Goethe and the Greeks

'The revolution that is going on in me is that which has taken place in every artist who has studied Nature long and diligently and now seeks the remains of the great spirit of antiquity; his soul wells up, he feels a transfiguration of himself from within, a feeling of freer life, higher existence, lightness and grace.' It is Mr Trevelyan's purpose, in this profoundly interesting book, to trace the course of this development in Goethe, to determine its extent, to test its sincerity. To this task he brings, not only a complete knowledge of Goethe's life and works and of classical literature, but also a fine critical sense which enables him to direct his detailed knowledge towards a philosophical conclusion.' So wrote Herbert Read in The Spectator in December 1941 on the first publication of Goethe and the Greeks. Trevalyan's account of Goethe's fascination with the Greeks, his striving to master their culture, his vision of Hellenic man, is judged not to have been supplanted by any later work in English. Professor Lloyd-Jones has written a substantial Foreword for this reissue of Trevelyan's book, giving his own assessment of Goethe's search for Hellenism and its influence on his work.