d its influence on art and
language. The language of the Greeks stands as their most powerful
creation. The development of philosophy enlarged the scope of language
and increased its already rich vocabulary. Art was a representation of
nature. The predominance given to man in life, the study of heroes and
gods, gave ideal creations and led to the expression of beauty.
Philosophy, literature, language, and art, including architecture,
represent the products of Greek civilization, and as such have been the
lasting heritage of the nations that have followed. The philosophy and
practice of social life and government {228} received a high
development in Greece. They will be treated in a separate chapter.

SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY

1. What was the importance of Socrates' teaching? Why was he put to
death?

2. What has been the influence of Plato's teaching on modern life?

3. Why is Aristotle considered the greatest of the Greeks?

4. What was the influence of the library at Alexandria?

5. What caused the decline in Greek philosophy?

6. What was the influence on civilization of the Greek attitudes of
mind toward nature?

7. Compare the use of Greek philosophy with modern science as to their
value in education.

{229}

CHAPTER XIV

THE GREEK SOCIAL POLITY

_The Struggle for Greek Equality and Liberty_.--The greater part of the
activity of Western nations has been a struggle for social equality and
for political and religious liberty. These phases of European social
life are clearly discerned in the development of the Greek states. The
Greeks were recognized as having the highest intellectual culture and
the largest mental endowments of all the ancients, characteristics
which gave them great prestige in the development of political life and
social philosophy. The problem of how communities of people should
live together, their relations to one another, and their rights,
privileges, and duties, early concerned the philosophers of Greece; but
more potent than all the philosophies that have been uttered, than all
of the theories concerning man's social relation, is the vivid
portrayal of the actual struggle of men to live together in community
life, pictured in the course of Grecian history.

In the presentation of this life, writers have differed much in many
ways. Some have eulogized the Greeks as a liberty-loving people, who
sought to grant rights and duties to every one on an altr