[911]Il. ix. 394. Od. iv. 10.[912]Il. xviii. 567, 593, and xxii. 126.[913]Friedreich,Realien, §. 57. p. 200.[914]Od. ii. 132.[915]Od. viii. 329.[916]Od. xi. 287. xiv. 210. Il. xiii. 363.[917]Friedreich,Realien, c. III. ii. p. 204.[918]Il. iii. 427. xxiv. 763.[919]Il. iii. 140. Of Deiphobus, we are never told that he was Helen’s husband: and he could only for a very short time have had possession of her. The only trace of the connection is that, when Helen went down to the horse, Deiphobus followed her. Od. iv 276.[920]Il. iii. 53.[921]Il. iv. 169–75.[922]Od. xxii. 38.[923]Od. xvi. 75.[924]Il. iv. 441.[925]Od. x. 2.[926]Od. x. 20.[927]Od. x. 7.[928]Od. vii. 65, 6.[929]See Achæis, sect. ix. Od. xi. 235–7.[930]Il. iv. 121.[931]Il. xi. 220–6.[932]Od. xi. 271–80.[933]Od. viii. 581–3.[934]Realien, c. III. ii.[935]Od. xxii. 37,κατευνάζεσθε βιαίως.[936]Il. ix. 449. Od. xiv. 203.[937]Il. ii. 514, cf. xvi 184.[938]Il. xvi. 175.[939]Od. xi. 254.[940]Il. ii. 658–60.[941]Achæis, or Ethnology, Sect. ix. p. 534.[942]Il. v. 69–71. Od. xiv. 203.[943]Il. i. 112.[944]Athen. xiii. 3.ὅτι οὐδαμῶς τῆς Ἰλιάδος Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε Μενελάῳ συγκοιμωμένην παλλακίδα, πᾶσι δοὺς γυναῖκας.[945]Il. ix. 664.[946]Ibid. 336.[947]Damm, Liddell and Scott. In Od. iv. 623, Nitzsch considers thatἄλοχοιmust mean wives of theδαιτύμονες. In Od. ix. 115, I find no reason for departing from the plain meaning of wives. It would be giving too much credit to the Cyclopes for civilization, were we to suppose that they recognised a distinction between wife and concubine.[948]Il. ix. 340.[949]Il. xix. 295–9.[950]Il. ix. 395–7.[951]Od. xiv. 199–204.[952]The expression isπαλλακίδι προμιγῆναι.[953]Il. ix. 447, and seqq.[954]Od. i. 433.[955]See Friedreich,Realien, c. ii. §. 56. pp. 196–200, where this subject is excellently treated.[956]Od. vii. 298, 307.[957]Il. ix. 341.[958]Il. xxi. 40.[959]Od. xv. 413.[960]Od. vii. 8.[961]Od. v. 215.[962]Od. xxiii. 210.[963]Od. vi. 180–5.[964]Il. vi. 429, 30. Compare the following:Domino suo, imò Patri; conjugi suo, imò Fratri; ancilla sua, imò filia: ipsius uxor, imò soror; Abælardo, Heloissa. Abæl. Opp.[965]Il. vi. 450–7.[966]Od. xi. 427.[967]Od. xxii. 37.[968]Od. iii. 266.[969]Il. vi. 425.[970]Il. vii. 468, 9.[971]Od. xi. 254–7, 281–5.[972]Od. iii. 263–8.[973]Od. ii. 225–7.[974]Od. xx. 129–33. comp. xix, 317. sqq.[975]Od. xxii. 426, 7.[976]Il. vi. 186.[977]Eustath. in loc.[978]Il. xx. 215–40.[979]Od. x. 348–59.[980]Od. xx. 105. Cf. xxii. 421.[981]Od. xx. 122.[982]Od. xxii. 425.[983]Ibid. 149–56, 158.[984]Od. xvi. 248, 53. xx. 160.[985]Il. xviii. 567.[986]Such seems to be the most probable meaning of Il. xxii. 126–8.[987]Od. xvii. 299.[988]Od. iv. 623.[989]Od. vii. 172–6, et alibi.[990]Od. iii. 464–8.[991]Od. iv. 252.[992]Od. x. 361.[993]See Pope on Od. iii. 464–8.[994]Nägelsbach,Hom. Theol.v. 34.[995]Eustath. in loc. 1477.[996]Il. ii. 260–4.[997]Od. vi. 126–8.