will1 to those mystery-mongers whom     
,plato mentions with disapproval4 ,if   
,hellenism is the name of a way of      
thinking1 this form of religion is not  
healthy ,hellenism2 that it was held by 
many ,hellenes cannot be denied4  ,the  
biblical doctrine of the ,fall of ,man1 
which the ,hebrews would never have     
evolved for themselves1 remained an     
otiose dogma in ,jewish religion4 ,it   
was revivified in ,christianity under   
,greek influence4 ,man1 as ,empedocles  
and others had taught1 was 'an exile and

 vagabond from ,god'2 his body was his  
tomb2 he is clothed in 'an alien garment
 of flesh'4 ,he is in a fallen state and
 needs redemption4 ,hellenism had become
 a religion of redemption2 the empire   
was quite ready to accept this part of  
,christian doctrine4 ,the sin of ,adam  
became the first scene in the great     
drama of humanity1 which led up to the  
,atonement4 ,at the same time the whole 
process was never mere history2 its     
deepest meaning was enacted in the      
life-story of each individual4 ,greek   
thought gave this turn to dogmas which  
for a ,jew would have been a flat       
historical recital4 ,in modern times the
 earlier scenes in the story1 at any    
rate1 are looked upon as little more    
than the dramatization of the normal    
experience of a human soul4 ,but ,greek 
thought1 while it remained true to type1
 never took sin so tragically as        
,christianity has done4 ,the struggle   
against evil has become sterner than it 
ever was for the ,greeks4 ,it must1     

however1 be remembered that the large   
majority of professing ,christians do   
not trouble themselves much about their 
sins1 and that the best of the ,greeks  
were thoroughly in earnest in seeking to
 amend their lives4  ,redemption was    
brought to earth by a ,redeemer who was 
both ,god and ,man4 ,this again was in  
accordance with ,greek ideas4 ,the      
,mediator between ,god and ,man must be 
fully divine1 since an intermediate     
,being would be in touch with neither   
side4 ,the victory of ,athanasius was in
 no sense a defeat for ,hellenism4 ,the 
only difficulty for a ,greek thinker was
 that an ,incarnate ,god ought to be    
impassible4 ,this was a puzzle only for 
philosophers2 popular religion saw no   
difficulty in a ,christus patiens4 ,the 
doctrine of the ,logos brought          
,christianity into direct affinity with 
both ,platonism and ,stoicism1 and the  
,second ,person of the ,trinity was     
invested with the same attributes as the
 ,nous of the ,neoplatonists4 ,but the  

attempts to equate the ,trinity with the
 three divine hypostases of ,plotinus   
was no more successful than the later   
attempt of ,hegel to set the ,trinity in
 the framework of his philosophy4  ,the 
subject of eschatology is so vast that  
it is hopeless to deal with it1 even in 
the most summary fashion1 in one        
paragraph4 ,it is usually said that the 
resurrection of the body is a ,jewish   
doctrine1 the immortality of the soul a 
,greek doctrine4 ,but the ,jews were    
very slow to bring the idea of a future 
life into their living faith2 to this   
day it does not seem to be of much      
importance in ,judaism4 ,some form of   
,millenarianism--a reign of the saints  
on earth--would seem to be the natural  
form for ,jewish hopes to take4 ,this   
belief1 which was the earliest mould    
into which the treasure of the new      
revelation was poured1 has never quite  
disappeared from the ,church1 and in    
times of excitement and upheaval it     
tends to reassert itself4 ,the maturest 

,greek philosophy regards eternity as   
the divine mode of existence1 while     
mortals are born1 live1 and die in time4
 ,man is a microcosm1 in touch with     
every rung of the ladder of existence2  
and he is potentially a 'participator'  
in the divine mode of existence1 which  
he can make his own by living1 so far as
 may be1 in detachment from the vain    
shadows and perishable goods of earth4  
,that this conception of immortality has
 had a great influence upon ,christian  
thought and practice needs no           
demonstration4 ,it is and always has    
been the religion of the mystic4 ,but   
the ,orphic tradition1 with its pictures
 of purgatory and of eternal bliss and  
torment1 has on the whole dominated the 
other two in popular ,christian belief4 
,it has been stripped of its            
accessories--the belief in reincarnation
 and the transmigration of souls1       
doctrines which maintain a somewhat     
uneasy existence within the scheme of   
the ,neoplatonists4 ,the picture of     

future retribution is even more         
terrifying without them4 ,both the      
philosophical and the popular beliefs   
about the other world are far more      
,greek than ,jewish2 but the attempt to 
hold these very discrepant beliefs      
together has reduced ,christian         
eschatology to extreme confusion1 and   
many ,christians have given up the      
attempt to formulate any theories about 
what are called the four last things4   
,on such a mysterious subject1          
definiteness is neither to be expected  
nor desired4 ,the original ,gospel does 
not encourage the natural curiosity of  
man to know his future fate2 and the    
three types of eschatology which we have
 described have all their value as      
representing different aspects of       
religious faith and hope4 ,we must after
 all confess the truth of ,st4 ,paul's  
words1 that 'eye hath not seen1 nor ear 
heard1 neither hath it entered into the 
heart of man to conceive1 the things    
that ,god hath prepared for them that   

love him'4 ,the same apostle reminds us 
that 'now we see through a mirror1 in   
riddles1 and know only in part'2 the    
face to face vision1 and the knowledge  
which unites the knower and the known1  
may be ours when we have finished our   
course4 ,in these words1 which recall   
,plato's famous myth of the ,cave1 ,st4 
,paul is fundamentally at one with the  
,platonists2 and it may well be that it 
is by this path that our contemporaries 
may recover that belief in eternal life 
which is at present burning very dimly  
among us4  ,in conclusion1 what has the 
religion of the ,greeks to teach us that
 we are most in danger of forgetting8   
,in a word1 it is the faith that ,truth 
is our friend1 and that the knowledge of
 ,truth is not beyond our reach4 ,faith 
in honest seeking 7 ztsis7 is at the    
heart of the ,greek view of life4       
',those who would rightly judge of      
truth'1 says ,aristotle1 'must be       
arbitrators1 not litigants'4 ',happy is 
he who has learnt the value of research'

 7 historia71 says ,euripides in a      
fragment4 ,curiosity1 as the ,greeks    
knew and the ,middle ,ages knew not1 is 
a virtue1 not a vice4 ,nature1 for      
,plato1 is ,god's vicegerent and        
revealer1 the ,soul of the universe4    
,human nature is the same nature as the 
divine2 no one has proclaimed this more 
strongly4 ,nature is for us2 chaos and  
'necessity' are the enemy4 ,the divorce 
between religion and humanism began1 it 
must be admitted1 under ,plato's        
successors1 who unhappily were          
indifferent to natural science1 and did 
not even follow the best light that was 
to be had in physical knowledge4 ,in the
 ,dark ,ages1 when the link with ,greece
 was broken1 the separation became      
absolute4 ,the luxuriant mythology of   
the early ,greeks was not unscientific4 
,in the absence of knowledge gaps were  
filled up by the imagination1 and the   
'method of trial and error'4 ,the       
dramatic fancy which creates myths is   
the raw material of both poetry and     

science4 ,of course religious myths may 
come to be a bar to progress in science2
 they do so when1 in a rationalizing    
age1 the question comes to be one of    
fact or fiction4 ,it is a mistake to    
suppose that the faith of a             
'post-rational' age1 to use a phrase of 
,santayana1 can be the same as that of  
an unscientific age1 even when it uses  
the same formulas4 ,the ,greek spirit   
itself is now calling us away from some 
of the vestments of ,greek tradition4   
,the choice before us is between a      
'post-rational' traditionalism1         
fundamentally sceptical1 pragmatistic1  
and intellectually dishonest1 and a     
trust in reason which rests really on   
faith in the divine ,logos1 the         
self-revealing soul of the universe4 ,it
 is the belief of the present writer    
that the unflinching eye and the open   
mind will bring us again to the feet of 
,christ1 to whom ,greece1 with her long 
tradition of free and fearless inquiry1 
became a speedy and willing captive1    

bringing her manifold treasures to ,him1
 in the well-grounded confidence that   
,he was not come to destroy but to      
fulfil4  ,w4 ,r4 ,,inge4                
,,philosophy   ,if we consider the      
philosophical tendencies of the day1 we 
shall probably observe first of all that
 the artificial wall of partition       
between philosophy and science--and     
especially mathematical science--is     
beginning to wear very thin4 ,on the    
other hand1 we cannot fail to notice a  
reaction against what is called         
intellectualism4 ,this reaction takes   
many forms1 the most characteristic     
perhaps of which is a renewed interest  
in ,mysticism4 ,it leads also to a      
strong insistence on the practical      
aspect of philosophic thought1 and to a 
view of its bearing on what had been    
regarded as primarily theoretical       
issues1 which is known by the rather    
unfortunate name of ,pragmatism4 ,now it
 is just on these points that we have   
most to learn from the ,greeks1 and     

,greek philosophy is therefore of       
special importance for us at the present
 time4 ,at its best1 it was never       
divorced from science1 while it found a 
way of reconciling itself both with the 
interests of the practical life and with
 mysticism without in any way abating   
the claims of the intellect4 ,it is     
solely from these points of view that it
 is proposed to regard ,greek philosophy
 here4 ,it would be futile to attempt a 
summary of the whole subject in the     
space available1 and such a summary     
would have no value4 ,many things will  
therefore be passed over in silence     
which are important in themselves and   
would have to be fully treated in a     
complete account4 ,all that can be done 
now is to indicate the points at which  
,greek philosophy seems to touch our    
actual problems4 ,it will be seen that  
here1 as elsewhere1 'all history is     
contemporary history'1 and that the     
present can only be understood in the   
light of the past4  ,the word           

'philosophy' is ,greek and so is the    
thing it denotes4 ,unless we are to use 
the term in so wide a sense as to empty 
it of all special meaning1 there is no  
evidence that philosophy has ever come  
into existence anywhere except under    
,greek influences4 ,in particular1      
mystical speculation based on religious 
experience is not itself philosophy1    
though it has often influenced          
philosophy profoundly1 and for this     
reason the pantheism of the ,upanishads 
cannot be called philosophical4 ,it is  
true that there is an ,indian           
philosophy1 and indeed the ,hindus are  
the only ancient people besides the     
,greeks who ever had one1 but ,indian   
science was demonstrably borrowed from  
,greece after the conquest of           
,alexander1 and there is every reason to
 believe that those ,indian systems     
which can be regarded as genuinely      
philosophical are a good deal more      
recent still4 ,on the other hand1 the   
earliest authenticated instance of a    

,greek thinker coming under ,indian     
influence is that of ,pyrrho 7#cbf ,b4  
,c471 and what he brought back from the 
,east was rather the ideal of quietism  
than any definite philosophical         
doctrine4 ,the barrier of language was  
sufficient to prevent any intercourse on
 important subjects1 for neither the    
,greeks nor the ,indians cared to learn 
any language but their own4 ,of course  
philosophy may culminate in theology1   
and the best ,greek philosophy certainly
 does so1 but it begins with science and
 not with religion4  ,by philosophy the 
,greeks meant a serious endeavour to    
understand the world and man1 having for
 its chief aim the discovery of the     
right way of life and the conversion of 
people to it4 ,it would not1 however1 be
 true to say that the word had always   
borne this special sense4 ,at any rate  
the corresponding verb 7 philosophein7  
had at first a far wider range4 ,for    
instance1 ,herodotus 7i4 #cj7 makes     
,croesus say that ,solon had travelled  

far and wide 'as a philosopher' 7       
philosophen71 and it is clear from the  
context that this refers to that love of
 travel for the sake of the 'wonders' to
 be seen in strange lands which was so  
characteristic of the ,ionian ,greeks in
 the fifth century ,b4 ,c4 ,that is made
 quite plain by the phrase 'for the sake
 of sightseeing' 7  theris heineken7    
with which the word is coupled4 ,again1 
when ,thucydides 7ii4 #dj7 makes        
,pericles say of his fellow citizens 'we
 follow philosophy without loss of      
manliness' 7   philosophoumen aneu      
malakias71 it is certainly not of       
philosophy in the special sense he is   
thinking4 ,he is only contrasting the   
culture of ,athens with the somewhat    
effeminate civilization of the ,ionians 
in ,asia ,minor4 ,even in the next      
century1 ,isocrates tried to revert to  
this wider sense of the word1 and he    
regularly uses it of the art of         
political journalism which he imparted  
to his pupils4  ,tradition ascribes the 

first use of the term 'philosophy' in   
the more restricted sense indicated     
above to ,pythagoras of ,samos1 an      
,ionian who founded a society for its   
cultivation in southern ,italy in the   
latter half of the sixth century ,b4 ,c4
 ,it is notoriously difficult to make   
any positive statements about           
,pythagoras1 seeing that he wrote       
nothing2 but it is safer on general     
grounds to ascribe the leading ideas of 
the system to the master rather than to 
his followers4 ,moreover1 this          
particular tradition is confirmed by the
 fact1 for which there is sufficient    
evidence1 that the name 'philosophers'  
originally designated the ,pythagoreans 
in a special way4 ,for instance1 we know
 that ,zeno of ,elea 7c4 #dej ,b4 ,c47  
wrote a book ',against the              
,philosophers'1 and in his mouth that   
can only mean ',against the             
,pythagoreans'4 ,now the ,pythagorean   
use of the term depends on a certain way
 of regarding man1 which there is good  

reason for ascribing to ,pythagoras     
himself4 ,it has become more or less of 
a commonplace now1 but we must try to   
seize it in its original freshness if we
 wish to understand the associations the
 word 'philosophy' came to have for the 
,greeks4 ,to state it briefly1 it is the
 view that man is something intermediate
 between ,god and 'the other animals' 7 
talla za74 ,as compared with ,god1 he is
 'mere man'1 liable to error and death  
7both of which are spoken of as         
specially human1  anthrpina72 as        
compared with 'the other animals'1 he is
 kindly and capable of civilization4    
,the ,latin word humanus took over this 
double meaning1 which is somewhat       
arbitrarily marked in ,english by the   
spellings human and humane4 ,now it is  
clear that1 for a being subject to error
 and death1 wisdom 7 sophia7 in the full
 sense is impossible2 that is for ,god  
alone4 ,on the other hand1 man cannot be
 content1 like 'the other animals' to   
remain in ignorance4 ,if he cannot be   

wise1 he can at least be 'a lover of    
wisdom'1 and it follows that his chief  
end will be 'assimilation to ,god so far
 as possible' 7      homoisis t the kata
 to dynaton71 as ,plato put it in the   
,theaetetus4 ,the mathematical studies  
of the ,pythagoreans soon brought them  
face to face with the idea of a constant
 approximation which never reaches its  
goal4 ,there is1 then1 sufficient ground
 for accepting the tradition which makes
 ,pythagoras the author of this special 
sense of the word 'philosophy' and for  
connecting it with the division of      
living creatures into ,god1 men and 'the
 other animals'4 ,if the later          
,pythagoreans went a step further and   
classified rational animals into gods1  
men and 'such as ,pythagoras'1 that was 
due to the enthusiasm of discipleship1  
and is really a further indication of   
the genuinely ,pythagorean character of 
this whole range of ideas4 ,we may take 
it1 then1 that the word 'philosophy' had
 acquired its special sense in southern 

,italy before the beginning of the fifth
 century ,b4 ,c4  ,it is even more      
certain that this sense was well known  
at ,athens1 at least in certain circles1
 not long after the middle of the fifth 
century4 ,to all appearance1 this was   
the work of ,socrates 7#dgj-cii ,b4,c474
 ,whatever view may be taken of the     
philosophy of ,socrates or of its       
relation to that expounded in ,plato's  
earlier dialogues 7a point which need   
not be discussed here71 it is at least  
not open to question that he was        
personally intimate with the leading    
,pythagoreans who had taken refuge at   
,thebes and at ,phlius in the           
,peloponnesus when their society came to
 be regarded as a danger to the state at
 ,croton and elsewhere in southern      
,italy4 ,that happened about the middle 
of the fifth century1 and ,socrates must
 have made the acquaintance of these men
 not long after4 ,at that time it would 
be quite natural for them to visit      
,athens2 but1 after the beginning of the

 ,peloponnesian ,war 7#dca ,b4 ,c471 all
 intercourse with them must have ceased4
 ,they were resident in enemy states1   
and ,socrates was fighting for his      
country4 ,with the exception of the     
brief interval of the ,peace of ,nicias 
7#dba ,b4 ,c471 he can have seen nothing
 of them for years4 ,nevertheless it is 
clear that they did not forget him2 for 
we must accept ,plato's statement in the
 ,phaedo that many of the most          
distinguished philosophers of the time  
came to ,athens to be with ,socrates    
when he was put to death1 and that those
 of them who could not come were eager  
to hear a full account of what happened4
 ,it is highly significant that1 even   
before this1 two young disciples of the 
,pythagorean ,philolaus1 ,simmias and   
,cebes1 had come from ,thebes and       
attached themselves to ,socrates4 ,for  
that we have the evidence of ,xenophon  
as well as of ,plato1 and ,xenophon's   
statement is of real value here2 for it 
was just during these few years that he 

himself associated with ,socrates1      
though he saw him for the last time a   
year or two before his trial and death4 
,whatever other inferences may be drawn 
from these facts1 they are sufficient to
 prove that ,socrates had become        
acquainted with some of the leading     
philosophers of the ,greek world before 
he was forty1 and to make it highly     
probable that it was he who introduced  
the word 'philosophy' in its            
,pythagorean sense to the ,athenians4   
,so much for the word2 we have next to  
ask how there came to be such a thing as
 philosophy at all4 ,it has been        
mentioned that ,pythagoras was an       
,ionian1 and we should naturally expect 
to find that he brought at least the    
beginnings of what he called philosophy 
from eastern ,hellas4 ,now it has been  
pointed out that ,greek philosophy was  
based on science1 and science originated
 at ,miletus on the mainland of ,asia   
,minor nearly opposite the island of    
,samos1 which was the original home of  

,pythagoras4 ,the early ,milesians were1
 in fact1 men of science rather than    
philosophers in the strict sense4 ,the  
two things were not differentiated yet1 
however1 and the traditional account of 
the matter1 according to which ,greek   
philosophy begins with ,thales 7c4 #ehe 
,b4 ,c471 is after all quite justified4 
,the rudimentary mathematical science of
 which1 as explained elsewhere in this  
volume1 he was the originator in fact   
led him and his successors to ask       
certain questions about the ultimate    
nature of reality1 and these questions  
were the beginning of philosophy on its 
theoretical side4 ,it is true that the  
,milesians were unable to give any but  
the crudest answers to these questions1 
and very likely they did not realise    
their full importance4 ,these early     
inquirers only wanted to know what the  
world was made of and how it worked1 but
 the complete break with mythology and  
traditional views which they effected   
cleared the way for everything that     

followed4 ,it was no small thing that   
they were able to discard the old       
doctrine of what were afterwards known  
as the 'elements'--,fire1 ,air1 ,earth1 
and ,water--and to regard all these as  
states of a single substance1 which     
presented different appearances         
according as it was more or less        
rarefied or condensed4 ,moreover1       
,anaximander at least 7c4 #edf ,b4 ,c471
 the successor of ,thales1 shook himself
 free of the idea that the earth        
required support of some kind to keep in
 its place4 ,he held that it swung free 
in space and that it remained where it  
was because there was no reason for it  
to fall in one direction rather than    
another4 ,in general these early        
cosmologists saw that weight was not an 
inherent quality of bodies and that it  
could not be used to explain anything4  
,on the contrary1 weight was itself the 
thing to be explained4 ,anaximander also
 noted the importance of rotary or      
vortex motion in the cosmical scheme1   

and he inferred that there might be an  
indefinite number of rotating systems in
 addition to that with which we are     
immediately acquainted4 ,he also made   
some very important observations of a   
biological character1 and he announced  
that man must be descended from an      
animal of a different species4 ,the     
young of most animals1 he said1 can find
 their food at once1 while that of the  
human species requires a prolonged      
period of nursing4 ,if1 then1 man had   
been originally such as he is now1 he   
could never have survived4 ,all this1 no
 doubt1 is rudimentary science rather   
than philosophy1 but it was the         
beginning of philosophy in this sense1  
that it completely transformed the      
traditional view of the world1 and made 
the raising of more ultimate problems   
inevitable4  ,this transformation was   
effected in complete independence of    
religion4 ,what we may call secularism  
was1 in fact1 characteristic of all     
eastern ,ionian science to the end4 ,we 

must not be misled by the fact that     
,anaximander called his innumerable     
worlds 'gods' and that his successor    
,anaximenes spoke of ,air as a 'god'4   
,these were never the gods of any city  
and were never worshipped by any one1   
and they did not therefore answer at all
 to what the ordinary ,greek meant by a 
god4 ,the use of the term by the        
,milesians means rather that the place  
once occupied by the gods of religion   
was now being taken by the great        
fundamental phenomena of nature1 and the
 later ,greeks were quite right1 from   
their own point of view1 in calling that
 atheism4 ,aristophanes characterizes   
this way of speaking very accurately    
indeed in the ,clouds when he makes     
,strepsiades sum up the teaching he has 
received in the words ',vortex has      
driven out ,zeus and reigns in his      
stead'1 and when he makes ,socrates     
swear by ',chaos1 ,respiration and      
,air'4 ,so too the ,milesians spoke of  
the primary substance as 'ageless and   

deathless'1 which is a ,homeric phrase  
used to mark the difference between gods
 and men1 but this only means that the  
emotion formerly attached to the divine 
was now being transferred to the        
natural4  ,the ,milesians1 then1 had    
formed the conception of an eternal     
matter out of which all things are      
produced and into which all things      
return1 and the conception of ,matter   
belongs to philosophy rather than to    
science4 ,but besides this they had laid
 the foundations of geometry1 and that  
led in other hands to the formulation of
 the correlative conception of ,limit or
 ,form4 ,it is needless to enumerate    
here the ,milesian and ,pythagorean     
contributions to plane geometry2 it will
 be sufficient to remind the reader that
 they covered most of the ground of     
,euclid1 ,books ,i1 ,,ii1 ,,iv1 and     
,,vi1 and probably also of ,book ,,iii4 
,in addition1 ,pythagoras founded       
,arithmetic1 that is1 the scientific    
theory of numbers 7 arithmtik71 as      

opposed to the practical art of         
calculation 7 logistik74 ,we also know  
that he discovered the sphericity of the
 earth1 and the numerical ratios of the 
intervals between the concordant notes  
of the octave4 ,it is obvious that he   
was a scientific genius of the first    
order1 and it is also clear that his    
methods included those of observation   
and experiment4 ,the discovery of the   
earth's spherical shape was due to      
observation of eclipses1 and that of the
 intervals of the octave can only have  
been based on experiments with a        
stretched string1 though the actual     
experiments attributed by tradition to  
,pythagoras are absurd4 ,it was no doubt
 this last discovery that led him to    
formulate his doctrine in the striking  
saying ',things are numbers'1 thus      
definitely giving the priority to the   
element of form or limit instead of to  
the indeterminate matter of his         
predecessors4  ,pythagoras further      
differed from his predecessors in one   

respect which proved of vital moment4   
,so far was he from ignoring religion1  
that he founded a society in southern   
,italy which was primarily a religious  
community4 ,it is quite possible that he
 was influenced by the growth of the    
,orphic societies which had begun to    
spread everywhere in the course of the  
sixth century1 but his religion differed
 from the ,orphic in many ways4 ,in     
particular1 ,apollo and not ,dionysus   
was the chief god of the ,pythagoreans1 
and all our evidence points to the      
conclusion that ,pythagoras brought his 
religion1 as he had brought his science1
 from eastern ,hellas1 though rather    
from the islands of the ,aegean than    
from mainland ,ionia4 ,he was much      
influenced1 we can still see1 by certain
 traditions of the temple of ,delos1    
which had become the religious centre of
 the ,ionic world4 ,there had1 of       
course1 been plenty of religious        
speculation among the ,greeks before    
,pythagoras1 and it was of a type not   

unlike that we find in ,india1 though   
there are insuperable difficulties in   
the way of assuming any ,aegean         
influence on ,india or any ,indian      
influence on the ,aegean at this date4  
,it may be that the beginnings of such  
ideas go back to the time when the      
,greeks and the ,hindus were living     
together1 though it is still more likely
 that both the ,greeks and the ,indians 
were affected by a movement originating 
in the north1 which brought to both of  
them a new view of the soul4 ,the       
,delian legend of the ,hyperboreans may 
be thought to point in this direction4  
,however that may be1 the main purpose  
of the religious observances practised  
by the ,orphics and ,pythagoreans alike 
was to secure by means of               
'purifications' 7 katharmoi7 the ransom 
7 lysis7 of the soul1 which was regarded
 as a fallen god1 from the punishment of
 imprisonment in successive bodies4     
,there is no reason to suppose that     
,pythagoras displayed any particular    

originality in this part of his         
teaching4 ,it all depends on the        
doctrine of transmigration or rebirth 7 
palingenesia71 which is often           
incorrectly designated by the late and  
inaccurate term 'metempsychosis'4 ,there
 is no doubt that ,pythagoras taught    
this1 and also the rule of abstinence   
from animal flesh which is its natural  
corollary1 but such ideas had been well 
known in many parts of ,greece before   
his time4 ,the real difficulty is to see
 the connexion between all this and his 
scientific work4 ,here we are of course 
confined to inferences from what we are 
told by later writers2 but1 if the      
doctrine which ,plato makes ,socrates   
expound in the early part of the ,phaedo
 is ,pythagorean1 as it is generally    
supposed to be1 we may say that what    
,pythagoras did was to teach that1 while
 the ordinary methods of purification   
were well enough in their way1 the best 
and truest purification for the soul was
 just scientific study4 ,it is only in  

some such way as this that we can       
explain the religious note which is     
characteristic of all the best ,greek   
science4 ,it involves the doctrine that 
the ,theoretic ,life is the highest way 
of life for man1 a belief still held by 
,plato and ,aristotle1 and to which we  
shall have to return4 ,we may note at   
once1 however1 that it is not an        
'intellectualist' ideal4 ,there is no   
question of idle contemplation2 it is a 
strenuous way of life1 the aim of which 
is the soul's salvation1 and it gives   
rise to an eager desire to convert other
 men4 ,just for that reason1 the        
,pythagorean philosopher will take part 
in practical life when the opportunity  
offers1 and he will even rule the state 
if called upon to do so4 ,the           
,pythagorean society was a proselytizing
 body from the first1 and it tried to   
bring in all it could reach1 without    
distinction of nationality1 social      
position1 or sex 7for women played a    
great part in it from the first74 ,it   

was precisely its zeal for the reform of
 human life1 and its attempt to set up a
 ,rule of the ,saints in the cities of  
southern ,italy that led to its         
unpopularity4 ,if the ,pythagoreans had 
contented themselves with idle          
speculation1 they would not have been   
massacred or forced to take refuge in   
flight1 a fate which overtook them      
before the middle of the fifth century4 
,it soon proved1 however1 that the      
,pythagorean doctrine in its entirety   
was too high a one for its adherents1   
and a rift between ,pythagorean religion
 and ,pythagorean science was           
inevitable4 ,those who were capable of  
appreciating the scientific side of the 
movement would tend more and more to    
neglect the religious rule which it     
prescribed1 and we find accordingly that
 before the end of the fifth century the
 leading ,pythagoreans1 the men whose   
names we know1 are first of all men of  
science1 and more and more inclined to  
drop what they doubtless regarded as the

 superstitious side of the doctrine4 ,in
 the end they were absorbed in the new  
philosophical schools which arose at    
,athens4 ,the mass of the faithful1 on  
the other hand1 took no interest in     
arithmetic1 geometry1 music1 and        
astronomy1 and with them to follow      
,pythagoras meant to go barefoot and to 
abstain from animal flesh and beans4    
,these continued the tradition even     
after scientific ,pythagoreanism had    
become extinct as such1 and they were a 
favourite subject of ridicule with the  
comic poets of the fourth century ,b4   
,c4  ,it is easy for us to see now that 
all this indicates a real weakness in   
,pythagoreanism4 ,science and religion  
are not to be brought into union by a   
simple process of juxtaposition4 ,we do 
not know how far ,pythagoras himself was
 conscious of the ambiguity of his      
position2 it would not be surprising if 
he came to feel it towards the end of   
his life1 and we know for certain that  
he lived long enough to witness the     

beginnings of the revolt against his    
society in ,croton and elsewhere4 ,it is
 for this reason that he removed to     
,metapontum where he died1 and where    
,cicero was able to visit his tomb long 
afterwards4 ,we shall see later what the
 weak point in his system was1 and we   
shall have to consider how the discord  
he had left unresolved was ultimately   
overcome4 ,for the present1 it is more  
important to note that he was the real  
founder both of science1 and of         
philosophy as we understand them now4   
,it is specially true of science that it
 is the first steps which are the most  
difficult1 and ,pythagoras left a       
sufficient achievement in mathematics   
behind him for others to elaborate4 ,the
 ,greeks took less than three centuries 
to complete the edifice1 and that was   
chiefly due to ,pythagoras1 who had laid
 the foundations truly and well4  ,we   
have now seen how the two great         
conceptions of ,matter and ,form were   
reached2 the next problem ,greek        

philosophy had to face was that of      
,motion4 ,at first the fact of movement 
had simply been taken for granted4 ,the 
,ionian tendency was to see motion      
everywhere2 it was rest that had to be  
explained1 or rather the appearance of  
it4 ,however1 when the new conception of
 an eternal matter began to be taken    
seriously1 difficulties made themselves 
felt at once4 ,if reality was regarded  
as continuous1 it appeared that there   
was no room for anything else1 not even 
for empty space1 which could only be    
identified with the unreal1 and it was  
easy to show that the unreal could not  
exist4 ,but1 if there is no empty space1
 it seems impossible that there should  
be any motion1 and the world of which we
 suppose ourselves to be aware must be  
an illusion4 ,such1 briefly stated1 was 
the position taken up by another ,ionian
 of southern ,italy1 ,parmenides of     
,elea 7c4 #dge ,b4 ,c471 who had begun  
as a ,pythagorean1 but had been led to  
apply the rigorous method of reasoning  

introduced into geometry with such      
success by the ,pythagoreans to the old 
question of the nature of the world     
which had occupied the ,milesians4 ,the 
remarkable thing about the earliest     
geometers is1 in fact1 that they did not
 formulate the conception of ,space1    
which seems to us at the present day    
fundamental4 ,they were able to avoid it
 because they possessed the conception  
of ,matter1 and regarded ,air as the    
normal state of the material substratum4
 ,the confusion of air with empty space 
is1 of course1 a natural one1 though it 
may be considered surprising that it    
should not have been detected by the    
founders of geometrical science4 ,such  
failures to draw all the consequences   
from a new discovery are common enough1 
however1 in the history of scientific   
thought4  ,parmenides cleared up this   
ambiguity1 not by affirming the         
existence of empty space1 but by denying
 the possibility of such a thing1 even  
before it had been asserted by any one4 

,he saw that the ,pythagoreans really   
implied it1 though they were quite      
unconscious of the fact4 ,he is         
interesting to us as the first          
philosopher who thought of expounding   
his system in verse4 ,it was not a very 
happy thought1 as the arguments in which
 he deals do not readily lend themselves
 to this mode of expression1 and we may 
be thankful that none of his successors 
except ,empedocles followed his example4
 ,it has the very great inconvenience of
 making it necessary to use different   
words for the same thing to suit the    
exigencies of metre4 ,and if there ever 
was an argument that demanded precise   
statement1 it was that of ,parmenides4  
,as it is1 his poem has the faults we   
should look for in a metrical version of
 ,euclid4 ,on the other hand1           
,parmenides is the first philosopher of 
whom we have sufficient remains to      
enable us to follow a continuous        
argument2 for we have nothing of        
,pythagoras at all1 and only detached   

fragments of the rest4 ,we can see that 
he was ready to follow the argument     
wherever it might lead4 ,he took the    
conception of matter which had been     
elaborated by his predecessors and he   
showed that1 if it is to be taken       
seriously1 it must lead to the          
conclusion that reality is continuous1  
finite1 and spherical1 with nothing     
outside it and no empty space within it4
 ,for such a reality motion is          
impossible1 and the world of the senses 
is therefore an illusion4 ,of course    
that was not a result in which it was   
possible for men to acquiesce for long1 
and historically speaking1 the ,eleatic 
doctrine must be regarded as a reductio 
ad absurdum of earlier speculation4     
,there is no reason to believe1 however1
 that ,parmenides himself meant it to be
 understood in this way4 ,he believed   
firmly that he had found the truth4     
,several attempts were made to escape   
the conclusions of ,parmenides1 and they
 all start by abandoning the assumption 

of the homogeneity and continuity of    
matter which had been implicit in the   
earlier systems1 though it was first    
brought to the light of day by          
,parmenides4 ,here again the influence  
of contemporary science on philosophic  
thought is clearly marked4 ,empedocles  
of ,agrigentum 7c4 #dfj ,b4 ,c471 the   
only citizen of a ,dorian state who     
finds a place in the early history of   
science and philosophy1 was the founder 
of the ,sicilian school of medicine1 and
 it was probably his pre-occupation with
 that science that led him to revive the
 old doctrine of ,fire1 ,air1 ,earth1   
and ,water1 which the ,milesians had    
cast aside1 but which lent itself       
readily to the physiological theories of
 the day4 ,he did not use the word      
afterwards translated 'elements' 7      
stoicheia7 for these4 ,it means         
literally 'letters of the alphabet'1 and
 appears to have been first employed in 
this connexion by the ,pythagoreans at a
 later date1 when they found it         

necessary to take account of the new    
theory4 ,empedocles spoke of the 'four  
roots' of things1 and by this he meant  
to imply that these four forms of matter
 were equally original and altogether   
disparate4 ,that furnished at least a   
partial answer to the arguments of      
,parmenides1 which depended on the      
assumption that matter was homogeneous4 
,he also found it necessary to assume   
two sources of motion or forces1 as we  
might call them1 though ,empedocles     
thought of them as substances1 one of   
which tended to separate the 'four      
roots' and the other to combine them4   
,these he called ,love and ,strife1 and 
he supposed the life of the world to    
take the form of alternate cycles1 in   
which one or the other prevailed in     
turn4 ,in all this he was plainly       
influenced by his physiological studies4
 ,he thinks of the world as an animal   
organism subject to what are now called 
anabolism and catabolism4 ,the details  
of the theory make this quite clear4 ,a 

similar doctrine was taught by          
,anaxagoras 7c4 #dfj ,b4 ,c471 who came 
from ,clazomenae in ,asia ,minor to     
,athens after the ,persian ,wars1 and   
was one of the teachers of ,pericles4   
,his doctrine of 'seeds'1 in which the  
traditional 'opposites'--wet and dry1   
cold and hot--were combined in different
 proportions1 is rather more subtle than
 that of ,empedocles1 and it is possible
 to see in it a curious anticipation of 
certain features in modern chemistry4   
,anaxagoras too felt it necessary to    
assume a force or source of motion1 but 
he thought that one would suffice to    
account for the rotation 7 perichrsis7  
to which he attributed the formation of 
the world4 ,he called that force ,mind 7
 nous71 but his own description of it   
shows that he regarded it as corporeal1 
though he thought it was something more 
tenuous and unmixed than other bodies4  
,there is little doubt that he selected 
the term in order to mark the identity  
of the source of motion in the world    

with that in the animal organism4 ,that 
again is in accordance with the         
scientific interests of the time4 ,in   
his astronomical theories1 however1     
,anaxagoras showed himself a true       
eastern ,ionian1 and lagged far behind  
the ,pythagoreans4 ,for him1 as for the 
,ionians of the ,aegean down to and     
including ,democritus1 the earth was    
flat1 and the eddy or vortex which gave 
rise to the world was still rotation in 
a plane4 ,a more satisfying answer to   
,parmenides was the doctrine of         
,atomism1 which frankly accepted the    
existence of space1 and asserted that it
 was just as real as body4 ,the first   
hint of such a solution was given by    
,melissus 7c4 #ddd ,b4 ,c471 who was a  
,samian but a member of the ,eleatic    
school4 ,he said1 ',if things are a     
many1 then each of them must be such as 
,i have shown the ,one to be4' ,that was
 meant as a reductio ad absurdum2 but1  
when ,leucippus of ,miletus 7c4 #ddj ,b4
 ,c471 who had also studied in the      

school of ,elea1 ventured to assert the 
existence of the ,void1 there was no    
longer any reason for shirking the      
conclusion which ,melissus had stated   
only to show its impossibility4 ,the    
atoms are1 in fact1 just the continuous 
indivisible ,one of ,parmenides         
multiplied ad infinitum in an infinite  
empty space4 ,on that side at least1 the
 theory of body was now complete1 and   
the question asked by ,thales was       
answered1 and it is of great interest to
 observe that this was brought about by 
the renewal of intercourse between the  
,ionians of ,italy and those of the     
,aegean1 a renewal which was made       
possible by the establishment of the    
,athenian ,empire4 ,nothing makes us    
feel the historical connexion more      
vividly than the re-emergence of the    
names of ,miletus and ,samos after all  
these years4 ,there were1 however1      
certain more fundamental problems which 
,atomism could not solve1 and which were
 first attacked at ,athens itself4 ,so  

far1 it will be noted1 ,athens has      
played no part at all in our story1 and 
in fact no more than two ,athenians ever
 became philosophers of the first rank4 
,it is true that they were called       
,socrates and ,plato1 so the exception  
is a considerable one4 ,it was the      
foundation of the ,athenian ,empire that
 made ,athens the natural meeting-place 
of the most diverse philosophical and   
scientific views4 ,it was here that the 
east and west of ,hellas came together1 
and that the two streams of tradition   
became one1 with the result that a new  
tradition was started which1 though     
often interrupted for a time1 continues 
to the present day4  ,if we wish to     
understand the development of ,greek    
philosophy1 it is of the first          
importance that we should realize the   
intellectual ferment which existed at   
,athens in the great days of the        
,periclean age4 ,it has been mentioned  
already that ,anaxagoras of ,clazomenae 
had settled there1 and it was not long  

before his example was followed by      
others4 ,in particular1 ,zeno of ,elea  
7c4 #dej ,b4 ,c471 the favourite        
disciple of ,parmenides1 had a          
considerable following at ,athens4 ,he  
made it his business to champion the    
doctrine of his master by showing that  
those who refused to accept it were     
obliged to give their assent to views   
which were at least as repugnant to     
common sense1 and in this way he        
incidentally did much for mathematics   
and philosophy by raising the           
difficulties of infinite divisibility   
and continuity in an acute form4 ,all   
that is something quite apart from the  
influence of the 'sophists' at a rather 
later date1 though they too came both   
from the east and from the west1 and    
though they had been influenced by the  
more strictly philosophical schools of  
these regions4 ,it was into this ,athens
 that ,socrates was born 7#dgj ,b4 ,c47 
about ten years after the battle of     
,salamis1 and he was naturally exposed  

to all these conflicting influences1 of 
which ,plato has given us a vivid       
description in the ,phaedo1 from his    
earliest youth4 ,he cannot1 in fact1 be 
understood at all unless this historical
 background is kept constantly in view4 
,there can be no reasonable doubt that  
at a very early age he attached himself 
to ,archelaus1 an ,athenian who had     
succeeded ,anaxagoras1 when that        
philosopher had to leave ,athens for    
,lampsacus4 ,ion of ,chios1 a           
contemporary witness1 said that         
,socrates had visited ,asia ,minor with 
,archelaus1 and that appears to refer to
 the siege of ,samos1 when ,socrates was
 under thirty4 ,there is no reason      
whatever to doubt the statement1 which  
,plato makes more than once1 that he had
 met ,parmenides and ,zeno at a still   
earlier date4 ,at any rate1 the         
influence of ,zeno on the dialectic of  
,socrates is unmistakable4 ,we may also 
take it that he was familiar with all   
sorts of ,orphic and ,pythagorean       

sectaries4 ,aeschines of ,sphettos wrote
 a dialogue entitled ,telauges1 in which
 he represented ,socrates as rallying   
the extreme asceticism of the strict    
followers of ,pythagoras4 ,so far1      
however1 as we can form a picture of him
 for ourselves1 he was not the sort of  
man to become the disciple of any one4  
,he was a genuine ,athenian in respect  
of what is called his 'irony'1 which    
implies a certain humorous reserve which
 kept him from all extravagances1       
however interested he might be in the   
extravagances of others4 ,nevertheless1 
while still quite a young man1 he had   
somehow acquired a reputation for       
'wisdom'1 though he himself disclaimed  
anything of the sort4 ,he had also1 it  
appears1 gathered round him a circle of 
'associates' 7 hetairoi74 ,the only     
direct evidence we have for these early 
days is the ,clouds of ,aristophanes    
7#dbc ,b4 ,c471 which is of course a    
comedy and must not be taken too        
literally4 ,on the other hand1 a comic  

poet who knew his business 7and surely  
,aristophanes did7 could hardly present 
a well-known man to the ,athenian public
 in a manner which had no relation to   
fact at all4 ,it is fortunate that there
 is a passage in ,xenophon's            
,memorabilia 7i4 #f7 which seems to     
supply us with the very background we   
need to make the ,clouds intelligible4  
,it represents ,socrates in an entirely 
different light from that in which he   
appears in the rest of the work1 and it 
can hardly be ,xenophon's own invention4
 ,it seems to refer to a time when      
,plato and ,xenophon were babies1 if not
 to a time before they were born1 and it
 is probable that it comes from some    
literary source which we can no longer  
trace4 ,we are told1 then1 that         
,antiphon the sophist was trying to     
detach his companions 7 synousiastai7   
from ,socrates1 and a conversation      
followed in which he charged him with   
teaching his followers to be miserable  
rather than happy1 and added that he was

 right not to charge a fee for his      
teaching1 since in fact it was of no    
value4 ,it will be seen that this       
implies a regular relation between      
,socrates and his followers which was   
sufficiently well known to arouse       
professional jealousy4 ,socrates does   
not attempt to deny the fact4 ,he says  
that what he and his companions do is to
 spend their time together in studying  
the wisdom of the men of old which they 
have left behind them in books1 and     
that1 if they come upon anything which  
they think is good1 they extract it for 
their own use1 and count it great gain  
if1 in doing this1 they become friends  
to one another4 ,it is obvious that this
 suggests something quite different from
 the current view of ,socrates as a     
talker at street corners1 something much
 more like a regular school1 and that1  
so far as it goes1 it explains the      
burlesque of ,aristophanes4  ,the       
,socrates of whom we know most is1      
however1 quite differently engaged4 ,he 

has devoted his life to a mission to his
 fellow men1 and especially to his      
fellow citizens4 ,if we may so far trust
 ,plato's ,apology1 the occasion of that
 was the answer received from the       
,delphic oracle by ,chaerephon1 whom we 
know from ,aristophanes as one of the   
leading disciples of ,socrates in the   
earlier part of his life4 ,chaerephon   
asked the god of ,delphi whether there  
was any one wiser than ,socrates1 and   
this of course implies that ,socrates   
had a reputation for 'wisdom' before his
 mission began4 ,the oracle declared    
that there was no one wiser1 and ,plato 
makes ,socrates say in the ,apology that
 this was the real beginning of that    
mission4 ,he set out at first to prove  
that the oracle was wrong1 and for that 
purpose he tried to discover some one   
wiser than himself1 a search in which he
 was disappointed1 since he could only  
find people who thought they were wise1 
and no one who really was so4 ,he       
therefore concluded that what the oracle

 really meant was that ,socrates was    
wiser than other people in one respect  
only4 ,neither he nor any one else was  
really 'wise'1 but ,socrates was wiser  
than the rest because he knew he was not
 wise and they thought they were4 ,it   
ought to be clear that this is mostly   
'irony'1 and it is not to be supposed   
that ,socrates attached undue importance
 to the oracle1 which he speaks of quite
 lightly1 but he could hardly have told 
the story at all unless it was generally
 known that his mission did in fact date
 roughly from that period of his life4  
,historically it would probably be truer
 to say that the outbreak of the        
,peloponnesian ,war1 in which ,socrates 
served with great distinction as a      
hoplite1 marked the decisive            
turning-point4 ,it was in the camp at   
,potidaea that he once stood in a trance
 for twenty-four hours 7#dca ,b4 ,c471  
and that seems to point to some great   
psychological change1 which may very    
well have been occasioned or accelerated

 by his experiences in the war4 ,at any 
rate we now find him entirely devoted to
 the conversion of his fellow citizens1 
and we must try to understand what the  
message he had for them was4  ,in the   
,apology ,socrates declares that his    
mission was divinely imposed upon him1  
so that he dare not neglect it1 even if 
it should lead to his death1 as in fact 
it did4 ,the tone here is quite         
different from the half-humorous style  
in which he deals with the ,delphic     
oracle1 and even the 'divine sign'4     
,that only warned him not to do things1 
mostly quite trivial things1 which he   
was about to do1 and never told him to  
do anything2 this1 on the contrary1 was 
a positive command1 laid upon him by    
,god1 and there can be no doubt that    
,plato means us to understand this to   
have been the innermost conviction of   
,socrates4 ,it is hard to believe that  
,plato could have misrepresented his    
master's attitude on such a point4 ,he  
was present at the trial1 and the       

,apology must have been written not very
 long afterwards1 when the memory of it 
was still fresh in people's minds4 ,now 
,plato tells us quite clearly that what 
,socrates tried to get the ,athenians to
 understand was the duty of 'caring for 
their souls' 7  psychs epimeleio74 ,that
 is confirmed from other sources1 and   
indeed it is generally admitted4 ,the   
phrase has1 however1 become so familiar 
that it does not at once strike us as   
anything very new or important4 ,to an  
,athenian of the fifth century ,b4 ,c41 
on the other hand1 it must have seemed  
very strange indeed4 ,the word          
translated 'soul' 7 psych7 occurs often 
enough1 no doubt1 in the literature of  
the period1 but it is never used of     
anything for which we could be called   
upon to 'care' in the sense evidently   
intended by ,socrates4 ,its normal use  
is to denote the breath of life1 the    
'ghost' a man 'gives up' at the moment  
of death4 ,it can therefore be rendered 
by 'life' in all cases where there is a 

question of risking or losing life or of
 clinging to it when we ought to be     
prepared to sacrifice it1 but it is not 
used for the seat of conscious life at  
all4 ,it is sometimes employed to       
signify the seat of the                 
dream-consciousness or of what is now   
called the subconscious or subliminal   
self1 but never of the ordinary waking  
consciousness which is the seat of      
knowledge and ignorance1 goodness and   
badness4#b ,on the other hand1 that use 
of the word is quite common in the      
fourth century1 and it may be inferred  
that this change was due to ,socrates4  
,more than once ,aristophanes ridicules 
him for holding some strange view of the
 'soul'1 and these jests were made at a 
time when ,plato was only a child4 ,we  
cannot1 of course1 expect to get any    
very definite idea from them as to the  
real teaching of ,socrates on this      
subject1 but it is not impossible to see
 what it was1 if we take into account   
the views of the soul which had been    

held by the philosophical schools of    
eastern and western ,ionia4      #b ,see
 my paper on ',the ,socratic ,doctrine  
of the ,soul'4     ,proceedings of the  
,british ,academy1 #aiae-af1 pp4 #bce   
sqq4  ,the ,ionians of ,asia ,minor had 
certainly identified the soul with that 
in us which is conscious1 and which is  
the seat of goodness and badness1 wisdom
 and folly2 but they did not regard it  
as what we call the self or treat it as 
an individual4 ,anaximenes and his      
school held that the soul was what they 
called ,air1 but that was just because  
they regarded ,air as the primary       
substance of which all things are made4 
,the soul was something1 in fact1 that  
comes to us from outside 7 thyrathen7 by
 means of respiration4 ,as ,diogenes of 
,apollonia expresses it1 it is 'a small 
portion of the god'1 that is1 of the    
primary substance1 enclosed in a human  
body for a time1 and returning at death 
to the larger mass of the same substance
 outside4 ,the formula ',earth to earth 

and air to air' was accepted as an      
adequate description of what takes place
 at death4 ,the western ,ionians1 and   
especially the ,pythagoreans1 held a    
very different view4 ,for them1 the soul
 was something divine4 ,it was1 in fact1
 a fallen god1 imprisoned in the body as
 a punishment for antenatal sin1 and it 
deserved our care in this sense1 that it
 was our chief business in life to      
purify it so as to secure its release   
from the necessity of reincarnation in  
another body4 ,but1 during this present 
life1 they held that this divine element
 slumbers1 except in prophetic dreams4  
,as ,pindar puts it1 ',it sleeps when   
the limbs are active4' ,neither of these
 views was familiar to the ordinary     
,athenian1 but ,socrates of course knew 
both well1 and felt satisfied with      
neither4 ,when he spoke of the soul he  
did not mean any mysterious fallen god  
which was the temporary tenant of the   
body1 but the conscious self which it   
lies with us to try to make wise and    

good4 ,on the other hand1 his insistence
 on our duty to 'care for' it is quite  
inconsistent with the view that it is   
merely something extrinsic1 as all the  
eastern ,ionians down to ,anaxagoras had
 taught4 ,it is1 on the contrary1 our   
very self1 the thing in us which is of  
more importance to us than anything else
 whatever4 ,it was to this doctrine of  
the soul and our duty to it that        
,socrates felt he must convert mankind  
and especially his fellow-citizens4 ,it 
was a strange and novel doctrine then2  
and1 if it has become a commonplace     
since1 that only shows that he was      
successful1 if not in persuading his    
fellowmen to act on this knowledge1 at  
least in making them aware of it4 ,it   
was in this way that ,socrates healed   
the rift between science and religion   
which had proved fatal to the           
,pythagorean society1 and it may be     
suggested that the significance of his  
teaching is not exhausted yet4 ,as has  
been indicated above it is to be found  

clearly stated in ,plato's ,apology of  
,socrates1 and it furnishes the only    
clue to a right understanding of the    
great series of ,platonic dialogues down
 to and including the ,republic in which
 ,socrates is represented as the chief  
speaker4 ,whether ,plato added much or  
little of his own to the doctrine of his
 master in these dialogues is an        
interesting historical problem1 but it  
need not concern the ordinary reader1 at
 least in the first instance4 ,we know  
from the allusions of ,aristophanes that
 ,socrates himself taught a new doctrine
 of the soul when ,plato was a child1   
and no sympathetic reader can fail to   
see that the passage of the ,apology to 
which we have referred is intended to be
 a faithful account of that doctrine4   
,all the rest is simply its legitimate  
development1 and it is not of very great
 importance for us to determine whether 
that development is due to ,socrates or 
to ,plato4 ,the inspiration which has   
been derived from these writings by many

 generations will not be lessened by any
 decision we may come to on this point1 
so long as we keep clearly in mind that 
the new doctrine of soul is their       
principal theme1 and that this must be  
understood in the light of the doctrines
 which had prepared the way for it4     
,what ,socrates did was really this4 ,he
 deepened the meaning of the ,eastern   
,ionian doctrine by informing it with   
some of the feeling and emotion which   
had characterized the ,pythagorean      
teaching on the subject1 while on the   
other hand he rationalized the          
,pythagorean theory by identifying the  
soul with our conscious personality4    
,now if this is a correct account of    
what ,socrates taught1 he must be       
regarded as inaugurating an entirely new
 period in the history of philosophy4   
,that is implied in the common term     
',presocratics' generally applied to his
 predecessors1 though the ordinary      
textbooks are by no means clear as to   
the grounds for assigning this          

pre-eminent position to ,socrates4 ,we  
can also see how natural it was for him 
to lay such emphasis on the conversion  
of souls as he certainly did4 ,that     
purpose continued to dominate ,greek    
philosophy to the very end4 ,no doubt   
successive schools varied in their      
conception of what conversion meant1 but
 that is the link which binds them all  
together4 ,in fact1 it gave rise to a   
new literary form1 the 'hortatory       
discourse' 7  protreptikos logos71 which
 was more and more cultivated as time   
went on1 and was at last taken over by  
the fathers of the ,christian church    
along with much else of a more          
fundamental character4  ,it has been    
noted already that ,socrates had        
followers among all the leading         
philosophical schools of the time1 and  
the possibility is not to be excluded   
that we may still learn more of him from
 the discovery of new sources4 ,for the 
present1 the recovery of some new and   
fairly extensive fragments of the       

,alcibiades of ,aeschines of ,sphettos  
is the chief addition to our sources of 
information4 ,we know that ,aeschines   
was a disciple of ,socrates1 and the    
tradition of antiquity was that his     
dialogues gave the most faithful picture
 of the man as he really was4 ,if so1   
that was probably because ,aeschines had
 no philosophy of his own4 ,for us the  
chief importance of the new fragments is
 that1 if we read them along with those 
already known 7and it is unfortunate    
that the old and the new have not yet   
been printed together71 they strongly   
confirm the impression we get from      
,plato of the manner of ,socrates and   
his method of argument1 and that helps  
to reassure us as to the essentially    
historical character of the ,platonic   
,socrates4 ,the fragments of ,aeschines 
also corroborate ,plato by showing that 
the conversion of ,alcibiades 7whose    
life he had saved when a young man7 was 
one of the things that lay nearest his  
heart4  ,but the real successor of      

,socrates was1 of course1 ,plato himself
 7#dbg-cdg ,b4 ,c474 ,it is not possible
 to give even an outline of ,plato's    
philosophy here4 ,indeed the time has   
hardly come for that yet1 though much   
admirable work is now being done1       
especially by a ,french professor1 ,m4  
,robin1 which promises more certain     
conclusions than have yet been possible4
 ,all that can be attempted here is to  
indicate the attitude of ,plato to some 
of the problems we have been discussing4
 ,his very great contributions to the   
theory of knowledge will be passed over1
 as they are beginning to be well       
understood1 and the ,theaetetus in      
particular1 with its sequel the         
,sophist1 is more and more coming to    
occupy its rightful place as the best   
introduction to philosophy in general4  
,it is necessary1 however1 just to      
notice in passing a fundamental question
 of method which the ,platonic dialogues
 themselves suggest4 ,it is this4 ,while
 ,socrates is present in every one of   

them except the ,laws1 he takes         
practically no part in some of them1 and
 the dialogues in which this is the case
 are known on other grounds to belong to
 the later years of ,plato's life4      
,there must be some reason for this1 and
 it is obviously prudent to treat these 
later dialogues in the first instance as
 our primary evidence for ,plato's own  
views4 ,indeed1 it is only after his    
philosophy has been reconstructed from  
these sources and from the sometimes    
obscure references to it in ,aristotle1 
that it will be safe to attempt an      
answer to the question of how much there
 may be in the dialogues of his early   
life which is properly to be assigned to
 ,plato himself rather than to          
,socrates4 ,that is a historical        
question of great interest2 but1 as has 
been said1 the solution of it1 if that  
should ever prove possible1 would not   
greatly affect the impression that      
,athenian philosophy leaves upon us as a
 whole4  ,now1 if we consider ,plato's  

later1 and presumably therefore most    
independent writings1 we find1 just as  
we should expect from a disciple of     
,socrates1 that the doctrine of soul    
holds the first place1 but that it has  
certain features of its own which there 
is no sufficient ground for attributing 
to ,socrates4 ,we are too apt to think  
of ,plato as mainly occupied with what  
is called the 'theory of ,ideas'1 a     
theory which is discussed once or twice 
in his earlier dialogues1 and which is  
there ascribed to ,socrates1 but which  
plays no part at all in his mature      
works4 ,there the chief place is        
undoubtedly taken by the doctrine of the
 soul1 and we can see that it is of the 
first importance for ,plato4 ,soul is   
regarded as the source of all motion in 
the world1 because it is the only thing 
in the world that moves without being   
itself moved by anything else4 ,it is   
this and this alone that enables ,plato 
to account for the existence of the     
world and of mankind1 and to avoid the  

theory of 'two worlds' into which1 as he
 points out in the ,sophist1 'the       
friends of the ,ideas'1 whoever they may
 have been1 were only too apt to fall4  
,in ,plato this view of the soul        
culminates in theology of a kind which  
he nowhere attributes to ,socrates4 ,he 
represents him1 indeed1 as a man of a   
deeply religious nature1 but we do not  
gather that he had felt the need of a   
formal doctrine of ,god4 ,plato1 on the 
other hand1 has left us the first       
systematic defence of ,theism we know   
of1 and it is based entirely on his     
doctrine of soul as the self-moved      
mover4 ,but the highest soul1 or ,god1  
is not only the ultimate source of      
motion1 but also supremely good4 ,now1  
since there are many things in the world
 which are not good1 and since it would 
be blasphemy to attribute these to ,god1
 there must be other souls in the world 
which are relatively at least           
independent4 ,god is not1 directly at   
least1 the cause of all things1 but it  

is not easy to discover the relation in 
which these other souls are thought of  
as standing to ,god4 ,in the ,timaeus1  
the matter is put in this way4 ,the soul
 of the world1 and all other souls human
 and divine1 are the work of the        
,creator1 who is identified with ,god1  
and they are not inherently             
indestructible1 since anything that has 
been made can be unmade4 ,they are1     
however1 practically indestructible1    
since ,god made all things because ,he  
was good and wished them also to be as  
good as possible4 ,his goodness1        
therefore1 will not suffer ,him to      
destroy what ,he has once made4 ,that of
 course is mythically expressed1 and    
,plato is not committed to it as a      
statement of his own belief1 since it is
 only the account which ,timaeus puts   
into the mouth of the ,creator4 ,we can 
see1 however1 what was the problem with 
which he was occupied1 and it is not    
perhaps illegitimate to infer that he   
approached the question which still     

baffles speculation from the point of   
view that ,god's omnipotence1 as we     
should call it1 is limited by his       
goodness4 ,this is a much more important
 limitation than that imposed by the    
existence of matter1 to which ,timaeus  
also refers4 ,in that1 he is simply     
following the tradition of the          
,pythagorean society to which he        
belonged1 as is shown by his            
identification of matter with space1 or 
rather with 'room'4 ,so far as can be   
seen at present1 we are not entitled to 
ascribe this view to ,plato without more
 ado1 but that is a point on which the  
last word has not yet been said4  ,the  
description of the creation given by    
,timaeus is of course to be regarded as 
mythical in its details1 but it has     
features from which we may learn a good 
deal as to the direction taken by       
,plato's thoughts about the world4 ,in  
particular1 while the important part    
played by geometry is quite intelligible
 in the mouth of a ,pythagorean1 he     

makes use of certain theories which we  
know to belong to the most recent       
mathematics of the day1 in particular   
the complete doctrine of the five       
regular solids1 which was due to        
,theaetetus1 who was one of the earliest
 members of the ,academy1 and whom      
,plato represents as having made the    
acquaintance of ,socrates just before   
the master's death4 ,theaetetus died    
young1 but we know enough of him to feel
 sure that he was one of the few great  
original mathematicians who have        
appeared in history4 ,in the ,timaeus   
the theory of the regular solids is used
 to get rid once more of the doctrine of
 four ultimate 'elements'4 ,these1      
,timaeus says1 are so far from being    
elements or letters of the alphabet1    
that they are not even syllables4 ,the  
way in which the so-called elements are 
built up out of molecules corresponding 
in their configuration to the regular   
solids1 and the explanations of their   
transmutation into one another based on 

the geometrical construction of these   
figures1 is apt to strike the average   
reader as fantastic1 but one of the most
 distinguished living mathematicians and
 physicists has stated that he is struck
 most of all by their resemblance to the
 scientific theories of the twentieth   
century4 ,it will be well1 therefore1 to
 avoid hasty judgements on this point4  
,it is at any rate easy to understand   
how the study of mathematics came to    
hold the preponderating place it did in 
the ,platonic ,academy4  ,in accordance 
with the plan of this paper1 something  
must now be said of ,plato's attitude to
 the practical life1 a point on which it
 is very easy to make mistakes4 ,no one 
has insisted more strongly than he has  
on the primacy of the ,theoretic ,life4 
,the philosopher is the man who is in   
love with the spectacle of all time and 
all existence and that is what delivers 
him from petty ambitions and low        
desires4 ,he has made the toilsome      
ascent out of the ,cave in which the    

mass of men dwell1 and in which they    
only behold the shadows of reality4     
,but1 even in this enthusiastic         
description of the philosophic life1 an 
equal stress is laid on the duty of     
philosopher to descend into the ,cave in
 turn and to rescue as many of their    
former fellow-prisoners as may be1 even 
against their will1 by turning them to  
the light and dragging them up into the 
world of truth and reality4 ,it is quite
 easy to understand1 in view of this1   
that ,plato devoted some of the best    
years of his life to practical affairs  
and that he relinquished the studies of 
the ,academy for a time in order to     
direct the education of ,dionysius ,,ii4
 ,the thing appeared well worth doing2  
for ,greek civilization in ,sicily1 and 
consequently1 as we can now see1 the    
civilization of western ,europe1 was    
seriously threatened by the             
,carthaginians4 ,they had been held at  
bay by ,dionysius ,i1 but after his     
death everything depended on his        

successor4 ,now the education of        
,dionysius ,,ii had been completely     
neglected1 but he had good natural      
abilities1 and his uncle ,dion1 who was 
,plato's friend1 was ready to answer for
 his good intentions4 ,plato could not  
turn a deaf ear to such a call4         
,unfortunately ,dionysius was vain and  
obstinate1 and he soon became impatient 
of the serious studies which ,plato     
rightly regarded as necessary to prepare
 him for his task4 ,the result was a    
growing estrangement between ,plato and 
his pupil1 which made it impossible to  
hope for a successful issue to the plans
 of ,dion4 ,it is unnecessary to tell   
the whole story here1 but it is right to
 say that there was nothing at all      
impracticable in what ,plato undertook1 
and that he was certainly justified in  
holding that the education of ,dionysius
 must be completed before it would be   
safe to entrust him with the            
championship of the cause of ,hellenism 
in the west4  ,his failure to make      

anything of ,dionysius did not lead     
,plato to abandon his efforts to heal   
the wounds of ,hellenism4 ,one of the   
studies most ardently pursued in the    
,academy was ,jurisprudence1 of which he
 is the real founder4 ,it was not       
uncommon for ,greek states to apply to  
the ,academy for legislators to codify  
existing law or to frame a new code for 
colonies which had just been founded4   
,that is the real explanation of the    
remarkable work entitled the ,laws1     
which must have occupied ,plato for many
 years1 and which was probably begun    
while he was still directing the studies
 of ,dionysius4 ,it appears to have been
 left unfinished2 for1 while some parts 
of it are highly elaborated1 there are  
others which make upon us the impression
 of being a first draft4 ,even so1 it is
 a great work if we regard it from the  
proper point of view4 ,it is1 in the    
first place1 a codification of ,greek1  
and especially ,athenian law1 of course 
with those reforms and improvements     

which suggest themselves when the       
subject is systematically treated1 and  
it formed the basis of ,hellenistic1 and
 through that of ,roman law1 to which   
the world owes so much4 ,there is no    
more useful corrective of the popular   
notion of ,plato as an unpractical      
visionary than the careful study of the 
dullest and most technical parts of the 
,laws in the light of the ,institutes4  
,no attempt has been made here to       
describe the system of ,plato as a      
whole1 and indeed the time has not yet  
come when such an attempt can profitably
 be made4 ,we have no direct knowledge  
of his teaching in the ,academy2 for we 
only possess the works which he wrote   
with a wider public in view4 ,in the    
case of ,aristotle 7#chd-cbb ,b4 ,c471 a
 similar reservation must be made1      
though for just the opposite reason4 ,we
 have only fragments of his published   
works and what we possess is mainly the 
groundwork of his lectures in the       
,lyceum4 ,it will be seen that there is 

still very much to be done here too4    
,from the nature of the case1 notes for 
lectures take a great deal for granted  
that would be more fully explained when 
the lectures were delivered1 and some of
 the most important points are hardly   
developed at all4 ,nevertheless there   
are certain things which come out       
clearly enough1 and it so happens that  
they are points of great importance from
 which we can learn something with      
regard to the philosophical problems of 
the present day4  ,in the first place1  
it is desirable to point out that       
,aristotle was not an ,athenian1 but an 
,ionian from the northern ,aegean1 and  
that he was strongly influenced by      
eastern ,ionian science1 especially by  
the system of ,democritus 7which ,plato 
does not appear to have known7 and by   
the medical theories of the time4 ,that 
is why he is so unsympathetic to the    
western schools of philosophy1 and      
especially to the ,pythagoreans and the 
,eleatics4 ,empedocles alone1 who was a 

biologist like himself1 and the founder 
of a medical school1 finds favour in his
 eyes4 ,he is not1 therefore1 at home in
 mathematical matters and his system of 
,physics can only be regarded as        
retrograde when we compare it with that 
of the ,academy4 ,he did indeed accept  
the doctrine of the earth's sphericity1 
but with that exception his cosmological
 views must be called reactionary4      
,where he is really great is in biology1
 a field of research which was not      
entirely neglected by the ,academy1 but 
which had been treated as secondary in  
comparison with mathematics and         
astronomy4 ,the contrast between ,plato 
and ,aristotle in this respect seems to 
repeat on a higher plane that between   
,pythagoras and ,empedocles1 and this   
suggests something like a law of        
philosophical development which may     
perhaps throw light on the present      
situation4 ,it seems as if this         
alternation of the mathematical and the 
biological interest was fundamental in  

the development of scientific thought   
and that the philosophy of different    
periods takes its colour from it4 ,the  
philosophy of the nineteenth century was
 dominated in the main by biological    
conceptions1 while it seems as if that  
of the twentieth was to be chiefly      
mathematical in its outlook on the      
world4 ,we must not1 of course1 make too
 much of such formulas1 but it is       
instructive to study such alternations  
in the philosophy of the ,greeks1 where 
everything is simpler and more easily   
apprehended4  ,on the other hand1       
,aristotle had been a member of the     
,academy for twenty years1 and that     
could not fail to leave its mark upon   
him4 ,this no doubt explains the fact1  
which has often been noted1 that there  
are two opposite and inconsistent       
strains in all ,aristotle's thinking4   
,on the one hand1 he is determined to   
avoid everything 'transcendental'1 and  
his dislike of ,pythagorean and         
,platonist mathematics is mainly due to 

that4 ,on the other hand1 despite his   
captious and sometimes unfair criticisms
 of ,plato1 he evidently admired him    
greatly and had been much influenced by 
him4 ,it may be suggested that the tone 
of his criticisms is partly due to his  
annoyance at finding that he could not  
shake off his ,platonism1 do what he    
would4 ,this is borne out by the fact   
that1 when he has come to the furthest  
point to which his own system will take 
him1 he is apt to take refuge in        
metaphors of a mythical or              
'transcendental' character1 for which we
 are not prepared in any way and of     
which no explanation is vouchsafed us4  
,that is particularly the case when he  
is dealing with the soul and the first  
mover4 ,on the whole his account of the 
soul is simply a development of eastern 
,ionian theories1 and we feel that we   
are far removed indeed from the         
,platonist conception of the soul's     
priority to everything else4 ,but1 when 
he has told us that the highest and most

 developed form of soul is ,mind1 we are
 suddenly surprised by the statement    
that ,mind in this sense is merely      
passive1 while there is another form of 
it which is separable from matter1 and  
that alone is immortal and everlasting4 
,this has given rise to endless         
controversy which does not concern us   
here1 but it seems best to interpret it 
as an involuntary outburst of the       
,platonism ,aristotle could not wholly  
renounce4 ,very similar is the passage  
where he tries to explain how the first 
mover1 though itself unmoved1           
communicates motion to the world4 ',it  
moves it like a thing beloved1' he tells
 us1 and leaves us to make what we can  
of that4 ,and yet we cannot help feeling
 that1 in passages like this1 we come   
far nearer to the beliefs ,aristotle    
really cared about than we do anywhere  
else4 ,at heart he is a ,platonist in   
spite of himself4  ,aristotle's attitude
 to the practical life is also dependent
 on ,plato's4 ,in the ,tenth ,book of   

the ,ethics he puts the claims of the   
,contemplative ,life even higher than   
,plato ever did1 so that the practical  
life appears to be only ancillary to it4
 ,he does not feel in the same degree as
 ,plato the call for the philosopher to 
descend once more into the ,cave for the
 sake of the prisoners there1 and       
altogether he seems far more indifferent
 to the practical interests of life4    
,nevertheless he followed ,plato's lead 
in giving much of his time to the study 
of ,politics and that too with the      
distinctly practical aim of training    
legislators4 ,he has often been         
criticized for his failure to see that  
the days of the city-state were         
numbered1 and for the way in which he   
ignores the rise of an imperial monarchy
 in the person of his own pupil         
,alexander the ,great4 ,that1 however1  
is not quite fair4 ,aristotle had a     
healthy dislike of princes and courts1  
and the city-state still appealed to him
 as the normal form of political        

organization4 ,he could not believe that
 it would ever be superseded1 and he    
wished to contribute to its better      
administration4 ,he had1 in fact1 a much
 more conservative outlook than ,plato1 
who was inclined to think with          
,isocrates1 that the revival of monarchy
 was the only thing that could preserve 
,hellenism as things were then4 ,we must
 remember that ,aristotle was not       
himself a citizen of any free state1 and
 that he could hardly be expected to    
have the same political instincts as    
,plato1 who belonged by birth to the    
governing classes of ,athens and had    
inherited the liberal traditions of the 
,periclean ,age4 ,this comes out best of
 all perhaps1 in the attitude of the two
 philosophers to the question of        
slavery4 ,in the ,laws1 which deals with
 existing conditions1 ,plato of course  
recognizes the de facto existence of    
slavery1 though he is very sensible of  
its dangers and makes many legislative  
proposals with a view to their          

mitigation4 ,in the ,republic1 on the   
other hand1 where there is no need to   
trouble about existing conditions1 he   
makes ,socrates picture for us a        
community in which there are apparently 
no slaves at all4 ,aristotle is also    
anxious to mitigate the worst abuses of 
slavery1 but he justifies the           
institution as a permanent one by the   
consideration that barbarians are       
'slaves by nature' and that it is for   
their own interest to be 'living tools'4
 ,this insistence upon the fundamental  
distinction between ,greeks and         
barbarians must have seemed an          
anachronism to many of ,aristotle's     
contemporaries and it had been expressly
 denounced by ,plato as unscientific4   
,the immediate effect of ,aristotle's   
rejection of ,platonist mathematics was 
one he certainly neither foresaw nor    
intended4 ,it was to make a breach      
between philosophy and science4         
,mathematical science1 whether          
,aristotle realized it or not1 was still

 in the vigour of its first youth1 and  
mathematicians were stirred by the      
achievements of the last generation to  
attempt the solution of still higher    
problems4 ,if the ,lyceum turned away   
from them1 they were quite prepared to  
carry on the ,academic tradition by     
themselves1 and they succeeded for a    
time beyond all expectation4 ,the third 
century ,b4 ,c4 was1 in fact1 the       
,golden ,age of ,greek mathematics1 and 
it has been suggested that this was due 
to the emancipation of mathematics from 
philosophy4 ,if that were true1 it would
 be very important for us to know it2   
but it can1 ,i think1 be shown that it  
is not true4 ,the great mathematicians  
of the third century were certainly     
carrying on the tradition of their      
predecessors who had been philosophers  
as well as mathematicians1 and it is not
 to be wondered at that they were able  
to do so for a time4 ,but the really    
striking fact is surely that ,greek     
mathematics became sterile in a         

comparatively short time1 and that no   
further advance was made till the days  
of ,descartes and ,leibniz1 with whom   
philosophy and mathematics once more    
went hand in hand4  ,nor was the effect 
of this divorce on philosophy itself    
less disastrous4 ,theophrastus continued
 ,aristotle's work on ,aristotle's      
lines1 and founded the science of       
,botany as his predecessor had founded  
that of ,zoology1 but the ,peripatetic  
,school practically died out with him   
and had very little influence till the  
study of ,aristotle was revived long    
afterwards by the ,neoplatonists4  ,for 
the present1 the divorce of science and 
philosophy was complete4 ,the ,stoics   
and the ,epicureans had both1 indeed1 a 
scientific system1 but their philosophy 
was in no sense based upon it4 ,the     
attitude of ,epicurus to science is     
particularly well marked4 ,he took no   
interest in it whatever as such1 but he 
used it as an instrument to free men    
from the religious fear to which he     

attributed human unhappiness4 ,for that 
purpose1 the science of the ,academy1   
which had led up to a theology1 was     
obviously unsuitable1 and1 like a true  
eastern ,ionian as he was1 ,epicurus    
harked back to the atomic theory of     
,democritus1 adding to it1 however1     
certain things which really made        
nonsense of it1 such1 for instance1 as  
the theory of absolute weight and       
lightness1 which ,aristotle had         
unfortunately taught4 ,the ,stoics too  
were corporealists1 and found such      
science as they required in the system  
of ,heraclitus1 though they also adopted
 for polemical purposes much of         
,aristotle's ,logic1 taking pains1      
however1 to alter his terminology4 ,both
 these schools1 in fact1 while remaining
 faithful to the idea of philosophy as  
conversion1 forgot that it had always   
been based on science in its best days4 
,it was this1 no doubt1 which chiefly   
commended ,stoicism and ,epicureanism to
 the ,romans1 who were never really     

interested in science4 ,both ,stoicism  
and ,epicureanism made a practical      
appeal1 though of a different kind1 and 
that served to gain credit for them at  
,rome4  ,the ,academy which ,plato had  
founded still continued to exist1 though
 it was diverted from its original      
purpose not more than a generation after
 ,plato's death4 ,mathematics1 we have  
seen1 had made itself independent1 and  
the most pressing necessity of the time 
was certainly the criticism of the new  
dogmatism which the ,stoics had         
introduced4 ,that was really carrying on
 one side of ,platonism and not the     
least important4 ,it is true indeed that
 the ,academy appears to us at this     
distance of time mainly as a school of  
scepticism1 but we must remember that   
its scepticism was directed entirely to 
the sensible world1 as to which the     
attitude of ,plato himself was not      
fundamentally different4 ,the real      
sceptics always refused to admit that   
the ,academics were sceptics in the     

proper sense of the word1 and it is     
possible that the tradition of          
,platonism proper was never wholly      
broken4 ,at any rate1 by the first      
century ,b4 ,c41 we begin to notice that
 ,stoicism tends to become more and more
 ,platonic4 ,the study of ,plato's      
,timaeus came into favour again1 and the
 commentary which ,posidonius 7c4 #ajj  
,b4 ,c47 wrote upon it had great        
influence on the development of         
philosophy down to the end of the       
,middle ,ages4 ,it is this period of    
eclecticism which is reflected for us in
 the philosophical writings of ,cicero4 
,it had great importance for the history
 of civilization1 but it is far removed 
from the spirit of genuine ,greek       
philosophy4 ,that was dead for the      
present1 and it did not come to life    
again till the third century of our era1
 when ,platonism was revived at ,rome by
 ,plotinus4  ,it is only quite recently 
that historians of ,greek philosophy    
have begun to do justice to             

',neoplatonism'4 ,that is partly due to 
the contemporary philosophical          
tendencies noted at the beginning of    
this paper1 and partly to historical    
investigations into the philosophy of   
the ,middle ,ages1 which is more and    
more seen to be dependent mainly on     
,neoplatonism down to and including the 
system of ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas4 ,it was
 in fact the most decisive fact in the  
history of ,western ,european           
civilization that ,plotinus founded his 
school at ,rome rather than at ,athens  
or ,alexandria2 for that is how ,western
 ,europe became the real heir to the    
philosophy of ,greece4 ,every one knows1
 of course1 that ,plotinus was a        
'mystic'1 but the term is apt to suggest
 quite wrong ideas about him4 ,he is    
often spoken of still as a man who      
introduced oriental ideas into ,greek   
philosophy1 and he is popularly supposed
 to have been an ,egyptian4 ,that is    
most improbable2 and1 if it were true1  
it would only make it the more          

remarkable that1 though he certainly    
studied at ,alexandria for eleven years1
 he never even mentions the religion of 
,isis1 which was so fashionable at ,rome
 in his day1 and which had fascinated so
 genuine a ,greek as ,plutarch some     
generations before4 ,there is no doubt  
that what ,plotinus believed himself to 
be teaching was genuine ,platonism1 and 
that he had prepared himself for the    
task by a careful study of ,aristotle   
and even of ,stoicism1 so far as that   
served his purpose4 ,no doubt he was too
 great a man to make himself the mere   
mouthpiece of another's thought2 but1   
for all that1 he was the legitimate     
successor of ,plato1 and it may be added
 that ,m4 ,robin1 who has taken upon    
himself the arduous task of extracting  
,plato's real philosophy from the       
writings of ,aristotle1 has come to the 
conclusion that there is a great deal   
more ',neoplatonism' in ,plato than is  
sometimes supposed4  ,plotinus is a     
mystic1 then1 though not at all in the  

sense in which the term is often        
misused4 ,he sets before his disciples a
 'way of life' which leads by stages to 
the highest life of all1 but that is    
just what ,pythagoras and ,plato had    
done1 and it is only the continuation of
 a tradition which goes back among the  
,greeks to the sixth century ,b4 ,c41   
nearly a thousand years before the time 
of ,plotinus4 ,his aim1 like that of his
 predecessors1 is the conversion of     
souls to this way of life1 and he       
differs from such thinkers as the       
,stoics and the ,epicureans in holding  
that the 'way of life' to which he calls
 them must be based once more on a      
systematic doctrine of ,god1 the ,world 
and ,man4 ,the result was that the      
divorce which had existed for centuries 
between science and philosophy was once 
more annulled4 ,we cannot say1 indeed1  
that ,plotinus himself made any special 
study of ,mathematics1 but there is no  
doubt at all that his followers did1 and
 it is due to them1 and especially to   

,proclus1 that we know as much of ,greek
 ,mathematics as we do4 ,proclus was    
indeed the systematizer of the doctrine 
of ,plotinus1 though he differs from him
 on certain points1 and his influence on
 later philosophy cannot be             
overestimated4 ,it can be distinctly    
traced even in ,descartes1 whom it      
reached through a number of channels1   
the study of which has recently been    
undertaken by a ,french scholar1        
,professor ,gilson1 of the ,university  
of ,strasbourg4 ,when his researches are
 complete1 the continuity of ,greek and 
modern philosophy will be plainly seen1 
and the part played by ,platonism in the
 making of the modern ,european mind    
will be made manifest4 ,we shall then   
understand better than ever why ,greek  
philosophy is a subject of perennial    
interest4  ,the history of ,greek       
philosophy is1 in fact1 the history of  
our own spiritual past1 and it is       
impossible to understand the present    
without taking it into account4 ,in     

particular1 the ,platonist tradition    
underlies the whole of western          
civilization4 ,it was at ,rome1 as has  
been pointed out1 that ,plotinus taught1
 and it was in certain ,latin           
translations of the writings of his     
school that ,st4 ,augustine found the   
basis for a ,christian philosophy he was
 seeking4 ,it was ,augustine's great    
authority in the ,latin ,church that    
made ,platonism its official philosophy 
for centuries4 ,it is a complete mistake
 to suppose that the thinking of the    
,middle ,ages was dominated by the      
authority of ,aristotle4 ,it was not    
till the thirteenth century that        
,aristotle was known at all1 and even   
then he was studied in the light of     
,platonism1 just as he had been by      
,plotinus and his followers4 ,it was    
only at the very close of the ,middle   
,ages that he acquired the predominance 
which has made so strong an impression  
on the centuries that followed4 ,it was 
from the ,platonist tradition1 too1 that

 the science of the earlier ,middle     
,ages came4 ,a considerable portion of  
,plato's ,timaeus had been translated   
into ,latin in the fourth century by    
,chalcidius with a very elaborate       
commentary based on ancient sources1    
while the ,consolation of ,philosophy1  
written in prison by the ,roman         
,platonist ,boethius in ,a4 ,d4 #ebe1   
was easily the most popular book of the 
,middle ,ages4 ,it was translated into  
,english by ,alfred the ,great and by   
,chaucer1 and into many other ,european 
languages4 ,it was on these foundations 
that the ,french ,platonism of the      
twelfth century1 and especially that of 
the ,school of ,chartres1 was built up1 
and the influence of that school in     
,england was very great indeed4 ,the    
names of ,grosseteste and ,roger ,bacon 
may just be mentioned in this connexion1
 and it would not be hard to show that  
the special character of the            
contribution which ,english writers have
 been able to make to science and       

philosophy is in large measure          
attributable to this influence4  ,but   
the interest of ,greek philosophy is not
 only historical2 it is full of         
instruction for the future too4 ,since  
the time of ,locke1 philosophy has been 
apt to limit itself to discussions about
 the nature of knowledge1 and to leave  
questions about the nature of the world 
to specialists4 ,the history of ,greek  
philosophy shows the danger of this     
unnatural division of the province of   
thought1 and the more we study it1 the  
more we shall feel the need of a more   
comprehensive view4 ,the 'philosophy of 
things human'1 as the ,greeks called it1
 is only one department among others1   
and the theory of knowledge is only one 
department of that4 ,if studied in      
isolation from the whole1 it must       
inevitably become one-sided4 ,from      
,greek philosophy we can also learn that
 it is fatal to divorce speculation from
 the service of mankind4 ,the notion    
that philosophy could be so isolated    

would have been wholly unintelligible to
 any of the great ,greek thinkers1 and  
most of all perhaps to the ,platonists  
who are often charged with this very    
heresy4 ,above all1 we can learn from   
,greek philosophy the paramount         
importance of what we call the          
personality and they called the soul4   
,it was just because the ,greeks        
realized this that the genuinely        
,hellenic idea of conversion played so  
great a part in their thinking and in   
their lives4 ,that1 above all1 is the   
lesson they have to teach1 and that is  
why the writings of their great         
philosophers have still the power to    
convert the souls of all that will      
receive their teaching with humility4   
,j4 ,,burnet4     ,,mathematics ,,and   
,,astronomy   ,it has been well said    
that1 if we would study any subject     
properly1 we must study it as something 
that is alive and growing and consider  
it with reference to its growth in the  
past4 ,as most of the vital forces and  

movements in modern civilization had    
their origin in ,greece1 this means     
that1 to study them properly1 we must   
get back to ,greece4 ,so it is with the 
literature of modern countries1 or their
 philosophy1 or their art2 we cannot    
study them with the determination to get
 to the bottom and understand them      
without the way pointing eventually back
 to ,greece4  ,when we think of the debt
 which mankind owes to the ,greeks1 we  
are apt to think too exclusively of the 
masterpieces in literature and art which
 they have left us4 ,but the ,greek     
genius was many-sided2 the ,greek1 with 
his insatiable love of knowledge1 his   
determination to see things as they are 
and to see them whole1 his burning      
desire to be able to give a rational    
explanation of everything in heaven and 
earth1 was just as irresistibly driven  
to natural science1 mathematics1 and    
exact reasoning in general1 or logic4   
,to quote from a brilliant review of a  
well-known work3 ',to be a ,greek was to

 seek to know1 to know the primordial   
substance of matter1 to know the meaning
 of number1 to know the world as a      
rational whole4 ,in no spirit of paradox
 one may say that ,euclid is the most   
typical ,greek3 he would know to the    
bottom1 and know as a rational system1  
the laws of the measurement of the      
earth4 ,plato1 too1 loved geometry and  
the wonders of numbers2 he was          
essentially ,greek because he was       
essentially mathematical4444 ,and if one
 thus finds the ,greek genius in ,euclid
 and the ,posterior ,analytics1 one will
 understand the motto written over the  
,academy1    mdeis agemetrtos eisit4 ,to
 know what the ,greek genius meant you  
must 7if one may speak   en ainigmati7  
begin with geometry4'  ,mathematics1    
indeed1 plays an important part in      
,greek philosophy3 there are1 for       
example1 many passages in ,plato and    
,aristotle for the interpretation of    
which some knowledge of the technique of
 ,greek mathematics is the first        

essential4 ,hence it should be part of  
the equipment of every classical student
 that he should have read substantial   
portions of the works of the ,greek     
mathematicians in the original1 say1    
some of the early books of ,euclid in   
full and the definitions 7at least7 of  
the other books1 as well as selections  
from other writers4 ,von                
,wilamowitz-,moellendorff has included  
in his ,griechisches ,lesebuch extracts 
from ,euclid1 ,archimedes and ,heron of 
,alexandria2 and the example should be  
followed in this country4  ,acquaintance
 with the original works of the ,greek  
mathematicians is no less necessary for 
any mathematician worthy of the name4   
,mathematics is a ,greek science4 ,so   
far as pure geometry is concerned1 the  
mathematician's technical equipment is  
almost wholly ,greek4 ,the ,greeks laid 
down the principles1 fixed the          
terminology and invented the methods ab 
initio2 moreover1 they did this with    
such certainty that in the centuries    

which have since elapsed there has been 
no need to reconstruct1 still less to   
reject as unsound1 any essential part of
 their doctrine4  ,consider first the   
terminology of mathematics4 ,almost all 
the standard terms are ,greek or ,latin 
translations from the ,greek1 and1      
although the mathematician may be taught
 their meaning without knowing ,greek1  
he will certainly grasp their           
significance better if he knows them as 
they arise and as part of the living    
language of the men who invented them4  
,take the word isosceles2 a schoolboy   
can be shown what an isosceles triangle 
is1 but1 if he knows nothing of the     
derivation1 he will wonder why such an  
apparently outlandish term should be    
necessary to express so simple an idea4 
,but if the mere appearance of the word 
shows him that it means a thing with    
equal legs1 being compounded of  isos1  
equal1 and  skelos1 a leg1 he will      
understand its appropriateness and will 
have no difficulty in remembering it4   

,equilateral1 on the other hand1 is     
borrowed from the ,latin1 but it is     
merely the ,latin translation of the    
,greek  isopleuros1 equal-sided4        
,parallelogram again can be explained to
 a ,greekless person1 but it will be far
 better understood by one who sees in it
 the two words  paralllos and  gramm and
 realizes that it is a short way of     
expressing that the figure in question  
is contained by parallel lines2 and we  
shall best understand the word parallel 
itself if we see in it the statement of 
the fact that the two straight lines so 
described go alongside one another1 '   
par' alllas1 all the way4 ,similarly a  
mathematician should know that a rhombus
 is so called from its resemblance to a 
form of spinning-top 7 rhombos from     
rhemb1 to spin7 and that1 just as a     
parallelogram is a figure formed by two 
pairs of parallel straight lines1 so a  
parallelepiped is a solid figure bounded
 by three pairs of parallel planes 7    
paralllos1 parallel1 and  epipedos1     

plane72 incidentally1 in the latter     
case1 he will be saved from writing     
'parallelopiped'1 a monstrosity which   
has disfigured not a few textbooks of   
geometry4 ,another good example is the  
word hypotenuse2 it comes from the verb 
hypoteinein 7c4  hypo and acc4 or simple
 acc471 to stretch under1 or1 in its    
,latin form1 to subtend1 which term is  
used quite generally for 'to be opposite
 to'2 in our phraseology the word       
hypotenuse is restricted to that side of
 a right-angled triangle which is       
opposite to the right angle1 being short
 for the expression used in ,eucl4 i4   
#dg1       h tn orthn gnian hypoteinousa
 pleura1 'the side subtending the right 
angle'1 which accounts for the feminine 
participial form  hypoteinousa1         
hypotenuse4 ,if mathematicians had had  
more ,greek1 perhaps the misspelt form  
'hypothenuse' would not have survived so
 long4  ,to take an example outside the 
,elements1 how can a mathematician      
properly understand the term latus      

rectum used in conic sections unless he 
has seen it in ,apollonius as the erect 
side 7  orthia pleura7 of a certain     
rectangle in the case of each of the    
three conics8#c ,the word ordinate can  
hardly convey anything to one who does  
not know that it is what ,apollonius    
describes as 'the straight line drawn   
down 7from a point on the curve7 in the 
prescribed or ordained manner 7         
tetagmens katgmen7'4 ,asymptote again   
comes from  asympttos1 non-meeting1     
non-secant1 and had with the ,greeks a  
more general signification as well as   
the narrower one which it has for us3 it
 was sometimes used of parallel lines1  
which also 'do not meet'4      #c ,in   
the case of the parabola1 the base 7as  
distinct from the     'erect side'7 of  
the rectangle is what is called the     
abscissa 7,gk4      apotemnomen1 'cut   
off'7 of the ordinate1 and the          
rectangle itself is equal to the square 
on the ordinate4 ,in the case     of the
 central conics1 the base of the        

rectangle is 'the transverse     side of
 the figure' or the transverse diameter 
7the diameter of     reference71 and the
 rectangle is equal to the square on the
 diameter     conjugate to the diameter 
of reference4  ,again1 if we take up a  
textbook of geometry written in         
accordance with the most modern         
,education ,board circular or           
,university syllabus1 we shall find that
 the phraseology used 7except where made
 more colloquial and less scientific7 is
 almost all pure ,greek4 ,the ,greek    
tongue was extraordinarily well adapted 
as a vehicle of scientific thought4 ,one
 of the characteristics of ,euclid's    
language which his commentator ,proclus 
is most fond of emphasizing is its      
marvellous exactness 7 akribeia74 ,the  
language of the ,greek geometers is also
 wonderfully concise1 notwithstanding   
all appearances to the contrary4 ,one of
 the complaints often made against      
,euclid is that he is 'diffuse'4 ,yet   
7apart from abbreviations in writing7 it

 will be found that the exposition of   
corresponding matters in modern         
elementary textbooks generally takes up1
 not less1 but more space4 ,and1 to say 
nothing of the perfect finish of        
,archimedes's treatises1 we shall find  
in ,heron1 ,ptolemy and ,pappus         
veritable models of concise statement4  
,the purely geometrical proof by ,heron 
of the formula for the area of a        
triangle1 ,ds7s-a77s-b77s-c71 and the   
geometrical propositions in ,book ,i of 
,ptolemy's ,syntaxis 7including         
',ptolemy's ,theorem'7 are cases in     
point4  ,the principles of geometry and 
arithmetic 7in the sense of the theory  
of numbers7 are stated in the           
preliminary matter of ,books ,i and     
,,vii of ,euclid4 ,but ,euclid was not  
their discoverer2 they were gradually   
evolved from the time of ,pythagoras    
onwards4 ,aristotle is clear about the  
nature of the principles and their      
classification4 ,every demonstrative    
science1 he says1 has to do with three  

things1 the subject-matter1 the things  
proved1 and the things from which the   
proof starts 7  ex hn74 ,it is not      
everything that can be proved1 otherwise
 the chain of proof would be endless2   
you must begin somewhere1 and you must  
start with things admitted but          
indemonstrable4 ,these are1 first1      
principles common to all sciences which 
are called axioms or common opinions1 as
 that 'of two contradictories one must  
be true'1 or 'if equals be subtracted   
from equals1 the remainders are equal'2 
secondly1 principles peculiar to the    
subject-matter of the particular        
science1 say geometry4 ,first among the 
latter principles are definitions2 there
 must be agreement as to what we mean by
 certain terms4 ,but a definition       
asserts nothing about the existence or  
non-existence of the thing defined4 ,the
 existence of the various things defined
 has to be proved except in the case of 
a few primary things in each science the
 existence of which is indemonstrable   

and must be assumed among the first     
principles of the science2 thus in      
geometry we must assume the existence of
 points and lines1 and in arithmetic of 
the unit4 ,lastly1 we must assume       
certain other things which are less     
obvious and cannot be proved but yet    
have to be accepted2 these are called   
postulates1 because they make a demand  
on the faith of the learner4 ,euclid's  
,postulates are of this kind1 especially
 that known as the parallel-postulate4  
,the methods of solution of problems    
were no doubt first applied in          
particular cases and then gradually     
systematized2 the technical terms for   
them were probably invented later1 after
 the methods themselves had become      
established4  ,one method of solution   
was the reduction of one problem to     
another4 ,this was called  apagg1 a term
 which seems to occur first in          
,aristotle4 ,but instances of such      
reduction occurred long before4         
,hippocrates of ,chios reduced the      

problem of duplicating the cube to that 
of finding two mean proportionals in    
continued proportion between two        
straight lines1 that is1 he showed that1
 if the latter problem could be solved1 
the former was thereby solved also2 and 
it is probable that there were still    
earlier cases in the ,pythagorean       
geometry4  ,next there is the method of 
mathematical analysis4 ,this method is  
said to have been 'communicated' or     
'explained' by ,plato to ,leodamas of   
,thasos2 but1 like reduction 7to which  
it is closely akin71 analysis in the    
mathematical sense must have been in use
 much earlier4 ,analysis and its        
correlative synthesis are defined by    
,pappus3 'in analysis we assume that    
which is sought as if it were already   
done1 and we inquire what it is from    
which this results1 and again what is   
the antecedent cause of the latter1 and 
so on1 until by so retracing our steps  
we come upon something already known or 
belonging to the class of principles4   

