Questions to arouse interest. What nationality is represented in this picture? Why do you think so? To what are they listening? What do their expressions indicate their feelings to be? What musical instruments do you see in the picture? From the picture, would you say that the people are outdoors or indoors? why?

The story of the picture. Let us imagine ourselves in that great walled-in city of Athens at the time of its greatest prosperity (fourth century B.C.). At whatever gate we enter—and there are many of them—our attention will be drawn toward the high, steep hill called the Acropolis, around which the city is built. We may reach the top of this hill in a chariot driven over a road of marble, or climb the marble steps, entering the magnificent gateway where we find many beautiful statues, temples, and altars. From this height we obtain a fine view of the city, the sea, other small hills, temples, and flat-roofed houses. As we look about us, we are surprised at the absence of spires or towers. There are no high towers or tall buildings. Most of the houses we see are one-story. The reason for this, it is said, is the frequency of earthquakes. The exterior of the houses is very plain. They are built of common stone, brick, or wood, coated with plaster, and so close to the street that if the door opens outward, the owner is compelled to knock before opening it in order to avoid injuring the passer-by in the street. There are no windows on the lower floor at the front of the house.

Beside the door is a statue of Hermes (god of highways, doorways, and boundaries and the bringer of good luck), or an altar to Apollo (god of light and the sun, and the protector from all evil); and over the door we may notice an inscription such as “To the good genius,” followed by the name of the master of the house. We raise the handle of the great knocker, and scarcely has the sound echoed back to us when the door is opened by the porter. We must be careful to step in with our right foot first, as it is considered unlucky to cross the threshold with the left foot. A long corridor or hall leads us to the open court, where all is as beautiful as the exterior is plain. Usually a fountain and flowers brighten the marble court, while on each side of it are the banqueting, music, sitting, and sleeping rooms, picture galleries, and libraries.

But the Greeks spent so much time out of doors that a house was to them only a safe place for their families and their property—a shelter from storm. Most of the houses had porticoes or porches, and often the second story consisted of nothing but these porches around the open court. The flat tiled roofs were used as promenades.

Probably the Greeks in our picture are seated on one of these porches, or they may be in one of the summer pavilions which so many wealthy Greeks had erected in their yards or grassy plots back of the house. Here they spent their afternoons and were entertained with music or by the tales of wandering minstrels or readers.

The scene in the picture is represented as if it were in the open air; the column and stone wall behind the reader suggest a part of a house. In the distance we catch a glimpse of the blue sea. The slightly raised seat of the reader indicates that it is a place built expressly for this purpose.

Before the Greeks wrote their stories it was the custom of certain bards or readers to go about from place to place singing or reciting the stories of events which have made their national history. Even when the stories were written, these bards were in great favor, for the Greeks preferred to hear the music of verse recited, and to feel the thrill of enthusiasm which could be aroused by the human voice, and not by a lifeless tablet or book.

The swaying form of the reader, his rapt expression, his flashing eye, his musical voice rising and falling like the sea,—these were the result of inspiration and had power to arouse men to noble actions. In our picture we see such a reader giving an interpretation or reading, much as our best elocutionists do now. In his hand he holds a long scroll from which he reads.

The Greeks used the Egyptian papyrus, and later the more expensive, but finer, parchment, to write upon. The reed pen was used, and double inkstands for black and red ink, which could be fastened to the belts or girdles of the writers. In libraries, the scrolls were arranged on shelves with the ends outward, or in pigeon holes. The reader unrolled one end of the scroll with one hand, while with the other he rolled up the part he had read.

Of all the Greek stories none were more fascinating than those of the immortal Homer. According to tradition, Homer was a schoolmaster who, growing tired of teaching, began to travel. Wandering about from place to place, he finally became blind. After this great affliction came upon him, he returned to his native town, where he dictated his two great poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Afterwards he wandered about from town to town, singing them, and adding to them as inspiration came. It is not even known where he was born, but, according to an old Greek epigram,

He was a beggar, and yet he was a welcome guest at every home, for he could play upon his four-stringed harp and sing of the wonderful deeds of the Greek gods and heroes.

