The Greeks [antikvár]

THE GREEKS. 1. In undertaking to describe tlie Ufa of the Greeks in its distinct external appearance, we have first of all to direct our attention to the products of architecture. For of all the creations designed by man's ingenuity and executed by his hand, these produce the grandest and most powerful impression and give the most distinguishable character to the life of a nation. Originated by the free creative phantasy of naan, they have to serve at the same time certain purposes and demands of life. They therefore open a Tiew into the genius of their creators, giving at the same time a picture of the real existence in which these creators moved. If this is true of nations in general, it is particularly the case with the Greeks, because they were enabled and gifted more than any other nation to render the innermost nature of their genius in external works of art. It being the task of all investigations of antique Greece to make us understand the spirit and mode of thinking and living of this people, we shall scarcely be able to attain this aim without considering, together with the creations of their poetry and philosophy, with the legal institutions of the State and the doctrines of their religion, also the numerous and variegated productions of their architecture. In these, no less than in the others, Greek genius and Greek culture find their expression, with all the greater distinctness as these introduce us into the varied phases of real existence, and tend to show a distinct character common to all their difierent peculiarities. For whatever part of Greek life we may consider—^be it public acts of religion or social intercourse, public feasts and games, or the more quiet scenes of home and family—we find that for all these their ingenious mind has created works of architecture, which, through being regulated by these various demands, give