Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-09-02
GREEK GODS
Never Were fairer to Behold
Than at Chicago
Where They Are enthroned in Palace
Of Fine Arts.

| OF Pine Arts.
NJ aa1 nrheisu - M ny - essa
| ThssS.
| WORLDS FAR, Sept. I. [special1 -
have taken some more lessons in high
art, and have progressed 20 rapidly that
now understand the whole outside of the
building and all the figures ON it from
| Victory to Ceres and from the tall angels
10 the little caryatides Az everybody
| knows, the Art palace Is more solidly con-
structed than any Of the other buildings
Is 1t Is to remain here. while the Others,
with possibly one or two exceptions, are to
be removed. 1t stands on the north shore
Of the north lagoon, almost exactly in the
north center Of the grounds and is sa0x5oo
feet in the main, with two annexes, east
ern and western, each l2ox2Oo feet.
The main oblong Is intersected each way
by nave and transept, each 100 feet wide
| and 10 feet high, and at their center is the
great dome, the concave side of which is
l25 feet from the floor and atop Of it is the
winged Victory. The entire structure
still retains its original clear white color
and externally as well as internally it is in
truth palace OF art. Few visitors study
the outside. They appreciate the general
effect In beauty, but fail to note the Ionic
purity Of the columns, the ehaste and yet
massive simplicity of the statues, pedi-
ments and as-reliefs, in short, all the
figures suggestive Of the progress of art
from the dawn Of history to the present
time. In truth, 1t requires special edu-
cation to get the idea meant to be con-
veyed. for there certainly is not another
building on the grounds and possibly not
another in the country, Of which the ex-
terror more fifty suggests its purpose.
And herein is manifested anew that
great mystery which has been discussed
by the learned for the last 400 years and
was discussed even in Rome while the fact
was yet new-the mystery that a mere
handful OF people in little corner of
southwestern Europe, region not SO large
as New jersey, should have so far outrIn
all the rest Of the world in this art and
produced masterpieces so perfect that the
modern can only admire and initiate but
cannot hope to surpass. The traveller
through the modern world sees on every
side strange symbols Of a long dead and
discarded faith. Over the insurance offices
is the tabled Phoenix. rising freshly
hatched from the ashes Of the parent bird;
in the drug store windows appears Atlas,
bending under the weight OF the globe, or
Esculapius with the serpent curling
around his staff. and elsewhere are Diana
and Juno. Minerva and Jupiter and
Apollo and other classic gods
The literature of every Aryan land
abounds with references to these creations
of religious fancy and there is scarcely a
political demonstration or a Yelled |
Prophet or other carnival display which
does not in some way revive the old relig-
ion. In this Palace Of Art, with its 1000
statues and pictures, the Greek gods are
constantly recurring and even in pictures
with very modern titles one can see that
the old mythology WAS still present in the
painters mind. One must know at least
little ABOUT it to get the idea, and while
il is not well to appear arrogantly instruc-
tive, perhaps the unlearned reader will
stand a paragraph or two on mythology
while we are yet on the porch Of the Art
palace.
Know then. inquiring friend, that sever
al thousand years ago the original Aryans
lived on the highlands of south central
and southwestern Asia and worshipped
the powers of nature. As they sent off
successive swarms of emigrants and
founded new races and nations their orig
inal language gave rise in turn to Xend,
Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and all the Kettle
and Teutonic tongues. But as the Ian
guage slowly changed the names of things
came to be considered the names of per-
sons. Instead of thunder as a power they
put the thunder god % = rarson The
Arynn said, THE sun dries up the dew"
His Greek descendant, retaining the
names without their meaning, said,
"Helios devours Prokris" When the OBJ
scured sun sent a peculiar ray through the
clouds the Aryan said as our own chill
drcn say, "The sun is drawing water"
His Hindoo descendants say, "Indra's ele-
phant is filing his trunk to shower the
fields"
The exploits Of great pioneers and other
leaders were interviewer with the actions
of gods and the fancy of poets did the rest.
Hence that wonderful mythology which
enters SO fully into modern art. But this
still leaves the great problem of Greek
pre-eminence unsolved. OF course each
stJhEdttoD VI Tic elotk utNei-
oped its mythology according to the nature
of the country in which it is located. The
Aryans in India. dazzled and overpowered
by the awful phenomena of that tropical
country, developed that gorgeous system
of millions Of gods Of which missionaries
have told us so much. Hence that queer
array of many armed and snaky and long
shouted gods to be seen here in the India
exhibits. The Teutons went far to the
north and so they created Thor and
Wooden and Friga, with gods of ice and
fire and hail, gnomes and kobolds. night
riding hags and witches and monsters not
fit to be described in a family paper, which
did unutterabie things in the depths Of
forests or on the black and blasted heath,
These were the two extremes. Midway
between them was our Aryan race which
worshipped the beautiful and especially
the beautiful in human form. In what
way the Greek mind took this direction
we cannot say. 1t certainly did and to an
extent that seems miraculous, but the
how and the why remain a mystery.
Every myth Of the Greek faith or fancy
was put in the loveliest forms of enduring
marble and we have them here.
OF Diana, for instance, there are four
| very beautiful statues in the French Sec
tlon alone ana very many paintings else
where. And very appropriately, too, for
| she was goddess Of the cold, chaste moon,
| the friend Of hunters, patroness Of old
maids and guardian of chastity. She was
! so set in her way that one fellow who Of
| fered to see her home was instantly Con-
s,lmed to ashes, and when the great hun
| ter Aktaeon accidently came upon her
while bathing in the forest, she changed
| him into a stag and ''sieked' his own
hounds on him. They made meal Of
him in short order and this is the only au-
thentic instance can find of a "stag SUD-
| per" that was approved by a. old maid.
And there was Prometheus who gave Is
| fire. The gods had intended TO leave man
| kind without this blessing, but when
Prometheus saw that man alone among
! the animals had no natural weapons, he
went up to heaven and stole fire from the
chariot of the sun and by its aid man be
came the head Of creation. For this
| Jupiter had him chained down on Mount
Caucasus with vultures devouring his
ever-growing liver, and II any one doubts
this story Ire can come here and SEQ Pro
4 u III ~ ~-t~.<-