Till-: STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



period of scientific Greek literature. Thales 

 headed the school of Ionic philosophy which 

 taught the material origin of the Universe. 

 The best-known :ul\ this philosophy 



were Pher Xnaxa.nores. and Diogenes 



of Appolonia. 



Pythagoras was the founder of another school 

 known under his name, explaining another 

 of all things ami wandering far in specu- 

 :is. Xenophanes! the founder 

 of the < hool, adopted an ideal 



in contrast to the principle of the Ionic school, 

 founded on experience. Pannenides. also, be- 

 longed to this school, and by excluding the idea 

 of creation he fell into pantheism. Zeno, a 

 pupil of Pannenides. was the earliest prose 

 writer among the Greek philosophers. 



fowanl the end of the Age of Seven Sages, 

 some writers of history appeared, telling of dis- 

 tant times and events, but the first Greek to 

 collect a well-written narrative of facts was 

 Herodotus (484 B. C.) His work comprehends 

 a hi>tory of nearly all the nations of the world 

 at that time. Thucydides, historian of the 

 Peloponnesian War. was also a philosopher, con- 

 sidering all events in a grave manner, and ex- 

 pressing himself in strong condensed sentences. 

 The charming narration of Xenophon stands 

 in strong contrast to this energetic sternness, 

 and in his simple, tranquil style is found the 

 -t beauty of Greek prose. Of these three 

 historians, Herodotus has been called the first 

 artist in historical writing and Thucydides the 

 first thinker. Xenophon combined the literary 

 with the practical, he wrote of men of the past, 

 and of affairs of his own time. His Anabasis 

 is a modest account of his own leadership of 

 the Ten Thousand in their retreat after the battle 

 of Cunaxa. 



Grecian drama was formed from popular 

 festivals at which rustic worshipers, gathering 

 around the altar of some god, sang a hymn in 

 his honor, especially to Dionysius, the God of 

 Wine. Those songs soon developed into dia- 

 logue form, making the elements of the drama. 

 jEschylus (525 B. C.) is known as the founder of 

 dramatic art, he divided the song, brought skill- 

 ful actors and gave to each a part. The three 

 t writers of Greek tragedy were ^Eschylus, 



Sophocles, and Kuripides. Aristophanes holds 

 the highest place as writer of comedy. 



In this same period the prose literature of 

 ( ireere ro>e to its highest culture. Public speak- 

 ing had been common in Greece, and among 

 the orators of Athens, Pericles, aided by the 

 rhetorical studies of the Sophists, exerted great 

 influence upon the Greek mind. Lysias gave 

 the new form of plain style, Isocrates estab- 

 lished a school of political oratory, and Demos- 

 thenes excelled all, using the common language 

 of his own age and country, and appealing to 

 the feelings and sentiments of his listeners 



^Eschines was the rival of Demosthenes. 



When Socrates came into philosophy he gave 

 it a new direction, taking the study of human 

 nature, or psychology, in place of theories and 

 speculations. He left no written record but 

 his genius worked on his followers and among 

 them Plato best expressed his principles. The 

 writings of Plato still stand first in philosophical 

 literature, showing beauty of diction as well 

 as power in handling thought. Aristotle, a 

 pupil of Plato's, holds a place equal to that of 

 his teacher. His science of reasoning has been 

 taught in all later schools. He put into form 

 the thoughts of Plato and Socrates, and worked 

 out a complete system of philosophy. Epicurus, 

 born seven years after the death of Plato, estab- 

 lished what is known as the Epicurean School 

 of Philosophy. He gathered about him a re- 

 markable group of men and women and taught 

 the practical art of living. His followers be- 

 came rivals of the Stoic School. 



The practical mind of the Greeks found ex- 

 pression in mathematics and engineering. In 

 the Third Century B. C., Euclid laid the founda- 

 tions for our modern geometry, and a genera- 

 tion later Archimedes demonstrated the prin- 

 ciples which underlie all engineering. 



In 146 B. C., Greece fell under the rule of her 

 conquerors, and her living literature died with 

 her political independence. A few poets con- 

 tinued to sing, and philosophers and historians 

 continued to write, as Menander, Strabo, Plu- 

 tarch, Epictetus, Lucian, Julian; but her glory 

 is in the past, and it is of her early poets, dram- 

 atists, philosophers, we speak, when we recall 

 Greek literature. 



LATIN LITERATURE 



