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Classic
Tales of Ancient Greece
| Perhaps no
other stories
have ever been told so often or listened to with so much pleasure as
the
classic tales of ancient Greece. For many ages they have been a source
of delight to young people and old, to the ignorant and the learned, to
all who love to hear about and contemplate things mysterious,
beautiful,
and grand. They have become so incorporated into our language and
thought,
and so interwoven with our literature, that we could not do away with
them
now if we would. They are a portion of our heritage from the distant
past,
and they form perhaps as important a part of our intellectual life as
they
did of that of the people among whom they originated. |
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| That many
of these tales
should be read by children at an early age no intelligent person will
deny.
Sufficient reason for this is to be found in the real pleasure that
every
child derives from their perusal: and in the preparation of this volume
no other reason has been considered. I have here attempted to tell a
few
stories of Jupiter and his mighty company and of some of the old Greek
heroes, simply as stories, nothing more. I have carefully avoided every
suggestion of interpretation. Attempts at analysis and explanation will
always prove fatal to a child's appreciation and enjoyment of such
stories.
To inculcate the idea that these tales are merely descriptions of
certain
natural phenomena expressed in narrative and poetic form, is to deprive
them of their highest charm; it is like turning precious gold into
utilitarian
iron: it is changing a delightful romance into a dull scientific
treatise.
The wise teacher will take heed not to be guilty of such an error. |
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| It will be
observed that
while each of the stories in this volume is wholly independent of the
others
and may be read without any knowledge of those which precede it, there
is nevertheless a certain continuity from the first to the last, giving
to the collection a completeness like that of a single narrative. In
order
that the children of our own country and time may be the better able to
read these stories in the light in which they were narrated long ago, I
have told them in simple language, keeping the supernatural element as
far as possible in the background, and nowhere referring to Jupiter and
his mighty company as gods. I have hoped thus to free the narrative
still
more from everything that might detract from its interest simply as a
story. J.B.
(JAMES BALDWIN) |
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BACK
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