,,studies ,,on ,,homer ,,and ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4 ,,by ,,the ,,right ,,hon4 ,w4 ,e4 ,,gladstone1 ,d4,c4,l4 ,m4 ,p4 ,,for ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,oxford4 ,,in ,,three ,,volumes4 ,,vol4 ,,ii4 ,plenius ac melius ,chrysippo et ,crantore4--,,horace4 ,,oxford3 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press4 ,m4,,dccc4,,lviii4 ,,studies ,,on ,,homer ,,and ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4 ,,olympus3 ,,or1 ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4 ,,by ,,the ,,right ,,hon4 ,w4 ,e4 ,,gladstone1 ,d4,c4,l4 ,m4 ,p4 ,,for ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,oxford4 ,plenius ac melius ,chrysippo et ,crantore4--,,horace4 ,,oxford3 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press4 ,m4,,dccc4,,lviii4 ,the right of ,translation is reserved4 ,,the ,,contents4 ,,olympus3 ,,or ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4 ,,sect4 ,i4 ,on the mixed character of the ,supernatural ,system1 or ,theo-mythology of ,homer4 ,homer's method not systematic ,page #a ,incongruities of his ,theo-mythology point to diversity of sources #b ,remnants of primitive tradition likely to be found in the ,poems #c ,extra-judaical relations between ,god and man #f ,with tradition it combines invention #i ,it is a true ,theology corrupted #i ,it has not its basis in nature-worship #aj ,it could not have sprung from invention only #ac ,sacrifices admitted to be traditional #ae ,tendency of primitive religion to decay #ag ,downward course of the idea of ,god #ah ,decline closely connected with ,polytheism #bj ,inducements to ,nature-worship #ba ,the deterioration of religion progressive #bc ,paganism in its old age #be ,the impersonations of ,homer #bf ,the nature of the myths of ,homer #bi ,tradition the proper key to many of them #cj ,he exhibits the two systems in active impact #cb ,steps of the downward process #cc ,sources of the inventive portions #ce ,originality of the ,olympian system #cg ,,sect4 ,,ii4 ,the traditive element of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,the channels of early religious tradition #ci ,some leading early traditions of ,scripture #dj ,as to the ,godhead #db ,as to the ,redeemer #db ,as to the ,evil ,one #dc ,their defaced counterparts in ,homer #dc ,deities of equivocal position #df ,threefold materials of the ,greek religion #dh ,messianic traditions of the ,hebrews #di ,to be learned from three sources #di ,attributes ascribed to the ,messiah #ea ,the deities of tradition in ,homer #ed ,minerva and ,apollo jointly form the key #ee ,notes of their ,olympian rank #ef ,of their higher antiquity #eg ,the ,secondaries of ,minerva #ei ,the ,secondaries of ,apollo #fj ,argument from the ,secondaries #fc ,picture of human society in ,olympus #fd ,dignity and precedence of ,minerva #ff ,of ,apollo #fi ,minerva's relations of will and affection with ,jupiter #gj ,those of ,apollo #ga ,apollo the ,deliverer of ,heaven #gb ,power of ,minerva in the ,shades #gc ,these deities are never foiled by others #gd ,the special honour of the ,trine ,invocation #gh ,they receive universal worship #gi ,they are not localized in any abode #hb ,they are objects together with ,jupiter of habitual prayer #hc ,exempt from appetite and physical limitations #hf ,their manner of appreciating sacrifice #hh ,their independent power of punishment #ij ,they handle special attributes of ,jupiter #id ,they exercise dominion over nature #ih ,relation of ,apollo 7with ,diana7 to ,death #aja ,exemption from the use of second causes #ajd ,superiority of their moral standard #aje ,special relation of ,apollo to ,diana #ajh ,disintegration of primitive traditions #ajh ,the ,legend of ,alcyone #aaa ,place of ,minerva and ,apollo in ,providential government #aac ,it is frequently ascribed to them #aae ,especially the inner parts of it to ,minerva #aag ,apollo's gift of knowledge #aai ,intimacy of ,minerva's personal relations with man #aba ,form of their relation to their attributes #abb ,the capacity to attract new ones #abd ,wide range of their functions #abe ,tradition of the ,sun #abf ,the central wisdom of ,minerva #abi ,the three characters of ,apollo #acj ,the opposition between two of them #aca ,minerva and ,apollo do not fit into ,olympus #acc ,origin of the ,greek names #acc ,summary of their distinctive traits #acd ,explanation by ,friedreich #ach ,treatment of ,apollo by ,mller #ada ,after-course of the traditions #adb ,the ,diana of ,homer #adc ,her acts and attributes in the poems #add ,the ,latona of ,homer #adg ,her attributes in the poems #adi ,her relation to primitive ,tradition #aec ,her acts in the poems #aed ,the ,iris of ,homer #aef ,the ,at of ,homer #aeh ,the of ,homer #afb ,other traditions of the ,evil ,one #afb ,parallel citations from ,holy ,scripture #afe ,the ,future ,state in ,homer #afg ,sacrificial tradition in ,homer #aga ,he has no sabbatical tradition #aga ,,sect4 ,,iii4 ,the inventive element of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,the character of ,jupiter #agc ,its fourfold aspect4--#a4 ,jupiter as ,providence #agd #b4 ,jupiter as ,lord of ,air #agh ,earth why vacant in the ,lottery #agi #c4 ,jupiter as ,head of ,olympus #aha ,his want of moral elements #ahc ,his strong political spirit #ahe #d4 ,jupiter as the type of animalism #ahf ,qualified by his parental instincts #ahi ,the ,juno of ,homer #aij ,juno of the ,iliad and ,juno of the ,odyssey #aia ,her intense nationality #aib ,her mythological functions #aic ,her mythological origin #aig ,the ,neptune of ,homer #aii ,his threefold aspect #bjj ,his traits mixed1 but chiefly mythological #bja ,his relation to the ,phnicians #bje ,his relation to the tradition of the ,evil ,one #bjf ,his grandeur is material #bji ,the ,aidoneus of ,homer #baj ,his personality shadowy and feeble #baa ,the ,ceres or ,demeter of ,homer #bab ,her ,pelasgian associations #bac ,her place in ,olympus #bae ,her mythological origin #bae ,the ,proserpine or ,persephone of ,homer #bag ,her marked and substantive character #bah ,her connection with the ,east #bbj ,her place in ,olympus doubtful #bbc ,her associations ,hellenic and not ,pelasgian #bbd ,the ,mars of ,homer #bbe ,his limited worship and attributes #bbf ,mars as yet scarcely ,greek #bbi ,the ,mercury of ,homer #bca ,preeminently the god of increase #bcc ,mercury ,hellenic as well as ,phnician #bce ,but apparently recent in ,greece #bcg ,his ,olympian function distinct from that of ,iris #bch ,the poems consistent with one another in this point #bda ,the ,venus of ,homer #bdc ,venus as yet scarcely ,greek #bdd ,advance of her worship from the ,east #bdg ,her ,olympian rank and character #bdi ,her extremely limited powers #bdi ,apparently unable to confer beauty #bea ,homer never by intention makes her attractive #beb ,the ,vulcan of ,homer #bed ,his ,phnician and ,eastern extraction #bee ,his marriage with ,venus #beg ,vulcan in and out of his art #bei ,the of ,homer #bfj ,in the ,iliad #bfa ,in the ,odyssey #bfb ,is of the ,olympian court #bfc ,his incorporation with ,apollo #bfd ,the ,dionysus or ,bacchus of ,homer #bff ,his worship recent #bff ,apparently of ,phnician origin #bfg ,he is of the lowest inventive type #bfi ,,sect4 ,,iv4 ,the ,composition of the ,olympian ,court2 and the classification of the whole supernatural order in ,homer4 ,principal cases of exclusion from ,olympus #bga ,case of ,oceanus #bgc ,together with that of ,kronos and ,rhea #bgd ,the ,d majores of the later tradition #bge ,number of the ,olympian gods in ,homer #bge ,what deities are of that rank #bgg ,the ,hebe and the ,paieon of ,homer #bgh ,the ,eris of ,homer #bhj ,classification of the twenty ,olympian deities #bhb ,the remaining supernatural order1 in six classes #bhc ,destiny or ,fate in ,homer #bhe ,under the form of #bhf ,death inexorable to ,fate or ,deity alike #bhg ,destiny under the form of #bij ,under the form of #bic ,general view of the ,homeric ,destiny #bid ,not antagonistic to ,divine will #big ,the minor impersonations of natural powers #bih ,the of ,homer #cjj ,the ,erinues of ,homer #cjb ,their office is to vindicate the moral order #cje ,their operation upon the ,immortals #cjf ,their connection with ,aides and ,persephone #cjh ,their relation to ,destiny #caj ,their operation upon man #caj ,their occasional function as tempters #cab ,the translation of mortals #cac ,the deification of mortals #cad ,growth of material for its extension #caf ,the kindred of the gods 7#a7 the ,cyclopes #cah 7#b7 ,the ,lstrygones #cai 7#c7 ,the ,phacians #cbj 7#d7 olus ,hippotades #cbb ,,sect4 ,v4 ,the ,olympian ,community and its ,members considered in themselves4 ,the family order in ,olympus #cbe ,the political order in ,olympus #cbf ,absence of important restraints upon their collective action #cbg ,they are influenced by courtesy and intelligence #cbh ,superiority of the ,olympian ,immortals #ccj ,their unity imperfect #cca ,their polity works constitutionally #ccb ,the system not uniform #ccc ,they are inferior in morality to men #ccd ,and are governed mainly by force and fraud #cce ,their dominant and profound selfishness #ccg ,the cruelty of ,calypso in her love #cci ,their standard of taste and feeling low #cdj ,the ,olympian life is a depraved copy of the heroic #cda ,the exemption from death uniform #cdb ,the exemption from other limitations partial #cde ,sometimes based on peculiar grounds #cdf ,divine faculties for the most part an extension from the human #cdh ,their dependence on the eye #cej ,their powers of locomotion #ceb ,chief heads of superiority to mankind #cec ,their superiority in stature and beauty #ced ,their libertinism #cee ,their keen regard to sacrifice and the ground of it #ceg ,their circumscribed power over nature #ceh ,parts of the body how ascribed to them #cei ,examples of miracle in ,homer #cfa ,mode of their action on the human mind #cfc ,they do not discern the thoughts #cfe ,,sect4 ,,vi4 ,the ,olympian ,community and its ,members considered in their influence on human society and conduct4 ,lack of periodical observances and of a ministering class #cfg ,yet the religion was a real power in life #cfh ,the effect of the corruption of the gods was not yet fully felt #cfi ,they show little regard to human interests #cga ,a moral tone is occasionally perceptible #cgc ,prevalent belief as to their views of man and life #cgd ,it lent considerable support to virtue #cgg ,their course with respect to ,troy #cgh ,bearing of the religion on social ties #chj ,and on political relations #chb ,the ,oath #chc ,bearing of the religion on the poems #che ,as regards ,neptune's wrath in the ,odyssey #chg ,as regards the virtue of purity #chh ,as regards poetic effect #chh ,comparison of its earliest and latest form #cij ,gloom prevails in ,homer's view of human destiny #cib ,the personal belief of ,homer #cid ,,sect4 ,,vii4 ,on the traces of an origin abroad for the ,olympian ,religion4 ,the ,olympian deities classified according to local extraction #cig ,their connection as a body with the thiopes #cii ,confirms the hypothesis of ,persian origin #djb ,herodotus on the ,scythian religion #djb ,his report from ,egypt about the ,greek deities #djd ,four several bases of religious systems #dje ,anthropophuism in the ,olympian religion #djf ,nature-worship as described in the ,book of ,wisdom #djf ,its secondary place in the ,olympian religion #djg ,in what sense it follows a prior ,nature-worship #dji ,the principle of ,brute-worship #daj ,its traces in the ,olympian religion #daa ,chief vestige3 oxen of the ,sun #dab ,xanthus the horse of ,achilles #dad ,,sect4 ,,viii4 ,the ,morals of the ,homeric ,age4 ,the general type of ,greek character in the heroic age #dag ,the moral sense in the heroic age #dah ,use of the words and #dba ,of the word #dbc ,religion and morals were not dissociated #dbe ,moral elements in the practice of sacrifice #dbg ,three main motives to virtue4 #a4 ,regard to the gods #dbg #b4 ,the power of conscience #dbh #c4 ,regard for the sentiments of mankind #dcj ,the force and forms of #dca ,other cognate terms #dce ,homicide in the heroic age #dcf ,eight instances in the poems #dcg ,why viewed with little disfavour #ddj ,piracy in the heroic age #ddb ,its nature as then practised #ddc ,mixed view of it in the poems #ddd ,family feuds in the heroic age #ddf ,temperance in the heroic age #ddg ,self-control in the heroic age #ddh ,absence of the vice of cruelty #dej ,savage ideas occasionally expressed #dea ,these not unfamiliar to later ,greece #dec ,wrath in ,ulysses #ded ,wrath in ,achilles #dee ,domestic affections in the heroic age #def ,relationships close1 not wide #dei ,purity in the heroic age #dfj ,lay of the ,net of ,vulcan #dfa ,direct evidence of comparative purity #dfe ,treatment of the human form #dff ,treatment of various characters #dfg ,outline of ,greek life in the heroic age #dfh ,its morality1 and that of later ,greece #dga ,points of its superiority #dgb ,inferior as to crimes of violence #dge ,some effects of slavery #dgf ,signs of degeneracy before ,homer's death #dgg ,,sect4 ,,ix4 ,woman in the heroic age4 ,the place of ,woman generally1 and in heroic ,greece #dgi ,its comparative elevation #dhj #a4 ,state of the law and custom of marriage #dha ,marriage was uniformly single #dhc #b4 ,conceived in a spirit of freedom #dhc ,its place in the career of life #dhe ,mode of contraction #dhf #c4 ,perpetuity of the tie of marriage #dhg ,adultery #dhh ,desertion #dhi #d4 ,greek ideas of incest #dhi #e4 ,fidelity in married life #dib ,treatment of spurious children #did ,case of ,briseis #die ,mode of contracting marriage #dif ,concubinage of ,greek chieftains in ,troas #dig ,dignity of conjugal and feminine manners #dii ,social position of the wife #ejj ,force of conjugal attachments #ejb ,woman characters of ,homer #ejc ,the province of ,woman well defined #eje ,argument from the position of the goddesses #ejf ,women admitted to sovereignty #ejg ,and to the service of the gods #eji ,their household employments #eaa ,their service about the bath #eab ,explanation of the presumed difficulty #eae ,proof from the case of ,ulysses in ,scheria #eag ,subsequent declension of ,woman #eah ,,sect4 ,x4 ,the ,office of the ,homeric ,poems in relation to that of the early ,books of ,holy ,scripture4 ,points of literary resemblance #eba ,providential functions of ,greece and ,rome #ebc ,of the ,early records of ,holy ,scripture #ebd ,the ,sacred ,books are not mere literary works #ebe ,providential use of the ,homeric poems #ebg ,they complete the code of primitive instruction #ebi ,human history had no visible centre up to the ,advent #eca ,nor for some time after it #ecb ,a purpose served by the whole design #ecc ,,olympus1 ,,or ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4 ,,sect4 ,i4 ,on the ,mixed ,character of the ,supernatural ,system1 or ,theo-,mythology1 of ,homer4 ,though the poems of ,homer are replete1 perhaps beyond any others1 with refined and often latent adaptations1 yet it may be observed in general of the modes of representation used by him1 that they are preeminently the reverse of systematic4 ,institutions or characters1 which are in themselves consistent1 probably gain by this method of proceeding1 provided the execution be not unworthy of the design4 ,for it secures their exhibition in more1 and more varied1 points of view1 than can possibly be covered by the more didactic process4 ,but the possession of this advantage depends upon the fact1 that there is in them a harmony1 which is their base1 and which we have only to discover4 ,whereas1 if that harmony be wanting1 if in lieu of it there be a groundwork of fundamental discrepancy1 then the conditions of effect are wholly changed4 ,the multiplied variety of view becomes a multiplication of incongruity2 each new aspect offers a new problem3 and the more masterly the hand of the artist1 the more arduous becomes the attempt to comprehend and present in their mutual bearings the pictures he has drawn1 and the suggestions he has conveyed4 ,thus it has been with that which1 following ,german example1 ,i have denominated the ,theo-mythology of ,homer4 ,by that term it seems not improper to designate a mixture of theology and mythology1 as these two words are commonly understood4 ,theology ,i suppose to mean1 a system dealing with the knowledge of ,god and the unseen world3 mythology1 a system conversant with the inventions of man concerning them4 ,in the ,homeric poems ,i find both of these largely displayed3 but with this difference1 that the first was in visible decline1 the second in such rapid and prolific development1 that1 while ,homer is undoubtedly a witness to older fable1 which had already in his time become settled tradition1 he is also in this department himself evidently and largely a ,maker and ,inventor1 and the material of the ,greek mythology comes out of his hands far more fully moulded1 and far more diversified1 than it entered them4 ,of the fact that the ,homeric religion does not present a consistent and homogeneous whole1 we have abundant evidence in the difficulties with which1 so soon as the literary age of ,greece began1 expositors found themselves incumbered2 and which drove them sometimes upon allegory as a resource1 sometimes1 as in the case of ,plato1 upon censure and repudiation#a4 #a ,dllinger ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 v4 #a4 p4 #bed4 ,extended relations of ,god to man4 ,i know not whether it has been owing to our somewhat narrow jealousies concerning the function of ,holy ,scripture1 or to our want of faith in the extended ,providence of ,god1 and ,his manifestations in the world1 or to the real incongruity in the evidence at our command1 or to any other cause1 but the fact1 at least1 seems to me beyond doubt1 that our modes of dealing with the ,homeric poems in this cardinal respect have been eminently unsatisfactory4 ,those who have found in ,homer the elements of religious truth1 have resorted to the far-fetched and very extravagant supposition1 that he had learned them from the contemporary ,hebrews1 or from the law of ,moses4 ,the more common and popular opinion#b has perhaps been one1 which has put all such elements almost or altogether out of view2 one which has treated the ,immortals in ,homer as so many impersonations of the powers of nature1 or else magnified men1 and their social life as in substance no more than as a reflection of his picture of heroic life1 only gilded with embellishments1 and enlarged in scale1 in proportion to the superior elevation of its sphere4 ,few1 comparatively1 have been inclined to recognise in the ,homeric poems the vestiges of a real traditional knowledge1 derived from the epoch when the covenant of ,god with man1 and the promise of a ,messiah1 had not yet fallen within the contracted forms of ,judaism for shelter1 but entered more or less into the common consciousness1 and formed a part of the patrimony of the human race#c4 #b ,see ,heyne ad ,il4 i4 #fjc2 ,terpstra1 ,antiquitas ,homerica1 i4 #c4 ,and so late as the ,cambridge ,essays #ahef4 p4 #adi4 #c ,see #8,homerus1 pt4 i4' by ,archdeacon ,williams3 #8,primitive ,tradition1' #ahdc1 by the same2 ,edinb4 ,rev4 ,no4 #aee1 art4 ,homerus1 and the reference1 p4 #ej1 to ,cesarotti's ,ragionamento ,storico-,critico4 ,but surely there is nothing improbable in the supposition1 that in the poems of ,homer such vestiges may be found4 ,every recorded form of society bears some traces of those by which it has been preceded3 and in that highly primitive form1 which ,homer has been the instrument of embalming for all posterity1 the law of general reason obliges us to search for elements and vestiges belonging to one more primitive still4 ,and1 if we are to inquire in the ,iliad and the ,odyssey for what belongs to antecedent manners and ideas1 on what ground can it be pronounced improbable1 that no part of these earlier traditions should be old enough to carry upon them the mark of belonging to the religion1 which the ,book of ,genesis represents as brought by our first parents from ,paradise1 and as delivered by them to their immediate descendants in general8 ,the ,hebrew ,chronology1 considered in connection with the probable date of ,homer1 would even render it difficult or irrational to proceed upon any other supposition3 nor if1 as by the ,septuagint or otherwise1 a larger period is allowed for the growth of our race1 will the state of this case be materially altered4 ,for the facts must remain1 that the form of society exhibited by ,homer was itself in many points essentially patriarchal1 that it contains1 in matter not religious1 such1 for instance1 as the episode of the ,cyclops1 clear traces of a yet earlier condition yet more significant of a relation to that name1 and that there is no broadly marked period of human experience1 or form of manners1 which we can place between the great trunk of human history in ,holy ,scripture1 and this famed ,homeric branch1 which of all literary treasures appears to be its eldest born4 ,standing next to the patriarchal histories of ,holy ,scripture1 why should it not bear1 how can it not bear1 traces of the religion under which the patriarchs lived8 ,the immense longevity of the early generations of mankind was eminently favourable to the preservation of pristine traditions4 ,each individual1 instead of being as now a witness of1 or an agent in1 one or two transmissions from father to son1 would observe or share in ten times as many4 ,according to the ,hebrew ,chronology1 ,lamech the father of ,noah was of mature age before ,adam died3 and ,abraham was of mature age before ,noah died4 ,original or early witnesses1 remaining so long as standards of appeal1 would evidently check the rapidity of the darkening and destroying process4 ,let us suppose that man now lived but twenty years1 instead of fourscore4 ,would not this greatly quicken the waste of ancient traditions8 ,and is not the converse also true8 ,sufficiently proved from ,holy ,scripture4 ,custom has made it with us second nature to take for granted a broad line of demarcation between those who live within the pale of ,revelation1 and the residue of mankind4 ,but ,holy ,scripture does not appear to recognise such a severance in any manner1 until we come to the revelation of the ,mosaic law1 which was like the erection of a temporary shelter for truths that had ranged at large over the plain1 and that were apparently in danger of being totally absorbed in the mass of human inventions4 ,but before this vineyard was planted1 and likewise outside its fence1 there were remains1 smaller or greater1 of the knowledge of ,god2 and there was a recognised relation between ,jehovah and mankind1 which has been the subject of record from time to time1 and the ground of acts involving the admonition1 or pardon1 or correction1 or destruction1 of individuals or communities4 ,the latest of these indications1 such as the visit of the ,wise ,men from the ,east1 are not the most remarkable3 because first the captivity in ,babylon1 and subsequently the dissemination of ,jewish groups through so many parts of the world1 could not but lead to direct communications of divine knowledge1 at least1 in some small degree4 ,from such causes1 there would be many a ,cornelius before him who became the first-fruits of the ,gentiles4 ,yet even the interest1 which probably led to such communications from the ,jew1 must have had its own root in relics of prior tradition1 which attested the common concern of mankind in ,him that was to come4 ,but in earlier times1 and when the ,jewish nation was more concentrated1 and was certainly obscure1 the vestiges of extra-patriarchal and extra-judaical relations between ,god and man are undeniable4 ,they have been traced with clearness and ability in a popular treatise by the hand of ,bishop ,horsley#d4 #d ,horsley's ,dissertation on the ,prophecies of the ,messiah dispersed among the heathen4 ,see also ,mr4 ,harvey's ,observations on the ,gnostic ,system1 pp4 iii and seqq41 prefixed to his ,s4 ,irenus1 ,cambridge1 #aheg4 ,williams's ,primitive ,tradition1 p4 #i4 ,let us take1 for instance1 that case of extreme wickedness1 which most severely tries the general proposition4 ,the punishment of ,sodom and ,gomorrah for their sins was preceded by a declaration from the ,most ,high1 importing a direct relation with those guilty cities#e2 and two angels1 who had visited ,abraham on the plains of ,mamre1 #8came to ,sodom at even4' ,ruth the ,moabitess was an ancestress1 through king ,david1 of our ,lord4 ,rahab in ,jericho1 #8by faith1' as the ,apostle assures us1 entertained the spies of the ,israelites4 ,job1 living in a country where the worship of the sun was practised1 had1 as had his friends1 the knowledge of the true ,god4 ,melchizedek1 the priest of ,on1 whose daughter ,joseph married1 and ,jethro1 the father-in-law of ,moses1 are other conspicuous instances4 ,later in time1 ,nineveh1 the great ,assyrian capital1 received the message of the prophet ,jonah1 and repented at his preaching4 ,here the teaching organ was supplied from among the ,jews3 but ,balaam exhibits to us the gift of inspiration beyond their bounds4 ,once more2 many centuries after the ,homeric manners had disappeared1 and during the captivity1 we find not only a knowledge of ,god1 but dreams and signs vouchsafed to ,assyrian kings1 and interpreted for them by the prophet ,daniel4 ,we have1 in short1 mingling with the whole course of the ,old ,testament1 a stream of evidence which shows the partial remnants of the knowledge of ,god1 apart from that main current of it which is particularly traced for us in the patriarchal and ,mosaic histories4 ,again1 many centuries after ,homer1 when all traces of primitive manners had long vanished1 still in the ,prometheus of schylus1 and in the ,pollio of ,virgil1 we have signs1 though ,i grant they are faint ones1 that the celestial rays had not even then #8faded into the light of common day' for the heathen world4 ,it would really be strange1 and that in a high degree1 if a record like that of ,homer1 with so many resemblances to the earliest manners in other points1 had no link to connect it with them in their most vital part4 #e ,see ,genesis xviii4 #a1 #bj4 xx4 #a4 ,heb4 xi4 #ca4 ,the question one of history4 ,the general proposition1 that we may expect to find the relics of ,scriptural traditions in the heroic age of ,greece1 though it leads1 if proved1 to important practical results1 is independent even of a belief in those traditions1 as they stand in the scheme of revealed truth4 ,they must be admitted to have been facts on earth1 even by those who would deny them to be facts of heavenly origin1 in the shape in which ,christendom receives them3 and the question immediately before us is one of pure historical probability4 ,the descent of mankind from a single pair1 the lapse of that pair from original righteousness1 are apart from and ulterior to it4 ,we have traced the ,greek nation to a source1 and along a path of migration1 which must in all likelihood have placed its ancestry1 at some point or points1 in close local relations with the scenes of the earliest ,mosaic records3 the retentiveness of that people equalled its receptiveness1 and its close and fond association with the past made it prone indeed to incorporate novel matter into its religion1 but prone also to keep it there after its incorporation4 ,if such traditions existed1 and if the laws which guide historical inquiry require or lead us to suppose that the forefathers of the ,greeks must have lived within their circle1 then the burden of proof must lie not so properly with those who assert that the traces of them are to be found in the earliest1 that is1 the ,homeric1 form of the ,greek mythology1 as with those who deny it4 ,what became of those old traditions8 ,they must have decayed and disappeared1 not by a sudden process1 but by a gradual accumulation of the corrupt accretions1 in which at length they were so completely interred as to be invisible and inaccessible4 ,some period therefore there must have been1 at which they would remain clearly perceptible1 though in conjunction with much corrupt matter4 ,such a period might be made the subject of record1 and if such there were1 we might naturally expect to find it in the oldest known work of the ancient literature4 ,if the poems of ,homer do1 however1 contain a picture1 even though a defaced picture1 of the primeval religious traditions1 it is obvious that they afford a most valuable collateral support to the credit of the ,holy ,scripture1 considered as a document of history4 ,still we must not allow the desire of gaining this advantage to bias the mind in an inquiry1 which can only be of value if it is conducted according to the strictest rules of rational criticism4 ,invention combined with tradition4 ,we may then1 in accordance with those rules1 be prepared to expect that the ,hellenic religion will prove to have been in part constructed from traditional knowledge4 ,the question arises next1 ,of what other materials in addition was it composed8 ,the answer can be but one2 ,such materials would be supplied by invention4 ,but invention cannot absolutely create2 it can only work upon what it finds already provided to its hand4 ,the provision made in this instance was simply that with which the experience of man supplied him4 ,it was mediate or immediate3 mediate1 where the ,greek received matter from abroad1 and wrought upon it3 immediate1 where he conceived it for himself4 ,that experience lay in two spheres--the sphere of external nature1 and the sphere of life4 ,each of these would afford for the purpose the elements of ,power1 ,grandeur1 ,pleasure1 ,beauty1 ,utility2 and such would be the elements suited to the work of constructing or developing a system that was to present objects for his worship4 ,we may therefore reasonably expect to find in the religion features referable to these two departments for their origin2--first1 the powerful forces and attractive forms of outward nature2 secondly1 the faculties and propensities of man1 and those relations to his fellow-men1 amidst which his lot is cast1 and his character formed4 ,if this be so1 then1 in the result thus compounded out of tradition purporting to be revealed1 and out of invention strictly human1 we ought to recognise1 so long as both classes of ingredients are in effective coexistence1 not strictly a false theology1 but a true theology falsified3 a true religion1 into which falsehood has entered1 and in which it is gradually overlaying and absorbing the original truth1 until1 when the process has at length reached a certain point1 it is wholly hidden and borne down by countervailing forces1 so that the system has for practical purposes become a false one1 and both may and should be so termed and treated4 ,i admit that very different modes of representing the case have been in vogue4 ,sometimes by those to whom the interest of ,christianity is precious1 and sometimes in indifference or hostility to its fortunes1 it is held that the basis of the ,greek mythology is laid in the deification of the powers of nature4 ,the common assumptions have been such as the following3 ,that the starting-point of the religion of the heroic age is to be sought only in the facts of the world1 in the ideas and experience of man4 ,that nature-worship1 the deification of elemental and other physical powers1 was the original and proper basis of the system4 ,that this system1 presumably self-consistent1 as having been founded on a given principle1 was broken up by the intervention of theogonic revolutions4 ,that the system1 of which ,jupiter was at the head1 was an imperfect reconstruction of a scheme of divine rule out of the fragments of an earlier religion1 and that it supplanted the elder gods4 ,in short1 the ,greek mythology is represented as a corrupt edition1 not of original revealed religion1 but of a ,nature-worship which1 as it seems to be assumed1 was separated by a gulf never measured1 and never passed1 from the primitive religious traditions of our race4 ,further it seems to be held1 that the faults and imperfections of the pagan religion have their root only in a radical inability of the human mind to produce pure deity2 that they do not represent the depravation of an ancient and divine gift1 but rather the simple failure of man in a work of invention4 ,indeed1 we need not wonder that it should fail in a process which1 critically considered1 can mean little else than mere exaggeration of itself and from its own experience#f1 and which must be so apt to become positive caricature4 #f ,see ,ngelsbach1 ,homerische ,theologie1 i4 #a4 ii4 #a4 ,also 7if ,i understand it rightly71 ,dllinger's ,heidenthum und ,judenthum1 ii4 #a4 4 #a4 p4 #ed4 ,the basis was not in ,nature-worship4 ,again1 ,dean ,prideaux1 in his ,connection of ,sacred and ,profane ,history1 gives the following genesis of the ,greek mythology4 ,from the beginning1 he says1 there was a general notion among men1 founded on a sense that they were impure1 of the necessity of a mediator with ,god4 ,there being no mediator clearly revealed1 man chose mediators for himself1 and took the sun1 moon1 and stars1 as high intelligences well fitted for the purpose4 ,hence we find ,saturn1 ,jupiter1 ,mars1 ,apollo1 ,mercury1 ,venus1 and ,diana1 to be first ranked in the polytheism of the ancients3 for they were their first gods#g4 #g ,prideaux1 i4 #c4 vol4 i4 p4 #aih4 ,this theory is not in correspondence with the facts of the heroic age4 ,there is no sense whatever of an impurity disabling men from access to ,god2 no clear or general opinion of the necessity of mediation2 no glimpse even of a god superior to ,jupiter and the rest with whom they were on behalf of man to mediate4 ,and1 again1 the opinion1 that the origin of the religion lay in ,nature-worship1 has had the support both of high and also of recent authorities4 ,the eminent and learned ,dr4 ,dllinger1 in his #8,heidenthum und ,judenthum1' says1 that the deification of ,nature1 its forces1 or the particular objects it offered to the senses1 constituted the groundwork of the ,greek1 as well as of the other heathen religions4 ,the idea of ,god continued to be powerful even when it had been darkened1 and the godhead was felt as present1 and active everywhere in the physical order4 ,in working out his general rule for each mythological deity in particular1 this author conceives the original form of their existence to have been that of a ,nature-power1 even where the vestiges of such a conception have1 under subsequent handling1 become faint or imperceptible4 ,thus ,juno1 ,minerva1 ,latona1 ,diana1 and others in succession1 are referred to such an origin#h4 #h ,heidenthum und ,judenthum1 b4 ii4 sect4 #a1 #b4 pp4 #ed-ha4 ,now in dealing with this hypothesis1 ,i would ask1 what then has become of the old ,theistic and ,messianic traditions8 and how has it happened they have been amputated by a process so violent as to make them to leave1 even while the state of society continued still primitive1 no trace behind them8 ,but further4 ,i would urge with confidence that the ample picture of the religion of the heroic ages1 as we have it in ,homer1 which is strictly for this purpose in the nature of a fact1 cannot be made to harmonize with the hypothesis which refers it to such a source4 ,the proof of this statement must depend mainly on the examination which we have to institute in detail3 but ,i am anxious at once to bring it into view1 and to refer briefly to some of the grounds on which it rests1 because it is susceptible of demonstration by evidence as contradistinguished from theory4 ,on the other hand1 when ,i proceed farther1 evidence and theory must of necessity be mixed up together2 and dissent from a particular mode of tracing out the association between the traditional and inventive elements of the system might unawares betray the reader into the conclusion1 that no such distinct traditional elements were to be found1 but that all1 or nearly all1 was pure fable4 ,i say1 then1 there is much in the theo-mythology of ,homer1 which1 if it had been a system founded in fable1 could not have appeared there4 ,it stands before us like one of our old churches1 having different parts of its fabric in the different styles of architecture1 each of which speaks for itself1 and which we know to belong to the several epochs in the history of the art1 when their characteristic combinations were respectively in vogue4 ,nor is the system from invention only4 ,while on the one hand it has deities1 such as ,latona1 without any attributes at all1 on the other hand1 we find in it both gods and goddesses1 with an assemblage of such attributes and functions as have no common link by which invention could have fastened them together4 ,they are such1 likewise1 as to bring about cross divisions and cross purposes1 that the ,greek force of imagination1 and the ,greek love of symmetry1 would have alike eschewed4 ,how could invention have set up ,pallas as the goddess at once of peace and its industries1 of wisdom1 and of war8 ,its object would clearly have been to impersonate attributes2 and to associate even distinct1 much less conflicting attributes1 in the same deity1 would have been simply to confuse them4 ,how again could it have combined in ,apollo1 who likewise turns the courses of rivers by his might1 the offices of destruction1 music1 poetry1 prophecy1 archery1 and medicine8 ,again1 if he is the god of medicine1 why have we ,paieon8 if of poetry1 why have we the ,muses8 ,if ,minerva be 7as she is7 goddess of war1 why have we ,mars8 if of the work of the ,artificer1 why have we also ,vulcan8 if of prudence and sagacity1 and even craft#i1 why ,mercury8 #i ,il4 xxii4 #bdg4 ,and again1 the theory is1 that the chief personages of the mythology are representatives of the great powers of the physical universe4 ,i ask1 therefore1 how it happens that in the ,homeric1 or1 as we may call it1 primitive form of the system1 these great powers of the universe are for the most part very indistinctly and partially personified1 whereas we see in vivid life and constant movement another set of figures1 having either an obscure or partial relation1 or no relation at all1 to those powers8 ,such a state of the evidence surely strikes at the very root of the hypothesis we are considering3 but it is the state of the evidence which we actually find before us4 ,take for instance ,time1 ,ocean1 ,earth1 ,sun1 ,moon1 ,stars1 ,air2 all these prime natural objects and agents are either not personified at all in ,homer1 or so indistinctly and mutely personified that they are the mere zoophytes of his supernatural world1 of which the gorgeous life and brilliant movement are sustained by a separate set of characters4 ,of these more effective agents1 some are such as it is impossible rationally to set down for mere impersonations of ideas2 while others are plainly constituted as lords over1 and not beings derivative from1 those powers or provinces of nature1 with which they are placed in special relations4 ,it cannot for instance rationally be said that the ,homeric ,jupiter is a mere impersonation of the air which he rules1 or the ,homeric ,neptune of the sea1 or the ,homeric ,aidoneus 7or ,aides7 of the nether world4 ,for to the first of these three1 many functions are assigned having no connection with the air4 ,as for example1 when he gives swiftness of foot to neas on ,mount ,ida1 that he might escape the pursuit of ,achilles#aj4 ,in the case of the second1 there is a rival figure1 namely1 ,nereus1 who never that we know of leaves the sea1 who is the father of the ,sea-nymphs1 and who evidently fulfils the conditions of ,sea impersonated far better than does ,neptune2 ,neptune1 who marched upon the battle-field in ,troas1 and who1 with ,apollo1 had himself built the walls of ,ilium4 ,besides all this1 the sea1 to which ,neptune belongs1 is itself not one of the great elemental powers of the universe1 but is derived1 like rivers1 springs1 and wells1 from ,father ,ocean1 who fears indeed the thunderbolt of ,jupiter1 but is not bound to attendance even in the great chapter of ,olympus#aa4 ,as to ,aidoneus1 he can hardly impersonate the nether world1 because in ,homer he does not represent or govern it1 but only has to do with that portion of it1 which is inhabited by the souls of departed men4 ,for1 as far beneath his realm as ,earth is beneath ,heaven1 lies the dark ,tartarus of ,homer1 peopled with and his ,titans4 ,nor1 on the other hand1 do we know that the ,elysian fields of the ,west were subject to his sway4 ,the elemental powers are in ,homer1 though not altogether1 yet almost altogether1 extrinsic to his grand ,olympian system4 #aj ,il4 xx4 #ib4 #aa ,il4 xxi4 #aie-i4 xx4 #g4 ,without1 then1 anticipating this or that particular result from the inquiry into the mode and proportions in which traditional and inventive elements are combined in the poems of ,homer1 it may safely be denied that his picture of the supernatural world could have been drawn by means of materials exclusively supplied by invention from the sources of nature and experience4 ,traditive origin of ,sacrifice4 ,and indeed there is one particular with respect to which the admission will be generally made1 that the ,greek mythological system stood indebted at least to a primitive tradition1 if not to a direct command2 ,i mean the institution of sacrifice4 ,this can hardly be supposed to have been an original conception in every country2 and it distinctly points us to one common source4 ,sacrifice was1 according to ,dr4 ,dllinger#ab1 an inheritance which descended to the ,greeks from the pristine time before the division of the nations4 ,without doubt the transmission of ritual1 depending upon outward action1 is more easy than that of ideas4 ,but the fact that there was a transmission of something proves that there was a channel for it1 open and continuous3 and the circumstances might be such as to allow of the passage of ideas1 together with institutions1 along it4 #ab ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 iv4 #e4 p4 #bjb4 ,it cannot be necessary to argue on the other side in any detail in order to show1 that for much of his supernatural machinery1 ,homer was indebted to invention1 whether his own or that of generations1 or nations1 which had preceded him4 ,had his system been one purely traditional in its basis1 had it only broken into many rays the integral light of one ,god1 it would have presented to us no such deity as ,juno1 who is wholly without prototype1 either abstract or personal1 in the primitive system1 and no such mere reflections of human passions as are ,mars and ,venus3 not to speak of those large additions1 which we are to consider as belonging not so much to the basis and general outline of the system1 as to the later stages of its development4 ,let us now endeavour to inquire what mental1 moral1 and physical influences would be likely1 in early times1 to give form and direction to that alterative process1 which the primitive ideas of religion1 when removed beyond the precinct of ,revelation and the knowledge of the ,sacred ,records1 had to undergo4 ,this law of decline we may examine1 first ideally1 according to the influences likely to operate on the course of thought with respect to religion3 and then with reference to that which is specifically ,greek1 by sketching in outline the actual mode of handling the material at command1 which resulted in the creation of the ,homeric or ,olympian system4 ,the first belongs to the metaphysical genesis of the system3 the second to its historical formation4 ,tendency of primitive religion to decay4 ,so long as either the ,sacred ,records1 or the ,light which supplied them1 remained within reach1 there were specific means either in operation1 or at least accessible1 which1 as far as their range extended1 would serve to check error1 whether of practice or speculation1 and to clear up uncertainty1 as the sundial verifies or corrects the watch4 ,but the stream darkened more and more1 as it got farther from the source4 ,the ,pagan religion could boast of its unbroken traditions2 like some forms of ,christianity1 and like the government of ,france until #aghi4 ,but its uninterrupted course was really an uninterrupted aberration from the line of truth2 and to boast of the evenness of its motion was in effect to boast of the deadness of the conscience of mankind1 which had not virtue enough even to disturb progressive degeneracy by occasional reproach4 ,in later times1 the ,pagan system had its three aspects3 it was one thing for the populace1 another for statesmen1 and a third for philosophers4 ,but in ,homer's time it had suffered no criticism and no analysis3 the human self-consciousness was scarcely awakened2 introspection had not begun its work4 ,imagination and affection continually exercised their luxuriant energies in enlarging and developing the system of preternatural being and action4 ,however copiously the element of fiction1 nay1 of falsehood1 entered into it1 yet for the masses of mankind it was still subjectively true#ac4 #ac ,grote1 ,hist4 ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #dfg4 ,all was forward movement4 ,man had not1 as it were1 had time to ask himself1 is this a lie8 or even1 whither does it tend8 ,his soul1 in those days of infancy1 never questioned1 always believed4 ,logical inconsistency1 even moral solecism1 did not repel it1 nor slacken the ardour of its energies in the work of construction3 construction of art1 construction of manners1 construction of polity1 construction of religion4 ,this is what we see1 in glowing heat1 throughout the poems of ,homer1 and it is perhaps the master key to their highest interest4 ,they show us1 in the province we are now considering1 heroes earning their title to the ,olympian life1 mute nature everywhere adjusting herself to the scheme of supernatural impersonations1 and religion allied to the human imagination1 as closely as it was afterwards by ,mahomet wedded to the sword4 ,everywhere we see that which is properly called myth1 in the process of formation4 ,early mythology is the simple result of the working of the human mind1 in a spirit of belief or of credulity1 upon the material offered to it by prior tradition1 by the physical universe1 by the operations of the mind1 and by the experience of life4 ,we may1 as follows1 accompany the vicious series through which thought might probably be led1 with respect to the theory of religion4 ,if we begin with the true and pure idea of ,god1 it is the idea of a ,being infinite in power and intelligence1 and though perfectly good1 yet good by an unchangeable internal determination of character1 and not by the constraint of an external law4 ,such was the starting-point1 from which the human mind had to run its career of religious belief or speculation4 ,but the maintenance subjectively of the original form of the image in its clearness depended1 of course1 upon the condition of the observing organ2 and that organ1 again1 depended for its health on the healthiness of the being to whom it belonged4 ,hence we must look into the nature of man1 in order to know what man would think respecting the nature of ,god4 ,downward course of the idea of ,god4 ,now man1 the prey of vicious passions1 though he holds deeply rooted within himself the witness to an extrinsic and objective law of goodness1 which he needs in order to develop what he has of capacity for good1 and to bring into subjection the counteracting and rebellious elements1 is nevertheless prevailingly under the influence of these last4 ,hence1 in the absence of special and ,divine provision for the remedy of his inward disease1 although both conscience and also the dispensations of ,providence shadow forth to him a law of goodness from without1 yet the sense of any internal law of goodness in himself becomes1 with the lapse of time1 more and more dim and ineffectual4 ,thus1 as he reflects back upon his own image conceptions of the ,deity1 the picture that he draws first fails in that1 wherein he himself is weakest4 ,now1 the perception of mere power depends upon intellect and sense3 and as neither intellect nor sense have received through sin the same absolutely mortal wound which has reached his spiritual being1 he can therefore still comprehend with clearness the idea and the uses of power1 both mental and physical4 ,accordingly1 the ,godhead is for him preternaturally endowed with intelligence and force4 ,but how was he to keep alive from his own resources the moral elements of the divine ideal8 ,coercive goodness1 goodness by an external law1 goodness dependent upon responsibility1 was1 by the nature of the case1 inapplicable to ,deity as such3 while of goodness by an internal law1 he had lost all clear conception1 and he could not give what he had not got4 ,of course it is not meant1 that this was a conscious operation4 ,rarely indeed1 in reflective and critical periods1 does it happen that man can keep a log-book of wind1 weather1 and progress1 for the mind1 or tell from what quarter of the heavens have proceeded the gales that impel it on its course4 ,but1 by this real though unconscious process1 goodness would soon disappear from his conception of the ,godhead1 while high power and intelligence might remain4 ,and hence it is not strange1 if we find that ,homer's deities1 possessed of power beyond their faculty of moral direction1 are for the most part1 when viewed in the sphere of their personal conduct1 on a lower level than his heroes4 ,when therefore these latter charge1 as is not unfrequent with them1 upon the gods the consequences1 and even in a degree the facts1 of their own fault or folly1 the proceeding is not so entirely illogical as we might at first suppose4 ,for that great conception of an all-good and all-wise ,being had undergone a miserable transmutation1 bringing it more and more towards the form of an evil power4 ,hence1 perhaps1 it is that we find these reproaches to the ,deity put into the mouth even of ,menelaus1 one of the noblest and purest characters among the heroes of ,homer#ad4 #ad ,il4 iii4 #cfe1 and xiii4 #fca-e4 ,again1 this degradation of the divine idea was essentially connected with the parcelling it out into many portions1 according to the system of polytheism4 ,that system at once brought down all the attributes from their supreme perfection to scales of degree3 established finite and imperfect relations in lieu of the perfect and infinite3 carried into the atmosphere of heaven an earthy element4 ,the disintegration of the ,unity of ,god prepared the way for the disintegration of ,his several attributes1 and especially for weakening and effacing those among them1 which man had chiefly lost his capacity to grasp4 ,when once we have substituted for the absolute that which is in degree1 and for the perfect that which is defective1 we have brought the divine element within the cognizance of the human3 the barrier of separation is broken down1 and1 without any consciousness of undue license1 we thenceforward insensibly fashion it as we please4 ,each corruption1 as it takes its place in the scheme of popular ideas1 is consolidated by the action of new forces1 over and above those which1 even if alone1 were sufficient to engender it3 for the classes1 who worked the machinery both of priestly caste1 and of civil government1 found their account in accumulating fable up to a mountain mass4 ,each new addition found a welcome3 but woe to him1 who1 by shaking the popular persuasion of any one article1 endangered the very foundations of the whole4 ,such is an outline1 though a faint and rude one1 of what may be called the rationale1 or the law of cause and effect1 applicable to the explanation of the progressive and1 at length1 total corruption of the primitive religion4 ,inducements to ,nature-worship4 ,we may also endeavour to trace the motives which might determine the downward movement of the human mind in the direction1 partially or wholly according to circumstances1 of what is called ,nature-worship4 ,on the one side lay the proposition handed down from the beginning--there is a ,god4 ,on the other side arose the question--where is ,he8 ,it was felt that on the whole ,he was not in man1 though there was in man what was of ,him4 ,it was obvious to look for ,him in the mighty agencies1 and in the sublime objects of ,nature1 which1 though 7so thought might run17 they did not reveal ,him entirely1 yet disclosed nothing that was not worthy to belong to ,him4 ,here is a germ of ,nature-worship4 ,hence it is that we find ,aristotle1 at a period when thought was alike acute1 deliberate1 and refined1 declare it to be beyond all doubt that the heavenly bodies are far more divine than man#ae4 #ae 1 1 4 ,eth4 ,nicom4 ,,vi4 vii4 #d4 ,now this germ could not be one only4 ,trains of thought and reasoning1 essentially alike1 would1 according to diversities of minds and circumstances1 lead one to place the ,god in one natural sphere or agency1 and another to place him in another4 ,there was no commanding principle either to confine or to reconcile these variations2 thus the same cause1 which brought deity into natural objects1 would also tend to exhibit many gods instead of one4 ,such was the path by which man might travel from ,theism to ,nature-worship4 ,but other paths1 starting from other points1 would lead to the same issue4 ,suppose now the case of the mind wholly without the tradition of a ,god4 ,to such a mind1 the vast and overmastering but usually regulated forces1 and the beautiful and noble forms of nature1 would of themselves suggest the idea of a superior agency2 yet1 again1 not of one superior agent alone1 but of many4 ,thus some men would build upwards1 while others1 so to speak1 were building downwards1 and they would meet on the way4 ,and1 again1 a third operation could not but assist these two former1 and combine with their results4 ,for the unaided intellect of man seems not to have had stamina to carry1 as it were1 the weight of the transcendent idea of one ,god1 of ,god infinite in might1 in wisdom1 and in love4 ,again1 it was awful as well as ponderous2 because it was so remote from man1 and from his actual state4 ,he therefore lightened the idea1 as it were1 by dividing it from one into many2 and he brought it nearer to himself1 nearer to his sympathies1 by humanizing its form and attributes4 ,by this process he in time destroyed indeed his reverence1 but he also beguiled his fears1 and created for himself objects not of dread1 so much as of familiar association4 ,yet once again2 it may1 ,i think1 be shown that a kind of natural necessity led man to denominate actual powers1 which he saw and felt about him1 not through the medium of generalization by abstract names1 but by making them persons4 ,thus easy1 and almost inevitable1 under mental laws1 was the road to ,nature-worship4 ,the path1 that led into the deeper corruption of ,passion-worship1 has been already traced4 ,progressive deterioration4 ,it is then in entire accordance with what has preceded1 that1 when the ,pagan system has come into its old age1 we should find it so wholly deprived of all the lineaments of original beauty1 grandeur1 and goodness1 that we can read the destructive philosophy and poetry of the atheistic schools1 and of ,lucretius in particular1 without the strong sentiment of horror1 which in themselves they are fitted to excite4 ,milton1 in the ,first ,book of ,paradise ,lost1 treats the ,pagan gods as being1 under new names1 so many of the fallen angels1 who with ,satan had rebelled1 and with him had been driven out from heaven1 so that the world of heathen from the first had simply #8devils to adore for deities4' ,whether this sentiment be poetically warrantable or not1 7and for my own part ,i cannot but think it was one too much connected with a cold and lowered form of ,christian doctrine17 it is not historically sound4 ,we should distinguish broadly between this assertion1 that the ,pagan religion was an original falsehood1 and the declaration of ,st4 ,paul1 #8,i say that the things which the ,gentiles sacrifice1 they sacrifice to devils1 and not to ,god#af4' ,to the same class as the words of the ,apostle1 belong1 as ,i conceive1 these 7and other7 sentences of ,saint ,augustine#ag2 non sunt dii1 maligni sunt spiritus1 quibus terna tua felicitas pna est4444 ,proinde si ad beatam pervenire desideras civitatem1 devita dmonum societatem4 ,for these terrible descriptions apply not to the infancy1 but to the decrepitude of ,paganism4 ,the difference between them was as the difference between the babe in arms1 and the hoary sinner on the threshold of death3 and while the one representation summarily cuts man off from ,god1 the other only shows to how fearful a distance he had by degrees travelled away4 ,as time went on1 and the eidola of succeeding generations were heaped one upon another1 the truly theistic element in the ,pagan mythology was more and more hidden and overborne1 until at length its association with evil was so inveterate and thorough1 that the images1 which the citizen or matron of the ,roman empire had before the mind as those of gods1 bore no appreciable resemblance to their divine original1 but more and more amply corresponded with that dark side of our nature1 on which we are accessible to1 and finally may assume the likeness of1 the evil one4 #af #a ,cor4 x4 #bj4 #ag ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 ii4 #bi4 ,but the critical error that we seem to have committed may be thus described2 we have thrown back upon the ,homeric period the moral and mythological character of the system1 such as we find it developed in later ,greece and ,rome3 forgetful of the long and dim interval1 that separates ,homeric religion from almost every subsequent representation1 and not duly appreciating the title of the poems to speak with an almost exclusive authority for their own insulated epoch4 ,paganism in its decay4 ,further1 it is reasonable to remember that some of the powerful alteratives1 which in subsequent ages told upon the form and substance of this wonderful mythology1 had not begun to act in the time of ,homer4 ,these alteratives were speculative thought1 and political interests4 ,philosophy1 ever dangerous to the popular religion of ,greece in the days of its maturity and prosperity1 became its ally in the period of its decline1 when its original vitality had entirely ebbed away1 and when the ,vexilla ,regis1 raised aloft throughout the ,roman empire1 drove it to seek refuge in holes and corners4 ,then the wit of man was set to repair the tottering fabric2 to apologize for what was profligate1 to invent reasons for what was void of meaning1 to frame relations between the depraved mythology1 and the moral government of the world4 ,even that corrupt and wicked system had1 as it were1 its epoch of death-bed repentance4 ,the services thus rendered by philosophers were late and ineffectual2 but it was the civil power1 which had been all along the greatest conservator of the classical mythology4 ,it felt itself to have an interest in surrounding public authority with a veneration greater than this world could supply3 a commanding interest1 with the pursuit of which its necessities forbade it to dispense4 ,whatever exercised an influence in subduing and enthralling the popular mind1 answered its purpose in the view of the civil magistrate4 ,hence his multifarious importations into religion1 each successively introduced for this purely subjective and temporal reason1 removed it farther and farther from the ground of truth4 ,every story that he added to the edifice made its fall more certain and more terrible4 ,numerosa parabat excels turris tabulata4 ,but in ,homer's time there is no trace of this employment of religion by governments1 as a means of sheer imposition upon their subjects4 ,so likewise in ,homer there is no sign that conscious speculation on these subjects had begun4 ,indeed1 of that kind of thought which involves a clear mental self-consciousness1 we may perhaps say1 that the first beginning1 at least for ,europe and the ,west1 is marked by the very curious simile in the ,iliad#ah-- #ah ,il4 xv4 #hj4 ' ' 444 ,homer1 then1 spoke out in simplicity1 and in good faith1 the religion of his day1 under those forms of poetry with which all religions have a well-grounded affinity3 for the imagination1 which is the fountain-head of poetic forms1 is likewise a genuine1 though faint1 picture1 of that world which religion realizes1 through ,faith its groundwork1 #8the substance of things hoped for1 the evidence of things not seen#ai4' #ai ,heb4 xi4 #a4 ,and1 indeed1 he had no other form in which to speak forth his soul4 ,that which we call the invention of the ,greeks at work upon the subject-matter of religion was1 in fact1 the voice of human nature1 giving expression in the easiest and simplest manner to its sense of the great objects and powers amidst which its lot was cast4 ,it has been well said by ,professor ,m4 ,mller1 in an able ,essay#bj on #8,comparative ,mythology1' that #8abstract speech is more difficult1 than the fulness of a poet's sympathy with nature4' ,thus it was not so much that poetry usurped the office of religion1 as that their respective functions brought them of necessity to a common ground and a common form of proceeding4 ,homer saw1 heard1 or felt the action of the sun1 the moon1 the stars1 the atmosphere1 the winds1 the sea1 the rivers1 the fountains1 the soil2 and he knew of family affections1 of governing powers1 of a healing art1 of a gift and skill of mechanical construction4 ,action1 in each of these departments1 could not but be referred to a power4 ,how was that power to be expressed8 #bj ,oxford ,essays1 #ahef1 p4 #cf4 ,on ,impersonation in ,homer4 ,at least for the ,greek mind1 less subtle1 as ,aristotle has observed1 than the ,oriental1 it was more natural to deal with persons1 than with metaphysical abstractions4 ,it was foreign to the mental habit of the heroic age to conceive of abstract essences2 as it still remains difficult1 more difficult perhaps than1 in the looseness of our mental processes1 we suppose1 for the men of our own generation4 ,even now1 in the old age of the world1 we have many signs of this natural difficulty1 which formerly was a kind of impossibility4 ,especially we have that one which leads all communities1 and above all their least instructed classes1 to apply the personal pronouns he or she to a vast multitude of inanimate objects1 both natural1 and the products of human skill and labour4 ,these objects are generally such as stand in a certain relation to action3 they either do1 suffer1 or contain4 ,if then the ,nature-forces could not be expressed1 or at least could not be understood as abstractions1 to express them as persons was the only other course open to the poet4 ,it was not an effort to follow this method3 it would have required great effort to adopt any other4 ,how spontaneous was the impulse which thus generated the mythological system1 we may observe from this1 that it not only personified in cases where1 an agency being seen1 its fountain was concealed from view1 but it likewise went very far towards personification even in cases where inanimate instruments were wielded by human beings1 and where1 as the source of the phenomenon was perceived1 there was no occasion to clothe it with a separate vitality4 ,hence that copious vivifying power which ,homer has poured like a flood through his verse4 ,hence his bitter arrow 771 his darts hungry for human blood 7 71 his ground laughing in the blaze of the gleaming armour 7 74 ,hence again his free use of sensible imagery to illustrate metaphysical ideas3 for example1 his black cloud of grief1 his black pains1 his purple death#ba4 ,hence that singularly beautiful passage on the weeping of the deathless horses of ,achilles for ,patroclus#bb4 ,hence too it is1 that he does not scruple to carry imagery1 drawn from the sphere of one sense1 into the domain of another1 an operation which later poets have found so difficult and hazardous4 ,he has an iron din#bc1 a brazen voice#bd1 a brazen or iron heaven#be1 a howling or shouting fire1 a blaze of lamentation#bf4 ,hence1 by a system of figure bolder perhaps than has been used by any other poet1 he invests the works of high art in metal with the attributes of life and motion4 ,this daring system reaches its climax in the damsel satellites#bg of gold1 that support the limping gait of ,vulcan3 in the dogs of metal1 that guard the palace of ,alcinous3 in the elastic arms of ,achilles1 which1 so far from being a weight upon him1 themselves lift him from the ground3 and in the animated ships of the ,phacians1 which are taught by instinct to speed across the sea1 and to pilot their own course to the points of their destination#bh4 ,on every side we see a redundance of life1 shaping1 and even forcing1 for itself new channels3 and thus it becomes more easy for us to conceive the important truth that1 when he impersonates1 he simply takes what was for him the easiest and the most effective way to describe4 ,every where he is carrying on a double process of action and reaction3 on the one hand bringing ,deity down to sensible forms2 on the other1 adorning and elevating humanity1 and inanimate nature1 with every divine endowment4 #ba ,il4 v4 #hc4 xvii4 #eia4 xviii4 #b1 #d4 #bb ,il4 xvii4 #dbf-dj4 #bc ,il4 xvii4 #dbd4 #bd ,il4 xviii4 #bbb3 more strictly1 a voice of bronze4 #be ,il4 xv4 #cbh4 xvii4 #dbe1 #efe4 #bf ,od4 xx4 #cec4 #bg ,il4 xviii4 #dag4 ,for the ,shield1 notice xviii4 #eci1 #eii-fjb4 xix4 #chf4 #bh ,od4 viii4 #eef4 ,nature of the myths of ,homer4 ,homer1 then1 is full of mythical matter4 ,but the word myth1 of which in recent controversies the use has been so frequent1 is capable of being viewed under either of two principal aspects4 ,in one of these1 it signifies a story which is not contemporary with the date of the facts it purports to relate1 but is in reality an after-view of them1 which colours its subject1 and exaggerates1 ad libitum1 according to conditions of thought and feeling which have arisen in the interval4 ,in the other of these senses1 it is an allegory which has simply lost its counterpart3 it was true1 but by separation from that which attached it to fact1 it has become untrue3 being now of necessity handled1 if handled at all1 as a substantive existence1 it has passed into a fable1 and is only distinguished from pure fable1 in that it once indicated truths contemporary with itself1 though probably truths lying in a different region from its own4 ,it is in this last sense that the term myth is chiefly1 and most legitimately1 applicable to the religious system of the ,homeric poems3 but they may also probably contain more or less of the mythical element in the former sense4 ,we1 having obtained knowledge of the early derivation and distribution of mankind1 and of the primitive religion1 from sources other than those open to ,homer1 shall find in this knowledge the lost counterpart of a great portion of the ,homeric myths4 ,the theological and ,messianic traditions which we find recorded in ,scripture1 when compared with the ,homeric theogony1 will be found to correspond with a large and important part of it3 and1 moreover1 with a part of it which in the poems themselves carries a cluster of distinctive marks1 not to be explained except by the discovery of this correspondence4 ,the evidence1 therefore1 of the meaning of this part of the ,homeric system is like that which is obtained1 when1 upon applying a new key to some lock that we have been unable to open1 we find it fits the wards1 and puts back the bolt4 ,in his learned and acute ,essay#bi on ,comparative ,mythology1 ,professor ,max ,mller undertakes to illustrate a doctrine that appears to be the exact opposite of ,mr4 ,grote's #8,past which was never present4' ,if ,i understand him rightly1 there was at some one time a present for every portion of the reputed past#cj3 so that1 by a reference to eastern sources1 the nature of that present1 and of the original consistent meaning for what afterwards on becoming unintelligible is justly called a myth1 has in many cases been1 and may yet in many more come to be1 unveiled4 ,originally impersonations of ideas and natural powers1 the heathen gods never represented demons or evil spirits#ca1 and were #8masks without an actor1' #8names without being3' while their reality1 consisting in their relation to the facts of the universe1 faded and escaped from perception in the course of time4 ,the myths of the ,veda are still in the stage of growth3 ,hesiod and ,homer too are of the #8later ,greeks1' and not only the ,theogony of ,hesiod is #8a distorted caricature1' but the poetry of ,homer#cb is extensively founded on myths fully grown1 and in the stage of decay1 that is to say1 long severed from their corresponding deities4 #bi ,oxford ,essays1 #ahef4 #cj ,essays1 p4 #db4 #ca ,ibid4 p4 #dh4 #cb pp4 #dc1 #dg1 #di1 #ee1 #hg4 ,i do not doubt that in all mythology at its origin1 there has been both a shell and a substance3 and that the tendency of the two to part company1 which we see even under the sway of revealed religion1 must have operated with far more power1 where ordinarily at least1 man was thrown back1 without other aid1 upon his reason and his conscience1 beset as they were and are with overpowering foes4 ,but then1 as it seems to me1 we must anticipate great changes in the shell itself4 ,it will not retain1 when empty1 the identity of the form2 which has lost the support that it had from within when full4 ,on the contrary1 it will become unlike its original self1 as well as unlike its archetype or substance1 so that probably much of it must always remain without a key4 ,upon the other hand1 as there was already a true religion in the world when an untrue one began to gather upon and incrust it1 there must arise the question already put2 what1 according to the theory before us1 became of this true religion8 ,it did not disappear in a day3 there was no wilful renunciation of it by single or specific acts1 no sharp line drawn between it and the false2 but the human element was gradually more and more imported into the divine1 operating by continual and successive disintegrations of the original ideas4 ,if so1 then there seems to be nothing unreasonable in the belief that the traces of them might long remain discernible in the adulterated system1 even if only as the features of a man are discernible in the mask of a buffoon4 ,no doubt it would be unreasonable to look for such traces in ,homer1 if he were indeed1 in the popular sense of the term1 which probably ,professor ,m4 ,mller does not intend1 a later ,greek2 a ,greek dealing with a mythological system of which his nation had already had its use1 from which the creative principle had departed1 and which was on the road from ripeness to decay4 ,i am far from saying that there are no myths in ,homer1 where the original and interior meaning has ceased to be discernible3 but ,i shall seek to show that the contrary may be confidently averred1 and fully shown1 with respect to the great bulk of his mythology1 and that we see in him two systems1 both alive1 and in impact and friction1 though with very unequal forces1 one upon the other2 the first1 that of traditional truth1 and the second1 of the inventive impersonation of nature both material and invisible4 ,and certainly it is very striking that1 with one or two very insignificant exceptions1 all those ancient fables1 which ,professor ,mller treats as having become unintelligible without the key of the ,veda1 and which he explains by means of it1 are fables unknown to ,homer1 and drawn from much later sources4 ,steps of the downward process4 ,the general view1 then1 which will be given in these pages of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology is as follows3 ,that its basis is not to be found either in any mere human instinct gradually building it up from the ground1 or in the already formed system of any other nation of antiquity2 but that its true point of origin lies in the ancient ,theistic and ,messianic traditions1 which we know to have subsisted among the patriarchs1 and which their kin and contemporaries must have carried with them as they dispersed1 although their original warmth and vitality could not but fall into a course of gradual efflux1 with the gradually widening distance from their source4 ,to travel beyond the reach of the rays proceeding from that source was to make the first decisive step from religion to mythology4 ,to this divine tradition1 then1 were added1 in rank abundance1 elements of merely human fabrication1 which1 while intruding themselves1 could not but also extrude the higher and prior parts of religion4 ,but the divine tradition1 as it was divine1 would not admit of the accumulation of human materials until it had itself been altered4 ,even before men could add1 it was necessary that they should take away4 ,this impairing and abstraction of elements from the divine tradition may be called disintegration4 ,before the time of ,homer1 it had already wrought great havock4 ,its first steps1 as far as the genesis of the mythology throws light upon them1 would appear to have been as follows3 objectively1 a fundamental corruption of the idea of ,god2 who1 instead of an ,omnipotent wisdom and holiness1 now in the main represented on a large scale1 in personal character1 the union of appetite and power2 subjectively1 the primary idea of religion was wholly lost4 ,adam1 says ,lord ,bacon1 was not content with universal obedience to the ,divine ,will as his rule of action1 but would have another standard4 ,this offence1 though not exaggerated into the hideousness of human depravity in its later forms1 is represented without mitigation in the principles of action current in the heroic age4 ,human life1 as it is there exhibited1 has much in it that is noble and admirable2 but nowhere is it a life of simple obedience to ,god4 ,this disintegration of primitive traditions forms the second stage1 a negative one1 in the process which produced the ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,when the divine idea1 and also the idea of the relation between man and his ,maker1 had once been fundamentally changed1 there was now room for the introduction without limit of what was merely human into religion4 ,instead of man's being formed in the image of ,god1 ,god was formed in the image of man4 ,the ancient traditions were made each to assume a separate individual form2 and these shapes were fashioned by magnifying and modifying processes from the pattern that human nature afforded4 ,again1 as man does not exist alone and individually1 but in the family1 so the nexus of the family was introduced as the basis of a divine order4 ,this we may call1 resting on the etymology of the word1 the divine conomy of the ,homeric religion4 ,but as with man1 so with the supernatural world1 on which his own genius was now powerfully reflected1 families themselves1 when multiplied1 required a political order2 and therefore1 among the gods also a ,state and government are formed1 a divine polity4 ,human care1 by a strange inversion1 makes parental provision for the good government of those deities whom it has called into being4 ,the propagation1 for which a physical provision was made among men1 takes place within the mythological circle also1 under the laws of his intelligent nature4 ,the ranks of the ,immortals are filled with persons metaphysically engendered4 ,these persons they represent concrete forms given to abstract ideas1 or1 to state nearly the same thing in other words1 personal modes of existence assigned to powers which man saw as it were alive and at work in the universe1 physical or intelligent1 around him4 ,but here too a distinction is to be observed4 ,sometimes the deity was set above the natural power1 as its governor and controller3 sometimes he merely signified the power itself put in action4 ,the former mode commonly points to tradition2 the latter always to invention4 ,and lastly1 when a supernatural or order had thus been constructed1 the principles of affinity between it and the order here below exercised a reciprocally attractive force4 ,the gods were more and more humanized1 man was more and more invested with deity3 deity was made cheap and common among men1 and the interval from earth to heaven was bridged over by various means4 ,these means were principally2 first1 the translation of men into the company of the immortals2 secondly1 the introduction of intermediate races2 and1 thirdly and most of all1 the deification of heroes4 ,subordinate to this general view1 there arises another question3 how are we to subdivide the inventive parts of the ,homeric mythology8 ,what general statements can be propounded1 or criteria supplied1 to show how much ,greece fabricated or moulded for herself1 and what she owed to ,egypt1 or to ,phnicia1 or to other lands in the ,east1 whose traditions she had either inherited or received8 ,sources of the inventive portions4 ,a deep obscurity hangs over this subject4 ,we do not know all that was contained in each of the various religions of the ,east at any one epoch1 much less at all the periods within which they may have contributed materials to the gorgeous fabric of ,homer4 ,many things were probably common to several of them3 and where this was so1 circumstantial evidence cannot avail for determining the source at which the ,poet or his nation borrowed4 ,but several propositions may be laid down1 which will tend towards describing the path of our inquiry4 ,first1 the accounts which1 transmitted by ,herodotus1 represent ,egypt as the fountain-head of the ,greek religion in its mass1 are not sustained by the evidence of ,homer4 ,and even with respect to many points where the nucleus of the ,greek system has something corresponding with it in the ,egyptian1 it neither follows that it was originally drawn from ,egypt by the ,greeks1 nor that those from whom the ,greeks received it had obtained it there4 ,yet there remains room for very important communications1 such1 for example1 as the oracle of ,dodona1 or the worship of ,minerva1 which may be an historic token of an ,egyptian colony at ,athens4 ,secondly1 the correspondences between the ,homeric system and the ,eastern religions1 as we know them1 are commonly latent1 rather than broad or palpable4 ,this may1 in part1 be owing to the circumstance that our accounts of these religions are in great part so much later than ,homer2 and a greater resemblance1 than is now to be traced1 may have subsisted in his time4 ,originality of the ,olympian system4 ,but1 thirdly1 the differences are not differences of detail or degree4 ,a different spirit pervades the ,homeric creed and worship1 from that which we find in ,egyptian1 or ,median1 or ,persian systems4 ,one has grovelling animalism1 another has metaphysical aspirations1 that we do not find in the ,greek3 but this is not all4 ,if the ,homeric scheme is capable of being described1 as to its inventive part1 by any one epithet1 it will be this1 that it is intensely human4 ,i do not speak of the later mythology2 nor of ,hesiod1 whose ,theogony so marvellously spoils what it systematizes2 but of ,homer1 in whom the ideal ,olympus attained its perfection at a stroke4 ,in his preternatural there is1 as far as ,i can see1 much more of what is truly ,divine1 much more of the residue of primeval tradition1 than we can find collected elsewhere3 but there is also much more of what is human4 ,the moral form is corrupt3 but ,i am now also speaking of it as a work of human genius1 and certainly as one of the most wonderful and splendid of its products4 ,the deep sympathy with ,nature1 the refined perception of beauty1 the freedom1 the buoyancy1 the elastic movement of every figure on the scene1 the intimate sense of association between the denizens of ,olympus and the generations of mortal men1 the imposing development of a ,polity on high1 the vivid nationality that riveted its hold on ,greece1 the richness and inexhaustible diversity of those embellishments which a vigorous fancy knows how to provide1 combine to make good the title ,i have asserted1 and1 if we are to believe that ,homer1 in no small part1 made what he described1 must place his share in the formation of the system in the very foremost rank even of his achievements4 ,at any rate1 this one thing1 ,i think1 is clear2 that whatever ,greece borrowed from the ,east1 she fairly made her own4 ,all was thrown into the crucible2 all came out again from the fire recast1 in such combinations1 and clothed in such forms and hues1 as the specific exigencies of the ,greek mind required4 ,hence we must beware of all precipitate identifications4 ,we must take good heed1 for example1 not to assume1 that because ,athene may be ,neith by metathesis1 therefore the features of the ,homeric ,pallas were really gathered together in the ,egyptian prototype of her name#cc4 ,the strong hand of a transmuting fancy and intelligence passed as a preliminary condition upon everything foreign1 not only to modify1 but probably also to resolve into parts1 and then to reconstruct4 ,so that the preternatural system of ,homer is1 above all others1 both national and original1 and has1 by its own vital energies1 helped to maintain those characteristics even in the deteriorated copies which were made from it by so many after-generations4 #cc ,bunsen's #8,egypt's ,place in ,universal ,history1' b4 ,i4 s4 vi4 ,a4 ,,sect4 ,,ii4 ,the traditive ,element of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,the earliest ,scriptural narrative presents to our view1 with considerable distinctness1 three main objects4 ,these are1 respectively1 ,god1 the ,redeemer1 and the ,evil ,one4 ,nor do we pass even through the ,book of ,genesis without finding1 that it shadows forth some mysterious combination of ,unity with ,trinity in the ,divine ,nature4 ,from the general expectation which prevailed in the ,east at the period of the ,advent1 and from the prophecies collected and carefully preserved in ,rome under the name of the ,sibylline books1 we are at once led to presume1 that the knowledge of the early promise of a ,deliverer had not been confined to the ,jewish nation4 ,their exclusive character1 and that of their religion2 their small significance in the political system and intellectual movement of the world2 and the false as well as imperfect notions which seem to have prevailed elsewhere respecting them and their law#cd2 all make it highly improbable that these expectations and predictions should have been drawn from them and their sacred books exclusively4 ,further1 ,holy ,scripture distinctly exhibits to us the existence of channels of traditional knowledge severed from theirs4 ,thus much we learn particularly from the cases of ,job1 who was a prophet and servant of ,god1 though he lived in a country where idolatry was practised#ce2 and of ,balaam1 who1 not being an ,israelite1 nor an upright man1 was nevertheless a prophet also4 ,our ,lord1 in his answer respecting ,god as the ,god of ,abraham#cf1 points to a great article of belief1 not expressly propounded in the ,mosaic books4 ,and again1 there are traditions adopted in the ,new ,testament by apostolic authority1 which prove to us that there were some fragments at least of early tradition remaining1 even at a late date1 among the ,jews themselves1 over and above what had been committed to writing in the older ,scriptures4 ,such are those given by ,st4 ,jude respecting ,balaam himself1 the body of ,moses1 and the prophecy of ,enoch#cg4 ,such is the record mentioned by ,st4 ,paul#ch of ,jannes and ,jambres1 who are believed to have been the chief magicians of ,pharaoh1 referred to in ,exodus1 c4 vii3 and whose names are mentioned by ,pliny1 and1 according to ,eusebius1 by ,numenius the ,philosopher#ci4 ,but it is not necessary1 and it might not be safe1 to make any large assumption respecting a traditional knowledge of any parts of early revelation beyond what ,scripture actually contains4 #cd ,see for example1 in the ,apocrypha1 ,esther xiii4 #a-g4 #ce ,horsley's ,dissertation1 p4 #fi4 #cf ,st4 ,matt4 xxii4 #cb4 #cg ,st4 ,jude1 ver4 #i1 #aa1 #ad4 #ch #b ,tim4 iii4 #h4 #ci ,plin4 ,h4 ,n4 xxx4 #a4 ,euseb4 ,prp4 ,ev4 ix4 #h4 ,whitby1 in loc4 ,dwelling therefore on what may be gathered from the ,sacred ,volume1 we have seen that at the very earliest date it has set before men the ideas of ,god1 the ,redeemer1 and the ,evil ,one1 and that it has spoken concerning ,god as in some sense ,three in ,one4 ,when we take the whole of the older ,sacred ,records into view1 we may add some particulars respecting the other two great objects4 ,messianic traditions of ,scripture4 ,and first1 as to the ,deliverer of man4 ,the ,redeemer promised was to be human1 for ,he was to be of human birth4 ,as death was the type of the primeval curse1 so it was from death that ,he was to deliver4 ,again1 the woman became a portion of the prophecy1 for ,he was to be the seed of the woman3 and while ,he is thus plainly indicated to us as incarnate1 ,he is1 on the other hand1 mysteriously identified with the 1 the ,divine ,word or ,wisdom1 existing before the world and the race with which ,he was to be numbered1 and invested with the attributes of supreme ,deity4 ,although from a certain period the ,wisdom and the ,deliverer appear to stand visibly identified1 yet the earliest forms of the traditions1 as they stand in ,holy ,writ1 are1 to a certain extent1 ideally separate or separable2 and the personality of the former is less clearly1 or at least less sharply1 marked than that of the latter4 ,it was always the prevailing tendency of the speculative religions of the ,east to withdraw the ,supreme ,being from direct relations with the world1 and to assign its ordinary government to the ,wisdom1 more or less directly impersonated4 #8,this1' says ,dean ,milman1 #8was the doctrine from the ,ganges1 or even the shores of the ,yellow ,sea1 to the ,ilissus3 it was the fundamental principle of the ,indian religion and ,indian philosophy2 it was the basis of ,zoroastrianism3 it was pure ,platonism3 it was the ,platonic ,judaism of the ,alexandrian ,school#dj4' #dj ,milman's ,hist4 of ,christianity1 vol4 i4 p4 #gb4 ,neither were the traditions of the ,evil ,one1 more than those respecting the ,messiah1 limited to a single aspect4 ,on the contrary1 they were twofold1 and they centred round two ideas3 the one1 that of force2 the other that of fraud3 the one1 that of a rebellious spirit1 whom the ,almighty had cast down1 with his abettors1 from bliss to torment#da2 and the other1 that of a deceiver1 who lured man by the promise of what he desired1 and through the medium of his own free will1 away from duty1 to his own harm or destruction4 #da ,calmet's ,dict41 art4 ,satan4 #b ,pet4 ii4 #d4 ,st4 ,jude1 ver4 #f4 ,sum of the primitive traditions4 ,we may venture rudely to sum up these principal traditions of the first ages as follows3 ,first1 with respect to the ,deity4 #a4 ,the ,unity and supremacy of the ,godhead4 #b4 ,a combination with this ,unity of a ,trinity1 in which ,trinity the several ,persons1 in whatever way their personality be understood1 and whatever distinctions may obtain between them1 are in some way of coequal honour4 ,secondly1 with respect to the ,redeemer1 or ,messiah4 #a4 ,a ,redeemer from the curse of death1 invested with full humanity1 by whom the divine kingdom was to be vindicated and reestablished1 in despite of its enemies4 #b4 ,a ,wisdom1 which is personal as well as divine1 the highest and first in order1 concerned in the foundation and continuing government of the world#db4 ,this is the ,wisdom which #8the ,lord possessed from everlasting1 from the beginning1 or ever the earth was#dc4' #8,i ,wisdom dwell with prudence2 and find out knowledge of witty inventions#dd4' #8,this is with all flesh according to his gift3 and he hath given her to them that love him#de4' #db ,proverbs i4 #bj-cc4 #dc ,proverbs iii4 #ai4 #dd ,see ,proverbs viii4 passim4 #de ,ecclus4 i4 #h-aj4 iv4 #aa-ai1 et alibi4 ,see also ,wisdom of ,solomon1 i4 #f4 vi4 #ab1 and seqq4 vii4-x4 passim4 #c4 ,the connection of the ,redeemer with our race through his descent from the woman4 ,thirdly1 with respect to the ,evil ,one4 #a4 ,a rebellion of great angels or powers against the ,supreme ,being2 the defeat of the rebels1 and their being cast into the abyss4 #b4 ,the going forth among men of a power who tempts them to their destruction4 ,a tradition of minor moment1 but clearly declared in the earliest ,scripture1 may be added3 namely1 ,the announcement of the rainbow1 as a token which was to convey an assurance or covenant from ,god to man1 with respect to the annual order of nature2 an order on which the continuance of the human race depends4 ,it is impossible to survey these traditions1 in their outline1 without seeing how easy it was to find a way from them1 by the aid of ideas on which they seemed to border1 and which they brought within easy reach of wayward thought1 towards the principal corruptions of heathenism4 ,they shadow forth1 as they stand1 the great dogmas of the ,trinity and the ,incarnation3 but from the doctrine of the ,trinity1 thus shadowed forth1 the next step might be into polytheism2 while in the doctrine of the ,incarnation1 similarly projected1 seemed to be laid the foundation of the ,greek anthropomorphism1 or the reflection of humanity upon the supernatural world4 ,abstract truth has not been found sufficient to sustain itself among mankind3 and in the dispensations of the ,all-,wise the promulgation of it has always been associated with the establishment of a teaching organ1 which should bear living witness to its authority4 ,let us now observe how these traditions severally find their imperfect and deranged counterparts in the heroic age of ,greece4 ,first1 as to the ,godhead4 ,its unity and supremacy is represented in ,jupiter1 as the administrator of sovereign power4 ,the combination of ,trinity with ,unity is reproduced in the three ,kronid brothers1 ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 ,pluto or ,aidoneus2 all born of the same parents1 and having different regions of the material creation severally assigned to them by lot4 ,next as to the ,redeemer4 ,the first form of this tradition is represented chiefly in ,apollo4 ,but neither the various attributes which were conceived as belonging to the ,deliverer1 nor the twofold manifestation of his character as it appears in ,holy ,writ1 could1 we must conclude1 be held in combination by the heathen mind4 ,the character1 therefore1 underwent a marked disintegration by severance into distinct parts3 and while it continues1 in the main1 to form the groundwork of the ,homeric ,apollo1 certain of its qualities are apparently transferred to his sister ,diana1 and others of them are1 as it were1 repeated in her4 ,the second form of the tradition is that of the ,wisdom1 