The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . rts. The Greeks knew little ofsuch things. It is nonetoo easy for us to reallypicture a world withoutrailways, or telegraphs, orelectric lights, or gas, orcoal, or refrigerator carsto bring to our breakfasttable the fruits of distantlands. But, to make theGreek world at all real tous, we must peel off fromour world much more thanthis. We must think ofeven the best houses with-out plumbing — or drainsof any sort; beds with-out sheets or springs;rooms without fire; travel-ing without bridges; shoeswithout stockings; clotheswithout buttons, o
The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . rts. The Greeks knew little ofsuch things. It is nonetoo easy for us to reallypicture a world withoutrailways, or telegraphs, orelectric lights, or gas, orcoal, or refrigerator carsto bring to our breakfasttable the fruits of distantlands. But, to make theGreek world at all real tous, we must peel off fromour world much more thanthis. We must think ofeven the best houses with-out plumbing — or drainsof any sort; beds with-out sheets or springs;rooms without fire; travel-ing without bridges; shoeswithout stockings; clotheswithout buttons, or even ahook and eye. The Greek had to tell time without a watch,and to cross seas without a compass. He was civilized with-out being what we should call comfortable. But, perhapsall the more, he felt keenly the beauty of sky and hill andtemple and statue and the human form.^ 1 Myron was a contemporary of Phidias. He excelled in representing thehuman body in action. 2 This passage is mostly condensed from a paragraph in Zimmerns The Disk Now in the Vatican. [§231 MORAL IDEALS 227 In one most important respect, however, this lack of con-trol over nature was a serious lack. Without modern scien-tific knowledge, and modern machinery, it has never beenpossible for man to produce wealth fast enough so that manycould take sufficient leisure for refined and graceful with us, this ability is so new that we have not yetlearned how to divide the new wealth properly; but we feelsure that it is going to bedone. With the Greeks, itcould not be done. Therewas too little to go civilization of thefew rested necessarily uponslavery. This third limi-tation (c) was the cause ofthe first (a). 231. The moral side ofGreek culture falls some-what short of the in-tellectual side. The tworeligions, of the clau andof the Olympian gods, bothkept their hold upon thefaith of most Athenianseven in the age of had much to dow
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