,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,life ,,by ,g4 ,,lowes ,,dickinson1 ,m4,a4 ,,sixth ,,edition ,,new ,,york #aiji ,,preface ,the following pages are intended to serve as a general introduction to ,greek literature and thought1 for those1 primarily1 who do not know ,greek4 ,whatever opinions may be held as to the value of translations1 it seems clear that it is only by their means that the majority of modern readers can attain to any knowledge of ,greek culture2 and as ,i believe that culture to be still1 as it has been in the past1 the most valuable element of a liberal education1 ,i have hoped that such an attempt as the present to give1 with the help of quotations from the original authors1 some general idea of the ,greek view of life1 will not be regarded as labour thrown away4 ,it has been essential to my purpose to avoid1 as far as may be1 all controversial matter2 and if any classical scholar who may come across this volume should be inclined to complain of omissions or evasions1 ,i would beg him to remember the object of the book and to judge it according to its fitness for its own end4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,life1 no doubt1 is a question-begging title1 but ,i believe it to have a quite intelligible meaning2 for varied and manifold as the phases may be that are presented by the ,greek civilization1 they do nevertheless group themselves about certain main ideas1 to be distinguished with sufficient clearness from those which have dominated other nations4 ,it is these ideas that ,i have endeavoured to bring into relief2 and if ,i have failed1 the blame1 ,i submit1 must be ascribed rather to myself than to the nature of the task ,i have undertaken4 ,from permission to make the extracts from translations here printed my best thanks are due to the following authors and publishers3--,professor ,butcher1 ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang1 ,mr4 ,e4 ,d4 ,a4 ,morshead1 ,mr4 ,b4 ,b4 ,rogers1 ,dr4 ,verrall1 ,mr4 ,a4 ,s4 ,way1 ,messrs4 ,george ,bell and ,sons1 the ,syndics of the ,cambridge ,university ,press1 the ,delegates of the ,clarendon ,press1 ,oxford1 ,messrs4 ,macmillan and ,co41 ,mr4 ,john ,murray1 and ,messrs4 ,sampson ,low1 ,marston and ,co4--,i have also to thank the ,master and ,fellows of ,balliol ,college1 ,oxford1 for permission to quote at considerable length from the late ,professor ,jowett's translations of ,plato and ,thucydides4 ,appended is a list of the translations from which ,i have quoted4 ,,list ,,of ,,translations ,,used ,,aeschylus 7,b4,c4 #ebe--def74 ,the ,house of ,atreus 7,i4,e4 the ,agamemnon1 ,choephorae and ,eumenides71 translated by ,e4 ,d4 ,a4 ,,morshead 7,warren and ,sons74 ,the ,eumenides1 translated by ,,dr4 ,,verrall 7,cambridge1 #ahhe74 ,,aristophanes 7,c4 ,b4,c4 #ddd--chj74 ,the ,acharnians1 the ,knights1 and the ,birds1 translated by ,,john ,,hookham ,,frere 7,morley's ,universal ,library1 ,routledge74 ,also the ,frogs and the ,peace in his ,collected ,works1 7,pickering74 ,the ,clouds1 the ,lysistrata ,women in ,revolt1 the ,peace1 and the ,wasps1 translated by ,b4 ,b4 ,,rogers ,,aristotle 7,b4,c4 #chd--cbb74 ,the ,ethics1 the ,politics1 and the ,rhetoric1 translated by ,j4 ,e4 ,c4 ,,welldon 7,macmillan ,co474 ,,demosthenes 7,b4,c4 #che--cbb74 ,orations1 translated by ,c4 ,r4 ,,kennedy 7,bell74 ,,euripides 7,b4,c4 #dhj--djf74 ,tragedies1 translated by ,a4 ,s4 ,,way 7,macmillan ,co474 ,,herodotus 7,b4,c4 #dhd-- 74 ,the ,history1 translated by ,s4 ,r4 ,,rawlinson 7,murray74 ,,homer4 ,the ,iliad1 translated by ,,lang1 ,,leaf ,,and ,,myers2 the ,odyssey1 translated by ,,butcher ,,lang 7,macmillan74 ,,pindar 7,b4,c4 #ebb--ddb74 ,odes1 translated by ,e4 ,,myers 7,macmillan ,co474 ,,plato 7,b4,c4 #dcj--cdg74 ,the ,dialogues1 translated by ,b4 ,,jowett 7,clarendon ,press74 ,the ,republic1 translated by ,,davies ,,and ,,vaughan 7,macmillan ,co474 ,,plutarch4 ,lives1 ,,dryden',s translation1 edited by ,a4 ,,clough 7,sampson ,low1 ,marston ,co474 ,,sophocles 7,b4,c4 #dif--djf74 ,edited and ,translated by ,,dr4 ,,jebb 7,cambridge ,university ,press74 ,,thucydides 7,b4,c4 #dga-- 71 edited and translated by ,b4 ,,jowett 7,clarendon ,press74 ,,contents ,,chapter ,i4--,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,religion #a4 ,introductory #b4 ,greek ,religion an ,interpretation of ,nature #c4 ,greek ,religion an ,interpretation of the ,human ,passions #d4 ,greek ,religion the ,foundation of ,society #e4 ,religious ,festivals #f4 ,the ,greek ,conception of the ,relation of ,man to the ,gods #g4 ,divination1 ,omens1 ,oracles #h4 ,sacrifice and ,atonement #i4 ,guilt and ,punishment #aj4 ,mysticism #aa4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,death and a ,future ,life #ab4 ,critical and ,sceptical ,opinion in ,greece #ac4 ,ethical ,criticism #ad4 ,transition to ,monotheism #ae4 ,metaphysical ,criticism #af4 ,metaphysical reconstruction--,plato #ag4 ,summary ,,chapter ,,ii4--,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,state #a4 ,the ,greek ,state a ,city #b4 ,the ,relation of the ,state to the ,citizen #c4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,law #d4 ,artisans and ,slaves #e4 ,the ,greek ,state primarily ,military1 not ,industrial #f4 ,forms of ,government in the ,greek ,state #g4 ,faction and ,anarchy #h4 ,property and the ,communistic ,ideal #i4 ,sparta #aj4 ,athens #aa4 ,sceptical ,criticism of the ,basis of the ,state #ab4 ,summary ,,chapter ,,iii4--,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,individual #a4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,manual ,labour and ,trade #b4 ,appreciation of ,external ,goods #c4 ,appreciation of ,physical ,qualities #d4 ,greek ,athletics #e4 ,greek ,ethics--,identification of the ,aesthetic and ,ethical ,points of ,view #f4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,pleasure #g4 ,illustrations4--,ischomachus2 ,socrates #h4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,woman #i4 ,protests against the ,common ,view of ,woman #aj4 ,friendship #aa4 ,summary ,,chapter ,,iv4--,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,art #a4 ,greek ,art an ,expression of ,national ,life #b4 ,identification of the ,aesthetic and ,ethical points of ,view #c4 ,sculpture and ,painting #d4 ,music and the ,dance #e4 ,poetry #f4 ,tragedy #g4 ,comedy #h4 ,summary ,,chapter ,v4--,,conclusion ,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,life ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,religion ,section #a4 ,introductory4 ,in approaching the subject of the religion of the ,greeks it is necessary to dismiss at the outset many of the associations which we are naturally inclined to connect with that word4 ,what we commonly have in our mind when we speak of religion is a definite set of doctrines1 of a more or less metaphysical character1 formulated in a creed and supported by an organisation distinct from the state4 ,and the first thing we have to learn about the religion of the ,greeks is that it included nothing of the kind4 ,there was no church1 there was no creed1 there were no articles2 there was no doctrine even1 unless we are so to call a chaos of legends orally handed down and in continual process of transformation by the poets4 ,priests there were1 but they were merely public officials1 appointed to perform certain religious rites4 ,the distinction between cleric and layman1 as we know it1 did not exist2 the distinction between poetry and dogma did not exist2 and whatever the religion of the ,greeks may have been1 one thing at any rate is clear1 that it was something very different from all that we are in the habit of associating with the word4 ,what then was it8 ,it is easy to reply that it was the worship of those gods--of ,zeus1 ,apollo1 ,athene1 and the rest--with whose names and histories every one is familiar4 ,but the difficulty is to realise what was implied in the worship of these gods2 to understand that the mythology which we regard merely as a collection of fables was to the ,greeks actually true2 or at least that to nine ,greeks out of ten it would never occur that it might be false1 might be1 as we say1 mere stories4 ,so that though no doubt the histories of the gods were in part the inventions of the poets1 yet the poets would conceive themselves to be merely putting into form what they and every one believed to be essentially true4 ,but such a belief implies a fundamental distinction between the conception1 or rather1 perhaps1 the feeling of the ,greeks about the world1 and our own4 ,and it is this feeling that we want to understand when we ask ourselves the question1 what did a belief in the gods really mean to the ancient ,greeks8 ,to answer it fully and satisfactorily is perhaps impossible4 ,but some attempt must be made2 and it may help us in our quest if we endeavour to imagine the kind of questionings and doubts which the conception of the gods would set at rest4 ,section #b4 ,greek ,religion an ,interpretation of ,nature4 ,when we try to conceive the state of mind of primitive man the first thing that occurs to us is the bewilderment and terror he must have felt in the presence of the powers of nature4 ,naked1 houseless1 weaponless1 he is at the mercy1 every hour1 of this immense and incalculable ,something so alien and so hostile to himself4 ,as fire it burns1 as water it drowns1 as tempest it harries and destroys2 benignant it may be at times1 in warm sunshine and calm1 but the kindness is brief and treacherous4 ,anyhow1 whatever its mood1 it has to be met and dealt with4 ,by its help1 or1 if not1 in the teeth of its resistance1 every step in advance must be won2 every hour1 every minute1 it is there to be reckoned with4 ,what is it then1 this persistent1 obscure1 unnameable ,thing8 ,what is it8 ,the question haunts the mind2 it will not be put aside2 and the ,greek at last1 like other men under similar conditions1 only with a lucidity and precision peculiar to himself1 makes the reply1 it is something like myself4 ,every power of nature he presumes to be a spiritual being1 impersonating the sky as ,zeus1 the earth as ,demeter1 the sea as ,poseidon2 from generation to generation under his shaping hands1 the figures multiply and define themselves2 character and story crystallise about what at first were little more than names2 till at last1 from the womb of the dark enigma that haunted him in the beginning1 there emerges into the charmed light of a world of ideal grace a pantheon of fair and concrete personalities4 ,nature has become a company of spirits2 every cave and fountain is haunted by a nymph2 in the ocean dwell the ,nereids1 in the mountain the ,oread1 the ,dryad in the wood2 and everywhere1 in groves and marshes1 on the pastures or the rocky heights1 floating in the current of the streams or traversing untrodden snows1 in the day at the chase and as evening closes in solitude fingering his flute1 seen and heard by shepherds1 alone or with his dancing train1 is to be met the horned and goat-footed1 the sunny- smiling ,pan4 ,thus conceived1 the world has become less terrible because more familiar4 ,all that was incomprehensible1 all that was obscure and dark1 has now been seized and bodied forth in form1 so that everywhere man is confronted no longer with blind and unintelligible force1 but with spiritual beings moved by like passions with himself4 ,the gods1 it is true1 were capricious and often hostile to his good1 but at least they had a nature akin to his2 if they were angry1 they might be propitiated2 if they were jealous1 they might be appeased2 the enmity of one might be compensated by the friendship of another2 dealings with them1 after all1 were not so unlike dealings with men1 and at the worst there was always a chance for courage1 patience and wit4 ,man1 in short1 by his religion has been made at home in the world2 and that is the first point to seize upon4 ,to drive it home1 let us take an illustration from the story of ,odysseus4 ,odysseus1 it will be remembered1 after the sack of ,troy1 for ten years was a wanderer on the seas1 by tempest1 enchantment1 and every kind of danger detained1 as it seemed1 beyond hope of return from the wife and home he had left in ,ithaca4 ,the situation is forlorn enough4 ,yet1 somehow or other1 beauty in the story predominates over terror4 ,and this1 in part at least1 because the powers with which ,odysseus has to do1 are not mere forces of nature1 blind and indifferent1 but spiritual beings who take an interest1 for or against1 in his fate4 ,the whole story becomes familiar1 and1 if one may say so1 comfortable1 by the fact that it is conducted under the control and direction of the gods4 ,listen1 for example1 to the ,homeric account of the onset of a storm1 and observe how it sets one at ease with the elements3 ,now the lord1 the shaker of the earth1 on his way from the ,ethiopians1 espied ,odysseus afar off from the mountains of the ,solymi3 even thence he saw him as he sailed over the deep2 and he was yet more angered in spirit1 and wagging his head he communed with his own heart4 ',lo now1 it must be that the gods at the last have changed their purpose concerning ,odysseus1 while ,i was away among the ,ethiopians4 ,and now he is nigh to the ,phaeacian land1 where it is so ordained that he escape the great issues of the woe which hath come upon him4 ,but me-thinks1 that even yet ,i will drive him far enough in the path of suffering4' ,with that he gathered the clouds and troubled the waters of the deep1 grasping his trident in his hands2 and he roused all storms of all manner of winds1 and shrouded in clouds the land and sea3 and down sped night from heaven4 ,the ,east ,wind and the ,south ,wind clashed1 and the stormy ,west1 and the ,north1 that is born in the bright air1 rolling onward a great wave4 ,footnote3 ,odyss4 v4 #bhb4--,translated by ,butcher and ,lang4 ,the position of the hero is terrible1 it is true1 but not with the terror of despair2 for as it is a god that wrecked him1 it may also be a god that will save4 ,if ,poseidon is his enemy1 ,athene1 he knows1 is his friend2 and all lies1 after all1 in the hands1 or1 as the ,greeks said1 on the knees1 not of a blind destiny1 but of beings accessible to prayer4 ,let us take another passage from ,homer to illustrate the same point4 ,it is the place where ,achilles is endeavouring to light the funeral pyre of ,patroclus1 but because there is no wind the fire will not catch4 ,what is he to do8 ,what can he do8 ,nothing1 say we1 but wait till the wind comes4 ,but to the ,greek the winds are persons1 not elements2 ,achilles has only to call and to promise1 and they will listen to his voice4 ,and so1 we are told1 fleet-footed noble ,achilles had a further thought3 standing aside from the pyre he prayed to the two winds of ,north and ,west1 and promised them fair offerings1 and pouring large libations from a golden cup besought them to come1 that the corpses might blaze up speedily in the fire1 and the wood make haste to be enkindled4 ,then ,iris1 when she heard his prayer1 went swiftly with the message to the ,winds4 ,they within the house of the gusty ,west ,wind were feasting all together at meat1 when ,iris sped thither1 and halted on the threshold of stone4 ,and when they saw her with their eyes1 they sprung up and called to her every one to sit by him4 ,but she refused to sit1 and spake her word3 ',no seat for me2 ,i must go back to the streams of ,ocean1 to the ,ethiopians' land where they sacrifice hecatombs to the immortal gods1 that ,i too may feast at their rites4 ,but ,achilles is praying the ,north ,wind and the loud ,west to come1 and promising them fair offerings1 that ye may make the pyre be kindled whereon lieth ,patroclos1 for whom all the ,achaians are making moan4' ,she having thus said departed1 and they arose with a mighty sound1 rolling the clouds before them4 ,and swiftly they came blowing over the sea1 and the wave rose beneath their shrill blast2 and they came to deep-soiled ,troy1 and fell upon the pile1 and loudly roared the mighty fire4 ,so all night drave they the flame of the pyre together1 blowing shrill2 and all night fleet ,achilles1 holding a two-handled cup1 drew wine from a golden bowl1 and poured it forth and drenched the earth1 calling upon the spirit of hapless ,patroclos4 ,as a father waileth when he burneth the bones of his son1 new-married1 whose death is woe to his hapless parents1 so wailed ,achilles as he burnt the bones of his comrade1 going heavily round the burning pile1 with many moans4 ,but at the hour when the ,morning ,star goeth forth to herald light upon the earth1 the star that saffron-mantled ,dawn cometh after1 and spreadeth over the salt sea1 then grew the burning faint1 and the flame died down4 ,and the ,winds went back again to betake them home over the ,thracian main1 and it roared with a violent swell4 ,then the son of ,peleus turned away from the burning and lay down wearied1 and sweet sleep leapt on him4 ,footnote3 ,iliad xxiii4 p4 #aic4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,the exquisite beauty of this passage1 even in translation1 will escape no lover of poetry4 ,and it is a beauty which depends on the character of the ,greek religion2 on the fact that all that is unintelligible in the world1 all that is alien to man1 has been drawn1 as it were1 from its dark retreat1 clothed in radiant form1 and presented to the mind as a glorified image of itself4 ,every phenomenon of nature1 night and rosy- fingered dawn1 earth and sun1 winds1 rivers1 and seas1 sleep and death1--all have been transformed into divine and conscious agents1 to be propitiated by prayer1 interpreted by divination1 and comprehended by passions and desires identical with those which stir and control mankind4 ,section #c4 ,greek ,religion an ,interpretation of the ,human ,passions4 ,and as with the external world1 so with the world within4 ,the powers of nature were not the only ones felt by man to be different from and alien to himself2 there were others1 equally strange1 dwelling in his own heart1 which1 though in a sense they were part of him1 yet he felt to be not himself1 which came upon him and possessed him without his choice and against his will4 ,with these too he felt the need to make himself at home1 and these too1 to satisfy his need1 he shaped into creatures like himself4 ,to the whole range of his inner experience he gave definition and life1 presenting it to himself in a series of spiritual forms4 ,in ,aphrodite1 mother of ,eros1 he incarnated the passion of love1 placing in her broidered girdle love and desire of loving converse that steals the wits even of the wise2 in ,ares he embodied the lust of war2 in ,athene1 wisdom2 in ,apollo1 music and the arts4 ,the pangs of guilt took shape in the conception of avenging ,furies2 and the very prayers of the worshipper sped from him in human form1 wrinkled and blear-eyed1 with halting pace1 in the rear of punishment4 ,thus the very self of man he set outside himself2 the powers1 so intimate1 and yet so strange1 that swayed him from within he made familiar by making them distinct2 converted their shapeless terror into the beauty of visible form2 and by merely presenting them thus to himself in a guise that was immediately understood1 set aside1 if he could not answer1 the haunting question of their origin and end4 ,here then is at least a partial reply to our question as to the effect of a belief in the gods on the feeling of the ,greek4 ,to repeat the phrase once more1 it made him at home in the world4 ,the mysterious powers that controlled him it converted into beings like himself2 and so gave him heart and breathing-space1 shut in1 as it were1 from the abyss by this shining host of fair and familiar forms1 to turn to the interests and claims of the passing hour an attention undistracted by doubt and fear4 ,section #d4 ,greek ,religion the ,foundation of ,society4 ,but this relation to the world of nature is only one side of man's life2 more prominent and more important1 at a later stage of his development1 is his relation to society2 and here too in ,greek civilization a great part was played by religion4 ,for the ,greek gods1 we must remember1 were not purely spiritual powers1 to be known and approached only in the heart by prayer4 ,they were beings in human form1 like1 though superior to ourselves1 who passed a great part of their history on earth1 intervened in the affairs of men1 furthered or thwarted their undertakings1 begat among them sons and daughters1 and followed1 from generation to generation1 the fortunes of their children's children4 ,between them and mankind there was no impassable gulf2 from ,heracles the son of ,zeus was descended the ,dorian race2 the ,ionians from ,ion1 son of ,apollo2 every family1 every tribe traced back its origin to a hero1 and these heroes were children of the gods1 and deities themselves4 ,thus were the gods1 in the most literal sense1 the founders of society2 from them was derived1 even physically1 the unit of the family and the race2 and the whole social structure raised upon that natural basis was necessarily penetrated through and through by the spirit of religion4 ,we must not therefore be misled by the fact that there was no church in the ,greek state to the idea that the state recognised no religion2 on the contrary1 religion was so essential to the state1 so bound up with its whole structure1 in general and in detail1 that the very conception of a separation between the powers was impossible4 ,if there was no separate church1 in our sense of the term1 as an independent organism within the state1 it was because the state1 in one of its aspects1 was itself a church1 and derived its sanction1 both as a whole and in its parts1 from the same gods who controlled the physical world4 ,not only the community as a whole but all its separate minor organs were under the protection of patron deities4 ,the family centred in the hearth1 where the father1 in his capacity of priest1 offered sacrifice and prayer to the ancestors of the house2 the various corporations into which families were grouped1 the local divisions for the purpose of taxation1 elections1 and the like1 derived a spiritual unity from the worship of a common god2 and finally the all-embracing totality of the state itself was explained and justified to all its members by the cult of the special protecting deity to whom its origin and prosperous continuance were due4 ,the sailor who saw1 on turning the point of ,sunium1 the tip of the spear of ,athene glittering on the ,acropolis1 beheld in a type the spiritual form of the state2 ,athene and ,athens were but two aspects of the same thing2 and the statue of the goddess of wisdom dominating the city of the arts may serve to sum up for us the ideal of that marvellous corporate life where there was no ecclesiastical religion only because there was no secular state4 ,regarded from this point of view1 we may say that the religion of the ,greeks was the spiritual side of their political life4 ,and we must add that in one respect their religion pointed the way to a higher political achievement than they were ever able to realise in fact4 ,one fatal defect of the ,greek civilisation1 as is familiar to students of their history1 was the failure of the various independent city states to coalesce into a single harmonious whole4 ,but the tendency of religion was to obviate this defect4 ,we find1 for example1 that at one time or another federations of states were formed to support in common the cult of some god2 and one cult in particular there was--that of the ,delphian ,apollo--whose influence on political no less than on religious life was felt as far as and even beyond the limits of the ,greek race4 ,no colony could be founded1 no war hazarded1 no peace confirmed1 without the advice and approval of the god--whose cult was thus at once a religious centre for the whole of ,greece1 and a forecast of a political unity that should co-ordinate into a whole her chaos of conflicting states4 ,the religion of the ,greeks being thus1 as we have seen1 the presupposition and bond of their political life1 we find its sanction extended at every point to custom and law4 ,the persons of heralds1 for example1 were held to be under divine protection2 treaties between states and contracts between individuals were confirmed by oath2 the vengeance of the gods was invoked upon infringers of the law2 national assemblies and military expeditions were inaugurated by public prayers2 the whole of corporate life1 in short1 social and political1 was so embraced and bathed in an idealising element of ritual that the secular and religious aspects of the state must have been as inseparable to a ,greek in idea as we know them to have been in constitution4 ,section #e4 ,religious ,festivals4 ,for it was in ritual and art1 not in propositions1 that the ,greek religion expressed itself2 and in this respect it was closer to the ,roman ,catholic than to the ,protestant branch of the ,christian faith4 ,the plastic genius of the race1 that passion to embody ideas in form1 which was at the root1 as we saw1 of their whole religious outlook1 drove them to enact for their own delight1 in the most beautiful and telling forms1 the whole conception they had framed of the world and of themselves4 ,the changes of the seasons1 with the toil they exact and the gifts they bring1 the powers of generation and destruction1 the bounty or the rigours of the earth2 and on the other hand1 the order and operations of social phenomena1 the divisions of age and sex1 of function and of rank in the state--all these took shape and came1 as it were1 to self- consciousness in a magnificent series of publicly ordered fetes4 ,so numerous were these and so diverse in their character that it would be impossible1 even if it were desirable in this place1 to give any general account of them4 ,our purpose will be better served by a description of two1 selected from the calendar of ,athens1 and typical1 the one of the relations of man to nature1 the other of his relation to the state4 ,the festivals we have chosen are those known as the ,anthesteria ,footnote3 ,this interpretation of the meaning of the ,anthesteria is not accepted by modern scholars4 ,it is not1 however1 for typographical reasons1 convenient to remove it from the text1 and the error is of no importance for the purpose of this book4 and the ,panathenaea4 ,the ,anthesteria was held at that season of the year when1 as ,pindar sings in an ode composed to be sung upon the occasion1 the chamber of the ,hours is opened and the blossoms hear the voice of the fragrant spring2 when violet clusters are flung on the lap of earth1 and chaplets of roses braided in the hair2 when the sound of the flute is heard and choirs chanting hymns to ,semele4 ,on the natural side the festival records the coming of spring and the fermenting of last year's wine2 on the spiritual1 its centre is ,dionysus1 who not only was the god of wine1 but1 according to another legend1 symbolised in his fate the death of the year in winter and its rebirth at spring4 ,the ceremonies open with a scene of abandoned jollity2 servants and slaves are invited to share in the universal revel2 the school holidays begin2 and all the place is alive with the bustle and fun of a great fair4 ,bargaining1 peep-shows1 conjuring1 and the like fill up the hours of the day2 and towards evening the holiday-makers assemble garlanded and crowned in preparation for the great procession4 ,the procession takes place by torch-light2 the statue of ,dionysus leads the way1 and the revellers follow and swarm about him1 in carriages or on foot1 costumed as ,hours or ,nymphs or ,bacchae in the train of the god of wine4 ,the destination is the temple of the god and there sacrifice is performed with the usual accompaniment of song and dance2 the whole closing with a banquet and a drinking contest1 similar to those in vogue among the ,german students4 ,aristophanes has described the scene for us-- ,couches1 tables1 ,cushions and coverlets for mattresses1 ,dancing and singing-girls for mistresses1 ,plum cake and plain1 comfits and caraways1 ,confectionery1 fruits preserved and fresh1 ,relishes of all sorts1 hot things and bitter1 ,savouries and sweets1 broiled biscuits and what not2 ,flowers and perfumes1 and garlands1 everything4 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,ach4 #ajij4--;,frere's translation4 and in the midst of this the signal given by the trumpet1 the simultaneous draught of wine1 and the prize adjudged to the man who is the first to empty his cup4 ,thus ends the first phase of the festival4 ,so far all has been mirth and revelry2 but now comes a sudden change of tone4 ,dionysus1 god of wine though he be1 has also his tragic aspect2 of him too there is recorded a descent into hell2 and to the glad celebration of the renewal of life in spring succeeds a feast in honour of the dead4 ,the ghosts1 it is supposed1 come forth to the upper air2 every door-post is smeared with pitch to keep off the wandering shades2 and every family sacrifices to its own departed4 ,nor are the arts forgotten2 a musical festival is held1 and competing choirs sing and dance in honour of the god4 ,such1 so far as our brief and imperfect records enable us to trace it1 was the ritual of a typical ,greek festival4 ,with the many questions that might be raised as to its origin and development we need not concern ourselves at present2 what we have to note is the broad fact1 characteristic of the genius of the ,greeks1 that they have taken the natural emotions excited by the birth of spring1 and by connecting them with the worship of ,dionysus have given them expression and form2 so that what in its origin was a mere burst of primitive animal spirits is transmuted into a complex and beautiful work of art1 the secret springs and fountains of physical life flowing into the forms of a spiritual symbol4 ,it is this that is the real meaning of all ceremonial1 and this that the ,greeks better than any other people understood4 ,their religion1 one may almost say1 consisted in ritual2 and to attempt to divide the inner from the outer would be to falsify from the beginning its distinctive character4 ,let us pass to our second illustration1 the great city-festival of ,athens4 ,in the ,anthesteria it was a moment of nature that was seized and idealized2 here1 in the ,panathenaea1 it is the forms of social life1 its distinctions within its embracing unity1 that are set forth in their interdependence as functions of a spiritual life4 ,in this great national fete1 held every four years1 all the higher activities of ,athenian life were ideally displayed--contests of song1 of lyre and of flute1 foot and horse races1 wrestling1 boxing1 and the like1 military evolutions of infantry and horse1 pyrrhic dances symbolic of attack and defence in war1 mystic chants of women and choruses of youths--the whole concentring and discharging itself in that great processional act in which1 as it were1 the material forms of society became transparent1 and the ,whole moved on1 illumined and visibly sustained by the spiritual soul of which it was the complete and harmonious embodiment4 ,of this procession we have still in the frieze of the ,parthenon a marble transcript4 ,there we may see the life of ancient ,athens moving in stone1 from the first mounting of their horses by isolated youths1 like the slow and dropping prelude of a symphony1 on to the thronged and trampling ranks of cavalry1 past the antique chariots reminiscent of ,homeric war1 and the marching band of flutes and zithers1 by lines of men and maidens bearing sacrificial urns1 by the garlanded sheep and oxen destined for sacrifice1 to where1 on turning the corner that leads to the eastern front1 we find ourselves in the presence of the ,olympian gods themselves1 enthroned to receive the offering of a people's life4 ,and if to this marble representation we add the colour it lacks1 the gold and silver of the vessels1 the purple and saffron robes2 if we set the music playing and bid the oxen low2 if we gird our living picture with the blaze of an ,august noon and crown it with the ,acropolis of ,athens1 we may form a conception1 better perhaps than could otherwise be obtained1 of what religion really meant to the citizen of a state whose activities were thus habitually symbolised in the cult of its patron deity4 ,religion to him1 clearly1 could hardly be a thing apart1 dwelling in the internal region of the soul and leaving outside1 untouched by the light of the ideal1 the whole business and complexity of the material side of life2 to him it was the vividly present and active soul of his corporate existence1 representing in the symbolic forms of ritual the actual facts of his experience4 ,what he re-enacted periodically1 in ordered ceremony1 was but the drama of his daily life2 so that1 as we said before1 the state in one of its aspects was a church1 and every layman from one point of view a priest4 ,the question1 ,what did a belief in the gods really mean to the ,greek has now received at least some sort of answer4 ,it meant1 to recur to our old phrase1 that he was made at home in the world4 ,in place of the unintelligible powers of nature1 he was surrounded by a company of beings like himself2 and these beings who controlled the physical world were also the creators of human society4 ,from them were descended the ,heroes who founded families and states2 and under their guidance and protection cities prospered and throve4 ,their histories were recounted in innumerable myths1 and these again were embodied in ritual4 ,the whole life of man1 in its relations both to nature and to society1 was conceived as derived from and dependent upon his gods2 and this dependence was expressed and brought vividly home to him in a series of religious festivals4 ,belief in the gods was not to him so much an intellectual conviction1 as a spiritual atmosphere in which he moved2 and to think it away would be to think away the whole structure of ,greek civilisation4 ,section #f4 ,the ,greek ,conception of the ,relation of ,man to the ,gods4 ,admitting1 however1 that all this is true1 admitting the place of religion in ,greek life1 do we not end1 after all1 in a greater puzzle than we began with8 ,for this1 it may be said1 whatever it may be1 is not what we mean by religion4 ,this1 after all1 is merely a beautiful way of expressing facts2 a translation1 not an interpretation1 of life4 ,what we mean by religion is something very different to that1 something which concerns the relation of the soul to ,god2 the sense of sin1 for example1 and of repentance and grace4 ,the religion of the ,greeks1 we may admit1 did something for them which our religion does not do for us4 ,it gave intelligible and beautiful form to those phenomena of nature which we can only describe as manifestations of energy2 it expressed in a ritual of exquisite art those corporate relations which we can only enunciate in abstract terms2 but did it perform what after all1 it may be said1 is the true function of religion8 did it touch the conscience as well as the imagination and intellect8 ,to this question we may answer at once1 broadly speaking1 ,no6 ,it was1 we might say1 a distinguishing characteristic of the ,greek religion that it did not concern itself with the conscience at all2 the conscience1 in fact1 did not yet exist1 to enact that drama of the soul with ,god which is the main interest of the ,christian1 or at least of the ,protestant faith4 ,to bring this point home to us let us open the ,pilgrim's ,progress1 and present to ourselves1 in its most vivid colours1 the position of the ,english ,puritan3 ,now1 ,i saw1 upon a time1 when he was walking in the fields1 that he was 7as he was wont7 reading in his book1 and greatly distressed in his mind2 and1 as he read1 he burst out1 as he had done before1 crying1 ',what shall ,i do to be saved8' ,i looked then1 and saw a man named ,evangelist coming to him1 and asked1 ',wherefore dost thou cry8' ,he answered1 ',sir1 ,i perceive by the book in my hand1 that ,i am condemned to die1 and after that to come to judgment2 and ,i find that ,i am not willing to do the first1 nor able to do the second4' ,then said ,evangelist1 ',why not willing to die1 since this life is attended with so many evils8' ,the man answered1 ',because ,i fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave1 and ,i shall fall into ,tophet4 ,and1 ,sir1 if ,i be not fit to go to prison1 ,i am not fit to go to judgment1 and from thence to execution2 and the thoughts of these things makes me cry4' ,then said ,evangelist1 ',if this be thy condition1 why standest thou still8' ,he answered1 ',because ,i know not whither to go4' ,then he gave him a parchment roll1 and there was written within1 ',fly from the wrath to come4' ,the whole spirit of the passage transcribed1 and of the book from which it is quoted1 is as alien as can be to the spirit of the ,greeks4 ,to the ,puritan1 the inward relation of the soul to ,god is everything2 to the average ,greek1 one may say broadly1 it was nothing2 it would have been at variance with his whole conception of the divine power4 ,for the gods of ,greece were beings essentially like man1 superior to him not in spiritual nor even in moral attributes1 but in outward gifts1 such as strength1 beauty1 and immortality4 ,and as a consequence of this his relations to them were not inward and spiritual1 but external and mechanical4 ,in the midst of a crowd of deities1 capricious and conflicting in their wills1 he had to find his way as best he could4 ,there was no knowing precisely what a god might want2 there was no knowing what he might be going to do4 ,if a man fell into trouble1 no doubt he had offended somebody1 but it was not so easy to say whom or how2 if he neglected the proper observances no doubt he would be punished1 but it was not everyone who knew what the proper observances were4 ,altogether it was a difficult thing to ascertain or to move the will of the gods1 and one must help oneself as best one could4 ,the ,greek1 accordingly1 helped himself by an elaborate system of sacrifice and prayer and divination1 a system which had no connection with an internal spiritual life1 but the object of which was simply to discover and if possible to affect the divine purposes4 ,this is what we meant by saying that the ,greek view of the relation of man to the gods was mechanical4 ,the point will become clearer by illustration4 ,section #g4 ,divination1 ,omens1 ,oracles4 ,let us take first a question which much exercised the ,greek mind--the difficulty of forecasting the future4 ,clearly1 the notion that the world was controlled by a crowd of capricious deities1 swayed by human passions and desires1 was incompatible with the idea of fixed law2 but on the other hand it made it possible to suppose that some intimation might be had from the gods1 either directly or symbolically1 of what their intentions and purposes really were4 ,and on this hypothesis we find developed quite early in ,greek history1 a complex art of divining the future by signs4 ,the flight of birds and other phenomena of the heavens1 events encountered on the road1 the speech of passers-by1 or1 most important of all1 the appearance of the entrails of the victims sacrificed were supposed to indicate the probable course of events4 ,and this art1 already mature in the time of the ,homeric poems1 we find flourishing throughout the historic age4 ,nothing could better indicate its prevalence and its scope than the following passage from ,aristophanes1 where he ridicules the readiness of his contemporaries to see in everything an omen1 or1 as he puts it1 punning on the ,greek word1 a bird3 ,on us you depend1 sings his chorus of ,birds1 ,on us you depend1 and to us you repair ,for counsel and aid1 when a marriage is made1 ,a purchase1 a bargain1 a venture in trade2 ,unlucky or lucky1 whatever has struck ye1 ,an ox or an ass1 that may happen to pass1 ,a voice in the street1 or a slave that you meet1 ,a name or a word by chance overheard1 ,you deem it an omen1 and call it a ,bird4 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,birds #gag4--;,frere's translation4 ,aristophanes1 of course1 is jesting2 but how serious and important this art of divination must have appeared even to the most cultivated ,athenians may be gathered from a passage of the tragedian ,aeschylus1 where he mentions it as one of the benefits conferred by ,prometheus on mankind1 and puts it on a level with the arts of building1 metal-making1 sailing1 and the like1 and the sciences of arithmetic and astronomy4 ,and if anyone were dissatisfied with this method of interpretation by signs1 he had a directer means of approaching the gods4 ,he could visit one of the oracles and consult the deity at first hand about his most trivial and personal family affairs4 ,some of the questions put to the oracle at ,dodona have been preserved to us1 ,footnote3 ,see ,percy ,gardner1 ,new ,chapters in ,greek ,history4 and very curious they are4 ,who stole my cushions and pillow8 asks one bereaved householder4 ,another wants to know whether it will pay him to buy a certain house and farm2 another whether sheep-farming is a good investment4 ,clearly1 the god was not above being consulted on the meanest affairs2 and his easy accessibility must have been some compensation for his probable caprice4 ,nor must it be supposed that this phase of the ,greek religion was a superstition confined to individuals2 on the contrary1 it was fully recognised by the state4 ,no important public act could be undertaken without a previous consultation of omens4 ,more than once1 in the clearest and most brilliant period of the ,greek civilisation1 we hear of military expeditions being abandoned because the sacrifices were unfavourable2 and at the time of the ,persian invasion1 at the most critical moment of the history of ,greece1 the ,lacedaemonians1 we are told1 came too late to be present at the battle of ,marathon1 because they thought it unlucky to start until the moon was full4 ,in all this we have a suggestion of the sort of relation in which the ,greek conceived himself to stand to the gods4 ,it is a relation1 as we said1 external and mechanical4 ,the gods were superior beings who knew1 it might be presumed1 what was going to happen2 man didn't know1 but perhaps he could find out4 ,how could he find out8 that was the problem2 and it was answered in the way we have seen4 ,there was no question1 clearly1 of a spiritual relation2 all is external2 and a similar externality pervades1 on the whole1 the ,greek view of sacrifice and of sin4 ,let us turn now to consider this point4 ,section #h4 ,sacrifice and ,atonement4 ,in ,homer1 we find that sacrifice is frankly conceived as a sort of present to the gods1 for which they were in fairness bound to an equivalent return2 and the nature of the bargain is fully recognised by the gods themselves4 ,hector1 says ,zeus to ,hera1 was dearest to the gods of all mortals that are in ,ilios4 ,so was he to me at least1 for nowise failed he in the gifts ,i loved4 ,never did my altar lack seemly feast1 drink-offering and the steam of sacrifice1 even the honour that falleth to our due4 ,footnote3 ,iliad xxiv4 #ff4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,and he concludes that he must intervene to secure the restoration of the body of ,hector to his father4 ,the performance of sacrifice1 then1 ensures favour2 and on the other hand its neglect entails punishment4 ,when ,apollo sends a plague upon the ,greek fleet the most natural hypothesis to account for his conduct is that he has been stinted of his due meed of offerings2 perhaps1 says ,agamemnon1 the savour of lambs and unblemished goats may appease him4 ,or again1 when the ,greeks omit to sacrifice before building the wall around their fleet1 they are punished by the capture of their position by the ,trojans4 ,the whole relation between man and the gods is of the nature of a contract4 ,if you do your part1 ,i'll do mine2 if not1 not6 that is the tone of the language on either side4 ,the conception is legal1 not moral nor spiritual2 it has nothing to do with what we call sin and conscience4 ,at a later period1 it is true1 we find a point of view prevailing which appears at first sight to come closer to that of the ,christian4 ,certain acts we find1 such as murder1 for example1 were supposed to infect as with a stain not only the original offender but his descendants from generation to generation4 ,yet even so1 the stain1 it appears1 was conceived to be rather physical than moral1 analogous to disease both in its character and in the methods of its cure4 ,aeschylus tells us of the earth breeding monsters as a result of the corruption infused by the shedding of blood2 and similarly a purely physical infection tainted the man or the race that had been guilty of crime4 ,and as was the evil1 so was the remedy4 ,external acts and observations might cleanse and purge away what was regarded as an external affection of the soul2 and we know that in historic times there was a class of men1 comparable to the mediaeval pardoners1 whose profession it was to effect such cures4 ,plato has described them for us in striking terms4 ,mendicant prophets1 he says1 go to rich men's doors and persuade them that they have a power committed to them of making an atonement for their sins or those of their fathers by sacrifices or charms with rejoicings and games2 and they promise to harm an enemy whether just or unjust1 at a small charge2 with magic arts and incantations binding the will of heaven1 as they say1 to do their work4444 ,and they produce a host of books written by ,musaeus and ,orpheus1 who were children of the ,moon and the ,muses--that is what they say--according to which they perform their ritual1 and persuade not only individuals1 but whole cities1 that expiations and atonements for sin may be made by sacrifices and amusements which fill a vacant hour4 ,footnote3 ,plato's ,republic1 ,,ii4 #cfd;b4--,jowett's translation4 ,how far is all this from the ,puritan view of sin6 ,how far from the ,christian of the ,pilgrim's ,progress with the burden on his back6 ,to measure the distance we have only to attend1 with this passage in our mind1 a meeting1 say1 of the ,salvation ,army4 ,we shall then perhaps understand better the distinction between the popular religion of the ,greeks and our own2 between the conception of sin as a physical contagion to be cured by external rites1 and the conception of it as an affection of the conscience which only grace can expel4 ,in the one case the fact that a man was under the taint of crime would be borne in upon him by actual misfortune from without--by sickness1 or failure in business1 or some other of the troubles of life2 and he would ease his mind and recover the spring of hope by performing certain ceremonies and rites4 ,in the other case1 his trouble is all inward2 he feels that he is guilty in the sight of ,god1 and the only thing that can relieve him is the certainty that he has been forgiven1 assured him somehow or other from within4 ,the difference is fundamental1 and important to bear in mind1 if we would form a clear conception of the ,greek view of life4 ,section #i4 ,guilt and ,punishment4 ,it must not be supposed1 however1 that the popular superstition described by ,plato1 however characteristic it may be of the point of view of the ,greeks1 represents the highest reach of their thought on the subject of guilt4 ,no profounder utterances are to be found on this theme than those of the great poets and thinkers of ,greece1 who1 without rejecting the common beliefs of their time1 transformed them by the insight of their genius into a new and deeper significance4 ,specially striking in this connection is the poetry of the tragedian ,aeschylus2 and it will be well worth our while to pause for a moment and endeavour to realise his position4 ,guilt and its punishment is the constant theme of the dramas of ,aeschylus2 and he has exhausted the resources of his genius in the attempt to depict the horror of the avenging powers1 who under the name of the ,erinyes1 or ,furies1 persecute and torment the criminal4 ,their breath is foul with the blood on which they feed2 from their rheumy eyes a horrible humour drops2 daughters of night and clad in black they fly without wings2 god and man and the very beasts shun them2 their place is with punishment and torture1 mutilation1 stoning and breaking of necks4 ,and into their mouth the poet has put words which seem to breathe the very spirit of the ,jewish scriptures4 ,come now let us preach to the sons of men2 yea1 let us tell them of our vengeance2 yea1 let us all make mention of justice4 ,whoso showeth hands that are undefiled1 lo1 he shall suffer nought of us for ever1 but shall go unharmed to his ending4 ,but if he hath sinned1 like unto this man1 and covereth hands that are blood-stained3 then is our witness true to the slain man4 ,and we sue for the blood1 sue and pursue for it1 so that at the last there is payment4 ,even so 'tis written3 7,oh sentence sure67 ,upon all that wild in wickedness dip hand ,in the blood of their birth1 in the fount of their flowing3 ,so shall he pine until the grave receive him--to find no grace even in the grave6 ,sing then the spell1 ,sisters of hell2 ,chant him the charm ,mighty to harm1 ,binding the blood1 ,madding the mood2 ,such the music that we make3 ,quail1 ye sons of man1 and quake1 ,bow the heart1 and bend1 and break6 ,this is our ministry marked for us from the beginning2 ,this is our gift1 and our portion apart1 and our godhead1 ,ours1 ours only for ever1 ,darkness1 robes of darkness1 a robe of terror for ever6 ,ruin is ours1 ruin and wreck2 ,when to the home ,murder hath come1 ,making to cease ,innocent peace2 ,then at his beck ,follow we in1 ,follow the sin2 ,and