Edwin Hatch provided a colorful portrait of the religious world to which Justin Martyr belonged: "The main subject-matter of . . . literary education amongst the pagans] was the poets. . . . They were read as we read the Bible. They were committed to memory. The minds of men were saturated with them. A quotation from Homer or from a tragic poet was apposite on all occasions and in every kind of society" (The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity,...