or 1 of the ,gospel of ,saint ,john2 and this appears to be represented in the sublime ,minerva of the ,homeric system4 ,lastly1 ,latona1 the mother of the twin deities1 ,apollo and ,diana1 appears to represent the tradition of the woman1 from whom the ,deliverer was to descend4 ,thirdly1 with respect to the ,evil ,one4 ,as the derivative idea of sin depended upon that of goodness1 and as the shadow ceases to be visible when the object shadowed has become more dim1 we might well expect that the contraction and obscuration of the true idea of goodness would bring about a more than proportionate loss of knowledge concerning the true nature of evil4 ,the impersonation of evil could only be upheld in a lively or effectual manner1 as the opposite of the impersonation of good3 and when the moral standard of godhead had so greatly degenerated1 as we find to be the case even in the works of ,homer1 the negation of that standard could not but cease to be either interesting or intelligible4 ,traditions of the ,evil ,one in ,homer4 ,accordingly we find that the process of disintegration1 followed by that of arbitrary reassortment and combination of elements1 had proceeded to a more advanced stage with respect to the tradition of the ,evil ,one1 than in the other cases4 ,the general form of the disintegration is this3 that the idea of a rebellion1 menacing the divine dominion with violence1 is now clothed in a variety of detached and more or less conflicting forms3 while the far more subtle idea of an influence acting immediately on the spirit of man1 and aiming a blow at the glory of the ,deity through his creatures1 whose allegiance it seeks by the perversion of their own spontaneous agency to withdraw1 remains in ,homer1 still indeed both visible and single1 but enfeebled and obscured to such a degree1 that it1 as it were1 stands on tiptoe1 ready for its final flight from the sphere of the common perceptions of mankind4 ,the first1 the idea of evil acting by violence1 is represented1 not indeed exclusively1 but most conspicuously1 in the ,titans and ,giants4 ,the second1 or the idea of evil acting by deceit1 is represented in the of ,homer4 ,lastly3 the rainbow of ,holy ,scripture is represented in the ,homeric ,iris4 ,these1 then1 speaking generally1 are the principal remnants from primitive traditions1 of which1 if of any thing of the kind1 we may expect to find the vestiges within the ,olympian ,court4 ,varying degrees of the traditive character4 ,in order to throw a fuller light upon the subject1 ,i shall chiefly examine the characters of the ,homeric deities1 and of the more important among them in particular1 not as a body but individually4 ,an opposite practice has for the most part prevailed4 ,it has been assumed that they are homogeneous2 they have been treated as a class1 subject to the same laws2 and variations1 not to be accounted for from mythological data1 have been viewed as mere solecisms in the conception of the class4 ,this has mainly tended1 ,i believe1 to thrust the truth of the case into dark corners4 ,but the properties which distinguish the ,homeric ,immortals in common from men are in reality less important than those which establish rules of discrimination within their own body1 and which point to the very different sources that have supplied the materials incorporated into different portions of the scheme4 ,in the enumeration which it will be requisite to make1 it might be allowable to treat ,neptune and ,pluto as traditive divinities1 because in their relation to ,jupiter1 which abstractedly is one of equal birth and equal honour1 they appear to share in representing the primitive tradition1 which combined a trine personality with unity in the godhead4 ,effect was given to this tradition by supposing the existence of three deities1 who were united by the bond of brotherhood1 and of whom each had an important portion of the universe assigned to his immediate superintendence4 ,but for the assignment of attributes to these personages1 when severally constituted1 tradition seems to have afforded no aid4 ,jupiter1 as the eldest and most powerful1 became heir general1 as it were1 to whatever ideas were current respecting the one supreme ,god3 or the point might be otherwise stated1 as for instance thus1 that the conception which the ,greeks derived from elsewhere of a supreme ,god1 they1 on taking it over1 shaped into the ,eldest ,brother of their ,trinity4 ,but the concentration of ideas of supremacy upon him was at variance with1 and enfeebled the notion of1 the trine combination4 ,the tradition itself1 moreover1 did not determine provinces for ,neptune or ,pluto2 and consequently1 though these deities may be considered traditional with regard to their basis1 they belonged to the invented class as respects character and attributes1 and it is in conjunction with that class that ,i propose to consider them4 ,again1 ,jupiter does not fully represent any one specific tradition3 but he assembles irregularly around him the fragments of such traditions as belonged to the relation between men and the ,one ,ruler of the universe4 ,on the one hand he is in competition with other impersonations2 on the other hand1 with abstractions1 which1 if they wanted the life1 yet had not forfeited the purity of godhead4 ,latona1 again1 will be known rather by relative and negative1 than by absolute and positive1 signs2 except as to the point of her maternity4 ,so ,diana does not equally divide with ,apollo1 her twin brother1 the substance of the tradition that they jointly represent2 but rather is the figure of a person on whom the residue1 consisting of properties that the ,homeric ,apollo could not receive1 is bestowed4 ,it is mainly in her ancillary relation to ,apollo that she should be viewed4 ,it will of course be my object to bring out1 as clearly and fully as ,i can1 that portion of the evidence1 which proves the presence of a strong traditive element in the ,theomythology of ,homer4 ,but it is not free from difficulty to determine the best mode of proceeding with this view4 ,the traditive part of the materials is not separated by a broad and direct line from the inventive2 nor has it been lodged without admixture in any of the members of the ,olympian system4 ,like the fables of the ,east1 it has undergone the transforming action of the ,greek mind1 and it is throughout the scheme variously mingled and combined with ideas of human manufacture4 ,there is scarcely any element of the old revelation that is presented to our view under unaltered conditions3 scarcely any personage of the divine order1 as represented by the ,poet1 stands in the same relation of resemblance to those primeval traditions1 which are to be traced in his figure and attributes4 ,the ancient truths are not merely imperfect2 they are dislocated1 and1 with heavy waste of material in the process1 afterwards recast4 ,on account of this bewildering diversity1 it will1 ,i conceive1 be most conducive to my purpose if ,i commence the inquiry with those deities in whom the propositions ,i maintain are best represented3 for the present putting aside others1 in whom the representation of tradition1 either from the overpowering presence of other elements1 or from the general insignificance of the character1 is less effective4 ,i have spoken1 thus far1 of the ancient traditions1 as they are delivered either in the ancient or in the more recent books of the ,bible4 ,and ,i hope it will not be thought to savour of mere paradox1 if the result of my search into the text of ,homer shall be to exhibit the religion of the ,greeks1 in the heroic age1 as possessed of more resemblances to a primitive revelation1 than those religions of the ,east from which they must have borrowed largely1 and which we presume to have stood between them and the fountain-head4 ,we have doubtless to consider the ,greeks1 as to their religion1 in three capacities3 first1 as receivers of the remains of pristine tradition2 secondly1 as having imported1 along with it1 from abroad the depraved forms of human fable2 thirdly1 as themselves powerful inventors1 working upon and adding to both descriptions of material4 ,but1 before we conclude that the religion of ,homer must needs be farther from that of the patriarchs than the religions1 as we now read them1 of ,persia1 ,assyria1 or ,egypt1 we ought to be assured that the editions1 so to speak1 in which we study those religions1 are older than the ,homeric poems4 ,whereas1 with respect to the great bulk of the records at our command1 this1 ,i apprehend1 is the very reverse of the truth4 ,messianic traditions of the ,hebrews4 ,there is1 however1 one source to which we may legitimately repair1 as next in authority to the ,holy ,scriptures themselves with respect to the forms of primitive tradition3 ,i mean the earliest and most authentic sacred literature of the ,hebrews4 ,not that in kind it can resemble the sacred records2 but that it is at least likely to indicate what were the earliest forms of development1 and the initial tendencies to deviation4 ,since that nation became unhappily committed1 through its chief traditional authorities1 to the repudiation of the ,redeemer1 a sinister bias has operated upon its retrospective1 as well as upon its present and prospective theology4 ,there are nevertheless three depositaries of knowledge from which we may hope to learn what were the views1 entertained by the ancient ,hebrews themselves1 with regard to the all-absorbing subject of the ,messianic traditions4 ,in the first place it would appear1 from the very nature of the prophecies of the ,old ,testament1 that there must1 in all likelihood1 have existed along with them a system of authoritative contemporary exposition1 in order that holy men might be enabled to derive from them the consolation and instruction which1 apart from their other purposes1 they were divinely intended to convey4 ,the highly figurative character and frequent obscurity of their language supports1 if it does not require1 this belief3 and the constant practice1 attested by the later ,scriptures1 of public explanation of the sacred ,books1 including the ,prophets1 in the synagogues of the ,jews1 brings it as near as such a case admits to demonstration4 ,these expositions of the ,sacred ,text began1 as it appears1 to be committed to writing about the time of the ,babylonish captivity2 when the ,chaldee tongue became the vernacular1 and the old ,hebrew disappeared from common use4 ,they were collected in the ,paraphrases or ,targumim3 and the fragments of the oldest of them1 which had consisted of marginal notes1 were consolidated into a continuous ,targum by ,onkelos1 ,jonathan1 and others#df4 #df ,schttgen's ,hor ,hebraic et ,talmudic1 vol4 ii4 ,de ,messi1 ,prf4 ss4 #c4d4ab4 and ,b4 ,i4 c4 iii4 #b1 #c4 ,apart from the ,targumim1 the sacred literature of the ,jews appears1 from the time of the captivity onwards1 to have run in two main channels4 ,one class of teachers and writers rested chiefly on the dry traditionary system condemned by our ,saviour in the ,gospels1 and gave less and less heed1 as time went on1 to the doctrine of ,scripture1 and of their forefathers1 concerning the ,messiah4 ,in the second century after ,christ1 this traditionary system was reduced by the ,rabbi ,jehuda into a volume called the ,mischna4 ,and in the sixth or seventh1 there was composed a larger work1 the ,gemara or ,talmud1 which purported in part to comment on the ,mischna1 and which also presented a more extensive and more promiscuous collection of ,rabbinical traditions4 ,in the midst of the ordure of this work1 says ,schttgen1 are to be found here and there certain pearls#dg4 #dg ,schttgen ,prf4 #ag4 ,b4 ,i4 c4 iii4 #g1 #h4 and ,rabbin4 ,lect4 ,b4 ,i4 c4 #e4 ,parallel with this stream of chiefly spurious learning1 there was a succession of pious writers1 who both searched the ,scriptures1 and studied to maintain and propagate the ,messianic interpretations of them4 ,of this succession the ,rabbi ,simeon ,ben ,jochai was the great ornament2 and by his disciples was compiled1 some sixty years after his death1 or about ,a4 ,d4 #agj1 the work termed the ,sohar1 which is so ,christian in its sense1 as to have convinced ,schttgen that ,simeon was himself a ,christian2 although1 perhaps from not being understood1 he was not repudiated by the ,jews#dh4 ,upon this work was founded the ,cabbalistic or mystical learning4 #dh ,schttgen ,prf4 #ab-ae4 ,b4 ,i4 and ,,ii4 c4 ii4 c4 iii4 #f1 #g4 ,rabb4 ,lect4 ,i4 c4 vi4 ,from these sources may be derived many ,messianic ideas and interpretations that were current among the ancient ,jews4 ,of them ,i proceed to extract some1 from the work of ,schttgen1 which may throw light upon the interior system of the ,homeric mythology in its most important aspects4 #a4 ,first and foremost1 these traditions appear to bear witness to the extraordinary elevation of the ,messiah1 and they fully recognise his title to the great ,tetragrammaton#di4 #di ,schttgen1 ,i4 i4 #a4 #b4 ,next1 that introduction of the female principle into the sphere of deity1 which the ,greeks seem to have adopted1 after their anthropophuistic manner1 with a view to the family order among the ,immortals rather than as a mere metaphysical conception1 appears to have its prototype in the ,hebrew traditions4 ,when in the ,holy ,scriptures we find wisdom personified in the feminine1 we regard this only as a mode of speech1 though as one evidently tending to account for the sex of ,minerva4 ,but the ,jewish traditions went far beyond this#ej4 ,the two natures of our ,lord would appear from the ,sohar to have been distinguished under the figure of mother and daughter4 ,the ,schechina1 or #8glory of ,god1' is of the feminine gender3 and the relation of ,his divinity to ,his humanity is set forth under the figure of a marriage4 ,he is therefore called mother and matron2 temporibus futuris omnes hostes tradentur in manus ,matron1 as ,schttgen renders the ,sohar#ea4 #ej ,schttgen1 ,i4 i4 #c4 #ea ,ibid4 ,i4 i4 #ab1 #ah4 ,the 1 or ,word of the ,lord1 is also shown to have been1 according to the genuine traditions of the ,jews1 a common expression for the ,messiah4 ,the relation thus exhibited is in marked analogy with that between ,minerva and ,jupiter4 ,this expression of the ,targums of ,jonathan and ,onkelos is also in correspondence with the language of ,philo1 ,de ,confusione ,linguarum1 pp4 #bee1 #bfgeb4 #eb ,ibid4 ,i4 i4 #b4 #d4 ,the ideas of sonship and primogeniture#ec are likewise recognised among the titles of the ,messiah1 according to the ,sohar and other ,jewish authorities4 ,we shall have to inquire what ,homeric deities there are1 who1 by the distinction between their mode and time of birth1 and that of others1 may appear to represent these characteristics4 #ec ,ib4 ,i4 i4 #e1 #i4 #e4 ,the ,lord of ,hosts1 or ,zebaoth#ed1 is another title of the ,messiah3 and we may therefore expect1 in any traditionary remnant found elsewhere1 to discover some strong and commanding martial development4 #ed ,ib4 ,i4 i4 #f4 #f4 ,the ,messiah was preeminently conceived of by the ,jews as being the ,light#ee4 ,this property is in immediate connection with the idea of the 4 ,it cannot fail to be observed1 how vividly such an idea is represented in the ancient name attaching to ,apollo1 and probably also in that of or #8light-born4' ,the same idea appears in the characteristic epithet 1 as it is now rightly interpreted1 for ,minerva4 ,this indeed is not merely an epithet1 but it forms one of her titles3 as in ,il4 viii4 #djf4 #ee ,ibid4 ,,ii4 ,loc4 ,gen4 xiii4 xciv4 et alibi1 and ,i4 iii4 #aj1 #bc4 #g4 ,again1 the name ,metatron#ef is one of those properly applied to the ,messiah by the ,jews4 ,it is supposed to have denoted originally the sense of the ,latin word metator1 as having reference to the guiding of the ,israelites through the desert1 and the marking or measuring out of their camps there4 ,but it appears to have acquired afterwards the sense of ,mediator1 as implying that the ,messiah was the organ1 through whom the counsels of the ,most ,high ,god took effect upon man4 #ef ,schttgen1 ,i4 i4 #cj4 #h4 ,the performance of miracles was to be a peculiar mark of the ,messiah#eg4 #eg ,ibid4 ,,iii4 ,thes4 iii4 #b4 #i4 ,another was the conquest he was to achieve over ,satan1 and the liberation of the dead from the grave and from the power of hell#eh4 #eh ,ibid4 ,,iii4 ,thes4 ii4 ,with these great gifts and powers was associated an assemblage of the most winning and endearing moral qualities4 #8,the ,schechina 7or ,messiah7 is the image of ,god2 as ,he is gentle1 so is ,she3 as ,he is gracious1 so is ,she3 as ,he is mighty1 so is ,she mistress over all nations3 ,he is truth1 ,she is faith3 ,he the prophet1 ,she the prophetess3 ,he the just1 ,she the just3 ,he the king1 ,she the queen3 ,he wise1 ,she wisdom3 ,he intelligent1 ,she ,his intelligence3 ,he the crown1 ,she the diadem#ei4' #ei ,from the translation of the ,sohar by ,sommer1 in ,schttgen1 ,,iii4 iii4 ,the central idea of these old traditions1 as we conceive it1 and as it stands apart from simple theism1 was that of redemption by means of a person clothed in the attributions of humanity1 but also invested with the nature and powers of ,godhead4 ,of these two sides of the tradition1 one was exhibited in the ,word or ,wisdom of ,god1 and the other in the ,seed of the woman4 ,the first is appropriated to ,minerva1 and the second in the main to ,apollo4 ,but as the divine and human could not in the tradition long continue completely harmonized and united1 so neither are they wholly severed4 ,the ,wisdom assumes a human configuration3 the ,seed of the woman does not cease to be divine4 ,now ,pallas and ,apollo preserve1 relatively to one another1 the place of their prototypes in these two cardinal respects4 ,as the tradition of the was more immediately divine1 so ,pallas is more copiously invested with the higher powers1 prerogatives1 and offices of deity4 ,on the other hand1 as the deliverance was to be wrought out by the immediate agency of the ,seed of the woman1 so ,apollo is more human1 and is invested with the larger and more varied assemblage of active endowments1 appertaining to the health1 welfare1 safety1 purification1 and chastisement of mankind4 ,and one main reason of the anthropomorphous character of the ,greek mythology as a whole may very probably be found in the fact1 that it was an old and a pure tradition which first gave to men the idea of ,god in human form2 the idea which1 when once more purified1 became that of ,emmanuel1 ,god with us#fj4 #fj ,matt4 i4 #bc4 ,the personages of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology who might most reasonably be distinguished as having their basis in tradition are3 #a4 ,jupiter4 #b4 ,minerva4 #c4 ,apollo4 #d4 ,diana4 #e4 ,latona4 #f4 ,iris4 #g4 ,the ,titans and kindred traditions4 #h4 1 the ,temptress4 ,of these1 ,jupiter is so mixed a conception1 and has such important relations to the whole genesis of the ,greek mythology1 that ,i place him in another class1 and postpone the attempt to give a view of his person and offices until we have gone through the deities1 in whom the traditional element is less disguised and also less contaminated4 ,minerva and ,apollo the key4 ,and of these ,i commence with ,minerva and ,apollo1 not only because they are the most dignified1 but also as they are the most characteristic representatives of the class1 and because it is in their persons that we may best test the amount and quality of the evidence in support of the assertion1 that a traditional basis for the religion of the heroic age of ,greece is still traceable in the poems of ,homer4 ,again3 it is the effect of this evidence in general both to separate ,minerva and ,apollo by many important differences from the general mass of the ,olympian deities1 and likewise to associate them together in a great number of common signs and properties4 ,for these reasons ,i shall begin by considering them jointly3 and ,i believe that in a just comprehension of their position lies the key to the whole ,homeric system4 ,the lines of description for these two deities will1 however1 cross and recross one another4 ,their strong and pervading essential resemblances do not preclude much diversity of detail2 and it will not unfrequently be found to happen1 either that a given sign1 perhaps even one of peculiar elevation1 and thus of traditive origin1 is found in one of the two and not in the other1 or else that such a sign is developed more fully in one than in the other1 or that the properties of an idea are divided between them1 as if it was felt that1 where the one was1 the other must in greater or less measure be4 ,it will also be remembered that ,i do not aim at including1 even in this detailed discussion1 all that is ascribed by ,homer to his ,apollo and his ,minerva2 but only at exhibiting1 with such fulness and clearness as ,i can1 the distinctive character which on the whole they may be said to possess in common1 and which ,i believe to constitute both the most curious1 and by far the most important feature of the whole ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,the signs which appear to mark these great deities of tradition1 and which accompany them with a deliberate consistency through the poems1 present themselves with various bearings4 ,some affect their position in the ,olympian system1 others their individual characters2 and lastly1 a third class appertain to their dealings with man1 and to their place and power in regard to the sphere of nature both animal and inanimate4 ,or more briefly1 we may regard them in their ,olympian relations1 their personal characters1 and their terrestrial aspects4 ,we will begin with the first of these three divisions4 ,their rank in the ,olympian system4 #a4 ,their position in the ,olympian system1 if we are to adopt the common genesis of the ,olympian system1 is one of hopeless and unaccountable solecism4 ,the gods of ,olympus are arranged generally in two generations4 ,if we put ,apollo and ,minerva out of view1 then1 with the exception of a deity like ,dione1 introduced to serve as a mere vehicle of maternity1 and inferior in weight1 if not in rank1 to her own offspring1 the majesty and might of ,olympus1 following the order of nature1 are entirely in the elder of these generations1 and reside with ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,neptune1 and ,aidoneus or ,pluto4 ,the greater spheres have been shared among these divinities2 nothing1 except what is secondary1 remains for the rest4 ,but the position of ,apollo and ,minerva is in no respect inferior to those of the elder gods1 save ,jupiter alone3 in many points it is higher2 it has approximations to the very summit1 which they have not2 nay1 in particular points1 ,jupiter himself is exceeded4 ,it is so entirely different as a whole from that of the other deities of the second generation1 that we must seek out a cause for the difference4 ,now it cannot be made to depend1 at least in the case of ,apollo1 on the paramount magnitude of any one of his functions1 such as the bow1 the lyre1 or even the gift of divination4 ,it would have been natural to anticipate that war1 which is the business of ,mars1 might have made a greater deity than divination1 had both started from the same point4 ,in later times1 perhaps1 it did so2 but in ,homer the inferiority of ,mars is immeasurable4 ,now if we cannot account for this and other cases of inferiority to ,apollo in the heroic age by function1 we must1 ,i think1 of necessity look for it in difference of origin4 #b4 ,although the relation of ,apollo and ,minerva to ,jupiter places them in the generation next to his1 7all the ,homeric divinities alike are subject to the condition of being conceived to have a beginning17 yet there are marked differences in antiquity between these two1 and all the other deities who1 like them1 stand as children to ,jupiter3 while the simple fact1 that they stand as his children1 is precisely what the ancient traditions would have led us to expect1 with a difference which we find represented in the respective modes of their derivation from him4 ,of the other deities of the same generation1 there are some so recent1 as ,greek deities1 that their childhood is made matter of record3 there is not one who bears any mark that will throw him back to the period when the ,pelasgians ruled in ,greece1 like ,jupiter as the father of the old ,hellic houses and the ,dodonan worship1 or ,neptune as the parent of ,neleus and of ,actor2 or indeed that in any manner suggests great antiquity4 ,but now let us look at ,minerva and ,apollo4 ,that ,minerva was born from the head of ,jupiter1 is a legend which ,i apprehend signifies that1 in the oldest mythology1 she had no mother3 that1 even if not in the ,olympian order1 yet in the history of her worship she was prior to ,juno4 ,she would otherwise have been the daughter of ,juno1 or of some other mother2 and the sole parentage of ,jupiter is a proof1 that the tradition she represented was in vogue before motherhood among the ,immortals was invented4 ,so strictly is this true1 that1 as the constructive process went on1 a mother was found for ,minerva under the name of ,metis#fa2 who was at the same time placed as the oldest among the wives of ,jupiter4 ,in ,homer1 whether ,tritogeneia is to be interpreted head-born#fb or not1 it is indubitable that ,minerva has no mother named1 and is not the child of any known female divinity3 and the sole parentage of ,jupiter appears to be declared with sufficient clearness in the expostulation of ,mars to ,jupiter#fc2 #fa ,see ,hes4 ,theog4 #hhf-ijj4 ,apollod4 i4 #c1 #f4 #fb ,hes4 ,theog4 #ibd4 #fc ,il4 v4 #hhj4 ' 4 ,this is the only sense1 so far as ,i can see1 that can properly be given to the word 4 ,apollo1 on the other hand1 is the son of or ,latona4 ,for her name there appears to be but one satisfactory meaning1 and it is this2 that her origin was before the memory of man1 that is1 before the period within which the ,greek mythological system had been constructed4 ,it cannot fail to be remarked1 that the relation between the mythical origin of ,apollo and that of ,minerva exhibit a difference entirely analogous to that found in the traditions which they represent respectively2 and which would give to ,apollo a mother1 but to ,minerva none4 ,in both1 however1 we may here trace a strong resemblance to the ,messianic traditions of ,holy ,scripture and of the ,jews4 #c4 ,these deities have a great variety of functions1 of which the secondary forms1 or the executive applications1 are delegated to others1 of less power and pre-eminence1 but still also in most cases strictly ,olympian gods4 ,these satellite-divinities it may be convenient to designate by the name of ,secondaries4 ,the ,secondaries of ,minerva4 ,the ,secondaries of ,olympus are so important a class1 that they deserve1 as a class1 a distinct consideration4 ,they are as follows3 ,first1 for ,minerva1 in her great characters as goddess of wisdom1 of war1 of polity1 and of industrial art4 ,in the first1 ,mercury is her ,secondary3 for both are presiding divinities or patrons of that calculating faculty applied to conduct1 which1 on the side of virtue1 reads as prudence1 and which in its degenerate form is craft 7 or 74 ,in treating the god ,mercury1 with respect to this capital particular1 as a secondary of ,minerva1 ,i do not mean that he is nothing else3 but that the traditions about ,hermes were found capable of1 and were allowed to bear1 such a form1 that it is impossible to describe fully the function of the one deity without including something that is also annexed to the other1 or to draw any clear line between them4 ,in later times ,mercury at ,athens was1 according to ,mller#fd1 a ,secondary also to ,apollo1 charged with the exoteric and material parts of several among his functions4 ,and in ,homer it seems probable1 that his office with respect to the dead ought to be viewed as ministerial to that of ,apollo4 #fd ,mller's ,dorians1 ,,ii4 vi4 #ef4 ,in the next of her great offices1 as goddess of war1 ,mars is a ,secondary to ,minerva2 and he is absolutely nothing more4 ,it may be enough in this place to refer to what will be said of him in the next ,section4 ,the ,minerva of polity1 the 1 1 and 1 is represented by ,themis as a ,secondary3 whose name betokens her character as a simple personification of the idea of political and social rights1 reflected from earth upon the ,olympian life4 ,in the last of the four functions1 ,vulcan is her ,secondary4 ,it is true that the traditions do not exactly square4 ,he is something more1 because he is the element of fire1 as well as the workman who operates by it3 and he is also something less1 because he has no concern with tissues1 which fire has no share in creating1 and which in ,greece1 but not in ,egypt#fe1 were exclusively the business of women4 ,but the relation between the two is indisputable3 nor is it less plain that in that relation he fills1 taken generally1 the place of ,olympian workman1 she of a presiding mind operating upon man4 ,and again1 she is the goddess of construction2 he has relations only with one particular department of it4 #fe ,see the curious passage in the dipus ,coloneus1 #ccf-da4 ,the ,secondaries of ,apollo4 ,next for ,apollo1 in his characters1 first1 of the ,healer1 and secondly1 of the ,bard1 with that of the ,seer or ,prophet4 ,in the first of these he is1 so to speak1 assisted by a pure ,secondary1 ,paieon2 who disappears from the later and less refined ,greek mythology1 and is replaced by an sculapius1 reflected from the purely human ,asclepius of ,homer4 ,paieon is a simply executive officer1 and exercises his gift1 or as we should now say practises1 exclusively1 as does ,vulcan1 except on special occasions1 for the benefit of the ,olympian community2 while the original possession of the gift1 and the power of distributing it1 is with ,apollo4 ,there is a further and more subtle relation between this deity and ,apollo1 indicated by the use of the name for the hymn of victory#ff4 ,whatever be the ground of this usage1 it supplies another point1 in which ,paieon reflects ,apollo the god of help1 and so far tends to exhibit ,apollo as also the god of victory4 ,paieon heals by the use of his hands1 like an ordinary surgeon2 ,apollo without personal presence1 and without the use of second causes1 in answer to prayer#fg4 #ff ,il4 xxii4 #cia4 #fg ,il4 xvi4 #ebg-i4 ,in the second of his great offices1 the ,muses are the derivative deities1 who conjointly form a ,secondary divinity to ,apollo4 ,their relation to him1 and the combination in themselves of the plural with the singular1 are very curious4 ,his immediate concern is with the lyre1 theirs with the voice4 ,they sometimes appear as one2 for instance1 in the first verse of each of the poems3 sometimes as many2 for instance1 in the invocation before the ,catalogue4 ,even their action is so combined1 that what at one time they do as one1 at others they do as many4 ,it is the ,muses who maim ,thamyris3 it is the ,muse1 who greatly loves ,demodocus1 who lays upon him the burden of blindness1 but endows him with the gift of song3 and again1 who instructs and loves the tribe of ,bards in general#fh4 #fh ,il4 ii4 #eid1 and ,od4 viii4 #fc and #dhj4 ,the ,muses are1 with ,homer1 of ,olympian rank2 but we can hardly deal with them as to many distinct impersonations3 or at least we must not follow out that idea to its consequences4 ,and for this reason2 they were not in contact with the popular mind1 and formed no part of the public religion3 they were formations of the ,poet for his own purposes1 whom he might make and unmake at his will1 and the conditions of whose existence he might modify1 without being bound to any further degree of consistency than might for the occasion answer the purpose of his art4 ,we must not1 then1 ask him whether he really means his ,muse to be one or many1 and if many1 how many 7it is1 indeed1 only in the second that he mentions them as nine#fi71 but must simply take them as a poetical1 rather than mythological1 impersonation of ,vocal ,music4 #fi ,od4 xxiv4 #fj4 ,and here we at once perceive both the ground of their plurality1 and their ministerial relation to ,apollo4 ,the former1 probably1 lay in the nature of harmony1 or simultaneous combination of tones1 requiring1 of course1 a combination of different voices1 to effect what on the instrument is done by different strings4 ,and if it did not spring from1 it was at least suited to1 that succession of alternate parts1 which was1 as we know1 used in ,israel even more anciently than in ,homer's time1 and which may1 though ,i do not1 for one1 feel certain that it must1 have been signified by the term 1 a name clearly relating to part-singing in one sense or another4 ,their subordinate relation to ,apollo is represented in the combination#gj of the voice with the instrument4 ,he1 as the ,original1 remains in possession of the indivisible gift3 they assist him in one which is essentially distributive4 ,and as they share in his music1 so also in his knowledge3 but only in that which relates to the past3 with the future they have no concern#ga4 ,but as either ,minerva or ,vulcan can teach a smith1 so either ,apollo or the ,muse can inspire a bard#gb4 #gj ,il4 i4 #fjd4 #ga ,il4 ii4 #dhe4 #gb ,od4 viii4 #dhh4 ,argument from the ,secondaries4 ,such then are the ,olympian ,secondaries4 ,none of them1 it will be observed1 are properly derivative beings4 ,all of them represent1 in some sense1 traditions1 or imaginations1 distinct from those respecting their principal deity3 nor are they in the same kind of subservience to them as the ,eilithui to ,juno1 who have no worship paid them1 and are of doubtful personality2 or as the metal handmaids to ,vulcan himself4 ,but they are deities1 each of whom singly in a particular province administers a function1 which also belongs to a deity of higher dignity4 ,and though a difference is clearly discernible in the form of the possession and administration1 yet there still remains a clear and manifest duplication1 a lapping over of divinities1 which is entirely at variance with the symmetry that we might reckon upon finding in an homogeneous conception of the ,greeks4 ,this irregular duplication is kept in some degree out of view1 if we set out with the determination to refer the ,homeric deities to a single origin1 to make a regular division of duties among them1 and to pare down this1 or enlarge that1 till we have brought them and their supposed gifts into the requisite order4 ,but as it stands in ,homer1 free from later admixtures1 and from prepossessions of ours1 it is a most curious and significant fact1 and raises at once a serious inquiry as to its cause4 ,i submit that it may be referred to the joint operation of two circumstances4 ,first1 to the particular form of the early traditions that were incorporated into the invented or ,olympian system4 ,secondly1 to the principle of economy1 or family and social order1 reflected back from the human community upon the divine4 ,if the primitive tradition1 even when disfigured by the lapse of time1 yet on its arrival in ,greece still visibly appropriated to one sublime person1 distinguishable from the supreme ,god1 and femininely conceived1 the attributes of sovereign wisdom1 strength1 and skill2 and to another1 in the form of man1 the gifts of knowledge1 reaching before and after1 and identified in early times with that of ,song1 as well as that of healing or deliverance from pain and death2 then we can understand why it is that1 when these great personages take their places as of right in the popular mythology1 they continue to keep hold on certain great functions1 in which their attributes are primarily developed4 ,picture of human society in ,olympus4 ,but on the other hand1 the divine society must be cast into the form of the human2 and this especially must take effect in three great organic particulars4 ,first1 by means of the family1 which brings the members of the body into being3 secondly1 by political association1 involving the necessity of a head1 and of a deliberative organ3 thirdly1 by the existence of certain professions1 which by the use of intellectual gifts provide for the exigencies of the community4 ,the merely labouring classes1 in whose place and idea there is nothing of the governing function1 are naturally without representation1 in the configuration of the divine community1 as to the forms of their particular employments3 though the people at large bear a rude analogy to the mass of inferior deities not included in the ordinary meeting of the gods1 yet summoned to the great ,chapter or ,parliament4 ,olympus must1 in short1 have its 4 ,who these were for an ordinary ,greek community like that of ,ithaca1 we learn from the speech of ,eumus#gc4 #gc ,od4 xvii4 #chc4 1 1 1 1 4 ,here1 indeed1 there is no representation of the principle of gain or commerce1 which does not appear as yet to have formed a class in ,greece1 though the ,ithacans habitually sacrificed to ,mercury#gd4 ,but that formation was on the way2 for the class was already known1 doubtless as a ,phnician one1 under the name of 1 men of business1 apt to degenerate into 1 or sharpers4 ,nor was there a class of soldiers2 but every citizen became a soldier upon occasion4 ,with these additions1 it is curious to observe how faithfully the ,olympian copy is modelled upon the human original4 ,the five professions1 or demioergic functions1 are1 #gd ,od4 xiv4 #dce1 and xvi4 #dga4 #a4 1 the seer4 #b4 1 the surgeon4 #c4 1 the skilled artificer4 #d4 1 the bard4 #e4 1 the man of business or merchant4 ,now all these were actually represented in ,apollo and ,minerva2 the first1 second1 and fourth by ,apollo1 the third and fifth by ,minerva1 who was also the highest type of war4 ,but this union of several human professions in one divine person would have been fatal to the fidelity and effectiveness of the ,olympian picture1 to which a division of labour1 analogous to the division existing in actual society1 was essential4 ,therefore the accumulation was to be reduced4 ,and in order to make this practicable1 there were distinct traditions ready1 on which could be laid the superfluous or most easily separable attributes of ,apollo and ,minerva4 ,so ,apollo keeps unimpaired his gift of foreknowledge1 and ,minerva hers of sublime wisdom4 ,with these no one is permitted to interfere4 ,but the is represented in ,paieon3 the 7into ,olympus however no inferior material enters1 and all work is evidently in metal1 of which the celestial ,smith#ge constructs the buildings themselves1 that on earth would be made of wood7 is exhibited in ,vulcan3 the in the ,muses1 the in ,mercury1 and the man of war in ,mars4 #ge ,il4 xv4 #cji4 ,dignity and precedence of ,minerva4 #c4 ,though ,minerva cannot contest with ,juno the honour of mere precedence in the ,olympian court1 yet1 as regards substantial dignity1 she by no means yields even to the queen of heaven4 ,sometimes1 undoubtedly1 when she moves in the interest of the ,greeks1 it is upon the suggestion of ,juno made to herself1 as in ,il4 i4 #aie2 or through ,jupiter1 as in ,il4 iv4 #fd4 ,but it is probable that this should be referred1 not to greater eminence or authority1 but simply to the more intensely and more narrowly ,hellenized character of ,juno4 ,there are1 at any rate1 beyond all doubt1 some arrangements adopted by the poet1 with the special intent1 to all appearance1 of indicating a full equality1 if not an actual pre-eminence1 for ,minerva4 ,twice the two goddesses descend together from ,olympus to the field of battle4 ,both times it is in the chariot of ,juno4 ,now ,iris1 as on one occasion1 at least1 she acts at ,juno's bidding1 and as on another we find her unyoking the chariot of ,mars1 might with propriety have been employed to discharge this function at a moment when the two greatest goddesses are about to set out together4 ,it is not so1 however4 ,juno herself yokes the horses1 and also plays the part of driver1 while ,minerva mounts as the warrior beside her#gf4 ,to be the charioteer is generally1 though not quite invariably1 the note of the inferior4 ,but irrespectively of this official distinction1 ,minerva with her gis is the conspicuous1 and ,juno evidently the subordinate figure in the group4 #gf ,il4 v4 #gde-h4 ,in the ,odyssey1 again1 we have a most striking indication of the essential superiority of ,minerva to the great and powerful ,neptune4 ,attending1 in the disguise of a human form1 the sacrifice of ,nestor at ,pylos to his divine ancestor1 she does not scruple1 on the invitation of the young prince ,pisistratus1 to offer prayer to that deity1 in the capacity of a courteous guest and a religious ,greek4 ,her petitions are for ,nestor1 for his family1 for his subjects1 and for the errand on which she1 with ,telemachus1 was engaged4 ,all are included in the general words with which she concludes#gg3 #gg ,od4 iii4 #ee-fb4 ,vide ,nitzsch in loc4 4 ,but at the close the poet goes on to declare that what she thus sought in prayer from her uncle ,neptune1 she forthwith accomplished herself3 ' ' 1 4 ,yet once more4 ,the same train of ideas1 which explains how ,olympus is fitted with a set of ,secondaries1 also shows to us why these ,secondaries have only the lower or subsidiary form of their several gifts4 ,it is because these gifts were already in the possession of higher personages1 before the introduction of the more recent traditions represented by the ,secondaries3 traditions1 of which the whole1 7except that of ,paieon1 who is not worshipped at all1 and exists only in and for ,olympus17 bear upon them1 as received in ,greece1 the marks of modernism#gh4 ,they naturally submit to the conditions1 anterior to themselves1 of the hierarchy into which they are introduced4 ,but1 on the one hand1 their existence1 together with the peculiar relation of their work and attributes1 rather than themselves1 to the great deities of tradition1 ,apollo and ,minerva1 constitutes of itself a strong argument for the separate and more ancient origin of those divinities4 ,on the other hand1 they bear powerful testimony to the force of that principle1 which reflected on the ,achan heaven the experience of earth4 ,for there is not a single dignified and intellectual occupation known to and in use among the ,hellenic tribes1 properly so called1 which has not1 as far as may be1 counterpart on ,olympus4 ,not even the priesthood is a real exception2 especially if ,i am right in believing it to be ,pelasgian1 and not yet to have been adopted in the time of ,homer as one of the ,hellenic institutions4 ,but1 even if it had been so adopted1 it could not1 from the nature of the case1 have been carried into the ,olympian system1 since there were no beings above themselves to whom the gods could offer sacrifice1 and since1 according to the depraved idea of it which had begun to prevail1 in offering it they would have parted with something that was of value to themselves4 #gh ,see the accounts of the several deities1 in ,sect4 iii4 ,we do not hear a great deal respecting mere ceremonial among the ,olympian divinities4 ,to ,jupiter1 however1 and to ,juno1 is awarded the conspicuous honour1 that1 when either of them enters the assembled ,court1 all the other deities rise up#gi4 ,it is plain that ,homer included in the picture before his mental eye ideas relating to that external order which we term precedence3 and it may be shown1 that ,minerva had the precedence over the other gods1 or what we should term the seat of honour2 that place which was occupied1 in the human family1 by the eldest son4 ,juno we must presume1 as the reflection of ,jupiter1 would occupy the place of the mother4 #gi ,il4 i4 #ecc4 xv4 #he4 ,when ,thetis is summoned to ,olympus in the ,twenty-fourth ,iliad1 she receives on her arrival the honours of a guest1 in which is included this distinguished place beside the chief person1 and it is ,minerva who yields it up to her2 ' 1 ' #hj4 #hj ,il4 xxiv4 #ajj4 ,an exactly similar proceeding is recorded in the ,third ,odyssey4 ,when ,telemachus and the pseudo-,mentor approach the banquet of ,nestor1 ,pisistratus1 the youngest son1 first goes to greet them1 and then places them in the seat of honour1 between his father and his eldest brother#ha1 #ha ,od4 iii4 #ci4 that is1 by the side of ,nestor2 ,thrasymedes giving way to make room for them1 and remaining on the other side of them1 like ,minerva in the ,twenty-,fourth ,iliad4 ,of ,apollo4 ,homer has left no express record on this particular point with reference to ,apollo4 ,in the ancient ,hymn1 however1 a part of which is quoted by ,thucydides1 this honour is distinctly assigned to that divinity in these fine lines#hb3 #hb ,hymn4 ad ,apoll4 #b-d4 ' ' 1 4 ,intimacy of their relations with ,jupiter4 #d4 ,more remarkable and important1 however1 than this precedence of ,minerva in the ,olympian ,court1 are the relations of will and affection between ,jupiter and these two1 as compared with his other children4 ,to these1 and these only1 does he ever use any term of positive endearment4 ,minerva is twice called 1 and ,apollo is twice addressed in the vocative as #hc4 ,this is the more worthy of note1 because it might have been expected that other divinities rather than these1 for example1 ,mercury on account of his youth1 or ,venus for her beauty and blandishments1 would have been the preferable objects of these phrases4 ,but there is nothing of the sort in the case of ,mercury1 and in that of ,venus1 the nearest approach is 7,il4 v4 #dbh74 ,she is only addressed as by ,juno1 who was not her mother1 and this at a moment when it was convenient to pass a gross deception upon her#hd4 #hc ,il4 viii4 #dj4 xxii4 #ahc4 and ,il4 xv4 #bba4 xvi4 #ffg4 #hd ,il4 xiv4 ,minerva is1 indeed1 sufficiently forward to place herself in opposition to ,jupiter for purposes of her own3 she does not exhibit the principle of full obedience1 but then she is strong in the self-consciousness of right as well as in power4 ,she goes all lengths in thwarting ,jupiter in the ,iliad1 excites his wrath1 and draws down on herself his menaces#he4 ,but her general aim is to give effect to a design so unequivocally approved in ,olympus1 that ,jupiter himself has been constrained to give way to it2 namely1 the vindication of justice by the fall of ,troy4 ,and consequently1 upon the slightest indication from her of a conciliatory disposition1 ,jupiter shows himself appeased1 and seems to regret his own rigour#hf4 #he ,il4 viii4 #dja-f and #ded-f4 #hf ,il4 viii4 #cj-dj4 ,the case of ,apollo stands alone as an exhibition of entire harmony with the will of ,jupiter4 ,on no single occasion does he act or speak in a different sense from that of his parent4 ,in the ,olympian ,council of the ,twenty-,fourth ,iliad1 having to make a strong remonstrance respecting the dishonoured condition of the body of ,hector1 he is careful to address it not to ,jupiter1 but to the body of gods present#hg2 #hg ,il4 xxiv4 #cc4 1 1 4 ,and consequently1 when ,juno follows with a sharp invective aimed at him1 ,jupiter immediately checks her#hh1 and gives effect to the counsel of ,apollo4 ,generally throughout the poem he is the organ of ,jupiter for all that is about to be effected on behalf of ,troy1 but never for any purpose which is to prove abortive4 ,when1 under the divine decree1 ,hector is about to be slain by ,achilles1 ,apollo withdraws from the doomed warrior1 and ,minerva joins the favoured one4 #hh ,ibid4 #fe4 ,this union of the will of ,apollo with that of ,jupiter must not be lightly passed by4 ,it is in truth one of the very strongest arguments to show the presence of traditionary elements in this great conception4 ,for wide as is the prevalence of the law of discord upon earth1 that evil is hardly less rife in ,olympus4 ,not only do menaces form the supreme sanction by which in many cases its government is carried on1 but every kind of personal grudge and quarrel abounds1 as well as a general tendency to intrigue and insubordination4 ,so that it does not sound strange to us1 when ,jupiter uses to his son ,mars what nevertheless upon examination we must allow to be an astonishing expression2 1 #hi4 #hi ,il4 v4 #hij4 ,among all the rest of the prominent divinities1 there is no single instance of a positive harmony of will pervading the whole course of action1 either as between any one of them and ,jupiter1 or as among themselves4 ,i therefore take it as a very strong indication that materials were brought for this tradition1 so different in kind from what ,olympus yielded1 out of a source higher than ,olympus4 #e4 ,in the point next to be stated ,apollo is chiefly concerned4 ,apollo the deliverer of heaven4 ,it is the remarkable tradition1 which makes that god the defender and deliverer of heaven and the other ,immortals4 ,otus and ,ephialtes1 twin grandchildren of ,neptune1 and the most huge in stature of all beings reared on earth1 as also the most beautiful after ,orion1 threaten even in their boyhood war against heaven1 and propose to scale it by piling the mountains4 ,and this they would have accomplished1 had they attained to their proper age and full size 773 but ,apollo destroyed them first#ij4 #ij ,od4 xi4 #cjg-bj4 ,this is a tradition which cannot properly belong to ,greek invention3 for what has ,apollo to do1 when so regarded1 either with the wielding of vast physical force1 or with laying it prostrate8 ,neither as physician1 harper1 poet1 prophet1 archer1 nor angel of ,death1 does he appear to have been the person who would have been chosen for this purpose4 ,the thunderbolt of ,jupiter is the weapon we should have expected to be employed in preference1 or the mighty spear and terrifying gis of ,minerva1 or even the brute bulk of ,mars4 ,the gentle death1 which it was ,apollo's mythological office to bring about1 is totally unsuited to the subject4 ,it is only when we expand that mild conception into the character of the ,avenger1 partially exhibited in the ,first ,iliad1 that ,apollo becomes the fitting destroyer of ,otus and ,ephialtes4 ,this tradition in aftertimes was apparently combined with a larger one relating to the ,giants1 at which ,homer darkly glances#ia4 #ia ,od4 vii4 #ef1 #fj4 ,ovid makes ,jupiter his own defender#ib3 a fine passage in ,horace introduces many divine combatants1 but retains a rather prominent place for ,apollo1 while it gives another to ,minerva2 and these two with ,jupiter appear to bear the brunt of the battle#ic4 #ib ,ov4 ,met4 i4 #aea4 #ic ,hor4 ,od4 ,,iii4 iv4 #db-fd4 ,it admits of but one satisfactory explanation1 namely that1 coming from a source higher than the mythology1 it does not1 so to speak1 wear the livery of that system3 and that this performance is assigned to ,apollo1 either because he represented the ,person to whom all power was to belong in heaven and earth both for destruction and for deliverance1 or else because tradition actually assigned to that same ,person the glory of having already overcome a rebellion of powerful beings against the ,most ,high4 ,there is no precise parallel supplied by ,homer1 in the case of ,minerva1 to the tradition which makes ,apollo the destroyer of the rebels4 ,but though not the defender of the divine order at large1 she is the champion of ,hercules1 the favourite son of ,jupiter1 under circumstances when apparently1 but for her1 his divinity would have been at fault4 #8,what6' says ,minerva1 when thwarted by her parent in the ,eighth ,iliad1 #8has he forgotten how many times ,i saved his son in the labours imposed upon him by ,eurystheus8 ,had ,i1 at the time when ,hercules was sent by him to fetch ,cerberus out of the under-world1 known how he would behave now1 never should he have escaped the dread streams of ,styx#id4' ,we are left to infer from this curious legend that ,minerva had a power1 available in the world below1 which tradition did not assign to ,jupiter1 and that he found her use of it on this occasion absolutely indispensable for the fulfilment of his wishes1 even in regard to a favourite son4 #id ,il4 viii4 #cfb-i2 and also ,od4 xi4 #fbc-f4 ,each of these functions1 assigned to ,apollo and ,minerva respectively1 recalls to memory those ,jewish traditions1 which set forth the direct and especial power of the ,messiah over the fallen angels and over the grave4 ,these deities are never foiled by others4 #f4 ,the last characteristic of the two peculiarly traditive deities which will be mentioned under this head is1 that they are never foiled1 defeated1 or outwitted by any other of the gods4 ,in no single case has ,minerva1 where she is in action1 to encounter any one of these forms of dishonour3 nor has ,apollo1 in any instance except only when he is pitted against ,minerva4 ,of this class there are two cases3 one1 when the ,greeks are losing ground#ie1 and he is made to arrange with her for stopping the general conflict1 by prompting the personal challenge from ,hector in its stead3 a matter which was certain to end to the credit of the ,greeks4 ,the other is in the ,doloneia#if1 when he causes an alarm just in time to find that ,diomed and ,ulysses1 guided by ,minerva1 have accomplished the bloody purpose of their errand4 ,among men1 as among gods1 ,minerva touches nothing except what is destined to triumph4 ,she is not1 therefore1 invoked by the doomed ,patroclus3 and she renders him no aid4 #ie ,id4 vii4 #bj4 #if ,il4 x4 #eae4 ,to appreciate the importance of this consideration1 we must bear in mind that there is no one of the purely invented deities1 who is not at one time or another subject in some form to disparagement4 ,mars is worsted by ,minerva1 through ,diomed1 as well as directly subject to her control2 ,vulcan is laughed at by the gods in general2 ,mercury dares not encounter ,latona2 ,ceres sees her lover slain by ,jupiter2 ,venus is not only smitten to the ground by ,minerva1 but beaten by ,diomed without his having any divine aid to strengthen him1 and befooled by ,juno2 ,juno outwits ,jupiter himself2 but ,juno also1 together with ,aides1 is wounded sorely by ,hercules2 and it is also recorded of her1 that she had been subjected by her husband to the ignominious punishment of hanging in chains1 with an anvil at each foot#ig4 #ig ,il4 xv4 #ah4 ,neptune is no where subjected to personal ignominy2 but he is baffled by ,laomedon1 and is also unable to avenge effectually the mutilation of his son ,polyphemus4 ,nay1 ,jupiter himself1 besides being deceived by ,juno1 was menaced by a formidable combination1 who were about to put him in fetters1 when ,briareus came to his aid#ih4 #ih ,il4 i4 #cih-djf4 ,on the other hand1 ,apollo arrests with sudden shock the victorious career of ,diomed#ii1 and again of ,patroclus#ajj4 ,and in the destinies of ,ulysses1 ,minerva1 who protects him1 effectually1 though after a struggle1 prevails against ,neptune1 who does his uttermost against him4 ,in order1 however1 justly to estimate the weight of this consideration1 we must not omit to notice1 that it has cost ,homer an elaborate1 and what we might otherwise call a far-fetched contrivance#aja1 to save ,apollo from dishonour in the ,theomachy4 ,he is there matched against ,neptune1 a deity of rank equal to that of ,jupiter1 and in force inferior to his elder brother alone4 ,it was therefore inadmissible that such a god should be subjected to defeat4 ,but if ,apollo were no more than one of the ordinary deities of invention1 no similar reason could apply to him4 ,he was junior3 he was a son of ,jupiter1 like ,mars or ,mercury3 he was on the losing side1 that of the ,trojans3 why should he not1 like ,mars1 be well thrashed by his antagonist8 ,it could only be1 ,i think1 in consequence of some broad line of demarcation between them3 some severance which determines their characters and positions as radically and fundamentally1 and not by mere accident1 divided4 #ii ,il4 v4 #ddj4 #ajj ,il4 xvi4 #gjg4 #aja ,il4 xxi4 #dce4 ,if we consider the mere birth of these two deities according to the ,olympian order1 every consideration derived from that source would tend to assign to ,mars a higher place than ,apollo4 ,his function was more commanding3 for in an age of turbulence1 and among a people given alike to freebooting and to open war1 what pacific office could compete1 abstractedly1 with that of the god of arms8 ,again1 ,mars is the son of ,juno1 who is the eldest daughter of ,saturn1 the original and principal wife of ,jupiter1 the acknowledged queen of ,olympus3 the coequal in birth of the great trine brotherhood1 and second in power to none but ,jupiter himself4 ,why should the child of ,latona be placed so far above the child of one so much his superior in birth1 according to the mythological order8 ,why is his position so different from that enjoyed by the child of ,dione1 or the child of ,ceres8 ,but so studiously does ,homer cherish the dignity of ,apollo1 that he does not even throw on him the burden of taking the initiative in proposing the plan by which it is to be saved4 ,this is managed with great care and art4 #8,let us two fight1' says ,neptune1 #8but do you begin1 as ,i am the older1 and know better4' ,and then1 by bringing up their common grudge against ,laomedon1 he proceeds to show of what absurdity ,apollo would be guilty if he were to follow the ironical advice1 and thus makes it easy1 indeed inevitable1 for him to echo the sentiment1 and say1 let us leave them1 hapless mortals1 to themselves4 ,with this we may compare two other arrangements conceived in the same spirit4 ,in the ,fifteenth ,iliad1 ,jupiter takes care that the mission of ,apollo to assist the ,trojans shall only begin when ,neptune1 the formidable friend of the ,greeks1 has already quitted the field of battle#ajb4 ,and in the ,fifth ,odyssey1 it is contrived that only when ,neptune withdraws from the persecution of ,ulysses1 then at length ,minerva shall instantly appear to resume her charge over him#ajc4 #ajb ,il4 xv4 #bah-bj4 #ajc ,od4 v4 #chj-b4 ,when we come to discuss the position of ,latona1 both generally and in the ,theomachy1 further force will1 ,i think1 be added to the foregoing considerations4 ,on the other hand1 ,i admit that the legend of ,apollo with ,laomedon1 which represents that he and ,neptune were deceived by that king1 is not1 so far as ,i see1 explained in any manner which should place it in entire harmony with the general rule we have been considering1 unless we may consider that he had his revenge in the opportunity afforded him by the ,theomachy of refusing to fight for ,troy4 ,but this is a case of treatment by a mortal1 not by a god2 and it belongs to a different order4 ,i now proceed to touch upon the pre-eminence of ,minerva and ,apollo in points connected with their terrestrial relations1 and with what may be termed the physical conditions of their existence4 #a4 ,it is quite clear from ,homer1 that these two deities received from men a special and peculiar honour3 though it may be open to question1 whether this retained only the indeterminate form of a sentiment1 or whether it was embodied in some fact or usage4 ,pallas and ,apollo have the exclusive distinction of being invoked in conjunction with ,jupiter1 in the remarkable line 1 4 ,this verse meets us1 not upon occasions having reference to any peculiar rite or function1 but simply when the speaker desires to give utterance with a peculiar solemnity or emphasis to some strong and paramount desire4 ,thus ,agamemnon wishes1 with this adjuration1 that he had ten such counsellors as ,nestor#ajd3 and again1 that all his warriors had the same activity of spirit as the two ,ajaxes#aje4 ,nestor with these words wishes himself young again#ajf3 as does old ,laertes#ajg4 ,achilles prays in this form1 when exasperated1 for the destruction of ,greeks and ,trojans alike#ajh3 ,menelaus for the appearance of ,ulysses among the ,suitors#aji2 ,alcinous thus expresses the wish that ,ulysses could be the husband of ,nausicaa#aaj3 and lastly1 ,telemachus1 that the ,suitors were in a worse condition than the disabled ,irus#aaa4 #ajd ,il4 ii4 #cga4 #aje iv4 #bhh4 #ajf vii4 #acb4 #ajg ,od4 xxiv4 #cgf4 #ajh ,il4 xvi4 #ig4 #aji ,od4 iv4 #cda1 and xvii4 #acb4 #aaj ,od4 vii4 #caa4 #aaa ,od4 xviii4 #bce4 ,the ,trine ,invocation4 ,the expression never is heard from the mouth of any ,trojan2 for ,homer1 on whatever account1 rarely allows them the use of the same formul with the ,greeks4 ,but the whole substance of it is contained1 and in a shape even more restrictive1 in the line twice spoken by ,hector1 '1 ' 4 ,this language is indeed so pointed1 that it suggests the question1 whether there must not have been some peculiar form of external honour1 which in the ,heroic age was rendered to these deities1 and not to others4 ,and1 singularly enough1 of the temples of the ,homeric poems1 all that we can point out as unequivocally named1 and in existence1 are temples either to ,apollo or to ,pallas4 ,but the phrases may also have pointed towards others of their very numerous distinctions4 ,i do not1 accordingly1 venture to assert that this actually was the exclusive honour of the two deities2 but there is nothing absurd in the supposition that it may have been so4 ,it would not have been inconsistent with a belief in ,jupiter as the highest god1 that those1 who were believed to be in a peculiar sense his ministers and organs for the government of the world1 should either have received at the hands of mankind a larger share of the substantial tributes of worship than he did1 or should have enjoyed it under a peculiar form and conditions4 ,their worship universal4 #b4 ,it would appear to be indubitable1 that ,apollo and ,minerva were objects not of partial but of universal worship1 within the sphere of the knowledge of ,homer4 ,even without examination of details1 the proof of this proposition might rest upon their relative positions in regard to the two parties of ,greeks and ,trojans4 ,minerva1 the great ,hellenizing deity1 is the object of the supplicatory procession of ,trojan women in the ,sixth ,book4 ,she is the peculiar patroness at once of the highly ,pelasgian ,attica#aab1 and of the characteristic type of ,hellenic character represented in ,ulysses4 ,on the other hand1 ,apollo1 the one really effective champion of the ,trojans1 is acknowledged by every ,greek chieftain1 except ,agamemnon1 at the very outset of the poem#aac4 ,agamemnon himself has only been misled by his own avarice and passion1 and he shortly sends a solemn mission to appease the offended divinity#aad4 #aab ,il4 ii4 #edf4 #aac ,il4 i4 #bb4 #aad ,ibid4 iv4 #cj4 ,setting aside the case of ,jupiter1 who stands on a different level1 there is nothing attaching to the other deities of the ,war1 which at all resembles the position of command enjoyed in common by these two1 both among their friends1 and with those against whom they are contending4 ,there is not even a difference of degree to be traced between the reverence paid them on the one side1 and on the other4 ,when we turn to particulars1 we find that ,minerva has a temple in ,troy1 a temple in ,athens1 a sacred grove in ,scheria4 ,she is worshipped by ,nestor on the sea-shore at ,pylos1 and1 near the ,minyeius2 by ,telemachus in ,ithaca2 by ,ulysses and ,diomed in the ,greek camp4 ,she accompanies ,ulysses every where1 while he is within the circle of the ,greek traditions2 only refrains of her own free will from going beyond it2 and rejoins him when1 near ,scheria1 he has at length again touched upon the outermost border of the ,greek world4 ,there is no deity1 without excepting even ,jupiter1 with respect to whom we have such ample evidence in the poems of the development of his worship in positive and permanent institutions1 as is given in the case of ,apollo4 ,he has a priest at ,chryse1 a temple in ,troy1 a priest and grove at ,ismarus in ,thrace1 a grove and festivals in ,ithaca1 oracles at ,delos and at ,delphi4 ,besides these positive institutions1 there are in ,homer innumerable marks of his influence4 ,he worked for ,laomedon1 he is worshipped at ,cille2 the name of ,lycia seems to have been probably derived from him and his attributes2 the ,seers1 whom he endows with vision1 are found in ,peloponnesus1 and even among the ,cyclops2 he feeds the horses of ,admetus either in ,pieria or in ,pher1 claims the services of ,alcyone1 the daughter of ,marpessa1 in tolia1 and slays the children of ,niobe near mount ,sipylus4 ,so far as the ,homeric signs go1 they would lead us to suppose that he was regarded by the ,poet as a deity no less universal than that ,scourge of ,death1 to which he stands in such a close and solemn relation4 ,with the exception of ,jupiter1 there is no other deity of whom we can so confidently assert that he receives an universal worship3 and ,neptune is the only other1 with ,minerva1 in regard to whom the indications of the poems render it probable4 ,of him we may infer it1 from his appearing to be known or to act at places so widely separated by distance2 on the ,solyman mountains1 in ,troas under ,laomedon1 in ,greece near the ,enipeus1 in the land of the ,cyclops1 in the sea far north of ,phacia4 ,but this is entirely owing to the wide extent of the 1 his portion of the great kingdom of external ,nature1 which1 being as broad as the ,phnician traditions of the ,odyssey1 at once gives him a place in them4 ,it is clearly not due to any thing more divine in the conception of him1 for he carries many chief notes of limitation in common with the divinities of pure invention4 ,the wide extension of the class of ,seers may of itself be taken as a proof of the equally wide recognition of the influence of ,apollo3 for he it was who made ,polypheides#aae to be first of that order1 on the death of ,amphiaraus4 ,now these ,seers appear to have been found every where1 under the form either of the 1 or of the 4 ,not in ,greece only and in ,troas proper2 but in ,percote1 among the ,mysians1 and even among the ,cyclops in the ,outer ,zone#aaf4 #aae ,od4 xv4 #beb4 #aaf ,il4 ii4 #hca1 #hei4 and ,od4 ix4 #ejh4 ,not localized as to abode4 #c4 ,the next distinction ,i shall note in the traditive deities is1 that they are confined to no one spot or region for their abode2 a limitation1 which is imposed1 either more or less1 upon every other prominent deity except ,jupiter only4 ,with respect to some of them1 this is made quite clear by positive signs4 ,except when in ,olympus1 or else when abroad on a special occasion1 ,mars does not quit ,thrace1 nor ,vulcan ,lemnos1 nor ,venus ,paphos4 ,but even upon higher and older deities there are signs of some kind of local limitation4 ,the rigidly ,argeian character of ,juno1 though it does not express1 yet implies it4 ,demeter would appear to have a local abode1 probably in ,crete4 ,aidoneus and ,persephone are ordinarily confined to the ,shades1 where their proper business lies4 ,neptune himself1 when dismissed from the battle-field1 is desired to repair either to the sea or to ,olympus4 ,his regular worship among the ,greeks was1 as appears from a speech of ,juno1 at ,helice and g in gialos2 which it is not easy to account for1 except upon the supposition that he resided peculiarly at these places#aag4 ,now it is expressly declared that his palace was in g3 from thence he sets out for the plain of ,troy1 and thither he repairs when he desists from the persecution of ,ulysses4 ,the name g is not mentioned in the ,catalogue1 and ,helice1 as it is called 1 was evidently a district2 thus it may have been the district in which g stood1 perhaps as its seaport#aah4 ,before the time of ,strabo g#aai had disappeared4 #aag ,il4 viii4 #bjc4 #aah ,il4 ii4 #ege4 xiii4 #bj4 ,od4 v4 #cha4 ,strabo1 p4 #chg4 #aai ,in accordance with the prevailing opinion1 ,i take this to be the g of gialus1 not of ,euba4 ,now ,minerva has a peculiar relation to ,athens1 and is once mentioned as betaking herself thither#abj4 ,again1 the epithet 1 rarely given to ,apollo1 has suggested a connection with ,lycia4 ,if1 however we form our judgment from ,homer1 ,lycia may derive its name from ,apollo1 but not ,apollo from ,lycia4 #abj ,od4 iii4 #gh-ha4 ,i may state1 that were ,i not so fearful of offending on the side of license1 ,i should be inclined to suspect the hand of the diaskeuast in this passage more than in almost any other of the ,poems4 ,but it is plain from the poems that the influence1 the activity1 and the virtual1 if not positive presence of ,apollo and ,minerva pervade the whole ,homeric world4 ,this is shown partly by their universal action2 in ,troas1 in ,lycia#aba1 in ,thrace1 in ,scheria1 and all over ,greece4 ,it is also demonstrated by the manner in which prayer is addressed to them3 and neither the one nor the other is ever represented either as having a palace or residence in any particular spot1 or as showing1 like ,juno1 an exclusive partiality to any particular race or city4 #aba ,il4 v4 #aje4 #d4 ,although invocation of divinities is frequent in the poems of ,homer1 it does not seem to have been sufficiently observed1 that the ,olympian personages1 to whom it is ordinarily addressed1 are very few in number4 ,in the ,twentieth ,odyssey1 ,penelope beseeches ,diana to put a period to her mournful existence4 ,i presume that she is here invoked1 not on account of her superiority as a traditive deity1 but because the subject is connected with her especial office in regard to ,death4 ,neptune again is occasionally addressed by mortals2 as by his descendant ,nestor on the sea-shore at ,pylus1 and in like manner by his son ,polyphemus1 on the beach of the country of the ,cyclops4 ,so also he is invoked by the ,envoys on their way to the encampment of ,achilles3 here again their course lies along the sea-shore4 ,i will assume accordingly1 though with a good deal of doubt1 that any ,olympian deity might be made the object of supplication under given circumstances of time1 place1 or person4 ,but it is manifest from the poems that the general rule is the other way4 ,they are ordinarily not made the subjects of invocation1 even in connection with their own peculiar gifts4 ,there is no invocation addressed in ,homer to ,venus1 ,mars1 ,mercury1 or ,vulcan2 nor even1 which is more remarkable1 to ,juno4 ,prayer however is very usual in the poems3 but it is confined to three divinities only4 ,objects of habitual prayer4 ,jupiter1 ,apollo1 and ,pallas are addressed by persons in difficulty1 not with reference to any peculiar gift or office that they fill1 but quite independently of peculiar rites1 and local or personal relations4 ,thus ,ulysses and ,diomed in the ,doloneia invoke ,minerva#abb4 ,menelaus1 when about to attack ,euphorbus1 prays first to ,jupiter#abc4 ,nestor1 too1 addresses ,jupiter1 and not his own ancestor ,neptune#abd1 in the great straits of the ,greek army4 ,glaucus beseeches ,apollo to heal his wound#abe2 and if this address be thought to belong to his medical function1 it is still very remarkable from its containing a direct assertion1 that he is able both to hear and to act at whatever distance4 ,the same may be said of the prayer of ,pandarus#abf4 ,his priest ,chryses offers prayer to him from the plain of ,troas 7,il4 i4 #cg73 but this may be incidental to the office4 ,the cases of prayer to ,jupiter and ,minerva are purely private petitions1 without notice1 suggested by the circumstances of the moment3 and they show that though ,homer had perhaps no abstract idea of omnipresence1 he assigned to these deities its essential characteristic1 that is to say1 the possession of powers not limited by space4 #abb ,il4 x4 #bgh1 #bhd1 #dfb4 ,comp4 #ejg4 #abc ,il4 xvii4 #ai4 #abd ,il4 iv4 #aai4 #abe ,il4 xvi4 #ead4 #abf ,il4 iv4 #aai4 ,the evidence that ,apollo was invoked independently of bodily presence at a particular spot1 and for the general purpose of help and protection1 not simply in the exercise of particular mythological functions1 if it be less diversified is still1 ,i think1 not less conclusive4 ,it is1 in the first place1 supplied by the trine invocation repeatedly addressed to him together with ,jupiter and ,minerva#abg3 #abg ,il4 ii4 #cga1 et alibi4 1 1 1 4 ,but the general capacity of ,apollo1 like ,minerva1 to receive prayer1 is demonstrated by the language of ,diomed to ,hector in the ,eleventh ,book1 when ,apollo was not on the battlefield 7#cfc1 #d72 #8for this time1 ,phbus ,apollo has delivered you3 and doubtless you took care to pray to him1 when you ventured within the clang of spears3' ' 1 1 4 #e4 ,we may now pass on to another head of special prerogatives4 ,exempt from appetite and limitations4 ,both ,minerva and ,apollo are generally exempt from the physical limitations1 and from the dominion of appetite1 to which the deities of invention are as generally subject4 ,though1 when a certain necessity is predicated of the gods in general1 they may be literally included within it1 we do not find that the ,poet had them in his eye apart from the rest1 and the particular liabilities and imperfections are never imputed to either of them individually4 ,what is said of them inclusively with others1 is in reality not said of them at all1 but only of the prevailing disposition of the body to which they belong3 just as we are told in the ,iliad 7xi4 #gh71 that all the gods were incensed with ,jupiter because of his bias towards the ,trojans1 when we know that it was in reality only some among them1 of the greatest weight and power4 ,neither ,apollo nor ,minerva eats1 or drinks1 or sleeps1 or is wearied1 or is wounded1 or suffers pain1 or is swayed by passion4 ,neither of them is ever outwitted or deluded by any deity of invention1 as ,venus is1 and even as ,jupiter is1 by ,juno in the ,fourteenth ,iliad4 ,when ,minerva1 in the shape of ,mentor1 receives the cup in the ,pylian festivities1 she passes it on to ,telemachus1 but it is not stated that she drinks of it#abh4 ,with this compare the meal of ,mercury on the island of ,calypso#abi1 the invitation to ,iris to join in the banquet of the ,winds1 and her own fear lest she should lose her share of the ,ethiopian hecatombs#acj4 #abh ,od4 iii4 #ea1 #fb4 #abi ,od4 v4 #ib-f4 #acj ,il4 xxiii4 #bjg4 ,their relations to animal sacrifice are different from those of the other1 at least of the inventive1 gods4 ,apollo1 indeed1 is charged by ,juno with having attended at the marriage of ,thetis together with the rest of the gods1 where they all banqueted#aca2 #aca ,il4 xxiv4 #fc4 ' and in the ,third ,odyssey ,minerva comes to attend the gracious sacrifice of ,nestor offered in her honour#acb1 #acb ,od4 iii4 #dce4 ' 4 ,chryses pleads the performance of the sacrificial rites1 as one ground of favour with the god#acc3 in which1 however1 he is1 after all1 only showing that he has not failed to discharge the positive obligations of his office4 ,and of course these two were the objects of sacrifice like other deities4 ,had they not been so1 the fact would have been in conflict with their traditional origin1 instead of sustaining it4 ,they stand in the same category with the rest of the ,olympian company1 in that sacrifice is acceptable to them all3 but first1 it is plain that they are never said to take a sensual pleasure in it2 and secondly1 it does not appear that their favour to individuals either was founded upon it1 or when lost could be recovered by it4 ,it is restitution1 and not sacrifice1 which is sought and demanded in the case of ,chryses4 ,the moral character of the whole of those proceedings is emphatically and authoritatively declared by ,calchas#acd1 #acc ,il4 i4 #dj4 #acd ,il4 i4 #ic4 ' ' ' 1 ' ,so ,diomed and ,ulysses have the closest personal relations with ,minerva2 but are nowhere said to have acquired their place in her good-will by sacrifices3 though both ,apollo for ,hector1 and ,minerva for ,ulysses1 plead in the ,olympian court1 before the other gods1 the sacrificial bounty of those heroes respectively#ace4 ,nor do we here rest wholly upon negative evidence4 ,in the ,first ,book1 the sacrifice of the ,greeks to ,apollo1 by the hands of ,chryses1 is described in the fullest detail3 and the ,poet tells us what it was that the god did take delight in2 it was the refined pleasure of the mind and ear1 afforded to him by the songs they chanted before him all the day in his honour3 ' #acf4 ,further1 the contrast may be drawn not with divinities of their own generation only1 but with the long journeys of ,neptune#acg for a feast1 and with the marked and apparently unvarying language of ,jupiter himself4 #ace ,il4 xxiv4 #cc4 and ,od4 i4 #fj4 #acf ,il4 i4 #dgb-d4 #acg ,od4 i4 #bb-e4 ,they receive sacrifice with a dignity1 which does not belong to the other deities4 ,when prayer and offerings are presented to ,jupiter by the ,greeks1 and he means to refuse the prayer1 it is added1 that he notwithstanding took the sacrifices#ach3 #ach ,il4 ii4 #dbj4 ' 1 ' 4 ,in the nearly parallel case of ,minerva 7,il4 vii4 #caa471 it is simply stated that she refused the prayer of the ,trojans1 while no notice is taken of their promised offerings4 ,again1 when ,minerva had been offended by the ,greeks1 and ,agamemnon sought to appease her with hecatombs1 it is described as a proof of his folly that he could entertain such an idea#aci3 #aci ,od4 iii4 #adc-f4 ' 4 ,with this we may contrast the case of ,neptune1 who had threatened to overwhelm the city of the ,phacians with a mountain2 but who is apparently diverted from his purpose simply by the sacrifice which1 under the advice of ,alcinous1 they offer to him#adj4 #adj ,od4 xiii4 #afg-hc4 ,mere attributes of bulk stand at the bottom of the scale of even human excellence2 and it is so that ,homer treats them1 giving them in the greatest abundance to his ,otus1 his ,ephialtes1 and his ,mars4 ,minerva has them but indirectly assigned to her2 and when arming for war1 ,apollo never receives them at all4 ,when his might is described1 it is always described in the loftiest manner1 that is to say1 in its effects2 and effort or exertion is never attributed to either of them4 ,even so with respect to locomotion4 ,the highest picture by far is that which is most negative4 ,in general1 ,apollo and ,minerva move without the use of means or instruments1 such as wings1 chariots1 or otherwise4 ,while ,neptune steps1 and ,juno's horses spring1 so many miles at each pace1 the journeys of ,apollo and ,minerva are usually undescribed1 undistributed4 ,minerva is going from ,olympus to ,ithaca2 when she has departed1 then she has arrived3 ' ' 1 #ada4 #ada ,od4 i4 #ajb1 #c4 ,only within the last few years have the triumphs of natural philosophy supplied us with an approximative illustration of these movements over space1 in the more than lightning speed of the electric telegraph4 ,so ,apollo1 too1 has by personal dignity what the messenger gods have by office4 ,it is said of him and ,iris1 when in company1 that their journey began2 and that it ended3 ' ' #adb4 #adb ,il4 xv4 #aej4 ,on one occasion1 however1 ,minerva is represented1 even when unattended by any other deity1 as employing the foot-wings which ,mercury commonly used1 and they are said to carry her#adc3 #adc ,od4 i4 #ig4 1 ' ' ' 1 4 ,but there are no stages or intermediate points either here or elsewhere in her journey4 ,with the movements of ,apollo and ,minerva1 thus conceived by the ,poet1 we may do well to compare those of ,mercury 7,od4 v4 #ej-h71 ,neptune 7,il4 xiii4 #ag-ca71 and ,juno 7,il4 xiv4 #bbe-cj74 ,their independent power of punishment4 #f4 ,again1 an important difference prevails between the different divinities1 in regard to the conduct they pursue when offended by mortals4 ,in general1 this is one of the points that prominently exhibits the sovereignty of ,jupiter2 for the common course is to appeal to him1 and to obtain retribution either with his permission or by his agency4 ,not from greater self-will or a spirit of rebellion1 but from higher dignity and a certain substantiveness of character and position1 ,apollo and ,minerva always appear as acting for and from themselves1 in vindication of their offended prerogatives4 ,even ,neptune1 when he is incensed at the erection of the unconsecrated rampart of the ,greek camp1 and fearful that it will eclipse the renown of his own handiwork1 the wall of ,troy1 appeals to ,jupiter on the subject1 and receives from him the permissive suggestion1 that he should himself destroy it so soon as the war is over#add4 ,he pursues a similar course1 when he is anxious to chastise the over-boldness and maritime success of the ,phacians#ade4 ,venus1 wounded by ,diomed1 does not even by appeal attempt to obtain redress#adf4 ,mars1 in the same condition1 makes his complaint1 both of ,diomed and of ,minerva1 to ,jupiter4 ,it is true that afterwards1 on the death of his son1 he proposes to appear on the field of battle3 but then he is in a state of fury#adg1 and is aware that the act would be one of rebellion against ,jupiter3 accordingly1 it is rudely stopped by ,minerva4 ,again1 when ,dionysus and his nurses are attacked by ,lycoorgus1 it is ,jupiter that strikes the offender blind1 and his life is short because he was become hateful to the gods#adh4 ,dionysus had made no appeal2 but ,jupiter avenged the insult to his order4 ,the ,sun1 after his oxen have been eaten by the companions of ,ulysses1 lodges his appeal with ,jupiter and the ,olympian ,council3 and in this case ,jupiter himself undertakes to give effect to the wishes of the offended luminary for vengeance#adi4 ,when ,aides1 or ,pluto1 repaired to ,olympus after the wound he had received from ,hercules1 the presumption perhaps arises1 that it may have been not simply to obtain the healing hand of ,paieon1 but also to move ,jupiter for redress4 #add ,il4 vii4 #dde4 #ade ,od4 xiii4 #abe-fd4 #adf ,v4 #ceb4 ibid4 #hga4 #adg ,il4 xv4 #aac4 #adh ,il4 vi4 #ace-dj4 #adi ,od4 xii4 #cgg and #chg4 ,there are indeed a certain set of cases in which the rule is probably different1 that is to say1 when a deity is thwarted or offended in the exercise of his or her own special function4 ,thus ,neptune1 though he would not touch the rampart without leave1 yet of his own mere motion destroys ,ajax when he is at sea4 ,venus threatens ,helen with her summary vengeance1 in case of prolonged resistance to the expressed command that she should repair to the chamber of ,paris4 ,the ,muses1 offended by ,thamyris#aej1 proceed to maim him1 probably in voice or hand1 the organs connected with his profession4 ,this power to punish within each particular province appears to form an exception to the general rule4 ,it is probably under this exceptional arrangement1 that ,diana proceeds towards the ,curetes1 in the ,legend of the ,ninth ,iliad3 but some doubt may hang over her case on account of the fact1 that she partakes radically of the traditional1 as well as of the mythological character4 #aej ,il4 ii4 #eid-fjj4 ,it is common to render blind3 but it would be strange that this should be meant1 since blindness is associated in the case of ,demodocus with conferring the gift of song1 which here is taken away 7,od4 vii4 #fd74 ,apollodorus 7i4 #c4 #c47 reports that the ,muses had the power of blinding him by a previous agreement between him and them4 ,the more natural construction of the passage seems to be such as ,i have ventured to point at in the text4 ,for blindness did not maim ,bards1 who neither wrote nor read their compositions4 ,offended by the omission to include her in the hecatombs offered to the ,immortals1 she sends a wild boar to desolate the country4 ,she puts ,ariadne to death on the application of ,dionysus1 without any notice of an appeal to ,jupiter4 ,in both these cases she may be acting in virtue of her particular powers4 ,but when she is matched with ,juno in the ,theomachy1 she appears as utterly unequal to her great antagonist4 ,when ,apollo comes into view1 the mode of proceeding is very different from that of the deities of invention4 ,apollo and ,diana at once destroy the children of ,niobe1 to avenge the insult she had offered to their mother3 and this case is the more worthy of note1 because ,jupiter1 at a later stage1 participates in and extends the vengeance#aea4 ,but the most conspicuous instance of the independent retributive action of ,apollo is in the ,plague of the ,first ,book2 since here he wastes the army of the ,greeks1 to the great peril of the enterprise promoted by so many powerful divinities1 on account of what he esteemed a moral offence1 and an outrage to his priest ,chryses4 ,now it is to be remembered that the damsel had suffered no peculiar wrongs3 the whole offence consisted in this1 that1 being the daughter of a priest of ,apollo1 at a place apparently insignificant1 she had not been on that account exempted from the common lot of women1 but had been treated just as she would have been treated had she been a king's daughter4 ,nor must we forget1 in appreciating this act1 that the families of priests had no priestly privilege3 and that ,maron paid to ,ulysses 7,od4 ix4 #bja-e7 a very handsome price for his own life1 together with that of his wife and child4 #aea ,il4 xxiv4 #fje-i4 ,it is less easy to bring out the application of the rule now before us in the case of ,minerva1 from the paucity of clear instances in the poems where she personally has received offence4 ,there is one important case1 where her wrath appears2 and it is there described as 1 and as #aeb4 ,her name1 and her interest in this affair1 are to some extent mixed with those of ,jupiter4 ,the ,poet tells us1 that ,jupiter designed for the ,greeks a calamitous ,return1 #8since they were not all upright1 whereupon many of them miserably perished through the inexorable wrath of ,minerva4' ,and then the order is inverted3 ,agamemnon1 we are told1 projected the offerings1 that he might appease the anger of ,minerva1 and thereupon dissension arose1 for ,jupiter suspended calamity over the host4 ,it is clear that1 so far as ,minerva is to be regarded as having received separate and personal offence in this proceeding1 there is no sign of her referring to ,jupiter for aid1 or for permission to punish the offenders4 ,but the case rather appears to be one in which the ,poet is describing the ,providential ,government of the world1 and in which the intermixture of the names of ,jupiter and of his daughter belongs to their system of concurrent action1 under which she shares with ,apollo the office of acting as his habitual organ in administering retributive justice to mankind4 ,in one clear instance1 however1 we find it stated1 that when the ,greeks offended ,minerva1 she punished them by a storm 7,od4 v4 #ajh74 #aeb ,od4 iii4 #ace1 #ade4 ,they use special attributes of ,jupiter4 #g4 ,apollo and ,minerva carry this among other notes1 that we find them administering mythological or natural powers1 which are otherwise the special property of ,jupiter4 ,no other ,olympian deity1 but ,juno1 stands invested with a similar honour4 ,we sometimes find the aerial powers of ,jupiter wielded by her hand4 ,but1 with the exception of the sort of precedence accorded to her on ,olympus1 in virtue of which the gods rise from their seats when she enters their company1 there is no one of the gifts that she exercises1 which would not appear to lie within the range of the offices of ,minerva1 if not also of ,apollo4 ,in the remarkable case where she thunders in honour of ,agamemnon just after he has armed1 it is recorded that this was the joint act of the two divinities1 of whom1 on this occasion1 ,minerva takes precedence#aec3 #aec ,il4 xi4 #de4 ' 1 4 ,this association is to be observed in another passage1 where these goddesses jointly communicate courage to a warrior4 ,but when we find them associated in administering the powers of atmospheric phenomena1 it is obvious that we must resort to different sources for the means of explaining the respective agencies4 ,juno1 mythologically related to ,jupiter as a wife1 in that capacity may1 without exciting surprise1 take in hand what belongs1 so to speak1 to the mnage4 ,minerva1 as a daughter1 has no such claim2 and her possession of a standing ground which enables her to use these powers can only be explained by a prior and more profound affinity of traditional character1 which makes her the organ of the supreme deity4 ,but while1 in the highest marks of power adhering to ,juno1 ,minerva seems everywhere to vie with her1 there are others1 and those among the most strictly characteristic of the head of ,olympus1 in which both ,minerva and ,apollo share1 but which are not in any manner imparted to ,juno4 ,one of the high characteristic epithets of ,jupiter is 4 ,and we never hear of the gis out of the hands of ,jupiter1 except it be in those of ,minerva1 or of ,apollo4 ,the gis is the peculiar arm of ,minerva2 apparently1 it belongs to her2 and from the description of it in the ,fifth ,iliad1 it appears to be the counterpart1 on her side1 of the chariot on the side of ,juno#aed4 ,the tunic she puts on1 however1 is the tunic of ,jupiter1 and the ,gorgon head upon it is his sign3 while the shield she carries is not to be assailed even by his thunderbolt#aee3 #aed ,il4 v4 #gce-db4 #aee ,il4 xxi4 #dja4 4 ,again1 the ,fifteenth ,book of the ,iliad1 ,jupiter intrusts ,apollo with his own gis1 that he may wave it on the field of battle to intimidate the ,greeks#aef4 #aef ,il4 xv4 #bbi4 ,partly in the relation of ,minerva to ,mars1 whom she punishes or controls1 but more peculiarly in the use of the magnificent symbol of the gis by ,minerva and ,apollo1 we appear to find that development of the martial character which has been mentioned above as included among the ,jewish ascriptions to the ,messiah4 ,proximate to1 but extending beyond1 the last named distinction1 there is a function mythologically confined to ,jupiter throughout the poems1 with two exceptions only4 ,the function is that of giving indications1 palpable to men1 of coming events1 by the flight of birds in many instances1 but likewise by atmospheric signs4 ,this power is distinguished1 by its connection with the future1 from a mere power over nature4 ,the exceptions are ,apollo and ,minerva4 ,the former deity is in general more largely endowed than ,minerva in regard to the future1 though a less conspicuous figure in the direction of the present4 ,still she partakes1 with him and with ,jupiter1 of this peculiar honour4 ,on the return of ,telemachus to ,ithaca there appears to him the bird called the wheeling falcon#aeg1 #aeg ,od4 xv4 #ebf4 1 1 sent by ,apollo as an omen of success to himself1 and of confusion to the ,suitors4 ,in the final crisis of the ,odyssey1 which is doubtless meant to exhibit a normal example of ,providential retribution1 it seems to have been the object of the ,poet to divide the theurgic action between ,minerva and ,apollo1 as joint administrators of the general government of the world4 ,to ,minerva1 as the goddess of wisdom1 falls what may be called the intellectual share#aeh1 the actual instruction and guidance of ,ulysses1 ,penelope1 and ,telemachus1 as well as the bewildering and hardening operations on the minds of the ,suitors4 ,special arrangements appear1 however1 