New-York tribune., 1897-02-27
FROM JOB TO FAUST.
srupY OF scEPTICIsM IN THE WORKS
OF GREAT DRAMATIsTs.


THE EIxFEY dBEH BE the late AunGs Of
Pp vi, 39s. G. p. Putnams sons
The dramas discussed in this book are 'he
v.prometheus Bound" Of Aeschylus; the i'ooA y.
lob shakespeares Hamlet" Goethes raus'
and Calderons "El Magico Prodigioso Inc
n,.v ~ Aeschylus and that of Shakespeare
stard each by itself IN specific reia'ioh "
,,,srature. But the other three poems are vari-
.ao,o s,ng,e theme So much has been writ
ten about Hamlet" that 1t Is hardly possible
-or on English critic to say anything new upon
:, The outcome Of Mr.. owens STUDY Is
character in which thought has paralyzeo WILL
After all the distinctions made not only ID.
Mr. owen but by all other Critics. h"''''
rema,ns a case for the morbid psychologists
But Hamlet's scepticism. just because II Is
matter OF temperament, and not OF ADJUSTED
relations with life. has no value. IL ieaos
neither TO new discoveries OF truth nor 10 pa
tient acauiescence in agnosticism
For different reason the drama Of Aeschylus
fails to convey its proper lesson to men, II
tells only par, Of the message which the poet
drew from he legend Of Prometheus ana even
this fragment is ambiguous. In order TO ii'aAe
II a thorOughgoing expression or the coiiii'c' 'e
tween humanity on one slue anu uiN"'''' va
the other Mr.. owen treats as very dubious the
worship Of Prometheus In Attica. But soiie
critics are positive on the other side The
series Of Promethean plays. they say m'sh'
never have been written save for the purpose
of establishing IN Attica the cult of the God Of
Fire no mere immortal Titan. but power1ui
enough 10 resist Zeus. The "Prometheus
Bound" shows the God of Fire at the height
Of his unavaiIing defiance. chained and tortured
but unsubdued The "Prometheus Bringing
Fire" would have shown him in the act OF as
obeying Zeus. while the "Prometheus UNBOUND
would certainly have shown him reconched 10
the Thunderer not by any concession on tne
part of the latter. but by his own act III !ieiu-
ing UP his secret knowledge of the alternative
on which hung the fate of Zeus and the whole
Olvmpian circle of deites There is little dia-
logue between Zeus and Prometheus written pS
Lucian which seems TO contain the substance
Of what Aeschylus would necessarily have to
weave into the conclusion OF his trilogy. bu'
in Lucian Prometheus is no longer defiant He
simply points out to Zeus that prolonged I'M
prisonmcnt serves no useful purpose. that if the
prophecy turns out worthless it will be easy 10
renew the punishment since the victim cannot
ESCAPE omnipotence Zeus. like number OF
philosophers ancient and modern. is subject TO
the cyclic slperslitiOn. lie thinks that the uni
verse and its dcities are in danger OF destruc-
ton and renewal at regular intervals. and that
he mas incur the fate of his predecessors 20 ne
accents the warning of Prometheus as genuine
ard allows him TO he released by Hercules
Thus Promctheds RECEIVERS his patent OF no
bility. 50 to speak. and can henceforth be recos-
rized as a proper object Of worship in poly
tho,stic system. But. laying aside these proba-
Llites Of the last dramas. it is possible to read
into the extaMt play much that the Greeks
Inver could have thought Of in the time OF
Aeschyus. The point of view taken by Shelley
g. his "Prorctheus Unbcun1' would have been
incoU g. heEsille TO a generation OF creeks
who had lust EMERGED from the Persian War in
safety and now looked about. not for something
+ dscredit their dcties. but 10 ascertain all
the supernatural powers that had aided them
The legend arose for example, that Pan had
reinforced with his presence the army at Mara
thor. That was another way Of saying that
when Athens was in danger all AttiCa. even to
its rudest peasant. must share the peril On the
other hand. the dullest Of the Greeks felt an IN
toncctua superiority over the hordes of ASIA
When the thinkers and poets, like Aeschylus, who
* sometimes said to have been Pythagorean in
philosophy. scanned the catalogue Of deities for
the parsonage to whom Hellenic civilization was
Cue they could not find any except Prometheus
The whole problem with AeSCnNluS tHtl Noulu
have been to show how this opponent Of the
Oiympian dynasty could be worshipped without
offence In actual practice the difficulty seems
10 have been surmounted with the legal acute
ness for which the Greeks were celebrated. The
statue of Prometheus set up in company
With that of HephaistOs. and one altar was made
for both Now Hephaistos had been somewhat
Of a rebel himself-that was the explanation OF
his lameness-though he was true descendant
Of ZcUs. and the originator Of the arts was
lcpt in countenance by the one who brought
them 10 perfection While Mr.. Owen justly
found the substance Of the later Greek scep-
,.cisIn in the "Prometheus Bound" he erred, per
hans in attributing to Aeschyus any sceptical
Intention. The poets aim was to make MS
character speak as befitted the circumstances of
the case The language of Prometheus was full
Of bitterness and defiance. Such language came
EASY TO q generation which had uttered the same
language to the nearest likeness Of Zeus on earth
the Asiatic King of Kings. How remote such eX-
rressions were, however. from philosophic scep-
tcisrn is shown by the fact that In nation which
grew to maturity and decay within the space ol
two centuries and half whole century elapsed
from the date of the Promethean trilogy to tha'
Of the thoroughgoing reflective doubter Pyrrno
To mention Pyrrhonism in connection with Aes-
chyIus is to perpetrate glaring anachronlsm
True Aeschylus Is salu uupiouSi! " haNo "''A
banished from Athens for impiety. The alleged
offence, however. was not doubt but the betraya
OF the mysteries not the denial Of divine truth
hut the too public use of 1t.
Scepticism. then. so far as it enters into Ham
LET" and "Prometheus Bound. may be called In
cidenial The is different with drama
based directly on the Satanic motive that Is oi
universal denial and contradiction. But ever
bero Calderon's play may be thrown out as no
thorough He is so profoundly Catholic and or
thodox that he cannot conceive. much less depict
tho Satanic intellect. Thus for this very inter
es,ing and piquant personality the devil. ther
&c no recourse with those who would make hi
..-4...oo oxcont I the masterpiece Of He