New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-10

ehrev.dness and practlcaty in the mover az 10
worst that is lacking in the best OF epic'. p"' "
any one will take the trouble 10 turn 10 'he po.
~ Anollouius on the voyage OF Jason ana '
,rgo he will find places where the manners am
,hirkinp processes Of common life managed 10
edge themselves into Work which was "''"
no as exalted az Homers verse II was 'ihpoSS'u',
rcr Anollonius 10 contemplate the narrative WIN
which he was dealing IN any otner aspect ''"''
that of n traditional fiction but ne was 10 MI
oaoohia .bo, any other man would have oeen III
his place of transcending his environment IT. '
occasion TO bring certain temale "eiUe" '""
IN consultation and there you nave ho' NV
aio,. r.hl,b Homer knew but a plain transcript
from tho social lie with which iheoc'''"H '"'
made the world familiar. that or the easy 60
h,, n.orbred and by ~ means unrererlohons
darnea az Syracuse Alexandria All 'n'S "''''
hava beon impossible to Homer. Moreover an "
animation Of such Greek novels az are ,e, 49,.
tho wreck of post-cassic literature VIII S"o" ,
,,,ue the authors are familiar Win Iio''''' ~
aro No more subject his influence thah n'o''i'
-. l. % Milton or Chaucer, when ne MAKES Az
Int, or n ouotation. But they display u"''
ir,uor N those which Appo!lon'us cou'
wholly conceal. They were not ini"e ~
Inn, they had to delineate their i's"'' ao
similar BACKGROUND Of individual ana popu'" ,ho
niousrees and so they said many thlnss :" ~,
Ho ,,. no said them. He would sadN
49,, ,,.oi1ed the necessity, ne may eve" 40"
,,oi ,,a, he did So but they had no ie"'
20 initiate any society except that VIII" "
were personally familiar - .or,b
AZ 10 the philosophy OF every desree " go,
,,d wor,hlossnoss which had preceded the 'reeN
roronce nothing need be said. But u tne '"''
,I,, etorv he an indispensable preliminary ~
,be long purDoseful fiction 1t must Ne S"o
rova existed. Nothing Is easier froiesSo'
ron has apparently almost forgotten the So-'''
Nicsian tale. It has been well sa'd 'hat 'ie o.
,,ont enocin,ens OF this class of fiction furh'S"e'
n,hicb nourished in the Roman imperial ana by
zantine epochs They served as variations "po'
themes which required much time anu man,
.f,udes 20 work out. in which the principal '"''
acters were involved in bewilderins eh'd"s'
,,ert OF Incidents and secondary hgures, Inc
s,orv became a romance. in a mechanical sense
,,,,l, hv the addition OF elements taken from the
various kinds Of brief narratives Gear ~ III,
cre.ks tales Of metamorphoses, imaginary du-
.cnturcs Of infants exposed by parents OF capture
he rirates OF perils in travel oy Iahd an" sen.
=, It. ,i,,es these bits of experience from real
it,o moro or less modified found their "ay every
,yherc into sober history into phhosopn'.'' -
,ises They were nearly Ike the truth ''d. NJ
could be taken for true. ana they mus -,
min, ar capped an argument TO the periec. Sau,
~, - ur,,ors and readers They literally
.,.od n nurnose and they created a demand LOT d
,,.oro,,ro with a purpose. SO many tales Oh '"c
Milesan order have survived to fnooe'" "'
man. authors who were said 10 nave "'''V' -
srist
thenius Of Ntcaen; Aristenetes' or N'cothe'i -.
I'm Lrov,n by the illusions OF other writer's 'ha'
The importance OF the movement 70 WHO" my
contributed cannot be doubted. Thus IL haPPe"',
i,,et "A the case with the long roHlai0e' ~
rho early modern period. that when the de"'a'i'
came for elaborate tales. all the ma'erias "e'e
,eodv IN hand Bur story-teiler and audehce
,d ro,ience at first and patience was not
,a,i,o Crock characteristic. In the orient a"-
ditors will return day after day to near I" ro"a''
rcclted This trait observed by modern ua'e"F'
casts a strong light on the fact, whlch f'o'e''
Warren hardly mentions but when seemed "
,tuo, the first critic to discuss the origin OF TO-
,r,,ce most significant namely, that nearly a''
rho authors II the so-called Greek roAIah'e' were
crock only IN language and that the genera o".-
limos or most Of tho long tales were o'ie''''',
49,, manner Of thought IN "Theogenes ana
(.hori,l,a" or "Clltophon and Leucippe'
v lorrelv oriental. the Incidental filling III J.