to have been introduced1 so as to make a corresponding place for ,apollo4 ,hence it is that ,theoclymenus1 as the representative of a great prophetic family1 is brought into the company of ,telemachus1 that he may become the organ of ,apollo in the remaining part of the drama4 ,this is the more remarkable1 because ,theoclymenus does not repay the friendly aid he had received by taking part in the final struggle on the side of ,telemachus2 so that his share in the proceeding stands out the more conspicuously as one altogether theurgic4 ,in cooperation with this arrangement1 it is provided that the crisis shall come to pass on the festival of the god1 and that the manner of trial1 by the ,bow1 shall place it especially under his auspices4 #aeh ,she has also minor interpositions3 see ,od4 xxii4 #bje1 #bef1 #bgc1 #big4 ,in the magnificent passage of the ,twentieth ,book#aei1 which describes the phantasmagoria in the palace of ,ulysses1 immediately before the trial of the ,bow1 there are two parts4 ,first1 the minds of the ,suitors are befooled 7 74 ,secondly1 the hall is filled with sensible portents3 preternatural night envelopes the company1 the walls and beams are blood-bespattered1 phantoms glide along with downward movement1 as on their way to ,erebus1 the very meat they eat is gory1 their eyes are charged with involuntary tears1 their lips with unnatural smiles4 ,of all this the announcement is made by ,theoclymenus1 a trait which ,i interpret as referring the array of the phenomena to his master ,apollo4 ,to him is thus given that part of the operation which lies within the domain of sense3 while the purely intellectual one1 that of stupefying the ,suitors1 is expressly assigned to ,minerva4 #aei ,od4 xx4 #cde-ga4 ,but ,minerva has likewise the power over signs1 which is enjoyed by ,jupiter and ,apollo4 ,as ,diomed and ,ulysses are setting out on their nocturnal expedition in the ,tenth ,iliad1 ,minerva sends the apparition of a heron to cheer them#afj3 they do not see it1 on account of the darkness2 but they hear the flapping of its wings4 #afj ,il4 x4 #bgd4 ,minerva's patronage of the heron was probably connected with her martial character3 for it appears that in ,sanscrit the word ,scandha signifies both war and also the heron4 7,welsford on the ,english ,language1 p #aeb47 ,it has accordingly attracted the attention of ,ngelsbach#afa1 that the power of exhibiting signs is confined to ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,apollo1 and ,minerva3 though he has not proceeded to combine this with other distinctions1 at least equally remarkable1 enjoyed by the two latter divinities4 #afa ,hom4 ,theol4 iv4 #af1 p4 #adg4 ,i have not1 it will be observed1 reckoned as a 1 or sign of the future1 the case in which ,juno endows the horses of ,achilles with the gift of speech3 because it appears that the prediction of their master's death is their own2 and that she only removes the barrier to its expression#afb4 ,she stands1 therefore1 in a different position to that of ,apollo and ,minerva4 #afb ,il4 xix4 #djd-g4 ,see inf4 ,sect4 iii4 on ,juno4 ,their dominion over ,nature4 #i4 ,this command1 however1 over natural portents may be viewed as part of a general dominion over nature1 of which the most varied manifestation is in ,minerva4 ,it is true that1 in common with most of the ,olympian deities1 she does not extend her action from the inner1 or ,greek1 into the general range of the outer1 or ,phnician world4 ,nor does ,apollo4 ,but we have clear proof that this was by a poetical arrangement1 and not from a lack of divine power3 since 7#a7 she does act in ,scheria1 and assists in bringing ,ulysses to the shore of that island3 7#b7 the class of are found among the ,cyclops3 7#c7 ,calypso is amenable to the command of the ,olympian court1 and speaks of herself as belonging to the same wide class of deities with ,aurora and ,ceres4 7#d7 ,minerva assigns a special reason1 namely1 regard towards her uncle ,neptune1 for not having accompanied ,ulysses all along his voyage 7,od4 xiii4 #cda74 ,the power of ,minerva over nature seems to be universal in kind as well as in place4 #a4 ,she and ,apollo assume the human form in common with other deities3 but ,i do not find that the gods in general become visible to one person without being visible to all4 ,minerva in the ,first ,iliad 7#aih7 reveals herself only to ,achilles4 ,it seems as if1 in ,il4 xvii4 #cba-cd1 ,homer meant that ,apollo did the same to neas4 ,the recognition of ,venus by ,helen1 ,i take as most probably a sign of nothing more than that the case was one of disguise1 rather than of transformation#afc4 #afc ,il4 iii4 #cif4 #b4 ,apollo frames an 1 or image of a man1 which moves and fights#afd1 representing neas on the battle field3 and ,minerva frames an of ,iphthime1 to appear in a dream to her sister ,penelope1 and to convey to her a revelation of ,minerva's will#afe4 ,this power is exercised by the two divinities exclusively4 #afd ,il4 v4 #ddi4 #afe ,od4 iv4 #gif1 #hbf4 #c4 ,minerva on many occasions assumes the shape of a bird#aff3 sometimes in common with ,apollo#afg4 ,ino ,leucothee1 the marine goddess1 becomes a water-bird1 and takes the form of the bird ,chalcis1 when he has to act upon ,jupiter4 ,both these operations may probably be considered as belonging to the special functions of these agents3 with ,apollo and ,minerva1 the power appears to belong to a general supremacy over nature1 which the other ,olympian deities do not share4 #aff ,il4 xix4 #cea4 ,od4 i4 #cbj4 et alibi4 #afg ,il4 vii4 #ei4 #d4 ,the transformations and retransformations of ,ulysses in ,ithaca by ,minerva1 appear to indicate some organic power over matter and life4 ,it is not the appearance but the reality of his person that is stated to be changed4 ,not only is the skin wrinkled and the eye darkened1 but the hairs are destroyed4 ,they are afterwards restored1 and his stature is increased4 ,in like manner she gives increased height to ,penelope1 and again to ,laertes#afh4 #afh ,od4 xiii4 #dbi-ch4 xvi4 #agb1 #dee4 xviii4 #fi1 and xxii4 #aef-fb2 ,od4 xviii4 #aie4 xxiv4 #cfi4 ,as respects power over inanimate nature1 we have seen ,minerva joined with ,juno in the act of thundering4 ,she can order out a rattling zephyr 771 or simply a toward breeze1 or again a stiff ,boreas 771 to speed her friend across the main#afi3 and1 as ,juno accelerated the setting of the sun before ,troy1 so ,minerva forbids the dawn to appear in ,ithaca1 until1 when she thinks the proper time has come1 she withdraws the prohibition#agj4 #afi ,od4 ii4 #dbj4 xv4 #bib4 v4 #che4 #agj ,od4 xxiii4 #bdc-f4 ,nor is the power of ,minerva over nature for purposes of wrath less clear than for purposes of favour3 since ,mercury tells ,calypso that1 inasmuch as the ,greeks had offended her1 she sent a storm upon them#aga1 #aga ,od4 v4 #ajh4 1 ' 4 ,on the other hand1 when ,ulysses and his companions have propitiated ,apollo on behalf of the ,greek army1 then he sends them a toward breeze for their return to the camp#agb4 ,but we have a still more notable instance of miraculous power over nature ascribed to ,apollo1 over and above the sublime portents of the ,twentieth ,odyssey1 in the conversion of the mouths of the eight ,idan rivers for nine whole days to efface the ,greek rampart#agc4 ,to ,neptune is left the task of restoring them to their channels3 perhaps on the same principle as the treatment of ,juno1 relatively to ,minerva1 in the preparation and use of the chariot#agd4 #agb ,il4 i4 #dgi4 #agc ,il4 xii4 #bd1 #cb4 #agd ,il4 v4 #g4 ,we have not yet1 however1 done with the subject of powers exercised over nature4 ,relation of ,apollo together with ,diana to ,death4 ,the most prominent and pointed characteristic of ,apollo is one shared with his sister ,diana4 ,it is the mysterious relation which these two deities hold in common to death4 ,the ,messianic tradition1 first divided between ,apollo and the great ,minerva1 is now subdivided between him and his sister ,diana1 who forms a kind of supplement to his divinity4 ,the bow and arrows1 the symbol which they bear in common1 marks the original union in character1 out of which their twin peculiarities had grown4 ,apollo1 indeed1 as we see in the first ,book of the ,iliad1 could himself become1 like his sister1 the immediate agent in the destruction of animals3 but his principal function is with men4 ,hence the terrible slaughter of the ,plague3 hence his extraordinary and otherwise unsatisfactory participation in the death of ,patroclus3 hence1 above all1 though he is not the patron of ,ulysses1 and has no special connection with him1 yet the slaughter of the ,suitors in the ,odyssey is appointed to take place on his festival1 and therefore1 as well as because it is effected by the ,bow1 under his auspices4 ,but again2 his office is not of a single aspect3 he is a saviour from death1 as well as a destroyer4 ,hence it is he1 and not ,venus1 who saves neas#age3 it is he who carries ,hector out of danger#agf4 ,yet a third1 and very peculiar form of his office do we discover1 common to him and to his sister4 ,she is upon occasion strong enough to exercise the office of destruction properly so called#agg1 for sometimes she slays in wrath4 ,but more usually1 as he does for men1 so she more especially exercises for women the mysterious function of administering painless and gentle death4 #age ,il4 v4 #dde4 #agf ,il4 xv4 #bfb4 #agg ,il4 vi4 #bje1 #dbh4 xxi4 #dhd4 ,od4 xi4 #cbd4 xv4 #dgh4 ,this singular and solemn relation of ,apollo and ,diana to death appears to have an entirely exclusive character attaching to it4 ,there is a clear distinction between death inflicted by the symbolical arrows of these twin deities1 which are the symbols of an invisible ,power1 and death resulting from physical or any other palpable causes1 whether it be violent1 or what we term natural4 ,i do not now speak of the agency of ,apollo the destroyer in 7what we call7 the ,plague1 nor of his slaying ,eurytus on account of a personal insult 7,od4 viii4 #bbg71 but of the much more distinctive and prominent office assigned to him and to ,diana1 that of 7so to speak7 taking the sting from ,death4 ,death by disease1 ,death by a broken heart#agh1 ,death by shipwreck1 or by the lightning of heaven#agi1 or by the fury of ,scamander1 whirling warriors to the sea1 and burying them in the sand and shingle#ahj1 are matters altogether distinct from this4 ,death through second causes1 even man can bring about3 ,death without second causes is palpably ,divine2 and this it is that is assigned to ,apollo and ,diana only among the ,homeric gods4 ,there is no instance1 if ,i remember rightly1 in which any other among them brings about the death of a mortal1 otherwise than by means of second causes4 ,and there is one curious passage1 from which it would appear that some other deities had to apply to them in order to set in motion this ,divine prerogative4 ,for when ,theseus was carrying ,ariadne to ,athens1 she did not reach her journey's end3 #agh ,od4 xi4 #aih-bjc4 #agi ,od4 v4 #abg4 #ahj ,il4 xxi4 #cah-ba4 1 #aha4 #aha ,od4 xi4 #cbd4 ,a period was put to her life in the island of ,dia1 by the goddess ,artemis1 at the instance of ,dionysus4 ,as if the tradition bore1 that ,dionysus or ,bacchus1 desiring her death1 and having at his command no natural agency of mortal effect1 was obliged to apply to ,artemis or ,diana to bring about this purpose4 ,the great enemy and scourge of mankind1 under the treatment of the twin deities1 is stripped of his terrors2 and the very verse of ,homer1 ever responsive to his thought1 changes to an easy and flowing movement as he describes this mode of passage from the world#ahb3 #ahb ,cf4 ,il4 xix4 #ei4 ,od4 xviii4 #bja4 xx4 #fa4 ' 4 ,nor is the expression casual2 it is one of the regular ,homeric formul4 ,sometimes she discharges this office in actual concurrence with ,apollo4 ,the happy island1 where ,eumus passed his childhood1 knew neither famine nor disease3 but when its people reached the term of their old age1 then#ahc #ahc ,od4 xv4 #djg-aa4 4 ,again1 when the corpse of ,hector is by preternatural agency restored1 after the lacerations it had undergone1 to integrity and freshness1 it is said to have become like to the body of him upon whom ,apollo has come1 and put him to death with his tender darts#ahd4 ,the god has a sword1 indeed1 which must appertain to his destroying office4 ,but his sword1 and his only1 among all we hear of1 is formed of gold1 4 ,the epithet has probably been chosen from its affinity to ,light4 #ahd ,il4 xxiv4 #gec4 ,among the instances in which ,diana ministers to death1 there are many where she clearly exercises a mitigating and favouring agency2 and this may probably be signified in nearly all4 ,even of the children of ,niobe#ahe it may be meant1 that they were thus gently removed1 the innocent causes of their mother's pride2 while she was reserved for heavier punishment1 and doomed to weep eternally in stone4 #ahe ,il4 xxiv4 #fjf4 ,laodamia is an exception3 see ,il4 vi4 #bje4 ,in considering what may have been the early traditional source of these remarkable attributes of the children of ,latona1 we should tread softly and carefully1 for we are on very sacred ground4 ,but we seem to see in them the traces of the form of ,one1 who1 as an all-conquering ,king1 was to be terrible and destructive to ,his enemies1 but who was also1 on behalf of mankind1 to take away the sting from ,death1 and to change its iron band for a thread of silken slumber4 ,the share of ,messianic tradition accorded in this particular province to ,minerva appears1 as has already been observed1 to consist in her peculiar power within the realm of ,aidoneus himself4 ,independence of second causes4 #aj4 ,lastly1 we appear to find1 that in the conduct of those operations in which their power over ,nature is exhibited1 ,minerva and ,apollo are not tied down1 or at least are not tied down in the same degree with the other deities generally1 to the use of instruments or symbols4 ,we find that ,neptune1 when he has to inspire courage into the two ,ajaxes1 strikes them1 7,il4 xiii4 #ei47 ,as an accompanying significant act1 of a nature tending by itself to produce the result1 this greatly weakens the force of the passage in proof of divine or extraordinary power4 ,in like manner1 when the same divinity converts the ship of the ,phacians into a rock1 he drives it downward with his hand#ahf4 #ahf ,od4 xiii4 #afd4 ,but ,apollo performs no such outward act when he infuses courage into ,hector1 or into ,glaucus2 or when he heals the wounds of the latter chieftain#ahg4 #ahg ,il4 xv4 #bfb4 xvi4 #ebh-i4 ,so likewise1 when ,minerva alters the personal appearance of ,telemachus1 ,ulysses1 ,laertes1 or ,penelope1 by improving it1 she uses no sign or ministrative act4 ,only when she effects an organic though partial transformation in the case of ,ulysses#ahh does she strike him with her wand3 but then this total transformation is an exercise of power1 of which we have no other example among the ,olympian deities4 ,again1 when ,minerva finally endows the hero with heightened beauty of figure and countenance1 it is done without the use of any visible sign whatever#ahi4 #ahh ,od4 xiii4 #dbi4 xvi4 #agb1 #dee4 #ahi ,od4 xxiii4 #aef-fc4 ,this employment of instruments is1 in fact1 susceptible of two significations4 ,they may be1 like the tokens of ,jupiter1 intended to act upon the senses of men4 ,but where they have not this meaning1 there is a decided tendency to convey the conception of the instrument as being itself the power which the deity merely directs and applies4 ,thus it is in the cestus of ,venus and the wand of ,mercury that the divine energy resides#aij1 not less than it is in the herbs of ,paieon and in the fire of ,vulcan4 ,so that any exemption from the use of these symbols is a sign of belonging to a high order of deity4 #aij ,ngelsbach1 i4 #be4 ,superiority of their moral standard4 ,we now approach the third and last division of this subject2 namely1 those points of distinction which most essentially belong to the moral tone and personal character of these two great divinities4 ,their moral standard is conspicuously raised above that of the ,olympian family in general4 ,it partakes indeed1 as we might expect1 of taint4 ,each has begun to give way2 and each in the way adapted to their several relations with man and woman's nature respectively4 ,apollo's character has just begun to be touched by licentiousness3 and the character of ,minerva is not above condescension to deceit4 ,she is nowhere1 however1 associated either directly or indirectly1 in word or act1 with anything impure4 ,the contest of beauty1 in which ,paris was the judge1 is mentioned by ,homer#aia3 but the notice1 a very succinct one1 though not quite in keeping with her highest dignity1 does not imply any deviation from her elevated chastity4 ,neither of ,juno1 nor of ,thetis1 can the same virtue be fully predicated3 both of them1 though in different modes1 are brought into immediate contact with the subject of sensual passion4 #aia ,il4 xxiv4 #bg-cj4 ,pallas is1 in truth1 no less chaste than ,diana3 but her purity is absorbed in the dazzling splendour of her august prerogatives1 while it is more observed in the ,huntress-maid1 because it is the most salient and distinguished point in her character4 ,in the post-,homeric1 but yet early1 hymn to ,venus1 three beings alone in the wide universe are declared to be exempt from her sway4 ,one of them is ,hestie1 who represents the impersonation of the marriage bond and the family life1 and whose exemption therefore testifies directly to the nature of the dominion from which it frees her4 ,the other two privileged beings are ,pallas and ,diana#aib4 #aib ,hymn4 ad ,ven4 #h1 #af4 ,the character of ,apollo in this respect is by some degrees less elevated3 for he is an enjoying spectator of the scene described by the certainly licentious lay of ,demodocus in the ,eighth ,odyssey1 from which the goddesses in a body absent themselves4 ,in the legend1 too1 of the ,ninth ,iliad we find that ,apollo carried off the daughter of ,marpessa1 afterwards named by her parents ,alcyone3 but this passage1 we shall see1 is susceptible of an interpretation1 which gives it another construction1 and one certainly far more agreeable to the general character of this divinity4 ,the epithet enjoyed by the ,homeric ,diana1 expressive of purity1 is accorded by schylus#aic 7whose accuracy and truthfulness often recall those of ,homer7 to ,apollo2 #aic sch4 ,suppl4 #bbb4 ' ' ' 4 ,and here the question arises1 how did it happen that1 while the element of purity was strictly preserved in the tradition of the ,wisdom1 it was lost in the twin tradition of the ,seed of the woman8 ,the ,wisdom naturally1 when impersonated1 assumed the feminine form4 ,now the character of woman seems to be in itself better fenced against impurity than that of man4 ,her comparatively dependent condition1 and the more direct operation of her failure in this respect on the marriage tie through the disorganization of the family1 have had a further influence in giving an additional stringency to the ideas of mankind with respect to her observance of this virtue2 a stringency not the less real1 because it exemplifies the partial administration of a law essentially just1 nor because it has become rather less conspicuous since the ,gospel laid down with rigour1 upon higher grounds1 one law for all4 ,thus it remained possible to conceive a woman chaste1 after the conditions of that idea had been almost lost in connection with the standard of excellence in the other sex3 and this virtue1 banished from the earth in general1 still found here and there1 even down to the ftid corruption of the time of ,martial#aid1 a last refuge in individual cases of untainted womanhood4 ,this course of thought and feeling is exemplified in the ,minerva of the ,olympian ,court4 #aid ,epigr4 x4 #fc4 ,yet the idea was not simply extinguished in the twin tradition1 of which ,apollo is the chief representative4 ,submerged in him1 a home is found for it in the appropriate form of ,diana as his sister4 ,the power and majesty of this form of the ,messianic tradition fall chiefly to his share3 she retains what was then1 to the shame of our race1 thought its less precious ingredient1 freedom from sensual taint4 ,apollo would have been its natural vehicle3 but in him1 for the reason that he was a man1 it was perhaps to the ,greek mind inconceivable3 a new vehicle was either framed1 or adapted1 in order to carry it3 the idea of the great ,deliverer that should be born was thus disintegrated1 like other traditions1 and like other historical characters1 which men could not so readily embrace in their integrity4 ,as this is the first point in the discussion at which we have encountered an actual instance of this disintegration1 it may be well to explain the meaning ,i attach to the term4 ,disintegration of traditions4 ,it seems indubitable1 that moral combinations1 which are intelligible as well as credible to one age1 may become incredible to another4 ,just as there are individual men at every epoch1 who cannot believe in generosity and elevation of character1 because they have in themselves no mirror which can reflect such qualities2 so a generation ruled by more debased ideas cannot comprehend what another1 influenced by less impure tendencies1 could readily embrace4 ,on the same principle1 the ,gospel gives not to the sagacious1 but to the #8pure in heart1' the greatest triumph of mental vision1 namely1 that #8they shall see ,god#aie4' #aie ,st4 ,matt4 v4 #h4 ,accordingly1 when it happens that a tradition becomes unintelligible to the mind of a given people1 it is lost4 ,it may be lost by the disappearance even of its outward form and shell4 ,or it may be lost by the alteration of its meaning while its words are retained4 ,or the work of destruction may take another turn3 it may be lost by being torn into pieces2 the effect being that one old tradition disappears1 and more than one partial substitute for it is created4 ,the highest fraud and the highest force appear to have been1 according to original tradition1 joined in the ,evil ,one3 they were separated in the ,grecian forms of#aif that tradition4 ,the ,apollo of ,homer was still one1 with a great diversity of gifts2 but mythological solecisms were already apparent in his character1 like cracks in a stately building4 ,this1 too1 was settled by disintegration2 and in the later mythology there were many ,apollos3 other causes probably concurring to extend the multiplying process4 #aif ,inf4 ,sect4 iii4 ,the same operation took effect upon the traditions of human character4 ,homer1 with the finest powers of light and shade1 has represented ,helen as erring1 and as penitent4 ,the moral sense of later1 less simple1 and more deeply corrupted1 times became impervious to a balanced conception of this kind4 ,accordingly1 the one ,helen was torn into two1 and supplied material both for the guilty ,helen1 or of ,helen1 at ,troy1 and for the innocent ,helen detained in ,egypt4 ,in like manner1 it became a question1 probably first when ,athens had grown great1 how ,minos could on the one hand be great and wise1 and could on the other have made war and imposed tribute upon ,attica4 ,hence the fable of two ,minoses#aig3 so that those who venerated the ancient traditions of ,crete might still be allowed to cherish their pious sentiment1 while1 upon the other hand1 the ,athenian dramatists might exercise a fertile imagination in inventing circumstances of horror for the biography of the piratical enemy of their country4 #aig ,hck's ,creta1 vol4 ii4 ,it was1 ,i conceive1 an early example of this disintegration1 which divided between ,apollo and ,diana different members of a primitive ,messianic tradition4 ,and1 when we again combine the two personalities of the brother and the sister in one1 the tradition resumes its completeness and roundness4 ,it is likely that the same mental process1 which thus deposited the element of chastity in the person of the comparatively feeble ,diana1 also conferred on her the figure of the ,huntress-,queen4 ,for thus she lived in seclusion from the ways and haunts of man3 and it was only by seclusion that she could be kept in maiden innocence4 ,but although the logical turn of the ,greek mind soon came to place ,apollo in morally disadvantageous contrast1 under this particular head1 both with his sister and with ,pallas1 he may be favourably compared with the other ,homeric gods4 ,there is something in the tradition that he was unshorn 771 which is evidently intended to connect him with the innocence of youth4 ,and in ,homer1 unless it be by the legend of the ,ninth ,iliad1 he is unharmed by connection with any of those relations which assign to ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 ,mars1 and ,mercury1 human children as the fruit of their indulgence4 ,legend of ,marpessa4 ,the reasons which lead me to suppose that the legend of ,marpessa is not of a sensual character are these4 ,the words used are#aih2 #aih ,il4 ix4 #efd4 4 ,now none of the numerous intrigues of the mythical deities with women include violence3 they always appear1 so far as the language used gives them a specific character1 to have been voluntarily accepted connections#aii4 ,it was not likely that the case of ,apollo should have been the exception4 ,again1 they are always mentioned as having led to the birth of children3 but there is no such mention in this case1 and ,apollo has no human progeny4 ,lastly1 the word used does not mean ravished1 but seized and carried up4 ,it nearly corresponds with the expression in the case of ,ganymede#bjj1 #aii ,il4 ii4 #eac2 xvi4 #ahd1 and other cases4 #bjj ,il4 xx4 #bcd4 1 and it may have been either a case of translation1 or one in which the maid was conceived to have been taken for the service of the deity1 perhaps at the neighbouring shrine of ,delphi4 ,after the part which the lay of ,demodocus assigns to him1 the most1 perhaps the only1 discreditable transaction assigned to ,apollo in the poems is the manner in which he disarms and partially disables ,patroclus4 ,nothing can be more wretched than his operations on this occasion4 ,the god comes up to the hero enveloped in cloud2 strikes him from behind on the back2 and knocks off his armour4 ,i can conceive but one explanation for this singular passage1 which appears alike unsatisfactory from a poetical and from a mythological point of view4 ,that explanation ,i think is to be sought in intense nationality4 ,the main purpose of the poem required the sacrifice of a principal ,greek hero3 but no genuine ,greek hero could be killed by fair means1 therefore it was necessary to dispose of him by such as were foul4 ,it is perhaps also worth remark that the audacity of ,patroclus in pushing on to the city may perhaps have rendered him punishable 7,il4 xvi4 #fih-gaa74 ,it is remarkable1 however1 that the character of each of the two great traditive deities had begun to give way to corruption1 and each in the point at which1 according to the respective sex1 its yielding might have been anticipated4 ,as unchastity is more readily pardoned1 according to social usage1 in the man1 so is deceit in the woman4 ,and in this point the standard had already fallen for ,minerva4 ,of this we have one most clear indication1 in her being commissioned to undertake the charge of inciting ,pandarus to a very black act of treachery1 the breach of the ,pact4 ,so far from being unwilling in this matter1 she was even eager#bja2 #bja ,il4 iv4 #gc4 4 ,besides judgment and industrial skill1 she gave to ,penelope#bjb3 and she describes herself#bjc as excelling among the gods in craft as well as counsel2 #bjb ,od4 ii4 #aag4 #bjc ,od4 xiii4 #bii4 4 ,with the exception of this initial tendency to degenerate on the side of craft1 we may say with truth that the highest moral tone1 both of speech and action1 is reserved for ,minerva in particular throughout the poems1 whether in the ,olympian ,court1 or in her intercourse with men4 ,alike in the ,iliad and the ,odyssey1 her counsel1 which prevails1 undoubtedly also deserves to prevail4 ,she is in both the champion of the righteous cause4 ,and when she states for the second time the case of ,ulysses before the assembled gods1 it is not now as before his liberality in sacrifice that she pleads1 but1 as a last resort1 she makes bold to urge the bad moral effect which will result1 if they discourage virtue by permitting the ruin of this excellent man#bjd4 #bjd ,od4 v4 #g4 ,their place in ,providential ,government4 #b4 ,it is in conformity with the expectations1 which the superior morality of ,apollo and ,minerva tends to raise1 that we find them occupying a position such as is accorded to no other deity in the ,providential government both of the human mind and will1 and likewise of the course of events external to it4 ,the origin of this position may1 as ,i conceive1 be found in the traditions which they inherit1 and according to which they would naturally be exhibited as the administrators of the government of the world1 on behalf1 if ,i may so speak1 of the ,godhead4 ,but there were1 among the inborn tendencies of polytheism1 two at least which powerfully tended to give to these divinities a position not only associated with that of ,jupiter1 but on the one hand more palpable and practical1 and on the other of higher moral elevation4 ,these were the tendencies which1 among the incidents of his supremacy1 on the one hand1 blessed him with personal repose1 and1 on the other1 endowed him with unbounded appetite4 ,the first1 by making ,apollo and ,minerva1 as his organs1 the practical governors of the world1 tended to increase their importance at the expense of his1 and the second gave them a moral title as it were to gain ground upon him4 ,in the time of ,homer this process was considerably advanced2 so that while they seem to share with ,jupiter the office of general direction1 which they hold subject to his control1 it falls to one of them1 to ,minerva especially1 to conduct the highest of all the divine processes in the administration of moral discipline1 and in the exercise of influence over the human soul4 ,in the war before ,troy1 what is done by ,juno or by ,neptune is commonly done in the way of unauthorized1 or even of forbidden1 interference4 ,in this1 ,minerva shares3 for she has a less perfect conformity of will with that of ,jupiter than ,apollo1 though she has a more profound moral resemblance of character to the ideal1 from which the ,homeric ,jupiter was a depravation4 ,of the action before ,troy1 however1 as a whole1 thus much remains true3 that1 when the will of ,jupiter is to be wrought out in favour of the ,greeks1 it is done entirely by ,minerva1 and when in favour of the ,trojans it is done entirely by ,apollo4 ,each therefore appears as the proper minister of ,jupiter1 when willing1 for conducting the government of mankind4 ,one of them is always willing3 and though the other is not equally acquiescent1 still it is the view of the case taken by her1 in common with other gods more weighty than numerous1 to which ,jupiter ultimately gives way4 ,thus we may discern1 graven as it were upon the relation between themselves and ,jupiter1 the mark which shows that it was originally derived from the office of ,him1 #8by whom ,god made the worlds#bje4' ,scarcely ever do we find ,homer deviate from the general rule which exhibits them as the ordinary ,providence of the world for governing the detail of life4 ,there is1 ,i think1 but one part of the ,iliad which exhibits to us any considerable assumption of this function by ,jupiter himself4 ,it is during the latter part of the day which was to be closed by a sunset fatal to ,hector1 that1 besides sending forth ,apollo with the blinding gis1 he himself descends to such acts of minute interference as breaking the bowstring of ,teucer#bjf4 #bje ,heb4 i4 #b4 #bjf ,il4 xv4 #dfc4 ,it is frequently ascribed to them4 ,regarded from without1 these two deities appear to us as frequently receiving from men the ascriptions of ,divine ,providence4 ,the idea of ,divine ,providence is frequently expressed by ,homer under the names 1 1 1 4 ,it is also often conveyed by the name ,jupiter alone1 or by such an expression as #8,jupiter and the other immortal gods1' in which he appears at their head4 ,in one place of the ,odyssey1 though only one1 the day being the festival of ,apollo1 this very extraordinary distinction is assigned to him3 and the of the ,suitors thus places him at the head of the ,olympian company#bjg2 #bjg ,od4 xxi4 #cfd4 4 ,sometimes mortal men look to one of these deities for success in their enterprises1 even without naming ,jupiter3 sometimes that name is conjoined with one of theirs4 ,apollo himself1 appearing to ,hector in the form of ,asius his uncle1 exhorts that chieftain to attack ,patroclus1 #8in the hope that ,apollo may give him success#bjh4' ,presently1 ,patroclus1 dying1 attributes ,hector's victory to ,jupiter and ,apollo1 his own death to ,apollo and #bji2 ,apollo1 says ,xanthus the immortal horse1 slew ,patroclus1 and gave glory to ,hector#baj4 ,this cannot well apply to the direct agency of the god in the matter1 as he only disarmed the ,greek hero4 ,again1 when ,patroclus is slain1 ,minerva takes no part in the proceedings4 ,when ,hector is about to be vanquished ,apollo retires1 and ,minerva straightway appears upon the field#baa4 ,in the ,doloneia1 ,ulysses and ,diomed succeed1 because ,jupiter and ,minerva befriend them#bab4 ,minerva rejoices1 when she finds her name invoked first of all the gods#bac3 and she instructs ,laertes to call upon ,jupiter with herself1 assuming for her own name the first place2 #bjh ,il4 xvi4 #gae4 #bji ,ibid4 #hde4 #baj ,il4 xix4 #dac4 #baa ,il4 xxii4 #bji-ad4 #bab ,il4 x4 #eeb-c4 ,comp4 xi4 #gcf4 #bac ,cf4 ,il4 x4 #dfb4 #bad4 #bad ,od4 xxiv4 #eah4 ,agamemnon feels that he is certain to take ,troy1 if only ,jupiter and ,minerva will it#bae4 ,ulysses expects to slay the ,suitors #8by the favour of ,jupiter and ,minerva#baf4' ,but in fact1 the whole scheme of divine retribution1 of which that hero is the organ1 was planned by ,minerva and not by ,jupiter1 as is twice declared to us from his own lips#bag4 ,i must not1 however1 omit to notice one passage of peculiar grandeur1 in which ,jupiter and ,minerva are combined1 as joint arbiters of great events4 ,in the ,sixteenth ,odyssey1 ,telemachus exhorts his father1 amid their gloomy and doubtful prospects1 to bethink him of obtaining some ally4 ,he nobly replies as follows3 #8,i will tell you1 and do you answer me and say1 whether ,athene with ,zeus her father will not suffice for us1 or whether ,i shall study to find some other defender4' ,the rejoinder of ,telemachus is in the same exalted strain4 #8,yes1 these are good1 though they be afar off1 sitting on high2 for they prevail over all others1 whether they be men1 or whether they be immortal gods#bah4' #bae ,il4 viii4 #bhg4 #baf ,od4 xx4 #db4 #bag ,od4 v4 #bc4 xxiv4 #dgi4 #bah ,od4 xvi4 #bef-fa1 #bfb-e4 ,especially in the highest sense to ,minerva4 ,it should be observed1 that they are not the lower and more external forms of providential action which devolve on ,minerva1 with a reservation of the higher parts to ,jupiter4 ,on the contrary1 in what we may call external and wholesale ,providence1 ,jupiter is supreme2 and in the conflict between ,ulysses and the ,ithacan rebels1 as well as in various passages of the ,iliad relating to external action1 ,jupiter interposes to check her eager spirit4 ,in the last ,odyssey she asks his designs4 ,he recommends a pacification4 ,she thereupon exhorts and assists old ,laertes to begin the battle4 ,at length a thunderbolt descends from ,jupiter1 and it falls at ,minerva's feet4 ,she then interposes to make peace#bai4 #bai ,od4 xxiv4 #dgb-hf1 #eae-da4 ,thus it is in battle and matters of the strong hand3 but the higher and deeper forms of providential action appear to be unheeded by ,jupiter1 and to fall to the lot of these two deities1 more particularly of ,minerva4 ,in the ,odyssey1 one of the ,suitors1 ,amphinomus1 better minded than the rest1 anticipates evil at an early juncture1 and is disposed to take the advice given him by ,ulysses1 that he should quit the palace1 and return home4 ,but he did not even now1 says the ,poet1 escape doom3 for ,minerva fettered him1 that he should fall beneath the hand of ,telemachus#bbj4 ,and further1 she works inwardly on the minds of the ,suitors1 #8not suffering them1' such is the remarkable phrase1 #8to abstain from their biting insolence3' so that pain might yet more deeply pierce the soul of ,ulysses#bba3 #bbj ,od4 xviii4 #aea-g4 #bba ,od4 xviii4 #cdf4 ' 1 ' 4 ,this passage is subsequently repeated2 and it stands as one of those remarkable ,homeric formul1 which are used with such extraordinary grandeur of effect in the later books of the ,odyssey2 returning upon the ear like the solemn tolling of a funeral bell4 ,but the sentiments which the passage contains are in themselves most remarkable1 and perhaps only find a parallel in the awful language of ,holy ,writ2 #8and the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart1 that he should not let the people go#bbb4' ,they describe at once the doctrine of ,providence1 and the essential laws of human nature1 in their loftiest and severest form4 ,they show us the hardening power of a long continued course of offences against the moral law1 which at length converts the most unbounded license into the most absolute slavery1 under the iron yoke of habitual depravity2 and they likewise exhibit the figure of ,deity superintending this terrible1 but natural as well as judicial retribution1 which is the ultimate and effective sanction of the whole moral code1 alike in the earlier and in the later stages of the ,divine dispensations4 ,besides all this1 the passage exhibits to us pain administered to the just man1 in order to prove his resolution1 and steel him1 that he may be the fitting minister of divine vengeance4 ,nor does this process of probation cease here3 for the conflict with the ,suitors is a prolonged one2 and it is prolonged1 because ,minerva was still making trial of the constancy of ,ulysses and his son#bbc1 as of metal in the fire4 #bbb ,exod4 x4 #bj4 #bbc ,od4 xxii4 #bcf4 ,it is hard to find even approximations to such a picture in the later heathen literature1 particularly after schylus3 and in ,homer no function of this kind is ever attributed to an ordinary deity2 nor even to ,jupiter1 whose place in the government of mankind1 if estimated morally1 is lower than that of ,minerva4 ,i shall have occasion shortly to glance further at this subject4 ,the higher powers attaching to the character of the great ,deliverer of man1 besides being more or less obscured in each case1 are by the disintegration1 with which we may now have become familiar1 divided between ,apollo and ,minerva2 so that while in some1 and indeed in most1 points of view1 it is a common character which distinguishes and severs them from the deities of mere invention1 in others we must combine the gifts of one with those of the other1 in order to get at the entire outline of the ancient tradition4 ,thus we have seen1 that ,minerva exercises higher functions in ,providential government1 and in the administration of the general laws of our nature1 than are wielded even by the ,homeric ,jupiter4 ,we have also partially considered why it is1 that she thus attains a superiority which1 undoubtedly1 no pristine tradition could while unaltered accord to her4 ,at present ,i proceed to observe1 that we may find a counterpart to this paramount prerogative of ,minerva in the gift of fore and after knowledge1 possessed most peculiarly and largely by ,apollo4 ,calchas1 ,seer of the ,greek army1 knew what was1 what had been1 and what was to be1 by the gift which ,phbus ,apollo had conferred on him#bbd4 ,it is the business of this order1 who are ministers of ,apollo1 to interpret all signs and presages to men in virtue of the prerogative of that deity4 ,in the ,fifteenth ,book1 indeed1 ,apollo inquires of ,hector the cause of his evil plight3 but he has not yet put off his incognito1 as we see from the reply of ,hector2 #bbd ,il4 i4 #fi-gb4 1 #bbe2 #bbe ,il4 xv4 #bdg4 ,and1 while ,jupiter has the single and remote oak of ,dodona for the delivery of oracles to men1 ,apollo has already his ,pythian temple in the very heart of ,greece1 and hard by the great highway across the ,corinthian gulf1 and has likewise a shrine at ,delos for that purpose2 for we must presume that1 when ,ulysses#bbf stopped to visit ,delos on his way home1 it was in order to obtain information as to his fate4 ,thus ,apollo appears to stand first of the gods in regard to knowledge of events1 as ,minerva does with respect to the ordinary government of mankind4 ,nor does ,homer scruple to call this favourite divinity the first of the gods2 an expression1 however1 which he employs with latitude1 and which must not be too rigidly construed#bbg3 #bbf ,od4 vi4 #afc4 #bbg ,il4 xix4 #dac4 1 4 ,i have already observed that the abstract words and 1 which are generally used by ,homer to convey the idea of ,providence1 are when so used commonly referable in the main to ,jupiter1 so far as we can connect them at all with any of the ,olympian personages4 ,sometimes1 however1 they are determined by the sense of the passage to signify ,minerva or ,apollo2 but ,i think they never1 when they relate to ,providential action1 mean any other divinity4 ,it is by no means from any merely national1 or even personal predilection1 but it is mainly from the lofty standing ground of a ,providence1 that ,minerva follows ,ulysses3 it is in the same general character that ,apollo is made a party in the final crisis of the ,odyssey through the introduction of his festival1 and of the ,bow4 ,in the ,olympian assemblage1 it is ,minerva who really represents the element of mind and its inborn supremacy over all other forces4 ,she proceeds upon principles1 when ,juno acts upon partial attachments2 and her superiority is so great1 as to be wholly inexplicable under the hypothesis which would represent the characters and attributes of all alike as the mere products of invention4 ,intimacy of ,minerva's personal relations4 ,the offices of both these deities1 but especially of ,minerva1 in relation to the guidance of human conduct1 are much higher than those of any other deity in their kind4 ,not only do they both act in the largest and most free manner on the human mind by inward influence1 but1 if there is any trace in the ,homeric system of what may be called spiritual religion1 of the tender and intimate relations which have from the first subsisted between the children of faith and their ,father in ,heaven1 it is in ,minerva that we must seek for it4 ,it is indeed but a faint resemblance that we shall find2 the very application of the word may be disputable4 ,yet it is something1 which appears to show that it was at any rate not of heathen origin3 that it is a flower1 sickly1 because transplanted from a better to a less kindly soil2 a shadow1 or a wreck of something greater and better1 and not a scheme built up from beneath4 ,the mode in which ,minerva cares for ,ulysses deserves at least thus much of honour4 ,it is a contact so close and intimate1 a care so sleepless and so tender1 embracing alike the course of events without1 and the state of mind within2 so affectionate in relation to the person1 yet so entirely without the least partiality or caprice2 so personal1 yet so far from what ,holy ,scripture calls1 with the highest perfection of phrase1 respect of persons2 so deeply founded on general laws of truth and justice1 even if some deviations can be detected1 by a jealous eye1 in the choice of subsidiary means2 that1 as it is without any thing like a parallel in the ruder and meaner relations of men with the deities of invention1 so it makes its own audible and legitimate claim to a higher origin4 ,the principle at least of inward and sustained intercourse between the ,deity and the soul of man is perceptibly represented to us by the literature of ,greece in a case like this1 and1 with the very partial and qualified exception of the of ,socrates1 in such a case only4 ,minerva1 again1 can affect the mind with a friendly bewilderment2 as when she paralyses for a moment the understanding of the nurse ,euryclea1 that she may not give an answer1 which would be inconvenient1 to the question of ,penelope#bbh4 ,to her ,ulysses looks for the right rearing of his son3 and she assures him he need have no anxiety#bbi4 ,even as respects the human person1 no powers so large are any where ascribed by ,homer to any other deity as those which she exercises1 especially in the transformation and re-transformation of ,ulysses4 #bbh ,od4 xviii4 #dgi4 #bbi ,od4 xiii4 #cei4 ,form of their relation to their attributes4 #c4 ,another very remarkable distinction1 or rather cluster of distinctions1 attaching to these deities1 relates to the manner in which they bear their attributes4 ,speaking generally1 the deities of pure invention are the mere impersonations of a passion1 or of an elemental or bodily power1 or of a mental gift4 ,they are1 in the order of ideas1 posterior and ministerial to their own attributes3 the mere vehicles for carrying them into movement and action1 so that in truth the persons are the embellishments and the attributes of qualities1 and not the qualities attributes of persons4 ,to state it at the very highest1 the inventive divinity is the steward of his own gifts4 ,now the traditive god is their proprietor and master4 ,in the case of the two great traditive deities1 ,apollo and ,minerva1 the relation between function and person exactly reverses that which has been described4 ,here the attribute is something attached to1 something in the possession and under the command of1 the person2 as much so1 as the unerring bow of ,apollo1 or the invincible spear of ,minerva4 ,it is not ,apollo1 but it is the bow of ,apollo1 which stands in the relation to his office as minister of death1 that ,vulcan himself bears to the element of fire and to the metallic art1 or ,mars to the passions and the strong hand of war4 ,if we except the single case of the choice garment of ,juno#bcj1 ,minerva neither spins nor hammers4 ,mars always appears fighting1 but ,apollo does not always appear prophesying or playing the lyre1 a function which he seems to perform only in the company of the gods4 #bcj ,il4 xiv4 #agh4 ,the difference is strongly marked in ,homer1 by the fact that the invented divinities of the second order are identified in common language with their offices4 ,ares is a synonym for a spear3 fire is 1 or even simply #bca3 the name is absolutely identified with a great natural object3 corn is 4 ,but no analogous phrase is applicable to ,apollo or to ,minerva in ,homer4 ,as1 with the lapse of time1 the will and fancy of man did its work more fully upon the idea of deity1 the names of other divinities fell within the circle2 and the remembrance of tradition having become fainter and fainter1 in the time of ,horace the word ,minerva could be used for wit 7,hor4 ,sat4 ,,ii4 ii4 #c72 #bca ,il4 ii4 #dbf4 ,rusticus1 abnormis sapiens1 crassque ,minerv4 ,but1 as is often the case1 in this change1 external as it is1 and apparently slight1 we have an outward sign of the profound alterative process1 which in ,homer's time had largely begun1 and which continued until the incrustation and absorption of religious truth became entire4 ,their capacity to attract new ones4 #d4 ,in conformity with the last-named indication is another1 which ,i have next to notice4 ,the traditive god is capable of receiving new functions2 apparently because he is not the servant of the old ones3 but the deity who is a mere personal expression for a certain idea1 can1 as a general rule1 have no duty or prerogative beyond its bounds1 more than can a counter beyond the thing which it has been chosen to signify4 ,hence ,vulcan1 ,venus1 ,mars1 ,ceres1 ,bacchus1 even ,mercury1 the god of gain1 continue1 after as well as in ,homer1 to be devoted to and identified with their several functions4 ,only in the case of ,mercury1 as traffic involves motion from place to place1 and the acts of both honest and dishonest persuasion1 he is in ,homer1 and he afterwards continues to be more generally1 a messenger and conductor1 a negotiator and a rhetorician1 as well as a thief4 ,but even ,juno1 elevated as she is in station1 yet1 having been called into ,olympus as a vehicle for conveying the idea of maternity1 continues to be charged with that office1 and is not specifically invested with any other4 ,such attributions as are implied in the ,venus ,victrix1 or other like dedications1 are indeed at variance with these propositions2 but they belong to a later and greatly altered state of the old mythology1 when it had reached to an immeasurable distance from its source1 and had lost the traces even of its own early features4 ,but in the cases of ,apollo and ,minerva1 we perceive that the traditive deity was not thus #8cabined1 cribbed1 confined4' ,we find the ,apollo of ,homer the deity of the following particular functions3 #a4 ,the lyre and poetry1 ,il4 i4 #fjc4 #b4 ,divination1 ,il4 i4 #gb4 #c4 ,healing1 ,il4 xvi4 #eag4 #d4 ,the bow1 ,il4 i4 #di4 ii4 #hbg4 #e4 ,death1 either gentle and painless1 or not referable to any known cause1 such as ordinary disease or wounds4 ,besides all this1 he may be called1 with ,pallas1 the god of ,help in general2 and1 even within the range of single attributes1 he shews an immense diversity4 ,he was the god at once of the severe and simple music of the ,dorians#bcb1 and of the rabid ecstasy of the ,pythoness4 #bcb ,mller's ,dorians1 ,,ii4 viii4 #ab4 ,it is hardly possible that he could have begun his career in the ,greek mythology with such an assemblage of functions1 not only not united by any obvious tie1 but some of them in apparent contradiction with one another4 ,probably the constitutive ideas of the tradition he represented were fitted out by a gradual process with this outward apparatus of prerogatives2 each of which1 when taken singly1 was in harmony with them4 ,nor was the operation completed even in the time of ,homer1 as we see from the curious case of the ,sun4 ,we may1 ,i apprehend1 view that case in either of two aspects4 ,we may consider what was historically the progress of the traditions concerning the ,sun from their source to their maturity1 when they were incorporated into the comprehensive deity of ,apollo3 or we may examine the moral affinities1 which determined the direction and conclusion of their career4 ,historically1 ,i presume that the ,homeric tradition of the ,sun represents a separate and recent importation from a foreign country1 which had not as yet been fitted into a place of its own in the ,greek mythology4 ,it therefore wanders as it were unappropriated1 and hangs in temporary suspense4 ,the ,apollo had already undergone a formative process1 and the ornaments of fancy had been embroidered upon the tissue of an ancient tradition4 ,after ,homer's time1 the function of animating and governing the ,sun was added to the multifarious offices of that deity4 ,as respects himself1 this is a proof that his receptiveness was not yet exhausted2 that he was independent and disengaged4 ,as respects the 1 this result shows that there was some sympathy or moral gravitation1 which led to the absorption of this ,homeric divinity in ,apollo4 ,the oscillating condition of that conception in the ,homeric poems1 and the indeterminate state of its affinities1 will be considered in the next ,section4 ,wide range of their functions4 ,in ,homer the deities of invention are1 without an exception1 limited either to a single function 7and this in the great majority of cases71 or to functions which are connected1 as in the case of ,mercury1 with one common and central idea1 itself such as may belong to a mythological formation4 ,but there is no such idea on which1 as on a string1 we can possibly hang all the various attributes of ,homer's ,apollo3 and the case becomes stronger when we find that it is this very god1 already 7if he be mythological only7 quite overstocked1 who shows a yet further capacity to absorb into his own person new powers of divinity1 which in ,homer's time as yet stood apart from him4 ,as respects mere multiplicity and diversity of function1 the case of ,minerva is somewhat less marked than that of ,apollo3 for it may be practicable to associate together all her offices as they are described in ,homer1 around one grand combination of ,power with ,wisdom1 as their central point4 ,but even then1 when we consider that she supremely administers political society1 personal conduct1 war1 and skilled industry1 in fact that the whole intelligence of the world1 individual and collective1 appears to be under her paramount guidance1 besides all the power she exercises over inanimate and animate nature1 and even in the innermost sphere of personal action1 we perceive that1 apart from the elevation and glory of her position1 the range of her gifts goes to an extent which1 simply as such1 could never have been assigned by mere human invention to any deity but the supreme one4 ,the idea of the goddess of ,wisdom1 conceived as largely as it must be in order to cover all ,minerva's ,homeric attributes1 leaves no room for the other conceptions necessary to fit out a mythology4 ,for what a range do these attributes include6 ,minerva is in heaven armed with such power that to none of the gods1 except ,jove only1 and to him scarcely1 does she succumb4 ,she is supreme in war1 supreme in policy1 supreme in art2 supreme in prudence and the practical business of life2 supreme in manual skill2 supreme in or over all contests of force3 while at the same time the lower and executory parts of each of these functions1 where she drops them1 are taken up1 as we have seen1 by deities far inferior to her1 though still of the first or ,olympian order4 ,even physical strength1 if combined with skill1 is under her supreme management3 for it is through her aid that ,tydeus wins in the games at ,thebes#bcc1 as well as ,mecisteus on another occasion1 and that ,nestor conquers ,ereuthalion#bcd4 #bcc ,il4 iv4 #cbg4 xxiii4 #fgh4 #bcd ,il4 vii4 #aed4 ,when ,jupiter admonishes ,venus to abandon attempts at war1 he adds#bce1 #bce ,il4 v4 #dcj4 ,compare xvii4 #cih4 xiii4 #abg4 ,od4 xiv4 #baf4 ' 4 ,there can be no doubt which of these two war-divinities was superior and which subordinate2 the exploit of ,diomed alone would avail to settle the question3 but more direct evidence is to be found in the singular passage which describes ,minerva as invested with the charge of chastising ,mars1 and in the mode after which1 in the ,fifteenth and ,twenty-first ,books1 she herself recognises and fulfils the obligation of her office4 7,il4 v4 #gff4 xv4 #abc-db74 ,again1 her name is connected with that of ,vulcan as to his own special and sole art of working in metals4 ,twice in the ,odyssey the silversmith is introduced in a simile1 and he is called a man educated by these two#bcf2 #bcf ,od4 vi4 #bcc4 xxiii4 #aei4 1 4 ,only in the arts of tissue and embroidery she seems to have no coadjutor4 ,this probably is on account of their purely feminine character4 ,but generally all the principles and foundations of art are hers4 ,thus she even teaches mensuration to the carpenter#bcg3 #bcg ,il4 xv4 #dab4 1 4 ,as some of her distinctive epithets1 like 1 refer especially to war1 so she has others which look either mainly or exclusively to the supreme care of political order4 ,such are 1 1 and 7collector or leader of a people74 ,it is the executory duty that is intrusted to ,themis4 ,she is the messenger1 who summons the deities1 and she both collects and dissolves human assemblies#bch3 thus discharging a subordinate function1 where ,pallas is the presiding goddess4 ,it is probably for this reason that1 notwithstanding the strong political spirit of ,homer1 we find ,themis act so secondary a part in ,olympus4 #bch ,od4 ii4 #fi4 ,the central ,wisdom of ,minerva4 ,thus ,wisdom is the centre1 and every thing that flows forth from it is hers1 whether in peace or war4 ,over and above all these offices1 which seem to have a connection with her ordinary attributes1 she appears to share in the most recondite and peculiar functions of other deities4 ,she enters into ,apollo's knowledge of the future2 for in the ,ithacan cave she foretells to ,ulysses all that he has yet to suffer4 ,her power even descends1 as we have seen1 into the nether world4 ,it seems as if this power in the ,shades were the portion falling to her out of the supremacy over death1 assigned by tradition to the ,messiah4 ,and she has also1 if not the jurisdiction over death lodged peculiarly in her hands1 a faculty yet more wonderful ascribed to her1 that of staying its approach2 for ,euryclea bids ,penelope in her distress pray to ,minerva1 who can deliver ,telemachus from death2 that is1 can raise him up again3 #bci4 #bci ,od4 iv4 #gej-c4 ,in truth it seems to be the distinctive character of ,minerva in the ,homeric theo-mythology1 that though she is not the sole deity1 yet the very flower of the whole office and work of deity is every where reserved for her3 and though she is not directly invested with the external form and body of every gift1 yet she has the heart1 essence and virtue of them all2 insomuch that1 practically1 no limit can be placed upon her powers and functions4 ,the whole conception is therefore fundamentally at variance with the measured and finite organization of an invented system of religion1 and by its own incongruities with that system it proves itself to be an exotic element4 ,by another path1 we arrive at the very same conclusion for ,apollo4 ,he too has much of that inwardness and universality of function1 which belongs to ,minerva1 as well as a diversity of offices peculiarly his own4 ,but the argument here admits of being presented in a different form4 ,all his peculiar gifts in ,homer are referable to one of three characters1 those of ,prophet1 ,deliverer1 and ,avenger1 or ,judge4 ,in the first1 gifted with all knowledge1 he is also the ,god of ,song1 which was its vehicle4 ,in the second1 he is the hearer of prayer1 the healer of wounds1 the champion of ,heaven itself against rebellion4 ,in the third1 he punishes the guilty1 and especially administers the one grand penal law of death4 ,all this he does as the organ of one1 with whom in will he is perfectly united4 ,the tangled thread runs out without knot or break1 when we unravel it by primitive ,messianic tradition2 because it was fundamental in that tradition1 that the person who was the subject of it1 should exhibit this many sided union of character and function4 ,but could ,deliverance and ,destruction1 there combined1 any where else have been read otherwise than as contradictory to one another1 and incapable of being united in the same being8 ,the conflicting ,characters of ,apollo4 ,i know no other principle1 on which we can satisfactorily explain either the double character of ,apollo as ,saviour and as ,destroyer1 or the apparently miscellaneous character of the attributes which successively attached to him#bdj4 ,how strange in itself1 that the ,god1 who alone has a peculiar office in bringing death1 should also be the ,god of deliverance from it6 ,the contradiction is harmonized by the supposition of a traditionary origin1 but otherwise it obstinately remains a contradiction4 ,again1 look at the nature of this peculiar relation4 ,death by slow disease was not thought worthy to be referred to the agency of a god1 7,od4 xi4 #bjj473 the calm death of old age1 the sharp and agonizing death of a plague1 both these were so1 and both are referred to ,apollo4 ,how can this be1 and what has become of the fine imaginative discrimination of the ,greeks1 and of their love for logical consistency even in that domain1 if we suppose that in all this they were working by pure fancy8 ,now the difficulty vanishes1 if we suppose them to be the mere utterers of the disjointed fragments of pristine tradition1 when they had lost the key to their common meaning4 ,for then1 ,he that was to grind his enemies to powder1 was likewise to take the sting from death itself1 and to make the king of terrors gentle and humane4 ,again1 why was ,apollo1 thus associated with death1 likewise the god of foreknowledge8 ,why did he1 and he only1 partake of this privilege with ,jupiter8 ,nay1 he enjoyed knowledge apparently in a greater degree2 for we are not furnished with any case in which ,apollo is grossly deluded like ,jupiter by ,juno4 ,why1 again1 should the god of foreknowledge be the god of medicine8 ,and why should the god of medicine also absorb into himself the divinity of the sun1 separate from him in ,homer1 but afterwards identified with him8 ,why does his character1 as compared with that of the other gods1 approach to purity8 ,as the dignity of ,minerva is explained by our supposing her to impersonate the ancient traditions of the ,wisdom2 so in the case of ,apollo1 we obtain a thread upon which each and all of these otherwise incongruous notions may be hung1 if we suppose that he1 after a certain severance of those shades of character1 which could only find expression for a ,greek in the female order1 represented the legendary anticipations of a person to come1 in whom should be combined all the great offices1 in which ,god the ,son is now made known to man as the ,light of our paths1 the ,physician of our diseases1 the ,judge of our misdeeds1 and the ,conqueror and disarmer1 but not yet abolisher1 of death8 #bdj ,the character of ,apollo the ,destroyer is well represented in a fragment of ,archilochus3 1 1 '1 4 ,archil4 apud ,macrob4 ,fragm4 #gi4 ,ed4 ,gaisford4 ,they do not harmonize with ,olympus4 ,again1 as these great deities are anomalies in themselves1 so are they likewise in the ,olympian order4 ,if we were to remove ,minerva and ,apollo from ,olympus1 we should indeed take away the breadth and boldness of its sublimity1 but we should add greatly to its mere symmetry3 especially as some other minor figures would for the same reasons follow4 ,there would then remain there the polygamous monarch of the skies1 with his chief and secondary wives1 the ranks of earth supplying him from time to time with further satisfaction for his passions2 and in his various children or companions would be represented the various essential functions1 as they were then estimated1 of an organized community4 ,themis would represent policy1 ,mercury gain1 the ,muses song1 and with it all knowledge2 ,vulcan1 manual skill2 ,mars1 the soldier2 ,paieon1 the surgeon2 ,venus1 that relaxed relation of the sexes to which mankind has ever leaned4 ,for corn there would be ,demeter or ,ceres1 and for wine1 ,dionysus or ,bacchus4 ,i grant that there is here inserted one single ingredient not known to the ,homeric ,olympus4 ,his ,muses are not stated to have any foreknowledge4 ,but1 after allowing for this trifling exception1 ,i think it remains clear that though the ethics and the poetry of that region would be fatally damaged by the removal of ,apollo and ,minerva1 its mere statistics might be visibly improved4 ,the discussions which have arisen upon the etymology of the name ,apollo1 are in themselves significant of the difficulty of accounting for his origin mythologically4 ,mller mentions the derivation from the sun 71 7 in order to reject it2 as he repudiates 7and very justly7 the whole theory1 which treats this deity as an elemental power4 ,passing over others as unworthy of serious notice1 he rejects #bda1 as #8founded on a partial and occasional attribute of the god1' and adopts the averter 7sc4 of evil7 or defender1 as most expressive of his general function3 in other words1 though he does not go on to say so1 he is the darkened shadow of the ,saviour4 ,but the really characteristic name of ,apollo he conceives to be 1 the bright and clear#bdb4 ,clemens ,alexandrinus1 in the ,stromata1 fancifully derives the name from privative1 and 1 and interprets the name as signifying the negation of plurality1 and thus the unity of the ,godhead#bdc4 #bda ,which however has the sanction of ,euripides as well as ,archilochus1 7sup4 p4 #aca n472 '1 ' ' ' 4 ,eurip4 ,phaeth4 ap4 ,macrob4 ,sat4 i4 #ag4 #bdb ,dorians1 ,,ii4 vi4 #f1 #g4 #bdc ,strom4 ,l4 i4 p4 #cdi ,b4 ,the name of ,athene would appear to be formed by transposition from the ,egyptian ,neith#bdd1 to whom1 according to ancient inscriptions1 very high and comprehensive dignities were assigned4 ,it does not follow that we are to regard the ,athene of ,homer as an ,egyptian divinity2 though an ,egyptian name may have been the centre1 around which gathered the remarkable and even august fragments of the ,messianic traditions that we have found represented in her4 #bdd ,see ,bunsen's #8,egypt's ,place1' ,i4 vi4 ,a4 #g4 ,summary of distinctive traits4 ,in quitting a subject of so much importance1 ,i will now endeavour to sum up1 in the most concise form of which it is susceptible1 the evidence to be drawn from ,homer of the different position held by ,apollo and ,minerva from that of the other ,olympian deities4 ,i4 ,points of distinction in their relations to the ,olympian ,court and its members4 #a4 ,the dignity accorded to them is quite out of keeping with their rank1 as belonging to the junior generation of the mythological family1 which was1 as such1 inferior in rank and power to the senior one#bde4 #bde ,see the observation of ,neptune1 ,il4 xv4 #aie-h4 #b4 ,they bear visible marks1 even in the mythological order1 of an antiquity greater than that of the other deities in general4 #c4 ,the external administration1 or subordinate parts of the functions assigned to them in the mythological system1 are commonly devolved upon another set of deities1 here called ,secondaries4 #d4 ,a peculiar dignity1 in the nature of precedence1 is accorded especially to ,minerva4 #e4 ,we have next noted the singular union of ,apollo with ,jupiter in will and affection1 and the relation of both to him1 as the proper and regular ministers of the supreme dispensations of heaven1 apart from the partial and individual action of particular gods4 #f4 ,the defence of heaven against rebellion is dimly recorded to have been the act of ,apollo2 and indispensable assistance was also rendered on another occasion to ,jupiter by ,minerva4 #g4 ,these great divinities are never baffled1 disgraced1 or worsted in any transaction between themselves and any other deity2 nor ever exhibited by the ,poet in a disadvantageous or disparaging position4 ,,ii4 ,points of distinction in their terrestrial relations and their conditions of physical existence4 #a4 ,they were known by men to be entitled1 either alone1 or in common with ,jupiter only1 to a peculiar reverence or honour4 #b4 ,they were the objects of worship in all parts of the ,homeric world4 #c4 ,neither of them are bound to any local residence in particular2 and for ,apollo there is no trace of any such residence at all4 #d4 ,they are both the objects1 ,minerva more particularly1 of general invocation and prayer1 irrespective of place and circumstances4 #e4 ,they are exempted from the chief physical limitations1 as of time1 place1 and perceptive organs1 which are generally imposed upon the deities of invention4 #f4 ,they have a separate and independent power to punish those who offend them1 without any need of an appeal to ,jupiter1 or to the ,olympian ,court4 #g4 ,they are admitted1 exclusively1 or in common with ,juno only1 to a share in certain peculiar mythological functions of ,jupiter himself4 #h4 ,they have a power of making revelations to men1 through signs or portents significant of the future4 #i4 ,they have a general power of extraordinary or miraculous action upon nature1 to which scarcely any other deity approaches4 #aj4 ,the peculiar and mysterious relation of ,apollo1 with his sister ,diana1 to death1 cannot be understood or accounted for from mythological data4 #aa4 ,in the exercise of their power over nature1 ,minerva and ,apollo are1 more than other deities1 exempt from the need of resort to symbolic actions by way of cooperative means4 ,,iii4 ,points of distinction with regard to their personal characters4 #a4 ,their moral tone is far superior to that of the ,olympian ,court in general4 #b4 ,they are both peculiarly associated with ,jupiter in the original administration of ,providential functions1 and are particularly concerned with the highest1 most ethical1 and most inward parts of them4 #c4 ,their relation to their mythological attributes is different in kind from that of the ordinary ,olympian divinities4 #d4 ,they have a number and range of attributes quite without parallel in the ,olympian system3 and yet with this a capacity of receiving new ones4 #e4 ,both in themselves1 and in reference to that system1 the whole conception of ,apollo and ,minerva1 if it be viewed mythologically1 is full of inexplicable anomaly3 and the only solution to be found is in the recognition of the traditional basis1 on which the ,homeric representations of them must be founded4 ,although what ,i have built upon this evidence may be termed an hypothesis1 the whole of the evidence itself is circumstantial3 and ,i feel that the effect of it is not only to draw a broad line1 but almost to place an impassable gulf1 between such divinities as the ,homeric ,minerva and ,apollo1 on the one hand1 and the ,homeric ,mars1 ,venus1 ,vulcan1 and ,mercury on the other4 ,the differences between them are1 however1 graduated and shaded off by the interposition1 first1 of the minor traditive deities1 such as ,latona and ,diana2 and1 secondly1 of the greatest among the ,olympian personages chiefly or wholly mythological1 such as ,neptune and ,juno3 and it is probably this graduation1 running through the ,olympian body1 which has prevented our duly appreciating the immense interval that lies between its extremes4 ,it is to the indefatigable students of ,germany that we1 the less laborious ,english1 are1 along with the rest of the world1 indebted for what may be called the systematic treatment of the ,homeric poems with respect to the facts they contain4 ,to amass evidence is one thing2 to penetrate into its heart and spirit1 is another4 ,the former without the latter is insufficient2 but the former is to the latter an indispensable preliminary4 ,the works of ,homer should be viewed1 and their testimony registered1 like the phenomena of a geological period3 so unencumbered is he with speculation or the bias of opinion2 so true1 clear1 direct1 and unmixed is his exhibition of historical and moral fact4 ,this method of investigation1 honestly pursued1 carries with it an adequate and a self-acting provision for the correction of its own errors4 ,explanation by ,friedreich4 ,since ,i commenced the examination of the question now before us1 there has appeared the second edition of a work1 which ,i believe to be the latest compendium of what may be called the facts of the ,homeric poems1 by ,j4 ,b4 ,friedreich4 ,i find that this writer has been struck by the overpowering evidence of the vestiges of an early revelation in the characters of the ,homeric ,minerva and ,apollo#bdf4 ,he observes the separate character of their relations both to ,jupiter and to mankind2 assigns to them an unbounded power over all events and the whole of human life2 and says1 #8,this ,triad of ,zeus1 ,athene1 and ,apollo1 bears an unmistakeable analogy to the ,christian ,trinity1 of ,father1 ,holy ,ghost1 and ,son3 ,jupiter answering to ,god the ,father1 ,athene to the ,holy ,ghost1 and ,apollo to the ,son of ,god1 the ,declarer of the will of ,his ,heavenly ,father3 like as1 furthermore1 the early ,christians have largely compared ,christ with ,apollo4' #bdf ,die ,realien in der ,iliade und ,odyssee von ,j4 ,b4 ,friedreich4 ,erlangen1 #ahef4 ,in three parts4 ,see ,p4 iii4 4 #aid4 p4 #fce1 and 4 #aih4 p4 #fhi4 ,mure observes on the sublimity of the ,apollo of ,homer3 but his account of the deities of the poems is brief and rather slight4 ,b4 ,,ii4 ch4 xii4 sect4 #d4 ,in this representation ,i find a fundamental agreement with the views expressed in the present work4 ,but ,i venture to think that the particular mode of the relation between the ,homeric and the primitive tradition1 which has been set forth in this work1 is more natural and probable than that asserted by ,friedreich4 ,as it has been here represented1 we are to consider the primitive tradition as disintegrated and subdivided4 ,first1 that of the ,redeemer is severed from that of the ,holy ,trinity4 ,next1 its two aspects of the ,wisdom and the ,messiah1 become two impersonations4 ,and then the impersonation which represents the tradition properly ,messianic1 is itself again subjected to duplication4 ,as the result of this threefold operation1 we have-- #a4 ,the trine ,kronid brotherhood4 #b4 ,minerva and ,apollo4 #c4 ,apollo and ,diana4 ,the principle of the severance always being1 to get rid of some difficulty1 encountered by the human apprehension in embracing the integral tradition4 ,the difficulty at the first step was to reconcile equality1 or what the ,christian dogma more profoundly terms consubstantiality1 with a ministerial manifestation4 ,the difficulty at the second step probably was to combine in one impersonation two groups of images1 the one 7the ,wisdom71 relating to function that dwells purely in the ,godhead2 the other1 to function containing the element of humanity2 it was1 in short1 to grasp the doctrine1 #8,one altogether2 not by confusion of ,substance1 but by unity of ,person4' ,the difficulty at the third step apparently was1 as has been stated1 to associate the ideal of a strict and severe chastity with any but a female nature4 ,there is no question now before us as to ,apollo3 the point at issue is1 whether we are to regard the ,athene1 or ,minerva1 of ,homer as derived from traditions of the ,logos1 or from traditions of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,i urge the former1 for the following reasons3 #a4 ,setting aside what was involved in the doctrine of a ,trinity 7which is otherwise represented71 we have no evidence that there was any such substantive body of primitive tradition respecting the ,holy ,spirit1 as would be likely to form the nucleus of a separate mythological impersonation1 and especially of one endowed with such comprehensiveness1 solidity1 and activity of function as ,minerva4 ,whereas it appears that there was that kind of substantive tradition with respect to the 1 the ,word or ,wisdom of ,god4 #b4 ,in the order of primitive tradition1 the ,son of ,god would precede the ,holy ,spirit1 as is the case in the order of the ,christian dogma2 and the fragments of such tradition1 when carried into mythology1 would preserve and probably exaggerate1 at any rate would not invert1 the relation4 ,but in the ,homeric mythology1 ,minerva has a decided practical precedence over ,apollo1 and above all1 when they come into collision1 it is ,apollo that yields1 as in the incidents of the ,seventh and ,tenth ,iliads1 and in the general issue of the ,trojan war4 #c4 ,but this difference is just what might be expected to follow1 upon the natural divergence of the two traditions of the ,word and the ,incarnate ,messiah respectively4 ,the latter1 as more human1 would take rank after the former as more ,divine4 #d4 ,we have also found a greater tendency on the part of ,minerva to act independently of ,jupiter4 ,this is no unnatural diversion from the tradition of the 1 but it would be hard to connect ideally with the ,holy ,spirit1 who has not1 in the ancient tradition1 the same amount or kind of separate development as the ,messiah4 ,mller's treatment of ,apollo4 ,the functions of ,apollo1 and the nature1 extent1 and history of his worship have been investigated at great length by ,mller1 in the ,second ,book of his learned and able ,history and ,antiquities of the ,doric race4 ,he has shown the immense importance of this deity in ,greek history and religion1 reaching every where1 and embracing every object and purpose4 ,he recognises the apparent antagonism subsisting among his infinitely varied functions2 which he makes elaborate and ingenious1 but ,i think necessarily insufficient1 efforts to trace ideally to an union of origin within the mythological system4 ,his hypothesis1 that the worship of ,apollo was wholly due to ,dorian influence1 requires the support of the most violently strained assumptions2 as for example1 that its prevalence1 apparently at all points1 in ,troas is to be accounted for by ,cretan influences there1 which1 at the most1 tradition would only warrant us in believing to have existed in a very contracted form1 and with influence altogether secondary4 ,altogether1 this sheer ,dorianism of ,apollo is at variance with the whole spirit and effect of the ,homeric testimony2 for in ,homer the ,dorians are insignificant and undeveloped1 while the power and worship of ,apollo had attained1 as we have seen1 to an extraordinary height1 and to the very broadest range4 ,again1 ,mller#bdg acknowledges the great difficulty of the dualism presented to us by the figures1 concurring as they do in such remarkable functions1 of ,apollo and ,diana3 a difficulty1 which he seems to think incapable of full explanation4 ,while attaching great value to his treatise1 ,i have the less hesitation in adopting conclusions that he does not authorize1 because his work is based in some degree upon that 7as ,i presume to think7 defective mode of appreciation of the ,homeric as compared with the later traditions1 against which ,i have ventured to protest1 and from the consequences of which it is one of my main objects to effect at least a partial escape4 #bdg ,b4 ,,ii4 ch4 ix4 #b4 and #i4 ,it will have appeared from this general account of the traditive characters of ,apollo and ,minerva1 that the former represented the tradition of a person1 and the latter of an idea4 ,accordingly1 the original character of ,apollo1 which he bore during the infancy of the mythical system1 is in many points the more significantly marked2 as for example1 by his share in the ,war with the ,giants1 and by his mysterious relation to ,death4 ,but it was natural that1 in the course of time1 as tradition in general grew weaker with the increasing distance from its source1 and as the inventive system enlarged its development1 those particular traditions1 which were self-explained by having their root in an intelligible idea1 should hold their ground much better than such as had become mythical and arbitrary by having lost their key4 ,the traditional ,minerva had an anchorage in the great function of ,wisdom2 the traditional ,apollo had no support equal to this in breadth and depth2 and his attributes1 the band of revelation being removed1 lost their harmony and could ill be held together4 ,accordingly we find that in the later ages of the mythology ,apollo had lost much of what was transcendant in his importance1 but that ,minerva retained her full rank4 ,one and the same ,ode of ,horace supplies the proof of both4 ,he places ,apollo on a level not only with ,diana1 but with ,bacchus#bdh3 #bdh ,hor4 ,od4 ,i4 xii4 #ba4 ,prliis audax1 neque te silebo1 ,liber3 et svis inimica virgo ,belluis2 nec te mutuende cert1 ,phbe1 sagitt4 ,but1 after having described the supreme and transcendant dignity of ,jupiter1 he at once proceeds to place ,pallas before every other deity without exception#bdi3 #bdi ,ibid4 #ag4 ,compare the passages cited by ,ngelsbach1 ,hom4 ,theol4 ,i4 ii4 #ba4 ,hesiod ,theog4 #hif4 ,callim4 ,lav4 ,pall4 #acb4 ,plutarch4 ,sympos4 ii4 p4 #fag4 ,c4 ,pind4 ,fragm4 xi4 #i4 and the ,orphic ,poet in ,dntzer1 p4 #i4 ,unde nl majus generatur ipso3 ,nec viget quicquam simile aut secundum2 ,proximos illi tamen occupavit ,pallas honores4 ,i will now pass on to consider the remaining vestiges of original tradition perceivable in ,homer4 ,the ,diana of ,homer4 ,like the ,moon to the ,sun1 an analogy maintained by their respective assumption of the two characters in the later mythology1 ,diana is a reflection1 and in most respects a faint reflection1 of ,apollo4 ,she was worshipped1 says ,mller#bej1 in the character of #8as it were a part of the same deity4' ,he collects and reviews1 from the whole circle of ,greek history and mythology1 the points of coincidence between them3 and notices particularly1 that like him she is both and 1 both the destroyer and the preserver2 that she administers her office as angel of ,death1 sometimes in wrath and sometimes without it2 and that her name ,artemis1 meaning1 as he conceives1 healthy and uninjured1 is in close correspondence with those of ,phbus ,apollo4 #bej ,dorians1 ii4 ch4 #i4 ,all this is in conformity with what we gather from the poems of ,homer3 but those poems have spared us many of the confused and perplexing phenomena1 which are presented by the later mythology4 ,one side of the divided ,messianic tradition1 its purity1 is best represented in ,diana1 through her severe and spotless chastity4 ,its force and scope are much more largely developed in ,apollo4 ,but this high purity1 and the double aspect of the ministry of ,death1 appear to be of themselves sufficient to stamp her beyond mistake with a traditionary origin4 ,small resemblances1 too1 as well as great ones1 are traceable in ,homer between her and ,apollo1 such as her golden throne and golden distaff1 which may be compared to his golden sword1 the sword of primeval light3 and even these minor correspondences may in their own degree bear witness to the original and integral shape of the tradition4 ,if she is thus clothed in a sort of lunar light1 and is in the main a reflection of ,apollo upon earth1 such we may probably consider ,persephone in the ,shades#bea4 #bea ,see #8,persephone' in section iii4 ,let us1 however1 consider what can be gathered from ,homer as to the attributes of ,diana4 ,this deity would appear to have been1 according to him1 a deity of universal worship4 ,we may perhaps safely infer thus much from the single fact of her ministry of ,death4 ,she is also represented as extending her agency to ,troy1 where she taught ,scamandrius to hunt#beb2 probably to ,crete1 in the case of the daughters of ,pandareos2 she is invoked in ,ithaca by ,penelope1 puts ,ariadne to death in ,dia1 exercises a similar function for the women in 1 sends the ,calydonian boar for a defect of homage in tolia1 and is familiarly mentioned in connection with the ,greeks generally1 while her place in the ,theomachy may suffice to mark her as also a ,pelasgian goddess4 ,in most points1 however1 she partakes largely1 as might be expected1 of the characteristics of the ordinary deities of invention4 ,had she repeated all the chief notes of ,apollo1 and with any thing like an equal force1 the question of traditional origin would perhaps have been more doubtful than it now is4 #beb ,il4 v4 #di-eb4 ,when she is invoked by ,penelope1 it is in connection with her share of the special ministry of death#bec4 ,she is nowhere else made the object of prayer4 #bec ,od4 xx4 #fa4 ,it is her deep resentment at the omission of sacrifice which provokes her to send the ,calydonian boar#bed4 ,in the ,fifth ,iliad1 she and her mother ,latona appear as deities purely subsidiary to ,apollo4 ,he deposits neas in his temple3 there1 not in a temple of their own1 ,latona and ,diana attend upon and heal him#bee4 #bed ,il4 ix4 #ecc-g4 #bee ,il4 v4 #ddd-g4 ,in the ,theomachy1 she is treated with the same ignominy as ,mars and ,venus1 but by ,juno instead of ,minerva4 ,her railing address to ,apollo is conceived in the lower and not in the higher spirit 7,il4 xxi4 #dgb-g74 ,she never assumes a general power1 either over man in mind or body1 or over outward nature4 ,she has no share in the general movement of either poem1 and is introduced in the great majority of instances by way of allusion only4 ,her near relation to ,apollo gives a certain grandeur to her position3 but the inventive elements of the representation greatly obscure and even partially overbear the traditional4 ,her side in the ,trojan war is to be explained by her relation to ,apollo4 ,in all other points she seems to be a goddess of associations more properly ,greek1 perhaps in consequence of their greater addiction to hunting4 ,in treating the ,homeric ,diana as a personage principally ancillary to ,apollo1 and equipped with reflections1 or stray fragments1 of prerogatives chiefly belonging to him1 ,i do not attempt to foreclose the question what may have been the origin of her name1 or whether she may be connected with any mythological original in the religions of the ,east or of ,egypt4 ,dllinger conceives that the union of ,diana with ,apollo was ,greek1 and that they were not originally in relation with one another2 while he justly observes1 that this deity1 like ,apollo1 has a great and inexplicable diversity of function4 ,she1 like other deities of ,greece1 has been thought to represent the ,astarte of the ,syrians4 ,again1 ,herodotus#bef has given us most curious information respecting the gods of the ,scythians1 whom we have found to be related to the ,pelasgi4 ,they worship1 he states1 the ,celestial ,venus under the name of ,artimpasa4 ,this name1 it has been ingeniously conjectured#beg1 is composed 7#a7 of the name ,mitra1 which the ,persians gave to ,venus#beh1 and which reversed becomes ,artim1 and 7#b7 of the ,sanscrit ,bhas1 meaning shine1 and thus corresponding with the of ,apollo1 and the of ,pallas3 all of them being1 as it were1 shreds of the tradition fully represented in the ,shechinah of the ,jews1 and the #8,light' of ,saint ,john4 ,this also corresponds with the cluster of golden epithets1 the 1 1 and 1 which ,homer applies to ,diana3 and the very feebleness of ,diana in the ,theomachy suggests that the ,eastern prototype of ,venus1 the ,mitra of the ,persians1 was originally no more than a degenerate derivation from a higher tradition1 which found a more natural1 but still only a partial1 expression in the majestic and chaste1 as well as beautiful1 ,artemis4 #bef ,herod1 iv4 #ei4 #beg ,welsford on the ,english ,language1 chap4 iii4 p4 #gh4 #beh ,herod1 i4 #aca4 ,the ,latona of ,homer4 ,we have next to consider the ,homeric delineation of ,latona1 the mother of ,apollo and of ,diana4 ,it is scarcely possible to avoid being struck1 on turning to this portraiture1 with the contrast between the slightness of the outline and the real dignity of the features and position4 ,this contrast1 like the greater one relating to ,apollo1 seems to have its key in the traditional origin of the representation3 and there is no one ,homeric deity1 whose case1 when fully considered1 can afford a more marked testimony to the hypothesis of a strong element of traditive theology in the religious system of the ,poems4 ,why has she a position so different from that of any other wife or concubine of ,jupiter3 such1 for example1 as ,dione or ,demeter8 ,why is it so much elevated above that of any among them1 except only ,juno8 ,how comes she to have a son so incomparably superior in rank1 in power1 and in the affections of his father1 to any child of ,juno herself1 the 8 ,why1 being thus great1 is she wholly unfurnished with attributes or functions1 either general or specific8 ,why1 on the other hand1 does so much obscurity hang about her origin1 and what are we to say as to her divinity1 in answer to the question1 whether it was original or acquired8 ,the name of ,latona appears to have been a perpetual puzzle to the expounders of ,greek mythology4 ,it is taken to mean ,night1 which1 combined with ,day1 produces the ,sun#bei2 or #8obscure1' or #8concealed1' as that from which issues the visible deity1 the ,sun in heaven4 ,but surely these explanations can have no bearing upon the ,homeric mythology1 where it is matter of question even whether ,apollo and the ,sun have any mutual relations at all1 and where it is quite clear that the personality of ,apollo is far older and riper1 as well as far higher and more comprehensive2 which implies of necessity1 that ,latona must have been known1 and must have held her place1 quite apart from any relation to the ,sun4 ,an explanation of this kind is simply an indication1 that the problem has not yet been solved4 #bei ,dllinger ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 p4 #ga4 ,smith's ,dict4 art4 ,leto4 ,but now1 if we presume ,apollo to be the representative of the ,messianic tradition1 that the ,seed of the woman should crush the serpent's head1 the state of the case is entirely changed4 ,and the explanation of the name in particular1 instead of being hopeless1 becomes easy1 and even auxiliary to the general hypothesis4 ,for now ,latona stands in the tradition as a person anterior to the whole ,olympian mythology3 a person for whose extraction that mythology does not and ought not to account4 ,its ,jupiter and ,juno are referred to a parentage1 that of and 1 and through these perhaps afresh to ,oceanus and ,tethys as their ultimate source4 ,everything1 again1 that is connected with the genesis of the ,olympian system1 properly so called1 is made to conform to anthropomorphous ideas3 but here are two of its deities1 one of them among its very greatest1 who have a mother that forms part of the earliest known tradition respecting them1 while that mother is herself without an origin4 ,what could be more natural1 than that a name should fasten itself upon her1 simply importing that1 illustrious as was her motherhood1 the fountain-head of her own life and destiny was lost in oblivion8 ,for it lay beyond the point from which all mythical knowledge was held to spring4 ,a certain motherhood was known of her1 and that was all4 ,again1 the mother of the ,deliverer was to be a woman4 ,but in the ,greek mythology it could not be1 that a woman should stand as the giver of life to one of its most august divinities4 ,yet the woman of the tradition could not be transferred from the tradition as a great substantive personage into the ,greek mythology1 because in the tradition she stood an unembellished figure1 wholly without attributes4 ,hence invention would1 on taking over the tradition1 be at fault2 and could not but present to us an ambiguous and inconsistent picture1 such as now stands before us in the ,latona of ,homer4 ,let us next set forth the facts regarding ,latona1 as they stand in the poems4 ,in the first place1 then1 her divinity is beyond all doubt2 for she is one of those deities who take part in the war#bfj1 and this although1 almost alone among them1 she has no office whatever to associate her with it1 and no part to play in the conduct of it4 ,she ranges herself on the side of the ,trojans2 apparently1 like ,diana1 drawn in that direction by ,apollo1 the central and really important figure of the group4 ,while ,venus1 who appears in the first enumeration1 is omitted in the array#bfa of deities for action1 ,latona has ,mercury assigned to her