,but in synthesis1 reversing the        
process1 we take as already done that   
which was last arrived at in the        
analysis1 and1 by arranging in their    
natural order as consequences what were 
before antecedents and successively     
connecting them one with another1 we    
arrive finally at the construction of   
that which was sought4'  ,the method of 
reductio ad absurdum is a variety of    
analysis4 ,starting from a hypothesis1  
namely the contradictory of what we     
desire to prove1 we use the same process
 of analysis1 carrying it back until we 
arrive at something admittedly false or 
absurd4 ,aristotle describes this method
 in various ways as reductio ad         
absurdum1 proof per impossibile1 or     
proof leading to the impossible4 ,but   
here again1 though the term was new1 the
 method was not4 ,the paradoxes of ,zeno
 are classical instances4  ,lastly1 the 
,greeks established the form of         
exposition which still governs          
geometrical work1 simply because it is  

dictated by strict logic4 ,it is seen in
 ,euclid's propositions1 with their     
separate formal divisions1 to which     
specific names were afterwards assigned1
 7#a7 the enunciation 7 protasis71 7#b7 
the setting-out 7 ekthesis71 7#c7 the   
diorismos1 being a re-statement of what 
we are required to do or prove1 not in  
general terms 7as in the enunciation71  
but with reference to the particular    
data contained in the setting-out1 7#d7 
the construction 7 kataskeu71 7#e7 the  
proof 7 apodeixis71 7#f7 the conclusion 
7 symperasma74 ,in the case of a problem
 it often happens that a solution is not
 possible unless the particular data are
 such as to satisfy certain conditions2 
in this case there is yet another       
constituent part in the proposition1    
namely the statement of the conditions  
or limits of possibility1 which was     
called by the same name  diorismos1     
definition or delimitation1 as that     
applied to the third constituent part of
 a theorem4  ,we have so far endeavoured

 to indicate generally the finality and 
the abiding value of the work done by   
the creators of mathematical science4   
,it remains to summarize1 as briefly as 
possible1 the history of ,greek         
mathematics according to periods and    
subjects4  ,the ,greeks of course took  
what they could in the shape of         
elementary facts in geometry and        
astronomy from the ,egyptians and       
,babylonians4 ,but some of the essential
 characteristics of the ,greek genius   
assert themselves even in their         
borrowings from these or other sources4 
,here1 as everywhere else1 we see their 
directness and concentration2 they      
always knew what they wanted1 and they  
had an unerring instinct for taking only
 what was worth having and rejecting the
 rest4 ,this is illustrated by the story
 of ,pythagoras's travels4 ,he consorted
 with priests and prophets and was      
initiated into the religious rites      
practised in different places1 not out  
of religious enthusiasm 'as you might   

think' 7says our informant71 but in     
order that he might not overlook any    
fragment of knowledge worth acquiring   
that might lie hidden in the mysteries  
of divine worship4  ,this story also    
illustrates an important advantage which
 the ,greeks had over the ,egyptians and
 ,babylonians4 ,in those countries      
science1 such as it was1 was the        
monopoly of the priests2 and1 where this
 is the case1 the first steps in science
 are apt to prove the last also1 because
 the scientific results attained tend to
 become involved in religious           
prescriptions and routine observances1  
and so to end in a collection of        
lifeless formulae4 ,fortunately for the 
,greeks1 they had no organized          
priesthood2 untrammelled by             
prescription1 traditional dogmas or     
superstition1 they could give their     
reasoning faculties free play4 ,thus    
they were able to create science as a   
living thing susceptible of development 
without limit4  ,greek geometry1 as also

 ,greek astronomy1 begins with ,thales  
7about #fbd-edg ,b4 ,c471 who travelled 
in ,egypt and is said to have brought   
geometry from thence4 ,such geometry as 
there was in ,egypt arose out of        
practical needs4 ,revenue was raised by 
the taxation of landed property1 and its
 assessment depended on the accurate    
fixing of the boundaries of the various 
holdings4 ,when these were removed by   
the periodical flooding due to the      
rising of the ,nile1 it was necessary to
 replace them1 or to determine the      
taxable area independently of them1 by  
an art of land-surveying4 ,we conclude  
from the ,papyrus ,rhind 7say #agjj ,b4 
,c47 and other documents that ,egyptian 
geometry consisted mainly of practical  
rules for measuring1 with more or less  
accuracy1 7#a7 such areas as squares1   
triangles1 trapezia1 and circles1 7#b7  
the solid content of measures of corn1  
c41 of different shapes4 ,the ,egyptians
 also constructed pyramids of a certain 
slope by means of arithmetical          

calculations based on a certain ratio1  
se-qe1 namely the ratio of half the side
 of the base to the height1 which is in 
fact equivalent to the co-tangent of the
 angle of slope4 ,the use of this ratio 
implies the notion of similarity of     
figures1 especially triangles4 ,the     
,egyptians knew1 too1 that a triangle   
with its sides in the ratio of the      
numbers #c1 #d1 #e is right-angled1 and 
used the fact as a means of drawing     
right angles4 ,but there is no sign that
 they knew the general property of a    
right-angled triangle 7 ,eucl4 ,i4 #dg71
 of which this is a particular case1 or 
that they proved any general theorem in 
geometry4  ,no doubt ,thales1 when he   
was in ,egypt1 would see diagrams drawn 
to illustrate the rules for the         
measurement of circles and other plane  
figures1 and these diagrams would       
suggest to him certain similarities and 
congruences which would set him thinking
 whether there were not some elementary 
general principles underlying the       

construction and relations of different 
figures and parts of figures4 ,this     
would be in accord with the ,greek      
instinct for generalization and their   
wish to be able to account for          
everything on rational principles4  ,the
 following theorems are attributed to   
,thales3 7#a7 that a circle is bisected 
by any diameter 7,eucl4 ,i1 ,def4 #ag71 
7#b7 that the angles at the base of an  
isosceles triangle are equal 7,eucl4 ,i4
 #e71 7#c7 that1 if two straight lines  
cut one another1 the vertically opposite
 angles are equal 7,eucl4 ,i4 #ae71 7#d7
 that1 if two triangles have two angles 
and one side respectively equal1 the    
triangles are equal in all respects     
7,eucl4 ,i4 #bf74 ,he is said 7#e7 to   
have been the first to inscribe a       
right-angled triangle in a circle1 which
 must mean that he was the first to     
discover that the angle in a semicircle 
is a right angle 7cf4 ,eucl4 ,,iii4     
#ca74  ,elementary as these things are1 
they represent a new departure of a     

momentous kind1 being the first steps   
towards a theory of geometry4 ,on this  
point we cannot do better than quote    
some remarks from ,kant's preface to the
 second edition of his ,kritik der      
reinen ,vernunft4  ',mathematics has1   
from the earliest times to which the    
history of human reason goes back1 7that
 is to say7 with that wonderful people  
the ,greeks1 travelled the safe road of 
a science4 ,but it must not be supposed 
that it was as easy for mathematics as  
it was for logic1 where reason is       
concerned with itself alone1 to find1 or
 rather to build for itself1 that royal 
road4 ,i believe on the contrary that   
with mathematics it remained for long a 
case of groping about--the ,egyptians in
 particular were still at that          
stage--and that this transformation must
 be ascribed to a revolution brought    
about by the happy inspiration of one   
man in trying an experiment1 from which 
point onward the road that must be taken
 could no longer be missed1 and the safe

 way of a science was struck and traced 
out for all time and to distances       
illimitable4444 ,a light broke on the   
first man who demonstrated the property 
of the isosceles triangle 7whether his  
name was ,thales or what you will74444' 
,thales also solved two problems of a   
practical kind3 7#a7 he showed how to   
measure the distance of a ship at sea1  
and 7#b7 he found the heights of        
pyramids by means of the shadows thrown 
on the ground by the pyramid and by a   
stick of known length at the same       
moment2 one account says that he chose  
the time when the lengths of the stick  
and of its shadow were equal1 but in    
either case he argued by similarity of  
triangles4  ,in astronomy ,thales       
predicted a solar eclipse which was     
probably that of the #bhth ,may #ehe ,b4
 ,c4 ,now the ,babylonians1 as the      
result of observations continued through
 centuries1 had discovered the period of
 #bbc lunations after which eclipses    
recur4 ,it is most likely therefore that

 ,thales had heard of this period1 and  
that his prediction was based upon it4  
,he is further said to have used the    
,little ,bear for finding the pole1 to  
have discovered the inequality of the   
four astronomical seasons1 and to have  
written works ,on the ,equinox and ,on  
the ,solstice4  ,after ,thales come the 
,pythagoreans4 ,of the ,pythagoreans    
,aristotle says that they applied       
themselves to the study of mathematics  
and were the first to advance that      
science1 going so far as to find in the 
principles of mathematics the principles
 of all existing things4 ,of ,pythagoras
 himself we are told that he attached   
supreme importance to the study of      
arithmetic1 advancing it and taking it  
out of the region of practical utility1 
and again that he transformed the study 
of geometry into a liberal education1   
examining the principles of the science 
from the beginning4  ,the very word     
mathmata1 which originally meant        
'subjects of instruction' generally1 is 

said to have been first appropriated to 
mathematics by the ,pythagoreans4  ,in  
saying that arithmetic began with       
,pythagoras we have to distinguish      
between the uses of that word then and  
now4  ,arithmtik with the ,greeks was   
distinguished from  logistik1 the       
science of calculation4 ,it is the      
latter word which would cover arithmetic
 in our sense1 or practical calculation2
 the term  arithmtik was restricted to  
the science of numbers considered in    
themselves1 or1 as we should say1 the   
,theory of ,numbers4 ,another way of    
putting the distinction was to say that 
arithmtik dealt with absolute numbers or
 numbers in the abstract1 and  logistik 
with numbered things or concrete        
numbers2 thus  logistik included simple 
problems about numbers of apples1 bowls1
 or objects generally1 such as are found
 in the ,greek ,anthology and sometimes 
involve simple algebraical equations4   
,the ,theory of ,numbers then began with
 ,pythagoras 7about #egb-dig ,b4 ,c474  

,it included definitions of the unit and
 of number1 and the classification and  
definitions of the various classes of   
numbers1 odd1 even1 prime1 composite1   
and sub-divisions of these such as      
odd-even1 even-times-even1 c4 ,again    
there were figured numbers1 namely1     
triangular numbers1 squares1 oblong     
numbers1 polygonal numbers 7pentagons1  
hexagons1 c47 corresponding respectively
 to plane figures1 and pyramidal        
numbers1 cubes1 parallelepipeds1 c41    
corresponding to solid figures in       
geometry4 ,the treatment was mostly     
geometrical1 the numbers being          
represented by dots filling up          
geometrical figures of the various      
kinds4 ,the laws of formation of the    
various figured numbers were            
established4 ,in this investigation the 
gnomon played an important part4        
,originally meaning the upright needle  
of a sun-dial1 the term was next used   
for a figure like a carpenter's square1 
and then was applied to a figure of that

 shape put round two sides of a square  
and making up a larger square4 ,the     
arithmetical application of the term was
 similar4 ,if we represent a unit by one
 dot and put round it three dots in such
 a way that the four form the corners of
 a square1 three is the first gnomon4   
,five dots put at equal distances round 
two sides of the square containing four 
dots make up the next square 7#c71 and  
five is the second gnomon4 ,generally1  
if we have n dots so arranged as to fill
 up a square with n for its side1 the   
gnomon to be put round it to make up the
 next square1 7n#a71 has #bn#a dots4 ,in
 the formation of squares1 therefore1   
the successive gnomons are the series of
 odd numbers following #a 7the first    
square71 namely #c1 #e1 #g1 444 ,in the 
formation of oblong numbers 7numbers of 
the form n7n#a771 the first of which is 
#a4 #b1 the successive gnomons are the  
terms after #b in the series of even    
numbers #b1 #d1 #f4444 ,triangular      
numbers are formed by adding to #a 7the 

first triangle7 the terms after #a in   
the series of natural numbers #a1 #b1 #c
 4442 these are therefore the gnomons   
7by analogy7 for triangles4 ,the gnomons
 for pentagonal numbers are the terms   
after #a in the arithmetical progression
 #a1 #d1 #g1 #aj 444 7with #c1 or #e-b1 
as the common difference7 and so on2 the
 common difference of the successive    
gnomons for an a-gonal number is a-#b4  
,from the series of gnomons for squares 
we easily deduce a formula for finding  
square numbers which are the sum of two 
squares4 ,for1 the gnomon #bn#a being   
the difference between the successive   
squares n and 7n#a71 we have only to    
make #bn#a a square4 ,suppose that      
#bn#am2 therefore n7m-#a71 and          
7m-#a7m7m#a71 where m is any odd number4
 ,this is the formula actually          
attributed to ,pythagoras4  ,pythagoras 
is said to have discovered the theory of
 proportionals or proportion4 ,this was 
a numerical theory and therefore was    
applicable to commensurable magnitudes  

only2 it was no doubt somewhat on the   
lines of ,euclid1 ,book ,,vii4          
,connected with the theory of proportion
 was that of means1 and ,pythagoras was 
acquainted with three of these1 the     
arithmetic1 geometric1 and sub-contrary 
7afterwards called harmonic74 ,in       
particular ,pythagoras is said to have  
introduced from ,babylon into ,greece   
the 'most perfect' proportion1 namely3  
a37ab7_/#bb;ab_/7ab73b1  where the      
second and third terms are respectively 
the arithmetic and harmonic mean between
 a and b4 ,a particular case is         
#ab3ih3f4  ,this bears upon what was    
probably ,pythagoras's greatest         
discovery1 namely that the musical      
intervals correspond to certain         
arithmetical ratios between lengths of  
string at the same tension1 the octave  
corresponding to the ratio #b3a1 the    
fifth to #c3b and the fourth to #d3c4   
,these ratios being the same as those of
 #ab to #f1 #h1 #i respectively1 we can 
understand how the third term1 #h1 in   

the above proportion came to be called  
the 'harmonic' mean between #ab and #f4 
,the ,pythagorean arithmetic as a whole1
 with the developments made after the   
time of ,pythagoras himself1 is mainly  
known to us through ,nicomachus's       
,introductio arithmetica1 ,iamblichus's 
commentary on the same1 and ,theon of   
,smyrna's work ,expositio rerum         
mathematicarum ad legendum ,platonem    
utilium4 ,the things in these books most
 deserving of notice are the following4 
,first1 there is the description of a   
'perfect' number 7a number which is     
equal to the sum of all its parts1 i4e4 
all its integral divisors including #a  
but excluding the number itself71 with a
 statement of the property that all such
 numbers end in #f or #h4 ,four such    
numbers1 namely #f1 #bh1 #dif1 #habh1   
were known to ,nicomachus4 ,the law of  
formation for such numbers is first     
found in ,eucl4 ,,ix4 #cf proving that1 
if the sum 7,sn7 of n terms of the      
series #a1 #b1 #b1 #b 444 is prime1 then

 ,sn4#bn-#a is a perfect number4        
,secondly1 ,theon of ,smyrna gives the  
law of formation of the series of       
'side-' and 'diameter-' numbers which   
satisfy the equations #bx-y#a4 ,the law 
depends on the proposition proved in    
,eucl4 ,,ii4 #aj to the effect that     
7#bxy7-#b7xy7#bx-y1 whence it follows   
that1 if x1 y satisfy either of the     
above equations1 then #bxy1 xy is a     
solution in higher numbers of the other 
equation4 ,the successive solutions give
 values for y_/x1 namely #a_/a1 #c_/b1  
#g_/e1 #ag_/ab1 #da_/bi1 4441 which are 
successive approximations to the value  
of #b 7the ratio of the diagonal of a   
square to its side74 ,the occasion for  
this method of approximation to #b      
7which can be carried as far as we      
please7 was the discovery by the        
,pythagoreans of the incommensurable or 
irrational in this particular case4     
,thirdly1 ,iamblichus mentions a        
discovery by ,thymaridas1 a ,pythagorean
 not later than ,plato's time1 called   

the  epanthma 7'bloom'7 of ,thymaridas1 
and amounting to the solution of any    
number of simultaneous equations of the 
following form3  xxx 444 xn-#a  s1      
xx  a1     xx  a1          444 xxn-#a   
an-#a1  the solution being x77aa 444    
an-#a7-s7_/7n-#b74  ,the rule is stated 
in general terms1 but the above         
representation of its effect shows that 
it is a piece of pure algebra4  ,the    
,pythagorean contributions to geometry  
were even more remarkable4 ,the most    
famous proposition attributed to        
,pythagoras himself is of course the    
theorem of ,eucl4 ,i4 #dg that the      
square on the hypotenuse of any         
right-angled triangle is equal to the   
sum of the squares on the other two     
sides4 ,but ,proclus also attributes to 
him1 besides the theory of              
proportionals1 the construction of the  
'cosmic figures'1 the five regular      
solids4  ,one of the said solids1 the   
dodecahedron1 has twelve regular        
pentagons for faces1 and the            

construction of a regular pentagon      
involves the cutting of a straight line 
'in extreme and mean ratio' 7,eucl4     
,,ii4 #aa and ,,vi4 #cj71 which is a    
particular case of the method known as  
the application of areas4 ,this method  
was fully worked out by the             
,pythagoreans and proved one of the most
 powerful in all ,greek geometry4 ,the  
most elementary case appears in ,eucl4  
,i4 #dd1 #de1 where it is shown how to  
apply to a given straight line as base a
 parallelogram with one angle equal to a
 given angle and equal in area to any   
given rectilineal figure2 this          
construction is the geometrical         
equivalent of arithmetical division4    
,the general case is that in which the  
parallelogram1 though applied to the    
straight line1 overlaps it or falls     
short of it in such a way that the part 
of the parallelogram which extends      
beyond or falls short of the            
parallelogram of the same angle and     
breadth on the given straight line      

itself 7exactly7 as base is similar to  
any given parallelogram 7,eucl4 ,,vi4   
#bh1 #bi74 ,this is the geometrical     
equivalent of the solution of the most  
general form of quadratic equation      
axmx,c1 so far as it has real roots2 the
 condition that the roots may be real   
was also worked out 7,eucl4 ,,vi4 #bg74 
,it is in the form of 'application of   
areas' that ,apollonius obtains the     
fundamental property of each of the     
conic sections1 and1 as we shall see1 it
 is from the terminology of application 
of areas that ,apollonius took the three
 names parabola1 hyperbola1 and ellipse 
which he was the first to give to the   
three curves4  ,another problem solved  
by the ,pythagoreans was that of drawing
 a rectilineal figure which shall be    
equal in area to one given rectilineal  
figure and similar to another4 ,plutarch
 mentions a doubt whether it was this   
problem or the theorem of ,eucl4 ,i4 #dg
 on the strength of which ,pythagoras   
was said to have sacrificed an ox4  ,the

 main particular applications of the    
theorem of the square on the hypotenuse1
 e4 g4 those in ,euclid1 ,book ,,ii1    
were also ,pythagorean2 the construction
 of a square equal to a given rectangle 
7,eucl4 ,,ii4 #ad7 is one of them1 and  
corresponds to the solution of the pure 
quadratic equation xab4  ,the           
,pythagoreans knew the properties of    
parallels and proved the theorem that   
the sum of the three angles of any      
triangle is equal to two right angles4  
,as we have seen1 the ,pythagorean      
theory of proportion1 being numerical1  
was inadequate in that it did not apply 
to incommensurable magnitudes2 but1 with
 this qualification1 we may say that the
 ,pythagorean geometry covered the bulk 
of the subject-matter of ,books ,i1     
,,ii1 ,,iv and ,,vi of ,euclid's        
,elements4 ,the case is less clear with 
regard to ,book ,,iii of the ,elements2 
but1 as the main propositions of that   
,book were known to ,hippocrates of     
,chios in the second half of the fifth  

century ,b4 ,c41 we conclude that they1 
too1 were part of the ,pythagorean      
geometry4  ,lastly1 the ,pythagoreans   
discovered the existence of the         
incommensurable or irrational in the    
particular case of the diagonal of a    
square in relation to its side4         
,aristotle mentions an ancient proof of 
the incommensurability of the diagonal  
with the side by a reductio ad absurdum 
showing that1 if the diagonal were      
commensurable with the side1 it would   
follow that one and the same number is  
both odd and even4 ,this proof was      
doubtless ,pythagorean4  ,a word should 
be added about the ,pythagorean         
astronomy4 ,pythagoras was the first to 
hold that the earth 7and no doubt each  
of the other heavenly bodies also7 is   
spherical in shape1 and he was aware    
that the sun1 moon and planets have     
independent movements of their own in a 
sense opposite to that of the daily     
rotation2 but he seems to have kept the 
earth in the centre4 ,his successors in 

the school 7one ,hicetas of ,syracuse   
and ,philolaus are alternatively        
credited with this innovation7 actually 
abandoned the geocentric idea and made  
the earth1 like the sun1 the moon1 and  
the other planets1 revolve in a circle  
round the 'central fire'1 in which      
resided the governing principle ordering
 and directing the movement of the      
universe4  ,the geometry of which we    
have so far spoken belongs to the       
,elements4 ,but1 before the body of the 
,elements was complete1 the ,greeks had 
advanced beyond the ,elements4 ,by the  
second half of the fifth century ,b4 ,c4
 they had investigated three famous     
problems in higher geometry1 7#a7 the   
squaring of the circle1 7#b7 the        
trisection of any angle1 7#c7 the       
duplication of the cube4 ,the great     
names belonging to this period are      
,hippias of ,elis1 ,hippocrates of      
,chios1 and ,democritus4  ,hippias of   
,elis invented a certain curve described
 by combining two uniform movements 7one

 angular and the other rectilinear7     
taking the same time to complete4       
,hippias himself used his curve for the 
trisection of any angle or the division 
of it in any ratio2 but it was          
afterwards employed by ,dinostratus1 a  
brother of ,eudoxus's pupil ,menaechmus1
 and by ,nicomedes for squaring the     
circle1 whence it got the name          
tetragnizousa1 quadratrix4  ,hippocrates
 of ,chios is mentioned by ,aristotle as
 an instance to prove that a man may be 
a distinguished geometer and1 at the    
same time1 a fool in the ordinary       
affairs of life4 ,he occupies an        
important place both in elementary      
geometry and in relation to two of the  
higher problems above mentioned4 ,he    
was1 so far as is known1 the first      
compiler of a book of ,elements2 and he 
was the first to prove the important    
theorem of ,eucl4 ,,xii4 #b that circles
 are to one another as the squares on   
their diameters1 from which he further  
deduced that similar segments of circles

 are to one another as the squares on   
their bases4 ,these propositions were   
used by him in his tract on the squaring
 of lunes1 which was intended to lead up
 to the squaring of the circle4 ,the    
essential portions of the tract are     
preserved in a passage of ,simplicius's 
commentary on ,aristotle's ,physics1    
which contains substantial extracts from
 ,eudemus's lost ,history of ,geometry4 
,hippocrates showed how to square three 
particular lunes of different kinds and 
then1 lastly1 he squared the sum of a   
circle and a certain lune4              
,unfortunately the last-mentioned lune  
was not one of those which can be       
squared1 so that the attempt to square  
the circle in this way failed after all4
  ,hippocrates also attacked the problem
 of doubling the cube4 ,there are two   
versions of the origin of this famous   
problem4 ,according to one story an old 
tragic poet had represented ,minos as   
having been dissatisfied with the size  
of a cubical tomb erected for his son   

,glaucus and having told the architect  
to make it double the size while        
retaining the cubical form4 ,the other  
story says that the ,delians1 suffering 
from a pestilence1 consulted the oracle 
and were told to double a certain altar 
as a means of staying the plague4       
,hippocrates did not indeed solve the   
problem of duplication1 but reduced it  
to another1 namely that of finding two  
mean proportionals in continued         
proportion between two given straight   
lines2 and the problem was ever         
afterwards attacked in this form4 ,if x1
 y be the two required mean             
proportionals between two straight lines
 a1 b1 then a3xx3yy3b1 whence           
b_/a7x_/a71 and1 as a particular case1  
if b#b;a1 x#b;a1 so that1 when x is     
found1 the cube is doubled4  ,democritus
 wrote a large number of mathematical   
treatises1 the titles only of which are 
preserved4 ,we gather from one of these 
titles1 ',on irrational lines and       
solids'1 that he wrote on irrationals4  

,democritus realized as fully as ,zeno1 
and expressed with no less piquancy1 the
 difficulty connected with the          
continuous and the infinitesimal4 ,this 
appears from his dilemma about the      
circular base of a cone and a parallel  
section2 the section which he means is a
 section 'indefinitely near' 7as the    
phrase is7 to the base1 i4 e4 the very  
next section1 as we might say 7if there 
were one74 ,is it1 said ,democritus1    
equal or not equal to the base8 ,if it  
is equal1 so will the very next section 
to it be1 and so on1 so that the cone   
will really be1 not a cone1 but a       
cylinder4 ,if it is unequal to the base 
and in fact less1 the surface of the    
cone will be jagged1 like steps1 which  
is very absurd4 ,we may be sure that    
,democritus's work on ',the contact of a
 circle or a sphere' discussed a like   
difficulty4  ,lastly1 ,archimedes tells 
us that ,democritus was the first to    
state1 though he could not give a       
rigorous proof1 that the volume of a    

cone or a pyramid is one-third of that  
of the cylinder or prism respectively on
 the same base and having equal height1 
theorems first proved by ,eudoxus4  ,we 
come now to the time of ,plato1 and here
 the great names are ,archytas1         
,theodoras of ,cyrene1 ,theaetetus1 and 
,eudoxus4  ,archytas 7about #dcj-cfj ,b4
 ,c47 wrote on music and the numerical  
ratios corresponding to the intervals of
 the tetrachord4 ,he is said to have    
been the first to write a treatise on   
mechanics based on mathematical         
principles2 on the practical side he    
invented a mechanical dove which would  
fly4 ,in geometry he gave the first     
solution of the problem of the two mean 
proportionals1 using a wonderful        
construction in three dimensions which  
determined a certain point as the       
intersection of three surfaces1 7#a7 a  
certain cone1 7#b7 a half-cylinder1 7#c7
 an anchor-ring or tore with inner      
diameter nil4  ,theodorus1 ,plato's     
teacher in mathematics1 extended the    

theory of the irrational by proving     
incommensurability in certain particular
 cases other than that of the diagonal  
of a square in relation to its side1    
which was already known4 ,he proved that
 the side of a square containing #c     
square feet1 or #e square feet1 or any  
non-square number of square feet up to  
#ag is incommensurable with one foot1 in
 other words that #c1 #e 444 #ag are all
 incommensurable with #a4 ,theodorus's  
proof was evidently not general2 and it 
was reserved for ,theaetetus to         
comprehend all these irrationals in one 
definition1 and to prove the property   
generally as it is proved in ,eucl4 ,x4 
#i4 ,much of the content of the rest of 
,euclid's ,book ,x 7dealing with        
compound irrationals71 as also of ,book 
,,xiii on the five regular solids1 was  
due to ,theaetetus1 who is even said to 
have discovered two of those solids 7the
 octahedron and icosahedron74  ,plato   
7#dbg-cdg ,b4 ,c47 was probably not an  
original mathematician1 but he 'caused  

mathematics in general and geometry in  
particular to make a great advance by   
reason of his enthusiasm for them'4 ,he 
encouraged the members of his school to 
specialize in mathematics and astronomy2
 e4 g4 we are told that in astronomy he 
set it as a problem to all earnest      
students to find 'what are the uniform  
and ordered movements by the assumption 
of which the apparent motions of the    
planets may be accounted for'4 ,in      
,plato's own writings are found certain 
definitions1 e4 g4 that of a straight   
line as 'that of which the middle covers
 the ends'1 and some interesting        
mathematical illustrations1 especially  
that in the second geometrical passage  
in the ,meno 7#hf;,e-#hg;,c74 ,to ,plato
 himself are attributed 7#a7 a formula  
7n-#a77bn77n#a7 for finding two square  
numbers the sum of which is a square    
number1 7#b7 the invention of the method
 of analysis1 which he is said to have  
explained to ,leodamas of ,thasos       
7mathematical analysis was1 however1    

certainly1 in practice1 employed long   
before74 ,the solution1 attributed to   
,plato1 of the problem of the two mean  
proportionals by means of a frame       
resembling that which a shoemaker uses  
to measure a foot1 can hardly be his4   
,eudoxus 7#djh-cee ,b4 ,c471 an original
 genius second to none 7unless it be    
,archimedes7 in the history of our      
subject1 made two discoveries of supreme
 importance for the further development 
of ,greek geometry4  7#a7 ,as we have   
seen1 the discovery of the              
incommensurable rendered inadequate the 
,pythagorean theory of proportion1 which
 applied to commensurable magnitudes    
only4 ,it would no doubt be possible1 in
 most cases1 to replace proofs depending
 on proportions by others2 but this     
involved great inconvenience1 and a slur
 was cast on geometry generally4 ,the   
trouble was remedied once for all by    
,eudoxus's discovery of the great theory
 of proportion1 applicable to           
commensurable and incommensurable       

magnitudes alike1 which is expounded in 
,euclid's ,book ,v4 ,well might ,barrow 
say of this theory that 'there is       
nothing in the whole body of the        
elements of a more subtile invention1   
nothing more solidly established'4 ,the 
keystone of the structure is the        
definition of equal ratios 7,eucl4 ,v1  
,def4 #e72 and twenty-three centuries   
have not abated a jot from its value1 as
 is plain from the facts that           
,weierstrass repeats it word for word as
 his definition of equal numbers1 and it
 corresponds almost to the point of     
coincidence with the modern treatment of
 irrationals due to ,dedekind4  7#b7    
,eudoxus discovered the method of       
exhaustion for measuring curvilinear    
areas and solids1 to which1 with the    
extensions given to it by ,archimedes1  
,greek geometry owes its greatest       
triumphs4 ,antiphon the ,sophist1 in    
connexion with attempts to square the   
circle1 had asserted that1 if we        
inscribe successive regular polygons in 

a circle1 continually doubling the      
number of sides1 we shall sometime      
arrive at a polygon the sides of which  
will coincide with the circumference of 
the circle4 ,warned by the unanswerable 
arguments of ,zeno against              
infinitesimals1 mathematicians          
substituted for this the statement that1
 by continuing the construction1 we can 
inscribe a polygon approaching equality 
with the circle as nearly as we please4 
,the method of exhaustion used1 for the 
purpose of proof by reductio ad         
absurdum1 the lemma proved in ,eucl4 ,x4
 #a 7to the effect that1 if from any    
magnitude we subtract not less than     
half1 and then from the remainder not   
less than half1 and so on continually1  
there will sometime be left a magnitude 
less than any assigned magnitude of the 
same kind1 however small73 and this     
again depends on an assumption which is 
practically contained in ,eucl4 ,v1     
,def4 #d1 but is generally known as the 
,axiom of ,archimedes1 stating that1 if 

we have two unequal magnitudes1 their   
difference 7however small7 can1 if      
continually added to itself1 be made to 
exceed any magnitude of the same kind   
7however great74  ,the method of        
exhaustion is seen in operation in      
,eucl4 ,,xii4 #a-b1 #c-g ,cor41 #aj1    
#af-ah4 ,props4 #c-g ,cor4 and ,prop4   
#aj prove that the volumes of a pyramid 
and a cone are one-third of the prism   
and cylinder respectively on the same   
base and of equal height2 and           
,archimedes expressly says that these   
facts were first proved by ,eudoxus4    
,in astronomy ,eudoxus is famous for the
 beautiful theory of concentric spheres 
which he invented to explain the        
apparent motions of the planets and1    
particularly1 their apparent stationary 
points and retrogradations4 ,the theory 
applied also to the sun and moon1 for   
each of which ,eudoxus employed three   
spheres4 ,he represented the motion of  
each planet as produced by the rotations
 of four spheres concentric with the    

earth1 one within the other1 and        
connected in the following way4 ,each of
 the inner spheres revolves about a     
diameter the ends of which 7poles7 are  
fixed on the next sphere enclosing it4  
,the outermost sphere represents the    
daily rotation1 the second a motion     
along the zodiac circle2 the poles of   
the third sphere are fixed on the latter
 circle2 the poles of the fourth sphere 
7carrying the planet fixed on its       
equator7 are so fixed on the third      
sphere1 and the speeds and directions of
 rotation so arranged1 that the planet  
describes on the second sphere a curve  
called the hippopede 7horse-fetter71 or 
a figure of eight1 lying along and      
longitudinally bisected by the zodiac   
circle4 ,the whole arrangement is a     
marvel of geometrical ingenuity4        
,heraclides of ,pontus 7about #chh-cae  
,b4 ,c471 a pupil of ,plato1 made a     
great step forward in astronomy by his  
declaration that the earth rotates on   
its own axis once in #bd hours1 and by  

his discovery that ,mercury and ,venus  
revolve about the sun like satellites4  
,menaechmus1 a pupil of ,eudoxus1 was   
the discoverer of the conic sections1   
two of which1 the parabola and the      
hyperbola1 he used for solving the      
problem of the two mean proportionals4  
,if a3xx3yy3b1 then xay1 ybx and xyab4  
,these equations represent1 in          
,cartesian co-ordinates1 and with       
rectangular axes1 the conics by the     
intersection of which two and two       
,menaechmus solved the problem2 in the  
case of the rectangular hyperbola it was
 the asymptote-property which he used4  
,we pass to ,euclid's times4 ,a little  
older than ,euclid1 ,autolycus of       
,pitane wrote two books1 ,on the ,moving
 ,sphere1 a work on ,sphaeric for use in
 astronomy1 and ,on ,risings and        
,settings4 ,the former work is the      
earliest ,greek textbook which has      
reached us intact4 ,it was before       
,euclid when he wrote his ,phaenomena1  
and there are many points of contact    

between the two books4  ,euclid         
flourished about #cjj ,b4 ,c4 or a      
little earlier4 ,his great work1 the    
,elements in thirteen ,books1 is too    
well known to need description4 ,no work
 presumably1 except the ,bible1 has had 
such a reign2 and future generations    
will come back to it again and again as 
they tire of the variegated substitutes 
for it and the confusion resulting from 
their bewildering multiplicity4 ,after  
what has been said above of the growth  
of the ,elements1 we can appreciate the 
remark of ,proclus about ,euclid1 'who  
put together the ,elements1 collecting  
many of ,eudoxus's theorems1 perfecting 
many of ,theaetetus's and also bringing 
to irrefragable demonstration the things
 which were only somewhat loosely proved
 by his predecessors'4 ,though a large  
portion of the subject-matter had been  
investigated by those predecessors1     
everything goes to show that the whole  
arrangement was ,euclid's own2 it is    
certain that he made great changes in   

the order of propositions and in the    
proofs1 and that his innovations began  
at the very beginning of ,book ,i4      
,euclid wrote other books on both       
elementary and higher geometry1 and on  
the other mathematical subjects known in
 his day4 ,the elementary geometrical   
works include the ,data and ,on         
,divisions 7of figures71 the first of   
which survives in ,greek and the second 
in ,arabic only2 also the ,pseudaria1   
now lost1 which was a sort of guide to  
fallacies in geometrical reasoning4 ,the
 treatises on higher geometry are all   
lost2 they include 7#a7 the ,conics in  
four ,books1 which covered almost the   
same ground as the first three ,books of
 ,apollonius's ,conics1 although no     
doubt1 for ,euclid1 the conics were     
still1 as with his predecessors1        
sections of a right-angled1 an          
obtuse-angled1 and an acute-angled cone 
respectively made by a plane            
perpendiular to a generator in each     
case2 7#b7 the ,porisms in three ,books1

 the importance and difficulty of which 
can be inferred from ,pappus's account  
of it and the lemmas which he gives for 
use with it2 7#c7 the ,surface-,loci1 to
 which again ,pappus furnishes lemmas2  
one of these implies that ,euclid       
assumed as known the focus-directrix    
property of the three conics1 which is  
absent from ,apollonius's ,conics4  ,in 
applied mathematics ,euclid wrote 7#a7  
the ,phaenomena1 a work on spherical    
astronomy in which   ho horizn 7without 
kyklos or any qualifying words7 appears 
for the first time in the sense of      
horizon2 7#b7 the ,optics1 a kind of    
elementary treatise on perspective3     
these two treatises are extant in       
,greek2 7#c7 a work on the ,elements of 
,music4 ,the ,sectio ,canonis1 which has
 come down under the name of ,euclid1   
can1 however1 hardly be his in its      
present form4  ,in the period between   
,euclid and ,archimedes comes           
,aristarchus of ,samos 7about #caj-bcj  
,b4 ,c471 famous for having anticipated 

,copernicus4 ,accepting ,heraclides's   
view that the earth rotates about its   
own axis1 ,aristarchus went further and 
put forward the hypothesis that the sun 
itself is at rest1 and that the earth1  
as well as ,mercury1 ,venus1 and the    
other planets1 revolve in circles about 
the sun4 ,we have this on the           
unquestionable authority of ,archimedes1
 who was only some twenty-five years    
later1 and who must have seen the book  
containing the hypothesis in question4  
,we are told too that ,cleanthes the    
,stoic thought that ,aristarchus ought  
to be indicted on the charge of impiety 
for setting the ,hearth of the ,universe
 in motion4  ,one work of ,aristarchus1 
,on the sizes and distances of the ,sun 
and ,moon1 which is extant in ,greek1 is
 highly interesting in itself1 though it
 contains no word of the heliocentric   
hypothesis4 ,thoroughly classical in    
form and style1 it lays down certain    
hypotheses and then deduces therefrom1  
by rigorous geometry1 the sizes and     

distances of the sun and moon4 ,if the  
hypotheses had been exact1 the results  
would have been correct too2 but        
,aristarchus in fact assumed a certain  
angle to be #hg which is really #hi     
#ej'1 and the angle subtended at the    
centre of the earth by the diameter of  
either the sun or the moon to be #b1    
whereas we know from ,archimedes that   
,aristarchus himself discovered that the
 latter angle is only #a_/b4 ,the effect
 of ,aristarchus's geometry is to find  
arithmetical limits to the values of    
what are really trigonometrical ratios  
of certain small angles1 namely  #a_/ah 
sin #c  #a_/bj1 #a_/de  sin #a  #a_/fj1 
#a  cos #a  #hi_/ij4  ,the main results 
obtained are 7#a7 that the diameter of  
the sun is between #ah and #bj times the
 diameter of the moon1 7#b7 that the    
diameter of the moon is between         
#b_/deths and #a_/cjth of the distance  
of the centre of the moon from our eye1 
and 7#c7 that the diameter of the sun is
 between #ai_/crds and #dc_/fths of the 

diameter of the earth4 ,the book        
contains a good deal of arithmetical    
calculation4  ,archimedes was born about
 #bhg ,b4 ,c4 and was killed at the sack
 of ,syracuse by ,marcellus's army in   
#bab ,b4 ,c4 ,the stories about him are 
well known1 how he said ',give me a     
place to stand on1 and ,i will move the 
earth' 7      pa b kai kin tan gan72    
how1 having thought of the solution of  
the problem of the crown when in the    
bath1 he ran home naked shouting 1      
heurka1 heurka2 and how1 the capture of 
,syracuse having found him intent on a  
figure drawn on the ground1 he said to a
 ,roman soldier who came up1 ',stand    
away1 fellow1 from my diagram4' ,of his 
work few people know more than that he  
invented a tubular screw which is still 
used for pumping water1 and that for a  
long time he foiled the attacks of the  
,romans on ,syracuse by the mechanical  
devices and engines which he used       
against them4 ,but he thought meanly of 
these things1 and his real interest was 

in pure mathematical speculation2 he    
caused to be engraved on his tomb a     
representation of a cylinder            
circumscribing a sphere1 with the ratio 
#c_/b which the cylinder bears to the   
sphere3 from which we infer that he     
regarded this as his greatest discovery4
  ,archimedes's works are all original1 
and are perfect models of mathematical  
exposition2 their wide range will be    
seen from the list of those which       
survive3 ,on the ,sphere and ,cylinder  
,i1 ,,ii1 ,measurement of a ,circle1 ,on
 ,conoids and ,spheroids1 ,on ,spirals1 
,on ,plane ,equilibriums ,i1 ,,ii1 the  
,sandreckoner1 ,quadrature of the       
,parabola1 ,on ,floating ,bodies ,i1    
,,ii1 and lastly the ,method 7only      
discovered in #aijf74 ,the difficult    
,cattle-,problem is also attributed to  
him1 and a ,liber ,assumptorum which has
 reached us through the ,arabic1 but    
which cannot be his in its present form1
 although some of the propositions in it
 7notably that about the ',salinon'1    

salt-cellar1 and others about circles   
inscribed in the  arblos1 shoemaker's   
knife7 are quite likely to be of        
,archimedean origin4 ,among lost works  
were the ,catoptrica1 ,on               
,sphere-making1 and investigations into 
polyhedra1 including thirteen           
semi-regular solids1 the discovery of   
which is attributed by ,pappus to       
,archimedes4  ,speaking generally1 the  
geometrical works are directed to the   
measurement of curvilinear areas and    
volumes2 and ,archimedes employs a      
method which is a development of        
,eudoxus's method of exhaustion4        
,eudoxus apparently approached the      
figure to be measured from below only1  
i4 e4 by means of figures successively  
inscribed to it4 ,archimedes approaches 
it from both sides by successively      
inscribing figures and circumscribing   
others also1 thereby compressing them1  
as it were1 until they coincide as      
nearly as we please with the figure to  
be measured4 ,in many cases his         

procedure is1 when the analytical       
equivalents are set down1 seen to amount
 to real integration2 this is so with   
his investigation of the areas of a     
parabolic segment and a spiral1 the     
surface and volume of a sphere1 and the 
volume of any segments of the conoids   
and spheroids4  ,the newly-discovered   
,method is especially interesting as    
showing how ,archimedes originally      
obtained his results2 this was by a     
clever mechanical method of             
7theoretically7 weighing infinitesimal  
elements of the figure to be measured   
against elements of another figure the  
area or content of which 7as the case   
may be7 is known2 it amounts to an      
avoidance of integration4 ,archimedes1  
however1 would only admit that the      
mechanical method is useful for finding 
results2 he did not consider them proved
 until they were established            
geometrically4  ,in the ,measurement of 
a ,circle1 after proving by exhaustion  
that the area of a circle is equal to a 

right-angled triangle with the          
perpendicular sides equal respectively  
to the radius and the circumference of  
the circle1 ,archimedes finds1 by sheer 
calculation1 upper and lower limits to  
the ratio of the circumference of a     
circle to its diameter 7what we call    
p74 ,this he does by inscribing and     
circumscribing regular polygons of #if  
sides and calculating approximately     
their respective perimeters4 ,he begins 
by assuming as known certain approximate
 values for #c1 namely #acea_/ghj  #c   
#bfe_/aec1 and his calculations involve 
approximating to the square roots of    
several large numbers 7up to seven      
digits74 ,the text only gives the       
results1 but it is evident that the     
extraction of square roots presented no 
difficulty1 notwithstanding the         
comparative inconvenience of the        
alphabetic system of numerals4 ,the     
result obtained is well known1 namely   
#c-a_/g   p  #c-aj_/ga4  ,the ,plane    
,equilibriums is the first scientific   

treatise on the first principles of     
mechanics1 which are established by pure
 geometry4 ,the most important result   
established in ,book ,i is the principle
 of the lever4 ,this was known to ,plato
 and ,aristotle1 but they had no real   
proof4 ,the ,aristotelian ,mechanics    
merely 'refers' the lever 'to the       
circle'1 asserting that the force which 
acts at the greater distance from the   
fulcrum moves the system more easily    
because it describes a greater circle4  
,archimedes also finds the centre of    
gravity of a parallelogram1 a triangle1 
a trapezium and finally 7in ,book ,,ii7 
of a parabolic segment and of a portion 
of it cut off by a straight line        
parallel to the base4  ,the             
,sandreckoner is remarkable for the     
development in it of a system for       
expressing very large numbers by orders 
and periods based on powers of          
myriad-myriads 7#aj1jjj74 ,it also      
contains the important reference to the 
heliocentric theory of the universe put 

forward by ,aristarchus of ,samos in a  
book of 'hypotheses'1 as well as        
historical details of previous attempts 
to measure the size of the earth and to 
give the sizes and distances of the sun 
and moon4  ,lastly1 ,archimedes invented
 the whole science of hydrostatics4     
,beginning the treatise ,on ,floating   
,bodies with an assumption about uniform
 pressure in a fluid1 he first proves   
that the surface of a fluid at rest is a
 sphere with its centre at the centre of
 the earth4 ,other propositions show    
that1 if a solid floats in a fluid1 the 
weight of the solid is equal to that of 
the fluid displaced1 and1 if a solid    
heavier than a fluid is weighed in it1  
it will be lighter than its true weight 
by the weight of the fluid displaced4   
,then1 after a second assumption that   
bodies which are forced upwards in a    
fluid are forced upwards along the      
perpendiculars to the surface which pass
 through their centres of gravity1      
,archimedes deals with the position of  

rest and stability of a segment of a    
sphere floating in a fluid with its base
 entirely above or entirely below the   
surface4 ,book ,,ii is an extraordinary 
tour de force1 investigating fully all  
the positions of rest and stability of a
 right segment of a paraboloid floating 
in a fluid according 7#a7 to the        
relation between the axis of the solid  
and the parameter of the generating     
parabola1 and 7#b7 to the specific      
gravity of the solid in relation to the 
fluid2 the term 'specific gravity' is   
not used1 but the idea is fully         
expressed in other words4  ,almost      
contemporary with ,archimedes was       
,eratosthenes of ,cyrene1 to whom       
,archimedes dedicated the ,method2 the  
preface to this work shows that         
,archimedes thought highly of his       
mathematical ability4 ,he was indeed    
recognized by his contemporaries as a   
man of great distinction in all         
branches1 though the names ,beta and    
,pentathlos#d applied to him indicate   

that he just fell below the first rank  
in each subject4 ,ptolemy ,euergetes    
appointed him to be tutor to his son    
7,philopator71 and he became librarian  
at ,alexandria2 he recognized his       
obligation to ,ptolemy by erecting a    
column with a graceful epigram4 ,in this
 epigram he referred to the earlier     
solutions of the problem of duplicating 
the cube or finding the two mean        
proportionals1 and advocated his own in 
preference1 because it would give any   
number of means2 on the column was fixed
 a bronze representation of his         
appliance1 a frame with right-angled    
triangles 7or rectangles7 movable along 
two parallel grooves and over one       
another1 together with a condensed      
proof4 ,the ,platonicus of ,eratosthenes
 evidently dealt with the fundamental   
notions of mathematics in connexion with
 ,plato's philosophy1 and seems to have 
begun with the story of the origin of   
the duplication problem4      #d ,this  
word primarily means an all-round       

athlete1 a winner in all     five of the
 sports constituting the  pentathlon1   
namely     jumping1 discus-throwing1    
running1 wrestling1 and boxing 7or      
javelin-throwing74  ,the most famous    
achievement of ,eratosthenes was his    
measurement of the earth4 ,archimedes   
quotes an earlier measurement which made
 the circumference of the earth #cjj1jjj
 stades4 ,eratosthenes improved upon    
this4 ,he observed that at the summer   
solstice at ,syene1 at noon1 the sun    
cast no shadow1 while at the same moment
 the upright gnomon at ,alexandria cast 
a shadow corresponding to an angle      
between the gnomon and the sun's rays of
 #a_/ejth of four right angles4 ,the    
distance between ,syene and ,alexandria 
being known to be #e1jjj stades1 this   
gave for the circumference of the earth 
#bej1jjj stades1 which ,eratosthenes    
seems later1 for some reason1 to have   
changed to #beb1jjj stades4 ,on the most
 probable assumption as to the length of
 the stade used1 the #beb1jjj stades    

give about #g1hej miles1 only #ej miles 
less than the true polar diameter4  ,in 
the work ,on the ,measurement of the    
,earth ,eratosthenes is said to have    
discussed other astronomical matters1   
the distance of the tropic and polar    
circles1 the sizes and distances of the 
sun and moon1 total and partial         
eclipses1 c4 ,besides other works on    
astronomy and chronology1 ,eratosthenes 
wrote a ,geographica in three books1 in 
which he first gave a history of        
geography up to date and then passed on 
to mathematical geography1 the spherical
 shape of the earth1 c41 c4  ,apollonius
 of ,perga was with justice called by   
his contemporaries the ',great          
,geometer'1 on the strength of his great
 treatise1 the ,conics4 ,he is mentioned
 as a famous astronomer of the reign of 
,ptolemy ,euergetes 7#bdg-bbb ,b4 ,c472 
and he dedicated the fourth and later   
,books of the ,conics to ,king ,attalus 
,i of ,pergamum 7#bda-aig ,b4 ,c474     
,the ,conics1 a colossal work1          

originally in eight ,books1 survives as 
to the first four ,books in ,greek and  
as to three more in ,arabic1 the eighth 
being lost4 ,from ,apollonius's prefaces
 we can judge of the relation of his    
work to ,euclid's ,conics1 the content  
of which answered to the first three    
,books of ,apollonius4 ,although ,euclid
 knew that an ellipse could be otherwise
 produced1 e4 g4 as an oblique section  
of a right cylinder1 there is no doubt  
that he produced all three conics from  
right cones like his predecessors4      
,apollonius1 however1 obtains them in   
the most general way by cutting any     
oblique cone1 and his original axes of  
reference1 a diameter and the tangent at
 its extremity1 are in general oblique2 
the fundamental properties are found    
with reference to these axes by         
'application of areas'1 the three       
varieties of which1 application 7       
parabol71 application with an excess 7  
hyperbol7 and application with a        
deficiency 7 elleipsis71 give the       

properties of the three curves          
respectively and account for the names  
parabola1 hyperbola1 and ellipse1 by    
which ,apollonius called them for the   
first time4 ,the principal axes only    
appear1 as a particular case1 after it  
has been shown that the curves have a   
like property when referred to any other
 diameter and the tangent at its        
extremity1 instead of those arising out 
of the original construction4 ,the first
 four ,books constitute what ,apollonius
 calls an elementary introduction2 the  
remaining ,books are specialized        
investigations1 the most important being
 ,book ,v 7on normals7 and ,book ,,vii  
7mainly on conjugate diameters74        
,normals are treated1 not in connexion  
with tangents1 but as minimum or maximum
 straight lines drawn to the curves from
 different points or classes of points4 
,apollonius discusses such questions as 
the number of normals that can be drawn 
from one point 7according to its        
position7 and the construction of all   

such normals4 ,certain propositions of  
great difficulty enable us to deduce    
quite easily the ,cartesian equations to
 the evolutes of the three conics4      
,several other works of ,apollonius are 
described by ,pappus as forming part of 
the ',treasury of ,analysis'4 ,all are  
lost except the ,sectio ,rationis in two
 ,books1 which survives in ,arabic and  
was published in a ,latin translation by
 ,halley in #agjf4 ,it deals with all   
possible cases of the general problem   
'given two straight lines either        
parallel or intersecting1 and a fixed   
point on each1 to draw through any given
 point a straight line which shall cut  
off intercepts from the two lines       
7measured from the fixed points7 bearing
 a given ratio to one another'4 ,the    
lost treatise ,sectio ,spatii dealt     
similarly with the like problem in which
 the intercepts cut off have to contain 
a given rectangle4  ,the other treatises
 included in ,pappus's account are 7#a7 
,on ,determinate ,section2 7#b7         

,contacts or ,tangencies1 ,book ,,ii of 
which is entirely devoted to the problem
 of drawing a circle to touch three     
given circles 7,apollonius's solution   
can1 with the aid of ,pappus's auxiliary
 propositions1 be satisfactorily        
restored72 7#c7 ,plane ,loci1 i4 e4 loci
 which are straight lines or circles2   
7#d7  ,neuseis1 ,inclinationes 7the     
general problem called a  neusis being  
to insert between two lines1 straight or
 curved1 a straight line of given length
 verging to a given point1 i4 e4 so     
that1 if produced1 it passes through the
 point1 ,apollonius restricted himself  
to cases which could be solved by       
'plane' methods1 i4 e4 by the straight  
line and circle only74  ,apollonius is  
also said to have written 7#e7 a        
,comparison of the dodecahedron with the
 icosahedron 7inscribed in the same     
sphere71 in which he proved that their  
surfaces are in the same ratio as their 
volumes2 7#f7 ,on the cochlias or       
cylindrical helix2 7#g7 a ',general     

,treatise'1 which apparently dealt with 
the fundamental assumptions1 c41 of     
elementary geometry2 7#h7 a work on     
unordered irrationals1 i4 e4 irrationals
 of more complicated form than those of 
,eucl4 ,book ,x2 7#i7 ,on the           
burning-mirror1 dealing with spherical  
mirrors and probably with mirrors of    
parabolic section also2 7#aj7  kytokion 
7'quick delivery'74 ,in the last-named  
work ,apollonius found an approximation 
to  p closer than that in ,archimedes's 
,measurement of a ,circle2 and possibly 
the book also contained ,apollonius's   
exposition of his notation for large    
numbers according to 'tetrads'          
7successive powers of the myriad74  ,in 
astronomy ,apollonius is said to have   
made special researches regarding the   
moon1 and to have been called  e        
7,epsilon7 because the form of that     
letter is associated with the moon4 ,he 
was also a master of the theory of      
epicycles and eccentrics4  ,with        
,archimedes and ,apollonius ,greek      

geometry reached its culminating point2 
indeed1 without some more elastic       
notation and machinery such as algebra  
provides1 geometry was practically at   
the end of its resources4 ,for some     
time1 however1 there were capable       
geometers who kept up the tradition1    
filling in details1 devising alternative
 solutions of problems1 or discovering  
new curves for use or investigation4    
,nicomedes1 probably intermediate in    
date between ,eratosthenes and          
,apollonius1 was the inventor of the    
conchoid or cochloid1 of which1         
according to ,pappus1 there were three  
varieties4 ,diocles 7about the end of   
the second century ,b4 ,c47 is known as 
the discoverer of the cissoid which was 
used for duplicating the cube4 ,he also 
wrote a book   peri pyrein1 ,on         
burning-mirrors1 which probably         
discussed1 among other forms of mirror1 
surfaces of parabolic or elliptic       
section1 and used the focal properties  
of the two conics2 it was in this work  

that ,diocles gave an independent and   
clever solution 7by means of an ellipse 
and a rectangular hyperbola7 of         
,archimedes's problem of cutting a      
sphere into two segments in a given     
ratio4 ,dionysodorus gave a solution by 
means of conics of the auxiliary cubic  
equation to which ,archimedes reduced   
this problem2 he also found the solid   
content of a tore or anchor-ring4       
,perseus is known as the discoverer and 
investigator of the spiric sections1 i4 
e4 certain sections of the  speira1 one 
variety of which is the tore4 ,the spire
 is generated by the revolution of a    
circle about a straight line in its     
plane1 which straight line may either be
 external to the circle 7in which case  
the figure produced is the tore71 or may
 cut or touch the circle4  ,zenodorus   
was the author of a treatise on         
,isometric figures1 the problem in which
 was to compare the content of different
 figures1 plane or solid1 having equal  
contours or surfaces respectively4      

,hypsicles 7second half of second       
century ,b4 ,c47 wrote what became known
 as ',book ,,xiv' of the ,elements      
containing supplementary propositions on
 the regular solids 7partly drawn from  
,aristaeus and ,apollonius72 he seems   
also to have written on polygonal       
numbers4 ,a mediocre astronomical work 7
 ,anaphorikos7 attributed to him is the 
first ,greek book in which we find the  
division of the zodiac circle into #cfj 
parts or degrees4  ,posidonius the      
,stoic 7about #ace-ea ,b4 ,c47 wrote on 
geography and astronomy under the titles
 ,on the ,ocean and   peri metern4 ,he  
made a new but faulty calculation of the
 circumference of the earth 7#bdj1jjj   
stades74 ,per contra1 in a separate     
tract on the size of the sun 7in        
refutation of the ,epicurean view that  
it is as big as it looks71 he made      
assumptions 7partly guesswork7 which    
give for the diameter of the sun a      
figure of #c1jjj1jjj stades 7#ci-a_/d   
times the diameter of the earth71 a     

result much nearer the truth than those 
obtained by ,aristarchus1 ,hipparchus1  
and ,ptolemy4 ,in elementary geometry   
,posidonius gave certain definitions    
7notably of parallels1 based on the idea
 of equidistance74  ,geminus of ,rhodes1
 a pupil of ,posidonius1 wrote 7about   
#gj ,b4 ,c47 an encyclopaedic work on   
the classification and content of       
mathematics1 including the history of   
each subject1 from which ,proclus and   
others have preserved notable extracts4 
,an-,nairz 7an ,arabian commentator on  
,euclid7 reproduces an attempt by one   
',aganis'1 who appears to be ,geminus1  
to prove the parallel-postulate4  ,but  
from this time onwards the study of     
higher geometry 7except sphaeric7 seems 
to have languished1 until that admirable
 mathematician1 ,pappus1 arose 7towards 
the end of the third century ,a4 ,d47 to
 revive interest in the subject4 ,from  
the way in which1 in his great          
,collection1 ,pappus thinks it necessary
 to describe in detail the contents of  

the classical works belonging to the    
',treasury of ,analysis' we gather that 
by his time many of them had been lost  
or forgotten1 and that he aimed at      
nothing less than re-establishing       
geometry at its former level4 ,no one   
could have been better qualified for the
 task4 ,presumably such interest as     
,pappus was able to arouse soon         
flickered out2 but his ,collection      
remains1 after the original works of the
 great mathematicians1 the most         
comprehensive and valuable of all our   
sources1 being a handbook or guide to   
,greek geometry and covering practically
 the whole field4 ,among the original   
things in ,pappus's ,collection is an   
enunciation which amounts to an         
anticipation of what is known as        
,guldin's ,theorem4  ,it remains to     
speak of three subjects1 trigonometry   
7represented by ,hipparchus1 ,menelaus1 
and ,ptolemy71 mensuration 7in ,heron of
 ,alexandria71 and algebra              
7,diophantus74  ,although1 in a sense1  

the beginnings of trigonometry go back  
to ,archimedes 7,measurement of a       
,circle71 ,hipparchus was the first     
person who can be proved to have used   
trigonometry systematically4            
,hipparchus1 the greatest astronomer of 
antiquity1 whose observations were made 
between #afa and #abf ,b4 ,c41          
discovered the precession of the        
equinoxes1 calculated the mean lunar    
month at #bi days1 #ab hours1 #dd       
minutes1 #b-a_/b seconds 7which differs 
by less than a second from the present  
accepted figure671 made more correct    
estimates of the sizes and distances of 
the sun and moon1 introduced great      
improvements in the instruments used for
 observations1 and compiled a catalogue 
of some #hej stars2 he seems to have    
been the first to state the position of 
these stars in terms of latitude and    
longitude 7in relation to the ecliptic74
 ,he wrote a treatise in twelve ,books  
on ,chords in a ,circle1 equivalent to a
 table of trigonometrical sines4 ,for   

calculating arcs in astronomy from other
 arcs given by means of tables he used  
propositions in spherical trigonometry4 
,the ,sphaerica of ,theodosius of       
,bithynia 7written1 say1 #bj ,b4 ,c47   
contains no trigonometry4 ,it is        
otherwise with the ,sphaerica of        
,menelaus 7fl4 ,a4 ,d4 #ajj7 extant in  
,arabic2 ,book ,i of this work contains 
propositions about spherical triangles  
corresponding to the main propositions  
of ,euclid about plane triangles 7e4g4  
congruence theorems and the proposition 
that in a spherical triangle the three  
angles are together greater than two    
right angles71 while ,book ,,iii        
contains genuine spherical trigonometry1
 consisting of ',menelaus's ,theorem'   
with reference to the sphere and        
deductions therefrom4  ,ptolemy's great 
work1 the ,syntaxis1 written about ,a4  
,d4 #aej and originally called          
,mathmatik syntaxis1 came to be known as
   ,megal syntaxis2 the ,arabs made up  
from the superlative  megistos the word 

al-,majisti which became ,almagest4     
,book ,i1 containing the necessary      
preliminaries to the study of the       
,ptolemaic system1 gives a ,table of    
,chords in a circle subtended by angles 
at the centre of  increasing by         
half-degrees to #ahj4 ,the circle is    
divided into #cfj  moirai1 parts or     
degrees1 and the diameter into #abj     
parts 7 tmmata72 the chords are given in
 terms of the latter with sexagesimal   
fractions 7e4 g4 the chord subtended by 
an angle of #abj is #ajcp #ec #bc74 ,the
 ,table of ,chords is equivalent to a   
table of the sines of the halves of the 
angles in the table1 for1 if 7crd4 #b   
a7 represents the chord subtended by an 
angle of #b  a 7crd4 #b  a7_/#abj  sin  
a4 ,ptolemy first gives the minimum     
number of geometrical propositions      
required for the calculation of the     
chords4 ,the first of these finds 7crd4 
#cf7 and 7crd4 #gb7 from the geometry of
 the inscribed pentagon and decagon2 the
 second 7',ptolemy's ,theorem' about a  

quadrilateral in a circle7 is equivalent
 to the formula for sin 7-7 th-ph1 the  
third to that for sin   th4 ,from 7crd4 
#gb7 and 7crd4 #fj7 ,ptolemy1 by using  
these propositions successively1 deduces
 7crd4 #a7 and 7crd4 71 from which he   
obtains 7crd4 #a7 by a clever           
interpolation4 ,to complete the table he
 only needs his fourth proposition1     
which is equivalent to the formula for  
cos 77 thph4  ,ptolemy wrote other minor
 astronomical works1 most of which      
survive in ,greek or ,arabic1 an ,optics
 in five ,books 7four ,books almost     
complete were translated into ,latin in 
the twelfth century71 and an attempted  
proof of the parallel-postulate which is
 reproduced by ,proclus4  ,heron of     
,alexandria 7date uncertain2 he may have
 lived as late as the third century ,a4 
,d47 was an almost encyclopaedic writer 
on mathematical and physical subjects4  
,he aimed at practical utility rather   
than theoretical completeness2 hence1   
apart from the interesting collection of

 ,definitions which has come down under 
his name1 and his commentary on ,euclid 
which is represented only by extracts in
 ,proclus and an-,nairz1 his geometry is
 mostly mensuration in the shape of     
numerical examples worked out4 ,as these
 could be indefinitely multiplied1 there
 was a temptation to add to them and to 
use ,heron's name4 ,however much of the 
separate works edited by ,hultsch 7the  
,geometrica1 ,geodaesia1 ,stereometrica1
 ,mensurae1 ,liber geponicus7 is        
genuine1 we must now regard as more     
authoritative the genuine ,metrica      
discovered at ,constantinople in #ahif  
and edited by ,h4 ,schne in #aijc       
7,teubner74 ,book ,i on the measurement 
of areas is specially interesting for   
7#a7 its statement of the formula used  
by ,heron for finding approximations to 
surds1 7#b7 the elegant geometrical     
proof of the formula for the area of a  
triangle  ,d  s 7s-a7 7s-b7 7s-c71 a    
formula now known to be due to          
,archimedes1 7#c7 an allusion to limits 

to the value of  p found by ,archimedes 
and more exact than the #c-a_/g and     
#c-aj_/ga obtained in the ,measurement  
of a ,circle4  ,book ,i of the ,metrica 
calculates the areas of triangles1      
quadrilaterals1 the regular polygons up 
to the dodecagon 7the areas even of the 
heptagon1 enneagon1 and hendecagon are  
approximately evaluated71 the circle and
 a segment of it1 the ellipse1 a        
parabolic segment1 and the surfaces of a
 cylinder1 a right cone1 a sphere and a 
segment thereof4 ,book ,,ii deals with  
the measurement of solids1 the cylinder1
 prisms1 pyramids and cones and frusta  
thereof1 the sphere and a segment of it1
 the anchor-ring or tore1 the five      
regular solids1 and finally the two     
special solids of ,archimedes's ,method2
 full use is made of all ,archimedes's  
results4 ,book ,,iii is on the division 
of figures4 ,the plane portion is much  
on the lines of ,euclid's ,divisions 7of
 figures74 ,the solids divided in given 
ratios are the sphere1 the pyramid1 the 

cone and a frustum thereof4             
,incidentally ,heron shows how he       
obtained an approximation to the cube   
root of a non-cube number 7#ajj74       
,quadratic equations are solved by      
,heron by a regular rule not unlike our 
method1 and the ,geometrica contains two
 interesting indeterminate problems4    
,heron also wrote ,pneumatica 7where the
 reader will find such things as        
siphons1 ,heron's ,fountain1            
penny-in-the-slot machines1 a           
fire-engine1 a water-organ1 and many    
arrangements employing the force of     
steam71 ,automaton-making1 ,belopoeca   
7on engines of war71 ,catoptrica1 and   
,mechanics4 ,the ,mechanics has been    
edited from the ,arabic2 it is 7except  
for considerable fragments7 lost in     
,greek4 ,it deals with the puzzle of    
',aristotle's ,wheel'1 the parallelogram
 of velocities1 definitions of1 and     
problems on1 the centre of gravity1 the 
distribution of weights between several 
supports1 the five mechanical powers1   

mechanics in daily life 7queries and    
answers74 ,pappus covers much the same  
ground in ,book ,,viii of his           
,collection4  ,we come1 lastly1 to      
,algebra4 ,problems involving simple    
equations are found in the ,papyrus     
,rhind1 in the ,epanthema of ,thymaridas
 already referred to1 and in the        
arithmetical epigrams in the ,greek     
,anthology 7,plato alludes to this class
 of problem in the ,laws1 #hai ,b1 ,c72 
the ,anthology even includes two cases  
of indeterminate equations of the first 
degree4 ,the ,pythagoreans gave general 
solutions in rational numbers of the    
equations xyz and #bx-y#a1 which are    
indeterminate equations of the second   
degree4  ,the first to make systematic  
use of symbols in algebraical work was  
,diophantus of ,alexandria 7fl4 about   
,a4 ,d4 #bej74 ,he used 7#a7 a sign for 
the unknown quantity1 which he calls    
arithmos1 and compendia for its powers  
up to the sixth2 7#b7 a sign            
7,transcriber's ,note3 ,symbol7 with the

 effect of our minus4 ,the latter sign  
probably represents  ,,li1 an           
abbreviation for the root of the word   
leipein 7to be wanting72 the sign for   
arithmos 7,transcriber's ,note3 ,symbol7
 is most likely an abbreviation for the 
letters  ar2 the compendia for the      
powers of the unknown are  ,d,y for     
dynamis1 the square1  ,k,y for  kybos1  
the cube1 and so on4 ,diophantus shows  
that he solved quadratic equations by   
rule1 like ,heron4 ,his ,arithmetica1 of
 which six books only 7out of thirteen7 
survive1 contains a certain number of   
problems leading to simple equations1   
but is mostly devoted to indeterminate  
or semi-determinate analysis1 mainly of 
the second degree4 ,the collection is   
extraordinarily varied1 and the devices 
resorted to are highly ingenious4 ,the  
problems solved are such as the         
following 7fractional as well as        
integral solutions being admitted73     
',given a number1 to find three others  
such that the sum of the three1 or of   

any pair of them1 together with the     
given number is a square'1 ',to find    
four numbers such that the square of the
 sum plus or minus any one of the       
numbers is a square'1 ',to find three   
numbers such that the product of any two
 plus or minus the sum of the three is a
 square'4 ,diophantus assumes as known  
certain theorems about numbers which are
 the sums of two and three squares      
respectively1 and other propositions in 
the ,theory of ,numbers4 ,he also wrote 
a book ,on ,polygonal ,numbers of which 
only a fragment survives4  ,with ,pappus
 and ,diophantus the list of original   
writers on mathematics comes to an end4 
,after them came the commentators whose 
names only can be mentioned here4 ,theon
 of ,alexandria1 the editor of ,euclid1 
lived towards the end of the fourth     
century ,a4 ,d4 ,to the fifth and sixth 
centuries belong ,proclus1 ,simplicius1 
and ,eutocius1 to whom we can never be  
grateful enough for the precious        
fragments which they have preserved from

 works now lost1 and particularly the   
,history of ,geometry and the ,history  
of ,astronomy by ,aristotle's pupil     
,eudemus4  ,such is the story of ,greek 
mathematical science4 ,if anything could
 enhance the marvel of it1 it would be  
the consideration of the shortness of   
the time 7about #cej years7 within which
 the ,greeks1 starting from the very    
beginning1 brought geometry to the point
 of performing operations equivalent to 
the integral calculus and1 in the realm 
of astronomy1 actually anticipated      
,copernicus4  ,t4 ,l4 ,,heath4          
,,natural ,,science  ,aristotle   ,there
 is a little essay of ,goethe's called1 
simply1 ,die ,natur4 ,it comes among    
those tracts on ,natural ,science in    
which the poet and philosopher turned   
his restless mind to problems of light  
and colour1 of leaf and flower1 of bony 
skull and kindred vertebra2 and it      
sounds like a prose-poem1 a noble paean1
 eulogizing the love and glorifying the 
study of ,nature4 ,some twenty-five     

hundred years before1 ,anaximander had  
written a book with the same title1     
,concerning ,nature1   peri physes3 but 
its subject was not the same4 ,it was a 
variant of the old traditional          
cosmogonies4 ,it told of how in the     
beginning the earth was without form and
 void4 ,it sought to trace all things   
back to the ,infinite1   to apeiron--to 
,that which knows no bounds of space or 
time but is before all worlds1 and to   
whose bosom again all things1 all       
worlds1 return4 ,for ,goethe ,nature    
meant the beauty1 the all but sensuous  
beauty of the world2 for the older      
philosopher it was the mystery of the   
,creative ,spirit4  ,than ,nature1 in   
,goethe's sense1 no theme is more       
familiar to us1 for whom many a poet    
tells the story and many a lesser poet  
echoes the conceit2 but if there be     
anywhere in ,greek such overt praise and
 worship of ,nature's beauty1 ,i cannot 
call it to mind4 ,yet in ,latin the     
divini gloria ruris is praised and      

,natura daedala rerum worshipped1 as we 
are wont to praise and worship them1 for
 their own sweet sakes4 ,it is one of   
the ways1 one of the simpler ways1 in   
which the ,roman world seems nearer to  
us than the ,greek3 and not only seems1 
but is so4 ,for compared with the great 
early civilizations1 ,rome is modern and
 of the ,west2 while1 draw her close as 
we may to our hearts1 ,greece brings    
along with her a breath of the ,east and
 a whisper of remote antiquity4 ,a      
,tuscan gentleman of to-day1 like a     
,roman gentleman of yesterday1 is at    
heart a husbandman1 like ,cato2 he is   
ruris amator1 like ,horace2 he gets him 
to his little farm or vineyard 7,o rus1 
quando te aspiciam671 like ,atticus or  
the younger ,pliny4 ,as ,bacon praised  
his garden1 so does ,pliny praise his   
farm1 with its cornfields and           
meadowland1 vineyard and woodland1      
orchard and pasture1 bee-hives and      
flowers4 ,that ,god made the country and
 man made the town was 7long before     

,cowper7 a saying of ,varro's2 but in   
,greek ,i can think of no such          
apophthegm4  ,as ,schiller puts it1 the 
,greeks looked on ,nature with their    
minds more than with their hearts1 nor  
ever clung to her with outspoken        
admiration and affection4 ,and          
,humboldt1 asserting 7as ,i would do7   
that the portrayal of nature1 for her   
own sake and in all her manifold        
diversity1 was foreign to the ,greek    
idea1 declares that the landscape is    
always the mere background of their     
picture1 while their foreground is      
filled with the affairs and actions and 
thoughts of men4 ,but all the while1 as 
in some old ,italian picture--of        
,domenichino or ,albani or ,leonardo    
himself--the subordinated background is 
delicately traced and exquisitely       
beautiful2 and sometimes we come to     
value it in the end more than all the   
rest of the composition4  ,deep down in 
the love of ,nature1 whether it be of   
the sensual or intellectual kind1 and in

 the art of observation which is its    
outcome and first expression1 lie the   
roots of all our ,natural ,science4 ,all
 the world over these are the heritage  
of all men1 though the inheritance be   
richer or poorer here and there3 they   
are shown forth in the lore and wisdom  
of hunter and fisherman1 of shepherd and
 husbandman1 of artist and poet4 ,the   
natural history of the ancients is not  
enshrined in ,aristotle and ,pliny4 ,it 
pervades the vast literature of         
classical antiquity4 ,for all we may say
 of the reticence with which1 the       
,greeks proclaim it1 it greets us nobly 
in ,homer1 it sings to us in ,anacreon1 
,sicilian shepherds tune their pipes to 
it in ,theocritus3 and anon in ,virgil  
we dream of it to the coo of doves and  
the sound of bees' industrious murmur4  
,not only from such great names as these
 do we reach the letter and the spirit  
of ancient ,natural ,history4 ,we must  
go a-wandering into the by-ways of      
literature4 ,we must eke out the        

scientific treatises of ,aristotle and  
,pliny by help of the fragments which   
remain of the works of such naturalists 
as ,speusippus or ,alexander the        
,myndian2 add to the familiar stories of
 ,herodotus the ,indian tales of        
,ctesias and ,megasthenes2 sit with     
,athenaeus and his friends at the supper
 table1 gleaning from cook and epicure1 
listening to the merry idle troop of    
convivial gentlemen capping verses and  
spinning yarns2 read ,xenophon's        
treatise on ,hunting1 study the didactic
 poems1 the ,cynegetica and ,halieutica1
 of ,oppian and of ,ovid4 ,and then     
again we may hark back to the greater   
world of letters1 wherein poet and      
scholar1 from petty fabulist to the     
great dramatists1 from ,homer's majesty 
to ,lucian's wit1 share in the love of  
,nature and enliven the delicate        
background of their story with allusions
 to beast and bird4  ,such allusions1   
refined at first by art and hallowed at 
last by familiar memory1 lie treasured  

in men's hearts and enshrine themselves 
in our noblest literature4 ,take1 of a  
thousand crowding instances1 that great 
passage in the ,iliad where the ,greek  
host1 disembarking on the plains of the 
,scamander1 is likened to a migrating   
flock of cranes or geese or long-necked 
swans1 as they fly proudly over the     
,asian meadows and alight screaming by  
,cayster's stream--and ,virgil echoes   
more than once the familiar lines4 ,the 
crane was a well-known bird4 ,its lofty 
flight brings it1 again in ,homer1 to   
the very gates of heaven4 ,hesiod and   
,pindar speak of its far-off cry1 heard 
from above the clouds3 and that it      
'observed the time of its coming'1      
'intelligent of seasons'1 was a proverb 
old in ,hesiod's day--when the crane    
signalled the approach of winter1 and   
when it bade the husbandman make ready  
to plough4 ,it follows the plough1 in   
,theocritus1 as persistently as the wolf
 the kid and the peasant-lad his        
sweetheart4 ,the discipline of the      

migrating cranes1 the serried wedge of  
their ranks in flight1 the good order of
 the resting flock1 are often1 and often
 fancifully1 described4 ,aristotle      
records how they have an appointed      
leader1 who keeps watch by night and in 
flight keeps calling to the laggards2   
and all this old story ,euripides1 the  
most naturalistic of the great          
tragedians1 puts into verse3      ,the  
ordered host of ,libyan birds avoids    
,the wintry storm1 obedient to the call 
,of their old leader1 piping to his     
flock4  ,lastly1 ,milton gathers up the 
spirit and the letter of these and many 
another ancient allusion to the         
migrating cranes3      ,part loosely    
wing the region2 part more wise1     ,in
 common ranged in figure1 wedge their   
way     ,intelligent of seasons1 and set
 forth     ,their aery caravan1 high    
over seas     ,flying1 and over lands2  
with mutual wing     ,easing their      
flight2 so steers the prudent crane4    
,but the natural history of the poets is

 a story without an end1 and in our     
estimation1 however brief it be1 of     
ancient knowledge1 there are other      
matters to be considered1 and other     
points of view where we must take our   
stand4  ,when we consider the science of
 the ,greeks1 and come quickly to love  
it and slowly to see how great it was1  
we likewise see that it was restricted  
as compared with our own1 curiously     
partial or particular in its            
limitations4 ,the practical and 'useful'
 sciences of chemistry1 mechanics1 and  
engineering1 which in our modern world  
crowd the others to the wall1 are absent
 altogether1 or so concealed that we    
forget and pass them by4 ,mathematics is
 enthroned high over all1 as it is meet 
she should be2 and of uncontested right 
she occupies her throne century after   
century1 from ,pythagoras to ,proclus1  
from the scattered schools of early     
,hellenic civilization to the rise and  
fall of the great ,alexandrine          
,university4 ,near beside her sits1 from

 of old1 the daughter-science of        
,astronomy2 and these twain were        
worshipped by the greatest scientific   
intellects of the ,greeks4 ,but though  
we do not hear of them nor read of them1
 we must not suppose for a moment that  
the practical or technical sciences were
 lacking in so rich and complex a       
civilization4 ,china1 that most glorious
 of all living monuments of ,antiquity1 
tells us nothing of her own chemistry1  
but we know that it is there4 ,peep into
 a ,chinese town1 walk through its      
narrow streets1 thronged but quiet1     
wherein there is neither rumbling of    
coaches nor rattling of wheels1 and you 
shall see the nearest thing on earth to 
what we hear of ,sybaris4 ,to the       
production of those glowing silks and   
delicate porcelains and fine metal-work 
has gone a vast store of chemical       
knowledge1 traditional and empirical4   
,so was it1 precisely1 in ancient       
,greece2 and ,plato knew that it was    
so--that the dyer1 the perfumer1 and the

 apothecary had subtle arts1 a subtle   
science of their own1 a science not to  
be belittled nor despised4 ,we may pass 
here and there by diligent search from  
conjecture to assurance2 analyse a      
pigment1 an alloy or a slag2 discover   
from an older record than the ,greeks'1 
the chemical prescription wherewith an  
,egyptian princess darkened her eyes1 or
 study the pictured hearth1 bellows1    
oven1 crucibles with which the followers
 of ,tubal-,cain smelted their ore4     
,once in a way1 but seldom1 do we meet  
with ancient chemistry even in ,greek   
literature4 ,there is a curious passage 
7its text is faulty and the translation 
hard7 in the story of the ,argonauts1   
where ,medea concocts a magic brew4 ,she
 put divers herbs in it1 herbs yielding 
coloured juices such as safflower and   
alkanet1 and soapwort and fleawort to   
give consistency or 'body' to the lye2  
she put in alum and blue vitriol 7or    
sulphate of copper71 and she put in     
blood4 ,the magic brew was no more and  

no less than a dye1 a red or purple dye1
 and a prodigious deal of chemistry had 
gone to the making of it4 ,for the      
copper was there to produce a 'lake' or 
copper-salt of the vegetable alkaloids1 
which copper-lakes are among the most   
brilliant and most permanent of         
colouring matters2 the alum was there as
 a 'mordant'2 and even the blood was    
doubtless there incorporated for better 
reasons than superstitious ones1 in all 
probability for the purpose of          
clarifying 7by means of its coagulating 
albumen7 the seething and turbid brew4  
,the ',orphic' version of the story1 in 
which this passage occurs1 is probably  
an ,alexandrine compilation1 and whether
 the ingredients of the brew had been   
part of the ancient legend or were      
merely suggested to the poet by the     
knowledge of his own day we cannot tell2
 in either case the prescription is old 
enough1 and is at least pre-,byzantine  
by a few centuries4 ,such as it is1 it  
does not stand alone4 ,other fragments  

of ancient chemistry1 more or less akin 
to it1 have been gathered together2 in  
,galen's book on ,the making of         
,simples1 in ,pliny1 in ,paulus         
,aegineta1 and for that matter in       
certain ,egyptian papyri 7especially a  
certain very famous one1 still extant1  
of which ,clement of ,alexandria speaks 
as a secret or 'hermetic' book71 we can 
trace the broken and scattered stones of
 a great edifice of ancient chemistry4  
,nevertheless1 all this weight of       
chemical learning figures scantily in   
literature1 and is conspicuously absent 
from our conception of the natural      
genius of the ,greeks4 ,we have no      
reason to suppose that ancient          
chemistry1 or any part of it1 was ever  
peculiarly ,greek1 or that this science 
was the especial property of any nation 
whatsoever2 moreover it was a trade1 or 
a bundle of trades1 whose trade-secrets 
were too precious to be revealed1 and so
 constituted not a science but a        
mystery4 ,so has it always been with    

chemistry1 the most cosmopolitan of     
sciences1 the most secret of arts4      
,quietly and stealthily it crept through
 the world2 the tinker brought it with  
his solder and his flux2 the ,african   
tribes who were the first workers in    
iron passed it on to the great          
metallurgists who forged ,damascan and  
,toledan steel4  ,this 'trade' of       
,chemistry was never a science for a    
,gentleman1 as philosophy and           
mathematics were2 and ,plato1 greatest  
of philosophers1 was one of the greatest
 of gentlemen4 ,long1 long afterwards1  
,oxford said the same thing to ,robert  
,boyle--that ,chemistry was no proper   
avocation for a gentleman2 but he       
thought otherwise1 and the 'brother of  
the ,earl of ,cork' became the ,father  
of scientific ,chemistry4  ,now ,i take 
it that in regard to biology ,aristotle 
did much the same thing as ,boyle1      
breaking through a similar tradition2   
and herein one of the greatest of his   
great services is to be found4 ,there   

was a wealth of natural history before  
his time2 but it belonged to the farmer1
 the huntsman1 and the fisherman--with  
something over 7doubtless7 for the      
schoolboy1 the idler1 and the poet4 ,but
 ,aristotle made it a science1 and won a
 place for it in ,philosophy4 ,he did   
for it just what ,pythagoras had done   
7as ,proclus tells us7 for mathematics  
in an earlier age1 when he discerned the
 philosophy underlying the old empirical
 art of 'geometry'1 and made it the     
basis of 'a liberal education'4#e       
#e                 4 epi de toutois     
,pythagoras tn peri     autn            
philosophian eis schma paideias         
eleutherou metestsen4     ,procli       
,comment4 ,euclidis lib4 ,i1 ,prolegom4 
,,ii 7p4 #fe1 ed4     ,friedlein74  ,the
 ,mediterranean fisherman1 like the     
,chinese fisherman or the ,japanese1 has
 still1 and always has had1 a wide      
knowledge of all that pertains to and   
accompanies his craft4 ,our ,scottish   
fishermen have a limited vocabulary1    

which scarce extends beyond the names of
 the few common fishes with which the   
market is supplied4 ,but at ,marseilles 
or ,genoa or in the ,levant they have   
names for many hundreds of species1 of  
fish and shell-fish and cuttle-fish and 
worms and corallines1 and all manner of 
swimming and creeping things2 they know 
a vast deal about the habits of their   
lives1 far more1 sometimes1 than do we  
'scientific men'2 they are naturalists  
by tradition and by trade4 ,neither1 by 
the way1 must we forget the ancient     
medical and anatomical learning of the  
great ,aesculapian guild1 nor the still 
more recondite knowledge possessed by   
various priesthoods 7again like their   
brethren of to-day in ,china and ,japan7
 of the several creatures1 sacred fish1 
pigeons1 guinea-fowl1 snakes1           
cuttlefish1 and what not1 which time out
 of mind they had reared1 tended1 and   
venerated4  ,of what new facts          
,aristotle actually discovered it is    
impossible to be sure4 ,could it ever be

 proved that he discovered many1 or     
could it even be shown that of his own  
hand he discovered nothing at all1 it   
would affect but little our estimate of 
his greatness and our admiration of his 
learning4 ,he was the first of ,greek   
philosophers and gentlemen to see that  
all these things were good to know and  
worthy to be told4 ,this was his great  
discovery4  ,i have sought elsewhere to 
show that ,aristotle spent two years1   
the happiest years perhaps of all his   
life--a long honeymoon--by the sea-side 
in the island of ,mytilene1 after he had
 married the little ,princess1 and      
before he began the hard work of his    
life3 before he taught ,alexander in    
,macedon1 and long before he spoke urbi 
et orbi in the ,lyceum4 ,here it was    
that he learned the great bulk of his   
natural history1 in which1 wide and     
general as it is1 the things of the sea 
have from first to last a notable       
predominance4  ,i have tried to         
illustrate elsewhere 7as many another   

writer has done7 something of the       
variety and the depth of ,aristotle's   
knowledge of animals--choosing an       
example here and there1 but only drawing
 a little water from an inexhaustible   
well4  ,a famous case is that of the    
'molluscs'1 where either ,aristotle's   
knowledge was exceptionally minute1 or  
where it has come down to us with       
unusual completeness4  ,these are the   
cuttle fish1 which have now surrendered 
their ,aristotelian name of 'molluscs'  
to that greater group which is seen to  
include them1 together with the         
shell-fish or 'ostracoderma' of         
,aristotle4 ,these cuttle-fishes are    
creatures that we seldom see1 but in the
 ,mediterranean they are an article of  
food and many kinds are known to the    
fishermen4 ,all or wellnigh all of these
 many kinds were known to ,aristotle4   
,he described their form and their      
anatomy1 their habits1 their            
development1 all with such faithful     
accuracy that what we can add to-day    

seems of secondary importance4 ,he      
begins with a methodical description of 
the general form1 tells us of the body  
and fins1 of the eight arms with their  
rows of suckers1 of the abnormal        
position of the head4 ,he points out the
 two long arms of ,sepia and of the     
calamaries1 and their absence in the    
octopus2 and he tells us1 what was only 
confirmed of late1 that with these two  
long arms the creature clings to the    
rock and sways about like a ship at     
anchor4 ,he describes the great eyes1   
the two big teeth forming the beak2 and 
he dissects the whole structure of the  
gut1 with its long gullet1 its round    
crop1 its stomach and the little coiled 
coecal diverticulum3 dissecting not only
 one but several species1 and noting    
differences that were not observed again
 till ,cuvier re-dissected them4 ,he    
describes the funnel and its relation to
 the mantle-sac1 and the ink-bag1 which 
he shows to be largest in ,sepia of all 
others4 ,and here1 by the way1 he seems 

to make one of those apparent errors    
that1 as it happens1 turn out to be     
justified3 for he tells us that in      
,octopus1 unlike the rest1 the funnel is
 on the upper side2 the fact being that 
when the creature lies prone upon the   
ground1 with all its arms outspread1 the
 funnel-tube 7instead of being flattened
 out beneath the creature's prostrate   
body7 is long enough to protrude upwards
 between arms and head1 and to appear on
 one side or other thereof1 in a        
position apparently the reverse of its  
natural one4 ,he describes the character
 of the cuttle-bone in ,sepia1 and of   
the horny pen which takes its place in  
the various calamaries1 and notes the   
lack of any similar structure in        
,octopus4 ,he dissects in both sexes the
 reproductive organs1 noting without    
exception all their essential and       
complicated parts2 and he had figured   
these in his lost volume of anatomical  
diagrams4 ,he describes the various     
kinds of eggs1 and1 with still more     

surprising knowledge1 shows us the      
little embryo cuttle-fish1 with its     
great yolk-sac attached1 in apparent    
contrast to the chick's1 to the little  
creature's developing head4  ,but there 
is one other remarkable feature that he 
knew ages before it was rediscovered1   
almost in our own time4 ,in certain male
 cuttle-fishes1 in the breeding season1 
one of the arms develops in a curious   
fashion into a long coiled whip-lash1   
and in the act of breeding may then be  
transferred to the mantle-cavity of the 
female4 ,cuvier himself knew nothing of 
the nature or the function of this      
separated arm1 and indeed1 if ,i am not 
mistaken1 it was he who mistook it for a
 parasitic worm4 ,but ,aristotle tells  
us of its use and its temporary         
development1 and of its structure in    
detail1 and his description tallies     
closely with the accounts of the most   
recent writers4  ,a scarcely less minute
 account follows of the ',malacostraca' 
or crustaceans1 the lobsters and the    

crabs1 the shrimps and the prawns1 and  
others of their kind1 a chapter to which
 ,cuvier devoted a celebrated essay4    
,there be many kinds of crabs--the      
common kind1 the big 'granny' crabs1 the
 little horsemen-crabs1 that scamper    
over the sand and which are for the most
 part empty1 that is to say1 whose      
respiratory cavities are exceptionally  
large2 and there are the freshwater     
crabs4 ,there are the little shrimps and
 the big hump-backed fellows1 or prawns2
 there are the 'crangons' or squillae2  
and the big lobsters and the crawfish or
 'langoustes'1 their spiny cousins4 ,we 
read about their beady eyes1 which turn 
every way2 about their big rough        
antennae and the smaller1 smoother pair 
between2 the great teeth1 or mandibles2 
the carapace with its projecting        
rostrum1 the jointed abdomen with the   
tail-fins at the end1 and the little    
flaps below on which the female drops   
her spawn4 ,in more or less detail these
 things are severally described1 and the

 many limbs severally enumerated1 in one
 kind after another4 ,the descriptions  
of the lobster and the langouste are    
particularly minute1 and the comparison 
or contrast between the two is drawn    
with elaborate precision4 ,in the       
former1 besides other differences       
between male and female1 the female is  
said to have the 'first foot' 7or leg7  
bifurcate1 while in the male it is      
undivided4 ,it seems a trifling matter1 
but it is true2 it is so small a point  
that ,i searched long before at last ,i 
found mention made of it in a ,german   
monograph4 ,the puzzling thing is that  
it is 7as we should say7 the last and   
not the first leg which is so           
distinguished2 but after all1 it is only
 a convention of our own to count the   
limbs from before backwards4 ,to inspect
 a lobster's limbs1 we lay it on its    
back 7as ,aristotle did71 and see the   
legs overlapping1 each hinder one above 
the one before2 the hindmost is the     
first we see1 and the one we must first 

lift up to inspect the others4          
,aristotle's account of fishes is a     
prodigious history of habits1 food1     
migrations1 modes of capture1 times and 
ways of spawning1 and anatomical        
details2 but it is not here that we can 
elucidate or even illustrate this       
astonishing ,ichthyology4 ,it is not    
always easy to understand--but the      
obstacle lies often1 ,i take it1 in our 
own ignorance4 ,the identification of   
species is not always plain1 for here as
 elsewhere ,aristotle did not reckon    
with a time or place where the familiar 
words of ,greek should be unknown or    
their homely significance forgotten4    
,among the great host of fish-names     
there are several referring1 somehow or 
other1 to the ,grey ,mullet1 which      
puzzle both naturalist and              
lexicographer4 ,a young officer told me 
the other day how he had watched an     
,arab fisherman emptying out his creel  
of ,grey ,mullet on some ,syrian beach1 
and the ,arab gave four if not five     

names to as many different kinds1       
betwixt which my friend could see no    
difference whatsoever4 ,had my friend   
been an ichthyologist he would doubtless
 have noticed that one had eyelids and  
the others none2 that one had little    
brushes on its lips1 another a small but
 wide-open slit under the jaw1 another a
 yellow spot on its gill-covers1 and so 
on4 ,the ,mullets are a difficult group1
 but ,aristotle1 like the ,arab         
fisherman1 evidently recognized their   
fine distinctions and employed the      
appropriate names4 ,again1 ,aristotle   
speaks of a certain nest-building fish1 
the 'phycis'1 and regarding this ,cuvier
 fell into error 7where once upon a time
 ,i followed him74 ,in ,cuvier's time   
there was but one nest-building fish    
known such as to suit1 apparently1 the  
passage1 namely the little black goby2  
but after ,cuvier's day the             
nest-building habits of the 'wrasses'   
became known to naturalists1 as they had
 doubtless been known ages before to the

 fishermen--and to ,aristotle4  ,like   
almost every other little point on which
 we happen to touch1 we might make this 
one the starting-point 7here comes in   
the delight and fascination of the      
interpreter's task67 for other stories4 
,speusippus1 ,plato's successor in the  
,academy1 was both philosopher and      
naturalist1 and we may take it1 if we   
please1 that his leaning towards        
biology1 and the biological trend which 
at this time became more and more marked
 in ,athenian philosophy1 were not      
unconnected with the great impulse which
 ,aristotle had given4 ,however this may
 be1 ,speusippus wrote a book   peri    
,homoin ',concerning ,resemblances'2 and
 this1 of which we only possess a few   
fragmentary sentences1 must have been a 
very curious and an interesting book4   
,he mentions1 among other similar cases1
 that our little fish phycis has a close
 outward semblance to the sea-perch2 and
 this is enough to clinch the proof that
 ,aristotle's nest-building fish was not

 a goby but a wrasse4 ,the whole purport
 of ,speusippus's book seems to have    
been to discuss how1 or why1 with all   
,nature's apparently infinite variety1  
certain animals have a singularly close 
resemblance to certain others1 though   
they be quite distinct in kind4 ,it is a
 problem which perplexes us still1 when 
we are astonished and even deluded by   
the likeness between a wasp and a       
hover-fly1 a merlin and a cuckoo4 ,in   
certain extreme cases we call it        
'mimicry'1 and invoke hypotheses to     
account for this 'mimetic' resemblance2 
and those of us who reject these        
hypotheses must fain take refuge in     
others1 as far-reaching in their way4   
,this at least we know1 that ,speusippus
 seized upon a real problem of biology1 
of lasting interest and even of         
fundamental importance4  ,to come back  
to ,aristotle and his fishes1 let us    
glance at one little point more4 ,the   
reproduction of the eel is an ancient   
puzzle1 which has found its full        

solution only in our own day4 ,while the
 salmon1 for instance1 comes up the     
river to breed and goes down again to   
the sea1 the eel goes down to the ocean 
to spawn1 and the old eels come back no 
more but perish in the great waters4    
,the eel's egg develops into a little   
flattened1 transparent fish1 altogether 
different in outward appearance from an 
eel1 which turns afterwards into a young
 eel or 'elver'2 and ,professor ,grassi1
 who had a big share in elucidating the 
whole matter1 tells us the curious fact 
that he found the ,sicilian fishermen   
well acquainted with the little         
transparent larva 7the ,leptocephalus of
 modern naturalists71 that they knew    
well what it was1 and that they had a   
name for it--,casentula4 ,now           
,aristotle1 in a passage which ,i think 
has been much misunderstood 7and which  
we must admit to be in part erroneous71 
tells us that the eel develops from what
 he calls   gs entera1 a word which we  
translate1 literally1 the 'guts of the  

earth'1 and which commentators interpret
 as 'earthworms'6 ,but in ,sicilian     
,doric1   gs entera would at once become
   gas entera2 and between ',gasentera' 
and the modern ,sicilian ',casentula'   
there is scarce a hairbreadth's         
difference4 ,so we may be permitted to  
suppose that here again ,aristotle was  
singularly and accurately informed2 and 
that he knew by sight and name the      
little larva of the eel1 whose discovery
 and identification is one of the modest
 triumphs of recent investigation4      
,aristotle's many pages on fishes are   
delightful reading4 ,the anatomist may  
read of such recondite matters as the   
placenta vitellina of the smooth        
dog-fish1 whereby the viviparous embryo 
is nourished within the womb1 after a   
fashion analogous to that of mammalian  
embryology--a phenomenon brought to     
light anew by ,johannes ,mller1 and     
which excited him to enthusiastic       
admiration of ,aristotle's minute and   
faithful anatomy4 ,again we may read of 

the periodic migration of the tunnies1  
of the great net or 'madrague' in which 
they are captured1 and of the watchmen1 
the  thynnoskopoi1 the 'hooers' of our  
ancient ,cornish fishery1 who give      
warning from tower or headland of the   
approaching shoal4 ,the student may     
learn what manner of fish it was 7the   
great ,eagle-ray7 with whose barbed     
fin-spine--most primitive of            
spear-heads--,ulysses was slain2 and    
again1 he may learn not a little about  
that  nark1 or torpedo1 to which ,meno  
compared his master ,socrates1 in a     
somewhat ambiguous compliment4  ,in     
rambling fashion ,aristotle has a deal  
to tell us about insects1 and he has    
left us a sort of treatise on the whole 
natural history of the bee4 ,he knew the
 several inmates of the hive1 though    
like others of his day 7save1 perhaps1  
only ,xenophon71 and like ,shakespeare  
too1 he took the queen-bee for a king4  
,he describes the building of the comb1 
the laying of the eggs1 the provision of

 the larvae with food4 ,he discusses the
 various qualities of honey and the     
flowers from which these are drawn4 ,he 
is learned in the diseases and the      
enemies of bees4 ,he tells us many      
curious things about the economy of the 
hive and the arts of the bee-keeper1    
some of which things have a very modern 
and familiar look about them3 for       
instance1 the use of a net or screen to 
keep out the drones1 a net so nicely    
contrived that these sturdy fellows are 
just kept out1 while the leaner1        
slenderer workers are just let in4 ,but 
it would be a long1 long story to tell  
of ,aristotle's knowledge of the bee1   
and to compare it with what is1 haply1  
the still deeper skill and learning of  
that master of bee-craft1 ,virgil4      
,then1 having perfect freedom to go     
whithersoever we chose and to follow the
 bees across the boundless fields of    
ancient literature1 we might read of the
 wild bees and of their honey out of a  
rock1 and of the hive-bees too1 in      

