The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-05-20
CoNsTANTINoPLE AND LOST CLASSICS

The hopes of the world of arts and letters accord
ing to periodical dealing with the things of thar
world are that the Allies will succeed in capturing
Constantinople preferably by Saturday If next
week which will be the four hundred and sixty
second anniversary of the taking of that city by the
. Turks There has long been belief that when an
army of Christian Europeans captures the capital
OF the Ottoman empire from the Moslem Turks, The
lost classics of ancient Greece will be discovered
Scholars therefore attach more than political i'm
portance to the activities about the Dardanees and
are anXiously hoping that the Allies will come into
possession of Constantinope and the classics
The mosque libraries of the Ottoman empire are
believed to be the resting places of treasures OF
cient literature. The learned world has not yet
given up hope of finding the lost works of Aeschy-
us, even though most of mankind knows nothing
about the existing seven cherished" tragedies of
that respectable of letters and is interested
iii the discovery of any additional examples Of his
literary style. Among other generally unknown
Greeks whose works may be hidden in Mosem lofts
are Messrs Archilochus, HpponaX, Anacreon, Ster-
sichorus Pindar and Meleager. There are twentieth
century Americans and Europeans who are inter
ested in these authors, for reasons which persons
who not cassically inclined cannot easily under
stand
question which naturally arises rs whether any
real good could come from the discovery Of lost
classics at this late day. other than giving scholars
something to do in deciphering the manuscripts
Practical twentieth century Americans cannot work
themselves into ecstaces over the mention of
discoveries of lost classics. They want to know
what those discoveries are good for lust as they
want to test the actual benefits of twentieth cen
fury discoveries in science before they pass iude-
ment them.
What is there in the lost classics if anything,
that might be helpful in any way to the busy world
of the present day? If there are passages of value
the world will be glad to give heed Otherwise it
will go its noisy way and let the ancient manu-
scripts to the secluded scholars who have trained
themselves to appreciate such things.
1t was Thoreau who said that the heroic books
even if printed in the character of our mother
tongue, will always be in language dead to degen-
crate times" Whether or not we can agree with
Thoreau that these are degenerate times, we can
readily understand with him. that the works of
ancient Greeks not likely to apply to these
times, nor to be understood even by modern schol-
ars as they by contemporaries of their authors
for whom they had been intended
To persons who can find pleasure in English lit
erature without knowing the literatures of dead
languages, the recent announcement from London
of the discovery of the manuscript journal of the
poet Gray for the year 1854 is for instance of more
Importance than would be the discovery in Con-
stantinople of one of the lost works of Sophocles
or of Euripides. The journal found in London is
in unmistakable English and throws light on the
character of a favorite poet of the language The
lost classics, if ever discovered would be in lam
guage dead to these times in more ways than one
TITLES THAT MUST BE RETAINED