We might almost dream that something of the same kind had occurred in the composition of the Divina Com media, so great is the distance between its highest and its lowest, between Dante with his cheeks begrimed with the soot of hell, and Dante with his face irradiated with the beatific vision. It is not for us to measure the distance between any man's best and worst. The 'strange story' of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has a serious significance for almost all of us. Nay, in extreme cases, Dante's terrible imagination of a continual interchange of the human and serpentine natures is not too violent an allegory. Once, and only once, on this earth moved One 'Che nacque e visse senza pecca'; One who could sound the depths and scan the heights to which human nature is capable of sinking and aspiring; One who needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.' Art. III. THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS. 1. The Annual of the British School at Athens. Vols VI-IX. London: Macmillan, 1900-4. 2. The Pottery of Knossos. By D. Mackenzie. Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXIII, I. London: Macmillan, 1903. 3. Monumenti Antichi. Issued by the R. Accademia dei Lincei. Vols XII, XIII. Milan: Hoepli, 1902–3. (J.H.S. 4. Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos. Published by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Supp. Paper, IV.) London: Macmillan, 1904. 5. Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult. J.H.S. XXI. London: Macmillan, 1901. By A. J. Evans. 6. Homerische Paläste. By Ferd. Noack. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903. THE ruins of the Knossian palace* are now almost entirely uncovered. This does not mean that the capital of prehistoric Crete will have been explored by the end of the coming season, or the season after it. A large area north, west, and south of the royal buildings, which has been proved by soundings to contain extensive remains of early houses of great interest, has still to be excavated; and cemeteries of prehistoric epochs, tapped at various points upon a wide outer circle, appear, from the results of the past season, to retain a fair proportion of virgin graves. There seems also to be an outlying north-western quarter of the palace itself, containing rich magazines, not yet opened up. The paved road to it has been followed for some distance, and will be explored further in 1905; while the primitive lower levels all over the site are to be re-examined. Moreover, the fortunate explorer has yet to put before us all he has learned himself. A comprehensive volume, with copious pictorial illustration, is to be issued by the same house which has published his preliminary reports, at the instance of the Committee of the British School at Athens; and we understand that a special work on the * The plan published herewith is that of the Later Palace, drawn by Mr Theodore Fyfe, and exhibited at Burlington House in 1902, with the results of the season of 1903 added. It is the most complete plan yet issued, and appears by kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan and Mr A. J. Evans. † See plan: Western Theatral Area, UPPER WALLS (EXCEPTING GYPSUM) EXISTING GYPSUM WALLS, DOOR JAMBS, AND COLUMN BASES PALACE UPPER STOREY WALL LINES AND OPENINGS WHERE WALLS OF PERIOD OF RE-OCCUPATION (LATE MYCENÆAN) MEASURED AND DRAWN BY THEODORE FYFE. |