THE SPLENDOUR OF GREECE 85 



exclusion of women. But, instead of being a reproach, 

 this merely reminds us again of the remarkable dis- 

 tance the Athenians had gone in so short a time. 

 More than 2,000 years ago the emancipation of 

 woman was a burning question in Athens, and Plato 

 was an ardent advocate of it. Let us who have only 

 just accomplished it — and not yet in full — be modest 

 in our criticisms. 



Then there is the question of morals. I do not 

 speak of religion, as it is well known that no educated 

 Greek at this time believed in Zeus and Athene and 

 all their tribe. The educated Greeks were divided 

 into monotheists, atheists, and those (Stoics and 

 Epicureans) whose real belief was probably more like 

 what we now call Agnosticism. But the code of 

 morals of all schools was as high as ours, and there 

 is no reason to think that the general level of Athenian 

 morality was lower than that of a nineteenth-century 

 city. One of the best authorities — and he a clergyman, 

 the Rev. Professor Mahaffy — says : — 



When I compare the religion of Christ with that 

 of Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite, and consider the 

 enormous, the unspeakable contrasts, I wonder not 

 at the greatness, but at the smallness, of the advance 

 in public morality which has been attained. 1 



In point of fact, Professor Mahaffy does not indicate 

 any particular advance in regard to morals. He finds 

 the comedies of Menander, which were very popular, 

 quite modern in ethical " tone." He finds Socrates 

 " far superior to the average Christian moralist." 

 He clears the character of Aspasia, and warns us not 

 to be too sure about the Athenian hetairai being 



1 Social Life in Greece, p. 8. 