[998]Orχλαῖναν, as in Od. x. 365.[999]On Pope, Od. iii. 464–8.[1000]Il. x. 572–7.[1001]Od. i. 262.[1002]Od. vi. 96; cf. 219, 20.[1003]Il. x. 333. Cf. Od. xi. 427.[1004]On Od. iii. 467.[1005]The case of Achilles, who calls Briseis his wife, and who had no other, has been already discussed.[1006]Hecuba, 817.[1007]Ibid. 44. cf. ver. 358.[1008]Ibid. 724.[1009]Athenæus xiii. 31. DöllingerHeid. u. Jud.ix. 31.[1010]Arist. Pol. I. ii. 4. Döllinger ix. 25.[1011]Aristot. Poet. c. 28.[1012]Thuc. ii. 45.[1013]Renan,Études d’Histoire Religieuse, p. 40.[1014]To show with what jealousy believers in revelation may justly regard the mere literary handling of the Older Scriptures, I would refer to the remarkable work of M. Ernest Renan, ‘Études d’Histoire Religieuse.’ This eloquent and elastic writer treats the idea of a revealed religion as wholly inadmissible; highly extols the Bible as a literary treasure; but denies that the general reading of the Bible is a good, except in so far asil vaut beaucoup mieux voir le peuple lire la Bible que ne rien lire(pp. 75, 385).[1015]In the Roman History of Mommsen is contained a masterly comparison between those two rival developments of human life, the collective and the individual, which are represented by Rome, and by later or historic Greece, respectively. (MommsenRöm. Gesch.I. 2. pp. 18–21.) Both of them are open to criticism. In the one we may notice and brand the characteristic of an iron repression, in the other that of a lawless freedom. But the age which ended with the war of Troy, and cast the reflection of its dying beams upon its noble but chequered epilogue in the Odyssey, appears to make no fundamental deviation from the mean of wisdom in either direction: on the whole, it united reverence with independence, the restraint of discipline with the expansion of freedom: and it stood alike removed, in the plenitude of its natural elasticity, from those extremes which in modern religion have, on the one side, absorbed the individual, and on the other (so to speak) excommunicated him by isolation.[1016]Ezek. xx. 25.[1017]I must frankly own that, for one, I can never read without pain the disparaging account of the Greek mind and its achievements which, in the Fourth Book of the Paradise Regained, so great a man as Milton has too boldly put into the mouth of our Blessed Lord. We there find our sympathies divided, in an indescribable and most unhappy manner, between the person of the All-wise, and the language and ideas, on the whole not less just, which are given to Satan. In particular, I lament the claim, really no better than a childish one, made on the part of the Jews, to be considered as the fountainhead of the Greek arts and letters, and the assumption for them of higher attainments in political science. This is a sacrifice of truth, reason, and history to prejudice, by which, as by all such proceedings, religion is sure to be in the end the loser.[1018]1 Cor. i. 27, 8.
