The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-03
From the New York Sun.

~ ILBERT MURRAY. the Austral- v ian. who is Professor .Jewett's O successor as regius professor of Greek at Oxford and who through his productions of hia own and other Eng fish translations of Greek plays and his connection with the Workers Edu eationa1 association movement has prob ably done more than any other man to lpopularize the study Of Greek in his owh country, said yesterday in illustra- ttien of the actual popularity that the Greek drama has achieved in England that when his translation of "lphigenia" of Euripides was being presented at theatre In London Euripides ran neck and neck with one of Bernard Shaw's productions given on alternate nights, and that II found that l had rather the better of Mir. Shaw in the pit"
 Professor Murray is here to carry on the work begun by him In England He and his wife, Lady Murray, are at pres ent the guests of George A. Plimpton of 6l Park avenue, chairman of the board or trustees of Amherst college. Pro- lessor Murray besides giving several lectures will spend five weeks at Am herst He said yesterday that his visit was inspired by letter written by MT. Plimpton and an address of the class of 1885 at Amherst which made him feel that Amherst Is making a bold effort in the cause have most, at heart" He had come. he said, to learn what Amherst Is doing to advance the cause of the Greeks and ito held as best I can"
 Professor Murray will give three pub lie lectures at the Lowell institute where his subject will be the Greek drama, and three at Columbia on the Greek religion. He says that the great CT part of the time ne spends here will be given to class room work at Amherst. He believes that in that way he will spend his time more usefully than in featuring.
 | While Professor Murray believes that interest in Greek Is reviving in Eng land he is in favor of making it an optional course of study at Oxford and Cambridge He doesn't think much of the work done by students who are driven to the study against their own desire. He said that while it was true that Creek is dying out in most places' the general interest has increased great 1 ly in England in the last 15 years. AS proof of this he pointed to the sale of the translation of Plato's "Repub- lie" and said that all over England were to be found classes of working men making study Of Plato.
 Not merely reading the 'Republic,'" he added, 'but attending lectures and writing essays on it. putting real work and interest into it." he continued:
 ITO give another illustration: Fifteen years ago one hardly ever heard of the acting of a Greek play, except at some purely collegiate entertainment. At the present moment there are two Greek plays running in a regular com mercial way-the 'Oedipus' of Soph- ocles, which is on tour after a great success at Covent Garden, and the Tph- ingenia,' of Euripides at the Kingsway theatre, London. And if you count per- formances by universities of private theatrical societies, know of eight diff ferent productions in the last few months"
 That this new movement for the study of Creek comes from the masses rather l than the classes is proved, Professor Murray says, by the fact that while the English public schools are tending to-