New-York tribune., 1908-02-01
ANCIENT CRETE.
4HOther Book on It's Recently Dis
covered Splendors.

Br1Bs BT Or AnSad SRETT oss6 ANP IHEJR
Octave Pp- 5zs- G. P. PUtnam's Sons.
Among the recent books written To inform the
public about the archaeological achievements of
American and European excavators in Crete
perhaps none combines 50 happily as the pres
ent one accurate. technical information with
entertaining narrative The author is student
Of prehistoric anthropol0gy. a branch Of science
best pursued by men endowed with fInagina-
tiOC. His We'll established ability TO write on
topics Of Ne0lithic civilization carries with it
the power TO make his story Of Cretan palaces
thoroughly enjoyable No small measure Of the
charm OF the book is due 10 its being written
partly z journal Of travels and partly as a
/ mild defence Of an chronological hypothesis. But
its chief merit lies in the poetic feeling poured
over the buried cities. the vanished races and
the shattered vases, by a spectator who could
escape from the tyranny Of the calendar forget
his Swiss watch, and. while looking at the
treasure ground, be blind to his own factory
made shoes.
The significance Of the discoveries made by
Mr Arthur Evans, Professor Halbherr Dr. Per
nier and others in the almost inexhaustible
'disgings' of Crete has not yet been grasped
by amateur classicisys. But the rising genera
ton will in its day. construe the entire history
OF primitive Mediterranean civilization in the
light Of disnterred Phastos and Knossos. For
there Is not the slightest doubt in the minds OF
the archfoIdgists engaged in Cretan excavation
that al current conceptions about the origin of
Greek culture the date of its rise. its relation to
Egypt and the Orient, the connection between
prehistoric Inhabitants Of the Greek isles and
Indo-Germanic peoples. and similar funda-
mental points are radically distorted. Signor
Nosso has picked out, from the overwhelming
multitude of unearthed objects, those which
r7roye most forcibly the need of a new history
Of preclassical epochs. These he has presented
in such vivid manner that, at the very first
uncritical reading, they recast on broader lines
the opening acts Of the historical drama OF
Greece. Perhaps the most important impression
one gets from Cretan revelations is that Of the
slow rise Of the Greeks to their artistic po-
liticaI and philosophical maturity. Tradition
construes the Periclean Age as a half-miracu
Ious outburst Of genius; from the brow Of Artica
hundreds Of gifted men sprang fulIfedged it Is
said and Il is vain search previous ages
for traces Of culture ripe enough TO explain
Aristotle H1schylus and Phidias as mere natural
DEVELOPMENTS Of a slowly rising civilization. In
the ruins Of the palaces Of Phastos and knos-
SOS though as Mr.. Mosso shows, there have
been found linear writings dating back about
one thousand years before the earliest known
47,paar.4nce Of the alphabet among the Pho-
ricians- the most perfect masonry construction
of the Roman type built at least three mill
la-7rirlr1s before Rome. a system of drains and
s..vre-s such as neither Athens Rome ever
dreamed Of installing; vases and chromatic dec
or.tjon OF unusual refinement, and theatres which
,-,,et have been erected fully two thousand
-...s-s before Pisstratus gave the first perform
arre Of a tragedy in Athens, in l34 b. G The
<,,,1,feite art displayed in the vases has happily
-,. ree7 totally obscured By the debris under
,,.1,,cb the latter have lain for ages. OF the
,,otterv found in the palace OF Phestos signor
Mosso says.
Feu kinds Of pottery surpass that OF kanares in
II is admirable both for Its decora-
a. go - od for the decacy OF It's fabric. Lghtness
- the chief characteristic Of this ware, which
-o---5Flee eggshen japanese porcelain. some
,ar,rIes have the Orne Iue1tatlon IN renef- L jug
-, TEagfa Triada 'ls IN this style ana appears I"
49, - frSita tiou of vase ia Tcpo"sse work Ihls
-. had reached high grade or perfection
- 80 ma kers had succeeded IA siF iaS 70 the
re certain metallic reflections which these vases
SIN retain
W. venture to say that many readers VIII be
,,f-trscted from the broader question of Myce-
near, history art and politics by the chapter on
r,r,.n's dress However insignificant il may
;. the coincidence between the prehistoric
.las Of feminine apparel and the styles that
,ie,t be seen in Paris shop windows to-day is
s+rJlxiue and fun Of mildly cynical humor The
-,r,, rortrazed IL pictures and on statues found
=. villas and palaces built from FIVE TO seven