The Novelist (1870-1898)
the Greek original. Sue Bridehead not only indulges in the usual kind of criticism to which the Song of Solomon and its chapter-headings are usually treated, but also advocates the printing of the books of the New Testament in the order in which she conceives them to have been written, beginning with Romans, and putting the gospels much further on. Hardy is familiar not only with the books in the generally accepted canon of both Testaments, but also with the Apocrypha. Thus, one of the divisions of Jude is headed by an excerpt from the apocryphal Esther, and the rejected books of the New Testament, notably the Gospel of Nicodemus, are discussed by Sue. Even extra-Biblical religious literature, from the writings of the Church Fathers to those of Jeremy Taylor, Butler, Doddridge, Pusey, and Newman, must at some time or other have attracted his interest and attention.
It has often been pointed out that Hardy's work has much in common with that of the more austere of the ancient classical writers. Without following out the important and interesting analogies that suggest themselves in this connection, it might be well to discover first the actual extent of his acquaintance with the Greek and Latin languages and literatures. Although he was trained in Latin early in life, he picked up his Greek chiefly by his own efforts. At any rate, he displays a considerable first-hand knowledge of Greek, especially Greek tragedy, and, what is more uncommon, a genuine interest in it as well. Æschylus in particular exerted a permanent influence over his work; and this in spite of his
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