for an antagonist4 ,and1 when the crisis comes1 we observe in her case a marked instance of that care1 with which ,homer preserves her1 like the greater traditive deities1 from anything like discredit4 ,mercury declines the combat1 on the ground that it is hard to fight against the wives of ,jupiter2 and tells her she is at liberty to announce that she has vanquished him4 ,whence has this pale and colourless figure such very high honour so jealously asserted for her#bfb8 #bfj ,il4 xx4 #dj4 #bfa ,ibid4 #gb4 #bfb ,il4 xx4 #dig-eja4 ,when ,niobe1 proud of her numerous offspring1 taunts ,latona as the mother of only two children1 summary and awful punishment follows3 the children are slain1 the unhappy mother is turned to stone4 ,yet she herself takes no part in the vengeance1 a fact remarkably in harmony with her place as defined by the primitive tradition of ,holy ,scripture4 ,of the three or four suffering figures in the ,shades1 only one has the cause of his punishment stated1 and it is much the severest of all4 ,it is ,tityus1 whose entrails are continually devoured by vultures1 because he offered violence to ,latona as she was going to the ,pythian temple of her son4 ,when1 in the ,fourteenth ,iliad1 ,jupiter recites the mothers of certain of his offspring1 beginning with women and ending with goddesses1 ,latona appears in the latter category1 after ,ceres and before ,juno3 and1 as the scale is an ascending one1 she must clearly rank before the first and next to the last named deity4 ,there are1 however1 various indications that this had not always been so3 but that1 according to original tradition1 she had been of the human order1 and had undergone a sort of translation into the ranks of the ,immortals4 ,the first of these is the taunt of ,niobe4 ,the boast of richer fecundity is natural in a human mother's mouth1 as against another mother reputed to be human#bfc2 but entirely strange and absurd1 if we suppose it directed against a deity4 ,dione and ,demeter have but one child each4 ,nor is there a marked difference in this respect between the ,latona and the ,juno of ,homer2 for ,juno's children are but two1 or at most three#bfd4 #bfc ,il4 xxiv4 #fjh4 #bfd ,i do not reckon the 1 who appear to be purely poetical and figurative daughters of ,juno1 like the ,muses of ,jupiter2 and as ,terror is the son of ,mars4 ,il4 xi4 #bgj4 #a4 ii4 #dia4 xiii4 #bii4 ,next1 we can account for the origin and parentage of all the great ,olympian deities of ,homer1 with the single exception of ,latona4 ,she is no one's daughter1 no one's sister3 but is a wife 7that also equivocally71 and a mother only4 ,when1 indeed1 we part company with ,homer1 the scene changes1 and a father is found for her in the ,hymns3 she is the daughter1 according to one reading1 of ,saturn1 #bfe4 #bfe ,hymn4 ad ,apoll4 #fb4 ,in ,hesiod she is the daughter of a ,titan3 but even here she retains this mark of a most ancient tradition1 that she is said to have been married to ,jupiter before the great ,juno#bff3 though she comes after ,metis1 or ,wisdom1 the oldest of all his consorts2 an order not at variance with the traditional ideas4 #bff ,theogon4 #iah-ba4 ,her anomalous position in mythology4 ,but there must have been some cause or process that brought her into the ,homeric ,olympus1 an anomaly alike among mortals and ,immortals4 ,what could it have been1 except an illustrious maternity1 to account for her elevation1 and at the same time her original womanhood to account for the blank in the descent and consanguinity1 and for her total want of attributes8 ,it must be granted that there is a certain degree of resemblance between ,latona and ,dione3 turning mainly upon this1 that ,dione seems to be in ,olympus without either dignity or power1 and simply as the vehicle1 through which her daughter ,venus was brought into existence4 ,but then the want of basis is in her case immediately made evident by results4 ,even in ,homer she is not among the gods of the ,theomachy2 nor is she named among the mothers in the ,fourteenth ,book2 and ,hesiod1 though she is invoked in the suspected ,proem of his ,theogony1 entirely passes her over in the body of it1 and furnishes ,venus with another origin4 ,she remains all but a cipher ever after4 ,again1 the epithets attached to ,latona are such as to leave her1 and her alone among all deities of such dignity1 wholly functionless1 and also wholly inactive4 ,i distinguish the two1 because ,juno has only a limited function1 but she has power1 and an immense activity4 ,latona has beauty and majesty1 qualities which appertain to every goddess as such3 she is 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 and 3 and we may observe in the more personal portion of these epithets how ,homer1 with his usual skill1 has avoided placing her in any kind of rivalry with ,juno1 who is usually praised for her eyes and arms1 not her cheeks and hair4 ,but they all leave her void of purpose2 and she must stand as a sheer anomaly1 unless there is some better explanation of her being and place in mythology1 than mythology itself can supply4 ,her relation to primitive ,tradition4 ,even in the later tradition1 ,latona never gains a definite office3 she remains all along without any meaning or purpose intrinsic to herself3 she shines only in the reflected glory of her offspring1 and is commonly worshipped only in union with them#bfg4 ,if therefore it has been shown1 that the mythological character of ,apollo is clearly the vehicle of the ancient tradition1 known to us in the ,book of ,genesis1 respecting the ,seed of the woman1 it seems plain that in ,latona is represented the woman from whom that ,seed was to spring4 #bfg ,smith's ,dict41 art4 ,leto4 ,i do not presume to enter into the question whether we ought to consider that the ,latona of ,homer represents the ,blessed ,virgin1 who was divinely elected to be the actual mother of our ,lord2 or rather our ancient mother ,eve1 whose seed ,he was also in a peculiar sense to be4 ,so far as personal application is concerned1 the same arguments might be used upon the subject1 as upon the interpretation of the original promise recorded in ,scripture3 and the question is one rather of the interpretation of ,scripture1 than of ,homer4 ,the relation which appears to me to be proved from the text of the poems1 is between the deity called ,latona and the fifteenth verse of the third chapter of ,genesis4 ,as to all beyond this1 ,i should suppose it perhaps more just to regard her as a typical person1 exhibiting through womanhood the truth of our ,blessed ,lord's humanity1 than as the mere representative of any individual personage4 ,backward as is the position of ,latona in the practical religion of ,homer1 the universal recognition of the deity is sufficiently established3 on the one hand by her place among the deities of the ,trojan party2 on the other1 by the punishment of ,niobe for an offence against her either in ,greece1 or at the least in a recognised ,greek legend2 by the punishment of ,tityus2 and by her inclusion in the ,catalogue of the ,fourteenth ,iliad4 ,her slightness of action4 ,to this very remarkable deity no utterance of any kind is ever ascribed by ,homer1 and with1 ,i think1 three small exceptions1 nothing of personal and individual action4 ,even when she takes her place among the deities in the array of battle1 it is not said that she stood up against ,mercury1 but simply that ,mercury stood up against her#bfh4 #bfh ,il4 xx4 #gb4 ,the three cases are as follows4 ,first1 when he makes over to her the victory in waiving the fight1 she offers no reply2 but simply picks up her daughter ,diana's bow and arrows1 and goes after her1 apparently with the intention of offering her comfort4 ,the next action#bfi attributed to her is this3 that when ,apollo#bgj has carried the bruised and stunned neas into his temple on ,pergamus1 ,latona and ,diana tend him there4 ,thus both of these actions exhibit her in strict ideal subordination1 so to speak1 to one of her children1 as though by tradition she existed only for them4 ,but the second is especially remarkable1 and alike illustrative of the traditional basis of the ,mother and of the ,son4 #bfi ,il4 xxi4 #dif-ejd4 #bgj ,il4 v4 #dde4 et seqq4 ,in the first place1 as it appears to me1 there can hardly be a circumstance more singular1 according to the principles of the ,greek mythology1 than that any one deity should be introduced as acting1 not in her own temple1 but in the temple of another4 ,such however is here the case with ,latona and ,diana in the temple of ,apollo4 ,next1 they are acting as purely ministerial to him4 ,they do not enter into the fray3 it is he who has been there1 and who1 having deposited neas1 immediately prosecutes the affairs of the battle-field1 while they1 as his satellites1 give effect to his purpose in setting about the restoration of the disabled warrior4 ,lastly1 the significance of this action is raised to the highest point1 when we recollect that this is a mother executing the design of her son4 ,latona's action in the ,twenty-first ,book1 like that of ,dione with ,venus1 can be accounted for by her maternal character4 ,but there is no case in the ,homeric poems besides this1 where we see a parent-god thus acting ministerially in the execution of the plans of his or her offspring4 ,the primeval tradition1 once admitted as the basis of the mythological group1 furnishes us with the key to what would otherwise be another great anomaly4 ,the third case is in entire harmony with the other two4 ,tityus1 the son of ,earth1 is tortured in the nether world for having offered violence to ,latona1 and the crime was committed when she was on her way through ,panopeus to ,delphi4 ,this was probably the route from ,delos to that place3 so that again the poet seems to represent ,latona in close but subordinate connection with her son1 by making her travel between the seats of his two already famous oracles4 ,apollo1 then1 with ,latona and ,diana1 forms a group2 and the origin of the combination is to be sought in primitive tradition4 ,it is not necessary to show that the personages thus associated maintained their association in all the religions of the ,east4 ,i admit that we are not to suppose1 that the idea of this combination passed direct from the patriarchs into ,greece4 ,the most natural place in which to seek for traces of it would be1 in the religion of the ,persians1 anterior to the time of ,homer4 ,unfortunately we have no accounts of it at any such date4 ,but our failing to find these three deities in a company1 or to find any germ which might have been developed into that company1 in accounts later by probably five or six centuries at least1 raises no presumption whatever against the hypothesis that we may owe the representation1 as it stands in ,homer1 to historical derivation through the forefathers of the ,hellic tribes1 from some such period as that when1 for example1 ,abraham dwelt in ,ur of the ,chaldees#bga4 #bga ,gen4 xi4 #ca4 ,acts vii4 #b4 ,the ,iris of ,homer4 ,iris1 the messenger goddess1 the last1 and also by much the least important of the personages to whom ,i ascribe a traditive origin1 is perhaps not the least clear in her title to it4 ,her title to rank as one of the deities of the ordinary ,olympian assemblage is not subject to doubt4 ,it depends partly on the fact that she is always at hand there4 ,but it is established more distinctly still by the passage1 which represents her as carrying to the palace of ,zephyr the prayer of ,achilles4 ,she finds the ,winds engaged in a banquet1 and they eagerly solicit her to sit and feast with them4 ,she answers them1 like one desirous to escape from second-rate into first-rate company1 to the effect that she has not time3 the ,ethiopians are just about supplying the greater gods with a banquet from their hecatombs2 and she must repair to that quarter accordingly1 as otherwise she will lose her share of the offerings#bgb4 #bgb ,il4 xxiii4 #aih-bab4 ,with respect to her position generally1 we have no mark of her being foreign2 and all the traditive deities1 it may be observed1 are sufficiently1 though not exclusively national4 ,again1 we have no mark of her being recent2 on the contrary1 she is without parents1 and this1 though not conclusive1 is a sign to the opposite effect4 ,iris has no original action whatever1 but is simply a willing servant of other deities2 nor does she disdain spontaneously to officiate on behalf of a distinguished human object of their favour1 like ,achilles#bgc4 ,only once have we an account of her bringing an order without the name of the sender3 it is when she appears to ,helen1 and exhorts her to repair to the ,wall#bgd4 ,she is not1 however1 said even in this place to act on her own account2 and we ought probably to understand that1 according to the general rule1 she comes from ,jupiter4 ,it is added1 that she inspired ,helen with a longing sentiment towards her former husband and country1 but this1 as is most likely1 is meant simply to describe the effect of her words in the ordinary manner of their operation on the understanding4 ,this ancillary character of ,iris is exactly what she would bear1 if her origin really lay in the primitive tradition of the rainbow4 #bgc ,il4 xxiii4 #aih-bab4 #bgd ,il4 iii4 #aba4 ,but what seems decisively to establish her relation to that tradition is1 that she is firmly connected in ,homer with two things that have in themselves no connection whatever1 and between which that ancient tradition is the only link4 ,in the first place1 her identity of name is the witness to her original connection with the rainbow#bge3 which1 however1 as a standing and ordinary phenomenon of nature1 did not bear1 apart from positive appointment1 in any manner the character of a messenger3 and hence we find that by disintegration the two ideas had been entirely separated before the time of ,homer1 and the name itself is the only remaining witness in the poems to their having been at some former period associated4 ,the function of the messenger was kept in action by the occasions of the ,olympian family and polity4 ,in this manner1 as the stronger of the two ideas1 it held its ground1 and took possession of the personal ,iris1 while the rainbow1 though still conceived of as a sign to mortals#bgf1 appears to have been regarded as separate4 #bge ,il4 xi4 #bg4 #bgf ,il4 xi4 #bi4 ,of the character of the messenger we find that ,iris had so completely become the model1 that her name1 only modified into ,iros1 is given to ,arnus1 the ribald and burly beggar of the ,odyssey1 only because he was a go-between1 or errand-carrier3 ' 1 #bgg4 #bgg ,od4 xviii4 #g4 ,the hypothesis1 then1 of traditional origin is the key1 and the only key1 to the position of the ,homeric ,iris4 ,the ,at of ,homer4 ,before quitting the precinct of the primeval tradition discoverable in ,homer1 we have yet one very remarkable group of impersonations to consider1 that in which the goddess is the leading figure4 ,commonly regarded as meaning ,mischief1 the word is not capable of being fully rendered in ,english3 but ,guile is its primary idea1 in the train of which come the sister notions of ,folly and ,calamity4 both wishes and suggests all ill to mortals2 but she does not seem in ,homer to have any power of injuring them1 except through channels1 which have been wholly or partially opened to her by their own volition4 ,the of the later ,greeks is ,calamity simply1 with a shadow of ,destiny hanging in the distance2 as in the magnificent figure of the lion's cub in schylus#bgh4 ,but the word never bears in ,homer the sense of calamity coming simply from without4 ,this is evident even from the large and general description1 where she appears in company with the #bgi4 ,vigorous and nimble1 she ranges over the whole earth for mischief4 ,after her1 slowly lag the ,prayers or 1 honoured however in being1 like her1 daughters of ,jupiter4 ,these are limping1 decrepit1 and unable to see straight before them4 ,the leading idea of is not force1 but cunning4 ,she is the power that tempts and misleads men to their own cost or ruin1 as they afterwards find out4 ,nay1 she tempts the deity also3 for she beguiles even ,jupiter himself#bhj when ,hercules is about to be born1 and induces him thoughtlessly to promise what will1 through ,juno's craft1 overturn his own dearly cherished plans4 ,for this excess of daring1 however1 she herself suffers4 ,jupiter seizes her by the hair1 and hurls her from ,olympus1 apparently her native seat4 ,thenceforward she can only exercise her function among men2 who1 when they have yielded to the seduction1 and tasted the ashes under the golden fruit1 at length set about repentance or prayer3 #bgh sch4 ,agam4 #fif-gae4 #bgi ,il4 ix4 #dii-ead4 #bhj ,il4 xix4 #ie seqq4 ,all lost6 to prayers1 to prayers6 all lost6#bha #bha ,tempest1 ,i4 #a4 ,now though the impersonation of ,at in ,homer is one of the indeterminate class1 it is surely a mistake to treat it as representing the mere poetical incorporation of an abstract idea4 ,on the contrary1 we seem to find in it the old tradition of the ,evil ,one as the ,tempter2 and it may be said that the word ,temptress would best represent the ,homeric idea of 4 ,in this sense it will supply a consistent meaning to the fine passage in the speech of ,phnix3 for we are swift1 so says the ,poet1 to fall into temptation1 and to offend1 ingenious only in not seeing our fault1 and covering it with excuses3 but slow1 and like the half-hearted1 decrepit 1 when we have to make our entreaties for pardon1 and to think of restitution and amendment4 ,yet as even the gods listen to their entreaties1 #8so1' says ,phnix1 #8shouldst thou1 ,o ,achilles3 and if thou dost not1 then mayest yet thyself fall4' ,but if meant only misfortune1 the passage loses all its harmony1 and even becomes absurd2 for surely none will say that men are slow to discern adversity1 or to offer petitions1 wherever they have a prospect of being heard1 for relief from it4 ,there is no passage which appears to me more characteristic of the true distinctive character of the ,homeric 1 than that in which ,dolon confesses his folly#bhb3 #bhb ,il4 x4 #cij4 ' 4 ,here we have ,hector1 the tempter3 1 the temptation3 1 the sound mind1 from which temptation diverted the self-duped simpleton3 1 expressive of the medium1 namely1 through volition1 and not by force4 ,the elements combined in the idea of the ,homeric 1 and the conditions of her action1 may be presented together as follows3 #a4 ,she takes the reins of the understanding and conduct of a man4 #b4 ,she effects this not by force from without1 but through the medium of his own will and inward consent1 whether unconscious or express4 #c4 ,under her dominion he commits offences against the moral law1 or the law of prudence4 #d4 ,these offences are followed by his retributive sufferings4 ,the function of the ,tempter is here represented with great precision2 but two essential variations have come to be perceptible in the idea taken as a whole4 ,the first1 that this is herself sometimes prompted or sent by others1 as by 1 7,od4 xv4 #bcd17 or by her with and 1 as in ,il4 xix4 #hg4 ,and accordingly she too is a daughter1 nay1 the eldest daughter1 of ,jupiter himself#bhc4 #bhc ,il4 xix4 #ia4 ,the second variation is this3 that offences against the mere law of prudence find their way into precisely the same category with sins2 or1 in other words1 the true idea of sin had been lost4 the person1 and the effect1 are1 moreover1 frequently blended by the ,poet4 ,among the principal of ,homer are those1 #a4 ,of ,jupiter1 ,il4 xix4 #ia-abi4 #b4 ,of ,dolon1 ,il4 x4 #cia2 leading him to accept the proposal of ,hector4 #c4 ,of ,melampus1 ,od4 xv4 #bcc1 #d1 causing him to undertake an enterprise beyond his means on account of the daughter of ,neleus4 ,all of which are against the law of prudence and forethought4 #d4 ,of ,agamemnon1 ,il4 xix4 #hh1 #acd-h4 #e4 ,of ,paris1 ,il4 vi4 #cef1 xxiv4 #bh4 #f4 ,of ,helen1 ,od4 iv4 #bfa4 xxiii4 #bbc4 #g4 ,of manslaughter1 ,il4 xxiv4 #dhj4 #h4 ,of the drunken centaur ,eurytion1 who had his ears and nose cut off for his excesses1 ,od4 xxi4 #bif-cjb4 ,in one place only of ,homer1 seems to mean calamity not imputable to the sufferer's fault1 further than by some slight want of vigilance4 ,this is the charged upon ,ulysses1 when his companions destroy the oxen of the ,sun1 ,od4 xii4 #cgb4 ,at least he had no further share in that matter than that1 by going to sleep1 he left his comrades to act for themselves4 ,the long continued misconduct of the ,suitors is never described as their 3 probably because the word properly signifies a particular temptation followed by a particular act1 rather than a continued course of action4 ,this1 again1 serves the more closely to associate with the primitive tradition of the ,fall of ,man4 ,the higher form of human wickedness1 which is attended with deliberate and obstinate persistence in wrong1 is not but 4 ,such is the wickedness of gisthus and of the ,suitors2 such also that of the ,giants4 ,the same phrase is applied to the crew of ,ulysses1 who devoured the oxen of the ,sun#bhd3 and this appears to conform to the view taken of their offence in the poems1 however anomalous that view itself may be4 #bhd ,od4 i4 #g4 ,other traditions of the ,evil ,one4 ,i will now gather into one view the dispersed fragments of tradition concerning the ,evil ,one which seem to be discernible in ,homer4 #a4 is the first1 and the one which comes nearest to presenting a general outline4 #b4 ,a second is found in #bhe1 who aims at the destruction of ,godhead in its supreme representatives1 and is thrust down to ,tartarus by ,jupiter4 ,and we may here observe an important distinction4 #bhe ,il4 xiv4 #bjc4 viii4 #dgh4 where ,iapetus is joined with 4 ,of him we have no other mention in ,homer4 ,some persons1 like ,tityus1 offend against a particular person who had taken a place in the ,olympian ,court2 or else1 apparently like ,orion1 offend the gods in general by their presumption4 ,they are punished in the ,shades4 ,but those who have aimed at the dethronement or destruction of ,godhead itself are in the far deeper darkness of ,tartarus#bhf4 ,i suggest this as a possible explanation of the double place of punishment2 which is otherwise apparently a gross solecism in the ,homeric system4 #bhf ,il4 viii4 #ac-ah4 #c4 ,to the latter class of offenders belong the ,titans1 who most pointedly represent the element of ,force in the ancient traditions1 while embodies that of ,guile4 ,these are the 1 or the 1 or 1 who form the infernal court of 2 7,il4 xiv4 #bgd1 #i4 xv4 #bbe74 ,they are evidently themselves in a state of penal suffering2 but they must also have the power of inflicting the severest punishment on some other offenders2 for they1 and not ,aides or ,persephone1 seem to be the persons called to be witnesses of the solemn oath for the avoidance of perjury1 taken by ,juno in the ,fourteenth ,book#bhg4 #bhg ,il4 xiv4 #bgc1 #bgh4 #d4 ,of these ,titans two are apparently named in the persons of ,otus and ,ephialtes1 children of ,neptune4 #e4 ,to the same class1 in all probability1 belong the ,giants1 led by ,eurymedon1 and born of the same mythological father4 ,od4 vii4 #eh4 #f4 ,it is likely that ,typhoeus may have been of the same company2 for although he is not stated to be in ,tartarus1 yet his position corresponds with it in the essential feature of being under the earth4 7,il4 ii4 #ghb4 viii4 #ad74 ,homer does not indeed expressly say1 that ,otus and ,ephialtes were ,titans1 nor that ,eurymedon was of the same band2 nor yet that the ,titans were rebels against heaven4 ,but his images are so combined round certain points as to make this matter of safe and clear inference4 ,for the ,titans are in ,tartarus1 and are with and attached to 1 whom ,jupiter thrust down thither4 ,and the giants under ,eurymedon1 for their mad audacity1 are driven to perdition#bhh4 ,lastly1 ,otus and ,ephialtes1 who made war upon heaven1 and whom ,apollo quelled1 not appearing1 like their mother ,iphimedea1 in the ,shades of the ,eleventh ,odyssey1 can only be in ,tartarus#bhi4 #bhh ,od4 vii4 #fj4 #bhi ,od4 xi4 #cje-bj4 ,from the scattered traditions we may collect and combine the essential points4 ,in ,otus and ,ephialtes the rebellion is clearly stated1 and in ,eurymedon it is manifestly implied4 ,in the ,titans1 who are called 1 and in their association with 1 as also in the high parentage of the others1 we have the celestial origin of the rebels4 ,in the hurling down of to ,tartarus1 we have the punishment which they all are enduring1 immediately associated with an act of supreme retribution4 #g4 ,elsewhere will be found a notice of the singular relation1 which may be traced between ,neptune and the tradition of the ,evil ,one4 ,this relation is mythological in its basis3 but it seems to proceed upon the tradition1 that the ,evil ,one was next to the ,highest4 #h4 ,a more recent form of the tradition concerning the great war in heaven seems to be found in the revolt of the ,immortals of ,olympus1 headed by ,juno1 ,neptune1 and ,minerva1 against ,jupiter1 which was put down by ,briareus or gon of the hundred hands4 ,who this gon was1 we can only conjecture3 he is nowhere else named in ,homer4 ,from his having a double name1 one in use among gods1 and the other among mortals1 it might be conjectured that the immediate source of this tradition was either ,egypt1 or some other country having like ,egypt an hieratic and also a demotic tongue4 ,in its substance1 it can hardly be other than a separate and dislocated form of the same idea1 according to which we see ,apollo handed down as the deliverer of ,olympus from rebellion4 ,the expression that all men 7,il4 i4 #djc47 call him gon1 tends to universalize him1 and thus to connect him with ,apollo4 ,he is also 7v4 #djc47 a son of ,jupiter1 avowedly superior to him in strength3 4 ,citations from ,holy ,scripture4 ,it is perhaps worth while to notice the coincidence between the language of ,homer as to the ,giants1 and that of the ,books of the ,ancient ,scriptures4 ,homer says of ,eurymedon#bij1 #bij ,od4 vii4 #ei4 ' ' 1 ' 4 ,either the rebellion1 or the punishment in hell1 of a wicked gang under the name of ,giants is referred to in the following passages of the ,old ,testament and the ,apocrypha4 ,the allusion is not made evident1 as to the former set of passages1 in the ,authorized ,version2 ,i therefore quote from the ,septuagint or the ,vulgate4 #a4 ,job xxvi4 #e4 ,ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis1 et qui habitant cum eis4 ,vulgate4 2 ,,lxx4 #b4 ,prov4 ii4 #ah4 1 4 ,,lxx4 #c4 ,prov4 xxi4 #af4 ,vir1 qui erraverit a vi doctrin1 in ctu gigantum commorabitur4 ,vulg4 4 ,,lxx4 ,see ,gen4 vi4 #d1 #e3 in which we perhaps see the original link between the ,giants1 and the rebellion of the fallen angels described by ,st4 ,jude1 ver4 #f3 #8,and the angels which kept not their first estate1 but left their own habitation1 he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day4' ,we have also the corresponding declaration of ,st4 ,peter3 #8,god spared not the angels that sinned1 but cast them down to hell1 and delivered them into chains of darkness1 to be reserved unto judgment2 and spared not the old world#bia4' #bia ,st4 ,pet4 ii4 #b4 #d4 #e4 ,again1 in the ,apocryphal ,books4 #a4 ,wisdom xiv4 #f4 #8,in the old time also1 when the proud giants perished1 the hope of the world1 governed by thy hand1 escaped in a weak vessel4' ,auth4 ,version4 #b4 ,ecclus4 xvi4 #g4 #8,he was not pacified toward the old giants1 who fell away in the strength of their foolishness4' ,auth4 ,version4 #c4 ,baruch iii4 #bf1 #h4 #8,there were giants famous from the beginning4444 ,but they were destroyed1 because they had no wisdom1 and perished through their own foolishness4' ,auth4 ,version4 ,we thus appear to find in ,homer many displaced fragments of the old traditions of the ,bible with respect to the ,evil ,one4 ,in the later ,greek and the ,roman literature1 the traditions on the same subject had almost entirely lost their likeness to their original4 ,the figure of 1 and the idea of spiritual danger to man through guile tempting him extrinsically but inwardly1 entirely disappears4 ,there remains only the recollection of a contest waged by brute force1 and a solitary remnant of forgotten truth in the fame still adhering to ,apollo1 that he had been the deliverer and conqueror1 who in the critical hour vindicated the supremacy of heaven4 ,in the time of ,horace even this recollection had become darkened and confused4 ,from the ,homeric traditions of the ,evil ,one and the fallen angels1 we may properly pass to those of a future state1 which involves1 partially at least1 the idea of retribution4 ,the ,future ,state in ,homer4 ,the representations of the future state in ,homer are perhaps the more interesting1 because it may be doubted whether they are1 logically1 quite consistent with one another4 ,for this want of consistency becomes of itself a negative argument in support of the belief that1 as they are not capable of being referred to any one generative idea or system1 they may be distorted copies or misunderstood portions of primitive truth4 ,another reason for referring them to this origin appears to be found in their gradual deterioration after the time of ,homer4 ,in his theology1 future retribution appears as a real sanction of the moral law4 ,in the later history1 and generally in the philosophy of ,paganism1 it has lost this place3 practically1 a phantasmagoria was substituted for what had been at least a subjective reality3 and the most sincere and penetrating minds thought it absurd to associate anything of substance with the condition of the dead#bib4 ,the moral ideas connected with it appear before us in descending series2 and thus they point backwards to the remotest period for their origin and their integrity4 #bib ,arist4 ,eth4 ,i4 #aj1 #aa4 ,lastly1 it would appear that the traditions themselves present to us features of the unseen world1 such1 in a certain degree1 as ,divine ,revelation describes4 ,that world appears to us1 in ,homer1 in three divisions4 ,first there is the ,elysian plain1 apparently under the government of ,rhadamanthus1 at which ,menelaus1 as the favoured son-in-law of ,jupiter1 is to arrive4 ,it is1 physically at least1 furnished with all the conditions of repose and happiness4 ,next there is the region of ,aides or ,aidoneus1 the ordinary receptacle even of the illustrious dead1 such as ,achilles1 ,agamemnon1 and the older ,greek heroes of divine extraction4 ,hither1 if we may trust the ,twenty-fourth ,odyssey1 are carried the ,suitors2 and here is found the insignificant ,elpenor 7,od4 xi4 #ea74 ,thirdly1 there is the region of ,tartarus1 where and reign4 ,this is as far below ,aides1 as the heaven is upwards from the earth#bic4 #bic ,il4 viii4 #af1 #dgi4 ,there appears to be some want of clearness in the division between the second region and the third as to their respective offices1 and between the second and the first as to their respective tenants4 ,the realm of ,aides is1 in general1 not a place of punishment1 but of desolation and of gloom#bid4 ,the shade of ,agamemnon weeps aloud with emotion and desire to clasp ,ulysses3 and ,ulysses in vain attempts to console ,achilles1 for having quitted #8the warm precincts of the cheerful day4' ,but though their state is one of sadness1 neither they nor the dead who are named there are in general under any judicial infliction4 ,it is stated1 indeed1 that ,minos#bie administers justice among them2 but we are not told whether1 as seems most probable1 this is in determining decisively the fate of each1 or whether he merely disposes1 as he might have done on earth1 of such cases as chanced to arise between any of them for adjudication4 #bid ,od4 xi4 #cia1 #dhh4 #bie ,v4 #efi4 ,the only cases of decided penal infliction in the realm of ,aides are those of ,tityus1 ,sisyphus1 and ,tantalus4 ,castor and ,pollux1 who appear here1 are evident objects of the favour of the gods#bif4 ,hercules1 like ,helen of the later tradition1 is curiously disintegrated4 #bif ,od4 xi4 #cjb-d4 ,his meets ,ulysses1 and speaks as if possessed of his identity3 but he himself 77 is enjoying reward among the ,immortals4 ,the latter of these images represents the laborious and philanthropic side of the character attributed to him1 the former the reckless and brutal one4 ,again it might be thought that the reason for the advancement of ,menelaus to ,elysium1 while ,castor and ,pollux belong to the under-world1 was the very virtuous character of that prince4 ,he is1 however1 not promoted thither for his virtues1 but for being the son-in-law of ,jupiter by his marriage with ,helen4 ,and thus again1 the son-in-law of ,jupiter is1 as such1 placed higher than his sons4 ,the proper and main business of ,tartarus is to serve as a place of punishment for deposed and condemned ,immortals4 ,there were ,iapetos and 1 there the ,titans#big3 there probably ,otus and ,ephialtes1 who not only wounded ,mars but assaulted ,olympus#bih3 there too1 were ,eurymedon and the ,giants1 who perished by their 4 ,thither it is that ,jupiter threatens to hurl down offensive and refractory divinities#bii4 ,direct rebellion against heaven seems to be the specific offence which draws down the sentence of relegation to ,tartarus4 ,still in the ,third ,iliad ,agamemnon invokes certain deities1 as the avengers of perjury upon man#cjj2 #big ,il4 xiv4 #bgd1 #i4 #bih ,il4 v4 ,od4 xi4 #cac4 #bii ,il4 v4 #hig1 #h4 viii4 #aj-ag4 #dja-f4 #cjj ,il4 iii4 #bgh4 cf4 xiv4 #bgd1 #i4 1 ' 4 ,it is not clear whether this passage implies that all perjurors are punished in ,tartarus2 or whether ,aidoneus1 ,persephone1 and the ,erinues are the subterraneous deities here intended3 but as the ,titans are elsewhere only mentioned in express connection with ,tartarus1 and from the description of the ,erinues in ,il4 xix4 #bei1 ,i incline to the latter opinion4 ,on the whole1 then1 there is some confusion between these compartments1 so to speak1 of the invisible world4 ,the realm of ,aidoneus seems to partake1 in part1 of the character both of ,tartarus and of the ,elysian plain4 ,in common with the former1 it includes persons who were objects of especial divine favour4 ,in common with ,tartarus1 it is for some few1 at least1 a scene of positive punishment4 ,still1 if we take the three according to their leading idea1 they are in substantial correspondence with divine revelation4 ,there is the place of bliss1 the final destination of the good4 ,there is the place of torment1 occupied by the ,evil ,one and his rebellious companions3 and there is an intermediate state1 the receptacle of the dead4 ,here1 as might be expected1 the resemblance terminates2 for as there is no selection for entrance into the kingdom of ,aides1 so there is no passage onwards from it4 ,we need the less wonder at the too comprehensive place it occupies1 relatively to the places of reward and punishment proper1 in the ,homeric scheme1 when we remember what a tendency to develop itself beyond all bounds1 the simple primitive doctrine of the intermediate state has been made to exhibit1 in a portion of the ,christian ,church4 ,a further element of indistinctness attaches to the invisible world of ,homer1 if we take into view the admission of favoured mortals to ,olympus2 a process of which he gives us instances1 as in ,ganymedes and ,hercules4 ,in a work of pure invention it is unlikely that ,heaven1 ,elysium1 and the under-world would all have been represented as receptacles of souls in favour with the ,deity4 ,but some primitive tradition of the translation of ,enoch may account for what would otherwise stand as an additional anomaly4 ,upon the whole1 the ,homeric pictures of the prolongation of our individual existence beyond the grave2 the continuance in the nether world of the habits and propensities acquired or confirmed in this2 and the administration in the infernal regions of penalties for sin2 all these things1 though vaguely conceived1 stand in marked contrast with the far more shadowy1 impersonal1 and1 above all1 morally neutral pictures of the invisible and future world1 which alone were admitted into the practical belief of the best among the ,greek philosophers4 ,we are left to presume that the superior picture owed its superiority to the fact that it was not of man's devising1 as it thus so far exceeded what his best efforts could produce4 ,sacrificial tradition in ,homer4 ,the nature1 prevalence1 and uniformity of sacrifice1 should be regarded as another portion of the primeval inheritance1 which1 from various causes1 was perhaps the best preserved of all its parts among nations that had broken the link of connection with the source4 ,of the sabbatical institution1 which the ,holy ,scripture appears to fix at the creation of man1 we find no trace in ,homer4 ,but it is easy to perceive that this highly spiritual ordinance was one little likely to survive the rude shocks and necessities of earthly life1 while it could not1 like sacrifice1 derive a sustaining force from appearing to confer upon the gods an absolute gift1 profitable to them1 and likely to draw down their favour in return4 ,those who feel inclined to wonder at this disappearance of the sabbath from the record may do well to remember1 that on the shield of ,achilles1 which represents the standing occasions of life in all its departments1 there is no one scene which represents any observances simply religious4 ,the religious element1 though corrupted1 was far from being expelled out of common life2 on the contrary1 the whole tissue of it was pervaded by that element2 but it was in a combined1 not in a separate1 and therefore not in a sabbatical form4 ,and again1 in order to appreciate the unlikelihood that such a tradition as that of the sabbath would long survive the severance from ,divine ,revelation in this wintry world1 we have only to consider how rapidly it is forgotten1 in our own time1 by ,christians in heathen lands1 or by those ,christian settlers who are severed for the time at least from civilization1 and whose energies are absorbed in a ceaseless conflict with the yet untamed powers of nature4 ,,sect4 ,,iii4 ,the inventive ,element of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology4 ,i come now to that mass of ,homeric deities1 who are either wholly mythological1 or so loaded with mythological features1 that their traditive character is depressed1 and of secondary importance4 ,jupiter4 ,the character of ,jupiter1 which commonly occupies the first place in discussions of the ,greek mythology1 has been in some degree forestalled by our prior examination of the position of other figures in the system1 which are both more interesting and more important1 from their bearing more significant resemblances to and traces of the truth of ,divine ,revelation4 ,nevertheless1 this character will well repay attention4 ,to be understood and appreciated1 it must be viewed in a great variety of aspects4 ,when so viewed1 it will be found to range from the sublime down to the brutal1 and almost even down to the ridiculous4 ,upon the whole1 when we consider that the image which we thus bring before us was during so many ages1 for such multitudes of the most remarkable portion of mankind1 the chief representative of ,godhead1 it must leave a deep impression of pain and melancholy on the mind4 #8,if thou beest ,he2 but ,oh6 how fall'n1 how changed6' ,the ,jupiter of ,homer is to be regarded in these four distinct capacities3 #a4 ,as the depository of the principal remnants of monotheistic and providential ideas4 #b4 ,as the sovereign lord of meteorological phenomena4 #c4 ,as the head of the ,olympian community4 #d4 ,as the receptacle and butt of the principal part of such earthly1 sensual1 and appetitive elements1 as1 at the time of ,homer1 anthropophuism had obtruded into the sphere of deity4 ,jupiter1 as ,providence4 ,there are three modes in which ,homer connects ,jupiter with the functions of ,providence4 #a4 ,he procures or presides over the settlement1 by deliberation in the ,olympian ,court1 of great questions connected with the course of human affairs4 ,in the ,court of the ,fourth ,iliad1 and in the ,assembly of the ,eighth1 he himself takes the initiative2 in the ,seventh and ,twentieth ,books he listens to the proposals of ,neptune2 in the ,twenty-fourth1 ,apollo introduces the subject2 in the ,first and ,fifth ,odyssey1 ,minerva does the like4 #b4 ,he is a kind of synonym for ,providence with reference to its common operations1 to the duties and rights of man1 and to the whole order of the world4 ,perhaps there are an hundred1 or more1 passages of the poems1 where he appears in this manner4 ,but they are all open to this observation1 that his name seems1 in most of them1 to be used as a mere formula1 and to be a sort of a caput mortuum without the enlivening force of the idea that he is really acting in the manner or upon the principle described4 #c4 ,on certain occasions1 however1 he appears as a supreme ,god1 though single-handed1 and not acting either for or with the ,olympian assembly4 ,the grandest of these occasions is at the close of the ,twenty-fourth ,odyssey1 where ,minerva1 stimulated by her own sympathizing keenness1 seems to have winked at the passionate inclination of ,ulysses to make havock among his ungrateful and rebellious subjects4 ,jupiter1 who had previously counselled moderation1 launches his thunderbolt1 and significantly causes it to fall at the feet of ,minerva1 who thereupon gives at once the required caution to the exasperated sovereign4 ,peace immediately follows#cja4 #cja ,od4 xxiv4 #dha4 #ebe-da4 #edf4 ,jupiter1 with some of the substantial1 has all the titular appendages of a high supremacy4 ,he is habitually denominated the ,father of gods and men4 ,he is much more frequently identified with the general government of the world1 than is any other deity4 ,he is universally the 4 ,he governs the issue of all human toil1 and gives or withholds success4 ,it is on his floor that the caskets rest1 which contain the varying1 but1 in the main1 sorrowful incidents of human destiny#cjb4 ,he has also this one marked and paramount distinction1 that he does not descend to earth to execute his own behests1 but in general either sends other deities as his organs1 to give effect to his will1 or else himself operates from afar1 by his power as god of air4 ,if however he is more identified with the general idea of ,providence than are ,apollo and ,minerva1 it is plain1 on the other hand1 that his agency is more external1 abstract1 and remote2 theirs more inward and personal3 especially1 the function of moral discipline seems1 as we have already found1 to belong to ,minerva4 #cjb ,il4 v4 #ia4 xix4 #bbc4 iv4 #cd4 i4 #cec1 #djh4 ,ngelsbach#cjc considers that ,jupiter alone can act from a distance3 but the prayer of ,glaucus to ,apollo1 followed immediately by the healing of his wounds1 seems to prove the reverse conclusively4 ,again1 ,minerva reminds ,telemachus that the deity can save even when at a distance 7,od4 iii4 #bca73 we have no authority for absolutely confining this to ,jupiter1 and none for affixing a limit to the space within which ,apollo or ,minerva can act4 ,that ,jupiter always acts from far1 may be due in part to his representing the tradition of the one ,god2 but the argument is also in some degree incidental to the nature of his special and mythological gifts1 as god of the atmosphere and its phenomena4 #cjc ,hom4 ,theol4 ,abschn4 ii4 ,upon the whole1 the marks of affinity to ancient tradition are stronger in the ,homeric ,minerva and ,apollo than in ,jupiter4 ,he is the ordinary ,providence1 but this is an external ,providence4 ,he undoubtedly excels them in force1 and in the majesty which accompanies it4 ,but the highest of the divine prerogatives1 of which we have but glimpses indeed in any of them1 are hung more abundantly around these his favoured children1 than around himself4 ,the secret government of the minds of men1 the invisible supremacy over natural laws1 the power of unravelling the future 7except perhaps as to the destinies of states71 the faculty of controlling death1 are scarcely to be discovered in ,jupiter1 but are oftener made clearly legible in ,apollo or ,minerva4 ,indeed ,minerva appears always to have latent claims1 which ,homer himself could not fully understand or describe1 to the very first place4 ,it is only by supposing the existence of vague traditions to this effect1 that we can explain such passages as that in which she delights1 that ,menelaus had prayed to her in preference to any other deity#cjd2 #cjd ,il4 xvii4 #efg4 1 4 ,this sentiment may be accounted for in two ways4 ,it may be due to the vulgar vanity of a merely mythological divinity scuffling for precedence4 ,it may be a remnant of the tradition of a wisdom that knew no superior4 ,the former cause would be scarcely suitable even to the deities of invention in ,homer4 ,the latter seems wholly in keeping with the character and position of his ,minerva4 ,it may be asked1 in which of the two capacities does ,jupiter chiefly influence the government of the world8 is it as the ,supreme ,deity1 acting in the main by his own will and power8 or is it as the head of the ,olympian community1 to whose deliberate decisions he1 in a species of executive capacity1 gives effect8 ,i think there can be no doubt that the activity of ,jupiter is principally made available in the latter capacity4 ,not that the ,poet had defined for himself the distinction4 ,but there were two processes1 each of which had been actively advancing3 the breaking up of ,godhead into fragments1 which diminished the relative distance between ,jupiter and the other ,immortals3 and the reflection of human ideas of polity upon ,olympus1 which gave a growing prominence to the element of aristocracy4 ,upon the whole1 then1 ,i should say that the traditive ideas of monotheism1 and of a personal ,providence represented in the ,homeric ,jupiter1 are on almost all occasions things of the past4 ,they are like the old jewels of a family1 beautiful and imposing for occasions of state3 but they scarcely enter into his everyday life4 ,indeed1 their chief effect is the negative one of withdrawing him1 on the score of dignity1 from immediate contact with mortals and with their concerns2 and1 were it not for his atmospheric prerogatives1 this isolated supremacy would carry him into insignificance as compared with a deity like ,minerva1 who is ever in the view of man1 and ever making herself felt both in his mind and in his affairs4 ,there are occasions1 but they are not very numerous1 when1 under the influence of an unwonted zeal1 we find ,jupiter himself taking a part in the detailed action of the ,iliad2 his interferences being usually confined to the greater crises or indications1 such as the one mentioned in ,il4 ii4 #cec1 and such as the occasions when the are produced4 ,as examples of minor interposition1 ,i may cite his inspiring ,ajax with fear1 his launching a thunderbolt in the path of ,diomed1 his breaking the bow-string of ,teucer1 and his advising ,hector to avoid an encounter with ,agamemnon#cje4 #cje ,il4 xi4 #edd4 viii4 #acc-f4 xv4 #dfc4 xi4 #aha-id4 ,jupiter as ,lord of ,air4 ,but the position assigned to him in the mythology of ,olympus1 which provides him with the second of his characters1 is chosen with great skill4 ,although at first sight ,sea may appear a more substantive and awful power than ,air1 and ,earth a more solid and worthy foundation of dominion than either1 yet consideration must readily show1 that as the king of the atmosphere1 ,jupiter is possessed of far more prompt1 effective1 and above all1 universal means of acting upon mankind1 than he would have been had the lottery been so arranged as to give him either of those other provinces4 ,the tradition of a ,trinity in the ,godhead evidently leaves its traces on the ,greek mythology in the curious fable of the three ,kronid brothers4 ,for the lottery of the universe1 in which they draw on equal terms1 is not founded upon1 but is at variance with1 ,greek ideas4 ,those ideas embodied the system1 more or less defined1 of primogeniture3 and therefore1 had the ,olympian system been wholly inventive1 the very least it could have assigned to ,jupiter would have been a priority of choice among the different portions of the universe4 ,this lottery is evidently founded upon the idea of an essential equality in those who draw4 ,happily the result is such as to coincide with the order of natural precedence3 and the value and weight of the three charges is graduated according to the standing of the brothers1 though their abstract equality is so rigidly asserted by ,neptune1 who declares himself 7,il4 xv4 #bji74 ,the exclusion of ,earth from the lottery is singular3 but it appears to have a double justification4 ,in the first place1 we must bear in mind the regularity of its operations1 combined with the fact that it sensibly acts on nothing1 but is passive under other agencies1 such as those of ,sun1 ,wind1 and ,sea4 ,this would have rendered the conception of it as a deity comparatively feeble in the ,greek mind4 ,in the second place1 it is probable that when the ,olympian mythology took its shape1 that province was preoccupied3 that the ,eastern religions1 observing its jointly passive and productive character1 had personified it as feminine4 ,but even this did not content the ,greek imagination4 ,the conception of the bride of the chief deity was disengaged from brute matter1 and uplifted into a divinity having for its office the care and government of a civilized and associated people4 ,the ,homeric ,juno may almost be defined as the goddess of ,greece4 ,there rose up in her place1 like a low mist of evening1 from the ground1 the comparatively obscure ,homeric 1 who has no life or function1 except in connection with the idea of vengeance to be executed upon the wicked2 and this she probably derives from the belief1 that the rebel spirits were punished in the subterranean prisons1 of which she was as it were1 by physical laws1 the necessary keeper4 ,as ,lord of the air1 ,jupiter came to be endowed with a multitude of active powers the most palpable1 and the most replete with at least outward influence for man4 ,the years are his years1 the thunder and lightning his thunder and lightning1 the rain his rain2 the rivers1 or the most illustrious among them1 the 1 are his3 the clouds and tempests obey his compelling1 the winds blow at his command4 ,the hail and snow come from him#cjf3 he impels the falling star#cjg1 and1 when he desires a more effective weapon or a more solemn lesson than usual1 he launches the scathing thunderbolt#cjh4 ,all signs and portents whatever1 that appear in air1 belong primarily to him2 as does the genial sign of the rainbow1 #cjf ,il4 x4 #e4 #cjg ,il4 xiii4 #bdb4 #cjh ,od4 xii4 #dae-ag4 xxiv4 #eci4 1 #cji4 #cji ,il4 xi4 #bg4 ,and when these or any of them are used by other deities1 it is only by such as have a peculiar relationship1 either traditive or mythological1 to him4 ,but as the tradition of the lottery adorns and strengthens1 so in another view it circumscribes him4 ,his sway is unknown in the regions of the dead1 where his brother holds the sceptre1 as the #caj4 ,accordingly1 when ,hercules is sent to fetch ,cerberus1 ,jupiter obtains for him the aid of ,minerva4 ,the more traditive deity escapes the circumscriptions of the less2 the daughter eclipses the sire4 #caj ,il4 ix4 #deg4 ,much of the higher power exerted by ,juno is in fact her use of the atmospheric prerogatives of her husband4 ,jupiter as ,head of ,olympus4 ,but the most considerable and characteristic manifestation of the ,homeric ,jupiter is that1 in which he appears as ,head of the ,olympian ,family and ,polity4 ,of this let us now consider so much1 as is not more immediately connected with the subject of the divine ,polity4 ,he is carefully marked out as supreme in the mythological prerogatives1 which are for ,olympus as the ,crown and ,sword of ,state on ,earth4 ,he is the original owner of the gis4 ,to him the gods rise up at their meetings#caa4 ,he is not tied to swear by ,styx#cab1 and invokes no infernal power to be the sanction of his word1 but condescends only to use the symbol of a nod4 #caa ,il4 i4 #ecc4 #cab ,il4 i4 #ebd-cj4 ,see however xix4 #aac4 ,of omnipotence1 as we understand the word1 it would not appear that ,homer had any idea4 ,he had however the idea of a being superior in force to all other gods separately1 or perhaps even when combined4 ,this being was ,jupiter4 ,but the conception in his mind was a wavering one1 so that1 though it was present to him1 we cannot say that he embraced it as a truth4 ,if by some parts of the poems it is supported1 by others it is brought into question or overthrown4 ,as respects ,briareus1 who was not a god1 his superiority in mere force to ,jupiter is expressly declared 7,il4 i4 #djd74 ,in the ,assembly of the ,eighth ,book1 ,jupiter loudly proclaims his personal superiority in strength to all the other gods and goddesses combined2 and boasts that1 while by a golden chain they could not unitedly drag him down to earth1 he could drag them all1 with earth and sea to boot behind them4 ,again1 when in the same ,book ,juno#cac suggests to ,neptune the plan of a combination among all the ,hellenizing gods to restrain ,jupiter1 and to assist the ,greeks in despite of him1 ,neptune replies that he at least will have nothing to say to such a proceeding1 for ,jupiter is far too strong#cad4 #cac viii4 #bja4 #cad ,il4 i4 #bji-aa4 ,but in the ,first ,book we learn that a rebellion headed by ,juno1 ,neptune1 and ,minerva1 was too much for him4 ,it is1 however1 clear that he had not actually been put in chains by these deities2 but they were about to do it1 when ,briareus came to the rescue1 and by his mere appearance reestablished ,jupiter in secure supremacy4 ,this legend has a mark of antiquity in the fact that ,briareus has two names2 he is known as ,briareus among the gods1 and as gon among all mankind#cae4 #cae ,il4 i4 #cig-dje4 ,when1 in the ,fifteenth ,book1 ,jupiter apprehends a stubborn resistance from ,neptune1 and the necessity of his personally undertaking the execution of his own commands1 he is far from easy4 ,with the aid of ,juno1 his brother can1 he thinks1 easily be managed#caf4 ,when he finds ,neptune has retired1 he frankly owns it is much better for them both2 as to have put him down by force#cag would have been a tough business 7 ' 74 #caf ,il4 xv4 #di-eb4 #cag ,il4 xv4 #bbh4 ,juno and ,minerva1 single or combined1 he threatens freely1 and the first of these he had once severely punished3 but ,neptune was stronger1 though in mind inferior2 and we have no direct evidence that he was present in the ,assembly of the ,eighth ,book1 when ,jupiter bragged of his being stronger than them all together4 ,neither he nor ,juno obeyed the command of ,jupiter1 to observe neutrality until his purpose of glorifying ,hector should have been accomplished4 ,on the whole1 the superiority of ,jupiter to any one god is clear1 though not immeasurable4 ,his superiority to the whole is doubtful4 ,the point in his favour is1 that he never was actually coerced4 ,the point against him is1 that his will seems to give place1 and this too on very great occasions1 to the sentiments of the weightiest part of the ,olympian ,court4 ,in his government of the other gods1 the moral element disappears4 ,he does not appeal to their sense of right1 nor profess to be ruled in his own proceedings towards them by impartial justice4 ,on the contrary1 he desires the wounded ,mars not to sit whining by his side2 and1 before ordering ,paieon to heal his hurts1 makes a distinct declaration1 that had he been the son of any deity other than himself1 he should have been ejected from heaven into a lower place1 apparently meaning the dark and dismal ,tartarus1 on account of his love of quarrels4 ,a profound attachment to ease and self-enjoyment lies at the root of his character4 ,he never disturbs the established order2 and he is averse to movement and innovation1 come from whence it may4 ,the spirit of ,juno#cah1 so restless on behalf of ,greece1 is vexatious to him in the highest degree3 and his love of ,troy1 if it has reference to any thing beyond liberality in sacrifices and the descent of ,dardanus1 may perhaps be referred to its representing the stereotyped form of society4 ,it is probably on account of this indolence of temperament that1 when he has brought ,hector and the ,trojans as far as the ,ships1 he feels he has had enough for the moment of the spectacle of blood2 and accordingly he turns his eyes over ,thrace and the country of the ,mysians1 the ,hippemolgians1 and the righteous and therefore presumably peaceful ,abii#cai4 ,wearied with the perpetual din1 he finds satisfaction in a change of prospect2 but at another time1 refreshed as we may suppose1 he coolly states that he shall enjoy a sight of the battle3 #cah ,il4 v4 #hib4 #cai ,il4 xiii4 #a-f4 ' #cbj4 #cbj ,il4 xx4 #bc4 ,his political spirit4 ,the political element of ,jupiter's character1 reflected more narrowly and turbulently in ,juno1 is1 however1 that which deserves the greatest attention4 ,it was so deeply implanted in him1 that it entered into his personal conduct even when he was not in immediate contact with the ,olympian body4 ,for example1 in the ,sixteenth ,iliad1 ,jupiter debates with himself whether he shall save ,sarpedon from death by the hand of ,patroclus4 ,juno1 to whom he had made a sort of appeal for approval1 protests according to the ,olympian formula1 ' 4 ,she suggests in preference a prompt rescue and disposal of the dead body4 ,jupiter is not here in actual contact with any one but ,juno4 ,she1 however1 menaces him with the spleen of the ,immortals1 and he1 averse to trouble1 and fearful of shaking his own seat1 acquiesces1 though at the cost of the utmost pain#cba4 #cba ,il4 xvi4 #dca-fa4 ,over and above the mere insignia of sovereignty1 ,jupiter holds some of his best prerogatives1 both terrestrial and ,olympian1 in the capacity of head of the community of ,immortals4 ,hence it is that he is the steward of sovereignty1 and the champion of social rights4 ,all princes and rulers hold from him1 and administer justice under his authority4 ,he gave their sceptre to the family of ,pelops3 even the heralds are his agents1 1 and act in his name4 ,on ,olympus it falls to him in this capacity1 not only to conduct and superintend the proceedings of the whole body of ,immortals1 as a body1 but to exercise a very large influence over their relations individually with men1 and with one another4 ,the ,sun carries to ,jupiter in full court1 as head of the body1 his complaint against the crew of ,ulysses1 and ,jupiter at once undertakes to avenge it#cbb4 ,juno1 again1 appeals to him on the conduct of ,mars#cbc1 and he permits her to let loose ,minerva on him4 ,mars1 when wounded1 goes to ,jupiter with his complaint#cbd1 and ,diana also1 when requested1 makes him privy to hers1 after she has taken her seat upon his knee#cbe4 ,when any two deities are in any manner at issue or in collision1 or when any of the more dependent gods have a quarrel with men1 then ,jupiter finds his place as the natural arbiter1 and from this source he obtains great support for his power4 ,the surest of all its guarantees is indeed found in the skill with which1 by making the will of ,olympus his own1 he makes his own will irresistible4 #cbb ,od4 xii4 #cgg4 #cbc ,il4 v4 #gec4 #cbd ,il4 v4 #hgb4 #cbe ,il4 xxi4 #eje4 ,thus then the ,jupiter of ,homer has varied elements of grandeur1 traditional1 physical1 and political4 ,something also accrues to him by the sheer necessity of the metaphysical order4 ,wherever the mind demands a personal origin or cause1 he alone can offer to supply its want4 ,he still continues to represent1 in a certain degree1 the principle of unity2 and he derives strength from that principle4 ,nor does the solid might of ,destiny interfere with his claims to the same extent in ,homer1 as it does in the later ,greek poetry4 ,thus equipped with august prerogatives1 the ,jupiter of ,homer is evidently1 to the popular view1 the most sublime object in the ,olympian mythology4 ,his breadth and grandeur of dimension commended him to the admiring favour of the ,greek artist1 who made it his supreme effort to embody the conception of the ,sovereign of ,olympus3 and we may judge of his elevation in the public apprehension over all other deities1 by the greater sublimity of the material forms1 in which the idea of his divinity has been enshrined4 ,but the figure of ,jupiter1 as it is the principal1 so it is also the most anomalous1 in the whole ,homeric assemblage4 ,although he is1 and even because he is1 the depository of so many among the most primitive and venerable ideas1 he becomes also the butt alike of the infirmity1 and the wantonness1 and insolence of human thought1 in the alterative operations which it continually prosecutes upon the ancient and pure idea of ,godhead4 ,hence not only in his character1 as in other cases1 does the inventive power everywhere sap1 corrode1 invade1 and curtail the ancient traditionary conception of divine truths1 but it is in him that we find both systems culminating at once1 both exhibiting in him1 raised to the highest power1 their separate and discordant characteristics4 ,from one point of view ,jupiter is the most sublime of all the deities of ,homer1 because he is the first personal source and origin of life1 the father of gods and men1 the supreme manifestation of ,power and knowledge1 the principal1 though imperfect living representation of a ,providence and ,governor of the world4 ,regarded from another point of view1 as we see disclosed the large intrusion of the human and carnal element into the ethereal sphere1 the character of ,jupiter becomes the most repulsive in the whole circle of ,olympian life#cbf4 ,the emancipation from truth1 the self-abandonment to gross passion1 the constant breach of the laws he administers1 are more conspicuous in the chief god than in any of the subordinate gods1 and are more offensive in proportion to the majesty with which they are unnaturally associated4 #cbf ,il4 ii4 #b1 #ab-ae4 xiv4 #bid-f1 et alibi4 ,jupiter as the type of animalism4 ,the ungovernable self-indulgence1 which even so early as in the time of ,homer has begun to taint through and through the whole human conception of the ,immortals1 rises to its climax1 as was to be expected1 in ,jupiter4 ,the idea of the ,supreme1 or at least by far the ,first being of the universe1 had not yet1 indeed1 descended so low as it did in after-times1 when it was even associated with lusts contrary to nature4 ,of these there is no trace in ,homer4 ,but the law which governs the relation of sex1 as it exists among men1 was utterly relaxed and disorganized for him4 ,in the first place1 monogamy1 established for all ,greeks1 for the chief god of ,greece became polygamy2 and in the second1 marriage was no bar against incessant adultery4 ,a certain distinction between the wives1 and the mere paramours1 of ,jupiter is clearly traceable in ,homer4 ,latona1 for instance1 is a wife1 an of ,jupiter4 ,mercury says of her#cbg-- #cbg ,od4 xi4 #ehj4 ,il4 xxi4 #dih4 ' 4 ,but the intrigues with the wife of ,ixion1 or with the daughter of ,phnix1 who bore to him the great ,minos1 mark mere adultery1 and involve no kind of permanent relation between ,jupiter and this class of the mothers of his children4 ,hence we do not find any such person possessed of an interest in him1 like that which led him to take part in the vengeance inflicted on ,niobe and her family by the children of ,latona#cbh4 ,again1 as he is not a personal providence1 and does not take charge of the destiny or guide the conduct of individuals1 nor ever touches the depths of human nature1 so he has at once the largest share of the passions and the smallest stock of the sympathies of man4 #cbh ,il4 xxiv4 #faa4 ,from an intermediate point between the grandeur and the vileness of ,jupiter1 we may observe how unequal the human mind had already proved to sustain its own idea4 ,he ought to be supreme in knowledge2 but he is thrice deluded by the cunning of ,juno#cbi1 who not only outwits him1 but sends ,iris down to earth without his knowledge1 just as ,neptune moves 77 on the plain of ,troy unseen by him#ccj4 ,he ought to be supreme in force1 and he boasts that he could drag with ease all the deities of ,olympus1 whom he addressed1 but he is1 notwithstanding1 on the point of being overpowered by a combination of inferior deities1 when he is saved by the timely arrival of ,briareus with the hundred hands4 ,his faculty of vision does not seem to be limited by space when he chooses to employ it#cca1 but it is subject to interruption1 both voluntary and involuntary1 from sleep#ccb4 #cbi ,il4 xiv4 xix4 #ig4 xviii4 #afh4 #ccj ,il4 xiii4 #ceb1 #f4 #cca ,il4 xiii4 #a-g4 #ccb ,il4 i4 #faa4 xiv4 #ceb4 ,although there is great scenic grandeur in the part which he plays in the ,iliad1 in the ,odyssey he is until nearly the close practically a mute1 and does little more than assent to the plans and representations of ,minerva4 ,in the action1 however1 of the ,iliad1 the only glimpse of a personal attachment is to ,hector2 and this is founded simply on the abundance of his sacrifices4 ,jupiter is the great propounder of the animal view of that subject3 and accordingly in the ,odyssey#ccc1 ,minerva pleads the case of ,ulysses very much on this ground before ,jupiter1 though1 in all her intercourse with that chief1 there is no sign of her valuing the offerings on her own account4 ,in every point of sensual susceptibility1 ,jupiter leads the way for the ,immortals4 #ccc ,od4 i4 #ff4 ,qualified by his parental instincts4 ,in ,jupiter1 as in the almost brutal ,mars1 we find remaining that relic of personal virtue which depends least upon reflection1 and flows most from instinct1 namely1 parental affection4 ,mars is wrought up to fury by learning the death of his son ,ascalaphus2 and ,jupiter1 after much painful rumination on consenting to the fall of ,sarpedon1 sheds gouts of blood over the dearest of his children#ccd4 ,this is singularly grand as poetry1 and far superior to the sheer mania of ,mars4 ,indeed it is evident that ,homer exerted himself to the utmost in adorning this majestic figure1 as a mere figure1 with the richest treasures of his imagination4 #ccd ,il4 xvi4 #deh4 ,when1 in the ,twenty-,first ,iliad1 the great battle of the gods begins1 ,jupiter has no part to take4 ,he sits aloft in his independent security1 while they contend together1 even as he was afterwards supposed to keep aloof from trouble and responsibility for human affairs4 ,the same sentiment appears in the determination of ,neptune and ,apollo not to quarrel on account of mortals4 ,but in the case of ,jupiter1 the selfish principle comes out with greater force3 he is not merely indifferent1 but he absolutely rejoices in the strife of the ,immortals3 1 ' 4 ,upon the whole it is certainly the ,jupiter of ,homer in whom1 of all his greater gods1 notwithstanding his abstract attributes1 we see1 first1 the most complete surrender of personal morality and self-government to mere appetite2 secondly1 the most thoroughly selfish groundwork of character3 the germ1 and in no small degree the development1 of what was afterwards to afford to speculation the materials for the ,epicurean theory respecting the divine nature1 as it is set forth in the verse of ,lucretius1 or in the arguments of the ,ciceronian ,cotta4 ,juno4 ,the ,juno of ,homer4 ,the ,juno of the ,iliad is by far the most conspicuous and splendid1 as she is also the most evidently national1 product of the inventive power to be found in the entire circle of the theo-mythology4 ,not that ,greek invention created her out of nothing4 ,on the contrary1 she represented abundant prototypes in the mythologies of the ,east4 ,her ,greek name1 1 is1 ,i apprehend1 a form of 1 the earth#cce2 and in her first form she probably represented one of its oriental impersonations4 ,but they all had to pass through the crucible1 and they came out in a form as purely ,hellenic as if it had been absolutely original4 #cce ,welsford on the ,english ,language1 p4 #afe4 ,it is plain from the nature of the case1 that she can have had no place in primitive tradition4 ,but it may be well before discussing her mythological origin1 her dignity and positive functions1 to refer to certain indications from which we may make sure that ,homer has handled the character in the mode observed by him for deities of invention only4 ,there is1 then1 about ,juno a liability to passion1 and a want of moral elevation1 which are among the certain marks of mythological origin4 ,jupiter declares his belief that1 if she could1 she would eat the ,trojans2 nor does she resent the imputation#ccf4 ,when ,vulcan is born1 angry at the mean appearance and lameness of the infant1 she pitches him down into the sea#ccg4 ,these representations are entirely at variance with the constant dignity and self-command1 which mark the deportment of the great traditive deities4 ,her whole activity in the ,iliad is not merely energetic1 but in the highest degree passionate and ardent4 #ccf ,il4 iv4 #cd-f4 #ccg ,il4 xviii4 #cie-i4 ,so again1 taking into consideration the comparative purity attaching to her sex1 which we see so fully maintained in ,diana1 her resort to the use of sensual passion1 in ,il4 xiv41 even though only as an instrument for an end1 is a mark that the character is1 in its basis1 mythological4 ,nor do we anywhere find ascribed to her ethical1 or what may be called theistic sentiments3 pure power and policy are her delight2 and she nowhere enters individually within the line of the moral and ,providential order at all1 nor takes any share in superintending it#cch4 #cch ,hence the are in conflict with her in ,il4 xix4 #dah4 ,on this very curious subject see inf4 sect4 iv4 ,in the ,iliad1 of which the martial movement is appropriate to her1 and where the ,greek nationality is placed in sharp contrast with a foreign one1 she plays a great part1 is ever alert and at work1 and contributes mainly to the progress of the action4 ,but in the ,odyssey1 a poem more simply theistic and ethical1 and without any opposition of nationalities1 she has no share in the action1 and may be said practically to disappear from view4 ,to appreciate the force of this circumstance1 we must contrast it with ,homer's treatment of another deity1 inferior to her in the ,olympian community4 ,the three greatest deities1 among those who embody much of primitive tradition1 are ,jupiter1 ,minerva1 and ,apollo4 ,of these1 ,jupiter1 in the character of ,providence1 has everywhere a place ready made for him2 ,minerva1 as the guide and protectress of ,ulysses1 has ample opportunities for her activity2 but it is not so with ,apollo3 and in consequence ,homer has been careful to supply in the poem points of contact with him1 by the introduction of ,theoclymenus1 and of the grand imagery of the second sight1 which is his gift2 by fixing the critical day at the new moon1 which was sacred to him1 and by causing the crisis to turn upon the bow1 his famous weapon3 as though these three1 ,jupiter1 ,minerva1 and ,apollo1 were the universal1 permanent1 and indispensable deities2 but the others occasional1 and to be used according to circumstances4 ,juno has no such place or office provided for her in the ,odyssey1 as they have4 ,there is yet another mark adhering to ,juno1 which clearly separates between her and the ,homeric deities of strongly marked traditional character3 namely1 that she was not exempt from the touch of defeat and dishonour4 ,for1 in the course of her long feud with ,hercules1 that hero wounded her with an arrow in the left breast1 and caused her to suffer desperate pain#cci4 ,again1 she was ignominiously punished by ,jupiter2 who suspended her with her hands in chains1 and with anvils hanging from her feet#cdj4 #cci ,il4 v4 #cib4 #cdj ,il4 xv4 #ah-ba4 ,her intense nationality4 ,her strong and profound ,greek nationality has obtained for her the name of ,argeian ,juno4 ,the fervour of this nationality is most signally exemplified in the passage where ,jupiter tells her1 that she regards the ,greeks as her children#cda2 and again1 where she lets us know that it was she#cdb who collected the armament against ,troy4 ,she conducts ,agamemnon the head of the ,greek nation safely on the sea#cdc2 and carries ,jason through the #cdd4 ,this is the vivifying idea of her whole character1 and fills it with energy1 vigilance1 determination1 and perseverance4 ,her hatred of ,hercules cannot have been owing to conjugal jealousy1 with which she is not troubled in ,homer1 for ,jupiter recites his conquests in addressing her on ,ida2 indeed1 had she been liable to this emotion1 it must1 from the frequent recurrence of its occasions1 have supplied the main thread of her feeling and action4 ,it was her identification in soul with the ,perseid dynasty1 the legitimate representative1 in its own day1 of the ,hellenic race1 and in occupation of its sovereign seat1 that made her filch1 on behalf of ,eurystheus1 the effect of the promise intended by ,jupiter for ,hercules1 and that engaged her afterwards in a constant struggle to bear down that elastic hero1 whose high personal gifts still threatened to eclipse his royal relative and competitor4 ,so again1 unlike ,minerva#cde1 even while seeking to operate through ,trojans1 she studiously avoids contact with them4 ,minerva is sent as agent to ,pandarus#cdf2 but this is on the suggestion of ,juno4 ,in truth1 this intensely national stamp localizes the divinity of ,juno1 and1 being counteracted by no other sign1 fixes on her the note both of invention1 and of ,greek invention4 #cda ,il4 xviii4 #ceh1 #i4 #cdb ,il4 iv4 #bd4 #cdc ,od4 iv4 #eac4 #cdd ,od4 xii4 #gb4 #cde ,vid4 ,il4 iv4 #id4 #cdf ,il4 iv4 #fd4 ,with respect now to her dignity and positive functions1 these are of a very high order4 ,the ,olympian gods rise from their seats to greet her 7as they do to ,jupiter7 when she comes among them#cdg4 #cdg ,il4 xv4 #he4 ,she acts immediately upon the thoughts of men3 as when1 at the outset of the ,iliad1 she prompts ,achilles to call the first ,greek assembly2 #cdh4 ,on various occasions1 she suggests action to ,minerva1 and it follows#cdi3 in the ,first ,book1 ,juno is even said to send her1 though by another arrangement the ,poet has provided against attaching inferiority to that goddess#cej4 ,it may be that in her seeming to employ ,minerva1 as in so many of her highest functions1 she is reflecting one of the high prerogatives of ,jupiter4 ,certain it is that by the side of her ceaseless and passionate activity1 even ,minerva appears1 except on the battle-field1 to play1 in the ,iliad1 a part secondary to hers4 ,she was so powerful#cea1 not only as to form one of the great trine rebellion against ,jupiter1 which so nearly dethroned him1 but as to make him feel greatly relieved and rejoiced1 in his differences with ,neptune1 when she promises to side with him#ceb3 #8with your aid1' so thinks ,jupiter1 #8he will easily be kept in order1 and will have to act as we could wish4' ,she is certainly the most bold1 untiring1 zealous1 and effective assistant to the ,greeks3 while she never bates a hair of her wrath1 in compassion or otherwise1 towards any ,trojan4 #cdh ,il4 i4 #ee4 ,comp4 viii4 #bah4 #cdi ,il4 ii4 #aef4 v4 #gaa4 viii4 #cca4 #cej ,vid4 supr4 p4 #ff4 #cea ,il4 i4 #aie4 #ceb ,il4 xv4 #di-eb4 ,her mythological functions4 ,like ,neptune and others1 she assumes the human form#cec1 and evokes a cloud of vapour this way or that3 but she does much more4 ,her power displays itself in various forms1 both over deities1 and over animate and inanimate nature4 ,in some of these particularly1 her proceedings seem to be a reflected image of her husband's4 ,iris#ced is not only his messenger1 but her's4 ,she not only orders the ,winds1 but she sends the ,sun to his setting#cee1 in spite of his reluctance4 ,when1 in her indignation at the boast of ,hector1 she rocks on her throne1 she shakes ,olympus#cef4 ,she endows the deathless horses of ,achilles with a voice#ceg4 ,and conjoined with ,minerva1 she thunders in honour of ,agamemnon when just armed4 ,except the case of the horse1 all these appear to be the reflected uses of the power of ,jupiter as god of air4 #cec ,il4 v4 #ghd-ib4 #ced ,il4 xviii4 #afh4 #cee ,ibid4 #bci4 #cef ,il4 viii4 #aic4 #ceg ,il4 xix4 #djg4 ,we find from the speech of ,phnix1 that with ,minerva she can confer valour#ceh4 ,in a curious passage of the ,odyssey1 ,homer tells us how the daughters of ,pandarus were supplied by various goddesses with various qualities and gifts4 ,diana gave them size1 ,juno gave them 4 ,we should rather have expected the last to come from ,minerva3 but she endowed them with or industrial skill1 so that her dignity has been in another way provided for4 ,but if the lines are genuine1 then in the capacity of ,juno to confer the gift of or prudence1 we see a point of contact between her powerful but more limited1 and ,minerva's larger character#cei4 #ceh ,il4 ix4 #bed4 #cei ,od4 xx4 #gj-b4 ,the full idea of her mind is in fact contained in the union of great astuteness with her self-command1 force1 and courage3 which1 in effect1 makes it the reflection of the genius of the ,greeks when deprived of its moral element3 and places it in very near correspondence with that of the ,phnicians1 who are like ,greeks1 somewhat seriously maimed in that one great department4 ,this full idea is exhibited on two great occasions4 ,once when she outwits ,jupiter1 by fastening him with an oath to his promise1 and then1 hastening one birth1 and by her command over the ,eilithui retarding another1 proceeds to make ,eurystheus the recipient of what ,jupiter had intended for another less remote descendant of his own4 ,again1 in the ,fourteenth ,iliad1 by a daring combination1 she hoaxes ,venus to obtain her capital charm1 induces ,sleep by a bribe to undertake an almost desperate enterprise1 and then1 though on account of his sentiments towards ,troy she felt disgust 7,il4 xiv4 #aeh7 as she looked upon ,jupiter1 enslaves him for the time through a passion of which she is not herself the slave1 but which she uses as her instrument for a great end of policy4 ,she is1 in short1 a great1 fervid1 unscrupulous1 and most able ,greek patriot1 exhibiting little of divine ingredients1 but gifted with a marked and powerful human individuality4 ,it may be worth while to observe in passing1 an indication as to the limited powers of locomotion which ,homer ascribed to his deities4 ,the horses of ,juno1 when she drives1 cover at each step a space as great as the human eye can command looking along the sea4 ,but when she has the two operations to perform on the same day1 one upon the mother of ,eurystheus1 and the other on the mother of ,hercules1 she attends to the first in her own person1 and apparently manages the other by command given to the ,eilithui 7,il4 xix4 #aai74 ,if so1 then she was evidently in the ,poet's mind subject to the laws of space and corporal presence3 and his figure of the horse's spring was one on which he would not rely for the management of an important piece of business4 ,there are three places1 and three only1 in the poems1 which could connect ,juno with the ,trojans4 ,one is the ,judgment of ,paris 7,il4 xxiv4 #bi74 ,the others are no more than verbal only4 ,hector swears by ,jupiter 8the loud thundering husband of ,here#cfj40 ,and again1 he wishes he had as certainly ,jupiter for his father1 and ,juno for his mother#cfa1 as he is certain that the day will bring disaster to the ,greeks4 ,we cannot1 then1 say that she was absolutely unknown to the ,trojans in her ,hellenic form1 while they may have been more familiar with her eastern prototypes#cfb4 ,it does not1 however1 follow1 that she was a deity of established worship among them4 ,there is no notice of any institution or act of religion on the one side1 or of care on the other1 between her and any member of their race4 ,in the mention of her among the ,trojans1 we may perhaps have an instance of the very common tendency of the heathen nations to adopt1 by sympathy as it were1 deities from one another2 independently of all positive causes1 such as migration1 or ethnical or political connection4 #cfj ,il4 x4 #cbi4 #cfa ,il4 xiii4 #hbg4 #cfb ,see ,il4 iii4 #ajd4 ,her mythological origin4 ,the origin of ,juno1 which would thus on many grounds appear to have been ,hellenic1 appears to be referable to the principle1 which ,i have called conomy1 and under which the relations of deities were thrown into the known forms of the human family4 ,this process1 according to the symmetrical and logical turn of the ,greek mind1 began when it was needed for its purpose1 and stopped when it had done its work4 ,gods1 that were to generate or rear other gods1 were coupled2 and partners were supplied by simple reflection of the character of the male1 where there was no ,idea or ,power ready for impersonation that would serve the turn4 ,thus1 1 ,earth or ,matter1 found a suitable mate for 1 or ,time4 ,but to make a match for ,oceanus1 his own mere reflected image1 or feminine1 was called into being under the name of ,tethys4 ,such was1 but only after the time of ,homer1 ,amphitrite for ,neptune1 and ,proserpine for ,hades4 ,in ,homer the latter is more1 and the former less than this4 ,it was by nothing less than an entire metamorphosis1 that the ,greek ,juno was educed from1 or substituted for1 some old deification of the ,earth4 ,she is much more a creation than an adaptation4 ,what she really represents in ,olympus1 is supernatural wifehood2 of which the common mark is1 the want of positive and distinct attributes in the goddess4 ,with this may be combined a negative sign not less pregnant with evidence2 namely1 the derivation and secondary handling of the prerogatives of the husband4 ,the case of ,juno is clear and strong under both heads4 ,her grandeur arises from her being clothed in the reflected rays of her husband's supremacy1 like ,achilles in the flash of the gis4 ,but positive divine function she has none whatever1 except the slender one of presiding over maternity by her own agency1 and by that of her figurative daughters1 the ,eilithui4 ,she is1 when we contemplate her critically1 the goddess of motherhood and of nothing else4 ,and in truth1 as the fire made ,vulcan1 and war made ,mars1 her mythological children1 so motherhood made ,juno1 and is her type in actual nature4 ,she became a goddess1 to give effect to the principle of conomy1 to bring the children of ,jupiter into the world1 to enable man1 in short1 to construct that ,olympian order1 which he was to worship4 ,having been thus conceived1 she assumed high powers and dignities in right of her husband1 whose sister she was fabled to be1 upon becoming also his wife1 because either logical instinct1 or the ancient traditions of our race rendered it a necessity for the ,greeks to derive the divine1 as well as the human1 family from a single pair4 ,however strictly ,hellenic may have been the position of ,juno1 we must reckon her as the sister of ,jupiter to have been worshipped1 in ,homer's time1 from beyond the memory of man4 ,for she carries upon her no token1 which can entitle us to assign to her a recent origin4 ,recent1 ,i mean1 in her ,hellenic form3 apart from the fact that she was not conceived by the ,greeks1 so to speak1 out of nothing2 and that she1 in common with many other deities1 represents the ,greek remodelling1 in this case peculiarly searching and complete1 of eastern traditions4 ,the representation in theology of the female principle was eastern1 and1 as we have seen1 even ,jewish4 ,had ,juno been simply adopted1 she would probably have been an elemental power1 corresponding with ,earth in the visible creation4 ,in lieu of this she became ,queen of ,olympus1 and1 in relation to men1 goddess of ,greece4 ,earth remains1 in ,homer1 almost unvivified in consequence4 ,but it may have been on account of this affinity1 as well as of her relation to ,jupiter1 that she has been so liberally endowed with power over nature4 ,neptune4 ,the ,neptune of ,homer4 ,neptune is one of three sons of and 1 and comes next to ,jupiter in order of birth4 ,in the ,fifteenth ,iliad he claims an equality of rank1 and avers that the distribution of sovereignties among the three brothers was made by lot4 ,the ,sea is his1 the ,shades are subject to ,aides1 ,jupiter has the ,heaven and ,air2 ,earth and ,olympus are common to them all4 ,wherefore1 says ,neptune1 ,i am no mere satellite of ,jupiter3 great as he is1 let him rest content with his own share2 and if he wants somebody to command1 let him command his own sons and daughters4 ,perhaps there may here be conveyed a taunt at ,jupiter with respect to the independent and adverse policy of ,minerva4 ,this very curious speech is delivered by ,neptune in reply to the command of ,jupiter1 that he should leave the field of battle before ,troy1 which was backed by threats4 ,iris1 the messenger1 who hears him1 in her reply founds the superiority of ,jupiter on his seniority only4 ,to this ,neptune yields3 but reserves his right of resentment if ,jupiter should spare ,troy#cfc4 ,nor does ,jupiter send down ,apollo to encourage the ,trojans1 until ,neptune has actually retired3 he then expresses great satisfaction at the withdrawal of ,neptune without a battle between them1 which would have been heard and felt in ,tartarus2 possibly implying that ,neptune would have been hurled into it#cfd1 but referring distinctly to the certain difficulty of the affair2 #cfc ,il4 xv4 #agd-bag4 #cfd ,vid4 ,il4 viii4 #ac4 ' #cfe4 #cfe ,il4 xv4 #bbj-ce4 ,we have now clearly enough before us the very singular combination of ideas that entered into the conception of the ,homeric ,neptune1 and we may pronounce1 with tolerable confidence1 upon the manner in which each one of them acquired its place there4 ,they are these3 #a4 ,as one of the trine brotherhood1 who are jointly possessed of the highest power over the regions of creation1 he is part-representative of the primeval tradition respecting the ,divine ,nature and ,persons4 #b4 ,as god of the ,sea1 he provides an impersonation to take charge of one of the great domains of external nature4 #c4 ,as the eldest and strongest1 next to ,jupiter1 of the ,immortal family1 he represents the nucleus of rivalry and material1 or main-force1 opposition to the head of the ,olympian family4 ,his traits chiefly mythological4 ,with respect to the first1 the proposition itself seems to contain nearly all that can be said to belong to ,neptune in right of primitive tradition1 except indeed as to certain stray relics4 ,one of these seems to hang about him1 in the form of an extraordinary respect paid to him by the children of ,jupiter4 ,apollo is restrained by this feeling 77 from coming to blows with him#cff3 a similar sentiment restrains ,minerva1 not only from appearing to ,ulysses in her own ,phacian #cfg1 but even1 as she says1 from assisting him at all during his previous adventures#cfh4 ,but this is all4 ,the prerogatives which are so conspicuous in ,apollo and ,minerva1 and which establish their origin as something set higher than the lust of pure human invention1 are but rarely and slightly discernible in ,neptune4 ,in simple strength he stands with ,homer next to ,jupiter1 for to no other deity would ,jupiter have paid the compliment of declaring it a serious matter to coerce him4 ,but there is no sign of intellectual or moral elevation about him4 ,of the former we may judge from his speeches2 for the speeches of gods are in ,homer nearly as characteristic as those of heroes4 ,as to the latter1 his numerous human children show that he did not rise above the mythological standard2 and his implacable resentment against ,ulysses was occasioned by a retribution that the monster ,polyphemus had received1 not only just in itself1 but even relatively slight4 #cff ,il4 xxi4 #dfh4 #cfg ,od4 vi4 #cbi4 #cfh ,od4 xiii4 #cda4 ,it does not appear that prayer is addressed to him except in connection with particular places1 or in virtue of special titles2 as when the ,neleids1 his descendants1 offer sacrifice to him on the ,pylian shore#cfi1 or the ,phacians#cgj seek to avert threatened disaster1 or when ,polyphemus his son roars to him for help#cga4 ,the sacrifices to him have apparently a local character3 at ,onchestus is his #cgb1 and ,juno appeals to him in the name of the offerings made to him by the ,greeks at ,helice and g#cgc4 ,the ,envoys of the ,ninth ,iliad pray to him for the success of their enterprise2 but it is while their mission is leading them along the sea-beach#cgd4 ,he can assume the form of a man2 can carry off his friends in vapour1 or lift them through the air#cge2 can inspire fire and vigour into heroes1 yet this is done only through a sensible medium1 namely1 by a stroke of his staff#cgf4 ,he blunts1 too1 the point of an hostile spear#cgg4 ,but none of these operations are of the highest order of power4 ,and when ,polyphemus faintly expresses the idea that ,neptune can restore his eye1 7which however he does not ask in prayer17 ,ulysses taunts him in reply with it as an undoubted certainty1 that the god can do no such thing4 ,with this we may contrast the remarkable bodily changes operated by ,minerva upon ,ulysses3 they do not indeed involve the precise point of restoring a destroyed member2 but they are far beyond anything which ,homer has ascribed to his ,neptune4 ,nor does the ,poet ever speak of any operation of this kind as exceeding the power of ,minerva2 who enjoyed in a larger form1 and by a general title1 something like that power of transformation1 which was the special gift and function of ,circe and the ,sirens4 ,the discussion of the prerogatives of that half-sorceress1 half-goddess1 will throw some further light upon the rank of ,neptune4 #cfi ,il4 xi4 #gbh4 ,od4 iii4 #e4 #cgj ,od4 xiii4 #aha4 #cga ,od4 ix4 #ebf4 #cgb ,il4 ii4 #ejf4 #cgc ,il4 viii4 #bjc4 #cgd ,il4 ix4 #ahc4 #cge ,il4 xiii4 #dc1 #baf4 xiv4 #ace4 xi4 #geb4 xx4 #cba-i4 #cgf ,il4 xiii4 #ei4 #cgg xiii4 #efb4 ,except1 then1 in his position as brother and copartner1 ,neptune is very feebly marked with the traditional character4 ,again1 in no deity is the mere animal delight in sacrifice more strongly developed4 ,by offerings1 his menaced destruction of the ,phacian city seems to be averted4 ,his pleasure in the sacrifice of bulls is specially recorded#cgh3 and his remarkable fondness for the ,solyman mountains1 and the ,ethiopian quarter1 is perhaps connected with the eminent liberality of that people at their altars4 #cgh ,il4 xx4 #dje4 ,one traditive note1 however1 we find upon him1 when we regard him as god of the sea3 and it is this1 that he is provided with a ,secondary4 ,it seems as though it was felt1 that he did not wholly satisfy the demands of