New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-02-06


With nm Introduction BIZ Reginald stuart Poole.
LID. Illustrated PIP. XIV. 4O5. j. Weste'mann
co.
The most pleasing characteristics of this book
are the moderation in matters OF opinion exhibited
by the author and the lucid method by which
lie has worked out his theme He holds the
balance even among the conflicting views Of en-
ports in Greek archaeology, hardly any Of whom
will be satisfied with his want Of partiSanship
OF scholars outside Of the particular field 10 which
the book belongs, only one group will he wholly
at variance with the ideas upon which il IL con-
sructed. For that class-let us hope a decrcas-
ing onc-which holds civilization TO be essen
TALLY and perhaps exclusively fact Of racial
evolution there Is little consolation in TINS book
or in any acknowledging work on archaeology
While all the indirect testimony collected by NJ
Dchl goes TO show that human evolution in the
isles and on the mainland of Greece was tn"
result, not Of purity of race, hut OF contact ana
mixture, he has not hesitatcd to give POSITIVE
utteranec to his views. Hitherto SAYS he. no
writer would have dared TO trace the history OF
Greece further back than the eighth or ninth
century before Christ, the history Of art
beyond the sixth or seventh. To-day thanks 70
the excavations of Mycenac, we can ascend much
further: We can connect the early days of Greece
with tho ancient Oriental civilization Of Egypt
and Chaldea Of Assyria ard Fhoenicia. by whose
side. 10 use the words of Plato the Greeks were
but children: can reach those remote aeeS
beyond the horizon Of llomeric poetry winch are
sonarotcd from us by more than three thousand
wears: and thus bring into the region of history
centuries which were only known to liz by re-
ligious or poctcal tradition We can. thanks 10
orr definite information carry into those distant
ages the clcarness and the certainty OF scientific
method" That is to say. We can now begin to
for
growth of Greek civilization just as we can for
tho DEVELOPMENT Of the United States 1t has not
been so very long since the plan was prevalent
of tracing every political and social institution
of this country to a single source the stream OF
Enumeration from England. That plan had 10
be relinquished. similar narrow view respect
ing Greek antique life will also have to be gwen
I'D Greek culture was never exclusively Hehehlc'
II was never even exclusively Aryan. vague az
that term is 1t was subject to Semitic lnhuehce
from the very outset. just as Egyptian culture
was with results that were only less OBVIOUS
because the Greek race was less piabe less easily
moulded by foreign hand. Thus those ancient
writer's who insisted that much Of the religion.
+bc tradition. the learning of Greece which seemed
ORIGINAL was borrowed product are beginning
n be justified, not perhaps as to particular
instances. but in the general tenor of what they
asserted. a.
For example, when il became clear that the
worship of the Cypriote Aphroditc was dlreco
importation from the Orient, it was stlil possible
70 allcge an intentional or accidental CONFUSION
between cult originally Greek and another from
Asia. and to assert that, whatever might be the
facts as to the goddess of Cyprus. the dauSn'er
Of Zeus and Dione could be nothing put
nurelv Hellenic ideal or course there Is 10
question about Zeus being an Aryan divinity
hoe, hanp ton
philologists TO leave any doubt or the SUBJECT
Rpt IL is another matter with Dionc. She looks
croucb like those conventional refeXes which
voro characteristic of the Cnaldean and Assyriah
MYTHOLOGY to be direct imitation of them AS
NJ Debl points out, the strange features OF the
Worship at Dodona, where Zeus ana Ozone hao
their seat early attracted the attention Oh 'hc
Crc.lrs themselves II was downright ascctic
ND monastic system, not wholly unlike that Oh
the present day in Greece, where the religious
of both sexes live in the same establishment. BE-
side the Salli, devoted 70 Zeus. were the
Pele,ades whose lives were sacred TO Dione
Herodotus. having pieced together legend toid
him at Dodona and another which he learned
Mt Tbebes, in Egypt, came TO the conclusion that
the first of these priestcsses was an Egyptian
woman While NJ. Dieh looks upon the eXpia-
nation of Herodotus childish trite,' he ADDS
Nevertheless, there was basis OF truth unoer-
living these sacred legends After the usual fashion
nf primitive races, the first inhabitants of the
valley of Dodona had deiied ami adored the
mysterious forces of nature-Ieus that is TO say,
as his surname Naius indicates, the water which
renctratcs and fertilizes the EARTH and Dione,
the productive forces Of the earth itself. But
other elements were aftcrward added to this
pr,mi.ive conceptions the symbol of the dove,
closely connected with the Oriental cultus of
Arhrodite is an evidence of the importation OF
foreign rites. an importation which the Egyptian
oriests pointed out to Hcrodotus The primitive
goddess Dione was COMPOUNDED with the Syrian
deity. and to the Pclasgic priests of Zcus was
added a body OF foreign priestcsses who had
followed in the train of Asarte.' If this he
correct statement of the case, even NJ Dichls
small concession TO hypothetical prlmtlvlsm
amounts TO nothing and the Oriental descent OF
Aphrodite under either form OF the legend III
which she figures is rendered almost certain
The fact must be borne in mind that the com
,rrn;caton between Greece and the Asatic ma
lions began long before any trustworthy data OF
Tho sanctuary at Dodona are of record Ecilcs
Of prehistoric art in Greece have settled approx
ma.ey the relative antiquity OF important places
1.-Two streams Of tendency in fact, says VI. Dichi'
"run through all these civilizations; on the one
hand there is an indigenous and local art whose
forms do not change, whose decorative principles
while perfccting themselves by long Practice
nevertheless retain their specific character; on the
other hand, foreign influence, increasing every
day. mingles with these indigenous elements the
productions of more highly developed civliiza-
ton and art. Myccnac preserves in its vases the
shapes of Sanorin and laysus, but there is greater
variety and more studied elegance in their orDa-
mentation. and Oriental influence is more marked
But let us compare Mycenac with Spata II GER
tain shapes are still akin, if certain types are
analogous the general aspect is entirely different
The relative dates too, of these civilizations are
fncontcstablc Hissarlk is older than Santorn
and Ialvsus while these prcce0e Mycenae, which