John Henry Wright

Name: Masterpieces of Greek Literature
Author: John Henry Wright

Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

Summary

“Masterpieces of Greek Literature”, published in 1902, is a work by John Henry Wright. It explores elements such as Prometheus, Titan and poetry.

Quotes from Masterpieces of Greek Literature (John Henry Wright)

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The whole tragedy turns on the determination of Antigone to resist the king's decree, and follow out the divine law by burying her brother. This she does with a lofty unselfishness, "a purity of passion, a fixity of purpose, a sublime enthusiasm for duty," which make her, as Symonds called her, "the most perfect female character in Greek poetry." ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The games, like all the festivals of the Greeks, were religious in their origin, being held in honor of some god, and the odes of victory are very like Greek hymns. The heart of each of the longer odes is formed by a myth, which if possible is connected with the family or home of the victor, or if not, at least with the foundation of the games themselves. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ Greek lyric poetry as we know it was in its beginning when the light of epic poetry was waning, and it passed its highest glory before dramatic poetry reached its zenith. And though the drama had but a short life, its glory was passing before the historian's art was perfected, and this in turn yielded to oratory and the dialogues of Philosophy. Bucolic poetry was the only new kind of literature to be developed after the middle of the fourth century before the beginning of our era. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The story on which the Prometheus Bound is based is told in the play itself. The audience had no play-bills or information other than that which the drama supplied. Prometheus belonged to the older race of gods,—he was a Titan,—but he took the part of Zeus (Jupiter) in the latter's contest with his father Cronos (Saturn) , and assisted in establishing the new dynasty. By aiding men, however, especially in conveying to them the gift of fire, which should prove for them the mother of every art, he incurred the enmity of Zeus, and is to be severely punished. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ Thus Hiero of Syracuse, who was a patron of literature and drew to his court also Aeschylus and Simonides, Thero of Agrigentum, and Arcesilaus of Cyrene called the "Theban eagle" to celebrate their victories, and by his songs he built for them "monuments more enduring than brass." ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ ON THOSE WHO DIED AT THERMOPYLAE [2]
Of those who at Thermopylae were slain,
⁠Glorious the doom, and beautiful the lot;
Their tomb an altar: men from tears refrain
⁠To honor them, and praise, but mourn them not. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The eleven Greek comedies which have come down to us are all from the hand of one author—fortunately for us by far the greatest of the comedians—Aristophanes. Little is known of his life beyond the fact that he brought out his first play in 427 B. C., when "almost a boy." ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ In this play, one actor may have taken the parts of Strength, Oceanus, Io, and Hermes, while the actor who took the part of Hephaestus may have slipped around behind the rocks to speak the verses of Prometheus. This would require a lay figure for the Titan, but would explain how the "adamantine wedge" could be driven through his breast, and would provide a mechanical reason for the silence of Prometheus during the first scene. The dramatic reason for this silence is that the Titan will not demean himself to bandy words with his tormentors. Force is a "mute," a supernumerary. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ None but men of Greek blood could take part in these Greek games, and the princes of Sicily and Cyrene seem to have been particularly eager to bind more firmly and openly the tie which bound them to their kinsmen in Greece by taking part in the contests at least by proxy, sending a saddle horse or a chariot and four horses to contend in the races. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The poet's long life covered a period of great importance to his country. Born about 556 B. C., in the age of the Tyrants at Athens, he lived to see the overthrow of the Peisistratidae, the Ionic Revolt, the two Persian invasions, and the establishment of Athens as the leader of Hellas, before his death in 467 B. C. Among his friends were all the great men of the time,—kings and tyrants like Hipparchus at Athens, and Hiero at Syracuse, and the Thessalian princes ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ Aeschylus and Euripides contend in the lower world for the palm of tragedy, which Sophocles yields without a contest to the former, and it is at length awarded to Aeschylus.
In the Birds, an earlier play of 414 B. C., Peithetaerus (Plausible) and Euelpides (Hopeful) , two enterprising Athenians, who are weary of the unending lawsuits in their own town, persuade the birds under the leadership of King Hoopoe to build a city—Cloud-cuckooborough [1] —in mid-air. This cuts off the gods from men, and causes the gods so much inconvenience that they send envoys to treat with the birds. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ The younger, though acknowledging the inevitability of these laws, lays more stress on the motives of the individual, and is thus able to make his characters seem more human and to portray their development. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ After the death at Colonus of Oedipus, former king of Thebes, his daughters Antigone and Ismene returned to Thebes, and lived in the king's house with their brother Eteocles. But Polyneices, their second brother, who had been unjustly driven forth, came against the city to capture it, with seven captains of Argos. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Henry Wright, Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902)

“ Of a few words and phrases she failed to catch the exact meaning, and in several instances she thus lost the full connection of thought. But her poetic genius more than atoned for her lack of technical scholarship, and her translation (which follows) is accepted as a true work of art. ”

John Henry Wright

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Quotes from Masterpieces of Greek Literature (John Henry Wright)

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