SECTION D GREEK LANGUAGE 



(Hall 3, September 22, 3 p. m.) 



CHAIRMAN: PROFESSOR MARTIN L. D'OoGE, University of Michigan. 

 SPEAKERS: PROFESSOR HERBERT WEIR SMYTH, Harvard University. 



PROFESSOR MILTON W. HUMPHREYS, University of Virginia. 

 SECRETARY: PROFESSOR J. E. HARRY, University of Cincinnati. 



THE Chairman of the Section of Greek Language was Professor 

 Martin L. D'Ooge, of the University of Michigan, who congratulated 

 the members of the Section upon the abundant evidence that is at 

 hand to show that Greek is a vital study and an educational force 

 of no small power. The speaker said in part: 



"As one reviews the work done by the scholars of Europe and 

 America in this field of learning for the last thirty years, the con- 

 viction is borne in upon him that never before in the history of 

 scholarship has so much fruitful activity been shown in this depart- 

 ment of learning. Greek has certainly shared to the full in the 

 intellectual quickening so characteristic of the modern age. 



" With the increase of material for study, due to the explorations 

 of archaeologists and to the discovery of new inscriptions and manu- 

 scripts, many old theories have been exploded, many new views 

 have been gained, and fresh light has been thrown upon problems 

 that vexed our forefathers. 



" There is another matter that calls for congratulation. I refer to 

 the changed spirit in which Greek is learned and taught nowadays. 

 The ancient Greek is no longer a dead mummy, but simply an older 

 contemporary, whose thought and life are part of our own. Thanks 

 in part to the influence of our American School of Classical Studies 

 at Athens, the old Greek life has been made a reality, and the meaning 

 of Greek literature has become understood and appreciated as never 

 before. To read Homer in the light of the discoveries at Hissarlik 

 and Mycenae; to feel the thrill of the magnificent odes of the The- 

 ban poet on the plain of Olympia in sight of the stadium; to catch 

 the music of the beautiful chorals of Sophocles in the theatre of Dio- 

 nysos at Athens, how the old Greek life with all its fascinations 

 throbs anew within the scholar's veins; and how infectious it 

 becomes to those who sit at the feet of a teacher thus inspired. 



" It is not my task to review in connection with the event commem- 

 orated by this Exposition, under whose auspices this Congress is held, 

 the contributions made by the scholars of Europe to Hellenic learning 

 during the century that has elapsed since the Louisiana Purchase. 



