Abstract:Studies of Victorian appropriations of the ancient world have allowed us to appreciate the pervasive influence of classical Greece on aesthetics and education, as well as religious, moral, and philosophical discourses. Celebrations of ancient Greek genius also prompted scientific interpretations of the past, present, and future of human society. For Charles Darwin (1809–1882), along with his correspondents Charles Lyell (1797–1875), Francis Galton (1822–1911), and William Rathbone Greg (1809–1881), the ancient Greeks were a race that had never been intellectually surpassed. Classical Athens therefore served as a precautionary tale of the multiple biological, sociopolitical, and geographical factors that may inhibit social progress. Their complementary, or even conflicting, understandings of the causes that prevented humankind from surpassing the ancient Greeks demonstrate subtle differences in their evolutionary perspectives. Against the Enlightenment faith in moral and intellectual improvement, Darwin's thesis that evolutionary progress was "no invariable rule" was used to explain why empires of the past had declined, serving also as a guide for how Victorian Britain should address concerns such as migration, morality, and social order.

中文翻译：

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“这个了不起的人”：达尔文、维多利亚时代和希腊人

摘要：对维多利亚时代对古代世界的挪用研究使我们能够领会古典希腊对美学和教育以及宗教、道德和哲学话语的普遍影响。古希腊天才的庆祝活动也促进了对人类社会过去、现在和未来的科学解释。对于查尔斯·达尔文（1809-1882）以及他的通讯员查尔斯·莱尔（1797-1875）、弗朗西斯·高尔顿（1822-1911）和威廉·拉斯伯恩·格雷格（1809-1881）来说，古希腊人是一个从未有过智力发展的种族超过了。因此，古典雅典作为可能抑制社会进步的多种生物、社会政治和地理因素的预防性故事。他们的互补，甚至冲突，对阻止人类超越古希腊人的原因的理解表明他们在进化观点上存在微妙的差异。与启蒙运动对道德和智力进步的信仰不同，达尔文关于进化进步是“没有一成不变的规则”的论点被用来解释过去帝国为何衰落，同时也指导维多利亚时代的英国如何解决移民、道德等问题，和社会秩序。