Publisher's Synopsis
"Apart from its other merits, and they are many, Mr. Thomson's essay to show us the thought that lies at the back of the Greek literature has resulted in the production of one of the most interesting and beautiful books of this century. He has written with great charm upon subjects which are perennially delightful, and, especially to all lovers of classic Greece to whom her literature in the original is closed, the work will prove a boon.. .His first essay is entitled 'On an Old Map, ' and it is at once a charming study of the geography of the ancients and a notable tribute to the genius of Herodotus, to which again and again Mr. Thomson refers, refuting the popular impression of him as 'that of a credulous, garrulous ancient, a little given to lying'...In his survey of this old map, and of the various Greek legends which deal with distant unknown lands and people and with distant and forgotten civilisations such as that of Minoan Crete, Mr. Thomson throws much interesting light upon the great trade routes of the ancient world. The whole essay occupies under twenty pages; we have met stout volumes that told us less. The second essay treats of Thucydides, and is a remarkable character-study built up of the slenderest materials and the subtlest deductions from the great historian's most reticent reticencies. Yet it is extraordinarily convincing, and is a striking illustration of how very eloquent silence may be. The study also gives us a vivid description of the world in which the historian lived.
The two essays which follow take us in abrupt transition from the mind of the cultivated Greek to the mind of the countryside, from the life of the city and the camp to the life of the shepherds and farmers of ancient Greece. It is impossible to convey the charm of these papers, even in quotation, for each is a little work of art which must be read as a whole. The first treats of rural life, and especially of the life of the shepherds in the hills...Of the remaining papers, that on 'Greek Simplicity' is perhaps the best; it is certainly the most needed, for it explains in detail how very subtle Greek simplicity may be. Yet it is hardly possible to speak of 'best' in this regard. For all are best, and the studies of the 'Alcestis' of Euripides and of Lucretius, and the two papers on 'Translation' and on the springs of poetry, are in their way as excellent reading as any in the volume."
-"Outlook"