the mere element3 and accordingly a god simply elemental has been provided in the person of ,nereus1 who is the centre of the submarine court1 and who appears never to quit the depths4 ,nereus is the element impersonated3 ,neptune is its sovereign1 has not his origin in it1 but comes to it from without4 ,neither is his command over the waters quite exclusive4 ,he can of course raise a storm at sea4 ,he can break off fragments1 as the sea does1 from rocks upon the coast#cgi3 and he threatens to overwhelm the ,phacian city by this means#chj4 ,in conjunction with his power over the sea1 he can let loose the winds1 and darken the sky4 ,on the other hand1 not ,jupiter only1 but ,juno and ,minerva1 can use the sea independently of him1 as an instrument of their designs4 #cgi ,od4 iv4 #ejf4 #chj ,od4 xiii4 #aeb4 ,again1 while not fully developed as the mere elemental sea-god1 he has clinging to him certain traditions which it is very difficult to attach to any portion whatever of his general character4 ,i do not find any key to his interest in neas1 whom he rescues from ,achilles3 unless it may possibly be1 that the gods1 in the absence of any particular motive the other way1 took a common interest in the descendants of their race1 or of ,jupiter as its head4 ,still less is it feasible to explain the legend of his service under ,laomedon in company with ,apollo1 so as to place it in any clear relation to the other traditions respecting him4 ,he has1 again1 a peculiar relation to the horse1 for though a sea-god1 he employs the animal to transport him to ,troas2 and it was he1 who presented ,xanthus and ,balius to ,peleus#cha4 ,again1 he1 in conjunction with ,jupiter#chb1 conferred the gift of managing the horse on his descendant ,antilochus4 #cha ,il4 xxiii4 #bgg4 #chb ,ibid4 #cjg4 ,in the legend of the ,eighth ,odyssey1 he does not share the unbecoming laughter of the other deities at the ridiculous predicament and disgrace of ,mars1 but earnestly labours for his release1 and actually becomes his security for the damages due#chc4 ,what was the cause of this peculiar interest8 ,it is difficult to conceive the aim of the ,poet in this place4 ,some have suggested the comic effect#chd which he has produced by putting the petition in the mouth of ,neptune1 whose mere opinion that ,mars would pay was valueless1 inasmuch as he was far too powerful to be called to account by ,vulcan for any thing which he might have said4 ,it seems to me more likely that1 as being1 in the possible absence of ,jupiter as well as the goddesses1 the senior and gravest of the deities1 he becomes the official guardian of ,olympian decorum2 and that he acts here as the proper person to find an escape from a dilemma which1 while ludicrous1 is also embarrassing1 and requires poetically a solution4 #chc ,od4 viii4 #cdd-ei4 #chd ,nitzsch in loc4 ,amphitrite1 the wife of ,neptune in the later mythology1 is not so named in ,homer1 by whom she is but doubtfully personified4 ,yet there is1 as it were1 an anticipation of the union1 in the passage where he tells us that she rears monster-fishes to do the will of ,neptune4 ,or it may be meant here1 that she is the wife of ,nereus4 ,his relation to the ,phnicians4 ,the connection of ,neptune with the sea naturally raises the question1 whether the introduction of his worship into ,greece can have been owed to the ,phnicians4 ,for an auxiliary mark1 we have the fact that ,ino1 of ,phnician extraction1 is a strictly maritime deity#che1 #che ,od4 v4 #cce4 ' 4 ,the very frequent intrigues of ,neptune with women may be the mythical dress of the adventures of ,phnician sailors in this kind3 such as that which is recounted#chf in the story of ,eumus4 ,we may notice1 too1 that in the ,iliad1 he does not particularly love the ,greeks1 but simply hates the ,trojans4 ,he1 with ,jupiter1 we are told1 loved ,antilochus#chg4 ,jupiter1 no doubt1 because he had a regard for him as a ,greek3 ,neptune1 plainly1 because he was his descendant4 ,and in this way perhaps we may best explain the connection between ,neptune and some abode in the ,east1 far away from his own domain4 ,he is absent from the ,assembly of the ,first ,odyssey#chh1 among the ,ethiopians3 and he sees ,ulysses1 on his voyage homewards1 from afar1 namely off the ,solyman mountains2 with which we must suppose he had some permanent tie1 as no special cause is stated for his having been there4 ,it little accords with his character as a marine god3 but it is in harmony with the view of him as belonging to the circle of the ,phnician traditions1 that he should visit a nation1 of which ,homer1 ,i believe1 conceived as being but a little beyond ,phnicia4 #chf ,od4 xv4 #dbj4 #chg ,il4 xxiii4 #bgg4 #chh ,od4 i4 #bb4 ,but we have still to consider the fragments of information which concern ,neptune1 under the third of the heads above given4 ,and to the tradition of the ,evil ,one4 ,no ancient tradition appears to have been split and shivered into so many fragments in the time of ,homer1 as that which related to the ,evil ,principle4 ,this was the natural prelude to its becoming1 as it shortly afterwards did1 indiscernible to the human eye#chi4 ,among these rivulets of tradition1 some of the most curious connect themselves with the name of ,neptune1 who was1 in his mythological character1 prepared to be its recipient3 for in that character he was near to ,jupiter in strength1 while his brotherly relation by no means implied any corresponding tie of affection4 #chi ,vid4 sup4 ,sect4 ii4 p4 #dd4 ,with ,juno and ,minerva1 he took part in the dangerous rebellion recorded in the ,first ,iliad4 ,he refuses to join in a combination of ,hellenizing gods against him1 on the ground of its hopelessness3 but afterwards1 when all others acquiesce in the prohibition1 he alone comes down to aid and excite the ,greeks4 ,the ,juno of the ,iliad is the active and astute intriguer against her husband3 but it is ,neptune1 on whom in effect the burden and responsibility of action chiefly fall4 ,still1 his principal points of contact with the traditions of resistance to the ,supreme ,will are mediate2 and the connection is through his offspring4 ,in his favourite son1 the ,cyclops1 we have the great atheist of the poems4 ,it is ,providence1 and not idols only1 that he rejects1 when saying#cij1 #cij ,od4 ix4 #bge4 1 4 ,the whole of this dangerous class1 the kindred of the gods1 seem to have sprung from ,neptune#cia4 ,the ,lstrygones1 indeed1 are not expressly said to be his children4 ,but they are called 1 3 and the ,giants are expressly declared to be divinely descended in a speech of ,alcinous#cib3 #cia ,od4 x4 #abj4 #cib ,od4 vii4 #bje4 1 4 ,neptune was the father of ,nausithous and the royal house of ,scheria1 through ,periba3 but she was daughter of ,eurymedon1 and ,eurymedon was king of the ,giants1 and was the king who led them1 with himself1 evidently by rebellion1 into ruin#cic2 #cic ,od4 vii4 #fj4 ' 1 ' 4 ,thus we have ,neptune placed in the relation of ancestor to the rebellious race1 whom it is scarcely possible to consider as other than identical with the ,titans condemned to ,tartarus#cid4 #cid ,il4 xiv4 #bgd1 #i4 ,but we have one yet more pointed passage for the establishment of this strange relationship4 ,in the of the ,eleventh ,odyssey1 ,ulysses sees1 among other ,shades1 ,iphimedea1 the wife of ,aloeus1 who bore to ,neptune two children#cie1 ,otus and ,ephialtes2 hugest of all creatures upon earth1 and also most beautiful1 after ,orion4 ,they1 the sons of ,neptune1 while yet children1 threatened war against ,olympus1 and planned the piling of the mountains3 but ,apollo slew them4 ,thus this1 the most characteristic of all the traditions in ,homer relating to the ,evil ,one1 hangs upon the person of ,neptune1 doubtless because his mythological place best fitted him for the point of junction4 ,it must be observed1 that ,homer has1 in bringing these young giants before us1 used a somewhat artificial arrangement4 ,he does not place them in the realm of ,aides and ,persephone1 though he describes them to us1 in connection with the figures in that gloomy scene1 as the children of ,iphimedea1 who appears there in the first or feminine division4 ,that he does not bring them before us in conjunction with ,tityus and the other sufferers of that region1 can only be because he did not intend them to be understood as belonging to it3 and it is clear1 therefore1 that he means us to conceive of them as having their abode in ,tartarus1 among the ,titans1 doubtless by the side of ,eurymedon and his followers4 #cie ,od4 xi4 #eje-bj4 ,we may perceive with peculiar clearness1 in the case of ,neptune1 the distinction between the elevated prerogatives of such a deity within his own province1 and his comparative insignificance beyond it4 ,when he traverses the sea1 it exults to open a path for him1 and the huge creatures from its depths sport along his wake4 ,such is its sympathy with him1 that when he is exciting the ,greeks to war1 it too boils and foams upon the shore of the ,hellespont4 ,and not only is maritime nature thus at his feet1 but he has the gift of vision almost without limit of space1 and of knowledge of coming events1 so long as they are maritime4 ,he who knows nothing of the woes of his son ,polyphemus till he is invoked from the sea-shore1 yet can discern ,ulysses on his raft from the far ,solyman mountains1 and even is aware that he will escape from his present danger 7 7 by reaching the shore of ,scheria4 ,this knowledge is shared by the minor goddess ,leucothee3 and doubtless on the same principle1 namely1 that it is marine knowledge4 ,so he can predict to ,tyro that there will be more than one child born to her3 here1 too1 he speaks of what is personal to himself4 ,when we take ,neptune out of his province1 we find none of these extraordinary gifts1 no sign of a peculiar subjugation of nature or of man to him4 ,he shares in the government of the world only as a vast force1 which it will cost ,jupiter trouble to subdue4 ,even within his own domain some stubborn phenomena of nature impose limits on his power3 for we are told he would not be able1 even were he willing1 to save ,ulysses from ,charybdis#cif4 #cif ,od4 xii4 #ajg4 ,thus it was that the sublime idea of one ,governor of the universe1 omnipotent over all its parts1 was shivered into many fragments1 and these high prerogatives1 distributed and held in severalty1 are the fragments of a conception too weighty and too comprehensive for the unassisted human mind to carry in its entireness4 ,his grandeur is material4 ,upon the whole1 the intellectual spark in ,neptune is feeble1 and the conception is much materialized4 ,ideally he has the relation to ,jupiter1 which the statue of the ,nile bears to one of ,jupiter's statues4 ,within these limits1 his position is grand4 ,the ceaseless motion1 the unconquerable might1 the wide extent1 of the 1 compose for him a noble monarchy4 ,at first sight1 when we read of the lottery of the universe1 we are startled at finding the earth left without an owner4 ,it was not so in the ,asiatic religions4 ,but mark here the influence of external circumstances4 ,the nations of ,asia inhabited a vast continent2 for them land was greater by far than sea4 ,the ,greeks knew of nothing but islands and peninsulas of limited extent1 whereas the ,sea for them was infinite2 since1 except round the gean1 they knew little or nothing of its farther shores4 ,thus the sceptre of ,neptune reaches over the whole of the ,outer ,geography2 while ,earth1 as commonly understood1 had long been left behind upon the course of the adventurous ,ulysses4 ,aidoneus4 ,the ,aidoneus of ,homer4 ,there is a marked contrast between the mere rank of ,aides or ,aidoneus1 and his want of substance and of activity1 in the poems4 ,he is one of the three ,kronid ,brothers1 of whom ,neptune asserts--and we are nowhere told that it is an unwarrantable boast--that they are of equal dignity and honour4 ,he bears the lofty title of 3 and he is the husband of ,persephone the ,awful4 ,it is plain that he belonged of right to the order of ,olympian deities1 because ,dione states that he repaired to the divine abode1 to have the wounds healed there by ,paieon1 which he had received from ,hercules3 but it is very doubtful whether we ought to understand him to have attended even the great ,chapter1 or ,assembly1 of the ,twentieth ,iliad4 ,his ordinary residence is exclusively in the nether world4 ,at the same time there is1 in his position1 and in that of ,persephone1 a remarkable independence4 ,this the very title of subterranean ,jupiter is enough to indicate4 ,neptune is never called the ,jupiter of the sea4 ,and it is quite plain that the power of ,jupiter over the dead was limited4 ,we cannot say it was null3 for ,castor and ,pollux after death are still 1 and they live accordingly on alternate days4 ,but it was ,minerva who interfered to carry ,hercules safely through the ,shades1 and bring him back2 and it appears that but for her ,jupiter would not have been able to give effect to his design#cig4 #cig ,od4 xi4 #cjb1 #fbf4 ,il4 viii4 #cff-i4 ,but the share of action ascribed to this divinity in any part of the poems is a very small one4 ,in the ,twentieth ,iliad1 the tramp of the ,immortals1 when engaged in fight1 and the quaking of the earth under the might of ,neptune1 cause him to tremble4 ,and his having received wounds from ,hercules1 though he shared this indignity with ,juno1 detracts from his mythological greatness4 ,love of symmetry has sometimes led writers on the ,greek mythology to find matrimonial arrangements for ,jupiter's brothers similar to his own1 by giving to ,neptune ,amphitrite1 and to ,aidoneus ,persephone1 for their respective wives4 ,the former of these two unions has no foundation in ,homer2 and the latter bears little analogy to that of ,jupiter and ,juno4 ,for ,proserpine is the real ,queen of the ,shades below3 all the higher traditions and active duties of the place centre around her1 while he appears there as a sort of ,king-,consort4 ,there is no sign whatever of his exercising any influence over her1 far less of her acting in the capacity of his organ4 ,and while she has a cult or worship on earth1 he apparently has none4 ,under these circumstances1 we do not expect to find her exhibiting any tokens of derivation from1 or ideal dependance on him4 ,they would appear to be respectively derived from traditions of independent origin4 ,homer has not attached marks to ,aidoneus which would enable us to trace him to any particular source beyond the limits of the ,olympian system4 ,it would be natural to seek his prototype among the darkest and earthiest of the elemental powers4 ,but he appears before us in the poems rather as an independent and ,hellenic creation1 metaphysical in kind1 and representing little beyond 7#a71 a place in the trine number of the ,kronid ,brothers1 which appears to be the ,hellenic form of a great primitive tradition of a ,trinity in the ,godhead2 and 7#b71 the consciousness that there was a city and a government of the dead1 and that a ruler must be provided for them1 while the idea of the ,supreme ,deity had not retained enough of force and comprehensiveness to seem sufficient for the purpose4 ,as the representative of inexorable death1 ,aidoneus was the opposite of the bright and life-giving ,apollo3 and was naturally the most hateful to mortals of all the ,olympian deities#cih4 ,but the place in which the idea of punishment centres is the domain of rather than that of ,aides3 and he is the ruler over a state of the dead which is generally neither bliss nor acute suffering1 but which is deeply overspread with chillness and gloom4 #cih ,il4 ix4 #aei4 ,i shall refer hereafter#cii to the peculiar relation which appears to subsist between ,aidoneus1 together with ,persephone1 and the mysterious 4 #cii ,inf4 sect4 iv4 ,demeter1 or ,ceres4 ,the ,ceres or ,demeter of ,homer4 ,the goddess ,demeter1 the ,ceres of the ,latins1 though afterwards of considerable dignity and importance1 is but a feeble luminary in the ,homeric heavens4 ,that there are in the ,iliad#djj only two distinct notices of her personality1 might of itself be compatible with a contrary supposition3 for in the ,troica he introduces his divine personages on account of their relation to the subject1 rather than for their general importance2 and corn1 which feeds man1 has little affinity with war1 which destroys him4 ,but her weight is1 if possible1 even smaller in the ,odyssey1 where she is noticed but once#dja1 and that incidentally4 #djj ,il4 ii4 #fif4 xiv4 #cbf4 #dja ,od4 v4 #abe4 ,the use of the phrase for corn1 like the for ,vulcan1 and for the spear1 or for the battle1 tends to indicate imperfect personality2 to show that the deity was indistinctly realized2 that the personal name was either recent or at least unfamiliar2 and that it was used1 not so much to designate a being1 as to give life to an idea4 ,homer has not asserted any connection between ,demeter and ,persephone3 and the idea of it in later times may have arisen simply from the observation that in the poems ,demeter stands as a mother without a child1 and ,persephone as a daughter without a mother4 ,possibly1 however1 the connection may have been suggested by the name2 which seems manifestly to be equivalent to or ,mother-,earth4 ,and though the original reference was to the production of food by which man lives1 the word might be susceptible of another sense1 connecting it with the nether world1 which had a material relation to ,earth1 and which1 even in ,homer1 ,tityus the son of 1 and in the later tradition the earth-born race generally1 were reputed to inhabit4 ,the name in its proper sense indicates first the idea1 and then the goddess of agriculture3 and points to a ,pelasgian1 and perhaps farther back an ,egyptian1 rather than an ,hellenic or a ,phnician connection4 ,in ,egypt1 according to the reports collected by ,diodorus#djb1 ,isis was held nearly to correspond with her4 #djb ,diod4 i4 #ac4 ,with this supposition agree the only notices contained in the poems that tend to attach the goddess ,demeter to a particular locality4 ,her connection with ,iasion was probably in ,crete or ,cyprus1 or at any rate 7from the name7 in some country occupied1 and ruled too1 by ,pelasgians4 ,her #djc or dedicated lands in ,thessaly1 the ,pelasgic ,argos1 suggest a similar presumption4 ,in ,middle ,greece and ,peloponnesus we never hear of her4 ,the very solemn and ancient observance of her worship in ,attica1 which was so eminently a ,pelasgian state in the time of ,homer1 entirely accords with the indications of the ,homeric text4 #djc ,il4 ii4 #fif4 ,the slight notice she obtains from ,homer1 compared with the dignity to which other tokens would tend to show that she was entitled1 may have been owing to the incomplete amalgamation in his time of ,hellenic and ,pelasgian institutions4 ,upon this goddess1 as upon so many others1 sensual passion had laid hold4 ,this is decidedly confirmatory of her ,pelasgian or eastern1 as opposed to properly ,hellic associations4 ,we see ,venus coming from the east and worshipped in ,pelasgian countries3 of the three persons whom ,aurora appropriates1 ,orion is pretty evidently the subject of a naturalized eastern tradition1 and ,tithonus is ,asiatic3 ,calypso and ,circe belong to the east by ,phnicia3 it is in ,troas and ,asia that no less than three ,nymphs appear as the bearers of children1 fighting on the ,trojan side1 to human fathers#djd4 ,whereas among the more ,hellenic deities1 we have ,minerva and ,proserpine wholly exempt2 and ,juno using sensual passion it is true1 but only for a political end4 ,this assemblage of facts further confirms the supposition1 that ,ceres ought to be set down as a ,pelasgian deity4 ,orion and ,ino1 shining in the heavens1 seem to belong to the more astronomical form of eastern religion3 ,ceres to that which was probably transmitted through fertile and well-cultivated ,egypt4 #djd ,il4 vi4 #ba1 xiv4 #ddd1 and xx4 #chd4 ,her place in ,olympus4 ,the title of ,demeter to rank with the ,olympian deities of ,homer is not so absolutely clear1 as that of many among them3 but it may on the whole be sufficiently inferred from the arrangement of the passage in the ,fourteenth ,odyssey1 where ,jupiter recites a list of the various partners to whom he owed his offspring4 ,the three first are women1 who bore sons never deified1 ,pirithous1 ,perseus1 and ,minos3 the two next are women1 of whom one gave birth to ,dionysus a god1 the other to the substantially deified ,hercules4 ,the sixth and seventh are ,demeter1 or ,ceres1 and ,latona2 the children of neither are mentioned4 ,besides that ,demeter is called 1 the two seem to be coupled together as goddesses4 ,the structure of the passage is not chronological1 but depends upon dignity advancing regularly towards a climax2 so purposely indeed1 that ,dionysus1 always an immortal1 is mentioned after ,hercules1 a mortal born1 though ,semele had been named before ,alcmene4 ,all this appears to require the adoption of the conclusion1 that ,demeter was reckoned as an ,olympian goddess in the ,homeric system4 ,there is1 however1 another and more comprehensive solution of the question which arises out of the faint notices of in ,homer4 ,we ought1 perhaps1 to consider her as the ,pelasgian1 and ,juno as the ,hellenic1 reproduction of those eastern traditions1 which gave mythological impersonation to the female principle4 ,they naturally centred upon the ,earth as the recipient of productive influences1 and as the great nurse and feeder of man1 the 1 the 1 the 1 the 4 ,the ,pelasgic ,demeter may be a very fair and close copy1 in all probability1 from these traditions as they existed in ,egypt4 ,but when the same materials were presented to the ,hellenic mind1 they could not satisfy its active and idealizing fancy4 ,for the ,hellene1 man was greater than nature3 so that the great office of ,jupiter as king of air was subordinated to his yet more august function as the supreme superintendent and controller of human affairs4 ,as the political idea thus predominated in the chief of the ,hellenic ,immortals1 it was requisite that a similar predominance of the intellectual and organizing element should be obtained in his divine ,mate4 ,traditions1 however1 that had their root in earth1 were of necessity wholly intractable for such a purpose1 although the lighter and more spirit-like fabric of air was less unsuited to it4 ,earth was heavy1 inactive2 and was the prime representative of matter as opposed to mind4 ,hence the personality of the tradition was severed by the ,greeks from its material groundwork2 and ,earth1 the ,nature-power1 remained beneath1 while the figure of ,juno1 relieved from this incumbrance1 and invested with majestic and vigorous attributes1 soared aloft and took the place of eldest sister and first wife of ,jupiter4 ,hence doubtless it is that the of ,homer is so inanimate and weakling3 because she was but the exhausted residue of a tradition1 from which the higher life had escaped4 ,but the and the 1 according to this hypothesis1 made up between them a full representation of the traditions from the ,east1 relating to the chief female form of deity4 ,this being so1 no legitimate place was left in the mythology of ,homer for ,ceres2 as she had nothing to represent but the same tradition in a form far less adapted to the ,hellenic mind1 a form indeed which it had probably repudiated4 ,hence while the ,olympian system was young1 and ,juno not wholly severed from her ,oriental origin1 the could not but remain a mere outlier4 ,but as the poetry of the system was developed1 and its philosophy submerged and forgotten1 this difficulty diminished1 and the later mythology found an ample space for ,ceres as a great elemental power4 ,i may1 then1 observe1 in conclusion1 that the whole of this hypothesis is eminently agreeable to the ,homeric representation of ,ceres in its four main branches1 7#a7 as ,pelasgian1 7#b7 as subject to lustful passion1 7#c7 as a secondary wife of ,jupiter1 and 7#d7 as immediately associated with productive ,earth4 ,persephone4 ,the ,persephone of ,homer4 ,although the ,persephone of ,homer is rarely brought before us1 and our information respecting her is therefore slight1 there seems to be sufficient ground for asserting that she is not the mere female reflection of ,hades or ,aidoneus4 ,it is only for those deities from whom other deities are drawn by descent1 that we find in ,homer a regular conjugal connection provided4 ,thus ,neptune1 as we have seen1 cannot be said to have a wife in ,homer4 ,amphitrite appears in the poems with a faint and indeed altogether doubtful personality1 though she afterwards grew into his spouse4 ,now ,neptune was a deity much more in view than ,aides3 and it is not likely that we should have found ,persephone more fully developed than ,amphitrite1 had she not represented some older and more independent tradition4 ,again1 in cases where the female deity is the mere reflection of the male1 we do not find her invested with a share in his dominion1 although1 as in the case of ,juno1 she may occasionally and derivatively exercise some of the prerogatives1 which in him have a higher and more unquestionable activity4 ,thus ,tartarus is the region of 1 not of 2 air is the realm of ,jupiter1 not of ,jupiter and ,juno4 ,but ,persephone appears by the side of ,hades as a substantive person2 she is invoked with him by ,althea to slay ,meleager1 in the ,legend of the ,ninth ,iliad#dje3 and the region in which she dwells is not less hers than his#djf1 #dje ,il4 ix4 #efi4 #djf ,od4 x4 #dia4 4 ,indeed her personality is the better developed of the two3 for no personal act is ascribed in the poems to ,aides1 except the indeterminate one of trembling1 at the battle of the gods1 lest the crust of earth should be broken through3 and the name given him in the ,iliad of 1 subterranean ,jupiter1 may possibly suggest that he was sometimes viewed as hardly more than a form or function of the highest god3 whereas1 in the under-world of the ,eleventh ,odyssey1 all the active functions of sovereignty are placed in her hands4 ,it is she who gathers the women-shades for ,ulysses3 and it is she who disperses them when they have been passed in review4 ,it is by her that ,ulysses apprehends the head of ,gorgo may be sent forth to drive him off1 should he linger too long2 it is by her that he apprehends he may have been deluded with an or shade1 instead of a substance2 most of all1 it is she who endows ,tiresias1 alone among the dead1 with the character of the ,seer#djg4 ,in fine1 the whole of the active duties of the nether kingdom appear to be in her hands4 #djg ,od4 xi4 #bbf1 #che1 #fci1 #bac1 and x4 #did4 ,that she was generally worshipped by the ,hellenic tribes we must infer from the cases mentioned in the ,ninth ,iliad1 the one in tolia1 the other farther ,north#djh2 as well as from her office in regard to the thoroughly national region of the ,shades4 #djh ,il4 x4 #deg1 #efi4 ,her marked and substantive character4 ,she has her own strongly marked set of epithets4 ,of these1 one is 1 the severely pure2 for with ,homer is exclusively applicable to divine womanhood1 and is given only to ,diana and ,persephone3 then she is 1 the dread3 and lastly1 she is 1 an epithet appropriated to her exclusively1 which appears to be ,homer's favourite method for sharply marking out individuality of character4 ,buttmann has also well observed1 that she has this epithet only when mentioned along with ,hades1 that is1 when shown very strictly in her official character2 and that is used when she appears alone4 ,upon this he observes2 #8this way of joining the name of ,proserpine with that of ,pluto was an old epic formula1 handed down even to ,homer and our oldest ,greek poets from still earlier times1 and which they used unchanged#dji4' ,he would read ' 1 instead of 1 but this neither affects the sense 7awful1 terrible7 nor the force of the exclusive appropriation4 #dji ,buttmann's ,lexil4 p4 #fb4 in voc4 4 ,there is another sign confirmatory of the belief that the origin of this mythical person must be sought1 not in the necessity of finding a queen for ,aidoneus1 but in an anterior and distinct tradition4 ,namely1 this2 that1 though she is a daughter of ,jupiter#daj1 she is not provided with a mother4 ,thus she seems as if she were older than the ,olympian conomy4 ,venus1 ,mars1 ,vulcan1 ,mercury1 are all equipped with a full parentage4 ,the later tradition1 which made ,persephone the daughter of ,ceres1 has no other support from ,homer than this1 that we are left to suppose that ,ceres had some offspring by ,jupiter1 while none is named#daa4 #daj ,od4 xi4 #bag4 #daa ,il4 xiv4 #cbf4 ,the chain of presumptions appears to me to become complete1 when we take into view two other pieces of evidence supplied by the poems4 ,in the far ,east#dab1 beyond the couch of the morning ,sun1 some distance up the stream of the great river ,ocean1 but to the south of the point where it is entered1 and at a spot where the shore narrows very much--immediately1 in short1 before the point of descent--are the groves of ,persephone4 ,according to the general rules of interpretation applicable to ,homer1 this appears to convey to us that the seat of her worship was in the far ,southern ,east1 and that her office1 as there understood1 was that of the goddess or queen of ,death4 ,and if she is indeed the reflection1 in the mirror of the lower world1 of any other known deity1 then1 both from this great office1 and from the peculiar epithet 1 it is most likely to be of ,diana1 with whom1 in the later mythology1 she was identified2 and1 again1 through ,diana1 of ,apollo1 from whom the light of ,diana herself was derived4 ,or1 in other words1 she may be for the lower world that reflection of ,apollo1 which the ,homeric ,diana was for this earth3 and it is worth observation1 that the gift of second sight1 which she allows to ,tiresias1 and which therefore is at her disposal beneath ground#dac1 is the peculiar and exclusive property of ,apollo4 #dab ,od4 x4 #ejf seqq4 xi4 #a seqq4 xii4 #a seqq4 #dac ,od4 x4 #dib-e4 ,let us now lastly consider1 what light the etymology of her remarkable name may afford us4 ,its meaning appears to be1 either destruction by slaughter2 from two roots1 one that represented in 1 from the verb 1 and the other 2 or else1 that of the destruction or slaughter of ,persians4 ,in the former view1 the evidence leaves us where we were1 or brings us a point nearer to ,diana1 whose function was not that of all death whatever1 but of such death as might be called slaughter1 because not due to disease1 but brought about at the moment by a sudden process1 though often the mildest of all ways of dying#dad4 ,but the other etymology may be worth some further attention4 #dad ,od4 xv4 #dji4 ,her connection with the ,east4 ,besides that cluster of traditions1 relating to remote places1 which the ,greeks derived from the ,phnician navigators1 and which cannot but have included some eastward wanderings in the ,black ,sea1 as well as westward experience in the ,mediterranean1 they must in all likelihood have had oriental traditions properly their own1 brought by their ,hellic forefathers with them from their cradle4 ,we have already seen that that cradle was probably ,persia2 and we have found traces of the connection in the name of the great pre-,achan hero1 ,perseus1 and in the continuing use of that name in the high ,achan family of ,nestor1 as well as at much later historic dates4 ,another link1 connecting the ,homeric traditions with this name1 and both with the ,east1 is found in the name of ,perse1 who was the mother of ,circe1 an ,eastern goddess2 and who was the daughter of ,ocean1 and the wife of the ,sun#dae4 #dae ,od4 x4 #ace-i4 ,we must take these circumstances into view along with the force of the name ,persephone1 and with the evidence we have already had of the antiquity of the traditions relating to her4 ,to this we have to add the absence of any ,homeric evidence connecting her with any other local source4 ,there is no sign of any institution1 that belonged to her worship1 except in those groves planted in the far ,east2 and no sign of any other particular locality marked as her peculiar abode1 which we have found to be a mark of such invented deities generally as had a well developed personality4 ,there is no note of her whatever in ,troas2 and nothing to connect her with ,egypt1 or with the ,pelasgians in any quarter4 ,it is not likely that she came in with the ,phnicians1 as she would then have had signs of a recent origin1 and would not have attained to so august and mysterious a position as she actually holds4 ,the two distinct notices of her worship are both in the ,homeric ,hellas2 not in ,southern ,greece1 nor in the islands4 ,it seems1 therefore1 on every ground reasonable to suppose1 that the tradition of ,proserpine was an original ,hellic tradition brought into the country from the ,east1 probably by the ,hellic tribes1 and from among their ,persian forefathers2 and that the name of the deity1 as we find it in ,homer1 affords a new indication of the extraction of the race4 ,accordingly1 the unusually substantive aspect of her position in the nether world1 which makes her relation to ,aidoneus so different from that of the other mythological wives1 or feminines1 to their respective husbands1 is such1 that it seems most reasonable1 instead of deriving her from him1 as ,juno was derived from ,jupiter1 or ,tethys from ,ocean1 to consider them as representing the union of two independent impersonations1 associated together primarily by their common subject matter4 ,for there does not seem to be any thing improbable in the hypothesis1 that ,persephone may1 in the belief of some country and age1 have served alone for the ruler of the region of the dead4 ,just as so many subordinate ministers of ,doom1 the ,fates1 the ,erinues1 and the ,harpies1 assumed the female form in the process of impersonation1 so it may have been with their sovereign4 ,and if we are to look farther for the metaphysical groundwork of such a tradition1 we may perhaps find it as follows4 ,there is a relation of analogy between each function and its converse3 and as in the pure mythology1 all that gave life was feminine1 so conversely1 all that represented the destroying agency might assume a similar form4 ,her relation to ,olympus4 ,in her case1 as in that of one or two others1 it is difficult to discover whether ,homer meant a particular deity to be included1 or not1 among the ,olympian gods of the ordinary or smaller assembly4 ,there is no indication in the poems1 which directly connects ,persephone with ,olympus2 and that celestial palace may seem to belong to the government of the living world1 and to be almost incapable of relations with that of the departed4 ,nor is she connected specially with the ,olympian system1 like ,aidoneus1 by the position which birth confers4 ,the 1 and the worship paid her there1 can hardly belong to the departed spirits on their way to their abode1 and more probably indicate an ancient tradition deriving her worship from the far ,east4 ,on the other hand1 her dignity and majesty in the poems are unquestionable1 and indeed superior to those of any ,olympian deity1 after some five or six4 ,i do not find materials for a confident judgment on the ,homeric view of her place in his theo-mythology1 with reference to this particular point of connection with ,olympus4 ,founding conjecture upon the facts before us1 ,i venture1 however1 on a further extension of these hypotheses with respect to ,persephone4 ,we perceive in ,persephone and ,diana that kind of likeness which may be due to their common origin2 if1 as we suppose1 both were images of ,apollo4 ,but it is not likely that two such images should have been formed by the same race for itself4 ,can we then1 probably refer ,diana and ,persephone to different sources ethnically8 ,it is plain that ,diana was worshipped in ,troy and ,greece4 ,persephone1 so far as we know1 in ,greece only4 ,this would agree with the supposition that ,diana was originally ,pelasgian1 ,persephone only ,hellic4 ,again1 ,diana was an earthly1 ,persephone a subterraneous reflection of ,apollo4 ,now the ,hellic tribes were lively believers in a future state3 as we see from the communion of ,achilles with the soul of ,patroclus1 and from many places in the ,odyssey4 ,but we have nowhere in ,homer the slightest allusion among the ,trojans to the belief in a future state1 beyond the mere formula of entering the region of ,ades4 ,neither the succinct account of the funeral rites of ,hector1 nor any one of the three addresses over his remains1 contain the slightest allusion to his separate existence as a spirit4 ,there is1 indeed1 mention of wine used to extinguish the flame of the funeral pile1 but none of invocation along with it1 as there is in the case of ,patroclus#daf4 ,and as we have no less than an hundred lines spoken over or otherwise bestowed upon the dead ,hector1 the omission is singular4 ,it becomes still more significant1 when we recollect that the ,greeks1 and their goddess ,juno1 invoke the deities of the under-world1 and the powers connected with a future state1 in their solemn oaths and imprecations#dag2 but when ,hector swears to ,dolon1 7our only example of a ,trojan oath17 he adjures ,jupiter alone#dah4 ,now it may be that the religion of ,troy did not include so distinct a reference to a future state1 as that of ,greece1 and that the ,trojans knew nothing of ,persephone1 or of any deity holding her place4 ,this hypothesis would at once accord with the features of the ,homeric portrait1 and with the striking absence among the ,trojans of all pointed reference to a future life1 or to the disembodied spirit4 ,nor need we consider it to be at all shaken by slight and formal allusions1 or by the words in which ,homer on his own part dismisses to ,hades the spirit of the slain ,hector#dai4 ,the hypothesis which the circumstances appear to suggest is1 not that the ,trojans disbelieved a future existence1 but that they neither felt keenly respecting it1 nor gave a mythological development to the doctrine4 #daf ,il4 xxiii4 #bah-ba4 #dag ,il4 iii4 #bgh4 ix4 #ded4 #efi4 xiv4 #bga-d4 xv4 #cf-dj4 xix4 #beh-fj4 #dah ,il4 x4 #cbi4 #dai ,il4 xvi4 #hef1 #g1 and xxii4 #cfb1 #c4 ,mars4 ,the ,mars of ,homer4 ,even in ,homer1 ,mars is externally the most imposing figure among the masculine deities of pure invention4 ,the greatest of war-bards could not but find him a fine subject for poetical amplification4 ,but in the ,roman period he had far outgrown the limits of his ,homeric position4 ,with the lapse of time1 the forces and passions1 which gave to this impersonation its hold upon human nature1 were sure to prevail in a considerable degree over the finer elements from which ,apollo was moulded4 ,it requires an effort of mind to liberate ourselves from the associations of the later mythology1 and contract our vision for the purpose of estimating the ,mars of ,homer as he really is4 ,notwithstanding his stature1 beauty1 hand and voice1 which constitute1 taken together1 a proud appearance1 it seems as if ,mars had stood lower in the mind of ,homer than any ,olympian deity who takes part in the ,trojan war1 except ,venus only4 ,the ,odyssey never once brings ,mars before us1 even by way of allusion1 except in the licentious lay of ,demodocus2 and the spirit of that lay certainly seems to aim at making him ridiculous1 especially in the manner of his release and withdrawal4 ,in the ,iliad his part is1 of course1 more considerable2 but on no occasion whatever does ,homer apparently seek to set him off1 or give him a commanding attitude in comparison with other deities4 ,we have nowhere any account of any act of reverence or worship done to him1 either in or out of ,greece4 ,for instance1 he is never1 even in the contingencies of war1 the object of prayer4 ,he never shows command over the powers of nature1 or the mind of man2 which he nowhere attempts to influence by suggestion4 ,it is said1 indeed1 that he entered into ,hector1 as that warrior was putting on the armour of ,achilles2 #dbj4 #dbj ,il4 xvii4 #baj4 ,but no words could more conclusively fix his place in the ,homeric system as the mere impersonation of a ,passion4 ,for with ,homer no greater deity1 indeed1 no other of the ,olympian gods1 is ever said to enter into the mind of a mortal man4 ,in the ,fifth ,book he stirs up the warlike passion of ,menelaus2 having1 like ,venus1 a limited hold upon a particular propensity4 ,his climax of honour in this department is his giving to the ,pseudo-,ulysses2 but this he does only in conjunction with ,minerva#dba4 #dba ,od4 xiv4 #baf4 ,his limited worship and attributes4 ,his possession of the attributes of deity appears to have been most limited4 ,the use of the word not only for the passion of war1 but even for its weapons1 shows us that the impersonation was in this case as yet very partially disengaged from the metaphysical ideas1 or the material objects1 in which it took its rise4 ,his function as god of war was confined to the merely material side of war1 and had nothing to do with that aspect1 in which war enlists and exhausts all the higher faculties of the human mind2 so much so1 indeed1 that to be a great general is almost necessary in order to enter the first rank of greatness at all4 ,even of war in the lower sense he had not1 as a god1 exclusive possession1 but he administered his office in partnership with a superior1 ,minerva4 ,besides being every thing else that she was1 she presided1 along with him1 over war4 ,on the shield of ,achilles1 he and ,minerva lead the opposing hosts#dbb4 ,over the body of ,patroclus the struggle was one of which1 says the ,poet1 neither ,mars nor ,minerva could think lightly#dbc4 ,achilles1 when pursuing the ,trojans1 calls for assistance2 for1 says he1 neither ,mars nor ,minerva could undertake to dispose of such a multitude#dbd4 ,mars and ,minerva1 says ,jupiter1 will take charge of the concerns of war#dbe4 #dbb ,il4 xviii4 #eaf4 #dbc xvii4 #cih4 #dbd xx4 #cei4 #dbe ,il4 v4 #dcj4 ,but that in this partnership he was an inferior1 and not an equal1 is clear from the manner in which he is habitually handled by ,minerva4 ,she wounds him through the spear of ,diomed1 when1 unless saved by flight1 he himself apprehends he might have perished#dbf4 ,in the ,theomachy1 she twice over strikes him powerless to the ground4 ,in the ,olympian meeting of the ,fifteenth ,book1 when his intended visit to the battlefield menaces the gods with trouble from the displeasure of ,jupiter1 ,minerva strips his armour off his back1 scolds him sharply1 and replaces him in his seat#dbg4 ,and she is pointed out by ,jupiter as the person1 whose habitual duty it was to keep him in order by the severest means#dbh2 #dbf ,il4 v4 #hhe-g4 #dbg ,il4 xv4 #aaj-db4 #dbh ,il4 v4 #gff4 ' 4 ,in the ,fifth ,iliad1 he stirs up the ,trojans1 and envelopes the fight in darkness3 but here he is acting under 1 or injunctions from ,apollo#dbi1 who thus appears1 like ,minerva1 in the light of a superior to him1 even in his own department4 #dbi ,il4 v4 #ejh4 ,we learn1 again1 that he was overcome and imprisoned by the youths ,otus and ,ephialtes1 whom ,apollo subdued3 he was in bondage for thirteen months1 and would have perished1 had not ,mercury released him#dcj4 #dcj ,il4 v4 #che4 ,he is able to assume the human figure1 and1 as we have seen1 to bring darkness over contending hosts3 but1 when in ,olympus1 he remains ignorant#dca of the death of his son ,ascalaphus1 until he receives the information from ,juno2 as it was only from his ,nymphs that the ,sun learned the slaughter of his oxen4 ,nay1 ,minerva even puts on a particular helmet1 in order that it may secure her from being recognised by ,mars when within his view#dcb4 #dca ,il4 xiii4 #eba4 xv4 #aaj et seqq4 #dcb ,il4 v4 #hde4 ,mars in the ,olympian court bears some resemblance to ,ajax among the ,grecian heroes4 ,but the intellectual element1 which appears to be simply blunt in ,ajax1 in ,mars seems to be wholly wanting3 so that he represents an animal principle in its crudest form3 and is not so much an ,ajax1 as a ,caliban4 ,we are not told that he is greedy of sacrifices1 for no cultus is assigned to him3 but he is represented as greedy of blood1 and as capable of being satiated with it#dcc4 #dcc ,il4 v4 #bhi4 ,except with ,venus for his mere person1 he has no favour with any other ,olympian deities#dcd4 ,juno describes him as lawless and as a fool3 and ,jupiter tells him that1 were he the son of any other deity but himself1 he would long ago have been ejected from his place in heaven#dce4 #dcd ,od4 viii4 #caj4 #dce v4 #hca1 #ig4 ,on one occasion1 his name is associated with those of ,agamemnon and ,neptune3 but the due relation between them is still preserved4 ,agamemnon is compared with ,jupiter as to his face and head2 with ,neptune as to his chest2 and with ,mars as to his waist4 ,the eyes of ,hector on the field of battle were like the ,gorgon1 and like ,mars#dcf4 #dcf ,il4 ii4 #dgh1 and viii4 #cdi4 ,from the repeated allusions to contingencies in which he would have perished1 there seems to be something more or less equivocal even about his title to immortality4 ,if more1 he is also much less1 than man4 ,he is perhaps the least human of the ,olympian family2 and is a compound between deity and brute4 ,the exhibitions of ,mars1 as wounded by ,diomed for the ,iliad1 and in the lay of ,demodocus for the ,odyssey1 seem to imply that this deity could not1 in the time of ,homer1 have become an object of general or established religious worship in ,greece4 ,mars as yet scarcely ,greek4 ,he is a local deity1 and his abode is in ,thrace4 ,from thence he issues forth with his mythical son ,terror to make war upon the ,ephyri3 a race whose name has a strong ,greek savour1 and whose hostile relation to ,mars thus exhibited1 tends1 with other evidence1 to place him in the category of foreign deities1 not yet naturalized in the country1 though made available by ,homer for his ,olympian ,court4 ,after the detection in the palace of ,vulcan1 it is to ,thrace that he again repairs4 ,we are not to consider this paramount ,thracian relation as absolutely separating him from ,greece3 ,thracians1 like ,pelasgi1 had links with both parties in the war1 though the stronger ones are apparently those which connect them with ,troy4 ,he has among the deities the nickname of 1 or turncoat1 because of his vacillation between the two parties4 ,this singular epithet1 applied to the ,thracian god1 conveys the idea that ,homer1 knowing of the sympathies of the name with both sides1 was puzzled as to placing him decisively on either4 ,now the ,thracians of ,homer were #dcg1 while the ,achans were 4 ,and it is worth notice that the ,germans of ,tacitus1 among whom we find marked signs of resemblance to the ,hellenic tribes1 wore in general flowing hair1 but the ,suevi1 one particular tribe of them1 on the contrary1 gathered it into a knot#dch4 #dcg ,il4 iv4 #ecc4 #dch ,tac4 ,germ4 c4 #ch4 ,il4 xx4 #dac4 ,mars1 however1 incurs the particular wrath of ,juno by abandoning the party of the ,greeks1 and siding with the ,trojans4 ,but in the ,fifteenth ,book1 where ,juno acquaints him of the death of his son1 who had fought in the ,greek ranks1 she evidently does it in the expectation that grief and resentment will once more make him a foe to the ,trojans4 ,and her calculation is well founded3 for he is setting out with that intention1 when ,minerva follows1 and roughly brings him back4 ,he only appears once in a pre-,troic legend4 ,this appearance1 too1 is beyond the borders of ,greece4 ,in ,lycia he1 or1 it may be1 simply warlike passion which he represents1 slays ,isander1 the son of ,bellerophon and uncle of ,glaucus1 in battle with the ,solymi4 ,still he is the father by ,astyoche1 of ,ascalaphus and ,ialmenus1 somewhere in the neighbourhood of the ,minyeian ,orchomenus1 or else farther towards the north of ,greece4 ,the ,homeric indications1 on the whole1 as well as the general conceptions of the character1 represent ,mars as neither a deity indigenous to the country1 nor one belonging to the ,hellenic traditions3 while the ,poet perhaps intends us to understand that he had points of contact or affinity with ,greece1 which are represented in his wavering attitude between the two parties to the war4 ,it is probable that the ,poet himself may have been a principal agent in the introduction of ,mars to ,hellenic worship4 ,the machinery of the ,iliad required him to find an array of gods1 who should be champions on each side respectively4 ,it also required that these gods should be united round a centre1 which he provided for them in ,olympus and in its ,court1 under the presidency of ,jupiter4 ,both ,mars and ,venus may thus have made good a title1 which before was doubtful and imperfect1 through the place to which they were promoted in the ,iliad1 combined with the place which the ,iliad itself won for itself in the national understanding and affections4 ,mercury4 ,the ,mercury of ,homer4 ,the ,homeric signs respecting ,mercury are sufficient to fix his character and origin4 ,the small part1 which this deity plays in the poems1 is indeed in remarkable contrast with the extended popularity to which at a later period he attained3 but his character in ,homer is one which accounts in a natural manner for the subsequent increase in his importance4 ,he is the son of ,maias1 ,od4 xiv4 #dce2 and of ,jupiter1 ,od4 viii4 #cce4 ,he is the man of business for the ,olympian deities1 4 ,od4 viii4 #cce4 v4 #bhdci4 #dci ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 p4 #gd4 ,he is the giver of increase1 4 ,od4 viii4 #cce4 ,il4 xiv4 #dij4 ,he is the most sociable of deities1 ,il4 xxiv4 #ccd4 4 ,the extraction of ,mercury stands somewhat obscurely in ,homer3 his mother ,maias is but once mentioned1 and then without any clue4 ,but1 in the ancient hymn to ,mercury1 she is declared to be the daughter of ,atlas3 and if this be so1 we shall be justified in considering him as the child of a ,phnician tradition#ddj4 ,this is also clear on ,homeric grounds4 ,although ,homer does not expressly connect him with ,atlas1 he makes ,calypso1 the daughter of that personage1 address him as 4 ,these expressions are usually applied by him where there is some special relation of consanguinity1 affinity1 or guestship3 as between ,jupiter and his adopted child#dda and particular friend ,thetis4 ,it is therefore probable that ,homer took ,mercury's mother ,maias to be1 as the after-tradition made her1 the sister of ,calypso1 and the daughter of ,atlas4 ,all the other ,homeric signs of him are in complete harmony with this hypothesis of a ,phnician origin for ,mercury4 #ddj ,see sup4 ,ethnology1 sect4 iv4 #dda ,il4 xxiv4 #aaa4 ,we thus understand how he becomes the general agent for the gods3 because the ,phnicians supplied the first and principal means of communication between the several nations in the heroic age3 they were the men-of-business for the world#ddb4 #ddb ,od4 ix4 #abd4 ,it thus becomes plain1 again1 how he can with propriety be called the giver of comforts or blessings2 because the basis of commerce is this1 that each person engaged in it parts with something which he does not want1 and receives what he does want in return4 ,the apparent anomaly1 which makes the god of increase also the god of thievery1 is thus explained3 because1 from its nature1 commerce is ever apt to degenerate partially into fraud2 and because1 in days of the strong hand1 force as well as intelligence would often make it easy for the maritime merchants to change their vocation1 for the occasion1 into that of plunder#ddc4 #ddc ,od4 viii4 #afa-d4 and xv4 #daf4 ,his proper office in regard to the of men seems not to be industry1 nor skill in production or manufacture2 but handiness and tidiness in the performance of services4 ,he1 says ,ulysses1 gives to the 1 which may mean both the deeds and the industrial productions of men1 their and 1 their grace and credit or popularity#ddd4 #ddd ,od4 xiv4 #cai4 ,mercury the god of increase4 ,this idea of increase forms the common or central element of the various attributes assigned to ,mercury4 ,it takes two principal forms1 one that of increase in material goods1 the other that of the propagation of the race4 ,this latter1 which was elsewhere grossly exhibited1 is veiled by ,homer with his almost unfailing sense of delicacy1 and may not1 indeed1 have been fully developed in his time4 ,it is perhaps however traceable in two passages of the poems3 first1 that of the ,sixteenth ,iliad1 where we are told that he corrupted the virgin ,polymele#dde1 though she belonged to the train of ,diana4 ,the other is in the episode of ,venus and ,mars1 where ,apollo selects him as the deity to whom to put the question1 whether he would like to take the place of the adulterer1 and he replies in the affirmative#ddf4 ,each of these incidents seems to appertain to something distinctive in his character4 #dde ,il4 xvi4 #agi-hf4 #ddf ,od4 viii4 #ccd-db4 ,that character1 again1 imports the extended intercourse with mankind1 and the knowledge of the world1 which causes him to be chosen1 in the ,twenty-,fourth ,iliad1 for the difficult office of conducting ,priam to the abode of ,ulysses4 ,moreover1 the great balance of material benefit which commerce brings gives him1 its patron1 as a general rule1 a genial and philanthropic aspect4 ,in ,homer we have nowhere any sign of his vengeance1 anger1 or severity4 ,he neither punishes1 hates1 nor is incensed with any one4 ,a passionless and prudent deity1 he not only declines actual fighting with ,latona1 as she is a wife of ,jupiter1 but spontaneously gives her leave to boast among the gods that she has engaged and worsted him4 ,mercury ,hellenic and ,phnician4 ,the ,phnician origin of ,mercury will also account for his position in the poems1 in relation to the ,trojans and ,greeks respectively4 ,not simply is he one of the five ,hellenizing deities3 for his talents would naturally with ,homer tend to place him on that side4 ,but he appears almost wholly unknown to the ,trojans4 ,the abundance of the flocks of ,phorbas is indeed referred to his love 7,il4 xiv4 #dij73 and he reveals himself to ,priam by his name 7,il4 xxiv4 #dfj73 but it is remarkable1 and contrary to the general rule of the poems1 that ,priam1 notwithstanding his great obligations1 takes no notice whatever of his deity1 either upon his first revelation and departure1 or when a second time he appears1 and afterwards quits him anew 7#fhb-id74 ,on the other hand1 we have abundant signs of his familiarity with the ,greeks4 ,he conveys the sceptre from ,jupiter to ,pelops3 he carries the warning of the gods to gisthus3 sacrifice is offered to him in ,ithaca3 and he is liberally treated with sacrifices by ,autolycus in ,parnesus1 where he repays his worshipper by bestowing on him the arts of perjury and purloining#ddg4 #ddg ,od4 xiv4 #dce1 and xix4 #cid-h4 ,now it is plain1 from many places in the poems1 that the ,greeks had much intercourse with the ,phnicians4 ,on the other hand1 the ,trojans1 wealthy by internal products and home trade1 seem to have known little or nothing of maritime commerce4 ,their intercourse with ,thrace1 the fertile ,thrace that furnished a contingent of allies1 required no more than that they should have the means of crossing the ,straits of ,gallipoli4 ,we nowhere hear that they had a port or harbour4 ,a ,phnician deity would therefore1 of course1 be on the ,achan side during the war4 ,independently of such an origin1 he might1 in his usual capacity of agent1 have been with perfect propriety sent to ,calypso3 but his mythical relationship to her as a nephew1 and her evident connection with ,phnician traditions1 give a peculiar propriety to his employment on this errand4 ,another passage of the ,odyssey seems1 however1 to place this relationship beyond doubt4 ,ulysses1 in the ,twelfth ,book1 recounts to ,alcinous the transaction that occurred in the ,olympian ,assembly after his crew had slain the oxen of the ,sun4 ,on that occasion1 the offended deity declared that1 unless he got compensation1 he would go down and shine in the realm of ,aides2 upon which ,jupiter at once promised to destroy the ship of ,ulysses4 #8,this1' adds ,ulysses1 #8,i heard from ,calypso1 and she told me that she had herself heard it from ,mercury#ddh4' #ddh ,od4 xii4 #chi1 #ij4 ,now this was no affair of ,calypso's2 none1 that is1 on which the gods could make a communication to her in regard to ,ulysses3 but it was one in which1 from her passion for the hero1 she would take a natural interest1 and on which she might well obtain information from a deity who was her relative4 ,nor does it appear on what other ground ,mercury should be named1 as the person who brought her this extra-official report4 ,again1 it is probably on account of his ,phnician connection1 that the intervention of ,mercury is employed in the ,tenth ,odyssey#ddi1 to supply ,ulysses with the instructions that were necessary1 in order to enable him to cope with ,circe4 #ddi ,od4 x4 #bge-cjg4 ,for we are here in the midst of a cluster of traditions1 which we have every reason to presume to be wholly ,phnician#dej4 ,it is the cluster1 which occupies the outer circle of the geography of the ,odyssey3 and it is severed from the ,grecian world and experience1 not only by a geographical line1 but by an entire change in mythological relations4 ,from the time when ,ulysses enters that circle in the beginning of the ,ninth ,book1 until his appearance near ,scheria1 on the outskirt of the known familiar sphere1 his ancient friend ,minerva nowhere attends him3 and there are four whole books without even a mention of the goddess1 who1 except for this interval1 stands prominently forth in almost every page of the ,odyssey4 ,the divine aid is given to him1 during this period1 through ,circe and ,calypso2 while ,mercury is appointed to command the latter1 and to enable ,ulysses to overcome the former4 ,both the company and the traditions1 amidst which ,mercury is found1 thus invite us to presume that he is a deity of ,phnician importation into ,greece4 #dej ,see #8,achis1 or ,ethnology1' sect4 iv4 ,mercury recent in ,greece4 ,there is one other point connected with him1 which1 tending to mark that he had somewhat recently become known to the ,greeks1 agrees with other indications of his introduction from beyond sea4 ,he figures1 indeed1 in legends as old as ,hercules and ,pelops#dea2 and we do not receive any account of his infancy1 as we do of the infancy of ,dionysus and of ,vulcan4 ,but we may observe that1 whenever he assumes human form1 it is the form of one scarcely emerging from boyhood4 ,in the last ,iliad1 he is a 1 in the fairest flower of youth#deb4 ,and in the ,tenth ,odyssey1 where he makes his second and only other appearance to a mortal1 the same line is repeated in order to describe his appearance1 as if it were an established formula for himself1 and not merely adapted to a particular occasion4 ,indeed it may reasonably be questioned1 whether such adaptation exists at all4 ,a very young person was not the most appropriate conductor for ,priam1 on such an errand as that which he had undertaken3 nor the best instructor in the mode of coping with the formidable ,circe4 ,therefore1 without laying too much stress upon the point1 the meaning of the youthful appearance seems to be1 that he was young in the ,greek ,olympus4 #dea ,il4 ii4 #ajd4 ,od4 xi4 #fbf4 #deb ,il4 xxiv4 #cdh4 ,od4 x4 #bgi4 ,there is yet another sign by which ,i think we may identify ,mercury as1 in the estimation of ,homer1 a deity known to be of foreign introduction4 ,the list given by ,jupiter in the ,fourteenth ,iliad of his intrigues1 includes no reference to ,maias1 the mother of ,mercury1 or to ,diana the mother of ,venus4 ,yet it is a large and elaborately constructed list1 ending with ,juno herself3 and the question arises1 on what principle was it constructed8 ,i think the answer must be that1 as it was addressed to ,juno1 the most ,hellenic of all the ,olympian deities1 with whom he wished to be on good terms at the moment1 so also it was intended1 if not to give a full account of his ,greek intrigues1 yet at any rate that no tradition should appear in it1 except such as ,homer considered to be either native1 or fully naturalized4 ,it contains no reference1 for example1 to the mother of ,sarpedon1 the mother of ,dardanus1 the mother of ,amphion and ,zethus1 the mother of ,tantalus1 7whom we have however only presumptions for reckoning as by ,homeric tradition a son of ,jupiter17 or even the mother of olus2 whom it is possible that ,homer may have regarded as ,hellic1 rather than properly ,greek1 though the father of illustrious ,greek houses4 ,if this be the rule1 under which the ,poet has framed the list1 then the exclusion of ,maias and her son remarkably coincides with the other evidence that tends to define his position as a deity of known and remembered foreign origin4 ,his ,olympian office and that of ,iris4 ,it may be convenient to notice in this place the statement which is commonly made1 that ,iris is the messenger of the gods in the ,iliad1 but that ,mercury1 except only in the ,twenty-fourth ,book of that ,poem1 is confined in this capacity to the ,odyssey3 a statement1 on which has been founded a standing popular argument against the unity of authorship in the two poems1 and also against the genuineness of the ,twenty-fourth ,iliad itself4 ,the statement1 however1 appears to rest upon a pure misapprehension2 for it assumes the identity of the character of ,iris and ,mercury respectively as messengers4 ,whereas there is really a difference1 corresponding with the difference in dignity between the two deities3 and ,homer is in regard to them perfectly consistent with himself4 ,mercury is sometimes a messenger in the proper sense1 and sometimes an agent1 or an agent and messenger combined4 ,it is not true that1 so far as the ,iliad is concerned1 he only appears in the last ,book in one of these capacities4 ,for in the ,second ,book#dec we find1 that he carried the ,pelopid sceptre from ,jupiter to ,pelops3 which may mean either simply1 that he was the bearer of it1 or that by a commission he assisted ,pelops in acquiring1 or rather in founding1 the ,achan throne in the ,peloponnesus4 ,in the ,twenty-fourth ,iliad1 ,mercury is not really a messenger at all#ded2 but he is an agent1 intrusted by ,jupiter on the ground of special fitness with the despatch of a delicate and important business1 the bringing ,priam in safety to the presence of ,achilles1 and afterwards the withdrawing him securely from a position of the utmost danger4 ,this is an office like that undertaken by ,minerva in the ,fourth ,book1 when1 as she was commissioned to bring about a breach of the ,pact by the ,trojans1 she repaired to ,pandarus for the purpose4 ,but the function of ,iris is simply to carry messages1 and chiefly from one deity to another2 she is not only 1 but #dee2 she is not intrusted in any case with the conduct of transactions among men1 or responsible for their issue1 although in the ,fifteenth ,book she spontaneously advises the god ,neptune in the sense of the message she has brought4 ,it is not for ,jupiter only that she acts3 she also conveys a message1 and a clandestine one1 for ,juno#def4 ,nay1 on one occasion1 without any divine charge1 hearing the prayer of ,achilles to two of the ,winds1 she spontaneously carries it to the palace1 where they were all feasting together#deg4 #dec ,il4 ii4 #ajd4 #ded ,il4 xxiv4 #ccd4 #dee ,il4 xxiii4 #aii4 #def ,il4 xviii4 #afe-h4 #deg ,il4 xxiii4 #aii4 ,only in the ,odyssey do we find ,mercury unquestionably and simply discharging the duty of a messenger2 and this on two occasions3 the first1 when he brought to gisthus the warning that his crimes1 if committed1 would be followed by retribution from the hand of ,orestes2 the second1 when he communicated to ,calypso the command to release ,ulysses4 ,but there is in reality no discrepancy whatever between the two poems3 inasmuch as ,mercury and ,iris1 though both messengers1 act in different characters4 ,iris is in one case the spontaneous messenger1 who carries a hero's wish to subordinate deities2 but she uniformly has this mark1 that she never rises higher than to be the personal messenger of ,jupiter4 ,on the other hand1 ,mercury in the ,odyssey is the official messenger1 not of ,jupiter individually1 but in both cases of the ,assembly of the gods3 and the care1 with which the distinction seems to be drawn1 is very remarkable4 ,it is true1 the message to ,calypso is called 3 but it became the message of ,jupiter1 because it was a proposal made by ,minerva in the ,olympian ,assembly1 and made on the part of all in the plural number1 which was then duly adopted by ,jupiter as the executive head of the body#deh3 #deh ,od4 i4 #hd4 1 1 4 ,the message in the case of gisthus is equally well defined#dei3 #dei ,od4 i4 #ch4 4 ,it would have been out of keeping1 therefore1 with the character and rank of the ,homeric ,iris1 to give her the charge of the messages carried by ,mercury4 ,the only case at all analogous in the ,iliad is that of the decision in the ,fourth ,book3 and there not ,iris1 but ,minerva is employed4 ,it is not1 however1 true that we have in the ,odyssey no recognition of the character of ,iris as a messenger4 ,we find one1 and that the plainest of all1 in the etymology of the name of the beggar4 ,his proper name was ,arnus#dfj2 and he was called ,irus1 because he was a messenger3 #dfj ,od4 xviii4 #f4 1 ' 1 4 ,there is yet another illustration of the view which has here been given4 ,in the ,assembly of the ,twenty-fourth ,iliad1 ,jupiter1 in order to give effect to the general desire of the gods1 has occasion to wish for the presence of ,thetis3 and it has at first sight an odd appearance that he does not1 as in other cases where he is acting singly1 call ,iris and bid her go3 but he says1 with a mode of expression not found elsewhere1 ' 4444 ,and ,iris1 hearing him1 sets forth without being personally designated4 ,the peculiar language seems as if it had been employed for the especial purpose of keeping ,iris within her own province1 and of preventing the possibility of the confusion between her office and that of deities superior in rank1 which might have arisen if she had regularly received an errand in the midst of the ,olympian ,court4 ,thus1 then1 it would appear1 that the apparent discrepancy between the various parts of the poems1 when closely examined1 really yields to us fresh evidence of their harmony4 ,nor let it be thought unworthy of ,homer thus minutely to preserve the precedence and relative dignity of his deities4 ,with our views of the ,olympian scheme1 it may require an effort to assume his standing-ground3 but when he was dealing with the actual religion of his country1 it was just as natural and needful for him to maintain the ranks and distinctions of the gods1 as of men in their various classes4 ,mythology might1 indeed1 afford ample scope to his fancy for free embellishment and enlargement of the established traditions2 but these processes must always be in the sense of harmonious development1 not of discord4 ,another question may indeed be asked3 whence came this idea of twofold messengership1 higher and lower8 and would it not have been more natural if the whole of this function had been intrusted to one deity8 ,this question is1 ,i believe1 just1 and requires that a special account should be given of an arrangement apparently anomalous4 ,such an account ,i have endeavoured to supply in treating of ,iris1 by shewing that she owes her place to a primeval tradition1 while ,mercury owes his to an ideal conformity with the laws of the ,olympian system4 ,and in truth there is no single deity1 on whom the stamp of that system has been more legibly impressed4 ,it might be said of the ,homeric ,mercury1 that he exceeds in humanism 7to coin a word for the purpose7 the other ,olympian gods1 as much as they excel the divinities of any other system4 ,his type is wholly and purely inventive1 without a trace of what is traditional4 ,he represents1 so to speak1 the utilitarian side of the human mind1 which was of small account in the age of ,homer1 but has since been more esteemed4 ,in the limitation of his faculties and powers1 in the low standard of his moral habits1 in the abundant activity of his appetites1 in his indifference1 his ease1 his good nature1 in the full-blown exhibition of what ,christian ,theology would call conformity to the world1 he is1 as strictly as the nature of the case admits1 a product of the invention of man4 ,he is the god of intercourse on earth2 and thus he holds in heaven by mythological title1 what came to ,iris by primitive tradition4 ,the proof must1 ,i think1 be sufficiently evident1 from what has been and will be adduced piecemeal and by way of contrast1 in the accounts of other and1 for that period at least1 more important divinities4 ,venus4 ,the ,venus of ,homer4 ,there is no deity1 except perhaps ,dionysus1 of whom the position and estimation in ,homer are so vividly contrasted with those1 to which he or she attained in later paganism1 as ,venus4 ,the ,venus of ,virgil1 the ,venus of ,lucretius1 are separated by an immeasurable interval from the ,aphrodite of ,homer4 ,and the manner in which she is treated throughout the ,iliad and ,odyssey is not only curious1 as indicating the nature and origin of her divinity1 but is of very high interest as illustrative of the great ,poet's tone of mind and feeling4 ,there is no act of worship or reverence1 no sign of awe or deference1 shown to her in any part of either of the poems4 ,yet her rank is indisputably elevated4 ,it is beyond doubt that she belongs to the ,olympian family4 ,she appears in ,olympus1 not as specially sent for1 but as entitled ordinarily to be there3 she takes a side in the war3 she makes the birth of neas more glorious on the mother's side than that of ,achilles1 who was sprung from ,thetis1 the daughter of ,nereus1 and a deity of inferior dignity to hers4 ,not only is ,jupiter her father1 but her mother ,dione is an ,olympian goddess4 ,yet her ,olympian rank is ill sustained by powers and prerogatives3 and she probably owed it to the poetical necessity1 which obliged ,homer to have an array of divinities on each side in the war1 with some semblance of equality at least between the rival divisions4 ,the indications of the poem may lead us to believe that her name and worship were of recent origin4 ,that a worship of her had begun is obvious3 for in ,paphos1 a town of ,cyprus1 and the only one named by ,homer1 she had both an altar1 and a 1 or dedicated estate2 and she bears the name of ,cypris#dfa4 ,but we have only the very slightest mention of her1 or of any thing connected with her1 in ,greece proper4 ,we have seen much reason to assume that ,cyprus was essentially ,pelasgian1 and ethnically more akin to ,troy than to ,greece4 ,in ,troy we find various signs of her influence4 ,she sent to ,andromache the marriage gift of her #dfb4 ,she made to ,paris the fatal present of his lust#dfc4 ,she fell in love with ,anchises1 and became the mother of neas#dfd4 ,she led ,helen away from the roof of ,menelaus#dfe1 and was an object of dread to her when in ,troy#dff4 ,minerva1 in taunting her bitterly about her wound1 supposes she may have got it by a scratch from a golden buckle1 in undressing some ,greek woman that she had persuaded to elope with one of the ,trojans whom she so signally loves#dfg4 ,again1 it appears from a speech of ,helen1 that she was worshipped in ,phrygia and ,monia#dfh4 ,the only token of her influence in ,greece is1 that she is twice in the ,odyssey called 4 ,thus we see her not strictly within ,greece1 but rather advanced some steps on her way to it4 ,and it is easy to suppose that1 in the race of corruption1 her worship would run among the fastest4 #dfa ,il4 v4 #dbb et alibi4 #dfb ,il4 xxii4 #dgj4 #dfc ,il4 xxiv4 #cj4 #dfd ,il4 ii4 #hbj4 #dfe ,il4 iii4 #djj4 #dff ,il4 iii4 #dah2 also #cie1 where 1 as most commonly in ,homer1 means to excite with fear4 #dfg ,il4 v4 #dbb-e4 #dfh ,il4 iii4 #djb4 ,venus as yet scarcely ,greek4 ,the negative evidence1 then1 thus far tends to the belief that ,venus was not yet established among the regular deities of the ,poet's countrymen3 and it is supported by positive testimony4 ,for some of the functions1 that must in the post-,homeric view of her office have belonged to her1 ,homer studiously makes other provision4 ,of this there is a most remarkable case in the ,odyssey4 ,he designs that the ,suitors1 before they are put to death1 shall be made to yield of their substance to the house of ,ulysses1 in the form of gifts to ,penelope4 ,for this purpose he arrays her in all her charms1 and brings her forth in appearance like ,diana1 or golden ,venus#dfi4 ,it is not a common practice with ,homer to compare a beautiful ,greek woman to ,venus2 especially when it is one so matronlike as ,penelope4 ,on the other hand1 the comparison of ,cassandra to ,venus#dgj is entirely in keeping with the ,asiatic character of the deity4 ,but the intention of the allusion here is manifest3 for when the ,suitors see her1 it is passion which prompts them to vie with one another in courting her favour through the medium of costly gifts4 ,how1 then1 came the sad ,penelope thus to deck herself8 ,it was not her own thought3 it was the suggestion of a deity1 and if ,venus had been recognised by ,homer as an established object of worship in ,greece1 ,venus would most properly have made the suggestion3 for she1 says ,achilles1 is supreme in beauty1 as ,minerva is in industry and skill#dga4 ,but it is ,minerva who instils this suggestion into the mind of ,penelope2 though in a form which conveys no taint to her mind#dgb4 ,she goes1 however1 beyond this3 for she sends ,penelope to sleep1 and then1 to enhance her beauty1 applies to her face a wash1 of the kind that ,venus herself uses when she goes among the ,graces4 ,yet this is not procured from ,venus1 as ,juno in the ,iliad procures the cestus from her on ,mount ,olympus2 nor is her agency or aid in any manner employed4 ,thus she is not allowed1 as it were1 to have to do in any manner with ,penelope2 a clear indication1 ,i think1 that though known1 she was not yet worshipped in ,greece proper4 #dfi ,od4 xvii4 #cg4 xix4 #ed4 #dgj ,il4 xxiv4 #fii4 ,i think the case of ,hermione 7,od4 iv4 #ad47 is an exception4 #dga ,il4 ix4 #chi4 #dgb ,od4 xviii4 #aeh-fh4 ,she appears1 indeed1 in the legend of the daughters of ,pandareus#dgc3 but the scene of this legend is not stated by ,homer to be in ,greece1 and by general tradition it is placed in ,crete or in ,asia ,minor4 #dgc ,od4 xix4 #fg1 #gc4 ,again1 the predicaments in which she is exhibited in the poems are of a kind hardly reconcilable with the supposition1 that she was an acknowledged ,greek deity at the time4 ,in the lay of ,demodocus1 the ,poet seems to intend to make the guilty pair ridiculous1 from his sending them off1 when released1 so rapidly and in silence4 ,it is true that he exhibits to us in the ,iliad the sensual passion of ,jupiter3 but he has wreathed the passage where it is described in imagery1 both of wonderful beauty1 and rather more elaborate than is his wont#dgd4 ,but whatever may be thought of the ,eighth ,odyssey1 the ,fifth and ,twenty-first ,iliad seem1 so far as ,venus is concerned1 only to permit one construction4 ,in the former1 she is1 after being wounded1 both menaced and ridiculed by ,diomed#dge4 ,in the latter1 for no other offence than leading the battered ,mars off the field1 she is followed by ,minerva1 and struck to the ground by a blow upon the breast4 ,as in the case of ,mars1 so and more decidedly in the case of ,venus1 it appears as if the ignominious treatment in the ,theomachy was difficult1 and the wounding and treatment by ,diomed quite impossible1 to reconcile with the idea that it could have been devised by a ,poet1 and recited to audiences1 for whom the personages so handled formed a part of the established objects of religious veneration4 ,even ,helen is permitted to taunt her bitterly3 to recommend her becoming the wife1 or even the slave1 of ,paris1 and her ceasing to make pretensions to play the part of a deity3 #dgd ,il4 xiv4 #cdf-ea4 #dge ,il4 v4 #cce1 #cdh4 ' 1 ' #dgf4 #dgf ,il4 iii4 #djf4 ,her advance from the ,east4 ,in entire harmony with these suppositions is1 first1 the side taken by her in the war2 and secondly1 the geographical indications of her worship4 ,it appears to have moved from the ,east along that double line1 by which we have found it probable that the ,pelasgians flowed into ,europe3 one the way of the islands at the base of the gean1 the other by the ,hellespont4 ,we know1 from other sources1 that the ,east engendered at a very early date creations of this kind4 ,under the names of ,astarte1 ,mylitta1 ,mitra1 and the like1 we seem to encounter so many separate forms or versions of the ,greek ,venus4 ,we may indeed observe that ,astarte was commonly associated with the ,moon1 and it would be a matter of interest to know the original relation between the popular or promiscuous ,venus 771 and the celestial one4 ,in ,homer we find them completely severed3 we perceive ,artemis with many traces of the older1 and ,aphrodite fully representing the more recent and carnal conception4 ,there still remains one sign of correspondence2 it is the standing epithet of for ,aphrodite1 compared with the cluster of golden epithets#dgg applied to ,diana4 ,we may not unreasonably1 ,i think1 take ,artemis as the probable prototype2 and ,aphrodite as the sensual image1 into which the old and pure conception had already degenerated1 before the time when the two fell1 as poetic material1 each for its own purpose1 into the moulding hand of ,homer4 ,while such a source is every way probable1 our reference to it is the more natural1 because it is not very easy to attribute to the ,greeks of the heroic age the original conception of such a divinity as ,venus4 ,for though they were of social and therefore somewhat jovial habits1 and though they were a race of ready hand1 given to crimes of violence1 yet they were not1 on the whole1 by any means a sensual race1 in relation to the standard which seems to have governed the ,asiatic nations1 whether we estimate these latter the ,trojans1 the ,assyrians1 or the ,jews4 #dgg ,sup4 sect4 ii4 p4 #adf4 ,the marriage with ,vulcan1 and the relation to a mother ,dione1 invented apparently for the purpose of maternity1 are marks of recency4 ,if ,i have rightly referred ,vulcan to the ,phnician order1 this marriage may be an indication that ,venus likewise had a place in it3 and again1 considering her station in ,troas1 it seems not impossible that the worship of ,vulcan may have been introduced there the more readily1 because of his being reputed to be her husband4 ,like ,maias the mother of ,mercury1 ,dione1 the mother of ,venus1 is excluded from the list of ,jupiter's amorous or matrimonial connections in the ,fourteenth ,iliad 7#cab-bh74 ,this leads to the conclusion1 either that the tradition respecting her was known only as a foreign one1 or else that it was recent1 slight1 and as yet unauthenticated in popular belief4 ,in either view it coincides with the other indications as to ,venus4 ,her rank and personal character4 ,the primary function of ,venus1 apart from ,asia1 appears to lie among the ,olympian deities4 ,that she was1 as a member of that family1 in actual exercise of her prerogatives1 we see plainly from the application made by ,juno to her in order to obtain the grace and attractiveness1 by which she hoped to act upon the mind of ,jupiter4 ,as a mythological conception1 she exhibits to us on the page of ,homer the union of the most finished material beauty with strong sensuality1 and the entire absence of all traces of the ethical element4 ,she represents two things1 form and passion2 the former refined1 the latter not so4 ,in her character1 as conceived by ,homer1 we see how that which is divine1 when it has ceased to be divine1 becomes1 not human1 but something much worse and baser3 as he that falls from a height cannot stop half-way down the precipice at his will1 but must reach the ground4 ,even feminine tenderness does not cling to the character of ,venus4 ,she is effeminate1 indeed1 for when wounded she lets her son neas fall3 but gentle she is not1 for in the scene of the ,third ,iliad with ,helen her conduct is harsh even to brutality1 and she drives the reluctant princess into sensuality only by the cruel threat of violence and death#dgh4 #dgh ,il4 iii4 #dad-g4 ,in ,venus we see the power of an ,immortal reduced to its minimum4 ,even the faculty of self-transformation seems to have been in her case but imperfectly exercised#dgi4 ,she does not pretend to give strength or courage to her son neas1 but is represented simply as carrying him off in her arms4 ,it is here worthy of remark1 that she has not even the ability1 like the greater deities1 to envelop him in cloud3 she has no command over nature1 only over the corrupt and rebellious impulses of man3 she has power to carry neas away1 but he is folded in her mantle#dhj4 ,in fact1 her privileges in general appear to be like those of the inferior orders of deity1 held and used for her own enjoyment2 but they do not carry the power of acting upon man or nature1 except in a particular and prescribed function4 ,her capacity of locomotion is limited in a peculiar degree4 ,mars1 though no great deity1 went1 when wounded1 up to heaven on the clouds4 ,but ,venus required to borrow the disengaged chariot of ,mars for the purpose1 when in the same predicament#dha4 #dgi ,il4 iii4 #cif4 #dhj ,il4 v4 #caa-ah4 #dha ,il4 v4 #cee-fd4 #cfc4 ,it is no wonder that the ancient1 probably the earliest ,greek1 account of her origin which is given by ,hesiod#dhb1 should mark her as of entirely animal extraction4 #dhb ,theog4 #ahh-ih4 ,another peculiarity in the case of ,venus is1 that she already takes her name1 and not only receives mere epithets1 from two particular spots where she is worshipped4 ,cyprus makes her in the ,iliad1 and from ,cythera she is also ,cytherea in the ,odyssey4 ,she thus stands distinct from ,juno3 to whom the ,argeian name is simply an appendage1 though one of a most characteristic force1 and one involving important inferences as to her origin4 ,nor is she less distinct from ,minerva1 whose name is not derivative in form when she is called 1 and whom we must consider as the eponymist of ,athens1 and not its namesake4 ,no indication could be of greater force1 than this marked localism1 in stamping the ideas about ,venus as purely human in their origin4 ,venus unable to confer beauty4 ,it would be an error to consider the ,venus of ,homer as even the goddess of beauty4 ,she was endowed with it personally1 and she possessed the cestus of fascination and desire3 but she had no capacity to make mortals beautiful1 such as ,minerva exercised upon ,penelope and ,ulysses1 and ,juno upon the virgin daughters of ,pandareus4 ,she is there passed by in such a manner as to make it plain that she did not possess any power of imparting this gift4 ,her 1 in ,il4 iii4 #fe1 do not appear to include it2 or ,paris would not say1 #8no one would spontaneously seek them4' ,for beauty of person was among the recognised and highly valued gifts of heaven#dhc4 #dhc ,od4 viii4 #afg-gg4 ,we are told1 in the ,twentieth ,odyssey1 that ,venus fed the orphan girls of ,pandareus with cheese1 honey1 and wine2 and1 continues the passage1 ,juno gave them extraordinary beauty and prudence1 ,diana lofty stature1 ,minerva industrial skill4 ,afterwards1 they being thus equipped1 ,venus went up to ,olympus to pray ,jupiter that he would make arrangements for their marriage#dhd4 ,thus her operations in a work of good are wholly ministerial and inferior3 and not only does she not confer beauty herself1 but she sees it conferred by ,juno4 ,this again shows that the ,venus of ,homer1 except for evil1 has no power to work upon the body or mind of man4 #dhd ,od4 xx4 #ff-ge4 ,but we must not omit to mark that sign of the real chastity of ,homer's mind which he has given us by his method of handling the character of ,venus2 a deity whom the nature of his subject in the ,iliad would have led almost any other heathen1 and many ,christian1 poets to magnify4 ,in not a single instance does ,homer exhibit this divinity to us in an amiable or engaging light1 or invest her with the attractions of power1 glory1 and success4 ,when ,minerva advises ,diomed in the ,fifth ,iliad#dhe1 she says1 ,do not attack any of the immortals2 but if you happen to see ,venus1 her you may wound4 ,we seem to have a clear indication1 that ,homer introduced this passage simply in order to throw contempt on ,venus2 because afterwards1 when ,mars is in the field1 and ,diomed pleads the inhibition he had received as a reason for his inaction1 ,minerva at once removes it1 and bids the warrior assail that god without scruple#dhf4 #dhe ,il4 v4 #aca4 cf4 #ccj4 #dhf ,il4 v4 #hah1 #bg4 ,again1 when ,diomed wounds ,mars1 it is because ,minerva invisibly directs and impels his lance#dhg3 but he wounds ,venus without any aid4 ,in the ,theomachy1 she appears upon the list of deities enumerated as taking the ,greek and ,trojan side respectively2 but when the ,poet comes to match the others for fight1 she disappears from his mind2 as though it would have been an insult to any other member of the ,olympian family to be pitted against her effeminacy4 ,accordingly1 no antagonist is named for her4 #dhg ,il4 v4 #hef4 ,she is sometimes made contemptible1 as in the foregoing instances4 ,she is at other times silly and childish1 as under the bitter taunt of ,minerva and the admonition of ,jupiter#dhh1 and again1 when she falls into the trap cunningly laid by ,juno#dhi4 ,odious in the interview with ,helen in the ,third ,book1 she is never better than neutral1 and never once so handled by the ,poet as to attract our sympathies4 #dhh ,il4 v4 #dba-cj4 #dhi ,il4 xiv4 #aij-bbd4 ,never made attractive in ,homer4 ,again1 there is not1 throughout the ,odyssey or ,iliad1 a single description of the beauty of ,venus1 such as ,homer has given us of the dress of ,juno1 or the arms of ,minerva4 ,it is never1 either directly or indirectly1 set off for the purpose of creating interest and favour4 ,one exception may perhaps be alleged3 but1 if it is such1 at least it affords the most marked illustration of the rule4 ,once he does praise the exceeding beauteous neck1 the lovely breast1 the sparkling eyes of ,venus2 but it is when he has clothed her in the withered form of the aged spinstress that had attended upon ,helen from ,sparta1 and through whose uninviting exterior such glimpses of the latent shape of ,venus are caught by ,helen as to enable her1 but no one else1 to recognise the deity4 ,how different is this from the case of ,virgil1 who has introduced a most beautiful and winning description of her in the ,second neid#dij1 just when he brings her into action that she may acquit both ,helen and ,paris of all responsibility for the fall of ,troy4 ,it would have been not only natural for ,homer1 but1 unless he was restrained by some strong reason1 we may almost say it would have been inevitable1 that he should have done for ,venus what has been done in our own day1 with very high classical effect1 by ,tennyson in his none3 #dij n4 ii4 #ehi-ic4 ,idalian ,aphrodite beautiful1 ,fresh as the foam1 new bathed in ,paphian wells1 ,with rosy slender fingers backward drew ,from her warm brows and bosom her deep hair ,ambrosial1 golden round her lucid throat ,and shoulder3 from the violets her light foot ,shone rosy-white1 and o'er her rounded form ,between the shadows of the vine-branches ,floated the glowing sun-light as she moved4 ,upon the whole1 ,i should confidently cite the treatment of ,venus in the poems as being among the most satisfactory indications of the state of heroic ,greece1 and one of the most honourable tokens of the disposition of her ,poet4 ,vulcan4 ,the ,vulcan of ,homer4 ,besides ,juno and ,bacchus1 ,hephstus or ,vulcan is the only ,homeric deity who bears upon him this unequivocal1 or at least significant1 mark of novelty1 that we are supplied with a distinct tradition of his childhood#dia4 ,in his youth he was rickety and lame4 ,his mother ,juno wished to conceal him1 and she let him fall into the sea4 ,here ,thetis and ,eurynome received him1 and reared him in a submarine cave1 not1 however1 under the ,mediterranean1 but the ,ocean2 and in that cave for nine years the boy-smith employed himself in making ornaments for women4 #dia ,od4 viii4 #caa3 and ,il4 xviii4 #cie4 ,he is thus associated by his traditions with the two opposing elements of water and fire2 with water by the history of his childhood1 and with fire as the grand instrument and condition of his art4 ,the latter was by much the stronger association1 for it was continually fed by the history and progress of the art itself2 so that he became the impersonation of that element itself1 and in the phrase it is his name which gives the distinctive force2 for in ,homer seems to mean the flame or light of fire#dib1 and is not used to signify fire proper1 except with some other word in conjunction to it or near it4 ,but the explanation of the seeming contrariety is probably to be found in the hypothesis1 that his worship was of ,phnician introduction2 as the ,phnicians seem to have made the ,greeks acquainted with the use of fire in working metals4 ,if they made the deity known to the ,greeks1 this will account for his association with the idea of fire3 and as accounts and traditions1 which they had supplied1 were evidently the source of all the more remote maritime delineations of ,homer1 7since they alone frequented ,ocean and the distant seas17 this is the natural and easy explanation for the tradition of his childish arts in the oceanic cave4 ,that he is thus1 like the ,phnicians1 for ,homer1 the meeting point of fire and water1 appears clearly to stamp him as ,phnician or oriental in his origin1 relatively to ,greece4 #dib ,thus1 in ,il4 xviii4 #bjf1 it means that blaze without heat1 as from shining armour1 with which ,minerva invested ,achilles when he went forth unarmed4 ,the name also stands alone for fire in ,il4 ii4 #dbf4 ,accordingly1 true to the association between ,phnician and ,hellenic elements1 he is one of the five ,hellenizing deities in the ,trojan war2 in which1 as the element of fire1 he opposes and subdues the river ,xanthus4 ,he was not1 however1 unknown to the ,trojans2 for ,dares1 his priest1 had two sons in their army4 ,his introduction to ,troas may have been due to his conjugal connection with ,venus2 or it may have been due to the neighbourhood of ,lemnos1 the island on which1 when hurled from ,olympus by ,jupiter1 he fell1 and which thenceforward formed his favourite earthly habitation4 ,with ,lemnos