Barrows, Samuel J.: The isles and shrines of Greece (Boston, 1898)

THE

ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE

THE OLD GREECE AND THE NEW

There is a Greece of yesterday and a Greece of
to-day, and every Philhellene believes that there will
be a Greece of to-morrow. A country that has
emerged from so many catastrophes of history can-
not be easily extinguished in life, language, literature,
art, or in political aspiration.

Each one of these aspects of Greece is interesting
to me, and I find it difficult to separate them except
for chronological or historic purposes.

One cannot set foot upon Greek soil without
feeling the thrill of centuries of history. He is
brought into the inspiring presence of some of the
most perfect triumphs of art, or sees the ruder strug-
gles of a more primitive age seeking to realize that
which was to come. His imagination is kindled by
embers of tradition which still glow in the life and
thought of the people. The climate, the scenery, the
mountains, rivers, plains, and valleys of Greece have
been reflected in its literature, and furnish a beautiful
background for its history. It is a small theatre for
human action; but what a drama of war, art, politics,