Jane Ellen Harrison

Introductory Studies in Greek Art Jane Ellen Harrison

In the following pages I have made no attempt to furnish an elementary handbook - not even to write an outline of the history of Greek Art. I have only tried to develope one thought, the consideration of which it seemed to me might rightly precede such an outline. We feel for Greek art something more than a historical interest; our desire to know of it is a want more imperative than any antiquarian curiosity. We naturally ask, Why? what is it that impels us to learn? why, when Egypt and Assyria and Phoenicia are dead, is Greece alone untouched by time, vital for ever? why from the contemplation of Greek art do we derive not merely an impression of the senses, but also a satisfaction that abides and an impulse to growth, moral and intellectual?