Faust  recovers  from  his  trance  as  soon  as  he  touches  the
classic  soil :  his  artistic  instinct  tells  him  at  once  that  he  is
on  the  track  of  Helena.  How  much  of  Goethe's  own  feeling
is  expressed  in  these  lines  may  be  seen  from  the  following
passage  in  his  works  :  "  Clearness  of  vision,  cheerfulness  of
acceptance,  and  easy  grace  of  expression,  are  the  qualities
which  delight  us  :  and  now,  when  we  affirm  that  we  find  all
these  in  the  genuine  Grecian  works,  achieved  in  the  noblest
material,  the  most  proportioned  form,  with  certainty  and
completeness  of  execution,  we  shall  be  understood,  if  we
always  refer  to  them  as  a  basis  and  a  standard.  Let  each
one  be  a  Grecian,  in  his  own  way  :  but  let  him  be  one  !  "


NOTES.  383

66.    I  find  myself  so  strange,  so  disconcerted.
Mephistopheles,  on  the  other  hand,  is  entirely  out  of  his
proper  element.  His  disgust  with  the  nudity  of  the  antique
forms  is  an  admirable  bit  of  humor,  through  which  we  can
detect  Goethe's  own  well-known  defence  of  the  chastity  of
ancient  art.  The  delicate  satire  of  the  line,  Dock  das  Antike
find'  ich  zu  lebendig,  is  lost  in  translation.  We  may  almost
surmise  that  when  Mephistopheles  speaks  of  overplastering
the  figures  according  to  the  fashion,  Goethe  referred  to  the
indecent  rehabilitation  of  the  statues  in  the  Vatican.
Mephistopheles  finally  addresses  himself  to  the  Griffins
and  Sphinxes,  as  the  most  grotesque  and  unbeautiful  of  the
forms  around  him.
67.      The  source,  wherefroTn  its  derivation  springs.
