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UNIVERSITY COURIER.
UNIVERSITY COURIER A Monthly Publication Devoted to the Interests of the
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY.
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CARRIE M. WATSON, 77,
W. E. STEVENS, 79,
SCOTT HOPKINS, '81,
R. W. E. TWITCHELL, '81
H. C. BURNETT, Editor.
Asst. Editors.
H. H. JENKINS, Business Manager.
Address UNIVERSITY COURIER.
THE GREEK DEITIES.
More is known to-day of the primitive home of the Greeks than the wisest knew in an age when Greece monopolized the culture of the world. As the years multiply, facts are gathered together and discoveries made, which, though trifling in and of themselves, when united and seen in right relation to each other, throw a few rays of light far back into an age that seemingly had long ago locked its history forever from the knowledge of men. The comparative study of languages has been the best source from which to obtain something of knowledge of the childhood of a race whose manhood was the world's wonder. It is generally conceded that the Greeks came from Central Asia, and were one of those successive waves of humanity that moved westward to people Europe.
When a people first become known to history, one of the things always looked for with interest is their religion. The religious history of the Greeks is in itself a fruitful and, we believe, profitable subject of study. It is at least probable that the Greeks first worshiped the unnamed and impersonal powers of nature. That worship was rude and largely prompted by fear. History has done much to establish the plausibility of the theory that a peoples' ideas of deity are the outgrowth of their surroundings. If this theory be true, the reason for the worship of these impersonal powers of nature is evident. In Central Asia, the primitive home of this people, great mountain chains extend away beyond the view; rivers rise in a temperate clime, run over table lands and plains, and are lost in the seas of the torrid zone; vast plains stretch away in the distance beyond the vision and seemingly boundless. The very surroundings hold forth the idea of immensity, for apparently they have no limit, and the first vague conceptions of deity, by the people in such a land, would take the form of vast generalizations and forces.
But how different the surroundings of this people after they reached the little peninsula of Greece. Here the land is bounded close and clear by seas, gulfs and bays: small, fertile valleys are shut in by mountains, and the latter, never very high, rise perfectly defined in the clear atmosphere. Nothing boundless, but everything clear and well defined. The very surroundings would, in the lapse of ages, lead the susceptible Greek mind to personify its deities—to define more clearly those unnamed and impersonal powers worshiped in the infancy of the race. The contest between man and nature lost much of its bitterness, for the valleys were fruitful, the scenery beautiful, and fair islands were held embosomed in the waters of a tranquil sea. Nature was no longer an enemy but
an ally. Friend met friend. No fearful restraining hand here, but a benefactor ready both to assist and reward. When the Greek genius fell into harmony with these environments, that people experienced a rapid intellectual growth. Then, too, the vague, abstract powers of nature were transformed into immortal men and women. The mountains, valleys, sea and air were filled with these supernatural powers. Gods and goddesses were everywhere. None were too poor to have a patron deity to do them favors; and as these deities were brought down and humanized, the people were lifted up.
As the Hellenic mind grew more keen and questioning, it inquired into the reality of the existence of these gods and goddesses of its own creation. Protagoras said: "Whether there are gods or not we cannot say, and life is too short to find out." The age of skepticism came, and the polytheists could not stop the tide that wrecked their religion. The Greeks discovered that the Gods lived only in their imaginations, and they were delighted with their own keenness in making the discovery.
Socrates and Plato tried to take advantage of this utter downfall of the gods, which they saw was sure, and build up a system of ethics, but only a rare few could find it in themselves to even attempt to live the morals of these teachers. It was not long before there were about as many religions as individuals and not a single common center of belief around which to rally. Greece was without a religion, and could aptly be called the "Land of lost Gods."
TROUBLESOME STUDENTS.
European Universities are the very hot-beds of free thought and liberal and socialistic ideas. Students over there do not hesitate to search into the "whys and wherefores" of the existing authorities of government. They have a desire to know from what source the "powers that be" derive their authority, and this inquiry is pursued with so much zest and thoroughness that even kings and czars are troubled. Russia has long been considered a country renowned for its vastness and the dense ignorance of its masses. Russia has a large surplus of brute force and a moderate amount of culture. But what of the latter there is has been making itself known in a turbulent way. A crude form of culture it may be, but it is filled with the promise of a better form. Russian students have carried their doctrines and lives so far in opposition to the existing order of things that the government has interfered even to the extent of closing some of the Universities. The students of the University of Keiffe put their protest in the form of a riot, disarmed the police, and even engaged in a fight with the local militia, wherein eighty persons were reported killed and wounded. This way of discussing problems of government is more vigorous than praiseworthy, and the students for the time being will probably get the worst of it; but it points to a time when even Russia will be governed by her own people, rather than an arbitrary power that derives its authority from circumstance.
Our own country is farther along toward solving the problem of just government than any other nation upon earth, and that the result is looked for with intense interest by the people of Europe cannot be doubted. The United States has in her hands, in a great measure, the destinies of Europe. If a government by the people here is successful, European nations will not be long in attempting it, and the result will be such a tumbling of thrones as the world never before witnessed.