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It is a relief to turn to the few chapters that deal directly with the social life and thought of the Greeks. Here
Mr. Mahaffy is very pleasant reading indeed. His account of the colleges at Athens and Alexandria, for
instance, is extremely interesting, and so is his estimate of the schools of Zeno, of Epicurus, and of Pyrrho.
Excellent, too, in many points is the description of the literature and art of the period. We do not agree with
Mr. Mahaffy in his panegyric of the Laocoon, and we are surprised to find a writer, who is very indignant at
what he considers to be the modern indifference to Alexandrine poetry, gravely stating that no study is 'more
wearisome and profitless' than that of the Greek Anthology.
The criticism of the new comedy, also, seems to us somewhat pedantic. The aim of social comedy, in
Menander no less than in Sheridan, is to mirror the manners, not to reform the morals, of its day, and the
censure of the Puritan, whether real or affected, is always out of place in literary criticism, and shows a want
of recognition of the essential distinction between art and life. After all, it is only the Philistine who thinks of
blaming Jack Absolute for his deception, Bob Acres for his cowardice, and Charles Surface for his
extravagance, and there is very little use in airing one's moral sense at the expense of one's artistic
appreciation. Valuable, also, though modernity of expression undoubtedly is, still it requires to be used with
tact and judgment. There is no objection to Mr. Mahaffy's describing Philopmen as the Garibaldi, and
Antigonus Doson as the Victor Emmanuel of his age. Such comparisons have, no doubt, a certain cheap
popular value. But, on the other hand, a phrase like 'Greek Pre-Raphaelitism' is rather awkward; not much is
gained by dragging in an allusion to Mr. Shorthouse's John Inglesant in a description of the Argonautics of
Apollonius Rhodius; and when we are told that the superb Pavilion erected in Alexandria by Ptolemy
Philadelphus was a 'sort of glorified Holborn Restaurant,' we must say that the elaborate description of the
building given in Athenæus could have been summed up in a better and a more intelligible epigram.
On the whole, however, Mr. Mahaffy's book may have the effect of drawing attention to a very important and
interesting period in the history of Hellenism. We can only regret that, just as he has spoiled his account of
Greek politics by a foolish partisan bias, so he should have marred the value of some of his remarks on
literature by a bias that is quite as unmeaning. It is uncouth and harsh to say that 'the superannuated
schoolboy who holds fellowships and masterships at English colleges' knows nothing of the period in question
except what he reads in Theocritus, or that a man may be considered in England a distinguished Greek
professor 'who does not know a single date in Greek history between the death of Alexander and the battle of
MR. MAHAFFY'S NEW BOOK 94
Reviews
Cynoscephalæ'; and the statement that Lucian, Plutarch, and the four Gospels are excluded from English
school and college studies in consequence of the pedantry of 'pure scholars, as they are pleased to call
themselves,' is, of course, quite inaccurate. In fact, not merely does Mr. Mahaffy miss the spirit of the true
historian, but he often seems entirely devoid of the temper of the true man of letters. He is clever, and, at
times, even brilliant, but he lacks reasonableness, moderation, style and charm. He seems to have no sense of
literary proportion, and, as a rule, spoils his case by overstating it. With all his passion for imperialism, there
is something about Mr. Mahaffy that is, if not parochial, at least provincial, and we cannot say that this last
book of his will add anything to his reputation either as an historian, a critic, or a man of taste.
Greek Life and Thought: from the Age of Alexander to the Roman Conquest. By J. P. Mahaffy, Fellow of
Trinity College, Dublin. (Macmillan and Co.)
MR. MORRIS'S COMPLETION OF THE ODYSSEY
(Pall Mall Gazette, November 24, 1887.) [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]