The subject of Homer’s Iliad is the story of the siege of Troy. In a contest between Aphrodite (Venus) and two other goddesses, Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, had promised Paris, son of the King of Troy, that if he would declare her the most beautiful of the goddesses he should have for his wife the handsomest woman of his time, Helen, wife of the King of Sparta. Paris granted her request and, going to Sparta, with Aphrodite’s aid he carried off Helen to Troy.

Of course her husband, the King of Sparta, objected. He appealed to all the Grecian princes to help him, and soon a hundred thousand men sailed away in eleven hundred and eighty-six ships across the Ægean Sea, and camped before the walls of Troy. The siege lasted ten years.

Troy was finally taken by stratagem. The Greeks pretended to abandon the siege, leaving behind them a great wooden horse as an offering to Athena (Minerva), goddess of wisdom, and the special defender of citadels.

The Trojans could not find out their reason for building the monster; but while they were talking about it and gazing at it some shepherds brought into the town a young Greek named Sinon, whom they had captured. He told a pitiful story. He said the Greek leader hated him, and had induced the Greek soothsayer to declare that he must be put to death as a sacrifice for their safe return to Greece. He had escaped, and hidden in a swamp until the Greeks had gone.

The Trojans were ready to be kind to any man whom the Greeks hated, and he was set free at once.

“But tell us,” said the king, “why that monster of a horse was built.”

Sinon declared it was a sacrifice to Athena because she was angry with them. He said, “It was made too large to pass through your gates, for they knew that if it was once within your walls it would protect you, and victory would come to you instead of to the Greeks.”

The Trojans believed every word of this, and ordered the huge horse brought within their city, even though they were obliged to take down part of the wall in order to make the opening large enough. That night the treacherous Sinon opened a door in the body of the horse and let out the armed Greeks who were hidden inside. They quietly slipped to the ground by means of a rope, killed the watchmen, and opened the gates to the Greek army which had returned and was waiting outside. A terrible battle followed, in which nearly all the Trojans were killed. Helen was taken back to Greece.

In Homer’s Odyssey he tells the adventures of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, during the return journey from Troy. Ulysses had been one of the bravest of the Greek leaders, and was one of the heroes concealed in the wooden horse. The poem is full of vivid description and noble sentiments, both pathetic and sublime, and it stirred the hearts of the Greeks with pride and joy.

It is easy to see the interest in the faces of the listeners in the picture. Partly robed in a rose-colored garment, the reader sits on a chair of marble, holding on his knees a roll of papyrus, from which he is reading to a group of four persons before him. A wreath of bay leaves crowns his head, and as he leans forward his face expresses enthusiasm while he tells the thrilling adventures of the hero of Homer’s story.

In the center of the background we see a woman. On her hair is a crown of daffodils, and in her left hand something resembling a tambourine. She half sits, half reclines, on a marble bench, a resting place which the Greeks always preferred to chairs. On the floor near her, in an attitude of careless ease, sits a young man who is very likely her lover, since he is holding her hand. His face expresses his interest in the story. In his right hand he holds a lyre, which suggests that the company has been listening to music, and that they will enjoy it again after this recital.

How intent their faces are as they follow in imagination all the adventures of their sturdy ancestors! Near the center of the picture and stretched out gracefully on the marble floor is a youth who appears anxious not to lose one word of the story. At the left we see a man standing. He wears a crown of flowers on his head, and wraps his long cloak closely about him. His face is wild and sad. His appearance seems to tell that he has duties elsewhere and ought to leave, but is being held by the story.

The people are all dressed in typical Greek costumes. The dress of Greek men and women was very much alike. When they appeared on the streets they wore a cloak which consisted of a large square piece of cloth so wrapped about them as to leave only the right arm free. It required much skill to drape it gracefully, and the manner in which this was done decided the taste and elegance of the wearer. The women and men of the higher classes wore what they called a chiton, or dress which consisted of two short pieces of cloth sewed or clasped together and fastened over the shoulder, leaving open spaces for the arms. It was fastened at the waist with a girdle. A man usually wore this chiton, although he was considered fully dressed in the cloak alone. It was the lower classes who wore the tanned skins, so the young man lying on the floor is probably a servant.