ah6 we hold to the end when we begin6 ,footnote3 ,aeschyl4 ,eum4 #big4--,translated by ,dr4 ,verrall 7,cambridge1 #ahhe74 ,there is no poetry more sublime than this2 none more penetrated with the sense of moral law4 ,but still it is wholly ,greek in character4 ,the theme is not really the conscience of the sinner but the objective consequence of his crime4 ,blood calls for blood1 is the poet's text2 a man1 he says1 must pay for what he does4 ,the tragedy is the punishment of the guilty1 not his inward sense of sin4 ,orestes1 in fact1 who is the subject of the drama with which we are concerned1 in a sense was not a sinner at all4 ,he had killed his mother1 it is true1 but only to avenge his father whom she had murdered1 and at the express bidding of ,apollo4 ,so far is he from feeling the pangs of conscience that he constantly justifies his act4 ,he suffers1 not because he has sinned but because he is involved in the curse of his race4 ,for generations back the house of ,atreus had been tainted with blood2 murder had called for murder to avenge it2 and ,orestes1 the last descendant1 caught in the net of guilt1 found that his only possibility of right action lay in a crime4 ,he was bound to avenge his father1 the god ,apollo had enjoined it2 and the avenging of his father meant the murder of his mother4 ,what he commits1 then1 is a crime1 but not a sin2 and so it is regarded by the poet4 ,the tragedy1 as we have said1 centres round an external objective law-- blood calls for blood4 ,but that is all4 ,of the internal drama of the soul with ,god1 the division of the man against himself1 the remorse1 the repentance1 the new birth1 the giving or withholding of grace--of all this1 the essential content of ,christian ,protestantism1 not a trace in the clear and concrete vision of the ,greek4 ,the profoundest of the poets of ,hellas1 dealing with the darkest problem of guilt1 is true to the plastic genius of his race4 ,the spirit throws outside itself the law of its own being2 by objective external evidence it learns that doing involves suffering2 and its moral conviction comes to it only when forced upon it from without by a direct experience of physical evil4 ,of ,aeschylus1 the most ,hebraic of the ,hellenes1 it is as true as of the average ,greek1 that in the ,puritan meaning of the phrase he had no sense of sin4 ,and even in treating of him1 we must still repeat what we said at the beginning1 that the ,greek conception of the relation of man to the gods is external and mechanical1 not inward and spiritual4 ,section #aj4 ,mysticism4 ,but there is nothing so misleading as generalisation1 specially on the subject of the ,greeks4 ,again and again when we think we have laid hold of their characteristic view we are confronted with some new aspect of their life which we cannot fit into harmony with our scheme4 ,there is no formula which will sum up that versatile and many-sided people4 ,and so1 in the case before us1 we have no sooner made what appears to be the safe and comprehensive statement that the ,greeks conceived the relation of man to the gods mechanically1 than we are reminded of quite another phase of their religion1 different from and even antithetic to that with which we have hitherto been concerned4 ,nothing1 we might be inclined to say on the basis of what we have at present ascertained1 nothing could be more opposed to the clear anthropomorphic vision of the ,greek1 than that conception of a mystic exaltation1 so constantly occurring in the history of religion1 whose aim is to transcend the limits of human personality and pass into direct communion with the divine life4 ,yet of some such conception1 and of the ritual devised under its influence1 we have undoubted though fragmentary indications in the civilization of the ,greeks4 ,it is mainly in connection with the two gods ,apollo and ,dionysus that the phenomena in question occur2 gods whose cult was introduced comparatively late into ,greece and who brought with them from the north something of its formless but pregnant mystery2 as though at a point the chain of guardian deities was broken1 and the terror and forces of the abyss pressed in upon the charmed circle of ,hellas4 ,for ,apollo1 who in one of his aspects is a figure so typically ,hellenic1 the ever-young and beautiful god of music and the arts1 was also the ,power of prophetic inspiration1 of ecstasy or passing out of oneself4 ,the priestess who delivered his oracle at ,delphi was possessed and mastered by the god4 ,maddened by mephitic vapours streaming from a cleft in the rock1 convulsed in every feature and every limb1 she delivered in semi- articulate cries the burden of the divine message4 ,her own personality1 for the time being1 was annihilated2 the wall that parts man from god was swept away2 and the ,divine rushed in upon the human vessel it shattered as it filled4 ,this conception of inspiration as a higher form of madness1 possessed of a truer insight than that of sanity1 was fully recognised among the ,greeks4 ,there is a madness1 as ,plato puts it1 which is the special gift of heaven1 and the source of the chiefest blessings among men4 ,for prophecy is a madness1 and the prophetess at ,delphi and the priestesses at ,dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on ,hellas1 both in public and private life1 but when in their senses few or none4444 ,and in proportion as prophecy is higher and more perfect than divination both in name and reality1 in the same proportion1 as the ancients testify1 is madness superior to a sane mind1 for the one is only of human1 but the other of divine origin4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 #bdd4--;,jowett's translation4 ,here then1 in the oracle at ,delphi1 the centre of the religious life of the ,greeks1 we have an explicit affirmation of that element of mysticism which we might have supposed to be the most alien to their genius2 and the same element re-appears1 in a cruder and more barbaric form1 in connection with the cult of ,dionysus4 ,he1 the god of wine1 was also the god of inspiration2 and the ritual with which he was worshipped was a kind of apotheosis of intoxication4 ,to suppress for a time the ordinary work-a-day consciousness1 with its tedium1 its checks1 its balancing of pros and cons1 to escape into the directness and simplicity of mere animal life1 and yet to feel in this no degradation but rather a submission to the divine power1 an actual identification with the deity-such1 it would seem1 was the intention of those extraordinary revels of which we have in the ,bacchae of ,euripides so vivid a description4 ,and to this end no stimulus was omitted to excite and inspire the imagination and the sense4 ,the influence of night and torches in solitary woods1 intoxicating drinks1 the din of flutes and cymbals on a bass of thunderous drums1 dances convulsing every limb and dazzling eyes and brain1 the harking-back1 as it were1 to the sympathies and forms of animal life in the dress of fawnskin1 the horns1 the snakes twined about the arm1 and the impersonation of those strange half-human creatures who were supposed to attend upon the god1 the satyrs1 nymphs1 and fauns who formed his train--all this points to an attempt to escape from the bounds of ordinary consciousness and pass into some condition conceived1 however confusedly1 as one of union with the divine power4 ,and though the basis1 clearly enough1 is physical and even bestial1 yet the whole ritual does undoubtedly express1 and that with a plastic grace and beauty that redeems its frank sensuality1 that passion to transcend the limitations of human existence which is at the bottom of the mystic element in all religions4 ,but this orgy of the senses was not the only form which the worship of ,dionysus took in ,greece4 ,in connection with one of his legends1 the myth of ,dionysus ,zagreus1 we find traces of an esoteric doctrine1 taught by what were known as the orphic sects1 very curiously opposed1 one would have said1 to the general trend of ,greek conceptions4 ,according to the story1 ,zagreus was the son of ,zeus and ,persephone4 ,hera1 in her jealousy1 sent the ,titans to destroy him2 after a struggle1 they managed to kill him1 cut him up and devoured all but the heart1 which was saved by ,athene and carried to ,zeus4 ,zeus swallowed it1 and produced therefrom a second ,dionysus4 ,the ,titans he destroyed by lightning1 and from their ashes created ,man4 ,man is thus composed of two elements1 one bad1 the ,titanic1 the other good1 the ,dionysiac2 the latter being derived from the body of ,dionysus1 which the ,titans had devoured4 ,this fundamental dualism1 according to the doctrine founded on the myth1 is the perpetual tragedy of man's existence2 and his perpetual struggle is to purify himself of the ,titanic element4 ,the process extends over many incarnations1 but an ultimate deliverance is promised by the aid of the redeemer ,dionysus ,lysius4 ,the belief thus briefly described was not part of the popular religion of the ,greeks1 but it was a normal growth of their consciousness1 and it is mentioned here as a further indication that even in what we call the classical age there were not wanting traces of the more mystic and spiritual side of religion4 ,here1 in the tenets of these orphic sects1 we have the doctrine of original sin1 the conception of life as a struggle between two opposing principles1 and the promise of an ultimate redemption by the help of the divine power4 ,and if this be taken in connection with the universal and popular belief in inspiration as possession by the god1 we shall see that our original statement that the relation of man to the gods was mechanical and external in the ,greek conception1 must at least be so far modified that it must be taken only as an expression of the central or dominant point of view1 not as excluding other and even contradictory standpoints4 ,still1 broadly speaking and admitting the limitations1 the statement may stand4 ,if the ,greek popular religion be compared with that of the ,christian world1 the great distinction certainly emerges1 that in the one the relation of ,god to man is conceived as mechanical and external1 in the other as inward and spiritual4 ,the point has been sufficiently illustrated1 and we may turn to another division of our subject4 ,section #aa4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,death and a ,future ,life4 ,of all the problems on which we expect light to be thrown by religion none1 to us1 is more pressing than that of death4 ,a fundamental1 and as many believe1 the most essential part of ,christianity1 is its doctrine of reward and punishment in the world beyond2 and a religion which had nothing at all to say about this great enigma we should hardly feel to be a religion at all4 ,and certainly on this head the ,greeks1 more than any people that ever lived1 must have required a consolation and a hope4 ,just in proportion as their life was fuller and richer than that which has been lived by any other race1 just in proportion as their capacity for enjoyment1 in body and soul1 was keener1 as their senses were finer1 their intellect broader1 their passions more intense1 must they have felt1 with peculiar emphasis1 the horror of decay and death4 ,and such1 in fact1 is the characteristic note of their utterances on this theme4 ,rather1 says the ghost of ,achilles to ,odysseus in the world of shades1 rather would ,i live upon the soil as the hireling of another1 with a landless man who had no great livelihood1 than bear sway among all the dead that are no more4 ,footnote3 ,od4 xi #dhi4--,translated by ,butcher and ,lang4 ,better1 as ,shakespeare has it1 ,the weariest and most loathed worldly life ,that age1 ache1 penury and imprisonment ,can lay on nature1 better that1 on earth at least and in the sun1 than the phantom kingdoms of the dead4 ,the fear of age and death is the shadow of the love of life2 and on no people has it fallen with more horror than on the ,greeks4 ,the tenderest of their songs of love close with a sob2 and it is an autumn wind that rustles in their bowers of spring4 ,here1 for example1 is a poem by ,mimnermus characteristic of this mood of the ,greeks3 ,o golden ,love1 what life1 what joy but thine8 ,come death1 when thou art gone1 and make an end6 ,when gifts and tokens are no longer mine1 ,nor the sweet intimacies of a friend4 ,these are the flowers of youth4 ,but painful age ,the bane of beauty1 following swiftly on1 ,wearies the heart of man with sad presage ,and takes away his pleasure in the sun4 ,hateful is he to maiden and to boy ,and fashioned by the gods for our annoy4 ,footnote3 ,mimnermus1 ,el4 ,i4 ,such being the general view of the ,greeks on the subject of death1 what has their religion to say by way of consolation8 ,it taught1 to begin with1 that the spirit does survive after death4 ,but this survival1 as it is described in the ,homeric poems1 is merely that of a phantom and a shade1 a bloodless and colourless duplicate of the man as he lived on earth4 ,listen to the account ,odysseus gives of his meeting with his mother's ghost4 ,so spake she1 and ,i mused in my heart and would fain have embraced the spirit of my mother dead4 ,thrice ,i sprang towards her1 and was minded to embrace her2 thrice she flitted from my hands as a shadow or even as a dream1 and sharper ever waxed the grief within me4 ,and uttering my voice ,i spake to her winged words3 ',mother mine1 wherefore dost thou not tarry for me who am eager to seize thee1 that even in ,hades we twain may cast our arms each about the other1 and satisfy us with chill lament8 ,is it but a phantom that the high goddess ,persephone hath sent me1 to the end that ,i may groan for more exceeding sorrow8' ,so spake ,i1 and my lady mother answered me anon3 ',ah me1 my child1 luckless above all men1 nought doth ,persephone1 the daughter of ,zeus1 deceive thee1 but even in this wise it is with mortals when they die4 ,for the sinews no more bind together the flesh and the bones1 but the force of burning fire abolishes them1 so soon as the life hath left the white bones1 and the spirit like a dream flies forth and hovers near4' ,from such a conception of the life after death little comfort could be drawn2 nor does it appear that any was sought4 ,so far as we can trace the habitual attitude of the ,greek he seems to have occupied himself little with speculation1 either for good or evil1 as to what might await him on the other side of the tomb4 ,he was told indeed in his legends of a happy place for the souls of heroes1 and of torments reserved for great criminals2 but these ideas do not seem to have haunted his imagination4 ,he was never obsessed by that close and imminent vision of heaven and hell which overshadowed and dwarfed1 for the mediaeval mind1 the brief space of pilgrimage on earth4 ,rather he turned1 by preference1 from the thought of death back to life1 and in the memory of honourable deeds in the past and the hope of fame for the future sought his compensation for the loss of youth and love4 ,in the great funeral speech upon those who have fallen in war which ,thucydides puts into the mouth of ,pericles we have1 we must suppose1 a reflection1 more accurate than is to be found elsewhere1 of the position naturally adopted by the average ,greek4 ,and how simple are the topics1 how broad and human1 how rigorously confined to the limits of experience6 ,there is no suggestion anywhere of a personal existence continued after death2 the dead live only in their deeds2 and only by memory are the survivors to be consoled4 ,i do not now commiserate the parents of the dead who stand here2 ,i would rather comfort them4 ,you know that your life has been passed amid manifold vicissitudes2 and that they may be deemed fortunate who have gained most honour1 whether an honourable death like theirs1 or an honourable sorrow like yours1 and whose days have been so ordered that the term of their happiness is likewise the term of their life444 ,some of you are at an age at which they may hope to have other children1 and they ought to bear their sorrow better2 not only will the children who may hereafter be born make them forget their now lost ones1 but the city will be doubly a gainer4 ,she will not be left desolate1 and she will be safer4 ,for a man's counsels cannot be of equal weight or worth1 when he alone has no children to risk in the general danger4 ,to those of you who have passed their prime1 ,i say3 ',congratulate yourselves that you have been happy during the greater part of your days2 remember that your life of sorrow will not last long1 and be comforted by the glory of those who are gone4 ,for the love of honour alone is ever young1 and not riches1 as some say1 but honour is the delight of men when they are old and useless4' ,footnote3 ,thuc4 ,,ii4 #dd4--;,jowett's translation4 ,the passage perhaps represents what we may call the typical attitude of the ,greek4 ,to seek consolation for death1 if anywhere1 then in life1 and in life not as it might be imagined beyond the grave1 but as it had been and would be lived on earth1 appears to be consonant with all that we know of the clear and objective temper of the race4 ,it is the spirit which was noted long ago by ,goethe as inspiring the sepulchral monuments of ,athens4 ,the wind1 he says1 which blows from the tombs of the ancients comes with gentle breath as over a mound of roses4 ,the reliefs are touching and pathetic1 and always represent life4 ,there stand father and mother1 their son between them1 gazing at one another with unspeakable truth to nature4 ,here a pair clasp hands4 ,here a father seems to rest on his couch and wait to be entertained by his family4 ,to me the presence of these scenes was very touching4 ,their art is of a late period1 yet are they simple1 natural1 and of universal interest4 ,here there is no knight in harness on his knees awaiting a joyful resurrection4 ,the artist has with more or less skill presented to us only the persons themselves1 and so made their existence lasting and perpetual4 ,they fold not their hands1 gaze not into heaven2 they are on earth1 what they were and what they are4 ,they stand side by side1 take interest in one another2 and that is what is in the stone1 even though somewhat unskilfully1 yet most pleasingly depicted4 ,footnote3 ,from ,goethe's ,italienische ,reise4 ,i take this translation 7by permission7 from ,percy ,gardner's ,new ,chapters in ,greek ,history1 p4 #cai4 ,as a further illustration of the same point an epitaph may be quoted equally striking for its simple human feeling and for its absence of any suggestion of a continuance of the life of the dead4 ,farewell is the first and last word2 no hint of a joyful resurrection4 ,farewell1 tomb of ,melite2 the best of women lies here1 who loved her loving husband1 ,onesimus2 thou wert most excellent1 wherefore he longs for thee after thy death1 for thou wert the best of wives4--,farewell1 thou too1 dearest husband1 only love my children4 ,but however characteristic this attitude of the ,greeks may appear to be1 especially by contrast with the ,christian view1 it would be a mistake to suppose that it was the only one with which they were acquainted1 or that they had put aside altogether1 as indifferent or insoluble1 the whole problem of a future world4 ,as we have seen1 they did believe in the survival of the spirit1 and in a world of shades ruled by ,pluto and ,persephone4 ,they had legends of a place of bliss for the good and a place of torment for the wicked2 and if this conception did not haunt their mind1 as it haunted that of the mediaeval ,christian1 yet at times it was certainly present to them1 with terror or with hope4 ,that the ,greek was not unacquainted with the fear of hell we know from the passage of ,plato1 part of which we have already quoted1 where in speaking of the mendicant prophets who professed to make atonement for sin he says that their ministrations are equally at the service of the living and 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 ,and on the other hand we hear1 as early as the date of the ,odyssey1 of the ,elysian fields reserved for the souls of the favourites of the gods4 ,the ,greeks1 then1 were not without hope and fear concerning the world to come1 however little these feelings may have coloured their daily life2 and there was one phase of their religion1 which appears to have been specially occupied with this theme4 ,in almost every ,greek city we hear of mysteries1 the most celebrated being1 of course1 those of ,eleusis in ,attica4 ,what exactly these mysteries were we are very imperfectly informed2 but so much1 at least1 is clear that by means of a scenic symbolism1 representing the myth of ,demeter and ,kore or of ,dionysus ,zagreus1 hopes were held out to the initiated not only of a happy life on earth1 but of a happy immortality beyond4 ,blessed1 says ,pindar1 blessed is he who has seen these things before he goes under the hollow earth4 ,he knows the end of life1 and he knows its god-given origin4 ,and it is presumably to the initiated that the same poet promises the joys of his thoroughly ,greek heaven4 ,for them1 he says1 shineth below the strength of the sun while in our world it is night1 and the space of crimson-flowered meadows before their city is full of the shade of frankincense trees1 and of fruits of gold4 ,and some in horses1 and in bodily feats1 and some in dice1 and some in harp-playing have delight2 and among them thriveth all fair-flowering bliss2 and fragrance streameth ever through the lovely land1 as they mingle incense of every kind upon the altars of the gods4 ,footnote3 ,pindar1 ,thren4 ,i4-- ,translation by ,e4 ,myers4 ,the ,greeks1 then1 were not unfamiliar with the conception of heaven and hell3 only1 and that is the point to which we must return and on which we must insist1 the conception did not dominate and obsess their mind4 ,they may have had their spasms of terror1 but these they could easily relieve by the performance of some atoning ceremony2 they may have had their thrills of hope1 but these they would only indulge at the crisis of some imposing ritual4 ,the general tenor of their life does not seem to have been affected by speculations about the world beyond4 ,of age indeed and of death they had a horror proportional to their acute and sensitive enjoyment of life2 but their natural impulse was to turn for consolation to the interests and achievements of the world they knew1 and to endeavour to soothe1 by memories and hopes of deeds future and past1 the inevitable pains of failure and decay4 ,section #ab4 ,critical and ,sceptical ,opinion in ,greece4 ,and now let us turn to a point for which perhaps some readers have long been waiting1 and with which they may have expected us to begin rather than to end4 ,so far1 in considering the part played by religion in ,greek ,life1 we have assumed the position of orthodoxy4 ,we have endeavoured to place ourselves at the standpoint of the man who did not criticise or reflect1 but accepted simply1 as a matter of course1 the tradition handed down to him by his fathers4 ,only so1 if at all1 was it possible for us to detach ourselves from our habitual preconceptions1 and to regard the pagan mythology not as a graceful invention of the poets1 but as a serious and1 at the time1 a natural and inevitable way of looking at the world4 ,now1 however1 it is time to turn to the other side1 and to consider the ,greek religion as it appeared to contemporary critics4 ,for critics there were1 and sceptics1 or rather1 to put it more exactly1 there was a critical age succeeding an age of faith4 ,as we trace1 however imperfectly1 the development of the ,greek mind1 we can observe their intellect and their moral sense expanding beyond the limits of their creed4 ,either as sympathetic1 though candid1 friends1 or as avowed enemies1 they bring to light its contradictions and defects2 and as a result of the process one of two things happens4 ,either the ancient conception of the gods is transformed in the direction of monotheism1 or it is altogether swept away1 and a new system of the world built up1 on the basis of natural science or of philosophy4 ,these tendencies of thought we must now endeavour to trace2 for we should have formed but an imperfect idea of the scope of the religious consciousness of the ,greeks if we confined ourselves to what we may call their orthodox faith4 ,it is in their most critical thinkers1 in ,euripides and ,plato1 that the religious sense is most fully and keenly developed2 and it is in the philosophy that supervened upon the popular creed1 rather than in the popular creed itself1 that we shall find the highest and most spiritual reaches of their thought4 ,let us endeavour1 then1 in the first place to realise to ourselves how the ,greek religion must have appeared to one who approached it not from the side of unthinking acquiescence1 but with the idea of discovering for himself how far it really met the needs and claims of the intellect and the moral sense4 ,let us imagine him turning to his ,homer1 to those poems which were the ,bible of the ,greek1 his ultimate appeal both in religion and in ethics2 which were taught in the schools1 quoted in the law-courts1 recited in the streets2 and from which the teacher drew his moral instances1 the rhetorician his allusions1 the artist his models1 every man his conception of the gods4 ,let us imagine some candid and ingenuous youth1 turning to his ,homer and repeating1 say1 the following passage of the ,iliad3-- ,among the other gods fell grievous bitter strife1 and their hearts were carried diverse in their breasts4 ,and they clashed together with a great noise1 and the wide earth groaned1 and the clarion of great ,heaven rang around4 ,zeus heard as he sate upon ,olympus1 and his heart within him laughed pleasantly when he beheld that strife of the gods4 ,footnote3 ,iliad xxi4 #che4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,at this point1 let us suppose1 the reader pauses to reflect2 and is struck1 for the first time1 with a shock of surprise by the fact that the gods should be not only many but opposed2 and opposed on what issue8 a purely human one6 a war between ,greeks and ,trojans for the possession of a beautiful woman6 ,into such a contest the immortal gods descend1 fight with human weapons1 and dispute in human terms6 ,where is the single purpose that should mark the divine will8 where the repose of the wisdom that foreordained and knows the end8 ,not1 it is clear1 in this motley array of capricious and passionate wills6 ,then1 perhaps1 in ,zeus1 ,zeus1 who is lord of all8 ,he1 at least1 will impose upon this mob of recalcitrant deities the harmony which the pious soul demands4 ,he1 whose rod shakes the sky1 will arise and assert the law4 ,he1 in his majesty1 will speak the words--alas6 what words6 ,let us take them straight from the lips of the ,king of gods and men3-- ,hearken to me1 all gods and all ye goddesses1 that ,i may tell you that my heart within my breast commandeth me4 ,one thing let none essay1 be it goddess or be it god1 to wit1 to thwart my saying2 approve ye it all together1 that with all speed ,i may accomplish these things4 ,whomsoever ,i shall perceive minded to go1 apart from the gods1 to succour ,trojans or ,danaans1 chastened in no seemly wise shall he return to ,olympus1 or ,i will take and cast him into misty ,tartaros1 right far away1 where is the deepest gulf beneath the earth2 there are the gate of iron and threshold of bronze1 as far beneath ,hades as heaven is high above the earth3 then shall ye know how far ,i am mightiest of all gods4 ,go to now1 ye gods1 make trial that ye all may know4 ,fasten ye a rope of gold from heaven1 and all ye gods lay hold thereof and all goddesses2 yet could ye not drag from heaven to earth ,zeus1 counsellor supreme1 not though ye toiled sore4 ,but once ,i likewise were minded to draw with all my heart1 then should ,i draw ye up with very earth and sea withal4 ,thereafter would ,i bind the rope about a pinnacle of ,olympus1 and so should all those things be hung in air4 ,by so much am ,i beyond gods and beyond men4 ,footnote3 ,iliad viii4 #e4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,and is that all8 ,in the divine tug of war ,zeus is more than a match for all the other gods together6 ,is it on this that the lordship of heaven and earth depends8 ,this that we are to worship as highest1 we of the brain and heart and soul8 ,and even so1 even admitting the ground of supremacy1 with what providence or consistency of purpose is it exercised8 ,why1 ,zeus himself is as capricious as the rest6 ,because ,thetis comes whining to him about an insult put upon ,achilles1 he interferes to change the whole course of the war1 and that too by means of a lying dream6 ,even his own direct decrees he can hardly be induced to observe4 ,his son ,sarpedon1 for example1 who is fated1 as he says himself1 to die1 he is yet at the last moment in half a mind to save alive6 ,how is such division possible in the will of the supreme god8 ,or is the fate of which he speaks something outside himself8 ,but if so1 then above him6 and if above him1 what is he8 ,not1 after all1 the highest1 not the supreme at all6 ,what then are we to worship8 ,what is this higher fate8 ,such would be the kind of questions that would vex our candid youth when he approached his ,homer from the side of theology4 ,nor would he fare any better if he took the ethical point of view4 ,the gods1 he would find1 who should surely at least attain to the human standard1 not only are capable of every phase of passion1 anger1 fear1 jealousy and1 above all1 love1 but indulge them all with a verve and an abandonment that might make the boldest libertine pause4 ,zeus himself1 for example1 expends upon the mere catalogue of his amours a good twelve lines of hexameter verse4 ,no wonder that ,hera is jealous1 and that her lord is driven to put her down in terms better suited to the lips of mortal husbands3 ,lady1 ever art thou imagining1 nor can ,i escape thee2 yet shalt thou in no wise have power to fulfil1 but wilt be the further from my heart2 that shall be even the worse for thee4 ,hide thou in silence and hearken to my bidding1 lest all the gods that are in ,olympus keep not off from thee my visitation1 when ,i put forth my hands unapproachable against thee4 ,footnote3 ,iliad i4 #efj4--,translated by ,leaf1 ,lang and ,myers4 ,section #ac4 ,ethical ,criticism4 ,the incongruity of all this with any adequate conception of deity is patent1 if once the critical attitude be adopted2 and it was adopted by some of the clearest and most religious minds of ,greece4 ,nay1 even orthodoxy itself did not refrain from a genial and sympathetic criticism4 ,aristophanes1 for example1 who1 if there had been an established church1 would certainly have been described as one of its main pillars1 does not scruple to represent his ,birds as issuing-- ,a warning and notices1 formally given1 ,to ,jove1 and all others residing in heaven1 ,forbidding them ever to venture again ,to trespass on our atmospheric domain1 ,with scandalous journeys1 to visit a list ,of ,alcmenas and ,semeles2 if they persist1 ,we warn them that means will be taken moreover ,to stop their gallanting and acting the lover1 ,footnote3 ,aristophanes1 ,birds #eef4--,translation by ,frere4 and ,heracles the glutton1 and ,dionysus1 the dandy and the coward1 are familiar figures of his comic stage4 ,the attitude of ,aristophanes1 it is true1 is not really critical1 but sympathetic2 it was no more his intention to injure the popular creed by his fun than it is the intention of the cartoons of ,punch to undermine the reputation of our leading statesmen4 ,on the contrary1 nothing popularises like genial ridicule2 and of this ,aristophanes was well aware4 ,but the same characteristics of the god which suggested the friendly burlesque of the comedian were also those which provoked the indignation and the disgust of more serious minds4 ,the poet ,pindar1 for example1 after referring to the story of a battle1 in which it was said gods had fought against gods1 breaks out into protest against a legend so little creditable to the divine nature3-- ,o my mouth1 fling this tale from thee1 for to speak evil of gods is a hateful wisdom1 and loud and unmeasured words strike a note that trembleth upon madness4 ,of such things talk thou not2 leave war and all strife of immortals aside4 ,footnote3 ,pind4 ,ol4 ,,ix #ed4--,translation by ,e4 ,myers4 ,and the same note is taken up with emphasis1 and reiterated in every quality of tone1 by such writers as ,euripides and ,plato4 ,the attitude of ,euripides towards the popular religion is so clearly and frankly critical that a recent writer has even gone so far as to maintain that his main object in the construction of his dramas was to discredit the myths he selected for his theme4 ,however that may have been1 it is beyond controversy true that the deep religious sense of this most modern of the ,greeks was puzzled and repelled by the tales he was bound by tradition to dramatize2 and that he put into the mouth of his characters reflexions upon the conduct of the gods which if they may not be taken as his own deliberate opinions1 are at least expressions of one aspect of his thought4 ,it was1 in fact1 impossible to reconcile with a profound and philosophic view of the divine nature the intrigues and amours1 partialities1 antipathies1 actions and counter-actions of these anthropomorphic deities4 ,consider1 for example1 the most famous of all the myths1 that of ,orestes1 to which we have already referred4 ,orestes1 it will be remembered1 was the son of ,agamemnon and ,clytemnestra4 ,agamemnon1 on his return from ,troy1 was murdered by ,clytemnestra4 ,orestes escapes2 but returns later1 at the instigation of ,apollo1 and kills his mother to avenge his father4 ,thereupon1 in punishment for his crime1 he is persecuted by the ,furies4 ,now the point which ,euripides seizes here is the conduct of ,apollo4 ,either it was right for ,orestes to kill his mother1 or it was wrong4 ,if wrong1 why did ,apollo command it8 ,if right1 why was ,orestes punished8 ,or are there1 as ,aeschylus would have it1 two rights1 one of ,apollo1 the other of the ,furies8 ,if so1 what becomes of that unity of the divine law after which every religious nature seeks8 ,phoebus1 cries the ,orestes of ,euripides1 prophet though he be1 deceived me4 ,i gave him my all1 ,i killed my mother in obedience to his command2 and in return ,i am undone myself4 ,footnote3 ,euripides1 ,iph4 ,taur4 #gaa ,the dilemma is patent2 and ,euripides makes no serious attempt to meet it4 ,or again1 to take another example1 less familiar1 but even more to the point--the tale of ,ion and ,creusa4 ,creusa has been seduced by ,apollo and has borne him a child1 the ,ion of the story4 ,this child she exposes1 and it is conveyed by ,hermes to ,delphi1 where at last it is found1 and recognised by the mother1 and a conventionally happy ending is patched up4 ,but the point on which the poet has insisted throughout is1 once more1 the conduct of ,apollo4 ,what is to be made of a god who seduces and deserts a mortal woman2 who suffers her to expose her child1 and leaves her in ignorance of its fate8 ,does he not deserve the reproaches heaped upon him by his victim8-- ,child of ,latona1 ,i cry to the sun--,i will publish thy shame6 ,thou with thy tresses a-shimmer with gold1 through the flowers as ,i came ,plucking the crocuses1 heaping my veil with their gold- litten flame1 ,cam'st on me1 caughtest the poor pallid wrists of mine hands1 and didst hale ,unto thy couch in the cave4 ',mother6 mother6' ,i shrieked out my wail-- ,wroughtest the pleasure of ,kypris2 no shame made the god-lover quail4 ,wretched ,i bare thee a child1 and ,i cast him with shuddering throe ,forth on thy couch where thou forcedst thy victim1 a bride-bed of woe4 ,lost--my poor baby and thine6 for the eagles devoured him3 and lo6 ,victory-songs to thy lyre dost thou chant6--,ho1 ,i call to thee1 son ,born to ,latona1 ,dispenser of boding1 on gold-gleaming throne ,midmost of earth who art sitting3--thine ears shall be pierced with my moan6 ,thy ,delos doth hate thee1 thy bay-boughs abhor thee1 ,by the palm-tree of feathery frondage that rose ,where in sacred travail ,latona bore thee ,in ,zeus's garden close4 ,footnote3 ,euripid4 ,ion1 #hhe4--,translated by ,a4 ,s4 ,way4 ,this is a typical example of the kind of criticism which ,euripides conveys through the lips of his characters on the stage4 ,and the points which he can only dramatically suggest1 ,plato expounds directly in his own person4 ,the quarrel of the philosopher with the myths is not that they are not true1 but that they are not edifying4 ,they represent the son in rebellion against the father--,zeus against ,kronos1 ,kronos against ,uranos2 they describe the gods as intriguing and fighting one against the other2 they depict them as changing their form divine into the semblance of mortal men2 lastly--culmination of horror6--they represent them as laughing1 positively laughing6--,or again1 to turn to a more metaphysical point1 if ,god be good1 it is argued by ,plato1 he cannot be the author of evil4 ,what then1 are we to make of the passage in ,homer where he says1 two urns stand upon the floor of ,zeus filled with his evil gifts1 and one with blessings4 ,to whomsoever ,zeus whose joy is in the lightning dealeth a mingled lot1 that man chanceth now upon ill and now again on good1 but to whom he giveth but of the bad kind1 him he bringeth to scorn1 and evil famine chaseth him over the goodly earth1 and he is a wanderer honoured of neither gods nor men4 ,footnote3 ,il4 xxiv4 #ebg--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,and again1 if ,god be true1 he cannot be the author of lies4 ,how then could he have sent1 as we are told he did1 lying dreams to men8-- ,clearly1 concludes the philosopher1 our current legends need revision2 in the interest of religion itself we must destroy the myths of the popular creed4 ,section #ad4 ,transition to ,monotheism4 ,the myths1 but not religion6 ,the criticism certainly of ,plato and probably of ,euripides was prompted by the desire not to discredit altogether the belief in the gods1 but to bring it into harmony with the requirements of a more fully developed consciousness4 ,the philosopher and the poet came not to destroy1 but to fulfil2 not to annihilate but to transform the popular theology4 ,such an intention1 strange as it may appear to us with our rigid creeds1 we shall see to be natural enough to the ,greek mind1 when we remember that the material of their religion was not a set of propositions1 but a more or less indeterminate body of traditions capable of being presented in the most various forms as the genius and taste of individual poets might direct4 ,and we find1 in fact1 that the most religious poets of ,greece1 those even who were most innocent of any intention to innovate on popular beliefs1 did nevertheless unconsciously tend to transform1 in accordance with their own conceptions1 the whole structure of the ,homeric theology4 ,taking over the legends of gods and heroes1 as narrated in poetry and tradition1 the earlier tragedians1 ,aeschylus and ,sophocles1 as they shaped and reshaped their material for the stage1 were evolving for themselves1 not in opposition to but as it were on the top of the polytheistic view1 the idea of a single supreme and righteous ,god4 ,the ,zeus of ,homer1 whose superiority1 as we saw1 was based on physical force1 grows1 under the hands of ,aeschylus1 into something akin to the ,jewish ,jehovah4 ,the inner experience of the poet drives him inevitably to this transformation4 ,born into the great age of ,greece1 coming to maturity at the crisis of her fate1 he had witnessed with his own eyes1 and assisted with his own hands the defeat of the ,persian host at ,marathon4 ,the event struck home to him like a judgment from heaven4 ,the ,nemesis that attends upon human pride1 the vengeance that follows crime1 henceforth were the thoughts that haunted and possessed his brain2 and under their influence he evolved for himself out of the popular idea of ,zeus the conception of a ,god of justice who marks and avenges crime4 ,read for example the following passage from the ,agamemnon and contrast it with the lines of ,homer quoted on page #db4 ,nothing could illustrate more strikingly the transformation that could be effected1 under the conditions of the ,greek religion1 in the whole conception of the divine power by one whose conscious intention1 nevertheless1 was not to innovate but to conserve4 ,zeus the high ,god6 ,whate'er be dim in doubt1 ,this can our thought track out-- ,the blow that fells the sinner is of ,god1 ,and as he wills1 the rod ,of vengeance smiteth sore4 ,one said of old ',the ,gods list not to hold ,a reckoning with him whose feet oppress ,the grace of holiness'-- ,an impious word6 for whensoe'er the sire ,breathed forth rebellious fire-- ,what time his household overflows the measure ,of bliss and health and treasure-- ,his children's children read the reckoning plain1 ,at last1 in tears and pain4 99 99 99 99 99 ,who spurns the shrine of ,right1 nor wealth nor power ,shall be to him a tower1 ,to guard him from the gulf3 there lies his lot1 ,where all things are forgot4 ,lust drives him on--lust1 desperate and wild ,fate's sin-contriving child-- ,and cure is none2 beyond concealment clear ,kindles sin's baleful glare4 ,as an ill coin beneath the wearing touch ,betrays by stain and smutch ,its metal false--such is the sinful wight4 ,before1 on pinions light1 ,fair pleasure flits1 and lures him childlike on1 ,while home and kin make moan ,beneath the grinding burden of his crime2 ,till1 in the end of time1 ,cast down of heaven1 he pours forth fruitless prayer ,to powers that will not hear4 ,footnote3 ,aesch4 ,agamem4 #cfg4--,translated by ,e4 ,d4 ,a4 ,morshead 7,the ,house of ,atreus74 ,and ,sophocles follows in the same path4 ,for him too ,zeus is no longer the god of physical strength2 he is the creator and sustainer of the moral law--of those laws of range sublime1 called into life throughout the high clear heaven1 whose father is ,olympus alone2 their parent was no race of mortal men1 no1 nor shall oblivion ever lay them to sleep2 a mighty god is in them1 and he grows not old4 ,footnote3 ,soph4 ,o4,t4 #hfe4--,translated by ,dr4 ,jebb4 ,such words imply a complete transformation of the ,homeric conception of ,divinity2 a transformation made indeed in the interests of religion1 but involving nevertheless1 and contrary1 no doubt1 to the intention of its authors1 a complete subversion of the popular creed4 ,once grant the idea of ,god as an eternal and moral ,power and the whole fabric of polytheism falls away4 ,the religion of the ,greeks1 as interpreted by their best minds1 annihilates itself4 ,zeus indeed is saved1 but only at the cost of all ,olympus4 ,section #ae4 ,metaphysical ,criticism4 ,while thus1 on the one hand1 the ,greek religion by its inner evolution1 was tending to destroy itself1 on the other hand it was threatened from without by the attack of what we should call the scientific spirit4 ,a system so frankly anthropomorphic was bound to be weak on the speculative side4 ,its appeal1 as we have seen1 was rather to the imagination than to the intellect1 by the presentation of a series of beautiful images1 whose contemplation might offer to the mind if not satisfaction1 at least acquiescence and repose4 ,a ,greek who was not too inquisitive was thus enabled to move through the calendar of splendid festivals and fasts1 charmed by the beauty of the ritual1 inspired by the chorus and the dance1 and drawing from the familiar legends the moral and aesthetic significance with which he had been accustomed from his boyhood to connect them1 but without ever raising the question1 ,is all this true8 ,does it really account for the existence and nature of the world8 ,once1 however1 the spell was broken1 once the intellect was aroused1 the inadequacy of the popular faith1 on the speculative side1 became apparent2 and the mind turned aside altogether from religion to work out its problems on its own lines4 ,we find accordingly1 from early times1 physical philosophers in ,greece free from all theological preconceptions1 raising from the very beginning the question of the origin of the world1 and offering solutions1 various indeed but all alike in this1 that they frankly accept a materialistic basis4 ,one derives all things from water1 another from air1 another from fire2 one insists upon unity1 another on a plurality of elements2 but all alike reject the supernatural1 and proceed on the lines of physical causation4 ,the opposition1 to use the modern phrase1 between science and religion1 was thus developed early in ancient ,greece2 and by the fifth century it is clear that it had become acute4 ,the philosopher ,anaxagoras was driven from ,athens as an atheist2 the same charge1 absurdly enough1 was one of the counts in the indictment of ,socrates2 and the physical speculations of the time are a favourite butt of that champion of orthodoxy1 ,aristophanes4 ,to follow up these speculations in detail would be to wander too far from our present purpose2 but it may be worth while to quote a passage from the great comedian1 to illustrate not indeed the value of the theories ridiculed1 but their generally materialistic character1 and their antagonism to the popular faith4 ,the passage selected is part of a dialogue between ,socrates and ,strepsiades1 one of his pupils2 and it is introduced by an address from the chorus of ,clouds1 the new divinities of the physicist3 ,,chorus ,,of ,,clouds4 ,our welcome to thee1 old man1 who would see the marvels that science can show3 ,and thou1 the high-priest of this subtlety feast1 say what would you have us bestow8 ,since there is not a sage for whom we'd engage our wonders more freely to do1 ,except1 it may be1 for ,prodicus3 he for his knowledge may claim them1 but you1 ,because as you go1 you glance to and fro1 and in dignified arrogance float2 ,and think shoes a disgrace1 and put on a grave face1 your acquaintance with us to denote4 ,,strepsiades4 ,oh earth6 what a sound1 how august and profound6 ,it fills me with wonder and awe4 ,,socrates4 ,these1 these then alone1 for true ,deities own1 the rest are all ,god-ships of straw4 ,,streps4 ,let ,zeus be left out3 ,he's a ,god beyond doubt2 come1 that you can scarcely deny4 ,,socr4 ,zeus indeed6 there's no ,zeus3 don't you be so obtuse4 ,,streps4 ,no ,zeus up above in the sky8 ,then you first must explain1 who it is sends the rain2 or ,i really must think you are wrong4 ,,socr4 ,well then1 be it known1 these send it alone3 ,i can prove it by argument strong4 ,was there ever a shower seen to fall in an hour when the sky was all cloudless and blue8 ,yet on a fine day1 when the clouds are away1 he might send one1 according to you4 ,,streps4 ,well1 it must be confessed1 that chimes in with the rest3 your words ,i am forced to believe4 ,yet before ,i had dreamed that the rain-water streamed from ,zeus and his chamber-pot sieve4 ,but whence then1 my friend1 does the thunder descend8 that does make us quake with affright6 ,,socr4 ,why1 'tis they1 ,i declare1 as they roll through the air4 ,,streps4 ,what the clouds8 did ,i hear you aright8 ,,socr4 ,ay3 for when to the brim filled with water they swim1 by ,necessity carried along1 ,they are hung up on high in the vault of the sky1 and so by ,necessity strong ,in the midst of their course1 they clash with great force1 and thunder away without end4 ,,streps4 ,but is it not ,he who compels this to be8 does not ,zeus this ,necessity send8 ,,socr4 ,no ,zeus have we there1 but a vortex of air4 ,,streps4 ,what6 ,vortex8 that's something ,i own4 ,i knew not before1 that ,zeus was no more1 but ,vortex was placed on his throne6 ,but ,i have not yet heard to what cause you referred the thunder's majestical roar4 ,,socr4 ,yes1 'tis they1 when on high full of water they fly1 and then1 as ,i told you before1 ,by compression impelled1 as they clash1 are compelled a terrible clatter to make4 ,,streps4 ,come1 how can that be8 ,i really don't see4 ,,socr4 ,yourself as my proof ,i will take4 ,have you never then ate the broth puddings you get when the ,panathenaea come round1 ,and felt with what might your bowels all night in turbulent tumult resound ,,streps4 ,by ,apollo1 'tis true1 there's a mighty to do1 and my belly keeps rumbling about2 ,and the puddings begin to clatter within and to kick up a wonderful rout3 ,quite gently at first1 papapax1 papapax1 but soon papappappax away1 ,till at last1 ,i'll be bound1 ,i can thunder as loud papapappappappappax as they4 ,,socr4 ,shalt thou then a sound so loud and profound from thy belly diminutive send1 ,and shall not the high and the infinite sky go thundering on without end8 ,for both1 you will find1 on an impulse of wind and similar causes depend4 ,,streps4 ,well1 but tell me from whom comes the bolt through the gloom1 with its awful and terrible flashes2 ,and wherever it turns1 some it singes and burns1 and some it reduces to ashes3 ,for this 'tis quite plain1 let who will send the rain1 that ,zeus against perjurers dashes ,,socr4 ,and how1 you old fool1 of a dark-ages school1 and an antidiluvian wit1 ,if the perjured they strike1 and not all men alike1 have they never ,cleonymus hit8 ,then of ,simon again1 and ,theorus explain3 known perjurers1 yet they escape4 ,but he smites his own shrine with these arrows divine1 and ,sunium1 ,attica's cape1 ,and the ancient gnarled oaks3 now what prompted those strokes8 ,they never forswore ,i should say4 ,,streps4 ,can't say that they do3 your words appear true4 ,whence comes then the thunderbolt1 pray8 ,,socr4 ,when a wind that is dry1 being lifted on high1 is suddenly pent into these1 ,it swells up their skin1 like