Greek Literature

B. Historical compared with verse Greek prose was of slow development. If we disregard early Ionian chroniclers and compilers whose writings, devoid of any charm of style are lost, the first important name is that of Herodotus (5th century, 'Lc.), the (Father of History" His 'History> (in nine books, written in the Ionic dialect) tells the story of the growth of Persia and her wars with Greece. The chronicle is enlivened by many entertaining anecdotes. The style, while loose in structure and parenthetical, has great charm and lucidity. Herodotus is not a crit ical or scientific historian in the modern sense of the term, but his work, properly estimated, is of very great value.

Thucydides, in his 'History of the Pelo ponnesian War,' in eight books, has a different conception of the historian's task. A contem porary of, and participant in, the lone struggle for supremacy between Athens and Sparta, he strives to give an accurate account not only of the actual events of the war but also of their causes. His style is rather austere, and shows strongly the influence of the rhetorical tenden cies which were potent at the time. Prominent in his work are the speeches, of which the most famous is the 'Funeral Oration' of Pericles in Book IL Of great interest, too, is the account of the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition and the description of the ravages of the plague in Athens.

The third and last historian of the Attic Period is Xenophon (born about 431 ac.) the author of the 'Hellenica> and (Anabasi0 (v.) In the (Hellenica,) a work of no great inspira tion, the narration of Hellenic affairs is con tinned from the conclusion of Thucydides' his tory down to the battle of Mantinea (362 a.c.). The 'Anabasis' is a work of permanent value by reason of the interest of the subject-matter and the freshness of its style. It tells the story of the march inland Into Asia of the 10,000 Greek mercenaries under Cyrus, the young Persian prince; of the death of Cyrus; of the vigorous leadership of Xenophon, who accompanied the expedition, and their adven turous, but successful, trip home. Xenophon's 'Memorabilia' or Recollections of Socrates pictures the Master on the personal side. Minor essays are also extant.

C. Rhetoric and factors con tributed to the development of oratory and stylistic Greek prose: The Sicilian rhetoric and the influence of the teachings of the Sophists (e.g., Protagoras and Prodicus) the majority of whom came from Ionia. The first handbooks of formal rhetoric were written by Corax and Teisias, and their pupil, Gorgias, who made popular the ornate, antithetical style, by his captivating speeches and teaching throughout Greece. Athens of the latter half of the 5th century, and in the 4th, took the keenest in terest in public-speaking and rhetoric. Of the

many Attic orators of this period a list of the ten greatest was drawn up in the famous by Alexandrian critics. These orators are as follows: Antiphon (c. 480-411 a.c.), rugged and austere in style, all of whose 15 speeches are concerned with murder causes. Andocides (born about 440), an (amateur,o has three speeches extant of which the most in teresting is the 'On the Mysteries.' Lysias, a metic (resident-alien) at Athens, adopted the profession of writer of speeches for litigants. Thirty-four speeches are extant under his name. Of these the Eratosthene0 was spoken by Lysias himself. He is regarded as a master of the Attic idiom, and is noted for clearness and vividness of style and is particularly es teemed for his skill in delineation of character. Isocrates (436-338) will always hold a prom inent place in the history of rhetoric. He was a Sophist, in the best sense of the term, and con ducted an influential school in Athens for over 50 years. He taught rhetoric as a and defended it as an effective preparation for life. Because of temperamental defects he was not a public speaker but devoted himself to the composition of pamphlets, or discourses, in which teaching he aimed to make contributions of permanent value. Of especial interest are the 'Panegyricus' (his masterpiece, 380 B.c.), in which he expounds his cherished political idea, viz., the subjugation of Asia by a united Hellas, the 'Panathenaicus) and the 'Philip.' His theory of culture is elucidated in the 'Against the Sophists' and the 'On the Anti dosis.' In style, Isocrates is smooth: his periods are lengthy and flowing. The influence of Isocrates has been very great upon subsequent Greek writers, upon Cicero, and upon modern literary prose. Iszus specialized in the writing of speeches involving will-cases and of these discourses 11 are extant. Demosthenes (384 322) is by far the greatest ancient orator and a master of all the oratorical virtues. In the and the 'Philippics' Demosthenes vigorously opposed the growing power of Mace don and urged, largely in vain, lethargic Athens to more active resistance to Philip. Demos thenes' masterpiece is the famous speech 'On the Crown' (see ORATION ON THE CROW N ) , in which Demosthenes successfully defends his whole public career and shows himself worthy of the golden crown of honor which was pro posed by Ctesiphon and opposed by his rival, lEschines. The superlative virtues of Demos thenes as orator and statesman are attested by the unanimous praise of ancient and modern critics. The remaining four orators of the Canon of the Ten are: lEschines, defeated rival of Demosthenes; LycurFus, the great Athenian statesman and financier; Hypereides, and Deinarchus.