The quality of repose, so constantly associated with Greek sculpture, is another characteristic which varies with the period and the individual sculptor. Between the calm dignity of the portrait statue of Sophocles and the intense muscular concentration of Myron's Discobolus, a long range of degrees may be included. Yet on the whole, repose is an essential characteristic of the best Greek sculpture, provided we do not let our notion of repose exclude the spirited element. Fine as is the effect of repose in the Parthenon frieze, the composition is likewise full of spirit and life. A distinguishing characteristic of the best Greek sculpture is its simplicity. Compared with the Gothic sculptors, the Greeks appear to us, in Ruskin's phrase, as the "masters of all that was grand, simple, wise and tenderly human, opposed to the pettiness of the toys of the rest of mankind." Their work is free from that "vain and mean decoration"--the "weak and monstrous error"--which disfigures the art of other peoples. As we turn from one Greek marble to another in the great sculpture galleries of the world, the best features of the art impress themselves deeply even upon the untutored eye. The Greek instinct for pose is unfailing and unsurpassable. Standing or seated, the attitude is always graceful, the lines are always fine. The best statues are equally well composed, viewed from any standpoint. The camera may describe a circumference about a marble as a centre, and a photograph made at any point in the circle will show lines of rhythm and beauty. The faultless regularity of the Greek profile has passed into history as the accepted standard of human beauty. The straight continuous line of brow and nose, the well moulded chin, the full lip, the small ear, satisfy perfectly our æsthetic ideals. The art of sculpture was an essential outgrowth of the Greek spirit, and perfectly suited the requirements of Greek thought. In the words of a recent writer, "it was the consummate expression in art of the genius of a nation which worshiped physical perfection as the gift of the immortals, which honored the gods by athletic games and choral dances, and whose deities wore the flesh and shared the nature of men."[2] It was moreover a national art, entering into every phase of public life, and embodying the Greek sense of national greatness. [2] From _Italian Cities_, by E. H. and E. W. Blashfield. Greek sculpture can be sympathetically understood only by catching something of the spirit which produced it. One must shake off the centuries and regard life with the childlike simplicity of the young world: one must give imagination free rein. The same attitude of mind which can enjoy Greek mythology and Greek literature is the proper attitude for the enjoyment of Greek sculpture. The best interpreter of a nation's art is the nation's poetry. II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE.