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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt:...is fairest still is dearest. Who hath 'scaped the turbulent sea, And reached the haven, happy he! Happy he whose toils are o'er, In the race of wealth and power! This one here, and that one there, Passes by, and everywhere Still expectant thousands over Thousand hopes are seen to hover. Some to mortals end in bliss; Some have already fled away: Happiness alone is his Who happy is to-day. During his long career Euripides won only five victories in tragic contests, and one of these was won after his death by posthumous plays brought out by his son. His plays were, however, popular even during his lifetime, if we may judge by the criticism directed against them by the comic poet Aristophanes, and after his death they attained the Popularity utmost popularity, though some critical writand relative ers considered them inferior to those of Sophexcellence. ocles. The large number of fragments preserved in the works of obher writers is due in great measure to this popularity, but also in part to the fact that Euripides puts into the mouths of his characters many epigrammatical sentences and much speculation on moral and philosophical subjects. He was therefore often quoted by philosophical and ethical writers. In modern times his works have been alternately excessively admired and decried. The plays of iEschylus and Sophocles which have come down to us appear to have been selected in later times as masterpieces, while those of Euripides seem to have been preserved, in part at least, by mere chance. Comparison between the three great tragedians on the basis of their extant works is therefore unjust to Euripides. Nevertheless, it is evident that Euripides has less grandeur, less religious inspiration, and less spontaneous lyric genius than either iEschylus...