Dr. Paul Shorey '78, Ph.D., LL.D., professor of Greek at the University of Chicago delivered the last of the Lane lectures on "Life and Letters at Athens" last evening.
The lecture dealt with the period in Athenian history from Aristophanes to Menander and sketched the literary transition from the fifth to the fourth centuries. As opposed to the Periclean age when man was the pre-eminent personage in Athenian life, woman now begins to occupy the place of prominence. Though the empire was destroyed, Athens still continued to be the capital of the literary life of the age. In her decadence Athens produced more than any other city in its prime. The age was essentially one of prose, reaching the zenith of its development in Plato. Menander produced remarkable comedies, treating of real life, character and personality, and from his plays most of the literature of today is directly or indirectly derived. In concluding, Professor Shorey stated that the lectures were intended to give personal glimpses of the centuries of Greek life.
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