,homer2 follow them to their first      
legendary home in ,crete1 where the     
infant ,jupiter was fed on honey--as a  
baby's lips are touched with it even    
unto this day2 trace their association  
with ,proserpine and her mother1 or     
their subtler connexion with ,ephesian  
,diana2 find in the poets1 from ,hesiod 
to the later ,anthology1 a hundred sweet
 references--to the bee-tree in the     
oak-wood1 to the flowery hill ,hymettus4
 ,perhaps1 at last1 we might even happen
 on the place where ,origen seems so    
strangely to foreshadow                 
,shakespeare--speaking of the king of   
the bees with his retinue of courtiers  
7his officers of sorts71 the relays of  
workmen 7the poor mechanic porters      
crowding in71 the punishment of the idle
 7where some1 like magistrates1 correct 
at home71 the wars1 the vanquished1 and 
the plunder 7which pillage they with    
merry march bring home ,to the          
tent-royal of their ,emperor74  ,go back
 to ,aristotle1 and we may listen to him

 again while he talks of many other     
kindred insects3 of the humble-bee and  
its kind1 of the mason-bee with its hard
 round nest of clay1 of the robber-bees1
 and of the various wasps and hornets2  
or 7still more curiously and            
unexpectedly7 of the hunter-wasp or     
'ichneumon'1 and how it kills the       
spider1 carries it home to its nest1 and
 lays its eggs in its poor body1 that   
the little wasp-grubs may afterwards be 
fed4 ,or again of the great wasps which 
he calls ,anthrenae1 and how they chase 
the big flies1 and cut off their heads1 
and fly away with the rest of the       
carcass--all agreeing to the very letter
 with what ,henri ,fabre tells us of a  
certain large wasp of ,southern ,europe1
 and how it captures the big 'taons' or 
horse-flies3 ',pour donner le coup de   
grce  leurs ,taons mal sacrifis1 et se  
dbattants encore entre les pattes du    
ravisseur1 j'ai vu des ,bembex mchonner 
la tte et le thorax des victimes4'      
,verily1 there is nothing new under the 

sun4  ,with the metamorphoses of various
 insects ,aristotle was well acquainted4
 ,he knew how the house-fly passes its  
early stages in a dung-hill1 and how the
 grubs of the big horse-flies and       
,tabanids live in decayed wood2 how     
certain little flies or gnats are       
engendered 7as he calls it7 in the slime
 of vinegar4 ,he relates with great care
 and accuracy the life-history of the   
common gnat1 from its aquatic larva1 the
 little red 'blood-worm' of our pools2  
he describes them wriggling about like  
tiny bits of red weed1 in the water of  
some half-empty well2 and he explains1  
finally1 the change by which they become
 stiff and motionless and hard1 until a 
husk breaks away and the little gnat is 
seen sitting upon it2 and by and by the 
sun's heat or a puff of wind starts it  
off1 and away it flies4  ,some of these 
stories are indeed remarkable1 for the  
events related are more or less hidden  
and obscure2 and so1 with all this      
knowledge at hand1 it is not a little   

strange that ,aristotle has very little 
indeed to tell us about the far more    
obvious phenomena of the life-history of
 the butterfly1 and of the several kinds
 of butterflies and moths4 ,he does tell
 us briefly that the butterfly comes    
from a caterpillar1 which lives on      
cabbage-leaves and feeds voraciously1   
then turns into a chrysalis and eats no 
more1 nor has it a mouth to eat withal2 
it is hard and1 as it were1 dead1 but   
yet it moves and wriggles when you touch
 it1 and after a while the husk bursts  
and out comes the butterfly4 ,the       
account is good enough1 so far as it    
goes1 but nevertheless ,aristotle shows 
no affection for the butterfly1 does not
 linger and dally over it1 tells no     
stories about it4 ,this is all of a     
piece with the rest of ,greek           
literature1 and poetry in particular1   
where allusions to the butterfly are    
scanty and rare4 ,i think the ,greeks   
found something ominous or uncanny1     
something not to be lightly spoken of1  

in that all but disembodied spirit which
 we call a butterfly1 and they called by
 the name of  psych1 the ,soul4 ,they   
had a curious name 7 nekydallos7 for the
 pupa4 ,it sounds like a 'little corpse'
 7 nekys72 and like a little corpse     
within its shroud or coffin the pupa    
sleeps in its cocoon4 ,a late poet      
describes the butterfly 'coming back    
from the grave to the light of day'2 and
 certain of the ,fathers of the ,church1
 ,st4 ,basil in particular1 point the   
moral accordingly1 and draw a doubtless 
time-honoured allegory of the           
,resurrection and the ,life from the    
grub which is not dead but sleepeth1 and
 the butterfly which 7as it were7 is    
raised in glory4  ,of one large moth1   
,aristotle gives us an account which has
 been a puzzle to many4 ,this begins as 
a great grub or caterpillar1 with 7as it
 were7 horns2 and1 growing by easy      
stages1 it spins at length a cocoon4    
,there is a class of women who unwind   
and reel off the cocoons1 and afterwards

 weave a fabric with the thread2 and a  
certain woman of ,cos is credited with  
the invention of this fabric4 ,this is1 
at first sight1 a plain and             
straightforward description of the      
silkworm2 but we know that it was not   
till long afterwards1 nearly a thousand 
years after1 in ,justinian's reign1 that
 the silkworm and the mulberry-tree     
which is its food were brought out of   
the ,east into ,byzantine ,greece4 ,we  
learn something of this ,coan silkworm  
from ,pliny1 who tells us that it lived 
on the ash and oak and cypress tree2 and
 from ,clement of ,alexandria and other 
of the ,fathers we glean a little       
more--for instance1 that the larva was  
covered with thick-set hairs1 and that  
the cocoon was of a loose material      
something like a spider's web4 ,all this
 agrees in every particular with a      
certain large moth 7,lasiocampa otus71  
which spins a rough cocoon not unlike   
that of our ,emperor moth1 and lives in 
south-eastern ,europe1 feeding on the   

cypress and the oak4 ,many other        
silkworms besides the true or common one
 are still employed1 worms which yield  
the ,tussore silks of ,india and other  
kindred silks in ,japan2 and so likewise
 was this rough silky fabric spun and   
woven in ,hellas1 until in course of    
time it was surpassed and superseded by 
the finer produce of the ',seric worm'1 
and the older industry died out and was 
utterly forgotten4  ,ere we leave the   
subject of insects let us linger a      
moment over one which the ,greeks loved1
 and loved most of all4 ,when as        
schoolboys we first began to read our   
,thucydides1 we met in the very         
beginning with the story of how rich    
,athenians wore ,golden ,grasshoppers   
7as the schoolmaster calls them7 in     
their hair4 ,these golden ornaments     
were1 of course1 no common grasshoppers1
 but the little ,cicadas1 whose sharp   
chirrup seemed delightful music to the  
,greeks4 ,it is unpleasant to our ears1 
as ,browning found it2 but in a         

multitude of ,greek poets1 in ,alcaeus  
and ,anacreon and all through the whole 
,anthology1 we hear its praise4 ,we have
 it1 for instance1 in the ,birds3       
,though the hot sun be shining in the   
sky     ,in the deep flowery            
meadow-grass ,i lie3     ,to listen to  
the shrill melodious tune     ,of       
crickets1 thrilled to ecstasy at noon4  
,of this familiar and beloved insect    
,aristotle gives a copious account4 ,he 
describes two separate species1 which we
 still recognize easily2 a larger one   
and the better singer1 the other smaller
 and the first to come and last to go   
with the summer season4 ,he recognized  
the curious vocal organ1 or vibratory   
drum1 at the cicada's waist1 and saw    
that some cicadas possessed it and      
others not2 and he knew1 as the poets   
also knew1 that it was the males who    
sang1 while their wives listened and    
were silent4 ,he tells how the cicada is
 absent from treeless countries1 as1 for
 instance1 from ,cyrene 7and why1 ,i    

wonder1 does he go all the way to       
,cyrene for his illustration871 neither 
is it heard in deep and sunless woods2  
but in the olive-groves you hear it at  
its best1 for an olive-grove is sparse  
and the sun comes through4 ,then he     
tells us briefly1 but with remarkable   
accuracy1 the story of the creature's   
life3 how the female1 with her long     
ovipositor1 lays her eggs deep down in  
dead1 hollow twigs1 such as the canes on
 which the vines are propped2 how the   
brood1 when they escape from the egg1   
burrow underground2 how later on they   
emerge1 especially in rainy weather1    
when the rains have softened the soil2  
how then the larva changes into another 
form1 the so-called 'nymph'2 and how at 
last1 when summer comes1 the skin of the
 nymph breaks and the perfect insect    
issues forth1 changes colour1 and begins
 to sing4 ,in ,aristophanes1 in         
,theocritus1 in ,lucretius1 ,virgil1    
,martial1 and in the ,anthology1 we may 
gather up a host of poetical allusions  

to the natural history thus simply      
epitomized4  ,the ,book about ,animals1 
the ,historia ,animalium as we say1 from
 which ,i have quoted these few examples
 of ,aristotle's store of information1  
may be taken to represent the first     
necessary stage of scientific inquiry4  
,there is a kind of manual philosophy   
7as old ,lord ,monboddo called it7 which
 investigates facts which escape the    
vulgar1 and may be called the anecdotes 
or secret history of nature4 ,in this   
fascinating pursuit ,gilbert ,white     
excelled1 and ,john ,ray and many       
another--the whole brotherhood of simple
 naturalists4 ,but such accumulated     
knowledge of facts is but the foundation
 of a philosophy2 and 'nothing deserves 
the name of philosophy1 except what     
explains the causes and principles of   
things'4 ,aristotle would have done much
 had he merely shown 7as ,gilbert ,white
 showed to the country gentlemen of his 
day7 that the minute observation of     
nature was something worth the scholar  

and the gentleman's while2 but1 far more
 than this1 he made a ,science of       
natural knowledge1 and set it once for  
all within the realm of ,philosophy4 ,he
 set it side by side with the more      
ancient science of ,astronomy1 which for
 many hundred years in ,egypt and the   
,east1 and for some few centuries in    
,hellas1 had occupied the mind of       
philosophers and the attention of       
educated men4 ,i have quoted before a   
great sentence in which he explains his 
purpose1 and makes excuse for his       
temerity4 ',the glory1 doubtless1 of the
 heavenly bodies fills us with more     
delight than the contemplation of these 
lowly things2 for the sun and stars are 
born not1 neither do they decay1 but are
 eternal and divine4 ,but the heavens   
are high and afar off1 and of celestial 
things the knowledge that our senses    
give us is scanty and dim4 ,the living  
creatures1 on the other hand1 are at our
 door1 and if we so desire it we may    
gain ample and certain knowledge of each

 and all4 ,we take pleasure in the      
beauty of a statue1 shall not then the  
living fill us with delight2 and all the
 more if in the spirit of philosophy we 
search for causes and recognize the     
evidences of design4 ,then will nature's
 purpose and her deep-seated laws be    
everywhere revealed1 all tending in her 
multitudinous work to one form or       
another of the ,beautiful4'             
,aristotle's voluminous writings have   
come down to us through many grave      
vicissitudes4 ,the greatest of them all 
are happily intact1 or very nearly so2  
but some are lost and others have       
suffered disorder and corruption4 ,the  
work known as the ',parts of ,animals'  
opens 7as our text has it7 with a       
chapter which seems meant for a general 
exordium to the whole series of         
biological treatises2 and ,i know no    
chapter in all ,aristotle's books which 
better shows 7in plainer ,english or    
easier ,greek7 the master-hand of the   
great ,teacher and ,philosopher4 ,he    

begins by telling us 7it has ever since 
been a common saying7 that every        
science1 every branch of knowledge1     
admits of two sorts of proficiency--that
 which may properly be termed scientific
 knowledge1 and that which is within the
 reach of ordinary educated men4 ,he    
proceeds to discuss the 'method' of     
scientific inquiry1 whether we should   
begin with the specific and proceed to  
the general1 or whether we are to deal  
first with common or generical          
characters and thereafterward with      
special peculiarities4 ,are we entitled 
to treat of animals1 as is done in      
mathematical astronomy1 by dealing first
 with facts or phenomena and then       
proceeding to discover and relate their 
several causes8 ,at once this leads to a
 brief discussion 7elaborated elsewhere7
 of the two great ,causes1 or aspects of
 cause--the final cause and the 'moving'
 or efficient cause--the reason why or  
the purpose for which1 and the          
antecedent cause which1 of necessity1   

brings a thing to be such as it is4     
,here is one of the great crucial       
questions of philosophy1 and            
,aristotle's leaning to the side of the 
,final ,cause has been a dominant       
influence upon the minds of men         
throughout the whole history of         
learning4 ,empedocles had taken another 
view3 he held that the rain comes when  
it listeth1 or 'of necessity'2 that we  
have no right to suppose it comes to    
make the corn grow in spring1 any more  
than to spoil the autumn sheaves3 that  
the teeth grow by the operation of some 
natural 7or physical7 law1 and that     
their apparent and undoubted fitness for
 cutting and grinding is not purposeful 
but coincident2 that the backbone is    
divided into vertebrae because of the   
antecedent forces1 or flexions1 which   
act upon it in the womb4 ,and           
,empedocles proceeds to the great       
evolutionary deduction1 the clear       
prevision of ,darwin's philosophy1 that 
fit and unfit arise alike1 but that what

 is fit to survive does survive and what
 is unfit perishes4  ,the story is far  
too long and the theme involved too     
grave and difficult for treatment here4 
,but ,i would venture to suggest that   
,aristotle inclined to slur over the    
physical and lean the more to the final 
cause1 for this simple reason 7whatever 
other reasons there may be71 that he was
 a better biologist than a physicist3   
that he lacked somewhat the mathematical
 turn of mind which was intrinsic to the
 older schools of philosophy4 ,for      
better for worse the course he took1 the
 choice he made1 was of incalculable    
import1 and had power for centuries to  
guide 7dare we say1 to bias7 the        
teaching of the schools1 the progress of
 learning1 and the innermost beliefs of 
men4  ,in this one short but pregnant   
chapter of ,aristotle's there is far    
more than we can hope even to epitomize4
 ,he has much to say in it of           
'classification'1 an important matter   
indeed1 and he discusses it as a great  

logician should1 in all its rigour4     
,many commentators have sought for      
,aristotle's 'classification of         
animals'2 for my part ,i have never     
found it1 and1 in our sense of the word1
 ,i am certain it is not there4 ,an     
unbending1 unchanging classification of 
animals would have been something       
foreign to all his logic2 it is all very
 well1 it becomes practically necessary1
 when we have to arrange our animals on 
the shelves of a museum or in the arid  
pages of a 'systematic' catalogue2 and  
it takes a new complexion when1 or if1  
we can attain to a real or historical   
classification1 following lines of      
actual descent and based on proven facts
 of historical evolution4 ,but          
,aristotle 7as it seems to me7 neither  
was bound to a museum catalogue nor     
indulged in visions either of a complete
 scala naturae or of an hypothetical    
phylogeny4 ,he classified animals as he 
found them2 and1 as a logician1 he had a
 dichotomy for every difference which   

presented itself to his mind4 ,at one   
time he divided animals into those with 
blood and those without1 at another into
 the air-breathers and the              
water-breathers2 into the wild and the  
tame1 the social and the solitary1 and  
so on in endless ways besides4 ,at the  
same time he had a quick eye for the    
great natural groups1 such 'genera' 7as 
he called them7 as ,fish or ,bird1      
,insect or ,mollusc4 ,so it comes to    
pass that1 while he fashioned no hard   
and fast scheme of classification1 and  
would undoubtedly 7,i hold7 have thought
 it vain to do so1 the threads of his   
several partial or temporary            
classifications come together after all1
 though in a somewhat hazy pattern1 yet 
in a very beautiful and coherent        
parti-coloured web4 ,and though his     
order is not always our order1 yet a    
certain exquisite orderliness is of the 
very essence of his thought and style4  
,it is the characteristic which ,molire 
hits upon in ,les ,femmes               

savantes1--',je m'attache pour l'ordre  
au pripattisme'4  ,before he finishes   
the great chapter of which we have begun
 to speak he indicates that there are   
more ways than one of relating1 or      
classifying1 our facts2 that1 for       
instance1 it may be equally proper and  
necessary to deal now with the animals  
and their several parts or properties1  
and at another time with the parts or   
properties as such1 explaining and      
illustrating them in turn by the several
 animals which display or possess them4 
,the ',parts of ,animals' is1 then1 a   
corollary1 a necessary corollary1 to the
 more anecdotal ,historia ,animalium4   
,and yet again1 there is a third        
alternative--to discuss the great       
functions or actions or potentialities  
of the organism1 as it were first of all
 in the abstract1 and then to correlate 
them with the parts which in this or    
that creature are provided and are      
'designed' to effect them4 ,this        
involves the conception and the writing 

of separate physiological treatises on  
such themes as ,respiration1            
,locomotion1 on ,sleeping and ,waking1  
and lastly 7and in some respects the    
most ambitious1 most erudite1 and most  
astonishing of them all7 the great      
account of the ,generation of ,animals4 
,so the whole range1 we might say the   
whole conceivable range1 of biological  
science is sketched out1 and the greater
 part of the great canvas is painted in4
 ,but to bring it into touch with human 
life1 and to make good its claim to the 
high places of philosophy1 we must go   
yet farther and study ,life itself1 and 
what men call the ,soul4 ,so grows the  
great conception4 ,we begin with trivial
 anecdote1 with the things that         
fisherman1 huntsman1 peasant know2 the  
sciences of zoology1 anatomy1 physiology
 take shape before our very eyes2 and by
 evening we sit humbly at the feet of   
the great teacher of ,life itself1 the  
historian of the ,soul4 ,it is not for  
us to attempt to show that even here the

 story does not end1 but the highest    
chapters of philosophy begin4 ,then1    
when we remember that this short        
narrative of ours is but the faintest   
adumbration of one side only of the     
philosopher's many-sided task and       
enterprise1 we begin to rise towards a  
comprehension of ,roger ,bacon's saying1
 that 'although ,aristotle did not      
arrive at the end of knowledge1 he set  
in order all parts of philosophy'4 ,in  
the same spirit a modern critic         
declares3 ',il n'a seulement dfini et   
constitu chacune des parties de la      
science2 il en a de plus montr le lien  
et l'unit'4  ,aristotle1 like           
,shakespeare1 is full of old saws1 tags 
of wisdom1 jewels five words long4 ,here
 is such a one1 good for teacher and    
pupil alike--    ,dei pisteuein ton     
manthanonta4 ,it tells us that the road 
to ,learning lies through ,faith2 and it
 means that to be a scholar one should  
have a heart as well as brains4  ,by    
reason partly of extraneous             

interpolation1 but doubtless also       
through a lingering credulity from which
 even philosophers are not immune1 we   
find in ,aristotle many a strange story4
 ,the goats that breathe through their  
ears1 the vulture impregnated by the    
wind1 the eagle that dies of hunger1 the
 stag caught by music1 the salamander   
which walks through fire1 the unicorn1  
the mantichore1 are but a few of the    
',vulgar ,errors' or ',received         
,tenents' 7as ,sir ,thomas ,browne has  
it7 which are perpetuated1 not          
originated1 in the ,historia ,animalium4
 ,some of them come1 through ,persia1   
from the farther ,east3 and others 7we  
meet with them once more in ,horapollo  
the ,egyptian priest7 are but the       
exoteric or allegorical expression of   
the arcana of ancient ,egyptian         
religion4  ,so it comes to pass that for
 two thousand years and throughout all  
lands men have come to ,aristotle1 and  
found in him information and            
instruction--that which they desired4   

,arab and ,moor and ,syrian and ,jew    
treasured his books while the western   
world sat in darkness2 the great        
centuries of ,scholasticism hung upon   
his words2 the oldest of our            
,universities1 ,bologna1 ,paris1        
,oxford1 were based upon his teaching1  
yea1 all but established for his study4 
,where he has been1 there1 seen or      
unseen1 his influence remains2 even the 
,moor and the ,arab find in him1 to this
 day1 a teacher after their own hearts3 
a teacher of eternal verities1 telling  
of sleep and dreams1 of youth and age1  
of life and death1 of generation and    
corruption1 of growth and of decay3 a   
guide to the book of ,nature1 a revealer
 of the ,spirit1 a prophet of the works 
of ,god4  ,the purpose of these little  
essays1 ,i have been told 7though ,i had
 half forgotten it71 is to help though  
ever so little to defend and justify the
 study of the language and the vast     
literature of ,greece4 ,it is a task for
 which ,i am unfitted and unprepared4   

,when ,oliver ,goldsmith proposed to    
teach ,greek at ,leyden1 where he 'had  
been told it was a desideratum'1 the    
,principal of that celebrated           
,university met him 7as we all know7    
with weighty objections4 ',i never      
learned ,greek'1 said the ,principal1   
'and ,i don't find that ,i have ever    
missed it4 ,i have had a ,doctor's cap  
and gown without ,greek4 ,i have ten    
thousand florins a year without ,greek2 
and1 in short'1 continued he1 'as ,i    
don't know ,greek1 ,i do not believe    
there is any good in it4'--,i have heard
 or read the story again and again1 for 
is it not written in the ,vicar of      
,wakefield8 ,but ,i never heard that any
 man1 not ,goldsmith himself1 attempted 
to confute the argument4 ,i agree for   
the most part with the ,principal1 and  
can see clearly that all the ,greek that
 ,goldsmith knew1 and all the ,greek in 
all the world1 would have meant nothing 
and done nothing for him4 ,but there is 
and will be many another who finds in   

,greek wisdom and sweet ,hellenic speech
 something which he needs must have1 and
 lacking which he would be poor indeed3 
something which is as a staff in his    
hand1 a light upon his path1 a lantern  
to his feet4  ,in this workaday world we
 may still easily possess ourselves1 as 
,gibbon says the subjects of the        
,byzantine ,throne1 even in their lowest
 servitude and depression1 were still   
possessed1 'of a golden key that could  
unlock the treasures of antiquity1 of a 
musical and prolific language that gives
 a soul to the objects of sense1 and a  
body to the abstractions of philosophy'4
  ,our very lives seem prolonged by the 
recollection of antiquity2 for1 as      
,cicero says1 not to know what has been 
transacted in former times is to        
continue always a child4 ,i borrow the  
citation from ,dr4 ,johnson1 who reminds
 us also of a saying of ,aristotle      
himself1 that as students we ought first
 to examine and understand what has been
 written by the ancients1 and then cast 

our eyes round upon the world4 ,and     
,johnson prefaces both quotations by    
another3          ,tibi res antiquae    
laudis et artis     ingredior1 sanctos  
ausus recludere fontes4  ,but now ,i1   
who have dared to draw my tiny draft    
from ,aristotle's great well1 seem after
 all to be seeking an excuse1 seeking it
 in example and precept4 ,precept1 at   
least1 ,i know to be of no avail4 ,my   
father spent all the many days of his   
life in the study of ,greek2 you might  
suppose it was for ,wisdom's sake1--but 
my father was a modest man4 ,the fact   
is1 he did it for a simpler reason      
still1 a very curious reason1 to be     
whispered rather than told3 he did it   
for love4  ,nigh forty years ago1 ,i    
first stepped out on the east-windy     
streets of a certain lean and hungry    
town 7lean1 ,i mean1 as regards         
scholarship7 where it was to be my lot  
to spend thereafter many and many a     
year4 ,and the very first thing ,i saw  
there was an inscription over a very    

humble doorway1 ',hic mecum habitant    
,dante1 ,cervantes1 ,molire'4 ,it was   
the home of a poor schoolmaster1 who as 
a teacher of languages eked out the     
scanty profits of his school4 ,i was not
 a little comforted by the announcement4
 ,so the poor scholar1 looking on the   
ragged regiment of his few books1 is    
helped1 consoled1 exalted by the        
reflection3 ,hic mecum habitant 444     
,homerus1 ,plato1 ,aristoteles4 ,and    
were one in a moment of inadvertence to 
inquire of him why he occupied himself  
with ,greek1 he might perchance stammer 
7like ,dominie ,sampson7 an almost      
inarticulate reply2 but more probably he
 would be stricken speechless by the    
enormous outrage of the request1 and the
 reason of his devotion would be hidden 
from the questioner for ever4  ,d',,arcy
 ,,wentworth ,,thompson4     ,,biology  
,before ,aristotle  ,what is science8   
,it is a question that cannot be        
answered easily1 nor perhaps answered at
 all4 ,none of the definitions seem to  

cover the field exactly2 they are either
 too wide or too narrow4 ,but we can see
 science in its growth and we can say   
that being a process it can exist only  
as growth4 ,where does the science of   
biology begin8 ,again we cannot say1 but
 we can watch its evolution and its     
progress4 ,among the ,greeks the        
accurate observation of living forms1   
which is at least one of the essentials 
of biological science1 goes back very   
far4 ,the word ,biology1 used in our    
sense1 would1 it is true1 have been an  
impossibility among them1 for bios      
refers to the life of man and could not 
be applied1 except in a strained or     
metaphorical sense1 to that of other    
living things4#f ,but the ideas we      
associate with the word are clearly     
developed in ,greek philosophy and the  
foundations of biology are of great     
antiquity4      #f ,the word ,biology   
was introduced by ,gottfried ,reinhold  
,treviranus 7#aggf-ahcg7 in his         
,biologie oder die ,philosophie der     

lebenden ,natur1 #f vols41 ,gttingen1   
#ahjb-bb1 and was adopted by     ,j4-,b4
 de ,lamarck 7#agdd-ahbi7 in his        
,hydrogologie1 ,paris1 #ahjb4 ,it     is
 probable that the first ,english use of
 the word in its modern     sense is by 
,sir ,william ,lawrence 7#aghc-ahfg7 in 
his work ,on the     ,physiology1       
,zoology1 and ,natural ,history of ,man1
 ,london1 #ahai2     there are earlier  
,english uses of the word1 however1     
contrasted with     biography4  ,the    
,greek people had many roots1 racial1   
cultural1 and spiritual1 and from them  
all they inherited various powers and   
qualities and derived various ideas and 
traditions4 ,the most suggestive source 
for our purpose is that of the ,minoan  
race whom they dispossessed and whose   
lands they occupied4 ,that highly gifted
 people exhibited in all stages of its  
development a marvellous power of       
graphically representing animal forms1  
of which the famous ,cretan friezes1    
,vaphio cups 7,fig4 #e71 and ,mycenean  

lions provide well-known examples4 ,it  
is difficult not to believe that the    
,minoan element1 entering into the      
mosaic of peoples that we call the      
,greeks1 was in part at least           
responsible for the like graphic power  
developed in the ,hellenic world1 though
 little contact has yet been            
demonstrated between ,minoan and archaic
 ,greek ,art4  ,for the earliest        
biological achievements of ,greek       
peoples we have to rely largely on      
information gleaned from artistic       
remains4 ,it is true that we have a few 
fragments of the works of both ,ionian  
and ,italo-,sicilian philosophers1 and  
in them we read of theoretical          
speculation as to the nature of life and
 of the soul1 and we can thus form some 
idea of the first attempts of such      
workers as ,alcmaeon of ,croton 7c4 #ejj
 ,b4 ,c47 to lay bare the structure of  
animals by dissection4#g ,the           
pharmacopia also of some of the earliest
 works of the ,hippocratic collection   

betrays considerable knowledge of both  
native and foreign plants4#h ,moreover1 
scattered through the pages of          
,herodotus and other early writers is a 
good deal of casual information         
concerning animals and plants1 though   
such material is second-hand and gives  
us little information concerning the    
habit of exact observation that is the  
necessary basis of science4      #g ,the
 remains of ,alcmaeon are given in ,h4  
,diel's ,die ,fragmente     der         
,vorsokratiker1 ,berlin1 #aijc1 p4 #ajc4
 ,alcmaeon is considered in     the     
companion chapter on ,greek ,medicine4  
#h ,especially the    peri gynaikeis    
physios1     ,on the nature of woman1   
and the   peri gynaikein1     ,on the   
diseases of women4  ,something more is1 
however1 revealed by early ,greek ,art4 
,we are in possession of a series of    
vases of the seventh and sixth centuries
 before the ,christian era showing a    
closeness of observation of animal forms
 that tells of a people awake to the    

study of nature4 ,we have thus portrayed
 for us a number of animals--plants     
seldom or never appear--and among the   
best rendered are wild creatures3 we see
 antelopes quietly feeding or startled  
at a sound1 birds flying or picking     
worms from the ground1 fallow deer      
forcing their way through thickets1     
browsing peacefully1 or galloping away1 
boars facing the hounds and dogs chasing
 hares1 wild cattle forming their       
defensive circle1 hawks seizing their   
prey4 ,many of these exhibit minutely   
accurate observation4 ,the very         
direction of the hairs on the animals'  
coats has sometimes been closely        
studied1 and often the muscles are well 
rendered4 ,in some cases even the       
dentition has been found accurately     
portrayed1 as in a sixth-century        
representation on an ,ionian vase of a  
lioness--an animal then very rare on the
 ,eastern ,mediterranean littoral1 but  
still known in ,babylonia1 ,syria1 and  
,asia ,minor4 ,the details of the work  

show that the artist must have examined 
the animal in captivity 7,figs4 #a and  
#b74  ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 ,lioness
 and young from an ,ionian vase of the  
sixth century ,b4 ,c4 found at ,caere in
 ,southern ,etruria 7,louvre1 ,salle ,e1
 ,no4 #bih71 from ,le ,dessin des       
,animaux en ,grce d'aprs les vases      
peints1 by ,j4 ,morin1 ,paris           
7,renouard71 #aiaa4 ,the animal is      
drawing itself up to attack its hunters4
 ,the scanty mane1 the form of the paws1
 the udders1 and the dentition are all  
heavily though accurately represented4  
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,a1 ,jaw bones
 of lion2 ,b1 head of lioness from      
,caere vase 7,fig4 #a71 after ,morin4   
,note the careful way in which the      
artist has distinguished the molar from 
the cutting teeth4  ,animal paintings of
 this order are found scattered over the
 ,greek world with special centres or   
schools in such places as ,cyprus1      
,boeotia1 or ,chalcis4 ,the very name   
for a painter in ,greek1 zoographos1    

recalls the attention paid to living    
forms4 ,by the fifth century1 in        
painting them as in other departments of
 ,art1 the supremacy of ,attica had     
asserted itself1 and there are many     
beautiful ,attic vase-paintings of      
animals to place by the side of the     
magnificent horses' heads of the        
,parthenon 7,fig4 #f74 ,in ,attica1 too1
 was early developed a characteristic   
and closely accurate type of            
representation of marine forms1 and this
 attained a wider vogue in ,southern    
,italy in the fourth century4 ,from the 
latter period a number of dishes and    
vases have come down to us bearing a    
large variety of fish forms1 portrayed  
with an exactness that is interesting in
 view of the attention to marine        
creatures in the surviving literature of
 ,aristotelian origin 7,fig4 #c74       
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,paintings of 
fish on plates4 ,italo-,greek work of   
the fourth century ,b4 ,c4 ,from ,morin4
    ,a4 ,sargus vulgaris4   ,b4         

,crenilabrus mediterraneus4   ,c4       
,uranoscopus scaber8  ,these artistic   
products are more than a mere reflex of 
the daily life of the people4 ,the      
habits and positions of animals are     
observed by the hunter1 as are the forms
 and colours of fish by the fisherman2  
but the methods of huntsman and fisher  
do not account for the accurate         
portrayal of a lion's dentition1 the    
correct numbering of a fish's scales or 
the close study of the lie of the       
feathers on the head1 and the pads on   
the feet1 of a bird of prey 7,fig4 #d74 
,with observations such as these we are 
in the presence of something worthy of  
the name ,biology4 ,though but little   
literature on that topic earlier than   
the writings of ,aristotle has come down
 to us1 yet both the character of his   
writings and such paintings and pictures
 as these1 suggest the existence of a   
strong interest and a wide literature1  
biological in the modern sense1         
antecedent to the fourth century4       

,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4 ,head and     
talons of the ,sea-eagle1 ,haliatus     
albicilla3    ,a1 ,from an ,ionic vase  
of the sixth century ,b4 ,c4   ,b1      
,drawn from the object4  ,from ,morin4  
,greek science1 however1 exhibits       
throughout its history a peculiar       
characteristic differentiating it from  
the modern scientific standpoint4 ,most 
of the work of the ,greek scientist was 
done in relation to man4 ,nature        
interested him mainly in relation to    
himself4 ,the ,greek scientific and     
philosophic world was an anthropocentric
 world1 and this comes out in the       
overwhelming mass of medical as distinct
 from biological writings that have come
 down to us4 ,such1 too1 is the         
sentiment expressed by the poets in     
their descriptions of the animal        
creation3      ,many wonders there be1  
but naught more wondrous than man3      
99       99       99       99       99  
,the light-witted birds of the air1 the 
beasts of the weald and the wood     ,he

 traps with his woven snare1 and the    
brood of the briny flood4     ,master of
 cunning he3 the savage bull1 and the   
hart     ,who roams the mountain free1  
are tamed by his infinite art4     ,and 
the shaggy rough-maned steed is broken  
to bear the bit4      ,sophocles1       
,antigone1 verses #cdb ff4              
7,translation of ,f4 ,storr47  ,it is   
thus not surprising that our first      
systematic treatment of animals is in a 
practical medical work1 the   peri      
diaits1 ,on diet1 of the ,hippocratic   
,collection4 ,this very peculiar        
treatise dates from the later part of   
the fifth century4 ,it is strongly under
 the influence of ,heracleitus 7c4      
#edj-dge7 and contains many points of   
view which reappear in later philosophy4
 ,all animals1 according to it1 are     
formed of fire and water1 nothing is    
born and nothing dies1 but there is a   
perpetual and eternal revolution of     
things1 so that change itself is the    
only reality4 ,man's nature is but a    

parallel to that of the universal       
nature1 and the arts of man are but an  
imitation or reflex of the natural arts 
or1 again1 of the bodily functions4 ,the
 soul1 a mixture of water and fire1     
consumes itself in infancy and old age1 
and increases during adult life4 ,here1 
too1 we meet with that singular         
doctrine1 not without bearing on the    
course of later biological thought1 that
 in the foetus all parts are formed     
simultaneously4 ,on the proportion of   
fire and water in the body all depends1 
sex1 temper1 temperament1 intellect4    
,such speculative ideas separate this   
book from the sober method of the more  
typical ,hippocratic medical works with 
which indeed it has little in common4   
,after having discussed these           
theoretical matters the work turns to   
its own practical concerns1 and in the  
course of setting out the natures of    
foods gives in effect a rough           
classification of animals4 ,these are   
set forth in groups1 and from among the 

larger groups only the reptiles and     
insects are missing4 ,the list has been 
described1 perhaps hardly with          
justification1 as the ,coan             
classificatory system4 ,we have here1   
indeed1 no system in the sense in which 
that word is now applied to the animal  
kingdom1 but we have yet some sort of   
definite arrangement of animals         
according to their supposed natures4    
,the passage opens with mammals1 which  
are divided into domesticated and wild1 
the latter being mentioned in order     
according to size1 next follow the      
land-birds1 then the water-fowl1 and    
then the fishes4 ,these fish are divided
 into 7#a7 the haunters of the shore1   
7#b7 the free-swimming forms1 7#c7 the  
cartilaginous fishes or ,selachii1 which
 are not so named but are placed        
together1 7#d7 the mud-loving forms1 and
 7#e7 the fresh-water fish4 ,finally    
come invertebrates arranged in some sort
 of order according to their structure4 
,the characteristic feature of the      

'classification' is the separation of   
the fish from the remaining vertebrates 
and of the invertebrates from both4 ,of 
the fifty animals named no less than    
twenty are fish1 about a fifth of the   
number studied by ,aristotle1 but we    
must remember that here only edible     
species are mentioned4 ,the existence of
 the work shows at least that in the    
fifth century there was already a close 
and accurate study of animal forms1 a   
study that may justly be called         
scientific4 ,the predominance of fish   
and their classification in greater     
detail than the other groups is not an  
unexpected feature4 ,the ,mediterranean 
is especially rich in these forms1 the  
,greeks were a maritime people1 and     
,greek literature is full of imagery    
drawn from the fisher's craft4 ,from    
,minoan to ,byzantine times the variety1
 beauty1 and colour of fish made a deep 
impression on ,greek minds as reflected 
in their art4  ,much more important1    
however1 for subsequent biological      

development than such observations on   
the nature and habits of animals1 is the
 service that the ,hippocratic          
physicians rendered to ,anatomy and to  
,physiology1 departments in which the   
structure of man and of the domesticated
 animals stands apart from that of the  
rest of the animal kingdom4 ,it is with 
the nature and constitution of man that 
most of the surviving early biological  
writings are concerned1 and in these    
departments are unmistakable tendencies 
towards systematic arrangement of the   
material4 ,thus we have division and    
description of the body in sevens from  
the periphery to the centre and from the
 vertex to the sole of the foot1#i or a 
division into four regions or zones4#aj 
,the teaching concerning the four       
elements and four humours too became of 
great importance and some of it was     
later adopted by ,aristotle4 ,we also   
meet numerous mechanical explanations of
 bodily structures1 comparisons between 
anatomical conditions encountered in    

related animals1 experiments on living  
creatures1#aa systematic incubation of  
hen's eggs for the study of their       
development1 parallels drawn between the
 development of plants and of human and 
animal embryos1 theories of generation1 
among which is that which was afterwards
 called 'pangenesis'--discussion of the 
survival of the stronger over the       
weaker--almost our survival of the      
fittest--and a theory of inheritance of 
acquired characters4#ab ,all these      
things show not only extensive knowledge
 but also an attempt to apply such      
knowledge to human needs4 ,when we      
consider how even in later centuries    
biology was linked with medicine1 and   
how powerful and fundamental was the    
influence of the ,hippocratic writings1 
not only on their immediate successors  
in antiquity1 but also on the ,middle   
,ages and right into the nineteenth     
century1 we shall recognize the         
significance of these developments4     
#i   peri hebdomadn4 ,the ,greek text is

 lost4 ,we     have1 however1 an early  
and barbarous ,latin translation1 and   
there     has recently been printed an  
,arabic commentary4 ,g4 ,bergstrasser1  
,pseudogaleni in ,hippocratis de        
septimanis commentarium ab ,hunnino     
,q4 ,f4 arabice versum1 ,leipzig1 #aiad4
      #aj    peri nousn d4      #aa     
peri kardis4      #ab ,especially in the
   peri gons4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4 
,,minoan ,,gold ,,cup4 ,,sixteenth      
,,century ,b4 ,c4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 
#f4 ,,horse',s ,,head4 ,,from           
,,parthenon4 #ddj ,b4 ,c4  ,such was the
 character of biological thought within 
the fifth century1 and a generation     
inspired by this movement produced some 
noteworthy works in the period which    
immediately followed4 ,in the treatise  
peri trophs1 ,on nourishment1 which may 
perhaps be dated about #djj ,b4 ,c41 we 
learn of the pulse for the first time in
 ,greek medical literature1 and read of 
a physiological system which lasted     
until the time of ,harvey1 with the     

arteries arising from the heart and the 
veins from the liver4 ,of about the same
 date is a work   peri kardis1 ,on the  
heart1 which describes the ventricles as
 well as the great vessels and their    
valves1 and compares the heart of       
animals with that of man4  ,a little    
later1 perhaps #cij ,b4 ,c41 is the     
treatise   peri sarkn1 ,on muscles1     
which contains much more than its title 
suggests4 ,it has the old system of     
sevens and1 inspired perhaps by the     
philosophy of ,heracleitus 7c4          
#edj-dge71 describes the heart as       
sending air1 fire1 and movement to the  
different parts of the body through the 
vessels which are themselves constantly 
in movement4 ,the infant in its mother's
 womb is believed to draw in air and    
fire through its mouth and to eat in    
utero4 ,the action of the air on the    
blood is compared to its action on fire4
 ,in contrast to some of the other      
,hippocratic treatises the central      
nervous system is in the background2    

much attention1 however1 is given to the
 special senses4 ,the brain resounds    
during audition4 ,the olfactory nerves  
are hollow1 lead to the brain1 and1     
convey volatile substances to it which  
cause it to secrete mucus4 ,the eyes    
also have been examined1 and their coats
 and humours roughly described2 an      
allusion1 the first in literature1 is   
perhaps made to the crystalline lens1   
and the eyes of animals are compared    
with those of man4 ,there is evidence   
not only of dissection but of           
experiment1 and in efforts to compare   
the resistance of various tissues to    
such processes as boiling1 we may see   
the small beginning of chemical         
physiology4  ,an abler work than any of 
these1 but exhibiting less power of     
observation is a treatise1   peri gons1 
,on generation1 that may perhaps be     
dated about #chj ,b4 ,c4#ac ,it exhibits
 a writer of much philosophic power1    
very anxious for physiological          
explanations1 but hampered by ignorance 

of physics4 ,he has1 in fact1 the       
weaknesses and in a minor degree the    
strength of his successor ,aristotle1 of
 whose great work on generation he gives
 us a fore-taste4 ,he sets forth in     
considerable detail a doctrine of       
pangenesis1 not wholly unlike that of   
,darwin4 ,in order to explain the       
phenomena of inheritance he supposes    
that vessels reach the seed1 carrying   
with them samples from all parts of the 
body4 ,he believes that channels pass   
from all the organs to the brain and    
then to the spinal marrow 7or to the    
marrow direct71 thence to the kidneys   
and on to the genital organs2 he        
believes1 too1 that he knows the actual 
location of one such channel1 for he    
observes1 wrongly1 that incision behind 
the ears1 by interrupting the passage1  
leads to impotence4 ,as an outcome of   
this theory he is prepared to accept    
inheritance of acquired characters4 ,the
 embryo develops and breathes by        
material transmitted from the mother    

through the umbilical cord4 ,we         
encounter here also a very detailed     
description of a specimen of exfoliated 
membrana mucosa uteri which our author  
mistakes for an embryo1 but his remarks 
at least exhibit the most eager         
curiosity4#ad      #ac ,the three works 
peri gons1        peri physios paidiou1 
peri nousn d1 ,on     generation1 on the
 nature of the embryo1 on diseases1 book
 ,,iv1     form really one treatise on  
generation4      #ad    peri physios    
paidiou1 ,on the nature of     the      
embryo1  #ac4 ,the same experience is   
described in the       peri sarkn1 ,on  
the muscles4  ,the author of this work  
on generation is thus a 'biologist' in  
the modern sense1 and among the passages
 exhibiting him in this light is his    
comparison of the human embryo with the 
chick4 ',the embryo is in a membrane in 
the centre of which is the navel through
 which it draws and gives its breath1   
and the membranes arise from the        
umbilical cord4444 ,the structure of the

 child you will find from first to last 
as ,i have already described4444 ,if you
 wish1 try this experiment3 take twenty 
or more eggs and let them be incubated  
by two or more hens4 ,then each day from
 the second to that of hatching remove  
an egg1 break it1 and examine it4 ,you  
will find exactly as ,i say1 for the    
nature of the bird can be likened to    
that of man4 ,the membranes you will see
 proceed from the umbilical cord1 and   
all that ,i have said on the subject of 
the infant you will find in a bird's    
egg1 and one who has made these         
observations will be surprised to find  
an umbilical cord in a bird's egg4'#ae  
#ae    peri physios paidiou1 ,on the    
nature of     the embryo1  #bi4  ,the   
same interest that he exhibits for the  
development of man and animals he shows 
also for plants4       ',a seed laid in 
the ground fills itself with the juices 
there      contained1 for the soil      
contains in itself juices of every      
nature      for the nourishment of      

plants4 ,thus filled with juice the seed
 is      distended and swells1 and      
thereby the power 7 faculty        h    
dynamis7 diffused in the seed is        
compressed by pneuma and      juice1 and
 bursting the seed becomes the first    
leaves4 ,but a time      comes when     
these leaves can no longer get nourished
 from the juices      in the seed4 ,then
 the seed and the leaves erupt below1   
for urged by      the leaves the seed   
sends down that part of its power which 
is yet      concentrated within it and  
so the roots are produced as an         
extension of the leaves4 ,when at last  
the plant is well rooted      below and 
is drawing its nutriment from the earth1
 then the whole      grain disappears1  
being absorbed1 save for the husk1 which
 is the      most solid part2 and even  
that1 decomposing in the earth1         
ultimately becomes invisible4 ,in time  
some of the leaves put forth            
branches4 ,the plant being thus produced
 by humidity from the seed      is still

 soft and moist4 ,growing actively both 
above and below1 it      cannot as yet  
bear fruit1 for it has not the quality  
of force and      reserve 7    dynamis  
ischyr kai piara7 from      which a seed
 can be precipitated4 ,but when1 with   
time1 the plant      becomes firmer and 
better rooted1 it develops veins as     
passages      both upwards and          
downwards1 and it draws from the soil   
not only      water but more abundantly 
also substances that are denser and     
fatter4 ,warmed1 too1 by the sun1 these 
act as a ferment to the      extremities
 and give rise to fruit after its kind4 
,the fruit thus      develops much from 
little1 for every plant draws from the  
earth a      power more abundant than   
that with which it started1 and the     
fermentation takes place not at one     
place but at many4'#af      #af    peri 
physios paidiou1 ,on the nature of      
the embryo1  #bb4  ,nor does our author 
hesitate to draw an analogy between the 
plant and the mammalian embryo4 ',in the

 same way the infant lives within its   
mother's womb and in a state            
corresponding to the health of the      
mother 444 and you will find a complete 
similitude between the products of the  
soil and the products of the womb4'     
,the early ,greek literature is so      
scantily provided with illustrations    
drawn from botanical study1 that it is  
worth considering the remarkable        
comparison of generation of plants from 
cuttings and from seeds in the same     
work4       ',as regards plants         
generated from cuttings 444 that part of
 a      branch where it was cut from a  
tree is placed in the earth and         
there rootlets are sent out4 ,this is   
how it happens3 ,the part of      the   
plant within the soil draws up juices1  
swells1 and develops a      pneuma 7    
pneuma ischei71 but not so the part     
without4      ,the pneuma and the juice 
concentrate the power of the plant below
      so that it becomes denser4 ,then  
the lower end erupts and gives          

forth tender roots4 ,then the plant1    
taking from below1 draws juices         
from the roots and transmits them to the
 part above the soil which      thus    
also swells and develops pneuma2 thus   
the power from being      diffused in   
the plant becomes concentrated and      
budding1 gives forth      leaves4444    
,cuttings1 then1 differ from seeds4     
,with a seed the      leaves are borne  
first1 then the roots are sent down2    
with a      cutting the roots form first
 and then the leaves4'#ag      #ag      
,ibid4  #bc4  ,but with these works of  
the early part of the fourth century the
 first stage of ,greek biology reaches  
its finest development4 ,later          
,hippocratic treatises which deal with  
physiological topics are on a lower     
plane1 and we must seek some external   
cause for the failure4 ,nor have we far 
to seek4 ,this period saw the rise of a 
movement that had the most profound     
influence on every department of        
thought4 ,we see the advent into the    

,greek world of a great intellectual    
movement as a result of which the       
department of philosophy that dealt with
 nature receded before ,ethics4 ,of that
 intellectual revolution--perhaps the   
greatest the world has seen--,athens was
 the site and ,socrates 7#dgj-cii7 the  
protagonist4 ,with the movement itself  
and its characteristic fruit we are not 
concerned4 ,but the great successor and 
pupil of its founder gives us in the    
,timaeus a picture of the depth to which
 natural science can be degraded in the 
effort to give a specific teleological  
meaning to all parts of the visible     
,universe4 ,the book and the picture    
which it draws1 dark and repulsive to   
the mind trained in modern scientific   
method1 enthralled the imagination of a 
large part of mankind for wellnigh two  
thousand years4 ,organic nature appears 
in this work of ,plato 7#dbg-cdg7 as the
 degeneration of man whom the ,creator  
has made most perfect4 ,the school that 
held this view ultimately decayed as a  

result of its failure to advance        
positive knowledge4 ,as the centuries   
went by its views became further and    
further divorced from phenomena1 and the
 bizarre developments of later          
,neoplatonism stand to this day as a    
warning against any system which shall  
neglect the investigation of nature4    
,but in its decay ,platonism dragged    
science down and destroyed by neglect   
nearly all earlier biological material4 
,mathematics1 not being a phenomenal    
study1 suited better the ,neoplatonic   
mood and continued to advance1 carrying 
astronomy with it for a while--astronomy
 that affected the life of man and that 
soon became the handmaid of astrology2  
medicine1 too1 that determined the      
conditions of man's life was also       
cherished1 though often mistakenly1 but 
pure science was doomed4  ,but though   
the ethical view of nature overwhelmed  
science in the end1 the advent of the   
mighty figure of ,aristotle 7#chd-cbb7  
stayed the tide for a time4 ,yet the    

writer on ,greek ,biology remains at a  
disadvantage in contrast with the       
,historian of ,greek ,mathematics1 of   
,greek ,astronomy1 or of ,greek         
,medicine1 in the scantiness of the     
materials for presenting an account of  
the development of his studies before   
,aristotle4 ,the huge form of that      
magnificent naturalist completely       
overshadows ,greek as it does much of   
later ,biology4  ,,charles ,,singer4    
,after ,aristotle  ,all ,aristotle's    
surviving biological works refer        
primarily to the animal creation4 ,his  
work on plants is lost or rather has    
survived as the merest corrupted        
fragment4 ,we are fortunate1 however1 in
 the possession of a couple of complete 
works by his pupil and successor        
,theophrastus 7#cgb-bhg71 which may not 
only be taken to represent the          
,aristotelian attitude towards the plant
 world1 but also give us an inkling of  
the general state of biological science 
in the generation which succeeded the   

master4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4       
,,aristotle ,from ,,herculaneum         
,probably work of fourth century ,b4 ,c4
  ,these treatises of ,theophrastus are 
in many respects the most complete and  
orderly of all ancient biological works 
that have reached our time4 ,they give  
an idea of the kind of interest that the
 working scientist of that day could    
develop when inspired rather by the     
genius of a great teacher than by the   
power of his own thoughts4 ,theophrastus
 is a pedestrian where ,aristotle is a  
creature of wings1 he is in a relation  
to the master of the same order that the
 morphologists of the second half of the
 nineteenth century were to ,darwin4    
,for a couple of generations after the  
appearance of the ,origin of ,species in
 #ahei the industry and ability of      
naturalists all over the world were     
occupied in working out in detail the   
structure and mode of life of living    
things on the basis of the ,evolutionary
 philosophy4 ,nearly all the work on    

morphology and much of that on          
physiology since his time might be      
treated as a commentary on the works of 
,darwin4 ,these volumes of ,theophrastus
 give the same impression4 ,they        
represent the remains--alas1 almost the 
only biological remains--of a school    
working under the impulse of a great    
idea and spurred by the memory of a     
great teacher4 ,as such they afford a   
parallel to much scientific work of our 
own day1 produced by men without genius 
save that provided by a vision and a    
hope and an ideal4 ,of such men it is   
impossible to write as of ,aristotle4   
,their lives are summed up by their     
actual achievement1 and since           
,theophrastus is an orderly writer whose
 works have descended to us in good     
state1 he is a very suitable instance of
 the actual standard of achievement of  
ancient biology4 ',without vision the   
people perish' and the very breath of   
life of science is drawn1 and can only  
be drawn1 from that very small band of  

prophets who from time to time1 during  
the ages1 have provided the great       
generalizations and the great ideals4   
,in this light let us examine the work  
of ,theophrastus4  ,in the absence of   
any adequate system of classification1  
almost all botany until the seventeenth 
century consisted mainly of descriptions
 of species4 ,to describe accurately a  
leaf or a root in the language in       
ordinary use would often take pages4    
,modern botanists have invented an      
elaborate terminology which1 however    
hideous to eye and ear1 has the crowning
 merit of helping to abbreviate         
scientific literature4 ,botanical       
writers previous to the seventeenth     
century were substantially without this 
special mode of expression4 ,it is      
partly to this lack that we owe the     
persistent attempts throughout the      
centuries to represent plants           
pictorially in herbals1 manuscript and  
printed1 and thus the possibility of an 
adequate history of plant illustration4 

,theophrastus seems to have felt acutely
 the need of botanical terms1 and there 
are cases in which he seeks to give a   
special technical meaning to words in   
more or less current use4 ,among such   
words are carpos  fruit1 pericarpion    
seed vessel  pericarp1 and metra1 the   
word used by him for the central core of
 any stem whether formed of wood1 pith1 
or other substance4 ,it is from the     
usage of ,theophrastus that the exact   
definition of fruit and pericarp has    
come down to us4#ah ,we may easily      
discern also the purpose for which he   
introduces into botany the term metra1 a
 word meaning primarily the womb1 and   
the vacancy in the ,greek language which
 it was made to fill4 ',metra1' he says1
 'is that which is in the middle of the 
wood1 being third in order from the bark
 and thus like to the marrow in bones4  
,some call it the heart 7 kardian71     
others the inside 7 enterinn71 yet      
others call only the innermost part of  
the metra itself the heart1 while others

 again call this marrow4'#ai ,he is thus
 inventing a word to cover all the      
different kinds of core and importing it
 from another study4 ,this is the method
 of modern scientific nomenclature which
 hardly existed for botanists even as   
late as the sixteenth century of our    
era4 ,the real foundations of our modern
 nomenclature were laid in the later    
sixteenth and in the seventeenth century
 by ,cesalpino and ,joachim ,jung4      
#ah ,it is possible that ,theophrastus  
derived the word pericarp from          
,aristotle4 ,cp4 ,de anima1 ii4 #a1 #dab
 b #b4 ,in the passage        1     to  
phyllon     perikarpiou skepasma1 to de 
perikarpion karpou1 in the ,de anima    
the word does not1 however1 seem to have
 the full technical force     that      
,theophrastus gives to it4      #ai     
,historia plantarum1 i4 #b1 vi4         
,theophrastus understood the value of   
developmental study1 a conception       
derived from his master4 ',a plant'1 he 
says1 'has power of germination in all  

its parts1 for it has life in them all1 
wherefore we should regard them not for 
what they are but for what they are     
becoming4'#bj ,the various modes of     
plant reproduction are correctly        
distinguished in a way that passes      
beyond the only surviving earlier       
treatise that deals in detail with the  
subject1 the ,hippocratic work ,on      
generation4 ',the manner of generation  
of trees and plants are these3          
spontaneous1 from a seed1 from a root1  
from a piece torn off1 from a branch or 
twig1 from the trunk itself1 or from    
pieces of the wood cut up small4'#ba    
,the marvel of germination must have    
awakened admiration from a very early   
date4 ,we have already seen it occupying
 a more ancient author1 and it had also 
been one of the chief preoccupations of 
,aristotle4 ,it is thus not remarkable  
that the process should impress         
,theophrastus1 who has left on record   
his views on the formation of the plant 
from the seed4      #bj ,ibid4 i4 #a1   

iv4      #ba ,historia plantarum1 ii4   
#a1 i4       ',some germinate1 root and 
leaves1 from the same point1 some       
separately from either end of the seed4 
,thus wheat1 barley1 spelt1      and all
 such cereals germinate from either end1
 corresponding to      the position of  
the seed in the ear1 the root from the  
stout      lower part1 the shoot from   
the upper2 but the two1 root and stem1  
form a single continuous whole4 ,the    
bean and other leguminous      plants   
are not so1 but in them root and stem   
are from the same      point1 namely1   
their place of attachment to the pod1   
where1 it is      plain1 they have their
 origin4 ,in some cases there is a      
process1 as      in beans1 chick peas1  
and especially lupines1 from which the  
root      grows downward1 the leaf and  
stem upward4444 ,in certain trees the   
bud first germinates within the seed1   
and1 as it increases in size1      the  
seeds split--all such seeds are1 as it  
were1 in two halves2      again1 all    

those of leguminous plants have plainly 
two lobes and      are double--and then 
the root is immediately thrust out4 ,but
 in      cereals1 the seeds being in one
 piece1 this does not happen1 but       
the root grows a little before the      
shoot4       ',barley and wheat come up 
monophyllous1 but peas1 beans1 and chick
      peas polyphyllous4 ,all leguminous
 plants have a single woody root1       
from which grow slender side roots 444  
but wheat1 barley1 and the      other   
cereals have numerous slender roots by  
which they are matted      together4444 
,there is a contrast between these two  
kinds2 the      leguminous plants have a
 single root and have many side-growths 
above from the single stem 444 while the
 cereals have many roots      and send  
up many shoots1 but these have no       
side-shoots4'#bb      #bb ,historia     
plantarum1 viii4 #a1 i4  ,there can be  
no doubt that here is a piece of minute 
observation on the behaviour of         
germinating seeds4 ,the distinction     

between dicotyledons and monocotyledons 
is accurately set forth1 though the     
stress is laid not so much on the       
cotyledonous character of the seed as on
 the relation of root and shoot4 ,in the
 dicotyledons root and shoot are        
represented as springing from the same  
point1 and in monocotyledons from       
opposite poles in the seed4  ,no further
 effective work was done on the         
germinating seed until the invention of 
the microscope1 and the appearance of   
the work of ,highmore 7#afac-he71bc and 
the much more searching investigations  
of ,malpighi 7#afbh-id7bd and ,grew     
7#afda-agab7be after the middle of the  
seventeenth century4 ,the observations  
of ,theophrastus are1 however1 so       
accurate1 so lucid1 and so complete that
 they might well be used as legends for 
the plates of these writers two thousand
 years after him4      #bc ,nathaniel   
,highmore1 ,a ,history of ,generation1  
,london1 #afea4      #bd ,marcello      
,malpighi1 ,anatome plantarum1 ,london1 

#afge4      #be ,nehemiah ,grew1        
,anatomy of ,vegetables begun1 ,london1 
#afgb4  ,much has been written as to the
 knowledge of the sex of plants among   
the ancients4 ,it may be stated that of 
the sexual elements of the flower no    
ancient writer had any clear idea4      
,nevertheless1 sex is often attributed  
to plants1 and the simile of the ,loves 
of ,plants enters into works of the     
poets4 ,plants are frequently described 
as male and female in ancient biological
 writings also1 and ,pliny goes so far  
as to say that some students considered 
that all herbs and trees were sexual4#bf
 ,yet when such passages can be tested  
it will be found that these so-called   
males and females are usually different 
species4 ,in a few cases a sterile      
variety is described as the male and a  
fertile as the female4 ,in a small      
residuum of cases dicious plants or     
flowers are regarded as male and female1
 but with no real comprehension of the  
sexual nature of the flowers4 ,there    

remain the palms1 in which the knowledge
 of plant sex had advanced a trifle     
farther4 ',with dates'1 says            
,theophrastus1 'the males should be     
brought to the females2 for the males   
make the fruit persist and ripen1 and   
this some call by analogy to use the    
wild fig 7 olynthazein74#bg ,the process
 is thus3 when the male is in the flower
 they at once cut off the spathe with   
the flower and shake the bloom1 with its
 flower and dust1 over the fruit of the 
female1 and1 if it is thus treated1 it  
retains the fruit and does not shed     
it4'#bh ,the fertilizing character of   
the spathe of the male date palm was    
familiar in ,babylon from a very early  
date4 ,it is recorded by ,herodotus#bi  
and is represented by a frequent symbol 
on the ,assyrian monuments4      #bf    
,pliny1 ,naturalis historia1 xiii4 #d4  
#bg ,the curious word  olynthazein1 here
 translated to     use the wild fig1 is 
from  olynthos1 a kind of wild fig      
which seldom ripens4 ,the special       

meaning here given to the word is       
explained in another work of            
,theophrastus1 ,de causis plantarum1    
ii4 #i1 xv4 ,after describing           
caprification in figs1 he says          
1          '     to de epi tn phoinikn  
symbainon     ou tauton men1 echei de   
tina homoiotta tout di' ho kalousin     
olynthazein autous ',the same thing is  
not done with dates1 but     something  
analogous to it1 whence this is called '
     olynthazein'4      #bh ,historia   
plantarum1 ii4 #h1 iv4      #bi         
,herodotus i4 #aic4  ,the comparison of 
the fertilization of the date palm to   
the use of the wild fig refers to the   
practice of ,caprification4             
,theophrastus tells us that there are   
certain trees1 the fig among them1 which
 are apt to shed their fruit            
prematurely4 ,to remedy this 'the device
 adopted is caprification4 ,gall insects
 come out of the wild figs which are    
hanging there1 eat the tops of the      
cultivated figs1 and so make them       

swell'4#cj ,these gall-insects 'are     
engendered from the seeds'4#ca          
,theophrastus distinguished between the 
process as applied to the fig and the   
date1 observing that 'in both fig and   
date the male aids the female--for they 
call the fruit-bearing palm female--but 
whilst in the one there is a union of   
the two sexes1 in the other things are  
different'4#cb      #cj ,historia       
plantarum1 ii4 #h1 i4      #ca ,ibid4   
ii4 #h1 ii4      #cb ,historia          
plantarum1 ii4 #h1 iv4  ,theophrastus   
was not very successful in              
distinguishing the nature of the primary
 elements of plants1 though he was able 
to separate root1 stem1 leaf1 stipule1  
and flower on morphological as well as  
to a limited extent on physiological    
grounds4 ,for the root he adopts the    
familiar definition1 the only one       
possible before the rise of chemistry1  
that it 'is that by which the plant     
draws up nourishment'1#cc a description 
that applies to the account given by the

 pre-,aristotelian author of the work   
peri gons1 ,on generation4 ,but         
,theophrastus shows by many examples    
that he is capable of following out     
morphological homologies4 ,thus he knows
 that the ivy regularly puts forth roots
 from the shoots between the leaves1 by 
means of which it gets hold of trees and
 walls1#cd that the mistletoe will not  
sprout except on the bark of living     
trees into which it strikes its roots1  
and that the very peculiar formation of 
the mangrove tree is to be explained by 
the fact that 'this plant sends out     
roots from the shoots till it has hold  
on the ground and roots again3 and so   
there comes to be a continuous circle of
 roots round the tree1 not connected    
with the main stem1 but at a distance   
from it'4#ce ,he does not succeed1      
however1 in distinguishing the real     
nature of such structures as bulbs1     
rhizomes1 and tubers1 but regards them  
all as roots4 ,nor is he more successful
 in his discussion of the nature of     

stems4 ,as to leaves1 he is more        
definite and satisfactory1 though wholly
 in the dark as to their function2 he is
 quite clear that the pinnate leaf of   
the rowan tree1 for instance1 is a leaf 
and not a branch4      #cc ,ibid4 i4 #a1
 ix4      #cd ,ibid4 iii4 #ah1 x4       
#ce ,de causis plantarum1 ii4 #bc4      
,notwithstanding his lack of insight as 
to the nature of sex in flowers1 he     
attains to an approximately correct idea
 of the relation of flower and fruit4   
,some plants1 he says1 'have the flower 
around the fruit itself as vine and     
olive2 the flowers of the latter1 when  
they drop1 look as though they had a    
hole through them1 and this is taken for
 a sign that it has blossomed well2 for 
if the flower is burnt up or sodden1 the
 fruit falls with it1 and so it does not
 become pierced4 ,most flowers have the 
fruit case in the middle1 or it may be  
the flower is on the top of the pericarp
 as in pomegranate1 apple1 pear1 plum1  
and myrtle 444 for these have their     

seeds below the flower4444 ,in some     
cases again the flower is on top of the 
seeds themselves as in 444 all          
thistle-like plants'4#cf ,thus          
,theophrastus has succeeded in          
distinguishing between the hypogynous1  
perigynous1 and epigynous types of      
flower1 and has almost come to regard   
its relation to the fruit as the        
essential floral element4      #cf      
,historia plantarum1 i4 #ac1 iii4       
,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4 ,,theophrastus 
,from ,,villa ,,albani ,copy 7second    
century ,a4 ,d487 of earlier work       
,theophrastus has a perfectly clear idea
 of plant distribution as dependent on  
soil and climate1 and at times seems to 
be on the point of passing from a       
statement of climatic distribution into 
one of real geographical regions4 ,the  
general question of plant distribution  
long remained at1 if it did not recede  
from1 the position where he left it4    
,the usefulness of the manuscript and   
early printed herbals in the ,west was  

for centuries marred by the retention of
 plant descriptions prepared for the    
,greek ,east and ,latin ,south1 and     
these works were saved from complete    
ineffectiveness only by an occasional   
appeal to nature4  ,with the death of   
,theophrastus about #bhg ,b4 ,c4 pure   
biological science substantially        
disappears from the ,greek world1 and we
 get the same type of deterioration that
 is later encountered in other          
scientific departments4 ,science ceases 
to have the motive of the desire to     
know1 and becomes an applied study1     
subservient to the practical arts4 ,it  
is an attitude from which in the end    
applied science itself must suffer also4
 ,yet the centuries that follow were not
 without biological writers of very     
great ability4 ,in the medical school of
 ,alexandria anatomy and physiology     
became placed on a firm basis from about
 #cjj ,b4 ,c41 but always in the        
position subordinate to medicine that   
they have since occupied4 ,two great    

names of that school1 ,herophilus and   
,erasistratus1 we must consider         
elsewhere4#cg ,their works have         
disappeared and we have the merest      
fragments of them4 ,in the last         
pre-,christian and the first two        
post-,christian centuries1 however1     
there were several writers1 portions of 
whose works have survived and are of    
great biological importance4 ,among them
 we include ,crateuas1 a botanical      
writer and illustrator1 who greatly     
developed1 if he did not actually       
introduce1 the method of representing   
plants systematically by illustration   
rather than by description4 ,this       
method1 important still1 was even more  
important when there was no proper      
system of botanical nomenclature4       
,crateuas by his paintings of plants1   
copies of which have not improbably     
descended to our time1 began a tradition
 which1 fixed about the fifth century1  
remained almost rigid until the         
re-discovery of nature in the sixteenth4

 ,he was physician to ,mithridates ,,vi 
,eupator 7#abj-fc ,b4 ,c471 but his work
 was well known and appreciated at      
,rome1 which became the place of resort 
for ,greek talent4#ch      #cg ,see the 
companion chapter on ,greek ,medicine4  
#ch ,the surviving fragments of the     
works of ,crateuas have recently        
been printed by ,m4 ,wellmann as an     
appendix to the text of                 
,dioscorides1 ,de materia medica1 #c    
vols41 ,berlin1 #aijf-ag1 iii4 pp4      
#add-f4 ,the source and fate of his     
plant drawings are discussed in     the 
same author's ,krateuas1 ,berlin1 #ahig4
  ,celsus1 who flourished about #bj ,b4 
,c41 wrote an excellent work on         
medicine1 but gives all too little      
glimpse of anatomy and physiology4      
,rufus of ,ephesus1 however1 in the next
 century practised dissection of apes   
and other animals4 ,he described the    
decussation of the optic nerves and the 
capsule of the crystalline lens1 and    
gave the first clear description that   

has survived of the structure of the    
eye4 ,he regarded the nerves as         
originating from the brain1 and         
distinguished between nerves of motion  
and of sensation4 ,he described the     
oviduct of the sheep and rightly held   
that life was possible without the      
spleen4  ,the second ,christian century 
brings us two writers who1 while        
scientifically inconsiderable1 acted as 
the main carriers of such tradition of  
,greek biology as reached the ,middle   
,ages1 ,pliny and ,dioscorides4 ,pliny  
7,a4 ,d4 #bc-gi71 though a ,latin1 owes 
almost everything of value in his       
encyclopaedia to ,greek writings4 ,in   
his ,natural ,history we have a         
collection of current views on the      
nature1 origin1 and uses of plants and  
animals such as we might expect from an 
intelligent1 industrious1 and honest    
member of the landed class who was      
devoid of critical or special scientific
 skill4 ,scientifically the work is     
contemptible1 but it demands mention in 

any study of the legacy of ,greece1     
since it was1 for centuries1 a main     
conduit of the ancient teaching and     
observations on natural history4 ,read  
throughout the ages1 alike in the       
darkest as in the more enlightened      
periods1 copied and recopied1           
translated1 commented on1 extracted and 
abridged1 a large part of ,pliny's work 
has gradually passed into folk-keeping1 
so that through its agency the gipsy    
fortune-teller of to-day is still       
reciting garbled versions of the        
formulae of ,aristotle and ,hippocrates 
of two and a half millennia ago4  ,the  
fate of ,dioscorides 7flourished ,a4 ,d4
 #fj7 has been not dissimilar4 ,his work
 ,on ,materia ,medica consists of a     
series of short accounts of plants1     
arranged almost without reference to the
 nature of the plants themselves1 but   
quite invaluable for its terse and      
striking descriptions which often       
include habits and habitats4 ,its       
history has shown it to be one of the   

most influential botanical treatises    
ever penned4 ,it provided most of the   
little botanical knowledge that reached 
the ,middle ,ages4 ,it furnished the    
chief stimulus to botanical research at 
the time of the ,renaissance4 ,it has   
decided the general form of every modern
 pharmacopia4 ,it has practically       
determined modern plant nomenclature    
both popular and scientific4            
,translated into nearly every language  
from ,anglo-,saxon and ,bohemian to     
,arabic and ,hebrew1 appearing both     
abstracted and in full in innumerable   
beautifully illuminated manuscripts1    
some of which are still among the       
fairest treasures of the great national 
libraries1 ,dioscorides1 the            
drug-monger1 appealed to scholasticized 
minds for centuries4 ,the frequency with
 which fragments of him are encountered 
in papyri shows how popular his work was
 in ,egypt in the third and fourth      
centuries4 ,one of the earliest datable 
,greek codices in existence is a        

glorious volume of ,dioscorides written 
in capitals1#ci thought worthy to form a
 wedding gift for a lady who was the    
daughter of one ,roman emperor and the  
betrothed of a second4#dj ,the          
illustrations of this fifth-century     
manuscript are a very valuable monument 
for the history of art and the chief    
adornment of what was once the ,royal   
,library at ,vienna#da 7figs4 #i-aj74   
,illustrated ,latin translations of     
,dioscorides were in use in the time of 
,cassiodorus 7#dij-ehe74 ,a work based  
on it1 similarly illustrated1 but       
bearing the name of ,apuleius1 is among 
the most frequent of mediaeval botanical
 documents and the earliest surviving   
specimen is contemporary with           
,cassiodorus himself4#db ,after the     
revival of learning ,dioscorides        
continued to attract an immense amount  
of philological and botanical ability1  
and scores of editions of his works1    
many of them nobly illustrated1 poured  
out of the presses of the sixteenth and 

seventeenth centuries4  ,illustration3  
,fig4 #i   ,,sogkos ,,trypheros  ,crepis
 paludosa1 ,mn4  ,illustration3 ,fig4   
#aj  ,,geranion  ,geranium pyrenaicum1  
,l4  ,fifth-century drawings from       
,,juliana ,,anicia ,m4,s41 copied from  
originals of first century ,b4 ,c4 787  
#ci ,the manuscript in question is ,med4
 ,graec4 #a at what was the     ,royal  
,library at ,vienna4 ,it is known as the
 ,constantinopolitanus4     ,after the  
war it was taken to ,st4 ,mark's at     
,venice1 but either has     been or is  
about to be restored to ,vienna4 ,a     
facsimile of this grand     manuscript  
was published by ,sijthoff1 ,leyden1    
#aijf4      #dj ,the lady in question   
was ,juliana ,anicia1 daughter of       
,anicius     ,olybrius1 ,emperor of the 
,west in #dgb1 and his wife ,placidia1  
daughter of ,valentinian ,,iii4 ,juliana
 was betrothed in #dgi by the           
,eastern ,emperor ,zeno to ,theodoric   
the ,ostrogoth1 but was married1        
probably in #dhg when the manuscript was

 presented to her1 to     ,areobindus1 a
 high military officer under the        
,byzantine ,emperor     ,anastasius4    
#da ,the importance of this manuscript  
as well as the position of              
,dioscorides as medical botanist is     
discussed by ,charles ,singer in an     
article ',greek ,biology and the ,rise  
of ,modern ,biology'1 ,studies in       
the ,history and ,method of ,science1   
vol4 ii1 ,oxford1 #aiba4      #db ,this 
manuscript is at the ,university        
,library at ,leyden1 where     it is    
numbered ,voss ,q #i4  ,but the greatest
 biologist of the late ,greek period1   
and indeed one of the greatest          
biologists of all time1 was ,claudius   
,galen of ,pergamon 7,a4 ,d4 #aca-bja74 
,galen devoted himself to medicine from 
an early age1 and in his twenty-first   
year we hear of him studying anatomy at 
,smyrna under ,pelops4 ,with the object 
of extending his knowledge of drugs he  
early made long journeys to ,asia       
,minor4 ,later he proceeded to          

,alexandria1 where he improved his      
anatomical equipment1 and here1 he tells
 us1 he examined a human skeleton4 ,it  
is indeed probable that his direct      
practical acquaintance with human       
anatomy was limited to the skeleton and 
that dissection of the human body was no
 longer carried on at ,alexandria in his
 time4 ,thus his physiology and anatomy 
had to be derived mainly from animal    
sources4 ,he is the most voluminous of  
all ancient scientific writers and one  
of the most voluminous writers of       
antiquity in any department4 ,we are not
 here concerned with the medical        
material which mainly fills these huge  
volumes1 but only with the physiological
 views which not only prevailed in      
medicine until ,harvey and after1 but   
also governed for fifteen hundred years 
alike the scientific and the popular    
ideas on the nature and workings of the 
animal body1 and have for centuries been
 embedded in our speech4 ,a knowledge of
 these physiological views of ,galen is 

necessary for any understanding of the  
history of biology and illuminates many 
literary allusions of the ,middle ,ages 
and ,renaissance4  ,between the         
foundation of the ,alexandrian school   
and the time of ,galen1 medicine was    
divided among a great number of sects4  
,galen was an eclectic and took portions
 of his teaching from many of these     
schools1 but he was also a naturalist of
 great ability and industry1 and knew   
well the value of the experimental way4 
,yet he was a somewhat windy philosopher
 and1 priding himself on his philosophic
 powers1 did not hesitate to draw       
conclusions from evidence which was by  
no means always adequate4 ,the          
physiological system that he thus       
succeeded in building up we may now     
briefly consider 7fig4 #aa74            
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aa4 ,illustrating
 ,galen's physiological teaching4  ,the 
basic principle of life1 in the ,galenic
 physiology1 is a spirit1 anima or      
pneuma1 drawn from the general          

world-soul in the act of respiration4   
,it enters the body through the rough   
artery 7  tracheia artria1 arteria      
aspera of mediaeval notation71 the organ
 known to our nomenclature as the       
trachea4 ,from this trachea the pneuma  
passes to the lung and then1 through the
 vein-like artery 7  artria phlebds1    
arteria venalis of mediaeval writers1   
the pulmonary vein of our nomenclature71
 to the left ventricle4 ,here it will be
 best to leave it for a moment and trace
 the vascular system along a different  
route4  ,ingested food1 passing down the
 alimentary tract1 was absorbed as chyle
 from the intestine1 collected by the   
portal vessel1 and conveyed by it to the
 liver4 ,that organ1 the site of the    
innate heat in ,galen's view1 had the   
power of elaborating the chyle into     
venous blood and of imbuing it with a   
spirit or pneuma which is innate in all 
living substance1 so long as it remains 
alive1 the natural spirits 7  pneuma    
physikon1 spiritus naturalis of the     

mediaevals74 ,charged with this1 and    
also with the nutritive material derived
 from the food1 the venous blood is     
distributed by the liver through the    
veins which arise from it in the same   
way as the arteries from the heart4     
,these veins carry nourishment and      
natural spirits to all parts of the     
body4 ,iecur fons venarum1 the liver as 
the source of the veins1 remained       
through the centuries the watchword of  
the ,galenic physiology4 ,the blood was 
held to ebb and flow continuously in the
 veins during life4  ,now from the liver
 arose one great vessel1 the hepatic    
vein1 from division of which the others 
were held to come off as branches4 ,of  
these branches1 one1 our common vena    
cava1 entered the right side of the     
heart4 ,for the blood that it conveyed  
to the heart there were two fates       
possible4 ,the greater part remained    
awhile in the ventricle1 parting with   
its impurities and vapours1 exhalations 
of the organs1 which were carried off by

 the artery-like vein 7  phleps artrids1
 the mediaeval vena arterialis1 our     
pulmonary artery7 to the lung and then  
exhaled to the outer air4 ,these        
impurities and vapours gave its         
poisonous and suffocating character to  
the breath4 ,having parted thus with its
 impurities1 the venous blood ebbed back
 again from the right ventricle into the
 venous system4 ,but for a small        
fraction of the venous blood that       
entered the right ventricle another fate
 was reserved4 ,this small fraction of  
venous blood1 charged still with the    
natural spirits derived from the liver1 
passed through minute channels in the   
septum between the ventricles and       
entered the left chamber4 ,arrived      
there1 it encountered the external      
pneuma and became thereby elaborated    
into a higher form of spirit1 the vital 
spirits 7  pneuma ztikon1 spiritus      
vitalis71 which is distributed together 
with blood by the arterial system to    
various parts of the body4 ,in the      

arterial system it also ebbed and       
flowed1 and might be seen and felt to   
pulsate there4  ,but among the great    
arterial vessels that sent forth        
arterial blood thus charged with vital  
spirits were certain vessels which      
ascended to the brain4 ,before reaching 
that organ they divided up into minute  
channels1 the rete mirabile 7   plegma  
megiston thauma71 and passing into the  
brain became converted by the action of 
that organ into a yet higher type of    
spirits1 the animal spirits 7  pneuma   
psychikon1 spiritus animalis71 an       
ethereal substance distributed to the   
various parts of the body by the        
structures known to-day as nerves1 but  
believed then to be hollow channels4    
,the three fundamental faculties 7      
dynameis71 the natural1 the vital1 and  
the animal1 which brought into action   
the corresponding functions of the body1
 thus originated as an expression of the
 primal force or pneuma4  ,this         
physiology1 we may emphasize1 is not    

derived from an investigation of human  
anatomy4 ,in the human brain there is no
 rete mirabile1 though such an organ is 
found in the calf4 ,in the human liver  
there is no hepatic vein1 though such an
 organ is found in the dog4 ,dogs1      
calves1 pigs1 bears1 and1 above all1    
,barbary apes were freely dissected by  
,galen and were the creatures from which
 he derived his physiological ideas4    
,many of ,galen's anatomical and        
physiological errors are due to his     
attributing to one creature the         
structures found in another1 a fact that
 only very gradually dawned on the      
,renaissance anatomists4  ,the whole    
knowledge possessed by the world in the 
department of physiology from the third 
to the seventeenth century1 nearly all  
the biological conceptions till the     
thirteenth1 and most of the anatomy and 
much of the botany until the sixteenth  
century1 all the ideas of the physical  
structure of living things throughout   
the ,middle ,ages1 were contained in a  

small number of these works of ,galen4  
,the biological works of ,aristotle and 
,theophrastus lingered precariously in a
 few rare manuscripts in the monasteries
 of the ,east2 the total output of      
hundreds of years of ,alexandrian and   
,pergamenian activities was utterly     
destroyed2 the ,ionian biological works1
 of which a sample has by a miracle     
survived1 were forgotten2 but these     
vast1 windy1 ill-arranged treatises of  
,galen lingered on4 ,translated into    
,latin1 ,syriac1 ,arabic1 and ,hebrew1  
they saturated the intellectual world of
 the ,middle ,ages4 ,commented on by    
later ,greek writers1 who were          
themselves in turn translated into the  
same list of languages1 they were yet   
again served up under the names of such 
,greek writers as ,oribasius1 ,paul of  
,aegina1 or ,alexander of ,tralles4     
,what is the secret of the vitality of  
these ,galenic biological conceptions8  
,the answer can be given in four words4 
,galen is a teleologist2 and a          

teleologist of a kind whose views       
happened to fit in with the prevailing  
theological attitude of the ,middle     
,ages1 whether ,christian1 ,moslem1 or  
,jewish4 ,according to him everything   
which exists and displays activity in   
the human body originates in and is     
formed by an intelligent being and on an
 intelligent plan1 so that the organ in 
structure and function is the result of 
that plan4 ',it was the ,creator's      
infinite wisdom which selected the best 
means to attain his beneficent ends1 and
 it is a proof of ,his omnipotence that 
he created every good thing according to
 ,his design1 and thereby fulfilled ,his
 will4'#dc      #dc ,a good instance of 
,galen's teleological point of view is  
afforded by his classical description of
 the hand in the            peri chreias
 tn en anthrpou     smati morin1 ,on the
 uses of the parts of the body of man1  
i4 #a4     ,this passage is available in
 ,english in a tract by ,thomas         
,bellott1     ,london1 #ahdj4  ,after   

,galen there is a thousand years of     
darkness1 and biology ceases to have a  
history4 ,the mind of the ,dark ,ages   
turned towards theology1 and such       
remains of ,neoplatonic philosophy as   
were absorbed into the religious system 
were little likely to be of aid to the  
scientific attitude4 ,one department of 
positive knowledge must of course       
persist4 ,men still suffered from the   
infirmities of the flesh and still      
sought relief from them4 ,but the books 
from which that advice was sought had   
nothing to do with general principles   
nor with knowledge as such4 ,they were  
the most wretched of the treatises that 
still masqueraded under the names of    
,hippocrates and ,galen1 mostly mere    
formularies1 antidotaries1 or perhaps at
 best symptom lists4 ,and1 when the     
depression of the western intellect had 
passed its worst1 there was still no    
biological material on which it could be
 nourished4  ,the prevailing interest of
 the barbarian world1 at last beginning 

to settle into its heritage of          
antiquity1 was with ,logic4 ,of         
,aristotle there survived in ,latin     
dress only the ,categories and the ,de  
interpretatione1 the merciful legacy of 
,boethius1 the last of the philosophers4
 ,had a translation of ,aristotle's     
,historia animalium or ,de generatione  
animalium survived1 had a ,latin version
 of the ,hippocratic work ,on generation
 or of the treatises of ,theophrastus   
,on plants reached the earlier ,middle  
,ages1 the whole mental history of      
,europe might have been different and   
the rediscovery of nature might have    
been antedated by centuries4 ,but this  
was a change of heart for which the     
world had long to wait2 something much  
less was the earliest biological gift of
 ,greece4 ,the gift1 when it came1 came 
in two forms1 one of which has not been 
adequately recognized1 but both are     
equally her legacy4 ,these two forms    
are1 firstly1 the well-known work of the
 early translators and1 secondly1 the   

tardily recognized work of certain      
schools of minor art4  ,the earliest    
biological treatises to become          
accessible in the west were rendered not
 from ,greek but from ,arabic4#dd ,the  
first of them was perhaps the treatise  
peri myn kinses1 ,on movement of muscles
 of ,galen1 a work which contains more  
than its title suggests and indeed sets 
forth much of the ,galenic physiological
 system4 ,it was rendered into ,latin   
from the ,arabic of ,joannitius 7,hunain
 ibn ,ishaq1 #hji-gc71 probably about   
the year #abjj1 by one ,mark of ,toledo4
 ,it attracted little attention1 but    
very soon after biological works of     
,aristotle began to become accessible4  
,the first was probably the fragment ,on
 plants4 ,the ,greek original of this is
 lost1 and besides the ,latin1 only an  
,arabic version of a former ,arabic     
translation of a ,syriac rendering of a 
,greek commentary is now known6 ,such a 
work appeared from the hand of a        
translator known as ,alfred the         