a bladder1 within1 by ,necessity's changeless decrees3 ,till compressed very tight1 it bursts them outright1 and away with an impulse so strong1 ,that at last by the force and the swing of the course1 it takes fire as it whizzes along4 ,,streps4 ,that's exactly the thing1 that ,i suffered one spring1 at the great feast of ,zeus1 ,i admit3 ,i'd a paunch in the pot1 but ,i wholly forgot about making the safety-valve slit4 ,so it spluttered and swelled1 while the saucepan ,i held1 till at last with a vengeance it flew3 ,took me quite by surprise1 dung-bespattered my eyes1 and scalded my face black and blue6 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,clouds #ceh4--,translation by ,b4 ,b4 ,rogers4 ,nothing could be more amusing than this passage as a burlesque of the physical theories of the time2 and nothing could better illustrate the quarrel between science and religion1 as it presents itself on the surface to the plain man4 ,but there is more in the quarrel than appears at first sight4 ,the real sting of the comedy from which we have quoted lies in the assumption1 adopted throughout the play1 that the atheist is also necessarily anti-social and immoral4 ,the physicist1 in the person of ,socrates1 is identified with the sophist2 on the one hand he is represented as teaching the theory of material causation1 on the other the art of lying and deceit4 ,the object of ,strepsiades in attending the school is to learn how not to pay his debts2 the achievement of his son is to learn how to dishonour his father4 ,the cult of reason is identified by the poet with the cult of self-interest2 the man who does not believe in the gods cannot1 he implies1 believe in the family or the state4 ,section #af4 ,metaphysical ,reconstruction--,plato4 ,the argument is an old one into whose merits this is not the place to enter4 ,but one thing is certain1 that the sceptical spirit which was invading religion1 was invading also politics and ethics2 and that towards the close of the fifth century before ,christ1 ,greece and in particular ,athens was overrun by philosophers1 who not only did not scruple to question the foundations of social and moral obligation1 but in some cases explicitly taught that there were no foundations at all2 that all law was a convention based on no objective truth2 and that the only valid right was the natural right of the strong to rule4 ,it was into this chaos of sceptical opinion that ,plato was born2 and it was the desire to meet and subdue it that was the motive of his philosophy4 ,like ,aristophanes1 he traced the root of the evil to the decay of religious belief2 and though no one1 as we have seen1 was more trenchant than he in his criticism of the popular faith1 no one1 on the other hand1 was more convinced of the necessity of some form of religion as a basis for any stable polity4 ,the doctrine of the physicists1 he asserts1 that the world is the result of nature and chance has immediate and disastrous effects on the whole structure of social beliefs4 ,the conclusion inevitably follows that human laws and institutions1 like everything else1 are accidental products2 that they have no objective validity1 no binding force on the will2 and that the only right that has any intelligible meaning is the right which is identical with might4 ,footnote3 ,see e4g4 ,plato's ,laws4 ,x4 #hhg4 ,against these conclusions the whole soul of ,plato rose in revolt4 ,to reconstruct religion1 he was driven back upon metaphysics2 and elaborated at last the system which from his day to our own has not ceased to perplex and fascinate the world1 and whose rare and radiant combination of gifts1 speculative1 artistic1 and religious1 marks the highest reach of the genius of the ,greeks1 and perhaps of mankind4 ,to attempt an analysis of that system would lead us far from our present task4 ,all that concerns us here1 is its religious significance2 and of that1 all we can note is that ,plato1 the deepest thinker of the ,greeks1 was also among the farthest removed from the popular faith4 ,the principle from which he derives the ,world is the absolute ,good1 or ,god1 of whose ideas the phenomena of sense are imperfect copies4 ,to the divine intelligence man by virtue of his reason is akin4 ,but the reason in him has fallen into bondage of the flesh2 and it is the task of his life on earth1 or rather of a series of lives 7for ,plato believed in successive re-incarnations71 to deliver this diviner element of his soul1 and set it free to re-unite with ,god4 ,to the description of the divine life thus prepared for the soul1 from which she fell but to which she may return1 ,plato has devoted some of his finest passages2 and if we are to indicate1 as we are bound to do1 the highest point to which the religious consciousness of the ,greeks attained1 we must not be deterred1 by dread of the obscurity necessarily attaching to an extract1 from a citation from the most impassioned of his dialogues4 ,speaking of that divine madness1 to which we have already had occasion to refer1 he says that this is the madness which is imputed to him who1 when he sees the beauty of earth1 is transported with the recollection of the true beauty2 he would like to fly away1 but he cannot2 he is like a bird fluttering and looking upward and careless of the world below2 and he is therefore thought to be mad4 ,and ,i have shown this of all inspirations to be the noblest and highest and the off-spring of the highest to him who has or shares in it1 and that he who loves the beautiful is called a lover because he partakes of it4 ,for every soul of man has in the way of nature beheld true being2 this was the condition of her passing into the form of man4 ,but all souls do not easily recall the things of the other world2 they may have seen them for a short time only1 or they may have been unfortunate in their earthly lot1 and having had their hearts turned to unrighteousness through some corrupting influence1 they may have lost the memory of the holy things which once they saw4 ,few only retain an adequate remembrance of them2 and they1 when they behold here any image of that other world1 are rapt in amazement2 but they are ignorant of what that rapture means1 because they do not clearly perceive4 ,for there is no clear light of justice or temperance1 or any of the higher ideas which are precious to souls1 in the earthly copies of them3 they are seen through a glass dimly2 and there are few who1 going to the images1 behold in them the realities1 and these only with difficulty4 ,there was a time when1 with the rest of the happy band1 they saw beauty shining in brightness--we philosophers following in the train of ,zeus1 others in company with other gods2 and then we beheld the beatific vision and were initiated into a mystery which may be truly called most blessed1 celebrated by us in our state of innocence1 before we had any experience of evils to come1 when we were admitted to the sight of apparitions innocent and simple and calm and happy1 which we beheld shining in pure light1 pure ourselves and not yet enshrined in that living tomb which we carry about1 now that we are imprisoned in the body1 like an oyster in his shell4 ,let me linger over the memory of scenes which have passed away4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,phaedrus4 #bdi;d4--,jowett's translation4 ,section #ag4 ,summary4 ,at this point1 where religion passes into philosophy1 the discussion which has occupied the present chapter must close4 ,so far it was necessary to proceed1 in order to show how wide was the range of the religious consciousness of the ,greeks1 and through how many points of view it passed in the course of its evolution4 ,but its development was away from the ,greek and towards the ,christian2 and it will therefore be desirable1 in conclusion1 to fix once more in our minds that central and primary phase of the ,greek religion under the influence of which their civilisation was formed into a character definite and distinct in the history of the world4 ,this phase will be the one which underlay and was reflected in the actual cult and institutions of ,greece and must therefore be regarded not as a product of critical and self-conscious thought1 but as an imaginative way of conceiving the world stamped as it were passively on the mind by the whole course of concrete experience4 ,of its character we have attempted to give some kind of account in the earlier part of this chapter1 and we have now only to summarise what was there said4 ,the ,greek religion1 then1 as we saw1 in this its characteristic phase1 involved a belief in a number of deities who on the one hand were personifications of the powers of nature and of the human soul1 on the other the founders and sustainers of civil society4 ,to the operations of these beings the whole of experience was referred1 and that1 not merely in an abstract and unintelligible way1 as when we say that the world was created by ,god1 but in a quite precise and definite sense1 the action of the gods being conceived to be the same in kind as that of man1 proceeding from similar motives1 directed to similar ends1 and accomplished very largely by similar1 though much superior means4 ,by virtue of this uncritical and unreflective mode of apprehension the ,greeks1 we said1 were made at home in the world4 ,their religion suffused and transformed the facts both of nature and of society1 interpreting what would otherwise have been unintelligible by the idea of an activity which they could understand because it was one which they were constantly exercising themselves4 ,being thus supplied with a general explanation of the world1 they could put aside the question of its origin and end1 and devote themselves freely and fully to the art of living1 unhampered by scruples and doubts as to the nature of life4 ,consciousness similar to their own was the ultimate fact2 and there was nothing therefore with which they might not form intelligible and harmonious relations4 ,and as on the side of metaphysics they were delivered from the perplexities of speculation1 so on the side of ethics they were undisturbed by the perplexities of conscience4 ,their religion1 it is true1 had a bearing on their conduct1 but a bearing1 as we saw1 external and mechanical4 ,if they sinned they might be punished directly by physical evil2 and from this evil religion might redeem them by the appropriate ceremonies of purgation4 ,but on the other hand they were not conscious of a spiritual relation to ,god1 of sin as an alienation from the divine power and repentance as the means of restoration to grace4 ,the pangs of conscience1 the fears and hopes1 the triumph and despair of the soul which were the preoccupations of the ,puritan1 were phenomena unknown to the ancient ,greek4 ,he lived and acted undisturbed by scrupulous introspection2 and the function of his religion was rather to quiet the conscience by ritual than to excite it by admonition and reproof4 ,from both these points of view1 the metaphysical and the ethical1 the ,greeks were brought by their religion into harmony with the world4 ,neither the perplexities of the intellect nor the scruples of the conscience intervened to hamper their free activity4 ,their life was simple1 straightforward and clear2 and their consciousness directed outwards upon the world1 not perplexedly absorbed in the contemplation of itself4 ,on the other hand1 this harmony which was the essence of the ,greek civilisation1 was a temporary compromise1 not a final solution4 ,it depended on presumptions of the imagination1 not on convictions of the intellect2 and as we have seen1 it destroyed itself by the process of its own development4 ,the beauty1 the singleness1 and the freedom which attracts us in the consciousness of the ,greek was the result of a poetical view of the world1 which did but anticipate in imagination an ideal that was not realised in fact or in thought4 ,it depended on the assumption of anthropomorphic gods1 an assumption which could not stand before the criticism of reason1 and either broke down into scepticism1 or was developed into the conception of a single supreme and spiritual power4 ,and even apart from this internal evolution1 from this subversion of its ideal basis1 the harmony established by the ,greek religion was at the best but partial and incomplete4 ,it was a harmony for life1 but not for death4 ,the more completely the ,greek felt himself to be at home in the world1 the more happily and freely he abandoned himself to the exercise of his powers1 the more intensely and vividly he lived in action and in passion1 the more alien1 bitter1 and incomprehensible did he find the phenomena of age and death4 ,on this problem1 so far as we can judge1 he received from his religion but little light1 and still less consolation4 ,the music of his brief life closed with a discord unresolved2 and even before reason had brought her criticism to bear upon his creed1 its deficiency was forced upon him by his feeling4 ,thus the harmony which we have indicated as the characteristic result of the ,greek religion contained none of the conditions of completeness or finality4 ,for on the one hand there were elements which it was never able to include2 and on the other1 its hold even over those which it embraced was temporary and precarious4 ,the eating of the tree of knowledge drove the ,greeks from their paradise2 but the vision of that ,eden continues to haunt the mind of man1 not in vain1 if it prophesies in a type the end to which his history moves4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,state ,section #a4 ,the ,greek ,state a ,city4 ,the present kingdom of ,greece is among the smallest of ,european states2 but to the ,greeks it would have appeared too large to be a state at all4 ,within that little peninsular whose whole population and wealth are so insignificant according to modern ideas1 were comprised in classical times not one but many flourishing polities4 ,and the conception of an amalgamation of these under a single government was so foreign to the ,greek idea1 that even to ,aristotle1 the clearest and most comprehensive thinker of his age1 it did not present itself even as a dream4 ,to him1 as to every ancient ,greek1 the state meant the ,city--meant1 that is to say1 an area about the size of an ,english county1 with a population1 perhaps1 of some hundred thousand1 self-governing and independent of any larger political whole4 ,if we can imagine the various ,county ,councils of ,england emancipated from the control of ,parliament and set free to make their own laws1 manage their own finance and justice1 raise troops and form with one another alliances1 offensive and defensive1 we may form thus some general idea of the political institutions of the ,greeks and some measure of their difference from our own4 ,nor must it be supposed that the size of the ,greek state was a mere accident in its constitution1 that it might have been indefinitely enlarged and yet regained its essential character4 ,on the contrary1 the limitation of size belonged to its very notion4 ,the greatest state1 says ,aristotle1 is not the one whose population is most numerous2 on the contrary1 after a certain limit of increase has been passed1 the state ceases to be a state at all4 ,ten men are too few for a city2 a hundred thousand are too many4 ,not only ,london1 it seems1 but every one of our larger towns1 would have been too big for the ,greek idea of a state2 and as for the ,british empire1 the very conception of it would have been impossible to the ,greeks4 ,clearly1 their view on this point is fundamentally different from our own4 ,their civilisation was one of city-states1 not of kingdoms and empires2 and their whole political outlook was necessarily determined by this condition4 ,generalising from their own experience1 they had formed for themselves a conception of the state not the less interesting to us that it is unfamiliar2 and this conception it will be the business of the present chapter to illustrate and explain4 ,section #b4 ,the ,relation of the ,state to the ,citizen4 ,first1 let us consider the relation of the state to the citizens--that is to say1 to that portion of the community1 usually a minority1 which was possessed of full political rights4 ,it is here that we have the key to that limitation of size which we have seen to be essential to the idea of the city-state4 ,for1 in the ,greek view1 to be a citizen of a state did not merely imply the payment of taxes1 and the possession of a vote2 it implied a direct and active co-operation in all the functions of civil and military life4 ,a citizen was normally a soldier1 a judge1 and a member of the governing assembly2 and all his public duties he performed not by deputy1 but in person4 ,he must be able frequently to attend the centre of government2 hence the limitation of territory4 ,he must be able to speak and vote in person in the assembly2 hence the limitation of numbers4 ,the idea of representative government never occurred to the ,greeks2 but if it had occurred to them1 and if they had adopted it1 it would have involved a revolution in their whole conception of the citizen4 ,of that conception1 direct personal service was the cardinal point--service in the field as well as in the council2 and to substitute for personal service the mere right to a vote would have been to destroy the form of the ,greek state4 ,such being the idea the ,greeks had formed1 based on their own experience1 of the relation of the citizen to the state1 it follows that to them a society so complex as our own would hardly have answered to the definition of a state at all4 ,rather they would have regarded it as a mere congeries of unsatisfactory human beings1 held together1 partly by political1 partly by economic compulsion1 but lacking that conscious identity of interest with the community to which they belong which alone constitutes the citizen4 ,a man whose main pre-occupation should be with his trade or his profession1 and who should only become aware of his corporate relations when called upon for his rates and taxes--a man1 that is to say1 in the position of an ordinary ,englishman--would not have seemed to the ,greeks to be a full and proper member of a state4 ,for the state1 to them1 was more than a machinery1 it was a spiritual bond2 and public life1 as we call it1 was not a thing to be taken up and laid aside at pleasure1 but a necessary and essential phase of the existence of a complete man4 ,this relation of the citizen to the state1 as it was conceived by the ,greeks1 is sometimes described as though it involved the sacrifice of the individual to the whole4 ,and in a certain sense1 perhaps1 this is true4 ,aristotle1 for instance1 declares that no one must suppose he belongs to himself1 but rather that all alike belong to the state2 and ,plato1 in the construction of his ideal republic1 is thinking much less of the happiness of the individual citizens1 than of the symmetry and beauty of the whole as it might appear to a disinterested observer from without4 ,certainly it would have been tedious and irksome to any but his own ideal philosopher to live under the rule of that perfect polity4 ,individual enterprise1 bent1 and choice is rigorously excluded4 ,nothing escapes the net of legislation1 from the production of children to the fashion of houses1 clothes1 and food4 ,it is absurd1 says the ruthless logic of this mathematician among the poets1 for one who would regulate public life to leave private relations uncontrolled2 if there is to be order at all1 it must extend through and through2 no moment1 no detail must be withdrawn from the grasp of law4 ,and though in this1 ,plato1 no doubt1 goes far beyond the common sense of the ,greeks1 yet he is not building altogether in the air4 ,the republic which he desiderates was realised1 as we shall see1 partially at least1 in ,sparta4 ,so that his insistence on the all-pervading domination of the state1 exaggerated though it be1 is exaggerated on the actual lines of ,greek practice1 and may be taken as indicative of a real distinction and even antithesis between their point of view and that which prevails at present in most modern states4 ,but on the other hand such a phrase as the sacrifice of the individual to the whole1 to this extent at least is misleading1 that it presupposes an opposition between the end of the individual and that of the ,state1 such as was entirely foreign to the ,greek conception4 ,the best individual1 in their view1 was also the best citizen2 the two ideals not only were not incompatible1 they were almost indistinguishable4 ,when ,aristotle defines a state as an association of similar persons for the attainment of the best life possible1 he implies not only that society is the means whereby the individual attains his ideal1 but also that that ideal includes the functions of public life4 ,the state in his view is not merely the convenient machinery that raises a man above his animal wants and sets him free to follow his own devices2 it is itself his end1 or at least a part of it4 ,and from this it follows that the regulations of the state were not regarded by the ,greeks--as they are apt to be by modern men--as so many vexatious1 if necessary1 restraints on individual liberty2 but rather as the expression of the best and highest nature of the citizen1 as the formula of the conduct which the good man would naturally prescribe to himself4 ,so that1 to get a clear conception of what was at least the ,greek ideal1 however imperfectly it may have been attained in practice1 we ought to regard the individual not as sacrificed to1 but rather as realising himself in the whole4 ,we shall thus come nearer to what seems to have been the point of view not only of ,aristotle and of ,plato1 but also of the average ,greek man4 ,section #c4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,law4 ,for nothing is more remarkable in the political theory of the ,greeks than the respect they habitually express for law4 ,early legislators were believed to have been specially inspired by the divine power--,lycurgus1 for instance1 by ,apollo1 and ,minos by ,zeus2 and ,plato regards it as a fundamental condition of the well-being of any state that this view should prevail among its citizens4 ,nor was this conception of the divine origin of law confined to legend and to philosophy2 we find it expressed in the following passage of ,demosthenes1 addressed to a jury of average ,athenians1 and representing at any rate the conventional and orthodox1 if not the critical view of the ,greek public3 ,the whole life of men1 ,o ,athenians1 whether they inhabit a great city or a small one1 is governed by nature and by laws4 ,of these1 nature is a thing irregular1 unequal1 and peculiar to the individual possessor2 laws are regular1 common1 and the same for all4 ,nature1 if it be depraved1 has often vicious desires2 therefore you will find people of that sort falling into error4 ,laws desire what is just and honourable and useful2 they seek for this1 and1 when it is found1 it is set forth as a general ordinance1 the same and alike for all2 and that is law1 which all men ought to obey for many reasons1 and especially because every law is an invention and gift of the ,gods1 a resolution of wise men1 a corrective of errors intentional and unintentional1 a compact of the whole state1 according to which all who belong to the state ought to live4 ,footnote3 ,demosth4 in ,aristogeit4 ,section #ag4--,translation by ,c4 ,r4 ,kennedy4 ,in this opposition of ,law1 as the universal principle1 to ,nature1 as individual caprice1 is implied a tacit identification of ,law and ,justice4 ,the identification1 of course1 is never complete in any state1 and frequently enough is not even approximate4 ,no people were more conscious of this than the ,greeks1 none1 as we shall see later1 pushed it more vigorously home4 ,but still1 the positive conception which lay at the root of their society was that which finds expression in the passage we have quoted1 and which is stated still more explicitly in the ,memorabilia of ,xenophon1 where that admirable example of the good and efficient citizen represents his hero ,socrates as maintaining1 without hesitation or reserve1 that that which is in accordance with law is just4 ,the implication1 of course1 is not that laws cannot be improved1 that they do at any point adequately correspond to justice2 but that justice has an objective and binding validity1 and that ,law is a serious and on the whole a successful attempt to embody it in practice4 ,this was the conviction predominant in the best period of ,greece2 the conviction under which her institutions were formed and flourished1 and whose overthrow by the philosophy of a critical age was coincident with1 if it was not the cause of1 her decline4 ,section #d4 ,artisans and ,slaves4 ,we have now arrived at a general idea of the nature of the ,greek state1 and of its relations to the individual citizen4 ,but there were also members of the state who were not citizens at all2 there was the class of labourers and traders1 who1 in some states at least1 had no political rights2 and the class of slaves who had nowhere any rights at all4 ,for in the ,greek conception the citizen was an aristocrat4 ,his excellence was thought to consist in public activity2 and to the performance of public duties he ought therefore to be able to devote the greater part of his time and energy4 ,but the existence of such a privileged class involved the existence of a class of producers to support them2 and the producers1 by the nature of their calling1 be they slave or free1 were excluded from the life of the perfect citizen4 ,they had not the necessary leisure to devote to public business2 neither had they the opportunity to acquire the mental and physical qualities which would enable them to transact it worthily4 ,they were therefore regarded by the ,greeks as an inferior class2 in some states1 in ,sparta1 for example1 and in ,thebes1 they were excluded from political rights2 and even in ,athens1 the most democratic of all the ,greek communities1 though they were admitted to the citizenship and enjoyed considerable political influence1 they never appear to have lost the stigma of social inferiority4 ,and the distinction which was thus more or less definitely drawn in practice between the citizens proper and the productive class1 was even more emphatically affirmed in theory4 ,aristotle1 the most balanced of all the ,greek thinkers and the best exponent of the normal trend of their ideas1 excludes the class of artisans from the citizenship of his ideal state on the ground that they are debarred by their occupation from the characteristic excellence of man4 ,and ,plato1 though here as elsewhere he pushes the normal view to excess1 yet1 in his insistence on the gulf that separates the citizen from the mechanic and the trader1 is in sympathy with the general current of ,greek ideas4 ,his ideal state is one which depends mainly on agriculture2 in which commerce and exchange are reduced to the smallest possible dimensions2 in which every citizen is a landowner1 forbidden to engage in trade2 and in which the productive class is excluded from all political rights4 ,the obverse then1 of the ,greek citizen1 who realised in the state his highest life1 was an inferior class of producers who realised only the means of subsistence4 ,but within this class again was a distinction yet more fundamental--the distinction between free men and slaves4 ,in the majority of the ,greek states the slaves were the greater part of the population2 in ,athens1 to take an extreme case1 at the close of the fourth century1 they are estimated at #djj1jjj1 to #ajj1jjj citizens4 ,they were employed not only in domestic service1 but on the fields1 in factories and in mines1 and performed1 in short1 a considerable part of the productive labour in the state4 ,a whole large section1 then1 of the producers in ancient ,greece had no social or political rights at all4 ,they existed simply to maintain the aristocracy of citizens1 for whom and in whom the state had its being4 ,nor was this state of things in the least repugnant to the average ,greek mind4 ,nothing is more curious to the modern man than the temper in which ,aristotle approaches this theme4 ,without surprise or indignation1 but in the tone of an impartial1 scientific inquirer1 he asks himself the question whether slavery is natural1 and answers it in the affirmative4 ,for1 he argues1 though in any particular case1 owing to the uncertain chances of fortune and war1 the wrong person may happen to be enslaved1 yet1 broadly speaking1 the general truth remains1 that there are some men so inferior to others that they ought to be despotically governed1 by the same right and for the same good end that the body ought to be governed by the soul4 ,such men1 he maintains1 are slaves by nature2 and it is as much to their interest to be ruled as it is to their masters' interest to rule them4 ,to this class belong1 for example1 all who are naturally incapable of any but physical activity4 ,these should be regarded as detachable limbs1 so to speak1 of the man who owns them1 instruments of his will1 like hands and feet2 or1 to use ,aristotle's own phrase1 the slave is a tool with life in it1 and the tool a lifeless slave4 ,the relation between master and slave thus frankly conceived by the ,greeks1 did not necessarily imply1 though it was quite compatible with1 brutality of treatment4 ,the slave might be badly treated1 no doubt1 and very frequently was1 for his master had almost absolute control over him1 life and limb2 but1 as we should expect1 it was clearly recognised by the best ,greeks that the treatment should be genial and humane4 ,there is a certain mutual profit and kindness1 says ,aristotle1 between master and slave1 in all cases where the relation is natural1 not merely imposed from without by convention or force4 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,pol4 ,i4 #g4 #abee b #ab ,and ,plato insists on the duty of neither insulting nor outraging a slave1 but treating him rather with even greater fairness than if he were in a position of equality4 ,still1 there can be no doubt that the ,greek conception of slavery is one of the points in which their view of life runs most counter to our own4 ,centuries of ,christianity have engendered in us the conviction1 or rather1 the instinct1 that men are equal at least to this extent1 that no one has a right explicitly to make of another a mere passive instrument of his will--that every man1 in short1 must be regarded as an end in himself4 ,yet even here the divergence between the ,greek and the modern view is less extreme than it appears at first sight4 ,for the modern man1 in spite of his perfectly genuine belief in equality 7in the sense in which we have just defined the word71 does nevertheless1 when he is confronted with racial differences1 recognise degrees of inferiority so extreme1 that he is practically driven into the ,aristotelian position that some men are naturally slaves4 ,the ,american1 for example1 will hardly deny that such is his attitude towards the negro4 ,the negro1 in theory1 is the equal1 politically and socially1 of the white man2 in practice1 he is excluded from the vote1 from the professions1 from the amenities of social intercourse1 and even1 as we have recently learnt1 from the most elementary forms of justice4 ,the general and a priori doctrine of equality is shattering itself against the actual facts2 and the old ,greek conception1 the slave by nature1 may be detected behind the mask of the ,christian ideal4 ,and while thus1 even in spite of itself1 the modern view is approximating to that of the ,greeks1 on the other hand the ,greek view by its own evolution was already beginning to anticipate our own4 ,even ,aristotle1 in formulating his own conception of slavery1 finds it necessary to observe that though it be true that some men are naturally slaves1 yet in practice1 under conditions which give the victory to force1 it may happen that the natural slave becomes the master1 and the natural master is degraded to a slave4 ,this is already a serious modification of his doctrine4 ,and other writers1 pushing the contention further1 deny altogether the theory of natural slavery4 ,no man1 says the poet ,philemon1 was ever born a slave by nature4 ,fortune only has put men in that position4 ,and ,euripides1 the most modern of the ,greeks1 writes in the same strain3 ,one thing only disgraces a slave1 and that is the name4 ,in all other respects a slave1 if he be good1 is no worse than a freeman4 ,footnote3 ,euripides1 ,ion4 #hed ,it seems then that the distinction between the ,greek and the modern point of view is not so profound or so final as it appears at first sight4 ,still1 the distinction1 broadly speaking1 is there4 ,the ,greeks1 on the whole1 were quite content to sacrifice the majority to the minority4 ,their position1 as we said at the outset1 was fundamentally aristocratic2 they exaggerated rather than minimised the distinctions between men--between the ,greek and the barbarian1 the freeman and the slave1 the gentleman and the artisan--regarding them as natural and fundamental1 not as the casual product of circumstances4 ,the equality which they sought in a well-ordered state was proportional not arithmetical--the attribution to each of his peculiar right1 not of equal rights to all4 ,some were born to rule1 others to serve2 some to be ends1 others to be means2 and the problem to be solved was not how to obliterate these varieties of tone1 but how to compose them into an ordered harmony4 ,in a modern state1 on the other hand1 though class distinctions are clearly enough marked1 yet the point of view from which they are regarded is fundamentally different4 ,they are attributed rather to accidents of fortune than to varieties of nature4 ,the artisan1 for example1 ranks no doubt lower than the professional man2 but no one maintains that he is a different kind of being1 incapable by nature1 as ,aristotle asserts1 of the characteristic excellence of man4 ,the distinction admitted is rather one of wealth than of natural calling1 and may be obliterated by ability and good luck4 ,neither in theory nor in practice does the modern state recognise any such gulf as that which1 in ancient ,greece1 separated the freeman from the slave1 or the citizen from the non-citizen4 ,section #e4 ,the ,greek ,state ,primarily ,military1 not ,industrial4 ,the source of this divergence of view must be sought in the whole circumstances and character of the ,greek states4 ,founded in the beginning by conquest1 many of them still retained1 in their internal structure1 the marks of their violent origin4 ,the citizens1 for example1 of ,sparta and of ,crete1 were practically military garrisons1 settled in the midst of a hostile population4 ,these were extreme cases2 and elsewhere1 no doubt1 the distinction between the conquerors and the conquered had disappeared4 ,still1 it had sufficed to mould the conception and ideal of the citizen as a member of a privileged and superior class1 whose whole energies were devoted to maintaining1 by council and war1 not only the prosperity1 but the very existence of the state4 ,the original citizen1 moreover1 would be an owner of land1 which would be tilled for him by a subject class4 ,productive labour would be stamped1 from the outset1 with the stigma of inferiority2 commerce would grow up1 if at all1 outside the limits of the landed aristocracy1 and would have a struggle to win for itself any degree of social and political recognition4 ,such were the conditions that produced the ,greek conception of the citizen4 ,in some states1 such as ,sparta1 they continued practically unchanged throughout the best period of ,greek history2 in others1 such as ,athens1 they were modified by the growth of a commercial population1 and where that was the case the conception of the citizen was modified too1 and the whole polity assumed a democratic character4 ,yet never1 as we have seen1 even in the most democratic states1 was the modern conception of equality admitted4 ,for1 in the first place1 the institution of slavery persisted1 to stamp the mass of producers as an inferior caste2 and in the second place1 trade1 even in the states where it was most developed1 hardly attained a preponderating influence4 ,the ancient state was and remained primarily military4 ,the great industrial questions which agitate modern states either did not exist at all in ,greece1 or assumed so simple a form that they did not rise to the surface of political life4 ,footnote3 ,there was1 of course1 the general opposition between rich and poor 7see below74 ,but not those infinitely complex relations which are the problems of modern statesmanship4 ,how curious it is1 for example1 from the modern point of view1 to find ,plato1 a citizen of the most important trading centre of ,greece1 dismissing in the following brief sentence the whole commercial legislation of his ideal state3 ,as to those common business transactions between private individuals in the market1 including1 if you please1 the contracts of artisans1 libels1 assaults1 law-proceedings1 and the impanelling of juries1 or again questions relating to tariffs1 and the collection of such customs as may be necessary in the market or in the harbours1 and generally all regulations of the market1 the police1 the custom-house1 and the like2 shall we condescend to legislate at all on such matters8 ,no1 it is not worth while to give directions on these points to good and cultivated men3 for in most cases they will have little difficulty in discovering all the legislation required4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 ,,iv4 #dbe4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,in fact1 throughout his treatise it is the non-commercial or military class with which ,plato is almost exclusively concerned2 and in taking that line he is so far at least in touch with reality that that class was the one which did in fact predominate in the ,greek state2 and that even where1 as in ,athens1 the productive class became an important factor in political life1 it was never able altogether to overthrow the aristocratic conception of the citizen4 ,and with that conception1 we must add1 was bound up the whole ,greek view of individual excellence4 ,the inferiority of the artisan and the trader1 historically established in the manner we have indicated1 was further emphasised by the fact that they were excluded by their calling from the cultivation of the higher personal qualities--from the training of the body by gymnastics and of the mind by philosophy2 from habitual conversance with public affairs2 from that perfect balance1 in a word1 of the physical1 intellectual1 and moral powers1 which was only to be attained by a process of self-culture1 incompatible with the pursuance of a trade for bread4 ,such1 at any rate1 was the opinion of the ,greeks4 ,we shall have occasion to return to it later4 ,meantime1 let us sum up the course of our investigation up to the present point4 ,we have seen that the state1 in the ,greek view1 must be so limited1 both in territory and population1 that all its citizens might be able to participate in person in its government and defence2 that it was based on fundamental class distinctions separating sharply the citizen from the non-citizen1 and the slave from the free2 that its end and purpose was that all-absorbing corporate activity in which the citizen found the highest expression of himself2 and that to that end the inferior classes were regarded as mere means--a point of view which finds its completest expression in the institution of slavery4 ,section #f4 ,forms of ,government in the ,greek ,state4 ,while1 however1 this was the general idea of the ,greek state1 it would be a mistake to suppose that it was everywhere embodied in a single permanent form of polity4 ,on the contrary1 the majority of the states in ,greece were in a constant state of flux2 revolution succeeded revolution with startling rapidity2 and in place of a single fixed type what we really get is a constant transition from one variety to another4 ,the general account we have given ought therefore to be regarded only as a kind of limiting formula1 embracing within its range a number of polities distinct and even opposed in character4 ,of these polities ,aristotle1 whose work is based on an examination of all the existing states of ,greece1 recognises three main varieties3 government by the one1 government by the few1 and government by the many2 and each of these is subdivided into two forms1 one good1 where the government has regard to the well-being of the whole1 the other bad1 where it has regard only to the well-being of those who govern4 ,the result is six forms1 of which three are good1 monarchy1 aristocracy1 and what he calls a polity par excellence2 three bad1 tyranny1 oligarchy1 and democracy4 ,of all these forms we have examples in ,greek history1 and indeed can roughly trace a tendency of the state to evolve through the series of them4 ,but by far the most important1 in the historical period1 are the two forms known as ,oligarchy and ,democracy2 and the reason of their importance is that they corresponded roughly to government by the rich and government by the poor4 ,rich and poor1 says ,aristotle1 are the really antagonistic members of a state4 ,the result is that the character of all existing polities is determined by the predominance of one or other of these classes1 and it is the common opinion that there are two polities and two only1 viz41 ,democracy and ,oligarchy4 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,pol4 ,,vi4 7,,iv7 #abia b#h4--,translation by ,welldon4 ,in other words1 the social distinction between rich and poor was exaggerated in ,greece into political antagonism4 ,in every state there was an oligarchic and a democratic faction2 and so fierce was the opposition between them1 that we may almost say that every ,greek city was in a chronic state of civil war1 having become1 as ,plato puts it1 not one city but two1 one comprising the rich and the other the poor1 who reside together on the same ground1 and are always plotting against one another4 ,footnote3 ,plat4 ,rep4 viii4 #eea--,translation by ,davies and ,vaughan ,section #g4 ,faction and ,anarchy4 ,this internal schism which ran through almost every state1 came to a head in the great ,peloponnesian war which divided ,greece at the close of the fifth century1 and in which ,athens and ,sparta1 the two chief combatants1 represented respectively the democratic and the oligarchic principles4 ,each appealed to the kindred faction in the states that were opposed to them2 and every city was divided against itself1 the party that was out for the moment plotting with the foreign foe to overthrow the party that was in4 ,thus the general ,greek conception of the ordered state was so far from being realised in practice that probably at no time in the history of the civilised world has anarchy more complete and cynical prevailed4 ,to appreciate the gulf that existed between the ideal and the fact1 we have only to contrast such a scheme as that set forth in the ,republic of ,plato with the following description by ,thucydides of the state of ,greece during the ,peloponnesian war3 ,not long afterwards the whole ,hellenic world was in commotion2 in every city the chiefs of the democracy and of the oligarchy were struggling1 the one to bring in the ,athenians1 the other the ,lacedaemonians4 ,now in time of peace1 men would have had no excuse for introducing either1 and no desire to do so2 but when they were at war and both sides could easily obtain allies to the hurt of their enemies and the advantage of themselves1 the dissatisfied party were only too ready to invoke foreign aid4 ,and revolution brought upon the cities of ,hellas many terrible calamities1 such as have been and always will be while human nature remains the same1 but which are more or less aggravated and differ in character with every new combination of circumstances4 ,in peace and prosperity both states and individuals are actuated by higher motives1 because they do not fall under the dominion of imperious necessities2 but war which takes away the comfortable provision of daily life is a hard master1 and tends to assimilate men's characters to their conditions4 ,when troubles had once begun in the cities1 those who followed carried the revolutionary spirit further and further1 and determined to outdo the report of all who had preceded them by the ingenuity of their enterprises and the atrocity of their revenges4 ,the meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things1 but was changed by them as they thought proper4 ,reckless daring was held to be loyal courage2 prudent delay was the excuse of a coward2 moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness2 to know everything was to do nothing4 ,frantic energy was the true quality of a man4 ,a conspirator who wanted to be safe was a recreant in disguise4 ,the lover of violence was always trusted1 and his opponent suspected4 ,he who succeeded in a plot was deemed knowing1 but a still greater master in craft was he who detected one4 ,on the other hand1 he who plotted from the first to have nothing to do with plots was a breaker-up of parties and a poltroon who was afraid of the enemy4 ,in a word1 he who could outstrip another in a bad action was applauded1 and so was he who encouraged to evil one who had no idea of it4 ,the tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood1 because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why 7for party associations are not based upon any established law1 nor do they seek the public good2 they are formed in defiance of the laws and from self-interest74 ,the seal of good faith was not divine law1 but fellowship in crime4 ,if an enemy when he was in the ascendant offered fair words1 the opposite party received them1 not in a generous spirit1 but by a jealous watchfulness of his actions4 ,revenge was dearer than self-preservation4 ,any agreements sworn to by either party1 when they could do nothing else1 were binding as long as both were powerless4 ,but he who on a favourable opportunity first took courage and struck at his enemy when he saw him off his guard1 had greater pleasure in a perfidious than he would have had in an open act of revenge2 he congratulated himself that he had taken the safer course1 and also that he had overreached his enemy and gained the prize of superior ability4 ,in general the dishonest more easily gain credit for cleverness than the simple for goodness2 men take a pride in the one1 but are ashamed of the other4 ,the cause of all these evils was the love of power originating in avarice and ambition1 and the party-spirit which is engendered by them when men are fairly embarked in a contest4 ,for the leaders on either side used specious names1 the one party professing to uphold the constitutional equality of the many1 the other the wisdom of an aristocracy1 while they made the public interests1 to which in name they were devoted1 in reality their prize4 ,striving in every way to overcome each other1 they committed the most monstrous crimes2 yet even these were surpassed by the magnitude of their revenges which they pursued to the very utmost1 neither party observing any definite limits either of justice or public expediency1 but both alike making the caprice of the moment their law4 ,either by the help of an unrighteous sentence1 or grasping power with the strong hand1 they were eager to satiate the impatience of party spirit4 ,neither faction cared for religion2 but any fair pretence which succeeded in effecting some odious purpose was greatly lauded4 ,and the citizens who were of neither party fell a prey to both2 either they were disliked because they held aloof1 or men were jealous of their surviving4 ,thus revolution gave birth to every form of wickedness in ,hellas4 ,the simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn and disappeared4 ,an attitude of perfidious antagonism everywhere prevailed2 for there was no word binding enough1 nor oath terrible enough to reconcile enemies4 ,each man was strong only in the conviction that nothing was secure2 he must look to his own safety1 and could not afford to trust others4 ,inferior intellects generally succeeded best4 ,for aware of their own deficiencies1 and fearing the capacities of their opponents1 for whom they were no match in powers of speech1 and whose subtle wits were likely to anticipate them in contriving evil1 they struck boldly and at once4 ,but the cleverer sort1 presuming in their arrogance that they would be aware in time1 and disdaining to act when they could think1 were taken off their guard and easily destroyed4 ,footnote3 ,thuc4 iii4 #hb4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,the general indictment thus drawn up by ,thucydides is amply illustrated by the events of war which he describes4 ,on one occasion1 for example1 the ,athenians were blockading ,mitylene2 the government1 an oligarchy1 was driven to arm the people for the defence2 the people1 having obtained arms1 immediately demanded political rights1 under threat of surrendering the city to the foreign foe2 and the government1 rather than concede their claims1 surrendered it themselves4 ,again1 ,megara1 we learn1 was twice betrayed1 once by the democrats to the ,athenians1 and again by the oligarchs to the ,lacedaemonians4 ,at ,leontini the ,syracusans were called in to drive out the popular party4 ,and at ,corcyra the people1 having got the better of their aristocratic opponents1 proceeded to a general massacre which extended over seven days1 with every variety of moral and physical atrocity4 ,such is the view of the political condition of ,greece given to