A touch of bright color is added to this picture by the flowers in the girl’s hair and those scattered on the bench beside her.

The flesh painting in this picture is claimed to be the most perfect that Alma-Tadema ever did, and the painting of the girl and her lover, one of his highest efforts. The reader is the center of interest in the picture. The light, the lines, and the position of the figures make this apparent.

The painting of these five large figures occupied the artist only eight weeks, but the preliminary studies before he began painting took eight months.

Alma-Tadema excelled in his painting of marble, and this picture gave him every opportunity to display his genius, since nearly the entire background is of marble. The delicate colors of the young girl’s costume, with the few bright touches of color in the flowers; the darker, richer colors of the men’s cloaks; and back of it all the clear opalescent colors of marble and the deep blue of the sea beyond give the picture a distinctive beauty which is most pleasing to the eye. A close student of Greek history, Alma-Tadema has been particular to see that every little detail is in harmony, and consistent with the age and country.

Questions to help the pupil understand the picture. What is the center of interest in this picture? What lines in the picture direct your eye to the reader? How does the light do this? the position of the figures? Tell something of Greek life; of Homer; of the siege of Troy. Why did it take the artist eight months to get ready to paint this picture?

To the Teacher: Each pupil may be asked to draw one Greek ornament from some history, encyclopedia, or dictionary.

The story of the artist. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, of Dutch parentage, was born in the little village of Dronrijp near Leewarden, the Netherlands, in the year 1836. When he was very young his father died, leaving his mother with a large family and small means, and it was decided from the first that Alma-Tadema must learn a good trade or profession. His progress at school caused his mother much anxiety, for the boy cared for nothing except Roman history, which he began to study by himself. Having secured some quaint old coins in the neighborhood, he spent much of his time copying the heads of the emperors on the coins.

He soon began to show remarkable talent for painting. A portrait which he painted of his sister was exhibited when he was only fifteen years old. But his mother wished him to become a lawyer, because she felt it would bring the best financial returns. He tried to please her, but a serious illness was the result. When the doctor advised the mother to let him become an artist she gave her consent, and it is said the boy recovered with astonishing rapidity.

He studied at Antwerp many years, winning such success that he sent for his mother and sister to come to live with him. Then he began to make a special study of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. After his marriage to an English lady he moved to London, where he lived the rest of his life.

His love for marble and the polished surfaces of bronze, gold, and other metals is clearly shown in most of his pictures. Even his portraits usually represent the sitter as glancing in a mirror or in some way reflected in it.

Perhaps no other artist has ever made so much use of flowers in his pictures. The flowers seem to add the one touch of bright color which beautifies the whole picture.

Alma-Tadema gives us a clear understanding of the home life of the Greeks and Romans, and so has become known as the “Painter of the Ancients.”

Alma-Tadema became a British subject in 1873. His home in St. Johns Wood, in the northwest part of London, is described as a most interesting place. The first glimpse of it, seen through the trees, shows the gilded weather vane in the form of a palette; later, the stone pillars of the Roman porch. In all its details the house is carefully and beautifully furnished: the brass knocker on the door, the entrance into a sort of sun parlor paved with tiles and bright with beautiful flowers, and the sound of a fountain near at hand. A flight of marble steps leads to a hall in which beautiful painted panels (the gifts of friends) are the chief decoration. Great tiger skins cover the floor.

Mrs. Tadema also is an artist, and has her studio on this floor. In her studio and the living rooms she has given full sway to her own fancy for the sixteenth-century old Dutch, most of their contents having been brought from the Netherlands. Alma-Tadema’s taste is purely classical, and his studio is consistent in all respects—marble pillars, carved wood-work, chairs, and cushions. Here he lived and worked with this motto before him:

Questions about the artist. Of what nationality was the artist? Why was his mother so anxious to have him learn a trade or profession? What did he like to study? What picture did he exhibit when he was fifteen years old? What prevented his becoming a lawyer? What countries did he prefer to represent? What materials did he excel in painting? For what has he become famous?