DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0178
STYLES BORROWED FROM EACH OTHER. 161
Even the almost unaltered names of some proclaim their
parentage; as the Greek Themis, derived from Thmei, the
Egyptian Goddess of Justice; and the steersman Charon, and
the judges of Hades—Minos aud HhaA-amanthus—show their
connection with the Amenti, or Hades of Egypt. (See above,
pp. 129, 131.)
When Greece first borrowed from the Egyptians, it was in
its infancy; and as in all times the dominant race has led
the fashion both in art and conventional customs, we are not
surprised to find an Egyptian element in the vases, and the
various creations of decorative taste, in Greece and Etruria, or
even in Assyria.
It is by watching the mode of adopting and modifying certain
features of taste they borrowed from others, that we under-
stand the process by which the Greeks improved on the pro-
ductions of other people less gifted than themselves; and how
their quick perception of the beautiful taught them to choose
what was worthy of adoption. This appreciation of the beau-
tiful, and the talent of adopting and adapting it, are merits
which modern aspirants to taste would do well to acquire, in-
stead of striving to obtain the merit of invention, and thinking
more of novelty than excellence. The mere consideration of
the rise and progress of different styles of architecture, as well
as of different arts, will suffice to show how much more is the
result of adaptation than of invention. Thus, as the Greeks
adopted certain architectural features from those of Egypt, the
Etruscans and llomans imitated the Greeks; the early Sara-
cens again copied simple Roman buildings, as they afterwards
borrowed from the richer Byzantine and Persian styles. Thus,
too, the pointed arch (the earliest instances of which are found
in a mosque at Cairo, dating a. d. 886), supposed to be a
Saracenic invention, will doubtless prove to be derived from
Even the almost unaltered names of some proclaim their
parentage; as the Greek Themis, derived from Thmei, the
Egyptian Goddess of Justice; and the steersman Charon, and
the judges of Hades—Minos aud HhaA-amanthus—show their
connection with the Amenti, or Hades of Egypt. (See above,
pp. 129, 131.)
When Greece first borrowed from the Egyptians, it was in
its infancy; and as in all times the dominant race has led
the fashion both in art and conventional customs, we are not
surprised to find an Egyptian element in the vases, and the
various creations of decorative taste, in Greece and Etruria, or
even in Assyria.
It is by watching the mode of adopting and modifying certain
features of taste they borrowed from others, that we under-
stand the process by which the Greeks improved on the pro-
ductions of other people less gifted than themselves; and how
their quick perception of the beautiful taught them to choose
what was worthy of adoption. This appreciation of the beau-
tiful, and the talent of adopting and adapting it, are merits
which modern aspirants to taste would do well to acquire, in-
stead of striving to obtain the merit of invention, and thinking
more of novelty than excellence. The mere consideration of
the rise and progress of different styles of architecture, as well
as of different arts, will suffice to show how much more is the
result of adaptation than of invention. Thus, as the Greeks
adopted certain architectural features from those of Egypt, the
Etruscans and llomans imitated the Greeks; the early Sara-
cens again copied simple Roman buildings, as they afterwards
borrowed from the richer Byzantine and Persian styles. Thus,
too, the pointed arch (the earliest instances of which are found
in a mosque at Cairo, dating a. d. 886), supposed to be a
Saracenic invention, will doubtless prove to be derived from