and other isles ,troy was in communication1 at least from the time of ,laomedon1 for that prince threatened to seize ,apollo and to sell him1 #dic4 ,a regular commerce was established between ,lemnos and the camp during the ,trojan war#did4 #dic ,il4 xxi4 #dec4 #did ,il4 vii4 #dfg4 ,among the deities of ,vulcan's generation we find but one married couple1 and they are a strangely assorted pair1 ,vulcan himself and ,venus4 ,neither character nor occupation will account for this singular union3 on the contrary1 there is no case in which the extremes of repugnance must so decidedly be supposed4 ,it is questionable whether the hypothesis1 that ,venus represents the beauty which gives perfection to works of art1 is in entire keeping with the tone of the ,homeric system4 ,indeed ,venus with ,homer represents absolutely nothing1 except sensual passion in a fine exterior form which can hardly be severed from it4 ,one explanation1 and one only1 may suggest itself as more natural4 ,it is this3 that the worship of ,vulcan and that of ,venus came in1 not distinctly connected with those of any other deity1 at about the same time1 and from the same quarter4 ,we have already seen upon ,venus those marks of comparative modernism1 and of an eastern extraction1 which we now find in ,vulcan2 and here probably is to be found1 either wholly or in part1 the actuating suggestion of their ill-starred wedlock4 ,though we find the works of ,vulcan scattered promiscuously abroad1 there is no notice of his worship1 or of any site or endowment belonging to him in the ,greece of ,homer4 ,he was available to the ,poet for embellishment1 but he probably had not become for the ,greek nation a regular object of adoration4 ,i think we may trace the tokens of his eastern origin in the legend of his infancy4 ,it was into the sea that he was thrown3 but1 as we have seen1 the cave in which he was reared was a cave of ,ocean#die4 #die ,il4 xviii4 #djb4 ,also1 by a rather singular arrangement1 there are two deities1 not one only1 employed in taking him up and watching over his childhood4 ,nor are the two naturally associated together3 for ,thetis is a daughter of ,nereus1 and belongs to the ,thalassian family2 ,eurynome is a child of ,ocean4 ,the connection with ,thetis and the sea is appropriate enough in the case of any child of ,juno1 for the wife of ,peleus1 as his nurse1 seems to give him an ,hellenic character3 but it seems hard to explain the appointment of a colleague belonging to the race of ,ocean1 and for the situation of the cave in its bed1 except as having been due to the eastern origin of the divinity1 of which the mark had not yet been effaced4 ,his marriage with ,venus4 ,the marriage of ,venus and ,vulcan1 metaphysically interpreted1 represents the union of strength and skill in the production of works of art3 but though this may have been a ,greek application of eastern traditions originally independent1 there is no distinct trace of it in ,homer2 while it may seem strange that1 if the ,poet had had such an idea before his mind1 his only picture of their conjugal relation should have been the one given in the ,eighth ,odyssey4 ,still1 he may have had that idea4 ,vulcan's other wife1 ,charis1 represents an exactly similar conception2 and here there is a more obvious probability that the combination was ,greek1 and was one intended1 or even devised1 by ,homer4 ,it is common to treat the handling of this subject in the ,iliad as in contradiction with that of the ,odyssey2 and to use the assumption of discrepancy either in support of the doctrine of the ,chorizontes1 or in proof that the ,olympian lay of ,demodocus is spurious4 ,without entering into that controversy1 ,i venture to urge that the proof is insufficient4 ,why should the ,vulcan of ,homer be limited to a single spouse8 ,jupiter has three1 probably four2 namely1 ,juno1 ,latona1 ,dione1 and ,ceres4 ,no other ,olympian deity1 until we come down to ,vulcan1 has any4 ,the question then arises1 ,why should the poets1 or even the religion of the day1 be limited in this case to monogamy1 which has no place elsewhere in the ,olympian family8 ,why should the reasons1 which induced the framers of the religion to give him a wife at all1 forbid them absolutely from giving him more than one8 ,nay more2 why1 if the original object of the ,greek mind in this marriage was to symbolize the union of manual skill and beauty1 and if the materials of the received mythology were in a state of growth and progress1 might it not happen that in the youth of ,homer ,charis was1 all things considered1 suited to afford the most appropriate means of representing the idea1 and yet that in his later age he might amend his own plan1 and make ,venus the wife of ,vulcan1 without at all troubling himself to consider what was to become of the slightly sketched image that he had previously presented in the ,iliad8 ,i say this1 because the assumed contradiction of these legends appears to me to proceed upon another assumption of a false principle2 namely1 that1 though the mythology was continually changing with the progress of the country1 yet each poet was bound1 even in its secondary and in its most poetical parts1 to a rigid uniformity of statement4 ,no one1 ,i think1 who considers how the current of the really theistic and religious ideas runs upon a very few of the greater gods1 can fail to see that with ,homer the religious meaning of his ,vulcan1 and of the other gods of the second order1 was very slight4 ,a sufficient proof of this may be found in the fact1 that of no one of them1 excepting ,mercury alone1 does he mention the actual worship in his own country4 ,moreover1 two things may deserve remark with reference to the variation which makes ,charis the wife of ,vulcan in the ,iliad1 and ,venus in the ,odyssey4 ,first1 from the plan of the ,iliad1 which placed ,venus and ,vulcan in the sharpest opposition1 the conjugal relation between them would have been1 for that poem1 inadmissible4 ,the ,poet could not have introduced ,venus1 where he has introduced ,charis3 and he must thus have given up a strikingly poetical picture1 and one most descriptive of the works of high art in metal4 ,secondly1 it may not be certain1 but it is by no means improbable1 that the worship of ,venus may have attained to much wider vogue in ,greece when ,homer composed the ,odyssey1 than at the period when he gave birth to the ,iliad4 ,we have seen already the signs that it was a recent worship4 ,we have seen it in ,cyprus and then more advanced in ,cythera1 not in continental ,greece4 ,now it was in the ,iliad that ,venus had the name of ,cypris2 in the ,odyssey this is exchanged for ,cytherea3 that is to say1 she was known sometime before as a goddess worshipped in ,cyprus and not properly ,greek2 but she was now1 such is the probable construction1 known also as a goddess worshipped in ,cythera1 and therefore become ,greek4 ,on this account1 as well as because the opposition between them had disappeared1 she might with poetical propriety be made to bear a character in the ,odyssey1 which could not attach to her during the continuance of the great ,trojan quarrel4 ,vulcan in and out of his art4 ,beyond his own function as god of fire1 and of metallic art in connection with it1 ,vulcan is nobody4 ,but within it he is supreme1 and no deity can rival him in his own kind4 ,his animated works of metal are among the boldest figures of poetry4 ,even his lameness is propped by bronze damsels of his own manufacture4 ,and the lock1 which he puts for ,juno on her chamber-door1 is one that not even any other deity can open#dif4 ,but this is not so much an exemplification of the power and elevation of mythological godhead1 as of the skill and exclusive capacity of a professional person in his own art4 #dif ,il4 xiv4 #afh4 ,finally1 the ,vulcan of ,homer conforms in all respects to the inventive1 as opposed to the traditional type of deity4 1 or the ,sun4 ,the of ,homer4 ,in the case of 1 or the ,sun1 as in various others1 we appear to see the curious process by which the ,greek mythology was constructed1 not only in its finished result1 but even during the several stages of its progress4 ,it lies before us like the honeycomb in the glass beehive2 and it tends strongly to the conclusion that the ,poet is himself the queen bee4 ,the ,philosopher did not then exist4 ,the ,priest1 we know1 was not a religious teacher4 ,the ,seer or ,prophet interpreted the ,divine will only for the particular case1 and did not rise to generalization4 ,who was it1 then1 that gathered up the thoughts and arrested the feelings of the general mind1 and that1 reducing the crude material to form and beauty1 made it a mythology8 ,the answer can only be1 that for the heroic age it was the ,bard4 ,in some of the varying statements of the poems1 where others have seen the proof of varying authorship1 either for the whole or for particular parts1 ,i cannot but rather see the formative mind exercising its discretion over a subject-matter where it was as yet supreme3 namely1 over that large class of objects which afforded fitting clay for the hand of the artist1 but which had not yet become a stamped and recognised image for popular veneration4 ,in the ,charis1 who is the wife of ,hellenizing ,vulcan1 so long as ,venus is at war with the ,greeks2 in the ,winds1 who1 according to the ,odyssey1 inhabit a bag under the custody of a living person1 possibly a mortal1 but who in the ,iliad beget children1 enjoy banquets1 and receive a cultus2 we find ,homer1 as ,i conceive1 following the genial flow of his thought1 according as his subject prompted him1 and awarding honour and preferment1 or withholding it1 as occasion served4 ,perhaps ,mercury or ,vulcan1 perhaps even ,juno or ,neptune1 may owe him some advancement3 but1 at any rate1 he seems almost as distinctly to show us in two different stages of manufacture1 as a sculptor shows a bust in his studio this month in the clay1 and next month in the marble4 ,in the ,iliad we find the ,sun personified1 though in the faintest manner1 and by inference only4 ,his office of vision1 which he enjoys habitually in the ,odyssey1 and once in the ,iliad#dig1 is inseparably wedded to a living intelligence by its combination with the function of hearing4 ,he is addressed as the #dig ,il4 iii4 #bgg4 '1 ' ' 4 ,now poetry may1 under the shield of custom1 make the ,sun see1 by a figure which shall not carry the full consequence of impersonation2 but the representation1 that he also hears1 seems necessarily to involve it4 ,again1 ,jupiter has decreed1 that ,hector and the ,trojans shall prevail until the setting sun4 ,after that1 there was to be no more of light or hope for them4 ,juno desires on this account to close the day1 and dismisses the ,sun prematurely to his rest4 ,but this1 as the ,poet adds1 was done against his own will#dih3 #dih ,il4 xviii4 #bci4 ' ' 4 ,upon the two words1 and 1 rests1 ,i think1 the whole case in the ,iliad for the ,sun's personality4 ,but in the ,odyssey it is more advanced and developed4 ,in the matter of the intrigue of ,mars with ,venus1 he acts as informer to the husband1 and subsequently assumes the part of spy#dii4 ,although thus able1 however1 to discern what is passing even in the secret chambers of ,olympus1 when set on guard for the purpose1 he cannot see so far as to ,thrinacia1 any more than he can penetrate the cloud which envelopes ,jupiter and ,juno#ejj4 #dii ,od4 viii4 #bgj1 #cjb4 #ejj ,il4 xiv4 #cdd4 ,it is from the ,nymphs1 ,phaethusa and ,lampetie1 whom he had set to watch1 that he receives the intelligence of the slaughter of his oxen by the companions of ,ulysses in their hunger4 ,he immediately addresses ,jupiter and the assembled gods1 in a passage which proves that ,homer meant to represent him as having a place in ,olympus1 for only if there could he speak to them without undertaking a journey for the purpose#eja4 ,he makes his appeal to them for retribution2 and he backs his application with the threat that1 unless it is granted1 he will go down to the ,shades1 and shine there4 ,a menace which to our ears may sound ludicrous enough2 but it is perhaps well conceived in the case of a chrysalis deity1 not yet really worshipped by the ,greeks3 and there is a certain propriety in it1 when we recollect that on the way to the descent into the ,shades lay his place of rest4 ,he is the father of the ,nymphs1 who watch on his behalf in ,thrinacia2 he is also the father of ,circe and etes1 and his couch is at a#ejb4 #eja ,od4 xii4 #cgd-hh4 #ejb ,od4 xii4 #d4 ,during the time when the slaughter of the oxen is effected1 ,ulysses is asleep3 and it seems just possible that ,homer may by this circumstance have meant to signify that it was night when the catastrophe occurred1 which would save the dignity of this deity in respect to vision4 ,is of the ,olympian ,court4 ,the ,olympian rank of the ,sun is clear2 but there seem to be ascriptions made to him1 which can only be reconciled by the supposition1 in itself far from improbable1 that he was separately known of1 as an object of worship1 through two different sets of traditions2 one of them referable to ,pelasgian sources1 and entailing ,trojan sympathies1 the other of an ,hellenic1 or very probably a ,phnician1 cast1 and tending to rank him with the ,hellenes4 ,for in the ,iliad his unwillingness to set1 when his setting was to bring the glories of the ,trojans to an end1 seems very strongly to imply that he had a ,pelasgian origin4 ,in the ,odyssey1 his siding with ,vulcan against ,mars and ,venus would show1 so far as it goes1 a ,hellenizing turn2 but what is more important is this1 that1 as the father of ,circe and etes1 of whom the latter bears the exclusively ,phnician epithet 1 and the former has her abode close by his 1 or point of rising1 he is at once thrown into the ,phnician or the ,persian connection4 ,as the ,sun-worship was so general in the ,east1 it seems quite possible that it might come into ,greece by more channels than one3 and as the process of personification might in one set of traditions be more1 and in another less complete1 we may here find a possible clue to ,homer's reason for treating it differently in the two poems4 ,particularly as the poem where he is least personal1 the ,iliad1 is also that where he is most ,pelasgian3 for we have found reason to ascribe to the ,pelasgians less of lively and creative power in the realms of the imagination1 than to the ,hellenes1 and to such races as had stronger affinities with them4 ,so distinct is the ,sun from ,apollo in the ,odyssey1 that they appear as separate dramatis person in the ,lay of ,demodocus4 ,yet there are some latent signs of sympathy between them4 ,apollo tends the oxen of ,laomedon3 the ,sun delights1 morning and evening1 in his own oxen in ,thrinacie4 ,it is difficult to avoid supposing some kind of relation to be conveyed by ,homer between the rays of the sun1 and the arrows of ,apollo in the ,plague4 ,the extension of his sympathies to both races is another sign of resemblance4 ,again1 we have a promise from ,eurylochus1 one of the crew of ,ulysses1 to build a temple to the ,sun upon his safe return to ,ithaca#ejc4 ,now we have seen that the only instances of temples1 which we can certainly declare to be named in the poems1 are temples either of ,minerva or of ,apollo4 ,thus this vow of ,eurylochus looks like another anticipation of the subsequent absorption of the ,sun into the person and deity of ,apollo3 and on the whole1 we are left to infer that beginnings of that process may have been already visible4 ,homer1 perhaps1 did not care to advance it4 ,at least1 it does not appear to me that either he or his nation were friendly to the conception of mere elemental gods4 ,gods who preside over external nature he presents to us in abundance2 but gods1 who are the mere organs of external nature1 are alien to the ,greek genius as candidates for the higher posts1 and are relegated to subordinate places in the system4 ,only ,vulcan and ,ceres really appear with him to bear decisively the stamp of this character3 and both of them seem as if they were already in part detached from it1 and developing in another direction4 ,for in ,vulcan the human faculty of skill already predominates over fire1 and ,ceres impersonates the vegetable product of ,earth1 and not the mere dead mass4 #ejc ,od4 xii4 #cde4 ,the connection of the ,sun with ,pelasgian traditions according to the ,egyptian type is1 ,i think1 strongly signified by the legend of the oxen and sheep1 in which he takes so much delight4 ,in the time of ,homer he was1 as it were1 a probationer in the of the ,grecian gods4 ,the main facts before us are simply these3 first1 his unformed separate state at that epoch2 secondly1 his absorption in ,apollo4 ,the lesson taught by both is the repugnance of the ,greeks to mere ,nature-worship4 ,the signification of the second1 in particular1 appears to be this1 that as could not stand alone1 and needed to be absorbed1 so he could find no place for his absorption so fitting as in that deity1 of whom1 as well as of the more venerable traditions that he represented1 brightness was an inseparable and original characteristic4 ,his incorporation with ,apollo4 ,in this view1 the mythological absorption of the ,sun in ,apollo is a most striking trait of the ancient mythology3 and it even recalls to mind that sublime representation of the ,prophet1 #8,the sun shall be no more thy light by day1 neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee2 but the ,lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light1 and thy ,god thy glory#ejd4' #ejd ,isaiah lx3 compare ,rev4 xxi4 #bc4 ,dionysus or ,bacchus4 ,the ,dionysus of ,homer4 ,the ,dionysus of ,homer1 or ,bacchus1 has all the marks of a deity1 whose name and worship were of recent introduction into ,greece1 and were not yet fully established there2 while in connection with the ,trojans we have no notice of him whatever4 ,the eastern origin of this god seems in an unusual degree to have been remembered in the later popular tradition3 and from the slight ,homeric notices we may find confirmation for the common idea2 inasmuch as the poems appear both to mark him as not originally ,greek nor ,pelasgian1 and likewise rather faintly to connect him with the ,phnicians4 ,his father was ,jupiter1 and his mother ,semele4 ,her name occurs in a ,catalogue1 of which the first part is composed of women1 the second of goddesses2 she appears among the women4 ,the lines1 in which she is mentioned may be rendered1 #8nor when 7,i was enamoured7 of ,semele1 nor 7when7 of ,alcmene1 in ,thebes2 and ,alcmene had stout-hearted ,hercules for her son1 but ,semele bore ,dionysus1 joy of men4' ,these words appear probably to mean that ,semele1 as well as ,alcmene1 was in ,thebes3 and this supports the post-,homeric1 but ancient1 tradition of the hymn to ,bacchus#eje1 which makes ,semele the daughter of ,cadmus4 ,now1 ,cadmus1 according to every reasonable presumption1 was ,phnician4 ,we have thus a fixed chronological epoch1 to which the god was junior4 ,that is1 we have a period fixed1 which may be called historical1 when his name and worship had not yet been brought into ,greece4 #eje ,ver4 #eg4 ,the only note that we possess of the worship of ,dionysus1 as one established in ,homer's time among the ,greeks1 is in the obscure allusion of the ,eleventh ,odyssey to ,ariadne#ejf1 who was put to death by ,diana in the island of ,dia1 on her way from ,crete to ,athens1 at the instance of ,dionysus1 4 ,the most probable interpretation of this passage seems to be1 that ,theseus1 when on his voyage1 landed with ,ariadne in ,dia to consummate the marriage1 just as ,paris#ejg1 on his way from ,sparta1 landed in ,cranae with ,helen3 but that1 since the island was dedicated to ,dionysus1 this was punished as a desecration4 #ejf ,od4 xi4 #cbb-e4 #ejg ,il4 iii4 #dde4 ,we thus see ,dionysus taking root for the first time upon the natural line of communication1 namely that by the islands1 between ,phnicia and ,greece3 and his possession of this island is in harmony with the tradition of the ,hymn1 which represents him as having first been seen upon the sea-shore#ejh4 #ejh ,hymn4 ad ,bacch4 v4 #b4 ,in the ,twenty-fourth ,odyssey we are told that ,thetis supplied the ,greeks with a gilded urn1 in which to store the ashes of ,achilles1 together with wine and some unguent1 probably fat4 ,the passage to which these verses belong is perhaps the least trustworthy in the poems3 nor is it in complete agreement with the ,iliad1 which mentions fat only as used on the occasion4 ,but ,i refer to it because it is stated there1 that this urn was reported by ,thetis to be the work of ,vulcan1 and also to be the gift of ,dionysus#eji4 ,her possession of a gift from him is in harmony with ,il4 v4 #acf1 which represents her as having sheltered him1 when1 through fear1 he plunged into the sea3 while his possession of a work of art in metal is best explained by the supposition that ,homer regarded him as a ,phnician deity1 since it was from that race that such productions were commonly1 though we cannot say exclusively1 derived4 #eji ,od4 xxiv4 #gd4 ,it is not difficult to understand why1 as the god of wine and inebriety1 ,dionysus does not appear in the theotechny of the ,iliad2 but it would seem that the feasts of the dissolute ,suitors in the ,odyssey afforded a series of occasions1 upon any of which the mention of his name would have been highly suitable4 ,we may perhaps even say that it could hardly have been omitted1 if his worship had been general and familiar in the country4 ,again1 ,dionysus is nowhere mentioned in connection with ,olympus4 ,the remaining ,homeric notice of this deity which is also the most curious1 sustains what has already been advanced4 ,the ,arcadian king1 ,lycoorgus1 scourged1 and pursued over the hill ,nyseion1 the 1 the nurses of the frantic ,bacchus2 they in dismay cast down their vine branches 771 while he plunged into the sea1 and ,thetis gave him refuge#eaj4 ,jupiter1 in retribution1 struck ,lycoorgus blind1 and cut short his days4 ,whatever explanation may be adopted of its details1 this legend seems to signify1 beyond all doubt1 that some forty or fifty years before the ,troica 7for ,lycoorgus was contemporary with the youth of ,nestor#eaa71 the introduction of the drunken worship of ,bacchus was resisted by the ,pelasgians of ,arcadia1 and was for a time1 at least1 expelled by them4 ,the mention of ,dionysus as a child probably imports a further reference to the recency of his worship3 and there is something remarkable and significant in this apparent commencement of violent opposition to it at the point when women were beginning to be corrupted by excess of liquor4 #eaj ,il4 vi4 #acj-dj4 #eaa ,il4 vi4 #acb4 ,even the later tradition of ,hesiod1 which makes ,dionysus the husband of ,ariadne1 by thus giving him a ,phnician connection1 so far sustains his ,phnician origin#eab4 #eab ,hes4 ,theog4 #idg4 ,dionysus is of the lowest inventive type4 ,as ,dionysus is one of the most recent of the ,homeric deities1 so likewise is he one of the most purely heathenish#eac4 ,he has not1 even in ,homer1 a divine maternity assigned to him1 and he is the only one of the ,homeric deities who stands in this predicament#ead4 ,the anomaly was felt and provided for1 in the later traditions at least1 by the deification of ,semele after death4 ,but perhaps another mode of statement may be adopted4 ,as it is evident that the original tradition made him the son of a woman1 and as all those with whom he is classed in ,homer are probably historical personages1 it seems possible that he may have been one of our own race1 whose discovery or extension of the use of wine may1 by its rapid and powerful effect upon the countries which it had reached1 have led to his adoption into the order of the ,immortals1 by a process more rapid than took place in the case of ,hercules or any other person4 ,upon this supposition1 he stands altogether alone among the gods of ,homer4 ,but1 be this as it may1 he is1 when considered in the capacity of a deity1 the representation of an animal instinct in its state of gross excess1 and of nothing more4 ,he is the god of drunkenness1 as ,mars is the god of violence1 and ,venus the goddess of lust3 and there are no three other deities1 from whom ,homer has so remarkably withheld all signs of his reverence4 #eac ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 p4 #hj4 #ead ,see the accounts of ,pindar1 ,pausanias1 and ,apollodorus4 ,though ,i state this as an historical possibility1 ,i think it is certain that1 according to the ,poet1 ,dionysus was from his birth one of the ,immortals3 but it is also very doubtful whether he was one1 to whom a place belonged in the smaller ,olympian ,assembly4 ,even in later times1 he was not one of the ,dii ,majores3 and his being the son of a mortal in ,homer would tend to make it probable that he was not invested by the ,poet with ,olympian dignity4 ,again1 he is only four times mentioned in the whole of the poems2 nor is a single act of his manhood recorded1 except his information against ,ariadne4 ,that information seems to imply1 that a known ,greek island was sacred to him2 and it was followed by the death of ,ariadne under the darts of ,diana4 ,these circumstances may perhaps raise a presumption of his ,olympian rank1 equal to the adverse one which has been stated above4 ,so far as this inquiry is concerned1 the question must remain unsolved4 ,but little of interest can attach to these1 the shameful parts of the ,greek mythology1 which boast1 as if it were our strength1 of what can scarcely be excused as our weakness1 and which treat our shame as our joy4 ,the real point of interest is to learn whether there was a time when man1 even though he had lost the clear view of the guiding hand from above1 yet revolted against1 or had not become familiar with1 the deification of vicious passion4 ,and we seem to find the note of such a time in ,homer4 ,only one laudatory phrase is applied throughout the poems to ,dionysus2 it is the 1 and these words are not the sentiment of the ,poet1 or of any character that represents his mind2 they are put into the mouth of ,jupiter1 when he is speaking under a paroxysm of sensual passion4 ,i have not adverted to the tradition which places the ,lycoorgus of ,il4 vi4 in ,thrace1 but have simply followed what appears to be the suggestion of the ,homeric text4 ,,sect4 ,,iv4 ,the ,composition of the ,olympian ,court3 and the ,classification of the whole ,supernatural ,order in ,homer4 ,in the full ,olympian ,assembly1 or ,great ,chapter of the ,immortals1 we find a collection of deities1 who are respectively the representatives1 in the main1 of ,elemental ,powers1 of ,human ,passions or ,ideas1 and of ,historical ,traditions1 either single or intermixed4 ,among the simple examples1 we may cite the ,rivers and ,nymphs for the first1 ,mars and ,venus for the second1 the goddess ,themis for the third1 ,latona and ,iris for the last4 ,in ,jupiter1 the chief of all1 these elements are blended together4 ,principal cases of exclusion from ,olympus4 ,but we must also consider those who do not appear in ,olympus1 and why they are excluded4 ,if1 as is perhaps the case1 ,aidoneus and ,persephone are not there1 it is because of the separateness of their work1 and the remoteness of their kingdom4 ,they had servants1 guards1 and a judge1 in short1 a sort of polity of their own4 ,atlas1 ,proteus1 ,calypso1 ,circe1 and the other purely local deities1 so far as we know1 are not there2 probably because they do not enter into the national religion1 but are little more than convenient symbols#eae of geographical points known or conceived through maritime1 that is1 without doubt1 through ,phnician report4 ,again1 we do not hear in ,olympus of ,destiny1 ,sleep1 ,night1 ,dream1 ,terror1 ,panic1 ,uproar1 and the rest2 probably because these had not attained to practical impersonation in the religion of the people1 but were merely objects of the poetical faculty4 ,so likewise with respect to the ,winds1 who stand as receivers of worship and sacrifice in ,il4 xxiii4 #aie4 ,the different treatment which they receive in the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 like their non-appearance in the ,great ,chapter#eaf of ,olympus1 unless referable to the peculiarities of the ,outer ,geography1 shows that they had not a developed and established godhead1 but might be dealt with by the ,poet at his will4 ,in these imperfect impersonations1 it has been well observed1 sometimes the mere elemental power1 sometimes the superinduced personality prevails4 ,again1 the temptress1 and the avengers1 might stand excluded1 both on the same ground of inadequate impersonation1 and on other grounds4 ,nereus and the purely elemental deities of the sea are not summoned to the ,assembly1 apparently because he too had his own submarine palace4 ,it answered to ,olympus2 and here he sat in state amidst his numerous ,court of ,nymphs4 ,even ,thetis was fetched from thence to attend the last ,assembly of the gods in the ,twenty-,fourth ,iliad4 and are not in the divine meetings1 firstly1 because he1 probably with her as his reflected image1 is penally confined in ,tartarus2 but secondly1 because1 the first representing ,time1 and the second ,matter1 they are the primary ideas in the metaphysical order1 which comprehended all others1 and from which all others were derivative4 ,and as they stood in the metaphysical nexus of ideas1 so stood ,oceanus and his feminine1 ,tethys1 in the terrestrial order2 where ,oceanus was the all-inclosing1 all-containing2 the ,form1 within which every terrestrial existence was cast1 and beyond which even ,thought could not pass4 ,hence the curious and marked exception of him from the summons of ,themis to the ,great ,assembly of the ,twentieth ,book#eag4 #eae ,ngelsbach1 ii4 #i4 #eaf ,il4 xx4 #d-i4 #eag ,il4 xx4 #g4 1 ' 1 ' 4 ,he is the father of the rivers1 and the feeder of the ,sea4 ,even of the gods he is the #8,genesis1' perhaps as their physical source1 or as affording material for their formation2 perhaps as the outer band of that world to which they belong1 as much as we do1 and outside of which there was no attempt to conceive them as existing4 ,lastly1 it is perhaps because ,homer meant to assign to ,oceanus and ,tethys the actual first parentage of the gods4 ,this supposition is favoured by the fact that ,juno applies the name #eah to ,tethys1 in a connection which may make it equivalent to #8our ,mother ,tethys4' #eah ,il4 xiv4 #bja4 ,it is clearly on a principle that ,oceanus is not summoned to ,olympus1 and not from mere defect or immaturity of personality4 ,for in conjunction with his wife ,tethys1 he took over the infant ,juno from ,rhea1 at the time when there was trouble between ,jupiter and his father2 and afterwards he reared the child in his own domain4 ,he can be lulled into slumber by like any other deity3 he has a daughter1 ,eurynome#eai3 and he is capable of conjugal quarrels#ebj4 #eai ,il4 xviii4 #cih4 #ebj ,il4 xiv4 #bjj4 seqq4 #bde4 ,again1 ,ocean is water1 and ,oceanus is the father of all the ,rivers3 but yet he was not included in the great lottery which divided the world between the ,kronid brothers4 ,this shows us afresh1 that he is outside and independent of their rule3 he forms the framework of the visible creation1 while they are parts of the picture that is within the framework4 ,the same thing is true of and in the metaphysical order4 ,they represent anterior conditions of thought and of existence to all other ,beings1 human and divine4 ,their personality is established2 but it is1 even more than that of ,oceanus1 in abeyance3 for ,oceanus is at least ever-flowing1 while ,time1 and ,space1 or ,matter1 are with ,homer wholly passionless1 mute1 and still4 ,when once the ,kronid family has been brought into existence1 and the attempt of ,time to impose the law of death on ,deity has been put down by ,jupiter1 then the impersonations are virtually withdrawn from him and his partner1 and they relapse into the torpid state of purely abstract ideas4 ,the ,elemental ,powers have nowhere what may be called a strong position in ,homer1 except in the invocations of solemn swearing2 where they give force to the ,oath1 because they are the avengers of perjury4 ,thus their connection is not with deity in general1 but with that nether world1 which the ideas of mankind have always associated with the lower parts of the ,earth#eba4 #eba ,il4 iii4 #bgf-h4 xix4 #beh-fj4 ,even on grounds larger than those derived from a particular phrase1 it may be probable1 that we ought to consider ,oceanus as the ,homeric parent of all the deities1 and included4 ,to a state of the human mind not yet familiar with abstractions1 ,time and ,place1 imperfectly conceived1 might be more limited1 less comprehensive1 than the great all-infolding ,ocean1 which encircled and wrapped in the world4 ,and in this conception there may lie hid the embryo of what afterwards grew into the aquarian cosmogony1 a system which appears not to be without support from other passages of the poem1 especially from the very curious verse 7,il4 vii4 #ii71 ' 4 ,if1 however1 this idea was really in the mind of the ,poet1 still we should consider it as having been with him an instinct rather than a theory4 ,d majores of the later tradition4 ,the ,olympian deities of ,pagan antiquity are commonly represented as twelve in number2 and the names are #a4 ,jupiter4 #b4 ,juno4 #c4 ,neptune4 #d4 ,minerva1 or ,pallas ,athene4 #e4 ,phbus ,apollo4 #f4 ,diana4 #g4 ,mercury4 #h4 ,histie1 or ,vesta4 #i4 ,mars4 #aj4 ,venus4 #aa4 ,vulcan4 #ab4 ,ceres4 ,but ,homer knows nothing of this number or arrangement of the gods2 or of the distinction between ,dii majores and ,dii minores4 ,nor does he enable us with precision to substitute any other number for it4 ,he gives us1 however1 his idea1 at least by approximation1 of the number of the ,olympian gods4 ,for when ,thetis visits ,vulcan1 to obtain new armour for ,achilles1 she finds the deity at work upon twenty #ebb1 to stand round the wall of the well-built hall1 which he is carefully fitting with wheels1 in order that they may automatically take their places in the assembly of the gods4 ,whatever these be1 the number is probably meant to correspond with that of the ordinary ,olympian meeting for festivity or deliberation4 ,they are commonly supposed to be bowls or vessels for wine set on three-legged stands2 but there are two reasons1 suggested by the language of the passage1 which seem to recommend our understanding the word to mean seats1 such as that of the priestess of ,apollo at ,delphi3 one is1 their being intended to stand around the apartment1 along the wall3 and the other is1 that they were to place themselves for the divine assembly#ebc2 #ebb ,il4 xviii4 #cgc4 #ebc ,il4 xviii4 #cgf4 ' 1 ' 4 ,this idea of the great bowls placing themselves1 one apparently for each deity to draw from1 does not correspond with the classical representation of the cupbearer filling the cup of each1 as he moves from the left towards the right4 ,nor does the word seem to be suitable for a merely convivial meeting3 and we ought1 ,i presume1 to consider the meetings on ,olympus as in theory political councils for the government of the world1 only relieved by meat and drink4 ,if we take as signifying the seats1 it has of course a reference to the number of gods who constituted the ordinary ,olympian family2 a reference which indeed it may probably have1 even if the other signification be preferred4 ,and the text of the poems affords sufficient evidence1 that twenty was about the number of the ,olympian gods of ,jupiter4 ,deities of ,olympian rank in ,homer4 ,of the ,olympian twelve recognised in later times1 all1 except ,vesta and ,ceres1 must at once and indubitably be pronounced ,olympian in ,homer4 ,for all take part in the ,trojan war1 and likewise make their appearance in ,olympus4 ,thus we have ten ,olympian deities of ,homer already ascertained4 ,and there are several others whom we can have no doubt in adding to the list4 ,these we will proceed to consider3 #a4 ,latona is clearly ,olympian2 from her great dignity as an unquestioned wife of ,jupiter 7 1 ,il4 xxi4 #dii72 and from the fact that her position entitled her to take a side in the ,trojan war1 where none but ,olympian deities were engaged1 with the single exception of the formidable local power1 ,xanthus or ,scamander4 ,another reason is1 because the title of ,dione1 as we shall see1 is clear2 who is a deity in some respects similar1 but decidedly inferior1 to ,latona4 #b4 ,dione the mother of ,venus is in the same order4 ,for she receives her child1 when she repairs wounded to ,olympus1 and in her speech of consolation distinctly describes herself as one of the ' 1 ,il4 v4 #chc4 ,she is called in this passage 3 a title twice given to ,minerva1 but also1 sometimes1 to very secondary deities1 such as ,calypso and ,circe4 ,either as insignificant1 or possibly as being foreign and not sufficiently naturalized1 she finds no place in the ,catalogue of ,mothers in the ,fourteenth ,iliad4 #c4 ,iris1 the messenger-goddess4 ,the grounds of her title may be found among the remarks upon this deity#ebd4 #ebd ,see sup4 p4 #aef4 #d4 ,themis1 although not a party in the war1 has the office of ,pursuivant or ,summoner to the ,olympian ,assembly3 and her ordinary presence there is distinctly proved by the ,fifteenth ,iliad1 where she is the first to welcome ,juno on her entrance into the circle4 #e4 ,it will be seen from a brief statement elsewhere relating to ,aidoneus or ,aides1 that he is clearly of ,olympian rank and character4 #f4 ,next to ,aidoneus1 we may take the claim of ,hebe4 ,she is not indeed an important1 nor a very prominent1 person in the poems3 but there is no room for doubt as to her ,olympian dignity4 ,we find her officiating as cupbearer in the ,olympian ,court of the ,fourth ,iliad4 ,her connection with ,olympus is further established by her assisting ,juno in the preparation of her chariot3 and by her assisting ,mars in the bath1 when that deity has betaken himself into the presence of ,jupiter1 to complain of his wound4 ,again1 her personality is quite clear4 ,nor can her divinity be questioned4 ,she is pronounced in the ,eleventh ,odyssey to be the daughter of ,jupiter and ,here4 ,the verse is suspected2 but the suspicion itself may be suspected in its turn4 ,further1 the case rests not on the particular account given of her parentage1 but1 in connection with the context1 on her appearing as the wife of ,hercules at all4 ,nor is she anywhere connected with the idea of a mortal origin#ebe4 #ebe ,il4 iv4 #b4 v4 #gba1 #ije4 ,od4 xi4 #fjc4 #g4 ,a second divinity of somewhat similar rank is ,paieon4 ,on two occasions1 he heals in ,olympus the wounds of deities2 first of ,aidoneus1 then of ,mars4 ,he is summoned to the exercise of his function as a person within call1 and habitually present there4 ,after the rebuke of ,jupiter to ,mars1 the line that follows is#ebf1 #ebf ,il4 v4 #hii4 1 ' 4 ,there is no doubt therefore either of his personal1 or of his ,olympian character2 and none but divine persons are capable of bearing the ,olympian offices4 ,ganymede1 for instance1 though carried up to dwell among the ,immortals in order to pour out wine1 has no function assigned to him in the poems4 ,the ,egyptians1 indeed1 are stated to be of the race of ,paieon#ebg2 but we must probably understand this with respect to their royal family1 just as the same thing is said of the ,phacians with respect to ,neptune1 because their kingly house had sprung from him#ebh4 ,in the later mythology he appears to be absorbed1 like the ,sun1 in ,apollo2 but in the ,homeric poems there is no confusion1 or approach to confusion1 of the persons4 ,paieon has the relation to ,apollo with respect to surgery or medicine1 which ,vulcan has to ,minerva with respect to manual art3 and1 apparently by a mixture of distinct traditions1 he is also connected with ,apollo1 by being the synonyme for the hymn of victory1 of which ,apollo is doubtless supposed to be in a peculiar manner the giver4 #ebg ,od4 iv4 #bcb4 #ebh ,od4 xiii4 #acj4 ,to all these deities the poems appear to give a title to seats in ,olympus1 unquestionable as well as direct4 ,by a somewhat less clear and simple process1 we may1 ,i think1 arrive at a similar conclusion as to the views of ,homer regarding two other deities4 #h4 ,the first of these is ,demeter1 or ,ceres1 whose ,olympian rank is considered1 and ,i think established1 in the remarks elsewhere upon her individual divinity#ebi4 #ebi ,see sup4 sect4 iii4 p4 #bae4 #i4 ,the second is 1 the ,sun4 ,his share in the episode of ,mars and ,venus#ecj does not indeed absolutely imply his residing on ,olympus4 ,but this is clearly involved in the account of his receiving the intelligence1 that his oxen had been consumed by the companions of ,ulysses4 ,for1 upon hearing it1 he instantly proceeds to address the company of the ,immortals assembled there#eca1 and is answered by ,jupiter4 ,he must therefore unquestionably stand as one of the ,olympian gods of ,homer4 #ecj ,od4 viii4 #bgj1 #cjb4 #eca ,od4 xii4 #cgd-hh4 ,there are but three other personages named in ,homer1 with respect to whom there is room for the supposition1 that he may have intended them to rank as ,olympian deities4 ,they are ,dionysus1 ,persephone1 and ,eris4 ,for ,histie1 or ,vesta1 is so entirely wanting in personality1 that she cannot possibly belong to that order4 ,she is invoked indeed in company with ,jupiter2 but with these two is likewise combined the 1 the table of hospitality4 ,in the hymn to ,venus#ecb she has become fully personified1 and is celebrated as the eldest of the daughters of 4 ,but this imagery probably belongs to a different stage of ,greek society and ,greek poetry4 #ecb ,hymn4 v4 #bb4 #a4 #b4 ,the case of ,dionysus and that of ,persephone1 very different1 but both on this point doubtful1 have been stated elsewhere#ecc4 #ecc ,see sect4 iii4 pp4 #bfi1 and #bbc4 ,the ,eris of ,homer4 #c4 ,the case of ,eris is different4 ,she is the sister and also the mistress of ,mars#ecd4 ,and in the fierce battle of the ,eleventh ,book1 ,eris alone is present to enjoy it1 while all the other deities1 inhibited from action by ,jupiter1 have betaken themselves to their several abodes on ,olympus4 #ecd ,il4 iv4 #ddj4 ,again1 ,jupiter sends her down to the camp at the beginning of the ,eleventh ,iliad1 where she stands on the ship of ,ulysses1 and raises a mighty shout to stir up the ,greeks for the contest#ece4 ,the word is1 indeed1 the common and established word for strife in ,homer1 and it is applied even to the conflict of the gods#ecf1 4 ,but this use of it is probably to be compared with that of for a spear1 and of 7in later ,greek7 for the sensual function of that deity4 ,she is1 on the whole1 less a figure than a person1 though standing upon the border between the two respectively2 and though1 as she never actually performs what may be called a personal action1 she is only by a few degrees removed from the family of ,terror1 ,din1 ,panic1 and the rest4 ,the first of these1 1 as he is the son of ,mars#ecg1 and attends him in fight against the ,ephyri1 is as distinctly personified as ,eris in one passage2 but the effect of it is neutralized by others1 where he passes into sheer figure4 ,she rejoices in seeing the slaughter#ech wrought in battle3 and an intense eagerness is imputed to her#eci1 of course meaning an eagerness for blood4 #ece ,il4 xi4 #c4 #ecf ,il4 xx4 #ff4 #ecg ,il4 xiii4 #bii4 #ech ,il4 xi4 #gd4 #eci ,il4 iv4 #ddj4 ,but another form of this deity is probably exhibited to us under another name1 that of the 4 ,enuo is mentioned together with ,pallas as being a warlike deity1 in contrast with the effeminate ,venus#edj3 and she leads the ,trojans to the fight in concert with ,mars3 but while he has a huge spear in his hands1 she holds or leads1 instead1 another form more shadowy than her own1 that of or ,tumult4 ,yet the mode in which she is joined with ,pallas proves her impersonation4 ,the fundamental identity of her name with 1 the second name of ,mars1 and her joining him in leading on the ,trojans1 place her in some very close relation to him3 and that close relation cannot well be other than the twofold one of sister and mistress1 which had been assigned to 4 #edj ,il4 v4 #ccc1 #eib4 ,when it is said1 that #8she alone of the gods was present1 as the others had retired to their respective mansions on ,olympus1' the most natural inference certainly is1 that she too is meant to be described as belonging to the ,olympian ,court4 ,upon the whole1 it seems pretty clear1 that if the ,poet intended to limit absolutely the number of the ,olympian ,court or ,minor ,assembly to the exact figure twenty1 then the choice for the twentieth place will more justly fall on his ,eris1 than either his ,dionysus1 or even his ,persephone4 ,it appears to me1 however1 that so strict a numerical precision is not in the manner of ,homer2 that he intended the twenty tripods to be a general indication of the number of the ,court1 and that with this indication the facts of the poems substantially1 though indeterminately1 agree4 ,such is the composition of the ,olympian ,court1 or smaller ,assembly4 ,classification of the ,supernatural ,order4 ,the ,deities who1 in virtue of belonging to that ,court1 may be most properly called ,olympian1 may be divided into the following classes3 ,i4 ,deities having their basis1 and the general outline of their attributes and character1 from tradition4 #a4 ,pallas ,athene1 or ,minerva4 #b4 ,phbus ,apollo4 #c4 ,latona4 #d4 ,iris4 ,,ii4 ,deities of traditional basis1 but with development principally mythological or inventive4 #a4 ,jupiter4 #b4 ,neptune4 #c4 ,aidoneus1 or ,pluto4 #d4 ,diana4 #e4 ,persephone499 ,,iii4 ,deities of invention1 or mythology proper4 #a4 ,juno4 #b4 ,mars4 #c4 ,mercury4 #d4 ,vulcan4 #e4 ,venus4 #f4 ,demeter4 #g4 ,themis4 #h4 4 #i4 ,paieon4 #aj4 ,dione4 #aa4 ,hebe4 #ab4 ,eris1 or ,enuo499 #ac4 ,dionysus499 ,those three names1 which are marked with an asterisk1 appear to have only a more or less disputable title to a seat in ,olympus4 ,outside1 so to speak1 of ,olympus and its ,court1 we may classify the superhuman intelligences of ,homer as follows3 observing1 however1 that the minor deities who represent natural powers1 if thoroughly personified1 give their attendance in ,olympus on high occasions1 and help to form its great ,chapter or ,parliament4 ,they may be thrown into the six following classes3 #a4 ,the greater impersonations of natural powers1 and of ideas2 with their reflections1 where such have been formed1 in the feminine4 ,these are ,oceanus and ,tethys4 and 4 ,ouranos and ,gaia 7not ,earth1 but rather ,land74 ,nereus and ,amphitrite4 ,we are not authorized by ,homer to associate either of these last couples as husband and wife4 ,we have to add3 ,destiny1 7which also has a place in the fifth class17 ,dream1 ,sleep1 ,death1 ,terror1 ,panic1 ,rumour1 ,din1 ,uproar4 ,the process of impersonation is with some of these fully developed1 with others scarcely begun1 and wholly poetical2 therefore as yet in no degree mythological4 ,in one place1 ,il4 xiii4 #bii1 is the son of ,mars1 in another and are his horses 7xiii4 #aai472 and in a third they appear along with 1 in a shape hovering between personality and allegory4 herself1 at times fully personified1 in one passage is simply a figure on the gis of ,minerva1 perhaps1 however1 as an animated work of art1 ,il4 v4 #gdj4 ,in all these cases we see the work of poetical fabrication actually going on4 ,perhaps the best example of a merely poetical1 as distinguished from a religious or practical impersonation1 is to be found in schylus1 who makes ,dust the brother of ,mud#eda4 #eda sch4 ,ag4 #dhj4 ,this class was greatly augmented in the later ,theogonies1 beginning with ,hesiod4 #b4 ,the minor impersonations of natural powers1 such as 7#a7 ,the ,winds4 7#b7 ,the ,rivers4 7#c7 ,the ,nymphs of meadows4 7#d7 ,the ,nymphs of fountains4 7#e7 ,the ,nymphs of groves4 7#f7 ,the ,nymphs of hills4 7#g7 ,the ,sea ,nymphs4 #c4 ,i place in a different class all those deities1 who appear in ,homer as the subjects of foreign fable not fully naturalized4 ,these are they who dwell in the ,outer sphere of the marvellous ,geography in the ,odyssey1 and with whom ,menelaus and ,ulysses are brought into contact4 ,they are wholly exterior to the system of ,homer1 and we cannot safely give them a position implying any defined relation to it4 ,but there are certain links supplied by the ,poet himself1 as when he makes ,circe child of the ,sun1 and ,mercury presumptively nephew of ,calypso3 by these he shows us the connection of the ,greek mythology with ,eastern sources1 and the partial assimilation of the materials they supplied4 ,these deities are3 #a4 ,proteus4 #b4 ,leucothee4 #c4 olus 7perhaps74 #d4 ,the ,sirens4 #e4 ,calypso4 #f4 ,atlas4 #g4 ,circe4 #h4 etes4 #i4 ,maias4 #aj4 ,perse4 #aa4 ,eidothee4 ,and several ,nymphs#edb4 #edb ,od4 i4 #ga4 xii4 #acb1 #c4 #d4 ,those impersonations which represent1 each in its several part1 or its peculiar aspect1 the tradition of the ,evil ,one1 have been considered along with the deities of tradition4 #e4 ,of ministers of doom or justice1 real or reputed1 and less than divine1 yet belonging to the metaphysical or moral order1 we have in ,homer3 #a4 ,the ,fates1 1 who fall within the range of ideas described by his and his 4 #b4 ,the 4 #c4 ,the 4 #f4 ,besides all these1 we have yet another class with subdivisions of its own1 composed of beings who stand within the interval between ,deity and ,humanity4 ,there are some observations to be made on several of these classes4 ,destiny or ,fate in ,homer4 ,it is much easier to obtain a just perception of the manner in which ,homer handles the subject of ,destiny or ,fate1 than to represent it in a system4 ,the conflict which it involves1 either of ideas1 or at least of the words denoting them1 was certain to give occasion to argument and difference of opinion in a case where a poet is of necessity called to take his trial at the bar of philosophy#edc4 #edc ,the subject has been treated with great ability by ,ngelsbach1 ,hom4 ,theol41 ,abschnitt iii4 ,besides the 1 on which ,i shall make a remark hereafter1 there are five forms of speech which are employed by ,homer to express the idea of ,destiny2 they are1 1 1 1 1 and 3 the two last in the singular number only1 the two preceding it in the singular or plural1 and the only in the plural4 ,of these1 the and the have undergone the most effective process of personification2 but1 brought more distinctly into the sphere of life and action1 these phrases have a much less profound root in the order of ideas1 and scarcely touch the great questions1 whether destiny is a power separate from the human will1 separate from the ,divine will1 and superior to either or to both4 ,the fundamental idea both of and 1 traced from their original source1 is not a part merely1 but rather a portion or share allotted according to some rule or law4 ,but1 though of similar origin1 some distinctions obtain between the uses of the two words4 ,and first as to 4 ,under the form of 4 ,we have in ,il4 xviii4 #cbg1 2 in ,od4 xix4 #bd1 2 in ,il4 ix4 #cgh1 4 ,in all these cases it is plain1 that the word means not a mere part1 but a part assigned upon some given principle4 ,hence it comes to mean either the whole share or lot assigned to a man1 or the law according to which it is assigned1 that is1 the law under which the moral government of human life1 and the distribution of good and evil1 are conducted4 ,accordingly1 we have these several senses in which it is employed4 #a4 ,the 1 as the entire destiny1 of an individual man1 ,il4 i4 #daf4 1 4 #b4 ,a notable part of that destiny1 as his death3 4 ,il4 xxiv4 #dbh4 #c4 ,the moral law for the government of conduct1 as in 1 ' 1 ' 4 ,il4 iii4 #ei4 #d4 ,that moral law as it is supposed to proceed from ,jupiter2 the 1 or dispensation of ,jupiter2 the 1 or dispensation of ,providence4 #e4 ,that same law1 as it is supposed to proceed from some other source1 or to speak more correctly1 for ,homer1 as the power which administers it is separately personified4 ,this we have in the passage 1 1 ,il4 xx4 #abg2 or1 again1 as in ,od4 vii4 #aig2 where is assisted in the spinning process by the 1 as if it was felt that she was not strong enough to make a ,destiny4 ,upon the whole it appears to me that there is in the word only the minutest savour of the proper idea of ,fate4 ,for ,fate involves these things3 #a4 a power dominant over man3 #b4 a power independent of the divinity3 and #c4 a power standing ideally apart from right4 ,now does not fully answer even to the first of these conceptions1 since 1 even when it is backed by the gods1 may be overcome by the energies of man4 ,jupiter in the ,iliad#edd ordained glory to ,hector and success to the ,trojans until the sunset of the day when the battle of the ships was fought3 yet just before the death of ,patroclus the ,greeks prevailed1 ,il4 xvi4 #ghj4 #edd ,il4 xi4 #aib-d and xviii4 #dee4 ' 4 ,the only instances in which we find endowed with any thing in the nature of an inexorable force are such as that quoted from ,il4 xx4 #abg4 ,in this passage it is said by ,juno1 #8,we will give ,achilles glory2 thereafter let him suffer what has appointed for him4' ,now this refers not to a course of life that he was to pass through1 but simply to the crisis of his death4 ,in ,od4 vii1 the speaker is ,alcinous2 and his sentiment is1 #8,let us carry our guest safe home and then leave him to whatever and the have ordained for him4' ,probably this is only an euphemism1 and means death1 as ,juno meant it2 but1 in any case1 proceeding from another mortal1 it is a mere form of speech perfectly compatible in itself with the idea that the gods are superior to 1 nay1 that man may upon occasion surmount it4 ,in the other case it is not so2 we must understand ,juno to recognise the or dispensation as absolute2 but then it is the dispensation of death2 and it is1 ,i think1 the clear doctrine of the poems that that dispensation cannot be cancelled or averted from mortals1 though there are various modes in which it may be escaped or baffled3 one of them1 that of postponement1 which is temporary3 another1 that of translation out of the mortal state1 as in the case of ,ganymede3 and a third1 that of revival1 as in the cases of ,castor and ,pollux4 ,to ,minerva alone is ascribed a power over death3 and this seems to be a power of subsequent rescue1 and not one of absolute exemption4 ,euryclea comforts ,penelope with the exhortation to pray to ,minerva about ,ulysses#ede1 as she can afterwards deliver him2 #ede ,od4 iv4 #gec4 4 ,the stress is evidently to be laid upon the word 4 ,another passage1 which may at first sight present a different appearance1 will1 ,i think1 on examination1 be found to harmonize completely with what has been said4 ,when in the ,sixteenth ,iliad1 ,jupiter perceives that his cherished son ,sarpedon is about to meet his death by encountering ,patroclus1 he laments that it should be the destiny of one to him the dearest of men1 to be slain by that warrior4 ,then he proceeds to consider whether he shall remove him from the scene of danger1 though he was fated to die1 or whether he shall subdue him by the hands of ,patroclus#edf1 #edf ,il4 xvi4 #dch4 4 ,thus1 in the space of a few lines1 #a4 he seems to recognise destiny as a power superior to his own will2 then1 #b4 he debates whether he shall overrule this superior power2 and lastly1 #c4 he treats the execution of its decree as the act of that very will of his4 ,and on this course1 advised by ,juno1 he finally decides4 ,he desists from executing this plan1 not because it is impossible1 but apparently for two reasons3 the first1 that it may cause discontent and spleen among the gods2 the second1 that by similar interferences1 on behalf each of his own child1 they too may trouble the order of nature4 ,his power1 therefore1 to execute the scheme is clearly implied4 ,but what scheme8 ,not one for repealing the law of death1 so far as ,sarpedon is concerned#edg2 but simply for adjourning the evil by removing him to his home1 and so putting him far beyond the reach of the chances of the war4 #edg ,il4 xvi4 #dcf4 ,when ,vulcan is asked by ,thetis to provide arms for ,achilles1 he replies1 ,would that ,i could hide him from his fated hour1 even as ,i can and will provide him with arms6 ,here1 indeed1 the expression is not to save1 but to hide him2 yet even this is beyond his power3 1 #edh4 #edh ,il4 xviii4 #dfd4 ,vulcan indeed is a deity of limited powers2 but in this case he seems to express a general law4 ,death inexorable to ,fate or ,deity4 ,the death1 therefore1 at some time within a given space1 of every person remaining in the state of a mortal man1 was a point settled and immovable1 and so was accordingly the of death3 but it was that the was fixed1 because death was fixed1 and not that death was fixed1 because ordained it4 ,we must distinguish between a single incident of a mortal career1 an order which nothing can infringe1 unchangeable but uncaused1 and the supposition of a power1 which causes that1 and likewise all other parts of it1 irrespective of personal will1 whether in the gods or in men4 ,it appears1 ,i think1 on the whole1 that has but a limited and equivocal connection with the idea of fate2 it seems never to mean more than the fate of a single individual1 never to signify the large-handed destiny that grasps nations and the world4 ,it may be overridden1 as by the ,greeks1 after the battle of the ships4 ,and the reason of this seems to be that its meaning has so strong a bias to the side of a moral law1 as opposed to a mere force4 ,this comes out clearly in the sense of the word 3 is little less or more1 than to be a good man4 ,its predominating sense is the ordained law of right2 and as such1 it is a law very liable to be broken4 ,destiny under the form of 4 ,it is in the 1 if anywhere1 that we must seek for destiny1 in the sense which approximates to fatalistic ideas4 ,here1 far differently from 1 the moral idea is subordinate in nearly all cases1 and in some it is wholly suppressed4 ,like 1 1 properly means a portion or share1 a part accruing to some one under a law4 ,thus we have ' ,od4 xx4 #aga2 and 1 ' 7,il4 x4 #beb74 ,thus it appears to pass into the following senses1 which may be usefully compared with those of 4 ,the scope of its meaning is far wider3 it hardly stoops to signify the destiny of a single man2 ,homer could not well have said 7see ,il4 i4 #daf47 3 although he can make as a power1 appoint a destiny for a man1 7,il4 xxiv4 #bji47 it is not the of a man4 ,but it is #a4 ,the appointing power as separate from any thing else4 ,it hovers between the state of an abstraction and of a person3 and it comes nearer to the latter than 4 ,not only have we 1 7,il4 xxiv4 #bji47 but especially1 #edi4 #edi ,il4 xxiv4 #di4 ,a passage by which1 unless its effect were modified from elsewhere1 the seem in principle to take the whole administration of moral government into their hands1 by fixing dispositions as well as outward actions4 #b4 ,besides being thus personal1 reaches to mankind at large1 and expresses a general law1 in the passage last quoted4 ,this may be a law of good fortune1 as in ,od4 xx4 #gfeej3 #eej ,cf4 ,il4 iii4 #ahb1 4 ' 4 #c4 ,or1 with an epithet1 it may mean ill fortune2 as in 1 ,il4 xii4 #aaf4 #d4 ,it seems very strongly to signify death1 when used simply1 and without addition1 as ' 1 in ,od4 xi4 #efj4 #e4 ,or when in apposition1 as 1 ,od4 ii4 #ajj1 or again as in ,il4 iii4 #aja1 4 #f4 ,or any thing ordained for mankind at large1 as ,od4 xix4 #eib1 the 4 ,you must sleep1 says ,penelope2 for the gods have so ordained it1 7 74 #g4 1 like 1 may be the embodied will1 decree1 or dispensation of the gods4 ,thus we have 1 ,od4 xi4 #bib1 where is either ,jupiter or possibly ,apollo3 and 1 ,od4 iii4 #bfi1 and xxii4 #dac4 ,now the names and seem to be higher with ,homer than any mythological name4 ,they are his most solemn forms for the expression of the idea of deity4 ,thus it is remarkable that he never attaches directly to any ,olympian person4 ,this testifies to its signifying something larger than is conveyed by 4 ,but it also seems to indicate that1 even if it were capable of being placed in antagonism to the will of one of the mythological persons1 into whose forms theistic ideas had passed by degeneracy1 yet it was not conceived as opposite to or separate from the divine principle1 but rather as a power associated with it4 #h4 ,though in general means the thing ordained without reference to moral ideas1 yet it is not always so4 ordinarily means destined1 while means right4 ,but the ideas of right and might were not yet wholly parted4 ,in ,od4 xxii4 #dac it is plain that 1 pronounced by ,ulysses over the ,suitors1 contains a moral element3 for he goes on to say1 4443 and so ,eurymachus1 when he means to acknowledge that the death of ,antinous was morally just1 says1 ' #eea4 #eea ,od4 xxii4 #ed4 ,the presence of the moral element in this word is entirely adverse to the theory1 that it was used in the sense of fatalism4 ,power apart from a personal deity has been conceived by the human mind3 but moral power1 ,i think1 in such a state of severalty1 has never been made the subject of serious speculation4 #i4 has yet another sense1 that of 1 order4 ,the force of the term is generally #8with propriety1' while ' is #8with right4' ,thus in ,il4 xix4 #bef the ,greeks sit still1 1 in order to hear ,agamemnon3 and we have an instance of meaning #8with propriety' in ,il4 x4 #afi4 ,here ,nestor has been chidden by ,diomed1 not for a moral offence1 but for over-activity3 and he replies1 1 1 4 ,he could not here have said ' 4 ,under the form of 4 ,lastly1 we come to the word 4 ,there are several shades of distinction between it and 4 #a4 ,it is never personified in ,homer1 nor even approaches to impersonation4 #b4 ,it draws peculiarly to the dispensation of death1 in conformity with the law by which in ,latin it became mors4 ,see ,il4 xviii4 #dfe4 xxi4 #acc3 and1 except in this connection1 it does not seem to be used to express individual destiny4 #c4 ,accordingly it is never associated with deity2 in conformity with the fixed character of the dispensation of death4 ,we have no 1 4 #d4 ,yet this is not because is stronger than 4 ,on the contrary1 we have no case in ,homer of a thing done 1 though it is sometimes apprehended4 ,thus in ,il4 xx4 #cce ,neptune warns neas to retire from before ,achilles1 4 ,but receives the sense of as the law of right3 a relationship curiously maintained in mos1 moris1 compared with mors1 mortis4 ,men bring woe upon themselves 1 by obstinate wickedness3 and the crimes of gisthus 7,od4 i4 #ce47 have been committed 4 ,general view of the ,homeric ,destiny4 ,we thus see that1 on the whole1 the force of destiny1 as it appears in ,homer1 although it commonly prevails1 is not uniformly irresistible4 ,we never find the deities actually fighting against it1 or it against them4 ,so full and large were ,homer's conceptions of the freedom of the human will1 that fate is sometimes on the point of giving way before the energy of his heroes1 and this even when the strength of some god is brought in aid of it4 ,thus ,jupiter fears1 lest ,achilles should dash the ,trojan walls#eeb to the ground4 ,apollo enters the city#eec1 lest the ,greeks should take it on the day of the battle with ,hector4 ,in the ,second ,book1 after the rush from the assembly1 the ,greeks would have returned home1 unless ,juno had urged ,minerva to bestir herself by influence among them4 ,many things are done contrary to 1 or the ordained law of right2 whereas1 although is not in the abstract insurmountable1 yet in fact it rarely is surmounted4 ,but then the ,fate of ,homer1 the thing spoken1 is not in conflict with him that speaks it4 #eeb ,il4 xx4 #cj4 #eec ,il4 xxi4 #eag4 ,we do not find in ,homer the curious distinction which the speculative mind of the ,greeks afterwards worked out1 between a fate representing the mere will of the gods1 and a fixed fate higher and stronger than they3 #eed4 #eed sch4 ,ag4 #iic4 ,and again in ,herodotus#eee3 4 #eee ,herod4 i4 #ia4 ,while this1 on the one side1 was the course of speculation1 the course of poetic thought was towards a complete impersonation of ,destiny in the three ,fates1 representing an image so congenial1 as a poetic image only1 to the human mind1 that it found its way into the romance poetry of ,christian ,italy4 ,upon the whole1 it appears at any rate most probable1 that ,homer had not formed the conception of a law extrinsic to all volition human and divine1 and so powerful as to override it4 ,it is hardly to be conceived that ,homer would have treated a successful resistance to the laws of ,destiny as lying within the possible reach of mankind1 had he deemed it to be a power independent of1 and superior to1 the ,divine ,will2 because he always represents the latter as decisive and supreme over human fortunes4 ,i think that the primary ideas conveyed in the terms and ,fatum will not be found1 when examined1 to agree4 ,fatum is the decree without reason2 the sic volo sic jubeo2 and the idea of it is the result of the long1 wearisome1 despairing experience of bewildered man1 after the world has lost the freshness and the joy of its childhood4 ,the 1 or share1 is a distribution made according to a law or moral purpose3 it cannot1 without parting from its nature1 be blind3 its tendency in ,homer rather is1 as we see in ,il4 xxiv4 #di1 to grow into a sort of rival ,providence4 ,the arguments to an opposite effect are surely inconclusive#eef4 ,the question raised by the ,scales of ,jupiter is1 not what the springs may be which determine the movement of the world1 but simply what is his foreknowledge of the direction it will take4 ,these representations would be perfectly consistent with belief in the supremacy 7so to speak7 of ,chance3 and while we may admit that1 inasmuch as they are not produced for the information of men1 they must indicate a limitation in ,jupiter1 we should not mistake the nature of that limitation4 #eef ,enumerated in ,ngelsbach1 iii4 #g-i4 ,again1 we must not suppose that because some particular deity deplores the course of destiny1 therefore that course is in opposition to the general deliberation and decision of ,olympus4 ,and when1 as is commonly the case1 we find the deities cooperating with 1 the assumption that they are its servants1 seems to be wholly unwarranted4 ,it seems much more natural to suppose that the 1 to which they are giving effect1 is simply the divine will3 especially as1 though we find single gods1 ,neptune or ,apollo1 for example1 cooperating with 1 ,i doubt whether this is ever represented of the gods at large and their supreme decrees4 ,in order to solve the general question1 what after all can be more reasonable than to look to the main action of the poems1 and inquire what power or what counsel it is which takes effect through the medium of their machinery as a whole8 ,if this be the test1 there is no room for doubt upon the issue4 ,in the ,iliad it is the 7,il4 i4 #e73 the determination of ,olympus1 into which ,jupiter had wisely allowed his own opposite inclinations to merge4 ,in the ,odyssey#eeg1 it is the decision of the same tribunal1 at the instance of ,minerva1 and with ,neptune alone dissentient4 ,upon the whole1 for the poems and the day of ,homer1 ,i cannot but think that both the supremacy of godhead as a whole1 and the freedom of man remain1 if somewhat darkened1 yet certainly unsubverted4 ,the of ,homer may1 it is probable1 be no more and no less in the main than that 1 or divinely uttered decree1 which he sometimes uses in such a manner as to admit of the supposition that they were really synonymous4 #eeg ,od4 i4 #bj1 #de1 #gg4 xxiv4 #dgi4 ,at the same time we do not find1 nor could we expect to find1 in ,homer any clear assertion of the majesty of the true ,divine ,will1 as the mainspring that moves the universe4 ,that is emphatically a ,christian sentiment1 which is conveyed in the lofty formula of ,dante3 ,cos si vuol col1 dove si puote ,ci che si vuole4 ,so is it willed above1 where ,he1 that wills1 ,can what he wills4 ,the ,fate of ,homer may indeed logically embrace a germ1 which will afterwards expand into the idea of a power extrinsic to ,deity1 and able to overrule it4 ,we may argue to show that the representation1 perseveringly developed1 means as much as this4 ,but then such representations in ,homer are not perseveringly1 much less are they unilaterally1 developed4 ,they have not been thought through even to their legitimate consequences1 and far less to those which appear to arise from the following out1 not of a full truth1 but of some particular and severed aspect of it4 ,taken at the worst1 ,destiny in ,homer broods like a cloud in a distant quarter of the sky1 silently gathering the might which1 when ripe1 is to engage in obstinate and unending conflict with deity4 ,but for this work the material is not yet prepared2 and practically neither nor much crosses the work of ,divine government1 such as it is conceived and exhibited in ,homer4 ,i pass on to the second ,class4 ,minor impersonations from ,nature4 ,among the ,greeks1 and even in ,homer1 every tree1 every fountain1 all things inanimate1 that either vegetated or moved1 had their indwelling deity4 ,homer1 however1 represents the infancy of that system1 and though he impersonates many other local agencies1 he gives to none so active a personality as to ,rivers4 ,ulysses in his distress addresses the god of the ,scherian river#eeh2 and is answered by the staying of the current4 ,simois is addressed personally by ,xanthus#eei2 and ,xanthus himself1 by virtue of his local power1 is promoted to the honour of contending with ,vulcan1 the god of fire1 a member of the ,olympian ,court1 and a son of ,jupiter and ,juno4 ,so the ,spercheus#efj is invoked1 and1 what is more1 invoked so far off as in ,troas1 by ,achilles4 #eeh ,od4 v4 #dde4 #dea4 #eei ,il4 xxi4 #cjh4 #efj ,il4 xxiii4 #add4 ,the perpetual movement which inheres in the essence of a river1 combined with the visibility which separates it from mere atmospherical currents1 seems to connect it more closely than any other natural object with the idea of life4 ,it is most interesting to observe how the sentiment here expressed seems to have worked in ages widely distant1 upon great poets of differing nations1 temperaments1 and circumstances1 after their differing manners4 ,homer does not impute feelings to a ,river2 but he impersonates it with a treatment different to that which he applies to groves1 fountain1 or meadow4 ,now these personifications though not yet disused 7especially in the ,english poetry of the last century71 have become far less real and effective for the human mind1 since the ,gospel opened to us the unseen world with its crowd of ethereal inhabitants4 ,observe1 accordingly1 how a feeling identical with that of ,homer1 a tendency to invest outward nature with vitality and action1 in these more recent times takes a different form4 ,the great ,dante1 more than two thousand years later in the line of human descent1 without personifying1 yet ascribes feeling to a river2 he imagines the ,po1 after its tumultuous headlong descent with all its feeders from the mountains1 longing for peace1 and seeking it by repairing to the sea4 ,francesca da ,rimini thus describes her birth-place2 ,siede la ,terra1 dove nata fui1 ,sulla marina1 dove 'l ,po discende ,per aver pace co' seguaci sui4 ,and one of lesser indeed1 7for who is not less than such as these87 but yet of both high and honoured poetic name1 our own ,wordsworth1 in his ,sonnet#efa on the ,river ,thames1 seen from ,london ,bridge at sunrise1 has the well known line1 #efa ,miscellaneous ,sonnets1 ,part ,,ii4 ,no4 xxix4 ,the river wanders at his own sweet will4 ,he may also be claimed as a witness to what has been said of the truth and power of these personifications to the ancients4 ,for in another noble ,sonnet1 where he complains of the deadening power and weight of worldly life1 and intends to show that a system of shadows1 when men really appropriate and digest the truth it has1 is better for them than to have a system of substances around them1 and yet to remain unpenetrated by it1 he describes that system of shadows by recalling two of its vivid personifications#efb4 #efb ,ibid4 ,part ,i4 ,no4 xxxiii3 #8,the world is too much with us4' ,but while ,homer brings into action no personifications of this class1 except those of ,rivers1 he peoples each with its appropriate ,genius1 the fountains1 the grassy meadows1 and the groves4 ,in the ,great ,parliament of the supernal world at the beginning of the ,twentieth ,iliad1 all are represented4 ,even here1 however1 the distinction is preserved3 the ,rivers attend as it were in person2 but the rest by deputy1 that is1 by their proper indwelling and presiding ,spirits2 ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 1 #efc4 #efc ,il4 xx4 #g-i4 ,thus the first are impersonations3 the second only residences for persons to dwell in4 ,the ,harpies of ,homer4 ,the ,harpies1 1 of ,homer have been1 ,i think1 truly described as #8nothing but personified storm-winds#efd4' ,they have no connection1 when jointly viewed1 with the moral order1 except that they may1 as mere carriers1 take a subordinate part in the fulfilment of a moral purpose1 which is quite as true of the ,winds1 personified or unpersonified4 ,the ,harpy is personified individually1 as the mother who bears to ,zephyr the two deathless horses of ,achilles1 ,xanthus and ,balius#efe2 but apparently for no other purpose than one purely relative4 ,the classical passage respecting the ,harpies is that in ,od4 xx4 #fa-gi1 which forms a part of the prayer of ,penelope to ,diana4 ,the object of the matron's petition is that1 wearied out with her sorrows1 she may die1 and this in one of two modes3 either by the arrows of the goddess2 or else1 that a hurricane may seize her1 and1 driving her along the paths of air1 deposit her in the channels of ,ocean1 that is to say1 the place of the dead4 ,then she proceeds to illustrate this last mode of death1 of which she has named as the instrument1 by the tale of the daughters of ,pandareus1 who1 having lost their parents1 were in an extraordinary manner petted by the goddesses4 ,aphrodite fed them1 ,here gave them sense and beauty1 ,artemis stature1 ,pallas endowed them with skill4 ,and1 lastly1 ,aphrodite went to ,olympus to induce ,jupiter to provide for their marriage4 ,but while she was away on this errand1 the ,harpies carried off these maidens1 and gave them to the 1 1 to be their servants1 as it is sometimes rendered1 but1 as ,i should venture to construe it1 #8for them1 i4 e4 the 1 to deal with4' ,it is evident that1 in this curious legend1 the ,harpies are introduced to exemplify nothing more than the part which ,penelope had previously referred to the 2 and these powers1 who represent ,hurricane or ,squall1 and in whose agency lies the gist of the story1 appear to have been in this matter the ministers of the 1 beings of a very different order4 ,these beings are evidently introduced1 though entirely beyond the parallel of the 1 in order to complete the moral4 ,the only other case in which ,homer introduces the ,harpies is in a line1 twice repeated1 where ,penelope supposes that they may have carried ,ulysses off 77 ingloriously#eff1 i4 e4 so as to rob him in death of his due meed of fame4 ,and this ,friedreich well compares with part of a passage in the ,book of ,job1 which is as follows1 chap4 xxvii4 #bj1 #ba4 #8,a tempest stealeth him away in the night3 the east wind carrieth him away1 and he departeth2 and as a storm hurleth him out of his place4' #efd ,smith's ,dict4 art4 ,harpyi4 ,on the same subject1 see ,ngelsbach ,hom4 ,theol4 ii4 #ab4 ,friedreich1 ,realien1 p4 #ffg4 ,crusius on ,od4 xx4 #gg2 and ,voss as there quoted1 whose opinion is1 ,i think1 quite erroneous4 #efe ,il4 xvi4 #aej4 xix4 #djj4 #eff ,od4 i4 #bda4 xiv4 #cga4 ,the ,erinues of ,homer4 ,the are of much greater importance2 and their position deserves the more careful inquiry1 because it has1 ,i think1 been often misunderstood1 perhaps from being appreciated only through the delusive medium of the later tradition1 which appears to me to have let drop all the finer elements of the conception1 by a process similar to that which it effected upon the great ,homeric characters of ,achilles1 ,helen1 and ,ulysses4 ,it is quite insufficient to say of these personages1 by way of description1 that they are the avengers of crime#efg1 or that they grudge the bliss of mortals1 or that they defend the authority of parents#efh3 and it is wholly erroneous1 in my opinion1 to treat them as #8originally nothing but a personification of curses pronounced upon a guilty criminal#efi4' #efg ,friedreich1 ,realien1 7p4 #fgg47 4 #aih4 #efh ,ibid4 7p4 #bbj47 4 #fa4 #efi ,smith's ,dict4 art4 ,eumenides4 ,let us first collect the facts respecting their position in ,homer4 #a4 ,in the narrative of ,phnix we find that when1 at the instigation of his mother1 he had sought the embraces of a 1 for whom his father had a passion1 the father1 incensed1 invoked the to make him childless4 #8,this curse1' he says1 #8the gods 77 accomplished1 and the subterranean ,jupiter1 and awful ,persephone1' ,il4 ix4 #ddi-eg4 #b4 ,the mother of ,meleager1 on account of his having slaughtered her brother1 invoked ,ades and ,persephone1 beseeching them to slay that hero3 whereupon the ,erins1 here called 1 #8that walketh in darkness1' heard her from ,erebus1 and the city was besieged4 ,but here the ,erins appears to act1 if not wholly in favour of ,meleager1 yet against his mother4 ,the city is assaulted1 forced1 and set on fire4 ,the family1 including the mother who had cursed him1 entreat ,meleager to deliver them1 and attempt to attract his favour by splendid promises of a demesne1 to be conferred on him by the public4 ,only when the palace itself is assailed does he consent4 ,he repels the enemy2 the demesne is not given him3 and1 on account of his thus relenting only at the last moment1 ,phnix quotes him as a warning example1 for ,achilles to avoid4 7,il4 ix4 #efe-fjc47 #c4 ,in ,il4 xv4 #bjd1 when ,neptune seems inclined to be refractory1 ,iris reminds him that the ,erins will act with ,jupiter1 because he is the elder brother3 '1 4 ,and upon this hint ,neptune at once alters his tone1 allows that she has spoken 1 and complies with the command that she has brought4 #d4 ,in ,il4 xix4 ,agamemnon1 while he admits his 1 7v4 #hg71 throws1 we might say shuffles off1 the blame of it upon ,jupiter1 ,destiny1 and ,erins3 ' 1 4 #e4 ,in vv4 #beh-fj of the same ,book1 the same personage invokes as witnesses to his asseveration concerning ,briseis1 #a4 ,jupiter1 #b4 the ,earth1 #c4 the ,sun1 #d4 the 1 #8who dwell beneath the earth1 and punish the perjured4' #f4 ,in v4 #dah of the same ,book1 after the horse ,xanthus1 receiving a voice by the gift of ,juno1 has given to ,achilles a dark indication of his coming fate1 the ,erinues interfere to prevent any further disclosures3 4 #g4 ,when1 in the ,theomachy1 ,minerva has laid ,mars prostrate by a blow1 she taunts him by telling him he may in his overthrow recognise the of his mother ,juno1 invoked upon him for having changed sides in the contest 7,il4 xxi4 #daj-ad74 #h4 ,in the ,odyssey 7ii4 #ace71 ,telemachus apprehends that1 if he dismisses his mother1 he will have to encounter1 among other evils1 the ,erinus whom she will invoke upon him4 #i4 ,epicaste1 the mother of dipus1 is speedily removed from the face of earth for her hapless incest4 dipus himself lives and reigns3 but suffers many sorrows1 which the ,erinus of ,epicaste 7 1 as in ,il4 xx4 #dab7 bring upon him4 #aj4 ,melampus1 a rich subject of ,neleus in ,pylos1 is imprisoned for a whole year in the house of ,phylacus1 and has his property seized or confiscated1 on account of the daughter of ,neleus1 and of his grievous 1 which the goddess1 the hard-striking#egj ,erins1 brought into his mind 7,od4 xv4 #bcc73 #egj ,from and 3 ,liddell and ,scott3 also ,schol4 ,h4 in loc4 ,or1 1 ,schol4 ,v4 ,the meaning may be close-nearing1 with formidable inward action4 1 1 4 ,but he escaped from death1 and paid1 i4e4 accomplished1 the strange act that ,neleus had imposed as the condition of obtaining the command over his daughter's hand4 ,he thus procured it for his brother1 termed in the post-,homeric tradition ,bias4 ,this condition was1 that he should bring off to ,pylos the cows which were the property of ,iphicles 7and apparently of ,phylacus74 ,he was caught at ,phylace in the attempt3 but after a year ,iphicles released him1 apparently in consideration of benefit derived from his prophetic knowledge1 ,od4 xv4 #bbh-ch1 and xi4 #bhg-ig4 #aa4 ,in ,od4 xvii4 #dge1 #f1 ,ulysses1 when ,antinous had hurled the stool at him1 invokes upon that ,suitor in return the anger of the gods and ,erinus 7 1 if such there be7 of the poor4 #ab4 ,lastly1 in ,od4 xx4 #gh1 as we have seen1 the ,harpies deliver the daughter of ,pandareus into the hands of the ,erinus4 ,we have thus a very copious supply of information from ,homer1 in no less than twelve passages1 every one of which represents the action of these singular beings in a fresh and varied light3 and the question is1 what is the one common idea1 which is sufficiently comprehensive to include them all1 and is also in harmony with the purport of each8 ,vindicators of the moral order4 ,i answer1 that the ,erinus are1 in the ,homeric system1 the never-failing champions1 because they are the practical avengers1 of the natural and moral order1 at all times1 under all circumstances1 and against all persons whatsoever4 ,they have nothing to do with the prevention of crime3 but they appear to be the principal instruments for its punishment1 especially here1 but likewise hereafter4 ,this1 however1 is only a part of their function4 ,they are the sworn servants of a fixed order of the universe1 apart from1 anterior to1 and independent of1 all volition1 divine or human3 and they avenge the infraction of that order1 not merely as a law of right opposed to wrong1 but as a law of order opposed to disorder2 they are goddesses themselves1 but they are wholly apart from the ,olympian dispensation1 sometimes put in conjunction with deities of the mythology1 sometimes apart from1 sometimes in opposition to them4 ,they are1 in short1 an early and poetical expression of that philosophy1 which even in ,christian times has seemed to seek a foundation for the supreme laws more or less dissociated from1 and wholly exterior to1 the ,divine ,will3 the philosophy1 not of ,destiny1 but of the #8,immutable ,morality' of ,cudworth and his school3 the philosophy harmonizing with the ,ideas of the ,platonists3 the philosophy of which we have a distant glimpse in the words of ,st4 ,bernard1 incommutabile est1 quod ne ipsi quidem ,deo mutare liberum est#ega3 and which ,butler has presented to us in the mild forms of his admirably balanced wisdom4 #ega ,de ,prcepto et ,dispensatione1 sect4 #h4 ,i will take first1 as the criteria of this proposition1 the remarkable cases in which we find the ,erinus of ,homer in qualified conflict with ,deity4 ,it is commonly held1 that in the ,nineteenth ,iliad the ,erinus interfere to prevent ,xanthus from telling too much to ,achilles4 ,no doubt ,homer effects this purpose by their means3 but they never interfere with the aim of prevention4 ,it is the natural order which had been broken by the act of ,juno in conferring the gift of speech upon a horse1 and which they by their interposition mean to vindicate and reestablish4 ,they play the same part in the case of the daughters of ,pandareus4 ,it is plain that the goddesses of ,olympus had vied with one another1 after an unprecedented and abnormal manner1 in loading these damsels with an extraordinary accumulation of gifts4 ,everything1 even food1 came to them by the direct and immediate agency of their ,immortal handmaids3 and at last ,jupiter was actually besought to find them husbands4 ,all this lay far beyond1 and was therefore in derogation of the ordinary laws for the government of the world3 it left no space for human volition1 effort1 or discipline3 it thus struck at the root of the moral order2 and on this ground the ,erinus interfere1 apparently employing the ,hurricanes as their agents1 to remove these maidens from the earth1 and to deposit them upon the ,ocean stream1 by the place of the dead4 ,their operation upon the ,immortals4 ,i do not know whether1 over and above the infraction of natural order which ,i have mentioned1 there may not have been another cause for their intervention in the special manner in which the endowments had been conveyed3 for where we find ,juno granting to them #8beauty and sense beyond all other women#egb1' it appears as if she had travelled into the province not only of ,venus1 but of the great ,minerva1 with whose prerogatives ,i doubt whether we ever find any similar interference allowed by ,homer4 ,it is therefore just possible that the ,erinus may here interpose on behalf of the laws and arrangements of ,olympus1 as well as of those belonging to ,earth4 #egb ,od4 xx4 #gj4 ,the explanation which ,i have proposed will entirely fit the warning of ,iris to ,neptune4 ,the natural order1 which assigns the prerogatives of government to the elder1 in other words1 the right of primogeniture1 is a rule for the ,immortals1 as well as for mankind1 since it is taken to be founded upon a basis more profound than will1 which was not1 and could hardly be for ,homer1 even when divine1 either the source or the master of creation4 ,but while the ,erinus are thus on the side of ,jupiter1 and while the recollection of them at once induces ,neptune to succumb1 they are not on that account in any sense or degree his ministers4 ,on the same side with him we find them1 where they are invoked by ,ulysses1 as the ,erinus1 together with the gods1 of the poor3 or as when ,agamemnon lays upon ,erins1 along with ,jupiter and ,destiny1 the blame of errors1 for which notwithstanding the ,greeks rightly held him#egc1 and even he could not deny himself to be1 responsible4 ,yet we are never told that the ,erinus move at the bidding of ,jupiter1 or of any other ,olympian deity4 ,here we seem to have a glimpse into the deeper truths of the heroic age4 ,theology had already wandered from its orbit3 it was fast losing all the severity and majesty of truth2 but the deep roots which ,god had given to the sense of responsibility1 and the expectation of retribution1 in the human mind1 had not yet been wholly plucked up2 and ,homer's fine sense of truth forbade him to connect the most practical1 and at the same time1 the sternest parts of his religious system1 with the gorgeous glare of his ,olympus1 and with the moral delinquencies of many among its inhabitants4 #egc ,il4 xix4 #he1 #f4 ,as the seniority of ,jupiter is upheld by the ,erinus1 so in like manner are the parental rights of ,juno1 which had been infringed by ,mars1 when he changed sides in the war4 ,here again1 however1 it appears as if more than the mere wish or influence of ,juno had been set aside3 for ,mars had given a positive promise to fight for the ,greeks1 and it is probable that the breach of this engagement constituted the chief part of the offence that they were to punish#egd4 #egd ,il4 v4 #hcb-d4 ,their connection with ,aides and ,persephone4 ,where the ,erinus touch upon the province of other deities at all1 it is upon that of ,persephone and of ,ades4 ,if ,homer associated ,persephone1 as ,i believe he did1 with the ,eastern nursery of his race1 it was natural enough that1 as has been the case1 this part of his theo-mythology should remain comparatively untainted4 ,and certainly the ,homeric relation between the ,erinus and the sovereigns of the nether world is a close one4 ,when1 in the ,ninth ,iliad1 ,althea1 grasping the earth in her vehemence1 as if to lay the strong hand upon the object of her prayer1 invoked ,aidoneus and ,persephone to put her son to death1 the ,poet proceeds to say that the ,erins heard her3 the ,erins who stalks in the darkness heard her1 and heard her out of ,erebus#ege4 ,in the case of ,phnix and ,amyntor we have exactly the converse4 ,here the ,erins was invoked1 and it was ,aides with ,persephone that answered the prayer4 ,in both these instances it must moreover be remembered1 that the question is about present and even immediate1 not about posthumous retribution4 ,we cannot1 then1 refuse to admit1 that in this manner ,persephone with ,aidoneus is placed in an intimate relation with the administration of retributive justice on earth1 and during the course of human life there3 and if the ,erinus are to be considered as abstractions1 having their basis only in some ulterior impersonation1 ,persephone and ,aidoneus offer the only objects on whom we can suppose them to depend4 ,it seems to me1 however1 that they are not reciprocally identified1 although they are profoundly connected1 and although we read in the connection a very ancient testimony to a primitive conviction in mankind1 that they must look to the powers of the other world to redress the deranged balances of this4 #ege ,il4 ix4 #efi-gb4 ,conformably to these ideas1 we find that1 in the ,nineteenth ,iliad1 the abode of the ,erinus is fixed 3 and it is made clear from the passage 7#bei1 #fj17 that their avenging office1 which is so commonly exercised in this world1 reaches also to the other4 ,from the character of the ,erinus1 as vindicators of an order having deeper foundations than those which any volition could either lay or shake1 there arises that natural association of them with ,destiny1 which we see expressed in the speech of ,agamemnon#egf4 ,both have in common this idea1 that they are not dependent on mere volition4 ,they differ in these points2 that ,destiny prescribes and effectuates action1 while the ,erinus only punish transgression2 and that ,destiny is but feebly moral1 whereas the ,erinus are profoundly charged with ethical colouring4 ,they represent that side of the idea of ,destiny which alone can1 after being resolutely scrutinized1 retain a hold upon our interest4 #egf ,il4 xix4 #hg4 ,their operation upon man4 ,all the residue of the threads will1 ,i think1 run out easily4 ,it follows from what has been said1 that in their aspect towards man1 the ,erinus are not indeed administrators of the moral laws themselves1 but administrators of their sanctions4 ,so they punish the infraction of the rights inhering in all natural relations3 the rights of the poor1 as ,ulysses protests to ,antinous2 of a father1 as in the case of ,amyntor2 of a mother1 as in the case of ,penelope4 ,but they do much more than punish the infraction of the rights of persons2 it is the infraction of right as right1 which they resent as a substantive offence4 ,let us accordingly