Greek Poets

Excerpt from The Greek Poets: An Anthology The day has forever passed when any person can boast of taking all knowledge to be his province. Already, for the majority of the sons and daughters of men, an acquaintance with classic authors in the original is a hopeless impossibility; even the daily output of modern literature requires careful sifting, and it may be laid down as an axiom, that he reads most wisely who knows how to skip most judiciously. The book of extracts, though frequently scouted by the conservative, is for many an indispensable aid. As regards classical literature, the winnowing fan of Time has in a large measure performed this task. When it is remembered that out of all the vast mass of prose and verse that was produced during the palmy days of Hellenic civilization, scarcely more than six thousand lines remain as the product of a century and a half of the intensest productivity, that a multitude of those who were highly regarded in their own time, are now nothing more than a name, the extent of the loss may be easily appreciated. There would seem, then, to need no apology for a new compilation of extracts from the classical poets. Each one that is made takes a different view-point, represents a fresh example of individual taste. In some cases the totality of an ancient poet's legacy may be represented, and in them the difference will be found in the translation. There are several aspects of this question of translation. The poet must necessarily translate as a poet; the scholar, however admirable be his scholarship, unless he have the peculiar gift of the Muses, will fail to transcribe anything more than a mere literal reproduction of the words and the sense; that which gave the peculiar charm - the beauty of form - will have entirely disappeared. 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.