uminated by the epoch-making volumes of Sir James
Frazer on the _Folklore of the Old Testament_.

The history of Greece, like the history of the Jews, presents a very
different aspect to that which was offered to the readers of Grote,
Thirlwall, and even Curtius. Schliemann's discoveries at Troy, Tiryns,
and Mycenae unearthed Mycenaean civilization and gave an incalculable
impetus to archaeological research; but the brilliant amateur was almost
pathetically incompetent to interpret the treasures he had brought to
light, and much of his work has had to be done again by Doerpfeld.
Despite the achievements of archaeology, however, the period before
Solon remains very dark. Barely second in importance to the discoveries
of Schliemann was the Aristotelian treatise on the Constitution of
Athens, which was given to the world in 1891 by Sir Frederick Kenyon and
has been most authoritatively interpreted by Wilamowitz, the greatest of
living Hellenists. With the growing mass of new literary material,
inscriptions, coins, and papyri, the exploration of sites, the recovery
of innumerable objects of art and fresh light streaming from Asia Minor
and Crete, new attempts to write the history of Greece have been made.
Professor Bury's narrative, at once scientific and popular, has
summarized for English readers the assured results of research; but the
most authoritative survey is that contained in the Greek volumes of
Eduard Meyer's vast survey of antiquity. 'For the great tasks of
history', he writes, 'salvation is only to be found when it becomes
conscious of its universal character, in ancient as well as in modern
times. Only by treating Greece in connection with the Mediterranean
peoples can its real nature be seized.' This colossal task, which proved
beyond the strength of Duncker, has been performed by the Berlin
Professor, the only scholar of our time who could have accomplished it
single-handed. The dazzling picture of Athenian democracy painted by
Grote has faded away; and Beloch, following in the footsteps of Droysen,
dwells with greater satisfaction on the diffusion of Greek influence
through the conquests of Alexander.

Greek culture has received no less attention than Greek politics. The
Homeric problem continues to exert an irresistible attraction. Every
expert from Wilamowitz to Gilbert Murray and Walter Leaf adds to our
comprehension of the epic; but no positive results have been
established, and Holm uttered the gloomy