Excerpt from From Homer to Theocritus: A Manual of Greek Literature This volume aims to present a concise but complete survey of the Greek literature of the classical period, extended so as to include the two branches of poetry, the New Comedy and the Idyll, which were brought to perfection after the overthrow of Greek liberty by Alex ander. I have tried, so far as space would permit, to place in their proper setting each branch of literature and each author, keeping constantly in mind the course of development of the literature as a whole. Selections from representative English translations are quoted in connection with the principal authors, more extensively for the poets than for the writers of prose. It is hoped that this feature of the book will be found acceptable, both to the general reader who has not the time, even if he has the training and equipment, for comprehen sive readings in the Greek texts, and to the average student whose attainments in Greek are not sufliciently extensive to furnish an adequate background for the most profitable study of the ordinary manuals. In the choice of selections I have been guided mainly by my own judgment of the merits of existing translations, so taras they were known or accessible to me; but the determining consideration in many instances has been the accessibility of a translation to the general public. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.