us by a contemporary observer towards the close of the fifth century1 and it is a curious comment on the ,greek idea of the state4 ,that idea1 as we saw1 was an ordered inequality1 political as well as social2 and in certain states1 and notably in ,sparta1 it was successfully embodied in a stable form4 ,but in the majority of the ,greek states it never attained to more than a fluctuating and temporary realisation4 ,the inherent contradiction was too extreme for the attempted reconciliation2 the inequalities refused to blend in a harmony of divergent tones but asserted themselves in the dissonance of civil war4 ,section #h4 ,property and the ,communistic ,ideal4 ,and1 as we have seen1 this internal schism of the ,greek state was as much social as political4 ,the many and the few were identified respectively with the poor and the rich2 and the struggle was thus at bottom as much economic as political4 ,government by an oligarchy was understood to mean the exploitation of the masses by the classes4 ,an oligarchy1 says a democrat1 as reported by ,thucydides1 while giving the people the full share of danger1 not merely takes too much of the good things1 but absolutely monopolises them4 ,footnote3 ,thuc4 vi4 #ci4-- ,translated by ,jowett4 ,and1 similarly1 the advent of democracy was held to imply the spoliation of the classes in the interest of the masses1 either by excessive taxation1 by an abuse of the judicial power to fine1 or by any other of the semi-legal devices of oppression which the majority in power have always at their command4 ,this substantial identity of rich and poor1 respectively1 with oligarch and democrat may be further illustrated by the following passage from ,aristotle3 ,in consequence of the political disturbances and contentions between the commons on the one hand and the rich on the other1 whichever party happens to get the better of its opponents1 instead of establishing a polity of a broad and equal kind1 assumes political supremacy as a prize of the victory1 and sets up either a ,democracy or an ,oligarchy4 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,pol4 ,,vi4 7,,iv7 #abif a #bg4--,translation by ,welldon4 ,we see then that it was the underlying question of property that infused so strong a rancour into the party struggles of ,greece4 ,from the very earliest period1 in fact1 we find it to have been the case that political revolution was prompted by economic causes4 ,debt was the main factor of the crisis which led to the legislation of ,solon2 and a re- division of the land was one of the measures attributed to ,lycurgus4 ,footnote3 ,i have not thought it necessary for my purpose1 here or elsewhere1 to discuss the authenticity of the statements made by ,greek authors about ,lycurgus4 ,as population increased1 and1 in the maritime states1 commerce and trade developed1 the problem of poverty became increasingly acute2 and though it was partially met by the emigration of the surplus population to colonies1 yet in the fifth and fourth centuries we find it prominent and pressing both in practical politics and in speculation4 ,nothing can illustrate better how familiar the topic was1 and to what free theorising it had led1 than the passages in which it is treated in the comedies of ,aristophanes4 ,here for example1 is an extract from the ,ecclesiazusae which it may be worth while to insert as a contribution to an argument that belongs to every age4 ,,praxagora4 ,i tell you that we are all to share alike and have everything in common1 instead of one being rich and another poor1 and one having hundreds of acres and another not enough to make him a grave1 and one a houseful of servants and another not even a paltry foot-boy4 ,i am going to introduce communism and universal equality4 ,,blepsyrus4 ,how communism8 ,,prax4 ,that's just what ,i was going to tell you4 ,first of all1 everybody's money and land and anything else he may possess will be made common property4 ,then we shall maintain you all out of the common stock1 with due regard to economy and thrift4 ,,bleps4 ,but how about those who have no land1 but only money that they can hide8 ,,prax4 ,it will all go to the public purse4 ,to keep anything back will be perjury4 ,,bleps4 ,perjury6 ,well1 if you come to that1 it was by perjury it was all acquired4 ,,prax4 ,and then1 money won't be the least use to any one4 ,,bleps4 ,why not8 ,,prax4 ,because nobody will be poor4 ,everybody will have everything he wants1 bread1 salt-fish1 barley-cake1 clothes1 wine1 garlands1 chickpeas4 ,so what will be the good of keeping anything back8 ,answer that if you can6 ,,bleps4 ,isn't it just the people who have all these things that are the greatest thieves8 ,,prax4 ,no doubt1 under the old laws4 ,but now1 when everything will be in common what will be the good of keeping anything back8 ,,bleps4 ,who will do the field work8 ,,prax4 ,the slaves2 all you will have to do is to dress and go out to dinner in the evening4 ,,bleps4 ,but what about the clothes8 ,how are they to be provided8 ,,prax4 ,what you have now will do to begin with1 and afterwards we shall make them for you ourselves4 ,,bleps4 ,just one thing more6 ,supposing a man were to lose his suit in the courts1 where are the damages to come from8 ,it would not be fair to take the public funds4 ,,prax4 ,but there won't be any lawsuits at all6 ,,bleps4 ,that will mean ruin to a good many people6 ,,bystander4 ,just my idea6 ,,prax4 ,why should there be any8 ,,bleps4 ,why6 for reasons enough1 heaven knows6 ,for instance1 a man might repudiate his debts4 ,,prax4 ,in that case1 where did the man who lent the money get it from8 ,clearly1 since everything is in common1 he must have stolen it6 ,,bleps4 ,so he must6 ,an excellent idea6 ,but now tell me this4 ,when fellows come to blows over their cups1 where are the damages to come from8 ,,prax4 ,from the rations6 ,a man won't be in such a hurry to make a row when his belly has to pay for it4 ,,bleps4 ,one thing more6 ,will there be no more thieves8 ,,prax4 ,why should any one steal what is his own8 ,,bleps4 ,and won't one be robbed of one's cloak at night8 ,,prax4 ,not if you sleep at home6 ,,bleps4 ,nor yet1 if one sleeps out1 as one used to do8 ,,prax4 ,no1 for there will be enough and to spare for all4 ,and even if a thief does try to strip a man1 he will give up his cloak of his own accord4 ,what would be the good of fighting8 ,he has only to go and get another1 and a better1 from the public stores4 ,,bleps4 ,and will there be no more gambling8 ,,prax4 ,what will there be to play for8 ,,bleps4 ,and how about house accommodation8 ,,prax4 ,that will be the same for all4 ,i tell you ,i am going to turn the whole city into one huge house1 and break down all the partitions1 so that every one may have free access to every one else4 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,eccles4 #eij4 ,the social problem1 then1 had clearly arisen in ancient ,greece1 though no doubt in an infinitely simpler form than that in which it is presented to ourselves2 and it might perhaps have been expected that the ,greeks1 with their notion of the supremacy of the state1 would have adopted some drastic public measure to meet it4 ,and1 in fact1 in the earlier period of their history1 as has been indicated above1 we do find sweeping revolutions effected in the distribution of property4 ,in ,athens1 ,solon abolished debt1 either in whole or part1 by reducing the rate of interest and depreciating the currency2 and in ,sparta ,lycurgus is said to have resumed the whole of the land for the state1 and redivided it equally among the citizens4 ,we have also traces of laws existing in other states to regulate in the interests of equality the possession and transfer of land4 ,but it does not appear that any attempt was made in any state permanently to control by public authority the production and distribution of wealth4 ,meantime1 however1 the problem of social inequality was exercising the minds of political theorists2 and we have notice of various schemes for an ideal polity framed upon communistic principles4 ,of these the most important1 and the only one preserved to us1 is the celebrated ,republic of ,plato2 and never1 it may be safely asserted1 was a plan of society framed so consistent1 harmonious and beautiful in itself1 or so indifferent to the actual capacities of mankind4 ,following out what we have already indicated as the natural drift of ,greek ideas1 the philosopher separates off on the one hand the productive class1 who are to have no political rights2 and on the other the class of soldiers and governors4 ,it is the latter alone with whom he seriously concerns himself2 and the scheme he draws up for them is uncompromisingly communistic4 ,after being purged1 by an elaborate education1 of all the egoistic passions1 they are to live together1 having all things in common1 devoted heart and soul to the public good1 and guiltless even of a desire for any private possession or advantage of their own4 ,in the first place1 no one1 says ,plato1 should possess any private property1 if it can possibly be avoided2 secondly1 no one should have a dwelling or store house into which all who please may not enter2 whatever necessaries are required by temperate and courageous men1 who are trained to war1 they should receive by regular appointment from their fellow-citizens1 as wages for their services1 and the amount should be such as to leave neither a surplus on the year's consumption nor a deficit2 and they should attend common messes and live together as men do in a camp3 as for gold and silver1 we must tell them that they are in perpetual possession of a divine species of the precious metals placed in their souls by the gods themselves1 and therefore have no need of the earthly one2 that in fact it would be profanation to pollute their spiritual riches by mixing them with the possession of mortal gold1 because the world's coinage has been the cause of countless impieties1 whereas theirs is undefiled3 therefore to them1 as distinguished from the rest of the people1 it is forbidden to handle or touch gold and silver1 or enter under the same roof with them1 or to wear them in their dresses1 or to drink out of the precious metals4 ,if they follow these rules1 they will be safe themselves and the saviours of the city3 but whenever they come to possess lands1 and houses1 and money of their own1 they will be householders and cultivators instead of guardians1 and will become hostile masters of their fellow-citizens rather than their allies2 and so they will spend their whole lives1 hating and hated1 plotting and plotted against1 standing in more frequent and intense alarm of their enemies at home than of their enemies abroad2 by which time they and the rest of the city will be running on the very brink of ruin4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 ,,iii4 #daf4--,translation by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,the passage is interesting1 if only as an illustration of the way in which ,plato had been impressed by the evil results of the institution of private property4 ,but as a contribution to political theory it was open to severe attack from the representatives of experience and common sense4 ,of these1 the chief was ,aristotle1 whose criticism has been preserved to us1 and who1 while admitting that ,plato's scheme has a plausible appearance of philanthropy1 maintains that it is inapplicable to the facts of human nature4 ,to this conclusion1 indeed1 even ,plato himself was driven in the end2 for in his later work1 the ,laws1 although he still asserts that community of goods would be the ideal institution1 he reluctantly abandons it as a basis for a possible state4 ,on the other hand1 he endeavours by the most stringent regulations1 to prevent the growth of inequalities of wealth4 ,he distributes the land in equal lots among his citizens1 prohibiting either purchase or sub- division2 limits the possession of money to the amount required for daily exchange2 and forbids lending on interest4 ,the object of a legislator1 he declares1 is to make not a great but a happy city4 ,but only the good are happy1 and goodness and wealth are incompatible4 ,the legislator1 therefore1 will not allow his citizens to be wealthy1 any more than he will allow them to be poor4 ,he will seek to establish by law the happy mean2 and to this end1 if he despair of the possibility of a thorough-going communism1 will legislate at least as indicated above4 ,the uncompromising idealism of ,plato's scheme1 with its assumption of the indefinite plasticity of human nature1 is of course peculiar to himself1 not typical of ,greek ideas4 ,but it is noticeable that ,aristotle1 who is a far better representative of the average ,greek mind1 exhibits the same mistrust of the accumulation of private property4 ,in the beginning of his ,politics he distinguishes two kinds of money- making1 one natural1 that which is pursued for the sake of a livelihood1 the other unnatural1 that which is pursued for the sake of accumulation4 ,the motive of this latter1 he says1 is a desire for life instead of for good life2 and its most hateful method is that of usury1 the unnatural breeding of money out of money4 ,and though he rejects as impracticable the compulsory communism of ,plato's ,republic1 yet he urges as the ideal solution that property1 while owned by individuals1 should be held as in trust for the common good2 and puts before the legislator the problem3 so to dispose the higher natures that they are unwilling1 and the lower that they are unable to aggrandise themselves4 ,footnote3 ,aristotle1 ,pol4 ii4 #g4 #abfg b #f4--,translation by ,welldon4 ,such views as these1 it may be noted1 interesting though they be1 as illustrating how keenly the thinkers of ancient ,greece had realised the drawbacks of private property1 have but the slightest bearing on the conditions of our own time4 ,the complexity and extent of modern industry have given rise to quite new problems1 and quite new schemes for their solution2 and especially have forced into prominence the point of view of the producers themselves4 ,to ,greek thinkers it was natural to approach the question of property from the side of the governing class or of the state as a whole4 ,the communism of ,plato1 for example1 applied only to the guardians and soldiers1 and not to the productive class on whom they depended2 and so completely was he pre-occupied with the former to the exclusion of the latter1 that he dismisses in a single sentence1 as unworthy the legislator's detailed attention1 the whole apparatus of labour and exchange4 ,to regard the working-class as the most important section of the community1 to substitute for the moral or political the economic standpoint1 and to conceive society merely as a machine for the production and distribution of wealth1 would have been impossible to an ancient ,greek4 ,partly by the simplicity of the economic side of the society with which he was acquainted1 partly by the habit of regarding the labouring class as a mere means to the maintenance of the rest1 he was led1 even when he had to deal with the problem of poverty and wealth1 to regard it rather from the point of view of the stability and efficiency of the state1 than from that of the welfare of the producers themselves4 ,the modern attitude is radically different2 a revolution has been effected both in the conditions of industry and in the way in which they are regarded2 and the practice and the speculation of the ,greek city-states have for us an interest which1 great as it is1 is philosophic rather than practical4 ,section #i4 ,sparta4 ,the preceding attempt at a general sketch of the nature of the ,greek state is inevitably loose and misleading to this extent1 that it endeavours to comprehend in a single view polities of the most varied and discrepant character4 ,to remedy1 so far as may be1 this defect1 to give an impression1 more definite and more complete1 of the variety and scope of the political experience of the ,greeks1 let us examine a little more in detail the character of the two states which were at once the most prominent and the most opposed in their achievement and their aim-- the state of ,sparta on the one hand1 and that of ,athens on the other4 ,it was these two cities that divided the hegemony of ,greece2 they represent the extremes of the two forms--oligarchy and democracy--under which1 as we saw1 the ,greek polities fall2 and from a sufficient acquaintance with them we may gather a fairly complete idea of the whole range of ,greek political life4 ,in ,sparta we see one extreme of the political development of ,greece1 and the one which approaches nearest1 perhaps1 to the characteristic ,greek type4 ,of that type1 it is true1 it was an exaggeration1 and was recognised as such by the best thinkers of ,greece2 but just for that reason it is the more interesting and instructive as an exhibition of a distinctive aspect of ,greek civilisation4 ,the ,spartan state was composed of a small body of citizens--the ,spartiatae or ,spartans proper-encamped in the midst of a hostile population to whom they allowed no political rights and by whose labour they were supplied with the necessaries of life4 ,the distinction between the citizen class on the one hand and the productive class on the other was thus as clearly and sharply drawn as possible4 ,it was even exaggerated2 for the citizens were a band of conquerors1 the productive class a subject race1 perpetually on the verge of insurrection and only kept in restraint by such measures as secret assassination4 ,the result was to draw together the small band of ,spartiatae into a discipline so rigorous and close that under it everything was sacrificed to the necessity of self-preservation2 and the bare maintenance of the state became the end for which every individual was born1 and lived1 and died4 ,this discipline1 according to tradition1 had been devised by a single legislator1 ,lycurgus1 and it was maintained intact for several centuries4 ,its main features may be summarised as follows4 ,the production and rearing of children1 to begin at the beginning1 instead of being left to the caprice of individuals1 was controlled and regulated by the state4 ,the women1 in the first place1 were trained by physical exercise for the healthy performance of the duties of motherhood2 they were taught to run and wrestle naked1 like the youths1 to dance and sing in public1 and to associate freely with men4 ,marriage was permitted only in the prime of life2 and a free intercourse1 outside its limits1 between healthy men and women1 was encouraged and approved by public opinion4 ,men who did not marry were subject to social and civic disabilities4 ,the children1 as soon as they were born1 were submitted to the inspection of the elders of their tribe2 if strong and well-formed1 they were reared2 if not1 they were allowed to die4 ,a healthy stock having been thus provided as a basis1 every attention was devoted to its appropriate training4 ,the infants were encouraged from the beginning in the free use of their limbs1 unhampered by swaddling-clothes1 and were accustomed to endure without fear darkness and solitude1 and to cure themselves of peevishness and crying4 ,at the age of seven the boys were taken away from the charge of their parents1 and put under the superintendence of a public official4 ,their education1 on the intellectual side1 was slight enough1 comprising only such rudiments as reading and writing2 but on the moral side it was stringent and severe4 ,gathered into groups under the direction of elder youths-- monitors we might call them--they were trained to a discipline of iron endurance4 ,one garment served them for the whole year2 they went without shoes1 and slept on beds of rushes plucked with their own hands4 ,their food was simple1 and often enough they had to go without it4 ,every moment of the day they were under inspection and supervision1 for it was the privilege and the duty of every citizen to admonish and punish not only his own but other people's children4 ,at supper they waited at table on their elders1 answered their questions and endured their jests4 ,in the streets they were taught to walk in silence1 their hands folded in their cloaks1 their eyes cast down1 their heads never turning to right or left4 ,their gymnastic and military training was incessant2 wherever they met1 we are told1 they began to box2 under the condition1 however1 that they were bound to separate at the command of any bystander4 ,to accustom them early to the hardships of a campaign1 they were taught to steal their food from the mess-tables of their elders2 if they were detected they were beaten for their clumsiness1 and went without their dinner4 ,nothing was omitted1 on the moral or physical side1 to make them efficient members of a military state4 ,nor was the discipline relaxed when they reached years of maturity4 ,for1 in fact1 the whole city was a camp4 ,family life was obliterated by public activity4 ,the men dined together in messes1 rich and poor alike1 sharing the same coarse and simple food4 ,servants1 dogs1 and horses1 were regarded as common property4 ,luxury was strictly forbidden4 ,the only currency in circulation was of iron1 so cumbrous that it was impossible to accumulate or conceal it4 ,the houses were as simple as possible1 the roofs shaped only with the axe1 and the doors with the saw2 the furniture and fittings corresponded1 plain but perfectly made4 ,the nature of the currency practically prohibited commerce1 and no citizen was allowed to be engaged in any mechanical trade4 ,agriculture was the main industry1 and every ,spartan had1 or was supposed to have1 a landed estate1 cultivated by serfs who paid him a yearly rent4 ,in complete accordance with the ,greek ideal1 it was a society of soldier-citizens1 supported by an inferior productive class4 ,in illustration of this point the following curious anecdote may be quoted from ,plutarch4 ,during one of the wars in which ,sparta and her allies were engaged1 the allies complained that they1 who were the majority of the army1 had been forced into a quarrel which concerned nobody but the ,spartans4 ,whereupon ,agesilaus1 the ,spartan king1 devised this expedient to show the allies were not the greater number4 ,he gave orders that all the allies1 of whatever country1 should sit down promiscuously on one side1 and all the ,lacedaemonians on the other3 which being done1 he commanded a herald to proclaim1 that all the potters of both divisions should stand out2 then all the blacksmiths2 then all the masons2 next the carpenters2 and so he went through all the handicrafts4 ,by this time almost all the allies were risen1 but of the ,lacedaemonians not a man1 they being by law forbidden to learn any mechanical business2 and now ,agesilaus laughed and said1 ,you see1 my friends1 how many more soldiers we send out than you do4 ,footnote3 ,plut4 ,agesilaus4--,translation by ,clough4 ,and certainly1 so far as its immediate ends were concerned1 this society of soldier-citizens was singularly successful4 ,the courage and efficiency of ,spartan troops were notorious1 and were maintained indeed not only by the training we have described1 but by social penalties attached to cowardice4 ,a man who had disgraced himself in battle was a pariah in his native land4 ,no one would eat with him1 no one would wrestle with him2 in the dance he must take the lowest place2 he must give the wall at meetings in the street1 and resign his seat even to younger men2 he must dress and bear himself humbly1 under penalty of blows1 and suffer the reproaches of women and of boys4 ,death plainly would be preferable to such a life2 and we are not surprised to hear that the discipline and valour of ,spartan troops was celebrated far and wide4 ,here is a description of them1 given by one of themselves to the ,persian king when he was projecting the invasion of ,greece3 ,brave are all the ,greeks who dwell in any ,dorian land2 but what ,i am about to say does not concern all1 but only the ,lacedaemonians4 ,first1 then1 come what may1 they will never accept thy terms1 which would reduce ,greece to slavery2 and further1 they are sure to join battle with thee1 though all the rest of ,greece should submit to thy will4 ,as for their numbers1 do not ask how many they are1 that their resistance should be a possible thing2 for if a thousand of them should take the field1 they will meet thee in battle1 and so will any number1 be it less than this1 or be it more4 ,when they fight singly1 they are as good men as any in the world1 and when they fight in a body1 they are the bravest of all4 ,for though they be freemen1 they are not in all respects free2 ,law is the master whom they own2 and this master they fear more than thy subjects fear thee4 ,whatever he commands they do2 and his commandment is always the same3 it forbids them to flee in battle1 whatever the number of their foes1 and requires them to stand firm1 and either to conquer or die4 ,footnote3 ,herodotus vii4 #ajb1 #d4--,translation by ,rawlinson4 ,the practical illustration of this speech is the battle of ,thermopylae1 where #cjj ,spartans kept at bay the whole ,persian host1 till they were betrayed from the rear and killed fighting to a man4 ,the ,spartan state1 then1 justified itself according to its own ideal2 but how limited that ideal was will be clear from our sketch4 ,the individual1 if it cannot be said that he was sacrificed to the state-- for he recognised the life of the state as his own--was at any rate starved upon one side of his nature as much as he was hypertrophied upon the other4 ,courage1 obedience1 and endurance were developed in excess2 but the free play of passion and thought1 the graces and arts of life1 all that springs from the spontaneity of nature1 were crushed out of existence under this stern and rigid rule4 ,none of them1 says ,plutarch1 an enthusiastic admirer of the ,spartan polity none of them was left alone to live as he chose2 but passing their time in the city as though it were a camp1 their manner of life and their avocations ordered with a view to the public good1 they regarded themselves as belonging1 not to themselves1 but to their country4 ,footnote3 ,plut4 ,lycurgus1 ch4 #bd4 ,and ,plato1 whose ideal republic was based so largely upon the ,spartan model1 has marked nevertheless as the essential defect of their polity its insistence on military virtue to the exclusion of everything else1 and its excessive accentuation of the corporate aspect of life4 ,your military way of life1 he says1 is modelled after the camp1 and is not like that of dwellers in cities2 and you have your young men herding and feeding together like young colts4 ,no one takes his own individual colt and drags him away from his fellows against his will1 raging and foaming1 and gives him a groom for him alone1 and trains and rubs him down privately1 and gives him the qualities in education which will make him not only a good soldier1 but also a governor of a state and of cities4 ,such a one would be a greater warrior than he of whom ,tyrtaeus sings2 and he would honour courage everywhere1 but always as the fourth1 and not as the first part of virtue1 either in individuals or states4 ,footnote3 ,plato ,laws1 ,,ii4 #fff e4--,translation by ,jowett4 ,the ,spartan state1 in fact1 by virtue of that excellence which was also its defect--the specialising of the individual on the side of discipline and rule--carried within it the seeds of its own destruction4 ,the tendencies which ,lycurgus had endeavoured to repress by external regulation reasserted themselves in his despite4 ,he had intended once for all both to limit and to equalise private property2 but already as early as the fifth century ,spartans had accumulated gold which they deposited in temples in foreign states2 the land fell1 by inheritance and gift1 into the hands of a small minority2 the number of the citizens was reduced1 not only by war1 but by the disfranchisement attending inability to contribute to the common mess-tables2 till at last we find no more than #gjj ,spartan families1 and of these no more than #ajj possessing estates in land4 ,and this decline from within was hastened by external events4 ,the constitution devised for a small state encamped amidst a hostile population1 broke down under the weight of imperial power4 ,the conquest of ,athens by ,sparta was the signal of her own collapse4 ,the power and wealth she had won at a stroke alienated her sons from her discipline4 ,generals and statesmen who had governed like kings the wealthy cities of the east were unable to adapt themselves again to the stern and narrow rules of ,lycurgus4 ,they rushed into freedom and enjoyment1 into the unfettered use of their powers1 with an energy proportional to the previous restraint4 ,the features of the human face broke through the fair but lifeless mask of ancient law2 and the ,spartan1 ceasing to be a ,spartan1 both rose and fell to the level of a man4 ,section #aj4 ,athens4 ,in the institutions of ,sparta we see1 carried to its furthest point1 one side of the complex ,greek nature--their capacity for discipline and law4 ,athens1 the home of a different stock1 gives us the other extreme--their capacity for rich and spontaneous individual development4 ,to pass from ,sparta to ,athens1 is to pass from a barracks to a playing-field4 ,all the beauty1 all the grace1 all the joy of ,greece2 all that chains the desire of mankind1 with a yearning that is never stilled1 to that one golden moment in the past1 whose fair and balanced interplay of perfect flesh and soul no later gains of thought can compensate1 centres about that bright and stately city of romance1 the home of ,pericles and all the arts1 whence from generation to generation has streamed upon ages less illustrious an influence at once the sanest and the most inspired of all that have shaped the secular history of the world4 ,girt by mountain and sea1 by haunted fountain and sacred grove1 shaped and adorned by the master hands of ,pheidias and ,polygnotus and filled with the breath of passion and song by ,euripides and ,plato1 ,athens1 famed alike for the legended deeds of heroes and gods and for the feats of her human sons in council1 art1 and war1 is a name1 to those who have felt her spell1 more familiar and more dear than any of the few that mark with gold the sombre scroll of history4 ,and still across the years we feel the throb of the glorious verse that broke in praise of his native land from the lips of ,euripides3 ,happy of yore were the children of race divine ,happy the sons of old ,erechtheus' line ,who in their holy state ,with hands inviolate ,gather the flower of wisdom far-renowned1 ,lightly lifting their feet in the lucid air ,where the sacred nine1 the ,pierid ,muses1 bare ,harmonia golden-crowned4 ,there in the wave from fair ,kephisus flowing ,kupris sweetens the winds and sets them blowing ,over the delicate land2 ,and ever with joyous hand ,braiding her fragrant hair with the blossom of roses1 ,she sendeth the ,love that dwelleth in ,wisdom's place ,that every virtue may quicken and every grace ,in the hearts where she reposes4 ,footnote3 ,eurip4 ,medea1 #hbe4 ,and this1 the ,athens of poetry and art1 is but another aspect of the ,athens of political history4 ,the same individuality1 the same free and passionate energy that worked in the hearts of her sculptors and her poets1 moulded also and inspired her city life4 ,in contradistinction to the stern and rigid discipline of ,sparta1 the ,athenian citizen displayed the resource1 the versatility and the zeal that only freedom and self- reliance can teach4 ,the contrast is patent at every stage of the history of the two states1 and has been acutely set forth by ,thucydides in the speech which he puts into the mouths of the ,corinthian allies of ,sparta3 ,you have never considered1 they say to the ,lacedaemonians1 what manner of men are these ,athenians with whom you will have to fight1 and how utterly unlike yourselves4 ,they are revolutionary1 equally quick in the conception and in the execution of every new plan2 while you are conservative--careful only to keep what you have1 originating nothing1 and not acting even when action is most necessary4 ,they are bold beyond their strength2 they run risks which prudence would condemn2 and in the midst of misfortunes they are full of hope4 ,whereas it is your nature1 though strong1 to act feebly2 when your plans are most prudent1 to distrust them2 and when calamities come upon you1 to think that you will never be delivered from them4 ,they are impetuous1 and you are dilatory2 they are always abroad1 and you are always at home4 ,for they hope to gain something by leaving their homes2 but you are afraid that any new enterprise may imperil what you have already4 ,when conquerors1 they pursue their victory to the utmost2 when defeated1 they fall back the least4 ,their bodies they devote to their country as though they belonged to other men2 their true self is their mind1 which is most truly their own when employed in her service4 ,when they do not carry out an intention which they have formed1 they seem to have sustained a personal bereavement2 when an enterprise succeeds1 they have gained a mere instalment of what is to come2 but if they fail1 they at once conceive new hopes and so fill up the void4 ,with them alone to hope is to have1 for they lose not a moment in the execution of an idea4 ,this is the lifelong task1 full of danger and toil1 which they are always imposing upon themselves4 ,none enjoy their good things less1 because they are always seeking for more4 ,to do their duty is their only holiday1 and they deem the quiet of inaction to be as disagreeable as the most tiresome business4 ,if a man should say of them1 in a word1 that they were born neither to have peace themselves nor to allow peace to other men1 he would simply speak the truth4 ,footnote3 ,thuc4 i4 #gj4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,the qualities here set forth by ,thucydides as characteristic of the ,athenians1 were partly the cause and partly the effect of their political constitution4 ,the history of ,athens1 indeed1 is the very antithesis to that of ,sparta4 ,in place of a type fixed at a stroke and enduring for centuries1 she presents a series of transitions through the whole range of polities1 to end at last in a democracy so extreme that it refuses to be included within the limits of the general formula of the ,greek state4 ,seldom1 indeed1 has equality been pushed to so extreme a point as it was1 politically at least1 in ancient ,athens4 ,the class of slaves1 it is true1 existed there as in every other state2 but among the free citizens1 who included persons of every rank1 no political distinction at all was drawn4 ,all of them1 from the lowest to the highest1 had the right to speak and vote in the great assembly of the people which was the ultimate authority2 all were eligible to every administrative post2 all sat in turn as jurors in the law-courts4 ,the disabilities of poverty were minimised by payment for attendance in the assembly and the courts4 ,and1 what is more extraordinary1 even distinctions of ability were levelled by the practice of filling all offices1 except the highest1 by lot4 ,had the citizens been a class apart1 as was the case in ,sparta1 had they been subjected from the cradle to a similar discipline and training1 forbidden to engage in any trade or business1 and consecrated to the service of the state1 there would have been nothing surprising in this uncompromising assertion of equality4 ,but in ,athens the citizenship was extended to every rank and calling2 the poor man jostled the rich1 the shopman the aristocrat1 in the ,assembly2 cobblers1 carpenters1 smiths1 farmers1 merchants1 and retail traders met together with the ancient landed gentry1 to debate and conclude on national affairs2 and it was from such varied elements as these that the lot impartially chose the officials of the law1 the revenue1 the police1 the highways1 the markets1 and the ports1 as well as the jurors at whose mercy stood reputation1 fortune1 and life4 ,the consequence was that in ,athens1 at least in the later period of her history1 the middle and lower classes tended to monopolise political power4 ,of the popular leaders1 ,cleon1 the most notorious1 was a tanner2 another was a baker1 another a cattle- dealer4 ,influence belonged to those who had the gift of leading the mass2 and in that competition the man of tongue1 of energy1 and of resource1 was more than a match for the aristocrat of birth and intellect4 ,the constitution of ,athens1 then1 was one of political equality imposed upon social inequality4 ,to illustrate the point we may quote a passage from ,aristophanes which shows at once the influence exercised by the trading class and the disgust with which that influence was regarded by the aristocracy whom the poet represents4 ,the passage is taken from the ,knights1 a comedy written to discredit ,cleon1 and turning upon the expulsion of the notorious tanner from the good graces of ,demos1 by the superior impudence and address of a sausage-seller4 ,demosthenes1 a general of the aristocratic party1 is communicating to the latter the destiny that awaits him4 ,,demosthenes 7to the ,,sausage-,,seller gravely74 ,set these poor wares aside2 and now--bow down ,to the ground2 and adore the powers of earth and heaven4 ,s4-,s4 ,heigh-day6 ,why1 what do you mean8 ,,dem4 ,o happy man6 ,unconscious of your glorious destiny1 ,now mean and unregarded2 but to-morrow1 ,the mightiest of the mighty1 ,lord of ,athens4 ,s4-,s4 ,come1 master1 what's the use of making game8 ,why can't ye let me wash my guts and tripe1 ,and sell my sausages in peace and quiet8 ,,dem4 ,o simple mortal1 cast those thoughts aside6 ,bid guts and tripe farewell6 ,look here6 ,behold6 7pointing to the audience7 ,the mighty assembled multitude before ye6 ,s4-,s4 7with a grumble of indifference74 ,i see 'em4 ,,dem4 ,you shall be their lord and master1 ,the sovereign and the ruler of them all1 ,of the assemblies and tribunals1 fleets and armies2 ,you shall trample down the ,senate under foot1 ,confound and crush the generals and commanders1 ,arrest1 imprison1 and confine in irons1 ,and feast and fornicate in the ,council ,house4 ,s4-,s4 ,are there any means of making a great man ,of a sausage-selling fellow such as ,i8 ,,dem4 ,the very means you have1 must make ye so1 ,low breeding1 vulgar birth1 and impudence1 ,these1 these must make ye1 what you're meant to be4 ,s4-,s4 ,i can't imagine that ,i'm good for much4 ,,dem4 ,alas6 ,but why do ye say so8 ,what's the meaning ,of these misgivings8 ,i discern within ye ,a promise and an inward consciousness ,of greatness4 ,tell me truly3 are ye allied ,to the families of gentry8 ,s4-,s4 ,naugh1 not ,i2 ,i'm come from a common ordinary kindred1 ,of the lower order4 ,,dem4 ,what a happiness6 ,what a footing will it give ye6 ,what a groundwork ,for confidence and favour at your outset6 ,s4-,s4 ,but bless ye6 only consider my education6 ,i can but barely read4444 in a kind of way4 ,,dem4 ,that makes against ye6--the only thing against ye-- ,the being able to read1 in any way3 ,for now no lead nor influence is allowed ,to liberal arts or learned education1 ,but to the brutal1 base1 and underbred4 ,embrace then and hold fast the promises ,which the oracles of the gods announce to you4 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,knights4 #aee4--,translation by ,frere4 ,we have here an illustration1 one among many that might be given1 of the political equality that prevailed in ,athens4 ,it shows us how completely that distinction between the military or governing1 and the productive class1 which belonged to the normal ,greek conception of the state1 had been broken down1 on the side at least of privilege and right1 though not on that of social estimation1 in this most democratic of the ancient states4 ,politically1 the ,athenian trader and the ,athenian artisan was the equal of the aristocrat of purest blood2 and so far the government of ,athens was a genuine democracy4 ,but so far only4 ,for in ,athens1 as in every ,greek state1 the greater part of the population was unfree2 and the government which was a democracy from the point of view of the freeman1 was an oligarchy from the point of view of the slave4 ,for the slaves1 by the nature of their position1 had no political rights2 and they were more than half of the population4 ,it is noticeable1 however1 that the freedom and individuality which was characteristic of the ,athenian citizen1 appears to have reacted favourably on the position of the slaves4 ,not only had they1 to a certain extent1 the protection of the law against the worst excesses of their masters1 but they were allowed a license of bearing and costume which would not have been tolerated in any other state4 ,a contemporary writer notes that in dress and general appearance ,athenian slaves were not to be distinguished from citizens2 that they were permitted perfect freedom of speech2 and that it was open to them to acquire a fortune and to live in ease and luxury4 ,in ,sparta1 he says1 the slave stands in fear of the freeman1 but in ,athens this is not the case2 and certainly the bearing of the slaves introduced into the ,athenian comedy does not indicate any undue subservience4 ,slavery at the best is an undemocratic institution2 but in ,athens it appears to have been made as democratic as its nature would admit4 ,we find then1 in the ,athenian state1 the conception of equality pushed to the farthest extreme at all compatible with ,greek ideas2 pushed1 we may fairly say1 at last to an undue excess2 for the great days of ,athens were those when she was still under the influence of her aristocracy1 and when the popular zeal evoked by her free institutions was directed by members of the leisured and cultivated class4 ,the most glorious age of ,athenian history closes with the death of ,pericles2 and ,pericles was a man of noble family1 freely chosen1 year after year1 by virtue of his personal qualities1 to exercise over this democratic nation a dictatorship of character and brain4 ,it is into his mouth that ,thucydides has put that great panegyric of ,athens1 which sets forth to all time the type of an ideal state and the record of what was at least partially achieved in the greatest of the ,greek cities3 ,our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others4 ,we do not copy our neighbours1 but are an example to them4 ,it is true that we are called a democracy1 for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few4 ,but while the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes1 the claim of excellence is also recognised2 and when a citizen is in any way distinguished1 he is preferred to the public service1 not as a matter of privilege1 but as the reward of merit4 ,neither is poverty a bar1 but a man may benefit his country whatever be the obscurity of his condition4 ,there is no exclusiveness in our public life1 and in our private intercourse we are not suspicious of one another1 nor angry with our neighbour if he does what he likes2 we do not put on sour looks at him1 which1 though harmless1 are not pleasant4 ,while we are thus unconstrained in our private intercourse1 a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts2 we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for authority and for the laws1 having an especial regard for those which are ordained for the protection of the injured1 as well as for those unwritten laws which bring upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the general sentiment4 ,and we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil2 we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year2 at home the style of our life is refined2 and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish melancholy4 ,because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us1 so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own4 ,then again1 our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries4 ,our city is thrown open to the world1 and we never expel a foreigner or prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret if revealed to an enemy might profit him4 ,we rely not upon management and trickery1 but upon our own hearts and hands4 ,and in the matter of education1 whereas they from early youth are always undergoing laborious exercises which are to make them brave1 we live at ease1 and yet are ready to face the perils which they face4 ,if then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training1 and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law1 are we not greatly the gainers8 ,since we do not anticipate the pain1 although when the hour comes1 we can be as brave as those who never allow themselves to rest2 and thus too our city is equally admirable in peace and in war4 ,for we are lovers of the beautiful1 yet simple in our tastes1 and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness4 ,wealth we employ1 not for talk and ostentation1 but when there is a real use for it4 ,to avow poverty with us is no disgrace2 the true disgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it4 ,an ,athenian citizen does not neglect the state because he takes care of his own household2 and even those of us who are engaged in business have a very fair idea of politics4 ,we alone regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs1 not as a harmless1 but as a useless character2 and if few of us are originators1 we are all sound judges of a policy4 ,the great impediment to action is1 in our opinion1 not discussion but the want of that knowledge which is gained by discussion preparatory to action4 ,for we have a peculiar power of thinking before we act1 and of acting too1 whereas other men are courageous from ignorance but hesitate upon reflection4 ,and they are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who have the clearest sense both of the pains and pleasures of life1 but do not on that account shrink from danger4 ,to sum up1 ,i say that ,athens is the school of ,hellas1 and that the individual ,athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace4 ,this is no passing and idle word1 but truth and fact2 and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state4 ,for in the hour of trial ,athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her4 ,no enemy who comes against her is indignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city2 no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him4 ,and we shall assuredly not be without witnesses2 there are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages3 we shall not need the praises of ,homer or of any other panegyrist1 whose poetry may please for the moment1 although his representation of the facts will not bear the light of day4 ,for we have compelled every land1 every sea1 to open a path for our valour1 and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity4 ,footnote3 ,thuc4 ii4 #cg4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,an impression so superb as this it is almost a pity to mar with the inevitable complement of disaster and decay4 ,but our account of the ,athenian polity would be misleading and incomplete if we did not indicate how the idea of equality1 on which it turned1 defeated itself1 as did1 in ,sparta1 the complementary idea of order1 by the excesses of its own development4 ,already before the close of the fifth century1 and with reiterated emphasis in the earlier decades of the fourth1 we hear from poets and orators praise of a glorious past that is dead1 and denunciations of a decadent present4 ,the ancient training in gymnastics1 we are told1 the ancient and generous culture of mind and soul1 is neglected and despised by a generation of traders2 reverence for age and authority1 even for law1 has disappeared2 and in the train of these have gone the virtues they engendered and nurtured4 ,cowardice has succeeded to courage1 disorder to discipline2 the place of the statesman is usurped by the demagogue2 and instead of a nation of heroes1 marshalled under the supremacy of the wise and good1 modern ,athens presents to view a disordered and competitive mob1 bent only on turning each to his own personal advantage the now corrupt machinery of administration and law4 ,and however much exaggeration there may be in these denunciations and regrets1 we know enough of the interior working of the institutions of ,athens to see that she had to pay in licence and in fraud the bitter price of equality and freedom4 ,that to the influence of disinterested statesmen succeeded1 as the democracy accentuated itself1 the tyranny of unscrupulous demagogues1 is evidenced by the testimony1 not only of the enemies of popular government1 but by that of a democrat so convinced as ,demosthenes4 ,since these orators have appeared1 he says1 who ask1 ,what is your pleasure8 what shall ,i move8 how can ,i oblige you8 the public welfare is complimented away for a moment's popularity1 and these are the results2 the orators thrive1 you are disgraced4444 ,anciently the people1 having the courage to be soldiers1 controlled the statesmen1 and disposed of all emoluments2 any of the rest were happy to receive from the people his share of honour1 office1 or advantage4 ,now1 contrariwise1 the statesmen dispose of emoluments2 through them everything is done2 you1 the people1 enervated1 stripped of treasure and allies1 are become as underlings and hangers-on1 happy if these persons dole you out show- money or send you paltry beeves2 and1 the unmanliest part of all1 you are grateful for receiving your own4 ,footnote3 ,dem4 #ja4 iii4-- ,translation by ,kennedy4 ,and this indictment is amply confirmed from other sources4 ,we know that the populace was demoralised by payments from the public