Fairbanks, Arthur: Greek art: the basis of later European art (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1933)

THE SPIRIT OF GREEK ART
in the practical arts. Yet the Greeks as a race
were not fickle, because of their clear vision for
what was good and the tenacity with which
they held on to each new achievement when
once it met their approval. The “ Works and
Days ” of Hesiod, that mass of practical and
curious lore, is an early example of the investi-
gating mind in the natural world. But it is in
the drama that one sees at its best this eager-
ness to know the world here, the human world
in all its rich values; for all of Athens shared
with enthusiasm the dramatist’s study of man’s
passions and failures and successes, of the fate
which he could not escape but which he could
meet with courage. In philosophy the contrast
with India is striking. Indian philosophy is
the product of introspection and meditation,
while Greek thinkers were alive to every new
experience in their effort to understand the
world, its significance and its values. In fact
every phase of mental activity was an adven-
ture, eagerly pursued by this restless-minded
people.
Men have often asked what would have been
the result for the world if the Persians had
been victorious at Salamis and Plataea, and if
Greece proper had thus been made a province
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