[911]Il. ix. 394. Od. iv. 10.[912]Il. xviii. 567, 593, and xxii. 126.[913]Friedreich,Realien, §. 57. p. 200.[914]Od. ii. 132.[915]Od. viii. 329.[916]Od. xi. 287. xiv. 210. Il. xiii. 363.[917]Friedreich,Realien, c. III. ii. p. 204.[918]Il. iii. 427. xxiv. 763.[919]Il. iii. 140. Of Deiphobus, we are never told that he was Helen’s husband: and he could only for a very short time have had possession of her. The only trace of the connection is that, when Helen went down to the horse, Deiphobus followed her. Od. iv 276.[920]Il. iii. 53.[921]Il. iv. 169–75.[922]Od. xxii. 38.[923]Od. xvi. 75.[924]Il. iv. 441.[925]Od. x. 2.[926]Od. x. 20.[927]Od. x. 7.[928]Od. vii. 65, 6.[929]See Achæis, sect. ix. Od. xi. 235–7.[930]Il. iv. 121.[931]Il. xi. 220–6.[932]Od. xi. 271–80.[933]Od. viii. 581–3.[934]Realien, c. III. ii.[935]Od. xxii. 37,κατευνάζεσθε βιαίως.[936]Il. ix. 449. Od. xiv. 203.[937]Il. ii. 514, cf. xvi 184.[938]Il. xvi. 175.[939]Od. xi. 254.[940]Il. ii. 658–60.[941]Achæis, or Ethnology, Sect. ix. p. 534.[942]Il. v. 69–71. Od. xiv. 203.[943]Il. i. 112.[944]Athen. xiii. 3.ὅτι οὐδαμῶς τῆς Ἰλιάδος Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε Μενελάῳ συγκοιμωμένην παλλακίδα, πᾶσι δοὺς γυναῖκας.[945]Il. ix. 664.[946]Ibid. 336.[947]Damm, Liddell and Scott. In Od. iv. 623, Nitzsch considers thatἄλοχοιmust mean wives of theδαιτύμονες. In Od. ix. 115, I find no reason for departing from the plain meaning of wives. It would be giving too much credit to the Cyclopes for civilization, were we to suppose that they recognised a distinction between wife and concubine.[948]Il. ix. 340.[949]Il. xix. 295–9.[950]Il. ix. 395–7.[951]Od. xiv. 199–204.[952]The expression isπαλλακίδι προμιγῆναι.[953]Il. ix. 447, and seqq.[954]Od. i. 433.[955]See Friedreich,Realien, c. ii. §. 56. pp. 196–200, where this subject is excellently treated.[956]Od. vii. 298, 307.[957]Il. ix. 341.[958]Il. xxi. 40.[959]Od. xv. 413.[960]Od. vii. 8.[961]Od. v. 215.[962]Od. xxiii. 210.[963]Od. vi. 180–5.[964]Il. vi. 429, 30. Compare the following:Domino suo, imò Patri; conjugi suo, imò Fratri; ancilla sua, imò filia: ipsius uxor, imò soror; Abælardo, Heloissa. Abæl. Opp.[965]Il. vi. 450–7.[966]Od. xi. 427.[967]Od. xxii. 37.[968]Od. iii. 266.[969]Il. vi. 425.[970]Il. vii. 468, 9.[971]Od. xi. 254–7, 281–5.[972]Od. iii. 263–8.[973]Od. ii. 225–7.[974]Od. xx. 129–33. comp. xix, 317. sqq.[975]Od. xxii. 426, 7.[976]Il. vi. 186.[977]Eustath. in loc.[978]Il. xx. 215–40.[979]Od. x. 348–59.[980]Od. xx. 105. Cf. xxii. 421.[981]Od. xx. 122.[982]Od. xxii. 425.[983]Ibid. 149–56, 158.[984]Od. xvi. 248, 53. xx. 160.[985]Il. xviii. 567.[986]Such seems to be the most probable meaning of Il. xxii. 126–8.[987]Od. xvii. 299.[988]Od. iv. 623.[989]Od. vii. 172–6, et alibi.[990]Od. iii. 464–8.[991]Od. iv. 252.[992]Od. x. 361.[993]See Pope on Od. iii. 464–8.[994]Nägelsbach,Hom. Theol.v. 34.[995]Eustath. in loc. 1477.[996]Il. ii. 260–4.[997]Od. vi. 126–8.[998]Orχλαῖναν, as in Od. x. 365.[999]On Pope, Od. iii. 464–8.[1000]Il. x. 572–7.[1001]Od. i. 262.[1002]Od. vi. 96; cf. 219, 20.[1003]Il. x. 333. Cf. Od. xi. 427.[1004]On Od. iii. 467.[1005]The case of Achilles, who calls Briseis his wife, and who had no other, has been already discussed.[1006]Hecuba, 817.[1007]Ibid. 44. cf. ver. 358.[1008]Ibid. 724.[1009]Athenæus xiii. 31. DöllingerHeid. u. Jud.ix. 31.[1010]Arist. Pol. I. ii. 4. Döllinger ix. 25.[1011]Aristot. Poet. c. 28.[1012]Thuc. ii. 45.[1013]Renan,Études d’Histoire Religieuse, p. 40.[1014]To show with what jealousy believers in revelation may justly regard the mere literary handling of the Older Scriptures, I would refer to the remarkable work of M. Ernest Renan, ‘Études d’Histoire Religieuse.’ This eloquent and elastic writer treats the idea of a revealed religion as wholly inadmissible; highly extols the Bible as a literary treasure; but denies that the general reading of the Bible is a good, except in so far asil vaut beaucoup mieux voir le peuple lire la Bible que ne rien lire(pp. 75, 385).[1015]In the Roman History of Mommsen is contained a masterly comparison between those two rival developments of human life, the collective and the individual, which are represented by Rome, and by later or historic Greece, respectively. (MommsenRöm. Gesch.I. 2. pp. 18–21.) Both of them are open to criticism. In the one we may notice and brand the characteristic of an iron repression, in the other that of a lawless freedom. But the age which ended with the war of Troy, and cast the reflection of its dying beams upon its noble but chequered epilogue in the Odyssey, appears to make no fundamental deviation from the mean of wisdom in either direction: on the whole, it united reverence with independence, the restraint of discipline with the expansion of freedom: and it stood alike removed, in the plenitude of its natural elasticity, from those extremes which in modern religion have, on the one side, absorbed the individual, and on the other (so to speak) excommunicated him by isolation.[1016]Ezek. xx. 25.[1017]I must frankly own that, for one, I can never read without pain the disparaging account of the Greek mind and its achievements which, in the Fourth Book of the Paradise Regained, so great a man as Milton has too boldly put into the mouth of our Blessed Lord. We there find our sympathies divided, in an indescribable and most unhappy manner, between the person of the All-wise, and the language and ideas, on the whole not less just, which are given to Satan. In particular, I lament the claim, really no better than a childish one, made on the part of the Jews, to be considered as the fountainhead of the Greek arts and letters, and the assumption for them of higher attainments in political science. This is a sacrifice of truth, reason, and history to prejudice, by which, as by all such proceedings, religion is sure to be in the end the loser.[1018]1 Cor. i. 27, 8.
[911]Il. ix. 394. Od. iv. 10.
[911]Il. ix. 394. Od. iv. 10.
[912]Il. xviii. 567, 593, and xxii. 126.
[912]Il. xviii. 567, 593, and xxii. 126.
[913]Friedreich,Realien, §. 57. p. 200.
[913]Friedreich,Realien, §. 57. p. 200.
[914]Od. ii. 132.
[914]Od. ii. 132.
[915]Od. viii. 329.
[915]Od. viii. 329.
[916]Od. xi. 287. xiv. 210. Il. xiii. 363.
[916]Od. xi. 287. xiv. 210. Il. xiii. 363.
[917]Friedreich,Realien, c. III. ii. p. 204.
[917]Friedreich,Realien, c. III. ii. p. 204.
[918]Il. iii. 427. xxiv. 763.
[918]Il. iii. 427. xxiv. 763.
[919]Il. iii. 140. Of Deiphobus, we are never told that he was Helen’s husband: and he could only for a very short time have had possession of her. The only trace of the connection is that, when Helen went down to the horse, Deiphobus followed her. Od. iv 276.
[919]Il. iii. 140. Of Deiphobus, we are never told that he was Helen’s husband: and he could only for a very short time have had possession of her. The only trace of the connection is that, when Helen went down to the horse, Deiphobus followed her. Od. iv 276.
[920]Il. iii. 53.
[920]Il. iii. 53.
[921]Il. iv. 169–75.
[921]Il. iv. 169–75.
[922]Od. xxii. 38.
[922]Od. xxii. 38.
[923]Od. xvi. 75.
[923]Od. xvi. 75.
[924]Il. iv. 441.
[924]Il. iv. 441.
[925]Od. x. 2.
[925]Od. x. 2.
[926]Od. x. 20.
[926]Od. x. 20.
[927]Od. x. 7.
[927]Od. x. 7.
[928]Od. vii. 65, 6.
[928]Od. vii. 65, 6.
[929]See Achæis, sect. ix. Od. xi. 235–7.
[929]See Achæis, sect. ix. Od. xi. 235–7.
[930]Il. iv. 121.
[930]Il. iv. 121.
[931]Il. xi. 220–6.
[931]Il. xi. 220–6.
[932]Od. xi. 271–80.
[932]Od. xi. 271–80.
[933]Od. viii. 581–3.
[933]Od. viii. 581–3.