,englishman about #abbj or a little     
later4 ,neither it nor another work from
 the same translator1 ,on the motion of 
the heart1 which sought to establish the
 primacy of that organ on ,aristotelian 
grounds1 can be said to contain any of  
the spirit of the master4#de      #dd   
,the early ,european translations from  
the ,arabic are tabulated     with      
unparalleled learning by ,m4            
,steinschneider1 ',die ,europischen     
,uebersetzungen aus dem ,arabischen bis 
,mitte des #ag4 ,jahrhunderts'1     in  
the ,sitzungsberichte der kais4 ,akad4  
der ,wissenschaften in     ,wien1 cxlix 
and cli1 ,vienna1 #aijd and #aije4      
#de ,c4 ,h4 ,haskins1 ',the reception of
 ,arabic science in ,england1'          
,english ,historical ,review1 ,london1  
#aiae1 p4 #ef4  ,a little better than   
these is the work of the wizard ,michael
 the ,scot 7#aage8-abcd874 ,roger ,bacon
 tells us that ,michael in #abcj        
'appeared at ,oxford1 bringing with him 
the works of ,aristotle in natural      

history and mathematics1 with wise      
expositors1 so that the philosophy of   
,aristotle was magnified among the      
,latins'4#df ,scott produced his work   
,de animalibus about this date and he   
included in it the three great          
biological works of ,aristotle1 all     
rendered from an inferior ,arabic       
version4#dg ,albertus ,magnus 7#abjf-hj7
 had not as yet a translation direct    
from the ,greek to go upon for his great
 commentary on the ,history of animals1 
but he depended on ,scott4 ,the         
biological works of ,aristotle were     
rendered into ,latin direct from the    
,greek in the year #abfj probably by    
,william of ,moerbeke4#dh ,such         
translations1 appearing in the full     
scholastic age when everything was      
against direct observation1 cannot be   
said to have fallen on a fertile ground4
 ,they presented an ordered account of  
nature and a good method of             
investigation1 but those were gifts to a
 society that knew little of their real 

value4#di      #df ,roger ,bacon1 ,opus 
majus1 edited by ,j4 ,h4 ,bridges1 #c   
vols41     ,london1 #ahig-aijj4 ,vol4   
iii1 p4 #ff4      #dg ,on the           
,aristotelian translations of ,scott see
 ,a4 ,h4 ,querfeld1     ,michael        
,scottus und seine ,schrift1 ,de        
secretis naturae1 ,leipzig1     #aiai2  
and ,c4 ,h4 ,haskins1 ',michael ,scot   
and ,frederick ,,ii' in ,isis1     ii4  
#bej1 ,brussels1 #aibb4      #dh ,j4 ,g4
 ,schneider1 ,aristotelis de animalibus 
historiae1     ,leipzig1 #ahaa1 p4      
cxxvi4 ,l4 ,dittmeyer1 ,guilelmi        
,moerbekensis     translatio            
commentationis ,aristotelicae de        
generatione animalium1     ,dillingen1  
#aiae4 ,l4 ,dittmeyer1 ,de animalibus   
historia1 ,leipzig1     #aijg4      #di 
,the subject of the ,latin translations 
of ,aristotle is traversed     by ,a4   
and ,c4 ,jourdain1 ,recherches critiques
 sur l'ge des     traductions latines   
d',aristote1 #bnd ed41 ,paris1 #ahdc2   
,m4 ,grabmann1     ,forschungen uber die

 lateinischen ,aristoteles              
,ubersetzungen des     ,,xiii4          
,jahrhunderts1 ,mnster i_/,w41 #aiaf2   
and ,f4 ,wstenfeld1 ,die                
,ubersetzungen arabischer ,werke in das 
,lateinische seit dem ,,xi4             
,jahrhundert1 ,gttingen1 #ahgg4  ,yet   
the advent of these texts was coincident
 with a returning desire to observe     
nature4 ,albert1 with all his           
scholasticism1 was no contemptible      
naturalist4 ,he may be said to have     
begun first-hand plant study in modern  
times so far as literary records are    
concerned4 ,his book ,de vegetabilibus  
contains excellent observations1 and he 
is worthy of inclusion among the fathers
 of botany4 ,in his vast treatise ,de   
animalibus1 hampered as he is by his    
learning and verbosity1 he shows himself
 a true observer and one who has        
absorbed something of the spirit of the 
great naturalist to whose works he had  
devoted a lifetime of study and on which
 he professes to be commenting4 ,we see 

clearly the leaven of the ,aristotelian 
spirit working1 though ,albert is still 
a schoolman4 ,we may select for         
quotation a passage on the generation of
 fish1 a subject on which some of       
,aristotle's most remarkable            
descriptions remained unconfirmed till  
modern times4 ,these descriptions       
impressed ,albert in the same way as    
they do the modern naturalist4 ,to those
 who know nothing of the stimulating    
power of the ,aristotelian biological   
works1 ,albert's description of the     
embryos of fish and his accurate        
distinction of their mode of development
 from that of birds1 by the absence of  
an allantoic membrane in the one and its
 presence in the other1 must surely be  
startling4 ,albert depends on           
,aristotle--a third-hand version of     
,aristotle--but does not slavishly      
follow him4  ',between the mode of      
development 7anathomiam generationis7 of
 birds' and fishes' eggs there is this  
difference3 during the development of   

the fish the second of the two veins    
which extend from the heart as described
 by ,aristotle in birds does not exist4 
,for we do not find the vein which      
extends to the outer covering in the    
eggs of birds which some wrongly call   
the navel because it carries the blood  
to the exterior parts2 but we do find   
the vein that corresponds to the yolk   
vein of birds1 for this vein imbibes the
 nourishment by which the limbs         
increase4444 ,in fishes as in birds1    
channels extend from the heart first to 
the head and the eyes1 and first in them
 appear the great upper parts4 ,as the  
growth of the young fish increases the  
albumen decreases1 being incorporated   
into the members of the young fish1 and 
it disappears entirely when development 
and formation are complete4 ,the beating
 of the heart 444 is conveyed to the    
lower part of the belly1 carrying pulse 
and life to the inferior members4       
',while the young fish are small and not
 yet fully developed they have veins of 

great length which take the place of the
 navel-string1 but as they grow and     
develop1 these shorten and contract into
 the body towards the heart1 as we have 
said about birds4 ,the young fish and   
the eggs are enclosed and in a covering1
 as are the eggs and young of birds4    
,this covering resembles the dura mater 
of the brain1 and beneath it is another 
corresponding therefore to the pia mater
 of the brain which contains the young  
animal and nothing else4'#ej      #ej   
,the enormous ,de ,animalibus of ,albert
 of ,cologne is now     available in an 
edition by ,h4 ,stadler1 ,albertus      
,magnus ,de     ,animalibus ,libri      
,,xxvi nach der clner ,urschrift1 #b    
vols41 ,mnster     i_/,w41 #aiaf-ba4    
,the quotation is translated from vol4  
i1 pp4 #dfe-f4  ,in the next century    
,conrad von ,megenberg 7#acji-ih7       
produced his ,book of ,nature1 a        
complete work on natural history1 the   
first of the kind in the vernacular1    
founded on ,latin versions1 now rendered

 direct from the ,greek1 of the         
,aristotelian and ,galenic biological   
works4 ,it is well ordered and opens    
with a systematic account of the        
structure and physiology of man as a    
type of the animal creation1 which is   
then systematically described and       
followed by an account of plants4       
,conrad1 though guided by ,aristotle1   
uses his own eyes and ears1 and with him
 and ,albert the era of direct          
observation has begun4#ea      #ea      
,conrad's work is conveniently edited by
 ,h4 ,schultz1 ,das ,buch     der ,natur
 von ,conrad von ,megenberg1 die erste  
,naturgeschichte in     deutscher       
,sprache1 in ,neu-,hochdeutsche ,sprache
 bearbeitet1     ,greifswald1 #ahig4    
,conrad's work is based on that of      
,thomas of     ,cantimpr 7#abja-gj74    
,but there was another department in    
which the legacy of ,greece found an    
even earlier appreciation4 ,for         
centuries the illustrations to herbals  
and bestiaries had been copied from hand

 to hand1 continuing a tradition that   
had its rise with ,greek artists of the 
first century ,b4 ,c4 ,but their work1  
copied at each stage without reference  
to the object1 moved constantly farther 
from resemblance to the original4 ,at   
last the illustrations became little but
 formal patterns1 a state in which they 
remained in some late copies prepared as
 recently as the sixteenth century4 ,but
 at a certain period a change set in1   
and the artist1 no longer content to    
rely on tradition1 appeals at last to   
nature4 ,this new stirring in art       
corresponds with the new stirring in    
letters1 the ,arabian revival--itself a 
legacy of ,greece1 though sadly         
deteriorated in transit--that gave rise 
to scholasticism4 ,in much of the       
beautiful carved and sculptured work of 
the ,french cathedrals the new movement 
appears in the earlier part of the      
thirteenth century4 ,at such a place as 
,chartres we see the attempt to render  
plants and animals faithfully in stone  

as early as #abdj or before4 ,in the    
easier medium of parchment the same     
tendency appears even earlier4 ,when    
once it begins the process progresses   
slowly until the great recovery of the  
,greek texts in the fifteenth century1  
when it is again accelerated4  ,during  
the sixteenth century the energy of     
botanists and zoologists was largely    
absorbed in producing most carefully    
annotated and illustrated editions of   
,dioscorides and ,theophrastus and      
accounts of animals1 habits1 and        
structure that were intended to         
illustrate the writings of ,aristotle1  
while the anatomists explored the bodies
 of man and beast to confirm or refute  
,galen4 ,the great monographs on birds1 
fishes1 and plants of this period1      
ostensibly little but commentaries on   
,pliny1 ,aristotle1 and ,dioscorides1   
represent really the first important    
efforts of modern times at a natural    
history4 ,they pass naturally into the  
encyclopaedias of the later sixteenth   

century1 and these into the             
physiological works of the seventeenth4 
,aristotle was never a dead hand in     
,biology as he was in ,physics1 and this
 for the reason that he was a great     
biologist but was not a great physicist4
  ,with the advance of the sixteenth    
century the works of ,aristotle1 and to 
a less extent those of ,dioscorides and 
,galen1 became the great stimulus to the
 foundation of a new biological science4
 ,matthioli 7#aebj-gg71 in his          
commentary on ,dioscorides 7first       
edition #aedd71 which was one of the    
first works of its type to appear in the
 vernacular1 made a number of first-hand
 observations on the habits and         
structure of plants that is startling   
even to a modern botanist4 ,about the   
same time ,galenic physiology1 expressed
 also in numerous works in the vulgar   
tongue and rousing the curiosity of the 
physicians1 became the clear parent of  
modern physiology and comparative       
anatomy4 ,but1 above all1 the           

,aristotelian biological works were     
fertilizers of the mind4 ,it is very    
interesting to watch a fine observer    
such as ,fabricius ab ,acquapendente    
7#aecg-afai7 laying the foundations of  
modern embryology in a splendid series  
of first-hand observations1 treating his
 own great researches almost as a       
commentary on ,aristotle4 ,what an      
impressive contrast to the arid physics 
of the time based also on ,aristotle6   
',my purpose'1 says ,fabricius1 'is to  
treat of the formation of the foetus in 
every animal1 setting out from that     
which proceeds from the egg3 for this   
ought to take precedence of all other   
discussion of the subject1 both because 
it is not difficult to make out         
,aristotle's view of the matter1 and    
because his treatise on the ,formation  
of the ,foetus from the egg is by far   
the fullest1 and the subject is by much 
the most extensive and difficult4'#eb   
#eb ,hieronimo ,fabrizio of             
,acquapendente1 ,de formato foetu1      

,padua1     #afjd4  ,the industrious and
 careful ,fabricius1 with a wonderful   
talent for observation lit not by his   
own lamp but by that of ,aristotle1     
bears a relation to the master much like
 that held by ,aristotle's pupil in the 
flesh1 ,theophrastus4 ,the works of the 
two men1 ,fabricius and ,theophrastus1  
bear indeed a resemblance to each other4
 ,both rely on the same group of general
 ideas1 both progress in much the same  
ordered calm from observation to        
observation1 both have an inspiration   
which is efficient and stimulating but  
below the greatest1 both are            
enthusiastic and effective as           
investigators of fact1 but timid and    
ineffective in drawing conclusions4     
,but ,fabricius was more happy in his   
pupils than ,theophrastus1 for we may   
watch the same ,aristotelian ideas      
fermenting in the mind of ,fabricius's  
successor1 the greatest biologist since 
,aristotle himself1 ,william ,harvey    
7#aegh-afeg74ec ,this writer's work ,on 

generation is a careful commentary on   
,aristotle's work on the same topic1 but
 it is a commentary not in the old sense
 but in the spirit of ,aristotle        
himself4 ,each statement is weighed and 
tested in the light of experience1 and  
the younger naturalist1 with all his    
reverence for ,aristotle1 does not      
hesitate to criticize his conclusions4  
,he exhibits an independence of thought1
 an ingenuity in experiment1 and a power
 of deduction that places his treatise  
as the middle term of the three great   
works on embryology of which the other  
members are those of ,aristotle and     
,karl ,ernst von ,baer 7#agif-ahgf74ed  
#ec ,william ,harvey1 ,exercitationes de
 generatione animalium1     ,london1    
#afea4      #ed ,karl ,ernst von ,baer1 
,ueber die ,entwickelungsgeschichte der 
,thiere1 ,knigsberg1 #ahbh-cg4  ,with   
the second half of the seventeenth      
century and during a large part of the  
eighteenth the biological works of      
,aristotle attracted less attention4    

,the battle against the ,aristotelian   
physics had been fought and won1 but    
with them the biological works of       
,aristotle unjustly passed into the     
shadow that overhung all the idols of   
the ,middle ,ages4  ,the rediscovery of 
the ,aristotelian biology is a modern   
thing4 ,the collection of the vast      
wealth of living forms absorbed the     
energies of the generations of          
naturalists from ,ray 7#afbg-agje7 and  
,willoughby 7#afce-gb7 to ,raumur       
7#afhc-ageg7 and ,linnaeus 7#agjg-aggh7 
and beyond to the nineteenth century4   
,the magnitude and fascination of the   
work seems almost to have excluded      
general ideas4 ,with the end of this    
period and the advent of a more         
philosophical type of naturalist1 such  
as ,cuvier 7#agfi-ahcb7 and members of  
the ,saint-,hilaire family1 ,aristotle  
came again to his own4 ,since the dawn  
of the nineteenth century1 and since    
naturalists have been in a position to  
verify the work of ,aristotle1 his      

reputation as a naturalist has          
continuously risen4 ,johannes ,mller    
7#ahja-eh71 ,richard ,owen 7#ahjd-ib71  
,george ,henry ,lewes 7#ahag-gh71       
,william ,ogle 7#ahbg-aiab7 are a few of
 the long line of those who have derived
 direct inspiration from his biological 
work4 ,with improved modern methods of  
investigation the problems of generation
 have absorbed a large amount of        
biological attention1 and interest has  
become specially concentrated on        
,aristotle's work on that topic which is
 perhaps1 at the moment1 more widely    
read than any biological treatise1      
ancient or modern1 except the works of  
,darwin4 ,that great naturalist wrote to
 ,ogle in #ahhb3 ',from quotations ,i   
had seen ,i had a high notion of        
,aristotle's merits1 but ,i had not the 
most remote notion what a wonderful man 
he was4 ,linnaeus and ,cuvier have been 
my two gods1 though in very different   
ways1 but they were mere schoolboys to  
old ,aristotle4'  ,,charles ,,singer4   

,,medicine                              
1  4      ,hrophilos de en t ,diaittik  
kai sophian phsin anepideikton kai      
technn adlon kai ischyn anagniston kai  
plouton achreion kai logon     adynaton1
 hygieias apouss4   ,herophilos1 a      
,greek philosopher and physician 7c4    
#cjj ,b4 ,c471 has truly written 'that  
,science and ,art have equally nothing  
to show1 that ,strength is incapable of 
effort1 ,wealth useless1 and ,eloquence 
powerless if ,health be wanting'4#ee    
,all peoples therefore have had their   
methods of treating those departures    
from health that we call disease1 and   
among peoples of higher culture such    
methods have been reduced in most cases 
to something resembling a system4 ,in   
antiquity1 as now1 a variety of such    
systems were in vogue1 and those nations
 who practised the art of writing from  
an early date have left considerable    
records of their medical methods and    
doctrines4 ,we may thus form a fairly   
good idea of the medical principles of  

the ,mesopotamian1 the ,egyptian1 the   
,iranian1 the ,indian1 and the ,chinese 
civilizations4 ,much in these systems1  
as in the medical procedure of more     
primitive tribes1 was based upon some   
theory of disease which fitted in with a
 larger theory of the nature of evil4   
,of these theories the commonest was and
 is the demonic1 the view that regards  
deviation from the normal state of      
health as due either to the attacks of  
supernatural beings or to their actual  
entry into the body of the sufferer4 ,a 
medical system based on such a view is  
susceptible of great elaboration in a   
higher civilization1 but not being      
founded on observation is hardly capable
 of indefinite development1 for a point 
must ultimately be reached at which the 
mind recoils from complex conclusions   
far remote from observed phenomena4 ,the
 medicine of the ancient and settled    
civilization of such a people as the    
,assyro-,babylonians1 for instance1 of  
which substantial traces have been      

recovered1 is hardly1 if at all1 more   
effective1 though far more systematized1
 than that of many a wild and unlettered
 tribe that may be observed to-day4 ,of 
such medicine as this we may give an    
account1 but we can hardly write a      
history4 ,we cannot establish those     
elements of continuity and of           
development from which alone history can
 be constructed4      #ee ,the works of 
,herophilus are lost4 ,this fine passage
 has been     preserved for us by       
,sextus ,empiricus1 a third-century     
physician1 in     his     pros tois     
mathmatikous     aitirrtikoi1 which is  
in essence an attack on all positive    
philosophy4 ,it is an entertaining fact 
that we should have to go to     such a 
work for remains of the greatest        
anatomist of antiquity4 ,the     passage
 is in the section directed against     
ethical writers1 xi4 #ej4  ,it is the   
distinction of the ,greeks alone among  
the nations of antiquity that they      
practised a system of medicine based not

 on theory but on observation           
accumulated systematically as time went 
on4 ,the claim can be made for the      
,greeks that some at least among them   
were deflected by no theory1 were       
deceived by no theurgy1 were hampered by
 no tradition in their search for the   
facts of disease and in their attempts  
at interpreting its phenomena4 ,only the
 ,greeks among the ancients could look  
on their healers as physicians 7        
naturalists1  physis  nature71 and that 
word itself stands as a lasting reminder
 of their achievement4#ef      #ef ,the 
word  physikos1 though it passed over   
into ,latin     7,cicero7 with the      
meaning naturalist1 acquired the        
connotation of     sorcerer among the   
later ,greek writers4 ,perhaps the word 
physicianus was introduced to make a    
distinction from the     charm-mongering
 physicus4 ,in later ,latin physicus and
 medicus     are almost always          
interchangeable4  ,at a certain stage in
 the history of the ,western world--the 

exact point in time may be disputed but 
the event is admitted by all--men turned
 to explore the treasures of the ancient
 wisdom and the whole mass of ,greek    
medical learning was gradually laid     
before the student4 ,that mass contained
 much dross1 material that survived from
 early as from late ,greek times which  
was hardly1 if at all1 superior to the  
debased compositions that circulated in 
the name of medicine in the middle      
centuries4 ,but the recovered ,greek    
medical writings also contained some    
material of the purest and most         
scientific type1 and that material and  
the spirit in which it was written1 form
 the debt of modern medicine to         
antiquity4  ,it is a debt the value of  
which cannot be exaggerated4 ,the       
physicians of the revival of learning1  
and for long after1 doubtless pinned    
their faith too much to the written word
 of their ,greek forbears and sought to 
imprison the free spirit of ,hippocrates
 and ,galen in the rigid wall of their  

own rediscovered texts4 ,the great      
medical pioneers of a somewhat later    
age1 enraged by this attempt1 the real  
nature of which was largely hidden from 
them1 not infrequently revolted and     
rightly revolted against the bondage to 
the ,greeks in which they had been      
brought up4 ,yet it is sure that these  
modern discoverers were the true        
inheritors of the ,greeks4 ,without     
,herophilus we should have had no       
,harvey and the rise of physiology might
 have been delayed for centuries2 had   
,galen's works not survived1 ,vesalius  
would never have reconstructed ,anatomy1
 and ,surgery too might have stayed     
behind with her laggard sister1         
,medicine2 the ,hippocratic collection  
was the necessary and acknowledged basis
 for the work of the greatest of modern 
clinical observers1 ,thomas ,sydenham1  
and the teaching of ,hippocrates and of 
his school is the substantial basis of  
instruction in the wards of a modern    
hospital4 ,in the pages which follow we 

propose therefore to review the general 
character of medical knowledge in the   
best ,greek period and to consider      
briefly how much of that great heritage 
remained accessible to the earlier      
modern physicians4 ,the reader will thus
 be able to form some estimate of the   
degree to which the legacy has been     
passed on to our own times4  ,it is     
evident that among such a group of      
peoples as the ,greeks1 varying in state
 of civilization1 in mental power1 in   
geographical and economic position and  
in general outlook1 the practice of     
medicine can have been by no means      
uniform4 ,without any method of         
centralizing medical education and      
standardizing teaching there was a great
 variety of doctrines and of practice in
 vogue among them1 and much of this was 
on a low level of folk custom4 ,such    
lower grade material of ,greek origin   
has come down to us in abundance1 though
 much of it1 curiously enough1 from a   
later time4 ,but the overwhelming mass  

of earlier ,greek medical literature    
sets forth for us a pure scientific     
effort to observe and to classify       
disease1 to make generalizations from   
carefully collected data1 to explain the
 origin of disease on rational grounds1 
and to apply remedies1 when possible1 on
 a reasoned basis4 ,we may thus rest    
fairly well assured that1 despite       
serious and irreparable losses1 we are  
still in possession of some of the very 
finest products of the ,greek medical   
intellect4  ,there is ample evidence    
that the ,greeks inherited1 in common   
with many other peoples of              
,mediterranean and ,asiatic origin1 a   
whole system of magical or at least     
non-rational pharmacy and medicine from 
a remoter ancestry4 ,striking parallels 
can be drawn between these folk elements
 among the ,greeks and the medical      
systems of the early ,romans1 as well as
 with the medicine of the ,indian       
,vedas1 of the ancient ,egyptians1 and  
of the earliest ,european barbarian     

writings4 ,it is thus reasonable to     
suppose that these elements1 when they  
appear in later ,greek writings1        
represent more primitive folk elements  
working up1 under the influence of      
social disintegration and consequent    
mental deterioration1 through the upper 
strata of the literate ,greek world4    
,but with these elements1 intensely     
interesting to the anthropologist1 the  
psychologist1 the ethnologist1 and to   
the historian of religion1 we are not   
here greatly concerned4 ,important as   
they are1 they constitute no part of the
 special claim of the ,greek people to  
distinction1 but rather aid us in       
uniting the ,greek mentality with that  
of other kindred peoples4 ,here we shall
 rather discuss the course of ,greek    
scientific medicine proper1 the type of 
medical doctrine and practice1 capable  
of development in the proper sense of   
the word1 that forms the basis of our   
modern system4 ,we are concerned1 in    
fact1 with the earliest evolutionary    

medicine4  ,we need hardly discuss the  
first origins of ,greek ,medicine4 ,the 
material is scanty and the conclusions  
somewhat doubtful and perhaps premature1
 for the discovery of a considerable    
fragment of the historical work of      
,menon1 a pupil of ,aristotle1          
containing a description of the views of
 some of the precursors of the          
,hippocratic school1 renews a hope that 
more extended investigation may yield   
further information as to the sources   
and nature of the earliest ,greek       
medical writings4#eg ,the study of      
,mesopotamian star-lore has linked it up
 with early ,greek astronomical science4
 ,the efforts of cuneiform scholars have
 not1 however1 been equally successful  
for medicine1 and on the whole the      
general tendency of modern research is  
to give less weight to ,mesopotamian and
 more to ,egyptian sources than had     
previously been admitted2 thus very     
recently an ,egyptian medical papyrus of
 about #agjj ,b4 ,c4 has been described 

which bears a distinct resemblance to   
some of the ,hippocratic treatises4#eh  
,a number of drugs1 too1 habitually used
 by the ,greeks1 such as ,andropogon1   
,cardamoms1 and ,sesame orientalis1 are 
of ,indian origin4 ,there are also the  
,minoan cultures to be considered1 and  
though our knowledge is not yet         
sufficient to speak of the heritage that
 ,greek medicine may or may not have    
derived from that source1 it seems not  
improbable that ,greek hygiene may here 
owe a debt4#ei ,omitting1 therefore1    
this early epoch1 we pass direct to the 
later period1 between the sixth and     
fourth centuries1 from which documents  
have actually come down to us4      #eg 
,this fragment has been published in    
vol4 iii1 part #a1 of the               
,supplementum ,aristotelicum by ,h4     
,diels as ,anonymi ,londinensis ex      
,aristotelis ,iatricis ,menonis et      
,aliis ,medicis ,eclogae1 ,berlin1      
#ahic4 ,see also ,h4 ,bekh and ,f4 ,spt1
 ,anonymus ,londinensis1 ,auszuge       

eines ,unbekannten aus                  
,aristoteles-,menons ,handbuch der      
,medizin1     ,berlin1 #ahif4      #eh  
,as we go to press there appears a      
preliminary account of the     very     
remarkable ,edwin ,smith papyrus1 see   
,j4 ,h4 ,breasted in ,recueil           
d'tudes egyptologiques ddies  la mmoire 
de ,champollion1 ,paris     #aibb1 and  
,new ,york ,historical ,society         
,bulletin1 #aibb4      #ei ,it is       
tempting1 also1 to connect the          
,asclepian snake cult with     the      
prominence of the serpent in ,minoan    
religion4  ,the earliest medical school 
of which we have definite information is
 that of ,cnidus1 a ,lacedaemonian      
colony in ,asiatic ,doris4 ,its origin  
may perhaps reach back to the seventh   
century ,b4 ,c4 ,we have actual records 
that the teachers of ,cnidus were       
accustomed to collect systematically the
 phenomena of disease1 of which they had
 produced a very complex classification1
 and we probably possess also several of

 their actual works4 ,the physicians of 
,cos1 their only contemporary critics   
whose writings have survived1 considered
 that the ,cnidian physicians paid too  
much attention to the actual sensations 
of the patient and to the physical signs
 of the disease4 ,the most important of 
the ,cnidian doctrines were drawn up in 
a series of ,sentences or ,aphorisms1   
and these1 it appears1 inculcated a     
treatment along ,egyptian lines of the  
symptom or at most the disease1 rather  
than the patient1 a statement borne out 
by the contents of the gynaecological   
works of probable ,cnidian origin       
included in the so-called ',hippocratic 
,collection'4 ,a few names of ,cnidian  
physicians have1 moreover1 come down to 
us with titles of their works1 and a    
later statement that they practised     
anatomy4 ,there can be little doubt too 
that the ,cnidian school drew also on   
,persian and ,indian ,medicine4  ,the   
origin of the school of the neighbouring
 island of ,cos was a little later than 

that of ,cnidus and probably dates from 
the sixth century ,b4 ,c4 ,of the ,coan 
school1 or at least of the general      
tendencies that it represented1 we have 
a magnificent and copious literary      
monument in the ,corpus ,hippocraticum1 
a collection which was probably put     
together in the early part of the third 
century ,b4 ,c4 by a commission of      
,alexandrian scholars at the order of   
the book-loving ,ptolemy ,soter 7reigned
 #cbc-bhe ,b4 ,c474 ,the elements of    
which this collection is composed are of
 varying dates from the sixth to the    
fourth century ,b4 ,c41 and of varying  
value and origin1 but they mainly       
represent the point of view of          
physicians of the eastern part of the   
,greek world in the fifth and fourth    
centuries4  ,the most obvious feature1  
the outstanding element that at once    
strikes the modern observer in these    
',coan' writings1 is the enormous       
emphasis laid on the actual course of   
disease4 ',it appears to me a most      

excellent thing'1 so opens one of the   
greatest of the ,hippocratic works1 'for
 a physician to cultivate pronoia4#fj   
,foreknowing and foretelling in the     
presence of the sick the past1 present1 
and future 7of their symptoms7 and      
explaining all that the patients are    
neglecting1 he would be believed to     
understand their condition1 so that men 
would have confidence to entrust        
themselves to his care4444 ,thus he     
would win just respect and be a good    
physician4 ,by an earlier forecast in   
each case he would be more able to tend 
those aright who have a chance of       
surviving1 and by foreseeing and stating
 who will die1 and who will survive1 he 
will escape blame4444'#fa      #fj ,this
 word pronoia1 as ,galen explains 7     
eis to ,hippokratous prognstikon1 ,k4   
xviii1 ,b4 p4     #aj71 is not used in  
the philosophic sense1 as when we ask   
whether     the universe was made by    
chance or by pronoia1 nor is it used    
quite in the modern sense of prognosis1 

though it includes that     too4        
,pronoia in ,hippocrates means knowing  
things about a patient     before you   
are told them4 ,see ,e4 ,t4 ,withington1
 ',some ,greek medical     terms with   
reference to ,luke and ,liddell and     
,scott1' ,proceedings of     the ,royal 
,society of ,medicine 7,section of the  
,history of     ,medicine71 xiii1 p4    
#abd1 ,london1 #aibj4      #fa          
,prognostics #a4  ,just as the ,cnidians
 by dividing up diseases according to   
symptoms over-emphasized diagnosis and  
over-elaborated treatment1 so the ,coans
 laid very great force on prognosis and 
adopted therefore a largely expectant   
attitude towards diseases4 ,both        
,cnidian and ,coan physicians were held 
together by a common bond which was1    
historically if not actually1 related to
 temple worship4 ,physicians leagued    
together in the name of a god1 as were  
the ,asclepiadae1 might escape1 and did 
escape1 the baser theurgic elements of  
temple medicine4 ,of these they were as 

devoid as a modern ,catholic physician  
might be expected to be free from the   
absurdities of ,lourdes4 ,but the       
extreme cult of prognosis among the     
,coans may not improbably be traced back
 to the medical lore of the temple      
soothsayers whose divine omens were     
replaced by indications of a physical   
nature in the patient himself4#fb ,we   
are tempted too to link it with that    
process of astronomical and astrological
 prognosis practised in the             
,mesopotamian civilizations from which  
,ionia imitated and derived so much4    
,religion had thus the same relation to 
medicine that it would have with a      
modern 'religious' medical man as       
suggesting the motive and determining   
the general direction of his practice   
though without influence on the details 
and method4      #fb ,there is a        
discussion of the relation of the       
,asclepiadae to     temple practice in  
an article by ,e4 ,t4 ,withington1 ',the
 ,asclepiadae     and the ,priest of    

,asclepius1' in ,studies in the ,history
 and ,method     of ,science1 edited by 
,charles ,singer1 vol4 ii1 ,oxford1     
#aiba4  ,during the development of the  
,coan medical school along these lines  
in the sixth and fifth centuries1 there 
was going on a most remarkable movement 
at the very other extreme of the ,greek 
world4 ,into the course and general     
importance of ,sicilian philosophy it is
 not our place to enter1 but that       
extraordinary movement was not without  
its repercussion on medical theory and  
practice4 ,very important in this       
direction was ,empedocles of ,agrigentum
 7c4 #ejj-;c4 #dcj ,b4 ,c474 ,his view  
that the blood is the seat of the       
'innate heat'1   emphyton thermon1 he   
took from folk belief--'the blood is the
 life'--and this innate heat he closely 
identified with soul4 ,more profitable  
was his doctrine that breathing takes   
place not only through what are now     
known as the respiratory passages but   
also through the pores of the skin4 ,his

 teaching led to a belief in the heart  
as the centre of the vascular system and
 the chief organ of the 'pneuma' which  
was distributed by the blood vessels4   
,this pneuma was equivalent to both soul
 and life1 but it was something more4   
,it was identified with air and breath1 
and the pneuma could be seen to rise as 
shimmering steam from the shed blood of 
the sacrificial victim--for was not the 
blood its natural home8 ,there was a    
pneuma1 too1 that interpenetrated the   
universe around us and gave it those    
qualities of life that it was felt to   
possess4 ,anaximenes 7c4 #faj-;c4 #ede  
,b4 ,c471 an ,ionian predecessor of     
,empedocles1 may be said to have defined
 for us these functions of the pneuma2  
1        hoion h psych h hmetera ar ousa
 synkratei hmas1 holon ton kosmon pneuma
 kai ar periechei1 ',as our soul1 being 
air1 sustains us1 so pneuma and air     
pervade the whole universe'2#fc but it  
is the speculation of ,empedocles       
himself that came to be regarded as the 

basis of the ,pneumatic ,school in      
,medicine which had later very important
 developments4      #fc ,the works of   
,anaximenes are lost4 ,this phrase of   
his1 however1     is preserved by the   
later writer ,aetios4  ,another early   
member of the ,western school who made  
important contributions to medical      
doctrine--in which relation alone we    
need consider him--was ,pythagoras of   
,samos 7c4 #ehj-;c4#dij ,b4 ,c474 ,for  
him number1 as the purest conception1   
formed the basis of philosophy4 ,unity  
was the symbol of perfection and        
corresponded to ,god ,himself4 ,the     
material universe was represented by #b1
 and was divided by the number #ab1     
whence we have #c worlds and #d spheres4
 ,these in turn1 according at least to  
the later ,pythagoreans1 give rise to   
the four elements1 earth1 air1 fire1 and
 water--a primary doctrine of medicine  
and of science derived perhaps from     
ancient ,egypt and surviving for more   
than two millennia4 ,the ,pythagoreans  

taught1 too1 of the existence of an     
animal soul1 an emanation of the soul of
 the universe4 ,in all this we may      
distinguish the germ of that doctrine of
 the relation of man and universe1      
microcosm and macrocosm1 which1         
suppressed as irrelevant in the         
,hippocratic works1 reappears in the    
,platonic and especially in the         
,neoplatonic writings1 and forms a very 
important dogma in later medicine4  ,a  
pupil of ,pythagoras and an older       
contemporary of ,empedocles was         
,alcmaeon of ,croton 7c4 #ejj ,b4 ,c471 
who began to construct a positive basis 
for medical science by the practice of  
dissection of animals1 and discovered   
the optic nerves and the ,eustachian    
tubes4 ,he even extended his researches 
to ,embryology1 describing the head of  
the foetus as the first part to be      
developed--a justifiable deduction from 
appearances4 ,alcmaeon introduced also  
the doctrine that health depends on     
harmony1 disease on discord of the      

elements within the body4 ,curiosity as 
to the distribution of the vessels was  
excited by ,empedocles and ,alcmaeon and
 led to further dissection1 and         
,alcmaeon's pupils ,acron 7c4 #dhj ,b4  
,c47 and ,pausanias 7c4 #dhj ,b4 ,c471  
and the later ,philistion of ,lokri1#fd 
the contemporary of ,plato1 all made    
anatomical investigations4      #fd ,for
 the work of these physicians see       
especially ,m4 ,wellmann1               
,fragmentsammlung der griechischen      
,aerzte1 ,bd4 ,i1 ,berlin1 #aija4  ,the 
views of ,empedocles1 and especially his
 doctrine that regarded the heart as the
 main site of the pneuma1 though        
rejected by the ,coan school as a whole1
 were not without influence on ,ionia4  
,diogenes of ,apollonia1 the philosopher
 of pneumatism1 a late fifth-century    
writer who must have been contemporary  
with ,hippocrates the ,great1 himself   
made an investigation of the blood      
vessels2 and the influence of the same  
school may be traced in a little work   

peri kardis1 ,on the heart1 which is the
 best anatomical treatise of the        
,hippocratic ,collection4 ,this work    
describes the aorta and the pulmonary   
artery as well as the three valves at   
the root of each of the great vessels1  
and it speaks of experiments to test    
their validity4 ,it treats of the       
pericardium and of the pericardial fluid
 and perhaps of the musculi papillares1 
and contrasts the thickness of the walls
 of right and left ventricles4 ,the     
author considers that the left ventricle
 is empty of blood--as indeed it is     
after death--and is the source of the   
innate heat and of the absolute         
intelligence4 ,these views fit in with  
the doctrines of ,empedocles1 so that we
 may perhaps even venture to regard this
 work as a surviving document of the    
,sicilian school4 ,it is interesting to 
observe that we have here the first hint
 of human dissection1 for the author    
tells us that the hearts of animals may 
be compared to that of man4 ,the        

distinction of having been the first to 
write on human anatomy1 as such1 belongs
 however1 probably to a later writer1   
,diocles1 son of ,archidamus of         
,carystus1 who lived in the fourth      
century ,b4 ,c4#fe      #fe ,galen1     
peri anatomikn     encheirsen1 ,on      
anatomical preparations1  #a1 ,k4 ,,ii1 
p4 #bhb4  ,we may now turn to the       
,hippocratic ,corpus as a whole4 ,this  
collection consists of about #fj or #gj 
separate works1 written at various      
periods and in various states of        
preservation4 ,at best only a very small
 proportion of them can be attributed to
 ,hippocrates1 but the discussion of the
 general question of the 'genuineness'  
of the works is now admitted to be      
futile1 for it is certain that we have  
no criteria whatever to determine       
whether or no a particular work be from 
the pen of the ,father of ,medicine1 and
 the most we can ever say of such a     
treatise is that it appears to be of his
 school and in his spirit4 ,yet among   

the great gifts of this collection to   
our time and to all time are two which  
stand out above all others1 the picture 
of a man1 and the picture of a method4  
,the man is ,hippocrates himself4 ,of   
the actual details of his life we know  
next to nothing4 ,his period of greatest
 activity falls about #djj ,b4 ,c4 ,he  
seems to have led a wandering life4     
,born of a long line of physicians in   
the island of ,cos1 he exerted his      
activities in ,thrace1 ,abdera1 ,delos1 
the ,propontis 7,cyzicus71 ,thasos1     
,thessaly 7notably at ,larissa and      
,meliboea71 ,athens1 and elsewhere1     
dying at ,larissa in extreme old age    
about the year #cgg ,b4 ,c4 ,he had many
 pupils1 among whom were his two sons   
,thessalus and ,dracon1 who also        
undertook journeys1 his son-in-law      
,polybus1 of whose works a fragment has 
been preserved for us by ,aristotle1#ff 
together with three other ,coans bearing
 the names ,apollonius1 ,dexippus1 and  
,praxagoras4 ,this is practically all we

 know of him with certainty4 ,but though
 this glimpse is very dim and distant1  
yet we cannot exaggerate the influence  
on the course of medicine and the value 
for physicians of all time of the       
traditional picture that was early      
formed of him and that may indeed well  
be drawn again from the works bearing   
his name4 ,in beauty and dignity that   
figure is beyond praise4 ,perhaps       
gaining in stateliness what he loses in 
clearness1 ,hippocrates will ever remain
 the type of the perfect physician4     
,learned1 observant1 humane1 with a     
profound reverence for the claims of his
 patients1 but an overmastering desire  
that his experience shall benefit       
others1 orderly and calm1 disturbed only
 by anxiety to record his knowledge for 
the use of his brother physicians and   
for the relief of suffering1 grave1     
thoughtful and reticent1 pure of mind   
and master of his passions1 this is no  
overdrawn picture of the ,father of     
,medicine as he appeared to his         

contemporaries and successors4 ,it is a 
figure of character and virtue which has
 had an ethical value to medical men of 
all ages comparable only to the         
influence exerted on their followers by 
the founders of the great religions4 ,if
 one needed a maxim to place upon the   
statue of ,hippocrates1 none could be   
found better than that from the book    
,parangeliai1 ,precepts3              n 
gar par philanthrpi paresti kai         
philotechni    ',where the love of man  
is1 there also is love of the ,art4'#fg 
#ff ,historia animalium1 iii4 #c1 where 
it is ascribed to ,polybus4     ,the    
same passage is1 however1 repeated twice
 in the ,hippocratic     writings1 viz4 
in the    peri physios anthrpou1     ,on
 the nature of man1 ,littr1 vi4 #eh1 and
 in the        peri osten physios1 ,on  
the nature of bones1 ,littr1 ix4        
#agd4      #fg  ,parangeliai1  #f4  ,the
 numerous busts of him which have       
reached our time are no portraits4 ,but 
the best of them are something much     

better and more helpful to us than any  
portrait4 ,they are idealized           
representations of the kind of man a    
physician should be and was in the eyes 
of the best and wisest of the           
,greeks4#fh      #fh ,see ,fig4 #a4     
,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 ,,hippocrates  
,british ,museum1 second or third       
century ,b4 ,c4  ,illustration3 ,fig4   
#b4 ,,asclepius ,british ,museum1 fourth
 century ,b4 ,c4  ,the method of the    
,hippocratic writers is that known      
to-day as the 'inductive'4 ,without the 
vast scientific heritage that is in our 
own hands1 with only a comparatively    
small number of observations drawn from 
the ,coan and neighbouring schools1     
surrounded by all manner of bizarre     
oriental religions in which no adequate 
relation of cause and effect was        
recognized1 and above all constantly    
urged by the exuberant genius for       
speculation of that ,greek people in the
 midst of whom they lived and whose     
intellectual temptations they shared1   

they remain nevertheless1 for the most  
part1 patient observers of fact1        
sceptical of the marvellous and the     
unverifiable1 hesitating to theorize    
beyond the data1 yet eager always to    
generalize from actual experience2 calm1
 faithful1 effective servants of the    
sick4 ,there is almost no type of mental
 activity known to us that was not      
exhibited by the ,greeks and cannot be  
paralleled from their writings2 but     
careful and constant return to          
verification from experience1 expressed 
in a record of actual observations--the 
habitual method adopted in modern       
scientific departments--is rare among   
them except in these early medical      
authors4  ,the spirit of their practice 
cannot be better illustrated than by the
 words of the so-called ',hippocratic   
oath'4 ,that document1 though of late   
date in its present form1 throws a flood
 of light on the ethics of ,greek       
medicine4       ',i swear by ,apollo the
 physician and ,asclepius and ,hygieia  

and      ,panacea1 invoking all the gods
 and goddesses to be my witnesses1      
that ,i will fulfil this ,oath and this 
written covenant to the best      of my 
power and of my judgment4       ',i will
 look upon him who shall have taught me 
this art even as on      mine own       
parents2 ,i will share with him my      
substance1 and supply      his          
necessities if he be in need2 ,i will   
regard his offspring even      as my own
 brethren1 and will teach them this art1
 if they desire to      learn it1       
without fee or covenant4 ,i will impart 
it by precept1 by      lecture and by   
all other manner of teaching1 not only  
to my own      sons but also to the sons
 of him who has taught me1 and to       
disciples bound by covenant and oath    
according to the law of the             
physicians1 but to none other4          
',the regimen ,i adopt shall be for the 
benefit of the patients to      the best
 of my power and judgment1 not for their
 injury or for any      wrongful        

purpose4 ,i will not give a deadly drug 
to any one1 though      it be asked of  
me1 nor will ,i lead the way in such    
counsel2 and      likewise ,i will not  
give a woman a pessary to procure       
abortion4 ,but      ,i will keep my life
 and my art in purity and holiness4     
,whatsoever      house ,i enter1 ,i will
 enter for the benefit of the sick1     
refraining      from all voluntary      
wrongdoing and corruption1 especially   
seduction      of male or female1 bond  
or free4 ,whatsoever things ,i see or   
hear      concerning the life of men1 in
 my attendance on the sick or even      
apart from my attendance1 which ought   
not to be blabbed abroad1 ,i      will  
keep silence on them1 counting such     
things to be as religious      secrets4 
',if ,i fulfil this oath and confound it
 not1 be it mine to enjoy      life and 
art alike1 with good repute among all   
men for all time to      come2 but may  
the contrary befall me if ,i transgress 
and violate my      oath4'#fi      #fi  

,translation by ,professor ,arthur      
,platt4  ,respected equally throughout  
the ages by ,arab1 ,jew1 and ,christian1
 the oath remains the watchword of the  
profession of medicine4#gj ,the ethical 
value of such a declaration could not   
escape the attention even of a          
,byzantine formalist1 and it is         
interesting to observe that in our      
oldest ,greek manuscript of the         
,hippocratic text1 dating from the tenth
 century1 this magnificent passage is   
headed by the words 'from the oath of   
,hippocrates according as it may be     
sworn by a ,christian4'#ga      #gj ,it 
must1 however1 be admitted that in the  
,hippocratic     collection are breaches
 of the oath1 e4 g4 in the induction of 
abortion related in    peri physios     
paidiou4     ,there is evidence1        
however1 that the author of this work   
was not a     medical practitioner4     
#ga ,rome ,urbinas #fd1 fo4 #aaf4  ,when
 we examine the ,hippocratic corpus more
 closely1 we discern that not only are  

the treatises by many hands1 but there  
is not even a uniform opinion and       
doctrine running through them4 ,this is 
well brought out by some of the more    
famous of the phrases of this remarkable
 collection4 ,thus a well-known passage 
from the ,airs1 ,waters1 and ,places    
tells us that the ,scythians attribute a
 certain physical disability to a god1  
'but it appears to me'1 says the author1
 'that these affections are just as much
 divine as are all others and that no   
disease is either more divine or more   
human than another1 but that all are    
equally divine1 for each of them has its
 own nature1 and none of them arise     
without a natural cause4' ,but1 on the  
other hand1 the author of the great work
 on ,prognostics advises us that when   
the physician is called in he must seek 
to ascertain the nature of the          
affections that he is treating1 and     
especially 'if there be anything divine 
in the disease1 and to learn a          
foreknowledge of this also4'#gb ,we may 

note too that this sentence almost      
immediately precedes what is perhaps the
 most famous of all the ,hippocratic    
sentences1 the description of what has  
since been termed the ,hippocratic      
facies4 ,this wonderful description of  
the signs of death may be given as an   
illustration of the habitual attitude of
 the ,hippocratic school towards        
prognosis and of the very careful way in
 which they noted details3       ',he   
the physician should observe thus in    
acute diseases3 first1      the         
countenance of the patient1 if it be    
like to those who are in      health1   
and especially if it be like itself1 for
 this would be the      best2 but the   
more unlike to this1 the worse it is2   
such would be      these3 sharp nose1   
hollow eyes1 collapsed temples2 ears    
cold1      contracted1 and their lobes  
turned out2 skin about the forehead     
rough1 distended1 and parched2 the      
colour of the whole face      greenish  
or dusky4 ,if the countenance be so at  

the beginning of      the disease1 and  
if this cannot be accounted for from the
 other      symptoms1 inquiry must be   
made whether he has passed a sleepless  
night2 whether his bowels have been very
 loose2 or whether he is      suffering 
from hunger2 and if any of these be     
admitted the danger      may be reckoned
 as less2 and it may be judged in the   
course of a      day and night if the   
appearance of the countenance proceed   
from      these4 ,but if none of these  
be said to exist1 and the symptoms do   
not subside in that time1 be it known   
for certain that death is at            
hand4'#gc      #gb ,khlewein1 i4 #gi1   
regards this as an interpolated passage4
      #gc ,littr1 ii4 #aab2 ,khlewein1  
i4 #gi4 ,the texts vary3 ,khlewein is   
followed except in the last sentence4   
,again1 in the work ,on the ,art of     
,medicine we read3 ',i hold it to be    
physicianly to abstain from treating    
those who are overwhelmed by            
disease'1#gd a prudent if inhumane      

procedure among a people who might      
regard the doctor's powers as partaking 
of the nature of magic1 and perhaps a   
wise course to follow at this day in    
some places not very far from ,cos4 ,yet
 in the book ,on ,diseases we are       
advised even in the presence of an      
incurable disease 'to give relief with  
such treatment as is possible'4#ge      
#gd   ,peri techns1  #c4      #ge   '   
,peri nousn a'1  #f4  ,furthermore1     
works by authors of the ,hippocratic    
school stand sometimes in a position of 
direct controversy with each other4     
,thus in the treatise ,on the ,heart an 
experiment is set forth which is held to
 prove that a part at least of imbibed  
fluid passes into the cavity of the lung
 and thence to the parts of the body1 a 
popular error in antiquity which recurs 
in ,plato's ,timaeus4 ,this view1       
however1 is specifically held to be     
fallacious by the author of the work ,on
 ,diseases1 who is supported by a       
polemical section in the surviving      

,menon fragment4  ,passages like these  
have convinced all students that we have
 to deal in this collection with a      
variety of works written at different   
dates by different authors and under    
different conditions1 a state that may  
be well understood when we reflect that 
among the ,greeks medicine was a        
progressive study for a far longer      
period of time than has yet been the    
case in the ,western world4 ,an account 
of such a collection can therefore only 
be given in the most general fashion4   
,the system or systems of medicine that 
we shall thus attempt to describe was in
 vogue up to the ,alexandrian period1   
that is1 to the beginning of the third  
century ,b4 ,c4  ,anatomy and           
physiology1 the basis of our modern     
system1 was still a very weak point in  
the knowledge of the pre-,alexandrians4 
,the surface form of the body was       
intimately studied in connexion         
especially with fractures1 but there is 
no evidence in the literature of the    

period of any closer acquaintance with  
human anatomical structure4#gf ,the same
 fact is well borne out by ,greek ,art1 
for in its noblest period the artist    
betrays no evidence of assistance       
derived from anatomization4 ,such       
evidence is not found until we come to  
sculpture of ,alexandrian date1 when the
 somewhat strained attitudes and        
exaggerated musculature of certain works
 of the school of ,pergamon suggest that
 the artist derived hints1 if not direct
 information1 from anatomists who1 we   
know1 were active at that time4 ,it is  
not improbable1 however1 that separate  
bones1 if not complete skeletons1 were  
commonly studied earlier1 for the       
surgical works of the ,hippocratic      
collection1 and especially those on     
fractures and dislocations1 give        
evidence of a knowledge of the relations
 of bones to each other and of their    
natural position in the body which could
 not be obtained1 or only obtained with 
greatest difficulty1 without this aid4  

#gf ,a reference to dissection in the   
peri arthrn1     ,on the joints1  #a1   
appears to the present writer to be of  
,alexandrian date4  ,there are in the   
,hippocratic works a certain number of  
comparisons between human and animal    
structures that would have been made    
possible by surgical operations and     
occasional accidents4 ,the view has been
 put forward that some anatomical       
knowledge was derived through the       
practice of augury from the entrails of 
sacrificial animals4 ,it appears1       
however1 improbable that a system so    
scientific and so little related to     
temple practice would have had much to  
learn from these sources1 and1 moreover1
 since we know that animals were        
actually dissected as early as the time 
of ,alcmaeon it would be unnecessary to 
invoke the aid of the priests4 ,the     
unknown author of the      peri topn tn 
kata anthrpon1 ,on the sites of diseases
 in man1 a work written about #djj ,b4  
,c41 declares indeed that 'physical     

structure is the basis of medicine'1 but
 the formal treatises on anatomy that we
 possess from ,hippocratic times give   
the general anatomical standard of the  
corpus1 and it is a very disappointing  
one4 ,the tract ,on ,anatomy1 though    
probably of much later date 7perhaps c4 
#ccj ,b4 ,c471 is inferior even to the  
treatise ,on the ,heart 7perhaps of     
about #djj ,b4 ,c474  ,physiology and   
,pathology are almost as much in the    
background as anatomy in the            
,hippocratic collection4 ,as a formal   
discipline and part of medical education
 we find no trace of these studies among
 the pre-,alexandrian physicians4 ,but  
the meagreness of the number of         
ascertained facts did not prevent much  
speculation among a people eager to seek
 the causes of things4 ,of that         
speculation we learn much from the      
fragments of contemporary medical       
writers and philosophers1 from the      
medical works of the ,alexandrian       
period1 and to some extent from the     

,hippocratic writings themselves4 ,but  
the wiser and more sober among the      
writers of the ,hippocratic corpus were 
bent on something other than the causes 
of things4 ,their pre-occupation was    
primarily with the suffering patient1   
and the best of them therefore          
excluded--and we may assume             
consciously--all but the rarest         
references to such speculation4  ,the   
general state of health of the body was 
considered by the ,hippocratists to     
depend on the distribution of the four  
elements1 earth1 air1 fire1 and water1  
whose mixture 7crasis7 and cardinal     
properties1 dryness1 warmth1 coldness1  
and moistness1 form the body and its    
constituents4 ,to these correspond the  
cardinal fluids1 blood1 phlegm1 yellow  
bile and black bile4 ,the fundamental   
condition of life is the innate heat1   
the abdication of which is death4 ,this 
innate heat is greatest in youth when   
most fuel is therefore required1 but    
gradually declines with age4 ,another   

necessity for the support of life is the
 pneuma which circulates in the vessels4
 ,all this may seem fanciful enough1 but
 we may remember that the first half of 
the nineteenth century had waned before 
the doctrine of the humours which had   
then lasted for at least twenty-two     
centuries became obsolete1 and perhaps  
it still survives in certain modern     
scientific developments4 ,moreover1 the 
finest and most characteristic of the   
,hippocratic works either do not mention
 or but casually refer to these theories
 which are not essential to their main  
pre-occupation4 ,their task of          
observation of symptoms1 of the         
separation of the essentials from the   
accidents of disease1 and of            
generalization from experience could go 
on unaffected by any view of the nature 
of man and of the world4 ,even          
treatment1 which must almost of         
necessity be based on some theory of    
causation1 was little deflected by a    
view of elements and humours on which it

 was impossible to act directly1 while  
therapeutics was further safeguarded    
from such influence by the doctrine of  
,nature as the healer of diseases1      
nousn physeis itroi1 the vis medicatrix 
naturae of the later ,latin writers and 
of the present day4  ,diseases are to be
 cured1 in the ,hippocratic view1 by    
restoring the disturbed harmony in the  
relation of the elements and humours4   
,these1 in fact1 tend naturally to an   
equilibrium and in most cases if left to
 themselves will be brought to this     
state by the natural tendency to        
recovery4 ,the process is known as      
pepsis or1 to give it the ,latin form1  
coctio1 and the turning-point at which  
the effects of this process exhibit     
themselves is the crisis1 a term which1 
together with some of its original      
content1 has still a place in medicine4 
,such a turning-point does in fact occur
 in many diseases1 especially those of a
 zymotic character1 on certain special  
days1 though undue emphasis was laid by 

the ,greek physicians upon the exact    
numerical character of the event4 ,it   
was no unimportant duty of the physician
 to assist nature by bringing his       
remedies to bear at the critical times4 
,if the crisis is wanting1 or if the    
remedies are applied at the wrong       
moment1 the disease may become          
incurable4 ,but diseases were only      
immediately or proximately caused by    
disturbances in the balance or harmony  
of the humours4 ,this was a mere        
hypothesis1 as the ,hippocratists       
themselves well knew4 ,there were other 
more remote causes which came into the  
actual purview of the physician1        
conditions which he could and did study4
 ,such conditions were1 for instance1   
injudicious modes of life1 exposure to  
climatic changes1 advancing age1 and the
 like4 ,many of these could be directly 
corrected4 ,but for those that could not
 there were various therapeutic measures
 at hand4  ,that human bodies are and   
normally remain in a state of health1   

and that on the whole they tend to      
recover from disease1 is an attitude so 
familiar to us to-day that we scarcely  
need to be reminded of it4 ,we live some
 twenty-three centuries later than      
,hippocrates2 for some sixteen of those 
centuries the civilized world thought   
that to retain health periodical        
bleedings and potions were necessary2   
for the last century or two we have been
 gradually returning on the ,hippocratic
 position6  ,the chief glory of the     
,hippocratic collection regarded from   
the clinical point of view is perhaps   
the actual description of cases4 ,a     
number of these--forty-two in all--have 
survived4#gg ,they are not only unique  
as a collection for nearly #b1jjj years1
 but they are still to this day models  
of what succinct clinical records should
 be1 clear and short1 without a         
superfluous word1 yet with all that is  
most essential1 and exhibiting merely a 
desire to record the most important     
facts without the least attempt to      

prejudge the case4 ,they illustrate to  
the full the ,greek genius for seizing  
on the essential4 ,the writer shows not 
the least wish to exalt his own skill4  
,he seeks merely to put the data before 
the reader for his guidance under like  
circumstances4 ,it is a reflex of the   
spirit of full honesty in which these   
men lived and worked that the great     
majority of the cases are recorded to   
have died4 ,two of this remarkable      
little collection may be given3         
',the woman with quinsy1 who lodged with
 ,aristion3 her complaint      began in 
the tongue2 voice inarticulate2 tongue  
red and parched4      ,first day1       
shivered1 then became heated4 ,third    
day1 rigor1      acute fever2 reddish   
and hard swelling on both sides of neck 
and      chest2 extremities cold and    
livid2 respiration elevated2 drink      
returned by the nose2 she could not     
swallow2 alvine and urinary             
discharges suppressed4 ,fourth day1 all 
symptoms exacerbated4      ,fifth day1  

she died4'      #gg ,they are to be     
found as an ,appendix to ,books ,i and  
,,iii of the     ,epidemics and embedded
 in ,book ,,iii4  ,we probably have here
 to do with a case of diphtheria4 ,the  
quinsy1 the paralysis of the palate     
leading to return of the food through   
the nose1 and the difficulty with speech
 and swallowing are typical results of  
this affection which was here           
complicated by a spread of the septic   
processes into the neck and chest1 a not
 uncommon sequela of the disease4 ,the  
rapid onset of the conditions is rather 
unusual1 but may be explained if we     
regard the case as a mild and unnoticed 
diphtheria1 subsequently complicated by 
paralysis and by secondary septic       
infection1 for which reasons she came   
under observation4       ',in ,thasos1  
the wife of ,delearces who lodged on the
 plain1 through      sorrow was seized  
with an acute and shivering fever4 ,from
 first to      last she always wrapped  
herself up in her bedclothes2 kept      

silent1      fumbled1 picked1 bored and 
gathered hairs from the clothes2        
tears1 and again laughter2 no sleep2    
bowels irritable1 but passed            
nothing2 when urged drank a little2     
urine thin and scanty2 to the      touch
 the fever was slight2 coldness of the  
extremities4 ,ninth      day1 talked    
much incoherently1 and again sank into  
silence4      ,fourteenth day1 breathing
 rare1 large1 and spaced1 and again     
hurried4 ,seventeenth day1 after        
stimulation of the bowels she           
passed even drinks1 nor could retain    
anything2 totally insensible2      skin 
parched and tense4 ,twentieth day1 much 
talk1 and again      became composed1   
then voiceless2 respiration hurried4    
,twenty-first      day1 died4 ,her      
respiration throughout was rare and     
large2 she was      totally insensible2 
always wrapped up in her bedclothes2    
throughout      either much talk1 or    
complete silence4'  ,this second case is
 in part a description of low muttering 

delirium1 a common end of continued     
fevers such as1 for instance1 typhoid4  
,the description closely resembles the  
condition known now in medicine as the  
'typhoid state'4 ,incidentally the case 
contains a reference to a type of       
breathing common among the dying4 ,the  
respiration becomes deep and slow1 as it
 sinks gradually into quietude and      
becomes rarer and rarer until it seems  
to cease altogether1 and then it        
gradually becomes more rapid and so on  
alternately4 ,this type of breathing is 
known to physicians as ',cheyne-,stokes'
 respiration in commemoration of two    
distinguished ,irish physicians of the  
last century who brought it to the      
attention of medical men4#gh ,recently  
it has been partially explained on a    
physiological basis4 ,we may note that  
there is another and even better        
pen-picture of ,cheyne-,stokes          
respiration in the ,hippocratic         
collection4 ,it is in the famous case of
 ',philescos who lived by the wall and  

who took to his bed on the first day of 
acute fever'4 ,about the middle of the  
sixth day he died and the physician     
notes that 'the respiration throughout  
was like that of a person recollecting  
himself and was large and rare'4        
,cheyne-,stokes breathing is admirably  
described as 'that of a person          
recollecting himself'4      #gh ,john   
,cheyne 7#aggg-ahcf7 described this type
 of respiration in     the ,dublin      
,hospital ,reports1 #ahah1 ii1 p4 #baf4 
,an extreme case of     this condition  
had been described by ,cheyne's namesake
 ,george ,cheyne     7#afga-agdc7 as the
 famous ',case of the ,hon4 ,col4       
,townshend' in his     ,english ,malady1
 ,london1 #agcc4 ,william ,stokes       
7#ahjd-gh7 published     his account of 
,cheyne-,stokes breathing in the ,dublin
 ,quarterly     ,journal of the ,medical
 ,sciences1 #ahdf1 ii1 p4 #gc4  ,such   
records as these may be contrasted with 
certain others that have come down from 
,greek antiquity4 ,we may instance two  

steles discovered at ,epidaurus in      
#ahhe1 bearing accounts of forty-four   
temple cures4 ,the following two are    
fair samples of the cures there         
described3       ',aristagora of        
,troizen4 ,she had tape-worm1 and while 
she slept in      the ,temple of        
,asclepius at ,troizen1 she saw a       
vision4 ,she thought      that1 as the  
god was not present1 but was away in    
,epidaurus1 his      sons cut off her   
head1 but were unable to put it back    
again4 ,then      they sent a messenger 
to ,asclepius asking him to come to     
,troizen4      ,meanwhile day came1 and 
the priest actually saw her head cut off
      from the body4 ,the next night    
,aristagora had a dream4 ,she thought   
the god came from ,epidaurus and        
fastened her head on to her neck4       
,then he cut open her belly1 and        
stitched it up again4 ,so she was       
cured4'       ',a man had an abdominal  
abscess4 ,he saw a vision1 and thought  
that      the god ordered the slaves who

 accompanied him to lift him up and     
hold him1 so that his abdomen could be  
cut open4 ,the man tried to      get    
away1 but his slaves caught him and     
bound him4 ,so ,asclepius cut      him  
open1 rid him of the abscess1 and then  
stitched him up again1      releasing   
him from his bonds4 ,straightway he     
departed cured1 and      the floor of   
the ,abaton was covered with blood4'#gi 
#gi ,the ,epidaurian inscriptions are   
given by ,m4 ,fraenkel in the           
,corpus ,inscriptionum ,graecarum ,,iv1 
#iea-f1 and are discussed by     ,mary  
,hamilton 7,mrs4 ,guy ,dickins71        
,incubation1 ,st4 ,andrews1 #aijf1      
from whose translation ,i have quoted4  
,further inscriptions are given     by  
,cavvadias in the ,archaiologike        
,ephemeris1 #aiah1 p4 #aee 7issued      
#aiba74  ,in the records of almost all  
temple cures1 a great number of which   
have survived in a wide variety of      
documents1 an essential element is the  
process of  enkoimsis1 incubation or    

temple sleep1 usually in a special      
sleeping-place or ,abaton4 ,the process 
has a close parallel in certain modern  
,greek churches and in places of worship
 much further ,west2 there are even     
traces of it in these islands1 and it is
 more than probable that the ,christian 
practice is descended by direct         
continuity from the pagan4#hj ,the whole
 character of the temple treatment      
was--and is--of a kind to suggest to the
 patient that he should dream of the    
god1 an event which therefore usually   
takes place4 ,such treatment by         
suggestion is applicable only to certain
 classes of disease and is always liable
 to fall into the hands of fanatics and 
impostors4 ,the difficulty that the     
honest practitioner encounters is that  
the sufferer1 in the nature of the case1
 can hardly be brought to believe that  
his ailment is what in fact it is1 a    
lesion of the mind4 ,it is this which   
gives the miracle-monger his chance4    
#hj ,we are almost told as much in the  

apocryphal ,gospel of     ,nicodemus1   
#a1 a work probably composed about the  
end of the     fourth century4  ,examine
 for a moment the two cases from        
,epidaurus1 which are quite typical of  
the series4 ,we observe that the first  
is described simply as a case of        
'tape-worm' without any justification   
for the diagnosis4 ,it is not unfrequent
 nowadays for thin and anxious patients 
to state1 similarly without             
justification1 that they suffer from    
this condition4 ,they attribute certain 
common gastric experiences to this cause
 of which perhaps they have learned from
 sensational advertisements1 and then   
they ask cure for a condition which they
 themselves have diagnosed1 but which   
has no existence in fact4 ,such a case  
is often appropriately treated by       
suggestion4 ,though the elaborateness of
 the suggestion in the temple cure is a 
little startling1 yet it can easily be  
paralleled from the legends of the      
,christian saints4 ,moreover1 we must   

remember that we are not here dealing   
with an account set down by the patient 
herself1 but with an edificatory        
inscription put up by the temple        
officials4  ,in the second inscription1 
the man with an abdominal abscess1 we   
have a much simpler state of affairs4   
,it is evident that an operation was    
actually performed by the priest        
masquerading as ,asclepius1 while the   
patient was held down by the slaves4 ,he
 is assured that all is a dream and     
departs cured with the tell-tale comment
 'and the floor of the ,abaton was      
covered with blood'4  ,these cases might
 be multiplied indefinitely without     
great profit for our particular theme1  
for in such matters there is no         
development1 no evolution1 no history4  
,there can be no doubt that a very large
 part of ,greek practice was on this    
level1 as is a small part of modern     
medicine1 but it is not a level with    
which we are here dealing and we shall  
therefore pass it by4 ,but a word of    

caution must be added4 ,such temple     
worship has been compared with modern   
psycho-analysis4 ,that method1 like all 
methods1 has doubtless been abused at   
times2 but it is in essence1 unlike the 
temple system1 a purely scientific      
process by which the ultimate basis of  
the patient's delusions are laid bare   
and demonstrated to him4  ,there is     
indeed another side to these ,asclepian 
temples4 ,they gradually developed along
 the lines of our health resorts and    
developed many of the qualities--lovely 
and unlovely--that we associate with    
certain continental watering places4 ,on
 the bad side they became gossiping     
centres or even something little better 
than brothels1 as we may gather from the
 ,mimes of ,herondas4 ,on the good side 
they formed a quiet refuge among        
beautiful and interesting surroundings  
where the sick1 exhausted1 and          
convalescent might gain the benefits    
that accrue from pure air1 fine scenery1
 and a regular and regulated mode of    

life4 ,it is more than probable too that
 the open air and manner of living      
benefited many cases of incipient       
phthisis4  ,returning to the            
,hippocratic collection1 the purely     
surgical treatises will be found no less
 remarkable than those of clinical      
observation4 ,a very able surgeon1      
,francis ,adams 7#agif-ahfa71 who was   
eminent as a ,greek scholar1 gave it as 
his opinion in the middle of the        
nineteenth century that no systematic   
writer on surgery up to his time had    
given so good and so complete an account
 of certain dislocations1 notably of the
 hip-joint1 as that to be found in the  
,hippocratic collection4 ,some types of 
injury to the hip1 as described in the  
,hippocratic writings1 were certainly   
otherwise quite inadequately known until
 described by ,sir ,astley ,cooper      
7#agfh-ahda71 himself a peculiarly      
,hippocratic character4#ha ,the verdict 
of ,adams was probably just1 though     
since his time the surgery of           

dislocations1 aided especially by       
,x-rays1 has been enabled to pass very  
definitely beyond the ,hippocratic      
position4 ,admirable1 too1 is the       
,hippocratic description of dislocation 
of the shoulder and of the jaw4 ,in     
dislocation of hip1 shoulder1 or jaw1 as
 in most similar lesions1 there is      
considerable deformity produced4 ,the   
nature and meaning of this deformity is 
described with remarkable exactness by  
the ,hippocratic writer1 who also sets  
forth the resulting disability4 ,the    
principles and indeed the very details  
of treatment in these cases are1 save   
for the use of an anaesthetic1          
practically identical with those of the 
present day4 ,the processes are         
unfortunately not suitable for detailed 
quotation and description here1 but they
 are of special interest since a graphic
 record of them has come down to us4    
,there exists in the ,laurentian        
,library at ,florence a ninth-century   
,greek surgical manuscript which        

contains figures of surgeons reducing   
the dislocations in question4 ,there is 
good reason to suppose that these       
miniatures are copied from figures first
 prepared in pre-,christian times many  
centuries earlier1 and we may here see  
the actual processes of reduction of    
such fractures1 as conducted by a       
surgeon of the direct ,hippocratic      
tradition#hb 7see ,figs4 #c1 #d74       
#ha ,astley ,paston ,cooper1 ,treatise  
on ,dislocations and ,fractures     of  
the ,joints1 ,london1 #ahbb1 and        
,observations on ,fractures of the      
,neck and the ,thighbone1 c41 ,london1  
#ahbc4      #hb ,this famous manuscript 
is known as ,laurentian1 ,plutarch #gd1 
#g1     and its figures have been       
reproduced by ,h4 ,schne1 ,apollonius   
von     ,kitium1 ,leipzig1 #ahif4       
,illustration3 ,from ,,ms4 of           
,,apollonius ,,of ,,kitium1 of ,ninth   
,century ,copied from pre-christian     
original  ,fig4 #c ,,reducing           
,,dislocated ,,shoulder  ,fig4 #d       

,,reducing ,,dislocated ,,jaw  ,in      
keeping with all this is most of the    
surgical work of the collection4 ,we are
 almost startled by the modern sound of 
the whole procedure as we run through   
the rough note-book '  kat' itreion1    
,concerning the ,surgery1 or the more   
elaborate treatise   peri itrou1 ,on the
 ,physician1 where we may read minute   
directions for the preparation of the   
operating-room1 and on such points as   
the management of light both artificial 
and natural1 scrupulous cleanliness of  
the hands1 the care and use of the      
instruments1 with the special           
precautions needed when they are of     
iron1 the decencies to be observed      
during the operation1 the general method
 of bandaging1 the placing of the       
patient1 the use and abuse of splints1  
and the need for tidiness1 order1 and   
cleanliness4 ,many of these directions  
are enlarged upon in other surgical     
works of the collection1 among which we 
find especially full instructions for   

bandaging and for the diagnosis and     
treatment of fractures and dislocations4
 ,a very fair representation of such a  
surgery as these works describe is to be
 found on a vase-painting of ,attic     
origin of the earlier part of the fifth 
century1 and1 therefore1 a generation   
before ,hippocrates 7see fig4 #e74      
,there are also several beautiful       
representations on vases of the actual  
processes of bandaging 7fig4 #f74       
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4 ,a ,,greek    
,,clinic ,,of ,,about #dhj-dgj ,b4 ,c4  
,from a vase-painting4  ,in the centre  
sits a physician holding a lancet and   
bleeding a patient from the median vein 
at the bend of the right elbow into a   
large open basin4 ,above and behind the 
physician are suspended three cupping   
vessels4 ,to the right sits another     
patient awaiting his turn2 his left arm 
is bandaged in the region of the biceps4
 ,the figure beyond him smells a flower1
 perhaps as a preservative against      
infection4 ,behind the physician stands 

a man leaning on a staff2 he is wounded 
in the left leg1 which is bandaged4 ,by 
his side stands a dwarfish figure with  
disproportionately large head1 whose    
body exhibits deformities typical of the
 developmental disease now known as     
,achondroplasia2 in addition to these   
deformities we note that his body is    
hairy and the bridge of his nose sunken2
 on his back he carries a hare which is 
almost as tall as himself4 ,talking to  
the dwarf is a man leaning on a long    
staff1 who has the remains of a bandage 
round his chest4  ,see ,e4 ,pottier1    
',une ,clinique grecque au ,ve sicle    
7vase antique du collection ,peztel7'1  
,fondation ,eugne ,piot1 ,monuments et  
,mmoires1 xiii4 #adi1 ,paris1 #aijf4    
7,some of our interpretations differ    
from those of ,m4 ,pottier47            
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4 ,a kylix from 
the ,berlin ,museum of about #dij ,b4   
,c4 ,it bears the inscription   ,,sosias
 ,,epoi,,sen1 ,sosias made 7me71 and    
represents ,achilles bandaging          

,patroclus1 the names of the two heroes 
being written round the margin4 ,the    
painter is ,euphronios1 and the work is 
regarded as the masterpiece of that     
great artist4 ,the left upper arm of    
,patroclus is injured1 and ,achilles is 
bandaging it with a two-rolled bandage1 
which he is trying to bring down to     
extend over the elbow4 ,the treatment of
 the hands1 a department in which       
,euphronios excelled1 is particularly   
fine4 ,achilles was not a trained       
surgeon1 and it will be observed1 from  
the position of the two tails of the    
bandage1 that he will have some         
difficulty when it comes to its final   
fastening6  ,among the surgical         
procedures of which descriptions are to 
be found in the ,hippocratic writings   
are the opening of the chest for the    
condition known as empyema 7accumulation
 of pus within the pleura frequently    
following pneumonia71 and trephining the
 skull in cases of fracture of that     
part--two fundamental operations of     

modern surgery4 ,surgical art has       
advanced enormously in our own times1   
yet a text-book containing much that is 
useful to this day might be prepared    
from these surgical contents of the     
collection alone4  ,when we pass to the 
works on ,medicine1 in the restricted   
sense1 we enter into a region more      
difficult and perhaps even more         
fascinating4 ,we are no longer dealing  
with simple lesions of known origin1 but
 with the effects of disease and        
degeneration1 of the essential character
 of which the ,hippocratic writers could
 in the nature of the case know very    
little4 ,rigidly guarding themselves    
from any attempt to explain disease by  
more immediate and hypothetical causes  
and thus diverting the reader's energies
 in the medically useless direction of  
vague speculation--the prevalent mental 
vice of the ,greeks--the best of these  
physicians are content if they can put  
forward generalized conclusions from    
actually observed cases4 ,many of their 

thoughts have now become household      
words1 and they have become so1 largely 
as a direct heritage from these ancient 
physicians4 ,but it must be remembered  
that ideas so familiar to us were with  
them the result of long and carefully   
recorded experience and are like nothing
 that we encounter in the medicine of   
other ancient nations4 ,such conclusions
 are best set forth perhaps in the      
wonderful book of the ,aphorisms from   
which we may permit ourselves a few     
quotations3       ',life is short1 and  
the ,art long2 the opportunity fleeting2
      experiment dangerous1 and         
judgement difficult4 ,yet we must be    
prepared not only to do our duty        
ourselves1 but also patient1            
attendants1 and external circumstances  
must co-operate4'#hc      #hc ,the first
 lines are the source of the famous     
lines in ,goethe's     ,faust3          
',ach ,gott6 die ,kunst ist lang        
,und kurz ist unser ,leben1       ,mir  
wird bei meinem kritischen ,bestreben   

,doch oft um ,kopf und ,busen bang4'    
,in this one memorable paragraph1 so    
condensed in the original as to be      
almost untranslatable1 he who 'first    
separated medicine from philosophy' puts
 aside at once all speculative interest 
while in the actual presence of the     
sick4 ,his whole energy is concentrated 
on the case in hand with that peculiar  
attitude1 at once impersonal and        
intensely personal1 that has since been 
the mark of the physician1 and that has 
made of ,medicine both a science and an 
art4       ',for extreme diseases1      
extreme methods of cure4'#hd       ',the
 aged endure fasting most easily2 next  
adults2 next young      persons1 and    
least of all children1 and especially   
such as are the      most lively4'      
',growing bodies have the most innate   
heat2 they therefore require      the   
most nourishment1 and if they have it   
not they waste4 ,in the      aged there 
is little heat1 and therefore they      
require little fuel1      for it would  

be extinguished by much4 ,similarly     
fevers in the aged      are not so      
acute1 because their bodies are cold4'  
',in disease sleep that is laborious is 
a deadly symptom2 but if      sleep     
relieves it is not deadly4'             
',sleep that puts an end to delirium is 
a good symptom4'       ',if a           
convalescent eats well1 but does not put
 on flesh1 it is a      bad symptom4'   
',food or drink which is a little less  
good but more palatable is to      be   
preferred to such that is better but    
less palatable4'       ',the old have   
generally fewer complaints than young2  
but those      chronic diseases which do
 befall them generally never leave      
them4'      #hd ,the extreme of         
treatment refers in the original to the 
extreme     restriction of diet1   es   
akribein1 but the meaning of     the    
,aphorism has always been taken as more 
generalized4  ,here we have a group of  
observations1 some of which have become 
literally household words1 nor is it    

difficult to understand how such sayings
 have passed from professional into lay 
keeping4 ,this magnificent book of      
,aphorisms was very early translated    
into ,latin1 probably before and        
certainly not later than the sixth      
century of the ,christian era1 and thus 
became accessible throughout the ,west4 
,manuscripts of this ,latin version1    
dating from the ninth and tenth         
centuries of our era1 have survived in  
the actual places in which they were    
written1 at ,monte ,cassino in ,southern
 ,italy and at ,einsiedeln in           
,switzerland1 and in #iia the book of   
,aphorisms was well known and closely   
studied at the ,cathedral school of     
,chartres4 ,from ,france the ,aphorisms 
reached ,england1 and they are mentioned
 in documents of the tenth or eleventh  
century4 ,by now1 too1 the book had been
 translated into ,syriac and later into 
,arabic and ,hebrew1 so that in the true
 mediaeval period it was known both     
,east and ,west1 and in the vernacular  

as well as the classical tongues4 ,from 
the oriental dialects several further   
translations were again made into       
,latin4 ,an enormous number of          
manuscripts of the work have survived in
 almost every ,western dialect1 and     
these show on the whole that the text   
has been surprisingly little tampered   
with4 ,in the middle of the thirteenth  
century some of the better-known        
,aphorisms were absorbed into a very    
popular ,latin poem that went forth in  
the name of the medical school of       
,salerno1 though with a false ascription
 to a yet earlier date4 ,the ,salernitan
 poem1 being itself translated into     
every ,european vernacular1 further     
helped to bring ,hippocrates into every 
home4  ,but by no means all the         
,aphorisms are of a kind that could well
 become absorbed into folk medicine4 ,it
 is only those concerning frequently    
recurring states to which this fate     
could befall4 ,the book contains also a 
number of notes on rare conditions      

seldom seen or noted save by medical    
men4 ,such are the following very acute 
observations3       ',spasm supervening 
on a wound is fatal4'       ',those     
seized with tetanus die within four     
days1 or if they survive      so long   
they recover4'       ',a convulsion1 or 
hiccup1 supervening on a copious        
discharge of      blood is bad4'        
',if after severe and grave wounds no   
swelling appears1 it is very            
serious4'  ,these four sentences all    
concern wounds4 ,the first two refer to 
the disease tetanus1 which is very      
liable to supervene on wounds fouled    
with earth1 especially in hot and moist 
localities4 ,the disease is             
characterized by a series of painful    
muscular contractions which in the more 
severe and fatal form may become a      
continuous spasm1 a type that is        
referred to in the first sentence4 ,it  
is true of tetanus that the later the   
onset after the wound is sustained the  
better the chance of recovery4 ,this is 

brought out by the second sentence4 ,the
 third and fourth sentences record      
untoward symptoms following a severe    
wound1 now well recognized and watched  
for by every surgeon4 ,there were1 of   
course1 innumerable illustrations of the
 truth of these ,aphorisms in extensive 
wounds1 especially those involving      
crushed limbs1 in the late war4         
',phthisis occurs most commonly between 
the ages of eighteen and                
thirty-five4'       ',diarrha           
supervening on phthisis is mortal4'     
,the period given by the ,aphorisms for 
the maximum frequency of onset of the   
disease is closely borne out by modern  
observations4 ,the second ,aphorism is  
equally valid2 continued diarrha is a   
very frequent antecedent of the fatal   
event in chronic phthisis1 and          
post-mortem examination has shown that  
secondary involvement of the bowel is an
 exceedingly common condition in this   
disease4  ,no less remarkable is the    
following saying3 ',in jaundice it is a 

grave matter if the liver becomes       
indurated4' ,jaundice is a common and   
comparatively trivial symptom following 
or accompanying a large variety of      
diseases4 ,in and by itself it is of    
little importance and almost always     
disappears spontaneously4 ,there is a   
small group of pathological conditions1 
however1 in which this is not the case4 
,the commonest and most important of    
these are the fatal affections of       
cirrhosis and cancer of the liver in    
which that organ may be felt to be      
enlarged and hardened4 ,if therefore the
 liver can be so felt in a case of      
jaundice1 it is1 as the ,aphorism says1 
of gravest import4 ,representations of  
such cases have actually come down to us
 from ,greek times4 ,thus on a monument 
erected at ,athens to the memory of a   
physician who died in the second century
 of the ,christian era we may see the   
process of clinical examination 7fig4   
#g74 ,the physician is palpating the    
liver of a dwarfish figure whose swollen

 belly1 wasted limbs1 and anxious look  
tell of some such condition as that     
described in the ,aphorism4 ,the ridge  
caused by the enlarged liver can even be
 detected on the statue4  ,illustration3
 ,fig4 #g4 ,,athenian ,,funerary        
,,monument ,second century ,a4 ,d4      
,british ,museum  ,inscription reads3   
',jason1 also called ,dekmos1 the       
,acharnian1 a physician'1 followed by   
his genealogy4 ,by side of patient      
stands a cupping vessel4  ',we must     
attend to the appearances of the eyes in
 sleep as presented from below2 for if a
 portion of the white be seen between   
the closing eyelids1 and if this be not 
connected with diarrha or severe        
purging1 it is a very bad and mortal    
symptom4' ,in this1 the last ,aphorism  
which we shall quote1 we see the        
,hippocratic physician actually making  
his observations4 ,now during sleep the 
eyeball is turned upward1 so that if the
 eye be then opened and examined only   
the white is seen4 ,in the later stages 

of all wasting and chronic diseases the 
eyelids tend not to be closed during    
sleep4 ,such patients1 as is well known1
 often die with the eyes open and       
sometimes exhibiting only the whites4   
,but the ,hippocratic physician was not 
content to make only passive            
observation2 he also took active        
measures to elicit the 'physical signs'4
 ,in modern times a large1 perhaps the  
chief1 task of the student of medicine  
is to acquire a knowledge of these      
so-called physical signs of disease1 the
 tradition of which has been gradually  
rebuilt during the last three centuries4
 ,among the most important measures in  
which he learns to acquire facility is  
that of auscultation4 ,this useful      
process has come specially into vogue   
since the invention of the stethoscope  
in #ahai by ,laennec1 who derived       
valuable hints for it from the          
,hippocratic writings4 ,auscultation is 
several times mentioned and described by
 the ,hippocratic physicians1 who used  

the direct method of listening and not  
the mediate method devised by ,laennec4 
,there are1 however1 certain cases in   
which the modern physician still finds  
the older non-instrumental ,hippocratic 
method superior4 ,in the ,hippocratic   
work   peri nousn1 ,on diseases1 we read
 of a case with fluid in the pleura that
 'you will place the patient on a seat  
which does not move1 an assistant will  
hold him by the shoulders1 and you will 
shake him1 applying the ear to the      
chest1 so as to recognize on which side 
the sign occurs'4 ,this sign is still   
used by physicians and is known as      
,hippocratic succussion4 ,in another    
passage in the same work the symptoms of
 pleurisy are described and 'a creak    
like that of leather may be heard'4     
,this is the well known pleuritic rub   
which the physician is accustomed to    
seek in such cases1 and of which the    
creak of leather is an excellent        
representation4  ,such quotations give  
an insight into the general method and  

attitude of the ,hippocratics4 ,of an   
art such as medicine1 which even in     
those times had a long and rational     
tradition behind it1 it is impossible to
 give more than the merest glimpse in   
such a review as this4 ,the actual      
practice is far too complex to set down 
briefly4 ,this is especially the case   
with the ancient teaching as regards    
epidemic disease at which we must       
cursorily glance4 ,the ,hippocratic     
physicians and indeed all antiquity were
 as yet ignorant of the nature1 and were
 but dimly aware of the existence1 of   
infection4#he ,for them acute disease   
was something imposed on the patient    
from outside1 but how it reached him    
from outside and what it was that thus  
reached him they were still admittedly  
ignorant4 ,in this dilemma they turned  
to prolonged observation and noted as a 
result of repeated experience that      
epidemic diseases in their world had    
characteristic seasonal and regional    
distributions4 ,one country was not     

quite like another1 nor was one season  
like another nor even one year like     
another4 ,by a series of carefully      
collated observations as to how regions1
 seasons1 and years differed from each  
other1 they succeeded in laying the     
basis of a rational study of            
epidemiology which gave rise to the     
notion of an 'epidemic constitution' of 
the different years1 a conception which 
was very fertile and stimulating to the 
great clinicians of the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries and is by no means 
without value even for the modern       
epidemiologist4 ,the work of the modern 
fathers of epidemiology was consciously 
based on ,hippocrates4      #he ,the    
ancients knew almost nothing of         
infection as applied     specifically to
 disease4 ,all early peoples--including 
,greeks and     ,romans--believed in the
 transmission of qualities from object  
to     object4 ,thus purity and impurity
 and good and bad luck were             
infections1 and diseases were held to be

 infections in that sense4     ,but     
there is little evidence in the belief  
of the special     infectivity of       
disease as such in antiquity4 ,some few 
diseases     are1 however1 unequivocally
 referred to as infectious in a limited 
number of passages1 e4 g4 ophthalmia1   
scabies1 and phthisis in the        peri
 diaphoras pyretn1 ,on the differentiae 
of fevers1 ,k4 vii1 p4 #bgi4 ,the       
references to infection in antiquity    
are detailed by ,c4 and ,d4 ,singer1    
',the scientific position of            
,girolamo ,fracastoro'1 ,annals of      
,medical ,history1 vol4 i1 ,new ,york1  
#aiag4  ,before parting with the        
,hippocratic physician a word must be   
said as to his therapeutic means4 ,his  
general armoury may be described as     
resembling that of the modern physician 
of about two generations ago4 ,during   
those two generations we have1 it is    
true1 added to our list of effective    
remedies but1 on the other hand1 there  
has been by common consent a return to  

the ,hippocratic simplicity of          
treatment4 ,after rest and quiet the    
central factor in treatment was         
,dietetics4 ,this science regarded the  
age--',old persons use less nutriment   
than young'2 the season--',in winter    
abundant nourishment is wholesome1 in   
summer a more frugal diet'2 the bodily  
condition--',lean persons should take   
little food1 but this little should be  
fat1 fat persons on the other hand      
should take much food1 but it should be 
lean'4 ,respect was also paid to the    
digestibility of different foods--'white
 meat is more easily digestible than    
dark'--and to their preparation4 ,water1
 barley water1 and lime water were      
recommended as drinks4 ,the dietetic    
principles of the ,hippocratics1        
especially in connexion with fevers1 are
 substantially those of the present day1
 and it may be said that the general    
medical tendency of the last generation 
in these matters has been an even closer
 approximation to the ,hippocratic4     

',the more we nourish unhealthy bodies  
the more we injure them'2 ',the sick    
upon whom fever seizes with the greatest
 severity from the very outset1 must at 
once subject themselves to a rigid      
diet'2 ',complete abstinence often acts 
well1 if the strength of the patient can
 in any way sustain it'2 yet ',we should
 examine the strength of the sick1 to   
see whether they be in condition to     
maintain this spare diet to the crisis  
of the disease'4 ',in the application of
 these rules we must always be mindful  
of the strength of the patient and of   
the course of each particular disease1  
as well as of the constitution and      
ordinary mode of life in each disease4' 
,besides diet the ,hippocratic physician
 had at his disposal a considerable     
variety of other remedies4 ,baths1      
inunctions1 clysters1 warm and cold     
suffusions1 massage and gymnastic1 as   
well as gentler exercise are among them4
 ,he probably employed cupping and      
bleeding rather too freely1 and we have 

several representations of the          
instruments used for these operations   
7fig4 #h74 ,he was no great user of     
drugs and seldom names them except1 we  
may note1 in the works on the treatment 
of women1 which are probably of ,cnidian
 origin and whence the greater part of  
the #cjj constituents of the            
,hippocratic pharmacopia are derived4   
,thus his list of drugs is small but    
several known to him are still used by  
us4  ,the work of these men may be      
summed up by saying that without        
dissection1 without any experimental    
physiology or pathology1 and without any
 instrumental aid they pushed the       
knowledge of the course and origin of   
disease as far as it is conceivable that
 men in such circumstances could push   
it4 ,this was done as a process of pure 
scientific induction4 ,their surgery1   
though hardly based on anatomy1 was     
grounded on the most carefully recorded 
experience4 ,in therapeutics they       
allowed themselves neither to be        

deceived by false hopes nor led aside by
 vain traditions4 ,yet in diagnosis1    
prognosis1 surgery and therapeutics     
alike they were in many departments     
unsurpassed until the nineteenth        
century1 and to some of their methods we
 have reverted in the twentieth4        
,persisting throughout the ages as a    
more or less definite tradition1 which  
attained clearer form during and after  
the sixteenth century1 ,hippocratic     
methods have formed the basis of all    
departments of modern advance4  ,but the
 history of ,greek medicine did not end 
with the ,hippocratic collection2 in    
many respects it may indeed be held only
 to begin there2 yet we never get again 
a glimpse of so high an ethical and     
professional standard as that which     
these works convey4 ,from ,alexandrian  
times onwards1 too1 the history of      
,greek medicine becomes largely a       
history of various schools of medical   
thought1 each of which has only a       
partial view of the course and nature of

 medical knowledge4 ,the unravelling of 
the course and teachings of these sects 
has long been a pre-occupation of       
professed medical historians1 but the   
general reader can hardly take an       
interest in differences between the     
,dogmatists1 ,empirics1 and ,methodists 
whose doctrines are as dead as          
themselves4 ,in this later ,alexandrian 
and ,hellenistic age the ,greek         
intellect is no less active than before1
 but there is a change in the taste of  
the material4 ,a general decay of the   
spirit is reflected in the medical as in
 the literary products of the time1 and 
we never again feel that elevation of a 
beautiful and calmly righteous presence 
that breathes through the ,hippocratic  
collection and gives it a peculiar      
aroma4  ,we shall pass over the general 
course of later ,greek medicine with    
great rapidity4 ,a definite medical     
school was established at ,alexandria   
and others perhaps at ,pergamon and     
elsewhere4 ,athens1 after the death of  

