New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS

TALKS WITH ATHENIAN YOUTHS; translations
from the Charmides, Lysis. Lachcs. Eutnydeulhs anu
Theaetetus of Plato. PIP xX' 1'o' Charle' III
ner's Sons.
Like the other volumes Of this SERIES inc one
in hand is well contrived to make the Introduction
70 Plato delightful to a young reader. But IL Is 10
nc hoped that few will be content IN the eiu wiz"
reading less than the whole Of a great dialogue IKE
,be "Tbcaetetus." As TO those Ike the "CharIhl-
doe - which. In spite Of the high purpose embodied
in socrates, have peculiar Hellenic side-glahces 10
uard what was worst in Hellenlsm. one hecu ht
uisb that q boy should read more than he will hhd
here. The preface is an interesting bit OF ahaysls'
in which. AS might be expected. Plato's method Is
treated with a partially not always deserved. 1t
&c certainly going too far to quote with approval an
,dolatrous sentence like, "The soul of Platos Thought
is present entire at every point In the oouE Vi ~.
work. and IL is not safe to touch an iota subscr1pt
Of his text without being aware of this what Is
best both in the selections and the preface is 'c
way In which the characters Of the different diaIosues
are made TO stand ont before the eye like the true
living men and lads they were. That is something
one misses in the slow reading Of the original teAt'
unless indeed one goes over it again and AGAIN.
Are not or learned friends the Assyriologists giving
the word " epic" too much eNerciscf For eAaihpc ION
the University Of Pennsylvania Press comes Professor
Jastrow's extremely interesting Translation anu oon'
nentary on " A Fragment of the Babylonian Dbbara
Fpic.p The story Of II is simply that Dibbara tWho
was one OF the seven demons that infested te sP''o
between the earth and the armament, causing echp>es'
in their contests with sin. the mOon-god, ana onaihas'
the sun.god. and bringing diseases and other calahileS
On manhind) had afflicted the city of 1nmarmaru ana
perhaps other towns with a pestilence. his leu u
deyout supplication on the part OF the inhabitants anu
10 interference on the part Of Ea. the creator anu
Marduk 1.-THE Merodoch of the English BlDie) LOT 'nc
relief OF humanity and the story ends with the con-
struction OF a temple which the unwelcome Dibbara
was forbidden ever 10 approach. II does not seem
necessary 20 suppose anything more than an accidental
relationship between this and other legends respecting
the demon-hero Dibbara. If one considers ue con-
yenience of accounting for some particular mooincatoh
of worship or mythology in any given part Oh inc
Mesopotamian Valley. he will find a satisfactory reason
for the rise OF such separate legends ana il nc
considers the motive which led TO the coilectloh vi
the great Assyrian libraries, as being proDaDly lhdu
Of enthusiastic antiQuarianism, he Will hesitate 10
believe that a widespread tendency to epic whlch
means synthesis and unity, could have accompanied d
shirt in the highest degree analytic ana sciehlHo'
Nevertheless. the fragment casts important hght on Ie
meaning OF other passages in Babylonian or ASSyrah
literature that have been d~eciphercd. The paper Is
ACCOMPANIED by a fac-simile of the two SIDES OF te
tablet on which the wedge text was written, ana by
a note by l.. X. Frankel on the chemical means used
10 clear of an outer coat of gypsum so that the Signs
conId he read. The tablet was brought TO the United
States by the Rev. r. II. Williams, but like many other
fragments OF Assyrian lore in the United states, was
practically lost to view for many years.