New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-19
GREEK LITERATURE.
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAY.

HISTORY OF ANCIENT Gf nnoSec,na pn
ATURE BY Gilbert Murray D"ooeo''''' pN
xviii 40 u. Appleton X 20.
THE initial volume In Mr.. Gosse's "Literatures
Of the World" series promises we'll for the thor-
ourhness OF the undertaking. In common WIN
tho thousand and one volumes which have oeen
rublt.hed in behalf Of university extension Mr.
Murray's work directs its appeal to the genera,
reader But 1t Is TO be markedly distinguished
from most such popularizations by the 1ac' 'na'
II makes no concession in tone to any desire ioi
cheap methods of getting culture In poth us
scholarship and It's style 1t commands respect
The author is so versed In Greek literature anu
archaeology that the traditional interpretations
Of the pedagogues and compend-makers' dig anu
little he safely ignores. or else In MS own vi
bane way, dismisses with passing Jest. some
Of his history he bases upon evidence disco'eieo
only within the past decade; in all OF MS Gil
,c,sm he Is conscious Of the most modern schol-
arship. His volume is no mere TEXTBOOK " 10
individual even where 1t IS most conservative IL
appeals with original force TO the reader
From, Mr. Nurray's manner Of expression one
might reasonably guess him a Grecan. TOT ne
has the art-whch one is often tempted to tninK
confined TO Grecians-of being modern In tone
and familiar In style without the suggestion or
se,f-assertion He makes the ancient Greeks
contemporaries, and this he does without Vui-
garizing or In any marked degree behttilns
them His thought pervaded as II Is by cieai
common sense. is made luminous by constant
modern allusion and frequent flashes or VIII ana
humor Apparently with his modern Enghsh
audience in mind, he characterzes Nenophon as
"a healthy minded man. religious through ana
through; a good sportsman and soldier; good
husband and father" With a dexterous Wit quite
as distinctively modern he characterizes Socra-
tess father as one APT 10 drop into destitutor
without Winding It" OF each great writer, or
more than one minor character he makes sane
plausible picture, sometimes In a sentence
sometimes in a paragraph, but always vivldiy
and with human touch. Let him speak Tor
himself In his characterization OF Pindar, or, to
be more accurate in portion Of II:
"Often In thinking the best pieces or
Pindar-the majestic organ playing, the grave.
strong magic OF language, the lightning hashes
OF half-revealed mystery-one wonders why TINS
man Is not counted the greatest poet that ever
lived, why he has not done more. mattered more
The answer, perhaps, is that he was poet anu
nothing more. He thought In music; he loved
TO live among great and beautiful images
Heracles Achilles Perseus, Jason the daughters
Of Cadmus. When any part Of his beloved saga
repealed his moral senstiveness, he glided away
from II, carefu not 10 express SCePNiOiSiH' N"iN
f,il also not to speak evil Of a god. He loved
poetry and music. especially his own. AS mat
ter of fact there poetry in the world ike
his, and when other people sang they Jared on
him. he confesses, like crows"
By his very animation Mr.. Murray occasional
w raises a suspicion that his historic Imagination
may at times have proved too strong for MS SCI
enti6c accuracy Yet his style. less full Of art
than Mr. Andrew Langs. is more convincing
his general attitude. less guided by fixed theory
than Professor Mahaffys, is much more natural,
and certainly neither of these critics can be said
IN any serious degree TO rislead. Nor would II
he easy TO verify any suspicion Of Mr.. Murrays
soundness His translations-One wishes by the
wav that they had been accompanied by the
original Greek-though they can stand compari-
SON with the rest of his style. both for vigor and
naturalness. are not on that account any the
less faithful Fer his historical statements he
has what appears to be conclusive evidence, and
for his critical ideas the attestation of their own
common-sense. In imitation Of most manuals,
the author practically closes his review with the
death Of Demosthenes for to cover the Alex
andrine and Roman periods. which follow
some five hundi ed years in all--he appends but
a brief summary of thirty pages. With this ex-
ception, however-an exception sanctioned I'M
fortunately by tradition. his survey of Greek
literature when the limitations of his space are
considered seems surprisingly complete-the
more remarkable for its compactness that 1t is
not compend of literal and external facts, but
a gracefully connected series Of carefully consid-
cred original and penetrating criticisms.