,aristotle and his pupils1 passes       
entirely into the background and is of  
no importance so far as medicine is     
concerned4 ,at ,alexandria1 where a     
great medical library was collected1    
anatomy began to be studied and two men 
whose discoveries were of primary       
importance for the history of that      
subject1 ,erasistratus and ,herophilus1 
early practised there4 ,with anatomy as 
a basis medical education could become  
much more systematic4 ,it is a very     
great misfortune that the works of these
 two eminent men have disappeared4 ,of  
,herophilus fragments have survived     
embedded in the works of ,galen 7,a4 ,d4
 #acj-bja71 ,caelius ,aurelianus 7fifth 
century71 and others4 ,these fragments  
have been the subject of one of the     
earliest1 most laborious1 and most      
successful attempts made in modern times
 to reconstruct the lost work of an     
ancient author4#hf ,for ,erasistratus   
our chief source of information are two 
polemical treatises directed against him

 by ,galen4 ,recently1 too1 a little    
more information concerning the works of
 both men has become available from the 
,menon papyrus4      #hf ,k4 ,f4 ,h4    
,marx1 ,herophilus1 ein ,beitrag zur    
,geschichte der     ,medizin1           
,karlsruhe1 #ahch4  ,it has been found  
possible to reconstruct especially a    
treatise on anatomy by ,herophilus with 
a considerable show of probability4 ,he 
opened by giving general directions for 
the process of dissection and followed  
with detailed descriptions of the       
various systems1 nervous1 vascular1     
glandular1 digestive1 generative1 and   
osseous4 ,there was a separate section  
on the liver1 a small part of which has 
survived4 ,it is of his account of the  
nervous system that we have perhaps the 
best record1 and it is evident that he  
has advanced far beyond the ,hippocratic
 position4 ,in the braincase he saw the 
membranes that cover the brain and      
distinguished between the cerebrum and  
cerebellum4 ,he attained to some        

knowledge of the ventricles of the      
brain1 the cranial and spinal nerves1   
the nerves of the heart1 and the coats  
of the eye4 ,he distinguished the blood 
sinuses of the skull1 and the torcular  
,herophili 7winepress of ,herophilus71 a
 sinus described by him1 has preserved  
his name in modern anatomical           
nomenclature4 ,he even made out more    
minute structures1 such as the little   
depression in the fourth ventricle of   
the brain1 known to modern anatomists as
 the calamus scriptorius1 which still   
bears the name which he gave it 7       
kalamos h graphomen71 because it seemed 
to him1 as ,galen tells us1 to resemble 
the pens then in use in ,alexandria4#hg 
,we still use1 too1 his term duodenum 7 
ddekadaktylos ekphysis  twelve-finger   
extension71 for as ,galen assures us1   
,herophilus 'so named the first part of 
the intestine before it is rolled into  
folds'4#hh ,the duodenum is a ,u-shaped 
section of the intestine following      
immediately on the stomach4 ,being fixed

 down behind the abdominal cavity it    
cannot be further convoluted1 and this  
accounts for ,galen's description of it4
 ,it is about twelve fingers' breadth   
long in the animals dissected by        
,herophilus4      #hg ,galen1    peri   
anatomikn     encheirsen1 ,on anatomical
 preparations1 ix4 #e 7last sentence74  
#hh ,galen1      peri phlebn kai        
artrin anatoms1 ,on the anatomy of veins
 and arteries1 i4  ,erasistratus1 the   
slightly younger ,alexandrian           
contemporary of ,herophilus1 has the    
credit of further anatomical            
discoveries4 ,he described correctly the
 action of the epiglottis in preventing 
the entrance of food and drink into the 
windpipe during the act of swallowing1  
he saw the lacteal vessels in the       
mesentery1 and pursued further the      
anatomy of the brain4 ,he improved on   
the anatomy of the heart1 and described 
the auriculo-ventricular valves and     
their mode of closure4 ,he distinguished
 clearly the motor and sensory nerves4  

,he seems to have adopted a definitely  
experimental attitude--a very rare thing
 among ancient physicians--and a        
description of an experiment made by him
 has recently been recovered4 ',if'1 he 
says1 'you take an animal1 a bird1 for  
example1 and keep it for a time in a jar
 without giving it food and then weigh  
it together with its excreta you will   
find that there is a considerable loss  
of weight4'#hi ,the experiment is a     
simple one1 but it was about nineteen   
hundred years before a modern professor1
 ,sanctorio ,santorio 7#aefa-afcf71     
thought of repeating it4#ij      #hi    
,the quotation is from chapter xxxiii1  
line #dd of the ,anonymus               
,londinensis4 ,h4 ,diels1 ,anonymus     
,londinensis in the ,supplementum       
,aristotelicum1 vol4 iii1 pars #a1      
,berlin1 #ahic4      #ij ,sanctorio     
,santorio1 ,oratio in archilyceo        
patavino anno #afab     habita2 de      
medicina statica aphorismi4 ,venice1    
#afad4  ,the anatomical advances made by

 the ,alexandrian school naturally      
reacted on surgical efficiency4 ,the    
improvement so effected may be gathered1
 for instance1 from an account of the   
anatomical relationships in certain     
cases of dislocation of the hip given by
 the ,alexandrian surgeon ,hegetor1 who 
lived about #ajj ,b4 ,c4 ,in his book   
peri aitin1 ,on causes of disease1 he   
asks 'why 7certain surgeons7 do not seek
 another way of reducing a luxation of  
the hip4444 ,if the joints of the jaw1  
shoulder1 elbow1 knee1 finger1 c41 can  
be replaced1 the same1 they think1 must 
be true of all parts1 nor can they give 
an account of why the femur cannot be   
put back into its place4444 ,they might 
have known1 however1 that from the head 
of the femur arises a ligament which is 
inserted into the socket of the hip bone
 444 and if this ligament is once       
ruptured the thigh bone cannot be       
retained in place'4#ia ,this passage    
contains the first description of the   
structure known to modern anatomists as 

the ligamentum teres1 a strong fibrous  
band which unites the head of the femur 
with the socket into which it fits in   
the hip bone1 like the string that binds
 the cup and ball of a child's toy4     
,this ligament is ruptured in certain   
severe cases of dislocation of the hip4 
#ia ,this is the only passage of        
,hegetor's writing that has             
survived4 ,it has been preserved in the 
work of ,apollonius of ,citium4  ,after 
the establishment of the school at      
,alexandria1 medical teaching rapidly   
became organized1 but throughout the    
whole course of antiquity it suffered   
from the absence of anything in the     
nature of a state diploma4 ,any one     
could practise1 with the result that    
many quacks1 cranks1 and fanatics were  
to be found among the ranks of the      
practitioners who often were or had been
 slaves4 ,the great ,alexandrian school1
 however1 did much to preserve some sort
 of professional standard1 and above all
 its anatomical discipline helped to    

this end4  ,between the founding of the 
,alexandrian school and ,galen we are   
not rich in medical writings4 ,apart    
from fragments and minor productions1   
the works of only five authors have     
survived from this period of over four  
hundred years1 namely1 ,celsus1         
,dioscorides1 ,aretaeus of ,cappadocia1 
and two ,ephesian authors bearing the   
names of ,rufus and ,soranus4  ,the work
 of ,celsus of the end of the first     
century ,b4 ,c4 is a ,latin treatise1   
probably translated from ,greek1 and is 
the surviving medical volume of a       
complete cyclopaedia of knowledge4 ,in  
spite of its unpromising origin it is an
 excellent compendium of its subject and
 shows a good deal of advance in many   
respects beyond the ,hippocratic        
position4 ,the moral tone too is very   
high1 though without the lofty and      
detached beauty of ,hippocrates4        
,anatomy has greatly improved1 and with 
it surgical procedure1 and the work is  
probably representative of the best     

,alexandrian practice4 ,the pharmacopia 
is more copious1 but has not yet become 
burdensome4 ,the general line of        
treatment is sensible and humane and the
 language concise and clear4 ,among     
other items he describes dental         
practice1 with the indications for and  
methods of tooth extraction1 the wiring 
of teeth1 and perhaps a dental mirror4  
,there is an excellent account of what  
might be thought to be the modern       
operation for removal of the tonsils4   
,celsus is still commemorated in modern 
medicine by the area ,celsi1 a not      
uncommon disease of the skin4 ,the ,de  
re medica is in fact one of the very    
best medical text-books that have come  
down to us from antiquity4 ,it has had a
 romantic history4 ,forgotten during the
 ,middle ,ages1 it was brought to light 
by the classical scholar ,guarino of    
,verona 7#acgd-adfj7 in #adbf1 and a    
better copy was discovered by his friend
 ,lamola in #adbg4 ,another copy was    
found by ,thomas ,parentucelli          

7#acig-adee71 afterwards ,pope ,nicholas
 ,v in #addc1 and the text was later    
studied by ,politian 7#aded-id74 ,though
 one of the latest of the great         
classical medical texts to be           
discovered1 it was one of the first to  
be printed 7,florence1 #adgh71 and it   
ran through very many early editions and
 had great influence on the medical     
renaissance4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4  
,,votive ,,tablet representing cupping  
and bleeding instruments from ,temple of
 ,asclepius at ,athens4 ,in centre is   
represented a folding case containing   
scalpels of various forms4 ,on either   
side are cupping vessels4  ,after       
,celsus comes ,dioscorides in the first 
century ,a4 ,d4 ,he was a ,greek        
military surgeon of ,cilician origin who
 served under ,nero1 and in him the     
,greek intellect is obviously beginning 
to flag4 ,his work is prodigiously      
important for the history of botany1 yet
 so far as rational medicine is         
concerned he is almost negligible4 ,he  

begins at the wrong end1 either giving  
lists of drugs with the symptoms that   
they are said to cure or to relieve1 or 
lists of symptoms with a series of named
 drugs4 ,clinical observation and record
 are wholly absent1 and the spirit of   
,hippocrates has departed from this     
elaborate pharmacopia4  ,with the second
 century of the ,christian era we       
terminate the creative period of ,greek 
medicine4 ,we are provided with the     
works of four important writers of this 
century1 of whom three1 ,rufus of       
,ephesus1 ,soranus of ,ephesus1 and     
,aretaeus of ,cappadocia1 though        
valuable for forming a picture of the   
state of medicine in their day1 were    
without substantial influence on the    
course of medicine in later ages4       
,rufus of ,ephesus1 a little junior to  
,dioscorides1 has left us the first     
formal work on human anatomy and is of  
some importance in the history of       
comparative anatomy4 ,in medicine he is 
memorable as the first to have described

 bubonic plague1 and in surgery for his 
description of the methods of arresting 
haemorrhage and his knowledge of the    
anatomy of the eye4 ,a work by him ,on  
gout was translated into ,latin in the  
sixth century1 but remained unknown till
 modern times4  ,soranus of ,ephesus    
7,a4 ,d4 c4 #ij-;c4 #aej71 an acute     
writer on gynaecology1 has left a book  
which illustrates well the anatomy of   
his day4 ,it exercised an influence for 
many centuries to come1 and a ,latin    
abstract of it prepared about the sixth 
century by one ,moschion has come down  
to us in an almost contemporary         
manuscript4#ib ,it is interesting as    
opposing the ,hippocratic theory that   
the male embryo is originated in the    
right and the female in the left half of
 the womb1 a fallacy derived originally 
from ,empedocles and ,parmenides1 but   
perpetuated by ,latin translations of   
the ,hippocratic treatises until the    
seventeenth century4 ,his work was      
adorned by figures1 and some of these1  

naturally greatly altered by copyists1  
but still not infinitely removed from   
the facts1 have survived in a manuscript
 of the ninth century1 and give us a    
distant idea of the appearance of       
ancient anatomical drawings4#ic ,we may 
assist our imagination a little further1
 in forming an idea of what such        
diagrams were like1 with the help of    
certain other mediaeval figures         
representing the form and distribution  
of the various anatomical 'systems'1    
veins1 arteries1 nerves1 bones1 and     
muscles which are probably traceable to 
an ,alexandrian origin4#id      #ib     
,leyden ,voss #d #i99 of the sixth      
century is a fragment of this     work4 
#ic ,v4 ,rose1 ,sorani ,ephesii vetus   
translatio ,latina cum additis          
,graeci textus reliquiis1 ,leipzig1     
#ahhb2 ,f4 ,weindler1 ,geschichte       
der gynkologisch-anatomischen           
,abbildung1 ,dresden1 #aijh4      #id   
,the discovery and attribution of these 
figures is the work of     ,k4 ,sudhoff4

 ,a bibliography of his writings on the 
subject will be     found in a ',study  
in ,early ,renaissance ,anatomy' in ,c4 
,singer's     ,studies in the ,history  
and ,method of ,science1 vol4 i1        
,oxford1     #aiag4  ,aretaeus of       
,cappadocia was probably a contemporary 
of ,galen 7second half of the second    
century ,a4 ,d474 ,as a clinical author 
his reputation stands high1 perhaps too 
high1 his descriptions of pneumonia1    
empyema1 diabetes1 and elephantiasis    
having especially drawn attention4 ,in  
treatment he uses simple remedies1 is   
not affected by polypharmacy1 and       
suggests many ingenious mechanical      
devices4 ,it would appear that ,aretaeus
 is not an independent writer1 but      
mainly a compiler4 ,he relies largely on
 ,archigenes1 a distinguished physician 
contemporary with ,juvenal1 whose works 
have perished save the fragments        
preserved in this manner by ,aretaeus   
and ,aetius4 ,aretaeus was a very       
popular writer among the ,greeks in all 

ages1 but he was not translated into    
,latin1 and was unknown in the ,west    
until the middle of the sixteenth       
century4#ie ,he is philologically       
interesting as still using the ,ionic   
dialect4      #ie ,first ,latin edition 
,venice1 #aeeb2 first ,greek edition    
,paris1     #aeed4  ,there remains the  
huge overshadowing figure of ,galen4    
,the enormous mass of the surviving work
 of this man1 the dictator of medicine  
until the revival of learning and       
beyond1 tends to throw out of           
perspective the whole of ,greek medical 
records4 ,the works of ,galen alone form
 about half of the mass of surviving    
,greek medical writings1 and occupy1 in 
the standard edition1 twenty-two thick1 
closely-printed volumes4 ,these cover   
every department of medicine1 anatomy1  
physiology1 pathology1 medical theory1  
therapeutics1 as well as clinical       
medicine and surgery4 ,in style they are
 verbose and heavy and very frequently  
polemical4 ,they are saturated with a   

teleology which1 at times1 becomes      
excessively tedious4 ,in the anatomical 
works1 masses of teleological           
explanation dilute the account of often 
imperfectly described structures4 ,yet  
to this element we owe the preservation 
of the mass of ,galen's works1 for his  
intensely teleological point of view    
appealed to the theological bias both of
 ,western ,christianity and of ,eastern 
,islam4 ,intolerable as literature1 his 
works are a valuable treasure house of  
medical knowledge and experience1       
custom1 tradition1 and history4  ,as in 
the case of the ,hippocratic corpus1 so 
in the case of the ,galenic corpus we   
are dealing to some extent with material
 from various sources4 ,in the case of  
,galen1 however1 we have a good standard
 of genuineness1 for he has left us a   
list of his books which can be checked  
off against those which we actually     
possess4 ,the general standpoint of the 
,galenic is not unlike that of the      
,hippocratic writings1 but the noble    

vision of the lofty-minded1 pure-souled 
physician has utterly passed away4 ,in  
his place we have an acute1 honest1 very
 contentious fellow1 bristling with     
energy and of prodigious industry1 not  
unkindly1 but loving strife1 a          
thoroughly 'aggressive' character4 ,he  
loves truth1 but he loves argument quite
 as much4 ,the value of his             
philosophical writings1 of which some   
have survived1 cannot be discussed here1
 but it is evident that he is frequently
 satisfied with purely verbal           
explanations4 ,an ingenious             
physiologist1 a born experimenter1 an   
excellent anatomist and eager to        
improve1 possessing a good knowledge of 
the human skeleton and an accurate      
acquaintance with the internal parts so 
far as this can be derived from a most  
industrious devotion to dissection of   
animals1 equipped with all the learning 
of the schools of ,pergamon1 ,smyrna1   
and ,alexandria1 and rich with the      
experience of a vast practice at ,rome1 

,galen is essentially an 'efficient'    
man4 ,he has the grace to acknowledge   
constantly and repeatedly his           
indebtedness to the ,hippocratic        
writings4 ,such was the man whose       
remains1 along with the ,hippocratic    
collection1 formed the main medical     
legacy of ,greece to the ,western world4
  ,some of ,galen's works are mere drug 
lists1 little superior to those of      
,dioscorides2#if with the depression of 
the intelligence that corresponded with 
the break up of the ,roman ,empire1 it  
was these that were chiefly seized on   
and distributed in the ,west4           
,attractive too to the debased intellect
 of the late ,roman world were certain  
spurious1 superstitious1 and            
astrological works that circulated in   
the name of ,galen and ,hippocrates4#ig 
,the ,greek medical writers after ,galen
 were but his imitators and abstractors1
 but through some of them ,galen's works
 reached the ,west at a very early      
period in the ,middle ,ages4 ,such      

abstractors who were early translated   
into ,latin were ,oribasius 7#cbe-djc71 
,paul of ,aegina 7#fbe-fij71 and        
,alexander of ,tralles 7#ebe-fje74 ,of  
the best and most scientific of ,galen's
 works the ,middle ,ages knew little or 
nothing4      #if e4 g4        peri     
krases kai dynames tn hapantn pharmakn  
and the      pharmaka4      #ig e4 g4   
,de dinamidiis ,galeni1 ,secreta        
,hippocratis and many     astrological  
tracts4  ,later ,galen and ,hippocrates 
became a little more accessible1 not by 
translation from the ,greek1 but by     
translation from the ,arabic of a       
,syriac version4 ,the first work to be  
so rendered was a version of ,aphorisms 
of ,hippocrates which1 however1 as we   
have seen1 were already available in    
,latin dress1 together with the         
,hippocratic ,regimen in acute diseases1
 and certain works of ,galen as         
corruptly interpreted by ,isaac         
,judaeus4 ,these were rendered from     
,arabic into ,latin by ,constantine1 an 

,african adventurer who became a monk at
 ,monte ,cassino and died there in      
#ajhg4 ,constantine was a wretched      
craftsman with an imperfect knowledge of
 both ,arabic and ,latin4 ,more         
effective was the great twelfth-century 
translator from the ,arabic1 ,gerard of 
,cremona 7died #aahe71 who turned many  
medical works into ,latin from ,arabic1 
and who was followed by a whole host of 
imitators4 ,yet more important for the  
advance of medicine1 however1 was the   
learned revival of the thirteenth       
century4 ,in the main that revival was  
based on translations from ,arabic1 but 
a certain number of works were also     
rendered direct from the ,greek4 ,during
 the thirteenth century ,aristotle's    
scientific works began to be treated in 
this way1 but more important for the    
course of medicine were those of ,galen1
 and they had to wait till the following
 century4 ,the long treatise of ,galen1 
peri chreias tn en anthrpou smati morin1
 ,on the uses of the bodily parts in    

man1 was translated from the ,greek into
 ,latin by ,nicholas of ,reggio in the  
earlier part of the fourteenth century4 
,this work1 with all its defects1 was by
 far the best account of the human body 
then available4 ,many manuscripts of the
 ,latin version have survived1 and it   
was translated into several vernaculars1
 including ,english1 and profoundly     
influenced surgery4 ,the rendering into 
,latin of this treatise1 and its wide   
distribution1 may be regarded as the    
starting-point of modern scientific     
medicine4 ,its appearance is moreover a 
part of the phenomenon of the revived   
interest in dissection which had begun  
to be practised in the ,universities in 
the thirteenth century1#ih and was a    
generally accepted discipline in the    
fourteenth and fifteenth4#ii      #ih   
,dissection of animals was practised at 
,salerno as early as the     eleventh   
century4      #ii ,the sources of the   
anatomical knowledge of the ,middle     
,ages are     discussed in detail in the

 following works3 ,r4 ,r4 von ,tply1    
,studien zur ,geschichte der ,anatomie  
im ,mittelalter1 ,vienna1 #ahih2     ,k4
 ,sudhoff1 ,tradition und               
,naturbeobachtung1 ,leipzig1 #aijg2 and 
also numerous articles in the ,archiv fr
 ,geschichte der ,medizin und           
,naturwissenschaften2 ,charles ,singer1 
',a ,study in ,early ,renaissance       
,anatomy'1 in ,studies in the ,history  
and ,method of ,science1 vol4 i1        
,oxford1 #aiag4  ,until the end of the  
fifteenth century progress in anatomy   
was almost imperceptible4 ,during the   
fifteenth century more ,galenic and     
,hippocratic texts were recovered and   
gradually turned into ,latin1 but still 
without vitally affecting the course of 
,anatomy4 ,the actual printing of       
collected editions of ,hippocrates and  
,galen came rather late1 for the debased
 taste of the ,renaissance physicians   
continued to prefer ,dioscorides and the
 ,arabs1 of whom numerous editions      
appeared1 so that medicine made no      

advance corresponding to the progress of
 scholarship4 ,the ,hippocratic works   
were first printed in #aebe1 and an     
isolated edition of the inferior ,galen 
in #adij1 but the real advance in       
,medicine was not made by direct study  
of these works4 ,so long as they were   
treated in the old scholastic spirit    
such works were of no more value than   
those of the ,arabists or others        
inherited from the ,middle ,ages4 ,even 
,hippocrates can be spoilt by a         
commentary1 and it was not until the    
investigator began actually to compare  
his own observations with those of      
,hippocrates and ,galen that the real   
value of these works became apparent4   
,the department in which this happened  
first was ,anatomy1 and such            
revolutionaries as ,leonardo da ,vinci  
7#adeb-aeah71 who never published1 and  
,vesalius 7#aead-aefd71 whose great work
 appeared in #aedc1 were really basing  
their work on ,galen1 though they were  
much occupied in proving ,galen's       

errors4 ,antonio ,benivieni 7died       
#aejb71 an eager prophet of the new     
spirit1 revived the ,hippocratic        
tradition by actually collecting notes  
of a few cases with accompanying records
 of deaths and post-mortem findings1    
among which it is interesting to observe
 a case of appendicitis4#ajj ,his       
example was occasionally followed during
 the sixteenth century1 as for instance1
 by the ,portuguese ,jewish physician   
,amatus ,lusitanus 7#aeaa-;c4 #aefb71   
who printed no fewer than seven hundred 
cases2 but the real revival of the      
,hippocratic tradition came in the next 
century with ,sydenham 7#afbd-afhi7 and 
,boerhaave 7#affh-agch71 who were       
consciously working on the ,hippocratic 
basis and endeavouring to extend the    
,hippocratic experience4      #ajj      
,benivieni's notes were published       
posthumously4 ,some of the     spurious 
,greek works of the ,hippocratic        
collection have also case     notes4    
,lastly surgery came to profit by the   

revival4 ,the greatest of the           
sixteenth-century surgeons1 the lovable 
and loving ,ambroise ,par 7#aeaj-aeij71 
though he was1 as he himself humbly     
confessed1 an ignorant man knowing      
neither ,latin nor ,greek1 can be shown 
to have derived much from the works of  
antiquity1 which were circulating in    
translation in his day and were thus    
filtering down to the unlearned4  ,texts
 of ,hippocrates and of ,galen had      
formed an integral part in the medical  
instruction of the universities from    
their commencement in the thirteenth    
century4 ,the first ,greek text of the  
,aphorisms of ,hippocrates appeared in  
#aecb1 edited by no less a hand than    
that of ,franois ,rabelais4 ,with the   
further recovery of the ,greek texts and
 preparation of better translations1    
these became almost the sole mode of    
instruction during the fifteenth and    
sixteenth centuries4 ,the translators   
became legion and their competence      
varied4 ,one highly skilled translator1 

however1 is of special interest to      
,english readers4 ,thomas ,linacre      
7#adfj8-aebd71 ,physician to ,henry     
,,viii1 ,tutor to the ,princess ,mary1  
founder and first president of the      
,college of ,physicians1 a benefactor of
 both the ancient ,universities and one 
of the earliest1 ablest1 most typical1  
and most exasperating of the ,english   
humanists1 spent much energy on this    
work of translation for which his       
abilities peculiarly fitted him4 ,he was
 responsible for no less than six       
important works of ,galen1 of which one1
 the ,de temperamentis et de inaequali  
intemperie1 printed at ,cambridge in    
#aeba1 was among the earliest books     
impressed in that town and is said to be
 the first printed in ,england for which
 ,greek types were used4 ,it has been   
honoured by reproduction in facsimile in
 modern times4 ,such works as these1    
purely literary efforts1 had great vogue
 for a century and more1 and were much  
in use in the ,universities4 ,these     

humanistic products sometimes produced1 
among the advocates of the new          
scientific method1 a degree of fury     
which was only rivalled by that of some 
of the humanists themselves towards the 
translators from the ,arabic4 ,but these
 are now dead fires4 ,as the clinical   
and scientific methods of teaching      
gained ground1 textual studies receded  
in medical education1 as ,hippocrates   
and ,galen themselves would have wished 
them to recede4  ,the texts of          
,hippocrates and ,galen have now ceased 
to occupy a place in any medical        
curriculum4 ,yet all who know these     
writings1 know too1 not only that their 
spirit is still with us1 but that the   
works themselves form the background of 
modern practice1 and that their very    
phraseology is still in use at the      
bedside4 ,modern medicine may be truly  
described as in essence a creation of   
the ,greeks4 ,to realize the nature of  
our medical system1 some knowledge of   
its ,greek sources is essential4 ,it    

would indeed be a bad day for medicine  
if ever this debt to the ,greeks were   
forgotten1 and the loss would be at     
least as much ethical as intellectual4  
,but there is happily no fear of this1  
for the figure and spirit of            
,hippocrates are more real and living   
to-day than they have been since the    
great collapse of the ,greek scientific 
intellect in the third and fourth       
centuries of the ,christian era4        
,,charles ,,singer4       ,the author   
has to thank ,mr4 ,r4 ,w4 ,livingstone1 
,dr4 ,e4 ,t4      ,withington1 ,prof4   
,a4 ,platt1 and ,mr4 ,j4 ,d4 ,beazley   
for corrections      and suggestions4   
,,literature   ,a man walking down      
,shaftesbury ,avenue from ,piccadilly to
 ,charing ,cross ,road passes the ,lyric
 ,theatre4 ,if it is the evening1 a     
dramatic performance is probably taking 
place inside4 ,it may be a tragedy1 or  
some form of comedy4 ,if it is a musical
 comedy and he enters1 he will see      
elaborate scenery and a play which may  

open with a prologue and which is partly
 composed of dialogue between the       
various characters1 partly of songs in  
various metres sung by a chorus to the  
accompaniment of an orchestra4 ,as the  
words in italics indicate1 our imaginary
 passer-by will have seen1 though he may
 not have suspected it1 a symbol of the 
indelible mark which the ,greeks have   
set on the aesthetic and intellectual   
life of ,europe1 and of the living      
presence of ,greece in the twentieth    
century4 ,an ancient ,athenian might be 
startled at the sight of a musical      
comedy and its chorus1 but he would be  
looking at his own child1 a descendant1 
however distant1 degenerate1 and hard to
 recognize1 of that chorus which with   
dance and song moved round the altar of 
,dionysus in the theatre of his home4   
,the same imprint1 clear or faint1 is on
 all our literary forms1 except perhaps 
one4 ,epic1 lyric1 elegiac1 dramatic1   
didactic1 poetry1 history1 biography1   
rhetoric and oratory1 the epigram1 the  

essay1 the sermon1 the novel1 letter    
writing and literary criticism are all  
,greek by origin1 and in nearly every   
case their name betrays their source4   
,rome raises a doubtful claim to satire1
 but the substance of satire is present 
in the ,old ,comedy1 and the form seems 
to have existed in writings now lost4   
,there are even one or two genres1 such 
as the imaginary speech1 which ,greece  
invented and which are not1 fortunately1
 found in modern literature4 ,when the  
curtain rose on ,homer1 ,european       
literature did not exist3 long before it
 falls on the late ,byzantines1 the     
lines were laid on which it has moved up
 to our own day4 ,this is the entire    
work of a single people1 politically    
weak1 numerically small1 materially     
poor--according to the economy of nature
 which in things of the mind and the    
spirit gives a germinating power to few4
 ,the ,greeks are justly admired for    
individual poems1 plays1 and pieces of  
writing2 but it was something even      

greater to have explored the            
possibilities of literature so far that 
posterity1 while it has developed ,greek
 genres1 has not hitherto been able to  
add to them4 ,this is one part of the   
,greek ,legacy to literature4  ,another 
part are the works themselves4          
,literature can only be judged by       
reading it1 and certainly it cannot be  
characterized in a few pages4 ,but a man
 ignorant of ,greek and anxious to      
estimate its value might form some idea 
by inquiring the opinions of qualified  
judges4 ,he would find them unanimous3  
,i suppose it is true that no man of    
eminence qualified to speak has ever    
spoken of ,greek literature in any tone 
but one4 ,the first testimony is that of
 the ,romans4 ,it is borne by their     
literature1 starting in translations    
from ,greek1 adopting one after another 
of their genres1 permeated through and  
through 7and most of all in the greatest
 writers7 by imitations1 reminiscences1 
influences of ,greek1 confessing and    

glorying in the debt4 ',in learning1'   
says ,cicero1 'and in every branch of   
literature1 the ,greeks are our         
masters4'#aja ,a ,roman boy should begin
 his studies with ,greek1 ,quintilian   
thought1 'because ,latin learning is    
derived from ,greek4'#ajb ,the same note
 is repeated in the literature of the   
,renaissance1 and re-echoed by the most 
various voices of our own century4      
#aja ,tusc4 #a4 #a4 #b4      #ajb ,inst4
 ,or4 ,i4 #a4 #ab4  ',though one of the 
,greek tragedians may seem rather       
greater and more complete than another1 
their work as a whole has a single      
pervading quality4 ,it is marked by     
grandeur1 excellence1 sanity1 complete  
humanity1 a high philosophy of life1 a  
lofty way of thinking1 a powerful       
intuition 7,anschauung74 ,we find these 
qualities in their surviving lyric and  
epic poetry as well as in their drama3  
we find them in their philosophers1     
orators1 and historians and1 to an      
equally high degree1 in their surviving 

sculpture4'#ajc      #ajc ,goethe1      
,gesprche1 #c4 #chg4  ',beside the great
 ,attic poets1 like ,aeschylus and      
,sophocles1 ,i am absolutely            
nothing4'#ajd      #ajd ,ibid41 #c4     
#ddc4  ',he spoke with great animation  
of the advantage of classical study1    
,greek especially4 ,where1 he said1     
would one look for a greater orator than
 ,demosthenes2 or finer dramatic poetry1
 next to ,shakspere1 than that of       
,aeschylus or ,sophocles1 not to speak  
of ,euripides4 ,herodotus he thought the
 most interesting and instructive book1 
next to the ,bible1 which had ever been 
written4'#aje      #aje ,wordsworth1    
,table-talk4  ',the period which        
intervened between the birth of         
,pericles and the death of ,aristotle is
 undoubtedly1 whether considered in     
itself or with reference to the effects 
which it has produced upon the          
subsequent destinies of civilized man1  
the most memorable in the history of the
 world4444 ,the wrecks and fragments of 

these subtle and profound minds1 like   
the ruins of a fine statue1 obscurely   
suggest to us the grandeur and          
perfection of the whole4 ,their very    
language 444 in variety1 in simplicity1 
in flexibility1 and in copiousness1     
excels every other language of the      
western world4' ,then1 after some words 
on their sculpture1 he adds3 'their     
poetry seems to maintain a very high1   
though not so disproportionate a rank1  
in the comparison' 7with other          
literatures74#ajf      #ajf ,shelley1   
,on the ,manners of the ,ancients4      
',the ,greeks are the most remarkable   
people who have yet existed4444 ,they   
were the beginners of nearly everything1
 ,christianity excepted1 of which the   
modern world makes its boast4444 ,they  
were the first people who had a         
historical literature2 as perfect of its
 kind 7though not the highest kind7 as  
their oratory1 their sculpture1 and     
their architecture4 ,they were the      
founders of mathematics1 of physics1 of 

the inductive study of politics1 of the 
philosophy of human nature and life4 ,in
 each they made the indispensable first 
steps1 which are the foundation of all  
the rest4'#ajg      #ajg ,mill1         
,dissertations1 ii4 #bhc f4  ',i have   
gone back to ,greek literature with a   
passion quite astonishing to myself4444 
,i felt as if ,i had never known before 
what intellectual enjoyment was4 ,oh    
that wonderful people6 ,there is not one
 art1 not one science1 about which we   
may not use the same expression which   
,lucretius has employed about the       
victory over superstition ,primum       
,graius homo4 ,i think myself very      
fortunate in having been able to return 
to these great masters while still in   
the full vigour of life and when my     
taste and judgement are mature4 ,most   
people read all the ,greek that they    
ever read before they are               
five-and-twenty4444 ,a young man1       
whatever his genius may be1 is no judge 
of such a writer as ,thucydides4 ,i had 

no high opinion of him ten years ago4 ,i
 have now been reading him with a mind  
accustomed to historical researches and 
to political affairs2 and ,i am         
astonished at my own former blindness1  
and at his greatness4 ,i could not bear 
,euripides at college4 ,i now read my   
recantation4 ,he has faults undoubtedly4
 ,but what a poet6'#ajh      #ajh       
,macaulay1 ,life and ,letters1 i4 #dc4  
,these men--and there is no difficulty  
in adding to their number--are not only 
qualified but unprejudiced witnesses4   
,they have no parti pris4 ,they cannot  
be accused1 as schoolmasters and dons   
are sometimes accused1 of holding shares
 in a great ,trading ,bank of ,greece   
and ,rome ,unlimited1 and having a      
personal motive for their enthusiasm4   
,nor can it be said that they admired   
,greece because they knew nothing       
better4 ,all--,goethe no less than the  
others--had ,english literature in their
 hands1 knew it well and appreciated its
 greatness4 ,yet this1 given in their   

own words1 is the impression which      
,greek made on them4 ,securus iudicat   
orbis terrarum2 and the verdict here is 
plain4 ,it is clear that we have in     
,greek a surviving body of poetry and   
prose which is of unique interest to any
 one who cares for literature4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,i have tried to give a summary answer  
to the question1 ,what did the ,greeks  
achieve8 ,they invented every literary  
genre which we know1 they laid the lines
 which ,european literature has         
followed1 they created a body of prose  
and poetry which has won the homage of  
the world4 ,the further question1 ,what 
can the world still learn from them1 is 
less easy to answer4 ,the answer lies in
 ,greek literature1 and the essence of a
 literature cannot be extracted and     
bottled in a number of abstract         
formulae4 ,no literature is great in    
virtue of its qualities1 which are      
always something less than the          
literature itself1 but only in so far as

 it expands to the breadth of the       
universe and climbs to its height4 ,this
 is the final test which must be        
applied4 ,how far ,greek literature     
satisfies it1 can be judged from the    
testimonies which have been quoted      
above4  ,remembering this let us        
deliberately narrow our view and talk of
 qualities3 and here1 narrowing it      
again1 let us confine the discussion to 
certain qualities1 which are found      
indeed in all literatures1 but are      
elsewhere neither so universal nor      
carried to so high a power4 ,no one can 
think of ,greek literature without      
thinking of them2 they live on the lips 
of its admirers1 and in them the        
inspiration of ,greek literature is     
chiefly enshrined4 ,these essential     
qualities are ,simplicity1 ,perfection  
of ,form1 ,truth and ,beauty4 ,greek    
literature is much more than these      
qualities4 ,the ,agamemnon1 the         
,oedipus1 the ,bacchae are not to be    
explained wholly by them4 ,the greatness

 of these plays is partly something     
individual1 and partly it is what makes 
,king ,lear or ,faust or ,brand great3  
and that is neither entirely nor mainly 
simplicity or beauty or truth or form4  
,but my object is to emphasize qualities
 for which ,greek is exceptional1 and   
though some critics may have talked of  
the beauty of ,greek literature till    
beauty was absurdly supposed to be its  
chief or only quality1 they were right  
to recognize the prominence of beauty   
there1 and though truth is a mark of the
 greatest writing in all languages1 it  
is more universal in ,greek than in any 
other literature4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,if a reader      
turned from ,milton to ,homer1 from     
,shakespeare to ,sophocles1 from ,plato 
or ,aristotle to some modern work on    
ethics1 politics1 or literary criticism1
 he would find one point of difference  
between the earlier and the later       
writers in the greater simplicity of the
 former4 ,they are briefer3 the ,oedipus

 ,tyrannus has #aecj lines while the    
first two acts of ,hamlet alone have    
more than #afjj1 and ,greek histories   
and philosophical writings are          
correspondingly shorter than their      
modern counterparts4 ,the whole of      
,thucydides could be printed in a       
twenty-four page issue of ,the ,times1  
and leave room to spare2 the essay of   
,aristotle on ,poetry1 which for        
generations dictated the principles of  
dramatic writing1 has forty-five short  
pages2 the ,republic of ,plato1 which   
has influenced thought more than any    
other philosophic work1 has a little    
over three hundred4 ,brevity indeed is  
not always simplicity1 and it is        
possible to be at once simple and       
lengthy4 ,but any one who examines these
 ,greek writers will find that they are 
brief1 because1 avoiding bypaths and    
by-plots1 elaboration or minute detail1 
they strike out the central features of 
their picture with an effortless economy
 of line4 ,their writing has a double   

quality4 ,it shows a firm hold on the   
central and fundamental things3 and it  
presents them unmixed with and          
unconfused by minor issues1 so that they
 stand out like forest trees which no   
undergrowth of brushwood masks4 ,it is  
important to make this distinction1 for 
all great literature has the first of   
these qualities2 the second is largely  
an accident of time4 ,as civilization   
moves further from its origin1 it cannot
 but receive a thousand tributaries that
 continually augment its volume1 and    
colour and confuse its streams3 at the  
sources it flows clear and untroubled4  
,the interests of an early age are the  
primal and essential interests of human 
nature and the literature of such an age
 presents them unalloyed and            
uncomplicated by lesser issues4 ,in the 
thinkers the main and fundamental       
problems stand clearly out1 and ,plato  
and ,thucydides take us straight to     
them4 ,the poets make their poetry from 
emotions and interests that are as old  

as man1 and have none of the refinements
 and complications which education and a
 long inheritance of culture superadd to
 the essential stuff of human nature4   
',you ,greeks are always children1' said
 the ,egyptian priest to ,solon2 and he 
spoke the truth in a sense which he did 
not mean4 ,the ,greeks' feelings were   
not dulled or sophisticated by the      
damnosa hereditas of the past4 ,neither 
their life nor their mental atmosphere  
was complicated4 ,they had not 'thought 
themselves into weariness'4 ,they were  
the children of the world1 and they     
united the startling acuteness1         
directness1 and simplicity of children  
to the intellects of men4  ,pater took  
,la ,gioconda of ,leonardo da ,vinci to 
symbolize the difference of modern and  
ancient art1 and to illustrate the      
intricacy and complication of the       
former1 as compared with the simplicity 
of the latter4 ',hers is the head1' he  
writes of the ,monna ,lisa1 'upon which 
all the ends of the world are come1 and 

the eyelids are a little weary4 ,it is a
 beauty wrought out from within upon the
 flesh1 the deposit1 little cell by     
cell1 of strange thoughts and fantastic 
reveries and exquisite passions4 ,set it
 for a moment beside one of those white 
goddesses or beautiful women of         
antiquity1 and how would they be        
troubled by this beauty1 into which the 
soul with all its maladies has passed6  
,all the thoughts and experience of the 
world have etched and moulded there1 in 
that which they have of power to refine 
and make expressive the outward form4444
 ,she is older than the rocks among     
which she sits2 like the vampire1 she   
has been dead many times and learned the
 secrets of the grave2 and has been a   
diver in deep seas1 and keeps their     
fallen day about her 4442 and all this  
lives only in the delicacy with which it
 has moulded the changing lineaments1   
and tinged the eyelids and the hands4   
,the fancy of a perpetual life1 sweeping
 together ten thousand experiences1 is  

an old one2 and modern thought has      
conceived the idea of humanity as       
wrought upon by1 and summing up in      
itself1 all modes of thought and life4  
,certainly ,lady ,lisa might stand as   
the embodiment of the old fancy1 the    
symbol of the modern idea4' ,slightly   
fanciful and ,pateresque as these words 
are1 they are substantially true1 as any
 one who sets ,monna ,lisa by a piece of
 fifth-century sculpture can easily see4
 ,there is the same contrast between    
,greek literature and our own4 ,how     
'troubled' would ,homer or ,sophocles be
 by the writings of ,browning or        
,meredith1 of ,henry ,james or ,conrad1 
in whom so many eddies and              
cross-currents of thought and experience
 unite4  ,compare the story of ,hector  
and ,andromache with some famous passage
 from any of these writers4 ',so spake  
glorious ,hector and stretched out his  
arm to his boy4 ,but the child shrunk   
crying to the bosom of his fair-girdled 
nurse1 dismayed at the look of his dear 

father and in fear of the bronze and the
 horsehair crest that nodded fiercely   
from his helmet's top4 ,then his dear   
father and his lady mother laughed      
aloud3 forthwith glorious ,hector took  
the helmet from his head and laid it1   
all gleaming1 on the earth2 then kissed 
he his dear son and danced him in his   
arms1 and spoke in prayer to ,zeus and  
all the gods1 ,o ,zeus and all ye gods1 
grant that this my son may be as ,i am1 
pre-eminent among the ,trojans1 and as  
valiant in might1 and may he be a great 
king of ,troy4 ,so he spoke and laid his
 son in his dear wife's arms2 and she   
took him to her fragrant bosom1 smiling 
through tears4 ,and her husband had pity
 to see her and caressed her with his   
hand1 and spoke and called her by her   
name3 ,dear one1 ,i pray thee be not of 
oversorrowful heart2 no man against my  
fate shall send me to my death2 but     
destiny1 ,i ween1 no man hath escaped4  
,so spake glorious ,hector and took up  
his horsehair-crested helmet2 and his   

dear wife departed to her home1 often   
looking back and letting fall great     
tears4 ,and she came to the well-built  
house of man-slaying ,hector1 and found 
therein her many handmaidens1 and       
stirred lamentation in them all4 ,so    
they wept for ,hector1 while he yet     
lived1 in his house2 for they thought   
that he would no more come back to them 
from battle4'#aji ,these are emotions   
shared by mankind twenty centuries      
before ,christ and twenty centuries     
after him1 common equally to            
,shakespeare or ,napoleon and to the    
stupidest and least educated of mankind2
 and these emotions are expressed with a
 simplicity as elemental as themselves4 
,subjects as simple may be found in our 
literature2 expression as direct would  
be hard to find4 ,even a primitive like 
,chaucer is the heir of dimly           
apprehended inheritances from ,greece   
and ,rome1 and is haunted by fancies    
from lost and living fairylands of      
literature4 ,it is in our ,bible that we

 find the elemental feelings of ,homer  
and an expression even more direct4     
',and she departed and wandered in the  
wilderness of ,beersheba4 ,and the water
 was spent in the bottle1 and she cast  
the child under one of the shrubs4 ,and 
she went and sat her down over against  
him a good way off1 as it were a        
bowshot3 for she said1 ,let me not see  
the death of the child4 ,and she sat    
down over against him1 and lift up her  
voice1 and wept4'#aaj      #aji ,homer1 
,iliad1 vi4 #dff ff4 7with omissions3   
chiefly from the     translation of     
,lang1 ,leaf1 and ,myers74 ,it should be
 remembered that1     of the three      
figures in this scene1 the husband will 
be dead in a     few days1 while within 
a year the wife will be a slave and the 
child     thrown from the city wall4    
#aaj ,genesis xxi4 #ad f4  ,like the    
writer of the ,pentateuch1 ,homer lived 
in a world whose emotions were          
elemental1 and writing of this kind came
 naturally to him4 ,the weight of       

tradition began to weigh on succeeding  
ages1 but it never became heavy1 because
 the accumulations were small and the   
world was still comparatively simple4   
,also its poets and prose writers moved 
in the fields of action as soldiers and 
politicians1 continually confronting the
 realities of life1 and knowing them as 
they are1 not as they appear in a study4
 ,thus their topics are central1 the    
writing is simple4 ,the subjects of the 
,oedipus ,tyrannus or the ,hercules     
,furens might be called morbid2 but not 
the handling of them by ,sophocles and  
,euripides4 ,the unnatural element is in
 the background and almost unnoticed2   
the interest lies in the spectacle of   
great men in overwhelming disaster--an  
elemental theme and belonging to the    
general life of man4 ,the treatment is  
as simple as in ,homer1 the figures few1
 subordinate interests out of sight1 the
 light thrown full on the central       
tragedy4 ,hence comes a rare intensity1 
an immediacy of impression1 a sense of  

nearness to the thing described1 which  
will strike anyone who reads the        
messenger's speech in the ,hercules     
,furens1 or the scene where the identity
 of ,oedipus is discovered1 or indeed   
any great passage in ,greek ,drama4     
,this simplicity of treatment persists1 
when with ,menander and the             
,alexandrians we pass into a world more 
like our own and find literature1 still 
simple in form1 but more artistic1 more 
intellectual1 more literary1 less       
centrally and fundamentally human4  ,it 
would be foolish to demand that modern  
writers should have the simplicity of   
,homer or the age of ,pericles1 or to   
pretend that they cannot be great       
without it4 ,every age must and will    
have its own literature1 reflecting the 
minds and circumstances of those who    
write it4 ,nor is the advantage entirely
 on the side of the ,greeks4 ,a drama of
 ,shakespeare or a novel of ,tolstoi1   
with their long roll of dramatis        
personae1 are more like life than a     

,greek tragedy with its absence of      
byplot and its few1 central1 characters4
 ,a modern historian would have recorded
 and discussed aspects of the history of
 fifth-century ,greece which ,thucydides
 ignores4 ,modern literature may claim  
that1 with less intensity1 it has       
greater amplitude and a more faithful   
presentation of the complexity of life4 
,on the other hand the ,greeks are free 
from that dominance of the abnormal     
which is one danger of modern           
literature2 they do not explore sexual  
and other aberrations or encourage their
 readers to explore them4 ,they are also
 free from that dominance of the        
unessential1 which1 in life as in       
literature1 is a more innocent but more 
subtle and perhaps equally ruinous vice4
 ,that is why their simplicity is       
refreshing and salutary4 ,porro unum    
necessarium4 ,in life human beings      
return from a distracting variety of    
interests to a few simple things2 or1 if
 they do not return1 run the risk of    

losing their souls4 ,in literature1     
which is the shadow of life1 they need  
to do the same4         99       99     
99       99       99  ,the simplicity of
 ,greek literature is accompanied by the
 highest literary art4 ,nothing could be
 more surprising4 ,the primitive        
conditions that preserve simplicity are 
apparently incompatible with technical  
perfection1 which is a late-born child  
of literature and the creation of       
matured taste1 long experiment1 and     
patient work4 ,but in ,greek1 and       
perhaps only in ,greek1 navet and art go
 hand in hand4 ,there is something      
almost uncanny in ,homer's union of the 
two3 it is a paradox that the character 
of ,achilles1 the death of ,hector1 the 
primitive cunning of ,odysseus1 should  
be portrayed in such a metre and such a 
vocabulary2 it seems unnatural that so  
highly wrought and refined a medium     
should be used to depict the life and   
ideas of a society which is nearer to   
savagery than to civilization4 ,but     

unnatural or not1 so it is4  ,the most  
obvious quality of ,greek literature is 
its form1 the high level of its         
technique4 ,there are exceptions3 the   
earlier plays of ,aeschylus are crude in
 conception1 the prose of ,gorgias is as
 fantastic as that of ,lyly1 the        
sentences of ,thucydides are often      
awkward and ungrammatical2 ,aeschylus   
stands at the origin of drama1 ,gorgias 
and ,thucydides are the creators of     
periodic prose1 and they have the       
weaknesses of pioneers4 ,but in general1
 ,greek work in poetry and prose is     
highly wrought and finely finished2 and 
so rapidly did their art find itself1   
that within the lifetime of ,aeschylus  
,sophocles reached the highest level of 
dramatic and literary technique1 and    
within a generation from ,thucydides    
,plato evolved his unequalled style4 ,an
 artistic instinct was in the blood of  
the ,greeks1 and betrays itself         
throughout their literature1 in the     
choric odes with their complicated      

respondencies and subtle variations2 in 
,plato arranging and rearranging the    
first eight words of his ,republic2 in  
the interest which the ,greeks took in  
the theory of literary art1 seeking here
 as elsewhere   logon didonai1 to give  
an account of their practice4 ,how much 
more they reflected on it than we do1   
the ,rhetoric of ,aristotle1 the ,de    
,compositione of ,dionysius and the     
endless writings of the rhetoricians    
show4  ,this is universally admitted1   
but justice is more rarely done to even 
clearer evidence of the ,greek gift for 
technique4 ,other nations have          
understood the art of writing1 and left 
those monuments in words which are as   
unsubstantial and fleeting as air1 yet  
more imperishable than brass or stone2  
but no nation has created literary art  
in the sense in which the ,greeks       
created it1 or developed1 as they did1  
the various literary genres out of      
nothing4 ,they had no models or guides  
or external help4 ,rome had ,greek      

literature to follow and herself gave   
patterns to her successors2 but the     
,greeks made what they made out of      
nothing1 and are thus creators in the   
true sense of the word1 and as no other 
people have been4 ,two instances1 ,homer
 and the ,greek ,drama1 will serve to   
show this4  ,in the dawn of a literature
 at least1 we expect roughness and      
crudity1 an uncertain judgement and a   
faltering hand2 but the first known     
,greek poem1 like ,athena in the myth1  
is born full grown and mature4 ,yet its 
makers made the story and the rich      
language and the elaborate and          
unrivalled metre for themselves4 ,it    
does not lessen this achievement that   
the ,homeric poems may have been the    
fine flower of a period of poetic       
growth2 the work that went to form them 
was done by ,greeks4 ,but it needs      
imagination to appreciate the difficulty
 of the task which they undertook       
unconsciously and performed without     
theory or deliberate purpose by the mere

 light of nature4  ,it is hard to create
 even a primitive poetic vocabulary1    
where one does not exist1 and there is  
nothing primitive about       '  '      
'    1      hoi d' hs t' aigypioi       
gampsnyches ankylocheilai     petr eph' 
hypsl megala klazonte machntai1  or     
'           1    1         4#aaa        
hosson d' eroeides anr iden             
ophthalmoisin     hmenos en skopi1      
leussn epi oinopa ponton1     tosson    
epithrskousi then hypschees hippoi4     
#aaa ,iliad1 xvi4 #dbh f43 ',as vultures
 with crooked talons and     curved     
beaks that upon some high crag fight1   
screaming loudly4'     ,ibid4 v4 #ggj   
f43 ',as far as a man's view ranges in  
the haze1 as he     sits on a point of  
outlook and gazes over the wine-dark    
sea1 so far     at a spring leap the    
loud-neighing horses of the gods4'  ,it 
is hard1 as the beginnings of ,roman    
poetry show1 to devise a metre which is 
not rough1 unmusical1 or even grotesque3
 yet for richness and strength this     

first metre of ,europe has never been   
rivalled by the ,greeks or by any one   
else4 ,the same natural technical skill 
appears in more subtle things even than 
metre or language4 ,homer is born       
knowing by some instinct the profound   
secret of literary art which ,aristotle 
formulated centuries later as the       
principle of unity of ,action4 ,the plot
 of a play1 he writes in the ,poetics1  
'should have for its subject a single   
action1 whole and complete1 with a      
beginning1 a middle1 and an end4444 ,it 
will differ in structure from historical
 compositions1 which of necessity       
present not a single action1 but a      
single period1 and all that happened    
within that period to one person or to  
many1 little connected together as the  
events may be4444 ,such is the practice1
 we may say1 of most poets4 ,here again 
the transcendant excellence of ,homer   
appears4 ,he never attempts to make the 
whole war of ,troy the subject of his   
poem4 ,it would have been too vast a    

theme1 and not easily embraced in a     
single view3 while if he had kept it in 
moderate limits it would have been      
over-complicated by the variety of      
incidents4 ,as it is1 he detaches a     
single portion4'#aab ,once stated1 the  
principle of unity of action becomes a  
commonplace of literary art4 ,but1 as   
the ,annals of ,ennius or the ,faerie   
,queen show1 it is not obvious until    
stated1 and the poets from whose        
practice ,aristotle made his induction1 
must have had a rare technical instinct 
unconsciously to preserve unity of      
interest through the complications of a 
long epic or drama4 ,such achievements  
were only possible to a people with a   
natural genius for literary art4 ,in the
 hands of the ,greeks the various       
elements of literature found their      
telos and achieved their natural form1  
almost with the same instinctive        
evolution by which a seed unfolds to its
 predestined shape4      #aab ,poetics1 
c4 #bc 7tr4 ,butcher74  ,this can be    

illustrated even better from ,greek     
drama4 ,a modern author who wishes to   
write a play may not find the task easy1
 but he knows the general form which a  
drama has to take and the general       
principles to be followed in writing it4
 ,the right length is given him1 the    
division into scenes and acts1 the      
methods of exposition and dialogue1 the 
conception of a dnouement1 the law of   
unity of action1 and the rest4 ,the     
fathers of ,greek tragedy had no such   
help4 ,they had no drama in our sense of
 the word1 but simply a band of fifty   
persons dressed like satyrs1 and dancing
 round an altar and singing a song4 ,out
 of this anything or nothing might have 
been made4 ,the ,greeks1 with the       
instinctive and unerring motions of     
genius1 developed from it the highest   
and most elaborate of literary forms1   
and within a hundred years are writing  
plays which ,shelley classes with ,king 
,lear1 and which ,swinburne can call1   
'probably1 on the whole1 the greatest   

spiritual work of man'4  ,in divining   
the principles of literary art and      
evolving the various kinds of literature
 no people can be compared to the       
,greeks1 and probably none can show a   
mass of work executed with so uniformly 
high a finish4 ,but when we compare     
writer with writer we shall find        
individual artists to rival them4       
,though the strength of ,english        
literature does not lie in technical    
perfection1 ,milton1 ,pope1 and         
,tennyson--to name no others--have in   
their different ways as firm a grasp of 
it as any ,greek1 and it can be learned 
from ,french writers1 with whom it is   
the rule rather than the exception1 as  
well as from the ,greeks4 ,this is      
hardly true of another quality of ,greek
 writing1 which may be classed with     
technical finish1 though it is in fact  
something more4 ,it is one of the most  
characteristic features of ,greek2 yet  
on first acquaintance1 it is often      
disconcerting and even distasteful4 ,if 

a reader new to the classics opened     
,thucydides1 his first impression would 
probably be one of jejuneness1 of       
baldness4 ,if1 fresh from ,shelley or   
,tennyson1 he came across the epigram of
 ,simonides on the ,spartan dead at     
,thermopylae1       '1           1      
1#aac       xein'1 angellein            
,aakedaimoniois hoti tde       keimetha1
 tois keinn rhmasi peithomenoi1  he     
might see little in it but a prosaic    
want of colour4 ,this exceeding         
simplicity or economy is a              
stumbling-block to those who are        
accustomed to the expansive modern      
manner4 ,yet such a reader would have   
been making the acquaintance of some of 
the finest things in ,greek literature1 
which is always at its greatest when    
most simple1 and he would have been face
 to face with a characteristic quality  
of it4      #aac ',stranger1 tell the   
,spartans that we lie here1 obeying     
their     words4'  ,the contrast with   
the usual ,english manner may be        

illustrated by quoting a famous         
epigram--,ben ,jonson's epitaph on a boy
 actor3      ,weep with me1 all you that
 read       ,this little story2     ,and
 know1 for whom a tear you shed1        
,death's self is sorry4      ',twas a   
child that so did thrive       ,in grace
 and feature1     ,as heaven and nature 
seemed to strive       ,which owned the 
creature4      ,years he numbered scarce
 thirteen       ,when ,fates turned     
cruel1     ,yet three filled zodiacs had
 he been       ,the stage's jewel2      
,and did act 7what now we moan7         
,old men so duly1     ,as sooth the     
,parcae thought him one1       ,he      
played so truly4      ,so1 by error1 to 
his fate       ,they all consented2     
,but1 viewing him since1 alas1 too late6
       ,they have repented4  ,these     
lines--and they are not the whole of the
 poem--are enough to illustrate the     
difference between the ,greek method and
 the ,english1 the latter rich and      
profuse1 following the flow of an       

opulent fancy1 the former reticent and  
restrained1 leaving the reader's        
imagination room and need to play its   
part4 ,there are materials for          
half-a-dozen epigrams in ,ben ,jonson's 
poem4 ,had he been ,simonides or ,plato1
 he would have stopped after the fourth 
line and1 in the opinion of some        
critics1 by saving his paper he would   
have improved his poem4  ,in their      
theory and in their practice the ,greek 
writers were true to this principle of  
,economy4 ,their proverbs proclaim it   
'the half is greater than the whole'3   
'sow with the hand and not with the     
whole sack4' ,the great passages of     
their literature illustrate it4 ,it is  
to be found no less in ,thucydides'     
account of the siege of ,syracuse and in
 the close of the ,phaedo or the        
,republic than in the death of ,hector  
or the meeting of ,priam and ,achilles4 
,the ,greek writers may have emotions   
that would seem to demand vehement and  
extended expression1 topics to inspire a

 poet and tempt him to amplify them2 but
 resisting the temptation they set the  
facts down quietly and pass on          
practically without comment4 ,the close 
of the ,phaedo exemplifies this         
restraint4 ,plato has just related with 
severe economy of detail the death of   
his master4 ,his comment on the event   
which saddened and confounded his whole 
life is but this3 ',such1 ,echecrates1  
was the death of our friend1 the best   
man1 ,i think1 that ,i have ever known1 
the wisest too and the most just4'#aad  
#aad ,phaedo1 #aah ,b4  ,there are noble
 examples of reticence and economy in   
,english literature1 some of the most   
conspicuous of which can be traced to   
classical influence2 but no one would   
contend that these qualities are the    
rule in our great writers4 ,the ,english
 genius is rich and lavish rather than  
restrained4 ,it is less in its nature to
 write like ,sappho1      1     ' 1     
1  1    1#aae      ,hespere1 panta phern
 osa phainolis eskedas' aus1     phereis

 oin1 pheres aiga1 phereis apy materi   
paida1      #aae fr4 #ie3 ',star of     
evening1 bringing all things that bright
 dawn     has scattered1 you bring the  
sheep1 you bring the goat1 you bring    
the child back to its mother4'  than    
like ,byron1      ,o ,hesperus1 thou    
bringest all good things--       ,home  
to the weary1 to the hungry cheer1      
,to the young bird the parent's brooding
 wings1       ,the welcome stall to the 
o'er-laboured steer2     ,whate'er of   
peace about our hearthstone clings1     
,whate'er our household gods protect of 
dear1     ,are gathered round us by thy 
look of rest2     ,thou bring'st the    
child too to its mother's breast4       
,something may be said in favour of both
 methods4 ,amplitude of treatment and   
fullness of detail enrich the           
imagination while economy stimulates it4
 ,the latter may become jejune1 and is  
safe only in the hands of great writers3
 the former is apt to provide too rich a
 feast and to leave the full-fed mind   

inert4 ,everything is done for it and   
nothing left it to do4 ,economy on the  
other hand throws the reader on his own 
resources4 ,it sets the imagination     
wandering in the fields of infinity4    
,some readers find this one of the      
essential delights of literature1 though
 others prefer that the author should   
take them by the hand and indicate every
 detail with the precision of the       
sign-posts at a ,german ,kurort4        
,economy is the reflection in literature
 of that  sphrosyn1 which is the most   
deeply-rooted of ,greek ideals1 the most
 untranslatable of ,greek words4 ,but it
 was helped by an accident4 ,if the art 
of printing were lost1 modern works     
would contract within narrower limits1  
and the ,greek economy was encouraged by
 the fact that ,fust was not yet born4  
,we1 who do not rely on hand-copying for
 the propagation of our books1 naturally
 write at greater length3 and while it  
loses in conciseness1 literature has a  
compensating gain in amplitude4 ,but the

 habit of writing for money1 which      
encourages abundant production1 and the 
existence of the printing-press1 which  
makes it easy1 expose us to dangers from
 which the ancients were free4 ,the     
newspapers are the worst offenders1     
saying many things which need not be    
said at all1 and saying everything in a 
superfluous and excessive way4 ,but     
literature suffers hardly less4 ,the    
greatest figures of the last fifty      
years1 such as ,browning1 ,meredith1    
,hardy and ,conrad1 dilute their pages  
with unessential1 if not inferior1      
stuff1 and produce writing which has not
 received the summa manus4 ,had their   
work been less by a half--a modest      
reduction--it would have been more      
perfect because more time could have    
been devoted to it1 more powerful       
because each stroke would have been     
precise and strong1 more telling because
 these strokes would not have been      
combined with ineffective blows4 ,this  
is even truer of lesser men and other   

forms of literature4 ,it is because the 
,agricola of ,tacitus extends to but    
thirty pages1 that the biography of a   
,roman civil servant of no great genius 
will outlive those of far greater men4  
,the art of omission is the art which   
,english writers most need to learn2 the
 literary lima is their least-handled   
tool4 ,both art and tool were perfectly 
understood and constantly used by the   
,greeks4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,the third mark of ,greek  
,literature1 with which ,i have to deal1
 is perhaps its most important1         
certainly its most universal quality4   
,it is truthfulness4 ,the ,greeks told  
no fewer lies than other races1 but they
 had the desire and the power to see the
 world as it is4 ,by this essential     
quality they gave ,europe the conception
 of philosophy and science4 ,these we   
inherit from them alone2 ,palestine and 
our ,german ancestors neither created   
them1 nor show any signs of the temper  
that creates them1 and ,rome received   

her share from ,greece4  ,the word      
',truthfulness' may seem to suggest the 
realism of some modern writers4 ,but the
 ,greek truthfulness was different4 ,it 
should be distinguished from the        
laboured detachment and painful         
impartiality of such a writer as        
,flaubert1 whose realism conceals him in
 the same sense as the walls of the     
engine-room conceal the panting machines
 within4 ,the ,greek ,truthfulness is   
spontaneous1 natural1 and               
effortless--the native quality of the   
artist1 who sees1 and forgets himself in
 the vision4 ,nor has it anything to do 
with photographic realism4 ,it has not  
the impersonality of that method or its 
flat and lifeless effect4 ,a man1 and no
 machine1 makes the picture1 feeling    
intensely what he sees1 and though this 
intensity does not distort his vision1  
we are conscious1 as we read1 of a human
 personality1 and we feel the electric  
thrill of life4  ,nor is it akin to that
 type of modern realism1 which1 like a  

noxious drug1 lays hold on the spirits  
and depresses the heart--the realism    
which paints so black a picture of human
 life1 that it affects us physically    
like days of continued fog1 and gives us
 no more complete and truthful a picture
 of the world4 ,there is hardly any     
,greek writer1 perhaps none at all1 of  
whom this can be said4 ,many moderns can
 faithfully describe what is            
disagreeable1 but their effects are     
often brutal and always depressing4 ,the
 gift of portraying suffering and evil  
with unflinching truth1 yet of conveying
 other feelings than those of mere      
horror1 is reserved for few4 ,its rarity
 perhaps explains the rarity of great   
tragedy1 of which it seems to be a      
condition that it shall truthfully show 
what is darkest in life1 without leaving
 a final and dominant sense of gloom4   
,the great ,greek writers possessed this
 secret4 ,they are as sensitive to evil 
and suffering as any writer and fully as
 faithful in recording them4 ,but       

whereas other men are simply depressed  
or disgusted or appalled1 lose their    
vital forces1 and gaze in paralysed     
fascination1 these writers1 in virtue of
 a sense which is more aesthetic than   
moral1 are aware of tremendous issues1  
see in sordid suffering the agonies of a
 labouring universe1 and feel awe and   
wonder1 not mere disgust and distress1  
at what human beings suffer and endure4 
,that is why ,homer leaves us with      
another feeling than depression1 when he
 tells how ,priam begged his son's body 
from the man who killed him4 ',so ,priam
 entered unseen of them and stood near  
and clasped with his hands the knees of 
,achilles and kissed the terrible       
murderous hands that had slain so many  
of his sons4 ,but ,achilles was amazed  
at the sight of ,priam1 and amazed were 
the rest1 and they looked at each other4
 ,and ,priam entreated and addressed    
him4 ,remember your own father1 godlike 
,achilles3 he is of like years with me1 
and stands on the hateful road of old   

age4 ,perhaps the neighbours round about
 harry him and there is none to keep    
misery and ruin from him4 ,yet when he  
hears that you are alive1 he rejoices   
and hopes1 day in1 day out1 to see his  
dear son returning from ,troy4 ,but ,i  
am utterly wretched1 for ,i begat the   
best of sons in ,troy1 and none of them 
is left4 ,the one ,i had1 who was the   
stay of ,troy and its people1 you killed
 but now as he fought for his           
country--even ,hector4 ,respect the     
gods1 ,achilles1 and pity me1 and       
remember your own father4 ,i am more    
unhappy than he4 ,i have faced what no  
other mortal man ever yet faced--to     
stretch my hand to the face of my sons' 
slayer4'#aaf ,there is suffering and    
evil enough here1 and there is no       
attempt to disguise or lessen them4 ,yet
 most readers1 ,i think1 would read this
 passage with different feelings from   
those provoked by the close of ,madame  
,bovary or of ,jude the ,obscure4 ,its  
truthfulness is neither ugly nor        

depressing4      #aaf ,iliad1 xxiv4 #bgg
 f4 7with omissions74  ,nor again is the
 ,greek truthfulness identical with     
objectivity4 ,an objective writer tells 
his story and conveys his impressions1  
as far as possible1 by relating facts   
without commenting upon them4           
,dramatists and novelists are compelled 
by the nature of their art to be        
objective in this sense of the word     
7though ,fielding and ,thackeray in the 
one field1 and ,ibsen and ,shaw in the  
other1 manage to make their comments    
with their own lips1 not those of their 
characters74 ,but such a writer would   
not of necessity be more truthful or    
impartial than any one else4 ,he can    
distort truth as thoroughly by selecting
 certain facts and ignoring others as by
 making misleading comments4 ,he may be 
violently one-sided and present only the
 facts that support his view1 thus      
indirectly putting himself into what he 
writes quite as fully as a confessed    
partizan1 though less openly4 ,such a   

writer is objective1 but his objectivity
 with him is no more than a literary    
method4 ,now it is true that the ,greeks
 use this method1 telling a story       
without personal comments1 not only in  
their epics and plays where this method 
is natural1 but also in their histories 
and elsewhere4 ,thucydides for instance 
tells the story of a great war1 yet his 
comments on it are few1 and are mainly  
given in the dramatic and would-be      
objective form of speeches by leading   
men of the day4 ,but the ,greeks have   
objectivity in a far more important     
sense than this4 ,their objectivity is  
no literary device but a quality of     
mind4 ,they have the power of standing  
aloof from matters in which they are    
personally interested1 and surveying    
them from outside like impartial        
spectators1 with the keenest interest1  
but without bias4 ,as the ,delphic      
priestess in the act of prophecy lost   
her individuality and became the        
mouthpiece of the god1 so the ,greek    

allowed facts to speak for themselves1  
became their mouthpiece and banished the
 intrusive ego4 ,if therefore we call   
the ,greeks objective1 all this must be 
included in our definition of the word4 
,we shall understand ,greek             
'truthfulness' best1 if1 dropping       
philosophical terms1 and forgetting     
modern meanings1 we remember a saying of
 ,anaxagoras1 who1 when asked for what  
purpose he was born1 replied3 ',to      
contemplate the works of nature4' ,the  
disinterested passion for contemplating 
things1 which gathered inquiring groups 
round ,socrates to discuss what justice 
and friendship mean1 or whether goodness
 is knowledge and can be learnt1 has its
 counterpart in literature4 ,the ,greeks
 were fascinated by the spectacle of man
 and the world1 and their fascination is
 seen not only in their formal          
philosophy4 ,of their poets too it may  
be said that they were born to see the  
world and human life--not to moralize or
 to indulge in sentiment or rhetoric or 

mysticism about it1 but to see it4      
,keats's description of the poetic      
temperament fits them closely3 ',it has 
no self1 it is everything and           
nothing4444 ,it enjoys light and        
shade4444 ,a poet is the most unpoetical
 of anything in existence1 he is        
continually in1 for1 and filling some   
other body4' ,in such a mood men will   
write literature that may justly be     
called truthful4 ,avoiding the didactic1
 they will not distort truth to suit    
personal bias2 avoiding rhetoric1 they  
will not sacrifice it to fine phrases2  
avoiding sentiment and fancy1 they will 
not gratify their own or their hearer's 
feelings at the expense of truth2       
avoiding mysticism1 they will not move  
away from facts into a world of         
emotions4 ,their care will be to see    
things1 and their delight will be in the
 mere vision4 ,they will echo the words 
of ,keats1 ',if a sparrow comes before  
my windows1 ,i take part in its         
existence and pick about the            

gravel'#aag3 they will not treat it as  
,shelley treats the skylark1 or even as 
,keats and ,wordsworth treat the        
nightingale4 ,herein is one of the      
secrets of ,greek poetry1 for the ,greek
 poets1 more than any others1 bring us  
in a manner entirely simple and natural 
into immediate contact with what they   
describe1 and thus escape the thousand  
distortions for which epigram1 rhetoric1
 sentiment1 fancy1 mysticism and        
romanticism are responsible4 ,this      
secret may be called 'directness'4 ,it  
is the habit of looking straight and    
steadily at things1 and describing them 
as they are1 the very contrary of the   
habit of didactic comment and of        
rhetorical or emotional inflation4 ,the 
'direct' writer1 in the fullest extent  
that is possible1 keeps himself and his 
feelings in the background4 ,he does not
 allow the mists which rise from a man's
 personality to come between him and his
 subject4      #aag ,i have taken these 
quotations of ,keats from ,bradley1     

,oxford     ,lecture on ,poetry1 p4     
#bch4  ,a few instances of directness   
will give a better idea of it than many 
definitions4 ,the epigram quoted a few  
pages back shows how the ,greek writer  
lets his subject speak instead of       
expressing his own feelings about it4   
,so does the following epitaph1 placed  
by a father on his son's grave4         
4#aah      ,ddeket ton paida patr       
apethke ,philippos       enthade tn     
polln elpida ,nikoteln4      #aah       
,callimachus1 ,epigr4 #bj3 ',his father 
,philip laid here to rest     his       
twelve-year old son1 his high hope1     
,nicoteles4'  ,the bereaved father says 
nothing of his sorrow1 or the greatness 
of his loss1 but records his son's name 
and age and says that he was his        
father's 'high hope'1 and so doing gives
 us everything4 ,simonides does not     
express his own feelings about the      
heroism of the ,spartan dead2 their     
grave speaks for them to the passer-by4 
,nor is this a mere literary method1 a  

way of writing which states facts and   
leaves them to make an impression by    
their own weight1 unaided by comment or 
explanation4 ,a comparison of ,ben      
,jonson's epigram with the ,greek       
epitaph1 will show that directness is   
much more than this4 ,the fancies with  
which ,jonson closes are pretty2 but    
they are false1 for they are really     
incompatible with deep feeling3 the     
,greek directness never loses from sight
 the dead child2 it sees only that and  
the father's sorrow4  ,the following    
extract deals with a very different     
subject1 but illustrates directness     
equally well4 ,the scene is the         
,athenian colony of ,amphipolis on the  
,struma2 the dramatis personae are the  
,spartan general ,brasidas who wishes to
 capture it1 and the ,athenian          
,thucydides who was then at ,thasos1    
distant half a day's sail from          
,amphipolis4 ',as soon as ,thucydides   
heard the news about ,brasidas1 he      
sailed quickly to ,amphipolis 444 in    

order to garrison it if possible before 
it could capitulate1 or at any rate to  
occupy ,eion 7its seaport74 ,meanwhile  
,brasidas1 fearing the arrival of the   
,athenian fleet at ,thasos and hearing  
that ,thucydides 444 was one of the     
leading men of the country1 did his     
utmost to get possession of the city    
before he arrived4444 ,he therefore     
offered moderate terms4444 ,these terms 
were accepted1 and the city was         
surrendered to him4 ,on the evening of  
the same day ,thucydides and his ships  
sailed into ,eion1 but not until        
,brasidas had taken possession of       
,amphipolis3 another night1 and he would
 have seized ,eion4'#aai ,the gist of   
the story contained in this extract is  
plain4 ,the ,spartan general ,brasidas  
seized the important town of            
,amphipolis1 and the ,athenian general  
came too late to save it4 ,but who would
 guess that the ,athenian general       
,thucydides was the historian           
,thucydides who wrote these words1 and  

that the episode which he here describes
 with such detachment and neutrality    
earned him perpetual exile under pain of
 death1 from the country which he       
passionately loved8 ,thucydides has told
 the bare facts1 objectively1 as if they
 related to some one else1 without a    
comment1 without a word of protest1     
excuse1 explanation or regret on the    
crowning disaster of his life4 ,he      
writes of himself in the third person4  
,this is not the way in which modern    
generals write of their mishaps1 but it 
is the ,greek way4 ,thucydides has      
forgotten himself and his feelings2 he  
sees only the disastrous day when he    
sailed up the ,struma with his ships and
 found the gates of ,amphipolis closed  
against him4 ,he ignores himself so far 
that he does not call it disastrous1    
though disastrous it was for himself and
 his country4 ,with the same detachment 
he speaks of the enslavement of ,melos  
and the tragedy of ,syracuse1 though he 
thinks1 and makes us feel1 that the one 

was the crowning crime1 the other the   
crowning disaster of his country4 ,he   
narrates the plain facts and leaves the 
reader to draw his inferences4 ,if we   
did not know that he was an ,athenian1  
we could hardly tell from his history   
whether he took the side of ,athens or  
,sparta in the war2 so entirely are he  
and his feelings kept in the background4
 ,yet he was an ardent patriot1 and he  
is describing the war in which his      
country lost supremacy and empire4 ,no  
historian of the war of #aiad-ah1       
whether on the ,allied or the ,german   
side1 is likely to write of it in this  
way4      #aai ,thuc4 iv4 #ajd1 #aje1   
#ajf 7tr4 ,jowett1 mainly74  ,the art of
 ,homer has the same quality of         
detachment4 ,he is a ,greek1 writing of 
a ten years' war between ,greeks and    
,asiatics1 yet most of his readers      
sympathize with ,hector rather than with
 ,achilles4 ,he himself preferred       
neither1 but saw and felt equally with  
both2 with the hero who fought the      

losing battle for ,troy1 and with him   
who lost his friend1 and1 intoxicated   
with sorrow1 could see and feel nothing 
but a passion of revenge4 ,it would seem
 hardly possible to write the close of  
the #bbnd ,book of the ,iliad1 where the
 heroes meet1 without taking sides2 we1 
no doubt1 should take ,hector's side4   
,but ,homer stands apart from the       
quarrel1 and sees both men and the      
feelings of both1 writing with the pen  
of the ,recording ,angel1 not of the    
,judge4 ,what he or ,thucydides thought 
in each case can only be guessed at4    
,they have presented the facts without  
comment1 and the facts tell their own   
tale1 explain themselves1 carry with    
them the feelings they should evoke1 and
 shine by their own light1 like the     
phosphorescence of the sea4  ,little    
thinking is needed to see that the      
direct1 detached1 objective temper is   
the generative principle of the ,greek  
achievement1 for it is the parent of    
science and philosophy1 which are the   

children of a desire to see things in   
themselves as they are1 and not as the  
seer might wish them to be4 ,the effects
 of this temper in poetry can be        
appreciated by a comparison of certain  
phenomena of our own literature which   
are absent from ,greek4 ,the comparison 
will indicate1 too1 what modern writers 
can learn from the ,greeks1 and enable  
us to judge whether the lessons are     
needed4  ,the habit of keeping the eye  
on the subject1 which is the essence of 
directness1 discourages1 and indeed     
excludes1 conventionality1              
sentimentalism1 fancifulness1 which     
prevent a writer from seeing and        
recording life as it is4 ,these failings
 are always with us1 and as ,i have     
given one instance of their working in  
,ben ,jonson's epigram and have         
discussed the matter elsewhere1#abj ,i  
shall pass to diseases which are more   
particularly modern1 and with which     
directness is equally at war4      #abj 
,the ,greek ,genius and its ,meaning to 

us1 pp4 #gd ff4  ,the richness of the   
,english language is in itself a danger4
 ,english1 like ,latin1 lends itself    
superbly to ranting1 a capacity         
discovered by the ,elizabethans4 ,modern
 writers tend to more delicate excess1  
and have exploited the musical quality  
of ,english4 ,this is clear from such a 
collection as the ,oxford ,book of      
,victorian ,verse1 which faithfully     
represents the output of the age1 and   
contains some fine poetry1 but also a   
very large percentage of what ,horace   
called1 ,versus inopes rerum nugaeque   
canorae4 ,there is an intolerable deal  
of sack to a very little bread among the
 imitators of ,tennyson4 ,to such       
rhetorical or musical trifles no better 
antidote can be found than ,greek       
literature1 for there is no rhetoric in 
it1 and what melodious nothings it      
contained1 were parodied in its own age 
and have scantily survived to ours4 ,in 
general it avoided both by its          
directness4 ,the rhetoric of ,lucan or  

,byron1 the predominance of sound over  
sense in some of ,shelley and much of   
,swinburne arise because those poets    
shut their eyes to the real world and   
become lost in the music of words4 ,the 
,greek1 starting with facts1 not with   
sounds or with feelings about facts1    
could not easily become the victim of   
words4 ,the temptation did not arise for
 him1 or if it did1 his sin was easily  
detected4 ,herein he is a good model1   
especially for poets who are apt to lose
 sight of the earth and pass into an    
unearthly paradise of vague feelings4   
,for the greatest poetry is the poetry  
of things1 not of words1 and to whatever
 regions the ,muse may take her flight1 
she can only be safe if she starts from 
,earth1 and keeps her communication with
 it open4  ,directness is also a        
protection against that literature of   
egotism which is the excess into which  
subjective poetry easily falls4         
,legitimate when kept within bounds1 the
 habit of putting oneself into what one 

writes can become an offence1 and from  
this offence ,english literature is not 
free4 ,no one can complain because      
,milton and ,wordsworth are less        
detached than ,shakespeare or           
,sophocles2 but the subjectivity of     
,byron or ,carlyle is very different4   
,their subject is continually darkened  
by the shadow of their personality2 it  
suffers a partial1 at times a total1    
eclipse4 ,childe ,harold sees himself in
 all that he sees1 projects himself into
 ,belgium1 ,athens and ,rome1 and       
colours the bluest skies with the       
jaundiced hues of his temperament4 ,this
 is almost equally true of ,carlyle's   
pupils1 ,ruskin and ,froude1 and1 among 
the moderns1 of a swarm of minor poets  
and novelists1 who display before the   
public the pageant of their indignant or
 bleeding hearts4 ,egotism is a fault of
 manners as much as of morals1 and has  
its peculiar effect and its appropriate 
penalty4 ,its effect is to distract a   
man's attention from major to minor     

issues1 from the large world to the     
small self2 its penalty is that it      
wearies its audience1 and the next      
generation1 if not its own1 dislikes the
 continual obtrusion of an element in   
which it has no interest4 ,hence        
oblivion1 often unjust1 is the          
punishment which the egotist suffers4   
,even our age1 interested as it is in   
personalities1 has little time to spare 
for those of ,byron or ,carlyle2 it is  
too busy with the characters of its own 
contemporaries to trouble about those of
 its predecessors4 ,but no ,greek writer
 is forgotten for this cause4 ,whatever 
their other offences1 the ,greeks are   
free from literary egotism4 ,directness 
turned their eyes to the external world1
 and taught them to see even themselves 
from without4  ,egotism is a minor      
defect in ,english literature4 ,to some 
it may even seem to be a virtue4 ,a more
 serious weakness1 which our literature 
shares with other modern literatures1 is
 one-sidedness or incompleteness of     

view1 which reveals itself by a series  
of reactions1 and in ,england has taken 
the form of an oscillation between      
sentimentalism and a rather cruel       
realism1 the latter being dominant at   
the present time4 ,these two schools    
represent excesses of temperament1 the  
one of generosity and kindliness1 the   
other of truth2 and among our writers of
 genius ,dickens and ,hardy typify them 
well4 ,the one school desire in fiction 
to reward their good characters and     
punish the bad1 just as they would wish 
that life should do2 and truth is not   
allowed to thwart their benevolence or  
their indignation4 ,in defiance of all  
probability ,micawber and ,mr4 ,mell    
make a success of life in ,australia1   
though truth cries out that they were   
born to be failures2 while the foot of  
punishment moves more swiftly and       
visibly in the pages of ,dickens than it
 does in fact4 ,then comes the veracious
 person1 who1 growing indignant at a    
travesty of life that misleads the      

reader and insults truth1 gives us the  
opposite extreme in an imagined world   
where the shadows are deepened and the  
high lights carefully blocked out4      
,scott and ,dickens picture a world in  
which at the end vice finds itself in   
the gutter while virtue marries the     
heroine4 ,later1 ,thomas ,hardy has     
given us ,jude the ,obscure and ,tess of
 the ,d',urbervilles4#aba ,here is a    
protest1 a redressing of the balance1 by
 an advocate who rises to supply a side 
of the case which has been ignored4 ,yet
 once again ,truth is violated1 and by  
her sworn servant2 for the world that   
,hardy portrays is not the world as it  
is4 ,when ,dickens makes ,mr4 ,micawber 
the ,district ,magistrate of ,port      
,middlebay1 he is not representing life1
 but saying what he and his audience    
would like to believe in order to feel  
comfortable when they close the book4   
,as a protest therefore against him in  
the next generation comes ,thomas       
,hardy1 who after recording the         

miserable end of ,tess1 writes ',the    
,president of the immortals had ended   
his sport with ,tess'4 ,in so writing he
 is no true recorder any more than was  
,dickens1 but the self-appointed ,judge 
of a universe which he conceives to be  
cruel4      #aba ,in these novels and in
 ,the ,dynasts ,mr4 ,hardy allows his   
personal views to depress one side of   
the scales3 in his lesser     novels he 
has often shown that he can hold the    
balance even4 ,this     distinction     
should be borne in mind in all the      
criticisms of his     work1 which ,i    
have ventured to make4  ,neither        
,dickens nor ,hardy can be called       
unveracious writers2 both give a picture
 of life that is true up to a point4    
,hardy1 in particular1 errs less by     
distortion than by omission2 he sees one
 side of life1 but at the expense of    
another side2 he fails to hold the      
balance fairly1 and lacks the large     
charity of the universe4 ,both writers  
are incomplete4 ,no one could say of    

them1 what is completely true of most   
,greek writers and largely true of all1 
that they see life steadily and see it  
whole4 ,still less can this be said of  
their followers1 who1 after the fashion 
of disciples1 imitate and develop their 
defects1 and oscillate between          
sentimental falsity1 and the starkness  
and brutality which have been familiar  
in ,english literature during the last  
twenty years and in ,french literature  
for a much longer period4 ,none of these
 writers1 not even the best1 is direct4 
,like ,dickens1 they consult their      
generous hearts1 or1 worse1 ask3 ',can  
truth be told without making the public 
angry8' ,or1 like ,hardy1 they veil a   
didactic purpose under the name of      
realism1 and register a bitter personal 
protest against the cruelty of life4 ,in
 either case they narrow their view1 and
 see the world through a mist of        
temperament4  ,this point may be        
illustrated by examining a famous       
passage from ,homer1 and then asking how

 a sentimental and a realistic writer   
might have treated it4 ,imagine the     
death of ,hector in the hands of        
,dickens or ,hardy4 ,the first most     
probably would not have permitted it to 
occur1 or1 if he had1 would have made   
,achilles the villain of the piece and  
emphasized and developed the tragedy in 
the manner of his death scenes1 till he 
had wearied the reader with pathos4     
,confronted with such a tragedy he would
 have given the rein to emotion4 ,mr4   
,hardy1 we may guess1 would be impressed
 less by the pathos of the scene1 than  
by the savagery of ,achilles and the    
misgovernment of a universe in which    
such things were possible1 and he would 
not have let these morals escape his    
readers4 ,by small touches1 by stressing
 suitable incidents1 he would have made 
the tragedy more tragic1 and the        
brutality more brutal4 ,it is thus that 
he has treated the death of ,jude4 ,by  
so doing1 both ,dickens and ,hardy in   
their different ways1 would have been   

allowing their own personalities rather 
than the facts to speak1 and1 seeing    
only one side of the story1 would have  
made it less complicated than life and  
less complete4 ,but in the ,iliad we see
 nothing of ,homer's personality and    
hear no voice but that of the facts4    
,the story tells itself without the     
heightening of artifice4 ,the two men   
are brought before our eyes--,hector1   
the last hope of ,troy1 with his wife   
and child waiting for him at            
home--,achilles1 mad with the memory of 
his dead friend4 ,there is no judgement 
and no comment1 but only the thing as it
 was4  ,to those who would maintain that
 ,dickens or ,hardy give an accurate    
picture of the world1 there are two     
answers4 ,first1 their world is not the 
world as ,shakespeare or ,meredith sees 
it2 this for many persons will be a     
sufficient disproof of its reality4     
,second1 the history of ,english and    
,french literatures has been for the    
last #aej years a history of successive 

reactions4 ,the classical school was    
followed by the romantics1 the romantics
 by the realists2 each was a protest and
 a reaction against its predecessor4    
,these swerving movements must have a   
cause4 ,now there are no reactions in   
literature unless there is some excess  
to provoke them4 ,the existence of a    
reaction is a symptom of disease1 and   
not only would it never take place apart
 from disease1 but there is always a    
chance that it may go too far2 for as in
 the body1 so in the world of letters1 a
 balance once disturbed is difficult to 
restore4 ,but ,greek literature1 unlike 
our own and unlike ,french1 at no stage 
developed by reaction4 ,its epic poets  
are followed by the lyrists and these by
 the tragedians3 tragedy passes into the
 ,new ,comedy1 which is followed by the 
learned and artistic poetry of          
,alexandria4 ,in prose the unperiodic   
style of ,herodotus is succeeded by the 
style of ,thucydides2 while ,plato and  
the various orators develop different   

types of writing4 ,none of these styles1
 however1 and none of these writers1 are
 in reaction against one another4 ,some 
traces of reaction against the ,homeric 
outlook of ,sophocles may perhaps be    
found in ,euripides4 ,but this contrast 
lies between two individual writers and 
not between two literary schools1 and   
has no analogy with the relation of the 
romantic to the classical or to the     
realist movements4 ,it is far less      
marked1 for instance1 than the contrast 
between ,voltaire and ,victor ,hugo or  
that between ,victor ,hugo and          
,flaubert4 ,there is no reaction in the 
development of ,greek literature1       
because at no stage is there any excess 
to react from2 and there is no excess1  
because the ,greek writers are direct   
and objective1 because they are mirrors 
that reflect life1 not imperfect lenses 
that distort it each according to its   
own imperfection4  ,the literature of   
the ,elizabethans here resembles ,greek4
 ,it is indeed more wayward1 more       

fanciful1 more personal1 more luxuriant 
than the ,greek2 but it is on the whole 
more disinterested1 freer from any      
didactic bent1 more inclined to         
contemplate life for its own sake than  
the literature of any succeeding epoch  
in ,england4 ,since the ,puritans a     
didactic strain has continually appeared
 in our writers4 ,we have had revolts   
and protests1 and then1 by reaction1    
more protests and revolts4 ,however     
admirable in morals1 this ,protestantism
 is injurious in literature1 for1 like  
all rebellions1 it ends in excess and   
destroys the even-balanced temper which 
is essential to the creation of the     
greatest literature4 ,this didactic     
temper1 often disguised as realism1 has 
never been stronger than in our own age1
 when many who might have found their   
profession in the ,churches are diverted
 to other paths and seek in literature  
an outlet that in the past would have   
been found in the pulpit4 ,messrs4      
,wells1 ,shaw1 ,galsworthy--to mention  

no others--are parsons manqus1 who were 
designed by nature to write not plays or
 novels but sermons4 ,or rather they are
 dual personalities3 clergyman and      
creative writer have been combined in   
them and the clergyman has corrupted the
 poet4 ,the unsatisfied appetite for    
preaching which a hundred years ago     
would have been quieted by writing an   
evangelical tract1 to-day issues in a   
novel or a play4 ,the moral differs1 the
 form changes1 the intention and temper 
are the same4  ,it is ungrateful to     
cavil at this moralizing and didactic   
temper1 which animates a large part of  
the nation and is responsible for much  
of the ,british achievement4 ,but its   
place is in the world of action not in  
that of letters1 and it does not produce
 the greatest literature or the truest  
thought4 ,the ,greeks might have gained 
by a greater infusion of it3 we1 on the 
other hand1 can learn something from    
their intellectual disinterestedness    
which in political and social           

controversies would make opposing views 
more intelligible and the path to truth 
easier and plainer1 in literature would 
free us from excesses that are followed 
by reaction to a contrary excess1 and in
 national life would guard us from the  
materialism which besets an industrial  
and commercial age4 ,it is not confined 
to the ,greeks2 but by no people is the 
ideal of intellectual truth more clearly
 and universally exhibited than by those
 who first brought it into an           
indifferent world1 and who built upon it
 their literature and art no less than  
their science and philosophy4         99
       99       99       99       99    
,the last quality of ,greek literature  
of which ,i wish to speak is not one    
which we should expect to find in       
combination with truthfulness2 it is    
certainly very rare in modern realists4 
,yet the ,greek instinct for beauty is  
beyond question4 ,there is the evidence 
of ,winckelmann1 who1 living in a world 
that had forgotten ,greek1 rediscovered 

it2 or of ,keats1 who was not brought up
 to the familiarity with ,greek that    
breeds obtuseness and indifference1 but 
made acquaintance with it when he was of
 an age to judge4 ,the impression made  
both on ,keats and ,winckelmann is that 
of a new and surpassing beauty4 ,there  
is the evidence of 'the beautiful       
mythology of ,greece'1#abb the offspring
 of an untaught folk-imagination1 and so
 far richer in the quality of beauty    
than the mythology of the ,north4 ,even 
in the sawdust of a mythological        
dictionary the stories of ,atalanta1    
,narcissus1 ,pygmalion1 ,orpheus and    
,eurydice1 ,phaethon1 ,medusa keep their
 magic4      #abb ,keats1 ,preface to   
,endymion4  ,the following extract from 
the hymn of ,demeter may illustrate this
 beauty1 though it is not one of the    
greatest passages of ,greek literature  
and its writer is unknown4 ,it is the   
story of the ,earth ,mother and her     
daughter ,persephone3                   
1     1               ' 1    '       '  

'       '1              1               
1     ' ' 1  '          '     4      '  
'   '                   1          #abc 
hn ,aidneus     hrpaxen1 dken de        
baryktypos euryopa ,zeus1     paizousan 
koursi syn keanou bathykolpois          
anthea t' ainymenn1 rhoda kai krokon d' 
ia kala     leimn' am malakon kai       
agallidas d' hyakinthon     narkisson   
th'1 hon physe dolon kalukpidi kour     
,gaia ,dios boulsi charizomen ,polydekt1
     thaumaston ganonta2 sebas to ge    
pasin idesthai     athanatois te theois 
de thntois anthrpois2     tou kai apo   
rhizs hekaton kara exepephykei1     kz' 
hdist' odm1 pas d' ouranos eurys        
hyperthe     gaia te pas' egelasse kai  
halmyron oidma thalasss4     h d' ara   
thambsas' rexato chersin ham' amph      
kalon athyrma labein2 chane de chthn    
euryagyia     ,nysion am pedion1 t      
orousen anax ,polydegmn     hippois     
athanatoisi4      #abc ,hymn to         
,demeter1 l4 #b ff4 ,the translation is 
mainly from     ,pater1 ,greek ,studies4

