MkR

 

R.C.Jebb's Primer of Greek Literature . New Delhi : Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2003

Preface:

There is an old saying that art of tragedy died with the Greeks and even Shakespeare could not revive it. The entire European literature owes a great deal to the Greeks who were the first in the Western hemisphere to develop the literary forms such as epic, lyric and dramatic poetry, the chief types of prose such as historical, philosophical and oratorical, and we are so much used to these forms that we take them for granted, as something existing in the nature of things. Greek literature, though extremely fascinating in itself, is the ultimate source of all Western literatures. It is a highly rewarding and sustaining experience to enter the world of Greek literature with no less a person than Sir Richard C. Jebb, the profoundest Greek scholar of his time who may be said to hold the Greek literature in the palm of his hand.

The Primer of Greek Literature , originally published in 1877 is divided into three parts. The Part I introduces us to the early literature where Sir Jebb acquaints us his inimitably lucid style with the rational energy of the Greek who made reason the guide of their social life, the bearing of Greek thought on modern life, originality of Greek literature, the Greeks' insistence on form, and general course of Greek literature and its natural growth without having any models to follow and an account of the legendary bards like Orpheus. It is interesting to know that the name Orpheus is the Greek name for Indian Ribhu. Then the various kinds of poetry – epic, elegiac, iambic and lyric – are discussed with fine precision. The Part II focuses on the Attic literature where Sir Jebb takes us to the world of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides where the only law worked out both by the gods and the mortals is the law of righteousness. It shows how while Aeschylus is interested in the awful supernatural powers, Sophocles is essentially a dramatist of human character and Euripides brings us to the domestic world of man-woman relationships. In the second chapter of the same part Sir Jebb tells us about the rise of History and we learn a good deal about Herodotus, an intimate friend of Sophocles, Thucydides whom Sir Jebb considers the first philosopher of History, Xenophon and others. Since the development of Attic prose is seen most clearly in the history of Attic oratory, Sir Jebb offers a fine exposition of great orators like Antiphone, Lysias, Isocrates, Ideaus, Demosthenes, Lycurgus and others. In philosophy, we learn a great deal about the basic tenets of Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans and the Stoics. Part III of the book is concerned mainly with the literature of decadence, of the Alexandrian period and the Graeco-Roman period. Finally, Sir Jebb arrives at the intellectual conviction that from “ Rome , along with a noble literature, the modern world derives a continues tradition of law and government: from Greece it traces the ancient lineage and the still fresh inspirations of an intellectual and spiritual life.”

Any student of ancient European classics will find this book, a mine of information and the finest introduction to the world of the Greeks, extremely useful. And since Sir Jebb carries his scholarship lightly and never pedantic, anybody interested in Greek civilization and culture will also find this book quite interesting.