nation has equalled the examples of Greek sculpture which still
exist, though we have reason to believe that its finest works have
perished, and that those remaining are of the second grade.

There are many reasons for the high artistic attainments of the Greeks,
and a discussion or even a simple statement of them would require an
essay far too learned and lengthy for the scope of this book; but I will
speak of one truth that had great influence and went far to perfect
Greek art--that is, the unbounded love of beauty, which was an essential
part of the Greek nature. To the Greek, in fact, beauty and good had the
same meaning--_beauty was good_, and the good must be beautiful.

Sculpture deals almost exclusively with the form of man, and the other
features in it have some relation to the human element of the design;
and it would have been impossible for a true Greek to represent the
human form otherwise than beautiful. A writer on this point says: "The
chief aim of the enlightened Greek, his highest ambition and his
greatest joy, was to be a _man_ in the fullest sense of the word--man in
the most complete development of his bodily strength and beauty, in the
active exercise of the keenest senses, in the greatest because tempered
enjoyment of sensual pleasure, in the free and joyous play of an
intellect strong by nature, graced and guided by the most exquisite
taste, and enlightened by the sublimest philosophy." Thus, beauty was so
important to the Greek that every parent prayed that his children might
have this gift, and the names of beautiful persons were engraved upon
pillars set where all could read them; and at times there were
competitions for the prize of beauty.

The religion of the Greek, too, taught that the body was the beautiful
and godlike temple of his soul; and the truth that human beings have
something in common with a higher power than their own gave him a great
respect for humanity, and, in truth, he felt that if he could escape
death he should be content and almost, if not quite, a god. For we must
remember that the gods of the Greek were not all-wise, all-powerful, and
all-good, as we believe our God to be. If you read their mythology you
will find that with the power of the god much imperfection and weakness
were mingled. They did not believe that Zeus had been the greatest god
from the beginning, but that there was a time when he had no power. He
was not omniscient nor omnipresent, and was himself s