 ',whom1 by the consent of far-seeing1  
deep-thundering ,zeus1 ,aidoneus carried
 away1 as she played with the           
deep-bosomed daughters of ,ocean1       
gathering flowers in a meadow of        
soft grass and roses and crocus and fair
 violets and iris and     hyacinths and 
the strange glory of the narcissus which
 the ,earth1     favouring the desire of
 ,aidoneus1 brought forth to snare the  
flower-like girl4 ,a wonder it was to   
all1 immortal gods and mortal     men4  
,a hundred blossoms grew up from the    
roots of it1 and very sweet     was its 
scent1 and the broad sky above1 and all 
the earth and the     salt wave of the  
sea laughed to see it4 ,she in wonder   
stretched out     her two hands to take 
the lovely plaything3 thereupon the     
wide-wayed     earth opened in the      
,nysian plain and the king of the great 
nation of     the dead sprang out with  
his immortal horses4'  ,turn from this  
to some parallel poem in ,english       
literature1 such as ,oenone or          

,tithonus4 ,beautiful as ,tennyson is1  
the ,greek has a better beauty1 a beauty
 not of words or metaphors or           
highly-wrought art1 but simpler1 more   
spontaneous and more instinctive1 as    
though not man but nature herself was   
speaking4 ,two writers1 who are         
qualified to judge by being themselves  
among the great poets of the world1 and 
who knew and appreciated other          
literatures1 but speak in this way about
 ,greek alone1 have testified to the    
uniqueness of this beauty4 ,goethe says 
stiffly but precisely3 'in the presence 
of antiquity the mind feels itself      
placed in the most ideal state of       
nature2 and even to this day the        
,homeric hymns have the power of freeing
 us1 at any rate1 for moments1 from the 
terrible burden which the tradition of  
many hundreds of years has rolled upon  
us4' ,in these words ,goethe has touched
 on the simplicity and the naturalness  
of ,greek beauty1 in contrast to the    
more exotic and elaborate beauty of     

which mediaeval and modern art and      
literature are full4 ,keats writing     
about the ,grecian urn also had in his  
mind the liberating power of ,greek     
beauty3      ,thou1 silent form1 dost   
tease us out of thought     ,as doth    
eternity2 ,cold ,pastoral6     ,when old
 age shall this generation waste        
,thou shalt remain1 in midst of other   
woe     ,than ours1 a friend to man1 to 
whom thou sayst1     ',beauty is truth1 
truth beauty'--that is all       ,ye    
know on earth and all ye need to know4  
,these words point to another trait of  
,greek beauty1 which any one who has    
seen ,greek statues must have felt3 it  
does not provoke speculation just as it 
does not excite desire1 because no      
elements are mingled with it that might 
stir such feelings4 ,it has no          
admixture1 but is mere beauty1 sought   
for itself4  ,not only is ,greek beauty 
different in quality from our own1 but  
it is more abundant4 ,this surely would 
be the verdict of an impartial critic   

who compared ,homer1 the lyrists1 the   
tragedians1 ,plato1 ,theocritus1 the    
epigrammatists1 with the corresponding  
names in modern literatures4 ,it amounts
 to a different way of viewing the      
world2 the ,greeks were more sensitive  
to beauty than we are1 just as some     
people are more sensitive than others to
 colours or sounds1 to moral or         
intellectual issues4 ,this is curiously 
illustrated in their treatment of tragic
 themes4 ,there is no want of tragedy in
 ,homer or the dramatists--their view of
 life is probably darker than our       
own--and they have been praised for a   
pessimism that faced and admitted the   
black truth4 ,yet the cloud of evil is  
continually broken by rays of beauty4   
,thus ,homer lights up the tragic       
parting of ,hector and ,andromache by   
the story of the child and the nodding  
plumes1 yet does not use the incident1  
as many writers would have used it1 to  
heighten the tragedy1 which indeed it   
neither emphasizes nor diminishes3 it is

 merely a gratuitous touch of delight in
 children1 as accidental and natural as 
the brighter moments which1 in life if  
not in realistic novels1 diversify the  
darkest hours4 ,thus too ,aeschylus     
preludes the bloody slaughter of        
,salamis with the white horses of the   
dawn1 the echoes in the cliffs1 the foam
 whitening beneath the oars1 and when he
 speaks of the island where the         
,persians are butchered1 does not forget
 the dances in which ,pan rejoiced there
 of old4 ,thus1 again1 one of the most  
tragic moments in the ,hippolytus is    
followed by the song1      ,could ,i    
take me to some cavern for mine hiding1 
,in the hill-tops where the ,sun scarce 
hath trod2     ,or a cloud make the home
 of mine abiding1       ,as a bird among
 the bird-droves of ,god6         ,could
 ,i wing me to my rest amid the roar    
,of the deep ,adriatic on the shore1    
,where the water of ,eridanus is clear1 
,and ,phathon's sad sisters by his grave
     ,weep into the river1 and each tear

       ,gleams1 a drop of amber1 in the 
wave4#abd      #abd ll4 #gcb f4 7tr4    
,murray74  ,the union of beauty and     
tragedy may be a paradox1 but no reader 
can miss its power4 ,the mere story of  
,hector's death as told by ,homer is    
poignant1 even when read in an ,english 
translation3 the magic of the original  
language and metre doubles the effect4  
,the combination of these two apparently
 inconsistent things1 which is one of   
the marks of ,greek poetry1 is1 of      
course1 found in other literatures2 the 
description of ,ophelia's death in      
,hamlet is an instance of it4 ,but no   
drama except ,greek has that regular    
interweaving of tragedy with exquisite  
lyrics by which some of its most        
powerful effects are secured4  ,effect  
is the wrong word to use1 for we have   
here no literary trick1 but a view of   
life1 which is naturally complete and   
clearsighted1 which is sensitive to the 
beauty that no evil can destroy1 which  
sees the splendour in tragedy itself1   

and remembers that though the days of   
darkness are many it is a pleasant thing
 for the eyes to behold the sun4 ,this  
philosophy1 implied throughout ,greek   
literature1 commends it to many people4 
,those who disagree with the philosophy 
will not quarrel with the beauty itself4
 ,hellenism is one of the forces which  
are continually being buried and        
re-found1 and which1 like talismans1    
have a disturbing power when they fall  
afresh into human hands4 ,those who read
 the literature of the age which        
rediscovered ,greek will see that it    
brought above all a sense of liberation 
and expansion4 ,at the ,renaissance as  
in the eighteenth century1 ,greece found
 the world in chains1 and broke them and
 threw down the prison walls4 ,the      
fetters of the two epochs were          
different1 but freedom was brought1 at  
the ,renaissance partly1 and in the age 
of ,winckelmann entirely1 by the vision 
of beauty which ,greece exhibited4 ,our 
own age has many chains and knows well  

the burden of which ,goethe spoke4 ,it  
has multiplied ugliness far faster than 
beauty1 and its writers1 prolific1      
interesting1 and thoughtful as they are1
 do not help it here4 ,it may well find1
 as other ages have found1 in this      
quality of ,greek literature a healing  
and liberating power4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,english 
literature is surpassed by none1 but its
 defects or dangers are at points where 
,greek is strong4 ,greek simplicity     
recalls us to the central interests of  
the human heart4 ,greek truthfulness is 
a challenge to see the world as it is   
and shun the emptiness of mere music1   
the falsities of rhetoric or sentiment1 
the incompleteness of writers who1      
instead of seeing life as a whole1      
ignore or emphasize a part of it as     
their own sympathies dictate4 ,greek    
beauty is a memorial of an aspect of the
 universe to which ages of thought are  
often blind4 ,greek technique is a      
lesson in 'form' and a reminder of its  

place in literature4  ,nor is the study 
of ,greek a danger to our national      
genius4 ,contact with highly developed  
foreign models may warp or cramp a      
literature in its infancy1 but cannot   
harm it when full grown and robust4 ,the
 native character is then too firmly    
established to be corrupted1 and it is  
pure gain to have another standard for  
comparison1 for detection of weaknesses 
and their cure4 ,a reference to ,english
 literature will support this view and  
show that though the influence of ,greek
 there has often been great1 it has not 
been distorting4 ,consider the ,english 
poets who owe most to ,greece--,milton1 
,gray1 ,shelley1 ,keats1 ,landor1       
,tennyson1 ,matthew ,arnold1 ,swinburne1
 ,bridges4 ,it would puzzle any critic  
to find a common denominator between    
these men1 or to trace back to ,greece  
any universal feature in their poetry1  
except perhaps perfection of form4      
,technical perfection is not so serious 
or frequent a vice in ,english writers1 

that it can be complained of1 and even  
this common element vanishes1 if we add 
to the poets already quoted the         
,brownings1 who prized and understood   
,greek and the ,greek spirit as well as 
any of them4  ,at first sight it may    
seem strange that ,shelley and ,keats1  
,arnold and ,swinburne1 who were not    
merely passionate admirers of ,greece   
but drew their chief inspiration from   
her1 should be so different in style and
 matter4 ,the explanation is simple4    
,some influences are tyrannous2 they    
impose themselves1 they dominate1 they  
enslave4 ,but there is a better and     
rarer type of influence1 which          
stimulates and inspires yet leaves the  
poet free to develop his own genius with
 enlarged horizons and quickened        
sensibilities4 ,greek influence on our  
writers has been of this kind2 perhaps  
because its literature is singularly    
free from the artifice and mannerism    
which lend themselves to mimicry and    
seems like ,nature with her many voices 

speaking4  ,r4 ,w4 ,,livingstone4       
,,history   ,i  ,the ,relationship      
between ,ancient ,greek and ,modern     
,western ,civilization  ,ancient ,greek 
society perished at least as long ago as
 the seventh century ,a4 ,d4 ,many      
historians would date its death a good  
many centuries earlier1 and all would   
agree that even if there are symptoms   
that life still lingered in the body    
down to this time1 its mental and       
physical energies had long failed1 and  
that the change from lethargy to death  
was hardly perceptible when it came4    
,thus even on the most cautious         
reckoning1 there is an interval of      
thirteen centuries between the close of 
,greek history and our own times1 and   
the great age of ,greek history--the    
time when ,ancient ,greek society was in
 its prime1 when it was shaping its own 
destiny and deflecting the destiny of   
its neighbours--is separated from our   
generation by more than two thousand    
years4 ,what legacy has come down1      

through these great periods of time1    
from ,ancient ,greek society to the     
contemporary world8 ,before trying to   
answer this big question1 let us        
consider a smaller one3 ,what is the    
legacy of ,ancient ,greek ,history to   
our own society8 ,that portion of       
contemporary humanity which inhabits    
,western ,europe and ,america           
constitutes a specific society1 for     
which the most convenient name is       
',western ,civilization'1 and this      
society has a relationship with ,ancient
 ,greek society which other contemporary
 societies--for instance1 those of      
,islam1 ,india1 and ,china--have not4   
,it is its child4  ,this description of 
the relationship between ,ancient       
,greece and the modern ,western world   
may be something more than a metaphor1  
for societies like individuals are      
living creatures1 and may therefore be  
expected to exhibit the same phenomena4 
,at any rate the metaphor illustrates   
the facts4 ,to begin with1 the histories

 of the two societies overlap4 ,the     
origins of modern ,western society may  
be traced back a century or two before  
the ,christian era1 when the lands and  
races of ,western ,europe came into     
contact with the ,levant1 where ,greek  
society had grown up and was then in its
 maturity4 ,the germ of ,western society
 first developed in the body of ,greek  
society1 like a child in the womb4 ,the 
,roman ,empire was the period of        
pregnancy during which the new life was 
sheltered and nurtured by the old4 ,the 
',dark ,age' was the crisis of birth1 in
 which the child broke away from its    
parent and emerged as a separate1 though
 naked and helpless1 individual4 ,the   
,middle ,ages were the period of        
childhood1 in which the new creature1   
though immature1 found itself able to   
live and grow independently4 ,the       
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries1 with
 their marked characteristics of        
transition1 may stand for puberty1 and  
the centuries since the year #aejj for  

our prime4 ,the metaphor works out      
sufficiently well to throw light on our 
particular problem3 the legacy          
bequeathed to the ,modern ,west by      
,ancient ,greece4  ,children 'inherit'  
from their parents in several senses of 
the word4 ,there are features and       
instincts physically transmitted from   
the one to the other4 ,there are        
imitations in early childhood of the    
parent's speech and gesture which are   
not perhaps strictly predetermined by   
the relationship1 but which are yet     
performed subconsciously and are in fact
 so inevitable that the child is never  
aware that it is exercising choice in   
the matter4 ,and there is deliberate and
 conscious imitation at a later stage   
when the child is sufficiently mature to
 appreciate its parent's character4     
,these several forms of 'legacy' from   
parent to child differ primarily in the 
extent to which the acceptance and use  
of them depends upon the child's own    
will1 and it will probably be admitted  

that the legacies which are the less    
certain to be transmitted are also the  
more important if the transmission      
happens to take place4 ,for example1 a  
child's life and character are more     
affected by deliberate imitation of its 
parent at a relatively advanced age than
 by the unchosen inheritance of some    
particular colour of hair and eye or    
shape of chin or pitch of temperament4  
,on the other hand1 while the           
inheritance of these latter             
characteristics from one among a limited
 number of ancestral strains is         
inevitable1 the voluntary legacy may    
never be transmitted at all4 ,the child 
will not claim it unless he knows his   
parent and admires or respects him4 ,the
 parent's premature death or removal or 
the lack of sufficient sympathy between 
the parent and the child can in this    
case inhibit the transmission1 and the  
potential legacy1 with its momentous    
possibilities of influence upon the     
child's career1 will never in fact be   

bequeathed4  ,these considerations may  
guide us in an analysis of the legacy   
which we have received from our parent  
society--the civilization of ,ancient   
,greece4 ,first1 has ,ancient ,greece   
transmitted to us anything comparable to
 the physical and psychological legacy  
of an individual human parent to her    
child8 ,this is a difficult question for
 us to answer1 just as it is difficult  
for members of the same family to       
appreciate the 'family likeness' between
 them4 ,a ,moslem or ,hindu or ,chinaman
 could judge better than we4 ,but it is 
certainly possible that the comparative 
similarity of climatic conditions and   
the comparative unity of racial stock   
has created a closer relationship       
between these two societies than between
 either one of them and any other4 ,the 
poetry and philosophy and social life   
and political institutions of ,ancient  
,greece and the ,modern ,west may       
conceivably constitute a single species 
when contrasted with the institutions of

 other civilizations4 ,a modern ,west   
,european or ,american may have a       
greater innate appreciation for ,homer  
than for the ,old ,testament or for     
,sokrates than for ,buddha or           
,confucius4 ,the parallel which         
historians so often draw1 or imply1     
between the conflict of ,ancient ,greece
 with the ,ancient ,east and that of the
 ,modern ,west with the ,modern ,east   
may rest on a real kinship between the  
two ,occidental civilizations as        
contrasted with their respective        
,oriental neighbours4 ,but this is      
uncertain and on the whole unprofitable 
ground4 ,when we come to the            
'subconsciously chosen' type of legacy1 
the analogy with the relationship       
between parent and child becomes more   
evident4  ,legacies of this type from   
,ancient ,greek society are prominent in
 the ,middle ,ages--the childhood of    
modern ,western civilization which      
followed the ',dark ,age' crisis of     
birth4 ,one of the first needs of our   

young ,western society as it struggled  
to its feet was a symbol of its         
unity--something corresponding to the   
attainment of self-consciousness by the 
individual human being--and for this it 
borrowed the last constructive idea of  
the ,ancient ,greek world4 ,the         
mediaeval ',holy ,roman ,empire' had    
quite a different purpose and function1 
in the childhood of modern ,western     
civilization1 from the purpose and      
function of the ,roman ,empire in the   
old age of ,ancient ,greece4 ,but the   
young civilization did not think of     
inventing a new institution for its     
individual needs4 ,in its subconscious  
pursuit of its own development it       
conceived itself to be reviving one of  
the customs of its venerable parent4    
,the political thinkers of              
,charlemagne's day never imagined that  
the idea of world unity could be        
embodied in any other form4  ,again1 a  
century or so later1 certain portions of
 ,western society1 especially the       

populations of ,north and ,central      
,italy and the ,low ,countries1 had     
outdistanced the rest in economic       
development and needed institutions of  
local self-government to give their     
economic vitality free play4 ,in this   
case1 again1 ,western civilization      
reverted to an ,ancient ,greek          
institution and revived the             
'city-state'4 ,a little later still1 the
 rapidly growing and differentiating    
body of ,western civilization was       
impelled towards territorial expansion1 
and sought it1 like ,ancient ,greece in 
a similar period1 round the shores of   
the ,mediterranean4 ,this mediaeval     
movement of expansion1 which is commonly
 called the ,crusades1 but which made   
itself felt in ,spain and ,sicily and   
the ,aegean as well as in the ',holy    
,land'1 is a remarkable parallel to the 
propagation of ,ancient ,greek          
city-states round the same shores       
between about #gej and #fjj ,b4 ,c4 ,in 
drifting back upon the ,mediterranean1  

the mediaeval ,west was searching for   
new realms to conquer1 but it was really
 captured by the romance of its         
ancestral home4  ,here1 then1 are three 
prominent features in mediaeval ,western
 history--the ,holy ,roman ,empire1 the 
,flemish and ,italian communes1 and the 
,crusades--which were legacies from     
,ancient ,greek history in the sense of 
being subconscious reversions to the    
habits of the parent society4 ,but have 
these mediaeval legacies from ,ancient  
,greece been really important           
constituents in our history viewed as a 
whole8 ,have they not rather been false 
growths which led to little or nothing8 
,the ,holy ,roman ,empire was never more
 than a mirage4 ,the sense of unity in  
the modern ,western world is derived not
 from this but from a really original   
institution1 the early ,papal ,church1  
in which any legacy from ,ancient       
,greece would be hard to discern4 ,the  
national states of modern ,europe and   
,america are derived not from mediaeval 

,ghent or ,bruges or ,florence or       
,venice but from the new1 though clumsy1
 feudal communities of mediaeval        
,england and ,france4 ,and the expansion
 of ,western society has not followed   
the direction indicated by the          
,crusades4 ,the false trail of the      
,mediterranean was practically abandoned
 after less than three centuries' trial4
 ,the true domain of modern ,western    
civilization has been found in regions  
which ,ancient ,greece hardly explored3 
,northern ,germany and ,scandinavia and 
the ,british ,isles1 the ,north ,sea and
 the ,baltic1 the ,atlantic and the     
continent of ,america4 ,thus our        
mediaeval legacies from ,ancient        
,greece--the subconscious reversions of 
childhood--are historical curiosities   
rather than vital links between the two 
civilizations4 ,our really important    
legacy from ,ancient ,greece was adopted
 with full consciousness and            
deliberation when we stood on the       
threshold of our own maturity4  ,the    

legacy of this third type which we have 
received from ,ancient ,greece has been 
given the general name of the           
,renaissance4 ,it was a determined and  
successful attempt1 on the part of our  
society1 to learn everything that the   
literary and artistic remains of our    
great predecessor could teach us4 ,it   
lay within our choice to study these    
remains or to pass them by1 and the fact
 that we chose to study them has been   
one of the greatest and the most        
fortunate decisions in the career of our
 civilization4 ,the several aspects of  
this acceptance of what ,ancient ,greece
 had to offer have been treated already 
in the other chapters in this volume4   
,here it is merely necessary to point   
out that the ,renaissance was a study   
and assimilation not only of ,ancient   
,greek literature and art1 but of       
architecture1 natural science1          
mathematics1 philosophy1 political      
ideas1 and all the other higher         
expressions of a great society4 ,the    

absorption of this vast current of life 
largely accounts for the wonderful      
impetus which has revealed itself in    
,western civilization during the last   
four centuries4  ,has the current now   
spent its force8 ,has the legacy adopted
 four centuries ago been used up and    
exhausted8 ,under the inspiration of    
,ancient ,greece1 has the modern ,west  
now created a literature1 art1          
architecture1 science1 mathematics1     
philosophy1 and political thought which 
equal or surpass the ,ancient patterns  
and turn them from an inspiration into  
an encumbrance8 ,that seems to be the   
fundamental question behind the         
controversy about the study of ,ancient 
,greek life in ,england to-day4 ,perhaps
 the answer may be found--if we may go  
back to our metaphor--in the uniqueness 
of the individual personality4  ,if one 
considers the relations of a parent and 
child1 or indeed of any two human       
beings1 it is evident that the one could
 never exhaust all that could be learnt 

from the personality of the other4 ,the 
one might acquire every physical1       
mental1 and moral attainment that the   
other could display1 and yet the other's
 unique individuality would remain--an  
inexhaustible subject of study1 throwing
 perpetual new light upon the life of   
the observer himself and of his fellow  
human beings4 ,this is true of any two  
human beings1 but if the two happen to  
be people of commanding character and   
genius it becomes a truism which it     
would be almost ludicrous to question4  
,let us apply this to the study not of  
one individual but of one society by    
another1 and let us take the case in    
point1 in which the two societies happen
 to be great civilizations4 ,the study  
of a great civilization has a unique    
value1 not merely for members of another
 civilization which stands to it in the 
relation of child to parent1 but for    
every seeker after knowledge who has a  
civilization of his own4 ,this ultimate 
and most precious legacy of ,ancient    

,greece is at the disposal of ,moslems1 
,hindus1 and ,chinese1 as well as       
,westerners4 ,for receiving it there are
 two qualifications3 a good             
understanding and an open mind4   ,,ii  
,ancient ,greek ,civilization as a ,work
 of ,art  ,civilizations are the        
greatest and the rarest achievements of 
human society4 ,innumerable societies   
have been coming into being and         
perishing during many hundreds of       
thousands of years1 and hardly any of   
them have created civilizations4 ,one   
can count the civilizations on one's    
fingers4 ,we have had perhaps three in  
,europe3 the ,minoan in the ,aegean     
,islands 7the dates #djjj-aajj ,b4 ,c4  
roughly cover its history72 the ,greek  
or ,graeco-,roman round the coasts of   
the ,mediterranean 7its history extends 
between the eleventh century ,b4 ,c4 and
 the seventh century ,a4 ,d472 and our  
modern ,western civilization round the  
coasts of the ,atlantic1 which began to 
emerge from twilight in the eighth      

century ,a4 ,d4 and is still in         
existence4 ,then there are the ancient  
civilizations of ,egypt and ,lower      
,mesopotamia1 which were first dominated
 by ,ancient ,greece and then           
amalgamated into the single ,middle     
,eastern civilization of ,islam2 and    
there are the civilizations of ,india   
and ,china4 ,even if we count as        
civilizations the societies existing in 
,mexico and ,peru before the ,spanish   
,conquest1 the total number of known    
independent civilizations1 compared with
 the total number of known human        
societies1 is very small4 ,and it is so 
because the achievement is astonishingly
 difficult4 ,there are two constant     
factors in social life--the spirit of   
man and its environment4 ,social life is
 the relation between them1 and life    
only rises to the height of civilization
 when the spirit of man is the dominant 
partner in the relationship--when       
instead of being moulded by the         
environment 7as it is in the tropical   

forests of ,central ,africa and         
,brazil71 or simply holding its own     
against the environment in a kind of    
equilibrium 7as it does on the steppes  
of ,central ,asia or ,arabia1 among the 
nomads71 it moulds the environment to   
its own purpose1 or 'expresses' itself  
by 'impressing' itself upon the world4  
,the study of a civilization is not     
different in kind from the study of a   
literature4 ,in both cases one is       
studying a creation of the spirit of    
man1 or1 in more familiar terms1 a work 
of art4  ,civilization is a work of     
art--in the literal meaning of the      
phrase and not merely by a metaphor4 ,it
 is true that works of art are made by  
individuals1 civilization by a society4 
,but what work of art is there in which 
the individual artist owes nothing to   
others8 ,and a civilization1 the work of
 countless individuals and many         
generations1 differs in this respect    
from a poem or a statue not in kind but 
only in degree4 ,it is a social work of 

art1 expressed in social action1 like a 
ritual or a play4 ,one cannot describe  
it better than by calling it a tragedy  
with a plot1 and history is the plot of 
the tragedy of civilization4  ,students 
of the drama1 from ,aristotle onwards1  
seem to agree that nearly all the great 
tragedies in literature are expositions 
of quite a few fundamental plots4 ,and  
it is possible that the great tragedies 
of history--that is1 the great          
civilizations that have been created by 
the spirit of man--may all reveal the   
same plot1 if we analyse them rightly4  
,each civilization--for instance1 the   
civilization of ,mediaeval and ,modern  
,europe and again that of ,ancient      
,greece--is probably a variant of a     
single theme4 ,and to study the plot of 
civilization in a great exposition of   
it--like the ,hellenic exposition or our
 own ,western exposition--is surely the 
right goal of a humane education4  ,but 
of course one asks3 ,why study ,ancient 
,hellenic civilization rather than ours8

 ,the study of any one civilization is  
so complex1 it demands so many          
preliminary and subordinate             
studies--linguistic1 institutional1     
economic1 psychological--that it is     
likely to absorb all one's energies4    
,the greatest historians have generally 
confined themselves to the study of a   
single civilization1 and the great      
,greek historians--,herodotus1          
,thucydides1 and ,polybius--concentrated
 on their own1 and only studied others  
in so far as their own came into contact
 with them4 ,clearly1 people who are    
going to be historians1 not for life1   
but as an education for life1 must make 
their choice4 ,they must practically    
confine themselves to studying one      
civilization if they are to reap the    
fruits of study at all1 and in this case
 it is natural to ask3 ,why study       
,hellenism rather than our own history8 
,there are two obvious arguments in     
favour of studying modern history4 ,it  
seems more familiar and it seems more   

useful4 ,and it would be a mistake to   
misrepresent these arguments by stating 
them only in their cruder forms4        
',familiar' does not mean 'easy'1 and to
 say that modern history seems more     
useful than ancient does not mean that  
the study of it is a closer             
approximation to a ,pelman course4      
,there is an exceedingly crude view of  
education among some people just        
now--perhaps it is largely due to the   
war1 and may disappear like other ugly  
effects of the war--which inclines to   
concentrate education on applied        
chemistry1 say1 or engineering1 with a  
vague idea that people whose education  
has been devoted to these subjects will 
be more capable of competing with       
foreigners in the dye industry or of    
working in munition factories in the    
next emergency4 ,in the same way1       
conceivably1 concentration on modern    
history might be supposed to equip a    
student for securing concessions abroad 
for a firm1 or for winning a            

parliamentary election4 ,of course1 this
 attitude1 though it is rather          
widespread just now1 is absurd4 ,the    
fallacy lies in confusing the general   
theoretical knowledge of a subject      
acquired through being educated in it   
with the technical knowledge and        
personal experience which one must have 
to turn the same subject to practical   
account in after life4 ,there is no     
difference of opinion on this point     
between 'humanists' and 'scientists'4   
,the issue is between people who do not 
appreciate the value of the pursuit of  
knowledge as an end in itself1 and those
 who do appreciate it and who therefore 
understand what education means4 ,true  
lovers of knowledge and true believers  
in education will be found on the same  
side in this controversy1 whether the   
subject of their study happens to be the
 spirit of man or the laws of its       
environment4 ,but apart from that crude 
utilitarianism1 which is as unscientific
 as it is un-humane1 a serious argument 

for studying modern rather than ancient 
history can also be stated from the     
humane and the scientific point of view4
 ,it may be argued that the direct      
experience we have of our own           
civilization makes it possible for us to
 have a deeper1 and therefore a more    
humane and scientific1 understanding of 
it than we can ever have of ,ancient    
,greece4 ,and one might go on to argue1 
on grounds of humanism alone1 that such 
a comprehension of the character and    
origins of our civilization would have a
 more profound humanizing influence upon
 its development than a less intimate   
study of a different civilization could 
produce4 ,this argument is bound to     
appeal to the generation which has      
experienced the war4 ,the war is        
obviously one of the great crises of our
 civilization4 ,it is like a            
conflagration lighting up the dim past  
and throwing it into perspective4 ,the  
war makes it impossible for us to take  
our own history for granted4 ,we are    

bound to inquire into the causes of such
 an astonishing catastrophe1 and as soon
 as we do that we find ourselves        
inquiring into the evolution of ,western
 ,civilization since it emerged from the
 ,dark ,age4 ,the shock of the          
,peloponnesian ,war gave just the same  
intellectual stimulus to ,thucydides1   
and made him preface his history of that
 war with a critical analysis1 brief but
 unsurpassed1 of the origins of         
,hellenic civilization--the famous      
introductory chapters of ,book ,i4 ,may 
not these chapters point the road for us
 and counsel us to concentrate upon the 
study of our own history8  ,this        
question deserves very serious          
consideration1 not merely from the      
utilitarian1 but from the scientific and
 humane point of view4 ,but the answer  
is not a foregone conclusion4 ,there is 
a case for studying the civilization of 
,ancient ,greece which can be summed up 
in four points1 as follows3  7i7 ,in    
,greek history the plot of civilization 

has been worked out to its conclusion4  
,we can sit as spectators through the   
whole play2 we can say3 ',this or that  
is the crisis2 from this point onwards  
the end is inevitable2 or if this actor 
had acted otherwise in those            
circumstances the issue would not nave  
been the same4' ,we can grasp the       
structure of the tragedy and divide it  
into acts4 ,but in our own history we   
are like players in the middle of the   
piece1 and though we may be able to say 
',this is the third act or the fourth   
act'1 we cannot say ',this is the last  
act or the last but one'4 ,we cannot    
foretell the future2 the work of art we 
are studying is incomplete1 and         
therefore we cannot possibly apprehend  
it as an artistic whole1 however vivid  
may be our experience of isolated scenes
 and situations4 ,the first point in    
favour of ,greek history is its         
completeness and its true perspective   
from our point of view4  7ii7 ,the      
second is that the historical experience

 of the ,greeks has been more finely    
expressed than ours4 ,its expression is 
in all ,greek art and literature--for it
 is a great mistake to suppose that     
historical experience is expressed in   
so-called historical records alone4 ,the
 great poets of ,greece are of as much  
assistance in understanding the mental  
history of ,greece 7which is after all  
the essential element in any history7 as
 the philosophers and historians4 ,and  
,greek historical experience or mental  
history is better expressed in ,greek   
literature than ours is in the          
literature of modern ,europe4 ,without  
attempting to compare the two           
literatures as literatures it can be    
said with some confidence that the      
surviving masterpieces of ,greek        
literature give a better insight into   
the subjective side of ,greek           
history--into the emotions and          
speculations which arose out of the     
vicissitudes of ,greek society and were 
its most splendid creations--than any   

insight into the subjective side of     
modern history which we can obtain by   
studying it through modern literature4  
7iii7 ,the third point is expressed in  
the concluding phrase of ,aristotle's   
definition of tragedy 7,poetics1 vi4    
#b74 ',tragedy'1 he says1 'is an        
imitation of an action that is serious1 
complete1 and of a certain magnitude 444
 through pity and fear effecting the    
proper  katharsis or purgation1 of these
 emotions4' 7,butcher's translation47   
,this word  katharsis--purgation1       
purification1 cleansing1 discharge--has 
been the subject of interminable        
controversy among scholars1 but any one 
acquainted with ,ancient ,greek         
literature who has lived through the war
 will understand what it means4         
,certainly the writer found1 in the     
worst moments of the war1 that passages 
from the classics--some line of         
,aeschylus or ,lucretius or ,virgil1 or 
the sense of some speech in ,thucydides1
 or the impression of some mood of      

bitterness or serenity in a dialogue of 
,plato--would come into his mind and    
give him relief4 ,these men had         
travelled along the road on which our   
feet were set2 they had travelled it    
farther than we1 travelled it to the    
end2 and the wisdom of greater          
experience and the poignancy of greater 
suffering than ours was expressed in the
 beauty of their words4 ,in the writer's
 personal experience that relief was    
obtained from acquaintance with ,greek  
civilization as expressed in ,greek     
literature4 ,it put one in communication
 with a different civilization from our 
own--with people who had experienced all
 and more than we had experienced1 and  
who were now at peace beyond the world  
of time and change4  ,katharsis1 then1  
is the emotional value which is peculiar
 to the study of a different            
civilization1 and which one cannot get1 
at any rate with the same intensity1 by 
the study of his own4  7iv7 ,this       
emotional value has its intellectual    

counterpart in the comparative method of
 study1 which one gets by studying1 not 
his own circumstances1 but circumstances
 comparable to1 without being identical 
with1 his own4 ,this is a commonplace in
 the field of language4 ,the study of   
,ancient ,greek is generally admitted to
 have more educative value for an       
,englishman than the study of modern    
,french or ,german1 because ,greek and  
,english embody the fundamental         
principles of human language in entirely
 independent forms of expression1 while 
,french and ,english1 in addition to the
 elements common to all language1 share 
the special background of the ,bible and
 the ,classics1 which have given them an
 extensive common stock of phraseology  
and imagery4 ,this applies equally to   
the study of civilization4 ,one learns  
more by studying ,ancient ,greek        
religion and comparing it with          
,christianity than by studying          
,christianity in ignorance of other     
religious phenomena2 and one learns more

 about institutions by studying the     
,greek city-state and comparing it with 
the modern national state than by merely
 studying the evolution of the national 
state in modern ,europe4 ,if we take    
utility to mean intellectual and not    
practical utility--and as humanists and 
scientists we do--we may claim without  
paradox that the study of ,greek        
civilization is valuable just because it
 is not our own4  ,these1 then1 are four
 points in favour of ,greek history3 we 
possess the whole tragedy1 it is a      
magnificent expression of the plot1 and 
it has a peculiar emotional value and a 
peculiar intellectual value which the   
drama in which we ourselves are actors  
cannot have for us4  ,at this point it  
is necessary to give a sketch of the    
plot of ,greek history--every one must  
make his own sketch2 the writer offers  
his to provoke the reader to make his   
own--and then to illustrate the second  
point1 the beauty of the expression1 by 
quoting half a dozen passages from      

ancient authors4 ,the other two         
points--the cathartic and the           
comparative value of ,greek history--are
 matters of personal experience4 ,i have
 little doubt that the reader will      
experience them himself if he takes up  
this study seriously and from a broad   
point of view4   ,,iii  ,the ,plot of   
,ancient ,greek ,civilization  ,the     
genesis of ,ancient ,greek civilization 
is certainly later than the twelfth     
century ,b4 ,c41 when ,minoan           
civilization1 its predecessor1 was still
 in process of dissolution2 and the     
termination of ,ancient ,greek          
civilization must certainly be placed   
before the eighth century ,a4 ,d41 when 
modern ,western civilization1 its       
successor1 had already come into being4 
,between these extreme points we cannot 
exactly date its beginning and end1 but 
we can see that it covers a period of   
seventeen or eighteen centuries4  ,it is
 easier to divide the tragedy into acts4
 ,we can at once discern two dramatic   

crises--the outbreak of the             
,peloponnesian ,war and the foundation  
of the ,roman ,empire4 ,we can for      
convenience take precise dates--#dca ,b4
 ,c4 and #ca ,b4 ,c4--and group the     
action into three acts or phases1 one   
before1 one between1 and one after these
 critical moments4  ,it is best to give 
the analysis in tabular form3  ,act ,i  
7#aath cent4-#dca ,b4 ,c474      #a4    
,synoikismos 7formation of the          
city-state1 the cell of ,greek          
society71 #aath cent4-#gej ,b4 ,c4      
#b4 ,colonization 7propagation of the   
city-state round the                    
,mediterranean71 #gej-fjj ,b4 ,c4       
#c4 ,economic revolution 7change from   
extensive to intensive growth71         
#fjj-ejj ,b4 ,c4      #d4 ,confederation
 7repulse of ,oriental universal empire 
and creation        of an inter-state   
federation1 the ,delian ,league71       
#ejj-dca ,b4 ,c4   ,act ,,ii 7#dca ,b4  
,c4-#ca ,b4 ,c474      #a4 ,the ,greek  
wars 7failure of inter-state            

federation71 #dca-cee ,b4        ,c4    
#b4 ,the ,oriental wars 7the superman1  
conquest of the ,east1 struggle         
for the spoils1 barbarian invasion71    
#cee-bgb ,b4 ,c4      #c4 ,the first    
rally 7change of scale and fresh        
experiments in                          
federation--,seleucid ,asia1 ,roman     
,italy1 ,aetolian and ,achaean          
',united ,states'71 #bgb-bah ,b4 ,c4    
#d4 ,the ,roman wars 7destruction of    
four great powers by one2               
devastation of the ,mediterranean       
world71 #bah-adf ,b4 ,c4      #e4 ,the  
class wars 7capitalism1 bolshevism1     
,napoleonism71 #adf-ca ,b4        ,c4   
,act ,,iii 7#ca ,b4 ,c4-#gth cent4 ,a4  
,d474      #a4 ,the second rally 7final 
experiment in federation--compromise    
between city-state autonomy and         
capitalistic centralization71 #ca       
,b4 ,c4-,a4 ,d4 #ahj4      #b4 ,the     
first dissolution 7external front broken
 by tribesmen1        internal by       
,christianity71 ,a4 ,d4 #ahj-bhd4       

#c4 ,the final rally 7,constantine      
ton dmon                                
prosetairizetai--tribesmen on to the    
land1 bishops into the                  
bureaucracy71 ,a4 ,d4 #bhd-cgh4      #d4
 ,the final dissolution 7break of       
tradition71 ,a4 ,d4 #cgh-gth cent4      
,this analysis is and must be           
subjective4 ,every one has to make his  
own1 just as every one has to apprehend 
for himself the form of a work of art4  
,but however the historian may analyse  
the plot and group it into acts1 it must
 be borne in mind that the action is    
continuous1 and that the first emergence
 of the ,greek city-state in the ,aegean
 and the last traces of municipal       
self-government in the ,roman ,empire   
are phases in the history of a single   
civilization4 ,it may seem a paradox to 
call this civilization a unity4 ,but the
 study of ,greek and ,latin literature  
leaves no doubt in one's mind that the  
difference of language there is less    
significant than the unity of form1 and 

that one is really dealing with a single
 literature1 the ,hellenic1 which in    
many of its branches was imitated and   
propagated in the ,latin language1 just 
as it was to a lesser extent in ,hebrew1
 or later on in ,syriac and ,arabic4    
,the unity is even more apparent when1  
instead of confining our attention to   
literature1 we regard the whole field of
 civilization4 ,it is not really        
possible to draw a distinction between  
,greek history and ,roman history4 ,at  
most one can say that at some point     
,greek history enters on a phase which  
it may be convenient to distinguish     
verbally by connecting it with the name 
of ,rome4 ,to take the case of the      
,roman ,empire--the reader may possibly 
have been surprised to find the ,roman  
,empire treated as the third act in the 
tragedy of ,greece2 yet when one studies
 the ,empire one finds that it was      
essentially a ,greek institution4       
,institutionally it was at bottom a     
federation of city-states1 a solution of

 the political problem with which ,greek
 society had been wrestling since the   
fifth century ,b4 ,c4 ,and even the     
non-municipal element1 the centralized  
bureaucratic organization which         
,augustus spread like a fine1 almost    
impalpable net to hold his federation of
 municipalities together1 was largely a 
fruit of ,greek administrative          
experience4 ,as papyrology reveals the  
administrative system of the ,ptolemaic 
,dynasty--the ,greek successors of      
,alexander who preceded the ,caesars in 
the government of ,egypt--we are        
learning that even those institutions of
 the ,empire which have been regarded as
 most un-,greek may have been borrowed  
through a ,greek intermediary4 ,imperial
 jurisprudence1 again1 interpreted      
,roman municipal law into the law of a  
civilization by reading into it the     
principles of ,greek moral philosophy4  
,and ,greek1 not ,latin1 was still the  
language in which most of the greatest  
literature of the ,imperial period was  

written4 ,one need only mention works   
which are still widely read and which   
have influenced our own                 
civilization--,plutarch's ,lives1       
,marcus ,aurelius' ,meditations1 and the
 ,new ,testament4 ,they are all written 
in ,greek1 and who will venture to      
assert that the age in which they were  
written falls outside ,greek history1 or
 that the social experience which       
produced them was not an act in the     
tragedy of ,hellenic civilization8 ,even
 statistically the ,empire was more     
,greek than anything else4 ,probably a  
considerable majority of its inhabitants
 spoke ,greek as a lingua franca1 if not
 as their mother-tongue4 ,nearly all the
 great industrial and commercial centres
 were in the ,greek or ,hellenized      
provinces4 ,possibly1 during the first  
two centuries of the ,empire1 more      
,greek was spoken than ,latin by the    
proletariat of ,rome itself4 ,the ,greek
 core of the ,roman ,empire played the  
part of ,western ,europe in the modern  

world4 ,the ,latinized provinces were   
thinly populated1 backward1 and only    
superficially initiated into the        
fraternity of civilization4 ,latinized  
,spain and ,africa were the ,south      
,america1 ,latinized ,gaul and ,britain 
the ,russia of the ,ancient ,greek      
world4 ,the pulse of the ,empire was    
driven by a ,greek heart1 and it beat   
comparatively feebly in the non-,greek  
extremities4   ,,iv  ,the ,literary     
,expression of the ,plot  ,and now1     
after having suggested a reading of the 
plot1 it is time to let the actors speak
 for themselves4 ,there is only space to
 quote half a dozen passages1 but they  
have been chosen to illustrate the      
critical scenes and situations in the   
drama as it has been sketched out1 and  
they may persuade the reader that there 
is something to be said for the present 
interpretation4  ,we shall not dwell on 
the period ,i have called the first     
act--that is1 the period before #dca ,b4
 ,c4 ,but the reader is recommended1    

again1 not to lay aside the ,greek poets
 when he takes up the ,greek historians4
 ,homer will reveal more of the opening 
scenes than ,herodotus2 and the         
exaltation of spirit produced by the    
repulse of the ,persians1 and expressed 
institutionally in the foundation of the
 ,delian ,league1 can hardly be realized
 emotionally without the poetry of      
,aeschylus4 ,but the philosophers and   
scientists are indispensable too4       
,professor ,burnet's ,early ,greek      
,philosophy1 or his ,greek ,philosophy  
from ,thales to ,plato1 throws light on 
history and not merely on the ,greek    
theory of knowledge4 ,and the reader    
should make acquaintance with the little
 work on ',atmospheres1 ,waters1 and    
,localities' emanating from the         
,hippokratean school of medicine4 ,it is
 only thirty-eight pages in the ,teubner
 text 7,hippocratis ,opera1 vol4 i71 and
 it gives clearer expression than       
,herodotus to the fifth-century         
scientific point of view4 ,here is one  

passage which might have been written in
 ,victorian ,england4 ,the writer is    
describing a peculiar disease prevalent 
among the nomads of southern ,russia4   
',the natives'1 he remarks1 'believe    
that this disease is sent by ,god1 and  
they reverence and worship its victims1 
in fear of being stricken by it         
themselves4 ,i too am quite ready to    
admit that these phenomena are caused by
 ,god1 but ,i take the same view about  
all phenomena and hold that no single   
phenomenon is more or less divine in    
origin than any other4 ,all are uniform 
and all may be divine1 but each         
phenomenon obeys a law1 and natural law 
knows no exceptions4'  ,it is hard to   
leave this first act of the tragedy4 ,it
 is a triumph of youth1 and the phrase  
in which ,herodotus sums up the early   
history of ,sparta expresses the        
prevailing spirit of early ,hellenic    
civilization4      ,ana te edramon kai  
euthenthsan3 ',they shot up and throve4'
 ,but there is another phrase in        

,herodotus which announces the second   
act--an ominous phrase which came so    
natural to him that one may notice about
 a dozen instances of it in his history4
       ,edei gar t deini genesthai kaks3
 ',evil had to befall so-and-so1 and    
therefore'--the story of a catastrophe  
follows in each case4 ,the thought      
behind the phrase is expressed in       
,solon's words to ,croesus 7,herodotus1 
,bk4 ,i1 ch4 #cb73 ',croesus1 ,i know   
that ,god is ever envious and           
disordering' 7 tarachdes71 'and you ask 
me about the destiny of man6'  ,note the
 epithet translated 'disordering'2 we   
shall meet the word  tarach again4 ,it  
is the bitter phrase of a man who lived 
on from the great age into the war1 but 
not so bitter as the truth which the    
writer could not bring himself wholly to
 express4 ',no single phenomenon'1 as   
contemporary ,greek science realized1   
'is more or less divine than any other'1
 and the 'envious and disordering'      
power1 which wrecked ,greek             

civilization1 was not an external force1
 but the very spirit of man by which    
that civilization had been created4     
,there is a puzzling line in ,homer     
which is applied once or twice to       
features in a landscape--for instance1  
to a river3 ',the gods call it ,xanthos1
 mankind ,skamandros4' ,so we might say 
of the downfall of ,greece3 the ,greeks 
attributed it to the malignity of ,god1 
but the divine oracles gave a different 
answer4  ,why did the ,confederacy of   
,delos break down and ,greece lose her  
youth in a ruinous war8 ,because of the 
evil in the hearts of men--the envy     
aroused by the political and commercial 
greatness of ,athens in the governing   
classes of ,sparta and ,corinth2 and the
 covetousness aroused by sudden         
greatness in the ,athenians1 tempting   
their statesmen to degrade the          
presidency of a free confederacy into a 
dominion of ,athens over ,greece1 and   
tempting the ,athenian proletariat1 and 
the proletariat in the confederate      

states1 to misuse democracy for the     
exploitation of the rich by the poor4   
,envy and covetousness begat injustice1 
and injustice disloyalty4 ,the          
city-states1 in their rivalry for       
dominion or their resentment against the
 domineering of one state over another1 
forgot their loyalty to the common weal 
of ,greece and fought each other for    
empire or liberty4 ,and the wealthy and 
well-born citizens forgot their loyalty 
to the city in their blind1 rancorous   
feud against the proletariat that was   
stripping them of property and power1   
and betrayed their community to foreign 
enemies4  ',strange how mortals blame   
the gods4 ,they say that evil is our    
handiwork1 when in truth they bring     
their sufferings on themselves4 ,by     
their own folly they force the hand of  
fate4 ,see1 now1 how ,aigisthos forced  
it in taking the wedded wife of         
,atreides and slaying her lord when he  
returned1 yet he had sheer destruction  
before his eyes1 for we ourselves had   

forewarned him not to slay the king nor 
wed his wife1 or vengeance would come by
 ,atreides' son ,orestes1 whene'er he   
should grow to manhood and long for his 
home4 ,so spake our messenger1 but with 
all his wisdom he did not soften the    
heart of ,aigisthos1 and now he has paid
 in full' 7,odyssey1 a #cb-dc74  ,these 
lines from the first canto of the       
,odyssey were imagined by a generation  
which could still afford to err1 but as 
,greece approached her hour of destiny1 
her prophetic inspiration grew clearer4 
,the poets of the sixth century were    
haunted more insistently than the       
,homeridai by the possibilities of      
disaster inherent in success of every   
kind--in personal prosperity1 in        
military victory1 and in the social     
triumph of civilization4 ,they traced   
the mischief to an aberration of the    
human spirit under the shock of sudden1 
unexpected attainment1 and they realized
 that both the accumulated achievement  
of generations and the greater promise  

of the future might be lost             
irretrievably by failure at this        
critical moment4 ',surfeit 7 koros7     
breeds sin  hubris when prosperity      
visits unbalanced minds4' ,in slightly  
different words1 the proverb recurs in  
the collections of verses attributed to 
,theognis and to ,solon4 ,its maker     
refrained from adding what was in his   
and his hearers' thoughts1 that  hubris1
 once engendered1 breeds  ai--the       
complete and certain destruction into   
which the sinner walks with unseeing    
eyes4 ,but the whole moral mystery1 to  
its remorseless end1 was uttered again  
and again in passionate words by        
,aeschylus1 who consciously discarded   
the primitive magical determinism in    
which ,herodotus afterwards vainly      
sought relief4                --        
'  '1          1      ' 1 1 1      1 -- 
1      4      ,philei de tiktein hubris 
men palaia nea--     zousan en kakois   
brotn     hubris tot'  tth'1 hote to    
kyrion mol     phaos tokou1     daimona 

t' etan1 amachon1 apolemon1     anieron 
thrasos1 melai--     nas melathroisin   
,atas1     eidomenas tokeusin4      ,but
 ,old ,sin loves1 when comes the hour   
again1       ,to bring forth ,new1      
,which laugheth lusty amid the tears of 
men2     ,yea1 and ,unruth1 his comrade1
 wherewith none     ,may plead nor      
strive1 which dareth on and on1         
,knowing not fear nor any holy thing2   
,two fires of darkness in a house1 born 
true1       ,like to their ancient      
spring4      7,agamemnon1 vv4 #gfc-ga1  
,murray's transl47  ,the poet of the    
crowning victory over ,persia was filled
 with awe1 as well as exultation1 at the
 possibilities for good or evil which   
his triumphant generation held in their 
hands4 ,were they true metal or base8   
,the times would test them1 but he had  
no doubt about the inexorable law4      
4      ,ou gar estin epalxis            
ploutou pros koron andri     laktisanti 
megan diks       bmon eis aphaneian4    
,never shall state nor gold             

,shelter his heart from aching          
,whoso the ,altar of ,justice old       
,spurneth to night unwaking4            
7,agamemnon1 vv4 #cha-d1 ,murray's      
transl47  ,the ,agamemnon was written   
when ,athens stood at the height of her 
glory and her power1 and before her     
sons1 following the devices of their    
hearts1 'like a boy chasing a wingd     
bird'1 had set a fatal stumbling-block  
in the way of their city1 or smirched   
her with an intolerable stain4 ,the     
generation of ,marathon foreboded the   
catastrophe of the ,peloponnesian ,war1 
yet the shock1 when it came1 was beyond 
their powers of imagination1 and the    
effect of it on the mind of ,greece was 
first expressed by the generation which 
was smitten by the war in early manhood4
 ,this is how it was felt by ,thucydides
 7iii4 #hb73  ',so the class-war at     
,korkyra grew more and more savage1 and 
it made a particular impression because 
it was the first outbreak of an upheaval
 that spread in time through almost the 

whole of ,greek society4 ,in every state
 there were conflicts of class1 and the 
leaders of the respective parties now   
procured the intervention of the        
,athenians or the ,lakedaimonians on    
their side4 ,in peace-time they would   
have had neither the opportunity nor the
 inclination to call in the foreigner1  
but now there was the war1 and it was   
easy for any party of violence to get   
their opponents crushed and themselves  
into power by an alliance with one of   
the belligerents4 ,this recrudescence of
 class-war brought one calamity after   
another upon the states of              
,greece--calamities that occur and will 
continue to occur as long as human      
nature remains what it is1 however they 
may be modified or occasionally         
mitigated by changes of circumstance4   
,under the favourable conditions of     
peace-time1 communities and individuals 
do not have their hands forced by the   
logic of events1 and can therefore act  
up to a higher standard4 ,but war strips

 away all the margins of ordinary life  
and breaks in character to circumstance 
by its brutal training4 ,so the states  
were torn by the class-war1 and the     
sensation made by each outbreak had a   
sinister effect on the next--in fact1   
there was something like a competition  
in perfecting the fine art of           
conspiracies and atrocities4444  7iii4  
#hc7 ',thus the class-war plunged ,greek
 society into every kind of moral evil1 
and honesty1 which is the chief         
constituent of idealism1 was laughed out
 of existence in the prevailing         
atmosphere of hostility and suspicion4  
,no argument was cogent enough and no   
pledge solemn enough to reconcile       
opponents4 ,the only argument that      
appealed to the party momentarily in    
power was the unlikelihood of their     
remaining there long and the consequent 
advisability of taking no risks with    
their enemies4 ,and the stupider the    
combatants1 the greater their chances of
 survival1 just because they were       

terrified at their deficiencies1        
expected to be outwitted and            
outmanuvred1 and therefore plunged      
recklessly into action1 while their     
superiors in intellect1 who trusted to  
their wits to protect them and disdained
 practical precautions1 were often      
caught defenceless and brought to       
destruction4'  ,there is the effect of  
the great ,greek war upon the first     
generation4 ,thucydides1 of course1 had 
a sensitive and emotional temperament4  
,he is always controlling himself and   
reining himself in4 ,but one is struck  
by an outburst of the same feeling in a 
younger man1 ,xenophon1 who was         
ordinarily in harmony with his age and  
was probably rather unimaginative and   
self-complacent by nature4 ,the war had 
given ,xenophon his opportunity as a    
soldier and a writer4 ,he was not       
inclined to quarrel with the 'envious   
and disordering' powers that had ruined 
,greek civilization4 ,but in the last   
paragraph of the ,history of his ,own   

,times he is carried away1 for he has   
just been describing the battle of      
,mantinea 7#cfb ,b4 ,c471 in which he   
had lost his son4  ',the result of the  
battle'1 he writes1 'disappointed every 
one's expectations4 ,almost the whole of
 ,greece had mobilized on one side or   
the other1 and it was taken for granted 
that if it came to an action1 the       
victors would be able to do what they   
liked and the vanquished would be at    
their mercy4 ,but ,providence so        
disposed it that both sides 444 claimed 
the victory and yet neither had gained a
 foot of territory1 a single city or a  
particle of power beyond what they had  
possessed before the battle4 ,on the    
contrary1 there was more unsettlement   
and disorder 7 tarach7 in ,greece after 
the battle than before it4 ,but ,i do   
not propose to carry my narrative       
further and will leave the sequel to any
 other historian who cares to record    
it4' 7,hellenica1 vii4 #e fin47  ,space 
forbids quotation from ,plato1 but the  

reader is recommended1 while studying   
his metaphysics for his philosophy1 to  
note his moods and emotions for the     
light they throw upon the history of his
 lifetime4 ,plato's long life--#dbg to  
#cdg ,b4 ,c4--practically coincided with
 the first phase of the second act of   
the tragedy--the series of wars that    
began in #dca ,b4 ,c41 and that had     
reduced the ,greek city-states to       
complete disunion and exhaustion by     
#cee4 ,plato belonged to the cultured   
governing class which was hit hardest by
 these first disasters4 ,at the age of  
twenty-nine1 after witnessing the       
downfall of ,athens1 he had to witness  
the judicial murder of ,sokrates--the   
greatest man of the older generation1   
who had been appreciated and loved by   
,plato and his friends4 ,plato's own    
most promising pupil1 whom he had marked
 out for his successor1 was killed in   
action in a particularly aimless        
recrudescence of the war4 ,plato's      
political disillusionment and perversity

 are easy to understand4 ,but it is     
curious and interesting to watch the    
clash between his political bitterness  
and his intellectual serenity4 ,in the  
intellectual and artistic sphere--as a  
writer1 musician1 mathematician1        
metaphysician--he stood consciously at  
the zenith of ,greek history2 but       
whenever he turned to politics he seems 
to have felt that the spring had gone   
out of the year4 ,he instinctively      
antedated the setting of his dialogues4 
,the characters nearly all belong to the
 generation of ,sokrates1 which had     
grown to manhood before the war and     
whose memories conjured up the glory    
that the war had extinguished4 ,note1   
also1 his 'other-worldliness'1 for it is
 a feature that comes into ,greek       
civilization with him and gradually     
permeates it4 ,he turns from science to 
theology1 from the world of time and    
change to the world of archetypes or    
ideas4 ,he turns from the social        
religion of the city-state to a personal

 religion for which he takes symbols    
from primitive mythology4 ,he turns from
 politics to utopias4 ,but ,plato only  
lived to see the first phase of the     
catastrophe4 ,as we watch the remainder 
of this second act--those four terrible 
centuries that followed the year #dca   
,b4 ,c4--there come tidings of calamity 
after calamity1 like the messages of    
disaster in the ,book of ,job1 and as   
the world crumbles1 people tend more and
 more to lay up their treasure          
elsewhere4 ,in the ,laws1 ,plato places 
his utopia no farther away than ,crete4 
,two centuries later the followers of   
,aristonikos the ,bolshevik1 outlawed by
 the cities of ,greece and ,asia1       
proclaim themselves citizens of the     
,city of the ,sun4 ,two centuries later 
still1 the followers of ,jesus of       
,nazareth1 despairing of this world1    
pray for its destruction by fire to make
 way for the ,kingdom of ,heaven4       
,plato's state of mind gives the        
atmosphere of the first phase after the 

catastrophe4 ,for the second phase--the 
conquest of the ,east and the struggle  
for the spoils--the reader may be       
referred to ,mr4 ,edwyn ,bevan's        
,lectures on the ,stoics and ,sceptics  
and to ,professor ,gilbert ,murray's    
,conway ,memorial lecture on ,the ,stoic
 ,philosophy4 ,they will show him a     
system of philosophy which is no longer 
a pure product of speculation but is    
primarily a moral shelter erected       
hastily to meet the storms of life4 ,the
 third phase--the rally of civilization 
in the middle of the third century ,b4  
,c4--is mirrored in ,plutarch's lives of
 the ,spartan kings ,agis and           
,kleomenes4 ,any one who reads them will
 feel the gallantry of this rally and   
the pathos of its failure4 ,and then    
comes the fourth phase--the ,roman wars 
against the other great powers of the   
,mediterranean world4 ,the ,hannibalic  
war in ,italy was1 very probably1 the   
most terrible war that there has ever   
been1 not excepting the recent war in   

,europe4 ,the horror of that war haunted
 later generations1 and its mere memory 
made oblivion seem a desirable release  
from an intolerable world4      ,nil    
igitur mors est ad nos neque pertinet   
hilum1     quandoquidem natura animi    
mortalis habetur4     et velut anteacto 
nil tempore sensimus aegri1     ad      
confligendum venientibus undique        
,poenis1     omnia cum belli trepido    
concussa tumultu     horrida contremuere
 sub altis aetheris oris1     in        
dubioque fuere utrorum ad regna cadendum
     omnibus humanis esset terraque     
marique1     sic1 ubi non erimus1 cum   
corporis atque animai     discidium     
fuerit quibus e sumus uniter apti1      
scilicet haud nobis quicquam1 qui non   
erimus tum1     accidere omnino poterit 
sensumque movere1     non si terra mari 
miscebitur et mare caelo4  ,that is a   
passage of ,lucretius 7iii4 #hcj-hdb7   
which follows upon an elaborate argument
 to prove that death destroys           
personality and that the soul is not    

immortal4 ,here is an attempt at a      
translation3  ',so death is nothing to  
us and matters nothing to us1 since we  
have proved that the soul is not        
immortal4 ,and as in time past we felt  
no ill1 when the ,phoenicians were      
pouring in to battle on every front1    
when the world rocked with the shock and
 tumult of war and shivered from centre 
to firmament1 when all mankind on sea   
and land must fall under the victor's   
empire and victory was in doubt--so1    
when we have ceased to be1 when body and
 soul1 whose union is our being1 have   
been parted1 then nothing can touch     
us--we shall not be--and nothing can    
make us feel1 no1 not if earth is       
confounded with sea and sea with        
heaven4'  ,lucretius wrote that about a 
hundred and fifty years after ,hannibal 
evacuated ,italy1 but the horror is     
still vivid in his mind1 and his poetry 
arouses it in our minds as we listen4   
,the writer will never forget how those 
lines kept running in his head during   

the spring of #aiah4  ,but the victors  
suffered with the vanquished in the     
common ruin of civilization4 ,the whole 
,mediterranean world1 and the devastated
 area in ,italy most of all1 was shaken 
by the economic and social revolutions  
which the ,roman wars brought in their  
train4 ,the proletariat was oppressed to
 such a degree that the unity of society
 was permanently destroyed and ,greek   
civilization1 after being threatened    
with a violent extinction by ,bolshevik 
outbreaks--the slave wars in ,sicily1   
the insurrection of ,aristonikos and the
 massacres of ,mithradates in ,anatolia1
 the outbreaks of ,spartakos and        
,catilina in ,italy--was eventually     
supplanted by a rival civilization of   
the proletariat--the ,christian ,church4
 ,the revolutionary last phase in the   
second act--the final phase before the  
foundation of the ,empire--has left its 
expression in the cry of the ,son of    
,man3 ',the foxes have holes and the    
birds of the air have nests1 but the    

,son of ,man hath not where to lay his  
head4' ,it was one of those anonymous   
phrases that are in all men's mouths    
because they express what is in all     
men's hearts4 ,tiberius ,gracchus used  
it in his public speeches at ,rome2 two 
centuries later it reappears in the     
discourses of ,jesus of ,nazareth4      
,ergo inter sese paribus concurrere     
telis     ,romanas acies iterum videre  
,philippi1     nec fuit indignum superis
 bis sanguine nostro     ,emathiam et   
latos ,haemi pinguescere campos4444     
,di patrii1 ,indigetes1 et ,romule1     
,vestaque mater     quae ,tuscum        
,tiberim et ,romana ,palatia servas1    
hunc saltem everso iuvenem succurrere   
saeclo     ne prohibete4 satis iam      
pridem sanguine nostro     ,laomedonteae
 luimus periuria ,troiae4444     vicinae
 ruptis inter se legibus urbes     arma 
ferunt2 saevit toto ,mars impius orbe2  
ut cum carceribus sese effudere         
quadrigae1     addunt in spatio1 et     
frustra retinacula tendens     fertur   

equis auriga neque audit currus habenas4
      7,georgics1 i4 #dhi seqq47        
',therefore ,philippi saw ,roman armies 
turn their swords against each other a  
second time in battle1 and the gods felt
 no pity that ,emathia and the broad    
plains of ,haemus should twice be       
fattened with our blood4444  ',gods of  
our fathers1 gods of our country1 god of
 our city1 goddess of our hearths who   
watchest over ,tuscan ,tiber and ,roman 
,palatine1 forbid not this last saviour 
to succour our fallen generation4 ,our  
blood has flowed too long4 ,we have paid
 in full for the sins of our            
forefathers--the broken faith of ancient
 ,troy4444  ',the bonds are broken      
between neighbour cities and they meet  
in arms4 ,ungodly war rages the world   
over4 ,the chariots launched on the race
 gather speed as they go2 vainly        
dragging on the reins the driver is     
swept away by his steeds and the team   
heeds not the bridle4'  ,it is a prayer 
for the lifting of the curse1 and this  

time the 'envious and disordering'      
powers gave ear4 ,the charioteer        
regained control1 and we are carried on 
to the third act of the tragedy1 in     
which no small part of its beauty and a 
very great part of its significance is  
to be found4 ,the imperial peace could  
not save the body of ,greek             
civilization--the four centuries of war 
had inflicted mortal wounds2 but        
possibly it saved its soul4 ,although   
,augustus had not the abilities of      
,caesar1 he felt and pitied the sorrows 
of the world1 and he succeeded in       
expressing the pity and repentance1 the 
ruthfulness for and piety towards the   
past1 which were astir in the spirits of
 his generation4 ,but what phrase is    
adequate to characterize the ,empire8   
,the words ',decline and ,fall' suggest 
themselves1 but how should they be      
applied8 ,gibbon took the second century
 of the ,empire1 the age of the         
,antonines1 as the ,golden ,age of the  
,ancient ,world1 and traced the decline 

and fall of the ,empire from the death  
of ,marcus ,aurelius4 ,on the other     
hand1 if the present reading of the plot
 is right1 the fatal catastrophe        
occurred six centuries earlier1 in the  
year #dca ,b4 ,c41 and the ,empire      
itself was the decline and fall of      
,greek civilization4 ,but was it only   
that8 ,one is apt to think so when one  
reads the diary of ,marcus ,aurelius1   
and pictures him in his quarters at     
,carnuntum1 fighting finely but         
hopelessly on two fronts--against the   
barbarians on the ,danube and the       
sadness in his own soul4  ',human life6 
,its duration is momentary1 its         
substance in perpetual flux1 its senses 
dim1 its physical organism perishable1  
its consciousness a vortex1 its destiny 
dark1 its repute uncertain--in fact1 the
 material element is a rolling stream1  
the spiritual element dreams and vapour1
 life a war and a sojourning in a far   
country1 fame oblivion4 ,what can see us
 through8 ,one thing and one            

only--philosophy1 and that means keeping
 the spirit within us unspoiled and     
undishonoured1 not giving way to        
pleasure or pain1 never acting          
unthinkingly or deceitfully or          
insincerely1 and never being dependent  
on the moral support of others4 ,it also
 means taking what comes contentedly as 
all part of the process to which we owe 
our own being2 and1 above all1 it means 
facing death calmly--taking it simply as
 a dissolution of the atoms of which    
every living organism is composed4      
,their perpetual transformation does not
 hurt the atoms1 so why should one mind 
the whole organism being transformed and
 dissolved8 ,it is a law of nature1 and 
natural law can never be wrong4' 7      
,mrkos ,antninos eis eautn1 ii fin47    
,but after quoting ,marcus ,aurelius1   
the first citizen of the ,empire1 it is 
necessary to add a quotation from ,paul 
of ,tarsos1 a citizen who has as good a 
claim as any other to be heard3  ',how  
are the dead raised up8 ,with what body 

do they come8 ,thou fool1 that which    
thou sowest is not quickened1 except it 
die4444 ,it is sown in corruption1 it is
 raised in incorruption2 it is sown in  
dishonour1 it is raised in glory2 it is 
sown in weakness1 it is raised in       
power4' 444  ,it startles us to be      
reminded that these two actors appeared 
on the stage in the same act of the     
drama1 and that ,paul actually played   
his part a century before ,marcus played
 his4 ,paul's voice suggests not only a 
younger generation but quite a different
 play4 ,his thought in the lines just   
quoted is inspired by a predecessor whom
 ,marcus regarded as one of the         
innumerable prophets of the proletariat4
 ',except a corn of wheat fall into the 
ground and die1 it abideth alone1 but if
 it die1 it bringeth forth much fruit4' 
,the saying was included in the         
miscellaneous traditions about ,jesus of
 ,nazareth which were passing from mouth
 to mouth among the illiterate masses1  
but which had not begun to excite the   

curiosity of the educated classes in    
,marcus's day4 ,what would the scholar  
have made of it if a collection of these
 traditions had fallen under his eye1   
scrawled on bad paper in barbarous      
,greek8 ,little enough1 for he would    
have missed the whole background of his 
own sentiment and thought1 which was    
nothing less than the background of     
,greek civilization4 ,great literary    
memories crowd the brief passage of his 
diary quoted above--,epiktetos and      
,lucretius and the ,stoa1 ,plato and    
,sokrates1 ,demokritos and the          
,hippokratean school of medicine from   
which we took our first quotation1 and  
simpler minds and more primitive artists
 in the dim generations behind4 ,we are 
carried right back through the tragedy  
at which we have been looking on4 ,the  
two men are worlds apart1 in spite of   
the fact that their propositions1 when  
we strip them naked1 are much the same4 
',the organism is transformed and       
dissolved4'--',that which thou sowest is

 not quickened except it die4' ,they are
 both representing death as a phase in  
the process of nature1 but it is not    
till we grasp the similarity of the     
thought that we fully realize the       
difference in the outlook and the       
emotion4  ,under the smooth surface of  
the ,empire there was a great gulf fixed
 between the 'bourgeois' society of the 
city-states and the descendants of the  
slaves imported during the ,roman ,wars2
 but the ,empire1 by gradually          
alleviating the material condition of   
the proletariat1 insensibly affected    
their point of view4 ,the development of
 their religion--the one inalienable    
possession carried by the slaves from   
their ,oriental homes--is an index of   
the psychological change4 ,in the last  
phase of the ,second ,act1 the ',red    
,guards' of ,sicily and ,anatolia had   
been led by prophets and preachers of   
their ,oriental gods4 ,their religion   
had lent itself to their revolutionary  
state of mind4 ,but under the ,empire1  

as descendants of the plantation-slaves 
succeeded in purchasing their freedom   
and forming a new class of shopkeepers  
and clerks1 their religion              
correspondingly reflected their rise in 
the world4 ,they remained indifferent1  
if not hostile1 to the ,imperial        
,hellenic tradition1 but they began to  
aspire to a kingdom of their own in this
 world as well as in the next4 ,the     
force which had broken out desperately  
in the crazy wonder-working of ,eunous  
of ,enna and had then inspired the      
'other-worldly' exaltation of ,paul of  
,tarsos1 was soon conducted into the    
walls of chapels1 and the local         
associations of ,christian chapel-goers 
were steadily linked up into a          
federation so powerfully organized that 
the ,imperial federation of city-states 
had eventually to choose between going  
into partnership with it or being       
supplanted4 ,thus the empire of which   
,marcus and ,paul were citizens was more
 than the third act in the tragedy of   

,ancient ,greece4 ,while it retarded the
 inevitable dissolution of one          
civilization it conceived its successor1
 and when1 after ,marcus's death1       
imperial statesmanship failed1 and the  
ancient organism long preserved by its  
skill at last broke down1 the shock did 
not extinguish new and old together1 but
 brought the new life to birth4 ,by the 
seventh century after ,christ1 when     
,ancient ,greek civilization may be said
 finally to have dissolved1 our own     
civilization was ready to 'shoot up and 
thrive' and repeat the tragedy of       
mankind4  ,the writer can best express  
his personal feeling about the ,empire  
in a parable4 ,it was like the sea round
 whose shores its network of city-states
 was strung4 ,the ,mediterranean seems  
at first sight a poor substitute for the
 rivers that have given their waters to 
make it4 ,those were living waters1     
whether they ran muddy or clear2 the sea
 seems just salt and still and dead4    
,but as soon as we study the sea1 we    

find movement and life there also4      
,there are silent currents circulating  
perpetually from one part to another1   
and the surface-water that seems to be  
lost by evaporation is not really lost1 
but will descend in distant places and  
seasons1 with its bitterness all        
distilled away1 as life-giving rain4    
,and as these surface-waters are drawn  
off into the clouds1 their place is     
taken by lower layers continually rising
 from the depths4 ,the sea itself is in 
constant and creative motion1 but the   
influence of this great body of water   
extends far beyond its shores4 ,one     
finds it softening the extremes of      
temperature1 quickening the vegetation1 
and prospering the life of animals and  
men1 in the distant heart of continents 
and among peoples that have never heard 
its name4  ,,arnold ,,toynbee4          
,,political ,,thought   ,in a survey of 
the legacy of ,ancient ,greece to our   
modern civilization and its problems1 it
 might well seem at first sight as      

though the political contribution of    
,greece could be ignored4 ,greek art1   
,greek literature1 ,greek philosophy are
 among the world's abiding possessions1 
for the human passions and questionings 
which gave them birth and the human     
needs to which they minister will last  
as long as human life itself4 ,but      
,greek political thinking is so much    
bound up with the peculiar and          
evanescent external conditions of fifth 
and fourth century ,greece1 centres     
indeed so exclusively round the special 
problems of its intellectual metropolis1
 ,athens1 that its interest might appear
 to have passed away with the rgime to  
which it owes its existence4 ,the       
,agamemnon and the ,antigone1 with their
 teachings of destiny and duty1 the     
,hermes of ,olympia and the ,parthenon  
frieze1 with their ever-irresistible    
charm of youthfulness1 the ,phaedo with 
its discussion of immortality1 the      
,metaphysics of ,aristotle with their   
still subtler and more abstruse         

speculations1 source of so much of our  
,christian doctrine and apologetic--all 
these require little defence against the
 ,philistine of to-day1 if only he can  
be induced to gaze at his intended      
victim before he delivers his blow4 ,but
 ,thucydides with his long and detailed 
account of an inter-tribal or           
inter-municipal war1 decked out with    
sham speeches which were never          
delivered3 ,plato with his imaginary    
,utopia1 half a small ,greek provincial 
town1 half an impossible and unendurably
 regimented socialist model community1  
based on a fine-drawn and fallacious    
comparison between the qualities of the 
human soul and the class-divisions which
 happened to prevail in the ,greek      
society of the time3 ,aristotle with his
 laborious investigations into the      
municipal pathology of his day and his  
detailed prescriptions for the          
betterment of his fellow-provincials and
 their institutions--what have we to do 
with all this in an age of world        

problems and conflicts and of not merely
 continent-wide but international ideas 
and projects of organization8 ,the first
 duty of any one who seeks to interest  
the modern reader in ,greek political   
discussion is to be perfectly frank and 
lucid about its limitations4 ,he need   
have no cause to be afraid that1 when   
these have been written off from his    
prospectus1 there will be too little of 
value remaining4  ,these limitations can
 be summarized under two main heads4    
,they arise1 firstly1 from a difference 
of scale1 and secondly1 from a          
difference of outlook1 between ancient  
and modern political thought4  ,the     
difference of scale leaps to the eye at 
once1 although its consequences are not 
all of them so obvious4 ,ancient ,greece
 was1 for political purposes1 a         
congeries of sovereign states1 generally
 centring round the urban metropolis of 
a rural district smaller than that of an
 average ,english county4 ,the material 
upon which ,greek political thought     

worked was1 therefore1 from our modern  
point of view not only small-scale but  
almost ,lilliputian4 ,this can best be  
appreciated when we consider how many   
gradations of scale are interposed in   
the modern world between the government 
of a town or district of the size of    
fifth-century ,athens and the government
 of our own sovereign state1 the        
,british ,commonwealth4 ,athens was far 
smaller than ,leeds1 ,johannesburg1 or  
,chicago3 yet to be ,mayor of any of    
these is not to fill a position of      
commanding responsibility1 as political 
responsibility is understood in the     
large-scale world of to-day4 ,the       
,american ,state1 the ,south ,african   
province and ,dominion and 7for certain 
purposes7 the ,english ,county stand    
between the giant municipality and the  
sovereign parliament4 ,to a ,british    
,premier passing from a coal strike     
which reacts upon the trade of the      
entire world to an ,imperial ,conference
 engaged in tracing out an agreed line  

of policy on the ,pacific ,question1 the
 problems of a ,pericles1 or even of an 
,alexander1 would seem but child's play4
  ,let us see what results from this    
difference of scale4 ,in the first      
place1 ,greek political thought although
 7as we shall see7 it aimed at          
universality1 at arriving at certain    
definite laws or conclusions about      
politics1 never succeeded in divesting  
itself of a certain element of local or 
national individuality4 ,when ,plato and
 ,thucydides think and write of 'the    
,state' they are also thinking of the   
,city--the same word1 polis1 serves     
indeed for the two--and not merely of   
the ,city1 i4 e41 of any municipality1  
but of a particular city4 ,there are    
elements in ,greek political thought    
which1 just because they owe their      
inspiration to ,athens1 can never be    
universalized4 ,a treatise on education 
in which general psychological          
conclusions were intermingled with      
conclusions based on experience at some 

,english school with a very unique      
tradition1 would require to be carefully
 examined and applied with caution to   
the problems of adolescent life in      
,japan or ,nigeria4 ,similarly1 in so   
far as ,greek political thought is      
,athenian or 7to use a much disputed    
term in what ,i hold to be its proper   
sense7 national1 it is not truly        
political4  ,the distinction that ,i am 
trying to draw is a difficult one and   
cannot be understood without a short    
digression about the nature of the study
 of politics4 ,politics is the study or 
activity of government1 of the          
management of the public or common      
affairs of men4 ,we need 'politicians'1 
men who will devote themselves to       
meeting the demand for the management of
 our common affairs--we need them not   
because we are ,englishmen1 ,irishmen1  
or ,americans1 but because we are human 
beings living together in society1 and  
because our co-operative relations and  
activities require to be guided and     

controlled4 ,whether the 'politician' is
 a tyrant or a ,minister of the people  
is not here to the point2 the point is  
that he is the manager of what the      
,romans called res publica1 the ,latin  
for the good old ,english word          
',commonwealth'4 ,politics is therefore 
primarily concerned with the practical  
problems arising out of the fact that a 
number of different human beings are    
living together1 and the more different 
they are and the smaller their greatest 
common measure1 the more truly political
 do such problems become4 ,the first    
business1 of the politician or governor 
is1 as ,aristotle said1 to see that men 
shall live 7the twin problems of supply 
and defence71 his second to see that    
they shall live well 7in the first      
instance the problems of health and     
physical development and well-being74   
,in the last analysis pure politics1 as 
our great grandchildren may discover if 
ever the ,world-,state becomes a        
reality1 is mainly concerned with       

administration1 administration of the   
affairs common to all in the interests  
of all4  ,now ancient ,greek politics   
were entangled1 and modern politics also
 are still too largely entangled1 with  
the discussion of matters which are not 
common at all1 and do not constitute the
 material of politics in the true sense 
of the word--with questions arising1 not
 out of the common need for a common    
law1 but out of the inner ultimate and  
ineradicable differences between the    
various nations and other groupings of  
mankind4 ,when the ,league of ,nations  
or the ,dublin ,city ,council is        
discussing an epidemic of small-pox or  
the improvement of some dock or wharf1  
or schools for mothers1 or the problem  
of juvenile employment it is dealing    
with common interests which affect human
 beings as human beings3 it is on the   
plane of politics proper4 ,but when the 
,dublin ,city ,council1 following in the
 wake of the nineteenth century         
democratic movement throughout ,europe1 

puts forward some proposal in order to  
give satisfaction to the sentiment that 
,ireland being the home of a nation     
ought to be a sovereign state1 and when 
the ,league of ,nations is asked to deal
 with the political situation created by
 the clash of contending nationalisms in
 the ,british ,isles or elsewhere1 both 
bodies1 as governing bodies1 are out of 
their depth3 for they are faced with an 
impossible task4 ,established to deal   
with politics proper1 with the common   
affairs of men as men1 they are bound to
 flounder helplessly when they are      
cajoled into the thorny intimate and    
7let it be added7 far more fascinating  
region of national and individual       
personality--to a region where1 the     
deeper you penetrate1 the less common1  
uniform1 standardized or standardizable 
are the interests involved1 and the less
 susceptible of being 'settled'1 or even
 understood1 by the rough and ready     
politician accustomed to deal with      
matters in the bulk and to measure up   

the results on a quantitative reckoning 
in the cold and cosmopolitan language of
 statistics4  ,in reading the ,greek    
political writers then1 we must be      
careful to distinguish the universal    
from the local and ephemeral element4   
,the latter is indeed of great interest 
and value2 but we shall tend to miss the
 really precious and permanent elements 
in their thought if we do not take pains
 to disentangle ,thucydides the         
disillusioned ,athenian patriot from    
,thucydides the scientific historian and
 psychologist1 and ,plato the aristocrat
 born out of due season from ,plato the 
unrivalled student of human nature and  
of the permanent needs of human society4
  ,the failure to recognize this        
distinction has led to much             
misunderstanding and shallow thinking in
 attempts to apply ,greek ideas and     
maxims too literally to modern life4 ,it
 is only too common to hear ,englishmen1
 whose knowledge of politics and        
history1 outside the newspapers1 is     

confined to stray reminiscences from a  
not very ardent pursuit of the classics 
in their school and college days1 basing
 confident predictions of the failure of
 modern democracy on some obiter dictum 
of ,thucydides or ,plato and assessing  
the fate of the ,british ,commonwealth  
in terms borrowed from some judgement of
 ,sallust or ,tacitus on its wholly     
different ,roman prototype4 ,it is      
flippancy or pedantry like this which   
gives rise to the onslaughts of a       
,cobden or ,herbert ,spencer or an ,h4  
,g4 ,wells and to the practical man's   
suspicion of a classical education4 ,one
 might as well go to last year's market 
reports for guidance in a business deal 
of to-day as have recourse to ,plato1   
or1 for that matter1 to ,macchiavelli1  
in an existing political emergency4 ,if 
a classical education1 designed as it is
 in ,england to promote 'character'     
rather than 'intellect' 7a vicious      
distinction which leaves no room for    
such a quality as intellectual          

integrity7 often leaves behind it but a 
meagre residuum of knowledge and ideas1 
it should at least cause the public     
school man of yesterday and the ,london 
clubman of to-day to realize the        
limitations of his field of study and to
 abstain from confident political       
generalization4 ,the ,labour ,m4,p4 who 
once remarked to the writer1  propos of 
an ,indian debate1 that he had been in  
the ,house just long enough to know that
 all he knew about ,india was that he   
knew nothing about it1 had been brought 
up1 if not in a better at least in a    
cannier school4 ,there is no sounder    
training for the student of politics and
 history1 or indeed of any serious      
subject1 than to know everything about  
something1 whether it be the            
chronological order of ,plato's         
dialogues or the problem of humidity in 
weaving-sheds1 or about placing a field 
or keeping a wicket4 ,that is why the   
,duke of ,wellington who1 if he lacked  
the intellectuality of a ,foch1 at least

 knew both his ,england and his own job 
of military science1 selected the       
playing fields rather than the classical
 classrooms of ,eton as the home and    
training-ground of that concentrated and
 disinterested endeavour of mind and    
spirit which had carried his army       
through patient years of effort to      
victory4 ,it is all to the good that our
 classical devotees1 faced with         
criticism and competition from many     
quarters1 should be acquiring both a    
greater humility and a greater          
seriousness4  ,our first caution then1  
is that ,greek political thought is both
 national and universal1 and that we    
must learn to distinguish what pertains 
to nationality from what pertains to    
government4  ,a second result which     
flows from the small-scale character of 
,greek politics is that we nowhere find 
an adequate treatment of the problem of 
foreign relations4 ,foreign policy is   
one of the weak spots of modern         
democracy2 it is1 perhaps1 the element  

in our political technique which is most
 in need of thoroughgoing revision4 ,we 
have yet to induce the modern citizen to
 pay continuous attention to issues     
which1 although they are seemingly      
remote from his purview1 may at any     
moment shake the whole fabric of his    
everyday existence2 and1 when we have   
done this1 we have to persuade him to   
approach these world-problems not in the
 spirit of a competitive aggrandizement 
but with a view to discovering what is  
the best line of policy in the interests
 of the world as a whole4 ,so long as   
the peoples remain self-absorbed1 the   
governments will continue to conduct    
their mutual relations on a basis of    
individual self-interest1 and the       
meetings of the ,assembly of the ,league
 of ,nations will remain what they are  
at present1 not gatherings of statesmen 
solely bent1 each from his own angle and
 upbringing1 on the welfare of humanity1
 but barterings of politicians who 7with
 rare exceptions7 have come to the fair 

to do the best business they can for    
their own clients4 ,now ,thucydides and 
,plato give us no help for the ,league  
of ,nations4 ,such a phrase as 'the     
interests of humanity as a whole' would 
have been politically meaningless to    
them4 ,they did not think of humanity as
 a whole2 they thought of it as divided 
sharply into two sections1 ,greeks and  
,barbarians1 and of the ,greek world as 
a small oasis of intelligence and       
culture ringed round by a wide and      
indefinite expanse of barbarism4 ,we    
also1 it is true1 speak of 'advanced'   
and 'backward' peoples3 but the latter  
are not1 as they were to the ,greeks1 a 
formidable mass1 tribe upon tribe1 of   
military power extending up to and      
beyond the known or legendary confines  
of the world2 they are child-races under
 our watchful care and control4 ,we have
 explored and surveyed the whole earth1 
and where we find weakness or           
inferiority1 we establish a trusteeship4
 ,to the ,greeks1 ever on their guard   

against barbarian inroads from north1   
south1 east and west1 from ,scythians   
and ,libyans1 ,persians and             
,carthaginians1 the mandate clause of   
the ,covenant would have seemed both    
theoretically undesirable and           
practically impossible4 ,no ,greek      
writer ever dreamed of a system of      
international co-operation between the  
governments of the world as men then    
knew it4 ,all of them thought in terms  
of competition and ever-recurrent       
warfare or1 at best1 of a precarious    
balance of power4 ,even ,plato's ,utopia
 had its soldier class2 and they were   
real soldiers1 not merely police4 ,in   
this respect1 at any rate1 vanquished   
,germany1 with practically the whole of 
her population relieved from military   
duty and available for productive tasks1
 has the advantage over the most ideal  
construction of ancient ,greece4  ,there
 is a further point to be noted under   
this head4 ,if ,greek thought gives us  
no guidance in foreign policy1 it is no 

more helpful1 except very indirectly1 in
 another difficult region1 that of      
industrial policy4 ,the problem of      
industrial policy1 or what is sometimes 
roughly described as the ,labour        
problem1 may perhaps be thus stated3 how
 to secure or maintain for civilized    
mankind 7or for our own particular      
section of it7 the goods and services it
 needs1 whilst at the same time         
providing justice and freedom for those 
who produce them4 ,to put it more       
shortly1 how to secure that a good life 
for the consumer shall be compatible    
with a good life for the producer4 ,it  
is a problem which goes to the root of  
democracy3 for the world has never yet  
known a time when the increase of wealth
 and the consequent growth of refinement
 and civilization in the upper section  
of the community did not lead to        
degradation and injustice in the lower4 
,here too the ,greeks can give us no    
help4 ,they did not even face the       
problem but fail to solve it1 like the  

,romans4 ,their material civilization   
was so simple that the problem hardly   
arose for them at all--except in certain
 cases1 such as that of the mine-slaves4
 ,but the fact that they acquiesced1    
without a twinge of conscience or a     
trace of repining1 in the institution of
 slavery indicates how they would       
probably have faced it had it arisen4   
,confront ,plato with the complexity of 
modern industry1 prove to him1 as any   
modern lecturer could1 that1 for        
,northern man at any rate1 life can only
 be maintained without degradation on a 
basis of widespread industrialism and   
with our familiar equipment of railways1
 steamships1 telephones1 et hoc genus   
omne1 and it is safe to predict that he 
would fail to give the reply which the  
modern reformer would expect from him4  
,instead of embracing one of the many   
current varieties of socialism which    
masquerade as his bastard progeny1 he   
would either accept his interlocutor's  
premisses and tell him to build up his  

precious northern civilization on a     
basis of slavery2 or he would reject    
them and advise him1 with ,samuel       
,butler1 to make a bonfire of the       
machines4 ,the latter is1 indeed1 the   
more probable alternative2 for it is    
that to which the more thoughtful and   
prophetic 7perhaps one can add also1 the
 more ,hellenic7 of our modern guides   
are turning4 ,when men so diverse as    
,tagore the ,indian sage and ,rathenau  
the ,german ,trust magnate tell us that 
the disease from which we are suffering 
is 'mechanization'1 and that our crying 
need is for greater simplicity1 it seems
 safe to predict that ,plato would not  
reject the possibility of providing a   
'good life' for the modern man in a     
world divested of most of the rattling  
and tinkling paraphernalia of which the 
nineteenth century so plumed itself as  
the inventor4  ,let us pass now to our  
second limitation1 that arising not from
 the difference of scale but from the   
difference of outlook between ,greek and

 modern speculation4 ,we can best sum   
this up by saying that whereas modern   
political thought1 like modern thought  
generally1 works from the inner to the  
outer1 from the individual to the state 
and society1 the ancient thinkers       
habitually work in the opposite         
direction1 setting the interests of the 
community or state above those of the   
individual4 ,this is what ,fustel de    
,coulanges intended to convey when he   
declared that ancient man had no        
conception of the meaning of liberty4   
,liberty is no doubt a somewhat         
confusing and ambiguous term2 it is hard
 to cut it loose from its political     
associations1 from national independence
 and democratic self-government4 ,we can
 perhaps therefore improve upon the     
,french writer by saying that the ,greek
 political thinkers do not recognize1 or
 do not make proper allowance for1 the  
rights and responsibilities of the      
individual soul4 ,just as they failed to
 distinguish between ,nationality and   

,government1 so they failed also to     
distinguish between ,conscience and     
,public duty4 ,socrates1 indeed1 meeting
 his death in obedience both to         
,conscience and ,law1 had a glimpse of  
the higher truth2 but his followers did 
not take up this side of his message or1
 in so far as they did so in their study
 of individual morality1 they did not   
relate it to their theories of politics4
 ,it was a greater than ,socrates who   
summed up and put the problem with his  
incomparable directness and irony3      
,render unto ,caesar the things which   
are ,caesar's and unto ,god the things  
which are ,god's4 ,if this had been said
 in the presence of ,thucydides1 the    
keenest practical brain that applied    
itself to ,greek political thinking1 he 
simply would not have known what it     
meant4 ,to him ,caesar and ,god1 or1 to 
translate them into his own language1   
,athens and ,athena1 were not opposing  
but practically identical terms4 ,when  
the ,athenian1 as he described him1     

'spent his body1 as a mere external     
tool1 in the city's service and counted 
his mind as most truly his own when     
employed on her behalf1' he was1        
according to the universal ,greek       
belief1 serving both his ,god and his   
neighbour1 both his own highest good and
 the noblest of the world's causes4 ,his
 life was a unity3 for he had not yet   
learned to disentangle his soul from the
 soul of the ,city or the herd1 or his  
,god from the god of ,israel or of      
,athens4 ,the ,greek thinkers1 as we    
shall see1 sincerely endeavoured to     
distinguish between the 'good citizen'  
and 'the good man' and to base the      
,state on foundations of the spirit2 but
 their work was vitiated by their       
failure to realize the extent and       
urgency of the claim of the individual  
soul4 ,men must be spiritually free     
before they can co-operate politically  
on the highest terms4 ,in the last      
analysis the weakness of ,greek         
political speculation can be traced back

 to the weakness of ,greek religion4    
,even ,plato played with ,pagan         
orthodoxy and gave the ,delphic ,apollo 
a titular place in his ,utopia1 proving 
himself as timid in touching ,greek     
superstitions as ,english thinkers      
to-day are in touching the ,monarchy4   
,it is this basis of insincerity which  
reveals itself throughout the           
superstructure4 ,greek political thought
 contains already the germs of the      
disease which1 centuries later1 led men1
 plebeians first1 later patricians also1
 to turn away from the outworn symbols  
that stood for the union of ,church and 
,state and to seek comfort in a religion
 which1 if it undermined and eventually 
overturned the last and greatest of the 
ancient ,empires1 established the ,city 
of the ,soul upon a firm and enduring   
basis4 ,julian's ,vicisti ,galilaee     
marked the end of one strain or         
tradition in ancient political thought  
which1 originating in the local worships
 of the ,city-,state1 had lasted on1    

with gathering momentum1 until1 all over
 the known world1 men bowed the knee    
before the altar of ,caesar1 the        
,god-,emperor4 ,from this there was no  
way forward except through revolution2  
and mankind paid1 in the night of the   
,dark ,ages1 for sins of compromise and 
insincerity committed during long       
centuries of enlightenment4  ,the       
liabilities thus frankly stated1 let us 
turn to the assets4  ,the first valuable
 contribution the ,greeks made to       
political study was that they invented  
it4 ,it is not too much to say that1    
before fifth-century ,greece1 politics  
did not exist4 ,there were powers and   
principalities1 governments and         
subjects1 but politics no more existed  
than chemistry existed in the age of    
alchemy4 ,an imitation of an idea1 as   
,plato has taught us1 is not the same as
 an idea2 nor is the imitation of a     
science the same as a science4 ,rameses 
and ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,croesus the       
,lydian and ,cyrus the ,persian1 ruled  

over great empires2 but within their    
dominions there were no politics because
 there were no public affairs4 ,there   
were only the private affairs of the    
sovereign and his ruling class4         
,government and all that pertained to   
it1 from military service and taxation  
to the supply of women for the royal    
harem1 was simply the expression of the 
power and desire of the ruler4 ,the     
great advance made by ,greece was to    
have recognized that public or common   
interests exist and to have provided1   
first for their management1 and secondly
 for their study4 ,in other words1 the  
,greeks were the first to rescue the    
body politic from charlatans and to hand
 it over to physicians4  ,how great an  
achievement this was we can best        
recognize when we consider how large a  
place the true study of politics1 and   
the terms and ideas to which it has     
given rise1 fills in the life of the    
modern man--especially of the modern    
,englishman4 ,justice and liberty1 law  

and democracy1 parliament and public    
opinion--all these and many more we owe 
to the peasants and craftsmen of the    
small ,greek republics who1 having felt 
the need for a better management of     
their humble concerns1 set to work to   
provide it1 with the same inventiveness1
 the same adaptation of means to end1   
which led them1 in other fields1 to the 
invention of the classic temple or of   
the drama4 ,if it is going too far to   
say that every modern politician owes   
his stock-in-trade of general ideas to  
the ,greeks1 there are certainly few who
 do not owe them their perorations4     
,this is not the place to enlarge on the
 features of ,greek political           
organization or to point out the various
 elements in ,greek political theory or 
practice which have proved of permanent 
value4 ,only a very summary appreciation
 can be attempted4 ,but certain points  
can be picked out as being of special   
interest to the citizen of to-day4  ,in 
the first place1 the ,greeks1 having    

made clear to themselves that public or 
common affairs existed1 sat down        
resolutely to study them4 ,convinced    
believers in reason1 they did not fall  
into the convenient ,english fallacy of 
believing that institutions are not made
 but 'grow'1 or that difficulties which 
seem too thorny for timid fingers to    
touch will settle themselves by being   
left alone4 ,political problems1 they   
felt1 were caused by men1 by the        
interaction of human wills and desires1 
and by men1 by the conscious and        
deliberate application of human         
intelligence1 they could and must be    
solved4 ,in spite of their belief in    
mysterious powers which control the     
destinies of men and nations1 they did  
not think it decent to abandon public   
affairs to ,providence2 nor did they    
avert their gaze from them as too       
mundane for the squeamish intellectual  
to handle and turn them over to the     
tender mercies of the ignorant and less 
scrupulous demagogue or doctrinaire4    

