168 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



successful in all the five forms of contest, since any- 

 thing short of success in all the five would leave open 

 the possibility of certain parts of his body having 

 been developed at the expense of others, owing to 

 which it could not at the first glance present, as a 

 perfect figure ought to present, that perfection of 

 adaptability in all its parts to work harmoniously 

 towards one end. . . . The grand characteristic of 

 Greek art was the pursuit of beauty of form, to the 

 neglect of all the varied beauty that may lie in moral 

 expression."^ Physical perfection was so important 

 to the Greeks, indeed, that goodness and beauty in 

 their tongue were expressed by the same word. 



Are we nowadays prepared to accept the Greek 

 estimate of beauty as absolutely true ? Hardly. Art 

 is still profoundly influenced by the Greek ideal; that 

 is the inevitable effect of formula. But if a cultivated 

 woman of the present day had to choose between a 

 Greek Apollo and some less physically perfect but 

 more intellectual-looking man, the god would probably 

 be slighted. The truth is that manly beauty is no 

 longer a matter of thew and sinew exclusively. Men 

 do not now depend upon muscle even in the battle- 

 field. Intellect is the ruling force of civilised society. 



' Murray's History of Greek Sculpture, 