,~..or, creek When Apueius came 10 write me
Golden A." he laid his scene In Greece oorro"e
c-ol Incidents and learning and nnlshed oy
making y completely North African tale Inc
80 g. true OF Annals OF Gaul' IL Is SPANS"
4, sn,-it but foreign in matter ana IN puiP
~, had happened In one case happeheo III %
,hc,saleo 7heauthorcould not set on, Oh MS -
or traditional environment but ne had 10 U.s. ''
.crial which the ages had inInished NM a. So
lcf, IN. mark OF his lndivlduAuN' Ms '''N =, he
,,, or national surroundings on every pa't u ms
:, 49,, ,ro,,er from what source ne op'S'Heu ~
,..,.,oya he could not change the or'slhd'
o,,,tv ~ what he borrowed. Nor can INC 49,, =,
80 any better Any one may defno"S"a 49,. 70
. devo,c time to the analysis OF any -
,, novel In which the author mas a''e''''
dor,,, , society to which he was not oo'"
..,, ,ro~e prosaic fact about the mover or to
=, arv ~ its elaborate forms Is that IL W.
,o,ys essentially to an age when - wins 49,,
IN some manner for ia H'ef"'ue' p,t tho
.b STORYTELLING In Greece At all times p'' w
cre.k romance dates from the TINE wiz. go
a.,a had become A vast book market lhere We"
10 ,,r,hi. reading public. which stimulated ."e
nth ~ th, copying trade. The process VIM
=, % this commercial activity was heceSS'
Glow one Possibly. II all III" data WEE a. 49,
,or forming a conclusion. it would be iou''n '''N' ~
,or, story grew by gradual accretoh mo NV W.
,,,,,,ors romance step by step with the ""N""'
a., tho methods for handling IT. b"t l"e S'o''
- ,o, tho myth but that in winch the ac'u''
IN a, humanity were rehccted-torheu INC
EARN, ~ the whole evolution. The atter-ui'"'' u"
:. d,,s the frcsile tale. the Drl'l ten'i'HN''
so,,e heroic decd these We're the beS'hh'nS' NJ"
49, ,,,i,r ~ the romance u the epic or me
drama il only literary and accidental nor p'pu'''
and vital II might come TO perfection ""e'e ~
80, rrknovu But il could never come TO any
thing I'm a society utterly lacking Ia ml''''" ~
sources In leisure. 90 ~ pleasure over 'S Wv"
,upations without these the possio'e ''''''''
,nr,,lshes. for he has hop OF reward no raj 9i
@ m ,,,r,., mon which % draw for MS HatetIt
Gwen the due social conditions ana ne ma ~ - b
C"r.ycr Wh.n the maii-clad warrior ceases 10
..s,..t,c ,hs novelist can turn 10 the piping
hcpberd 10 the begging yagabond i''S a't '' thi
change with the mood of IN u'olr rot he said OF
i,h,r ,,lc or drama They bloom ana are 6" ri
Win social ,oud lions which. SO far as we -,
WIN - w., Y',rlI shows may not recur Tor tHou
sands OF years The ."ap IRON rro, Virgil 20
Shnk.snaare from Homer 20 virgil loil ,n1Tr,t,.
nauf. f. one in which thcr" IA not sing Nv ,o
irtNrv,nrL figure. But the evolution ., t"rris%ed
tho materials for the Arthurian y,i' or "a, ~
legend i, rs certain and as easily UH,'I a. hhma,Gs
" = Van shor factory from the orElual 'pp.'HI
bonrh Professor Warren has traced rms ut|'.oi,
,nent down 10 the opening OF IN" ht ~, :,
,,,r. MOI only by his rcirc lions nu, "s ~
.eries of compact analyses of al me WUnNT SO
n nt ~ vi he found TO supplement the informs
~, W. W. nnlons well Unknown book that Il shoula