[934]Realien, c. III. ii.
[934]Realien, c. III. ii.
[935]Od. xxii. 37,κατευνάζεσθε βιαίως.
[935]Od. xxii. 37,κατευνάζεσθε βιαίως.
[936]Il. ix. 449. Od. xiv. 203.
[936]Il. ix. 449. Od. xiv. 203.
[937]Il. ii. 514, cf. xvi 184.
[937]Il. ii. 514, cf. xvi 184.
[938]Il. xvi. 175.
[938]Il. xvi. 175.
[939]Od. xi. 254.
[939]Od. xi. 254.
[940]Il. ii. 658–60.
[940]Il. ii. 658–60.
[941]Achæis, or Ethnology, Sect. ix. p. 534.
[941]Achæis, or Ethnology, Sect. ix. p. 534.
[942]Il. v. 69–71. Od. xiv. 203.
[942]Il. v. 69–71. Od. xiv. 203.
[943]Il. i. 112.
[943]Il. i. 112.
[944]Athen. xiii. 3.ὅτι οὐδαμῶς τῆς Ἰλιάδος Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε Μενελάῳ συγκοιμωμένην παλλακίδα, πᾶσι δοὺς γυναῖκας.
[944]Athen. xiii. 3.ὅτι οὐδαμῶς τῆς Ἰλιάδος Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε Μενελάῳ συγκοιμωμένην παλλακίδα, πᾶσι δοὺς γυναῖκας.
[945]Il. ix. 664.
[945]Il. ix. 664.
[946]Ibid. 336.
[946]Ibid. 336.
[947]Damm, Liddell and Scott. In Od. iv. 623, Nitzsch considers thatἄλοχοιmust mean wives of theδαιτύμονες. In Od. ix. 115, I find no reason for departing from the plain meaning of wives. It would be giving too much credit to the Cyclopes for civilization, were we to suppose that they recognised a distinction between wife and concubine.
[947]Damm, Liddell and Scott. In Od. iv. 623, Nitzsch considers thatἄλοχοιmust mean wives of theδαιτύμονες. In Od. ix. 115, I find no reason for departing from the plain meaning of wives. It would be giving too much credit to the Cyclopes for civilization, were we to suppose that they recognised a distinction between wife and concubine.
[948]Il. ix. 340.
[948]Il. ix. 340.
[949]Il. xix. 295–9.
[949]Il. xix. 295–9.
[950]Il. ix. 395–7.
[950]Il. ix. 395–7.
[951]Od. xiv. 199–204.
[951]Od. xiv. 199–204.
[952]The expression isπαλλακίδι προμιγῆναι.
[952]The expression isπαλλακίδι προμιγῆναι.
[953]Il. ix. 447, and seqq.
[953]Il. ix. 447, and seqq.
[954]Od. i. 433.
[954]Od. i. 433.
[955]See Friedreich,Realien, c. ii. §. 56. pp. 196–200, where this subject is excellently treated.
[955]See Friedreich,Realien, c. ii. §. 56. pp. 196–200, where this subject is excellently treated.
[956]Od. vii. 298, 307.
[956]Od. vii. 298, 307.
[957]Il. ix. 341.
[957]Il. ix. 341.
[958]Il. xxi. 40.
[958]Il. xxi. 40.
[959]Od. xv. 413.
[959]Od. xv. 413.
[960]Od. vii. 8.
[960]Od. vii. 8.
[961]Od. v. 215.
[961]Od. v. 215.
[962]Od. xxiii. 210.
[962]Od. xxiii. 210.
[963]Od. vi. 180–5.
[963]Od. vi. 180–5.
[964]Il. vi. 429, 30. Compare the following:Domino suo, imò Patri; conjugi suo, imò Fratri; ancilla sua, imò filia: ipsius uxor, imò soror; Abælardo, Heloissa. Abæl. Opp.
[964]Il. vi. 429, 30. Compare the following:Domino suo, imò Patri; conjugi suo, imò Fratri; ancilla sua, imò filia: ipsius uxor, imò soror; Abælardo, Heloissa. Abæl. Opp.
[965]Il. vi. 450–7.
[965]Il. vi. 450–7.
[966]Od. xi. 427.
[966]Od. xi. 427.
[967]Od. xxii. 37.
