isa-normaladvance-1909-00069

Description:	THE NORMAL ADVANCE69posed to be used as a storage for treasures andsacred vessels. In front of the temple was another colossal statute of Athene.The Parthenon was used as a ChristianChurch after the establishing of Christianity inGreece, until 1687 when it was wrecked by abomb-shell thrown by the Venetians upon itsroof. The sources of our knowledge of thefamous structure are the Elgin Marbles in theBritish Museum and in the Louvre, and thewritings of the French poet, Carrei.The Greeks learned to mix pigments andtheir delicacy in choice of colors must havebeen marvelous. We know about their painting from their literature. We are told ofpainted curtains that deceived critical weavers,and of grapes portrayed so well that birdswere fooled by them. Apelles was their greatestartist of the brush.Melody was introduced to take the place ofthe spondaic beats of the ante-Periclean times.Music was introduced into the homes. Odeons,schools of musical instruction, were built.Many new instruments were invented. Soloswere, for the first time, played and sung.The freedom of thought brought with it agreat wealth of literature. All the writings ofthe philosophers previous to Aristotle belongto this period. Then it was that the Greektragedy arose, lofty, thrilling and inspiring.The development of the drama alone showsadequately the growth of license and libertywhich characterized the times.First came Aeschylus (525-456 B. O), whosewritings echo the reticence and strictness ofOld Athens. His great works are The Persians, The Suppliants, Seven AgainstThebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon,Choephori, and The Eumenides. The lastthree form the Trillogy or Oresteia of theHouse of Atrens, and are generally recognizedas the best of the Greek dramas.Sophocles (495-405 B. C.), lived over thetransition from Old Hellenic life to new. Hisworks contain more of the spirit of freedom.He let his imagination find more play in theconstruction of his dramas, which are Antigone, Electra, Trachiniae, OedipusRex, Oedipus at Colonus, Ajax, andPhilocletes.Euripides (480-406 B. O), belongs essentially to the new Greek life. He dealt with thegods freely and carelessly, breaking away fromthe old beliefs and traditions and creating newnotions of his own. His Oresteia is a tetralogy,consisting of Iphegenia at Aulis, Iphegeniaat Taurus, Electra, and Orestes. Of hisnineteen plays, the Hippolytus, Medea,and Alcestis, are most widely read.Then the extreme lack of reticence came to aclimax in the comedies of Aristophanes, inwhich he pokes fun at both men and gods alike.He speaks to them and about them without theleast pretence towards restraint. His best comedies are The Clouds, The Birds, and TheFrogs.Besides all these there were the great historians, wholesome Zenophon, talkative Heroditusand terse Thucydides. The best lyric poetrywas written by the Aeolians, of whom Saphoand Pindar were the most prominent.We may safely say that Greece surpassed theworld in art, both in appreciating and in portrayal. Compared with her, Rome and all therest were imitative, prosaic and without content.No action, whether foul or fair,Is ever done, but it leaves somewhereA record, written by fingers ghostly,As a blessing or a curse, and mostlyIn the greater weakness or greater strengthOf the acts which follow it.—Longfellow.
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34099
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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