* * * * *

But do thou, O Zeus, all-bestower, cloud-compeller! 
Ruler of thunder! guard men from sad error. 
Father! dispel the clouds of the soul, and let us follow
The laws of thy great and just reign! 
That we may be honored, let us honor thee again,
Chanting thy great deeds, as is proper for mortals. 
For nothing can be better for gods or men
Than to adore with perpetual hymns the law common to all.

The result of our investigation thus far is, that beside all the polytheistic and anthropomorphic tendencies of the old religion, there yet lingered a faith in one supreme God, ruler of all things.  This is the general opinion of the best writers.  For example, Welcker thus speaks of the original substance of Greek religion:[239]—­

“In the remotest period of Greek antiquity, we meet the words [Greek:  theos] and [Greek:  daimon], and the names [Greek:  Zeos] and [Greek:  Kronion]; anything older than which is not to be found in this religion.  Accordingly, the gods of these tribes were from the first generally, if not universally, heavenly and spiritual beings.  Zeus was the immortal king of heaven, in opposition to everything visible and temporal.  This affords us a permanent background of universal ideas, behind all special conceptions or local appellations.  We recognize as present in the beginnings of Greek history the highest mental aspirations belonging to man.  We can thus avoid the mistaken doubts concerning this religion, which came from the influence of the subsequent manifestations, going back to the deep root from which they have sprung.  The Divine Spirit has always been manifested in the feelings even of the most uncultivated peoples.  Afterwards, in trying to bring this feeling into distinct consciousness, the various childish conceptions and imperfect views of religious things arise.”

Sec. 5.  The Gods of the Artists.

The artists, following the poets, developed still further the divinely human character of the gods.  The architects of the temples gave, in their pure and harmonious forms, the conception of religious beauty and majesty.  Standing in some open elevated position, their snowy surface bathed in sunshine, they stood in serene strength, the types of a bright and joyful religion.  A superstitious worship seeks caves and darkness; the noble majesty of the Greek temples said plainly that they belonged to a religion of light and peace.

The sculptor worked originally in company with the architect.  The statues were meant to adorn the temples, the temples were made as frames and pedestals for the statues.  The marble forms stood and walked on the pediments and gave life to the frieze.  They animated the exterior, or sat, calm and strong, in the central shrine.