[967]Od. xxii. 37.
[968]Od. iii. 266.
[968]Od. iii. 266.
[969]Il. vi. 425.
[969]Il. vi. 425.
[970]Il. vii. 468, 9.
[970]Il. vii. 468, 9.
[971]Od. xi. 254–7, 281–5.
[971]Od. xi. 254–7, 281–5.
[972]Od. iii. 263–8.
[972]Od. iii. 263–8.
[973]Od. ii. 225–7.
[973]Od. ii. 225–7.
[974]Od. xx. 129–33. comp. xix, 317. sqq.
[974]Od. xx. 129–33. comp. xix, 317. sqq.
[975]Od. xxii. 426, 7.
[975]Od. xxii. 426, 7.
[976]Il. vi. 186.
[976]Il. vi. 186.
[977]Eustath. in loc.
[977]Eustath. in loc.
[978]Il. xx. 215–40.
[978]Il. xx. 215–40.
[979]Od. x. 348–59.
[979]Od. x. 348–59.
[980]Od. xx. 105. Cf. xxii. 421.
[980]Od. xx. 105. Cf. xxii. 421.
[981]Od. xx. 122.
[981]Od. xx. 122.
[982]Od. xxii. 425.
[982]Od. xxii. 425.
[983]Ibid. 149–56, 158.
[983]Ibid. 149–56, 158.
[984]Od. xvi. 248, 53. xx. 160.
[984]Od. xvi. 248, 53. xx. 160.
[985]Il. xviii. 567.
[985]Il. xviii. 567.
[986]Such seems to be the most probable meaning of Il. xxii. 126–8.
[986]Such seems to be the most probable meaning of Il. xxii. 126–8.
[987]Od. xvii. 299.
[987]Od. xvii. 299.
[988]Od. iv. 623.
[988]Od. iv. 623.
[989]Od. vii. 172–6, et alibi.
[989]Od. vii. 172–6, et alibi.
[990]Od. iii. 464–8.
[990]Od. iii. 464–8.
[991]Od. iv. 252.
[991]Od. iv. 252.
[992]Od. x. 361.
[992]Od. x. 361.
[993]See Pope on Od. iii. 464–8.
[993]See Pope on Od. iii. 464–8.
[994]Nägelsbach,Hom. Theol.v. 34.
[994]Nägelsbach,Hom. Theol.v. 34.
[995]Eustath. in loc. 1477.
[995]Eustath. in loc. 1477.
[996]Il. ii. 260–4.
[996]Il. ii. 260–4.
[997]Od. vi. 126–8.
[997]Od. vi. 126–8.
[998]Orχλαῖναν, as in Od. x. 365.
[998]Orχλαῖναν, as in Od. x. 365.
[999]On Pope, Od. iii. 464–8.
[999]On Pope, Od. iii. 464–8.
[1000]Il. x. 572–7.
[1000]Il. x. 572–7.
[1001]Od. i. 262.
[1001]Od. i. 262.
[1002]Od. vi. 96; cf. 219, 20.
[1002]Od. vi. 96; cf. 219, 20.
[1003]Il. x. 333. Cf. Od. xi. 427.
[1003]Il. x. 333. Cf. Od. xi. 427.
[1004]On Od. iii. 467.
[1004]On Od. iii. 467.
[1005]The case of Achilles, who calls Briseis his wife, and who had no other, has been already discussed.
[1005]The case of Achilles, who calls Briseis his wife, and who had no other, has been already discussed.
[1006]Hecuba, 817.
[1006]Hecuba, 817.
[1007]Ibid. 44. cf. ver. 358.
[1007]Ibid. 44. cf. ver. 358.
[1008]Ibid. 724.
[1008]Ibid. 724.
[1009]Athenæus xiii. 31. DöllingerHeid. u. Jud.ix. 31.
[1009]Athenæus xiii. 31. DöllingerHeid. u. Jud.ix. 31.
[1010]Arist. Pol. I. ii. 4. Döllinger ix. 25.
[1010]Arist. Pol. I. ii. 4. Döllinger ix. 25.
[1011]Aristot. Poet. c. 28.
[1011]Aristot. Poet. c. 28.
[1012]Thuc. ii. 45.
[1012]Thuc. ii. 45.
