Perseus or Pugilist? 



me, and if it helps me, it may help 

 others too perhaps in some inscrutable 

 or some small inconsequential way. I 

 am not unfamiliar with the more 

 ancient and more effeminate Apollo 

 Belvedere. I have seen him also in 

 that niche of his within the splendid 

 galleries of the Vatican; and it is in 

 that self-same room, beneath that same 

 historic roof, you may find the lithe 

 and militant Perseus and his perfect 

 foils, the pair of brutish, big-necked 

 pugilists standing by his side. This 

 group Canova gave the human race to 

 show a world that sadly needs the 

 thought, the grace, and power of spirit- 

 ual as compared with purely physical 

 attributes, the infinite superiority of 

 mind over matter, the radiant glories 

 of the inspired ideal and the ponderous 

 earthiness of unanimated flesh. 



You may read the Persean allegory 



in any Greek mythology. You will 



know without the telling that the tale 



is clearly in its essence but the story of 



[33] 