,their public affairs were no more      
interesting than ours3 they were indeed 
considerably less interesting--unless we
 are prepared to argue that the election
 of generals to command an army far     
smaller than the ,swiss is a more       
arresting issue than the choice of a    
government to bear rule over #djj       
millions of men on five continents1 or  
that the question of peace or war       
between two small neighbouring mountain 
territories outweighs in interest the   
discussion of the relations between the 
white and yellow races of mankind4 ,and1
 if ,greek politics were not interesting
 in themselves1 they suffered still     
further by comparison with the other    
topics which lay ready to claim the     
,greek citizen's attention4 ,the modern 
voter who is too idle to cast his       
ballot1 will give up to business or to  
pleasure1 to motor-car and music-hall1  
the time and the trouble that he owes to
 humanity4 ,when the ,athenian spent a  
hot and exhausting day 7for why should  

we think their nerves less susceptible  
to glare than ours87 listening to a     
parliamentary debate or to a lawsuit on 
a hard stone seat in the open air1 he   
was postponing till to-morrow1 or till  
his crops and fruit-trees permitted him 
the leisure1 the discussion of some     
masterpiece of drama or some new issue  
of human thought which had leapt during 
the last few days or months from the    
brain of a fellow citizen into          
immortality4 ,if it is hard for the     
citizen of ,new ,york to spare the time 
to dethrone ,tammany1 or for the        
electors of ,great ,britain to uproot   
its more outwardly respectable analogue 
on this side of the ,atlantic1 when his 
life1 and his newspapers1 are full of   
vulgar and ephemeral distractions1 how  
much harder must it have been for a     
,euripidean enthusiast1 or a student of 
,socrates or ,protagoras1 to descend for
 long days to solid earth in order to   
strike a bargain with a ,thracian       
chieftain or to assess some poor devil's

 damages in drachmae6 ,let us honour1   
not pity or despise them1 for having    
thought it right to do so1 for having   
deliberately determined to infuse into  
public affairs1 in themselves so drab   
and dull1 so deficient in the fineness  
and subtlety which characterize men's   
more intimate concerns1 the interest    
derived from the very fact that honest1 
sincere1 and able minds devoted         
themselves to their study4 ,as ,huxley  
could make the geological procession of 
the ages revolve round a piece of chalk1
 and ,sir ,richard ,owen reconstruct    
primitive man from the bone of his great
 toe1 so the citizen of ,athens1 as we  
see him depicted for us in the pages of 
,thucydides1 could raise the great      
permanent issues of politics1 and cause 
them to remain living for us two        
thousand years later1 in debates which  
were ostensibly concerned with mere     
provincial trivialities4 ,when such was 
the atmosphere created1 no wonder that  
those who stayed away were held up to   

obloquy in an expression 7 idits7 of    
which our ,english 'idiot' is the exact 
transcription4  ,let us dwell for a     
moment on the attitude of mind in which 
the ,greek citizen approached political 
problems4 ,he was both a ,conservative  
and a ,radical2 or rather1 he brought to
 politics the best of ,conservatism     
together with the best of ,radicalism4  
,he was a ,conservative because he      
reverenced tradition and recognized the 
power and value of custom4 ,none of our 
modern ,conservative writers and        
defenders of the existing order1 not    
,burke himself or ,bismarck or          
,chateaubriand1 had a deeper sense than 
the ,athenian for 'those unwritten      
ordinances whose transgression brings   
admitted shame'4 ,athens was a          
,conservative democracy4 ,most          
democracies1 despite the labels of their
 politicians1 are in reality            
,conservative2 for the common man whose 
rgime they represent is ,conservative   
from the very nature of his life and    

occupation2 it takes leisure and travel1
 or a wider education than any democracy
 has as yet bestowed on its young       
people1 to lift the minds of the mass of
 men out of the rut of habit4 ,but      
,athens was far more ,conservative than 
the modern democracies with whom we are 
acquainted4 ,where the ,british public  
rebukes an awkward writer by conspiring 
to boycott his books1 so that1 unless he
 has private means1 he is eventually    
silenced1 where the ,united ,states1    
going a step farther1 deny his works the
 privilege of the mails1 ,athens does   
not scruple to administer hemlock1 and1 
if an lite is indignant or sorrowful1   
the democracy applauds4 ,even at the    
height of the recent ,red ,terror the   
,united ,states never went so           
,conservative as this4 ,this should help
 us to realize the rock-firm basis of   
tradition1 of use and wont1 of          
patriarchal sanctities1 which underlay  
the working of fifth-century ,athenian  
democracy as we watch its apparent      

vicissitudes4 ,the citizen could use his
 mind as freely as he would on the      
material presented to him for his       
consideration2 but there was a point at 
which the ,state1 and his own instincts1
 cried ',halt'2 and1 except in rare     
cases1 he obeyed4 ,it is only fair to   
add that the most enlightened modern    
opinion would entirely support the      
,athenian view against the discussion of
 'unwritten laws' in ,parliament4 ,the  
difference between the ,conservative    
,athenian democrat and the modern       
,liberal in such matters is1 not that   
the one refuses1 while the other        
demands1 the discussion of life's       
sanctities in ,parliament and law-court1
 but that the one appeals to custom and 
the other to conscience as the sanction 
of the unwritten law itself4 ,whether it
 be the gods or man1 the law of the     
hearth or of the heart1 that is at      
issue1 both agree that what is private  
and holy has no place in the forum of   
common debate4  ,but1 within these      

well-recognized limits1 the ,greek      
citizen was a ,radical2 that is to say1 
he was ready to apply his reason to     
public affairs without fear or          
prejudice4 ,he loved straight and       
sincere thinking2 he tried hard to face 
the real situation before him and not to
 be clouded or led astray by side-issues
 or inhibitions4 ,there is many a lesson
 in common honesty to be learnt by our  
politicians and public in the speeches  
of ,thucydides4 ,shallow critics have   
been known to dub them cynical1 an      
adjective which the ,english1 adepts in 
self-deception1 are fond of applying to 
nations sincerer in self-analysis than  
themselves4 ,when we refuse formally to 
reopen an issue on which action is in   
fact being taken daily1 because it is a 
party question and a ,coalition         
government is in power1 when we leave to
 the healing mercies of time a problem  
with regard to which inaction itself    
constitutes a policy1 when we           
deliberately invent party labels or     

election cries designed to confuse the  
mind of the voter and to distract him   
from the real issue1 when our           
politicians have become professionals in
 the art of what ,thucydides described  
as 'the use of fair phrases to arrive at
 guilty ends' and a ,british ,premier1  
more euphemistically1 as 'political     
strategy'1 we might do worse than sit   
down to read1 mark1 learn1 digest1 and  
apply to our modern situations1 the     
immortal speeches or essays in which    
,thucydides lays bare for us the heart  
of the political life of his day1 and to
 let them act as a purge of some of our 
own too sugary diet4 ,the bitter-sweet  
of truth is not always popular on the   
hustings2 but it is good feeding for the
 plain citizen1 whether ancient or      
modern4  ,this leads on to a further    
reflection4 ,the ,greeks1 in their      
political thinking1 were essentially    
realists1 rather than idealists4 ,this  
is true of all the ,greek writers1 even 
those who1 like ,plato1 starting from   

the market-place of ,athens1 lead us up 
to a ,utopia in the clouds4 ,they were  
realists in that they based their       
political studies on the world as it is 
and human nature as it is1 rather than  
on some personal and fanciful conception
 of what man and the world ought to be4 
,to put it in other words1 they are     
realists because they are psychologists1
 because they applied the psychological 
method to political problems4 ,that they
 were the first to do so goes without   
saying3 for no one before them had      
applied any method at all1 except in the
 most rough-and-ready manner4 ,but they 
did it so perfectly1 with such utter and
 artistic simplicity1 that those who    
followed them accepted or criticized    
their results without observing the     
basis of human study on which they were 
built up1 and it is only in quite recent
 years1 through the work of patient     
inquirers who1 like ,graham ,wallas1    
have laboured systematically in both    
fields1 that politics and psychology    

have once more been drawn together4  ,it
 may perhaps seem strange to a modern   
reader to be told that1 in this very    
important respect1 ,thucydides1 ,plato1 
and ,aristotle are sounder in their     
method than the whole long line of      
political thinkers and statesmen up to  
our own day4 ,let the reader who doubts 
it turn to the texts4 ,he will find that
 all the three writers whom ,i have     
named toiled at the study of human      
nature before they set pen to paper4    
,the ,republic opens with several books 
of psychological analysis1 no doubt at  
times a little fantastic in its attempts
 at premature classification1 but full  
of life and reality1 and not only ,greek
 reality but human reality4 ,aristotle  
precedes his work on ,politics1 in which
 he embodied the results of a study of  
all the available political and         
constitutional material of his day--for 
a ,greek could work like a modern       
,german or ,american thesis-grubber when
 he tried--with a book on ,ethics which 

is still regarded1 quite rightly1 as a  
standard work for the modern student4   
,as for ,thucydides1 his knowledge of   
men1 the fruit of patient experience    
deepened by disappointment1 is felt     
behind every line of his book1 as one   
descries it in the features of his      
undegenerate descendant ,venizelos4     
,turn now to the moderns4 ,where in     
,hobbes or in ,bentham1 in ,locke or    
,burke or ,rousseau1 in the             
individualists or the ,socialists1 the  
,hegelians or the anarchists1 do we     
find1 until quite recently1 a really    
wide and open-minded attempt to see man 
as he is8 ,our ears are assailed by a   
chorus of catchwords1 based on some     
arbitrary and ephemeral estimate of     
men's reactions to outward events and   
institutions4 ,men argue backwards and  
forwards as to whether 'human nature can
 be changed'1 whether man is guided     
solely by self-interest1 or is only     
waiting to be set free from sordid cares
 to be guided solely by his love for his

 fellows1 whether fear or hope1 custom  
or the sense of adventure1 form his     
natural and most compelling spur to     
action4 ,meanwhile in the great debate1 
in ,burke's ,reflections as in ,marx's  
,capital1 in ,maine and ,mill and       
,mazzini1 as among the hacks who        
vulgarize their results in text-books   
and election literature1 man as he is   
has vanished behind a cloud of doctrine 
or verbiage4 ,we need the simplicity1 or
 cynicism1 of the ,greeks to recall us  
to realities4  ,let us for a moment     
imagine ,thucydides face to face with   
the problems of our post-war world of   
to-day4 ,we have only to read his       
immortal analysis of the war-mood of    
,greece1 and of the nervous and         
emotional phenomena which accompanied   
it1 to realize that his first effort    
would have been to explain us to        
ourselves4 ,he would not allow us to    
acquiesce idly in our vague             
disillusionment1 our impatience of      
foreigners1 our suspicion of the        

idealisms of the ,wilson brand4 ,he     
would trace our discontent ruthlessly to
 its sources and hold up to our eyes the
 strange compound of sorrow and fatigue1
 impatience and disappointment1         
aspiration and helplessness which makes 
us what we are4 ',the war-mood brought  
with it many and terrible symptoms such 
as have occurred and will always        
continue to occur1 so long as human     
nature remains what it is2 though in a  
severer or milder form1 according to the
 variety of the particular cases4'      
,thucydides would have had eyes for it  
in all its forms1 mild or severe1 simple
 or complex1 pitiful or repulsive4 ,he  
would show us the ,english upper and    
middle class1 shaken out of its comfort 
and complacency1 its easy and           
patronizing security1 by the shock of   
war and bereavement1 facing a future of 
unknown and terrifying ideas and forces1
 with the brutal tax-gatherer           
administering the coup de grce to its   
equanimity3 the working class1 called to

 fight for a cause which it but dimly   
understood1 in the hope of a new world  
which victory was to call into being1   
exhorted by the nation's leaders to be  
as daring in its home policies as in the
 trenches1 and then confronted with a   
world of failing markets and            
impoverished customers and with the full
 rigour of the merciless laws of supply 
and demand which1 just because it had   
wished them out of existence1 it had    
grown accustomed to believe could be    
ignored1 oscillating1 according to age1 
temperament or experience1 between      
resignation and impotent fury1 between  
old-fashioned trade-unionism and the    
latest fashion in extremism3 ,france1   
emerging nerve-racked from a fifty      
years' obsession and a five years'      
nightmare1 half-dead with sorrow and    
suspense1 yet too proud in victory to   
own her weakness1 looking round1        
half-defiant1 half-wistful1 among her   
allies for one who can understand her   
unspoken need1 and longing1 with all the

 intensity of her sensitive nature1 to  
be able to resume1 in security and      
quietness of mind1 the arts and         
activities of normal life in which she  
has been1 and will be again1 the ,athens
 of the modern world3 ,germany1 tougher 
in fibre than her western neighbour yet 
equally shaken and exhausted3 a land of 
sheep without a shepherd1 rushing hither
 and thither seeking for a direction and
 a ,weltanschauung1 her amazing powers  
of industry and concentration and her   
rich and turbid life of feeling running 
to waste for lack of channelled         
guidance3 ,belgium1 self-confident1     
industrious and rejuvenated3 ,italy1    
made one at last and measuring her      
strength to face the tasks of a new     
epoch in her history3 and1 behind1 the  
great new surging world of the ,slav1   
from the disciplined enthusiasm of      
,prague1 under her                      
philosopher-president1 to the           
birth-agonies of a new ,russia in the   
grip of the rough tyrant-physicians of  

the ,kremlin4 ,all this a modern        
,thucydides would attempt to set before 
us1 not forgetting the conservative     
forces and the gods of the older        
generation1 the great ,catholic and     
,protestant1 ,moslem and ,socialist     
traditions1 the power of the bankers and
 the merchants1 the universities and the
 press1 and all the various types of    
humanity produced and hall-marked by    
their activity4 ,and then1 and not till 
then1 having shown us what we are1 each 
of us in his niche and all of us        
together in our little corner in the    
vast ,temple of mankind1 having made us 
see our pettyisms and orthodoxies       
against a universal background of time  
and space1 he would have broken silence 
and allowed himself to speak to us of   
remedies4 ,know yourself is the first1  
perhaps the only1 message of the        
scientific historian to our bewildered  
age4  ,but by what right1 it will be    
asked1 in this age of ,wissenschaft and 
,fachmenschen1 of specialism and        

research-institutes and organized       
intellectual production1 do you speak of
 ,thucydides as a scientific historian8 
,here is a man who1 without a university
 degree or any university training at   
all1 after a brief military career for  
which he took no staff college course   
7as witness his generalship71 sits down 
to write a chronicle of the war in which
 he played a part1 basing his account   
simply on his own experience and on the 
testimony of such eye-witnesses as he   
was able to meet4 ,any tiro on the      
history staff at a modern college or    
university could predict the result--one
 of those bulky volumes1 full of detail 
and post-prandial reminiscence1 in which
 splenetic elderly gentlemen have so    
often sought to justify their own       
existence1 and to call down damnation on
 the ,war ,office1 before an indifferent
 public4 ,how can anything better be    
expected from a mere soldier1 a rough   
practical man1 untrained in the arts of 
research1 in collecting facts on slips  

of paper and arranging and re-arranging 
them till an induction emerges1 in      
looking up reference books in libraries 
and 'listing' them in a neat            
alphabetical bibliography1 totally      
ignorant of the ,hilfswissenschaften1   
the laborious subsidiary studies on the 
basis of which scientific history is    
built up1 ignorant even of foreign      
languages1 who has read no sociology1   
and is not even aware of its existence1 
whose geographical studies are limited  
to his own journeys and the tales of his
 friends1 who1 finally1 has the         
impertinence to intersperse his         
narrative with fictitious speeches1 thus
 destroying any pretence at a scientific
 character for his treatise1 and        
revealing it in its true nature as a    
mere work of art or imagination8 ,it may
 indeed be doubted whether a modern     
trained librarian1 working according to 
the classification laid down by the     
standard ,congress library at           
,washington1 would1 when his attention  

was drawn to it1 admit so offending a   
writer on to his history shelves at all4
 ,his place1 he would probably say1 is  
with the prose-poets1 or with the       
writers of historical fiction next door 
to them4  ,yet turn to the opening      
chapters of ,thucydides' book4 ,you will
 find most of the sciences on which long
 modern treatises are written3 but you  
will find something more3 you will find 
them blended into a unity4 ,let those   
who deny that ,thucydides was a         
sociologist1 who continue to claim that 
,herbert ,spencer1 inventor of the      
horrid word1 invented also the science1 
re-read ,thucydides' account of the     
evolution 7for it was as an evolution   
that he saw and depicted it7 of ,greek  
society from the earliest times to his  
own day4 ,let those who cry up          
anthropology examine into his treatment 
of legend and custom and his power1     
untrained in ,seminar or institute1 to  
use it as sociological evidence4 ,let   
the geographers1 too forgetful sometimes

 that man is not the creature of        
environment alone1 refresh their minds  
by recalling those brilliant sallies in 
geographical thinking in which he       
explains some of the features of early  
,greek settlement and city-building4 ,it
 is not only orthodox history1 of the   
school of ,ranke1 of which ,thucydides  
is the father and inspirer3 there is not
 one of the many movements which have   
sought to broaden out historical study  
in recent years1 from ,buckle and       
,leplay and ,vidal de la ,blache down to
 the psycho-analysts of our own day and 
of to-morrow who will not find in       
,thucydides some gleaming anticipation  
along the path of their own thought4    
,here we touch upon what is perhaps the 
cardinal merit of the ,greek political  
thinkers1 as it is of the ,greek        
contribution as a whole4 ,they saw all  
the problems3 but saw each in its place 
within the larger whole4 ,they 'saw life
 steadily and saw it whole'4 ,matthew   
,arnold's line is hackneyed enough2 but 

it cannot be bettered4 ,to put the same 
thought in another way1 the ,greeks were
 natural ,catholics1 while we of to-day1
 especially on the political field1 are 
constantly relapsing into an unhelpful  
,protestantism4 ,by ,catholicism ,i mean
 nothing doctrinal1 or indeed religious 
at all1 but simply the habit of mind    
which insists on looking at the whole   
before the parts1 at setting the common 
before the sectional interest1 and in   
sweetening and harmonizing the          
inevitable contrarieties and antagonisms
 of life by remaining steadily conscious
 of its major and reconciling interests4
 ,a ,catholic is one whose intellect1 to
 use the words of ,newman1 himself1     
despite his religious label1 one of the 
greatest of the tribe1 'cannot be       
partial1 cannot be exclusive1 cannot be 
impetuous1 cannot be at a loss1 cannot  
but be patient1 collected and           
majestically calm1 because it discerns  
the end in every beginning1 the origin  
in each end1 the law in every           

interruption1 the limit in each delay1  
because it ever knows where it stands   
and how its path lies from one point to 
another'4 ,protestantism1 on the other  
hand1 is the attitude of protest1 of    
revolt1 of indignation3 the spirit which
 is conscious only of what it is        
against1 and is too ignorant1 or too    
angry1 to survey the whole field of     
problems involved in its protest or to  
think out an alternative scheme4 ,if the
 ,greeks can render us no other service 
in our discontents they can at least    
lift us1 by the example of their wide   
and fearless vision1 out of our petty   
,protestant rebelliousness and          
recrimination and plant our feet solidly
 on the rock of steady ,catholic        
thinking4  ,take a few instances1 drawn 
from ,plato1 of what ,i call the        
,catholic spirit4 ,perhaps the most     
difficult and unsettling of all our     
modern problems is that of the relations
 between men and women in a society     
which has granted or is about to grant  

to women complete equality of rights and
 opportunities without having effected  
the corresponding inner revolution of   
thought and sentiment4 ,masculine       
society1 in other words1 despite a      
multitude of professions1 has not yet   
admitted1 still less assimilated1 the   
educated woman into its ranks4 ,here is 
a problem with far reaching and most    
difficult implications which ,plato     
discussed more than two thousand years  
ago1 but in how different a spirit from 
so many of the 'feminists' of to-day4   
,not that he was less 'advanced' in his 
speculations3 he was ready to face all  
that there was to face and to go a good 
deal farther in his suggestions of      
policy than would be regarded as        
printable in a modern ,english or       
,american review4 ,but his spirit is    
throughout perfectly serene and1 in the 
best sense of the word1 scientific1 so  
that he can work out his argument to the
 end without a trace of squeamishness or
 false modesty4 ,where shall we find in 

our modern discussions of women's       
employment1 equal work for equal pay1   
and the like1 the central point so      
simply and clearly stated as in the     
following sentence3 ',then1 if we find  
either the male or the female sex       
excelling the other in any art or other 
pursuit1 we shall say that this         
particular pursuit must be assigned to  
one and not to the other2 but if we find
 that the difference simply consists in 
this1 that the female conceives and the 
male begets1 we shall not allow that    
that goes any way to prove that a woman 
differs from a man with reference to the
 subject of which we are speaking1 and  
we shall still consider that our        
guardians and their wives should follow 
the same pursuits4' ,if all our modern  
discussion were as clean and direct as  
this1 we should have made greater       
progress in this subject by now4 ,greek 
intellectual integrity1 and clarity of  
thought and expression1 were not        
hampered by a festering and obstructive 

legacy of what it is a libel on a great 
movement to describe as ,puritanism4    
,take a second example--the influence of
 occupation on character4 ,this is a    
subject which goes to the root of many  
of our social problems for1 till we have
 studied the reactions of different     
classes of employment1 not only on the  
body but on the mind1 and perfected our 
methods of vocational guidance1 we shall
 still have left open one of the        
greatest avenues to unhappiness4 ,the   
modern inquirer will find a very        
interesting adumbration of this line of 
thought in the ,republic2 and if here1  
as in the problem of the relations      
between men and women1 he finds ,plato's
 remedies somewhat drastic1 and is      
inclined to dissent from his veto on    
actors and acrobats1 let him consider   
the appalling extent to which1 during   
recent generations1 the consumer has    
been pampered at the expense of the     
producer1 and ask himself how often1    
when he attends a music-hall as a       

narcotic after a distracting day1 or    
when he rings up on the telephone or    
books a ticket at a railway office1 he  
considers the kind of life to which he  
is an accomplice in condemning those who
 minister to his needs and desires4     
,plato believed in the value of beauty  
and1 being more than a mere modern      
aesthete1 held no skindeep creed4 ,he   
knew and understood the vital           
significance of rhythm and harmony1 of  
grace and freedom1 in the outward order 
of life as in the soul2 and if he found 
himself plunged down in the centre of   
one of our modern hives of progress he  
would have some searching questions to  
ask4 ,for 'absence of grace' he tells us
 'and bad rhythm and bad harmony are    
sisters to bad words and bad nature' and
 'we would not have our guardians reared
 among images of evil as in a foul      
pasture and there day by day1 and little
 by little1 gather impressions from all 
that surrounds them1 until at last a    
great mass of evil gathers in their     

inmost souls and they know it not'4 ,has
 the most widespread malady of our time 
ever been better diagnosed2 and do not  
our capitalist and socialist physicians1
 with their merely material remedies1   
look very small by the side of this     
commanding and convincing simplicity of 
statement8  ,we have dwelt upon some of 
the special directions in which         
,thucydides and ,plato can be of help to
 us4 ,let us now turn briefly to the    
third of the great triad4 ,aristotle is1
 of course1 the most systematic thinker 
of the three3 and it is just for that   
very reason that the two elements       
already noted in ,greek political       
thought1 the local and ephemeral and the
 universal1 are most closely interwoven 
and most baffling to disentangle4 ,tutor
 of ,alexander though he was1 his mind  
is incapable of stepping outside the    
city-state framework4 ,his ,ethics is   
half a treatise on human nature1 half a 
book1 akin to the ,characters of        
,theophrastus1 on deportment for a      

,greek citizen4 ,no wonder that         
successive generations of ,english      
undergraduates have failed to respond to
 the human excellence or social charm1  
of his hero or paragon1 described as    
'the big-souled' or 'magnificent man'4  
,similarly the ,politics is a book in   
which it needs a trained reader1 already
 familiar with ,greek life1 to pick out 
the universal from the particular and   
draw his own modern conclusions4 ,but   
when you have read1 say1 the first book 
of the ,politics in this spirit1 when   
you have ruled out from what is said of 
the ,state all that pertains solely to  
the ,city1 when you have made allowance 
for the hazardous biological1           
psychological1 and sociological         
generalizations 7'man is more of a      
political animal than bees or other     
gregarious animals'1 'he who is by      
nature not his own but another's and not
 a man is by nature a slave'1 'the state
 is by nature clearly prior to the      
family and to the individual1 since the 

whole is of necessity prior to the      
part'71 based1 as the examples show1 on 
the embryonic condition of those        
sciences at the time1 you have a large  
residuum of practical wisdom that is and
 will remain of value to the modern     
world4  ,let us look for a moment at one
 element in this legacy1 for it has     
recently become a subject of much       
controversy--,aristotle's conception of 
the ,state1 and of its relation to other
 social and political groupings4 ,as has
 already been said1 ,greek political    
thought is open to criticism for unduly 
neglecting the claim of the individual4 
,aristotle is less open to this         
indictment than either of his great     
compeers3 he does indeed allow1 for     
certain favoured individuals1 an inner  
or 'theoretical' life1 as he calls it1  
remote from the concerns of the         
,city-,state and almost1 except for its 
excessive intellectuality1 recalling the
 monastic ideal of the ,middle ,age4    
,but this is only for the fewest4       

,nevertheless it involved the admission 
that behind the citizen remained the    
man1 who might conceivably on occasion  
have his rights1 that 'political        
science'1 as he says1 'does not make    
men'1 as ,thucydides regarded ,athens as
 making ,athenians1 'but receives them  
from nature and uses them'4 ,and the    
justification for this taking over of   
human nature by the state1 this         
subjection of man over the whole or part
 of his nature1 is clearly set forth4   
,it is that 'man when perfected i4 e4   
taken over and educated by the ,state is
 the best of animals1 but1 when         
separated from law and justice1 he is   
the worst of all'1 or1 as he puts it in 
another place1 the man who does not     
participate in ,state or city life is   
'either a beast or a god'--more likely  
7as the order of the words indicates7   
the former4 ,in other words1 it is law  
and justice1 not1 as ,thucydides would  
have it1 an exaltation of the spirit to 
its highest power1 nor1 as ,plato       

preaches1 some organic identification   
between the inner life of the soul and  
the outward order of society1 which is  
the basis and justification of politics4
 ',it is justice'1 he says1 using the   
word in a strict1 not a platonic or     
metaphysical sense1 'which is the bond  
of men in states1 and the administration
 of justice1 i4 e4 the determination of 
what is just1 which is the principle of 
order in political society4'  ,now1 with
 this principle clearly laid down1 and  
with the claim of the individual thus   
partially or at least implicitly        
recognized1 it is easier to understand  
,aristotle's intransigeant attitude     
towards the claims of associations other
 than the state1 a point on which much  
recent controversy has turned4 ',every  
state'1 so his ,politics open1 'is an   
association of some kind1 and every     
association is established with a view  
to some good4444 ,but if all            
associations aim at some good1 the      
state1 or political association1 which  

is the highest of all and which embraces
 all the rest1 aims1 and in a greater   
degree than any other1 at the highest   
good4' ,in other words1 in cases of     
conflict of allegiance between the state
 or political association and some other
 form of grouping1 whether ,church or   
,trade ,union or professional or        
humanitarian organization1 the claim of 
the state must take precedence4  ,this  
doctrine has been much attacked as      
involving an indefensible ',state       
absolutism'1 a denial of 'personality'  
to lesser groups1 even as a negation of 
the right to lesser loyalties4 ,mr4     
,figgis1 in a number of suggestive1 if  
unconvincing1 writings1 has recalled the
 theories of the ,jesuits and other     
anti-state minorities and protestants on
 this subject1 reinforcing them from the
 ,nonconformist and ,trade ,union       
theories or inclinations of our own day3
 and a whole school of younger          
'progressive' intellectuals made bold to
 follow him4 ,the assault on            

state-sovereignty has1 however1 already 
been brought to a standstill by the     
impact of fact4 ,strange as it may      
appear in an age of sectarianism and    
rebel theorizing1 the war revealed the  
truth that the mass of mankind1 now as  
in ancient ,greece1 respond at need to  
the call of citizenship3 that when the  
cry goes up summoning each and all to   
the tents1 it is not this or that little
 tabernacle but the protecting shelter  
of the larger and more truly            
representative state organizations to   
which men flock2 that the sects and     
conventicles which have fed the         
enthusiasm and provided the activity of 
leisure hours cannot maintain their     
appeal when the whole fabric of our     
society is in danger4 ,exclusive of     
those who refused allegiance on true    
grounds of conscience1 and the          
despicable remnant who shammed a similar
 conviction1 the number of ,englishmen  
who definitely set allegiance to some   
other political or social grouping      

before allegiance to the state was      
surprisingly small4 ,so little are      
fundamental loyalties1 or the dictates  
of an unanalysed common sense1 affected1
 in this country1 by fine-spun theories 
and arguments4  ,but what we called     
commonsense views1 after all1 can be    
analysed and ought to be analysed4 ,and 
there is a very sound and practical     
reason1 as ,aristotle knew1 why men     
prefer the state to lesser associations4
 ,it is because the state leaves them   
more free4 ,those who talk of           
state-absolutism are ignoring the simple
 truth that there is no tyranny like the
 tyranny of near neighbours4 ,the       
smaller the group the tighter its       
stranglehold over your life and         
activities4 ,groups and lesser loyalties
 are highly necessary1 and indeed       
desirable1 in our modern large-scale    
society2 but they involve men1 and      
especially weak-willed and thoughtless  
men1 in far greater dangers than their  
larger citizenship4 ,what the           

confessional at its worst may be to a   
woman1 professional or business or other
 loyalty may be to a man4 ,the modern   
world is full of men who have bartered  
away their integrity of soul to preserve
 the unity of the party or the unbroken 
tradition of the organization or the    
interests of the trade or even the      
existence of the business4 ,if the      
secrets of all hearts could be revealed1
 how many high officials and dignitaries
 in ,church and ,party1 in ,trade ,union
 and employers' federation1 would be    
discovered to be thinking and even      
saying in private what their lesser     
loyalties forbid them to proclaim in    
public to their fellow-guildsmen4 ,the  
state1 in its larger field1 may         
sometimes commit terrible blunders and  
even crimes2 but at least1 in these days
 of large-scale government1 it does not 
expose its citizens to the daily        
falsehoods and hypocrisies1 to the      
insidious clogging of the wheels of     
progress with the grit of petty personal

 considerations1 which seem inevitable  
in the life of the smaller groupings of 
men and women4 ,seen in this light1 the 
state stands out as the guardian not    
only of justice but of freedom1 of an   
inner freedom of soul and spirit with   
which the professional and syndicalist  
attitude of mind is so often in         
flagrant1 if unavowed1 contradiction4   
,if all this was not visible to         
,aristotle when he penned his immortal  
opening paragraph of the ,politics1 he  
is at least entitled to the credit of   
having laid his doctrine of             
state-sovereignty on a foundation so    
sure that over twenty centuries of      
discussion from the ,stoics and ,cynics1
 through ,augustine and ,dante1 down to 
,rousseau and ,lenin1 have not been able
 to shake it4 ,against ,church and      
,soviet1 as against sage and hermit and 
anarchist1 the territorial state still  
holds its own over the whole civilized  
world2 and the latest construction of   
idealism at ,geneva1 misnamed though it 

is1 is but an association of such       
states1 far larger indeed in average    
size1 but of the same kind and          
composition as those upon which the     
,greek philosopher fixed as the true    
object of political study and the most  
effective and enduring agency for       
securing a good life for civilized      
mankind4  ,what are the chief and most  
enduring thoughts which contact with the
 ,greek political thinkers leaves with  
us8 ,they are surely twofold1 the first 
concerning the material of politics1 the
 second concerning the men and women of 
to-day who are called to be citizens4   
,public affairs1 we feel1 so far from   
being a tiresome preoccupation or 'a    
dirty business' are one of the great    
permanent interests of the race3 if they
 were not too trivial or too debasing   
for great artists like ,thucydides and  
,plato1 we need not fear lest they be   
too trivial or debasing for ourselves4  
,and if they are not beneath our study1 
neither should they elude it by being   

enwrapped in clouds of rhetoric or in   
the cotton-wool of sentimentality4 ,the 
,greeks should teach us1 once and for   
all1 that the common affairs of mankind 
are matter to think about as well as to 
feel about4 ,what distinguishes what we 
call a 'good' statesman and a           
'public-spirited' citizen from their    
less truly political colleagues is not  
that they have warmer feelings--there   
are as many affectionate sons and loving
 husbands among the tools of politics as
 among the elect--but the fact that by a
 resolute use of the related powers of  
intellect and imagination they have been
 able to raise their feelings on to a   
higher plane and to face great issues   
with a mind attuned1 not to the familiar
 appeal of hearth and home1 but to the  
grander and more difficult music of     
humanity4 ,the psychologists are        
teaching us1 in the individual life1 how
 we can 'sublimate' our emotions1 when  
life denies them an outlet on the level 
of our desire1 by raising them to a     

higher and more rarified range of       
feeling and action4 ,as we can sublimate
 our love of individuals1 so we can     
sublimate our love of country1 not      
quenching or denying our patriotism1 but
 consciously dividing and apportioning  
it4 ,we must learn to preserve for our  
blood and nation that precious part of  
our gift of service which1 just because 
it is intimate and of the family1 cannot
 be offered directly to humanity2 but we
 must learn also the more difficult     
lesson of transferring to the           
international stage1 the arena where    
men1 because they are men1 labour at    
common tasks and seek a greatest common 
measure of co-operation1 all these      
interests and loyalties which safely and
 rightly belong there4 ,this is the     
claim and call of the modern ,caesar1   
whether his separate capitals remain1 as
 they are to-day1 in ,london1 ,paris1   
,washington1 and the other centres of   
state-sovereignty1 or whether mankind   
can rise1 if not in our own day1 to the 

level of a single allegiance4 ,we shall 
neglect that call at our peril4 ,for1   
unless we render unto ,caesar that which
 is properly his1 unless we discard our 
unthinking and divisive nationalisms1   
our noble sentiments will avail us      
nothing and1 in the civil war of the    
angels1 patriotism against patriotism1  
,mammon and ,beelzebub will come into   
their own4 ,in these days of large-scale
 organization and mammoth syndicates1 it
 takes a ,caesar1 a multi-national      
government1 to keep a giant trust at    
bay4 ,had the land of ,washington and   
,lincoln been broken up into separate   
governments instead of drawn together   
into a single territory of ,united      
,states1 private interests would have   
taken and defeated each government in   
detail1 and freedom would have vanished 
from the land--unless indeed1 in some   
conflict of devil with devil1 of bank   
and railroad against oil and lumber1 the
 angels crept once more into their own4 
,the same reasoning applies to the      

smaller governments in other continents 
to-day4 ,local patriotism is but a      
stripling ,david in face of the         
,goliaths of modern commercialism4 ,more
 and more men will be driven1 if not by 
reason1 then by exploitation and        
suffering1 to learn the lesson of what  
is still mistakenly thought of as       
imperialism until they find themselves  
crying out1 with the apostle of the     
,gentiles1 who fought his own battle    
against nationalism1 ',i appeal unto    
,caesar4'  ,but the ,greeks have a      
message for us not only as regards the  
material of our politics but as regards 
ourselves4 ,what can we do to help      
humanity forward in these problems of   
its common affairs8 ,the age of         
,utopia-dreams is over4 ,we know now    
that modern science has made the world  
one place and that social salvation is  
not to be found1 as the early socialists
 imagined1 by fleeing from the haunts of
 men and founding some model city in a  
wilderness4 ,we must make our           

contribution here and now1 in the drab  
world in which fate has set us4 ,if we  
cannot hope to turn it into ,utopia1 let
 us at least make it as much like       
,utopia as we can4 ,this1 after all1 is 
,plato's message1 even in the most      
idealistic and visionary of his books4  
,the famous passage is worth quoting in 
detail3       ',then do you think any   
less of our argument because we cannot  
prove      that it is possible to found 
a state of the kind we have             
described8'       ',surely not1' he     
said4444       ',then do not compel me  
to show that what we have decided in our
      argument could in all respects be 
reproduced in experience4 ,if we        
manage to discover how a state could be 
organized in any close                  
correspondence to our description1 then 
you must allow that we have             
discovered that your commands could be  
realized4 ,will you not be      content 
with that8 ,i certainly should be4'     
',yes1 ,i will1' he said4       ',then  

next apparently we must try to discover 
444 what is the      smallest change by 
which a state might arrive at this      
manner of      constitution4444'        
',most certainly1' he said4             
',well1 there is one change1' ,i said1  
'which ,i think we could      certainly 
prove would bring about the revolution4 
,it is certainly      neither a small   
nor an easy change1 but it is possible4'
       ',what is it8' he said4          
',now1' ,i said1 ',i am at the very     
topic which we likened to the           
greatest wave4 ,spoken1 however1 it     
shall be1 even though it is      likely 
to deluge me with laughter and          
ridicule4444 ,consider then      what ,i
 am about to say4'       ',say on1' he  
said4       ',unless1' ,i said1 'lovers 
of wisdom bear sovereign rule in states1
      or those who are now called       
sovereigns and governors become sincere 
and capable lovers of wisdom1 and       
government and love of wisdom be        
brought together1 and unless the        

numerous natures who at present         
pursue either government or wisdom1 the 
one to the exclusion of the      other1 
be forcibly debarred from this          
behaviour1 there will be no      respite
 from evil1 my dear ,glaucon1 for       
states1 nor1 ,i fancy1 for              
humanity2 nor will this constitution1   
which we have just described      in our
 argument1 come to that realization     
which is possible for it      and see   
the light of day4 ,it is this which has 
for so long made me      hesitate to    
speak4 ,i saw how paradoxical it would  
sound4 ,for it is      given to few to  
perceive that no other constitution     
could ever      bring happiness either  
to states or individuals4'  ,thus far   
the philosopher of antiquity4 ,his words
 are sometimes interpreted as a cry for 
some philosopher-genius to take the task
 of government out of our too feeble    
grasp4 ,but that is not his message for 
us4 ,the age in which                   
philosopher-emperors were possible has  

passed beyond recall4 ,to us ,plato's   
words are an appeal to become1 each and 
all of us1 in our own sphere1 lovers of 
wisdom according to the measure of our  
ability4 ,if we would amend the world   
around us--and it is in sore need of    
amendment--our first duty is to eschew  
falsehood and to follow truth in our own
 lives1 in our thoughts and actions4    
,revolutions spring not from without    
inwards but from within outwards2 and it
 is often when the external world seems 
most sick and sorrowful1 when           
selfishness and irresponsibility sit    
enthroned in the world's seats of       
government1 that the power of truth is  
most active in the silent region of the 
soul1 strengthening it in order that it 
may issue forth once again to impress   
man's unconquerable purpose of order1   
justice and freedom upon the            
recalcitrant material which forms the   
stuff of men's common problems on this  
small globe of ours4  ,a4 ,e4 ,,zimmern4
     ,,the ,,lamps ,,of ,,greek ,,art   

,amid the superficialities and struggles
 of the world around us1 it is          
refreshing to turn back for a moment to 
the mellow wisdom of ,matthew ,arnold2  
and ,i will start with a quotation from 
,literature and ,dogma3 ',as well       
imagine a man with a sense for sculpture
 not cultivating it by the help of the  
remains of ,greek art1 or a man with a  
sense for poetry not cultivating it by  
the help of ,homer and ,shakespeare1 as 
a man with a sense for conduct not      
cultivating it by the help of the       
,bible4' ,to ,arnold the ,bible1 ,homer1
 ,shakespeare1 ,greek art1 are the great
 and eternal classics1 which for all    
time must be the stimulus and the models
 for the greatest of human achievements4
 ,beyond doubt in the fifty years since 
,arnold wrote there has been a marked   
drift away from classics of every kind4 
,to acknowledge classics at all seems a 
survival of the spirit of aristocracy4  
,we are convinced that we are better    
than our fathers1 and must break away   

from their tutelage4 ,in some degree    
this arises out of the unrest and       
nervous strain produced by the great    
war4 ,but it does not come only from    
nervous tension4 ,it is a definite      
tendency of society1 which has to be    
considered on its merits by all who feel
 called on to take a share in the world 
movement4 ,we cannot ignore those who   
are drifting away from the settled      
anchorages1 or we run the risk of being 
ignored ourselves4  ,the task has fallen
 to me to try to give reasons why ,greek
 art has still a claim on our attention4
 ,among ,englishmen the appreciation of 
art never has been and never can be as  
keen as the appreciation of poetry and  
philosophy4 ,but on the other hand ,i   
think it can be shown that in the field 
of art our debt to ,greece is even      
greater than in the field of philosophy 
and poetry4 ,for in these latter we have
 a certain national genius1 and have    
produced classics recognized through    
,europe4 ,but in art our achievements   

have been but moderate2 and at the      
present time a living sense of art is   
probably rarer among us than in any     
highly civilized country except         
,america4  ,i will begin with a bold    
assertion1 which ,i hope to justify as  
we proceed4 ,but for ancient ,greece1   
the art of ,europe would to-day be on   
much the same level as the fantastic and
 degraded art of ,india4 ,and but for   
the continued influence of ,greek art1  
that of ,europe would continually be in 
danger of drifting into chaotic         
extravagance4  ,in the century before   
the ,persian wars of #ejj-dhj ,b4 ,c41  
,greece1 both ,ionian and ,dorian1 was  
throwing out fresh shoots of life in    
every direction1 breaking through the   
crust of archaic convention1 producing a
 new standard of excellence1 in poetry1 
in philosophy1 in history1 and in art4  
,in every province1 morals1 intellect1  
imagination1 ,greece was striking out1  
to the right and the left4 ,and in the  
century after the ,persian wars1 she    

reaped the full harvest of her splendid 
sowing1 and produced the masterpieces   
which have remained ever since          
memorable1 to the study of which each   
generation recurs1 and whence it learns 
of what human nature is capable4  ,after
 #djj ,b4 ,c4 there was not1 as many    
suppose1 a sudden decline in the quality
 of artistic production4 ,many of the   
works of the later centuries were in    
their way almost unsurpassable4 ,the    
philosophy of ,aristotle1 the poetry of 
,theocritus1 such statues as the        
,aphrodite of ,melos and the ,victory of
 ,samothrace1 are great lights for all  
time4 ,but the works of maturity have   
seldom the charm which marks those which
 are full of the optimism and promise of
 youth4  ,ruskin has written an         
admirable work on the ,seven ,lamps of  
,architecture1 a work which1 though it  
sometimes passes into extravagance1 is  
full of suggestion and even inspiration4
 ,it seems to me strange that while the 
economic views of ,ruskin1 full of      

generosity1 but also wanting in measure 
and any basis of fact1 should still be  
current among us1 his writings on art1  
in which his genius had full course1    
should be comparatively neglected4      
,however that may be1 as one who has    
been greatly stimulated by those        
writings1 ,i propose to try to produce a
 faint echo of one of them by speaking  
successively of the lamps of ,greek art1
 lamps which give us light and serve to 
show our way4 ,i find in ,greek art     
eight notable features3 7#a7 ,humanism1 
7#b7 ,simplicity1 7#c7 ,balance and     
,measure1 7#d7 ,naturalism1 7#e7        
,idealism1 7#f7 ,patience1 7#g7 ,joy1   
7#h7 ,fellowship4  ,as my space is      
closely limited ,i cannot attempt to    
develop the subject of ,greek art in all
 its provinces and in all its bearings4 
,i must limit myself to the art of      
sculpture1 the most characteristic      
branch1 and the only branch which has   
left us sufficient materials for the    
formation of a satisfactory notion4 ,and

 ,i must limit myself further to such of
 the sculpture as represents the human  
form4 ,in the representation of some    
animals1 such as the horse1 the later   
,greeks produced some wonderful         
examples1 but in the depiction of       
animals other peoples have rivalled     
them1 whereas in the depiction of men   
and women they stand alone4   ,i        
,humanism4 ,three great discoveries lay 
open to the awakened spirit of man1 when
 he began to realize and reflect upon   
his surroundings4 ,the first was the    
discovery of ,god1 which was mainly the 
work of the ,prophets of ,israel1 though
 no doubt ,greece added much on the     
intellectual side2 and the religions    
both of ,judaea and ,greece were carried
 to a higher point by ,christianity4    
,the second was the discovery of man    
himself1 which was in all essentials the
 great work of ,greek thinkers and      
writers4 ,the third1 begun in ,greece1  
has been carried very much farther in   
modern times1 the discovery of nature   

and her laws4 ,i think that reflection  
will show that of the three discoveries 
the last is the least important1 for    
though it has vastly changed the habits 
and the surroundings of mankind1 and has
 offered him long vistas of material    
progress1 yet it has not changed his    
nature much1 nor added greatly to his   
happiness4 ,we know how the delights of 
thought1 of art1 of poetry and music    
have overcome barbarism and given to    
multitudes a new pleasure in existence4 
,but the results of scientific progress 
have not as yet done all that we might  
have hoped for mankind4 ,every great    
discovery in physical science has been  
turned1 primarily1 not to the welfare   
but to the destruction of mankind4 ,the 
ocean-going ship is tracked by the      
submarine2 air-ships are used to drop   
bombs on defenceless cities1 some of the
 most notable achievements of chemistry 
are poison-gases4 ,we may of course hope
 that this is but a passing phase1 and  
that brighter times are before us4 ,but 

,i venture to suggest that the true road
 to progress cannot be found unless we  
preserve the ,jewish and the ,greek     
points of view4 ,we must not lose sight 
of the ethical and religious bearing of 
science1 and not be content with merely 
regarding it as a means of exploiting   
the material world4 ,instead of         
harnessing the forces of nature to true 
human ends1 to happiness1 we have       
allowed them to be used for any purpose1
 moral or immoral1 by any one who by    
cunning or pushing has gained control of
 them4 ,we have dehumanized the world1  
and allowed it to ride rough shod over  
human life4  ,the discovery of man and  
his capacities1 then1 is the great gift 
of ,greece to the world4 ,there were    
epics before the ,iliad1 but no epic    
full of charm1 of tragedy1 of tears and 
laughter4 ,there were philosophers      
before ,socrates2 but they were busied  
in trying to find the physical          
constituents of the world4 ,socrates    
took up the motto of ,delphi ',know     

thyself'1 and became the progenitor of  
all who study the nature of duty and of 
happiness4 ,in the same way there was   
much art in the world before the rise of
 ,greece1 in ,egypt1 in ,mesopotamia1 in
 ,crete4 ,but it was not a humanist art4
 ,it represented the worship of the     
,gods1 battles1 and sieges1 the life of 
the fields4 ,but the human figures in   
these scenes were conventional3 there   
was nothing in them to stir the finer   
feelings1 to produce a love of beauty1  
to raise man above the ordinary daily   
level4 ,the ,greeks knew of earlier     
works of art2 but they declined to be   
seduced1 as the ,phoenicians and        
,etruscans were seduced1 into a facile  
imitation of them4 ,they realized1 no   
doubt subconsciously rather than        
consciously1 that they were called to   
set forth a new and human art1 and had  
in them powers which could produce it4  
,they began a process which developed   
with astonishing rapidity1 and which    
cannot cease1 unless1 as seems now not  

impossible1 barbarism reinvades a weary 
world4  ',man is the measure of all     
things' is the doctrine ascribed to     
,protagoras of ,abdera1 which shocked   
the people of ,athens and is attacked by
 ,plato in his more constructive mood4  
,it is a doctrine lending itself to     
abuse1 and still more to caricature2 but
 it is really the teaching of ,socrates 
no less than of ,protagoras2 and it has 
held its own from his times to those of 
the ,utilitarians and ,pragmatists4     
,certainly it is at the basis of the    
,greek view of life1 in which man with  
his feelings1 his faculties1 and his    
endeavours1 stands in the foreground1   
and all else appears as a vague         
background4  ,it was quite natural that 
as the ,greek thinkers interpreted all  
experience in relation to human powers  
and faculties1 so the artists of ,greece
 thought of all nature in terms of the  
human body4 ,thus while the stern       
monotheism of later ,israel absolutely  
prohibited the representation in art of 

any living thing1 and especially of man1
 ,greek artists entirely devoted        
themselves to such representation4  ,the
 great result of the working of the     
spirit of humanism in ,greek art was the
 representation of the ,gods in human   
form4 ,there is still prevalent among us
 a survival of the ,jewish hatred of the
 representation of the divine element in
 the world by the mimetic art of        
sculpture4 ,we still repeat1 day by day1
 the ,jewish commandment1 ',thou shalt  
not make to thyself any graven image'4  
,now ,i am not going to find any fault  
with the intense feeling of iconoclasm1 
which was one of the mainsprings of     
,jewish religion4 ,i have no doubt that 
in the development of that religion1    
hatred and contempt for the idols of the
 surrounding nations was of inestimable 
value to the race4 ,the struggle1 ever  
renewed1 against the invasion of        
idolatry was necessary to the           
development of that pure prophetic      
religion which it was the highest       

mission of the ,jewish race to set forth
 and propagate in the world4 ,i would   
not even speak against the echoes of it 
in the modern world4 ,to the ,moslems of
 our days1 as to the ancient ,jews1 it  
appears to be a necessary corollary of  
any lofty and spiritual conception of   
the divine4 ,and when we read of the    
destruction of religious images by our  
,puritan ancestors we cannot withhold   
from them an inner sympathy4 ,the hatred
 of images was one side of the pure and 
passionate belief in spiritual religion 
which it was the mission of the great   
,reformers to revive and propagate in   
,europe4  ,but it is possible to        
appreciate this side of religion without
 being blind to other aspects of it4    
,our religion comes not only from       
,judaea1 but also from ,greece4 ,the    
,jewish passion for the divine          
righteousness lies at its roots4 ,but   
that passion is consistent with         
narrowness1 bigotry1 inhumanity4 ,for   
the modifications of it which come from 

the working of the spirit of humanism we
 have to turn to the ,hellenes1 for the 
feeling of the likeness in nature       
between ,god and man1 the love of the   
beauty of the created works of ,god1 the
 joy in whatever is sweet1 whatever is  
comely1 whatever is charming4 ,the      
beauty and majesty of ,god appealed to  
the ,greek1 as the unapproachable       
transcendence of ,god inspired the ,jew4
  ,so it fell to the ,greek artists to  
try to set forth in marble and in bronze
 the gentler and more social side of the
 divine nature4 ,there is a sweet       
reasonableness in the words of ,maximus 
of ,tyre3 ',the ,greek custom is to     
represent the ,gods by the most         
beautiful things on earth--pure         
material1 the human form1 consummate    
art4 ,the idea of those who make divine 
images in human shape is quite          
reasonable1 since the spirit of man is  
nearest of all things to ,god and most  
godlike4'  ,the whole history of ,greek 
sculpture1 from its rise in the sixth   

century to its decline in the third1 is 
inspired by this desire to represent the
 divine by the most beautiful things on 
earth4 ,the sculpture of the great      
nations of the ,east1 ,egypt and        
,assyria1 is full of figures of the     
,gods1 and of scenes of worship4 ,but   
these figures do not rise above the     
human4 ,the gods appear as conventional 
figures1 mere ordinary men and women4   
,and to distinguish them from mortal    
beings1 the artists of the ,east proceed
 in the manner of symbolism3 they make  
additions to the human types which are  
to signify the divine attributes1 but do
 not really embody them4 ,they add wings
 to represent the swiftness of the      
deity1 wings not meant for actual       
flight1 but only symbols of rapid       
motion4 ,they represent them as         
victoriously overthrowing wild beasts   
and monsters1 which stand for the powers
 of evil1 ever bent on thwarting their  
action4 ,in some of their most archaic  
works1 the ,greeks fall into the        

imitation of this way4 ,they represent  
,apollo flanked by two vanquished       
griffins1 ,artemis with wings1 and      
holding in her hands captive lions4 ,but
 their artistic sense soon revolted     
against such crude and clumsy ways of   
representation4 ,they began to try to   
represent the divine character of their 
deities1 not by arbitrary and external  
symbols1 but by modifying the human     
types in the direction of the ideal4    
,sometimes1 indeed1 in later art we find
 survivals of early symbolism in the    
form of an attribute4 ,hermes is still  
winged1 but the wings are transferred to
 his cap or his boots4 ,zeus may still  
carry the thunderbolt1 the symbol of his
 rule over the storm4 ,apollo may be    
still radiate1 combining human form with
 the rays which proceed from the visible
 sun4  ,but these are only survivals1   
and do not affect the process1 carried  
on by artist after artist and school    
after school1 by which the gods absorbed
 ever more fully the qualities of the   

most perfect manhood4 ,zeus1 as father  
of gods and men1 is an idealization of  
the human father1 combining justice and 
dignity with benevolence and kindness2  
,athena becomes the embodiment of the   
divine reason and wisdom1 perhaps the   
most fully idealized of all the forms of
 the gods1 since this armed and         
victorious virgin with wisdom seated on 
her brow had little in common with the  
secluded and domestic women of her city 
of ,athens4 ,apollo has not the muscles 
of the trained athlete1 but in his      
nobleness of countenance and perfect    
symmetry of shape1 he stands for all    
that a young man might grow towards by  
self-restraint and aspiration4 ,at a    
somewhat lower level ,herakles bears the
 form of the wrestler1 admirably        
proportioned but more powerful than even
 the greatest of athletes2 ,hermes is   
the ideal runner1 every muscle adapted  
to swift and lithe movements4  ,thus in 
the types of the gods which were        
produced when ,greek art was at its best

 we have a series of supermen and       
superwomen who represent the highest and
 best to which mortals can hope to      
attain1 types embodying the highest     
perfection of body and mind4 ,the       
influence of those types has gone on    
from century to century1 never in the   
darkest ages wholly forgotten1 and      
serving at all times to redeem human    
nature from foulness and degradation4   
,all through the history of art they    
have been acting as a raising and       
purifying element4  ,it was not until   
the decay of the ,olympic religion in   
the fourth century that these types fell
 to a lower level4 ,the sense of beauty 
in the artist remained as keen as ever1 
the technique of art even improved1 but 
the religion of humanism was debased by 
less noble tendencies1 and the gods took
 on too much not the nature of man as he
 might become1 but the form of man as he
 actually is in the world4  ,not the    
forms only of the gods1 but the history 
of their appearances on earth and their 

dealings with mankind found expression  
in painting and relief4 ,plato1 as we   
know1 condemned the myths of the gods as
 unworthy from the ethical point of     
view4 ,but we shall misjudge myths if we
 suppose that they were actually        
believed in1 or served to regulate      
conduct4 ,what they did was greatly to  
further the picturesqueness and joy of  
life4 ,and when they became less        
important in cultus they survived in    
poetry1 and served greatly to temper the
 harsh prose of actual life4 ,we must   
remember that some of the ,jewish tales 
which have so much interested and       
charmed our forefathers are hardly to be
 defended on strict ethical principles1 
yet they have been a leavening and      
widening influence4 ,who would wish to  
expel from churches the stories of ,adam
 and ,eve1 of ,joseph and ,david1 on    
grounds of ethical purism8 ,the life of 
the many is not so highly decorated that
 we should wish to expel from it        
elements so pleasing4  ,as the ,gods    

tend more and more to take forms        
beautiful but entirely human1 so do the 
notable features of the landscape1      
rivers and mountains1 sky and sea1 take 
on themselves human shape4 ,sun and     
moon1 wind and storm1 are completely    
humanized4 ,the society of ,olympus1 the
 powers manifested in nature1 appear in 
sculpture as a human society1 but of    
more than human beauty and dignity4 ,and
 such rendering of the gods leads1 as we
 shall presently see1 to an ideal       
rendering of men4 ,as the gods come down
 in the likeness of men1 so men are     
raised to the level of the gods4 ,hence 
the intrinsic and inexhaustible idealism
 of ,greek sculpture1 to which ,i will  
presently return4  ,few works of art    
more fully and more attractively show   
the anthropomorphic tendency of ,greek  
art than the sunrise vase of the        
,british ,museum4 ,it shows us the whole
 morning pageant of nature humanized4   
,on the right appears the sun-god       
driving a chariot of winged horses1 who 

rise out of the sea4 ,before him the    
stars1 represented as youths1 plunge    
into the water4 ,to the left is the     
moon-goddess on horseback1 setting      
behind the hills1 on one of which is a  
mountain-god in an attitude of surprise4
 ,before the sun hurries ,eos1 the      
winged dawn1 who by a bold citation of  
mythology is represented as pursuing    
,cephalus the hunter1 of whom she was   
enamoured4 ,we have the features of the 
daybreak2 but they are all represented  
not as facts of nature1 but in their    
influence on ,gods and men4  ,i do not  
figure this vase1 as ,i have already    
done so in my ,principles of ,greek     
,art2 but instead ,i give an almost     
equally beautiful representation from   
the lid of a toilet vase in the         
,sabouroff ,collection at ,berlin4 ,we  
have here the same three figures of the 
sun-god1 the moon-goddess1 and the      
winged dawn1 who1 however1 in this case 
is driving a chariot4 ,the form of the  
whole group and the radiate symbol in   

the midst stands admirably for the vault
 of heaven 7,fig4 #a74  ,illustration3  
,fig4 #a4 ,,vase ,,representing         
,,sunrise  ,another extreme example of  
anthropomorphism is the embodiment of   
the sustaining power of the pillar in   
the so-called ,caryatids of the         
,erechtheum 7,fig4 #b74 ,really they are
 ,corae1 maidens dedicated to ,athena1  
and willingly in her service bearing up 
the weight of the architrave of her     
temple4 ,possibly the notion is not     
wholly satisfactory2 but if it be       
tolerated1 could it have been more nobly
 carried out8 ,the square and stalwart  
form of the women1 the mass of hair     
which strengthens their necks1 the easy 
pose1 all make us feel that the task is 
not beyond their strength or oppressive4
  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4 ,,caryatid of
 ,erechtheum  ,beside the ,greek        
,caryatid ,i must be allowed to place a 
modern version1 by ,rodin4 ,for the     
power and the technique of ,rodin ,i    
have great admiration2 but when his     

works are placed beside those of        
,greece1 we feel at once their          
inferiority in dignity1 in simplicity1  
in ideality 7,fig4 #c74  ,illustration3 
,fig4 #c4 ,,caryatid by ,rodin   ,,ii   
,the second lamp of ,greek art is       
,simplicity4 ,the artist sees quite     
clearly what he desires to produce1 and 
sets about producing it without         
hesitation1 without self-consciousness1 
with no beating about the bush4 ,of     
course the more primitive and less      
conventional a society is1 the easier it
 is for artists to be simple4 ,in a     
complicated society simplicity and      
directness are apt to be confused with  
what is commonplace or even with the    
foolish4 ,the simplicity of ,wordsworth 
and of ,tennyson does sometimes cross   
the line4 ,the ,greeks had the great    
advantage of coming before other        
cultivated peoples1 so that there was no
 commonplace to avoid4 ,they could be   
simple1 as the wild rose and the        
primrose are simple4 ,what could be more

 simple than the ,iliad8 ,the same      
simplicity marks ,greek sculpture4 ,it  
requires no great exercise of the       
intellect to understand it4 ,it presents
 every figure in a clear and            
unsophisticated way4  ,as there is no   
more sure sign of a fine nature than the
 absence of self-consciousness1 so there
 is no more sure sign of greatness in   
art than simplicity4 ,the ,greeks did   
not strive to be original1 to make      
people stare1 to do the unusual4 ,one of
 the most usual subjects in ,greek      
relief is a battle between male warriors
 and ,amazons4 ,such battles adorn many 
temples4 ,and in every case they are    
distinctive in style4 ,one could not    
mistake a group from the temple at      
,phigaleia for a group from the         
,mausoleum4 ,and there is no sameness3  
almost every group has some point or    
touch of its own1 which makes it a      
variety on the usual theme4 ,one ,amazon
 is falling from her horse1 one is      
asking for quarter1 one is following up 

a retreating foe4 ,but no group is      
insistent that the passer-by should look
 at it4 ,the relief was the decoration  
of a temple2 and if its originality drew
 men's attention from the temple itself1
 or from the ,deity seated enthroned    
within1 it might justly be accused of   
impertinence1 of exceeding due measure4 
,the sculptor did his best2 but he was  
careful to do nothing which was out of  
harmony with its surroundings4 ,he sank 
himself in his work4 ,and even when he  
was engaged on a more serious           
substantive work1 what he most avoided  
was the incongruous and unbecoming4 ,he 
so worked that the attention of the     
spectator was concentrated not on the   
character of the workmanship1 but on the
 person or the subject portrayed4 ,the  
idea which he tried to incorporate in   
marble or bronze was not his own thought
 about the subject1 but the character   
which really belonged to it in the mind 
of the people4  ,this singleness of     
purpose is well illustrated by a story  

about the painter ,protogenes4 ,he      
painted the figure of a ,satyr1 and     
beside it1 as a trifle1 he inserted a   
partridge4 ,but when he found that      
admiration for the lifelikeness of the  
partridge tended to distract the        
attention of visitors from the main     
figure1 he painted it out4  ,no doubt   
simplicity implies limitation4 ,it is   
not easy in any age to strike the       
deepest note without some surrender of  
simplicity4 ,the higher phases of the   
mental and spiritual life1 mysticism1   
symbolism1 and the like are not to be   
expressed with complete simplicity in   
any form of art4 ,one cannot deny that  
the ,greek view of life was limited2    
that the ,greeks did not attempt to     
represent in art the highest aspirations
 of the soul4 ,it was an entirely       
perverted ingenuity which sought a      
generation ago to find mystic meaning in
 the representations on ,greek vases4   
,attempts to portray the ,deities of the
 ,mysteries scarcely count as works of  

art4 ,such figures as ,sabazius1 ,isis1 
,mithras1 only come into ancient art in 
its decadence4 ,i would not maintain    
that the modern world1 with its         
infinitely varied emotions1 or the      
higher aspirations of religions like the
 ,christian or the ,buddhist1 could be  
satisfied with such simple schemes as   
those of ,greek sculpture1 which appeal 
to human instinct and human intelligence
 rather than to the more recondite      
emotions4 ,such emotions1 however1 in my
 opinion1 do not find any appropriate   
embodiment in the arts of which ,i am   
treating--the graphic and plastic arts4 
,in poetry they have at all times found 
a noble expression2 and in modern days a
 perhaps still completer expression in  
music1 which was in pre-,christian days 
in a very rudimentary condition4 ,but   
painting is but ill suited to the       
rendering of these vague aspirations4   
,and still more unsuited is sculpture1  
the most imitative and objective of all 
the arts4 ,the attempts which have been 

made in recent years by some sculptors  
to give a mystic turn to their art seems
 to me doomed to failure by the         
essential nature of sculpture4 ,a       
,western mind can have little sympathy  
with the art which has moved most on    
mystic lines1 the art of ,india1 which  
in such efforts has abandoned the search
 for beauty1 and so given up the really 
artistic point of view4 ,mere prettiness
 no doubt is an unsatisfying ideal3 but 
a loftier beauty1 in harmony with the   
world around us and the soul within us1 
is another thing4  ,in order that       
simplicity may be in the highest degree 
admirable1 it must be combined with two 
other qualities--intense love of beauty1
 and the utmost patience in execution4  
,it must not lead on the one side to a  
mere unideal copy of nature1 nor on the 
other to a hasty and slovenly kind of   
work4  ,the figure already mentioned1   
the ,caryatid of the ,erechtheum1 is a  
model of perfect simplicity4 ,for       
further illustration of the quality ,i  

have chosen the bronze charioteer from  
,delphi1 and the ,artemis from ,gabii1  
now in the ,louvre4 ,the former 7,fig4  
#d7 is a youth of noble family1 clad in 
the long dress necessary to protect from
 the wind a man driving a chariot4 ,the 
latter 7,fig4 #e71 a work of the school 
of ,praxiteles1 represents a young girl 
fastening her dress on her shoulder4    
,both are as free as they can be from   
any attempt at novelty or originality3  
yet no one with any taste could for a   
moment hesitate to pronounce them       
admirable4 ,the object of the artist was
 to make works as perfect as possible4  
,and to that end he goes straight1      
without any complication1 and without   
the least care that others may have done
 similar works1 against which he must   
assert originality4  ,illustration3     
,fig4 #d ,,charioteer of ,delphi        
,illustration3 ,fig4 #e ,,artemis of    
,gabii  ,beside the two figures ,i have 
cited ,i place a more modern group      
7,fig4 #f71 also by a man of genius1    

,peter ,vischer4 ,it has the same       
simplicity and the same care in         
execution as the ,greek works1 but in   
beauty it will not compare with them2   
and one feels regret that so great an   
artist should have spent his powers on  
so unsuitable a subject as the rivets   
and plates of a suit of armour4 ,the    
lady1 though not without charm1 seems   
artificial and affected beside the      
exquisite freshness of the girl of      
,praxiteles4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #f4  
,,knight ,,and ,,lady ,by ,peter        
,vischer   ,,iii  ,the third lamp of    
,greek art is ,balance and ,measure1 the
 recognition of limit and law4 ,this is 
most obvious in architecture1 and       
especially in its most characteristic   
production1 the temple4 ,the form of the
 temple1 when once established1 remained
 fixed1 within certain limits of        
variation1 for all time4 ,a most        
accomplished writer1 ,m4 ,boutmy1 has   
admirably shown how all the constituent 
parts of the temple are related one to  

the other1 how a plan1 a consistent     
rhythm1 runs throughout it4 ,each part  
has a definite function1 which it       
accomplishes in the simplest and        
clearest way4 ,the pillars are made     
simply to support1 and their shape and  
slight decoration is in accordance with 
that purpose4 ,their form ensures a     
maximum of stability4 ,the channeling or
 fluting carries the eye of the         
spectator upwards to the capital which  
swells outwards to support the heavy    
straight line of the cornice4 ,above the
 cornice1 the grooves of the triglyphs  
carry on the lines of fluting from the  
columns towards the roof4 ,the walls of 
the temple are not primarily intended to
 support1 but to enclose the sacred     
cella1 and are adorned only at their    
upper edge1 as a curtain might be1 with 
a decorative frieze4 ,the whole building
 is thought out as a home for the statue
 of the deity which it encloses2 and no 
part is allowed to adorn itself except  
in subordination to this general        

purpose4 ,like the shells of molluscs or
 the hives of bees1 it is the direct    
embodiment of an idea1 a purpose1 only a
 conscious and reflective1 not a merely 
instinctive purpose4  ,the sculptural   
decoration1 which is so striking a      
feature of the temple1 is also carefully
 subordinated to purpose and idea4 ,no  
part of the structure which bears a     
strain1 if we except one or two early   
and unsatisfactory experiments1 was     
decorated4 ,the business of column and  
architrave was to bear weight2 and if   
they were ornate they would seem less   
well adapted to that purpose4 ,only in  
parts of the building which were from   
the point of view of construction       
otiose1 such as pediment and metope1 was
 the art of the sculptor allowed to     
play2 and even then it was bound to play
 appropriately to the nature of the     
deity within and the festivals of which 
the temple was to be the focus4 ,there  
was no room for cross-purposes or       
disturbing thoughts4  ,this rigidity of 

form and subordination to reason is as  
characteristic of ,attic tragedies as of
 temples4 ,it would indeed be possible  
to work out a close parallel between the
 two forms of art4 ,but we must return  
to our immediate subject1 sculpture4    
,temple sculpture exhibits the qualities
 of balance and measure in the highest  
degree4 ,in case of the pediment there  
is a central point1 just under the apex1
 where the dominant figures of the scene
 portrayed are placed2 and on either    
side of this central figure or group1   
figure balances figure1 until we come to
 the corners1 which are occupied by     
reclining forms1 dying warriors1 or     
river-gods or spectators4 ,in case of   
the metope1 the square field is filled  
with two or three figures balanced about
 a central line1 a scheme self-contained
 and harmonious1 which may be compared  
to a geometrical diagram1 and carries   
simplicity to the farthest point4       
,rhythm1 balance1 symmetry are the      
translation into sculpture of the spirit

 of discipline and self-control1 which  
the ,greeks learned by hard necessity4  
,the civilization of the ,ionians in    
,asia is a brilliant sunrise1 an        
overflowing of the delight in life1 in  
beauty1 in the exercise of all the      
faculties1 which for a time dominated   
,greece itself4 ,and their art was      
joyous and free4 ,the artists of ,ionia 
invaded ,athens in the sixth century1   
visiting the luxurious court of         
,peisistratus1 and inspiring            
,peloponnesus1 even ,sparta1 as the     
excavations of the ,british ,school in  
,athens have abundantly shown4 ,but the 
,ionians were trodden down under the    
heavy foot of ,persia3 excess of freedom
 and want of cohesion and discipline was
 their ruin4 ,the ,great ,king of       
,persia was determined to trample in a  
like manner on ,greece ,proper2 and he  
would have succeeded but for the        
discipline and devotion of the ,dorians4
 ,it was the ,spartans1 aided by the    
brilliant military talent of ,miltiades 

and ,themistocles1 who saved ,greece    
from slavery4 ,a military caste1 like   
the ,templars and ,hospitallers of      
mediaeval ,europe1 they furnished the   
backbone of the ,greek army and         
dispersed the hordes of ,asia as easily 
as did the hardy ,macedonians of        
,alexander the ,great a century and a   
half later4  ,the ,athenians1 with their
 quick wits1 understood whence came     
their salvation1 and in the early part  
of the fifth century the tide of ,ionian
 influence was turned back1 and ,dorian 
manners1 ,dorian dress1 ,dorian art1    
became dominant from ,thessaly to       
,laconia4 ,it is precisely the ,dorian  
ideas of discipline1 of measure1 of     
self-control1 which entering into the   
art of ,greece made it a noble and      
continuous development1 instead of a    
mere brilliant flash4 ,plato was well   
aware of the dangers which beset the    
,athenians from their extreme           
versatility and want of reverence1 and  
he foresaw how these qualities would in 

the end destroy the civilization which  
they had adorned4 ,he so clearly saw    
this that he was inclined to prefer the 
conventional and monotonous art of      
,egypt to the brilliant ,greek art of   
his own time4 ,this is1 of course1 to   
carry ethical prejudice to the length of
 fanaticism1 and to transgress the very 
law of moderation which inspired him4   
,but it was only in his old age that he 
went thus far4  ,this careful balance   
and proportion may be observed1 as has  
often been pointed out1 in the designs  
of ,greek vases1 where the painted      
subject not only is in itself a balanced
 scheme1 but is also planned in relation
 to the shape of the vases themselves4  
,a group suitable to an amphora would   
look out of place on a drinking cup4    
,and in the cup itself the outside      
requires a different treatment from the 
inside4 ,the whole is planned not merely
 to give free scope to the artist1 but  
to be appropriate1 fitting1 harmonious4 
,our first figure well illustrates this 

thesis4  ,even in the case of           
substantive sculpture1 figures or groups
 made to stand by themselves in         
market-place or portico1 the ,greek love
 of harmony1 or as they would have put  
it1 of rhythm and symmetry prevails3    
ancient critics in those accounts of    
,greek sculpture1 of which fragments    
have come down to us in the writings of 
,pliny and ,quintilian1 lay great stress
 on these features4 ,they show us that  
whereas in early art a merely external  
and mechanical balance had prevailed1 in
 the course of the fifth century this   
love of order and measure was taken into
 the very being of art4 ,pythagoras of  
,rhegium1 whose works are unfortunately 
lost to us1 made great progress in      
rhythm and symmetry4 ,his               
contemporaries1 ,myron and ,polycleitus1
 who carried the athletic art of        
,peloponnesus almost to its highest     
point1 were celebrated1 ,myron for the  
rhythm in motion which he infused into  
his sculpture1 ,polycleitus for the     

careful balance of his athletes and the 
system of proportion which he embodied  
in their figures4 ,pheidias was more    
essentially ideal than either of these1 
as we shall presently see1 but he also  
most diligently preserved in the        
,parthenon and other works a spirit of  
measure and reasonableness4  ,measure   
and balance in art differ widely from   
mere convention4 ',order is ,heaven's   
first law4' ,all fine character is      
formed1 not by following random impulses
 as they arise1 but by making them      
conform to reason and duty1 disciplining
 them as wild horses are disciplined and
 taught to serve mankind4 ,horses indeed
 may be over-disciplined1 and by cruelty
 all spirit may be taken out of them4   
,and men may be over-disciplined1 so    
that their impulses die away from       
inanition4 ,the ,spartans were          
over-disciplined2 and through constant  
repression of natural tendencies they   
became mere machines1 and before long   
died out4 ,but reasonable restraint     

imposed on strong natural tendencies    
produces noble results in all spheres of
 activity4  ,the same thing is true in  
art4 ,measure and discipline do not of  
course make it easier to produce works  
of art2 for in the nature of the case   
discipline is at first grievous and is  
felt as a barrier4 ,but for the         
production of good and lasting works of 
art1 discipline and law are necessary4  
,take as an example the art which is    
simplest1 poetry4 ,it is easier to write
 blank verse than to write sonnets4 ,but
 it is far easier to write good sonnets 
than good blank verse1 simply because   
the constant restraint of the form      
stimulates thought and invention1       
prevents too great haste1 exercises the 
ingenuity4 ,in the same way the somewhat
 rigid laws of composition of pediment  
metope and frieze compelled the ,greek  
artist to think out schemes suitable to 
those forms4  ,it would not be possible 
to find a better example of order and   
balance in reliefs than is furnished by 

the magnificent sarcophagus from ,sidon 
7,fig4 #g71 on one side of which is     
represented one of the victories of     
,alexander the ,great4 ,at first sight  
it may seem a confused mle4 ,but when we
 look closer we see careful arrangement 
underlying the apparent disorder4       
,alexander1 charging from the left1 is  
balanced by ,parmenio charging from the 
right3 the horseman in the middle       
between the leaders seems to come out of
 the background2 and on either side of  
him is a fighting group1 to the left a  
,macedonian foot soldier fighting a     
,persian on foot1 to the right a        
light-armed ,greek resisting a ,persian 
horseman4 ,two ,persian archers balance 
one another4 ,there are in the scene    
five ,greeks to eight ,persians1        
indicating the numerical superiority of 
the latter4 ,and if we knew more about  
the battle we should probably find its  
principal phases hinted at in the       
groups4 ,the relief tells us far more   
about the battle than would a           

naturalistic representation of one      
corner of the field4 ,the ,greek artist 
could not work without using his reason 
and his sense of order as well as his   
skilled hand4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4 
,,sarcophagus ,,from ,,sidon   ,,iv     
,the fourth notable quality of ,greek   
art is ,naturalism4 ,painting and       
sculpture1 being representative or      
mimetic arts1 are dependent for their   
effects on the careful observation and  
loving study of nature4 ,probably this  
is not the feature in works of ,greek   
sculpture which would be most           
conspicuous to a modern eye4 ,and it    
cannot be doubted that the habit of     
exact observation produced by modern    
nature studies1 our familiarity with    
such helps to sight as telescopes and   
magnifying glasses1 our constant use of 
photography1 have made most of us better
 acquainted with the phenomena of the   
world about us than were the ,greeks4   
,but compared with the works of         
preceding ages1 ,greek sculpture must   

have seemed amazingly naturalist4 ,even 
works of the archaic period1 like the   
pediments from ,aegina1 show a knowledge
 of the human form infinitely more      
accurate than any to be found in        
,assyrian palaces or ,egyptian temples4 
,there is probably always a good deal of
 illusion in the minds of the schools   
which are constantly springing up1 which
 profess to break away from all         
conventions and to go back to nature    
herself4 ,to reach nature except through
 human senses and human combinations is 
quite impossible4 ,and any artist who   
determines to give us nature merely as  
the photographic plate or the mechanical
 cast gives it to us simply wastes his  
powers1 and produces a result of no     
interest whatever to any one4 ,according
 to ,pliny ,lysippus professed to take  
nature alone for his teacher2 but in    
fact the works of ,lysippus1 so far as  
we can recover or trace them1 are full  
of most definite style4 ,an artist has  
to look at nature through his own eyes1 

and those eyes give to what he sees a   
character based in part on his own      
personality4 ,everything he sees is     
refracted in the waters of his          
subjectivity1 from which he cannot      
escape4  ,nevertheless1 the whole       
historic course of ,greek sculpture is  
steeped in the study of nature2 and we  
see as it proceeds more and more clearly
 the results of careful observation4    
,the artist had in fact opportunities   
for the study of what he considered the 
one important group of phenomena1 human 
bodies1 such as a modern artist cannot  
hope to compass4 ,in the baths and      
gymnasia where all young men of free    
birth spent part of their mornings in   
running1 leaping1 wrestling1 or         
swimming1 he could daily watch the      
beautiful bodies of athletes in every   
variety of pose and action4 ,he knew    
them as a trainer knows horses1 or a    
fancier knows dogs4 ,he would have      
little need of a special model2 but     
would daily observe some fresh detail of

 muscles1 some notable pose which he    
could add from memory to his conception 
of the human body4  ,but in the greatest
 periods of art naturalism is not       
predominant4 ,its constantly working    
tendency is kept in check by noble ideas
 and noble style4 ,there is in the      
development of sculpture a constant     
approach to nature1 but nothing of the  
nihilism which looks on all aspects of  
nature as equally fit subjects for art4 
,the artists of the pediments of ,aegina
 could not bring themselves to conceal  
the beautiful bodies of the fighting    
warriors by rigid armour like that      
copied in ,vischer's group4 ,thus we    
find the paradox of armed men in battle1
 but without armour4 ,the utmost pains  
are taken with the nude limbs4 ,in the  
wonderful bronze charioteer found at    
,delphi 7,fig4 #d71 which dates from    
about #dgj ,b4 ,c41 the garment         
necessary to protect the man from the   
rush of air is very simply treated2 but 
the arms and feet1 which the garment    

does not conceal1 are wrought with      
marvellous accuracy and truth to nature4
 ,it seems almost as if the artist were 
compensating himself for the extremely  
simple work on the drapery by an almost 
excessively close study of nature where 
it was possible4 ,the head1 on the other
 hand1 is typical and not individual2   
for in fact individual portraits were   
scarcely possible at the time4  ,this   
would be the place to speak of ,greek   
portraits1 if space allowed it4 ,i will 
only point out the erroneousness of the 
popular view1 that ,greek portraits were
 conventional and uninteresting2 and    
that it was the ,romans who introduced  
individuality into portraiture4 ,it is  
strange that a view which is utterly    
false should have gained such currency4 
,it is true that ,greek portraits of the
 fifth and even the fourth century have 
in them much of the type1 and individual
 traits are softened in accord with the 
strongly idealizing tendencies of the   
age4 ,but from the third and second     

centuries we have a great number of     
portraits which are in the highest      
degree characteristic and individual1 a 
wonderful gallery of philosophers and   
poets and statesmen which for           
lifelikeness cannot be surpassed4 ,all  
the finest of the portraits of ,romans  
were by ,greek artists4 ,i can give but 
one example of really fine ,greek       
portraiture1 a statue of ,demosthenes of
 the third century ,b4 ,c4 7,fig4 #h74  
,it is a portrait indeed4 ,the long lean
 arms and the pose are quite as         
individual and characteristic as the    
face with its melancholy expression and 
deep lines of anxiety4 ,we have the man 
from head to foot2 not as is so often   
the case in modern statues1 a portrait  
head set on a conventional body4        
,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4 ,,demosthenes  
,by ,polyeuctus  ,for comparison with   
,demosthenes ,i set a statue of a great 
modern statesman1 ,abraham ,lincoln1 by 
,barnard 7,fig4 #i71 not the best statue
 of him1 but one which is approved by   

many4 ,it aims at truth1 but only       
attains caricature1 by exaggerating     
,lincoln's awkwardness and angularity1  
the size of his hands and feet1 and the 
anxiety in his face4 ,this exaggeration 
has been proved by a comparison with    
many photographs of ,lincoln1 which show
 that he was careful in dress and by no 
means wanting in dignity4 ,the statue of
 ,demosthenes is marvellous for truth2  
but it adds a touch of pathos2 the      
statue of ,lincoln misses the truth1    
through exaggerating the least pleasing 
features of the subject4  ,illustration3
 ,fig4 #i4 ,,abraham ,,lincoln ,by      
,barnard  ,when we want to ascertain how
 close ,greek sculpture could come to   
actual fact1 we turn from the great     
ideal age to the ,hellenistic period4   
,lysistratus1 the brother of ,lysippus1 
began to take moulds in plaster from    
individual faces4 ,at the great medical 
school of ,alexandria the anatomy of the
 human frame1 from which earlier ages in
 a spirit of piety had shrunk1 became   

usual3 some of the great physicians1    
such as ,herophilus and ,erasistratus1  
being noted for the completeness of     
their study of anatomy4 ,in the art of  
the third century ,b4 ,c4 we see the    
inevitable result of such studies in a  
more precise and learned rendering of   
the muscles and the skin4 ,and artists  
no longer hesitated to represent bodies 
wasted with toil and exposure to the    
weather1 or emaciated with fasting4     
,there are many such figures in our     
museums1 showing a marvellously close   
study of the forms of peasants and old  
women and children4 ,i figure one of    
these1 preserved in the museum of the   
,conservatori of the ,capitol at ,rome1 
an aged shepherdess carrying a lamb     
7,fig4 #aj74 ,but it will be observed   
that close as this form is to the facts 
of common life1 there is yet in it      
nothing repulsive4 ,it is in a sense a  
type rather than an individual1 a poem  
of nature rather than a portrait4 ,it is
 parallel to the pastorals of           

,theocritus4 ,it strongly contrasts with
 such loathsome figures as some modern  
sculptors in their exaggerated love of  
fact1 even if repulsive1 have inflicted 
upon us1 such as the ,vieille ,haulmire 
of ,rodin 7,fig4 #aa71 a figure of an   
aged and decayed prostitute4 ,i know1 of
 course1 that some critics would defend 
the last-mentioned work on ethical      
grounds1 as showing how hideous the     
decay of sensual beauty may become2 but 
,i venture to doubt whether sculpture is
 an appropriate vehicle for a moral     
lesson of that kind1 because it can only
 represent and cannot explain4          
,illustration3 ,fig4 #aj ,,aged         
,,shepherdess ,alexandrian              
,illustration3 ,fig4 #aa ,,la ,,vieille 
,h,,aulmi,,re ,by ,rodin   ,v  ,so we   
come to the fifth lamp of ,greek art1   
,ideality4 ,it is in the idealism of    
their rendering of the body of man that 
the ,greeks have surpassed all other    
peoples and left an imperishable record4
 ,the history of ,greek art is the      

history of a search for beauty1 for     
poetry1 for whatever can charm and      
delight4  ,in the earliest sculptural   
works of ,greece1 as ,lange the ,dane   
was the first to point out1 we find not 
a direct imitation of the facts of the  
visible world1 but impressions taken    
from that world1 stored in the memory1  
and put together in accordance with     
subjective purpose rather than objective
 law4 ,it is indeed thus that clever    
children work1 when in the              
picture-writing of their sketch books   
they violate the laws of perspective by 
combining separate aspects and memories 
of an object into an inconsistent whole4
 ,they will not omit any peculiarity of 
a person which happens to have struck   
them1 even when in the profile which    
they sketch it would be invisible4 ,they
 think of a face as turned towards them1
 of legs as walking past them4 ,every   
face must have two eyes1 every body two 
arms1 whether they would be visible     
under the natural conditions or not4 ,in

 early ,greek reliefs it is common to   
find the body down to the waist         
full-face1 the body below the waist in  
profile1 with no transition between the 
two4 ,the well-known metopes from       
,selinus in ,sicily are good examples4  
,it is a kind of procedure common to the
 early art of all peoples4 ,but the     
,greeks differ from other nations in    
this2 that when they improved away these
 early crudities they retained the      
predominance of thought over things1 of 
man over nature1 in a word of the ideal 
element in art4 ,they regarded the body 
of man not1 as the materialists do1 as  
man himself1 but as a shell produced by 
the inner working of the spirit1 to be  
seen by the eyes of thought and         
imagination1 as well as by the bodily   
eyes4 ,hence they were always aspiring  
from that which exists in appearance to 
that which lies behind the mere         
phenomenon4 ,they realized that nature1 
when she produces an individual1 never  
wholly succeeds1 she falls short of the 

idea4 ,and the artist by a loving       
sympathy with the creative ,spirit1 may 
venture to improve what she has made1 to
 carry out her intentions more fully1 to
 incorporate more completely the idea4  
,the ,greek artist1 appreciating and    
venerating the body1 tries to raise it  
to a higher and more perfect level4 ,a  
simple kind of idealism may be found in 
athletic art4 ,in their practice of     
athletics the ,greeks did not1 like the 
moderns1 think only of the number of    
feet an athlete could leap1 or the space
 of time he would take to run a         
distance4 ,they thought also of his     
form1 of the rhythmic and harmonious    
character of his action4 ,if an athlete 
showed ugly form1 they would hiss him1  
as they would an incompetent actor4     
,most of their exercises were done to   
the accompaniment of the flute4 ,in all 
the statues of athletes which have come 
down to us1 not one shows an            
inharmonious development1 powerful chest
 and weak legs1 or muscular legs and    

poor arms4 ,it is more than probable    
that as the features of ,alexander the  
,great influenced the portraits of his  
officers and followers1 so the specially
 beautiful forms of some of the athletes
 who were most admired1 tended to create
 a type1 something of which appears in  
all the athlete figures of the time4    
,no doubt any one who is well acquainted
 with ,greek types and with the forms of
 modern athletes will observe that the  
,greek physical build is not identical  
with that of our days4 ,the equable     
climate and the unstrained life of the  
young men produced something more       
rounded and fleshy than we see in the   
north4 ,our athletes are less           
harmoniously built1 with more prominent 
sinews1 more harsh and wiry in type4 ,an
 ,american trainer who is also a        
sculptor1 ,dr4 ,tait ,mc,kenzie1 working
 as some of the ,greek sculptors worked1
 from the average measurements of a     
number of young men1 has produced types 
of strength and beauty1 by no means     

exactly like the statues of ,greece1 but
 in their way almost equally beautiful4 
,i instance the beautiful fifth-century 
figures of ,greek boxers1 softened by   
idealism1 but admirable for strength and
 symmetry2 and the ,apoxyomenos1 a man  
scraping himself with a strigil1 as was 
the custom in the baths 7,fig4 #ab74    
,this is a work of the third century1   
after the artists had imported their    
knowledge of anatomy into their works1  
which had effects both good and bad4    
,and beside the ,apoxyomenos ,i place an
 athlete by ,tait ,mc,kenzie1 produced  
from the careful comparison and         
measurements of hundreds of young       
athletes of ,harvard and ,philadelphia  
7,fig4 #ac74 ,this is a work of modern  
idealism produced by similar processes  
to those to which we owe the excellence 
of ,greek athletic sculpture4           
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab ,,athlete      
,,with ,,strigil  ,illustration3 ,fig4  
#ac ,,athlete1 by ,tait ,mc,kenzie  ,the
 types of female beauty come into ,greek

 sculpture later than the types of male 
beauty4 ,in ,ionian and early ,attic    
sculpture women appear closely wrapped  
up in drapery4 ,pheidias and his        
contemporaries did not venture to       
represent undraped women4 ,they showed  
the beauties of the female form not     
apart from1 but by the help of1 drapery4
 ,it was reserved for the age of        
,praxiteles and ,scopas to represent the
 ,goddess of ,love in the guise of a    
nude woman2 and ,praxiteles made an     
apology for the innovation by           
introducing the motive of bathing as an 
explanation and a palliation4 ,and even 
the ,aphrodite of ,praxiteles is        
remarkably free from all attempt at     
sensuous attraction1 or                 
self-consciousness4 ,solid1 noble1 and  
stately in form1 she is a type or model 
rather than an individual4 ,later       
sculptors1 it is true1 departed from    
this line of simple harmoniousness1 and 
tried to make the figure more attractive
 to the average man4 ,but it does not   

become weak1 and it does not become     
vulgar4 ,the noble ,aphrodites of the   
fourth century have fixed the type of   
female beauty in school after school of 
artists down to our own time4  ,this    
ideal is perhaps for us best            
incorporated in the ,aphrodite of ,melos
 in the ,louvre1 a work of the          
,hellenistic age1 combining with the    
great fourth-century tradition a        
perfection of detail and an informing   
life which belong to a later time4 ,but 
while most people of taste profess a    
devotion to her1 that devotion is       
usually untinged by knowledge or real   
appreciation2 for there could hardly be 
a greater contrast than that between the
 bodily forms of the ,goddess of ,melos 
and those of the women who are most     
admired in our days4 ,i was almost      
disposed to figure side by side the     
,goddess and the bodily forms which     
figure in our fashion plates4 ,the      
fashion plates do not represent women as
 they are1 but as they would like to be2

 they represent not the actual1 but the 
modern ideal4 ,and what an ideal6  ,some
 readers may smile at the notion of     
taking seriously these ephemeral        
productions4 ,but no one would take them
 lightly who was familiar with the facts
 of psychology4 ,we well know that when 
certain types of women are set          
constantly before the rising generation 
as beautiful and to be imitated they    
will necessarily exercise a great       
influence on the future of the race4    
,young men will look out for such types 
to admire and to court3 young women will
 try to resemble them4 ,the hideous     
mistake in aesthetics will exercise a   
constant dragging power1 pulling the    
young away from the light and the air of
 heaven towards the caves of evil       
spirits4  ,few more charming            
representations of young womanhood in   
,greece exist than the ,artemis from    
,gabii already cited 7,fig4 #e74 ,one   
must confess that the divine element in 
it is but slight4 ,but what could be    

fresher1 simpler1 more exquisitely      
natural8  ,no doubt as in the case of   
men1 so in the case of women1 we must   
make allowance for race and climate4 ,a 
full and rotund development of physique 
is far rarer in northern than in        
southern ,europe4 ,the ,english race is 
taller1 less solidly built1 slighter    
than the ancient ,greek4 ,among us hard 
tendons usually take the place of solid 
muscles4 ,and the practise of athletic  
games by women undoubtedly tends to make
 them in some respects conform more to  
the male type4 ,in moderation physical  
exercises may improve health and        
strength without tending to deprive the 
vital organs of nourishment4 ,but the   
overtrained woman is farther from the   
healthy life of nature than the         
overtrained man4 ,and whether the       
overexertion be of the body or of the   
intelligence1 it tends to destroy true  
womanliness4  ,it is a pity that some   
sculptor does not do for the ideal of   
womanhood what ,dr4 ,tait ,mc,kenzie has

 done for the ideal of athletic manhood4
 ,of course the process would not be the
 same4 ,no one wants an ideal type of   
the female athlete1 unless we wish to   
restore the race of ,amazons1 but we do 
sorely need to have before our eyes     
types which embody the physical ideal of
 efficient womanhood4 ,at present while 
nude womanhood in art conforms in a     
great measure to the ,greek tradition1  
clothed womanhood follows the types of  
the street1 modified by the baseless    
caprices of fashion4 ,the two stand in  
unreconciled contrast4 ,the ,greeks when
 painting women on a vase often drew    
their figures in outline before they    
added clothes4 ,but any one who tries to
 draw the outline of the female figure  
beneath the clothes on a fashion-plate  
will stand aghast at what he has        
produced4  ,cicero repeats an           
instructive story in regard to the      
painter ,zeuxis1 who lived about #djj   
,b4 ,c4 ,he was commissioned to make for
 the people of ,croton a painting of    

