Greek Studies: A Series of Essays | Page 5

Persephone" was originally
prepared as two lectures, for delivery, in 1875, at the Birmingham and
Midland Institute. These lectures were published in the Fortnightly
Review, in Jan. and Feb. 1876. The "Study of Dionysus" appeared in
the same Review in Dec. 1876. "The Bacchanals of Euripides" must
have been written about the same time, as a sequel to the "Study of
Dionysus"; for, in 1878, Mr. Pater revised the four essays, with the
intention, apparently, of publishing them collectively in a volume, an
intention afterwards abandoned. [3] The text now printed has, except

that of "The Bacchanals," been taken from proofs then set up, further
corrected in manuscript. "The Bacchanals," written long before, was
not published until 1889, when it appeared in Macmillan's Magazine
for May. It was reprinted, without alteration, prefixed to Dr. Tyrrell's
edition of the Bacchae. "Hippolytus Veiled" first appeared in August
1889, in Macmillan's Magazine. It was afterwards rewritten, but with
only a few substantial alterations, in Mr. Pater's own hand, with a view,
probably, of republishing it with other essays. This last revise has been
followed in the text now printed.
The papers on Greek sculpture* are all that remain of a series which, if
Mr. Pater had lived, would, probably, have grown into a still more
important work. Such a work would have included one or more essays
on Phidias and the Parthenon, of which only a fragment, though an
important fragment, can be found amongst his papers; and it was to
have been prefaced by an Introduction to Greek Studies, only a page or
two of which was ever written.
[4] This is not the place to speak of Mr. Pater's private virtues, the
personal charm of his character, the brightness of his talk, the warmth
of his friendship, the devotion of his family life. But a few words may
be permitted on the value of the work by which he will be known to
those who never saw him.
Persons only superficially acquainted, or by hearsay, with his writings,
are apt to sum up his merits as a writer by saying that he was a master,
or a consummate master of style; but those who have really studied
what he wrote do not need to be told that his distinction does not lie in
his literary grace alone, his fastidious choice of language, his power of
word-painting, but in the depth and seriousness of his studies. That the
amount he has produced, in a literary life of thirty years, is not greater,
is one proof among many of the spirit in which he worked. His genius
was "an infinite capacity for taking pains." That delicacy of insight, that
gift of penetrating into the heart of things, that subtleness of
interpretation, which with him seems an instinct, is the outcome of hard,
patient, conscientious study. If he had chosen, he might, without
difficulty, have produced a far greater body of work of less value; and

from a worldly point of view, he would have been wise. Such was not
his understanding [5] of the use of his talents. Cui multum datum est,
multum quaeretur ab eo. Those who wish to understand the spirit in
which he worked, will find it in this volume. C.L.S.
Oct. 1894.
NOTES
2. *See p. 34.
2. *See p. 100.
2. *See pp. 220, 254.
3. *"The Beginnings of Greek Sculpture" was published in the
Fortnightly Review, Feb. and March 1880; "The Marbles of Aegina" in
the same Review in April. "The Age of Athletic Prizemen" was
published in the Contemporary Review in February of the present year.

A STUDY OF DIONYSUS: THE SPIRITUAL FORM OF FIRE AND
DEW
[9] WRITERS on mythology speak habitually of the religion of the
Greeks. In thus speaking, they are really using a misleading expression,
and should speak rather of religions; each race and class of Greeks--the
Dorians, the people of the coast, the fishers--having had a religion of its
own, conceived of the objects that came nearest to it and were most in
its thoughts, and the resulting usages and ideas never having come to
have a precisely harmonised system, after the analogy of some other
religions. The religion of Dionysus is the religion of people who pass
their lives among the vines. As the religion of Demeter carries us back
to the cornfields and farmsteads of Greece, and places us, in fancy,
among a primitive race, in the furrow and beside the granary; so the
religion of Dionysus carries us back to its vineyards, and is a
monument of the ways and thoughts of people whose days go by beside
the winepress, and [10] under the green and purple shadows, and whose

material happiness depends on the crop of grapes. For them the thought
of Dionysus and his circle, a little Olympus