to
us the ideals and the results of the one and the other. We may
so far define their contribution as consisting in the thought of
Civilization-through-knowledge, a thought which was not a thought only
but a potent and effective instrument of action, not a mere ideal but an
ideal governing, directing, and realized, in action and life.

We have also to recognize another most powerful influence of which they
were the vehicles--closely related to the other. The Greeks first
articulately conceived and deliberately pursued the ideal of Freedom. It
was, I say, closely related to the other, for they meant by it not
merely freedom from physical or political constraint but also inward
freedom from prejudice and passion, and they held that knowledge and
freedom rendered one another possible. We may amend our formula and
re-state their contribution as the idea and fact of civilization
regarded as a process in and to Freedom under the control of Knowledge
or Reason, each inspiring, guiding, and fertilizing the other. Theory
and practice thus co-operate and help one another forward; each in its
advance liberates the other for a further effort. The several faculties
of the human spirit work harmoniously together in mutual respect and
reciprocal alliance. Hence arises another distinctive feature of the
Greek ideal, namely, that of wholeness or all-round completeness; there
is in it no one-sided insistence on this or that element in human
nature, no tendency to ascetic mutilation, no fear or jealousy of what
is merely human, tainted by its animal origin or its secular
associations.

But we must not exaggerate. This ideal was imperfectly defined, still
more imperfectly executed or realized. It would be absurd to suppose
that it was held by all Greeks; it was indeed advocated by and for a
minority only. Those who now find in it the impulse and guide of Greek
history might be hard put to it if they were obliged to produce evidence
of their faith, and they would be forced to confess that there was much
to be said against their interpretation. There is to be acknowledged
first the apparent want of internal unity in the Greek world, split up
as it was into small and mutually hostile civic groups; and secondly,
the loose coherence of each of these groups within itself (for each, we
might almost say normally, was torn by intestine faction). It is a
commonplace also that Greek civilization rested upon slavery, so that
barbarism was not expell