which we play our parts and work
out our destiny.

To the student of literature, who
strives not only to enjoy but to com-
prehend, tragedy brings all the mate-
rials for a deep and genuine education.
Instead of a philosophical or ethical
statement of principles, it offers living
illustration of ethical law as revealed
in the greatest deeds and the most
heroic experiences; it discloses the
secret of the age which created it, --
for in no other literary form are the
fundamental conceptions of a period
so deeply involved or so clearly set
forth. The very springs of Greek
character are uncovered in the Greek
tragedies; and the tremendous forces
liberated by the Renaissance are no-
where else so strikingly brought to
light as in that group of tragedies
which were produced in so many

[[225]]

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v?