The Greeks of the Attic Age (concluded). The Attic comedy, 195. Variance of type in the characters of the Attic drama, 196. Historic value of the comedy, 197. Possible reli- gious cause of Aristophanes' ribaldry, 198. Evidence about Aspasia and the Hetairai, 200; the charges against her examined, 202. Conver- sation at this epoch, 206. Excesses of young aristocrats: Alcibiades, Callias, 208. Contrast of the lower classes, 212. Exceptional cruelties, 213. General estimate of the Periclean Greeks, 215. Cruelties in war. 220; at home, and in private life, 224; in the law courts, 226. Hard treatment of old age, 230; palliation of this harshness, 233; examples Limited size of Athens: its results on Greek culture, 238. Bad cha- racter of the Peiræus, 241. Slaves to perform menial work, 244. General refinement, 246; exemplified in executions, 247; disposal of the bodies after the sentence, 251. High character of jailers, 253. Abatement of cruelty in war, 254; effect of mercenaries on this question, 255; qualifi- cations and exceptions, 256. Social position of women, 258; evidence of Xenophon's Economics, 258; the rights of women coming into notice, 265. The Hetairai, 267. Difficulty of estimating the evidence Attic Culture.-Certain Trades and Professions. Medical practice; its social side, 273; state physicians and their salaries, 275; persuasive treatment, 276; Doric prescriptions, 278; quackery—private, 279; public, 280. Cooks-their general character, 281; Doric bills of fare, 283; impertinence, 284; grandiloquence, 285; slave cooks of later days, 288. The fishmongers, 288; their audacity, Attic Culture.-Entertainments and Conversation.-The Philosophical objections to music in society, 293. General hints on conversation, 295. Drinking of weak mixtures of wine, 298. Plato's Sym- posium, 299. Xenophon's Symposium, 304. Romantic affection for boys: discussion of this question, 305; its effect on the education of boys, 311. Controversies on education, 313. Defects of Socrates' teaching, 314. Sound objections to athletics, as compared with field sports, 316. Homely features in the streets of Athens, 318. Street brawls, 319. Religious Feeling in the Attic Age. Gradual decay of belief, 321. Immoralities of the Epos theology: the explanation of the comparative mythologers examined, 323; the true explanation, 325. The Bible of the Greeks, 326. Supposed moral object of the Epos, 327. Greek theory of inspiration: the Ion of Plato, 329. Over-estimate of Greek scepticism: Thucydides, 332. The his- toric dignity of Greek mythology, 334. The waxing and waning of belief, 335. Orthodoxy of the Athenians, 337; evidence of the orators, 338; of Xenophon, 339. Sceptical tendencies of the new comedy, 342. Contrasts to modern faith: (a) love of mystery, 344; the Greek myste- ries, 346; (B) union of art and religion, 348; (7) of pleasure and devo- The Business Habits of the Attic Greeks. Importance of trade: commercial wars, 355. Complicated legal system, 357. Stringent laws against üßpis or assault, 360. Division of judicial functions, 361. Delays of Attic law: trial by jury, 362. De- fects in estimation of evidence, 364. Criticisms of Aristophanes, 366. Sycophancy, 367. Inferiority of Greek to Roman legal oratory, 368. Begging for mercy in court, 369. Shabbiness of Greek commerce, 371. Peculiarity of Greek protective laws, 373. Aristotle's blunders about money, 374. Contrasts to modern trade: stock exchange, 375. Bad methods of taxation: ȧvridoois, 377. Hiding of money, 379. Banks and banking, 380. Position of Pasion, 382. Family quarrels, 384. Case of Callippus, 385. Comparison with other nations, 387. Con- CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. AMONG the nations which stand out in the course of history, as having done most to promote human knowledge, human art, and human culture, the Greeks are first in the judgment of all competent observers. The hold which Greek literature retains on our modern education is not the mere result of precedent or fashion. Every thinking man who becomes acquainted with the masterpieces of Greek writing, must see plainly that they stand to us in a far closer relation than the other remains of antiquity. They are not mere objects of curiosity to the archeologist, not mere treasure-houses of roots and forms to be sought out by comparative grammarians. They are the writings of men of like culture with ourselves, who argue with the same logic, who reflect with kindred feelings. They have worked out social and moral problems like ourselves, they have expressed them in such language as we should desire to use. In a word, they are thoroughly modern, more modern even than the epochs quite proximate to our own. The disjointed sentences of the Egyptian moralist, the confused metaphors of the B Hebrew prophet, show that were they transplanted into our life, and taught our language, they would still be completely at a loss to follow the reasoning of our modern literature. Ptah-hotep or Ezechiel could not move in modern society. Aristotle or Menander, on the other hand, would only need to understand the names invented for our modern discoveries. In all moral and social questions they would at once find their way, and enjoy even our poetry and our fiction. But what is more striking, even the medieval baron and the medieval saint would feel vastly more out of place among us than the intelligent Greek. The satire and scepticism of our modern society, the decay of fixed belief, the omnipotence of free discussion as shown by press and platform, the rule of private interest over patriotism and self-sacrifice-all these features would be very congenial to the Greek, while they would shock and perplex the Crusader. Commerce and speculation, debate and diplomacy, would delight the clever Athenian. He would recognise the teaching of his nation in poetry, architecture, and painting; and the manifest superiority of the old models would save him from feeling small in the face of our other progress. Let us invert the whole case, and the result would be very analogous. If one of us were transported to Periclean Athens, provided he were a man of high culture, he would find life and manners strangely like our own, strangely modern, as he might term it. The thoughts and feelings of modern life would be there without the appliances, and the high standard of general culture would more than counter balance sundry wants in material comfort. For these reasons Greek social life must be far more interesting to general readers than any other phase of ancient history. Some of the problems which are still agitating our minds were settled by the Greeks, others, if not settled, were at least discussed with a freedom and an acuteness now unattainable. Others, again, were solved in strange violation of our notions of morals and good taste; and when such a people as the Greeks stand opposed to us, even in vital principles, we cannot reject their verdict without weighing their reasons. The social life of the Greeks has often been handled, especially by German and French authors. But the ponderous minuteness and luxury of citation in the works of the former have obscured the general effect, and leave the ordinary reader with no distinct impression on his mind. The crushing weapon of modern criticism has in Germany shivered classical philology into splinters, and each man is intent on gathering up, and claiming as his own a fragment or two, which he analyses with wearying accuracy. The French essays on Greek life are of an opposite description. They aim at brilliancy and esprit alone, and gain these qualities at the frequent sacrifice of accuracy and critical research. Their authors are ready to uphold, for example, a spurious treatise against all critical objections, however sound, provided it affords them a striking trait to complete their social picture. In fact, a sound knowledge of Greek has not yet been diffused among the French, and so their isolated Hellenists do not write in an atmosphere of correcting |