29. Q. How many chief dialects were there of the Greek language, and how were they created? A. There were three, created in part by differences of age, and in part by differences of country. 30. Q. In whose writings is the Ionic dialect exemplified, and how is it characterized? A. In the writings of Homer and Herodotus, and is characterized by fluent sweetness to the ear. 31. Q. In what dialect were the most of the greatest works in Greek literature composed? A. The Attic. 32. Q. What is said of the Attic dialect? A. It is the neatest, most cultivated and most elegant of all the varieties of Greek speech. 33. Q. To whom are the fables commonly attributed that are generally found in Greek readers? A. Æsop. 34. Q. When was Æsop born? A. About 620 B. C. 35. Q. What is said of the fables that go under his name? A. They are mainly the collection of a monk of the fourteenth century. 36. Q. What is said of the sources of the anecdotes found in Greek readers? A. They are culled from various sources, Plutarch, the biographer, furnishing his full share. 37. Q. Give the names of some of the eminent persons about whom anecdotes are usually related in these collections. A. Diogenes, Plato, Zeno, Solon, Alexander, and Philip of Macedon. 38. Q. What Greek writer of the second century after Christ is more or less quoted from in the ordinary Greek reader? A. Lucian. 39. Q. What famous dialogues did he write? A. Dialogues of the Dead. 40. Q. Of what have these dialogues been the original? A. Of several justly admired imitations. 41. Q. In what direction did Lucian exercise his wit? A. In ridiculing paganism. 42. Q. Mention some of the kinds of other matter that goes to make up the Greek reader. A. Bits of natural history and fragments of mythology. 43. Q. From what work of Xenophon do Greek readers often embrace extracts? A. His Memorabilia of Socrates. 44. Q. What was the design of this work? A. To vindicate the memory of Socrates from the charges of impiety and of corrupting influence exerted on the Athenian youth, under which he had suffered the penalty of death. 45. Q. What is the plan of the work? A. It is largely to relate what Socrates did actually teach. 46. Q. What work by a Christian writer does pagan Socrates in large part anticipate? A. “Natural Theology,” by Paley. 47. Q. Who was the wife of Socrates? A. Xanthippe. 48. Q. In what way has the fame of Socrates associated the name of Xanthippe with his own? A. As perhaps the most celebrated scold in the world. 49. Q. What was the chief characteristic trait of the method of Socrates in teaching? A. His art in asking questions. 50. Q. Why is it that Greek readers sometimes edit the text of their extracts from the authors who furnish the matter? A. Because they sometimes contain expressions such as a strict Christian, moral or æsthetic judgment would prefer to expunge. * * * * *