,helen of ,troy4 ,he first inquired1    
what seems to have been a matter of     
common knowledge1 who were the most     
beautifully made young men in that city1
 which was noted for its athletes4 ,he  
next asked that he should be allowed to 
study the forms of the sisters of these 
men1 judging that the sisters must      
partake of the beauty of the brothers4  
,out of these he selected five girls for
 more continued study1 and by such aid  
produced his picture4 ,we cannot suppose
 that he would be so clumsy as to select
 at random beautiful details from each  
of the five2 in that way he would       
produce only an eclectic monstrosity4   
,but1 working in the presence of        
beautiful examples1 his sense of beauty 
would rise in tone to the highest of    
which he was capable4  ,in this story   
several points are noteworthy4 ,it shows
 that the type of beauty in men was more
 advanced and more generally recognized 
than the type of beauty in women4 ,and  
it shows the ,greek artistic mind ever  

on the watch to catch some new note of  
beauty to add to the traditional stock4 
,professor ,brcke1 in his excellent work
 on the beauties of the human form1     
observes that in the ideal statues of   
,greece many features may be discovered 
which in the actual world of men and    
women are very rare1 but the charm of   
which can scarcely be disputed4 ,there  
went on from school to school1 and from 
period to period1 a sort of accumulation
 of beauty which was ever increasing4   
,every beautiful model which was studied
 added something to what ,brcke calls   
the stock of beauty at the disposal of  
artists4   ,,vi  ,the sixth lamp of     
,greek art is ,patience in striving     
after perfection4 ,in the finer work of 
,greek sculptors one finds an utterly   
ungrudging expenditure of time and care 
which reminds one of the working of     
,nature herself1 ,nature who is never in
 a hurry1 who is never contented with a 
hasty sketch1 but works regardless of   
time4 ,we are told of ,protogenes that  

he spent seven years on a single figure1
 and ,i think he would have spent seven 
more if he had thought that he could    
thereby have improved his painting4     
,nothing strikes one more strongly in   
such works as the charioteer of ,delphi 
and the ,hermes of ,praxiteles than the 
pains taken with every detail4 ,it is by
 careful work1 continued through        
successive generations1 that sculpture  
attained such mastery in the            
representation of the muscles of the    
body as we find in the ,borghese        
fighting figure of the ,louvre1 and such
 delicacy in the rendering of drapery as
 we find in the ,victories of the       
,balustrade at ,athens1 or the ,victory 
of ,samothrace4  ,but the delicacy and  
minuteness of ,greek work is of course  
most obvious in the reliefs of coins and
 in gems4 ,the coins were not primarily 
meant to please the eye1 but to         
circulate in the fish-market2 yet a     
multitude of the dies are so exquisitely
 finished that they lose little when    

magnified to many diameters1 and will   
bear the most critical examination4 ,the
 intaglio gems were meant for the       
sealing of documents1 the seal taking   
the place of the modern signature2 but  
the figures upon seals are in their way 
as finished as great works of sculpture4
 ,seals even more usually than coins    
gain rather than lose if they are       
enlarged4 ,yet they were executed       
without the help of magnifying glasses4 
,their subjects are taken from the      
widest field1 the figures of deities1   
tales from mythology1 portraits1 animal 
forms2 like the coins they introduced as
 an undercurrent to the prosaic life of 
every day an element of poetry and      
imagination4   ,,vii  ,the seventh lamp1
 which goes as naturally with idealism  
as care and patience go with naturalism1
 is joy1 joie de vivre4 ,keats has      
expressed the ,greek sense of art in an 
immortal line1 ',a thing of beauty is a 
joy for ever'4 ,it was the overflowing  
gladness which lies at the root of      

creation and evolution which took       
eternal form in the painting and        
sculpture of the ,greeks and inspired   
all their works4 ,the same irrepressible
 joy which gives colour to the flowers1 
sweetness to the fruit1 song to the     
birds1 and sexual desire to mankind     
reached here one of its most perfect    
manifestations4 ,the life of the ,greeks
 was by no means one of unmixed         
happiness4 ,each city was not           
unfrequently at war with its neighbours2
 and the penalty of complete defeat was 
sometimes the razing of its walls1 the  
slaughter of its men1 and the           
enslavement of its women4 ,disease1 even
 plague1 constantly ravaged the land2   
and the resources of modern surgery and 
modern anaesthetics were not present to 
curb their ravages4 ,the life of the    
majority in country huts1 and still more
 in the slums of the cities1 most of all
 in the mines1 was rougher and more     
sordid than is the case in the modern   
world1 in countries in their normal     

state4 ,and the people had not even that
 hope of a blessed hereafter which      
sustained the people of the ,middle     
,ages4 ,yet under all these clouds1     
their spirit was hopeful and aspiring4  
,and their art reflects ever the        
brighter side of things4 ,surely they   
were wise and right4 ,we seek out works 
of art not to foster pessimism but to   
inspire optimism1 not to show us the    
world of nature on its repulsive side1  
but to reveal to us how much underlying 
beauty is to be found in it4 '',tis life
 not death for which we pant1 ,more life
 and fuller that we want4'  ,at the same
 time1 ,greek art in some forms was     
extremely serious and keenly alive to   
the darker side of existence4 ,the      
,greeks invented tragedy1 the poetical  
reflection of the severity of fate4     
,would any modern audience be found1    
which would be prepared to sit for a    
whole summer day listening eagerly to   
the grand expression by such poets as   
,aeschylus and ,sophocles of the power  

of ,nemesis1 the instability of all     
prosperity1 the misfortunes which hunt  
those who have the ill luck to displease
 the gods8 ,surely not4 ,and not in     
,greek tragedy only1 but in elegiac     
poetry and in epigram1 we find perfect  
reflections of our most gloomy moods4   
,but for such expressions of sorrow and 
despair the ,greeks felt that sculpture1
 and even painting1 were not suitable   
vehicles4 ,they belong to moods1 and are
 not suitable for illustration in the   
market place and the temple4 ,the roads 
which led to ,greek cities were         
frequently bordered with monumental     
tombs4 ,if in the reliefs and           
inscriptions of these tombs there had   
been any telling echo of the sorrow and 
regret of bereaved survivors1 every one 
would have entered the cities in a black
 mood4 ,as it is1 as every one who has  
been in the museums of ,athens knows1   
the sepulchral artists carefully avoided
 anything which might harrow the        
feelings4 ,they represented the dead at 

their best1 engaged in victorious       
warfare1 or in athletic sports or in the
 happy family circle4 ,a gentle air of  
melancholy could not be avoided2 but    
there was nothing to shock1 nothing to  
oppress the spirits4 ,the deceased      
represented seemed still to share the   
occupations and pleasures of the living1
 not to be shut off from the world of   
happiness4  ,milton has expressed1 in   
his magnificent prose1 the profound joy 
of the world of the ,renaissance at the 
recovery of the ,bible1 and free liberty
 of reading it1 after it had been shut  
away from the laity by the organized    
,church4 ,equally intense1 and more     
exuberant1 was the delight of scholars  
and artists1 when the asceticism and    
pessimism of the ,middle ,ages1 which   
had given birth to such bodies as the   
,carmelite monks and the mendicant      
friars1 gave way before the revival of  
,greek literature and art4 ,the world   
seemed suddenly to have renewed its     
youth4 ,no doubt the sudden expansion   

led to foul excesses2 but it was yet a  
great landmark in human progress4       
,,viii  ,the eighth light of ,greek art 
is ,fellowship4 ,perhaps there is no    
quality in it which is more instructive 
for our days than this4 ,the extreme    
individualism which is the most         
remarkable characteristic of modern     
times lays the utmost stress on the     
right or the duty of an artist to       
express himself in his work1 to work out
 his own vein of originality1 to give to
 the world a rendering of his own       
qualities and individuality4 ,and no    
doubt no great artist can help doing    
this in a measure4 ,when he works he    
must be himself2 he can only see the    
world through the medium of his         
character and talents4 ,and as every man
 is a microcosm1 a reflection in        
miniature of the great world of human   
beings1 what is really good and original
 in an artist must appeal to something  
in the human world2 must have a meaning 
for people of a certain class or a      

certain training1 or a certain country4 
,but whether an artist is the better for
 a conscious attempt thus to externalize
 his personality2 whether he is improved
 by being self-conscious and reflective 
in his art is a different question4     
,scarcely any feature of ,greek art is  
more impressive to a student than its   
continuous and uninterrupted course4    
,when once it has started it does not   
turn back1 but goes forward steadily1   
for a time rising superior to difficulty
 after difficulty1 attaining a higher   
and higher level1 then in the fifth     
century branching out in various        
directions into styles and groups1 then 
going on with great technical skill1 but
 with a loss of inspiration4 ,it is a   
course of evolution as steady as that of
 any kind of plant or animal4 ,this     
shows that it did not depend upon the   
rise of successive men of talent or     
genius1 each of whom was intent on      
expressing himself2 but upon the rise   
and influence of successive artistic    

schools1 each of which did not merely   
follow the personality of a founder or  
teacher1 but stood for a phase in the   
development of the common life of the   
,greek people4 ,the schools were ,ionian
 or ,dorian1 ,attic or ,argive1 and     
harmonized with the whole civilization  
of such fractions of the race4 ,ionian  
art went with the gay and               
pleasure-loving ways of the ,asiatic    
coast4 ,dorian art reflected the        
restraint1 the balance1 the self-control
 of the people of ,peloponnesus4 ,attic 
art not only conformed to the refined   
taste of the people of ,athens1 but     
suited also the strong mental bias of   
the most intellectual city which ever   
existed4 ,of course these schools did   
not flourish in complete isolation one  
from the other2 city influenced city and
 artist artist2 but in a far less degree
 than would be the case now4 ,a school  
of sculpture was a species2 and all the 
individuals of the species were more    
like one another than they were like any

 of their contemporaries outside4  ,thus
 when we examine any work of ,greek     
sculpture1 before the eclectic schools  
came into being1 we find it easy to     
determine its period1 often within      
narrow limits1 and we are usually able  
to assign it with confidence to a       
particular school1 imperfect as is our  
knowledge of the history of ,greek art4 
,but we can scarcely ever say that it is
 the work of an individual artist1      
unless it stands on a basis bearing the 
author's name1 or unless ancient critics
 and historians have left us detailed   
descriptions of a work which survives4  
,i am speaking of ,greek originals2 the 
copies of earlier works made by ,greek  
artists of a late period for ,roman     
galleries are often so confused in style
 and so careless in execution that they 
serve only to mislead1 even if they have
 escaped the ,italian restorer of recent
 date4  ,great and connected series of  
statues and reliefs1 such as constitute 
the sculptural adornment of such temples

 as that of ,zeus at ,olympia or the    
,parthenon or the ,mausoleum1 are the   
joint productions of a number of        
sculptors who worked together1 no doubt 
under the general supervision of some   
architect or chief mason1 but probably  
under very little control4 ,such works  
combine considerable variety in         
execution with a general similarity so  
great that a superficial observer does  
not see their differences4 ,public      
opinion in ,london seems to hold that   
,pheidias made the whole of the         
pediments and the frieze of the         
,parthenon2 though in some cases        
contiguous figures are so markedly      
various amid the general likeness as to 
prove separate hands4 ,in the case of   
the ,erechtheum at ,athens there is     
extant a long list of payments to a     
number of artists for the several       
figures of the frieze4 ,there was no    
general contractor1 no artist who hired 
his masons by the day1 but every man who
 produced one of the figures in relief  

was paid for it sixty drachmas1 without 
regard to its difficulty or its         
simplicity4  ,it is comparatively easy  
to get a set of skilled stone-masons to 
carry out with exactness a plan of which
 all the details are worked out for     
them1 and which requires only faithful  
copying4 ,and it must have been easy for
 a set of ,egyptian sculptors who made  
their figures according to a rigid      
conventional pattern to produce a       
uniform result4 ,but for a number of    
skilled workers who were allowed great  
liberty in detail to produce an         
harmonious whole was infinitely harder4 
,and that the ,greek masons regularly   
accomplished this result shows how      
strong upon them was the influence of   
the school4 ,nor did they merely work   
from nature2 but their production was of
 an idealizing kind4 ,it is clear that  
they must have had not merely similar   
tools and similar mechanical processes1 
but the same purposes and ideals4 ,they 
must have had what we should call a     

collective personality4 ,it is more than
 probable that among the workers on the 
,parthenon were ,alcamenes and          
,agoracritus1 two sculptors who rose to 
great fame4 ,it is certain that among   
the workers on the ,erechtheum was      
,praxias1 a pupil of ,calamis1 and      
probably a relative of ,praxiteles4 ,the
 distinction between artist and mason1  
so marked in our day1 scarcely existed  
in ,greece4 ,the mason who had talent   
became a noted sculptor2 and the        
sculptor1 instead of making a model in  
wax or plaster1 set to work1 like       
,michelangelo1 on the block of marble   
himself4 ,probably sometimes1 like      
,benvenuto ,cellini1 he cast his own    
bronze statues4  ,generally in all great
 periods of art there is such           
fellowship4 ,and in sculpture in        
particular the design and the execution 
are so closely connected that it is an  
abuse to assign the two functions to    
different men1 and even to different    
classes of men4 ,greece was             

pre-eminently the land of productive    
guilds1 of families of artists1 of      
groups of workers who were of one heart 
and one spirit1 and who therefore worked
 in one style4 ,one of the closest      
parallels to a ,greek school of         
sculpture is to be found in the group of
 ,pre-,raphaelite artists of the middle 
of the last century1 ,morris1           
,burne-,jones1 ,rossetti1 ,millais1     
,collins1 and their companions4 ,this   
group had a religious or ideal          
starting-point in the revived           
,anglo-,catholicism which arose in      
,oxford at the time1 and they had       
principles of art in common which they  
embodied in their work4 ,their          
paintings1 before they diverged one from
 another1 form a distinct species1 and  
have an interest for the historian of   
civilization greater than that of any   
other ,english school4   ,,ix  ,in order
 that we may estimate the influence of  
,greek art on the civilization of       
,europe1 it is necessary briefly to     

trace its reappearances through the     
ages4 ,its first conquest was ,rome4    
,the victorious ,roman ,generals1       
,marcellus1 ,scipio1 ,flamininus1       
,mummius1 and others1 brought to the    
imperial city1 to adorn their triumphs1 
an immense quantity of ,greek sculpture 
and paintings1 of which they robbed the 
great storehouses of works of art in the
 temples and stoae of ,hellas1 ,sicily1 
and ,asia ,minor4 ,the earlier          
,emperors1 especially ,nero1 followed   
their example1 so that in the time of   
,pliny the naturalist all the public    
places of ,rome were crowded with       
sculptures of bronze and marble and with
 the painted masterpieces of great      
artists4 ,it became fashionable for     
wealthy ,romans1 such as ,hortensius and
 ,cicero1 to stock their country-houses 
with such works4 ,even so1 the demand   
was not satisfied2 and ,greek artists   
were imported into ,rome1 where they set
 up great workshops1 and poured out an  
incessant stream of fresh works of art4 

,of such our modern museums are full4   
,generally speaking they are of little  
artistic merit1 copies of various       
degrees of excellence of the great works
 of earlier generations4 ,for the ,roman
 plutocrats had little taste4 ,because  
certain figures or groups had a great   
reputation1 and especially because they 
had been purchased at a high price by   
,greek cities and kings1 the ,roman     
collector liked to have copies of them  
in his villa2 and the artists who       
produced these copies were mere workers 
for hire1 without originality and       
without aspirations4 ,sometimes when    
employed on such works as the ,arch of  
,titus1 or the ,column of ,trajan1 the  
novelty of the theme stimulated the     
artist to attempt something of a more   
original kind4 ,and occasionally the    
fire within took course and produced a  
finer work than ordinary4 ,under the    
art-loving ,emperor ,hadrian there was a
 sort of ,st4 ,martin's summer of       
sculpture2 but its productions were     

smooth1 elegant and refined rather than 
original or interesting4 ,the charm of  
art was not appreciated by the ,roman   
people2 only the few who professed      
cultivation really cared whether a      
figure was good or bad1 and even the few
 were a little ashamed of their         
preferences4  ,into the ,roman ,empire1 
in the first three centuries of our era1
 ,christianity gradually ate its way4   
,it originated among the ,jews1 to whom 
all representation of living things was 
hateful4 ,and it developed under the    
influence of ,greek oriental mysticism1 
which had no kinship with sculpture and 
painting2 and so far as it had any      
expression in those arts worked in the  
direction of that symbolism against     
which ,greek art was a protest4 ,thus we
 could not expect any fresh inspiration 
for art from early ,christianity2 on the
 contrary1 ,christianity would work upon
 it as a blighting influence4 ,if we    
examine the remains of ,christian art in
 those early centuries1 in sarcophagus  

and mural painting1 we find that it     
merely copied the contemporary pagan    
art1 only changing the subjects         
portrayed1 and introducing a further    
development in the symbolic             
interpretation of ordinary scenes4      
,christianity offered almost no field   
for the exercise of ,greek              
anthropomorphism4 ,the latter was       
closely bound up with polytheism and    
hero-worship4 ,the ,christian ,apostles 
and ,saints1 who took the place of the  
pagan ,deities1 were men who had lived  
on the earth and whose deeds belonged   
not to mythology but to history1        
although at the time the line between   
history and mythology was not clearly   
drawn1 and history was largely diluted  
with myth4 ,a few impersonations of     
nature1 such as river-gods1 lingered on 
in the paintings of the ,roman          
catacombs4 ,and winged genii were common
 there1 whether cupids or cherubs it    
would be hard to say4 ,but there was no 
realm into which artistic fancy could   

stray1 filling it with super-men and    
super-women4 ,angels might be portrayed2
 but they all came from the ,jewish     
angelology2 and there was no artistic   
tradition as to their types3 it was only
 later that the types of ,michael1      
,raphael1 ,gabriel1 and others were     
distinguished4  ,the second principle of
 ,greek art1 balance and symmetry1 had  
almost disappeared in pagan art in the  
,antonine age4 ,the reliefs of triumphal
 arches and of sarcophagi are crowded   
with figures inserted without order or  
method4 ,even the mural paintings of    
,pompeii have escaped from control2 and 
show no purposeful arrangement4 ,law and
 order have given place to individual   
fancy1 unless in cases where earlier    
schemes are adopted4 ,and with artistic 
arrangement has disappeared all attempt 
to idealize1 to produce forms nobler and
 more beautiful than those seen every   
day4 ,the figure of ,antinous is the    
latest in which we find any attempt to  
produce a type of ideal beauty4 ,even   

the ,virgin ,mary and her ,son are      
depicted without any attempt to render  
them beautiful4 ,nor indeed does        
naturalism fare better than idealism4   
,the representation of the human body is
 no longer studied4 ,the figures are    
clothed3 and the clothing is purely     
conventional1 while the features of the 
landscape are far less carefully        
introduced than in ,hellenistic ,greek  
art4  ,in fact one feels that the artist
 had little interest in his art4 ,scenes
 from the ,old and the ,new ,testament  
are the usual subjects4 ,but the        
depiction is little more than           
picture-writing1 mere copies of         
traditional groups4 ,the only thing     
regarded as of any interest is the      
meaning4 ,the ethical and spiritual     
point of view overlies and smothers any 
interest in the representation4  ,and   
this predominance of the didactic       
element over the sense of proportion1   
the love of beauty1 the appreciation of 
nature prevails more and more as ,europe

 slowly moves towards the dark ages4    
,the lamps of ,greek art burn more and  
more dimly4 ,they are never wholly      
extinguished2 for in all ages there are 
born artists to whom they are the light 
of life2 and in mediaeval carvings one  
finds here and there a touch of         
humanism1 most often in grotesque or    
satyric figures4 ,we must never forget  
that some of the later masterpieces of  
,greek work1 such as the ,column of     
,trajan and the ,arch of ,beneventum1   
were always to be seen4 ,and little as  
they were appreciated by ordinary       
people1 an artist here and there derived
 from them some appreciation of the     
beauty of humanity4  ,then in the       
thirteenth century the dry bones began  
to come together4 ,the breath of fresh  
life stirred ,europe1 or at least parts 
of ,europe1 such as ,north ,italy1      
,southern ,germany1 ,eastern ,france4   
,the magnificent ,gothic ,cathedrals    
rising in the north called forth the    
talent of the painter and the sculptor  

for their adornment4 ,a great ,christian
 art arose1 and in the thirteenth and   
fourteenth centuries flourished widely4 
,certain qualities of high art it       
certainly had4 ,it was lighted by the   
lamp of fellowship4 ,the sculpture was  
the work not of individuals1 but of     
guilds1 groups of workers of the same   
style1 and inspired by the same motives4
 ,it attained to great beauty in        
decoration1 in the adaptation to        
architectural purpose of the forms of   
plants and flowers4 ,where it was most  
defective was in the rendering of the   
human form1 whether nude or draped1 for 
in such matters the artists had no      
schooling to be compared with that of   
the ,greeks4  ,when the full            
,renaissance came with the dispersion of
 the educated ,greeks through ,europe1  
there was a conscious reawakening of the
 artistic influence of ,greece1         
contemporaneously with the revived      
interest in ,greek literature and       
philosophy4 ,a few great works of       

ancient sculpture1 the ,laocoon1 the    
,dying ,gaul of the ,capitol1 the       
,apollo ,belvedere were discovered2 and 
collections of ancient gems and coins   
were formed by many of the wealthy4 ,we 
can judge from the life of ,benvenuto   
,cellini how profound was the effect    
produced by such discoveries4 ,the great
 ,italians of the fifteenth and         
sixteenth centuries felt as if they had 
climbed out of darkness into light4 ,to 
rival works of ,greek art was looked    
upon as the highest ambition which an   
artist could cherish4 ,sculptors so     
great as ,donatello and ,michelangelo   
took the scanty remains of ,greek       
masterpieces as their models1 and       
measured their attainments by the degree
 of success which they reached in       
copying them4 ,the lamps of ,greek      
balance and symmetry1 ,greek idealism1  
and ,greek naturalism were rekindled1   
and the crowd of artists vied one with  
another in walking by their light4  ,we 
may mark four stages in the rediscovery 

of ,greek sculpture4 ,the first is the  
,italian ,renaissance already mentioned4
 ,the second originated in the visit of 
,winckelmann to ,italy in #agee1 and the
 application by ,goethe and ,lessing of 
his discoveries to the judgement of     
contemporary art4 ,it tended greatly to 
the raising and purifying of the        
artistic taste of ,europe4 ,the splendid
 promise of the ,renaissance had        
degenerated into the mannerism and      
extravagance of ,bernini and his        
contemporaries4 ,winckelmann called it  
back to simplicity1 to self-restraint1  
to ideality4 ,but before long this      
teaching also was perverted2 and such   
sculptors as ,thorwaldsen and ,canova   
were misled by the defects of the       
inferior examples of ,greek sculpture1  
which were the only ones accessible to  
,winckelmann1 into a slavish copy of the
 antique or works of an artificial grand
 style4 ,then came the third wave of    
revived ,greek influence1 when the      
sculptures of the ,parthenon found a    

home in ,london1 and critics were able  
to observe how infinitely superior the  
masterpieces of a really great age were 
to the copies of ,roman times and the   
adaptations of the ,hellenistic age4    
,when ,haydon the painter first saw the 
,parthenon marbles he was immensely     
impressed2 but that which struck him    
most strongly was not the ideality1 for 
which they have since become proverbial1
 but the wonderful naturalism of much of
 their detail in contrast to the        
grandiose conventions of his            
contemporaries4 ,the fourth stage in our
 knowledge of ,greek sculpture comes    
from the very fruitful excavations on   
,greek soil1 especially at ,athens1     
,olympia1 and ,delphi1 which have shown 
us how widely varied is the range of the
 ancient sculptors1 how many their      
styles1 how admirable their technique4  
,this extension of our knowledge has    
not1 it is true1 as yet much affected   
contemporary art1 as art was affected by
 the teachings of ,winckelmann and the  

publishing of the marbles of the        
,parthenon4 ,until last year there was  
no book in ,english setting forth the   
results of the excavations of ,delphi2  
and there is even now no book in        
,english performing the same service for
 the excavations at ,olympia4 ,sculptors
 are so little educated in the history  
of their craft1 that they do not easily 
learn from new sources of knowledge4    
,but by degrees1 beyond doubt1 the new  
views of ,greek art will filter down to 
them4 ,a few recently discovered        
sculptures1 such as the ,charioteer of  
,delphi1 the ,hermes of ,praxiteles1 the
 bronze head from ,beneventum in the    
,louvre1 the ,demeter of ,cnidus1 have  
by their overpowering charm affected    
artists and art4 ,and most sculptors    
profess a great admiration for ,greek   
works1 notably ,rodin1 who1 although the
 tendency of his works is not in a      
classical direction1 yet uses the       
strongest language in praising the      
,greek masterpieces4 ,but in general the

 tendency of art towards extreme        
individualism and the search after      
novelty have more than counteracted the 
somewhat shallow admiration of sculptors
 for what is antique4   ,x  ,at present 
religion and culture alike are          
struggling against the waves of         
barbarism reinvading4 ,it is not my     
business to speak here of the forces    
which are trying to crush religion among
 us4 ,but ,i may fitly conclude by      
sketching some of the tendencies against
 which culture based upon that of       
,greece is our best antidote4 ,if ,i    
have rightly set forth the principles of
 ,greek literature and art in past      
pages1 the nature of their influence    
under present conditions will be clear4 
,i must venture on a parallel which     
seems to me very suggestive1 though some
 readers may regard it as risky4 ,there 
are two great standards set up in the   
past1 to control the wayward fanaticisms
 of men1 and to keep them within the    
bounds of reason and good sense4 ,the   

standard in religion is set by the ,new 
,testament3 the standard in art is set  
by ,greece4 ,as at the ,renaissance the 
peoples of ,europe went back for their  
inspiration and their models to the     
literature and the art of ,hellas1 so at
 the ,reformation they1 or at all events
 the ,teutonic races1 went back to the  
early records of ,christianity1         
appealing to them against the venality  
and corruption of the dominant ,church4 
,and ever since1 at intervals1 there has
 arisen1 alike in the field of culture  
and in that of religion1 an echo of the 
appeal to the classical past4 ,it is to 
the ,new ,testament that ,apostles like 
,john ,wesley and ,george ,fox made     
their appeal1 setting up in opposition  
to the conventions and worldliness of   
the ,church in their times the          
spirituality and simplicity of the      
apostolic age1 just as ,goethe and      
,lessing turned men's minds from what   
was contrary to reason and good taste in
 their surroundings to ,greek beauty and

 simplicity4 ,and however some of the   
followers of ,wesley and ,fox may have  
gone beyond due bounds towards          
fanaticism1 yet in every branch of the  
,christian ,society the influence of    
those modern prophets has been          
renovating and purifying1 just as the   
schools of critics which followed       
,goethe tended greatly to increase among
 us sweetness and light4  ,in our       
schools and colleges1 until quite       
lately1 the religion of the ,new        
,testament and the tradition of the     
,greek and ,roman ,classics have gone   
together1 the one preserving us from    
superstition and materialism in         
religion1 the other making war upon the 
inherited barbarisms and brutalities    
which we have from our not very distant 
ancestors4 ,the spirit of anarchy in    
religion would persuade us that there is
 no divine sanction for goodness and no 
eternal stamp on vice1 that morality is 
a matter of convention which every      
society and every nation has a right to 

invert if it judges such inversion in   
the line of its interests4 ,the spirit  
of anarchy in art proclaims that all the
 works of nature are equally beautiful  
or equally ugly1 that nothing which     
exists is unfit to be represented in our
 galleries and public places1 that so   
long as a picture or a statue arouses a 
sentiment it does not matter whether the
 sentiment be one of delight and        
aspiration or one of horror4 ,if once   
the idea of beauty as the end to be     
aimed at be expelled from art1 art sinks
 like a stone to the bottom of the sea4 
,some people are ready to tolerate any  
monstrosity in art1 however remote from 
nature1 however offensive to decency1   
however repugnant to humanity4 ,the     
whole artistic inheritance of the race  
from the day when men began to climb out
 of barbarism is liable to be thrown    
away by an age which has unbounded      
confidence in its own wisdom4  ,i       
should1 however1 be sorry to stop at    
this point1 for ,i might leave on       

readers the impression that ,i am in    
favour of the mere imitation of works of
 ,greek art4 ,that is by no means my    
view4 ,in the last century several      
sculptors1 overpowered by the charm of  
the antique1 produced statues which     
closely followed ancient patterns1 such 
as the ,hope and the ,hebe of           
,thorwaldsen1 some of the statues of    
,rauch and ,schadow1 and the tinted     
,venus of ,gibson4 ,such works were     
necessarily stillborn2 they had not in  
them any breath of the life of a new    
age1 any attempt to conform to changed  
conditions4 ,very different was the     
following of the antique by             
,michelangelo4 ,he admired with         
enthusiasm such works of the ,greek     
chisel as he knew2 but he produced not  
dull and academic reflections of them1  
but works of the most splendid          
originality and the greatest charm4 ,he 
imbibed not the letter but the spirit of
 ,greek art2 and even succeeded better  
than most artists in combining that     

spirit with a breath of ,christianity4  
,the parallel which ,i have drawn may be
 carried farther4 ,a reversion to the   
letter of the ,new ,testament writers   
has been often attempted by considerable
 religious leaders of our time1         
especially ,tolstoi and the ,quakers4   
,they have gone back to the injunctions 
of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and tried 
literally to abide by them4 ,but it has 
become apparent to all but fanatics that
 such procedure would be fatal to civil 
government and civilized life4 ,it is   
the spirit not the letter of the        
teaching of ,jesus which is life-giving4
 ,in just the same way an acceptance of 
the mere externals of ,greek art would  
not help us at all2 but a revival of its
 spirit would be a great inspiration to 
modern artists4 ,the lamps of ,greek art
 will give light in any age4 ,greek     
idealism1 ,greek balance and measure1   
,greek love of what is natural and      
healthful1 ,greek simplicity and        
moderation are of the very essence of   

good art in all ages4 ,we can no more   
revive the exact conditions under which 
art arose than we can import into       
,england the clear air1 the bright sun1 
the clear-cut shadows of the ,greek     
landscape4 ,but we can still look up to 
the philosophy1 the poetry1 and the art 
of ,greece as classical1 as a revelation
 of what is most pleasing and most      
enduring in human nature4 ,and if we    
neglect them and reject them from the   
education of our children1 we shall     
destroy what has been ever since the    
,renaissance the source of pure joy and 
refined feeling in the majority of      
cultured men2 we shall make a great gap 
which material prosperity1 a deeper     
knowledge of the secrets of nature1 the 
invention of fresh modes of amusement1  
can never fill4 ,and if we trust merely 
to the reflections of the ,greek spirit 
in modern literature and art1 we shall  
be acting as the ,roman ,church in its  
darker ages has acted1 in shutting away 
from the people recourse to the primary 

documents of religion1 and obliging them
 to be content with such interpretations
 of those documents as the ruling       
hierarchy judged to be useful4 ,we must 
retain the right of appeal to our       
classical examples1 whether in religion1
 in literature1 or in art4 ,arnold was  
right4 ,the ,bible1 ,homer1             
,shakespeare1 ,greek art remain the     
stars by which we may direct our course 
over stormy seas4  ,p4 ,,gardner4       
,,architecture   ,nobody has ever       
disputed the beauty of ,greek           
,architecture4 ,we recognize the justice
 of a description of the ,parthenon as  
'le suprme effort du gnie  la poursuite 
du beau'2 but the layman must sometimes 
ask himself what does it mean8 ,where   
did it come from1 where did it go to1   
why is it thought so beautiful1 how was 
it that this people relatively          
insignificant in power1 in territory1   
and in numbers1 was able to attain to   
this astonishing supremacy in art8      
,these are questions not easily         

answered4 ,the evidence is fragmentary  
and not always conclusive1 the ruins of 
a few temples and buildings1 a technical
 treatise by a garrulous third-rate     
writer in the first century ,a4 ,d41#abe
 the anecdotes of an indefatigable      
collector#abf a little later1 the notes 
of a traveller in the second            
century1#abg and the materials collected
 by the patient research of scholars and
 archaeologists1 pieced together on more
 or less ingenious hypotheses4 ,indeed1 
a great part of what is written on      
,greek ,architecture is simply          
hypothesis4 ,there is not much to go on1
 yet ,greek ,architecture 7and by this  
,i mean the architecture of the sixth   
and fifth centuries ,b4 ,c47 remains one
 of the great outstanding facts in the  
history of the ,architecture of the     
,western world1 and the ,art of the age 
of ,pericles is the fountain-head to    
which artists still return4      #abe   
,vitruvius1 ,de ,architectura4      #abf
 ,pliny the ,elder1 ,historia           

,naturalis1 xxxvi4      #abg ,pausanias1
   ,hellados ,perigsis4  ,where that art
 sprang from1 and how it grew1 is       
largely a matter of speculation4 ,there 
have been legends of civilizations wiped
 out in tremendous cataclysms that left 
no trace behind them4 ,vague suggestions
 are made that the cradle of the race   
was in ,asia4 ,all we know for certain  
is that the earliest civilizations of   
which actual historical evidence remains
 are those of ,chaldea and ,egypt1 and  
that the art of these countries reached 
a high degree of attainment long before 
we come upon the earliest traces of art 
of any sort in ,greece4 ,that both these
 countries contributed in varying       
degrees to the art of ,greece is        
certain1 but that is not the whole of   
the story4 ,as we shall see1 another    
element comes into play1 which made of  
that art almost a new creation1         
differing in outlook and ideal from any 
art that preceded it1 stamped by the    
genius of a vigorous northern race with 

a character all its own4 ,the art of the
 ,east and the art of the ,west never   
really fused4 ,there is a difference in 
kind between the joyous vitality of pure
 ,greek art1 and the gloomy vision of   
,asia1 with its craving for the vast and
 terrible1 its sombre imagination1 its  
lack of humanity and indifference to the
 individual4  ,it is not1 however1 till 
far down in the progress of history that
 this differentiation asserts itself4   
,greek art is relatively a late         
development4 ,the ,great ,pyramid at    
,ghizeh was built some #b1jjj years     
before a stone was laid of the masonry  
of ,mycenae4 ,the ,hall of ,columns of  
,karnak1 with its columns sixty feet    
high1 was probably coeval with the      
,treasury of ,atreus3 in other words1   
when the art of ,greece and of the      
islands was scarcely out of the barbaric
 stage1 a wonderful art had been in     
existence across the ,mediterranean from
 time immemorial4 ,both ,egypt and      
,chaldea attained a high degree of      

civilization long before the ,dorians   
were ever heard of4 ,at some remote     
period the ,egyptian influence          
penetrated to ,crete and ,cyprus1 the   
islands of the ,aegean1 and the mainland
 of ,greece2 and the intermediaries were
 the ,phoenicians1 that enterprising    
race of merchant adventurers1 whose home
 was in ,syria1 and whose fleets        
traversed the ,mediterranean from ,east 
to ,west4 ,the ,phoenicians were traders
 and not artists4 ,in ,egypt they came  
into contact with a highly developed    
art1 beyond their comprehension in its  
essential features1 yet including       
details which could easily be           
apprehended by their quick commercial   
intelligence4 ,wherever they touched on 
their voyages1 ,cyprus1 ,crete1 the     
southern islands of the ,aegean1 the    
mainland of ,greece1 the south of       
,italy1 ,sicily1 ,carthage1 the         
,balearic islands1 ,spain in the far    
west1 they probably carried with them1  
for trading purposes1 minor articles of 

,egyptian workmanship which may have    
supplied hints to the indigenous        
peoples4 ,where they established        
settlements1 they reproduced what they  
could recollect of the methods of       
,egyptian architecture1 possessing at   
second-hand a knowledge of technical    
methods in advance of anything within   
the knowledge of the people among whom  
they settled4 ,rudimentary anticipations
 of the ,ionic volute are found in      
,phoenician capitals1 vague             
reminiscences of what the traders had   
seen in ,egypt and elsewhere4 ,moreover1
 the ,phoenicians1 who possessed the    
skill of sailors in the use of tackle1  
would have had little difficulty in     
handling large stones set dry in more or
 less regular courses1 which was a      
characteristic feature of ,cretan and   
,mycenaean building4 ,it is too soon to 
describe the work as architecture4 ,it  
is doubtful if the ,phoenicians         
possessed any aptitude for the arts4    
,their rle was that of intermediaries   

only4  ,obscure as was the part played  
by the ,phoenicians in the early origins
 of art in ,greece and the islands1     
there was another channel through which 
,eastern influences came to bear on its 
development1 which is even more         
uncertain4 ,to the west of ,chaldea and 
north of ,syria1 dwelt a race of which  
little is known1 the ,hittites4         
,carchemish1 their capital1 was on the  
upper ,euphrates1 north-east of         
,antioch1 and their power appears to    
have extended westward through ,asia    
,minor to the shores of the ,aegean4    
,dr4 ,sayce says that in the thirteenth 
century ,b4 ,c4 it extended from 'the   
banks of the ,euphrates to the shores of
 the ,aegean1 including both the        
cultured ,semites of ,syria and the rude
 barbarians of the ,greek ,seas'1 he    
even says that the ,hittites 'brought   
the civilization of the ,east to the    
barbarous tribes of the distant ,west'4 
,what actually remains of ,hittite art  
hardly bears out this statement4 ,when  

the ,hittite power was at its height1   
,minoan 'art' had long been practised in
 ,crete1 and according to the most      
popular chronology1 had already passed  
its prime and given way to the art of   
,mycenae and ,tiryns4 ,the scanty       
evidence of ,hittite art consists of    
bas-reliefs of figures and animals cut  
on the face of rocks along the natural  
caravan routes through ,asia ,minor from
 ,east to ,west4 ,this and the evidence 
of seals and engraved gems show that    
,hittite art was derived first from     
,chaldea1 later from ,egypt4 ,it        
undoubtedly exercised some influence on 
the art of the early ,greek settlers on 
the eastern side of the ,aegean1 and    
gave it an ,asiatic cast1 which it never
 lost throughout all its later          
developments4 ,for the ,greeks of ,asia 
,minor never really understood the      
austere ideal of ,doric art4 ,ionian art
 crossed westward to ,greece1 but the   
,dorian never went east4 ,it was the art
 of a strong northern race1 that found  

no place for itself among the softer    
peoples of ,asia ,minor4  ,at this point
 we can take up the first rudimentary   
beginnings of ,greek art4 ,the          
discoveries of the last forty years have
 proved the existence in ,crete and     
,cyprus1 ,southern ,greece1 and the     
islands of the ,aegean1 of an archaic   
art of obscure origin1 of very great    
interest1 and of remarkable attainment  
in certain directions1 long before the  
earliest beginnings of what we mean when
 we speak of ,greek architecture4 ,so   
far as architecture is concerned1 this  
archaic art is of relatively minor      
importance4 ,it plays a small part1 if  
any1 in subsequent developments1 and    
though enthusiastic explorers claim to  
find in it anticipations of the details 
of modern domestic architecture1 the    
evidence produced is unconvincing4      
,great movements in the arts always owe 
some debt to the periods that have      
preceded them1 but ,minoan and          
,mycenaean art1 at any rate in regard to

 architecture1 was rather the last word 
of a decaying civilization than the     
first herald of the glorious art of     
,greece in the sixth and fifth centuries
 ,b4 ,c4 ,we are still far back in      
remote ages1 remote that is so far as   
,greek art is concerned1 anywhere       
between #bjjj and #ajjj ,b4 ,c4 or even 
earlier1#abh back in the ,minoan age of 
,crete with its rudimentary             
architecture1 and its relatively high   
excellence in the crafts1 and in the age
 of ,mycenae and ,tiryns1 the age that  
produced the ,lion ,gate at ,mycenae1   
and that strange half-barbaric work1 if 
,i may be pardoned the term1 the        
,treasury of ,atreus4 ,it is worth      
pausing to consider these archaic       
buildings1 not so much to show a        
relationship to later work 7which       
scarcely existed71 as to call attention 
to the fact that the ,minoan and        
,mycenaean builders were moving         
unconsciously in a direction that would 
never have led to the column and lintel 

architecture of the seventh and sixth   
centuries ,b4 ,c4 ,it might have led to 
some form of dome construction1 it could
 never have led to the ,doric of the    
,sicilian temples4 ,no stronger evidence
 of the genius of the ,dorian invaders  
could be produced than that1 with this  
unpromising art in possession1 they were
 yet able in the course of three or four
 centuries to create ,greek             
architecture4 ,the design of the ,lion  
,gate is a strange jumble of            
ill-adjusted motives4 ,it is set in a   
wall of great stones roughly squared and
 laid dry4 ,two monolith jambs support a
 huge lintel1 cambered in the middle    
like the tie-beams of our               
sixteenth-century roofs4 ,above the     
lintel the courses are gathered over1   
leaving between their lower faces and   
the top of the lintel a triangular space
 of a steep pitch 7about #fj71 in which 
was inserted a frontispiece carved on a 
single stone representing two lions     
standing up on either side of an archaic

 column supporting a fragment of a      
rudimentary architrave4#abi ,the        
heraldic pose of the lions and the      
technique of their sculpture1 so        
suggestive of ,assyrian reliefs with    
their splendid sense of muscular form   
and energy1 are far ahead of an         
architecture that is still barbaric1    
scarcely architecture at all4 ,there is 
here nothing to suggest the ,doric of   
,paestum and ,selinus1 much to recall   
the megalithic buildings of ,syria1 and 
the sculpture of the farther ,east4     
#abh ,sir ,arthur ,evans has drawn up an
 ingenious chronology of ,early         
,minoan 7#bhjj-bbjj ,b4 ,c471 ,middle   
,minoan 7#bbjj-agjj ,b4 ,c471 and ,late 
,minoan 7#agjj-abjj ,b4 ,c474 ,the      
evidence is almost entirely that of     
pottery discovered on the site4 ,the    
whole question of the relations     of  
,minoan to ,mycenaean art1 and of this  
archaic art to the earlier              
civilizations of ,egypt and ,chaldea1 is
 very obscure and uncertain4      #abi  

,the heraldic treatment of the lions is 
of ,eastern origin4 ,the     ,greeks had
 a tradition that the chieftains of     
,mycenae came from     ,lydia4          
,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 ,,lion ,,gate1 
,,mycenae  ,the ,treasury of ,atreus is 
still more remarkable1 not only because 
it shows more skill in building1 but    
because its design is based on a        
structural motive which seems to have   
been wholly abandoned by the successors 
of the ,mycenaean builders4 ,the        
,treasury of ,atreus 7or ,tomb of       
,agamemnon7 was excavated in a hill1 and
 consists of a long passage about #abj  
ft4 by #ba ft4 wide1 with retaining     
walls of megalithic masonry on either   
side1 terminating in a great entrance   
doorway4 ,this doorway is flanked on    
either side by columns tapering         
downwards1 and decorated with chevrons  
in a manner very similar to ,norman work
 of the eleventh century1 and apparently
 intended solely for ornament4#acj ,the 
entrance opened into a circular domed   

chamber about #dh ft4 #f in4 in         
diameter1 #de ft4 #d in4 high1 out of   
which opened another smaller chamber4   
,the dome1 in section1 is built on the  
curve of a parabola1 formed with courses
 projecting over one another1 and not   
set out radial to the curve of the      
dome--in other words it is not a true   
dome or arch1 but a succession of       
corbels4 ,the internal face of the dome 
is dressed down1 and was covered with   
ornament of some sort1 whether metal    
rosettes1 or enamelled terra-cotta1 or  
wholly in metal1 possibly the famous    
gold of ,mycenae1 is not known4 ,the    
whole of this chamber was covered in    
with a mound of earth1 in accordance    
with the primitive custom of concealing 
the chieftain's grave4 ,it is impossible
 to find1 in this extremely interesting 
monument or in the domed chamber of     
,orchomenos in ,boeotia1 any trace of   
future developments in ,greek           
architecture4 ,both in intention and in 
its psychological background it seems   

almost as remote from the ,doric ,temple
 as the ,great ,pyramid itself4 ,in     
point of fact architecture was still in 
a rudimentary stage4 ,it has been proved
 abundantly that ,architecture comes    
late in the sequence of the ,arts4      
,people could draw well1 long before    
they could design4 ,among the cavemen1  
for example1 there were admirable       
draughtsmen1 but they had to make their 
drawings on the sides of caves4 ,that   
there existed in the ,minoan and        
,mycenaean ages skilful potters and     
metal-workers1 is shown by the vases of 
,knossos and the gold cups found at     
,vaphio near ,sparta2 that they built   
habitable buildings and decorated them  
to the best of their ability is also    
proved1 as1 for example1 the palace of  
,tiryns1 but it has not yet been shown  
that their builders reached the degree  
of skilled design1 at which building    
becomes architecture4 ,architecture had 
not yet found itself in ,greece4        
#acj ,portions of these columns are now 

in the ,british ,museum4  ,then         
somewhere about #ajjj ,b4 ,c4 came the  
,dorian invasions1 and the art of ,crete
 and ,mycenae vanished into             
space--possibly the legend was right    
which said that the conquered people of 
the mainland carried it away with them  
to ,asia4 ,anyhow1 the three or four    
centuries following the ,dorian         
invasions are a blank which future      
research may fill out for us1 and so far
 as art is concerned1 there appears to  
have been a dtente1 during which the new
 race was settling down to its conquest1
 finding itself1 and assimilating       
something at any rate of the older      
civilization4 ,the survival of such     
buildings as the ,treasury of ,atreus   
show that the ,dorians were not simple  
barbarians1 destroying all that came in 
their way4 ,even ,sparta in its earlier 
days was not a mere military machine4   
,discoveries made in #aijf-i suggest    
that from the ninth to the seventh      
centuries ,b4 ,c4 ,sparta had some sort 

of an art of its own showing traces of  
,asiatic influence in its pottery--a    
little later ,sparta concluded an       
alliance with ,croesus1 ,king of ,lydia1
 and ,bathycles1 an artist of ,magnesia 
in ,ionia1 was treated with honour in   
,sparta4 ,the ,dorians were something   
more than fighters1 they seem to have   
possessed some sort of civilization1 and
 to have been endowed with a natural    
capacity for the arts1 which after two  
or three centuries of experiment will   
find its own splendid expression within 
very definite and original lines4 ,the  
legend of the return of the ,heracleidae
 was to be justified by their later     
history4 ,no merely imitative race could
 have evolved the perfect manner of the 
great ,doric temples from the scraps of 
,egypt and the ,east1 and the           
rudimentary buildings of ,crete and     
,mycenae4  ,greek architecture for the  
purpose of this study is ,dorian        
architecture1 and its elements are      
simple4 ,it was evolved in the design of

 their temples1 and with the exception  
of their theatres it was summed up in   
these temples4 ,from the period during  
which ,greek architecture was being     
built up to its maturity1 say from the  
seventh century ,b4 ,c4 to the          
completion of the ,parthenon in the     
fifth century ,b4 ,c41 the whole life of
 the ,greek was coloured and dominated  
by his religion and its observances2 and
 his religion was not the sinister      
mystery of ,egypt1 but on the whole a   
cheerful open-air ,pantheism that       
gloried in the life and beauty of the   
visible world in which he lived4 ,he    
himself was content to live in a poor   
house1 so long as he had his            
market-place1 his ceremonial theatre1   
and the glorious temples of his ,gods4  
,moreover1 to whatever depths the       
,athenians may have sunk in the time of 
,st4 ,paul1 in the heroic days of       
,pericles they were remarkable for      
constancy of purpose and the            
steadfastness of their ideals4 ,they    

stood on the ancient ways1 and it never 
occurred to them to abandon the         
tradition of their fathers1 their       
business was to carry it forward to     
perfection4 ,the result was that the    
architecture of their temples proceeded 
on lines that long use had made         
sacrosanct2 and its technique is summed 
up in the history of two orders1 the    
,doric and the ,ionic4#aca      #aca    
,the order1 ,i may say for the          
uninitiated1 means the complete         
ordonnance of the column1 the architrave
 resting immediately on its     capital1
 the frieze and the cornice4 ,it is the 
final expression of     the simple      
device of the post and lintel1 of the   
beam resting on the     heads of two or 
more posts2 and there is little doubt   
that in its     ultimate origin1 the    
,order is the translation into stone of 
the     details of a rudimentary wooden 
construction4  ,now1 the order1 its     
character1 dimensions and disposition1  
with the wall of the ,cella 7or enclosed

 shrine7 within the colonnade1 summed up
 the elements1 the vocabulary1 if one   
may so put it1 of ,greek architecture2  
and we come here at the outset on a     
curious quality of the ,greek genius1   
and one that differentiates it from the 
,roman4 ,the properties of wood and     
stone as materials are clearly          
different1 things can be done with the  
one which are impossible with the other2
 but the ,greeks either did not realize 
this or did not trouble their heads     
about it4 ,they found that the post and 
lintel was a simple means of building1  
and they adopted it as their permanent  
method of construction4 ,if the span    
became too wide1 they thickened the     
posts 7the columns of ,paestum are #g   
ft4 in diameter7 and increased the      
strength of the beam 7the architrave74  
,hence the vast solidity of the ,doric  
order of the temples of ,sicily and     
,magna ,graecia4 ,the ,greek was        
incurious about construction qua        
construction4 ,he found1 in the column  

and the lintel1 means perfectly adequate
 to realize his ideal of high           
unalterable beauty1 and he was content4 
,the ,romans1 who for a time were       
satisfied with these simple methods1    
became impatient of the constructive    
limitation of the post and lintel4 ,they
 wanted to cover in great spaces1 and to
 leave the floor unencumbered2 and      
concentrating on this they arrived at   
the arch1 the vault1 and the dome1 and  
so became the greatest builders of the  
world4 ,to them1 the orders were a mere 
appanage of decoration1 which they never
 properly appreciated1 of which they    
mistook the intention1 adopted the worst
 elements1 and often enough made a gross
 misuse4 ,the ,greeks took another line4
 ,they adopted the column and lintel    
once for all as the only possible method
 of construction1 and devoted all their 
labours to the incessant refinement of  
this type1 eliminating the unessential1 
arriving by constant selection at the   
most perfect expression of their        

purpose1 and their purpose was not that 
of the ,roman and the modern architect1 
mainly utilitarian1 it was directed     
entirely to the aesthetic appeal1 the   
appeal to the emotions through beauty of
 line1 of form1 and in a less degree of 
colour4 ',the whole fabric of ,greek art
 goes to pieces when it is brought into 
contact with a purely utilitarian nation
 like ,rome4'#acb      #acb ,hellenistic
 ,sculpture1 by ,guy ,dickins1 p4 #he4  
,the author1     who wrote with         
something of the insight of the artist  
as well as the     accurate knowledge of
 the scholar1 died of wounds1 on the    
,somme1 in     #aiaf4  ,of the two      
orders1 the ,doric and the ,ionic1 the  
,doric seems to me the purest embodiment
 of the true ,greek spirit1 in its      
faultless form1 and its austere         
restraint and rejection of the          
unessential4 ,it was1 moreover1 the     
order par excellence of the ,greek      
temple of the mainland4 ,the ,erechtheum
 was the only ,ionic temple of          

first-rate importance in ,greece1 and   
the employment of the ,ionic order in   
,greece was confined to interiors and   
minor buildings4 ,as for the ,corinthian
 order1 the favourite order of the      
,romans1 it was scarcely recognized by  
the ,greeks4 ,in all their great        
temples1 in ,greece1 in ,sicily1 and    
,magna ,graecia1 they used the ,doric   
order4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4        
,,temple ,,of ,,neptune ,,at ,,paestum  
,how this order was arrived at we do not
 really know4 ,ingenious conjectures    
have been made as to its origin in      
wooden construction1 and though some of 
these conjectures are more probable than
 others they leave us pretty well where 
we were in regard to the stages by which
 it reached its final form4 ,it has been
 suggested that the ,doric column       
originated in the wooden post of the    
earliest temples1 such as are supposed  
to have existed in the ,heraion at      
,olympia4 ,the square post would have   
its angles taken off1 and become an     

octagon1 and the further elimination of 
the angles would gradually produce a    
form nearly circular in plan1 in which  
the arrises of the chamfered angles     
would remain1 and this might easily     
suggest to artists so sensitive as the  
,greeks1 their further refinement and   
definition by a slight hollow between   
the arrises which would constitute the  
flutings of the ,doric column4 ,its     
derivations from the ,minoan and        
,mycenaean columns seems most           
improbable4 ,there are two essential    
parts in the ,doric column1 the shaft   
and the capital 7the ,greeks did not use
 any base for this order74 ,the ,minoan 
columns taper downwards instead of      
upwards1 an utterly unconstructional    
form1 and though in the palace of       
,knossos and at ,tiryns columns of this 
shape appear to have been used to carry 
lintels1 the stone columns on either    
side of the entrance to the ,treasury of
 ,atreus at ,mycenae were used for      
decorative and not for structural       

purposes4 ,on the other hand columns of 
great massiveness tapering upwards had  
been used long before in ,egypt2 and    
though there is evidence against it1 it 
still seems probable that the suggestion
 of the shaft of the ,doric column may  
have come from ,egypt4 ,we first find it
 in ,greece in the seventh century ,b4  
,c4 at the period when ,psammetichus ,i 
7#fga-fag ,b4 ,c47 opened ,egypt to     
,greek trade and settlement4 ,the ,greek
 colony of ,naukratis on the west side  
of the ,nile delta was founded by       
,milesians about #fej ,b4 ,c4 and by the
 middle of the sixth century ,b4 ,c4    
definite trade relations were           
established between ,naukratis and the  
mainland of ,greece4 ,the ,greek        
settlement at ,daphnae on the eastern   
arm of the ,nile appears to have been   
founded at about the same time as       
,naukratis1 in both cases with the      
sanction and encouragement of the       
,egyptian king4 ,the earliest ,doric    
temples in ,greece1 ,sicily1 and ,magna 

,graecia date from the end of the       
seventh century and early part of the   
sixth century4 ,the nearness of date    
makes it probable that the shaft of the 
,doric order had its origin in the      
,egyptian column seen by some           
quick-witted ,greek when trading in     
,egypt4 ,when we come to the capital of 
the column1 the rles seem to be         
reversed1 for we find nothing in        
,egyptian architecture to suggest the   
echinus moulding under the square abacus
 of the ,doric column2 whereas the      
,mycenaean column had a rudimentary     
capital which may have suggested the    
idea of the ,doric capital4 ,but the    
notable thing about it is that when we  
first come across the ,doric capital in 
,sicily and ,greece1 it is already far  
in advance of anything that had gone    
before it in ,greece1 and it is quite   
different from the columns of ,egypt4   
,in the ,doric temple of ,corinth       
7#fej-fjj ,b4 ,c47 the columns have     
already reached the type form1 the      

tapered shaft with its entasis or slight
 convex curvature in outline1 its       
massive solidity 7the ratio is one of   
diameter to four and a quarter of       
height71 and the bold parabolic curve of
 the echinus moulding under the abacus  
of its cap4 ,in this form1 the ,doric   
column was an absolutely fresh note in  
architecture4 ,archaic though they were1
 these columns at ,corinth show that the
 ,greeks were already on the track of   
those refinements of form1 those optical
 corrections and compensations1 which   
differentiate ,greek architecture from  
that of any other race4 ,the            
exaggeration in the entasis of the      
archaic column disappears1 its tapering 
was diminished1 its height increased1   
and the overhang of the capitals        
reduced1 till in the ,theseion 7#dfe ,b4
 ,c47 and the ,parthenon 7#dej-dch ,b4  
,c47 we reach the final inimitable type4
 ,the column1 which at ,paestum was not 
much over four times the height of its  
correct diameter1 is now over five      

times1 the great overhanging capitals   
are reduced to reasonable dimensions1   
the depth of the entablature is         
diminished1 the axis of the column is   
slightly inclined inwards to give the   
impression of stability1 the shafts have
 the slight curve or 'entasis' just     
sufficiently marked to prevent the      
outline of the column looking incurved2 
the lines of the stylobate1 or          
continuous base1 on which the columns   
stand1 and the entablature which they   
carry1 have a slight rise toward the    
centre in order to correct the          
impression of the lines sinking in the  
middle2 the columns at the angles are   
thickened1 because standing free with   
the light all round them they would     
otherwise appear smaller than the       
columns standing against the background 
of the building4 ,nothing was left to   
chance2 every aspect of the building1   
the relation of every part to the whole1
 and of the whole to its part1 was      
studied profoundly1 so that there should

 be no failure in its perfect harmony4  
,except in ,egyptian architecture1 and  
there to a much smaller extent1 nothing 
like this had been done before4 ,what   
the ,greeks did1 was to formulate a     
rhythmical architecture1 in which each  
part stood in a definite and considered 
relation to the whole1 so that even in  
their ruined state these ,doric temples 
give an irresistible impression of a    
great idea1 a great architectural epic1 
in which each detail1 however beautiful1
 was subordinated to the unity of the   
conception as a whole4 ,it is this      
abstract quality which lifts ,greek     
,doric so far above the ambitious art of
 later ages1 and indeed above all but   
the very finest work of any period of   
architecture4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4 
,,doric ,,temple1 ,,corinth  ,many      
attempts have been made to discover the 
secret of this wonderful perfection of  
proportion4 ,that the ,greeks had a     
system of their own1 that they worked to
 definite ratios of dimension and       

number1 and employed graphic methods of 
determining their proportions1 such as  
the use of triangles and the like to    
determine the limits of their designs1  
seems certain4 ,but no contemporary     
account of any such system remains2 and 
all the explanations that are given are 
ex post facto1 made by theorists        
analysing existing buildings1 not by    
architects designing new ones4 ,some    
four or five hundred years later        
,vitruvius compiled a treatise on       
architecture1 in which1 following the   
doctrines of the school of ,alexandria1 
he expounded a ,greek theory of         
proportion on the basis of the human    
figure4 ,vitruvius is obscure1 and does 
not seem to have been certain himself   
whether the proportion of the parts of a
 design were to bear a relation to the  
whole1 analogous to that of members of a
 human body to the body as a whole1 or  
whether the proportions of the order    
were to be taken from the actual        
proportions of the human body2 and he   

complicates the position by reference to
 the 'perfect numbers' of the ,greeks4  
,but here again he was uncertain whether
 the 'perfect number' was ten or six4   
,after which1 and having1 in his        
reference to the human figure as the    
canon of proportion1 unwittingly set a  
trap for the scholars and artists of the
 ,renaissance1 he drops the subject and 
digresses into a general classification 
of temples1 with formal rules for the   
placing and dimensions of columns1 which
 have formed the staple of treatises on 
classical architecture ever since4 ,one 
should speak with gratitude of the      
labours of ,vitruvius1 because1 after   
all1 his is the only technical treatise 
left us on the subject2 but he applied  
to the pure ,greek temples a system     
evolved centuries later by critics and  
theorists2 he was thinking chiefly of   
,roman versions of ,greek architecture1 
and he was more interested in technical 
rules and precepts for the use of       
architects than in that abstract beauty 

which was all the ,greek cared for4 ,no 
classification1 however laborious1 will 
reach the mystery of ,greek             
architecture4 ,its beauty is too subtle 
to be reduced to any formula4  ,the     
,doric order reigned supreme throughout 
the great period from the sixth till the
 end of the fifth century ,b4 ,c4 ,it   
failed with the failure of the high     
ideals of ,athens4 ,other forces came   
into play to which it no longer         
responded1 and later ,greek critics even
 found fault with the ,doric order for  
certain 'mendosae et inconvenientes     
symmetriae'2#acc but that order1 the    
true symbol of the sons of ,heracles1   
was one of the most momentous           
contributions ever made to the art of   
architecture4 ,it was the keynote of    
,greek architecture throughout its      
finest period4 ,later it was superseded 
by the ,ionic order1 and when ,rome     
became paramount in the western world1  
that1 in its turn1 yielded its place of 
pride to the ,corinthian order1 opulent1

 luxurious1 a little vulgar1 a true     
register of the lowering of the sense   
and standard of beauty that followed the
 downfall of ,athens4      #acc         
,vitruvius1 iii4 #a4 ,the difficulty    
was1 that if the triglyph     was placed
 on the angle of the building 7the      
practice of the ,greeks7     and the    
next triglyph was placed over the axis  
of the column1 the     metope 7or panel7
 between these two triglyphs would be   
larger than     the metopes between the 
triglyphs axial over the other columns4 
,the     ,greeks solved it by reducing  
the width of the end intercolumniation1 
but later critics disliked this1 and    
solved it by removing the end           
triglyph from the angle and placing it  
axial over the end column4  ,meanwhile1 
on the other side of the ,aegean1 the   
,ionic order was reaching its perfect   
form through a similar process of       
systematic thought on a type definitely 
adopted4 ,the ,greek colonies in ,asia  
,minor were of very early origin4       

,legend attributed their foundation to  
the earlier inhabitants of ,greece1     
driven out by the ,dorians4 ,by the     
sixth century ,b4 ,c4 the ,greek        
colonies were well established on the   
west and south-west coasts of ,asia     
,minor1 and had evolved their own       
characteristic architectural idiom in   
the ,ionic order and its column1 more   
slender than the ,doric1 with its       
moulded base and its strange            
characteristic capital1 unsuitable from 
the constructional point of view in     
stone or marble1 yet ultimately         
attaining the exquisite beauty of line  
and modelling of the capitals of the    
,erechtheion at ,athens4 ,two things    
seem fairly certain as to the origin of 
this capital2 first1 that it was derived
 from the wooden horizontal head-pieces 
fixed on posts to reduce the bearing of 
the primitive wooden lintels2 and1      
secondly1 that the first suggestion of  
the volute reached the ,ionian ,greeks  
from the ,east4 ,a crude anticipation of

 the volute is found in ,phoenician     
work1 and it also appears on a ,hittite 
relief at ,boghaz ,keui in the middle of
 ,asia ,minor4 ,its origin in either    
case was oriental1 and we have here the 
other motive in ,greek architecture1    
,eastern1 at any rate exotic1 and1 as   
compared with ,doric1 almost alien to   
the true ,greek genius4 ,yet this       
astonishing people gave it a form as far
 removed from its barbarous originals1  
as the ,doric capitals of the ,parthenon
 from the capitals of the columns of    
,mycenae1 and when the ,greeks of both  
sides of the ,aegean drew together after
 the defeat of the ,persians1 the ,ionic
 order crossed the sea1 and assumed a   
place of honour in the temples of       
,greece1 still1 however1 with rare      
exceptions1 in subordination to the     
,doric order4 ,in the colonies in ,asia 
,minor1 the supremacy of the ,ionic     
order had long been recognized4 ,the    
,ionic temple of ,hera at ,samos1 #cfh  
ft4 long by #agh ft4 wide1 is supposed  

to have been built at the end of the    
sixth or early in the fifth century ,b4 
,c41 and this was the forerunner of the 
great fourth-century temples of ,ionia1 
built when ,architecture had changed its
 direction and ,hellenistic ,art was    
beginning its adventurous career4  ,with
 these two orders as the terms and      
idioms of expression the ,greeks built  
up the architecture of their temples4   
,their plans were the simplest possible4
 ,the rudimentary type was a simple     
chamber or cella1 with a loggia open to 
the air except for two columns standing 
between the two extremities of the side 
walls1 which terminated in pilasters    
known as 'antae'4#acd ,the next stage   
was to bring the colonnade forward1#ace 
stage number three repeated the column  
at the other end of the building1#acf   
stage number four continued the         
colonnade along the sides1#acg stage    
number five doubled the colonnade on all
 four sides1#ach and stage number six   
retained the outer rows of columns but  

omitted the inner row along the sides1  
leaving a wide passage-way all round the
 main building4#aci ,vitruvius gives a  
further classification by the spacing of
 columns which will be found in all the 
handbooks of classic architecture4 ,with
 minor variations in detail1 these types
 remained constant for the temples of   
,greece and ,rome4 ,the principal       
alterations occurred in the extension of
 the temple proper1 at the expense of   
the surrounding colonnade4 ,in the      
,archaic temples1 such as the older     
temples of ,selinus in ,sicily 7sixth   
century ,b4 ,c471 the portico and       
colonnade occupy three-quarters of the  
site4 ,in the temple of ,hephaestus     
7,theseion7 at ,athens 7fifth century   
,b4 ,c47 the cella occupies only a      
little more than half the total area1   
and in the ,parthenon1 built some twenty
 years later1 the size of the cella is  
still further increased4 ,most of these 
temples were covered in4 ,hypaethral    
temples1 in which the cella was open to 

the sky1 are mentioned by ,vitruvius1   
and it is probable that some of the     
larger ones at any rate were partly open
 to the sky4 ,but how the openings were 
arranged is almost entirely a matter of 
conjecture4 ,the roof used was of a very
 flat pitch1 one of height to four of   
base1 later it was even flatter1 and    
this dictated the slope of the          
pediments4 ,this roof covered the whole 
of the building1 that is1 both the cella
 and the colonnades on either side of   
it1 and as the ,greeks were ignorant of 
the principle of the triangulated truss 
built up of beams in compression and    
tension1 they were at a loss to know how
 to carry their roof without pushing out
 their walls4 ,hence the great solidity 
of their buildings1 and the rather      
clumsy expedient of the colonnades in   
the interiors of temples which appear to
 have been the only means they could    
think of to carry the roof4 ,one has to 
bear it in mind in thinking of ,greek   
architecture1 that the ,greeks were not 

constructors in the sense that the      
,romans were2 they built well1 and the  
best of their masonry was               
extraordinarily skilful--only by unusual
 skill in the cutting and setting of    
stone could they have carried out the   
delicate curves in the columns and other
 parts of their buildings--but          
construction1 in the sense of the       
invention of new methods to meet        
difficult conditions1 did not interest  
the ,greek1 and one cannot help thinking
 that the ,greeks may have been more    
successful with the outside of their    
buildings than with the inside4 ,it     
seems clear that they devoted most of   
their attention to the external         
elevations4 ,it is not really known for 
certain how they lit their temples1     
though of course all sorts of           
suggestions of top-lighting have been   
made4 ,it is possible that in some cases
 they were lit only from the principal  
entrance1 and it is certain that the    
,greek did not want for the interior of 

his temple any such floods of light as  
are necessary under our northern skies4 
,in the first place1 he enjoyed a most  
brilliant and penetrating light1 so that
 within his colonnades reflected light  
was amply sufficient to show the friezes
 and other ornaments1 and he did not    
hesitate to use strong primary colours  
to heighten and explain their effect1   
wherever he found it necessary4 ,in the 
second place1 within the shrine itself1 
other considerations came into play4 ,a 
certain luminous atmosphere1 rather than
 positive light was what was aimed at1  
and the deep shadows of these internal  
colonnades might have helped this       
effect1 adding to the mystery of the    
figure of the ,god4      #acd ,vitruvius
 gives this as the 'aedes in antis'4    
#ace ,pro-style 7colonnade in front74   
#acf ,amphipro-style 7colonnade at both 
ends74      #acg ,peripteral 7single    
colonnade all round74      #ach         
,dipteral 7double colonnade all round74 
#aci ,pseudo-dipteral 7inner row of     

columns omitted74  ,this1 too1 may be   
the explanation of what must strike an  
architect as an anomaly of design1 the  
,greek habit of placing enormous figures
 in the interior of their temples4 ,the 
,greek1 in his own way1 was a very      
religious man4 ,in his temple1 he was   
doing his utmost to set forth the       
majesty of his ,god1 and if it was      
necessary for this purpose he was even  
prepared to sacrifice his principles as 
an artist1 to ignore the scale of his   
interior and the rhythmic harmony of his
 design1 by the introduction of gigantic
 figures4 ,the eye judges by what it    
knows1 and the readiest way of arriving 
at some idea of the size of a building  
or a monument is by relating it to the  
normal size of the human figure4        
,vitruvius1 in his confused way1        
suggested that the human figure was the 
canon and standard of architectural     
design1 but how is it possible to       
determine the scale of a building which 
contained a figure at least six times   

the size of a man1 reaching from the    
floor to the roof8 ,the chryselephantine
 figure of ,zeus at ,olympia1 made by   
,pheidias1 is supposed to have been some
 thirty-five feet high1 and to have     
reached nearly to the roof1 passing the 
double tier of columns and the gallery  
above the aisles of the cella4          
,moreover1 this god was represented as  
seated on his throne1 so that by no     
possibility could it have been in scale 
with the building so far as the         
architecture was concerned4 ,even the   
gigantic temple of ,zeus at ,agrigentum 
with its external columns #fa ft4 #i in4
 in height1 and large enough for a man  
to stand within one of the flutings of  
the columns1 could hardly have stood up 
to figures on such a scale as this4     
,such a violent contrast in scale broke 
the principle of  symmetria1 that strict
 relation of the part to the whole which
 the ,greek artists maintained elsewhere
 with scrupulous care4 ,artists with    
such a consummate sense of proportion as

 the ,greeks possessed would hardly have
 made a mistake here1 and the conclusion
 one comes to is that where their       
religion was in question1 everything had
 to give way4 ,indeed1 one can imagine  
the tremendous effect of this colossal  
figure seen dimly in the half-light of  
the cella1 filling the whole temple with
 its presence4 ,the same anomaly in     
scale occurred in the ,akropolis at     
,athens1 where the vast figure of       
,athene ,promachos must have reduced the
 beautiful ,caryatides of the           
,erechtheum to insignificance4 ,m4      
,choisy makes a gallant effort to show  
that this want of relationship in scale1
 and also in the siting of the temples1 
was deliberate and considered4 ,as a    
fact1 the general rule that seems to    
have been observed in the time of       
,pericles was that new temples should   
always be built on the site of the older
 ones1#adj but axis lines were          
neglected1 and even the masses of the   
,propylaea1 beautiful building as it    

must have been1 did not balance4 ,the   
,akropolis was just a collection of     
unrelated buildings1 and in the great   
,temenos of ,delphi the various         
monuments were all anyhow4#ada ,the     
,sacred ,way meandered about like an ,s1
 and the only method it observed was to 
clear the various treasuries and shrines
 which appear to have been scattered    
about within the enclosure1 with a      
disregard of each other little less than
 brutal--a rather suggestive symbol of  
the internecine rivalry of the small    
,greek states4 ,at ,delphi1 also1 there 
was a huge figure of ,apollo ,sitalkas  
said to have been seventeen metres high1
 which must have been hopelessly out of 
scale4 ,the fact was that ,greek        
architects of the fifth century had not 
yet arrived at the conception of the    
city as a whole4 ,they had an admirable 
eye for a site1 for example1 the        
position of the ,parthenon itself1 and  
the temple of ,hera ,lacinia at         
,agrigentum placed high above the sea1  

but it is unhistorical to invest even   
the architects of the ,parthenon and the
 ,propylaea with a knowledge and outlook
 which was not thought of till a hundred
 years later4 ,even the ,greek          
architects and sculptors of the fifth   
century ,b4 ,c4 were not omniscient1 yet
 within their limits1 in their mastery  
of what they set themselves to do1 the  
artists of the age of ,pericles remain  
unapproachable1 and theirs was the      
,golden ,age of ,architecture4 ,they had
 fixed for all time essential elements  
of the art1 and had set up a standard of
 attainment in pure form which no       
subsequent architecture has ever been   
able to reach4      #adj ,the           
,erechtheum was an exception4      #ada 
,see ,delphi1 by ,dr4 ,frederick        
,poulsen1 p4 #eb4 ,it is suggested      
that the ,sacred ,way was in existence  
before the shrines were built1     and  
that its wanderings were necessitated by
 the gradients of the     hillside4 ,no 
sort of attempt1 however1 seems to have 

been made to     correct this1 or to    
treat it as an element of design4  ,the 
fall of ,athens closed this splendid    
chapter1 but ,greek architecture was by 
no means done with4 ,the ,silver ,age1  
the ,hellenistic art that followed1 is  
of intense interest4 ,with the rise of  
the ,macedonian monarchy the stage of   
history shifted from the mainland to the
 ,ionian colonies on the coast of ,asia 
,minor4 ,cities such as ,ephesus and    
,miletus became immensely prosperous1   
,mausolus of ,halicarnassus1 the        
,attalids of ,pergamon1 possessed wealth
 that would have been unimaginable to   
the ,greeks of ,marathon4 ,the ,city    
,state1 fighting desperately for its    
existence1 inspired by high ideals of   
patriotism and religion1 was a thing of 
the past4 ,these ,greeks of ,ionia were 
well content to enjoy the comfort and   
prosperity of a settled civilization    
without having to fight for it2 and the 
whole atmosphere of their existence must
 have been different from the strenuous 

life of ,greece in the fifth century4   
,moreover1 the ,ionian ,greek1          
influenced1 even if subconsciously1 by  
the spirit of ,asia1 was by temperament 
unable to maintain the intellectual     
level of the ,doric architecture of the 
mainland2 and a difference appears in   
the whole orientation of art1 in        
sculpture perhaps even more than in     
architecture4 ,the history of           
,hellenistic art has yet to be written4 
,it has been described as decadent1 and 
it was undoubtedly responsible for some 
very poor stuff1 but it also produced   
the ',victory' of ,samothrace1 one of   
the finest things ever done in          
sculpture1 and some very remarkable     
developments in architecture4 ,it is not
 to be judged by the standards of the   
art that preceded it4 ,the ,ionian      
,greek of the fourth and third centuries
 ,b4 ,c4 broke away from the tradition  
of the mainland1 a tradition always     
rather alien to his instincts4 ,his     
interest lay less in a somewhat         

impersonal religion than in the         
assertion of his own individuality4 ,he 
did not understand the lofty patriotism1
 and the high ideal of abstract beauty  
that had inspired ,pericles and his     
artists in the ,akropolis2 indeed1 there
 is a curiously modern feeling about    
much of his work1 which became more     
marked as he came under the dominance of
 ,rome4 ,the individualism1 the realism1
 the revivalism1 and the commercialism  
of modern art1 were all anticipated by  
the ,hellenistic artists of ,ionia1 of  
,rhodes1 of ,alexandria1 and of ,athens 
itself in the ,roman period4            
,civilization was becoming more complex1
 and one finds this reflected in        
,hellenistic art1 at once more florid   
than the ,doric of the fourth century1  
yet also more skilful in its handling of
 complicated problems of planning and   
design4 ,no one wanted archaic          
simplicity when the wealth of ,asia was 
flowing into the treasuries of the      
,ionian states1 and the expression of   

this opulent ease is found in their     
magnificent temples1 such as the third  
temple of ,artemis at ,ephesus1 of which
 the outer colonnade measured #cdb ft4  
#f in4 by #afc ft4 #i in41 or the vast  
temple of ,apollo ,didymaeus at         
,miletus1 #afe ft4 wide by #cfj ft4 long
 out to out of the colonnades2 or the   
amazing monument of ,mausolus of ,caria 
at ,halicarnassus1 or the great altar of
 ,pergamon4 ,fragments of the columns of
 the ,temple of ,artemis1 now in the    
,british ,museum1 tell of its size and  
richness1 they also give the first hint 
of the downfall of art and civilization 
which was to follow centuries later4    
,the ,greeks of the great period had    
kept the structural parts of their      
building free of ornament4 ,it would    
never have occurred to them to interfere
 with the lines of the column in any way
 that would contradict its purpose2 but 
the ,greek architects of ,ephesus not   
only placed their columns on pedestals  
7making them so far less stable in      

appearance71 but they adorned the lower 
part of their ,ionic columns with       
figures1 of admirable execution1 but    
perfectly inappropriate in the position 
they occupy4 ,one cannot imagine        
,pheidias making a mistake such as this4
 ,splendid in execution as ,hellenistic 
sculpture often was1 it won its place at
 the expense of architecture2 one looks 
in vain for that selection and restraint
 which give its undying distinction to  
the earlier work4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 
#d4 ,,temple ,,of ,,theseus1 ,,athens   
,the ,greeks of the fifth century       
realized that architecture is an art    
with a definite purpose other than that 
of a mere vehicle for sculpture1 and    
that it makes its aesthetic appeal by   
its own inherent qualities of rhythm1   
and proportion1 spacing1 mass1 and      
outline4 ,though they used sculpture and
 colour to heighten and intensify the   
effect of their architecture1 they saw  
very clearly the function of the arts in
 relation to each other1 and kept their 

sculpture and their colour in strict    
relation to the aesthetic purpose of    
their architecture4 ,it is a point on   
which later architects went lamentably  
astray4 ,a great deal of early          
,renaissance work is mere ornamentation 
of buildings1 indeed in buildings such  
as the ,certosa of ,pavia the           
architecture has almost ceased to exist2
 and most of the bad architecture of the
 last fifty years is due to the         
deplorable fallacy that ornament is     
architecture4 ,the columns of ,ephesus1 
the sculpture of the altar of ,pergamon1
 brilliant as they were in technical    
accomplishment1 were the first hint of  
that decline which was in time to       
undermine the whole fabric of the ,arts4
 ,architecture was deposed from its high
 intellectual dominance4 ,it tended more
 and more to become a conventional      
affair1 and it was an easy transition   
from the exuberance of ,hellenistic art 
to the point-blank vulgarity of ,roman  
ornamental architecture4  ,it was1      

however1 inevitable that the fine       
simplicity of ,periclean art should     
vanish with its ideals1 and one finds a 
certain compensation in the extension of
 the range and outlook of architecture1 
which we owe to the ,hellenistic        
architects of the fourth and succeeding 
centuries ,b4 ,c4 ,so far as perfection 
of form was concerned1 it was impossible
 to carry the art beyond the stage to   
which ,ictinus and ,callicrates had     
brought it2 but there still remained    
something1 and something very important1
 to be done4 ,axial planning1 the       
consideration of the relation of        
building to building1 seem to have been 
outside the consciousness of ,greeks of 
the fifth century1 and each building was
 treated as an unrelated unit4 ,but the 
inconvenience of this1 its loss of      
opportunity1 and the necessity of order 
and method1 must have become apparent1  
as civilization became more complex and 
more exacting4 ,by the end of the fourth
 century ,b4 ,c4 the tradition of       

architectural technique was firmly      
established1 and architects were able to
 turn their attention to problems of    
large planning1 and these they seem to  
have handled with extraordinary skill4  
,so far1 what had been done in this     
direction had been due to religious     
inspiration1 as in the processional ways
 leading to the ,egyptian temples or the
 avenue of figures at ,branchidae4 ,what
 the ,hellenistic architects did was to 
think out consecutive schemes of city   
planning1 in which the dominant motive  
of arrangement was artistic4 ,they had  
learnt to treat the temples1 the public 
buildings1 the open spaces and          
approaches1 as the elements of one      
harmonious composition1 in which the    
utmost use was made of the natural      
opportunities of the site4 ,at ,ephesus1
 for example1 there is supposed to have 
existed a consecutive scheme1 larger    
than anything of the kind carried out   
even in ,france in the eighteenth       
century1 though the evidence1 it should 

be noted1 is largely conjectural4 ,as   
presented by sanguine and enthusiastic  
restorers the scheme was magnificent4   
,next the port1 and facing it on one    
side1 was the ,arsenal1 a regular       
building opening on to a court          
surrounded by a colonnade1 which again  
opened on to the great ',place'1 a      
square enclosure some #hej ft4 wide     
north and south1 by #fej ft4 east and   
west1#adb surrounded by a colonnade on  
all four sides1 with exhedrae1 or       
semicircular recesses4 ,in the centre of
 this ,place was an oblong water-piece1 
about #cjj ft4 by #bjj ft41 and on the  
farther side1 opposite the ,arsenal     
buildings1 were the ,senate ,house and  
other public buildings2 and behind these
 and to the right and left of them the  
,theatre and the ,stadium1 partly       
excavated in ,mount ,coressus4 ,the     
,arsenal1 the great ,place with its     
water-piece1 and the public buildings1  
were laid out on an axis line1 and on a 
regular rectangulated plan4      #adb   

,the ,place ,vendme measures #dej ft4   
#dbj ft42 ,grosvenor ,square     about  
#fej  #ecj2 and ,lincoln's ,inn ,fields 
about #hjj  #fcj1 measured     from wall
 to wall of buildings4  ,a scheme such  
as this 7if it is possible to accept a  
conjectural restoration71 thought out in
 all its bearings1 meant a real advance 
in the range of architecture4 ,it is    
useless to look for the faultless beauty
 of the fifth century1 but the          
resourcefulness and skill of the        
,hellenistic architects gave a new      
meaning to the art2 and indeed they     
might almost be said to have established
 the first stage in the development of  
its modern practice4 ,it was from these 
able ,hellenistic architects that the   
,romans learnt the monumental planning  
of their cities1 and for centuries the  
architects most frequently employed were
 ,greeks of ,asia ,minor4 ,at this      
point1 ,hellenistic architecture merges 
into ,roman1 and loses its distinctive  
character4 ,through ,roman it passes on 

to modern architecture1 and so in a     
sense the chain is complete2 but between
 this later art and pure ,greek         
architecture there is a great gulf      
fixed1 differences not only of technique
 but of outlook1 of ideal1 and of       
temperament4 ,the mighty ,doric of      
,paestum1 ,selinus1 and ,segesta1 the   
,theseion and the ,parthenon1 remains   
for all time the perfect expression of  
the soul of ancient ,greece4  ,it is one
 of the ironies of history that when in 
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries   
scholars and artists awoke to the fact  
that there had been a great architecture
 in the past they should have known of  
no other version of it but the ,roman4  
,what splendid developments might have  
followed if the finer spirits of the    
,renaissance1 ,alberti1 ,bramante1 or   
,peruzzi1 had founded their theories of 
architecture on the temples of ,sicily  
and ,magna ,graecia1 instead of on the  
debased examples of ,imperial ,rome6    
,they1 at least1 would have caught a    

glimpse of the beauty of abstract form  
and perfect harmony1 the secret of which
 seems to have been revealed to the     
,greeks alone among the peoples of the  
world--and to them for only a transient 
period of their history4 ,unfortunately1
 when ,greek architecture was discovered
 in the second half of the eighteenth   
century1 it became the shibboleth of the
 'virtuosi'4 ,the national traditions1  
both of ,france and ,england1 were lost1
 ,greek architecture became the fashion1
 and the misguided enthusiasm of pedants
 and amateurs insisted on literal       
reproductions which completed the       
extinction of architecture as a         
vernacular art1 and replaced it by the  
series of revivalisms from which it has 
suffered for the last one hundred and   
fifty years4 ,conscious and deliberate  
tinkering with the art of architecture  
ended by destroying it4  ,we can never  
hope to revive ,greek architecture1 nor 
should we attempt to do so4 ,there was  
once a well-known ,scotch architect who 

held that the column and the lintel was 
the only permissible form of            
construction1 and with this limitation  
and ill-selected ,greek details he      
produced some fantastically ugly        
buildings4 ,following a similar line of 
thought a famous critic of the last     
century condemned methods of            
construction not sanctioned by the ,old 
,testament4 ,both were wide of the mark2
 because1 above and beyond all technical
 details of architecture is the spirit  
in which it is approached1 the          
intellectual outlook of the artist on   
his art1 and this may express itself in 
widely differing forms4 ,in ,greek      
architecture of the ,golden period1 that
 outlook was definite and distinctive1  
and it was one that has a very urgent   
lesson for us to-day4 ,the aim and ideal
 of the ,greek was beauty of form1 and  
this beauty1 which he sought in the     
first instance as the expression of his 
religion1 ultimately became almost a    
religion in itself4 ,to the realization 

of this ideal he devoted all his powers1
 sparing himself no pains in chastening 
his work till it had attained the utmost
 perfection possible4 ,he merged himself
 in this work1 without thought of the   
expression of himself in his vision of a
 divine and immutable beauty4 ,it hardly
 occurred to him that his individual    
emotions were worth preserving4 7,in the
 sculpture of the great period the      
expression of the face is usually one of
 unruffled calm47 ,although religious   
emotion was the source and inspiration  
of his work1 his work was impersonal4   
,he was aloof from that feverish anxiety
 for self-revelation which has made much
 modern art so interesting              
pathologically1 and so detestable       
otherwise4 ,nor again had he anything of
 the virtuoso about him4 ,to him        
technique was not an end in itself4 ,in 
,hellenistic art it became so1 but not  
in the ,golden ,age4 ,indeed1 he was    
sometimes almost careless of exact      
modelling1 and in architecture he did   

not use the order as a mere exhibition  
of scholarship4 ,in his search for      
beautiful form1 he stood upon the       
ancient ways1 patient and serene1 moving
 steadily to his appointed end4 ',ainsi 
procde le gnie grec1 moins soucieux du  
nouveau que du mieux1 il reporte vers   
l'puration des formes l'activit que     
d'autres dpensent en innovations souvent
 striles1 jusqu' ce qu'enfin il atteigne
 l'exquise mesure dans les efforts1 et  
dans les expressions l'absolue          
justesse4'#adc ,there have been rare    
periods since1 when ,architecture has   
moved with the same calm unhesitating   
purpose1 ,gothic architecture1 for      
example1 in the twelfth and thirteenth  
centuries1 and certain phases of        
eighteenth-century architecture in      
,france and ,england1 when tradition was
 still active and vital1 and artists    
were content to let well alone4         
#adc ,choisy1 ,history of ,architecture1
 vol4 i1 p4 #bih4  ,modern conditions   
seem to be wholly against the ,greek    

standpoint in art4 ,the ,arts are in the
 melting-pot1 the old standards of      
attainment are trampled under foot1 and 
the prophets prophesy falsely4 ,quite   
lately we were asked to find our        
inspiration in the fetishes of the ,gold
 ,coast1 and if the aim of the artist is
 to outstrip his brethren in brutality1 
the advice is sound4 ,a recent critic   
justified the antics of certain artists 
by the necessity they were under of     
advertising themselves4 ,that1 no doubt1
 is the readiest way to immediate       
success4 ,but the question for the      
critic is1 not the personal advancement 
of the artist but the value of his work2
 and one would ask if any good work at  
any period in the history of art has    
been inspired by this ambition to shout 
louder than one's neighbours4           
,certainly1 the standpoint of the ,greek
 was the exact opposite4 ,he did not    
seek advertisement and notoriety4 ,he   
was happy with his inner vision of      
beauty1 and intent only on its          

realization4 ,he had not the smallest   
desire to shock or startle any one4     
,there are occasions when shock tactics 
are necessary1 but they are not         
necessary every day in the week1 nor is 
it necessary to make a clean sweep of   
the past before one sets to work in     
one's own little corner of art4  ,what  
is wanted in modern art is some         
consciousness of this old ,greek spirit1
 some recognition of its value4 ,the    
,greeks of the age of ,pericles wanted  
neither revivalism nor revolution2 they 
moved forward1 without haste or anxiety1
 on traditional lines1 and they were    
able to do so because their art was so  
interwoven with their life that1 in the 
plastic arts1 they could no more have   
changed their methods of expression than
 they could have changed their manner of
 speech4 ,that high outlook on life is  
lost and hardly to be recovered under   
modern conditions of social life and    
political government4 ,it was perhaps   
only possible under the true democracy  

of the small ,greek city state1 when    
every citizen took his share in the     
ordered life of the community4 ,yet the 
,greek ideal remains4 ,in our fitful    
fever of honest intention and wrong     
judgement1 high endeavour and           
point-blank commercialism1 ,greek art1  
the art of ,pheidias and ,ictinus1 is   
still the wise mother to whom we must   
return4 ,the lesson of the ,parthenon is
 the lesson of a steadfast vision of    
beauty1 held high above individual      
effort and failure1 realizing itself not
 in complex detail or calculated        
eccentricity1 but in a serene and       
exquisite simplicity of form4 ,it       
teaches us that in the arts there are no
 short cuts1 and that anarchy1 the      
destruction of what has been won for us 
in the past1 is not advance but the     
straight road to the bottomless pit of  
barbarism4 ,instead of repudiating the  
work of his fathers1 the ,greek carried 
it on to its perfection1 and built his  
palace of art on a sure foundation      

because he turned neither to the right  
hand nor to the left1 but steadily set  
his face towards the light4  ,,reginald 
,,blomfield4                            
----------------------------------------
----------------------    ,transcriber's
 ,notes and ,errata                     
,greek text is followed by the          
transliterated version in               
braces4                                 
,the following typographical errors have
 been corrected4                        
,error      ,correction                 
back       black                        
stedfast   steadfast                    
,the following words are found in       
hyphenated and unhyphenated     forms in
 the text4 ,the numbers of instances are
 given in         parentheses4          
cuttle-fish 7#b7      cuttlefish 7#a7   
fresh-water 7#a7      freshwater 7#a7   
pre-occupation 7#d7   preoccupation 7#a7
                                        
preoccupations 7#a7                     
re-arranging 7#a7     rearranging 7#a7  

re-discovery 7#b7     rediscovery 7#c7  
super-men 7#a7        supermen 7#a7     
super-women 7#a7      superwomen 7#a7   
text-book 7#e7        textbook 7#b7     
text-books 7#b7       textbooks 7#c7    
----------------------------------------
----------------------