THE ATTITUDE OF
THE GREEK TRAGEDIANS
TOWARD ART
The many-sidedness of Euripides is sure to
strike the reader with unusual force if he comes
to him just after the study of Aischylos and
Sophokles. While the two older tragedians
remained true to the tragic muse and to the
worship of Dionysos, the youngest member of
the great triumvirate took to philosophy, rhetoric,
and politics. He was, in short, a man of the
world, whose last thought probably was the god
at whose festivals his tragedies were presented.
The result of all this is that Euripides serves
as a sort of mirror in which one may see the
complexity of the elements in Athenian life, and,
as he was from first to last a true patriot who
was deeply interested in every step of Athens'
b
THE GREEK TRAGEDIANS
TOWARD ART
The many-sidedness of Euripides is sure to
strike the reader with unusual force if he comes
to him just after the study of Aischylos and
Sophokles. While the two older tragedians
remained true to the tragic muse and to the
worship of Dionysos, the youngest member of
the great triumvirate took to philosophy, rhetoric,
and politics. He was, in short, a man of the
world, whose last thought probably was the god
at whose festivals his tragedies were presented.
The result of all this is that Euripides serves
as a sort of mirror in which one may see the
complexity of the elements in Athenian life, and,
as he was from first to last a true patriot who
was deeply interested in every step of Athens'
b