Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/89

CHAPTER V PAGAN ELEMENTS CHRISTIANIZED IN THEIR TRANSMISSION The Life and Deeds of Alexander, the Trojan His- tory, and the Greek Romances afford illustrations of the manner in which classical narrative and imagi- nation sank to the level of mediaeval taste. The works of Capella and Boethius show the forms in which classical culture and philosophy were rendered con- genial to the coming centuries. The barbarized abridgments of the Roman Law show how that was brought within the comprehension and adapted to the circumstances of the transitional and early mediaeval periods, while the codification of Justinian remained above the needs and understanding of men until a later time. So far the antique elements remained clearly pagan. Quite as important were those which in the medium of their transmission were clothed in Christian phrase, or were more deeply altered in their combination with Christian thought or feeling. Cer- tain writings of Ambrose illustrate the use of stoical reasoning as a basis of Christian ethics. Synesius of Cyrene is an example of a man in whose mental composition pagan and Christian elements are mixed together yet do not unite ; in his writings Neo-plato- nism has scarcely donned Christianity. Dionysius the 71