§ 4. Greek Prose Writers.
Before speaking of the Greek authors, it may be well to make a few observations of fundamental import. There is a difference between the study of Greek and of Latin, which seems to be well expressed in the "Prussian School Order" of 1892 and 1901. There we find as the object of studying Latin: "The understanding of the principal authors and logical training;" as the object of the study of Greek: "The understanding of the principal classical authors." A similar distinction was made centuries ago by the Jesuits. As early as 1669 Father Fabri wrote: "To write and to speak Greek is not necessary. An educated man must, according to the adage, speak Latin, understand Greek, and read Hebrew. Latine loquatur, Graece intelligent, Hebraice legat."[1] It is evident that the study of Greek contributes also to the logical training of the mind, but it ought not to be sought so directly as in Latin. The Latin language with its rigorous syntax seems to be better fitted for that purpose. It is different with Greek. In a former chapter,[2] we mentioned that Latin grammar was eminently logic, and its study a course of applied logic. "Greek on the other hand, might almost be called a course of aesthetics, by means of which we learn to distinguish a thousand gradations of meaning which our barbarous languages will not allow us to accentuate."[3] However, the principal object of the study of Greek is the
