5. History.— While poetry was at its highest point of development, Greek prose was coming into life in Ionia and now became the medium of philosophical writings, which had earlier used the almost prose Iambic verse. The be ginnings of history were made by the compilers of ancient myths and legends, records of events, genealogies, etc., mostly of a local nature, and later they extended their sphere to foreign coun tries, when some geography and description were added, but wholly of an uncritical Icind. Among these early writers of history may be mentioned Hecatwus of Miletus (c. 500 B.c.), Pherecydes of Leros (450 B.c.) and Hellanicus of Mitylene (450 }lc.). But the only one whose works are now extant is Herodotus of Hali carnassus (484-406 called the °Father of History?' In the earlier part of his life he was a great traveler and visited nearly every part of the then known world, malting researches for his future work. His history consists of nine books named after the Muses, of which the first part treats of the Persian Empire, its rise and power, while the latter half deals with the Persian invasion of Europe. He weaves into his work much geographical and social material. He uses the Ionic dialect and is really the first writer of artistic prose. His style is simple, graceful and charming. We cannot doubt his sincere search after truth, but his love for the marvellous and his great skill as a story-teller led him into exaggeration and caused hira to bring in many side issues, which raise suspicion as to his credibility. Thucydides of Athens (471 400 a.c.), the greatest historian of Greece and one of the greatest of the world, wrote in eight books a history of the Peloponnesian wars, using the Attic dialect, and is Justly styled the first philosophical historian, inasmuch as he not only gives the events, but also seeks the causes and the political and moral lessons to be drawn from them. Banished, probably for failure in a naval battle, he watched the progress of the war from the outside, but he was absolutely impartial. The speeches, largely imaginary, serve to con vey his philosophical ideas of the causes of events. His style is exceedingly forceful and intense, but often involved and obscure, due in large measure to his striving after brevity, for every sentence is overcharged with thought. Xenophon (434-355 a.c), also of Athens, con tinued the work of Thucydides in the first two books of his (Hellenica,) which consists of seven books and is a very dry history, full of moralizings and with strong predispositions in favor of Sparta. His greatest work is the 'Anabasis,' in seven boolcs, which is a very vivid account of the march of the 10,000 Greek mer cenaries with Cyrus the Younger, when he tried to wrest the kingdom from his brother Artaxences. Xenophon was himself a member of the expedition, at first as an onlooker, but later as a leader, so that he gives us a vivid and interesting personal account of it. Among other works are 'Cyroptedia' (or Education of Cyrus), a sort of historical romance, in eight books, the 'Memorabilia of Socrates,' a vindi cation of the great philosopher, the (CEco nomicus,"Hiero,' (Convivium,' (Agesilaus,' and other essays, some probably spurious. Other historians of whom only fragments are extant are Ctesias (415 a.c.) of C.nidus, physician at the court of Artaxerxes; Mnemon, who wrote, in Ionic Greek, histories of Persia and India, Philistus of Syracuse, Ephorus of Cyme, Theopompus of Chios, the last two from the school of Isocrates, and the authors of the Atthids, collections of historical and archaxi logical material.
6. Philosophy.—Ahhough philosophy had its beginnings in Ionia at the same time with his tory we have no literature extant before Plato. Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes were the first to seek the causes of things and busied themselvs with the physical world. Then came
Heraclitus (475-335 n.c.) of Ephesus, whose work on nature, of which some fragments are extant, is among the oldest Greek prose, and Py thagoras (c. 540 B.c.) of Samos, who first used the name "philosophia,') founded an independent school, and brought philosophy into closer touch with everyday life. Xenophanes (c. 570 a.c.) ot Colophon, the father of pantheism, founded the Eleatic School. He was followed by Par menides (510 p.c.) of Elea, his disciple, and by Empedocles (492) of Agrigentum. Anaximenes (510 a.c.) of Clazomenm was one of the deepest thinkers and carried philosophy to Athens, where it received its highest perfection in Soc rates (469-399 a.c.), who, though he wrote noth ing, gave the mightiest impetus to his disciples. First and foremost is Plato (438-348 a.c.) of Athens, who founded the Academic School. Plato, of a highly sensitive and poetic tempera ment, received the best possible education, which he enriched with extensive travel. He wrote much in every department of philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, politics, using the dialogue, with Socrates as the central figure. The vivid imagination and dramatic style which are seen in all his writings rendered them ever fresh and attractive. Forty-two dialogues are extant, of which about 25 are genuine, the best known being the (Crito,"Plia•do,' with the longer works of the and the Only fragments remain of Heraclides Ponticus, the scholar of Plato. Aristotle (384 322 ac.) of Stagira was the most distinguished pupil of Plato and founded the Peripatetic School. He was a ((practical' man, wholly un like the idealist Plato. He ranged over the entire world of knowledge, treating everything from the practical standpoint, as opposed to the idealistic and speculative. His works, writ ten in the common dialect, in a clear and precise, though often bald style, are very numerous, as he wrote on every department of knowledge, literature, philosophy and science. His greatest works are perhaps the the (Nicoma chean Ethics,' and the (Politics.' Highly valuable also is the Constitution,' which was discovered in 1891.
7. Rhetoric and Oratory.— Real Greek prose began at Athens between 430 and 410 B.C. The great orators of the early period, Themistocles and Pericles, did not write their speeches, as did the later orators, of whom only 10 were deemed worthy of a place in the Alexandrian canon. First in order comes Antiphon (480 whose style, elaborate and rugged, ex hibits a fondness for antithesis somewhat like that of Thucydides. Fifteen speeches are ex tant. Andocides (440 a.c.), of whom we have four speeches, is not a stylist, though he shows much force and vividness in description. These two cultivated judicial oratory. Lysias (440 p.c.) was an almost perfect stylist and greatly advanced Attic prose. Thirty speeches, com posed in plain but graceful style, are extant. Isocrates (436 B.c.), of whose speeches 21 are preserved and who wrote speeches to be read rather than delivered, is famous for his smooth ness of diction and periodic structure, a style which has been transmitted through Cicero to all the modern literatures. Ismus (420 a.c.), of whom we have 11 speeches and a fragment of a 12th, resembles Lysias in style, but is much more vigorous. Demosthenes (384 a.c.), who was a pupil of Iszus, carried oratory to its highest pitch. He was an indefatigable worker, and while his speeches may seem somewhat elaborated, as is charged, they are sincere, vig orous and intense, showing purity of diction and perfection of form. Famous is the oration (On the Crown' in reply to his contemporary, 7Esclunes (389 a.c.), himself a distinguished orator. yEschines has left us three speeches in good fluent style, but lacking in sincerity. Two other contemporaries were good orators, but far inferior, Lycurgus (390 a.c.) and Hypereides (389 a.c).