426
THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
remains, but one can believe that such a god could make the earth tremble. No.
75 ° 7 -
In the east pediment was represented the highest of themes—Zeus presenting to the Olympian deities his daughter, Pallas Athena, as the goddess of all that was exalted. The scope of the treatment of that theme has never been measured. It may be that to have adequate conception, one must have followed the shining history of the message of the celestial messenger, Iris; and if it be Demeter and Persephone to whom she heralds the new day of light and splendor that “ Helios ushered in ” to know the full purport of her announcement, one must have followed Demeter from the fields of grain to the “ stone of sorrows,” where she sat mourning the loss of her daughter, Persephone, must have rejoiced in the reunion of mother and child in the Elysian Fields—then one could believe that the message of Iris would close this symphony of life and death with a pean of resurrection to a life and union immortal. No. 7576.
So must we compass the cycle of the worship associated with the dominant one, if we would measurably conceive how much of the majesty of Zeus was represented in the new-born goddess Athena, as she shone in full splendor in the presence of the Olympian deities. At that time of lofty ideals, art was bestowing her rewards. There were sculptors who had striven to embody their highest conceptions, so when the master of masters, Phidias, began his w'ork he was not alone in worthiness to place in temples statues that seemed instinct with a Divine presence. They were found to be worthy to be co-laborers with Phidias. Nos. 7510, 7515, 7516, 7517 and 7518. See also 7580.
It can not be determined who made the two central statues of the west pediment of the Parthenon—Zeus and Athena—but it is known that the temple statue of Athena Parthenos was made by Phidias. It is also known that sublime as was the statue, it was transcended by the colossal statue made by Phidias for the temple at Olympia— the world renowned Jupiter Olympus, No. 7347. What was Phidias’ conception of Zeus? Such conception as was vouchsafed to any soul that, spurning all things that are earthly, walking in the light of what he believes to be the highest truth, seeks Him whom he believes to be the highest god. When asked how it was possible for him to produce that mighty work, Phidias replied that Homer had for him his ideal. I shall never believe that Homer’s conception of Zeus approached in moral purity and power that which Phidias’ lofty character enabled him to conceive.
In seeking the ways of the highest truth, Phidias found possibilities that enriched the domain of art forever. His standards were truths that are universal, immortal, divine; hence the benediction on his work was celestial beauty, moral grandeur, divine majesty. Not a fragment of his almost divine statue has ever been found. The burial place of this immortal artist is unknown, but he has found God, for he sought only truth, and all truth leads Godward.
Second Epoch. B. C. 370-330.
HIGHEST PERIOD OF ART CONTINUED. • ATTICA.
Changes had come to Attica. Beliefs had changed. The deities were now thought of as drawing near to men in pity and in sympathy. But ungrateful men, absorbed in pursuits of wealth or of pleasure, had lost the old fear and reverence for the gods. Beliefs having changed, ideals changed, art changed. It was a time of beauty, but of a beauty that lay in the way of pleasant going. The beliefs were not those of Phidias. The art was the art of Scopas and Praxiteles. We rejoice that this time of beauty came, for beauty in art, as in all things, “has its own excuse for being” and has its own reward. Nos. 7547 to 7550.
In this imperfect outlining of the development of Greek art, we have endeavored to note the race influences that have helped to determine art creations. We have been obliged to dwell too lightly upon the historic events that necessarily modified all