| Show Ancient Greek Literature ri n J 1 I f is THREE ancient peoples stand out distinctly distinctly distinctly dis dis- in history as representative of three phases of life and their influence be esti esti- on n modern civilization cannot mated The Jews were a religious religions people and from them has sprung the religion of the civilized world The Romans wc were e a lawmaking and governing governing governing govern govern- ing people and from them have been taken the pattern and principles of modern government and jurisprudence the Greeks were a cultured people and from them have been received the greatest conceivable im impetus petus to intellectual intellectual life No other nation possessed such philosophers poets arch archi- archi i- i y sculptors orators critics and mathematicians But it is now over two thousand years since Greece was at the zenith of her glory two thousand three hundred and sixty-seven sixty years year since the age of Pericles Pericles Pericles Peri Peri- cles so that the grandeur of Greece Greere is isa a thing of the past The bravest of her soldiers perished in the pass of Ther Ther- Her coins have been defaced Her works of art have faded from view Her monuments have long since crumbled crumbled crumbled crum crum- bled into dust there are but few mutilated mutilated mutilated muti muti- relics left of her grand architectural piles Even the language of Greece is dead so that of all the Greeks did in inthis inthis inthis this world by the power of their mighty intellect and skillful hand the only thing that has survived the wear w ar and tear of two thousand years the only witness that lives lives- to give testimony o oher of her former greatness is her literature The excellence of the Greek literature cannot be questioned i it r has never been surpassed scarcely has it been equalled it stands like an immortal being unmoved unmoved unmoved un un- moved and unshaken by the revolutions of time towering above the genius of all succeeding ages Twenty centuries have failed to blur the names raven en-raven on its monument nt rather it would seem each age as it passed has offered its tribute by burnishing those names more brightly F At the summit of that monument is the name of Homer Homer- the Homer II the Poet of ail all ages who ages who in his own time was known as the blind bard of Scio and whose Iliad and Odyssey are given honorable places in the highest institutions of learning throughout the world Next to him is Herod the the the father of history history- who was born about B. B C. C Although Although Al Al- though Homers Homer's exact date is unknown it is supposed that five hundred ye years rs elapsed between the time that he wrote and Hero Hero- the worlds first great epic datus wrote the worlds first great history Then come the well wen known know l names of Socrates Plato Plat and Aristotle to whom we are indebted for the tle philosophy philosophy phi phi- philosophy that has been purified an and explained explained explained ex ex- to us by II the Angel of the schools Another great triad of names is that of Aeschylus Sophocles and Euripides the great masters of trag tragedy dy Among the writings of Aeschylus may be he mentioned mentioned mentioned men men- II The Persians treating of the the- downfall of Xerxes and II Prometheus Bound which has been put into English English Eng Eng- I Ilish lish verse by Mrs Browning Sophocles Sophocles Sophocles cles survives in seven of his master pieces II the King is not only considered the best work of but the bright flower of all Greek tragedy Euripides the third member mem ber of the great II triumvirate triumvirate triumvirate was born at Athens B. B C. C His principal production is js the Al Alcestis Alcestis cestis Another name well known in our classical classic l world is that of Pindar the great lyric poet In speaking peaking of him it has been said that Homer was followed followed fol fol- lowed by Virgil Dante and Milton the epic poets but there was no one to follow Pindar in any race or age to toi i r occupy with him the throne of of empire in lyric song Gray sang of Pindar as the II Eagle Sailing S. with supreme dominion the azure deep of air air His odes are divided into the Olympian Pythian Isthmian and N The qualities of all these writers have been very prettily portrayed by Mrs Mr Browning O 0 0 our Aeschylus the thunderous 1 I H How w he drove the bolted breath Through the cloud to wedge it ponderous In the gnarled oak beneath 0 O our Sophocles the royal j Who was born to monarchs monarch's place And who made the whole world loyal Less by kingly power than grace Our Euripides' Euripides the human With his droppings of warm tears And ADd his touches of things common Till TilI they rose to meet the the spheres x f Our Oar our Bion 11 i And our Pindars Pindar's c shining goals 1 These were were cup cupbearers cup bearers undying fl Of the wine wine that's meant for souls Last but not least on the monument monument of Gre Grecian ian fame comes the name name of Demosthenes He was not only a great orator but for us a of perseverance perseverance perseverance per per- severance and energy We Weare are are all familiar with the incidents of this life life life- how he labored against the grea greatest est difficulties difficulties difficulties and overcame them There are many others though of lesser note than those already men mentioned mentioned mentioned men men- whose names would probably shine more brightly were we're their luster not dimmed in the superior brilliancy of the great masters master Among mong these may maybe maybe maybe be mentioned Sappho the only famous woman writer of Greece Only one complete poem of this writer now y survives survives survives sur sur- vives namely the the Hymn to Aphrodite It is written in a peculiar stanza called the Sapphic was a poet w who o lived a short time before Pindar and like him was a hireling poet or as we say a poet But among the thet t Il Ancient Greeks the poet-laureateship poet y- y was not considered such an honor honorable le position as it is now t. t Such were the great men of Greece i but we must not be too critical when t I we turn from their writings to their biographies which we find now and ands andl s l then in scattered fragments The anS ancient ancient an an- S Greeks were mortals and as such were no more immaculate than their an- an I 4 successors of the nineteenth century The evil that those great men did was interred with their bones and the good that they did lives after them and this surviving good is more pleasant to criticise criticise criticise cise than their ii lives ves Yet pagans as they were l lacking in inmany inmany inmany many of the qualities that we think so necessary they still deserve our admiration admiration admiration admira admira- tion and gratitude and well does their r land and merit the tribute paid to her by bythe bythe r- r the great Lord ord Byr Byron uJ Jf a. a Fair Greece sad relic of departed wor worth h 1 I immortal though no more though fallen great great Who now shall lead thy scattered children forth And long accustomed bondage un create L Long ng to the remnants of thy splendor past Shall pilgrims pensive but unwearied but unwearied throng Long shall the voyager Wil with the Ionian blast Hail Hall the bright clime of battle hattle and s song ng Long shall thine annals and immortal tongue Fill with thy fame the you h of many a shore Alice Mahoney x |
