These ancient scenes, considered as works of art, have no doubt many
faults, and yet how graphically they tell their story! As a matter of fact
a king is not, as a rule, bigger than his soldiers, but in these
battle-scenes he is always so represented. We must, however, remember that
in ancient warfare the greater part of the fighting was, as a matter of
fact, done by the chiefs. In this respect the Homeric poems resemble the
Assyrian and Egyptian representations. At any rate, we see at a glance
which is the king, which are officers, which side is victorious, the
struggles and sufferings of the wounded, the flight of the enemy, the city
of refuge--so that he who runs may read; while in modern battle-pictures
the story is much less clear, and, indeed, the untrained eye sees for some
time little but scarlet and smoke.
These works assuredly possess a grandeur and dignity of their own, even
though they have not the beauty of later art.
In Greece Art reached a perfection which has never been excelled, and it
was more appreciated than perhaps it has ever been since.
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