purse2 that the fee for attendance in the ,assembly attracted thither1 as ready instruments in the hands of ambitious men1 the poorest and most degraded of the citizens2 that the fees of jurors were the chief means of subsistence for an indigent class1 who had thus a direct interest in the multiplication of suits2 and that the city was infested by a race of sycophants1 whose profession was to manufacture frivolous and vexatious indictments4 ,of one of these men ,demosthenes speaks as follows3 ,he cannot show any respectable or honest employment in which his life is engaged4 ,his mind is not occupied in promoting any political good2 he attends not to any trade1 or husbandry1 or other business2 he is connected with no one by ties of humanity or social union3 but he walks through the market-place like a viper or a scorpion1 with his sting up- lifted1 hastening here and there1 and looking out for someone whom he may bring into a scrape1 or fasten some calumny or mischief upon1 and put in alarm in order to extort money4 ,footnote3 ,demosth4 in ,aristogeit4 ,a4 #fb4--,translated by ,c4 ,r4 ,kennedy4 ,from all this we may gather an idea of the way in which the ,athenian democracy by its own development destroyed itself4 ,beginning1 on its first emergence from an earlier aristocratic phase1 with an energy that inspired without shattering the forms of discipline and law1 it dissolved by degrees this coherent whole into an anarchy of individual wills1 drawn deeper and deeper1 in pursuit of mean and egoistic ends1 into political fraud and commercial chicanery1 till the tradition of the gentleman and the soldier was choked by the dust of adventurers and swindlers1 and the people1 whose fathers had fought and prevailed at ,marathon and ,salamis1 fell as they deserved1 by treachery from within as much as by force from without1 into the grasp of the ,macedonian conqueror4 ,section #aa4 ,sceptical ,criticism of the ,basis of the ,state4 ,having thus supplemented our general account of the ,greek conception of the state by a description of their two most prominent polities1 it remains for us in conclusion briefly to trace the negative criticism under whose attack that conception threatened to dissolve4 ,we have quoted1 in an earlier part of this chapter1 a striking passage from ,demosthenes1 embodying that view of the objective validity of law under which alone political institutions can be secure4 ,that is law1 said the orator1 which all men ought to obey for many reasons1 and especially because every law is an invention and gift of the gods1 a resolution of wise men1 a correction of errors intentional and unintentional1 a compact of the whole state1 according to which all who belong to the state ought to live4 ,that is the conception of law which the citizens of any stable state must be prepared substantially to accept1 for it is the condition of that fundamental belief in established institutions which alone can make it worth while to adapt and to improve them4 ,it was1 accordingly1 the conception tacitly1 at least1 accepted in ,greece1 during the period of her constructive vigour4 ,but it is a conception constantly open to attack4 ,for law1 at any given moment1 even under the most favourable conditions1 cannot do more than approximate to its own ideal4 ,it is1 at best1 but a rough attempt at that reconciliation of conflicting interests towards which the reason of mankind is always seeking2 and even in well-ordered states there must always be individuals and classes who resent1 and rightly resent it1 as unjust4 ,but the ,greek states1 as we have seen1 were not well-ordered2 on the contrary1 they were always on the verge1 or in the act1 of civil war2 and the conception of law1 as a compact of the whole state1 according to which all who belong to the state ought to live1 must have been1 at the least1 severely tried1 in cities permanently divided into two factions1 each intent not merely on defeating the other1 but on excluding it altogether from political rights4 ,such conditions1 in fact1 must have irresistibly suggested the criticism1 which always dogs the idea of the state1 and against which its only defence is in a perpetual perfection of itself--the criticism that law1 after all1 is only the rule of the strong1 and justice the name under which they gloze their usurpation4 ,that is a point of view which1 even apart from their political dissensions1 would hardly have escaped the subtle intellect of the ,greeks2 and in fact1 from the close of the fifth century onwards1 we find it constantly canvassed and discussed4 ,the mind of ,plato1 in particular1 was exercised by this contention2 and it was1 one may say1 a main object of his teaching to rescue the idea of justice from identification with the special interest of the strong1 and re-affirm it as the general interest of all4 ,for this end1 he takes occasion to state1 with the utmost frankness and lucidity1 the view which it is his intention to refute2 and consequently it is in his works that we find the fullest exposition of the destructive argument he seeks to answer4 ,briefly1 that argument runs as follows3--,it is the law of nature that the strong shall rule2 a law which every one recognises in fact1 though every one repudiates it in theory4 ,government therefore simply means the rule of the strong1 and exists1 no matter what its form1 whether tyranny1 oligarchy1 or democracy1 in the interests not of its subjects but of itself4 ,justice and ,law are the specious names it employs to cloak its own arbitrary will2 they have no objective validity1 no reference to the well-being of all2 and it is only the weak and the foolish on whom they impose4 ,strong and original natures sweep away this tangle of words1 assert themselves in defiance of false shame1 and claim the right divine that is theirs by nature1 to rule at their will by virtue of their strength4 ,each government1 says ,thrasymachus in the ,republic1 has its laws framed to suit its own interests2 a democracy making democratic laws2 an autocrat despotic laws1 and so on4 ,now by this procedure these governments have pronounced that what is for the interest of themselves is just for their subjects2 and whoever deviates from this1 is chastised by them as guilty of illegality and injustice4 ,therefore1 my good sir1 my meaning is1 that in all cities the same thing1 namely1 the interest of the established government is just4 ,and superior strength1 ,i presume1 is to be found on the side of government4 ,so that the conclusion of right reasoning is1 that the same thing1 namely1 the interest of the stronger1 is everywhere just4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 #cch4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,here is an argument which strikes at the root of all subordination to the state1 setting the subject against the ruler1 the minority against the majority1 with an emphasis of opposition that admits of no conceivable reconciliation4 ,and1 as we have noticed1 it was an argument to which the actual political conditions of ,greece gave a strong show of plausibility4 ,how then did the constructive thinkers of ,greece attempt to meet it8 ,the procedure adopted by ,plato is curiously opposed to that which might seem natural to a modern thinker on politics4 ,the scepticism which was to be met1 having sprung from the extremity of class-antagonism1 it might be supposed that the cure would be sought in some sort of system of equality4 ,plato's idea is precisely the contrary4 ,the distinction between classes he exaggerates to its highest point2 only he would have it depend on degrees1 not of wealth1 but of excellence4 ,in the ideal republic which he constructs as a type of a state where justice should really rule1 he sets an impassable gulf between the governing class and the governed2 each is specially trained and specially bred for its appropriate function2 and the harmony between them is ensured by the recognition1 on either part1 that each is in occupation of the place for which it is naturally fitted in that whole to which both alike are subordinate4 ,such a state1 no doubt1 if ever it had been realised in practice1 would have been a complete reply to the sceptical argument2 for it would have established a justice which was the expression not of the caprice of the governing class1 but of the objective will of the whole community4 ,but in practice such a state was not realised in ,greece2 and the experience of the ,greek world does not lead us to suppose that it was capable of realisation4 ,the system of stereotyping classes--in a word1 of caste--which has played so great a part in the history of the world1 does no doubt embody a great truth1 that of natural inequality2 and this truth1 as we saw1 was at the bottom of that ,greek conception of the state1 of which the ,republic of ,plato is an idealising caricature4 ,but the problem is to make the inequality of nature really correspond to the inequality imposed by institutions4 ,this problem ,plato hoped to solve by a strict public control of the marriage relation1 so that none should be born into any class who were not naturally fitted to be members of it2 but as a matter of fact the difficulty has never been met2 and the system of caste remains open to the reproach that its justice is conventional and arbitrary1 not the expression of the objective nature and will of all classes and members of the community4 ,the attempt of ,aristotle to construct a state that should be the embodiment of justice is similar to ,plato's so far as the relation of classes is concerned4 ,he1 too1 postulates a governing class of soldiers and councillors1 and a subject class of productive labourers4 ,when1 however1 he turns from the ideal to practical politics1 and considers merely how to avoid the worst extremes of party antagonism1 his solution is the simple and familiar one of the preponderance of the middle class4 ,the same view was dominant both in ,french and ,english politics from the year #ahcj onwards1 and is only now being thrust aside by the democratic ideal4 ,in ,greece it was never realised except as a passing phase in the perpetual flux of polities4 ,and in fine it may be said that the problem of establishing a state which should be a concrete refutation of the sceptical criticism that justice is merely another name for force1 was one that was never solved in ancient ,greece4 ,the dissolution of the idea of the state was more a symptom than a cause of its failure in practice to harmonise its warring elements4 ,and ,greece1 divided into conflicting polities1 each of which again was divided within itself1 passed on to ,macedon and thence to ,rome that task of reconciling the individual and the class with the whole1 about which the political history of the world turns4 ,section #ab4 ,summary4 ,we have now given some account of the general character of the ,greek state1 the ideas that underlay it1 and the criticism of those ideas suggested by the course of history and formulated by speculative thought4 ,it remains to offer certain reflections on the political achievement of the ,greeks1 and its relation to our own ideas4 ,the fruitful and positive aspect of the ,greek state1 that which fastens upon it the eyes of later generations as upon a model1 if not to be copied1 as least to be praised and admired1 is that identification of the individual citizen with the corporate life1 which delivered him from the narrow circle of personal interests into a sphere of wider views and higher aims4 ,the ,greek citizen1 as we have seen1 in the best days of the best states1 in ,athens for example in the age of ,pericles1 was at once a soldier and a politician2 body and mind alike were at his country's service2 and his whole ideal of conduct was inextricably bound up with his intimate and personal participation in public affairs4 ,if now with this ideal we contrast the life of an average citizen in a modern state1 the absorption in private business and family concerns1 the greasy domesticity 7to use a phrase of ,byron's71 that limits and clouds his vision of the world1 we may well feel that the ,greeks had achieved something which we have lost1 and may even desire to return1 so far as we may1 upon our steps1 and to re-establish that interpenetration of private and public life by which the individual citizen was at once depressed and glorified4 ,it may be doubted1 however1 whether such a procedure would be in any way possible or desirable4 ,for in the first place1 the existence of the ,greek citizen depended upon that of an inferior class who were regarded not as ends in themselves1 but as means to his perfection4 ,and that is an arrangement which runs directly counter to the modern ideal4 ,all modern societies aim1 to this extent at least1 at equality1 that their tendency1 so far as it is conscious and avowed1 is not to separate off a privileged class of citizens1 set free by the labour of others to live the perfect life1 but rather to distribute impartially to all the burdens and advantages of the state1 so that every one shall be at once a labourer for himself and a citizen of the state4 ,but this ideal is clearly incompatible with the ,greek conception of the citizen4 ,it implies that the greater portion of every man's life must be devoted to some kind of mechanical labour1 whose immediate connection with the public good1 though certain1 is remote and obscure2 and that in consequence a deliberate and unceasing preoccupation with the end of the state becomes as a general rule impossible4 ,and1 in the second place1 the mere complexity and size of a modern state is against the identification of the man with the citizen4 ,for1 on the one hand1 public issues are so large and so involved that it is only a few who can hope to have any adequate comprehension of them2 and on the other1 the subdivision of functions is so minute that even when a man is directly employed in the service of the state his activity is confined to some highly specialised department4 ,he must choose1 for example1 whether he will be a clerk in the treasury or a soldier2 but he cannot certainly be both4 ,in the ,greek state any citizen could undertake1 simultaneously or in succession1 and with complete comprehension and mastery1 every one of the comparatively few and simple public offices2 in a modern state such an arrangement has become impossible4 ,the mere mechanical and physical conditions of our life preclude the ideal of the ancient citizen4 ,but1 it may be said1 the activity of the citizen of a modern state should be and increasingly will be concerned not with the whole but with the part4 ,by the development of local institutions he will come1 more and more1 to identify himself with the public life of his district and his town2 and will bear to that much the same relation as was borne by the ancient ,greek to his city state4 ,certainly so far as the limitation of area1 and the simplicity and intelligibility of issues is concerned1 such an analogy might be fairly pressed2 and it is probably in connection with such local areas that the average citizen does and increasingly will become aware of his corporate relations4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it can hardly be maintained that public business in this restricted sense either could or should play the part in the life of the modern man that it played in that of the ancient ,greek4 ,for local business after all is a matter of sewers and parks2 and however great the importance of such matters may be1 and however great their claim upon the attention of competent men1 yet the kind of interest they awaken and the kind of faculties they employ can hardly be such as to lead to the identification of the individual ideal with that of public activity4 ,the life of the ,greek citizen involved an exercise1 the finest and most complete1 of all his powers of body1 soul1 and mind2 the same can hardly be said of the life of a county councillor1 even of the best and most conscientious of them4 ,and the conclusion appears to be1 that that fusion of public and private life which was involved in the ideal of the ,greek citizen1 was a passing phase in the history of the world2 that the state can never occupy again the place in relation to the individual which it held in the cities of the ancient world2 and that an attempt to identify in a modern state the ideal of the man with that of the citizen1 would be an historical anachronism4 ,nor is this a conclusion which need be regretted4 ,for as the sphere of the state shrinks1 it is possible that that of the individual may be enlarged4 ,the public side of human life1 it may be supposed1 will become more and more mechanical1 as our understanding and control of social forces grow4 ,but every reduction to habit and rule of what were once spiritual functions1 implies the liberation of the higher powers for a possible activity in other regions4 ,and if advantage were taken of this opportunity1 the inestimable compensation for the contraction to routine of the life of the citizen would be the expansion into new spheres of speculation and passion of the freer and more individual life of the man4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,individual ,section #a4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,manual ,labour and ,trade4 ,in our discussion of the ,greek view of the ,state we noticed the tendency both of the theory and the practice of the ,greeks to separate the citizens proper from the rest of the community as a distinct and aristocratic class4 ,and this tendency1 we had occasion to observe1 was partly to be attributed to the high conception which the ,greeks had formed of the proper excellence of man1 an excellence which it was the function of the citizen to realise in his own person1 at the cost1 if need be1 of the other members of the ,state4 ,this ,greek conception of the proper excellence of man it is now our purpose to examine more closely4 ,the chief point that strikes us about the ,greek ideal is its comprehensiveness4 ,our own word virtue is applied only to moral qualities2 but the ,greek word which we so translate should properly be rendered excellence1 and includes a reference to the body as well as to the soul4 ,a beautiful soul1 housed in a beautiful body1 and supplied with all the external advantages necessary to produce and perpetuate such a combination--that is the ,greek conception of well-being2 and it is because labour with the hands or at the desk distorts or impairs the body1 and the petty cares of a calling pursued for bread pervert the soul1 that so strong a contempt was felt by the ,greeks for manual labour and trade4 ,the arts that are called mechanical1 says ,xenophon1 are also1 and naturally enough1 held in bad repute in our cities4 ,for they spoil the bodies of workers and superintendents alike1 compelling them to live sedentary indoor lives1 and in some cases even to pass their days by the fire4 ,and as their bodies become effeminate1 so do their souls also grow less robust4 ,besides this1 in such trades one has no leisure to devote to the care of one's friends or of one's city4 ,so that those who engage in them are thought to be bad backers of their friends and bad defenders of their country4 ,footnote3 ,xen4 ,oec4 iv4 #c4 ,in a similar spirit ,plato asserts that a life of drudgery disfigures the body and mars and enervates the soul2 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 #die4 while ,aristotle defines a mechanical trade as one which renders the body and soul or intellect of free persons unfit for the exercise and practice of virtue2 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,pol4 ,v4 #accg b #h4--,translated by ,welldon4 and denies to the artisan not merely the proper excellence of man1 but any excellence of any kind1 on the plea that his occupation and status is unnatural1 and that he misses even that reflex of human virtue which a slave derives from his intimate connection with his master4 ,footnote3 ,ibid4 i4 #abfj a #cd4 ,if then the artisan was excluded from the citizenship in some of the ,greek states1 and even in the most democratic of them never altogether threw off the stigma of inferiority attaching to his trade1 the reason was that the life he was compelled to lead was incompatible with the ,greek conception of excellence4 ,that conception we will now proceed to examine a little more in detail4 ,section #b4 ,appreciation of ,external ,goods4 ,in the first place1 the ,greek ideal required for its realisation a solid basis of external ,goods4 ,it recognised frankly the dependence of man upon the world of sense1 and the contribution to his happiness of elements over which he had at best but a partial control4 ,not that it placed his ,good outside himself1 in riches1 power1 and other such appendages2 but that it postulated certain gifts of fortune as necessary means to his self-development4 ,of these the chief were1 a competence1 to secure him against sordid cares1 health1 to ensure his physical excellence1 and children1 to support and protect him in old age4 ,aristotle's definition of the happy man is one whose activity accords with perfect virtue and who is adequately furnished with external goods1 not for a casual period of time but for a complete or perfect life- time2 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,ethics4 ,i4 ii4 #aaja a #ad4--,translated by ,welldon4 and he remarks1 somewhat caustically1 that those who say that a man on the rack would be happy if only he were good1 intentionally or unintentionally are talking nonsense4 ,that here1 as elsewhere1 ,aristotle represents the common ,greek view we have abundant testimony from other sources4 ,even ,plato1 in whom there runs so clear a vein of asceticism1 follows the popular judgment in reckoning high among goods1 first1 health1 then beauty1 then skill and strength in physical exercises1 and lastly wealth1 if it be not blind but illumined by the eye of reason4 ,to these ,goods must be added1 to complete the scale1 success and reputation1 topics which are the constant theme of the poets' eulogy4 ,two things alone there are1 says ,pindar1 that cherish life's bloom to its utmost sweetness amidst the fair flowers of wealth--to have good success and to win therefore fair fame2 ,footnote3 ,pind4 ,isth4 iv4 #ad4-- ,translated by ,e4 ,myers4 and the passage represents his habitual attitude4 ,that the gifts of fortune1 both personal and external1 are an essential condition of excellence1 is an axiom of the point of view of the ,greeks4 ,but on the other hand we never find them misled into the conception that such gifts are an end in themselves1 apart from the personal qualities they are meant to support or adorn4 ,the oriental ideal of unlimited wealth and power1 enjoyed merely for its own sake1 never appealed to their fine and lucid judgment4 ,nothing could better illustrate this point than the anecdote related by ,herodotus of the interview between ,solon and ,croesus1 ,king of ,lydia4 ,croesus1 proud of his boundless wealth1 asks the ,greek stranger who is the happiest man on earth8 expecting to hear in reply his own name4 ,solon1 however1 answers with the name of ,tellus1 the ,athenian1 giving his reasons in the following speech3 ,first1 because his country was flourishing in his days1 and he himself had sons both beautiful and good1 and he lived to see children born to each of them1 and these children all grew up2 and further because1 after a life spent in what our people look upon as comfort1 his end was surpassingly glorious4 ,in a battle between the ,athenians and their neighbours near ,eleusis1 he came to the assistance of his countrymen1 routed the foe1 and died upon the field most gallantly4 ,the ,athenians gave him a public funeral on the spot where he fell1 and paid him the highest honours4 ,later on in the discussion ,solon defines the happy man as he who ,is whole of limb1 a stranger to disease1 free from misfortune1 happy in his children1 and comely to look upon1 and who also ends his life well4 ,footnote3 ,herodotus1 i4 #cj4 #cb4--,translated by ,rawlinson ,section #c4 ,appreciation of ,physical ,qualities4 ,while1 however1 the gifts of a happy fortune are an essential condition of the ,greek ideal1 they are not to be mistaken for the ideal itself4 ,a beautiful soul in a beautiful body1 to recur to our former phrase1 is the real end and aim of their endeavour4 ,beautiful and good is their habitual way of describing what we should call a gentleman2 and no expression could better represent what they admired4 ,with ourselves1 in spite of our addiction to athletics1 the body takes a secondary place2 after a certain age1 at least1 there are few men who make its systematic cultivation an important factor of their life2 and in our estimate of merit physical qualities are accorded either none or the very smallest weight4 ,it was otherwise with the ,greeks2 to them a good body was the necessary correlative of a good soul4 ,balance was what they aimed at1 balance and harmony2 and they could scarcely believe in the beauty of the spirit1 unless it were reflected in the beauty of the flesh4 ,the point is well put by ,plato1 the most spiritually minded of the ,greeks1 and the least apt to underprize the qualities of the soul4 ,surely then1 he says1 to him who has an eye to see1 there can be no fairer spectacle than that of a man who combines the possession of moral beauty in his soul with outward beauty of form1 corresponding and harmonizing with the former1 because the same great pattern enters into both4 ,there can be none so fair4 ,and you will grant that what is fairest is loveliest8 ,undoubtedly it is4 ,then the truly musical person will love those who combine most perfectly moral and physical beauty1 but will not love any one in whom there is dissonance4 ,no1 not if there be any defect in the soul1 but if it is only a bodily blemish1 he may so bear with it as to be willing to regard it with complacency4 ,i understand that you have now1 or have had1 a favourite of this kind2 so ,i give way4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 #djb4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,the reluctance of the admission that a physical defect may possibly be overlooked is as significant as the rest of the passage4 ,body and soul1 it is clear1 are regarded as aspects of a single whole1 so that a blemish in the one indicates and involves a blemish in the other4 ,the training of the body is thus1 in a sense1 the training of the soul1 and gymnastic and music1 as ,plato puts it1 serve the same end1 the production of a harmonious temperament4 ,section #d4 ,greek ,athletics4 ,it is this conception which gives1 or appears at least in the retrospect to give1 a character so gracious and fine to ,greek athletics4 ,in fact1 if we look more closely into the character of the public games in ,greece we see that they were so surrounded and transfused by an atmosphere of imagination that their appeal must have been as much to the aesthetic as to the physical sense4 ,for in the first place those great gymnastic contests in which all ,hellas took part1 and which gave the tone to their whole athletic life1 were primarily religious festivals4 ,the ,olympic and ,nemean ,games were held in honour of ,zeus1 the ,pythian1 of ,apollo1 the ,isthmean1 of ,poseidon4 ,in the enclosures in which they took place stood temples of the gods2 and sacrifice1 prayer1 and choral hymn were the back-ground against which they were set4 ,and since in ,greece religion implied art1 in the wake of the athlete followed the sculptor and the poet4 ,the colossal ,zeus of ,pheidias1 the wonder of the ancient world1 flashed from the precincts of ,olympia its glory of ivory and gold2 temples and statues broke the brilliant light into colour and form2 and under that vibrating heaven of beauty1 the loveliest nature crowned with the finest art1 shifted and shone what was in itself a perfect type of both1 the grace of harmonious motion in naked youths and men4 ,for in ,greek athletics1 by virtue of the practice of contending nude1 the contest itself became a work of art2 and not only did sculptors draw from it an inspiration such as has been felt by no later age1 but to the combatants themselves1 and the spectators1 the plastic beauty of the human form grew to be more than its prowess or its strength1 and gymnastic became a training in aesthetics as much as1 or more than1 in physical excellence4 ,and as with the contest1 so with the reward1 everything was designed to appeal to the sensuous imagination4 ,the prize formally adjudged was symbolical only1 a crown of olive2 but the real triumph of the victor was the ode in which his praise was sung1 the procession of happy comrades1 and the evening festival1 when1 as ,pindar has it1 the lovely shining of the fair-faced moon beamed forth1 and all the precinct sounded with songs of festal glee1 ,footnote3 ,pindar1 ,ol4 xi4 #ij4-- ,translated by ,myers or beside ,kastaly in the evening his name burnt bright1 when the glad sounds of the ,graces rose4 ,footnote3 ,pindar1 ,nem4 #f4 #fe4 ,of the ,graces6 for these were the powers who presided over the world of ,greek athletics4 ,here1 for example1 is the opening of one of ,pindar's odes1 typical of the spirit in which he at least conceived the functions of the chronicler of sport3 ,o ye who haunt the land of goodly steeds that drinketh of ,kephisos' waters1 lusty ,orchomenos' ,queens renowned in song1 ,o ,graces1 guardians of the ,minyai's ancient race1 hearken1 for unto you ,i pray4 ,for by your gift come unto men all pleasant things and sweet1 and the wisdom of a man and his beauty1 and the splendour of his fame4 ,yea1 even gods without the ,graces' aid rule never at feast or dance2 but these have charge of all things done in heaven1 and beside ,pythian ,apollo of the golden bow they have set their thrones1 and worship the eternal majesty of the ,olympian ,father4 ,o lady ,aglaia1 and thou ,euphrosyne1 lover of song1 children of the mightiest of the gods1 listen and hear1 and thou ,thalia delighting in sweet sounds1 and look down upon this triumphal company1 moving with light step under happy fate4 ,in ,lydian mood of melody concerning ,asopichos am ,i come hither to sing1 for that through thee1 ,aglaia1 in the ,olympic games the ,minyai's home is winner4 ,footnote3 ,pindar1 ,ol4 xiv4--,translated by ,myers4 ,this is but a single passage among many that might be quoted to illustrate the point we are endeavouring to bring into relief--the conscious predominance in the ,greek games of that element of poetry and art which is either not present at all in modern sport or at best is a happy accessory of chance4 ,the modern man1 and especially the ,englishman1 addicts himself to athletics1 as to other avocations1 with a certain stolidity of gaze on the immediate end which tends to confine him to the purely physical view of his pursuit4 ,the ,greek1 an artist by nature1 lifted his not less strenuous sports into an air of finer sentiment1 touched them with the poetry of legend and the grace of art and song1 and even to his most brutal contests--for brutal some of them were--imparted so rich an atmosphere of beauty1 that they could be admitted as fit themes for dedication to the ,graces by the choice and spiritual genius of ,pindar4 ,section #e4 ,greek ,ethics--,identification of the ,aesthetic and ,ethical ,points of ,view4 ,and as with the excellence of the body1 so with that of the soul1 the conception that dominated the mind of the ,greeks was primarily aesthetic4 ,in speaking of their religion we have already remarked that they had no sense of sin2 and we may now add that they had no sense of duty4 ,moral virtue they conceived not as obedience to an external law1 a sacrifice of the natural man to a power that in a sense is alien to himself1 but rather as the tempering into due proportion of the elements of which human nature is composed4 ,the good man was the man who was beautiful--beautiful in soul4 ,virtue1 says ,plato1 will be a kind of health and beauty and good habit of the soul2 and vice will be a disease and deformity and sickness of it4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 #ddd1-- ,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,it follows that it is as natural to seek virtue and to avoid vice as to seek health and to avoid disease4 ,there is no question of a struggle between opposite principles2 the distinction of good and evil is one of order or confusion1 among elements which in themselves are neither good nor bad4 ,this conception of virtue we find expressed in many forms1 but always with the same underlying idea4 ,a favourite watch-word with the ,greeks is the middle or mean1 the exact point of rightness between two extremes4 ,nothing in excess1 was a motto inscribed over the temple of ,delphi2 and none could be more characteristic of the ideal of these lovers of proportion4 ,aristotle1 indeed1 has made it the basis of his whole theory of ethics4 ,in his conception1 virtue is the mean1 vice the excess lying on either side--courage1 for example1 the mean between foolhardiness and cowardice1 temperance1 between incontinence and insensibility1 generosity1 between extravagance and meanness4 ,the various phases of feeling and the various kinds of action he analyses minutely on this principle1 understanding always by the mean that which adapts itself in the due proportion to the circumstances and requirements of every case4 ,the interest of this view for us lies in its assumption that it is not passions or desires in themselves that must be regarded as bad1 but only their disproportional or misdirected indulgence4 ,let us take1 for example1 the case of the pleasures of sense4 ,the puritan's rule is to abjure them altogether2 to him they are absolutely wrong in themselves1 apart from all considerations of time and place4 ,aristotle1 on the contrary1 enjoins not renunciation but temperance2 and defines the temperate man as one who holds a mean position in respect of pleasures4 ,he takes no pleasure in the things in which the licentious man takes most pleasure2 he rather dislikes them2 nor does he take pleasure at all in wrong things1 nor an excessive pleasure in anything that is pleasant1 nor is he pained at the absence of such things1 nor does he desire them1 except perhaps in moderation1 nor does he desire them more than is right1 or at the wrong time1 and so on4 ,but he will be eager in a moderate and right spirit for all such things as are pleasant and at the same time conducive to health or to a sound bodily condition1 and for all other pleasures1 so long as they are not prejudicial to these or inconsistent with noble conduct or extravagant beyond his means4 ,for unless a person limits himself in this way1 he affects such pleasures more than is right1 whereas the temperate man follows the guidance of right reason4 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,ethics4 ,,iii4 #ad4--aaai a #aa4--,translated by ,welldon4 ,as another illustration of this point of view1 we may take the case of anger4 ,the ,christian rule is never to resent an injury1 but rather1 in the ,new ,testament phrase1 to turn the other cheek4 ,aristotle1 while blaming the man who is unduly passionate1 blames equally the man who is insensitive2 the thing to aim at is to be angry on the proper occasions and with the proper people in the proper manner and for the proper length of time4 ,and in this and all other cases the definition of what is proper must be left to the determination of the sensible man4 ,thus1 in place of a series of hard and fast rules1 a rigid and uncompromising distinction of acts and affections into good and bad1 the former to be absolutely chosen and the latter absolutely eschewed1 ,aristotle presents us with the general type of a subtle and shifting problem1 the solution of which must be worked out afresh by each individual in each particular case4 ,conduct to him is a free and living creature1 and not a machine controlled by fixed laws4 ,every life is a work of art shaped by the man who lives it2 according to the faculty of the artist will be the quality of his work1 and no general rules can supply the place of his own direct perception at every turn4 ,the ,good is the right proportion1 the right manner and occasion2 the ,bad is all that varies from this right4 ,but the elements of human nature in themselves are neither good nor bad2 they are merely the raw material out of which the one or the other may be shaped4 ,the idea thus formulated by ,aristotle is typically ,greek4 ,in another form it is the basis of the ethical philosophy of ,plato1 who habitually regards virtue as a kind of order4 ,the virtue of each thing1 he says1 whether body or soul1 instrument or creature1 when given to them in the best way comes to them not by chance but as the result of the order and truth and art which are imparted to them4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,gorgias1 #ejf d4--,translated by ,jowett ,and the conception here indicated1 is worked out in detail in his ,republic4 ,there1 after distinguishing in the soul three principles or powers1 reason1 passion1 and desire1 he defines justice as the maintenance among them of their proper mutual relation1 each moving in its own place and doing its appropriate work as is1 or should be1 the case with the different classes in a state4 ,the just man will not permit the several principles within him to do any work but their own1 nor allow the distinct classes in his soul to interfere with each other1 but will really set his house in order2 and having gained the mastery over himself1 will so regulate his own character as to be on good terms with himself1 and to set those three principles in tune together1 as if they were verily three chords of a harmony1 a higher and a lower and a middle1 and whatever may lie between these2 and after he has bound all these together1 and reduced the many elements of his nature to a real unity1 as a temperate and duly harmonized man1 he will then at length proceed to do whatever he may have to do4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 ,,iv4 #ddc4--,translation by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,plato1 it is true1 in other parts of his work1 approaches more closely to the dualistic conception of an absolute opposition between good and bad principles in man4 ,yet even so1 he never altogether abandons that aesthetic point of view which looks to the establishment of order among the conflicting principles rather than to the annihilation of one by the other in an internecine conflict4 ,the point may be illustrated by the following passage1 where the two horses represent respectively the elements of fleshly desire and spiritual passion1 while the charioteer stands for the controlling reason2 and where1 it will be noticed1 the ultimate harmony is achieved1 not by the complete eradication of desire1 but by its due subordination to the higher principle4 ,even ,plato1 the most ascetic of the ,greeks1 is a ,greek first and an ascetic afterwards4 ,of the nature of the soul1 though her true form be ever a theme of large and more than mortal discourse1 let me speak briefly1 and in a figure1 and let the figure be composite--a pair of winged horses and a charioteer4 ,now the winged horses and the charioteers of the gods are all of them noble and of noble descent1 but those of other races are mixed2 the human charioteer drives his in a pair2 and one of them is noble and of noble breed1 and the other is ignoble and of ignoble breed2 and the driving of them of necessity gives a great deal of trouble to him4444 ,the right hand horse is upright and cleanly made2 he has a lofty neck and an aquiline nose2 his colour is white1 and his eyes dark2 he is a lover of honour and modesty and temperance1 and the follower of true glory2 he needs no touch of the whip1 but is guided by word and admonition only4 ,the other is a crooked lumbering animal1 put together anyhow2 he has a short thick neck2 he is flat-faced and of a dark colour1 with grey eyes and blood-red complexion2 the mate of insolence and pride1 shag-eared and deaf1 hardly yielding to whip and spur4 ,now when the charioteer beholds the vision of love1 and has his whole soul warmed through sense1 and is full of1 the prickings and ticklings of desire1 the obedient steed1 then as always under the government of shame1 refrains from leaping on the beloved2 but the other1 heedless of the blows of the whip1 plunges and runs away1 giving all manner of trouble to his companion and the charioteer1 whom he forces to approach the beloved and to remember the joys of love4 ,they at first indignantly oppose him and will not be urged on to do terrible and unlawful deeds2 but at last1 when he persists in plaguing them1 they yield and agree to do as he bids them4 ,and now they are at the spot and behold the flashing beauty of the beloved2 which when the charioteer sees1 his memory is carried to the true beauty whom he beholds in company with ,modesty like an image placed upon a holy pedestal ,he sees her1 but he is afraid and falls backwards in adoration1 and by his fall is compelled to pull back the reins with such violence as to bring both the steeds on their haunches1 the one willing and unresisting1 the unruly one very unwilling2 and when they have gone back a little1 the one is overcome with shame and wonder1 and his whole soul is bathed in perspiration2 the other1 when the pain is over which the bridle and the fall had given him1 having with difficulty taken breath1 is full of wrath and reproaches1 which he heaps upon the charioteer and his fellow-steed1 for want of courage and manhood1 declaring that they have been false to their agreement and guilty of desertion4 ,again they refuse1 and again he urges them on1 and will scarce yield to their prayer that he would wait until another time4 ,when the appointed hour comes1 they make as if they had forgotten1 and he reminds them1 fighting and neighing and dragging them on1 until at length he on the same thoughts intent1 forces them to draw near again4 ,and when they are near he stoops his head and puts up his tail1 and takes the bit in his teeth and pulls shamelessly4 ,then the charioteer is worse off than ever2 he falls back like a racer at the barrier1 and with a still more violent wrench drags the bit out of the teeth of the wild steed and covers his abusive jaws and tongue with blood1 and forces his legs and haunches to the ground and punishes him sorely4 ,and when this has happened several times and the villain has ceased from his wanton way1 he is tamed and humbled and follows the will of the charioteer1 and when he sees the beautiful one he is ready to die of fear4 ,and from that time forward the soul of the lover follows the beloved in modesty and holy fear4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,phaedrus4 #bdf4-- ,translated by ,jowett4 ,even from this passage1 in spite of its dualistic hypothesis1 but far more clearly from the whole tenor of his work1 we may perceive that ,plato's description of virtue as an order of the soul is prompted by the same conception1 characteristically ,greek1 as ,aristotle's account of virtue as a mean4 ,the view1 as we said at the beginning1 is properly aesthetic rather than moral4 ,it regards life less as a battle between two contending principles1 in which victory means the annihilation of the one1 the altogether bad1 by the other1 the altogether good1 than as the maintenance of a balance between elements neutral in themselves but capable1 according as their relations are rightly ordered or the reverse1 of producing either that harmony which is called virtue1 or that discord which is called vice4 ,such being the conception of virtue characteristic of the ,greeks1 it follows that the motive to pursue it can hardly have presented itself to them in the form of what we call the sense of duty4 ,for duty emphasises self-repression4 ,against the desires of man it sets a law of prohibition1 a law which is not conceived as that of his own complete nature1 asserting against a partial or disproportioned development the balance and totality of the ideal1 but rather as a rule imposed from without by a power distinct from himself1 for the mortification1 not the perfecting1 of his natural impulses and aims4 ,duty emphasises self- repression2 the ,greek view emphasised self-development4 ,that health and beauty and good habit of the soul1 which is ,plato's ideal1 is as much its own recommendation tion to the natural man as is the health and beauty of the body4 ,vice1 on this view1 is condemned because it is a frustration of nature1 virtue praised because it is her fulfilment2 and the motive throughout is simply that passion to realise oneself which is commonly acknowledged as sufficient in the case of physical development1 and which appeared sufficient to the ,greeks in the case of the development of the soul4 ,section #f4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,pleasure4 ,from all this it follows clearly enough that the ,greek ideal was far removed from asceticism2 but it might perhaps be supposed1 on the other hand1 that it came dangerously near to license4 ,nothing1 however1 could be further from the case4 ,that there were libertines among the ,greeks1 as everywhere else1 goes without saying2 but the conception that the ,greek rule of life was to follow impulse and abandon restraint is a figment of would-be ,hellenists of our own time4 ,the word which best sums up the ideal of the ,greeks is temperance2 the mean1 order1 harmony1 as we saw1 are its characteristic expressions2 and the self- realisation to which they aspired was not an anarchy of passion1 but an ordered evolution of the natural faculties under the strict control of a balanced mind4 ,the point may be illustrated by a reference to the treatment of pleasure in the philosophy of ,plato and of ,aristotle4 ,the practice of the libertine is to identify pleasure and good in such a manner that he pursues at any moment any pleasure that presents itself1 eschewing comparison and reflection1 with all that might tend to check that continuous flow of vivid and fresh sensations which he postulates as the end of life4 ,the ideal of the ,greeks1 on the contrary1 as interpreted by their two greatest thinkers1 while on the one hand it is so far opposed to asceticism that it requires pleasure as an essential complement of ,good1 on the other1 is so far from identifying the two1 that it recognises an ordered scale of pleasures1 and while rejecting altogether those at the lower end1 admits the rest1 not as in themselves constituting the ,good1 but rather as harmless additions or at most as necessary accompaniments of its operation4 ,plato1 in the ,republic1 distinguishes between the necessary and unnecessary pleasures1 defining the former as those derived from the gratification of appetites which we cannot get rid of and whose satisfaction does us good--such1 for example1 as the appetite for wholesome food2 and the latter as those which belong to appetites which we can put away from us by early training2 and the presence of which1 besides1 never does us any good1 and in some cases does positive harm1--such1 for example1 as the appetite for delicate and luxurious dishes4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 ,,viii4 #eeh4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,the former he would admit1 the latter he excludes from his ideal of happiness4 ,and though in a later dialogue1 the ,philebus1 he goes further than this1 and would exclude from the perfect life all pleasures except those which he describes as pure1 that is those which attend upon the contemplation of form and colour and sound1 or which accompany intellectual activity2 yet here1 no doubt1 he is passing beyond the sphere of the practicable ideal1 and his distinct personal bias towards asceticism must be discounted if we are to take him as representative of the ,greek view4 ,his general contention1 however1 that pleasures must be ranked as higher and as lower1 and that at the best they are not to be identified with the ,good1 is fully accepted by so typical a ,greek as ,aristotle4 ,aristotle1 however1 is careful not to condemn any pleasure that is not definitely harmful4 ,even unnecessary pleasures1 he admits1 may be desirable in themselves2 even the deliberate creation of desire with a view to the enjoyment of satisfying it may be admissible if it is not injurious4 ,still1 there are kinds of pleasures which ought not to be pursued1 and occasions and methods of seeking it which are improper and perverse4 ,therefore the ,reason must be always at hand to check and to control2 and the ultimate test of true worth in pleasure1 as in everything else1 is the trained judgment of the good and sensible man4 ,section #g4 ,illustrations--,ischomachus2 ,socrates4 ,such1 then1 was the character of the ,greek conception of excellence4 ,the account we have given may seem somewhat abstract and ideal2 but it gives the general formula of the life which every cultivated ,greek would at any rate have wished to live4 ,and in confirmation of this point we may adduce the testimony of ,xenophon1 who has left us a description1 evidently drawn from life1 of what he conceives to be the perfect type of a gentleman4 ,the interest of the account lies in the fact1 that ,xenophon himself was clearly an average ,greek1 one1 that is to say1 of good natural parts1 of perfectly normal faculties and tastes1 undisturbed by any originality of character or mind1 and representing therefore1 as we may fairly assert1 the ordinary views and aims of an upright and competent man of the world4 ,his description of the gentleman1 therefore1 may be taken as a representative account of the recognised ideal of all that class of ,athenian citizens4 ,and this is how the gentleman in question1 ,ischomachus1 describes his course of life4 ,in the first place1 he says1 ,i worship the gods4 ,next1 ,i endeavour to the best of my ability1 assisted by prayer1 to get health and strength of body1 reputation in the city1 good will among my friends1 honourable security in battle and an honourable increase of fortune4 ,at this point ,socrates1 who is supposed to be the interlocutor1 interrupts4 ,do you really covet wealth1 he asks1 with all the trouble it involves8 ,certainly ,i do1 is the reply1 for it enables me to honour the gods magnificently1 to help my friends if they are in want1 and to contribute to the resources of my country4 ,here definitely and precisely expressed is the ideal of the ,athenian gentleman--the beautiful body housing the beautiful soul1 the external aids of fortune1 friends1 and the like1 and the realisation of the individual self in public activity4 ,upon it follows an account of the way in which ,ischomachus was accustomed to pass his days4 ,he rises early1 he tells us1 to catch his friends before they go out1 or walks to the city to transact his necessary business4 ,if he is not called into town1 he pays a visit to his farm1 walking for the sake of exercise and sending on his horse4 ,on his arrival he gives directions about the sowing1 ploughing1 or whatever it may be1 and then mounting his horse practices his military exercises4 ,finally he returns home on foot1 running part of the way1 takes his bath1 and sits down to a moderate midday meal4 ,this combination of physical exercise1 military training and business1 arouses the enthusiasm of ,socrates4 ,how right you are6 he cries1 and the consequence is that you are as healthy and strong as we see you1 and one of the best riders and the wealthiest men in the country6 ,this little prosaic account of the daily life of an ,athenian gentleman is completely in harmony with all we have said about the character of the ,greek ideal2 but it comprehends only a part1 and that the least spiritual1 of that rich and many-sided excellence4 ,it may be as well1 therefore1 to append by way of complement the description of another personality1 exceptional indeed even among the ,greeks1 yet one which only ,greece could have produced--the personality of ,socrates4 ,no more striking figure is presented to us in history1 none has been more vividly portrayed1 and none1 in spite of the originality of mind which provoked the hostility of the crowd1 is more thoroughly ,hellenic in every aspect1 physical1 intellectual1 and moral4 ,that ,socrates was ugly in countenance was a defect which a ,greek could not fail to note1 and his snub nose and big belly are matters of frequent and jocose allusion4 ,but apart from these defects his physique1 it appears1 was exceptionally good2 he was sedulous in his attendance at the gymnasia1 and was noted for his powers of endurance and his courage and skill in war4 ,plato records it of him that in a hard winter on campaign1 when the common soldiers were muffling themselves in sheepskins and felt against the cold1 he alone went about in his ordinary cloak1 and barefoot over the ice and snow2 and he further describes his bearing in a retreat from a lost battle1 how there you might see him1 just as he is in the streets of ,athens1 stalking like a pelican and rolling his eyes1 calmly contemplating enemies as well as friends1 and making very intelligible to anybody1 even from a distance1 that whoever attacked him would be likely to meet with a stout resistance4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,symp4 #bba b4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,to this efficiency of body corresponded1 in accordance with the ,greek ideal1 a perfect balance and harmony of soul4 ,plato1 in a fine figure1 compares him to the wooden statues of ,silenus1 which concealed behind a grotesque exterior beautiful golden images of the gods4 ,of these divine forms none was fairer in ,socrates than that typical ,greek virtue1 temperance4 ,without a touch of asceticism1 he knew how to be contented with a little4 ,his diet he measured strictly with a view to health4 ,naturally abstemious1 he could drink1 when he chose1 more than another man2 but no one had ever seen him drunk4 ,his affections were strong and deep1 but never led him away to seek his own gratification at the cost of those he loved4 ,without cutting himself off from any of the pleasures of life1 a social man and a frequent guest at feasts1 he preserved without an effort the supremacy of character and mind over the flesh he neither starved nor pampered4 ,here is a description by ,plato of his bearing at the close of an all-night carouse1 which may stand as a concrete illustration not only of the character of ,socrates1 but of the meaning of temperance as it was understood by the ,greeks3 ,aristodemus said that ,eryximachus1 ,phaedrus1 and others went away--he himself fell asleep1 and as the nights were long took a good rest3 he was awakened towards day-break by a crowing of cocks1 and when he awoke the others were either asleep1 or had gone away2 there remained awake only ,socrates1 ,aristophanes1 and ,agathon1 who were drinking out of a large goblet which they passed round1 and ,socrates was discoursing to them4 ,aristodemus did not hear the beginning of the discourse1 and he was only half awake1 but the chief thing which he remembered was ,socrates compelling the other two to acknowledge that the genius of comedy was the same as that of tragedy1 and that the true artist in tragedy was an artist in comedy also4 ,to this they assented1 being drowsy1 and not quite following the argument4 ,and first of all ,aristophanes dropped off1 then1 when the day was already dawning1 ,agathon4 ,socrates1 when he had laid them to sleep1 rose to depart3 ,aristodemus1 as his manner was1 following him4 ,at the ,lyceum he took a bath1 and passed the day as usual4 ,in the evening he retired to rest at his own house4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,symposion1 #bbc4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,with this quality of temperance was combined in ,socrates a rare measure of independence and moral courage4 ,he was never an active politician2 but as every ,athenian citizen was called1 at some time or another1 to public office1 he found himself1 on a critical occasion1 responsible for putting a certain proposition to the vote in the ,assembly4 ,it was a moment of intense excitement4 ,a great victory had just been won2 but the generals who had achieved the success had neglected to recover the corpses of the dead or to save the ship-wrecked4 ,it was proposed to take a vote of life or death on all the generals collectively4 ,socrates1 as it happened1 was one of the committee whose duty it was to put the question to the ,assembly4 ,but the proposition was in itself illegal1 and ,socrates with some other members of the committee1 refused to submit it to the vote4 ,every kind of pressure was brought to bear upon the recalcitrant officers2 orators threatened1 friends besought1 the mob clamoured and denounced4 ,finally all but ,socrates gave way4 ,he alone1 an old man1 in office for the first time1 had the courage to obey his conscience and the law in face of an angry populace crying for blood4 ,and as he could stand against a mob1 so he could stand against a despot4 ,at the time when ,athens was ruled by the thirty tyrants he was ordered1 with four others1 to arrest a man whom the authorities wished to put out of the way4 ,the man was guilty of no crime1 and ,socrates refused4 ,i went quietly home1 he says1 and no doubt ,i should have been put to death for it1 if the government had not shortly after come to an end4 ,these1 however1 were exceptional episodes in the career of a man who was never a prominent politician4 ,the main interest of ,socrates was intellectual and moral2 an interest1 however1 rather practical than speculative4 ,for though he was charged in his indictment with preaching atheism1 he appears in fact to have concerned himself little or nothing with either theological or physical inquiries4 ,he was careful in his observance of all prescribed religious rites1 and probably accepted the gods as powers of the natural world and authors of human institutions and laws4 ,his originality lay not in any purely speculative views1 but in the pertinacious curiosity1 practical in its origin and aim1 with which he attacked and sifted the ethical conceptions of his time3 ,what is justice8 ,what is piety8 ,what is temperance8--these were the kinds of questions he never tired of raising1 pointing out contradictions and inconsistencies in current ideas1 and awakening doubts which if negative in form were positive and fruitful in effect4 ,his method in pursuing these inquiries was that of cross-examination4 ,in the streets1 in the market1 in the gymnasia1 at meetings grave and gay1 in season or out of season1 he raised his points of definition4 ,the city was in a ferment around him4 ,young men and boys followed and hung on his lips wherever he went4 ,by the charm of his personality1 his gracious courtesy and wit1 and the large and generous atmosphere of a sympathy always at hand to temper to particular persons the rigours of a generalising logic1 he drew to himself1 with a fascination not more of the intellect than of the heart1 all that was best and brightest in the youth of ,athens4 ,his relation to his young disciples was that of a lover and a friend2 and the stimulus given by his dialectics to their keen and eager minds was supplemented and reinforced by the appeal to their admiration and love of his sweet and virile personality4 ,only in ,ancient ,athens1 perhaps1 could such a character and such conditions have met4 ,the sociable out-door city life2 the meeting places in the open air1 and especially the gymnasia1 frequented by young and old not more for exercise of the body than for recreation of the mind2 the nimble and versatile ,athenian wits trained to preternatural acuteness by the debates of the law courts and the ,assembly2 all this was exactly the environment fitted to develop and sustain a genius at once so subtle and so humane as that of ,socrates4 ,it is the concrete presentation of this city-life that lends so peculiar a charm to the dialogues of ,plato4 ,the spirit of metaphysics puts on the human form2 and ,dialectic walks the streets and contends in the palaestra4 ,it would be impossible to convey by citation the cumulative effect of this constant reference in ,plato to a human background2 but a single excerpt may perhaps help us to realise the conditions under which ,socrates lived and worked4 ,here1 then1 is a description of the scene in one of those gymnasia in which he was wont to hold his conversations3 ,upon entering we found that the boys had just been sacrificing2 and this part of the festival was nearly at an end4 ,they were all in white array1 and games at dice were going on among them4 ,most of them were in the outer court amusing themselves2 but some were in a corner of the ,apodyterium playing at odd and even with a number of dice1 which they took out of little wicker baskets4 ,there was also a circle of lookers- on1 one of whom was ,lysis4 ,he was standing among the other boys and youths1 having a crown upon his head1 like a fair vision1 and not less worthy of praise for his goodness than for his beauty4 ,we left them1 and went over to the opposite side of the room1 where1 finding a quiet place1 we sat down2 and then we began to talk4 ,this attracted ,lysis1 who was constantly turning round to look at us--he was evidently wanting to come to us4 ,for a time he hesitated and had not the courage to come alone2 but first of all1 his friend ,menexenus came in out of the court in the interval of his play1 and when he saw ,ctesippus and myself1 came and sat by us2 and then ,lysis1 seeing him1 followed1 and sat down with him1 and the other boys joined4 ,i turned to ,menexenus1 and said3 ',son of ,demophon1 which of you two youths is the elder8' ',that is a matter of dispute between us1' he said4 ',and which is the nobler8 ,is that a matter of dispute too8' ',yes1 certainly4' ',and another disputed point is1 which is the fairer8' ,the two boys laughed4 ',i shall not ask which is the richer1' ,i said2 'for you two are friends1 are you not8' ',certainly1' they replied4 ',and friends have all things in common1 so that one of you can be no richer than the other1 if you say truly that you are friends4' ,they assented4 ,i was about to ask which was the greater of the two1 and which was the wiser of the two2 but at this moment ,menexenus was called away by some one who came and said that the gymnastic-master wanted him4 ,i supposed that he had to offer sacrifice4 ,so he went away and ,i asked ,lysis some more questions4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,lysis #bjf e4--,translated by ,jowett ,such were the scenes in which ,socrates passed his life4 ,of his influence it is hardly necessary here to speak at length4 ,in the well-known metaphor put into his mouth by ,plato1 he was the gad-fly of the ,athenian people4 ,to prick intellectual lethargy1 to force people to think1 and especially to think about the conceptions with which they supposed themselves to be most familiar1 those which guided their conduct in private and public affairs--justice expediency1 honesty1 and the like--such was the constant object of his life4 ,that he should have made enemies1 that he should have been misunderstood1 that he should have been accused of undermining the foundations of morality and religion1 is natural and intelligible enough2 and it was on these grounds that he was condemned to death4 ,his conduct at his trial was of a piece with the rest of his life4 ,the customary arts of the pleader1 the appeal to the sympathies of the public1 the introduction into court of weeping wife and children1 he rejected as unworthy of himself and of his cause4 ,his defence was a simple exposition of the character and the aims of his life2 so far from being a criminal he asserted that he was a benefactor of the ,athenian people2 and having1 after his condemnation1 to suggest the sentence he thought appropriate1 he proposed that he should be supported at the public expense as one who had deserved well of his country4 ,after his sentence to death1 having to wait thirty days for its execution1 he showed no change from his customary cheerfulness1 passing his time in conversation with his friends4 ,so far from regretting his fate he rather congratulated himself that he would escape the decadence that attends upon old age2 and he had1 if we may trust ,plato1 a fair and confident assurance that a happy life awaited him beyond4 ,he died1 according to the merciful law of ,athens1 by drinking hemlock2 the wisest and justest and best1 in ,plato's judgment1 of all the men that ,i have ever known4 ,we have dwelt thus long on the personality of ,socrates1 familiar though it be1 not only on account of its intrinsic interest1 but also because it is peculiarly ,hellenic4 ,that sunny and frank intelligence1 bathed1 as it were1 in the open air1 a gracious blossom springing from the root of physical health1 that unique and perfect balance of body and soul1 passion and intellect1 represent1 against the brilliant setting of ,athenian life1 the highest achievement of the civilisation of ,greece4 ,the figure of ,socrates1 no doubt1 has been idealised by ,plato1 but it is none the less significant of the trend of ,hellenic life4 ,no other people could have conceived such an ideal2 no other could have gone so far towards its realisation4 ,section #h4 ,the ,greek ,view of ,woman4 ,in the preceding account we have attempted to give some conception of the ,greek ideal for the individual man4 ,it is now time to remind ourselves that that ideal was only supposed to be proper to a small class--the class of soldier-citizens4 ,artisans and slaves1 as we have seen1 had no participation in it2 neither1 and that is our next point1 had women4 ,nothing more profoundly distinguishes the ,hellenic from the modern view of life than the estimate in which women were held by the ,greeks4 ,their opinion on this point was partly the cause and partly the effect of that preponderance of the idea of the ,state on which we have already dwelt1 and from which it followed naturally enough that marriage should be regarded primarily as a means of producing healthy and efficient citizens4 ,this view is best illustrated by the institutions of such a ,state as ,sparta1 where1 as we saw1 the woman was specially trained for maternity1 and connections outside the marriage tie were sanctioned by custom and opinion1 if they were such as were likely to lead to healthy offspring4 ,further it may be noted that in almost every ,state the exposure of deformed or sickly infants was encouraged by law1 the child being thus regarded1 from the beginning1 as a member of the ,state1 rather than as a member of the family4 ,the same view is reflected in the speculations of political philosophers4 ,plato1 indeed1 in his ,republic1 goes so far as to eliminate the family relation altogether4 ,not only is the whole connection between men and women to be regulated by the ,state1 in respect both of the persons and of the limit of age within which they may associate1 but the children as soon as they are born are to be carried off to a common nursery1 there to be reared together1 undistinguished by the mothers1 who will suckle indifferently any infant that might happen to be assigned to them for the purpose4 ,here1 as in other instances1 ,plato goes far beyond the limits set by the current sentiment of the ,greeks1 and in his later work is reluctantly constrained to abandon his scheme of community of wives and children4 ,yet even there he makes it compulsory on every man to marry between the ages of thirty and thirty-five1 under penalty of fine and civil disabilities4 ,plato1 no doubt1 as we have said1 exaggerates the opinions of his time2 but the view1 which he pushes to its extreme1 of the subordination of the family to the ,state1 was one1 as we have already pointed out1 which did predominate in ,greece4 ,it reappears in a soberer form in the treatise of ,aristotle4 ,he too would regulate by law both the age at which marriages should take place and the number of children that should be produced1 and would have all deformed infants exposed4 ,and here1 no doubt1 he is speaking in conformity if not with the practice1 at least with the feeling of ,greece4 ,the modern conception that the marriage relation is a matter of private concern1 and that any individual has a right to wed whom and when he will1 and to produce children at his own discretion1 regardless of all considerations of health and decency1 was one altogether alien to the ,greeks4 ,in theory at least1 and to some extent in practice 7as for example in the case of ,sparta71 they recognised that the production of children was a business of supreme import to the ,state1 and that it was right and proper that it should be regulated by law with a view to the advantage of the whole community4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and if now we turn from considering the family in its relation to the ,state to regard it in its relation to the individual1 we are struck once more by a divergence from the modern point of view1 or rather from the view which is supposed to prevail1 particularly by writers of fiction1 at any rate in modern ,english life4 ,in ancient ,greece1 so far as our knowledge goes1 there was little or no romance connected with the marriage tie4 ,marriage was a means of producing legitimate children2 that is how it is defined by ,demosthenes2 and we have no evidence that it was ever regarded as anything more4 ,in ,athens we know that marriages were commonly arranged by the father1 much as they are in modern ,france1 on grounds of age1 property1 connection and the like1 and without any regard for the inclination of the parties concerned4 ,and an interesting passage in ,xenophon indicates a point of view quite consonant with this accepted practice4 ,god1 he says1 ordained the institution of marriage2 but on what grounds8 ,not in the least for the sake of the personal relation that might be established between the husband and wife1 but for ends quite external and indifferent to any affection that might exist between them4 ,first1 for the perpetuation of the human race2 secondly1 to raise up protectors for the father in his old age2 thirdly1 to secure an appropriate division of labour1 the man performing the outdoor work1 the woman guarding and superintending at home1 and each thus fulfilling duly the function for which they were designed by nature4 ,this eminently prosaic way of conceiving the marriage relation1 is also1 it would seem1 eminently ,greek2 and it leads us to consider more particularly the opinion prevalent in ,greece of the nature and duty of woman in general4 ,here the first point to be noticed is the wide difference of the view represented in the ,homeric poems from that which meets us in the historic period4 ,readers of the ,iliad and the ,odyssey will find depicted there1 amid all the barbarity of an age of rapine and war1 relations between men and women so tender1 faithful and beautiful1 that they may almost stand as universal types of the ultimate human ideal4 ,such for example is the relation between ,odysseus and ,penelope1 the wife waiting year by year for the husband whose fate is unknown1 wooed in vain by suitors who waste her substance and wear her life1 nightly watering her bed with her tears for twenty weary years1 till at last the wanderer returns1 and at once her knees were loosened and her heart melted within her444 and she fell a weeping and ran straight towards him1 and cast her hands about his neck1 and kissed his head2 for even as the sight of the land is welcome to mariners1 so welcome to her was the sight of her lord1 and her white arms would never quite leave hold of his neck4 ,footnote3 ,odyss4 xxiii4 #bje1 #bca4--,translated by ,butcher and ,lang4 ,such1 again1 is the relation between ,hector and ,andromache as described in the well-known scene of the ,iliad1 where the wife comes out with her babe to take leave of the husband on his way to battle4 ,it were better for me1 she cries1 to go down to the grave if ,i lose thee2 for never will any comfort be mine1 when once thou1 even thou1 hast met thy fate1 but only sorrow44444 ,thou art to me father and lady mother1 yea1 and brother1 even as thou art my goodly husband4 ,come now1 have pity and abide here upon the tower1 lest thou make thy child an orphan and thy wife a widow4 ,hector answers with the plea of honour4 ,he cannot draw back1 but he foresees defeat2 and in his anticipation of the future nothing is so bitter as the fate he fears for his wife4 ,yet doth the conquest of the ,trojans hereafter not so much trouble me1 neither ,hekabe's own1 neither ,king ,priam's1 neither my brethren's1 the many and brave that shall fall in the dust before their foemen1 as doth thine anguish in the day when some mail-clad ,achaian shall lead thee weeping and rob thee of the light of freedom4444 ,but me in death may the heaped- up earth be covering1 ere ,i hear thy crying and thy carrying into captivity4 ,footnote3 ,iliad vi4 #dej4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,but most striking of all the portraits of women to be found in ,homer1 and most typical of a frank and healthy relation between the sexes1 is the account of ,nausicaa given in the ,odyssey4 ,ulysses1 shipwrecked and naked1 battered and covered with brine1 surprises ,nausicaa and her maidens as they are playing at ball on the shore4 ,the attendants run away1 but ,nausicaa remains to hear what the stranger has to say4 ,he asks her for shelter and clothing2 and she grants the request with an exquisite courtesy and a freedom from all embarrassment which becomes only the more marked and the more delightful when1 as she sees him emerge from the bath1 clothed and beautiful1 she cannot restrain the exclamation would that such a one might be called my husband1 dwelling here1 and that it might please him here to abide4 ,footnote3 ,od4 vi4 #bdd4--,translated by ,butcher and ,lang4 ,about the whole scene there is a freshness and a fragrance as of early morning1 and a tone so natural1 free and frank1 that in the face of this rustic idyl the later centuries sicken and faint1 like candle-light in the splendour of the dawn4 ,if we had only ,homer to give us our ideas of the ,greeks1 we might conclude1 from such passages as these1 that they had a conception of woman and of her relation to man1 finer and nobler1 in some respects1 than that of modern times4 ,but in fact the ,homeric poems represent a civilisation which had passed away before the opening of the period with which at present we are chiefly concerned4 ,and in the interval1 for reasons which we need not here attempt to state1 a change had taken place in the whole way of regarding the female sex4 ,so far1 at any rate1 as our authorities enable us to judge1 woman1 in the historic age1 was conceived to be so inferior to man that he recognised in her no other end than to minister to his pleasure or to become the mother of his children4 ,romance and the higher companionship of intellect and spirit do not appear 7with certain notable exceptions7 to have been commonly sought or found in this relation4 ,woman1 in fact1 was regarded as a means1 not as an end2 and was treated in a manner consonant with this view4 ,of this estimate many illustrations might be adduced from the writers of the fifth and fourth centuries4 ,plato1 for example1 classes together children1 women1 and servants1 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,republic #dca c4 and states generally that there is no branch of human industry in which the female sex is not inferior to the male4 ,footnote3 ,ibid4 #dee c4 ,similarly1 ,aristotle insists again and again on the natural inferiority of woman1 and illustrates it by such quaint observations as the following3 a man would be considered a coward who was only as brave as a brave woman1 and a woman as a chatterbox who was only as modest as a good man4 ,footnote3 ,arist4 ,pol4 ,,iii4 #abgg b #ba4--,translated by ,welldon4 ,but the most striking example1 perhaps1 because the most unconscious1 of this habitual way of regarding women is to be found in the funeral oration put by ,thucydides into the mouth of ,pericles1 where the speaker1 after suggesting what consolation he can to the fathers of the slain1 turns to the women with the brief but significant exhortation3 ,if ,i am to speak of womanly virtues to those of you who will henceforth be widows1 let me sum them up in one short admonition3 ,to a woman not to show more weakness than is natural to her sex is a great glory1 and not to be talked about for good or for evil among men4 ,footnote3 ,thucydides ii4 #de4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,the sentiments of the poets are less admissible as evidence4 ,but some of them are so extreme that they may be adduced as a further indication of a point of view whose prevalence alone could render them even dramatically plausible4 ,such for example is the remark which ,euripides puts into the mouth of his ,medea--women are impotent for good1 but clever contrivers of all evil ,footnote3 ,euripides1 ,medea4 #djf42 or that of one of the characters of ,menander1 a woman is necessarily an evil1 and he is a lucky man who catches her in the mildest form4 ,while the general ,greek view of the dependence of woman on man is well expressed in the words of ,aethra1 in the ,suppliants of ,euripides--it is proper for women who are wise to let men act for them in everything4 ,footnote3 ,euripides1 ,hik4 #dj4 ,in accordance with this conception of the inferiority of the female sex1 and partly as a cause1 partly as an effect of it1 we find that the position of the wife in ancient ,greece was simply that of the domestic drudge4 ,to stay at home and mind the house was her recognised ideal4 ,a free woman should be bounded by the street door1 says one of the characters in ,menander2 and another writer discriminates as follows the functions of the two sexes3--,war1 politics1 and public speaking are the sphere of man2 that of woman is to keep house1 to stay at home and to receive and tend her husband4 ,we are not surprised1 therefore1 to find that the symbol of woman is the tortoise2 and in the following burlesque passage from ,aristophanes we shall recognise1 in spite of the touch of caricature1 the genuine features of the ,greek wife4 ,praxagora is recounting the merits and services of women3 ,they dip their wool in hot water according to the ancient plan1 all of them without exception1 and never make the slightest innovation4 ,they sit and cook1 as of old4 ,they carry upon their heads1 as of old4 ,they conduct the ,themophoriae1 as of old4 ,they wear out their husbands1 as of old4 ,they buy sweets1 as of old4 ,they take their wine neat1 as of old4 ,footnote3 ,aristophanes1 ,eccles4 #bae4 ,and that this was also the kind of ideal approved by their lords and masters1 and that any attempt to pass beyond it was resented1 is amusingly illustrated in the following extract from the same poet1 where ,lysistrata explains the growing indignation of the women at the bad conduct of affairs by the men1 and the way in which their attempts to interfere were resented4 ,the comments of the magistrate typify1 of course1 the man's point of view4 ,think of our old moderation and gentleness1 think how we bore with your pranks1 and were still1 ,all through the days of your former prognacity1 all through the war that is over and spent3 ,not that 7be sure7 we approved of your policy2 never our griefs you allowed us to vent4 ,well we perceived your mistakes and mismanagement4 ,often at home on our housekeeping cares1 ,often we heard of some foolish proposal you made for conducting the public affairs4 ,then would we question you mildly and pleasantly1 inwardly grieving1 but outwardly gay2 ',husband1 how goes it abroad8' we would ask of him2 'what have ye done in ,assembly to-day8' ',what would ye write on the side of the ,treaty-stone8' ,husband says angrily1 ',what's that to you8 ,you hold your tongue6' ,and ,i held it accordingly4 ,,stratyllis4 ,that is a thing which ,i never would do6 ,,magistrate4 ,ma'am1 if you hadn't you'd soon have repented it4 ,,lysistrata4 ,therefore ,i held it1 and spake not a word4 ,soon of another tremendous absurdity1 wilder and worse than the former we heard4 ',husband1' ,i say1 with a tender solicitude1 ',why have you passed such a foolish decree8' ,viciously1 moodily1 glaring askance at me1 ',stick to your spinning1 my mistress1' says he1 ',else you will speedily find it the worse for you6 war is the care and the business of men6' ,,magistrate4 ,zeus6 'twas a worthy reply1 and an excellent6 ,,lysistrata4 ,what6 you unfortunate1 shall we not then1 ,then1 when we see you perplexed and incompetent1 shall we not tender advice to the state6 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,lysistrata4 #ejg4--,translated by ,b4 ,b4 ,rogers4 ,the conception thus indicated in burlesque of the proper place of woman is expressed more seriously1 from the point of view of the average man in the ,oeconomicus of ,xenophon4 ,ischomachus1 the hero of that work1 with whom we have already made acquaintance1 gives an account of his own wife1 and of the way in which he had trained her4 ,when he married her1 he explains1 she was not yet fifteen1 and had been brought up with the utmost care that she might see1 hear1 and ask as little as possible4 ,her accomplishments were weaving and a sufficient acquaintance with all that concerns the stomach2 and her attitude towards her husband she expressed in the single phrase3 ,everything rests with you2 my duty1 my mother said1 is simply to be modest4 ,ischomachus proceeds to explain to her the place he expects her to fill2 she is to suckle his children1 to cook1 and to superintend the house2 and for this purpose ,god has given her special gifts1 different from but not necessarily inferior to those of man4 ,husband and wife naturally supply one another's deficiencies2 and if the wife perform her function worthily she may even make herself the ruling partner1 and be sure that as she grows older she will be held not less but more in honour1 as the guardian of her children and the stewardess of her husband's goods4--,in ,xenophon's view1 in fact1 the inferiority of the woman almost disappears2 and the sentiment approximates closely to that of ,tennyson-- either sex alone ,is half itself1 and in true marriage lies ,nor equal1 nor unequal3 each fulfils ,defect in each4 ,such a conception1 however1 of the complementary relation of woman to man1 does not exclude a conviction of her essential inferiority4 ,and this conviction1 it can hardly be disputed1 was a cardinal point in the ,greek view of life4 ,section #i4 ,protests against the ,common ,view of ,woman4 ,nevertheless1 there are not wanting indications1 both in theory and practice1 of a protest against it4 ,in ,sparta as we have already noticed1 girls1 instead of being confined to the house1 were brought up in the open air among the boys1 trained in gymnastics and accustomed to run and wrestle naked4 ,and ,plato1 modelling his view upon this experience1 makes no distinction of the sexes in his ideal republic4 ,women1 he admits1 are generally inferior to men1 but they have similar1 if lower1 capacities and powers4 ,there is no occupation or art for which they may not be fitted by nature and education2 and he would therefore have them take their share in government and war1 as well as in the various mechanical trades4 ,none of the occupations1 he says1 which comprehend the ordering of a state1 belong to woman as woman1 nor yet to man as man2 but natural gifts are to be found here and there1 in both sexes alike2 and1 so far as her nature is concerned1 the woman is admissible to all pursuits as well as the man2 though in all of them the woman is weaker than the man4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep1 #dee d4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,in adopting this attitude ,plato stands alone not only among ,greeks1 but one might almost say1 among mankind1 till we come to the latest views of the nineteenth century4 ,but there is another ,greek1 the poet ,euripides1 who1 without advancing any theory about the proper position of women1 yet displays so intimate an understanding of their difficulties1 and so warm and close a sympathy with their griefs1 that some of his utterances may stand to all time as documents of the dumb and age-long protest of the weaker against the stronger sex4 ,in illustration we may cite the following lines from the ,medea1 applicable1 mutatis mutandis1 to how many generations of suffering wives8 ,of all things that have life and sense we women are most wretched4 ,for we are compelled to buy with gold a husband who is also--worst of all6-- the master of our person4 ,and on his character1 good or bad1 our whole fate depends4 ,for divorce is regarded as a disgrace to a woman and she cannot repudiate her husband4 ,then coming as she does into the midst of manners and customs strange to her1 she would need the gift of divination--unless she has been taught at home--to know how best to treat her bed-fellow4 ,and if we manage so well that our husband remains faithful to us1 and does not break away1 we may think ourselves fortunate2 if not1 there is nothing for it but death4 ,a man when he is vexed at home can go out and find relief among his friends or acquaintances2 but we women have none to look to but him4 ,they tell us we live a sheltered life at home while they go to the wars2 but that is nonsense4 ,for ,i would rather go into battle thrice than bear a child once4 ,footnote3 ,euripides1 ,med4 #bcj4 ,hitherto we have been speaking mainly of the position of the wife in ,greece4 ,it is necessary now to say a few words about that class of women who were called in the ,greek tongue ,hetaerae2 and who are by some supposed to have represented1 intellectually at least1 a higher level of culture than the other members of their sex4 ,in exceptional cases1 this1 no doubt1 was the fact4 ,aspasia1 for example1 the mistress of ,pericles1 was famous for her powers of mind4 ,according to ,plato she was an accomplished rhetorician1 and the real composer of the celebrated funeral oration of ,pericles2 and ,plutarch asserts that she was courted and admired by the statesmen and philosophers of ,greece4 ,but ,aspasia cannot be taken as a type of the ,hetaerae of ,greece4 ,that these women1 by the variety and freedom of their life1 may and must have acquired certain qualities of character and mind that could hardly be developed in the seclusion of the ,greek home1 may readily be admitted2 we know1 for example1 that they cultivated music and the power of conversation2 and were welcome guests at supper-parties4 ,but we have no evidence that the relations which they formed rested as a rule on any but the simplest physical basis4 ,the real distinction1 under this head1 between the ,greek point of view and our own1 appears to lie rather in the frankness with which this whole class of relations was recognised by the ,greeks4 ,there were temples in honour of ,aphrodite ,pandemos1 the goddess of illicit love1 and festivals celebrated in her honour2 statues were erected of famous courtesans1 of ,phryne for example1 at ,delphi1 between two kings2 and philosophers and statesmen lived with their mistresses openly1 without any loss of public reputation4 ,every man1 said the orator ,demosthenes1 requires besides his wife at least two mistresses2 and this statement1 made as a matter of course in open court1 is perhaps the most curious illustration we possess of the distinction between the ,greek civilisation and our own1 as regards not the fact itself but the light in which it was viewed4 ,section #aj4 ,friendship4 ,from what has been said about the ,greek view of women1 it might naturally have been supposed that there can have been little place in their life for all that we designate under the term romance4 ,personal affection1 as we have seen1 was not the basis of married life2 and relations with ,hetaerae appear to have been1 in this respect1 no finer or higher than similar relations in our own times4 ,nevertheless1 it would be a mistake to conclude1 from these conditions1 that the element of romance was absent from ,greek life4 ,the fact is simply that with them it took a different form1 that of passionate friendship between men4 ,such friendships1 of course1 occur in all nations and at all times1 but among the ,greeks they were1 we might say1 an institution4 ,their ideal was the development and education of the younger by the older man1 and in this view they were recognised and approved by custom and law as an important factor in the state4 ,in ,sparta1 for example1 it was the rule that every boy had attached to him some elder youth by whom he was constantly attended1 admonished1 and trained1 and who shared in public estimation the praise and blame of his acts2 so that it is even reported that on one occasion a ,spartan boy having cried out in a fight1 not he himself but his friend was fined for the lapse of self-control4 ,the custom of ,sparta existed also in ,crete4 ,but the most remarkable instance of the deliberate dedication of this passion to political and military ends is that of the celebrated ,theban band1 a troop consisting exclusively of pairs of lovers1 who marched and fought in battle side by side1 and by their presence and example inspired one another to a courage so constant and high that it is stated that they were never beaten till the battle at ,chaeronea3 and when ,philip1 after the fight1 took a view of the slain1 and came to the place where the three hundred that fought his phalanx lay dead together1 he wondered1 and understanding that it was the band of lovers1 he shed tears1 and said1 ,perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base4 ,footnote3 ,plutarch1 ,pelopidas4 ch4 #ah4--;,ed4 by ,clough4 ,greek legend and history1 in fact1 resounds with the praises of friends4 ,achilles and ,patroclus1 ,pylades and ,orestes1 ,harmodius and ,aristogeiton1 ,solon and ,peisistratus1 ,socrates and ,alcibiades1 ,epaminondas and ,pelopidas1--these are names that recall at once all that is highest in the achievement and all that is most romantic in the passion of ,greece4 ,for it was the prerogative of this form of love1 in its finer manifestations1 that it passed beyond persons to objective ends1 linking emotion to action in a life of common danger and toil4 ,not only1 nor primarily1 the physical sense was touched1 but mainly and in chief the imagination and intellect4 ,the affection of ,achilles for ,patroclus is as intense as that of a lover for his mistress1 but it has in addition a body and depth such as only years of common labour could impart4 ,achilles wept1 remembering his dear comrade1 nor did sleep that conquereth all take hold of him1 but he kept turning himself to this side and to that1 yearning for ,patroclus' manhood and excellent valour1 and all the toils he achieved with him and the woes he bare1 cleaving the battles of men and the grievous waves4 ,as he thought thereon he shed big tears1 now lying on his side1 now on his back1 now on his face2 and then anon he would arise upon his feet and roam wildly beside the beach of the salt sea4 ,footnote3 ,iliad ,,xxiv4 #c4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,that is the ideal spirit of ,greek comradeship--each supporting the other in his best efforts and aims1 mind assisting mind and hand hand1 and the end of the love residing not in an easy satisfaction of itself but in the development and perfecting of the souls in which it dwelt4 ,of such a love we have a record in the elegies of ,theognis1 in which the poet has embodied1 for the benefit of ,kurnus his friend1 the ripe experience of an eventful life4 ,the poems for the most part are didactic in character1 consciously and deliberately aimed at the instruction and guidance of the man to whom they are addressed2 but every now and again the passion breaks through which informs and inspires this virile intercourse1 and in such a passage as the following gives us the key to this and to all the finer friendships of the ,greeks3-- ,lo1 ,i have given thee wings wherewith to fly ,over the boundless ocean and the earth2 ,yea1 on the lips of many shalt thou lie1 ,the comrade of their banquet and their mirth4 ,youths in their loveliness shall bid thee sound ,upon the silver flute's melodious breath2 ,and when thou goest darkling underground ,down to the lamentable house of death1 ,oh yet not then from honour shalt thou cease ,but wander1 an imperishable name1 ,kurnus1 about the seas and shores of ,greece1 ,crossing from isle to isle the barren main4 ,horses thou shalt not need1 but lightly ride ,sped by the ,muses of the violet crown1 ,and men to come1 while earth and sun abide1 ,who cherish song shall cherish thy renown4 ,yea1 ,i have given thee wings1 and in return ,thou givest me the scorn with which ,i burn4 ,footnote3 ,theognis #bcg4 ,it was his insistence on friendship as an incentive to a noble life that was the secret of the power of ,socrates4 ,listen1 for example1 to the account which ,plutarch gives of his influence upon the young ,alcibiades3 ,alcibiades1 listening now to language entirely free from every thought of unmanly fondness and silly displays of affection1 finding himself with one who sought to lay open to him the deficiencies of his mind1 and repress his vain and foolish arrogance1 ',dropped like the craven cock his conquered wing4' ,he esteemed these endeavours of ,socrates as most truly a means which the gods made use of for the care and preservation of youth1 and began to think meanly of himself1 and to admire him2 to be pleased with his kindness1 and to stand in awe of his virtue2 and1 unawares to himself1 there became formed in his mind that reflex image and reciprocation of love1 or ,anteros1 that ,plato talks of44444 ,though ,socrates had many and powerful rivals1 yet the natural good qualities of ,alcibiades gave his affection the mastery4 ,his words overcame him so much1 as to draw tears from his eyes1 and to disturb his very soul4 ,yet sometimes he would abandon himself to flatterers1 when they proposed to him varieties of pleasure1 and would desert ,socrates2 who then would pursue him1 as if he had been a fugitive slave4 ,he despised every one else1 and had no reverence or awe for any but him4 ,footnote3 ,plut4 ,alc4 ch4 #d4--;,ed4 by ,clough4 ,the relation thus established may be further illustrated by the following graceful little anecdote4 ,socrates and ,alcibiades were fellow- soldiers at ,potidaea and shared the same tent4 ,in a stiff engagement both behaved with gallantry4 ,at last ,alcibiades fell wounded1 and ,socrates1 standing over him1 defended and finally saved him4 ,for this he might fairly have claimed the customary prize of valour2 but he insisted on resigning it to his friend1 as an incentive to his ambition for noble deeds4 ,another illustration of the power of this passion to evoke and stimulate courage is given in the story of ,cleomachus1 narrated by ,plutarch4 ,in a battle between the ,chalcidians and the ,eretrians1 the cavalry of the former being hard pressed1 ,cleomachus was called upon to make a diversion4 ,he turned to his friend and asked him if he intended to be a spectator of the struggle2 the youth replied in the affirmative1 and embracing his friend1 with his own hands buckled on his helmet2 whereupon ,cleomachus charged with impetuosity1 routed the foe and died gloriously fighting4 ,and thenceforth1 says ,plutarch1 the ,chalcidians1 who had previously mistrusted such friendships1 cultivated and honoured them more than any other people4 ,so much indeed were the ,greeks impressed with the manliness of this passion1 with its power to prompt to high thought and heroic action1 that some of the best of them set the love of man for man far above that of man for woman4 ,the one1 they maintained1 was primarily of the spirit1 the other primarily of the flesh2 the one bent upon shaping to the type of all manly excellence both the body and the soul of the beloved1 the other upon a passing pleasure of the senses4 ,and they noted that among the barbarians1 who were subject to tyrants1 this passion was discouraged1 along with gymnastics and philosophy1 because it was felt by their masters that it would be fatal to their power2 so essentially was it the prerogative of freedom1 so incompatible with the nature and the status of a slave4 ,it is in the works of ,plato that this view is most completely and exquisitely set forth4 ,to him1 love is the beginning of all wisdom2 and among all the forms of love1 that one in chief1 which is conceived by one man for another1 of which the main operation and end is in the spirit1 and which leads on and out from the passion for a particular body and soul to an enthusiasm for that highest beauty1 wisdom1 and excellence1 of which the most perfect mortal forms are but a faint and inadequate reflection4 ,such a love is the initiation into the higher life1 the spring at once of virtue1 of philosophy1 and of religion4 ,always operative in practice in ,greek life it was not invented but interpreted by ,plato4 ,the philosopher merely gave an ideal expression to what was stirring in the heart of every generous youth2 and the passage which we have selected for quotation may be taken as representative not only of the personality of ,plato1 but of the higher aspect of a characteristic phase of ,greek civilisation4 ,and now1 taking my leave of you1 ,i will rehearse a tale of love which ,i heard from ,diotima of ,mantineia1 a woman wise in this and in many other kinds of knowledge4 ,she was my instructress in the art of love1 and ,i shall repeat to you what she said to me3 ',on the birthday of ,aphrodite there was a feast of the gods1 at which the god ,poros or ,plenty1 who is the son of ,metis or ,discretion1 was one of the guests4 ,when the feast was over1 ,penia or ,poverty1 as the manner is on such occasions1 came about the doors to beg4 ,now ,plenty1 who was the worse for nectar 7there was no wine in those days71 went into the garden of ,zeus and fell into a heavy sleep2 and ,poverty considering her own straitened circumstances1 plotted to have a child by him1 and accordingly she lay down at his side and conceived ,love1 who partly because he is naturally a lover of the beautiful1 and because ,aphrodite is herself beautiful1 and also because he was born on her birthday1 is her follower and attendant4 ,and as his parentage is1 so also are his fortunes4 ,in the first place he is always poor1 and anything but tender and fair1 as the many imagine him2 and he is rough and squalid1 and has no shoes1 nor a house to dwell in2 on the bare earth exposed he lies under the open heaven1 in the streets1 or at the doors of houses1 taking his rest2 and like his mother he is always in distress4 ,like his father too1 whom he also partly resembles1 he is always plotting against the fair and good2 he is bold1 enterprising1 strong1 a mighty hunter1 always weaving some intrigue or other1 keen in the pursuit of wisdom1 fertile in resources2 a philosopher at all times1 terrible as an enchanter1 sorcerer1 sophist4 ,he is by nature neither mortal nor immortal1 but alive and flourishing at one moment when he is in plenty1 and dead at another moment1 and again alive by reason of his father's nature4 ,but that which is always flowing in is always flowing out1 and so he is never in want and never in wealth2 and1 further1 he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge4 ,the truth of the matter is this3 ,no god is a philosopher or seeker after wisdom1 neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom4 ,for herein