New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-24
GREEK LI1ERAI URE.
A READABLE NEW BOOK.

OF Durham Crown Svo. PIP. XVI, oo9 Clhrie
scr1hner's sons.
| Mr. Jevons has written this book mainly for th
| use Of students at the universities and publ
schools and others no are preparing for advanced
| examinations, but econdarIly for those who arr
intere. the general stu iy of literature with
out enjoying an acquaintance with the Greel
| Language. The gu ,lItes required for this doubl,
| purpose have been remarkably well combined
| Evidences OF scholarship are abundant on almos
every page. bnt points OF minute criticism anC
citations in Greek confined TO foOt-notes. 81
that the body of the text left free for cont
narrative. exposition and mentary. Nor is il
only In the arrangement of the matter that the
wants of both classes OF rea ers udciOnsy con
'dered The treatment of the subject is precise
enough for the practical use of the student and
general enough to sustain the interest of the
ordinary reader; indeed. with very little pretensior
To literary style, Mr.. Jevons his nevertheless
produced no of the most readable books of it
class which It has been fortune to examine.
At the beginning of his task Mr.. Jevons finds
himself face To face wrh the most serious problem
IT Greek criticism. the authorship of the HomerlC
poems. Before applying himself seriously to this
question. he proposes to examine the poems them
selves. The snbect proper of the Had ls the wrath
Of Achilles and its Consequences: bat TINS is only
incident of the Trojan war. anl the story Of tn
war forms therefore the backgronn upon which
the poem is to be displayed The highly artistic
manner in which this back yrounl is ted H. the
poet causing the plot itself to reveal what it pre-
supDoses, and constructing scenes which are neces
>ary TO the develop ncnt OF the Iran, and yet servo
the purpose OF conveying inform .rOn Of what has
happened tefore the action of the drama begins. is
exhibited by Mr. Jcvons with acuteness and force (;
md with egul ability the que >ton of the
O
thereby of a single constructive mind. Ii nay no
objected that in this part OF mis- work ho out o.
consideration. In rather summary way, the al gu
ments OF other critics. who find III the Had lack
Of the very qualities of construction which he asks
US 10 admire; aud the same thing nav be said of
his treatment of the lvssey. in Iicb contrary 10
many respectable ju1 gments he dscerns both unity
of plot and a beautiful symuetry IN the develop
nent of the parts Bat it was not his plan to
iningle in the enhles, battle of Greclaus over the
authorship of ths HAL an th Odyssey. He
tents himself with presenting IN II sep irate chapter
"A Drlrf summary Of the present. state of d" the
1omerc question y; AMI SINCE the problem. if not
insoluble, is at any rate not solved after much
learned dispute. he claims for the student of te-a
the right rest in the old beliefs 1t seems
safer" he says. di,mis sing the subject. al
here to the literary Tradition. winch is not the
whole likely to I'VE been mistaken on sdch a point
If capital Importance, aud which attributes both
the Iliad au the Odyssey to Homer" Of the epic
poets later than Homer the most considerable is
Hesioi aud of him Mr.. JevonS gives particularly
successful sudy. LYRIC poetry in its several
branches is the topic Of a second vision of his
work. As 90 proceeds with his task he seems to
gain warmth and animation Of style. and in tie
chapter or Alceus and SapphO he reaches the Dlct-
uresque. Manv Of his sketches of Indiv ual poets,
known of their personal char cter aud adventures.
the circumstances Of their live, the Influences
under which they wrote as we'll as the literar,
tendencies which they Represented. His analyses
of their works generally subtle lie is not salts
led with presenting an abstract of their contents
but in all the most important cases he points out
the essential d tfer-nces between poet and au-
other. and the precise qualities to which poems owe
their celebrity. The exactness of his criticism i'll
such matters is hi 5h merit
In the book devote to the drama the clearness of
Mr.. Jevonss determinations becomes still more
conspicuous than in the previous chapters. The
of the three great masters of
TRACE IT, Eschyius. Sophocles aud Eurpi les are
strongly drawn; AMI aithouy Oh more complete and
searching criticisms Of their separate productions
could easily be founi, might look far for a more
satisfactory outline Of the development of the drama
comedy of ArIsIophanes his sympathies are perhaps
less close at any rate he passes it rather quickly
The prose writer's under the divisions history, ora
tory and philosophy, treated in a separate part
The chronological order IS thus somewhat dis
turbed but not seriously. Prose was a compare
lively ia'e discovery. an poetry had reached it,
highest glories before Hippocrates and Hcrodotus
the value of another lie Of literary
expression. The development OF the two forms
h storlcaliy distinct, and they are best treated
apart
The period which Mr. Jevons chooses for the close
Of his work the date of the destruction of Greek
freedom the battlefield Of ChBronea PIndar.
fnripiies. Aristophanes Xrnophon, Demosthenes
Eschines Plato. the last of the illustrous
VT ters W 10 fail under his review. We miss. there
ore. some names which might be brought within
he classical period but no is justife In his as
umptou that classical Greek literature was vrtu-
lily at. an end when Greece Ost her free lon and
ceased to produce men Of genius. Ia a concluding
hapter he ate npts to snow how the charactcrIs-
les of Greek literature were in tuenced by the |
hysical features of he different states: but here |
e is not cutie successful for he often mistakes mere
nalogles, when may be more or less fancful, for |
einite relations OF cause aud effect We have re- |
erred to ns style. which Is sometimes simple TO the
ergo of rusticty. unartIicIai. indeed, that 1t
empts one to smile But he is always clear. tbs
l-as are fully formed. aud MS only object seems to
o TO state than DlauIy SO intensely matter-of
act is his deme ,nor at the beginning that we are
nprepared Tor tie acute poetic sensibiity ex-
10, tel in some of his later pages, and the many
ne aud lust remarks which fall from him IN mo-
tents of feeling. La seakng OF the Oroea poets
reatment OF nature, he Ina, this sxcelle passage:
Nature was still the mJther OF the Greek, ana lie
fas old enough TO sympatiIiZe with her, and to 60
D her to he comfortsd and cOnsoied. but not old
nough or seif-conscous enough to know as well as
Bel tlat be loved her" In writing of Sapphu he
ven becomes eloquent Bnt a rule he seems to
ave little care for literary form. There viii
aturally be- soue curiosity To know how HIS work
DmDares with QUE of the latest aud best
no rn of its rivals the History of
lassical Greek Literature" by Professor j
Mahaffy. of Trinity College. Dublin, which
eats nearly the period At little more than The
Ine length Professor MaDafy. being al great
lins to give the PRESENT aspect of Greek SC 1olar
lip devoles great deal of space to cor troversial
ALTERS such las the authorship of Homer and To
Biographical Information. remarks upon the !