THE GREEK RIDING-HORSE. 8 I 



Our knowledge of the taste of the Greeks 

 in this matter is drawn from two sources, — 

 the Hterary and the artistic. SchHeben, in his 

 interesting book on the Horse in Antiquity, 

 seems to think that the three principal forms 

 of art — vase-paintings, reliefs, and statues in 

 the round — each exhibit peculiarities of treat- 

 ment innate to the artistic form, which make 

 it impossible to reach, from a comparison of 

 them all, any distinct conception of the best 

 type of Greek horse. Then turning to the 

 writers, he is further confused by finding that 

 points of excellence upon which they all 

 agree are not apparent in the works of the 

 artists. Hence he assumes different ideals 

 for the artists and the writers. He even 

 thinks that in one point, at least, the unani- 

 mous agreement of the writers is reversed by 

 as cojnplete a contrary agreement in works 

 of art. This point is the mane. He makes 

 the common errors of believing that all the 

 artists represent it as short, and that all 

 the writers say that it should be long. 

 Neither belief is more than an assumption, 

 and a baseless one at that, as will appear 

 later. The fact is, Schlieben seems to expect 

 6 