notice the function of the ,erins in those cases where there has been fault on both sides4 ,an offender is not therefore secure1 because the person who invokes the ,erins upon him is an offender too4 ,the father of ,phnix gave the original occasion to his offence1 by an offence of his own3 but ,phnix is punished at his instance notwithstanding1 because the thing which he implores is not a personal favour1 but is a vindication of the #egg1 violated by the incest of his son2 a thing right to be done1 whether asked or not4 ,the case of ,althea and ,meleager illustrates this truth in a manner still more lively4 ,when she obtained the intervention of the ,erins1 she at once suffered by it4 ,the city of neus was all but subjected to the horrors of capture3 she was brought1 in bitter humiliation1 to supplicate the aid of the son1 on whose head she had just invoked the stroke of doom4 ,from this we must conclude1 which indeed is not difficult1 that the ,poet regarded her prayer as in itself unnatural and cruel2 so that the fulfilment of it involved immediate suffering to herself4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,meleager had offended too1 in the slaughter of a near relative4 ,therefore1 although his pride might well be gratified when he saw king1 priest1 and people1 with his humbled mother1 at his feet1 and proffering their choicest gift in order to appease him1 yet for that original offence1 and for his obstinately refusing to arm until fire was in the city1 he must receive his punishment likewise1 in vindication of the moral laws2 accordingly1 after he had repulsed the enemy1 he never received the demesne#egh4 #egg ,soph4 d4 ,rex1 #hff4 #egh ,il4 ix4 #eih4 ,the case of ,meleager assists to illustrate that of dipus and ,epicaste4 ,both of these unhappy persons had offended against the moral laws1 though it was unwittingly 7 72 one1 the mother-bride1 was immediately put out of the way3 the survivor was still pursued by the 4 ,we see here how insufficient the idea of a curse1 invoked at will1 is to explain the action of these remarkable ,powers2 for it does not appear that there was any mother's curse in the case3 but1 because the natural laws were broken in a matter where the mother was the occasion1 therefore1 while both suffer1 the sufferings of the son are attributed to the ,erinus of the mother2 the defenders1 because the avengers1 of the sanctity of a mother's place in relation to her son4 ,in the case of ,melampus1 it appears that his undertaking to obtain the cows of ,iphicles or ,phylacus was an 1 a grave error1 beginning in a temptation suggested to him by the ,erins1 and ending in calamity4 ,the seizure of these animals would probably be regarded as no moral offence3 and if so1 any error that could lie in the engagement to seize them would be1 according to ,homeric estimate1 in the nature of folly rather than of crime4 ,we seem to see1 then1 in this place1 that the range of ,erins1 like that of ,at1 embraced at a certain point the prudential as well as the strictly moral laws3 nor is there involved in this idea any violent departure from the true standard1 for great imprudences are most commonly1 and almost invariably1 in near connection with some form of moral defect4 ,it is however also to be observed1 that in this place the ,erins suggests the 4 ,the idea lying at the root of this representation appears to be the profound one1 that the exercise of an evil will is in itself penal3 and that when the mind is already disposed to offend1 retributive justice may take the form of a permission1 encouragement1 or incitement1 to commit the offence4 ,we have already seen a very remarkable development of this idea in the hardening agency of ,minerva upon the ,suitors#egi4 #egi ,sup4 sect4 ii4 p4 #aag-i4 ,according to the view of them which has here been given1 though ,i could not class the ,erinus with the traditive deities1 it is clear that they must represent1 under metamorphosis1 an important association of ideas belonging to primitive tradition4 ,let us now turn to the ,sixth ,class4 ,the translation of mortals4 ,those for whom it was a mental necessity to animate with deity even the mute powers of nature1 could not but find modes of associating man1 who stood nearer to the ,immortals1 with them and their conditions of existence4 ,these modes were chiefly three3 ,the first1 that of translation during life4 ,the second1 that of deification after death4 ,the third1 the conception of races intermediate between deity and humanity4 ,and it was perhaps not the simple working of a fervid imagination1 but also an offshoot from this profound and powerful tendency1 which has filled the pages of ,homer with continual efforts to deify what was most excellent1 or most conspicuous1 in the mind or in the person of living man4 ,the mode of translation during life was early in date1 and was rarely used1 for not only are the ,homeric examples of it few1 but he records no contemporary instance4 ,ganymede#ehj1 the son of ,tros1 was taken up to heaven by the ,immortals on account of his beauty1 that he might live among them4 ,tithonus1 his grand-nephew1 son of ,laomedon1 was1 as we are left to infer1 similarly translated during life1 to be the husband of ,aurora 7in ,homer ,eos71 or the morning3 for ,homer makes him known to us in that capacity1 though he does not mention the translation4 ,in like manner1 she carried up1 and placed among the ,immortals for his beauty1 ,cleitus1 one of the descendants of ,melampus#eha4 ,a similar operation to that which was performed upon ,tithonus may have been designed in the case of ,orion1 who was the choice of ,aurora1 and whose career1 in consequence of the jealousy of the ,immortals1 was cut short by the arrows of ,diana#ehb4 ,the course of these legends seems to stop suddenly in the ,greek mythology at the point where they are replaced by deification3 and the connection of ,aurora1 as the principal agent1 with three out of the four1 7the other1 too1 is ,asiatic1 as being in the family of ,dardanus17 seems to be an unequivocal sign of their eastern character4 ,homer places the dwelling of at a distant point of the ,east1 near the place where communicates with ,ocean4 #ehj ,il4 xx4 #bcc4 #eha ,od4 xv4 #bej4 #ehb ,od4 v4 #abj4 ,the deification of mortals4 ,in the age of ,homer the very first names have hardly been entered in the class of deified heroes4 ,ino1 the daughter of ,cadmus1 may be said to stand at the head of the list1 from the distinct assertion of her translation1 and from her being placed1 as the ally of ,ulysses1 in continued relations with mortal men#ehc4 ,of her also it is said that she had obtained divine honours2 and nearly the same assertion is made of ,castor and ,pollux4 ,but they perform no offices towards man while yet in this life4 ,of this ,ino is the only instance4 ,she appears to be ,phnician rather than ,greek1 and thus to belong perhaps to an older1 clearly to a distinct mythology4 ,hercules1 the only one of these persons who entirely fulfils the conditions of a hero1 is admitted to the banquets of the gods1 and united with ,hebe#ehd3 yet he is not all in ,olympus1 for his 1 endowed with voice and feeling1 and bearing martial accoutrements1 is the terror of the ,dead4 ,it is not easy to explain fully this divided state4 ,i cannot but think1 however1 that we see here at work that principle of disintegration1 which solved all riddles of character by making one individual into more than one3 beginning1 at least for earth1 with that ,helen in ,egypt1 who was made the depository of the better qualities that post-,homeric times could not recognise in ,helen of ,troy4 ,although the son of ,jupiter1 ,hercules had on earth1 through a sheer mistake1 been subject to a destiny of grinding toil4 ,his original extraction and personality stand in sharp contrast with the restless and painful destiny of his life4 ,death severs these one from the other1 but ,homer1 contemplating each as a whole1 endows the last also with personality1 and gives it a reflection in the lower world of its earthly course and aspect3 while the ,jove-born ,hercules1 as it were by a natural spring1 mounts up to heaven#ehe4 ,at the same time there is no more conspicuous example than ,hercules1 of that counter-principle of accumulation1 by which legendary tradition heaps upon favourite heroes all acts not distinctly otherwise appropriated1 which appear to harmonize with their characters2 and thus often makes an historical personage into one both fabulous and impossible4 #ehc ,od4 v4 #ccc1 #dfa4 #ehd ,od4 xi4 #fja4 #ehe ,i have alluded elsewhere 7sect4 ii4 p4 #afi7 to another possible explanation3 two aspects of character may be exhibited in the two images4 ,it must not be forgotten that this passage respecting ,hercules was sharply challenged by the ,alexandrian critics4 ,this challenge is discussed1 and its justice affirmed by ,nitzsch#ehf4 ,such authorities must not be defrauded of their weight4 ,but for my own part1 ,i do not find a proof of spuriousness even in the real inconsistencies of ,homer1 where he is dealing with subjects beyond the range of common life and experience4 ,still less can it be universally admitted1 that what are called his inconsistencies are really such4 ,they will often be found to require nothing but the application of a more comprehensive rule for their adjustment4 #ehf ad ,odyss4 xi4 #fja-d4 ,it is more difficult still to understand the case of ,orion1 who is at once a noted star in heaven1 and a sufferer below in the ,shades4 ,there he appears not wholly unlike the shade of ,hercules1 a dreamy image of the sufferings of earth1 and at the same time he ranks among the splendours at least of the material heaven4 ,minos1 who is placed in the ,shades to exercise royal functions there1 and ,rhadamanthus1 who has his happy dwelling on the ,elysian plain1 are approximative examples of deification4 ,it would be hazardous to build any opinion exclusively on the two verses ,il4 ii4 #eej1 #eea1 relating to the worship of ,erechtheus3 but they are not altogether at variance with what we see elsewhere4 ,growth of material for its extension4 ,such is the rather slender list of personages in ,homer1 who approximate in any degree to what was afterwards the order of deified ,heroes4 ,there are1 however1 some other indications1 that belong immediately to the living1 and that point the same way4 ,such is the promise to ,menelaus#ehg1 that instead of dying he should be translated to ,elysium1 because he was the son-in-law of ,jupiter4 ,and this suggests other notes of preparation already found in ,homer4 ,ulysses#ehh promises ,nausicaa that1 when he has reached his own country1 he will continue to invoke her all his life long1 like a god4 ,the invocation of the ,dead was common4 ,it was not practised only in illustrious cases like that of ,patroclus4 ,after their battle with the ,cicones1 ,ulysses#ehi and his crews thrice invoked their slaughtered comrades4 ,a system of divine parentage was the fit1 one might almost say the certain preparation for a scheme of divine honours after death2 and of such parentage many of ,homer's heroes could boast4 ,again1 ,peleus was married to a goddess1 and the gods in mass attended the wedding4 ,by thus bringing the inhabitants of ,olympus down to the earth1 ,homer laid the ground for bringing the denizens of earth into ,olympus4 #ehg ,od4 iv4 #efa4 #ehh ,od4 viii4 #dfg4 #ehi ,od4 ix4 #fe4 ,there is yet a further sign1 which1 though perhaps the least palpable1 is1 when well considered1 the most striking of all4 ,it is this2 that sacrifice is offered1 in the ,odyssey1 to the ,shades of the departed4 ,it is not indeed animal sacrifice that is actually offered4 ,the gift consists of honey and milk1 with wine1 water1 and flour#eij3 but ,ulysses distinctly promises that1 on his return to ,ithaca1 he will supply this defect by offering a heifer in their honour1 and a sheep all black to ,tiresias in particular4 ,moreover1 he distinctly recognises the idea of worshipping them#eia2 #eij ,od4 xi4 #bf4 #eia ,od4 xi4 #bi4 4 ,it does not destroy the force of this proceeding1 that they were supposed to need or to enjoy the thing sacrificed2 for the ,immortals of ,olympus did the latter at least1 and there are even traces of the former4 ,together with the mixed offering above described1 and the promise of a regular sacrifice on his return home1 ,ulysses permitted the ,shades to drink of the blood of the sheep which he immolated on the spot to ,aidoneus and ,persephone1 after he had fulfilled the main purpose of his visit by consulting ,tiresias#eib4 #eib ,od4 xi4 #aec1 #bcj4 ,the dead then have consciousness and activity4 ,they are invoked by man4 ,they can appear to him4 ,they are capable of having sacrifices offered to them4 ,they can confer benefit on the living4 ,here1 gathered out of different cases1 were the materials of full deification4 ,all that was yet wanting was1 that they should be put together according to rule4 ,the kindred of the gods4 ,we have now1 lastly1 to consider the kindred of the gods1 or races intermediate between deity and humanity1 which ,homer has introduced in the ,odyssey exclusively4 ,these are certainly three1 perhaps four2 #a4 ,the ,cyclopes4 #b4 ,the ,lstrygonians4 #c4 ,the ,phacians4 ,it may also be probable that we should add #d4 olus ,hippotades and his family4 ,among them all1 the ,cyclopes1 children of ,neptune1 offer1 as a work of art1 by far the most successful and satisfactory result4 ,in every point they are placed at the greatest possible distance from human society and its conventions4 ,man is small1 the ,cyclops huge4 ,man is weak1 the ,cyclops powerful4 ,man is gregarious1 the ,cyclops is isolated4 ,man1 for ,homer1 is refined2 the ,cyclops is a cannibal4 ,man inquires1 searches1 designs1 constructs1 advances1 in a word1 is progressive3 the ,cyclops simply uses the shelter and the food that nature finds for him1 and is thoroughly stationary4 ,yet1 while man is subject to death1 the ,cyclops lives on1 or vegetates at least1 and transmits the privileges of his race by virtue of its high original4 ,the relaxed morality of the divine seed1 as compared with man1 is traceable even in their slight customs4 ,they are polygamous3 ' #eic4 #eic ,od4 ix4 #aae4 ,from their personal characters the moral element has been entirely dismissed4 ,polyphemus is a huge mass of force1 seasoned perhaps with cunning1 certainly with falseness4 ,this union of a superhuman life with the brutal1 that dwells in solitude1 and has none of its angles rubbed down by the mutual contact between members of a race1 produces a mixed result of extreme ferocity1 childishness1 and a kind of horrible glee1 which as a work of art is most striking and successful4 ,we may justly think much of ,caliban3 but ,caliban cannot for a moment be compared to ,polyphemus4 ,it is equitable1 however1 to remember that contrast with ,ariel1 which must have been a governing condition in the creation of ,shakespeare1 required a nature which should be fatuous and grovelling1 as well as coarse4 ,to feed ,polyphemus1 what lies nearest him1 namely1 the ,lstrygonian adventure1 has1 perhaps1 been starved4 ,again we are introduced to cruel ,giants and to cannibalism1 but with a great scantiness of detail4 ,their individuality is scarcely established4 ,their only marked qualities they hold in common with the ,cyclopes1 except as to a single point1 namely1 that they live gregariously4 ,we see their city1 and are introduced to their king1 their queen1 and their princess#eid4 ,but a too great likeness to the ,cyclops still suggests itself2 and it is probable that in both the one and the other ,homer set before him1 among the materials of his work1 that old tradition of powerful beings1 allied to the deity1 and yet rebellious against him1 which meets us in so many forms1 dispersed about the ,homeric poems1 and which the later tradition1 by further multiplication and variety1 resolved into a living chaos4 #eid ,od4 x4 #aje-ae4 ,the ,phacians appear to stand quite in another category4 ,while the ,cyclops has no trace of deity but in superhuman force1 the ,phacians have no pretensions of this kind4 ,they are not even immortal1 nor are they wholly removed from man1 for they are accustomed to carry passengers by sea2 they seem really to be meant in a measure to represent the 4 ,we must not look too rigidly in them for notes of the divine character1 but rather for the abundance1 opulence1 ease1 and refinement of the divine condition4 ,hence ,homer lavishes all the simple wealth of his imagination upon the palace and garden of ,alcinous1 which far exceeds any possessions he has assigned to ordinary men4 ,this additional splendour of itself proves1 if proof were wanted1 that the picture is ideal4 ,the same amount of ornament assigned to the palace of ,menelaus would1 from the contrast with fact1 probably have been frigid to his hearers4 ,from the games and athletic exercises of this people all the ruder and more violent sports are excluded4 ,navigation1 to others so formidable1 for them is conducted by a spontaneous force and intelligence residing in their ships2 which annihilates distance1 and at last excites even the jealousy of ,neptune 7,od4 viii4 #eee-fi74 ,we find in the island and in its history no poverty1 no grief1 no care1 no want2 all is fair to see and to enjoy4 ,but we feel thankful to ,homer that he has not here1 as in the case of the ,cyclops1 made kin with the gods entail a marked moral or intellectual inferiority upon the sons of men2 no purer or more graceful piece of humanity is to be found among the creations of the human brain1 than his picture of ,nausicaa4 ,she combines in herself all that earth could suggest of bright1 and pure1 and fair4 ,still it cannot be denied that levity and vanity are rather conspicuous in the ,phacian men4 ,they shew off1 among other sports1 their boxing and wrestling1 before they know what ,ulysses is made of4 ,when they know it1 ,alcinous informs him in an off-hand way that they do not pretend to excellence in that class of sports#eie4 ,after the dancers have performed1 ,ulysses with great tact at once passes a high compliment upon them4 ,alcinous1 delighted with the praise1 cries aloud1 #8,phacian chiefs6 this stranger appears to me to be an extremely sensible man#eif4' #eie ,od4 viii4 #ajb4 #bdf4 #eif ,ibid4 #cgh-hh4 ,it appears1 however1 most likely that1 besides the mythical element in two of them1 ,homer may have had some basis of maritime report1 and thus of presumed fact1 for his delineations of all these three races2 that1 with an unlimited license of embellishment1 he1 nevertheless1 may have intended in each case to keep unbroken the tie between his own tale1 and the voyages of ,ulysses1 founded upon ,phnician geography1 as reported in his time4 ,i form this opinion partly from some singularities in the ,phacian character1 which1 as they are not in keeping with any poetic idea1 may probably have had an historic aim1 though ,i cannot be persuaded that they afford a foundation broad enough for the full theory of ,mure#eig1 if he conceives the ,phacians of the ,odyssey to be strictly a portrait of the ,phnicians4 ,partly ,i draw the inference from the want of clear severance in the ideals1 on which the characters of the ,cyclops and the ,lstrygones are severally founded4 ,the remarkable natural characteristic of ,lstrygonia which he has given us1 its perpetual day1 supports the same hypothesis4 ,what would otherwise amount to poverty in the imagery is sufficiently accounted for1 if we assume that he meant to describe two savage tribes1 that inhabited the latitudes with which he was dealing2 and that1 feeling himself bound to brutality in each case1 he has1 under these unfavourable circumstances1 varied it as much as he could4 ,unless it had been to preserve an historical or mythological tradition1 the ,lstrygonian adventure might hardly have deserved introduction into the ,odyssey4 ,plainly1 on the other hand1 he is not to be held responsible for all that he has put down while he believed himself to be conforming to narratives of fact1 in the same manner and degree as if he had been presenting us with a picture in which his fancy had only to work at will4 #eig ,lit4 ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #eaj4 ,the remaining case is slight1 and may speedily be dismissed4 olus is 1 and is intrusted with the charge of the winds2 and his six sons are married to his six daughters1 as #eih4 ,the word may bear the sense of relationship3 immortality seems to be of necessity involved in the charge over the winds1 who are themselves in the ,iliad 7in this point varying poetically from the ,odyssey7 invested with deity#eii3 and the marriage of the sons to the daughters affords another absolute proof3 for this1 which would have been incest1 1 among men1 is evidently set down as in their case a legitimate connection4 ,the great example in the ,kronid family would give it full sanction for the ,immortals4 #eih ,od4 x4 #b1 #ba1 #aa4 #eii ,ngelsbach1 ,hom4 ,theol4 ,,ii4 #ab1 holds the opposite opinion4 ,the character of olus1 if he be human1 is one kindly to his fellow-men2 and he inquires carefully respecting the fate of the ,greeks and their chieftains4 ,but it is very difficult to understand his place in the poem1 and the reasons of it4 ,the gift of ,zephyr1 and the folly of the crew in letting out the whole pack of winds1 end only in the return of ,ulysses to olia1 and in his being dismissed from thence as one hateful to the gods1 which he was not4 ,this olus neither seems to be required for1 nor to contribute to1 the general purpose of the poem3 nor to represent any ancient tradition3 nor can we in any manner connect him with olus1 the great national personage whose descendants were so illustrious1 for that olus was clearly taken to be the son or immediate descendant of ,jupiter2 so that he could not have been called the son of ,hippotas4 ,perhaps the origin of his place in the ,odyssey was to be found in some ,phnician report about storms in the northern seas1 where olia is evidently placed in complete isolation1 figured by the sheer and steep rock of the coast1 and by the metal wall which runs round it4 ,it may have a partial prototype in ,stromboli misplaced1 the appearance of which from a distance entirely accords with this particular of inaccessibility4 ,the whole picture1 representing as it does1 first1 the ferocity of the winds1 and1 secondly1 the existence of an efficient control over them1 evidently embodies two features which could not but enter variously and prominently into the tales of ,phnician mariners2 first1 the fierceness of the gales prevailing in those outer latitudes1 to deter others from attempting them2 and secondly1 their successful contest with the difficulty thus created in order to glorify themselves4 ,,sect4 ,v4 ,the ,olympian ,community and its ,members1 considered in themselves4 ,the substitution of polytheism for the monotheistic principle not only brought down deity in the measure of its attributes or faculties towards man1 but created a necessity for a divine economy or polity1 which should regulate the relations of the ,immortals4 ,this polity could be no other than human1 and no other1 as it seems1 than a somewhat deteriorated copy from its earthly original4 ,the family order in ,olympus4 ,accordingly1 the ,olympian ,immortals of ,homer are combined in a society4 ,they are not a mere aggregate of beings1 classed together by the mind in virtue of the possession of common properties1 but they live in twofold relations3 first1 those of the family1 or at least of descent and consanguinity2 secondly1 those established by a political organization1 which is modelled according to the forms of the ,greek polities subsisting in the ,homeric age4 ,the government of ,olympus is1 though the use of the word may at first excite a smile1 in principle constitutional4 ,jupiter is its head4 ,its ordinary council or aristocracy is represented by the body of such deities as have palaces there1 constructed for them by ,vulcan1 who exercises in the community the double function at once of architect and artificer#fjj4 #fjj ,il4 i4 #fjf-h4 ,the immediate relationship of nearly all these divinities to ,jupiter is recorded4 ,as his brothers1 we have ,neptune1 and ,aidoneus1 or ,pluto4 ,as his wives1 we have ,juno1 the chief2 ,latona1 ,dione1 and probably ,demeter1 secondary4 ,as his children1 we have ,minerva1 ,apollo and ,diana1 ,mars and ,vulcan1 ,venus1 ,mercury1 ,hebe4 ,of the ,nineteen ,deities who appear to be certainly ,olympian1 there are only four that do not fall at once into the family order3 they are ,themis1 1 ,iris1 and ,paieon4 ,there may have been a relationship credited in these cases also1 though it is not recorded4 ,it should be observed1 that ,jupiter is expressly invested with the title of ,father of the gods4 ,and perhaps the idea intended to be conveyed is that of a family which has grown into a sept or clan1 having this for its distinctive character1 that all the members of it1 great and small1 have either a nearer or a more remote relationship to the head4 ,of the minor deities1 in various cases it is recorded1 that they are daughters of ,jupiter2 such as the ,muses1 the ,prayers1 and the ,nymphs of most orders4 ,but these have the appearance of belonging to ,homer's poetry1 more than to his mythology4 ,among male deities1 the sons of ,jupiter are all in ,olympus3 those of ,neptune take lower rank4 ,whatever be its relation to the family nucleus1 the community of ,olympus is fully formed4 ,besides ,jupiter the head1 and the ordinary assembly1 its ,council or ,court1 which answers to the of the ,greeks1 it has its ,agor1 a greater ,assembly or ,parliament called together upon crises of extraordinary solemnity1 such as the decision by main force of the fate of ,troy4 ,but as we have no example1 except the factious and utterly odious ,thersites1 of any one of the commonalty who takes an actual part in debate among men1 so the minor deities1 too1 are mute in heaven4 ,nay1 the resemblance is even closer than this4 ,the ,greek 1 and also the 1 have their speaking or leading personages1 and they likewise have each their silent members4 ,the leaders are ,agamemnon1 ,nestor1 ,ulysses1 and ,diomed2 the last-named chieftain always with modesty1 as a person lately come to full age4 ,achilles doubtless would have had to be added1 if the action of the poem had permitted him to appear throughout its debates4 ,but we never hear of the ,ajaxes1 ,idomeneus1 or chiefs like ,eurypylus1 as taking any active share in the proceedings4 ,even so the discussions of ,olympus appear to be conducted commonly by ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,neptune#fja1 ,minerva1 and ,apollo#fjb4 ,once ,vulcan interposes1 in his mother's interest3 possibly he may have been suggested to the ,poet by ,thersites#fjc as a terrestrial counterpart4 ,the ,sun appeals to the ,assembly in the ,odyssey1 as a party in his own cause3 but neither he nor ,venus1 nor ,mars1 nor ,mercury1 nor any other subordinate deity1 ever appears as taking part in a discussion4 #fja ,il4 vii4 #dde4 #fjb ,il4 xxiv4 #cc4 #fjc ,il4 i4 #ega4 ,the term 1 or assembly1 is used in ,homer for the meetings of the deities only on certain occasions3 namely1 at the openings of the ,eighth and ,twentieth ,books#fjd4 ,the other1 or ordinary meetings1 have no distinctive name4 ,we may know them by their not depending on any summons or introduction1 and by the frequent mention1 either of the banquet as proceeding1 or of the cup as in the hands of the deities4 ,they were standing assemblages of the deities1 the law of whose life was leisure1 with prolonged though not intemperate feasting2 and its ordinary scene ,olympus4 ,their correspondence with the must not be pressed too far1 for they do not1 like the ,greek 1 commonly precede an ,assembly4 ,it is to be remembered1 that the was an ,hellenic institution1 and that the gods were not exclusively ,hellenic1 though ,olympus was essentially national4 #fjd ,il4 viii4 #b4 and xx4 #d4 ,the political order in ,olympus4 ,the analogy between the divine and the human is established in a pointed form by the ,poet himself2 who makes ,themis the pursuivant or ,summoner#fje for the former2 and also says of her1 with respect to the latter1 #fje ,il4 xx4 #d4 ' 1 #fjf4 #fjf ,od4 ii4 #fi4 ,the acknowledgment of a rule of right1 extrinsic and superior to ourselves1 is general in the ,assemblies of men in ,homer1 when meeting for business4 ,this there could not be in the ,assemblies of the ,olympian gods4 ,neither does respect for authority and for tradition well harmonize with the idea of beings1 who are possessed of unbounded1 or at the least of greatly extended intelligence4 ,thus1 like the individual deities1 the divine ,assemblies1 and the entire ,polity1 are deprived of the greatest moral safeguards of their counterparts on earth4 ,the consequence is1 that their ethical tone is much lower4 ,force is the only effective sanction of authority among the ,immortals4 ,this is curiously exhibited in the ,theomachy3 for that battle takes place when the fate of ,troy1 which formed the matter in dispute1 has already been long ago decided4 ,whenever a difficulty arises1 which will bear that mode of treatment1 ,jupiter resorts to the threat of using it1 even against divinities so dignified and powerful as ,minerva1 ,neptune1 and ,juno4 ,sometimes1 indeed1 he parades it by anticipation1 even when no symptom of disaffection has yet been exhibited4#fjg ,so1 on the other hand1 fraud is the resource of the weak1 as violence is of the strong4 ,juno1 unable to organize a combination against her husband1 devises a trick4 #fjg ,il4 viii4 #aj4 ,the deities1 then1 are not under any effective ethical restraint2 and the only instances in which the highly moral sentiment of is mentioned as governing them in their reciprocal conduct are cases of the two great traditive divinities1 ,minerva and ,apollo1 with reference to their uncle ,neptune1 and of ,jupiter1 in whose case it is a sentiment of politeness rather than of duty1 with reference to ,thetis#fjh4 #fjh ,il4 xxiv4 #aaa4 ,but1 although moral principle and religious reverence are absent1 two principles of considerable value and utility remain4 ,one of them is a certain courtesy or comity1 which prevails in the absence of strong countervailing causes4 ,secondly1 the power of intelligence is very visible in the working of their polity4 ,it is not the mere wish of ,jupiter1 it is his counsel1 which is fulfilled in the ,trojan war4 ,and again1 it is not his individual counsel1 but it is the decision which he adopts in compliance with the general sentiment of the gods#fji4 ,he could be well content to let ,troy stand1 because of the abundance of its offerings2 but he sees that if he attempts to give effect to such a plan as he would personally prefer1 he must encounter the stubborn resistance of the three strongest deities1 ,neptune1 ,juno1 and ,minerva4 ,perhaps this difference of opinion might issue in the shape of a war in heaven1 and that war might follow the same course as the one happily arrested by ,briareus3 therefore he avoids the issue1 makes the concession without letting himself seem to make it1 and thus preserves his general position at the head of the ,olympian body4 #fji ,il4 iv4 #dc4 ,courtesy and ,intelligence among the ,immortals4 ,speaking of mythological deity as such1 the difference of celestial from human intelligence is a difference of degree rather than of kind4 ,the process of deliberation in the mind of a mortal1 and the state of suspense before decision1 are frequent subjects of ,homeric description4 ,and he sometimes places individual deities before us with the same1 or nearly the same1 detail1 as in cases occurring among men1 of doubt preceding determination4 ,the essence and foundation of the process are similar1 as we see in the case of ,juno1 and again in the instance of ,jupiter himself4 ,she ponders the question how she shall delude ,jupiter#faj3 #faj ,il4 xiv4 #aei-fa4 ' 4 ,and then she decides2 1 444 ,so he#faa1 in his turn1 considers long1 before determining that ,patroclus shall carry the war from the ships to the walls4 ,again1 for the great decrees which are to have an extensive influence on human destiny1 to argue and consider seem to be a moral necessity among the gods1 as much as important subjects require public debate among men4 #faa ,il4 xvi4 #fdf-ee4 ,the method of reflecting ,earth in the ,olympian life is sometimes carried by the ,poet down to the details of social intercourse4 ,thus it is a terrestrial custom of the heroic age1 that strangers are entertained before they are called upon to give an account of their business#fab4 ,and this hospitable practice extends even to the treatment of those who are charged with important communications2 so that ,bellerophon is entertained for nine full days by the king of ,lycia1 while he has in his pocket the roll containing a request for him to be put to death#fac4 ,in exact conformity with this manner of proceeding1 ,mercury#fad is feasted by ,calypso in ,ogygia1 before he delivers the weighty message1 with which he had been intrusted by ,jupiter in the name of the whole ,olympian court4 #fab ,od4 iii4 #fi4 #fac ,il4 vi4 #agd4 #fad ,od4 v4 #ia-f4 ,although we have found it difficult in one or two cases to pronounce with respect to certain divine personages1 whether they are ,olympian or not1 yet in principle the line is clearly drawn1 which marks off the superiority of the members of the ,olympian ,court4 ,we find it in the express declaration of ,calypso#fae4 ,we find it perhaps yet more clearly noted in the comparison between ,venus and ,thetis3 for we have seen1 as to the former of these deities1 her extreme feebleness and incapacity in everything1 except as regards the particular impulse that she represents4 ,thetis1 on the other hand1 is full of activity and intelligence2 and is gifted with bodily powers sufficient to fly like a hawk from ,olympus1 when carrying the celestial arms 7whose inherent buoyancy1 however1 must not be forgotten#faf74 ,yet1 doubtless because not ,olympian1 she yields the palm to ,venus3 for ,apollo says to neas of ,achilles#fag2 #fae ,od4 v4 #afi1 #gj4 #faf ,il4 xix4 #chf4 #fag ,il4 xx4 #aje4 4 ,their unity imperfect4 ,though the body of serve as an unity to point a moral in the abstract1 there is practically a wonderful want of unity and of common or corporate feeling among them4 ,this is figured in the ,judgment of ,paris3 in the love of ,neptune for the ,cyclops1 who renounce the authority of ,jupiter3 again in his aversion to the ,phacians1 who are so beloved by the gods in general1 that they appear in their proper shape at the religious festivals of those favoured islanders#fah4 #fah ,od4 vii4 #bja-c4 ,but notwithstanding this want of the genuine corporate spirit1 and notwithstanding the prevalence of essentially selfish appetite as the rule of life with the greater part1 at any rate1 of the ,immortals1 it would not be just to say that the principle of unity in the ,divine ,government is wholly destroyed by the ,homeric polytheism4 ,the superiority of ,jupiter1 though it does not amount to supremacy in the stricter sense#fai1 is yet sufficiently decided to place him far above any other single deity in sheer power4 ,therefore1 when considered as the executive of the ,olympian system1 he is upon the whole equal to his work4 ,he may be deceived1 and so baffled for a moment1 as by ,juno in the ,fourteenth ,iliad2 but it is for a moment only4 ,or the insubordination of some particular divinity may approach to resistance1 like that of ,neptune in the ,fifteenth3 but1 upon admonition1 conscious inferiority soon brings the matter to a close4 ,so much for the execution of divine behests4 ,as to the legislative process1 however1 heaven strictly follows earth1 with only such exceptions as are accounted for by the difference in the constituent elements4 #fai ,ngelsbach carries it even to this point4 ,hom4 ,theol4 ,abschn4 ,,ii4 #ag4 ,the influence or even the menaces of a powerful leader1 the moral force of persuasion1 the comparison of the means of coercive action on this side and on that1 and again the composition of wills and opinions to obtain a joint result1 all these1 the leading processes by which free institutions work on earth1 with substantial identity1 though with more awkwardness of form and less of genial freedom1 as might be expected in transplanted ideas1 are also the processes by which supreme and providential decrees are arrived at4 ,of the degree to which this principle of free polity prevails1 we can have no better criterion than in the fate of ,troy4 ,it fell1 not merely from the personal prudence of ,jupiter1 but because acting as a in heaven1 like ,agamemnon upon earth1 he yielded to the preponderating influence of that section in ,olympus1 which was indeed apparently less numerous1 but of commanding strength1 influence1 and activity4 ,nor would it be just to ,homer and his ,olympus to forget1 that in yielding to the powerful party led by ,juno1 ,neptune1 and ,minerva1 ,jupiter was also yielding up the vicious1 and sealing the triumph of the virtuous cause4 ,thus1 then1 while we see the spirit of anthropophuism breaking down the principle of the ,unity of ,god1 from its being too feeble and too blind to maintain the pure traditions in which it was conveyed1 it is still curious to the last degree to observe the order and symmetry of the ,greek mind1 even in its destructive processes4 ,for1 as we have found1 it arranges its groups of deities around a centre1 by the principle that creates a ,family3 and then gives them community of counsel1 and unity of action1 by the principle that maintains a ,state4 ,what is this1 but to bring in the resources and expedients1 which our human state supplied1 to repair1 after a sort1 the havock which it had made in the ,divine ,idea8 ,the system not uniform4 ,but although symmetry was thus far1 if not studied1 yet spontaneously produced1 we have ample proof that ,homer neither inherited nor invented for his gods any uniform and consistent code of rules1 intellectual1 moral1 or political4 ,neither1 again1 in the region of sense did he make any general provision to determine the conditions of divine being and action for his gods as an order1 or even for particular classes of them4 ,the want of such consistency is1 indeed1 among the striking proofs of the profound dualism of origin in his ,theo-mythology4 ,all that we can do is to observe his prevailing modes of treatment1 and collect a general meaning from them4 ,proceeding thus1 we shall find that the class of ,immortals enjoys in various ways a marked superiority to man2 but the degrees of this superiority1 as they are nowhere precisely defined1 so they vary greatly in the cases of the different deities3 and when1 striking off all the particular characteristics of individual members of the system1 we attempt to embody what is common to them all1 we leave but a slight and jejune residuum4 ,nor is the classification of the differences a regular one4 ,if we compare his delineations of some lower with some higher deities1 we must be struck with finding considerable appearances of want of analogy between them4 ,some inferior persons of the same order1 as we shall see1 may excel in particular gifts1 even those who are on the whole their superiors4 ,thus ,circe1 and even the ,sirens1 have powers greater apparently than1 in the same subject-matter1 ,mercury or ,vulcan4 ,heterogeneous origin1 and imperfect assimilation1 afford the true explanation of these phenomena4 ,it may be laid down as a general rule1 that the divine life of ,olympus1 wherever it reproduces the human1 reproduces it in a degraded form4 ,enjoyment and indulgence1 when carried from earth to heaven1 lose that limit of honourable relation to labour as necessary restoratives1 which alone makes them respectable on earth4 ,in general1 the chief note of deity with ,homer is emancipation from the restraints of the moral law4 ,though the ,homeric gods have not yet ceased to be the vindicators of morality upon earth1 they have personally ceased to observe its rules either for or among themselves4 ,as compared with men in conduct1 they are generally characterised by superior force and intellect1 but by inferior morality4 ,they do not appear to have been governed in their relations towards one another by any motives drawn either from the law of right and justice1 or from that of affection3 unless--an exception which confirms the rule--where the attachment belonging to the human relation of parent and child is faintly reflected among the ,immortals1 as when ,jupiter calls ,minerva or ,diana #fbj1 and ,venus #fba3 again1 in the care taken of ,venus after she is wounded by her mother ,dione#fbb1 and1 more slightly indicated1 in that of ,diana by ,latona#fbc4 ,in the conduct of ,mars on the death of ,ascalaphus1 the impulse is momentary1 and it has a strong animal tinge which seems to overpower1 like a fit of drunkenness1 the little reason that he possesses4 ,the grief of ,jupiter for ,sarpedon is the only case of an intense affection among the ,immortals4 ,and it is remarkable1 that this is felt towards1 not a brother or sister divinity1 but a mortal2 towards one of those ,lycians1 whom ,homer regards with such extraordinary and unvarying favour4 #fbj ,il4 viii4 #ci4 xxi4 #eji4 #fba ,il4 v4 #dbh4 #fbb ,ibid4 #cgj4 #fbc ,il4 xxi4 #ejd4 ,force and fraud their chief instruments4 ,the general principles of government1 then1 among the ,immortals themselves are simply those of force and terror1 on the one hand1 or fraud and wheedling on the other4 ,for example1 ,terror subdues the adverse will of ,juno#fbd in the ,first ,book1 of ,juno and ,minerva in the ,eighth#fbe1 and of ,neptune1 not without much reluctance on his part1 in the ,fifteenth4 ,thetis wheedles ,jupiter in the ,first ,book#fbf2 ,juno entirely beguiles him1 besides outwitting ,venus1 in the ,fourteenth2 ,minerva entraps ,apollo in the ,seventh into the plan of a single combat1 which saves the ,greeks from an impending defeat4 ,and the difference of opinion respecting ,troy in the divine ,assembly does not at the last come to effect without a contest of main strength1 although the virtual decision of the ,olympian body had long ago been taken4 ,nay1 these principles of force and fraud are the real principles of action1 even when not altogether on the surface4 ,when ,mercury declines battle with ,latona1 it is because he fears the consequences of a contest with a wife of ,jupiter#fbg4 ,in a manner still more curious1 when ,apollo has declined battle with ,neptune1 professedly on the ground that it is not worth the while of deities to fight about the affairs of wretched mortals1 the ,poet explains his conduct by a sentiment partly of deference arising out of a relationship recognised among men3 #fbd ,il4 i4 #efh4 #fbe ,il4 viii4 #deg4 #fbf ,il4 i4 #eja4 #fbg ,il4 xxi4 #dii4 #fbh4 #fbh ,ibid4 #dfh4 ,but here there may possibly have been some mixture of fear1 because1 as he withdraws1 he is reproached bitterly by ,diana1 called a baby for his cowardice1 and reminded1 that he had himself volunteered the boast in heaven1 that he was ready to fight against ,neptune4 ,as these moral elements had been almost wholly eliminated from the general principles which govern the ,homeric gods in their relations to one another1 so likewise we look almost in vain for the traces of them in their individual conduct4 ,they observe1 when acting for themselves1 neither courage1 justice1 nor prudence2 but it is in regard to moral temperance or self-control1 that they fall furthest below the standard even of human virtue4 ,the ,mahometan heaven of men was the heaven of the ,homeric gods4 ,their standing employment1 except when troubled by human affairs1 is simply in perpetual1 though not drunken or brutal1 feasting2 sometimes in grosser indulgences4 ,if1 says ,vulcan to his mother1 you quarrel about mortals1 it will be a pestilent business1 for there will be no pleasure in our banquets#fbi4 ,if ,neptune in the ,odyssey is gone among the ,ethiopians#fcj1 it is for a hecatomb of bulls and lambs4 ,if ,jupiter and all the gods make a journey to the same quarter in the ,iliad1 it is for a feast#fca1 which apparently was to last for eleven days4 ,if ,hercules has earned the reward of his labours by being taken up to heaven1 his life there is described as a life entitling him to enjoy banquets among the ,immortals#fcb4 ,if ,ganymede is received into their company1 it is that he may discharge for ,jupiter the duty of cup-bearer#fcc1 in which it would appear that both ,vulcan and ,hebe were likewise employed4 ,of all the phrases characteristic of the ,homeric gods and their life1 there is none that sits better than the 4 #fbi ,il4 i4 #egc-f4 #fcj ,od4 i4 #bb4 #fca ,il4 i4 #dbc4 #fcb ,od4 xi4 #fjb4 #fcc ,il4 xx4 #bcd4 ,their dominant selfishness4 ,deeper1 even than their collective devotion to mere enjoyment1 lies their intense and profound selfishness4 ,we cannot fail to note the absence of those sentiments of justice and self-sacrifice1 and those high enthusiastic emotions1 which do so much to ennoble the human life of the heroic age4 ,there is truth in the assertion that they establish and administer a one-sided law3 1 ' #fcd4 #fcd ,il4 xxiv4 #ebe4 ,but beyond this1 there lies a deep meaning in the sentiment of an ,italian poet1 ,guarini#fce3 #fce ,pastor ,fido4 ,guarda1 che nel disumanarti ,non divenga una fera1 anzi che un ,dio4 ,the ,greek mythology1 departing from the very basis of the ,divine idea in the conception of its gods1 converts them1 by a moral necessity1 not into man1 but into something which is morally beneath man4 ,there is not among all the deities what we can call one full unbroken development of noble character4 ,they are1 as a general rule1 except so far as they are modified by the traditive element1 ,titanic creations of intellect or power1 or both1 without virtue4 ,even where1 as in the cases of ,minerva and ,diana1 they are pure1 their purity does not inspire or impress the ,poet with half the force and fire which he must have felt when he drew the matron ,andromache1 or the maid ,nausicaa4 ,but this is not the common case4 ,with great reservation indeed as to the traditional1 in comparison with the mythical divinities1 and likewise as to the female deities1 in comparison with the gods1 we must admit that1 as a general rule1 the ,immortals of ,homer1 when brought to the bar of a cool inquiry1 are in their own personal conduct impure voluptuaries1 and that the laws1 which formed the basis of family life1 and which in ,homer's time still kept human society from total corruption1 for them had no restraining power1 indeed no recognised existence4 ,there is no sense of shame accompanying the excesses of the gods1 such as ,homer has marked1 not without tenderness1 in regard to the trespass of ,astyoche#fcf2 #fcf ,il4 ii4 #ead4 1 4 ,on the contrary1 ,jupiter refers with marked self-satisfaction to his affairs of this kind in the ,fourteenth ,iliad2 and shows the very temper1 described by ,saint ,paul as that of the most advanced depravity1 which not only yields to temptation1 but seals its own offence with habitual and deliberate approval#fcg3 1 4 #fcg ,rom4 i4 #cb4 ,cruelty of ,calypso in her love4 ,we may take ,calypso as no unfair specimen of the ethics of the ,immortals4 ,in the hope of sensual pleasure1 she keeps ,ulysses a prisoner in her far island4 ,she sees him pining in wretchedness for his home and family from day to day2 and well knows the distress that his absence must cause to a virtuous wife and son1 as well as the public evils1 sure to arise from the prolonged absence of a wise and able sovereign4 ,yet she never relents1 but still in her odorous cavern she sings to the movement of her golden distaff4 7,od4 v4 #ei47 ,when ,hermes makes known to her the decree that she cannot resist for his return1 she complains of the cruelty of the upper gods1 but adds1 #8as ,i cannot help myself1 let him perish if ,zeus will4' ,she promises1 however1 to send him off in safety1 and keeps her word2 but it is when she has been well warned by ,mercury of the consequences of disobedience1 and firmly bound by ,ulysses with the oath which was terrible even to the ,immortals4 7,od4 v4 #adf1 #ahd47 ,the sentiment of envy1 which they had begun to entertain towards men1 appears also to have been felt towards members of the divine order4 ,it was envy with which the gods viewed the happiness enjoyed by ,aurora in her union with ,orion1 till it ended with his death2 and that moved ,jupiter to destroy ,iasion1 the object of the choice of ,demeter#fch4 ,but this 7so says ,calypso7 was envy of the male towards the female deities4 ,there is no reciprocal sentiment3 and it is curious here to observe the inequality of the sexes1 together with so many other signs and beginnings of corruption1 established among the ,immortals in a manner unknown to human society at the time4 #fch ,od4 v4 #aah-bi4 ,calypso may or may not be justified in the charge she makes against the gods2 but1 at least1 it seems clear that1 though they have some regard to the prevalence of moral laws as between one man and another1 they by no means impute any moral guilt to her in her cruel detention of ,ulysses1 even while they rectify a wrong by their decree4 ,the inferiority of the moral standard1 which marks the order of gods1 is likewise traceable in the various races which are described by ,homer as claiming a special relationship to them2 the ,cyclopes1 the ,lstrygonians1 and even perhaps the ,phacians4 ,against the last of these we can certainly charge no more than an epicurean and inglorious ease3 but the two former not only do not forfeit1 they even prove1 their relationship to the gods by being at once more strong and more vicious than common men4 ,and1 as it affects the kindred of the ,immortals in common with themselves1 so also does it extend from the sphere of morals into that of manners4 ,while ,hephstus was ministering to them the festal cup1 they laughed ungovernably at his personal deformity#fci4 ,now1 the ,greeks laugh at ,thersites#fdj when he has been beaten1 but it is in immediate connection with his misconduct1 and it has nothing whatever to do with his ugliness4 ,laughter at mere deformity is nowhere found in ,homer3 and would entirely jar with the tone of feeling that pervades ,homeric manners4 ,the action that offers the nearest approach to it confirms the spirit of this observation4 ,it is the hurling of the stool by the ,suitor ,antinous#fda at the apparently decrepit ,ulysses2 which is sternly registered1 along with the other outrages of that depraved company1 for the coming day of retribution4 #fci ,il4 i4 #eii4 #fdj ,il4 ii4 #bgj-g4 #fda ,od4 xvii4 #dfe4 ,olympian as compared with heroic life4 ,in a word1 still setting aside in some considerable degree the deities of traditive origin1 who enter little into the general picture1 but have their own portraiture apart1 there are to be found in ,olympus1 as well as in the lower earth1 the relations of degree in power and intelligence2 and the gods with whom it is peopled1 on the whole1 possess it in large measure2 but the law and purpose of their life is summed up in self-will and self-indulgence4 ,they do not debate their own duties1 or even those of men1 to one another3 rarely1 if ever1 those of men even towards themselves1 except with reference to the quantity of libation poured out1 of flesh offered1 and of steam reeking from the altars4 ,there is a mixture in their enjoyments3 some are refined1 others sensual1 but both are alike selfish1 and the latter are wholly unrestrained4 ,it is said by ,heyne1 and with much of literal truth1 that the description of the day's employment in ,olympus1 which the first ,iliad supplies1 is a transcript of hero-life#fdb2 but it is of one part of hero-life only2 it is of hero-life in its moments of indulgence and relaxation1 which exhibit to us its lower and less noble side1 without any view of its great sentiments and great duties1 its sense of honour1 its fine feeling1 its reciprocal affections as developed in the relations of consanguinity and affinity1 of friendship1 of guestship1 of sovereign and subject1 and even of master and serf4 ,what a wretched spectacle would ,hector1 ,achilles1 ,diomed1 ,nestor1 ,ulysses1 and the rest present to us1 were their existence devoted simply to quaffing goblets and scenting or devouring the flesh of slain animals1 even though with this there were present the mitigating refinement of perpetual harp and song4 ,and yet such is the picture offered by the ,homeric mythology4 #fdb ,heyne on ,il4 i4 #fjc4 ,upon the whole1 while it remains true that the deification of heroes1 or their promotion to a happy immortality1 in ,homer's time1 depended upon virtue and merit2 those who thus obtained admission to ,olympus really found themselves introduced to a new and far lower law of life1 upon taking their places there1 than that to which they had been accustomed upon earth4 ,thus1 for example1 it is with ,hercules2 he has indeed a reward beyond the grave2 but it consists simply in a life divested of the virtues of patience1 obedience1 valour1 and struggle by which it had itself been earned4 ,the superiority1 however1 of the intellectual over the material element1 except in the matter of self-indulgence1 is1 as we might have expected1 decisively maintained in the ,grecian mythology4 ,it is exhibited most clearly1 perhaps1 in the triumph of ,jupiter and ,olympus over the brute might of the ,titans4 ,it is also palpable1 when we find that the strength of ,mars1 who represents nothing except fighting force1 does not always insure his victory1 even in contests of mere strength1 but that he is overthrown by ,minerva in the battle of the gods1 corrected at will by her on all other occasions#fdc1 and wounded1 with her aid1 by the hero ,diomed beneath the walls of ,troy4 ,but when we speak of intellect as opposed to matter1 the case stands so differently with respect to different deities1 that it is necessary to attempt a stricter appreciation than we have yet aimed at obtaining1 of their common character4 #fdc ,il4 x4 #gfe4 #f4 ,their exemption from ,death uniform4 ,the great and perhaps only essential property by which the ,homeric gods are distinguished1 is that expressed in their very common appellation of 3 they are immortal4 ,there is something curious in the question1 why it is that they are endowed uniformly and absolutely with this gift1 but not with others2 why the limitation of ,death is removed from them1 and yet other limitations are allowed in so many respects to remain4 ,it seems as if we had here an independent and impartial testimony to the truth of the representation conveyed in ,holy ,writ1 that death has been the specific punishment ordained for sin3 and that therefore in passing beyond the human order we1 as a matter of course1 pass beyond its range4 ,had the preternatural system of the ,poet exhibited to us only such divinities as are the representatives of primeval tradition1 it would have been easy to account for the attribute of immortality4 ,but here are a multitude of deities1 the creatures of human invention2 why was this gift bestowed on them1 when others were withheld8 ,it may be1 again1 because that which came last into man's condition should1 in the logical and moral order1 go first out of it3 that in framing the conception of an existence higher than that of man1 the first step properly was1 before dealing with the more positive faults or imperfections inherent in his nature1 to set aside that which did not belong to it1 but had been set upon it as a note of shame for a special cause1 like letters branded on a deserter or a slave4 ,in ,homer it appears that every deity1 great and small alike1 is exempt from death4 ,a ,fragment of ,hesiod#fdd proceeds on a basis abstractedly different1 and by an ingenious multiplication1 from the term assigned to man upwards1 ascribes to the ,nymphs a life of #bia1fjj years4 ,in all likelihood the meaning of this passage may be not to curtail immortality1 but to enlarge the practical conception of it1 by carrying life up to a number which would impress the minds of a generation rude in arithmetic far more1 than a merely abstract assertion of immortality3 just as to us the sand of the sea1 or even the hairs of the head1 may more impressively convey the idea of unlimited numbers than does the phrase innumerable1 although in reality the effect of either figure is to limit them4 #fdd ,fragm4 #ej4 ap4 ,plut4 ii4 #dae ,c4 ,calypso is of the lower and of the most earthy order of the ,homeric divinities4 ,she recognises in plain terms her inferiority to the ,olympian gods1 by stating that she will send with ,ulysses a favourable breeze1 which will carry him safely home1 provided they permit it1 who are so far her superiors1 both in planning1 and in executing what they plan#fde3 #fde ,od4 v4 #afi1 #gj4 ' 1 1 4 ,yet she distinctly contrasts herself with ,penelope1 in the very point that she is immortal3 and the reply of ,ulysses recognises this as the essential difference#fdf2 #fdf ,od4 v4 #bac1 #bah4 1 ' 4 ,the only cases1 perhaps1 in which ,homer glances at the possibility of putting a period to the existence of a god1 are two1 in which the semi-brutal ,mars is concerned4 ,when ,otus and ,ephialtes put him in chains1 it seems that1 but for ,eeriboia1 he would have perished#fdg3 the expressions are1 #fdg ,il4 v4 #chh4 ' 4 ,and again1 under the assault of ,diomed1 though the ,poet does not bring this last extremity into view1 he might1 had he not fled1 perhaps have been as good as dead 7 1 ,il4 v4 #hhg74 ,this is not death1 but it is at any rate the suspension of life1 apparently without limit4 ,a third alternative is opened in the severe reply of ,jupiter1 who observes to him1 that he might have been thrust down into ,tartarus1 but for the fortunate accident of his high parentage2 veiling the idea under the modest words#fdh1 #fdh ,il4 v4 #hih4 4 ,thus then the divine life1 which1 however1 certainly with ,ares is lodged in one of its least godlike receptacles1 is liable to degradation1 and to abeyance1 even possibly to a lingering1 though probably in no case to a rapid1 process of extinction4 ,but this last is rather the limit of calamity only1 in the mathematical sense2 that is to say1 a limit which is never actually reached1 though there is nothing short of it which may not be reached and even passed4 ,exemption from other limitations partial4 ,so much for the great gift of immortality4 ,with reference to all the other limitations imposed upon finite being1 the position of the ,immortals1 infinitely diversified according to the two great classes1 and to individual cases1 has this one feature applying to it as a whole1 that it is a position of preference1 not of independence4 ,every deity has some extension of personal liberties and powers beyond what men enjoy4 ,but it is in general such as we should conceive to be rather characteristic of intermediate orders of creation1 than properly attaching to the divine nature4 ,we must however distinguish between these three things3 #a4 ,the personal exemptions of a divinity from the restraints of time and place1 and other limiting conditions2 #b4 ,the general powers capable of being exercised over other gods1 over man1 over animal or inanimate nature2 #c4 ,the powers enjoyed within the particular province over which a divinity presides4 ,thus for example ,calypso1 though1 as we have seen she is of inferior rank1 yet exercises very high prerogatives4 ,she sends with ,ulysses a favourable breeze3 and she predicts calamity1 which is to smite him before he reaches his home4 ,circe transforms men into beasts1 and then restores them to forms of greater beauty and stature#fdi4 ,she is cognizant of events in the world beneath1 and of what will occur on the arrival of ,ulysses there4 ,she then sends a favourable breeze to impel his vessel#fej2 and on his return predicts to him the circumstances of his homeward voyage#fea4 ,and ,proteus delivers a similar prediction to ,menelaus1 to which he adds a declaration of his destiny after death#feb3 he also converts himself into a multitude of forms4 #fdi ,od4 x4 #cif1 #dij-e1 #ebi4 #fej ,od4 xi4 #g4 #fea ,od4 xii4 #be1 #cg et seqq4 #feb ,od4 iv4 #dge and #efa4 ,now no ,homeric deities order winds to blow1 except ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,apollo1 and ,minerva2 none issue predictions to men except ,minerva and ,apollo1 the latter mediately1 through ,seers or through ,oracles2 of absolute transformation we have no example2 but ,minerva1 and she alone1 transforms ,ulysses from one human form to another4 ,i mean absolute transformation effected upon others3 all the deities1 apparently1 can transform themselves at will2 for even ,venus appears to ,helen disguised1 though it would seem imperfectly1 in the form of an aged attendant#fec4 #fec ,il4 iii4 #chf4 ,this gift of knowledge of the future is the more remarkable1 when we consider that some of the ,olympian deities were without knowledge even of what had just happened2 as ,mars1 on the occasion of the death of his son ,ascalaphus#fed4 ,even ,jupiter1 with the rest of the gods1 was wholly unaware of the clandestine mission of ,iris by ,juno to ,achilles#fee4 #fed ,il4 xiii4 #eba4 #fee ,il4 xviii4 #afe-h4 ,cases of minor deities with major powers4 ,the great powers of these secondary deities may be accounted for1 ,i think1 by two considerations3 #a4 ,these divinities belong to the circle of outer or ,phnician traditions1 and the ,poet is not therefore1 in treating them1 subject to the same laws as those by which he regulates the ,olympian order4 ,they are brought upon the stage with reference to ,ulysses or ,menelaus1 and in the ,wanderings only2 thus they are adopted by ,homer for this special purpose1 and endowed with whatever gifts they require for it1 just as strangers1 while they remain1 are treated more liberally in a house than the children of the family1 for the very reason that they are strangers1 and have no concern with the regular organization and continuing life of the household4 #b4 ,another principle of the mythology conducts us by another road to the same end4 ,every deity is liberally endowed within his own province4 ,now the province of ,proteus1 ,calypso1 and ,circe1 is the ,outer sphere of ,geography4 ,within the range of that sphere1 the ordinary agency of the ,olympian deities individually is suspended4 ,homer prefers to leave it to be governed by the divinities1 whom he can frame out of his ,phnician materials for the purpose4 ,in this way he is enabled to enlarge the circle of variety1 and to draw new and salient lines of distinction between the two worlds4 ,neptune indeed is there perforce2 for navigation is the staple of its theme1 and the pervades it1 from no portion of which can he possibly be excluded4 ,the ,olympian ,court1 too1 oversee it1 and their orders are conveyed thither by ,mercury their agent4 ,but1 except ,neptune for the reason given1 the ordinary action of the deities individually is suspended#fef1 not on account of any limitation of power1 for instance in ,minerva1 but for a poetical purpose1 and with the excuse1 that the whole sphere is removed beyond common life and experience4 ,hence1 just as ,vulcan works professionally the most extraordinary miracles1 though he is but a secondary deity1 because they are in the domain of metallic art1 so ,circe and the rest are empowered to do the like within a domain of which they are the rooted zoophytes and exclusive occupants4 #fef ,see sup4 sect4 iii4 p4 #bja4 ,it may be well1 before passing to the general limitations upon divine capacity in ,homer1 to illustrate a little farther this law of special endowment4 ,venus is among gods what ,nireus was among men3 #feg4 ,yet she overcomes the resistance of ,helen#feh3 and we have also the express record of her girdle as invincible in its operation#fei4 ,the case of ,mars is peculiar3 for he is brought upon the stage to be beaten in his own province1 as the exigencies of the poem require it3 but inferior1 nay pitiful1 as he is in every point of mind and character1 yet as to imposing personal appearance1 he is made to take rank in a comparison with ,jupiter and ,neptune1 between whose names his is placed#ffj4 ,neptune exhibits vast power1 and on his own domain1 the sea1 appears even to have an inkling of providential foreknowledge#ffa3 he is conscious that ,ulysses will reach ,scheria4 ,except upon the sea1 he exhibits no such attributes of intelligence1 though he always remains possessed of huge force4 ,mercury1 again1 shows in locomotion a greater independence of the laws of place1 than some deities who are of a rank higher than his own3 and doubtless it is because he is professionally an agent or messenger4 ,even so the journeys of ,iris are no sooner begun than they are accomplished4 #feg ,il4 v4 #cca4 #feh ,il4 iii4 #dah-bj4 #fei ,il4 xiv4 #aih1 #i4 #ffj ,il4 ii4 #dgh1 #i4 #ffa ,od4 v4 #cgh4 ,divine faculties an extension of human4 ,but the general rule is1 that the divine faculties represent1 in regard to all the conditions of existence1 no more than an improvement and extension of the human#ffb4 ,man is the point of origin3 and from this pattern invention strives to work upward and outward4 ,the great traditive deities indeed are on a different footing1 and appear rather to be the reductions and depravations of an ideal modelled upon the infinite4 ,but the general rule holds good1 in regard both to bodily and mental laws1 for the mass of the ,olympian ,court4 #ffb ,friedreich1 ,realien #ahg4 p4 #eii4 ,thus deities are subject to sleep1 both ordinarily1 and under the special influences of 1 the god of sleep4 ,we are furnished with a reason for ,jupiter's not being asleep at a given moment#ffc2 it is the special anxiety which presses on him4 ,he had been asleep just before4 ,their bodies are not ethereal1 but are capable of constraint by manacles4 ,they are capable also of wounds2 and they suffer pain even so as to scream under it3 but their blood is ichor1 and their hurts heal with great rapidity#ffd4 ,they eat ambrosia1 and drink nectar4 ,they also receive a sensible pleasure from the savour of sacrifices and libations#ffe4 ,nor is this pleasure alone1 it is also nourishment and strength1 for ,mercury speaks of it as highly desirable for support on any long journey4 ,he1 too1 practises according to his precept1 for he seems greatly to relish the meal of ambrosia and nectar1 which is afforded him by the hospitality of ,calypso#fff4 #ffc ,il4 ii4 #a-d1 and i4 #fji-aa4 #ffd ,il4 v4 #daf1 #ijj-d4 #ffe ,il4 xxiv4 #fi4 #fff ,od4 v4 #ajj-b4 ,as regards the percipient organs1 the ,olympian gods appear to depend practically on the eye4 ,minerva alone has a perfect and unfailing acquaintance with whatever it concerns her to know4 ,for even ,jupiter1 as we have seen1 is not exempt from limitation in this point#ffg4 ,juno sends ,iris to ,achilles in the ,eighteenth ,iliad without his knowledge1 4 ,apollo does not immediately perceive the expedition of ,ulysses and ,diomed in the ,doloneia4 ,being here opposed to ,minerva1 he could not but be worsted4 ,generally1 even these great traditive deities perceive not by a gift of universal vision1 but by attention#ffh3 #ffg ,il4 xviii4 #aff-h4 #ffh ,il4 x4 #eae4 ' ' 4 ,juno1 keenly alive with anxiety1 perceives from ,olympus the slaughter that ,hector and ,mars are making on the plain of ,troy2 and likewise from the same spot watches ,jupiter sitting upon ,ida#ffi4 ,these four deities1 ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,minerva1 and ,apollo1 appear to be endowed with by far the largest range of vision4 ,even to ,neptune no such powers are assigned1 as to them2 for we are never given to understand that any amount of mere distance is too great for their ken4 ,but ,neptune only sees the state of the battle before ,troy by coming to ,samothrace1 apparently to bring it within view1 and by looking from thence3 nor is the ,poet content without adding the reason2 #ffi ,il4 v4 #gaa1 and xiv4 #aeg4 #fgj #fgj ,il4 xiii4 #ac4 a passage which seems to imply1 that his vision was much the same as that of mankind even in degree4 ,general prevalence of limitation4 ,in the ,odyssey1 ,ulysses pursues his voyage on the raft without the knowledge of ,neptune1 although on the proper domain of the god1 until the eighteenth day4 ,then he discovers him1 but it is only because1 coming up from the ,ethiopian country1 on reaching the ,solyman mountains1 he is supposed to have got within view of the hero4 ,being here1 without special directions1 in the zone of the ,outer ,geography1 we have no means of measuring the terrestrial distance with precision1 and the ,poet has not informed us what interval of space he intended us to suppose4 ,the inventive deities of the second order in ,olympus are very slightly gifted in this matter4 ,so much we perceive from the ignorance of ,mars about the death of his son ,ascalaphus4 ,when ,venus observes1 that neas has been wounded1 ,homer does not name the spot from which she looked2 but the general range of the powers of this divinity is so narrow1 that we must suppose he means to place her immediately over the field of battle before ,troy4 ,of the powers of ,apollo or ,minerva1 as hearers of prayer irrespectively of distance1 ,i have already spoken2 but the local idea enters more freely into the anomalous character of the head of ,olympus4 ,in the ,first ,iliad1 ,thetis explains to her son that she cannot introduce to ,jupiter the matter of his wrongs1 until he returns from the country of the ,ethiopians1 whither he has repaired with the other ,immortals to a banquet#fga4 ,this may mean either that he is too far off to attend to the business1 or that he must not be disturbed while inhaling the odours of a hecatomb4 #fga ,il4 i4 #eba-g4 ,very great diversity in individual cases1 but at the same time a general and pervading law of restraint1 are evident in the descriptions of the deities with respect to their powers of locomotion4 ,facility of movement accrues to them variously according to #a4 their peculiar work and office2 #b4 their general dignity and freedom from merely mythological traits2 #c4 the exigencies of the particular situation4 ,as to the first1 ,i have noticed that ,mercury and ,iris have a rapidity as messenger-gods1 which in their simple capacity as gods they could scarcely possess4 ,yet even ,mercury follows a route3 from ,olympus he strikes across ,pieria1 and next descending skims the surface of the sea2 then at length passes to the beach of the island1 and so onwards to the cave of the ,nymph#fgb4 ,minerva1 on the other hand1 in virtue not of any special function1 but of her general power and grandeur1 is conceived as swifter still4 ,the journeys of ,apollo1 in like manner1 are conceived of as instantaneous3 the rule in both cases being subject to poetical exceptions only4 ,the chariots of ,juno and of ,neptune#fgc1 again1 proceed with measured pace4 ,each step of ,juno's horses covers the distance over which a man can see#fgd4 ,neptune himself passes in four steps from ,samothrace to g#fge4 ,the driving of ,jupiter from ,olympus to ,ida is described in terms before used for ,juno's journey#fgf4 ,juno travels at another time from ,olympus to ,lemnos by ,pieria1 ,emathia1 and the tops of the ,thracian mountains4 ,here ,homer seems to supply her with a sort of made road on which to tread3 for the route is a little circuitous#fgg4 ,mars1 when wounded1 takes wing to ,olympus3 but ,venus1 though only hurt in the wrist1 cannot get thither until she obtains the aid of his chariot1 which happily for her was then waiting on the field#fgh4 #fgb ,od4 v4 #ej-eg4 #fgc ,il4 xiii4 #bi4 #fgd ,il4 v4 #ggj4 #fge ,il4 xiii4 #bj4 #fgf ,il4 viii4 #da-f4 #fgg ,il4 xiv4 #bbf4 #fgh ,il4 v4 #hfd1 #cee-fg4 ,but poetical utility1 so to speak1 enters very largely into the whole subject of ,olympian locomotion1 and makes it difficult to draw with rigour the proper mythological conclusions4 ,this may be sufficiently illustrated by the following cases4 ,we have seen the majestic march of ,juno from one hill top to another1 and the measured though speedy course of her chariot4 ,yet1 under the pressure of urgent considerations1 she flies from ,ida to ,olympus1 as the bearer of ,jupiter's message1 with a rapidity that ,homer illustrates by the remarkable simile of the travelling of ,thought#fgi4 ,again1 where an imposing magnificence is the object1 measure is introduced into the movement of ,apollo himself by the clang of the darts upon his shoulder as he goes#fhj4 ,and1 even more1 ,venus1 whom we have seen so impotent on the field of ,troy1 after her exposure in the ,eighth ,odyssey1 flies at once all the way to ,paphos2 as does ,mars to ,thrace#fha4 ,this in both cases is probably because the occasion did not admit of ornamental enlargements1 such as befitted the journey of a god4 ,and when ,vulcan is represented as actually engaged in falling during the whole day from ,olympus down into ,lemnus#fhb1 a poetical allusion to his lameness may probably be intended4 #fgi ,il4 xv4 #gi-hd4 #fhj ,il4 i4 #dd-h4 #fha ,od4 viii4 #cfa-c4 #fhb ,il4 i4 #eij-c4 ,chief heads of superiority to mankind4 ,thus we see not the mental only1 but also the corporeal existence of the mythological god hemmed in on every side4 ,a great force of appetite1 and a disposition to give it unbridled indulgence1 can hardly be reckoned among elevating gifts4 ,but if it be asked1 wherein does ,homer enlarge and improve for his mythical gods the human conditions of being1 besides1 7#a47 ,the one grand point of immortality1 ,i should answer1 in 7#b47 ,an unlimited abundance of the means of corporal enjoyment1 and a general freedom from the interruptions of care4 7#c47 ,a liberal dispensation of the somewhat vulgar commodities of physical strength and stature2 and of the higher gift of absolute beauty1 into which the idea of stature1 however1 materially enters4 ,the former of these two we learn from the fact1 that the banquet is the habitual and normal occupation of the ,olympian ,court4 ,in the ,first ,book1 the fray between ,jupiter and ,juno passes off naturally1 and as a matter of course1 into a feast that lasts all day#fhc4 ,and when ,juno1 in the ,fifteenth ,book1 reaches ,olympus with a message from ,jupiter1 ,thetis1 whom she meets first1 salutes her by offering the cup#fhd4 #fhc ,il4 i4 #eif-fjd4 #fhd ,il4 xv4 #hg4 ,there is also among the gods a kind of #8high life below stairs4' ,when ,iris repairs on behalf of ,achilles to the ,winds1 she finds them too banqueting in the palace of ,zephyr1 probably their chief#fhe2 but she hastes away1 when her message is delivered1 to feast in preference among divinities of her own rank upon an ,ethiopian sacrifice4 #fhe ,il4 xxiii4 #cjj4 ,their stature and beauty4 ,as regards size and stature1 these gifts are so freely bestowed as to be almost without measure3 nor does the ,poet even care in such cases to be at strict unity with himself4 ,mars1 who in the ,fifth ,book1 draws no very peculiar notice on the battle field from his size1 in the ,theomachy1 when laid prostrate1 covers seven acres4 ,eris1 treading on the earth1 strikes heaven with her head4 ,the helmet of ,minerva would suffice for the soldiery of a hundred cities2 the golden tassels of her gis1 a hundred in number1 and each worth a hundred oxen1 after every allowance for mere laxity in the use of numbers1 would imply vast weight and bulk4 ,accordingly1 the axle of ,juno's chariot may well groan beneath the weight of ,pallas#fhf4 ,apollo1 without the smallest seeming effort1 stops ,diomed and ,patroclus in mid-career2 and overthrows the ,greek wall as easily as a child overthrows his plaything heap of sand#fhg4 ,other signs might be quoted1 such as the tread that shakes the earth1 and the voices of ,mars and ,neptune1 equal to those of nine or ten thousand#fhh mortals4 #fhf ,il4 xxi4 #djg4 iv4 #ddc4 v4 #gdd4 ii4 #ddh4 v4 #hcg4 #fhg ,il4 v4 #dcg4 xvi4 #ggd4 xv4 #cfa4 #fhh ,il4 v4 #hfj4 xiv4 #adh4 ,with the one marked exception of ,vulcan1 beauty is generally indicated as the characteristic of the ,olympian deities4 ,among the gods1 it extends even to ,mars#fhi4 ,it is sufficiently indicated for the goddesses by their habitual epithets4 ,even ,minerva1 in whom personal charms are as it were eclipsed by the sublime gifts of the mind1 is sometimes called and 7,il4 vi4 #ib4 ,od4 vii4 #dj73 and ,calypso declares the superiority of goddesses to women in beauty1 as a general proposition#fij1 #fhi ,od4 viii4 #caj4 #fij ,od4 v4 #bab4 4 ,the mythological or invented deities generally1 but none of the strictly traditive deities1 appear to be tainted with libertinism4 ,among the former we may1 however1 observe degrees4 ,jupiter and ,venus stand at the head4 ,neptune1 ,mars1 ,mercury1 ,ceres1 ,aurora1 follow4 ,juno evidently treats the passion simply as an instrument for political ends4 ,of this ,homer has given us a very remarkable indication4 ,for when she sees ,jupiter on ,ida1 though she is just then conceiving her design1 she views him with disgust3 #fia4 ,so careful is the ,poet that we shall not imagine her to have been under the gross influence of a merely sensual passion4 ,thetis suggests a remedy of that nature to her son for his grief#fib4 ,in mere impersonations1 not yet endowed with the strong human individuality of the ,greek ,olympus1 such as ,themis and ,helios1 we do not expect to find this trait4 ,but of all the fully personified deities of invention1 ,vulcan alone1 privileged by ,labour and ,ugliness1 appears in ,homer to be exempt4 ,the ,hellenic goddesses generally do not1 however1 like the more ,pelasgian ,venus1 ,ceres1 and probably ,aurora1 debase themselves by intrigues with mortal men4 #fia ,il4 xiv4 #aeh4 #fib ,il4 xxiv4 #acj4 ,the chastity of the traditive deities1 ,minerva1 ,diana1 ,latona1 and probably ,apollo1 ,i take for one of the noblest and most significant proofs of the high origin of the materials which they respectively embody4 ,there is also in the deities of ,homer not merely a dependance upon physical nourishment1 but even a passion of gluttony connected with it4 ,the basis of this idea is laid in the conception which made feasting the normal occupation of ,olympus4 ,it followed that they were not only bound by something in the nature of necessity to food1 but also enslaved to it by greediness as a rooted habit4 ,nature of their regard for sacrifice4 ,of this we find traces all through the poems1 in the course which divine favour usually takes4 ,when ,homer speaks of the gods in the sense of ,providential governors1 it is the just man that they regard1 and the unjust that they visit with wrath4 ,but when he carries us into ,olympus1 and we behold them in the living energy of their individualities1 it is sacrifice which they want1 and which forms their share in the fruits of earth and of human labour1 as we learn from the emphatic words of ,jupiter himself2 #fic4 #fic ,il4 iv4 #di4 xxiv4 #gj4 xxii4 #agj4 ,it was the bounty of ,autolycus in lambs and kids which induced ,mercury to bestow on him in return the gifts of thievery and perjury#fid4 #fid ,od4 xix4 #cie-h4 ,moral retribution in ,homer lags and limps at a great distance behind the offence1 but the omission to sacrifice is visited condignly and at once4 ,again1 in the case of ,troy1 liberality in this particular even seems to create a party in ,olympus on behalf of an offending race4 ,on the erection of the rampart by the ,greeks1 ,neptune immediately urges the omission of the regular hecatombs against them4 ,it is punished by ,diana in tolia1 by the gods generally on the departure from ,troas2 and ,menelaus in like manner is for this offence wind-bound in ,pharos#fie4 #fie ,il4 ix4 ,od4 i4 iv4 ,the reason of this preeminence of sacrifices1 both as to punishment and as to reward1 may lie partly in the tendency of man 7though1 as we shall presently see1 the practice had its moral side also7 to substitute positive observances for moral obedience2 but partly1 likewise1 in the importance of sacrifices to the anthropophuism of the ,olympian deities themselves4 ,putting out of view what each deity can do in his particular domain1 we shall find that but little of power over nature--whether human1 animal1 or inanimate--attaches to the ,homeric gods as such4 ,juno conveys a suggestion to the mind of ,agamemnon#fif1 and gives1 with ,minerva1 courage to a warrior2 but this is the whole of her immediate action1 ,i mean action without a mean1 in this department1 exhibited by any passage in the ,poems4 ,indeed1 no other mythological deity ascends to agency of this kind at all4 #fif ,il4 viii4 #bah4 ix4 #bed4 ,upon animal and inanimate nature ,juno exercises the highest powers4 ,when she thunders with ,minerva1 sends cloud to impede the flying ,trojans1 retards the sunset1 and assists the voyage of ,jason1 we may consider her as in the reflex use of the atmospheric powers of her husband3 but the gift of a voice to the horse ,xanthus1 apparently can lie within her reach only by derivation from the higher or traditive element in his character1 as representing the idea of supreme deity4 ,among the deities of invention1 the general rule is1 with respect to the exercise of power over nature or the human mind1 that it is confined to matters in immediate connection with their several specialties4 ,two extraordinary acts of power over nature appear1 however1 to be within the competency of them all4 ,one is the production of a patch of cloud or vapour at will2 the other is that of assuming the human form for themselves1 either generally or in the likeness of some particular person4 ,i do not1 however1 recollect any instance in which this power is exercised by a deity of invention in the manner in which ,minerva employs it in the ,first ,iliad#fig1 that is1 under the condition of being visible only to one person out of many who are present4 ,in that image we seem to find a figure1 perhaps a traditionary remnant1 of that inward and personal communication between the ,almighty and the individual soul1 which constitutes a high distinguishing note of the true religion4 #fig ,il4 v4 #aih4 ,there would appear to have been certain visible marks which went to distinguish a god1 up to a certain point1 from men4 ,hector in the ,fifteenth ,iliad knows ,apollo to be a god#fih1 but does not know what god4 ,minerva clears the vision of ,diomed1 that he may be able to discriminate between gods and men#fii4 ,pandarus1 eyeing ,diomed1 is uncertain whether he is a mortal or a god#gjj4 ,the recognition of ,venus by ,helen may1 indeed1 have been due to the imperfectness of her power of self-transformation#gja2 but it may also have been owing to these general traces of resemblance to the divine order1 which subsisted even under the human disguise4 #fih ,il4 xv4 #bdf4 #fii ,il4 v4 #abh4 #gjj ,il4 v4 #ahc4 #gja ,il4 iii4 #cif4 ,homer represents ,minerva as weighing down the chariot of ,diomed1 and making the axle creak#gjb2 #gjb ,ibid4 #hch4 ' 1 ' 4 ,this passage may be taken as a proof1 since it applies to the most spiritual of the ,homeric divinities1 how far the ,poet was from considering that they were endowed with the properties of pure spirit4 ,parts of the body1 how ascribed4 ,of this he has given us farther proof by his free and constant reference1 wherever occasion serves1 to the parts and organs of the body as appertaining to the gods4 ,i think that references of this kind in ,holy ,scripture usually bear a mark1 which yields decisive witness to the fact that their use is wholly relative and analogical3 as1 for example1 the eye of ,god1 namely1 the instrument by which ,he watches us1 the mouth of ,god1 by which ,he instructs us1 the hand and the arm of ,god1 by which ,he sustains1 or delivers1 or corrects1 or crushes us4 ,it does not therefore appear that we could justly and fully draw our conclusions as to the corporeal constitution of an ,olympic deity from the mere circumstance that we are told of the knees or lap of the gods1 by which it might be figuratively expressed1 that the disposal of human affairs rests with them#gjc2 or because of that gorgeous description1 which the ,poet has given us1 of the head and nod1 meaning the decree of ,jupiter4 ,for all these allusions are capable of explanation on the same principle with those of ,holy ,scripture1 namely1 as being relative and explanatory to man4 #gjc ,mure1 however1 in his ,history of ,greek ,literature1 refers the origin of the metaphor to the practice of representation by statues4 ,but he has a multitude of other references to parts of the body1 which do not at all belong to the use of them as organs for communication with the imperfect apprehensions of mankind4 ,thus3 #a4 ,thetis takes hold of the chin of ,jupiter1 ,il4 i4 #eja4 #b4 ,diomed wounds ,venus on the wrist1 ,il4 v4 #ccf4 #c4 ,and ,mars in the abdomen1 ,il4 v4 #heg2 whom ,minerva likewise overthrows by a blow on the neck1 ,il4 xxi4 #djf4 #d4 ,hercules wounds ,juno in the right breast1 ,il4 v4 #cic2 and we have her hair1 flesh1 chest1 and feet1 in the toilette of ,il4 xiv4 #agj-hf4 #e4 ,helen discovers the neck and breast as well as eyes of ,venus1 ,il4 iii4 #cif4 ,see ,il4 xxi4 #dbd4 #f4 ,the legs of ,vulcan are weak1 his neck strong1 and his chest shaggy1 ,il4 xviii4 #daa-ae4 #g4 ,mercury attaches wings to his feet1 ,od4 v4 #h4 ,juno seizes the wrists of ,diana1 takes the bow and arrows from her back1 and beats her about the ears1 ,il4 xxi4 #dhi-ia4 #i4 ,the arrows rattle on the shoulder of ,apollo1 ,il4 i4 #df4 #aj4 ,the arming of ,minerva introduces her shoulders1 head1 and feet1 ,il4 v4 #gch-de4 ,we need not1 however1 be surprised at failing to find in ,homer any conception approaching to that of pure spirit1 or any thing resembling that refined discernment1 which has led ,christian ,art to represent the figure of our ,lord alone as self-poised and self-supported in the air1 while all other human forms1 even when transfigured1 have a ground beneath their feet1 though it be but made of cloud4 ,even in some of the very highest among ,christian writers1 such as ,dante and ,st4 ,bernard1 the human being1 after the soul has gone through dismissal from the flesh1 still appears to be invested with a lighter form and species of body1 apparently on the assumption that the two elements of matter and spirit are not only essentially1 but inseparably wedded in our nature4 ,examples of miracle in ,homer4 ,full as they are of preternatural signs and operations1 the poems of ,homer do not1 nevertheless1 deal much with miracle1 with the specific purpose of which he had no concern4 ,by miracle ,i understand1 speaking generally1 not the mere use of the common natural powers1 accumulated or enlarged1 but an operation involving what1 ,i suppose1 would be called medically an organic departure from her customary laws3 an operation too1 which must absolutely be performed1 upon man himself or some other object1 after some manner which shall be appreciable in its results by his faculties1 and calculated to satisfy them1 when in their greatest vigilance1 that it is a real experience1 and not a mere delusion of the senses4 ,thus understood1 the miracles of ,homer are1 ,i think1 scarcely more numerous than the following3 for1 under this definition1 the ambrosia of ,simois and the flowers of ,ida are not miracles#gjd4 #gjd ,il4 v4 #ggg4 xiv4 #cdg4 #a4 ,the crawling and lowing of the oxen of the ,sun after their death1 ,od4 xii4 #cie1 #f4 #b4 ,the acceleration of the ,sunset1 ,il4 xviii4 #bci4 #c4 ,the retardation of the dawn1 ,od4 xxiii4 #bda4 #d4 ,the speaking horse1 ,il4 xix4 #djg4 #c4 ,the of neas1 ,il4 v4 #ddi4 #f4 ,the portents of the banquet night in ,od4 xx4 #cdg-fb4 ,i feel some doubt1 however1 whether this is objective1 or whether it is only an impression on the senses4 #g4 ,the transformation and re-transformation of ,ulysses#gje1 ,od4 xiii4 #cih1 #dbi1 and xxiii4 #aef-fc4 #gje ,ngelsbach1 i4 #aj4 p4 #be4 #h4 ,perhaps1 also1 the of ,iphthime1 ,od4 ix4 #gig4 #i4 ,the gouts of blood1 shed down from the air by ,jupiter1 ,il4 xi4 #ec4 #aj4 ,the transformation of the serpent into a stone in the sight of all the ,greeks2 ' 1 ,il4 ii4 #cbj4 ,the first seems due to the divine power as a whole2 the second and fourth to ,juno2 the third and seventh and eighth to ,minerva2 the fifth and sixth are the works of ,apollo2 the ninth and tenth of ,jupiter4 ,i do not add as an eleventh the conversion of the ,phacian ship into a rock1 by ,neptune1 in the sight of the people2 because this is rather of the class of marvels which appertained to other1 even secondary gods1 such as ,vulcan1 in their own particular domains1 ,od4 xiii4 #aei-hg4 ,the buoyant arms of ,achilles 7,il4 xix4 #chf71 and other works of ,vulcan1 might at first sight seem to belong to the list1 but it is doubtful whether they are not poetical rather than mythological representations1 and in any case they would appear as gifts strictly professional1 exercised in the ordinary administration of his peculiar function4 ,telemachus appears to recognise the existence of miraculous powers in the passage#gjf1 #gjf ,od4 xvi4 #aif4 1 4 ,but this is spoken of the ,godhead rather than of any particular deity1 and cannot by ,homeric analogy be applied except to those of the highest natures4 ,their operation on the human mind4 ,it will however be observed1 that several of these prodigies are not stated to have challenged human observation when performed3 and unless they submit themselves to the test of the senses they are not properly miracles at all4 ,others of them entirely comply with the condition1 as especially that of ,il4 ii4 #cbj4 ,the retardation of sunset and sunrise1 and the rain of blood1 appear to pass wholly unobserved4 ,prodigies not setting out from a basis in nature1 such as the tears of blood shed by ,jupiter#gjg1 are wholly beyond the scope of these observations4 #gjg ,il4 xvi4 #dei4 ,on the whole1 we find stringent limitation prevailing in this province1 as regards the majority of the gods4 ,indeed the forces of nature1 which the mythological divinities in part represent1 were sometimes too strong for them3 for ,homer tells us that ,notus and ,zephyr#gjh sometimes shatter vessels at sea without or against the will of the gods3 #gjh ,od4 xii4 #bij4 4 ,even man1 and that without impiety1 can occasionally think of resistance4 ,when ,menelaus1 alone in the field1 decides on retiring before ,hector 7who fights 71 rather than contend 1 he looks around for ,ajax1 and observes that1 could he but see him1 they two would fight 1 even with the deity opposed to them1 in order to recover the body of ,patroclus#gji4 #gji ,il4 xvii4 #ih-aja4 ,there is1 however1 ,i think1 another reason1 besides feebleness in his conception of the gods1 which prevents the ,greek ,poet from representing them as omnipotent in regard to the operations of the human mind2 and that is1 his profound sense of the free agency of man4 ,this principle with him1 as it were1 confronts the