is the evil of ignorance1 that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself3 he has no desire for that of which he feels no want4' ',but who then1 ,diotima1' ,i said1 'are the lovers of wisdom1 if they are neither the wise nor the foolish8' ',a child may answer that question1' she replied2 'they are those who are in a mean between the two2 ,love is one of them4 ,for wisdom is a most beautiful thing1 and ,love is of the beautiful2 and therefore ,love is also a philosopher or lover of wisdom1 and being a lover of wisdom is in a mean between the wise and the ignorant4 ,and of this too his birth is the cause2 for his father is wealthy and wise1 and his mother poor and foolish4 ,such1 my dear ,socrates1 is the nature of the spirit ,love4' ,i said3 ',o thou stranger woman1 thou sayest well2 but1 assuming ,love to be such as you say1 what is the use of him to man8' ',that1 ,socrates1' she replied1 ',i will attempt to unfold3 of his nature and birth ,i have already spoken2 and you acknowledge that ,love is of the beautiful4 ,but some one will say3 ,of the beautiful in what1 ,socrates and ,diotima8 or rather let me put the question more clearly1 and ask3 ,when a man loves the beautiful1 what does he desire8' ,i answered her1 ',that the beautiful may be his4' ',still1' she said1 'the answer suggests a further question3 ,what is given by the possession of beauty8' ',to what you have asked1' ,i said1 ',i have no answer ready4' ',then1' she said1 'let me put the word good in the place of beautiful1 and repeat the question once more3 ,if he who loves1 loves the good1 what is it then that he loves8' ',the possession of the good1' ,i said4 ',and what does he gain who possesses the good8' ',happiness1' ,i replied2 'there is less difficulty in answering that question4' ',yes1' she said1 'the happy are made happy by the acquisition of good things4 ,nor is there any need to ask why a man desires happiness2 the answer is already final4' ',you are right1' ,i said4 ',and is this wish and this desire common to all8 and do all men always desire their own good1 or only some men8--what say you8' ',all men1' ,i replied2 'the desire is common to all4' ',then1' she said1 'the simple truth is that men love the good4' ',yes1' ,i said4 ',to which must be added that they love the possession of the good8' ',that must be added too4' ',then love1' she said1 may be described generally as the love of the everlasting possession of the good8' ',that is most true4' ',then if this be the nature of love1 can you tell me further1' she said1 'what is the manner of the pursuit8 what are they doing who show all this eagerness and heat which is called love8 and what is the object which they have in view8 ,answer me4' ',nay1 ,diotima1' ,i replied1 'if ,i had known1 ,i should not have wondered at your wisdom1 neither should ,i have come to learn from you about this very matter4' ',well1' she said1 ',i will teach you3--,the object which they have in view is birth in beauty1 whether of body or soul4' ',i do not understand you1' ,i said2 'the oracle requires an explanation4' ',i will make my meaning clearer1' she replied4 ',i mean to say1 that all men are bringing to the birth in their bodies and in their souls4 ,there is a certain age at which human nature is desirous of procreation-- procreation which must be in beauty and not in deformity2 and this procreation is the union of man and woman1 and is a divine thing3 for conception and generation are an immortal principle in the mortal creature1 and in the inharmonious they can never be4 ,but the deformed is always inharmonious with the divine1 and the beautiful harmonious4 ,beauty1 then1 is the destiny or goddess of parturition who presides at birth1 and therefore1 when approaching beauty1 the conceiving power is propitious1 and diffusive1 and benign1 and begets and bears fruit3 at the sight of ugliness she frowns and contracts and has a sense of pain1 and turns away1 and shrivels up1 and not without a pang refrains from conception4 ,and this is the reason why1 when the hour of conception arrives1 and the teeming nature is full1 there is such a flutter and ecstasy about beauty whose approach is the alleviation of the pain of travail4 ,for love1 ,socrates1 is not as you imagine1 the love of the beautiful only4' ',what then8' ',the love of generation and of birth in beauty4' ',yes1' ,i said4 ',yes indeed1' she replied4 ',but why of generation8' ',because to the mortal creature1 generation is a sort of eternity and immortality1' she replied2 'and if1 as has been already admitted1 love is of the everlasting possession of the good1 all men will necessarily desire immortality together with good3 wherefore love is of immortality4' ,i was astonished at her words and said3 ',is this really true1 ,o thou wise ,diotima8' ,and she answered with all the authority of an accomplished sophist3 ',of that1 ,socrates1 you may be assured2--think only of the ambition of men1 and you will wonder at the senselessness of their ways1 unless you consider how they are stirred by the love of an immortality of fame4 ,they are ready to run all risks greater far than they would have run for their children1 and to spend money and undergo any sort of toil1 and even to die1 for the sake of leaving behind them a name which shall be eternal4 ,do you imagine that ,alcestis would have died to save ,admetus1 or ,achilles to avenge ,patroclus1 or your own ,codrus in order to preserve the kingdom for his sons1 if they had not imagined that the memory of their virtues1 which still survives among us1 would be immortal8 ,nay1' she said1 ',i am persuaded that all men do all things1 and the better they are the more they do them1 in hope of the glorious fame of immortal virtue2 for they desire the immortal4 ',those who are pregnant in the body only1 betake themselves to women and beget children--this is the character of their love2 their offspring1 as they hope1 will preserve their memory and give them the blessedness and immortality which they desire in the future4 ,but souls which are pregnant--for there certainly are men who are more creative in their souls than in their bodies--conceive that which is proper for the soul to conceive or contain4 ,and what are these conceptions8 wisdom and virtue in general4 ,and such creators are poets and all artists who are deserving of the name inventor4 ,but the greatest and fairest sort of wisdom by far is that which is concerned with the ordering of states and families1 and which is called temperance and justice4 ,and he who in youth has the seed of these implanted in him and is himself inspired1 when he comes to maturity desires to beget and generate4 ,he wanders about1 seeking beauty that he may beget offspring--for in deformity he will beget nothing--and naturally embraces the beautiful rather than the deformed body2 above all when he finds a fair and noble and well- nurtured soul1 he embraces the two in one person1 and to such a one he is full of speech about virtue and the nature and pursuits of a good man2 and he tries to educate him2 and at the touch of the beautiful which is ever present to his memory1 even when absent1 he brings forth that which he had conceived long before1 and in company with him tends that which he brings forth2 and they are married by a far nearer tie and have a closer friendship than those who beget mortal children1 for the children who are their common offspring are fairer and more immortal4 ,who1 when he thinks of ,homer and ,hesiod and other great poets1 would not rather have their children than ordinary ones8 ,who would not emulate them in the creation of children such as theirs1 which have preserved their memory and given them everlasting glory8 ,or who would not have such children as ,lycurgus left behind him to be the saviours not only of ,lacedaemon1 but of ,hellas1 as one may say8 ,there is ,solon1 too1 who is the revered father of ,athenian laws2 and many others there are in many other places1 both among ,hellenes and barbarians1 who have given to the world many noble works1 and have been the parents of virtue of every kind2 and many temples have been raised in their honour for the sake of children such as theirs2 which were never raised in honour of any one1 for the sake of his mortal children4 ',these are the lesser mysteries of love1 into which even you1 ,socrates1 may enter2 to the greater and more hidden ones which are the crown of these1 and to which1 if you pursue them in a right spirit1 they will lead1 ,i know not whether you will be able to attain4 ,but ,i will do my utmost to inform you1 and do you follow if you can4 ,for he who would proceed aright in this matter should begin in youth to visit beautiful forms2 and first1 if he be guided by his instructor aright1 to love one such form only--out of that he should create fair thoughts2 and soon he will of himself perceive that the beauty of one form is akin to the beauty of another2 and then if beauty of form in general is his pursuit1 how foolish would he be not to recognise that the beauty in every form is one and the same6 ,and when he perceives this he will abate his violent love of the one1 which he will despise and deem a small thing1 and will become a lover of all beautiful forms4 ,in the next stage he will consider that the beauty of the mind is more honourable than the outward form4 ,so that1 if a virtuous soul have but a little comeliness1 he will be content to love and tend him1 and will search out and bring to the birth thoughts which may improve the young1 until he is compelled to contemplate and see the beauty of institutions and laws1 and to understand that the beauty of them all is of one family1 and that personal beauty is a trifle2 and after laws and institutions he will go on to the sciences1 that he may see their beauty1 being not like a servant in love with the beauty of one youth or man or institution1 himself a slave mean and narrow-minded1 but drawing towards and contemplating the vast sea of beauty1 he will create many fair and noble thoughts and notions in boundless love of wisdom2 until on that store he grows and waxes strong1 and at last the vision is revealed to him of a single science which is the science of beauty everywhere4 ,to this ,i will proceed2 please to give me your very best attention3 ',he who has been instructed thus far in the things of love1 and who has learned to see the beautiful in due order and succession1 when he comes toward the end will suddenly perceive a nature of wondrous beauty 7and this1 ,socrates1 is the final cause of all our former toils7--a nature which in the first place is everlasting1 not growing and decaying1 or waxing and waning2 secondly1 not fair in one point of view and foul in another1 or at one time or in one relation or in one place fair1 at another time or in another relation or at another place foul1 as if fair to some and foul to others1 or in the likeness of a face or hands or any other part of the bodily frame1 or in any form of speech or knowledge1 or existing in any other being1 as for example1 in an animal1 or in heaven1 or in earth1 or in any other place2 but beauty absolute1 separate1 simple1 and everlasting1 which without diminution and without increase1 or any change1 is imparted to the evergrowing and perishing beauties of all other things4 ,he who1 from these ascending under the influence of true love1 begins to perceive that beauty1 is not far from the end4 ,and the true order of going1 or being led by another1 to the things of love1 is to begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards for the sake of that other beauty1 using these as steps only1 and from one going on to two1 and from two to all fair forms1 and from fair forms to fair practices1 and from fair practices to fair notions1 until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty1 and at last knows what the essence of beauty is4 ,this1 my dear ,socrates1' said the stranger of ,mantineia1 'is that life above all others which man should live1 in the contemplation of beauty absolute3 a beauty which if you once beheld1 you would see not to be after the measure of gold1 and garments1 and fair boys and youths1 whose presence now entrances you2 and you and many a one would be content to live seeing them only and conversing with them without meat or drink1 if that were possible1--you only want to look at them and to be with them4 ,but what if man had eyes to see the true beauty--the divine beauty1 ,i mean1 pure and clear and unalloyed1 not clogged with the pollutions of mortality and all the colours and vanities of human life--thither looking1 and holding converse with the true beauty simple and divine8 ,remember how in that communion only1 beholding beauty with the eye of the mind1 he will be enabled to bring forth1 not images of beauty1 but realities 7for he has hold not of an image but of a reality71 and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of ,god and be immortal1 if mortal man may4 ,would that be an ignoble life8' ,such1 ,phaedrus--and ,i speak not only to you1 but to all of you--were the words of ,diotima2 and ,i am persuaded of their truth4 ,and being persuaded of them1 ,i try to persuade others1 that in the attainment of this end human nature will not easily find a helper better than ,love4 ,and therefore1 also1 ,i say that every man ought to honour him as ,i myself honour him1 and walk in his ways1 and exhort others to do the same1 and praise the power and spirit of ,love according to the measure of my ability now and ever4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,symp4 #bja4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,i have thought it worth while to quote this passage1 in spite of its length1 partly for the sake of its own intrinsic beauty1 partly because no account of the ,greek view of life could be complete which did not insist upon the prominence in their civilisation of the passion of friendship1 and its capacity of being turned to the noblest uses4 ,that there was another side to the matter goes without saying4 ,this passion1 like any other1 has its depths1 as well as its heights2 and the ideal of friendship conceived by ,plato was as remote1 perhaps1 from the experience of the average man1 as ,dante's presentation of the love between man and woman4 ,still1 the fact remains that it was friendship of this kind that supplied to the ,greek that element of romance which plays so large a part in modern life2 and it is to this1 and not to the relations between men and women1 that we must look for the highest reaches of their emotional experience4 ,section #aa4 ,summary4 ,if now we turn back to take a general view of the points that have been treated in the present chapter1 we shall notice1 in the first place1 that the ideal of the ,greeks was the direct and natural outcome of the conditions of their life4 ,it was not something beyond and above the experience of the class to which it applied1 but rather1 was the formula of that experience itself3 in philosophical phrase1 it was immanent not transcendent4 ,because there really was a class of soldier-citizens free from the necessity of mechanical toil1 possessed of competence and leisure1 and devoting these advantages willingly to the service of the ,state1 therefore their ideal of conduct took the form we have described4 ,it was the ideal of a privileged class1 and postulated for its realisation1 not only a strenuous endeavour on the part of the individual1 but also certain adventitious gifts of fortune1 such as health1 wealth1 and family connections4 ,these were conditions that actually obtained among members of the class concerned2 so that the ideal in question was not a mere abstract ought1 but an expression of what1 approximately at least1 was realised in fact4 ,but this1 which was the strength of the ideal of the ,greeks1 was also its limitation4 ,their ethical system rested not only on universal facts of human nature1 but also on a particular and transitory social arrangement4 ,when therefore the city ,state1 with its sharp antithesis of classes1 began to decline1 the ideal of the soldier-citizen declined also4 ,the conditions of its realisation no longer existed1 and ethical conceptions passed into a new phase4 ,in the first place the ideal of conduct was extended so as to apply to man as man1 instead of to a particular class in a particular form of ,state2 and in the second place1 as a corollary of this1 those external goods of fortune which were the privilege of the few1 could no longer be assumed as conditions of an ideal which was supposed to apply to all4 ,consequently the new ideal was conceived as wholly internal4 ,to be virtuous was to act under the control of the universal reason which was supposed to dwell in man as man2 and such action was independent of all the gifts of chance4 ,it was as open to a slave as to a freeman1 to an artisan as to a soldier or a statesman4 ,the changes and chances of this mortal life were indifferent to the virtuous man2 on the rack as on the throne he was lord of himself and free4 ,this conception of the ,stoics broke down the limitation of the ,greek ideal by extending the possibility of virtue to all mankind4 ,but at the same time it destroyed its sanity and balance4 ,for it was precisely because of its limitation that the ideal of the ,greeks was1 approximately at least1 an account of what was1 and not merely of what ought to be4 ,a man possessed of wealth and friends1 of leisure1 health1 and culture1 really could and did achieve the end at which he was aiming2 but the conception of one who without any such advantages1 on the contrary with positive disadvantages1 poor1 sickly1 and a slave perhaps1 or even in prison or on the rack1 should nevertheless retain unimpaired the dignity of manhood and the freedom of his own soul--1 such a conception if it is not chimerical1 is at any rate so remote from common experience1 that it is not capable of serving as a really practical ideal for ordinary life4 ,but an ideal so remote that its realisation is despaired of1 is as good as none4 ,and the conception of the ,stoics1 if it was more comprehensive than that of ,aristotle1 was also less practical and real4 ,by virtue1 nevertheless1 of this comprehensiveness1 the ,stoic ideal is more akin to modern tendencies than that of the soldier-citizen in the city-state4 ,to provide for the excellence of a privileged class at the expense of the rest of the community is becoming to us increasingly impossible in fact and intolerable in idea4 ,but while admitting this1 we cannot but note that the ,greeks1 at whatever cost1 did actually achieve a development of the individual more high and more complete than has been even approached by any other age4 ,whether it will ever be possible1 under totally different conditions1 to realise once more that balance of body and soul1 that sanity of ethical intuition1 that frank recognition of the whole range of our complex human nature with a view to its harmonious organisation under the control of a lucid reason--whether it will ever be possible again to realise this ideal1 and that not only in the members of a privileged class1 but in the whole body of the ,state1 is a question too problematical to be raised with advantage in this place4 ,but it is impossible not to perceive that with the decline of the ,greek city-state something passed from the world which it can never cease to regret1 and the recovery of which1 if it might be1 in some more perfect form1 must be the goal of its highest practical endeavours4 ,immense1 no doubt1 is the significance of the centuries that have intervened1 but it is a significance of preparation2 and when we look beyond the means to the wished-for end1 limiting our conceptions to the actual possibilities of life on earth1 it is among the ,greeks that we seek the record of the highest achievement of the past1 and the hope of the highest possibilities of the future4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,art ,section #a4 ,greek ,art an ,expression of ,national ,life4 ,in approaching the subject of the ,art of the ,greeks we come to what1 more plausibly than any other1 may be regarded as the central point of their scheme of life4 ,we have already noticed1 in dealing with other topics1 how constantly the aesthetic point of view emerges and predominates in matters with which1 in the modern way of looking at things1 it appears to have no direct and natural connection4 ,we saw1 for example1 how inseparable in their religion was the element of ritual and ceremony from that of idea2 how in their ethical conceptions the primary notion was that of beauty2 how they aimed throughout at a perfect balance of body and soul1 and more generally1 in every department1 at an expression of the inner by the outer so complete and perfect that the conception of a separation of the two became almost as impossible to their thought as it would have been unpleasing and discordant to their feeling4 ,now such a point of view is1 in fact1 that of art2 and philosophers of history have been amply justified in characterising the whole ,greek epoch as pre-eminently that of ,beauty4 ,but if this be a true way of regarding the matter1 we should expect to find that art and beauty had1 for the ,greeks1 a very wide and complex significance4 ,there is a view of art1 and it is one that appears to be prevalent in our own time1 which sets it altogether outside the general trend of national life and ideas2 which asserts that it has no connection with ethics1 religion1 politics1 or any of the general conceptions which regulate action and thought2 that its end is in itself1 and is simply beauty2 and that in beauty there is no distinction of high or low1 no preference of one kind above another4 ,art thus conceived is1 in the first place1 purely subjective in character2 the artist alone is the standard1 and any phase or mood of his1 however exceptional1 personal and transitory1 is competent to produce a work of art as satisfying and as great as one whose inspiration was drawn from a nation's life1 reflecting its highest moments1 and its most universal aspirations and ideals2 so that1 for example1 a butterfly drawn by ,mr4 ,whistler would rank as high1 say1 as the ,parthenon4 ,and in the second place1 in this view of art1 the subject is a matter of absolute indifference4 ,the standards of ordinary life1 ethical or other1 do not apply2 there is no better or worse1 but only a more or less beautiful2 and the representation of a music-hall stage or a public house bar may be as great and perfect a work of art as the ,venus of ,milo or the ,madonna of ,raphael4 ,this theory1 which arises naturally and perhaps inevitably in an age where national life has degenerated into materialism and squalor1 and the artist feels himself a stranger in a world of ,philistines1 we need not here pause to examine and criticise4 ,it has been mentioned merely to illustrate by contrast the ,greek view1 which was diametrically opposed to this1 and valued art in proportion as it represented in perfect form the highest and most comprehensive aspects of the national ideal4 ,to say this1 is not1 of course1 to say that the ,greek conception of art was didactic2 for the word didactic1 when applied to art1 has usually the implication that the excellence of the moral is the only point to be considered1 and that if that is good the work itself must be good4 ,this idea does indeed occur in ,greek thought--we find it1 for example1 paradoxically enough1 in so great an artist as ,plato--but if it had been the one which really determined their production1 there would have been no occasion to write this chapter1 for there would have been no ,greek art to write about4 ,the truer account of the impulse that urged them to create is that given also by ,plato in an earlier and more impassioned work1 in which he describes it as a madness of those who are possessed by the ,muses2 which enters into a delicate and virgin soul1 and there inspiring frenzy1 awakens lyrical and all other numbers2 with these adorning the myriad actions of ancient heroes for the instruction of posterity4 ,but he who having no touch of the ,muses' madness in his soul1 comes to the door and thinks that he will get into the temple by the help of art--he1 ,i say1 and his poetry are not admitted2 the sane man is nowhere at all when he enters into rivalry with the madman4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,phaedrus1 #bde;a4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,the presupposition1 in fact1 of all that can be said about the ,greek view of art1 is that primarily and to begin with they were1 by nature1 artists4 ,judged simply by the aesthetic standard1 without any consideration of subject matter at all1 or any reference to intellectual or ethical ideals1 they created works of art more purely beautiful than those of any other age or people4 ,their mere household crockery1 their common pots and pans1 are cast in shapes so exquisitely graceful1 and painted in designs so admirably drawn and composed1 that any one of them has a higher artistic value than the whole contents of the ,royal ,academy2 and the little clay figures they used as we do china ornaments put to shame the most ambitious efforts of modern sculpture4 ,who1 for example1 would not rather look at a ,tanagra statuette than at the equestrian statue of the ,duke of ,wellington8 ,the ,greeks1 in fact1 quite apart from any theories they may have held1 were artists through and through2 and that is a fact we must carry with us through the whole of our discussion4 ,section #b4 ,identification of the ,aesthetic and ,ethical ,points of ,view4 ,but on the other hand1 it seems to be clear from all that we can learn1 that their habitual way of regarding works of art was not to judge them simply and exclusively by their aesthetic value4 ,on the contrary1 in criticising two works otherwise equally beautiful1 they would give a higher place to the one or the other for its ethical or quasi-ethical qualities4 ,this indeed is what we should expect from the comprehensive sense which1 as we have seen1 attached in their tongue to the word which we render beautiful4 ,the aesthetic and ethical spheres1 in fact1 were never sharply distinguished by the ,greeks2 and it follows that as1 on the one hand1 their conception of the good was identified with that of the beautiful1 so1 on the other hand1 their conception of the beautiful was identified with that of the good4 ,thus the most beautiful work of art1 in the ,greek sense of the term1 was that which made the finest and most harmonious appeal not only to the physical but to the moral sense1 and while communicating the highest and most perfect pleasure to the eye or the ear1 had also the power to touch and inform the soul with the grace which was her moral excellence4 ,of this really characteristic ,greek conception1 this fusion1 so instinctive as to be almost unconscious1 of the aesthetic and ethical points of view1 no better illustration could be given than the following passage from the ,republic of ,plato1 where the philosopher is describing the effect of beautiful works of art1 and especially of music1 on the moral and intellectual character of his imaginary citizens3 ',we would not have our guardians grow up amid images of moral deformity1 as in some noxious pasture1 and there browse and feed upon many a baneful herb and flower day by day1 little by little1 until they silently gather a festering mass of corruption in their own soul4 ,let our artists rather be those who are gifted to discern the true nature of the beautiful and graceful3 then will our youth dwell in a land of health1 amid fair sights and sounds1 and receive the good in everything2 and beauty1 the effluence of fair works1 shall flow into the eye and ear1 like a healthgiving breeze from a purer region1 and insensibly draw the soul from earliest years into likeness and sympathy with the beauty of reason4' ',there can be no nobler training than that1' he replied4 ',and therefore1' ,i said1 ',glaucon1 musical training is a more potent instrument than any other1 because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul1 on which they mightily fasten1 imparting grace1 and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful1 or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful2 and also because he who has received this true education of the inner being will most shrewdly perceive omissions or faults in art and nature1 and with a true taste1 while he praises and rejoices over and receives into his soul the good1 and becomes noble and good1 he will justly blame and hate the bad1 now in the days of his youth1 even before he is able to know the reason why3 and when reason comes he will recognise and salute the friend with whom his education has made him long familiar4,footnote3 ,plato1 ,republic ,,iii4 #dja4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,this fusion of the ideas of the beautiful and the good is the central point in the ,greek ,theory of ,art2 and it enables us to understand how it was that they conceived art to be educational4 ,its end1 in their view1 was not only pleasure1 though pleasure was essential to it2 but also1 and just as much1 edification4 ,plato1 indeed1 here again exaggerating the current view1 puts the edification above the pleasure4 ,he criticises ,homer as he might criticise a moral philosopher1 pointing out the inadequacy1 from an ethical point of view1 of his conception of heaven and of the gods1 and dismissing as injurious and of bad example to youthful citizens the whole tissue of passionate human feeling1 the irrepressible outbursts of anger and grief and fear1 by virtue of which alone the ,iliad and the ,odyssey are immortal poems instead of ethical tracts4 ,and finally1 with a half reluctant assent to the course of his own argument1 he excludes the poets altogether from his ideal republic1 on the ground that they encourage their hearers in that indulgence of emotion which it is the object of every virtuous man to repress4 ,the conclusion of ,plato1 by his own admission1 was half paradoxical1 and it certainly never recommended itself to such a nation of artists as the ,greeks4 ,but it illustrates1 nevertheless1 the general bent of their views of art1 that tendency to the identification of the beautiful and the good1 which1 while it was never pushed so far as to choke art with didactics--for ,plato himself1 even against his own will1 is a poet--yet served to create a standard of taste which was ethical as much as aesthetic1 and made the judgment of beauty also a judgment of moral worth4 ,quite in accordance with this view we find that the central aim of all ,greek art is the representation of human character and human ideals4 ,the interpretation of nature for its own sake 7in the narrower sense in which nature is opposed to man7 is a modern and romantic development that would have been unintelligible to a ,greek4 ,not that the ,greeks were without a sense of what we call the beauties of nature1 but that they treat them habitually1 not as the centre of interest1 but as the background to human activity4 ,the most beautiful descriptions of nature to be found in ,greek poetry occur1 incidentally only1 in the choral odes introduced into their dramas2 and among all their pictures of which we have any record there is not one that answers to the description of a landscape2 the subject is always mythological or historical1 and the representation of nature merely a setting for the main theme4 ,and on the other hand1 the art for which the ,greeks are most famous1 and in which they have admittedly excelled all other peoples1 is that art of sculpture whose special function it is not only to represent but to idealise the human form1 and which is peculiarly adapted to embody for the sense not only physical but ethical types4 ,and1 more remarkable still1 as we shall have occasion to observe later1 the very art which modern men regard as the most devoid of all intellectual content1 the most incommensurable with any standard except that of pure beauty--,i refer of course to the art of music--was invested by the ,greeks with a definite moral content and worked into their general theory of art as a direct interpretation of human life4 ,the excellence of man1 in short1 directly or indirectly1 was the point about which ,greek art turned2 that excellence was at once aesthetic and ethical2 and the representation of what was beautiful involved also the representation of what was good4 ,this point we will now proceed to illustrate more in detail in connection with the various special branches of art4 ,section #c4 ,sculpture and ,painting4 ,let us take1 first1 the plastic arts1 sculpture and painting2 and to bring into clear relief the ,greek point of view let us contrast with it that of the modern impressionist4 ,to the impressionist a picture is simply an arrangement of colour and line2 the subject represented is nothing1 the treatment everything4 ,it would be better1 on the whole1 not even to know what objects are depicted2 and1 to judge the picture by a comparison with the objects1 or to consider what is the worth of the objects in themselves1 or what we might think of them if we came across them in the connections of ordinary life1 is simply to misconceive the whole meaning of a picture4 ,for the artist and for the man who understands art1 all scales and standards disappear except that of the purely aesthetic beauty which consists in harmony of line and tone2 the most perfect human form has no more value than a splash of mud2 or rather both mud and human form disappear as irrelevant1 and all that is left for judgment is the arrangement of colour and form originally suggested by those accidental and indifferent phenomena4 ,in the ,greek view1 on the other hand1 though we certainly cannot say that the subject was everything and the treatment nothing 7for that would be merely the annihilation of art7 yet we may assert that1 granted the treatment1 granted that the work was beautiful 7the first and indispensable requirement7 its worth was determined by the character of the subject4 ,sculpture and painting1 in fact1 to the ,greeks1 were not merely a medium of aesthetic pleasure2 they were ways of expressing and interpreting national life4 ,as such they were subordinated to religion4 ,the primary end of sculpture was to make statues of the gods and heroes2 the primary end of painting was to represent mythological scenes2 and in either case the purely aesthetic pleasure was also a means to a religious experience4 ,let us take1 for example1 the statue of ,zeus at ,olympia1 the most famous of the works of ,pheidias4 ,this colossal figure of ivory and gold was doubtless1 according to all the testimony we possess1 from a merely aesthetic point of view1 among the most consummate creations of human genius4 ,but what was the main aim of the artist who made it8 what the main effect on the spectator8 ,the artist had designed and the spectator seemed to behold a concrete image of that ,homeric ,zeus who was the centre of his religious consciousness--the ,zeus who nodded his dark brow1 and the ambrosial locks waved from the ,king's immortal head1 and he made great ,olympus quake4 ,footnote3 ,iliad i4 #ebh4--,translated by ,lang1 ,leaf and ,myers4 ,those who approach the temple1 says ,lucian1 do not conceive that they see ivory from the ,indies or gold from the mines of ,thrace2 no1 but the very son of ,kronos and ,rhea1 transported by ,pheidias to earth and set to watch over the lonely plain of ,pisa4 ,he was1 says ,dion ,chrysostom1 the type of that unattained ideal1 ,hellas come to unity with herself2 in expression at once mild and awful1 as befits the giver of life and all good gifts1 the common father1 saviour and guardian of men2 dignified as a king1 tender as a father1 awful as giver of laws1 kind as protector of suppliants and friends1 simple and great as giver of increase and wealth2 revealing1 in a word1 in form and countenance1 the whole array of gifts and qualities proper to his supreme divinity4 ,the description is characteristic of the whole aim of ,greek sculpture1-- the representation not only of beauty1 but of character1 not only of character but of character idealised4 ,the statues of the various gods derive their distinguishing individuality not merely from their association with conventional symbols1 but from a concrete reproduction1 in features1 expression1 drapery1 pose1 of the ethical and intellectual qualities for which they stand4 ,an ,apollo differs in type from a ,zeus1 an ,athene from a ,demeter2 and in every case the artist works from an intellectual conception1 bent not simply on a graceful harmony of lines1 but on the representation of a character at once definite and ideal4 ,primarily1 then1 ,greek sculpture was an expression of the national religion2 and therefore1 also1 of the national life4 ,for1 as we saw1 the cult of the gods was the centre1 not only of the religious but of the political consciousness of ,greece2 and an art which was born and flourished in the temple and the sacred grove1 naturally became the exponent of the ideal aspect of the state4 ,it was thus1 for example1 that the ,parthenon at ,athens was at once the centre of the worship of ,athene1 and a symbol of the corporate life over which she presided2 the statue of the goddess having as its appropriate complement the frieze over which the spirit of the city moved in stone4 ,and thus1 too1 the statues of the victors at the ,olympian games were dedicated in the sacred precinct1 as a memorial of what was not only an athletic meeting1 but also at once a centre of ,hellenic unity and the most consummate expression of that aspect of their culture which contributed at least as much to their aesthetic as to their physical perfection4 ,sculpture1 in fact1 throughout1 was subordinated to religion1 and through religion to national life2 and it was from this that it derived its ideal and intellectual character4 ,and1 so far as our authorities enable us to judge1 the same is true of painting4 ,the great pictures of which we have descriptions were painted to adorn temples and public buildings1 and represented either mythological or national themes4 ,such1 for example1 was the great work of ,polygnotus at ,delphi1 in which was depicted on the one hand the sack of ,troy1 on the other the descent of ,odysseus into ,hades2 and such his representation of the battle of ,marathon1 in the painted porch that led to the ,acropolis of ,athens4 ,and even the vase paintings of which we have innumerable examples1 and which are mere decorations of common domestic utensils1 have often enough some story of gods and heroes for their theme1 whereby over and above their purely aesthetic value they made their appeal to the general religious consciousness of ,greece4 ,painting1 like sculpture1 had its end1 in a sense1 outside itself2 and from this very fact derived its peculiar dignity1 simplicity1 and power4 ,from this account of the plastic art of the ,greeks it follows as a simple corollary1 that their aim was not merely to reproduce but to transcend nature4 ,for their subject was gods and heroes1 and heroes and gods were superior to men4 ,of this idealising tendency we have in sculpture evidence enough in the many examples which have been preserved to us2 and with regard to painting there is curious literary testimony to the same effect4 ,aristotle1 for example1 remarks that even if it is impossible that men should be such as ,zeuxis painted them1 yet it is better that he should paint them so2 for the example ought to excel that for which it is an example4 ,footnote3 ,artist1 ,poet1 xxv4--#adfa4 #f4 #ab4 ,and in an imaginary conversation recorded between ,socrates and ,parrhasius the artist admits without any hesitation that more pleasure is to be derived from pictures of men who are morally good than from those of men who are morally bad4 ,in the ,greek view1 in fact1 as we saw1 physical and moral excellence went together1 and it was excellence they sought to depict in their art2 not merely aesthetic beauty1 though that was a necessary presupposition1 but on the top of that1 ideal types of character representative of their conception of the hero and the god4 ,art1 in a word1 was subordinate to the ethical ideal2 or rather the ethical and aesthetic ideals were not yet dissociated2 and the greatest artists the world has ever known worked deliberately under the direction and inspiration of the ideas that controlled and determined the life of their time4 ,section #d4 ,music and the ,dance4 ,turning now from the plastic arts to that other group which the ,greeks classed together under the name of ,music--namely music1 in the narrower sense1 dancing and poetry--we find still more clearly emphasised and more elaborately worked out the subordination of aesthetic to ethical and religious ends4 ,music1 in fact1 as they used the term1 was the centre of ,greek education1 and its moral character thus became a matter of primary importance4 ,by it were formed1 it was supposed1 the mind and temper of the citizens1 and so the whole constitution of the state4 ,the introduction of a new kind of music1 says ,plato1 must be shunned as imperilling the whole state2 since styles of music are never disturbed without affecting the most important political institutions4 ,the new style1 he goes on1 gradually gaining a lodgment1 quietly insinuates itself into manners and customs2 and from these it issues in greater force1 and makes its way into mutual compacts3 and from compacts it goes on to attack laws and constitutions1 displaying the utmost impudence1 until it ends by overturning everything1 both in public and in private4 ,footnote3 ,plato1 ,rep4 ,,iv4 #dbdj4--,translated by ,davies and ,vaughan4 ,and as in his ,republic he had defined the character of the poetry that should be admitted into his ideal state1 so in the ,laws he specially defines the character of the melodies and dances1 regarding them as the most important factor in determining and preserving the manners and institutions of the citizens4 ,nothing1 at first sight1 to a modern mind1 could1 be stranger than this point of view4 ,that poetry has a bearing on conduct we can indeed understand1 though we do not make poetry the centre of our system of education2 but that moral effects should be attributed to music and to dancing and that these should be regarded as of such importance as to influence profoundly the whole constitution of a state1 will appear to the majority of modern men an unintelligible paradox4 ,yet no opinion of the ,greeks is more profoundly characteristic than this of their whole way of regarding life1 and none would better repay a careful study4 ,that moral character should be attributed to the influence of music is only one and perhaps the most striking illustration of that general identification by the ,greeks of the ethical and the aesthetic standards on which we have so frequently had occasion to insist4 ,virtue1 in their conception1 was not a hard conformity to a law felt as alien to the natural character2 it was the free expression of a beautiful and harmonious soul4 ,and this very metaphor harmonious1 which they so constantly employ1 involves the idea of a close connection between music and morals4 ,character1 in the ,greek view1 is a certain proportion of the various elements of the soul1 and the right character is the right proportion4 ,but the relation in which these elements stand to one another could be directly affected1 it was found1 by means of music2 not only could the different emotions be excited or assuaged in various degrees1 but the whole relation of the emotional to the rational element could be regulated and controlled by the appropriate melody and measure4 ,that this connection between music and morals really does exist is recognised1 in a rough and general way1 by most people who have any musical sense4 ,there are rhythms and tunes1 for example1 that are felt to be vulgar and base1 and others that are felt to be ennobling2 some music1 ,wagner's1 for instance1 is frequently called immoral2 ,gounod is described as enervating1 ,beethoven as bracing1 and the like2 and however absurd such comments may often appear to be in detail1 underlying them is the undoubtedly well-grounded sense that various kinds of music have various ethical qualities4 ,but it is just this side of music1 which has been neglected in modern times1 that was the one on which the ,greeks laid most stress4 ,infinitely inferior to the moderns in the mechanical resources of the art1 they had made1 it appears1 a far finer and closer analysis of its relation to emotional states2 with the result that even in music1 which we describe as the purest of the arts1 congratulating ourselves on its absolute dissociation from all definite intellectual conceptions1--even here the standard of the ,greeks was as much ethical as aesthetic1 and the style of music was distinguished and its value appraised1 not only by the pleasure to be derived from it1 but also by the effect it tended to produce on character4 ,of this position we have a clear and definite statement in ,aristotle4 ,virtue1 he says1 consists in loving and hating in the proper way1 and implies1 therefore1 a delight in the proper emotions2 but emotions of any kind are produced by melody and rhythm2 therefore by music a man becomes accustomed to feeling the right emotions4 ,music has thus the power to form character2 and the various kinds of music1 based on the various modes1 may be distinguished by their effects on character--one1 for example1 working in the direction of melancholy1 another of effeminacy2 one encouraging abandonment1 another self-control1 another enthusiasm1 and so on through the series4 ,it follows that music may be judged not merely by the pleasure it gives1 but by the character of its moral influence2 pleasure1 indeed1 is essential or there would be no art2 but the different kinds of pleasure given by different kinds of music are to be distinguished not merely by quantity1 but by quality4 ,one will produce a right pleasure of which the good man will approve1 and which will have a good effect on character2 another will be in exactly the opposite case4 ,or1 as ,plato puts it1 the excellence of music is to be measured by pleasure4 ,but the pleasure must not be that of chance persons2 the fairest music is that which delights the best and best-educated1 and especially that which delights the one man who is pre-eminent in virtue and education4 ,footnote3 ,plato ,laws4 ,,ii4 #fehf4-- ,translated by ,jowett4 ,we see then that even pure music1 to the ,greeks1 had a distinct and definite ethical bearing4 ,but this ethical influence was further emphasised by the fact that it was not their custom to enjoy their music pure4 ,what they called music1 as has been already pointed out1 was an intimate union of melody1 verse and dance1 so that the particular emotional meaning of the rhythm and tune employed was brought out into perfect lucidity by the accompanying words and gestures4 ,thus we find1 for example1 that ,plato characterises a tendency in his own time to the separation of melody and verse as a sign of a want of true artistic taste2 for1 he says1 it is very hard1 in the absence of words1 to distinguish the exact character of the mood which the rhythm and tune is supposed to represent4 ,in this connection it may be interesting to refer to the use of the leit-motiv in modern music4 ,here too a particular idea1 if not a particular set of words1 is associated with a particular musical phrase2 the intention of the practice being clearly the same as that which is indicated in the passage just quoted1 namely to add precision and definiteness to the vague emotional content of pure music4 ,and this determining effect of words was further enhanced1 in the music of the ,greeks1 by the additional accompaniment of the dance4 ,the emotional character conveyed to the mind by the words and to the ear by the tune1 was further explained to the eye by gesture1 pose1 and beat of foot2 the combination of the three modes of expression forming thus in the ,greek sense a single imitative art4 ,the dance as well as the melody came thus to have a definite ethical significance2 it imitates1 says ,aristotle1 character1 emotion1 and action4 ,and ,plato in his ideal republic would regulate by law the dances no less than the melodies to be employed1 distinguishing them too as morally good or morally bad1 and encouraging the one while he forbids the other4 ,the general ,greek view of music which has thus been briefly expounded1 the union of melody and rhythm with poetry and the dance in view of a definite and consciously intended ethical character1 may be illustrated by the following passage of ,plutarch1 in which he describes the music in vogue at ,sparta4 ,the whole system1 it will be observed1 is designed with a view to that military courage which was the virtue most prized in the ,spartan state1 and the one about which all their institutions centred4 ,music at ,sparta actually was1 what ,plato would have had it in his ideal republic1 a public and state-regulated function2 and even that vigorous race which of all the ,greeks came nearest to being ,philistines of virtue1 thought fit to lay a foundation purely aesthetic for their severe and soldierly ideal4 ,their instruction in music and verse1 says ,plutarch1 was not less carefully attended to than their habits of grace and good-breeding in conversation4 ,and their very songs had a life and spirit in them that inflamed and possessed men's minds with an enthusiasm and ardour for action2 the style of them was plain and without affectation2 the subject always serious and moral2 most usually1 it was in praise of such men as had died in defence of their country1 or in derision of those that had been cowards2 the former they declared happy and glorified2 the life of the latter they