[1013]Renan,Études d’Histoire Religieuse, p. 40.
[1013]Renan,Études d’Histoire Religieuse, p. 40.
[1014]To show with what jealousy believers in revelation may justly regard the mere literary handling of the Older Scriptures, I would refer to the remarkable work of M. Ernest Renan, ‘Études d’Histoire Religieuse.’ This eloquent and elastic writer treats the idea of a revealed religion as wholly inadmissible; highly extols the Bible as a literary treasure; but denies that the general reading of the Bible is a good, except in so far asil vaut beaucoup mieux voir le peuple lire la Bible que ne rien lire(pp. 75, 385).
[1014]To show with what jealousy believers in revelation may justly regard the mere literary handling of the Older Scriptures, I would refer to the remarkable work of M. Ernest Renan, ‘Études d’Histoire Religieuse.’ This eloquent and elastic writer treats the idea of a revealed religion as wholly inadmissible; highly extols the Bible as a literary treasure; but denies that the general reading of the Bible is a good, except in so far asil vaut beaucoup mieux voir le peuple lire la Bible que ne rien lire(pp. 75, 385).
[1015]In the Roman History of Mommsen is contained a masterly comparison between those two rival developments of human life, the collective and the individual, which are represented by Rome, and by later or historic Greece, respectively. (MommsenRöm. Gesch.I. 2. pp. 18–21.) Both of them are open to criticism. In the one we may notice and brand the characteristic of an iron repression, in the other that of a lawless freedom. But the age which ended with the war of Troy, and cast the reflection of its dying beams upon its noble but chequered epilogue in the Odyssey, appears to make no fundamental deviation from the mean of wisdom in either direction: on the whole, it united reverence with independence, the restraint of discipline with the expansion of freedom: and it stood alike removed, in the plenitude of its natural elasticity, from those extremes which in modern religion have, on the one side, absorbed the individual, and on the other (so to speak) excommunicated him by isolation.
[1015]In the Roman History of Mommsen is contained a masterly comparison between those two rival developments of human life, the collective and the individual, which are represented by Rome, and by later or historic Greece, respectively. (MommsenRöm. Gesch.I. 2. pp. 18–21.) Both of them are open to criticism. In the one we may notice and brand the characteristic of an iron repression, in the other that of a lawless freedom. But the age which ended with the war of Troy, and cast the reflection of its dying beams upon its noble but chequered epilogue in the Odyssey, appears to make no fundamental deviation from the mean of wisdom in either direction: on the whole, it united reverence with independence, the restraint of discipline with the expansion of freedom: and it stood alike removed, in the plenitude of its natural elasticity, from those extremes which in modern religion have, on the one side, absorbed the individual, and on the other (so to speak) excommunicated him by isolation.
[1016]Ezek. xx. 25.
[1016]Ezek. xx. 25.
[1017]I must frankly own that, for one, I can never read without pain the disparaging account of the Greek mind and its achievements which, in the Fourth Book of the Paradise Regained, so great a man as Milton has too boldly put into the mouth of our Blessed Lord. We there find our sympathies divided, in an indescribable and most unhappy manner, between the person of the All-wise, and the language and ideas, on the whole not less just, which are given to Satan. In particular, I lament the claim, really no better than a childish one, made on the part of the Jews, to be considered as the fountainhead of the Greek arts and letters, and the assumption for them of higher attainments in political science. This is a sacrifice of truth, reason, and history to prejudice, by which, as by all such proceedings, religion is sure to be in the end the loser.
[1017]I must frankly own that, for one, I can never read without pain the disparaging account of the Greek mind and its achievements which, in the Fourth Book of the Paradise Regained, so great a man as Milton has too boldly put into the mouth of our Blessed Lord. We there find our sympathies divided, in an indescribable and most unhappy manner, between the person of the All-wise, and the language and ideas, on the whole not less just, which are given to Satan. In particular, I lament the claim, really no better than a childish one, made on the part of the Jews, to be considered as the fountainhead of the Greek arts and letters, and the assumption for them of higher attainments in political science. This is a sacrifice of truth, reason, and history to prejudice, by which, as by all such proceedings, religion is sure to be in the end the loser.
[1018]1 Cor. i. 27, 8.
[1018]1 Cor. i. 27, 8.