" Though thou despisest my offers," cried Satan, " thou
knowest that I esteem them highly, and will not part with
them for nought. This is the condition; Wilt thou fall
down and worship me as thy superior lord ? "

" It is written, thou accursed one," responded the Savior
in disdain, " that thou shouldst worship and serve the Lord
thy God alone. Who gave thee the kingdoms of the earth if
He did not ? And what gratitude thou showest ! Get thee
behind me ! Truly thou art Satan ! "

Satan, abashed but not silenced, pointed southwest toward
Athens. Since the Savior seemed to prefer a contemplative
life, why should he not seek that seat of learning? All
wisdom was not contained in Moses' law and the writings
of the prophets. Let him master the learning of the great
Athenian teachers, philosophers and orators, and he would
be a king within himself.
But the Savior assured Satan that, having received light
from above, he knew how false and fallacious were the
boasted philosophies of the Greeks. Their philosophers,
ignorant of themselves and of God, and arrogating all glory
to themselves and ascribing none to Him, were unable to im-
part wisdom to any one. From Hebrew psalm and hymn, and
captive harps in Babylon, the Greeks derived their arts, and
the results, the odious praises of their vicious gods, could not
compare with the songs of Sion in praise of the Father.
Their orators, too, were far below the Hebrew prophets.
394 NATIONAL EPICS.
