DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9188#0018
12
The Lamps of Greek Art
storm. Apollo may be still radiate, combining human form
with the rays which proceed from the visible sun.
But these are only survivals, and do not affect the process,
carried on by artist after artist and school after school, by which
the gods absorbed ever more fully the qualities of the most
perfect manhood. Zeus, as father of gods and men, is an
idealization of the human father, combining justice and dignity
with benevolence and kindness; Athena becomes the embodi-
ment of the divine reason and wisdom, perhaps the most
fully idealized of all the forms of the gods, since this armed and
victorious virgin with wisdom seated on her brow had little
in common with the secluded and domestic women of her city
of Athens. Apollo has not the muscles of the trained athlete,
but in his nobleness of countenance and perfect symmetry
of shape, he stands for all that a young man might grow
towards by self-restraint and aspiration. At a somewhat lower
level Herakles bears the form of the wrestler, admirably
proportioned but more powerful than even the greatest of
athletes; Hermes is the ideal runner, every muscle adapted
to swift and lithe movements.
Thus in the types of the gods which were produced when
Greek art was at its best we have a series of supermen and super-
women who represent the highest and best to which mortals
can hope to attain, types embodying the highest perfection of
body and mind. The influence of those types has gone on from
century to century, never in the darkest ages wholly forgotten,
and serving at all times to redeem human nature from foulness
and degradation. All through the history of art they have
been acting as a raising and purifying element.
It was not until the decay of the Olympic religion in the
fourth century that these types fell to a lower level. The sense
of beauty in the artist remained as keen as ever, the technique
of art even improved, but the religion of humanism was debased
by less noble tendencies, and the gods took on too much not
The Lamps of Greek Art
storm. Apollo may be still radiate, combining human form
with the rays which proceed from the visible sun.
But these are only survivals, and do not affect the process,
carried on by artist after artist and school after school, by which
the gods absorbed ever more fully the qualities of the most
perfect manhood. Zeus, as father of gods and men, is an
idealization of the human father, combining justice and dignity
with benevolence and kindness; Athena becomes the embodi-
ment of the divine reason and wisdom, perhaps the most
fully idealized of all the forms of the gods, since this armed and
victorious virgin with wisdom seated on her brow had little
in common with the secluded and domestic women of her city
of Athens. Apollo has not the muscles of the trained athlete,
but in his nobleness of countenance and perfect symmetry
of shape, he stands for all that a young man might grow
towards by self-restraint and aspiration. At a somewhat lower
level Herakles bears the form of the wrestler, admirably
proportioned but more powerful than even the greatest of
athletes; Hermes is the ideal runner, every muscle adapted
to swift and lithe movements.
Thus in the types of the gods which were produced when
Greek art was at its best we have a series of supermen and super-
women who represent the highest and best to which mortals
can hope to attain, types embodying the highest perfection of
body and mind. The influence of those types has gone on from
century to century, never in the darkest ages wholly forgotten,
and serving at all times to redeem human nature from foulness
and degradation. All through the history of art they have
been acting as a raising and purifying element.
It was not until the decay of the Olympic religion in the
fourth century that these types fell to a lower level. The sense
of beauty in the artist remained as keen as ever, the technique
of art even improved, but the religion of humanism was debased
by less noble tendencies, and the gods took on too much not