described as most miserable and abject4 ,there were also vaunts of what they would do and boasts of what they had done1 varying with the various ages2 as1 for example1 they had three choirs in their solemn festivals1 the first of the old men1 the second of the young men1 and the last of the children2 the old men began thus3 ,we once were young and brave and strong2 ,the young men answered them1 singing2 ,and we're so now1 come on and try3 ,the children came last and said3 ,but we'll be strongest by and bye4 ,indeed if we will take the pains to consider their compositions1 and the airs on the flute to which they marched when going to battle1 we shall find that ,terpander and ,pindar had reason to say that music and valour were allied4 ,footnote3 ,plutarch1 ,lycurgus1 ch4 #ba4--;,clough's ed4 ,the way of regarding music which is illustrated in this passage1 and in all that is said on the subject by ,greek writers1 is so typical of the whole point of view of the ,greeks1 that we may be pardoned for insisting once again on the attitude of mind which it implies4 ,music1 as we saw1 had an ethical value to the ,greeks2 but that is not to say that they put the ethics first1 and the music second1 using the one as a mere tool of the other4 ,rather an ethical state of mind was also1 in their view1 a musical one4 ,in a sense something more than metaphorical1 virtue was a harmony of the soul4 ,the musical end was thus identical with the ethical one4 ,the most beautiful music was also the morally best1 and vice versa2 virtue was not prior to beauty1 nor beauty to virtue2 they were two aspects of the same reality1 two ways of regarding a single fact2 and if aesthetic effects were supposed to be amenable to ethical judgment1 it was only because ethical judgments at bottom were aesthetic4 ,the good and the beautiful were one and the same thing2 that is the first and last word of the ,greek ideal4 ,and while thus1 on the one hand1 virtue was invested with the spontaneity and delight of art1 on the other1 art derived from its association with ethics emotional precision4 ,in modern times the end of music is commonly conceived to be simply and without more ado the excitement of feeling4 ,its value is measured by the intensity rather than the quality of the emotion which it is capable of arousing2 and the auditor abandons himself to a casual succession of highly wrought moods as bewildering in the actual experience as it is exhausting in the after-effects4 ,in ,greek music1 on the other hand1 if we may trust our accounts1 while the intensity of the feeling excited must have been far less than that which it is in the power of modern instrumentation to evoke1 its character was perfectly simple and definite4 ,melody1 rhythm1 gesture and words1 were all consciously adapted to the production of a single precisely conceived emotional effect2 the listener was in a position clearly to understand and appraise the value of the mood excited in him2 instead of being exhausted and confused by a chaos of vague and conflicting emotion he had the sense of relief which accompanies the deliverance of a definite passion1 and returned to his ordinary business purged1 as they said1 and tranquillised1 by a process which he understood1 directed to an end of which he approved4 ,section #e4 ,poetry4 ,if now1 as we have seen1 in the plastic arts1 and in an art which appears to us so pure as music1 the ,greeks perceived and valued1 along with the immediate pleasure of beauty1 a definite ethical character and bent1 much more was this the case with poetry1 whose material is conceptions and ideas4 ,the works of the poets1 and especially of ,homer1 were in fact to the ,greeks all that moral treatises are to us2 or rather1 instead of learning their lessons in abstract terms1 they learnt them out of the concrete representation of life4 ,poetry was the basis of their education1 the guide and commentary of their practice1 the inspiration of their speculative thought4 ,if they have a proposition to advance1 they must back it by a citation3 if they have a counsel to offer1 they must prop it with a verse4 ,not only for delight1 but for inspiration1 warning and example1 they were steeped from childhood onwards in an ocean of melodious discourse2 their national epics were to them what the ,bible was to the ,puritans2 and for every conjunction of fortune1 for every issue of home or state1 they found therein a text to prompt or reinforce their decision4 ,of this importance of poetry in the life of ancient ,greece1 and generally of the importance of music and art1 the following passage from ,plato is a striking illustration3 ,when the boy has learned his letters and is beginning to understand what is written1 as before he understood only what was spoken1 they put into his hands the works of great poets1 which he reads at school2 in these are contained many admonitions1 and many tales1 and praises1 and encomia of ancient famous men1 which he is required to learn by heart1 in order that he may imitate or emulate them and desire to become like them4 ,then again the teachers of the lyre take similar care that their young disciple is temperate and gets into no mischief2 and when they have taught him the use of the lyre1 they introduce him to the poems of other excellent poets1 who are the lyric poets2 and these they set to music and make their harmonies and rhythms quite familiar to the children's souls1 in order that they may learn to be more gentle and harmonious and rhythmical1 and so more fitted for speech and action2 for the life of man in every part has need of harmony and rhythm1 ,footnote3 ,plato ,prot4 #cbe;c4--,translated by ,jowett4 ,from this conception of poetry as a storehouse of practical wisdom the transition is easy to a purely ethical judgment of its value2 and that transition1 as has been already noted1 was actually made by ,plato1 who even goes so far as to prescribe to poets the direct inculcation of such morals as are proper to a tract1 as that the good and just man is happy even though he be poor1 and the bad and unjust man miserable even though he be rich4 ,this didacticism1 no doubt1 is a parody2 but it is a parody of the normal ,greek view1 that the excellence of a poem is closely bound up with the compass and depth of its whole ethical content1 and is not to be measured1 as many moderns maintain1 merely by the aesthetic beauty of its form4 ,when ,strabo says1 it is impossible to be a good poet unless you are first a good man1 he is expressing the common opinion of the ,greeks that the poet is to be judged not merely as an artist but as an interpreter of life2 and the same presupposition underlies the remark of ,aristotle that poets may be classified according as the characters they represent are as good as1 better1 or worse than the average man4 ,but perhaps the most remarkable illustration of this way of regarding poetry is the passage in the ,frogs of ,aristophanes1 where the comedian has introduced a controversy between ,aeschylus and ,euripides as to the relative merit of their works1 and has made the decision turn almost entirely on moral considerations1 the question being really whether or no ,euripides is to be regarded as a corrupter of his countrymen4 ,in the course of the discussion ,aeschylus is made to give expression to a view of poetry which clearly enough ,aristophanes endorses himself1 and which no doubt would be accepted by the majority of his audience4 ,he appeals to all antiquity to shew that poets have always been the instructors of mankind1 and that it is for this that they are held in honour4 ,look to traditional history1 look ,to antiquity1 primitive1 early1 remote2 ,see there1 what a blessing illustrious poets ,conferr'd on mankind1 in the centuries past4 ,orpheus instructed mankind in religion1 ,reclaim'd them from bloodshed and barbarous rites2 ,musaeus deliver'd the doctrine of med'cine1 ,and warnings prophetic for ages to come2 ,next came old ,hesiod1 teaching us husbandry1 ,ploughing1 and sowing1 and rural affairs1 ,rural economy1 rural astronomy1 ,homely morality1 labour1 and thrift2 ,homer himself1 our adorable ,homer1 ,what was his title to praise and renown8 ,what1 but the worth of the lessons he taught us ,discipline1 arms1 and equipment of war8 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,frogs1 #ajcj4--,translated by ,frere4 ,while then there is1 as we should naturally expect1 plenty of ,greek poetry which is simply the spontaneous expression of passionate feeling1 unrestrained by the consideration of ethical or other ends2 yet if we take for our type 7as we are fairly entitled to do1 from the prominent place it held in ,greek life71 not the lyrics but the drama of ,greece1 we shall find that in poetry even 7as was to be expected7 to a higher degree than in music and the plastic arts1 the beauty sought and achieved is one that lies within the limits of certain definite moral pre-suppositions4 ,let us consider this point in some detail2 and first let us examine the character of ,greek tragedy4 ,section #f4 ,tragedy4 ,the character of ,greek tragedy was determined from the very beginning by the fact of its connection with religion4 ,the season at which it was performed was the festival of ,dionysus2 about his altar the chorus danced2 and the object of the performance was the representation of scenes out of the lives of ancient heroes4 ,the subject of the drama was thus strictly prescribed2 it must be selected out of a cycle of legends familiar to the audience2 and whatever freedom might be allowed to the poet in his treatment of the theme1 whatever the reflections he might embroider upon it1 the speculative or ethical views1 the criticism of contemporary life1 all must be subservient to the main object originally proposed1 the setting forth1 for edification as well as for delight1 of some episodes in the lives of those heroes of the past who were considered not only to be greater than their descendants1 but to be the sons of gods and worthy themselves of worship as divine4 ,by this fundamental condition the tragedy of the ,greeks is distinguished sharply1 on the one hand from the ,shakespearian drama1 on the other from the classical drama of the ,french4 ,the tragedies of ,shakespeare are devoid1 one might say1 or at least comparatively devoid1 of all preconceptions4 ,he was free to choose what subject he liked and to treat it as he would2 and no sense of obligation to religious or other points of view1 no feeling for traditions descended from a sacred past and not lightly to be handled by those who were their trustees for the future1 sobered or restrained for evil or for good his half-barbaric genius4 ,he flung himself upon life with the irresponsible ardour of the discoverer of a new continent2 shaped and re-shaped it as he chose2 carved from it now the cynicism of ,measure for ,measure1 now the despair of ,hamlet and of ,lear1 now the radiant magnanimity of the ,tempest1 and departed leaving behind him not a map or chart1 but a series of mutually incompatible landscapes4 ,what ,shakespeare gave1 in short1 was a many-sided representation of life2 what the ,greek dramatist gave was an interpretation4 ,but an interpretation not simply personal to himself1 but representative of the national tradition and belief4 ,the men whose deeds and passions he narrated were the patterns and examples on the one hand1 on the other the warnings of his race2 the gods who determined the fortunes they sang1 were working still among men2 the moral laws that ruled the past ruled the present too2 and the history of the ,hellenic race moved1 under a visible providence1 from its divine origin onward to an end that would be prosperous or the reverse according as later generations should continue to observe the worship and traditions of their fathers descended from heroes and gods4 ,and it is the fact that in this sense it was representative of the national consciousness1 that distinguishes the ,greek tragedy from the classical drama of the ,french4 ,for the latter1 though it imitated the ancients in outward form1 was inspired with a totally different spirit4 ,the kings and heroes whose fortunes it narrated were not the ancestors of the ,french race2 they had no root in its affections1 no connection with its religious beliefs1 no relation to its ethical conceptions4 ,the whole ideal set forth was not that which really inspired the nation1 but at best that which was supposed to inspire the court2 and the whole drama1 like a tree transplanted to an alien soil1 withers and dies for lack of the nourishment which the tragedy of the ,greeks unconsciously imbibed from its encompassing air of national tradition4 ,such then was the general character of the ,greek tragedy--an interpretation of the national ideal4 ,let us now proceed to follow out some of the consequences involved in this conception4 ,in the first place1 the theme represented is the life and fate of ancient heroes--of personages1 that is to say1 greater than ordinary men1 both for good and for evil1 in their qualities and in their achievements1 pregnant with fateful issues1 makers or marrers of the fortunes of the world4 ,tragic and terrible their destiny may be1 but never contemptible or squalid4 ,behind all suffering1 behind sin and crime1 must lie a redeeming magnanimity4 ,a complete villain1 says ,aristotle1 is not a tragic character1 for he has no hold upon the sympathies2 if he prosper1 it is an outrage on common human feeling2 if he fall into disaster1 it is merely what he deserves4 ,neither is it admissible to represent the misfortunes of a thoroughly good man1 for that is merely painful and distressing2 and least of all is it tolerable gratuitously to introduce mere baseness1 or madness1 or other aberrations from human nature4 ,the true tragic hero is a man of high place and birth who having a nature not ignoble has fallen into sin and pays in suffering the penalty of his act4 ,nothing could throw more light on the distinguishing characteristics of the ,greek drama than these few remarks of ,aristotle1 and nothing could better indicate how close1 in the ,greek mind1 was the connection between aesthetic and ethical judgments4 ,the canon of ,aristotle would exclude as proper themes for tragedy the character and fate1 say1 of ,richard ,,iii4--the absolutely bad man suffering his appropriate desert2 or of ,kent and ,cordelia--the absolutely good1 brought into unmerited affliction2 and that not merely because such themes offend the moral sense1 but because by so offending they destroy the proper pleasure of the tragic art4 ,the whole aesthetic effect is limited by ethical presuppositions2 and to outrage these is to defeat the very purpose of tragedy4 ,specially interesting in this connection are the strictures passed on ,euripides in the passage of the ,frogs of ,aristophanes to which allusion has already been made4 ,euripides is there accused of lowering the tragic art by introducing--what8 ,women in love6 ,the central theme of modern tragedy6 ,it is the boast of ,aeschylus that there is not one of his plays which touches on this subject3-- ,i never allow'd of your lewd ,sthenoboeas ,or filthy detestable ,phaedras--not ,i6 ,indeed ,i should doubt if my drama throughout ,exhibit an instance of woman in love6 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,frogs1 #ajdc4--,translated by ,frere4 ,and there can be little doubt that with a ,greek audience this would count to him as a merit1 and that the shifting of the centre of interest by ,euripides from the sterner passions of heroes and of kings to this tenderer phase of human feeling would be felt even by those whom it charmed to be a declension from the height of the older tragedy4 ,and to this limitation of subject corresponds a limitation of treatment4 ,the ,greek tragedy is composed from a definite point of view1 with the aim not merely to represent but also to interpret the theme4 ,underlying the whole construction of the plot1 the dialogue1 the reflections1 the lyric interludes1 is the intention to illustrate some general moral law1 some common and typical problem1 some fundamental truth4 ,of the elder dramatists at any rate1 ,aeschylus and ,sophocles1 one may even say that it was their purpose--however imperfectly achieved--to justify the ways of ,god to man4 ,to represent suffering as the punishment of sin is the constant bent of ,aeschylus2 to justify the law of ,god against the presumption of man is the central idea of ,sophocles4 ,in either case the whole tone is essentially religious4 ,to choose such a theme as ,lear1 to treat it as ,shakespeare has treated it1 to leave it1 as it were1 bleeding from a thousand wounds1 in mute and helpless entreaty for the healing that is never to be vouchsafed--this would have been repulsive1 if not impossible1 to a ,greek tragedian4 ,without ever descending from concrete art to the abstractions of mere moralising1 without ever attempting to substitute a verbal formula for the full and complex perception that grows out of a representation of life1 the ancient dramatists were nevertheless1 in the whole apprehension of their theme1 determined by a more or less conscious speculative bias2 the world to them was not merely a splendid chaos1 it was a divine plan2 and even in its darkest hollows1 its passes most perilous and bleak1 they have their hand1 though doubtful perhaps and faltering1 upon the clue that is to lead them up to the open sky4 ,it is consonant with this account of the nature of ,greek tragedy that it should have laid more stress upon action than upon character4 ,the interest was centred on the universal bearing of certain acts and situations1 on the light which the experience represented threw on the whole tendency and course of human life1 not on the sentiments and motives of the particular personages introduced4 ,the characters are broad and simple1 not developing for the most part1 but fixed1 and fitted therefore to be the mediums of direct action1 of simple issues1 and typical situations4 ,in the ,greek tragedy the general point of view predominates over the idiosyncrasies of particular persons4 ,it is human nature that is represented in the broad1 not this or that highly specialised variation2 and what we have indicated as the general aim1 the interpretation of life1 is never obscured by the predominance of exceptional and so to speak1 accidental characteristics4 ,man is the subject of the ,greek drama2 the subject of the modern novel is ,tom and ,dick4 ,finally1 to the realisation of this general aim1 the whole form of the ,greek drama was admirably adapted4 ,it consisted very largely of conversations between two persons1 representing two opposed points of view1 and giving occasion for an almost scientific discussion of every problem of action raised in the play2 and between these conversations were inserted lyric odes in which the chorus commented on the situation1 bestowed advice or warning1 praise or blame1 and finally summed up the moral of the whole4 ,through the chorus1 in fact1 the poet could speak in his own person1 and impose upon the whole tragedy any tone which he desired4 ,periodically he could drop the dramatist and assume the preacher2 and thus ensure that his play should be1 what we have seen was its recognised ideal1 not merely a representation but an interpretation of life4 ,but this without ceasing to be a work of art4 ,in attempting to analyse in abstract terms the general character of the ,greek tragedy we have necessarily thrown into the shade what after all was its primary and most essential aspect2 an aspect1 however1 of which a full appreciation could only be attained not by a mere perusal of the text1 but by what is unfortunately for ever beyond our power1 the witnessing of an actual representation as it was given on the ,greek stage4 ,for from a purely aesthetic point of view the ,greek drama must be reckoned among the most perfect of art forms4 ,taking place in the open air1 on the sunny slope of a hill1 valley and plain or islanded sea stretching away below to meet the blazing blue of a cloudless sky1 the moving pageant1 thus from the first set in tune with nature1 brought to a focus of splendour the rays of every separate art4 ,more akin to an opera than to a play it had1 as its basis1 music4 ,for the drama had developed out of the lyric ode1 and retained throughout what was at first its only element1 the dance and song of a mimetic chorus4 ,by this centre of rhythmic motion and pregnant melody the burden of the tale was caught up and echoed and echoed again1 as the living globe divided into spheres of answering song1 the clear and precise significance of the plot1 never obscure to the head1 being thus brought home in music to the passion of the heart1 the idea embodied in lyric verse1 the verse transfigured by song1 and song and verse reflected as in a mirror to the eye by the swing and beat of the limbs they stirred to consonance of motion4 ,and while such was the character of the odes that broke the action of the play1 the action itself was an appeal not less to the ear and to the eye than to the passion and the intellect4 ,the circumstances of the representation1 the huge auditorium in the open air1 lent themselves less to acting in our sense of the term1 than to attitude and declamation4 ,the actors raised on high boots above their natural height1 their faces hidden in masks and their tones mechanically magnified1 must have relied for their effects not upon facial play1 or rapid and subtle variations of voice and gesture1 but upon a certain statuesque beauty of pose1 and a chanting intonation of that majestic iambic verse whose measure would have been obscured by a rapid and conversational delivery4 ,the representation would thus become moving sculpture to the eye1 and to the ear1 as it were1 a sleep of music between the intenser interludes of the chorus2 and the spectator without being drawn away by an imitative realism from the calm of impassioned contemplation into the fever and fret of a veritable actor on the scene1 received an impression based throughout on that clear intellectual foundation1 that almost prosaic lucidity of sentiment and plot1 which is preserved to us in the written text1 but raised by the accompanying appeal to the sense1 made as it must have been made by such artists as the ,greeks1 by the grouping of forms and colours1 the recitative1 the dance and the song1 to such a greatness and height of aesthetic significance as can hardly have been realized by any other form of art production4 ,the nearest modern analogy to what the ancient drama must have been is to be found probably in the operas of ,wagner1 who indeed was strongly influenced by the tragedy of the ,greeks4 ,it was his ideal like theirs1 to combine the various branches of art1 employing not only music but poetry1 sculpture1 painting and the dance1 for the representation of his dramatic theme2 and his conception also to make art the interpreter of life1 reflecting in a national drama the national consciousness1 the highest action and the deepest passion and thought of the ,german race4 ,to consider how far in this attempt he falls short of or goes beyond the achievement of the ,greeks1 and to examine the wide dissimilarities that underlie the general identity of aim1 would be to wander too far afield from our present theme4 ,but the comparison may be recommended to those who are anxious to form a concrete idea of what the effect of a ,greek tragedy may have been1 and to clothe in imagination the dead bones of the literary text with the flesh and blood of a representation to the sense4 ,meantime1 to assist the reader to realise with somewhat greater precision the bearing of the foregoing remarks1 it may be worth while to give an outline sketch of one of the most celebrated of the ,greek tragedies1 the ,agamemnon of ,aeschylus4 ,the hero of the drama belongs to that heroic house whose tragic history was among the most terrible and the most familiar to a ,greek audience4 ,tantalus1 the founder of the family1 for some offence against the gods1 was suffering in ,hades the punishment which is christened by his name4 ,his son ,pelops was stained with the blood of ,myrtilus4 ,of the two sons of the next generation1 ,thyestes seduced the wife of his brother ,atreus2 and ,atreus in return killed the sons of ,thyestes1 and made the father unwittingly eat the flesh of the murdered boys4 ,agamemnon1 son of ,atreus1 to propitiate ,artemis1 sacrificed his daughter ,iphigenia1 and in revenge was murdered by ,clytemnestra his wife4 ,and ,clytemnestra was killed by ,orestes1 her son1 in atonement for the death of ,agamemnon4 ,for generations the race had been dogged by crime and punishment2 and in choosing for his theme the murder of ,agamemnon the dramatist could assume in his audience so close a familiarity with the past history of the ,house that he could call into existence by an allusive word that sombre background of woe to enhance the terrors of his actual presentation4 ,the figures he brought into vivid relief joined hands with menacing forms that faded away into the night of the future and the past2 while above them hung1 intoning doom1 the phantom host of ,furies4 ,yet at the outset of the drama all promises well4 ,the watchman on the roof of the palace1 in the tenth year of his watch1 catches sight at last of the signal fire that announces the capture of ,troy and the speedy return of ,agamemnon4 ,with joy he proclaims to the ,house the long- delayed and welcome news2 yet even in the moment of exultation lets slip a doubtful phrase hinting at something behind1 which he dares not name1 something which may turn to despair the triumph of victory4 ,hereupon enter the chorus of ,argive elders1 chanting as they move to the measure of a stately march4 ,they sing how ten years before ,agamemnon and ,menelaus had led forth the host of ,greece1 at the bidding of the ,zeus who protects hospitality1 to recover for ,menelaus ,helen his wife1 treacherously stolen by ,paris4 ,then1 as they take their places and begin their rhythmic dance1 in a strain of impassioned verse that is at once a narrative and a lyric hymn1 they tell1 or rather1 present in a series of vivid images1 flashing as by illumination of lightning out of a night of veiled and sombre boding1 the tale of the deed that darkened the starting of the host--the sacrifice of ,iphigenia to the goddess whose wrath was delaying the fleet at ,aulis4 ,in verse1 in music1 in pantomime1 the scene lives again--the struggle in the father's heart1 the insistence of his brother chiefs1 the piteous glance of the girl1 and at last the unutterable end2 while above and through it all rings like a knell of fate the refrain that is the motive of the whole drama3 ,sing woe1 sing woe1 but may the ,good prevail4 ,at the conclusion of the ode enters ,clytemnestra4 ,she makes a formal announcement to the chorus of the fall of ,troy2 describes the course of the signal-fire from beacon to beacon as it sped1 and pictures in imagination the scenes even then taking place in the doomed city4 ,on her withdrawal the chorus break once more into song and dance4 ,to the music of a solemn hymn they point the moral of the fall of ,troy1 the certain doom of violence and fraud descended upon ,paris and his ,house4 ,once more the vivid pictures flash from the night of woe--,helen in her fatal beauty stepping lightly to her doom1 the widower's nights of mourning haunted by the ghost of love1 the horrors of the war that followed1 the slain abroad and the mourners at home1 the change of living flesh and blood for the dust and ashes of the tomb4 ,at last with a return to their original theme1 the doom of insolence1 the chorus close their ode and announce the arrival of a messenger from ,troy4 ,talthybius1 the herald1 enters as spokesman of the army and king1 describing the hardships they have suffered and the joy of the triumphant issue4 ,to him ,clytemnestra announces1 in words of which the irony is patent to the audience1 her sufferings in the absence of her husband and her delight at the prospect of his return4 ,he will find her1 she says1 as he left her1 a faithful watcher of the home1 her loyalty sure1 her honour undefiled4 ,then follows another choral ode1 similar in theme to the last1 dwelling on the woe brought by the act of ,paris upon ,troy1 the change of the bridal song to the trump of war and the dirge of death2 contrasting1 in a profusion of splendid tropes1 the beauty of ,helen with the curse to which it is bound2 and insisting once more on the doom that attends insolence and pride4 ,at the conclusion of this song the measure changes to a march1 and the chorus turn to welcome the triumphant king4 ,agamemnon enters1 and behind him the veiled and silent figure of a woman4 ,after greeting the gods of his ,house1 the ,king1 in brief and stilted phrase1 acknowledges the loyalty of the chorus1 but hints at much that is amiss which it must be his first charge to set right4 ,hereupon enters ,clytemnestra1 and in a speech of rhetorical exaggeration tells of her anxious waiting for her lord and her inexpressible joy at his return4 ,in conclusion she directs that purple cloth be spread upon his path that he may enter the house as befits a conqueror4 ,after a show of resistance1 ,agamemnon yields the point1 and the contrast at which the dramatist aims is achieved4 ,with the pomp of an eastern monarch1 always repellent to the ,greek mind1 the ,king steps across the threshold1 steps1 as the audience knows1 to his death4 ,the higher the reach of his power and pride the more terrible and swift is the nemesis2 and ,clytemnestra follows in triumph with the enigmatic cry upon her lips3 ,zeus who art god of fulfilment1 fulfil my prayers4 ,as she withdraws the chorus begin a song of boding fear1 the more terrible that it is still indefinite4 ,something is going to happen--the presentiment is sure4 ,but what1 but what8 ,they search the night in vain4 ,meantime1 motionless and silent waits the figure of the veiled woman4 ,it is ,cassandra1 the prophetess1 daughter of ,priam of ,troy1 whom ,agamemnon has carried home as his prize4 ,clytemnestra returns to urge her to enter the house2 she makes no sign and utters no word4 ,the queen changes her tone from courtesy to anger and rebuke2 the figure neither stirs nor speaks2 and ,clytemnestra at last with an angry threat leaves her and returns to the palace4 ,then1 and not till then1 a cry breaks from the stranger's lips1 a passionate cry to ,apollo who gave her her fatal gift4 ,all the sombre history of the ,house to which she has been brought1 the woe that has been and the woe that is to come1 passes in pictures across her inner sense4 ,in a series of broken ejaculations1 not sentences but lyric cries1 she evokes the scenes of the past and of the future4 ,blood drips from the palace2 in its chambers the ,furies crouch2 the murdered sons of ,thyestes wail in its haunted courts2 and ever among the visions of the past that one of the future floats and fades1 clearly discerned1 impossible to avert1 the murder of a husband by a wife2 and in the rear of that1 most pitiful of all1 the violent death of the seer who sees in vain and may not help4 ,between ,cassandra and the ,chorus it is a duet of anguish and fear2 in the broken lyric phrases a phantom music wails2 till at last1 at what seems the breaking-point1 the tension is relaxed1 and dropping into the calmer iambic recitative1 ,cassandra tells her message in plainer speech and clearly proclaims the murder of the ,king4 ,then1 with a last appeal to the avenger that is to come1 she enters the palace alone to meet her death4--,the stage is empty4 ,suddenly a cry is heard from within2 again1 and then again2 while the chorus hesitate the deed is done2 the doors are thrown open1 and ,clytemnestra is seen standing over the corpses of her victims4 ,all disguise is now thrown off2 the murderess avows and triumphs in her deed2 she justifies it as vengeance for the sacrifice of ,iphigenia1 and sees in herself not a free human agent but the incarnate curse of the ,house of ,tantalus4 ,and now for the first time appears the adulterer ,aegisthus1 who has planned the whole behind the scenes4 ,he too is an avenger1 for he is the son of that ,thyestes who was made to feed on his own children's flesh4 ,the murder of ,agamemnon is but one more link in the long chain of hereditary guilt2 and with that exposition of the pitiless law of punishment and crime this chapter of the great drama comes to a close4 ,but the ,agamemnon is only the first of a series of three plays closely connected and meant to be performed in succession2 and the problem raised in the first of them1 the crime that cries for punishment and the punishment that is itself a new crime1 is solved in the last by a reconciliation of the powers of heaven and hell1 and the pardon of the last offender in the person of ,orestes4 ,to sketch1 however1 the plan of the other dramas of the trilogy would be to trespass too far upon our space and time4 ,it is enough to have illustrated1 by the example of the ,agamemnon1 the general character of a ,greek tragedy2 and those who care to pursue the subject further must be referred to the text of the plays themselves4 ,section #g4 ,comedy4 ,even more remarkable than the tragedy of the ,greeks1 in its rendering of a didactic intention under the forms of a free and spontaneous art1 is the older comedy known to us through the works of ,aristophanes4 ,as the former dealt with the general conceptions1 religious and ethical1 that underlay the ,greek view of life1 using as its medium of exposition the ancient national myths1 so the latter dealt with the particular phases of contemporary life1 employing the machinery of a free burlesque4 ,the achievement of ,aristophanes1 in fact1 is more astonishing1 in a sense1 than that of ,aeschylus4 ,starting with what is always1 prima facie1 the prose of everyday life1 its acrid controversies1 its vulgar and tedious types1 and even its particular individuals--for ,aristophanes does not hesitate to introduce his contemporaries in person on the stage--he fits to this gross and heavy stuff the wings of imagination1 scatters from it the clinging mists of banality and spite and speeds it forth through the lucid heaven of art amid peals of musical laughter and snatches of lyric song4 ,for ,aristophanes was a poet as well as a comedian1 and his genius is displayed not only in the construction of his fantastic plots1 not only in the inexhaustible profusion of his humane and genial wit1 but in bursts of pure poetry as melodious and inspired as ever sprang from the lips of the lyrists of ,greece or of the world4 ,the basis of the comic as of the tragic art of the ,greeks was song and dance2 and the chorus1 the original element of the play1 still retains in the works of ,aristophanes a place important enough to make it clear that in comedy1 too1 a prominent aspect of the art must have been the aesthetic appeal to the ear and the eye4 ,in general structure1 in fact1 comedy and tragedy were alike2 aesthetically the motives were similar1 only they were set in a different key4 ,but while primarily ,aristophanes1 like the tragedians1 was a great artist1 he was also1 like them1 a great interpreter of life4 ,his dramas are satires as well as poems1 and he was and expressed himself supremely conscious of having a mission to fulfil4 ,he has scorned from the first1 he makes the chorus sing of himself in the ,peace3 ,he has scorned from the first to descend and to dip ,peddling and meddling in private affairs3 ,to detect and collect every petty defect ,of husband and wife and domestical life2 ,but intrepid and bold1 like ,alcides of old1 ,when the rest stood aloof1 put himself to the proof ,in his country's behoof4 ,footnote3 ,aristoph4 ,peace1 #gea seq4--,translated by ,frere4 ,his aim1 in fact1 was deliberately to instruct his countrymen in political and social issues2 to attack the abuses of the ,assembly1 of the ,law-courts and the home2 to punish demagogues1 charlatans1 professional politicians2 to laugh back into their senses revolting sons and wives2 to defend the orthodox faith against philosophers and men of science4 ,these are the themes that he embodies in his plots1 and these the morals that he enforces when he speaks through the chorus in his own person4 ,and the result is an art-product more strange to the modern mind in its union of poetry with prose1 of aesthetic with didactic significance1 than even that marvellous creation1 the ,greek tragedy4 ,of the character of this comedy the reader may form an idea through the admirable and easily accessible translations of ,frere2 ,footnote3 ,in ,morley's ,universal ,library4 and we are therefore dispensed from the obligation to attempt1 as in the case of tragedy1 an account of some particular specimen of the art4 ,section #h4 ,summary4 ,and here must conclude our survey of the character of ,greek art4 ,the main point which we have endeavoured to make clear has been so often insisted upon1 that it is hardly necessary to dwell upon it further4 ,the key to the art of the ,greeks1 as well as to their ethics1 is the identification of the beautiful and the good2 and it therefore is as natural in treating of their art to insist on its ethical value as it was to insist on the aesthetic significance of their moral ideal4 ,but1 in fact1 any insistance on either side of the judgment is misleading4 ,the two points of view had never been dissociated2 and art and conduct alike proceeded from the same imperative impulse1 to create a harmony or order which was conceived indifferently as beautiful or good4 ,through and through1 the ,greek ideal is ,unity4 ,to make the individual at one with the ,state1 the real with the ideal1 the inner with the outer1 art with morals1 finally to bring all phases of life under the empire of a single idea1 which1 with ,goethe1 we may call1 as we will1 the good1 the beautiful1 or the whole--this was the aim1 and1 to a great extent1 the achievement of their genius4 ,and of all the points of view from which we may envisage their brilliant activity none perhaps is more central and more characteristic than this of art1 whose essence is the comprehension of the many in the one1 and the perfect reflection of the inner in the outer4 ,,chapter ,v ,,conclusion ,now that we have examined in some detail the most important phases of the ,greek view of life1 it may be as well to endeavour briefly to recapitulate and bring to a point the various considerations that have been advanced4 ,but1 first1 one preliminary remark must be made4 ,throughout the preceding pages we have made no attempt to distinguish the ,greek view from the ,greek ideal2 we have interpreted their customs and institutions1 political1 social1 or religious1 by the conceptions and ideals of philosophers and poets1 and have thus1 it may be objected1 made the mistake of identifying the blind work of popular instinct with the theories and aspirations of conscious thought4 ,such a procedure1 no doubt1 would be illegitimate if it were supposed to imply that ,greek institutions were the result of a deliberate intention consciously adopted and approved by the average man4 ,like other social products they grew and were not made2 and it was only the few who realised fully all that they implied4 ,but on the other hand it is a distinguishing characteristic of the ,greek age that the ideal formulated by thought was the direct outcome of the facts4 ,that absolute separation of what ought to be from what is which continues to haunt and vitiate modern life had not yet been made in ancient ,greece4 ,plato1 idealist though he be1 is yet rooted in the facts of his age2 his perfect republic he bases on the institutions of ,sparta and ,crete2 his perfect man he shapes on the lines of the ,greek citizen4 ,that dislocation of the spirit which opposed the body to the soul1 heaven to earth1 the church to the state1 the man of the world to the priest1 was altogether alien to the consciousness of the ,greeks4 ,to them the world of fact was also the world of the ideal2 the conceptions which inspired their highest aims were already embodied in their institutions and reflected in their life2 and the realisation of what ought to be involved not the destruction of what was1 but merely its perfecting on its own lines4 ,while then1 on the one hand1 it would be ridiculous so to idealise the civilisation of the ,greeks as to imply that they had eliminated discord and confusion1 yet1 on the other1 it is legitimate to say that they had built on the plan of the ideal1 and that their life both in public and private was1 by the very law of its existence1 an effort to realise explicitly that type of ,good which was already implicitly embodied in its structure4 ,the ideal1 in a word1 in ancient ,greece1 was organically related to the real2 and that is why it is possible to identify the ,greek view with the ,greek ideal4 ,bearing this in mind we may now proceed to recapitulate our conclusions as to what that view was4 ,and1 first1 let us take the side of speculation4 ,here we are concerned not with the formal systems of ,greek thought1 but with that half-unconscious working of imagination as much as of mind whose expression was their popular religion4 ,of this religion1 as we saw1 the essential feature was that belief in anthropomorphic gods1 by virtue of which a reconciliation was effected between man and the powers whether of nature or of his own soul4 ,behind phenomena1 physical or psychic1 beings were conceived of like nature with man1 beings1 therefore1 whose actions he could interpret and whose motives he could comprehend4 ,for his imagination1 if not for his intellect1 a harmony was thus induced between himself and the world that was not he4 ,a harmony6 and in this word we have the key to the dominant idea of the ,greek civilisation4 ,for1 turning now to the practical side1 we find the same impulse to reconcile divergent elements4 ,that antithesis of soul and body which was emphasised in the mediaeval view of life and dominates still our current ethical conceptions1 does not appear in the normal consciousness of the ,greeks4 ,their ideal for the individual life included the perfection of the body2 beauty no less than goodness was the object of their quest1 and they believed that the one implied the other4 ,but since the perfection of the body required the co-operation of external aids1 they made these also essential to their ideal4 ,not merely virtue of the soul1 not merely health and beauty of the body1 but noble birth1 sufficient wealth and a good name among men1 were included in their conception of the desirable life4 ,harmony1 in a word1 was the end they pursued1 harmony of the soul with the body and of the body with its environment2 and it is this that distinguishes their ethical ideal from that which in later times has insisted on the fundamental antagonism of the inner to the outer life1 and made the perfection of the spirit depend on the mortification of the flesh4 ,the same ideal of harmony dominates the ,greek view of the relation of the individual to the state4 ,this relation1 it is true1 is often described as one in which the parts were subordinated to the whole2 but more accurately it may be said that they were conceived as finding in the whole their realisation4 ,the perfect individual was the individual in the state2 the faculties essential to his excellence had there only their opportunity of development2 the qualities defined as virtues had there only their significance2 and it was only in so far as he was a citizen that a man was properly a man at all4 ,thus that opposition between the individual and the state which perplexes our own society had hardly begun to define itself in ,greece4 ,if on the one hand the state made larger claims on the liberty of the individual1 on the other1 the liberty of the individual consisted in a response to the claims4 ,so that in this department also harmony was maintained by the ,greeks between elements which have developed in modern times their latent antagonism4 ,thus1 both in speculation and in practice1 in his relation to nature and in his relation to the state1 both internally1 between the divergent elements of which his own being was composed1 and externally between himself and the world that was not he1 it was the aim1 conscious or unconscious1 and1 in part at least1 the achievement of the ,greeks1 to create and maintain an essential harmony4 ,the antitheses of which we in our own time are so painfully and increasingly aware1 between ,man as a moral being and ,nature as an indifferent law1 between the flesh and the spirit1 between the individual and the state1 do not appear as factors in that dominant consciousness of the ,greeks under whose influence their religion1 their institutions and their customary ideals had been formed4 ,and so regarded1 in general1 under what may fairly be called its most essential aspect1 the ,greek civilisation is rightly described as that of harmony4 ,but1 on the other hand1 and this is the point to which we must now turn our attention1 this harmony which was the dominant feature in the consciousness of the ,greeks and the distinguishing characteristic of their epoch in the history of the world1 was nevertheless1 after all1 but a transitory and imperfect attempt to reconcile elements whose antagonism was too strong for the solution thus proposed4 ,the factors of disruption were present from the beginning in the ,greek ideal2 and it was as much by the development of its own internal contradictions as by the invasion of forces from without that that fabric of magical beauty was destined to fall4 ,these contradictions have already been indicated at various points in the text1 and it only remains to bring them together in a concluding summary4 ,on the side of speculation1 the religion of the ,greeks was open1 as we saw1 to a double criticism4 ,on the one hand1 the ethical conceptions embodied in those legends of the gods which were the product of an earlier and more barbarous age1 had become to the contemporaries of ,plato revolting or ridiculous4 ,on the other hand1 to metaphysical speculation1 not only was the existence of the gods unproved1 but their mutually conflicting activities1 their passions and their caprice1 were incompatible with that conception of universal law which the developing reason evolved as the form of truth4 ,the reconciliation of man with nature which had been effected by the medium of anthropomorphic gods was a harmony only to the imagination1 not to the mind4 ,under the action of the intellect the unstable combination was dissolved and the elements that had been thus imperfectly joined fell back into their original opposition4 ,the religion of the ,greeks was destroyed by the internal evolution of their own consciousness4 ,and in the sphere of practice we are met with a similar dissolution4 ,the ,greek conception of excellence included1 as we saw1 not only bodily health and strength1 but such a share at least of external goods as would give a man scope for his own self-perfection4 ,and since these conditions were not attainable by all1 the sacrifice of the majority to the minority was frankly accepted and the pursuit of the ideal confined to a privileged class4 ,such a conception1 however1 was involved in internal contradictions4 ,for in the first place1 even for the privileged few1 an excellence which depended on external aids was1 at the best1 uncertain and problematical4 ,misfortune and disease were possibilities that could not be ignored2 old age and death were imperative certainties2 and no care1 no art1 no organisation of society1 could obviate the inherent incompatibility of individual perfection with the course of nature4 ,harmony between the individual and his environment was perhaps more nearly achieved by and for the aristocracy of ancient ,greece than by any society of any other age4 ,but such a harmony1 even at the best1 is fleeting and precarious2 and no perfection of life delivers from death4 ,and1 in the second place1 to secure even this imperfect realisation1 it was necessary to restrict the universal application of the ideal4 ,excellence1 in ,greece1 was made the end for some1 not for all4 ,but this limitation was felt1 in the development of consciousness1 to be self- contradictory2 and the next great system of ethics that succeeded to that of ,aristotle1 postulated an end of action that should be at once independent of the aids of fortune and open alike to all classes of mankind4 ,the ethics of a privileged class were thus expanded into the ethics of humanity2 but this expansion was fatal to its essence1 which had depended on the very limitations by which it was destroyed4 ,with the ,greek civilisation beauty perished from the world4 ,never again has it been possible for man to believe that harmony is in fact the truth of all existence4 ,the intellect and the moral sense have developed imperative claims which can be satisfied by no experience known to man4 ,and as a consequence of this the goal of desire which the ,greeks could place in the present1 has been transferred1 for us1 to a future infinitely remote1 which nevertheless is conceived as attainable4 ,dissatisfaction with the world in which we live and determination to realise one that shall be better1 are the prevailing characteristics of the modern spirit4 ,the development is one into whose meaning and end this is not the place to enter4 ,it is enough that we feel it to be inevitable2 that the harmony of the ,greeks contained in itself the factors of its own destruction2 and that in spite of the fascination which constantly fixes our gaze on that fairest and happiest halting- place in the secular march of man1 it was not there1 any more than here1 that he was destined to find the repose of that ultimate reconciliation which was but imperfectly anticipated by the ,greeks4