Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/132

84 General History of Europe the will of the gods in all that happens to men. He exhorts his audience to worship Zeus, however dark the destiny which the great god lays upon men. For Sophocles is no friend of the Sophists, who scoff at the gods. 126. Euripides. Our citizen is inclined to distrust the new sensational plays of Euripides, who lives on the island of Salamis. He is a friend and companion of the Sophists, and in matters of religion his mind is troubled with doubts. All his plays are filled with these doubts regarding the gods. He has raised a great many questions which the citizen has never been able to banish from his own mind. Sophocles, therefore, suits all the old-fashioned folk, and it is very rarely that Euripides, in spite of his great ability, has been able to carry off the prize. The citizen feels some anxiety as he realizes that his own son and most of the other young men of his set are enthusiastic admirers of Euripides. They constantly read his plays and talk them over with the Sophists. 127. Comedy. The great tragedies were given in the morning, and in the afternoon the people were ready for less serious enter- tainment, such as comedy offered. From the old-time country festivals the comedy developed into a stage performance. The comedy-writers did not hesitate to introduce into their plays the greatest dignitaries of the State. Even Pericles was not spared, and great philosophers or serious-minded writers like Socrates and Euripides were represented on the stage and made irresistibly ridiculous, while the multitudes of Athens vented their delight in roars of laughter mingled with shouts and cheers. 128. Books and Reading. Now at last books had come to take an important place in the life of Athens. In our Athenian citizen's library were Homer and the works of the old classic poets. They were written on long rolls of papyrus as much as a hundred and fifty or sixty feet in length. Besides literary works, all sorts of books of instruction began to appear. The sculptors wrote of their art, and there was a large group of books on medi- cine bearing the name of Hippocrates. Textbooks on mathematics and rhetoric circulated, and the Athenian housekeeper could even find a cookbook at the bookshop.