HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE, BY SIR THOMAS NOON TALFOURD, D.C.L., ONE OF THE JUSTICES OF HER MAJESTY'S COURT OF COMMON PLEAS; CHARLES JAMES BLOMFIELD, D.D., BISHOP OF LONDON; R. WHITCOMBE, Esq., M.A., TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; E. POCOCKE, Esq.; THE REV. J. B. OTTLEY, M.A., LATE FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD; AND THE REV. HENRY THOMPSON, M.A., LATE SCHOLAR OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 05-22 4215 Schulman. 514-42 ADVERTISEMENT. IN arranging the Historical division of this Encyclopædia for republication, we have to some extent departed from Mr. Coleridge's original intention "to present History in the form of Biography chronologically arranged." Instead of making the Historical and Biographical articles succeed each other strictly in the order of time, it has been considered expedient to arrange them in the order of their subjects-making the chronological principle subordinate to the philosophical. The advantage derived from this alteration is, that each of the small volumes of the Cabinet Edition of the Encyclopædia will present the reader with the complete history of a given subject, instead of a collection of disconnected chapters relating to the various events, persons, and subjects, of a given era. In pursuance of this plan, we have arranged the History of Classical Literature for publication in the following order : The present volume contains the History of Greek Literature. Another volume will contain the History of Roman Literature. These will be followed by volumes comprehending the History of Greek, Roman, and Oriental Philosophy,—the Arts and Sciences of the Ancients,-Mythology,-Archæology,-and Classical Geography;and these again by Biographical Histories of Greece, of Rome, and of the early Nations of the East. It is intended that each Series of classified articles shall be, not merely revised, but sufficiently extended to make it a complete representative of its department. The present volume, for example, contains not only the articles that appeared in the former edition of the Encyclopædia, now republished in an improved state, but several others that were found to be necessary to complete its subject. We do not use the word "complete" in its absolute sense. We do not profess to give a history of every Greek writer, nor even of every work of the writers who are introduced; neither do we in any case enter upon that minute verbal criticism which would be indispensable in a really complete History of Greek Literature. Such comprehensiveness is incompatible with the plan of an Encyclopædia. What we propose to achieve, in this and in each department, is, that degree of completeness which will suffice to afford the general reader, as well as the Classical student, a specific and succinct view of the main features of the subject. Thus, we have discussed the great divisions of Greek Literature, the pre-eminent writers in each division, and the most characteristic of their productions. We have endeavoured to place these particulars in the strongest light, while we have paid little or no attention to subjects and writers of minor importance, and to matters of verbal criticism. For the guidance, however, of those whose leisure and inclination lead them to a more thorough investigation of Greek literature, we have, in the foot notes and the additions to each Essay, indicated the sources of deeper information. There is yet a peculiarity of this Edition which demands a passing notice. It is, that the quotations from Classical and Oriental authors are accompanied by translations into English. The classical scholar may perhaps deem these unnecessary, but the general reader who consults an Encyclopædia for information will certainly find them useful, and we have considered it our duty to render the information contained in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana accessible to the widest possible circle of readers. The plan thus briefly sketched, as that on which the present volume has been prepared, will be pursued with the other Histories of this series, each of which will consequently present a concise, yet popular and comprehensive, account of the main objects in its department. London, May 1850. |