1 OCTOBER 1910, Page 25

Religion and Art in Ancient Greece. By Ernest A. Gardner.

(Harper and Brothers. 2s. 6d. net.)—This is one of the " Harper's Library of Living Thought" Series, and contains an admirable summary of expert judgments and opinions on the subject. Here is an excellent example. It seems strange that the best-informed persons are often in doubt -whether this or that statue represents an athlete or a god. Why ? " Not," says Professor Gardner, " because the Greeks at this time idealised their athletes ncr because they humanised their gods, but because they typified them both." We cannot accept all Professor Gardner's conclusions as to the religious side of his subject. To us religion means in the end the supreme help to good conduct; the Greek had no idea of the kind, and his art did not help him in the least in getting it.