this deliberate rejection of what is offered us as a blessing; but it is at least curious to note that the happy Greeks held much the same opinion. When the sons of Cydippe—those models of filial devotion—shamed not to yoke themselves like oxen to the cart, and with strong young arms to drag their mother to the feast of Hera, the ancient priestess begged of the dread goddess that she would grant them her best gift; and the prayer was answered, not with length of days, nor with the regal power and splendor promised of old to Paris, but with a boon more precious still than all.
"Whereat the statue from its jeweled eyes
Lightened, and thunder ran from cloud to cloud
In heaven, and the vast company was hushed.
But when they sought for Cleobis, behold,
He lay there still, and by his brother's side
Lay Biton, smiling through ambrosial curls,
And when the people touched them they were dead."[1]
It is hard to assert in the face of a narrative like this that the Greeks valued nothing as much as the mere delight of existence.
As for the favorite theory that Christianity is responsible for the weakening of earthly happiness, and that her ministers have system-
- ↑ The Sons of Cydippe, by Edmund Gosse.
