his work seems more akin to the romantic drama of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods than to the tragic masterpieces. I leave this hint to be developed by some one who is more intimate with 'Euripides the human' than I profess to be.
On some minute questions of interpretation and criticism, I have ventured to dissent from the high authority of Sir Richard Jebb. I 'join with all the world' in admiring the accuracy, brilliance, and completeness of his edition of Sophocles. But it will not surprise him that a former editor should not accept his judgment on every detail. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖστα ἀμέμπτως ἐποίησε· χαλεπὸν δ᾽ ἴσως πάντα.
In treating separately of the general subject, and of the several authors and their tragic dramas in particular, it was difficult to avoid some repetition. I trust to the reader's generosity to look indulgently on this and other imperfections.
Some portions of the present Essay have previously appeared in the 'Fortnightly' and 'National' Reviews, the 'Journal of Philology' and the 'Hibbert Journal.' My best acknowledgments are due to the proprietors and editors of these periodicals for the permission to republish which they have so readily accorded to me.
