Excerpt from Christ and the Heroes of Heathendom

The nearest approach among us to an ancient Greek drama is such a service of sacred song as Sabbath Schools and Bands of Hope sometimes give us. The resemblance would be almost complete if, instead of one reader of the narrative, we had three, four, or five actors reciting in theatrical style. The choir takes the place of the ancient chorus, who, with their choral hymn in strophes, antistrophes, and epodes, enlivened the narrative, and gave a musical expression to the devout ideas which it suggested.

Before the largest and most brilliant audience then on the earth, ranged on seats cut out of the sloping rock and open to the sky, and with all the appliances of the theatre, the creations of our poet were first given to the world. His aim was not to please the ear or the fancy, but to revive faith in God and increase the piety of the people, purifying their hearts by fear and pity. He completely believed in the truths he uttered. His themes were borrowed from the old mythology, which was to him a treasury of wisdom, and his impassioned earnestness, combined with the sublimity and daring of his ideas, led the ancients to believe that he was specially inspired of God. They called him 'a god-intoxicated genius.' With radiant clearness he brought forth the loftiest truths to which Heathendom had attained. He might be called the Milton of Greece, and also the greatest Puritan revival preacher of his age. He is the psalmist and theologian of the Hellenic faith. He is also the mightiest of the three mighties' of Greek poetry - the other two being Sophocles and Euripides. He is one of the world's most famous poets, and many believe that in his own department he is unequalled even by Shakspeare. Many of his ideas and phrases have been current coin among educated men for twenty-four centuries, and have laid hold of the imagination of the world. Shelley, Byron, and Swinburne are among his modern pupils, and both the Brownings are among his translators.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.