The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-22
A P1oTUREsouE CHARACTER.
Peculiariuies of the Late Professor Sophocles,
of Harvard
Springfield Republican.

of Harvard.
Springfield Republican.
Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles-to
give him his full sounding name-was a very
exceptional man, having many pleasant &C
quaintances but not one intimate friend.
He lived always in one of the college dormi-
tories, and was almost as recluse as a monk
in his cell. He spent little money upon him
self, but gave freely when he saw need. He
found his native GrecIan village suffering for
wont of water, and he gave them as a mem
oral complete system OF water-works. This
was known, from the necessity Of the case;
but he objected to any publicity,
and most of all to the publicity of
philanthropist He desired to do good by
stealth" and it would have panied him atany
time "to find it fame" The pupils at Harvard
in recent years have not known the best OF
Prof. Sophocles who was indeed never so good
to start the boys in Greek as he was to carry
them on in advanced studies, where he was
richly furnished to stimulate their efforts.
To illustrate the eccentric character of his
thought, it is told that he mentioned, as the
three best books the Bible, Don Quixote and
the Arabian Nights, rs comprising the whole
philosophy of life This is almost as strange
acollecton as the old gambling English par
sons, who would be buried with the PRAYER
book and pack of cards under his bolster.
In person the venerable professor was
short, but his bushy, snow-white hair and
dark eyes of oriental luster his measured
speech and dignity of motion made him re-
sembe more an Arab sheik like Abraham
of Old than the American university pro-
lessor. His long residence in this country and
his continual study Of language had given
him the power of using English without the
slightest foreign accent, which is more than
can be said of either the elder or the younger
AgassiZ. Beneath a reserved exterior he had
gentle heart, and his manners were simple
as those of a child; yet he was pronounced
by Dr. A ?. Peabody the most learned man
at the university" His learning was lore
that had more connection with the ancient
than the modern world, and though one
might think his judgment on men and things
of to-day rather narrow, as, lifting his eyes
from the Nation, he remarked that the West
was but semi-civilized," yet there was none
at the university in whose presence the
student seemed to be so near 10 the old
professors great namesake and to live SO
much in the real Athenian atmosphere.
As he neared and passed his three-score
years and ten, with his venerable aspect,
his thoughts and expression of the antique
stamp, mis- surroundings of old folios and his
liking for good old wine he seemed like
part of the great Sophocles warmed to life
and come down from its pedestal in Har
ward hall to live for time among these high
pressure moderns. He had a dry wit, ac-
companied by no change in his expression
but the twinkling of the eye. On his asking
the question in the recitaton-room, What
was done with the bodies of the Greeks
killed at Marathon?' and receiving from
one student the reply that they were buried.
and from another that they were burned,
and getting from a third, who had not no
ticed the question, the makeshift answer II
don't know" he quietly remarked Right,
nobody knows" He boarded himself. and
INDUCED in Turkish dishes which could not
be obtained in a Cambridge boarding house.
He never married, and though he allowed
the ''goody" to visit his room for the purpose
of making the bed, he was so averse to the
disturbance caused by these domestcs in
sweeping that he would go from October till
commencement in june without allowing
the carpet to be touched by the broom. In
his simplicity of life he had no faith in the
modern methods of transmitting money,
and used every few years to cross the ocean
for the purpose of carrying to his mother,
while she lived, such of his savings IS she
needed. On one of these occasions, the
bridge women, pitying her forlorn and
single state, bethought themselves to fit him
out for the journey. Among the things
provided were some handkerchief, which he
thought quite needless, soberly remarking
that he had two already, one for the voyage
and one to use after his arrival.