CHIVALRY AND TLATOXIC LOVE 65 



respect for women, belongs to the seventh or eighth cen- 

 tury. Then the English legends of the Eound Table, 

 although compiled by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 

 twelfth century, are traceable to an earlier period. As 

 a social force, however, German and English chivalry, 

 the keynote of which was rude heroism rather than 

 gallantry and refinement, may be dismissed from 

 our present study. It was the chivalry of Pro- 

 vence that produced a lasting effect upon the rela- 

 tions of the sexes, and it did so mainly by inspiring 

 the poetry of Dante and Petrarch, and thereby 

 giving birth to a new and powerful factor in litera- 

 ture and art widely but erroneously called Platonic 

 Love. 



Among men the mention of platonic love commonly 

 provokes a smile. The term has unfortunate associa- 

 tions, being often used as a cloak for flirtation of a more 

 or less dangerous character. But platonic love has 

 played no unimportant part in the shaping of modern 

 ideas, and it may be well therefore to trace briefly its 

 origin and development. The ancient Greeks idolised 

 beauty of form. They beautified all they touched. 

 The grotesque divinities of Egypt and Babylon lost 

 their ugliness when transported to Mount Olympus ; 

 and what the sculptor did for those monstrosities, that 



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