The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 89 



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"Why do you, who hold prophetic seats, declare that you have perfect 

 knowledge of things divine? There are no diviners! For he who pre- 

 tends to know the will of Heaven only knows how to deceive by his talk." 



Summary Result of the Preceding Discussion 



Even after having carefully examined all the available material 

 on the subject the difficulty still remains to reach tenable conclu- 

 sions in regard to the poet's view of the supernatural. For all 

 his lucidity of language, Euripides is not lucid about his ideas 

 especially in connection with the supernatural. No wonder that 

 few subjects connected with Euripides have attracted the atten- 

 tion of scholars more than his religious views, and that the schol- 

 ars do not agree among themselves in answering the question : 

 What position does the poet take up with reference to the super- 

 natural? "As a thinker," says Murray, "he is even to this day 

 treated almost as a personal enemy by scholars of orthodox and 

 conformist minds ; defended, idealized, and sometimes transformed 

 beyond recognition by various champions of rebellion and the 

 free intellect." Schlegel advises : " We may distinguish in him a 

 two-fold character, the poet, whose productions were consecrated 

 to a religious solemnity, who stood under the protection of re- 

 ligion, and who therefore, on his part, was bound to honor it, and 

 the sophist with his philosophical dicta, who endeavoured to in- 

 sinuate his sceptical opinions and doubts into the fabulous mar- 

 vels of religion from which he derived the subjects of his plays." 

 Schlegel's view is right, if we grant his premises, viz., that the 

 poet's insinuating of sceptical opinions and doubts is of set pur- 

 pose ; and even then the question is left to be answered : Where 

 speaks the poet, and where the sophist ? — Donaldson, in his " The- 

 atre of the Greeks " briefly describes Euripides as " altogether 

 devoid of religious feelings," while Haigh characterizes the poet's 

 mind " as essentially of a religious and meditative cast." — Ac- 

 cording to the theory lately propounded by Dr. Verrall our poet 

 is the " sceptic " and " rationalist " whose plays are a covert but 

 intended attack on the popular religion, bearing one meaning to 



143 