deity on every side2 who respects its dignity1 and never really invades its sphere1 but pursues his work by means compatible with its essential character4 ,the idea of the deity pervading the poems is mainly that of a cooperative power1 who helps us when and as we help ourselves4 ,it is expressed with an unrivalled simplicity when ,telemachus1 coming as a young man into the presence of ,nestor1 feels oppressed with a nervous shyness2 and ,minerva encourages him by telling him that he can of himself find something to say1 and that the divinity will prompt more to him#gaj1 #gaj ,od4 iii4 #bf4 1 4 ,heavenly influence never overpowers or suppresses the will1 but sometimes suggests thoughts to the mind1 and sometimes diverts it1 not perhaps from the thought of an object already perceived1 but from the chance of perceiving it4 ,thus1 when ,euryclea1 through surprise on beholding the scar1 and so recognising ,ulysses1 oversets the foot-bath1 ,penelope1 who is present1 might naturally have observed the miscarriage2 but ,minerva interposes to abstract her attention from what was passing1 lest she should recognise her husband prematurely3 ' ' ' 1 1 #gaa4 #gaa ,od4 xix4 #dgh4 ,with the exception of ,juno1 who in some sense reflects the majesty of ,jupiter1 and becomes entitled as a wife to handle his prerogatives1 it may be stated generally respecting the deities of invention properly so called1 that1 except within the limits of their particular domain or office1 they scarcely at all modify the laws of nature1 never set in motion or direct her greater forces1 nor act in an extraordinary manner on the mind or body of man4 ,each in his own province can stimulate a particular animal propensity1 or improve a particular gift of mind or body3 and that is all4 ,while therefore the strength of the ,olympian deities lies in knowledge and in power1 we find upon the whole that even in these particularly they are subject to manifold limitation4 ,they could translate mortals out of this world in which the rule of ,death prevails1 as we see in the cases of ,ganymede1 and of ,tithonus2 but it does not appear that1 if we except the traditive ideas represented in ,minerva and ,apollo1 they could either raise men from the grave1 prevent their dying in the course of nature1 heal their wounds or diseases1 or set their broken limbs4 ,when even ,latona and ,diana heal neas#gab1 they do it apparently with greater speed indeed1 but in other respects much as it would have been done by ,podaleirius or ,machaon4 #gab ,il4 v4 #dhh4 ,they do not discern the thoughts4 ,nor1 again1 does it appear that even the most exalted of their number had the knowledge of inward thoughts1 otherwise than as they may be discovered by persons of particular sagacity4 ,when ,minerva detects the false accounts given of himself by ,ulysses#gac1 no more is declared than the simple fact that she has a sufficient knowledge of his personal identity4 ,hence1 with respect to the fraud of ,laomedon upon ,neptune and ,apollo1 ,saint ,augustine sarcastically wonders that even ,apollo the diviner should not have known that ,laomedon meant to cheat him#gad2 and that one of such dignity as ,neptune should have been in a like state of ignorance4 ,with this we may compare the taunts of ,elijah#gae against the priests of ,baal4 #gac ,od4 xiii4 #bia4 #gad ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 iii4 #b4 #gae #a ,kings xviii4 #bg4 ,while1 then1 the gift of anything like general foreknowledge appears to be withheld from all the deities of invention1 that of the #8discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart1' is nowhere found2 nor was it believed of any member of the ,olympian community1 as it was said of ,one greater than they#gaf3 #8,he knew all men2 and needed not that any should testify of man1 for he knew what was in man4' #gaf ,john ii4 #bd1 #be4 ,such1 as far as ,i am able to present it1 is the internal view of the ,olympus of ,homer3 a scheme eminently national1 and eminently poetical4 ,egypt1 ,persia1 ,phnicia1 the old ,pelasgians1 doubtless contributed materials towards its formation3 but ,i have a lively conviction that ,homer was 7so to speak7 the theo-mythologer who moulded these materials into system1 the substitute for unity1 invested them with the forms and colours of brilliant beauty1 and gave them their hold in their historic shape upon the mind of his countrymen2 with the sublime ,olympus1 so near the old ,dodona1 of which he probably contrived it as the rival1 for their centre of life and power4 ,,sect4 ,,vi4 ,the ,olympian ,community and its ,members1 considered in their influence on human society and conduct4 ,we have thus far considered the deities of ,homer as they are1 or are represented by him to be1 in themselves individually1 and in their mutual relations4 ,we have now to consider the relation which subsisted between them and the race of man1 especially on its human side2 the state of religious sentiment and obligation1 and of the moral law1 both as towards heaven and likewise as between man and man1 so far as it is immediately associated with the system of which they are the representatives4 ,another large part of morals1 which was already in great part detached from visible relation to religion1 will remain for separate consideration4 ,and here we may remark1 that the ,homeric ,greeks apparently knew nothing of any periodical religious observance of commanding authority1 such as to form a centre either for national union1 or for the life of the individual4 ,had there been such an observance1 we must1 without doubt1 have found a trace of it on the ,shield of ,achilles4 ,the only festival1 of which we have clear information1 is that of ,apollo in the ,odyssey1 on the first day of the month4 ,more obscurely1 one of ,minerva appears to be indicated in ,il4 ii4 #eea4 ,no religious worship1 properly to be so called1 accompanied the funeral of ,patroclus1 or the games which followed it4 ,the ,winds#gag were called in aid for a special purpose4 ,the invocation of ,spercheus#gah is an apology for devoting to ,patroclus the hair which ,peleus had1 on his son's behalf1 vowed to that ,river-god4 ,neither is there any notice whatever of religion in the brief summary of the proceedings in ,troy after the ransom of the corpse of ,hector#gai4 #gag ,il4 xxiii4 #aid4 #gah ,ibid4 #add4 #gai ,il4 xxiv4 #ghh-hjj4 ,but although not sustained or organized by the self-acting machinery of periodical celebrations1 nor by the appropriation of the services of a particular class of society1 the life1 thoughts1 and actions of the better ,greeks were in a close and pervading proximity1 so to speak1 to their religion4 ,i say of the better ,greeks2 for there is an almost total absence of reference to the gods in the language1 as well as in the actions1 of the profligate ,suitors of the ,odyssey4 ,when it first appears1 it is ironical#gbj3 and only in the last distress does it assume any other character4 #gbj ,od4 xviii4 #cg4 ,in general terms1 every thing was ascribed to the gods4 ,they know all things1 #gba3 ,they can do every thing1 #gbb2 and #gbc is said of ,jupiter1 in the character of ,providence4 ,they are the givers of all blessings1 mental as well as corporal#gbd2 the disposers of events2 the ordainers1 or even authors of calamities4 ,they are said also to do for us what we ourselves have done for ourselves2 as where ,ulysses tells ,eumus1 that the gods broke his bonds1 and the gods hid him#gbe2 acts which he himself had performed4 ,also what they effect1 they commonly effect with ease1 as in both the last-mentioned cases4 #gba ,od4 x4 #cjf4 #gbb ,od4 iv4 #cgi1 #dfh4 #gbc ,ibid4 #bcg4 #gbd ,od4 xxiii4 #aa4 ,this is fully set forth in ,ngelsbach1 i4 #cc1 p4 #ed et seqq4 #gbe ,od4 xiv4 #cdh1 #eg4 ,the ,religion was still a real power4 ,however faulty1 and however feeble1 the religion of the ,greeks had not yet ceased to be a religion2 for it was believed in4 ,men might resent or fear the communications made to them on the part of the deity2 but they did not venture to repudiate their authority4 ,in ,homer1 except with the dissolute ,suitors1 7,od4 ii4 #ahj1 #bja47 the ,seer stands as the faithful exponent of the will of ,heaven2 and ,agamemnon1 even when smarting under the declarations of ,calchas1 and reviling him accordingly in his individual capacity 7i4 #ajf71 does not presume to intimate any suspicion that what he has said is of his own invention4 ,but time passed on3 corruption accumulated1 and festered more and more4 ,accordingly in ,euripides1 ,agamemnon and ,menelaus seem to speak of the whole class of prophets as if they deserved no belief4 ,see the ,iphigenia in ,aulis1 v4 #aj1 #aa4 ,so in the same play1 vv4 #ghc-i1 the ,chorus speaks of the birth of ,helen from ,leda and ,jupiter1 with the proviso1 #8whether it were true or whether fabulous4' ,again1 we have in the same play1 vv4 #ide-g3 '2 ' 1 1 1 1 4 ,the mind of man had travelled far onward in its career1 and great changes had passed upon his moral tone1 before the place of the ,prophet1 in the estimation of the public1 could be so strikingly reversed as we find from these quotations4 ,in the ,homeric age1 religion was a real power2 and the veneration paid to deity extended so far1 at least1 to the persons of its ministers1 that scarce any human thought could conceive the possibility of their falsifying the awful communications of which they were the vehicles4 ,but it will be replied1 if religion was a power1 if whatever it covered with its mantle was accepted and held in honour1 then what a deluge of corruption must have spread over ,greece from a religion of which ,jupiter was the head1 and which had ,venus for one of its recognised divinities6 ,now the age of ,homer shows us the religion of ,olympus in a state1 in which it had not yet become sufficiently the object of scrutiny to suggest1 on a large scale1 either the depraved imitation which was to be its too speedy result1 or the unbelief which formed1 in the moral chain of cause and effect1 its necessary consummation4 ,corruptions of the gods not yet fully felt4 ,in fact1 we do not find that the corrupting influence of the ,greek mythology on manners had been fully felt in the time of ,homer4 ,though vices are in particular cases represented as the gifts of particular deities to particular individuals1 it does not appear that these were yet regarded as examples for general imitation#gbf4 ,but the beginnings of mischief1 so vigorous and abundant1 did not fail in time to produce their fruit3 and in the historic ages of ,greece1 the models supplied by the conduct of deities were freely pleaded in defence of debauchery and crime#gbg4 #gbf ,ngelsbach1 ,hom4 ,theol4 on the case of ,autolycus4 #gbg ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 v4 i4 p4 #bee4 ,plato ,legg4 i4 p4 #fcf4 ,this is in conformity with ordinary experience4 ,the vices of the great are first passed by1 as if it were profane to suffer the eye to rest upon them2 then they are regarded for a time with depraved admiration2 and when the last stage is reached1 they are too faithfully copied by the small4 ,it was hardly possible that men could be effectually swayed for a length of time by the moral government of deities1 themselves privileged by human invention for unbounded immorality3 but it was naturally the first stage of the destructive process to vitiate the character of the gods1 and the next and later one to break down the credit of their administration of human affairs1 which only became incredible even to the enlightened part of the community after their moral worthlessness had been fully and long developed4 ,the ,homeric poems expose to our view two standards not mutually accordant1 the objective and the subjective4 ,if we pay attention to the impressions current among men respecting the gods1 they are the guardians of some moral and social principles of the highest order4 ,but if we take their own word for it1 the mere ,olympian deities seem ordinarily to appreciate no quality or conduct1 except the practice of offering up numerous and well fed animals in sacrifice1 each with the accompanying tribute of the appointed portion2 that so they may draw1 not a moral but a physical1 though a comparatively refined1 gratification from the savour and the taste#gbh4 #gbh ,vid4 ,il4 iv4 #dh4 xxii4 #agj4 xxiv4 #fi4 and #cc4 ,the protection1 too1 which the deities usually accord to man1 is not only given on selfish principles1 but is liable to be withdrawn for causes wholly independent of his deserts4 ,quarrels about men are settled1 not by each foregoing his animosities1 but by each surrendering and abandoning his clients4 #8,i will give up ,troy to you1' says ,jupiter2 #8but mind that ,i shall be at liberty to destroy the cities which you love1 when ,i may be so minded#gbi4' #8,you are quite welcome1' answers ,juno1 #8and indeed ,i could not prevent you3 but let me have ,troy destroyed4' ,why1 says even ,apollo to ,neptune1 should we quarrel about miserable mortals8 ,it is not worth our while3 let us leave them to themselves#gcj4 ,no ,homeric deity ever will be found to make a personal sacrifice on behalf of a human client4 #gbi ,il4 iv4 #ci4 and seqq4 #gcj ,il4 xxi4 #dfa-g4 ,in the next ,section1 ,i shall endeavour to show that the practice of sacrifice was not so entirely disconnected from morality1 as we are perhaps too apt to suppose4 ,i think we may1 on the contrary1 find in it at least a witness to the essential harmony between morality and divine worship1 and to the difficulty of tearing them asunder4 ,we are here met1 indeed1 by the case of ,autolycus1 which proves to us that the better elements of this practice were already on their way to corruption1 inasmuch as in that instance they had reached it4 ,it was a case1 let it be remembered1 of sacrifices1 not to the gods in general1 nor to the higher or the better deities1 but to ,mercury1 a purely mythical divinity2 and therefore what we see in it is1 a false religion in a state of ripeness at one particular point4 ,now the worship of ,mercury1 the god of gain1 was perhaps the first point at which the morality of the system might be expected to give way3 and it is therefore quite in the natural course that a case like that of ,autolycus should be presented to us without any corresponding case for any other deity#gca4 ,as it stands in ,homer1 it represents what was then the exception1 though it was gradually to become the rule4 #gca ,od4 xxiv4 #ead4 ,a moral tone occasionally perceptible4 ,there are1 however1 in particular connection with one of the great traditive deities1 glimpses of better things1 even in ,olympus4 ,when urged by ,minerva on behalf of ,ulysses in the ,odyssey1 ,jupiter half rebukes her for having insinuated a doubt1 by replying1 #8,how could ,i forget ,ulysses1 who excels others both in his intellect1 and in the sacrifices which he offers to the gods8'#gcb #gcb ,od4 i4 #fe4 ,it may indeed be said that in this passage1 if it be construed strictly1 it is mental power or intelligence1 and not any moral quality1 which1 as second to liberality in sacrifice1 is recognised as fit to be taken into account by the gods4 ,still it is1 ,i think1 manifest that ,homer1 like the ,holy ,scripture1 includes a moral element in the idea of wisdom1 which is represented by the word 1 commonly or always used of men in a good sense4 ,and in the second divine ,council of the ,odyssey1 the moral tone rises higher4 ,minerva1 grown more daring1 pleads plainly the discouraging effect which the indifference of the gods1 if continued1 will have upon the moral conduct of sovereigns4 #8,let them1' she says1 #8cast away all moral restraint3 for the virtuous ,ulysses is forgotten by his people1 and is detained in great affliction by ,calypso#gcc4' #gcc ,od4 v4 #g4 and seqq4 ,for us1 in the present inquiry1 the main question evidently is1 not what are the sentiments which the ,poet has represented as proceeding from his divinities on ,olympus1 but what are those which the people at large believed them to entertain4 ,there is a considerable difference between these two standards3 and it is the latter one by which we have now to abide4 ,prevalent belief concerning them4 ,the deities of ,homer1 thus measured1 are susceptible of various forms of sentiment in contemplating the fortunes and deeds of men4 #a4 ,in general1 they regard virtue and obedience with approbation4 #b4 ,they regard crime with dissatisfaction and a disposition to punish it4 #c4 ,but they also observe any excess1 or marked continuity1 of good fortune in the virtuous man with a kind of envy3 as if they could not permit the human race1 on any conditions1 to attain to a prosperity or abundance which should have any semblance of rivalling their own4 ,as respects the first1 it is indeed a pale and feeble sentiment2 but still it exists4 ,they listen readily to those who obey them#gcd4 ,prayer appeases them1 as well as sacrifice#gce4 ,they love not perverse deeds like those of the ,suitors1 but they honour justice and righteousness#gcf4 ,upon the whole it may be observed1 that much more just and elevated sentiments are predicated of the gods as a body1 than when they appear as individuals4 ,for it is as a body that they still retain a certain relation to true ,godhead4 #gcd ,il4 i4 #bah4 #gce ,il4 ix4 #dig4 #gcf ,od4 xiv4 #hc4 ,as respects the second proposition1 they wander in disguise to examine the conduct of men#gcg4 ,a man who is hardly used may become to his oppressor a 1 an occasion of divine vengeance4 ,they view iniquity with a sentiment sometimes called by ,homer 1 an after-regard that remembers and avenges it4 ,for this the wicked do not care#gch1 and such indifference is a chief sign of their depravity4 ,especially they watch1 backed by the 1 over wrongs done to the poor#gci2 and ,jupiter interferes by storm and flood to testify his displeasure at unrighteous governors1 who administer crooked judgments#gdj4 gisthus is warned and punished by them4 ,it is ,minerva who plans the vengeance upon the ,suitors#gda4 ,at the same time1 revenge for affronts is a much more powerful and common motive with them1 than zeal for the administration of justice4 ,the latter is lazy and doubtful2 but their sentiments in regard to the former are of keen edge1 and have an irrepressible promptitude and activity4 #gcg ,od4 xvi4 #dhe4 #gch ,il4 xvi4 #chh4 ,od4 xiv4 #hb4 xx4 #bae4 xxii4 #ci4 ii4 #ff1 #acd4 iii4 #acb4 #gci ,od4 xvii4 #dge4 #gdj ,il4 xvi4 #chd-i4 #gda ,od4 xxiv4 #dgi4 ,as respects the third point1 the gods grudged to ,ulysses and ,penelope an unbroken continuance of the blessings of their domestic life#gdb4 ,it is in like manner1 as it would seem1 that1 after a long course of prosperity1 the gallant and good ,bellerophon became odious1 on account of his good fortune only1 to the gods#gdc4 ,and this same idea is perhaps the groundwork of the alternative destinies of ,achilles1 either a long life without great glory1 or transcendent glory and a short career#gdd4 #gdb ,od4 xxiii4 #baa4 #gdc ,il4 vi4 #bjj4 #gdd ,il4 ix4 #daj-af4 ,while in the later stages of heathen religion the former and nobler ideas gradually lost ground1 this less worthy one became more and more pronounced2 and ,solon1 in ,herodotus1 describes himself as knowing #gde4 #gde ,herod4 i4 #cb4 ,in vague and general terms1 the gods of ,homer are represented as givers of blessings1 particularly of external goods4 ,sometimes they are rashly and wildly charged as the authors of calamities#gdf1 which the folly of man himself has caused4 ,but according to the more grave and serious teaching of the day1 they were conceived to enforce1 as against mortals1 laws from which they were certainly themselves exempt2 and allow to mankind no alternative1 except that of mixed good or else unmixed evil4 ,two caskets stand upon the floor by ,jupiter3 one of them is filled with wretchedness and shame2 the other is vicissitude1 which oscillates incessantly between prosperity and sorrow4 ,and there rankles in the mind of mankind a sentiment1 which tells them that the gods1 while they thus dispense afflictions upon earth which are neither sweetened by love1 nor elevated by a distinct disciplinary purpose1 take care to keep themselves beyond all touch of grief or care#gdg3 #gdf ,od4 i4 #cb4 #gdg ,il4 xxiv4 #ebe4 1 ' 4 ,it lent considerable support to virtue4 ,the best thing that can be said for their fainthearted encouragement to virtue is1 that the good man is certainly understood in most cases1 though not always1 to prosper in the end3 let us take1 for example1 ,nestor1 ,menelaus1 or ,ulysses4 ,ajax and ,agamemnon meet unhappy ends2 but ,ajax was stern and sullen1 while ,agamemnon cannot be acquitted of cupidity and selfishness4 ,on the other hand1 as punishers of wrong1 the gods of ,olympus do not visit all wrongs and all vices alike4 ,especially they take little notice1 in their moral government as in their lives1 of the law of purity3 there is no express notice of their displeasure against the crime of ,paris2 and ,jupiter1 the guardian of the judgment seat1 the friend of the suppliant1 the stranger1 and the poor1 makes no pretension to defend the marriage bed from the contamination he had himself so often wrought4 ,however1 in a very aggravated instance1 namely1 that of gisthus1 his adulterous marriage with ,clytemnestra#gdh is noticed explicitly in the ,olympian ,council1 as contributing to the enormity of his offence4 ,but in such a case many other elements1 besides that of purity1 are involved3 the whole social and political order of the world is at stake4 #gdh ,od4 i4 #cg-dj4 ,thus upon the whole there was but little more in the sentiments than in the conduct of the ,immortals1 to maintain among men a sense of piety towards ,heaven4 ,yet a good deal of authority and support were lent to important principles of relative duty1 by the belief that the deities would or might avenge its infraction4 ,we must in short fully embrace the fact that man1 as represented in ,homer1 was inconsistent with respect to his religion1 in the sense opposite to that in which inconsistency commonly affects that relation4 ,he had more still remaining in him of ancient and natural morality1 than his belief could either adequately account for in theory1 or permanently sustain in action4 ,it should at the same time be borne in mind1 that1 while the vices of ,olympus appertain to the individual deities1 its obscure and qualified virtues1 in the championship of duty1 and the avenging of crime upon earth1 are not the properties of this or that mythological impersonation1 but either of the deities considered as a whole with one united will1 or else of those among them in whose characters ,homer still enables us to read the vestiges of primitive tradition4 ,their course with respect to ,troy4 ,saint ,augustine observes#gdi1 that some defenders of the ,pagan mythology in later times quoted the fall of ,troy as an instance of ,divine retribution coming upon the descendants of ,laomedon for his perjury1 and some1 to the same effect1 as a punishment of the adultery committed by ,paris4 ,to which he replies truly1 that the heathen deities had no right to punish in ,paris an act which had the sanction of ,venus1 as she bore neas to ,anchises1 and of ,mars as the father of ,romulus3 neas and ,romulus being the two great reputed fountain-heads of the highest ,roman lineage4 #gdi ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 iii4 #c4 ,now1 though ,homer has practically represented the gods as avenging the pollution of the nuptial bed1 it may be observed that he nowhere seems to put prominently forward the adultery of ,paris as the main gist of his offence4 ,in fact1 the idea of adultery is very much absorbed1 as we shall see1 according to the poems1 in the act of violent abduction4 ,the ,greeks on their side1 with the single exception of ,menelaus himself1 treat ,paris as a robber1 or else a coward2 not as one who had1 like gisthus with ,clytemnestra1 corrupted the wife of one of their princes4 ,and so ,hector is1 ,i think1 not quite accurately criticized by ,mure#gej for failing to find fault with ,paris on the ground of adultery4 ,hector does reproach his brother for having abused the friendly intercourse of life to carry off another man's wife1 and then not having the courage to meet the husband in the field4 ,this seems to me in perfect keeping with the ideas of the time1 especially if ,i am right in the view1 which ,i shall endeavour to sustain by argument1 that ,hector himself is not the elder1 but the younger brother of the two4 ,what did the ,greeks aim at avenging8 ,not1 we shall find1 the wrong done to ,menelaus in his conjugal character1 but the sorrows and sufferings of ,helen were evidently the prominent and conspicuous idea in the mind of the ,poet1 and in the mind1 as he represents it1 of the ,greeks4 ,so that1 while ,menelaus himself is the only person who in the ,iliad shows a resentment of his own conjugal wrongs1 the ,greeks appear to think partly of ,helen1 partly of their nation's honour1 partly of their allegiance to the ,pelopids2 and partly1 perhaps chiefly1 of the booty which1 in requital of their arduous labours1 they are to gain upon the sack of ,troy#gea4 #gej ,mure's ,lit4 ,greece1 vol4 i4 on the character of ,hector1 ,il4 iii4 #df-eg4 #gea ,il4 ii4 #cee4 ,the defence1 therefore1 of the heathen deities which ,st4 ,augustine notices as having been put forward1 was a late afterthought4 ,the ,poet appears indeed to treat the lustful effeminacy of ,paris in general with a grave and marked contempt2 but this is rather his own personal sentiment1 than a result directly connected with his religious belief or system4 ,and1 more at large1 ,i do not find it clear that in any place of the ,poems any deity appears1 either as the guardian of purity1 or as the avenger of its infraction4 ,under these circumstances we shall have the more cause to wonder1 that that virtue could still have been held1 as it was held1 by ,homer and the ,greeks1 in partial but evidently real admiration4 ,although retribution was limited to public and social sins1 and did not touch the inner and finer parts of human conduct1 it is not difficult to trace the advantages which flowed from that sensible remainder of religion which still subsisted in the ,heroic age2 not from those parts of the system which were due to human invention1 but from the elements which it still contained of the ancient theism1 and which invention had not yet wholly smothered4 ,thus1 for example1 it was thought that the anger of the gods might be brought down upon a country by the misconduct of its governors#geb2 and the fear of the temporal calamities thus to be incurred would1 naturally1 tend to the maintenance of integrity in the administration of justice4 #geb ,il4 xvi4 #chg4 ,as between governors and governed1 so between rich and poor4 ,we cannot doubt that the worthy ,eumus expresses the general sentiment of his age1 when1 having been reproached by the haughty ,suitor ,antinous with having invited a beggar into the palace of ,ulysses1 he answers1 not by denial1 but by showing that the idea is self-condemned by its absurdity4 ,those indeed1 he replies1 may be solicited to come to a house who exercise the agreeable or the useful professions2 the ,seer1 the ,doctor1 the ,artificer1 the ,bard1 these are the people who get invited all over the world2 ' 1 2 ,who would be such a fool as to invite a beggar8#gec #gec ,od4 xvii4 #chb-g4 ,with this standard of sentiment1 not peculiar to that age1 except in the simple frankness with which it is avowed1 it was surely of the utmost importance for the needy and afflicted1 that they should be placed by the popular belief in the special charge of the deity2 4 ,so that1 though none would invite them1 yet few would take the responsibility of rejecting their supplications for what was needful to supply their wants4 ,and the standing distinction in the ,odyssey between a virtuous and a vicious people is1 that the former is insolent1 fierce1 and unrighteous1 while the latter is kind to strangers and of god-fearing mind#ged2 #ged ,od4 vi4 #abj4 viii4 #egf4 ix4 #agf4 xiii4 #bjb4 ' ' 1 1 1 2 ,bearing of the religion on social ties4 ,it was thus a clear fact in the heroic age1 that religious belief was a foundation and support to the exercise of charitable offices between man and man4 ,i think we may further assert1 that it is a fact of all time2 that in all ages and countries the strength and liveliness of belief in ,god is a measure which determines the aggregate amount and activity of mutual love4 ,hence1 as the ,olympian religion became more and more hollow1 public oppression increased1 and private charity and hospitality declined4 ,yet1 even in its most corrupt and decrepit period1 it was on the steps of temples that the congregations of mendicants assembled2 spontaneous and unconscious witnesses to the fact that1 next to ,god their ,friend in heaven1 the reflection of ,god1 however faint1 in the mind of man1 is their best friend on earth4 ,and of the many great social results of ,christianity1 one standing in the very foremost rank has been1 that it has for the first time made the rights of the poor a social axiom1 which1 though it may in practice be evaded1 none are hardy enough to deny4 ,perhaps the very strongest of all the proofs of the connection between religious belief1 and duties to the needy1 is to be found in the instinctive horror which is created in the minds of men1 when a prominent profession of the first is accidentally and occasionally exhibited by persons1 who show a palpable disregard of the second4 ,side by side with the powerful obligation1 of the indeterminate species1 which binds man to man in the name of charity or brotherly kindness1 stands the corresponding determinate principle of truth and justice1 which aims at preserving entire to each individual the definite rights to which he is entitled4 ,an important part of these definite rights belongs immediately to the relations between the private person and the civil power4 ,but the capacity of any human authority to do justice1 even where the will cannot be found fault with1 is of necessity defective3 and no government can do its duties for a day1 irrespective of the aid which each private person renders to it in reference to every other4 ,nor is this enough2 it wants1 and cannot dispense with1 the assistance of an auxiliary within the breast1 in order to guard itself against delusion1 and to secure the requisite conformity between thought1 word1 and act4 ,in other words1 the state wants an instrument by which to induce men to speak the truth4 ,no such end can be reached by force4 ,force1 in the shape of torture1 will doubtless in the long run avail to make men asseverate that1 be it what it may1 by which they may obtain release from an intolerable suffering4 ,but the first effect of torture is to make the sufferer indifferent to the truth or falsehood of his confessions1 so he can but obtain relief by means of them4 ,the second1 and still more detrimental effect1 must be to undermine the very basis of inward truthfulness1 and to create a mental habit of indifference as between what is true and what is false4 ,and on political relations4 ,hence1 the desideratum for the state can only be found in some power which works in and with the will of the private person4 ,it has indeed been argued1 and ,i believe with justice1 that the atheist ought on his own principles to speak the truth2 that is1 if he does not shut his eyes to the testimony borne by the daily experience of life to the existence of a moral government in the world1 even on this side of the grave4 ,but this supposes1 at any rate1 some degree of mental culture2 and it is essential to public order to find the means of operating upon those who have received no such training4 ,the question is how to obtain the voluntary disclosure of truth1 in cases where neither interest or inclination are of themselves sufficient to secure it4 ,to this question the experience of the world1 up to this time1 renders one and but one answer4 ,the requisite influence may be found1 and can only be found1 in an appeal to the ,majesty on high1 and to the sanctions of a future life4 ,here1 then1 does the ,venerable ,oath stand forth in all its majesty4 ,the act of calling the ,deity in the most solemn of its various forms to witness1 has been found at once to make the word of a man the stoutest bond of human society3 for the perjurer strips himself of all divine aid#gee2 #gee ,il4 iv4 #bce4 ' 1 and exposes himself to the most terrible penalties#gef2 #gef ,il4 xix4 #bfd4 ' 1 '1 1 ' 4 ,under the operation of the oath1 the chances1 so to speak1 are doubled in favour of the veracity of the witness3 first1 he may not be wicked enough to forswear himself2 and secondly1 if he is wicked enough1 yet he may not have the requisite amount of daring in his wickedness4 ,these views will1 ,i think1 receive material confirmation when we come to consider the relative positions of the oath in ,greece and in ,troy4 ,for the present1 ,i leave the subject with the observation1 that four short words describe the props of human society3 they are1 1 1 1 4 ,all these sanctions1 however partial and remote1 thus given to human duty by belief in the gods1 could not but be of great practical value4 ,and indeed it may with truth be said1 that the mere idea of the presence of an overruling power in the world was of inestimable advantage in repressing human passion1 in moderating desire1 and in limiting the excesses of caprice1 wilfulness1 and violence4 ,but it is obvious that these beneficial results from belief in the gods belonged not to the particular development1 but to the theistical principle which lay within and under it4 ,the idea of a moral ,governor of the universe was1 and ever will be1 an unfailing seed of good wherever it may exist4 ,the ,pagan mythology1 at every step of its unfolding into detail1 enfeebled and degraded that great idea1 but it could not be destroyed all at once4 ,nemo repente fuit turpissimus2 and a system1 like a man1 requires time to reach the extreme of depravation4 ,as1 among men1 a judge is not supposed to lose all regard for justice1 because it may be that in some particular of private life he has transgressed1 so the ,olympian divinities might have credit as administrators of moral government1 even after they had begun to be charged with instances of immorality4 ,but an unscrupulous order and succession of judges1 would in time put an end to the idea of public justice2 and so the continuing and growing degradation of the ,immortals1 in time put an end to the sense of religion1 and made even its fanes#geg smoky1 and its pomps contemptible4 #geg ,propertius1 ,el4 ,,ii4 v4 #bg4 ,hor4 ,od4 ,,iii4 vi4 #c1 #d4 ,sat4 ,,ii4 ii4 #ajc-e4 ,and certainly1 when we look at the evils1 of which the mythological system was the source1 we cannot but be struck with their overwhelming magnitude1 and with the highly instructive fact1 that in every case they so manifestly belong1 not to the original principle of belief and worship due from man to his ,creator1 but to the departure from a pure1 and the lapse into an impure belief4 ,moral bearing of the ,religion on the poems4 ,the credit for moral results1 which has thus been allowed to the probable operation of the ,homeric ,theo-mythology in the world1 must be steadily denied to its influence upon the poems1 where it appears before us as in the main a lowering and corrupting agency4 ,in fact1 the religion and the morality of the ,homeric poems appear to separate1 and to run in opposite directions4 ,the rights of the question at issue1 in an ethical point of view1 are plainly with the ,greeks3 they vindicate by arms not one only1 but two principles1 both of them vital to the order of society1 and to individual happiness and virtue3 the sanctity1 first1 of the family and of marriage ties2 secondly1 of the relation created by the rites of hospitality4 ,and with the rights go the fortunes of the cause4 ,the capture and fall of ,troy constitute a great triumph of justice over wrong4 ,but the mythological elements of the question are cast in a mould entirely different4 ,the royal family of ,troy has been all along in singular favour with the deities1 notwithstanding the perjury of ,laomedon2 and that favour does not appear to be in any degree diminished by the gross and shameful crimes that stand against ,paris in the poem1 or by the unfailing and extraordinary obtuseness of his moral sense4 ,ganymede1 ,tithonus1 ,anchises1 as well as ,paris1 have all been especial objects of divine regard4 ,not only did a full half of the other deities take part with the ,trojans in the war1 but ,jupiter himself1 apart from his concession to ,thetis1 was concerned for them1 and says#geh1 #8,they interest me even while they perish' 7 74 #geh ,il4 xx4 #ba4 ,again1 in the meeting of the gods1 he describes ,hector#gei as dear to them for his regular and abundant sacrifices1 taking no note whatever of his personal virtues4 ,of the three deities who were actively hostile to ,troy1 ,neptune1 ,juno1 and ,minerva1 all had personal causes of offence3 the first1 the fraud of ,laomedon1 which1 however1 was also an offence against the moral law2 both the others had the spret injuria form1 and ,juno had also special predilections to gratify4 ,the fall of ,ilios1 and the death of ,hector1 are just3 but the wonder is1 with the favourable relations that subsisted between the ,trojans and the father of gods1 as well as men1 which were in no respect impaired by crime1 how ,hector came to die1 or ,troy to fall4 ,while the fall of ,troy is justice1 it does not seem to come about because it is agreeable to justice1 but rather as the result of the balance of force among the gods1 and of their remembrance of personal injuries4 ,it appears all along1 as though it were the right-mindedness of the ,poet which keeps the wheels of the machine going1 while those who should be the drivers are at fault4 #gei ,il4 xxiv4 #ff4 xxii4 #agj4 ,again1 in the ,odyssey1 the ,providence of the poem1 if we may so speak1 is on the side of ,virtue2 and a prosperous remainder of life1 with a happy death1 is promised to the hero4 ,of this providence ,minerva1 with the approval of ,jupiter1 is the wise and indefatigable organ4 ,but while the general idea of providence moves in the right direction1 the polytheistic formations work powerfully in a wrong one4 ,david and his companions ate the show-bread in the temple1 and were blameless1 because it was to relieve a hunger that they had no other means of satisfying3 but even impending famine does not excuse or palliate the offence of the companions of ,ulysses1 who use for food a portion of the oxen of the ,sun4 ,the jealousy and cruelty of ,neptune1 the gifts of ,mercury to ,autolycus1 the savage crimes of ,polyphemus1 which do not detract from his relation to a deity of the highest rank1 the disparagement of the highest human virtues in ,calypso1 the hostility to human peace and happiness in ,circe and the ,sirens1 place the divine life of the ,odyssey on a much lower level than the human and heroic1 and to a certain extent depress by their admixture the sound ethical tone of the poem4 ,all along1 while ,homer luxuriates1 poetically1 in the abundance and brilliancy of his materials1 he has morally to repair their deficiencies1 and to contend with and overrule their bias4 ,i cannot therefore but differ greatly from ,nitzsch1 who1 in his ,essay on the ,anger of ,neptune#gfj1 seems to elevate it to the dignity of a providential resentment1 and to conceive of the sufferings of ,ulysses as a punishment for a moral offence in the treatment of ,polyphemus4 ,in this way ,i grant that a sort of parallel is established between his case and the chastisements which ,achilles receives in the ,iliad1 through the death of ,patroclus1 and the surrender of the body of ,hector4 ,both heroes seem thus to stand upon a level3 both favoured children of the gods1 honoured in the main1 but chastised for their faults4 ,but even this seeming parallelism fails when we remember the respective sequels4 ,the curtain of the ,iliad falls on the eve of the premature death of ,achilles3 as that of the ,odyssey is dropping over the head of ,ulysses1 we perceive1 in perspective1 the picture of his serene old age4 #gfj ,nitzsch1 ,odyssee1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 xiv4 ,as regards the important question of purity1 the impression made on my own mind in reading the poems of ,homer is this3 that1 but for his mythology1 they would have been unimpeachable1 at least in one point of virtue2 they would have been absolutely pure4 ,whatever is dissolute in their moral tendency as regards this particular subject1 evidently and directly flows from that source4 ,we rarely meet a sentiment that can arouse anything like revulsion3 the worst by far that has struck me is the advice given to ,achilles by his mother ,thetis 7,il4 xxiv4 #acj71 as a mode of solace for his grief4 ,the narrative of the ,net of ,vulcan in the ,odyssey is one1 that ,homer would have been far too modest to recite with reference to human beings3 and the only other passage1 which seems to be marked with a tinge of grossness1 is that which relates to the stratagem of ,juno in the ,fourteenth ,iliad4 ,its bearing as to poetic effect4 ,we may1 however1 justly distinguish between the influence of mythology on the morality of the ,poems1 and its operation with regard to poetic effect4 ,in this view the consequences of its introduction1 though mixed1 are upon the whole highly favourable4 ,there is indeed more or less of descent from the usual grandeur of ,homer1 when we find his deities mingling in actual conflict3 because they never sustain in the field of battle a part at all corresponding to their celestial dignity and presumed power4 ,nor is the ,theomachy proper1 in the ,twenty-first book of the ,iliad1 among the most successful parts of the poem4 ,but the principal portion of their agency takes effect upon the elements or other material objects1 or upon animals1 or upon the human mind by way of influence and suggestion3 and its tendency is in general to impart interest and variety1 as well as poetic elevation1 to the scenery and narrative4 ,the plot of each epic is worked out simultaneously in two different forms upon two different arenas3 in ,olympus by divine counsel1 and on earth by human effort and execution4 ,yet no confusion results from the double action1 while the play and counterplay of the divine and human elements communicate a remarkable elasticity to the movement of the poems4 ,their value is particularly felt in the ,iliad1 which1 from its limited scene and subject1 lies in danger of the sameness which1 by this means among others1 it on the whole escapes4 ,in particular1 the relation between the assisting or patron deities1 and the hero or protagonist of each poem1 is conducted with great consistency and effect3 but the most sublime uses of supernatural machinery to be found throughout the poems are those in which the traces of it are the most shadowy and faintly drawn4 ,take for example the manner in which ,achilles is sent out unarmed to the field1 and again1 to the manner of his arming1 in the ,iliad3 in the ,odyssey1 the wonderful picture of divine displeasure and incumbent malediction seeming to gather around and hem in the ,suitors of ,penelope1 concurrently with the preparations for human vengeance3 as if the scene were too dark for eyes like theirs to catch the true meaning of these lowering signals1 which give a gloomy but majestic sanction to the terrible swoop of retributive justice alighting upon crime4 ,its earliest and latest forms4 ,it would be most interesting to pursue the comparison between the believing or credulous infancy of ,paganism as we see it in ,homer1 and its cold and jealous decrepitude as we find it in the writers of its latest period1 when the light of the lamp was fading before the already risen ,sun4 ,in ,homer we find the gods offering in their conduct every sort of example of weakness1 passion1 and fraud4 ,but they take an active share in the government of the world1 and men look up to them1 collectively or individually1 with more or less of confusion indeed1 both intellectual and moral1 but still truly and actually as exercising some sort of providential government over the world4 ,the mythology of the time of ,homer is a weak1 faulty1 and corrupt religion1 ,i admit1 but still it is a religion1 a bond which associates man with the unseen world1 and brings some1 at least1 of its influences to bear upon his conduct and character4 ,and if the ,greeks of ,homer were not shocked by those immoralities of the ,immortals which afterwards came to be thought intolerable1 it was not because they were more impure than their posterity1 for they were far purer3 but the principle of belief in the invisible was in them alike lively and inconsequent2 and it was not yet even conscious of a load which1 in later times1 with enfeebled force1 and an augmented critical activity1 it could not carry4 ,in the time of ,plutarch1 about one hundred years after our ,lord's nativity1 we find the change complete4 ,there was now no principle of belief in men's minds which could endure either the good or the evil of the ancient system3 and a quickened intelligence1 as well as the streaming in of rays from ,revelation1 had made the human intellect more painfully alive to its moral solecisms1 without rendering it able to suggest a remedy4 ,accordingly1 ,plutarch relieves the ,homeric deities from the faults imputed to them by saying1 that the ,poet has made use of these fictions to excite the fancy#gfa3 4 ,or1 again1 it was1 he says#gfb1 because the name of 1 ,fortune or ,chance1 was not yet in use1 that men referred to the gods what they did not know how to account for in any other manner4 ,alas for mankind6 sad is the state of those1 who must reckon the invention of that name among their blessings4 ,in the fact1 however1 that ,homer and his age knew nothing of the word or the idea1 he discloses to us one of the many points in which infancy is practically wiser than old age4 ,let us1 ,plutarch goes on to say1 cure these errors by other passages of the ,poet in which he gives us the truth1 the 3 but the passages1 which he cites with this view1 are not passages where the deities are represented as in any active relations of good towards the world3 they are simply those which exhibit them as living in a repose undisturbed by care1 while they leave for us a destiny of trouble3 they are those which relate to the 1 the ' 4 ,stripped of active vice1 but yet not adorned with virtue1 they become merely cold and selfish1 hopeless and inaccessible abstractions4 #gfa ,de ,aud4 ,poet4 #bj4 #gfb ,ibid4 #bc4 ,there is in all this a certain logical sequence4 ,the starting point is that of belief in a moral ,governor of the universe1 good himself1 and enjoining goodness upon others4 ,but his own goodness fails1 and his agency among men for the original purpose becomes more and more feeble and equivocal1 while the human intellect1 sharpened by discussion1 and puffed up with knowledge1 or with the supposition and phantasm of it1 becomes more and more exacting3 so that the abstract gods in ,cicero are 7without doubt7 far more elevated than the personal gods of ,homer4 ,but they are mere works of art3 and1 after all1 the personal gods of ,homer were the only ones that had been really worshipped by men3 and when their case becomes so bad that they can no longer be exhibited to the people as rulers of the world1 a refuge is found in the ,epicurean theory1 which relegates them to a heaven of enjoyment and abundance1 and on pretence of mental ease denies them any prerogative of intervention in human affairs#gfc4 ,the gain of more careful and comprehensive theory is much more than counterbalanced by the practical loss of the personal element1 and therefore of the belief in a real ,providence1 overseeing the affairs of men4 ,so the next onward step is to the doctrine of the ,academicians4 ,in the ,de ,natur ,deorum1 where that sect is represented by ,cotta in the discussion with the champions of the ,epicureans and the ,stoics1 ,cicero himself1 and the ruling tendency1 if not opinion1 of his day1 are evidently exhibited to us under ,cotta's name4 ,the transition now made is from gods with a sinecure to no gods at all3 and ,paganism ends in nullity1 just as a moving mass finds its final equilibrium in repose4 #gfc ,lucret4 i4 #eg-fb4 ,its gloomy view of human destiny4 ,even while heroic ,greece and its great ,poet existed1 the deepest problems of our being were far too dark for man to penetrate4 ,the picture which ,i have rudely drawn1 and which is not wholly a joyless picture1 was liable to be blackened1 even for this world1 by many a storm of crime and of calamity2 at the very best it was a picture for this world only1 for the mortality and not the immortality of man4 ,but that scene has its close3 and most touching it is to see that1 with all his creative power1 with all his imaginative brightness1 with all the advantage he derived from living in the youth of the world1 before mankind had fully sounded the depth of their own fall1 or had begun to accumulate the sad records of their miseries and crimes2 even ,homer could not solve the enigma of our condition1 or disperse the clouds that gathered round our destiny4 ,there are two profoundly memorable passages in the poems1 which have set their double seal on this truth4 ,one of them is in the ,odyssey3 it is a confession from the mouth of that ,achilles1 in whose mind and person1 as they are delineated by ,homer1 our humanity has been carried perhaps to a higher point of grandeur1 than it has ever since attained4 #8,do not1 illustrious ,ulysses1 do not palter with me about death1' says the mournful shade4 #8,rather would ,i serve for hire under a master1 aye and a needy master1 upon the face of earth1 than be lord of the whole world of the departed#gfd3' #gfd ,od4 xi4 #dhh4 1 ' ' ' 1 1 4 ,a trail of heavenly light indeed so far played upon the heroic world1 that we hear of those few who had already been translated to the skies2 and of two more1 one a son of ,jupiter1 already in the peaceful ,elysian plains1 and the other ,menelaus1 who1 as his daughter's husband1 was likewise to be carried thither on his decease4 ,but it is the mouth of ,achilles1 the illustrious1 the godlike ,achilles1 which here utters1 in tones so deeply mournful1 the common voice of the children of ,adam4 ,it was the very same conclusion which1 as we find in another place#gfe1 this favoured mortal had formed on earth4 #gfe ,il4 xxiv4 #ebe4 ,the second passage is one spoken by ,jupiter himself4 ,as the commonest epithets used by ,homer for 1 mortals1 are and 1 so the highest god lays down the law of their condition1 describing it as that than which there is nothing more wretched among all that live and move upon the earth#gff3 #gff ,il4 xvii4 #ddf4 ,compare ,od4 xvii4 #abi1 where is substituted4 1 4 ,such as we have seen1 and so glorious1 was the wisdom1 and the valour1 and the beauty1 and the power1 that dwelt in man2 but only that through life he might1 upon the whole1 be paramount in woe above all meaner creatures1 and then that he might die in a gloom unrelieved by hope4 ,none have illustrated this piercing truth by contrasts so sharp as ,homer1 between the chill and dismal tone of the general destiny of man on the one hand1 and on the other1 the joy and cheerfulness which the effort of an elastic spirit can for a time create4 ,but the woe which he could only exhibit1 it was reserved for ,one greater than he1 yet only by sorrow and suffering1 to remove4 ,the personal belief of ,homer4 ,i have forborne in this ,essay from entering at large into the often agitated question1 whether ,homer believed in the deities of whom he speaks so largely4 ,he may express his own childlike creed2 and such a creed by no means requires for its support in the individual mind1 that it should have been visibly represented by facts within its own experience4 ,or he may use as the material of poetry that which1 without approving itself to his own heart1 was1 nevertheless1 to his hearers in general1 a real and substantial system of religion4 ,nay1 he might even be dealing with what had ceased to be believed in his day1 but had still a retrospective life1 because it had been the hearty1 and was still the conventional1 worship of the people4 ,the truth may lie in1 or it may lie between1 any of these suppositions4 ,the one thing of which ,i feel most assured is1 that he was not1 as to his religion1 a mere allegorist when speaking of his ,jupiter and ,minerva1 any more than he was a mere hypocrite1 when he ascribed occurrences in human life to ,providence under the name of #8the deity1' or #8the deities4' ,he represents what either was or had been1 for his people1 a belief in the unseen under particular forms1 and what still in some way represented a reality for them and for himself4 ,it is this belief of which ,i have spoken throughout1 and which1 under any of the suppositions ,i have made1 seems to me to warrant all the stress ,i have laid upon it4 ,to attempt a formal solution of the question1 whether he believed or not in the dress of his religion1 as well as in the religion itself1 would1 ,i fear1 be frivolous4 ,it is a case in some degree parallel to the disputes whether ,shakspeare adhered1 in the controversies of the sixteenth century1 to the side of the ,romish or the ,reformed4 ,neither ,shakspeare nor ,homer ought to be judged as if they had been theologians ex professo4 ,both followed the law of their sublime art1 and represented in forms of beauty and delight1 or of majesty and gloom1 as the case required1 such materials as they found ready to hand4 ,critical analysis1 nice equipoises1 strict definitions1 were for neither the one nor the other4 ,but in the works of neither do the cold tones of scepticism find an echo3 and probably the mental frame of both with reference to the substance of their religion may have been not very different from that of the poor1 the maidens1 and the children of their day4 ,,sect4 ,,vii4 ,on the traces of an origin abroad for the ,olympian ,religion4 ,let me now attempt to divide the principal deities of ,homer with reference to their origin1 or to the channel of their introduction into ,greece2 premising1 however1 that all such classification of them is admitted to be founded upon evidence1 at best presumptive1 and often also slight4 ,the classes will be as follows3 #a4 ,of those who were worshipped by the ,hellenic and ,pelasgian races1 and probably by all others known in the inner ,homeric world4 ,these were1 #a4 ,jupiter4 #b4 ,minerva4 #c4 ,apollo4 #d4 ,latona4 #e4 ,diana4 #f4 ,neptune4 ,the three first of these may be considered as deities of immemorial and universal worship4 ,neptune was far more ,hellenic than ,pelasgian3 and indeed his place in the list is doubtful4 #b4 ,of immemorial ,hellenic worship4 #a4 ,juno4 #b4 ,persephone4 #c4 ,pluto or ,aidoneus4 #c4 ,of established ,pelasgian worship4 #a4 ,demeter or ,ceres4 #b4 ,venus1 more recent than the former4 #d4 ,of worship introduced to the ,greek races within the memory of man4 a4 ,brought in from ,phnicia1 or through the channel of the ,phnicians4 #a4 ,hermes1 or ,mercury4 #b4 ,hephstus1 or ,vulcan4 #c4 ,dionysus1 or ,bacchus4 b4 ,from ,thrace4 ,mars4 c4 ,paieon has no note of country1 except in so far as he may be connected with ,egypt by the declaration that the ,egyptians were of his race4 1 the ,sun1 appears to be placed in connection1 by the various notes he bears1 both with ,egypt and with the ,persian name4 ,all these deities were1 with some others1 more or less naturalized among the ,greeks within ,homer's lifetime4 ,themis was probably a pure ,hellenic creation1 as ,vesta seems to have been ,pelasgian3 the latter exhibiting the genius of domestic order1 the former1 its fuller development in political society4 ,but ,vesta is1 though an ,homeric idea1 not an ,homeric goddess4 ,now while ,homer fails1 or more probably avoids1 to give us any direct information about the derivation of the ,greek races or deities1 he notwithstanding establishes by partial and incidental notices many traces of exterior affinity1 not always the less secure and trustworthy because they are negative4 ,while going through the divinities in detail1 ,i have remarked upon such traits of their character1 history1 or worship1 as appeared to connect them with any particular origin2 but the question remains1 can we find1 through however rude a resemblance1 any general model abroad for the ,olympian system1 or1 in the absence of such a model1 any presumptive evidence from ,homer1 which may serve to connect it with any national or local root or roots in particular8 ,the ,olympian ,gods and the ,ethiopians4 ,it is well worthy of remark1 that he has associated the body of the ,greek deities1 as a body1 with one1 and one only1 point1 exterior to the ,greek nation4 ,that point is the country of the ,ethiopians4 ,homer has shown a peculiar interest in these ,ethiopians4 ,they are 3 an epithet which he appears to connect especially with purity of blood4 ,in the ,first ,iliad1 the whole body of the gods are absent from ,olympus for eleven days1 to enjoy the sacrifices offered by that people4 ,in the ,twenty-second ,iliad1 the statement is less express as to time2 but again they are apparently enjoying themselves in the same quarter1 during the funeral rites of ,patroclus1 and ,iris is in haste to go thither1 that she may not lose her share4 ,in the ,first ,odyssey1 ,neptune is among the same people for the same purpose1 while the other deities are in ,olympus4 ,in the ,fifth ,odyssey1 he is coming from among them1 when he espies ,ulysses on his raft4 ,the time intervening is so considerable1 that we must presume the two last-mentioned passages to refer to two separate visits4 ,the following points may be considered as established3 #a4 ,the ,ethiopians1 visited as above1 must be supposed by ,homer in the main to worship the same body of deities as the ,greeks4 #b4 ,the ,ethiopians extend from the rising to the setting sun2 but those ,ethiopians of whom ,homer speaks particularly1 are in connection with sacrifices in the ,east2 for the ,solyman mountains#gfg1 as conceived by him1 probably border upon ,lycia1 and they are on ,neptune's route#gfh1 from the ,ethiopian country back to the sea1 which1 as ,i hope to show elsewhere1 runs along the double line of the ,mediterranean and the ,euxine4 #gfg ,il4 vi4 #ahd4 #gfh ,od4 v4 #bhb4 #c4 ,they are further fixed in a southern country by their name1 which indicates darkness or swarthiness of countenance1 and by the visit of ,menelaus to them in the course of his adventures1 which lay exclusively to the southward4 #d4 ,they are evidently distinguished by great liberality or high favour in the sacrificial service of the gods4 #e4 ,they are defined to be by the ,ocean1 and thus in the farthest situation to the ,south-east that was conceived of by ,homer and the ,greeks4 #f4 ,at the same time1 although they are the farthest men in that direction#gfi1 they are nowhere described as lying at a very great absolute distance4 ,they are simply ' 4 #gfi ,od4 i4 #bc4 ,now it is not only possible1 but on every ground likely1 that in his conception of the ,south-eastern ,ethiopians1 ,homer mixed up together various traditions1 belonging to different places and nations4 ,even as1 in his conception of the ,mouth of ,ocean1 which is with him always one single mouth1 he seems to have blended and amalgamated geographical reports founded upon more than one original1 or prototype1 in nature4 ,the ,solyman name has suggested to some critics a connection with the ,salem of the ,hebrews4 ,but the name is much more likely to be derived from the ,soliman ,koh1 a ridge of mountains running to the south-west from ,caubul1 and sometimes defined as extending into ,persia4 ,the liberality in sacrifice ill accords with the early ,persian religion1 but finds a probable original in that of the ,medes with their order of ,magians4 ,but upon the whole1 it would seem that ,homer must have had a reason for the peculiar prominence he has given to these ,south-eastern ,ethiopians1 in connection with the gods of ,olympus2 for the association1 unless suggested by a reason1 is neither natural1 nor in the manner of the ,poet4 ,could it have been any other than this1 that he regarded their country1 however indeterminate its place in his imagination1 as the original seat of the religion of his own1 and that he therefore referred it thither bodily without notice of details8 ,now this would mean as the original seat1 also1 of the ancestors of the ,hellenic tribes4 ,we are not1 in the event of accepting such a supposition1 to imagine that he intended to make the assertion that the ,olympian system had been derived from ,persia and ,media as it stood1 but only to imply that there1 according to national tradition1 lay its root4 ,the ,trojans1 it will be remembered1 have their not ,olympian but ,idan ,jove3 and the ,ethiopians are the only foreign race1 with whom he associates ,olympus and its band of ,immortals4 ,i have already stated elsewhere grounds for supposing that the ,achans1 as they were immediately an ,hellenic1 were also primarily1 as well as the other ,hellenes1 a ,persian race4 ,we have seen the existence of the ,persian name in ,greece1 and its connection1 according to ,homer1 with what ,homer thought the remotest ,east1 by the shore of ,ocean4 ,we have also seen its connection with the ,sun1 the prime deity of the ,persians4 ,this visible head of creation1 standing next to the ,supreme ,being1 we find that the ,greeks speedily identify with their ,apollo1 who is so prominent as the son of ,jupiter1 in dignity1 in obedience1 and in his father's favour1 as to stand in a class entirely distinct from that of his other sons4 ,on the one hand1 we seem to find here matter confirmatory of the ,persian origin of the ,hellenic tribes2 and on the other1 a general indication of the derivation of the earliest ,greek religion from a certain part of the ,east4 ,but still we must beware of any over-broad inference4 ,the religion1 it is likely1 grew largely as it travelled1 and was developed freely after it had reached its home in the ,greek peninsula4 ,and it would be contrary to all reason to suppose that ,homer was in a condition to refer back to each of the ,eastern races their proper contribution towards the aggregate1 though we may justly suppose him able to draw some kind of line between the system as it was flourishing in ,greece1 with all its additions1 elaborations and refinements1 and the crude undigested materials as they had been imported from abroad2 perhaps we might say1 between the system as he found it1 and the same system as he left it4 ,considering1 however1 that ,homer had a quasi-geographical knowledge of ,egypt1 ,i do not suppose that that country enters at all into his conception of the ,ethiopians4 ,if so1 then the representation of an unity of religion with the ,ethiopians1 affords a presumption1 conformable undoubtedly to such other presumptions as we have been able to gather from the poems1 that ,homer did not regard ,egypt as the principal source of the religious system of ,greece4 ,herodotus on the ,scythian religion4 ,i do not pretend to find1 in any ancient system handed down to us1 even a skeleton of the ,olympian scheme2 and ,i conclude it to be most probable1 that the ,greeks had to form1 or to reform1 various members of it1 as well as merely to clothe and embellish them4 ,yet it appears well worth while to refer to the account of the ,scythian religion given by ,herodotus1 whose works form the great depository of knowledge of this kind beyond the borders of ,greece4 ,the ordinary ,scythians1 it will be remembered1 seem to be of the same race with the ,medes1 and to form the stock from which the ,pelasgians separated to turn towards the south of ,europe for settlements4 ,they lived in that pastoral state1 anterior to tillage1 which ,mommsen observes1 through the forms of the ,latin language1 to have marked the point before the severance#ggj4 ,from the sign of feeding on milk1 the ,glactophagi and ,hippemolgi of ,il4 xiii4 #e1 #f1 would appear to belong to them1 and the peaceful habits of the ,pelasgians are also represented in the character that ,homer gives1 in the same passage1 to their neighbours the ,abians4 #ggj ,mommsen1 ,rmische ,geschichte1 vol4 ,i4 ch4 ii4 ,the gods of the ,scythians1 according to ,herodotus#gga1 were3 #gga ,herod4 iv4 #ei4 #a4 ,vesta4 #b4 ,jupiter4 #c4 ,earth1 the supposed wife of ,jupiter4 #d4 ,apollo4 #e4 ,celestial ,venus4 #f4 ,hercules4 #g4 ,mars4 ,even in this very late picture1 we find a strong resemblance to what1 from the ,homeric text1 would appear to have been the primitive cluster of the ,pelasgian divinities4 ,earth is represented in ,demeter1 7 17 who appears in ,il4 xiv4 #cbf as one of the wives of ,jupiter4 ,the ,celestial ,venus may include traditions of ,minerva1 and of ,artemis1--for the ,scythians called her ,artimpasa1--along with those which came to be represented in the ,greek 4 ,all the deities1 which from ,homer's text have appeared to be especially ,hellenic1 are also1 it will be observed1 absent from this list3 ,juno1 ,neptune1 ,aidoneus1 ,persephone1 ,vulcan1 and ,mercury4 ,but there were among these ,scythians a tribe1 called the 4 ,it would seem plain from the name1 that these must have held among the ,scythians a position1 in great measure analogous to that of the ,hellenic tribes among the mass of the ,pelasgian population4 ,and certainly it is not a little curious1 that these kingly ,scythians added to the list of properly ,pelasgian deities the worship of ,thamimasidas1 a god of the sea1 apparently equivalent to the ,hellenic ,poseidon4 ,again1 let us take the account given by ,herodotus of the information he obtained in ,egypt about the ,greek mythology4 ,he states to us that1 with certain exceptions1 the names of the ,greek deities had been known in ,egypt from time immemorial4 ,his exceptions are1 ,neptune and ,juno1 the ,dioscuri1 ,vesta1 ,themis1 the ,graces and the ,nereids4 ,the statement may at least be accepted as good to this extent1 that the deities here named were not drawn from ,egypt4 ,they include1 as will be seen1 only one personification of an idea which we have found cause to consider ,pelasgian1 namely1 or home2 with this ,neptune and ,juno1 who were ,hellic deities2 the ,dioscouroi1 representing in an early stage the deification of national heroes2 the ,graces1 or the impersonations of ideas2 and the ,nereids1 or the personification of natural objects4 ,all of these persons and processes we have already referred to the influence of the ,hellic tribes4 ,upon the whole1 we appear to have in these accounts a much clearer representation of the contribution made by the ,pelasgian part of the nation to the ,olympian system than we can find gathered elsewhere4 ,the ,egyptian resemblances are chiefly isolated1 though it may have been from that quarter that ,pelasgian ,attica learned the name and worship of the deity1 which was afterwards developed into the ,homeric ,pallas-,athene3 but among these ,scythians we appear to find a group1 who exhibit to us in combination nearly all that we have reason to believe specially ,pelasgian1 and1 with the obscure exception of ,hercules1 nothing besides4 ,while this group1 as being ,scythian1 would have the ,arian country for its point of origin1 it may still be probable that other parts of the ,olympian religion1 besides the worship of ,neptune1 such as the ,juno and the ,persephone in particular1 had come from the #8,kingly' ,arians of the hills4 ,thus far as to the relation between the ,homeric theo-mythology and any religious system or combination to be found elsewhere4 ,let us now consider how it stands with reference to each of the principal elements1 out of which the religions of the world were habitually formed4 ,four several bases of religious systems4 ,there appear to be four leading forms in which1 either single or combined1 religion has attracted1 and more or less commanded1 the mind of man4 ,it is scarcely needful to add that one alone of these is genuine1 and that the three others are essentially depraved1 and finally self-destructive4 ,the first is the worship of the ,divine ,being3 of which the ,holy ,scriptures form1 down to the period with which they close1 the principal record4 ,the second is the worship of man2 founded1 of course1 upon his deification4 ,of this the ,greek mythology affords the most conspicuous and weighty instance4 ,the third is the worship of external and inanimate nature1 which ,i mention next1 not because of its place in the order of ideas1 but because of its great extension and influence over races of vast numerical strength1 antiquity1 and importance4 ,the fourth is the worship of the inferior creation1 or of animate nature in its lower ranks4 ,we have considered1 in a former section1 how far the ,greek mythology was indebted to the first of these sources1 the true and pure one4 ,the second1 or anthropophuism1 appears to have formed its most proper and distinctive characteristic4 ,further1 it was the intellectual rather than the carnal nature of man1 which originally determined a law for the construction of the ,olympian system4 ,the great traditive deities were remodelled according to what ,scripture calls the #8lust of the mind1' long before the #8lust of the flesh' had touched them4 ,we see1 too1 that1 of the deities of invention1 those which were purely ,hellenic1 such as ,juno and ,themis in particular1 represent either noble and commanding1 or else pure1 ideas1 connected with the development of human life and society2 while it is generally in deities that have not undergone a full ,hellenic remodelling1 that we see animal passion prevail2 such as ,mars1 ,venus1 ,ceres1 and ,aurora4 ,nature-worship4 ,the third basis of religion is admirably described1 together with its apology1 and its condemnation1 in the ,book entitled the ,wisdom of ,solomon#ggb3 #ggb ,wisdom xiii4 #a-i4 #8,neither by considering the works did they acknowledge the workmaster2 but deemed either fire1 or wind1 or the swift air1 or the circle of the stars1 or the violent water1 or the lights of heaven1 to be the gods which govern the world4 ,with whose beauty if they being delighted took them to be gods2 let them know how much better the ,lord of them is3 for the first author of beauty hath created them4 ,but if they were astonished at their power and virtue1 let them understand by them1 how much mightier he is that made them4 ,for1 by the greatness and beauty of the creatures1 proportionably the maker of them is seen4 ,but yet for this they are the less to be blamed2 for they peradventure err1 seeking ,god1 and desirous to find him4 ,for1 being conversant in his works1 they search him diligently1 and believe their sight3 because the things are beautiful that are seen4 ,howbeit1 neither are they to be pardoned4 ,for if they were able to know so much1 that they could aim at the world2 how did they not sooner find out the ,lord thereof8' ,and then the ,wise ,man proceeds to show1 that far inferior1 again1 to this1 is the worship of mere images as gods4 ,the worship of the elemental powers enters1 ,i think1 only as a very secondary ingredient into the ,homeric or ,olympian system3 it is everywhere surmounted and circumscribed by developments drawn from tradition or from the principle of anthropophuism4 ,it is true that most of the great physical agents are either personified by him1 or else are in immediate connection with some one of his deities3 but there is every appearance that the ,greeks sometimes expelled1 sometimes reduced and depressed the principle of ,nature-worship1 in their adaptation of foreign materials to ,hellenic uses4 #a4 ,jupiter and ,neptune1 as we have seen1 preside over elements1 but they are not elemental4 ,their relations to air and sea are entirely different from those of ,vulcan to fire1 and yet even he very greatly transcends the dimensions of a merely elemental god4 ,their brotherhood with ,aidoneus1 who is not elemental at all1 indicates1 together with all other signs1 that the air and sea are their respective territories1 and are not the basis of their divinity4 #b4 ,it seems quite impossible but that1 if ,nature-worship had been the basis of the system1 the ,sun1 as the visible king of nature1 must have had a prominent and commanding position in the system2 whereas his place in ,homer is even less than secondary4 ,looking at the realm of nature1 to search out a varied organism1 which would supply a powerful apparatus of instruments operative upon man to a presiding intelligence1 the ,greek naturally made the king of ,air4 ,but had he merely wanted a symbol by which nature itself was to speak1 how could he have forborne to choose the ,sun8 #c4 ,there is1 indeed1 an extended use in ,homer of the imagery of ,nature-,powers4 ,but however prominent as poetry1 this is altogether subordinate as religion4 ,his ,nymphs and ,river-gods people the unseen1 adorn his verse1 and even supply a kind of drapery to the scheme of religious observances2 but it is not by them that the world is governed4 ,and with them may very well be classed1 as far as the present argument is concerned1 the crowd of ,homer's metaphysical impersonations4 #d4 ,that ,neptune in particular is not properly an elemental power1 seems to be made clear by three things at the least3 a4 ,he can act by land as well as sea2 witness his building the wall of ,troy1 and appearing as a warrior on the battle-field4 b4 ,the 1 with which he is connected1 is decidedly inferior1 in its merely elemental character1 to ,oceanus2 yet ,oceanus has no share in the government of the world1 and no moral personality1 while ,neptune has equal dignity with ,jupiter1 and is not far behind him in strength4 c4 ,the true elemental gods of the 1 it is plain1 according to ,homer1 are ,nereus and ,amphitrite2 of whom the first is locally confined to the depths of the sea1 and the other is scarcely a person1 and cannot ideally be disengaged from the curly-headed billows4 #e4 ,in the ,olympian ,court1 which is the real centre1 according to ,homer1 of the government of the world1 there is scarcely to be found a pure example of a ,nature-power2 there is no one leading deity1 in whom that idea is not wholly subordinate2 and in many of the leading deities1 such as ,minerva1 ,apollo1 and even ,juno1 it is hardly to be perceived at all4 #f4 ,as to ,juno in particular4 ,when we compare the ,greek with the ,eastern religions1 it appears that1 if the former had been conceived in the same spirit as the latter1 ,juno ought to have been the earth1 continually impregnated by the heaven1 and yielding those fruits which would then stand as the proper results of her maternity4 ,but instead of this1 in the great lottery of the universe1 earth is actually left out1 and remains undisposed of4 ,it never appears in ,homer1 except in a formula of adjuration1 in which we may naturally enough look to find antique ideas2 and this seems like a stray vestige of another system1 really founded on ,nature-worship4 ,but there remains1 so far as the ,greeks are concerned1 isolated and undeveloped4 ,meantime1 for the vegetative life of ,earth1 wedded to the ,heavens1 and bearing herbs and fruits1 the ,greek mind substitutes the intelligent life of a ,queen-divinity1 who with her husband becomes the nucleus of the ,olympian order1 and marks the transition from elemental religion to anthropophuism4 ,secondary in the ,olympian religion4 ,there is then a greatly qualified sense1 in which assent may be given to the proposition1 that the ,olympian dynasty of ,homer sits enthroned upon the ruins of a more ancient ,nature-worship1 and the sense is this3 that1 before ,hellenism had an historical existence1 there were systems founded on ,nature-worship in the east2 that these systems were tributary to the religion of ,olympus1 and that its framers made such use of them as they found convenient4 ,but from ,homer we are not authorized to believe that such a system of ,nature-worship ever preceded in ,greece the ,olympian system4 ,on the contrary1 the and 1 the ,oceanus and ,tethys of ,homer1 appear to be younger and not older than his chief ,olympian gods2 that is1 they appear to be metaphysical creations1 called into being to supply an ideal basis1 a matrix or mould1 walled in with time and space1 for ,jupiter and his wife and brothers to be cast in4 ,it is not before1 but after the time of ,homer1 namely1 in ,hesiod1 that we see such development given to this pseudo-archaic system as can alone allow it to be taken for the image of something that had really existed as a religion4 ,for example1 it would be quite out of keeping with the tone of ,homer were we to find in him the sentiment which is contained in a fragment of ,euripides#ggc2 #ggc ,eurip4 ,fr4 i4 ' 2 4 ,brute-worship4 ,we have still to consider the relation of the ,olympian scheme to the last of the four 4 ,the principle of brute-worship was so marked a characteristic of the ,egyptian idolatry1 that it seems to lie at the very foundation of the system4 ,perhaps we should be justified in associating with this principle the inability of the ,egyptians to attain to any high conceptions of beauty4 ,they scarcely could soar in this respect above the standard of that which they regarded as a tabernacle meet for divinity to dwell in4 ,the same principle appears to have found its way into ,persia probably at a late date1 and from the ,median1 not the ,eteo-persian1 source of the religious traditions of the country4 ,malcolm#ggd has given us the copies1 from remains found in the country1 of the ,persian representations1 probably however late ones1 of their divinities1 exhibiting strange mixtures of human form with that of the brute4 #ggd ,malcolm's ,hist4 of ,persia1 vol4 i4 ,it would therefore be wonderful if we failed to find in the ,greek mythology some traces1 however faint1 of an element that not only existed in ,asia1 but displayed so much vigour there1 as to have entered deeply into the religion that even now sways a considerable portion of its population1 if not1 indeed1 to form the one really capital and operative article of that religion4 ,dllinger#gge has noted the points connected with the state and being of animals1 which might suggest ideas capable of being developed into this repulsive system4 ,such are the unity and tranquillity of animal life--it being borne in mind that domesticated animals were those which supplied the chief type of deity4 ,such1 again1 is the instinct of the future1 bearing a nearer outward resemblance to foreknowledge than would any anticipations founded on forethought1 reasoning1 and experience4 ,above all1 there seems to be force in the remark that man1 by his marked individuality1 and by the freedom of the will1 is1 as it were1 disabled from becoming the mere organ of another existence4 ,the gods in assuming human form1 assumed in a great degree human nature also4 ,but the passive and neutral nature of animals offered itself as a medium without taste or colour1 such as needed not in any manner to alter or modify the powers of which it was to be the vehicle4 #gge ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 b4 vi4 #acj4 p4 #dbd4 ,had the idea been in its origin that of an inherent sacredness of animals as such1 it is not probable that we should have seen such extraordinary anomalies in its development as those which permitted the same animal to be adored in one province of ,egypt1 and immolated in the next#ggf4 #ggf ,dllinger1 ibid4 #acb4 ,its vestiges in the ,olympian religion4 ,the grossness of brute-worship was completely refined away by the ,greeks during the process of transfer to their own mythology4 ,the vestiges of the system1 and they are no more than vestiges1 still traceable in the ,homeric poems1 are apparently as follows3 #a4 ,i find the chief note of it in the extraordinary sacredness of the oxen of the ,sun3 a sacredness inconsistent and inexplicable1 if it be tried only by the circumjacent incidents of the ,odyssey1 and by the laws of the ,greek mythology4 ,the offence of the crew of ,ulysses consisted simply in this2 that#ggg1 after exhausting every effort to maintain themselves1 when they have at length no alternative before them except that of starving1 they consumed some of the best among these oxen for food4 ,they observed1 as far as they could1 all the proper religious rites1 but they used leaves instead of barley1 and water for wine1 inasmuch as neither of the usual requisites were forthcoming4 ,they promised a temple also to the ,sun1 to be built on their return1 and to be enriched with abundant votive offerings4 ,lastly1 ,i think1 any one who reads the manly and just speech of ,eurylochus1 in which he proposes the sacrilege1 will judge that the sympathies of the ,poet are with him4 ,in this speech1 he states the necessity2 he next proceeds to vow the erection of a temple1 and dedication of its ornaments in the event of safe return4 ,then he concludes by declaring1 that if vengeance is1 notwithstanding1 to be taken on them1 he for his part would far rather die once for all like a man than famish in the solitary island4 ,there is not in the tone of the speech the slightest indication of impiety#ggh4 #ggg ,od4 xii4 #ceb-fe4 #ggh ,od4 xii4 #cci-ea4 ,the terrible punishment inflicted was prefigured by extraordinary portents4 ,the empty hides of the animals crawled about#ggi1 and the flesh lowed on the very spits4 ,here we see at its climax the fine ,greek imagination1 working upon the foundation supplied by the ,egyptian superstition1 and extracting from the coarsest earthy matter the means of true poetical sublimity4 #ggi #cid-f4 ,it is impossible to conceive a case1 in which the offence committed is more exclusively of the kind termed positive1 or more entirely severed from moral guilt1 until we include the element to which the poems do not expressly refer1 of the elevated sanctity attaching to the animal itself4 ,the ,homeric fiction is#ghj1 that they were the playthings of the ,sun in his leisure hours4 ,but to forbid the use of any of these animals for food1 even under the direst necessity1 would have been simply to caricature the nature of positive commands1 in the very same spirit as that which would have had1 not the sabbath made for man1 but man made for the sabbath4 ,still1 when once we let in the assumption that these animals had essentially sacred lives1 which might not be taken away1 then the offence becomes a moral one of frightful profanation1 and the vengeance so rigorously exacted is intelligible4 #ghj #cgi-ha4 ,i do not mean that ,homer recognises that dogma which the ,egyptians then affirmed1 and which at this present epoch1 after the lapse of three thousand years1 has wrought myriads of ,hindoos to madness4 ,the religion of ,greece included no such idea1 and the religious practice of the ,greeks wholly precluded it4 ,but in this instance we see a part of the ,egyptian religion in transitu1 in the very process of transmutation that it was to undergo when passing into the ,greek mythology1 which utterly repudiated its substance1 but strove to retain an image of it under poetic forms1 betraying by their inconsistency their exotic origin4 ,the consummation of the whole tale lies in this3 that the vengeance is not the mere personal act of the ,sun1 but is inflicted by ,jupiter himself on behalf of the whole ,olympian ,court1 to which the appeal had been already made#gha4 #gha ,od4 xii4 #cgg1 #dje1 #dae4 #b4 ,another instance1 confirmatory of the statement of ,dllinger as to the rationale of brute-worship1 is to be found in the curious passage of the ,iliad where ,xanthus1 the horse of ,achilles1 is endowed with speech4 ,the gift is from ,juno1 but the limit of the gift is carefully defined#ghb3 #ghb ,il4 xix4 #djg4 ' 4 ,it was utterance that ,juno gave1 not intelligence4 ,the matter to be spoken was not a gift4 ,the horse proceeds1 evidently by a native insight into the future1 to intimate to ,achilles his coming fate2 at first more darkly 7v4 #dji72 but when he comes nearer the point and glances at a man as the ordained instrument of doom 7#daf71 then1 ,i suppose lest the animal should proceed to particularize1 and1 though prophetic yet unwise1 should break the current of the hero's thought and action at the critical moment by naming ,paris--the are made to interfere2 they restore the order of nature1 and stay the exercise of ,juno's irregular and abnormal gift4 #c4 ,the immortality of these horses is probably conceived in the same spirit4 ,we may the more easily understand it to be a poetical rendering of the ,egyptian belief in the divinity of many animals1 when we recollect that exemption from death is1 with ,homer1 the one and perhaps only essential characteristic of deity1 so that his gods are ordinarily defined by it as 4 #d4 ,we have another indication of relation to the same ideas1 in the assumption by deities of the forms of various birds3 namely1 by ,minerva1 as ,od4 i4 #cbj2 iii4 #cgb2 ,il4 vii4 #ei2 ,od4 xxii4 #bdj2 by ,apollo1 ,il4 vii4 #ei2 by ,sleep1 ,il4 xiv4 #bij2 and by ,ino ,leucothee1 ,od4 v4 #cec4 ,in this instance we again see the refining power of the ,greek imagination4 ,it is only the forms of birds which are assumed by ,homeric deities3 creatures more ethereal1 though not more intellectual1 than the other brute races2 and whose figure1 when assumed1 at once bestows in visible form an attribute of high superiority to man1 namely1 the increased facility and speed of locomotion4 #e4 ,one or two other traces may be suggested1 but they are slighter and more dubious4 ,it is possible that ,homer drew from this source the ,olympian horses of ,juno 7,il4 v4 #gbj1 #gfh-gb7 and the sea-horses of ,neptune 7,il4 xiii4 #bc74 ,a similar notion may be involved1 when the ,poet makes ,apollo stoop to feed the horses of ,admetus in ,pieria1 and the oxen of ,laomedon on ,ida 7,il4 ii4 #gff1 and xxi4 #ddh74 ,the serpent 77 appears in ,homeric portents as a symbol1 but without peculiar meaning4 ,the horse was not one of the sacred animals of ,egypt2 and when ,homer placed it in such near relations with deity1 as he has done in these places and elsewhere1 he may not only have indulged a personal predilection1 but he also may have been converting the crudity of ,egyptian material to the form and uses of the ,greek religion1 in the normal exercise of his vocation4 ,one concluding word may be said in extenuation of the indignity which1 according to our ideas1 attaches to the worship of the inferior animals4 ,in the worship of the elemental powers we see error1 but in the worship of beasts we see shame1 and even brutality4 ,perhaps this distinction may be due as much to pride as to pious susceptibility4 ,over animals1 man has thoroughly obtained the mastery2 but ,elemental powers are still in many cases masters over us1 and we lie like babes in the lap of their strength and vastness4 ,it does not appear clear why we should consider the worship of that which is more highly organized1 and which comes half-way to intelligence1 as essentially more shameful than the worship of inferior organizations without life or instinct of any kind4 ,if it be said that1 by its negations1 inanimate ,nature becomes a fitter shrine of deity than the brutes1 the same argument applied to the brutes1 compared with man1 might equally avail to give claims to brute-worship as compared with anthropophuism1 against which1 notwithstanding1 nature summarily revolts4 ,,sect4 ,,viii4 ,the ,morals of the ,homeric ,age4 ,we have now considered at some length the state and tendencies of religion1 both objective and subjective1 among the ,greeks of the heroic age3 let us proceed to attempt a sketch of their morality2 which rested in part upon acknowledged relations to the ,olympian deities1 but which1 it is clear1 had likewise other supports and sanctions4 ,in general outline it may be thus summed up4 ,an high spirited1 energetic1 adventurous1 and daring people1 they show themselves prone to acts of hasty violence1 and their splendid courage occasionally even degenerates1 under the influence of strong passion1 into ferocity1 while their acuteness and sagacity sometimes1 though more rarely1 take a decided tinge of cunning4 ,yet they are neither selfish1 cruel1 nor implacable4 ,at the same time1 self-command is scarcely less conspicuous among them than strong1 and deep1 and quick emotion4 ,they are in the main a people of warm affections and high honour1 commonly tender1 never morbid3 they respect the weak and the helpless2 they hold authority in reverence2 domestic purity too is cherished and esteemed among them more than elsewhere1 and they have not yet fallen into the depths of sensual excess4 ,the ,greek thanks the gods in his prosperity2 witness ,laertes4 ,in his adversity he appeals to them for aid2 or1 if he is discontented1 he complains of them2 for he harbours no concealed dissatisfaction4 ,ready enough to take from those who have1 he is at least as ready to give to those who need4 ,he represents to the life the sentiment which another great master of manners has given to his ,duke of ,argyle1 in the #8,heart of ,midlothian2' #8,it is our ,highland privilege to take from all what we want1 and to give to all what they want#ghc4' ,distinctions of class are recognised1 but they are mild and genial3 there is no arrogance on the one side1 nor any servility on the other4 ,reverence is paid to those in authority2 and yet the ,greek thinks in the spirit1 and moves in the sphere1 of habitual freedom4 ,over and above his warmth and tenacity in domestic affections1 he prizes highly those other special relations between man and man1 which mitigate and restrain the law of force in societies as yet imperfectly organized4 ,he thoroughly admires the intelligence displayed in stratagem2 whether among the resources of self-defence1 or by way of jest upon a friend1 or for the hurt or ruin of an enemy2 but life in a mask he cannot away with1 and holds it a prime article of his creed1 that the tongue should habitually represent the man#ghd4 #ghc ,scott's ,novels and ,tales1 #hvo ,ed41 x4 #bch4 #ghd ,il4 ix4 #cab4 ,the moral sense in the heroic age4 ,before proceeding1 however1 to examine the morality of the ,greek heroic age1 as to its particular sanctions1 or in any of its applications to the regulation of human conduct1 we are met by a preliminary question3 had the ,greeks any idea of a fixed and substantive rule of morals at all8 were they believers in goodness as apart from strength8 did they recognise a law of right as between man and man1 or were their notions of relative duty entirely founded on a more or less far-sighted self-love1 and on a prudential calculation of the consequences which would follow to society1 and to each individual1 if the rights of others were to be held in universal or in general disregard8 ,when we consider how hard it is to keep the moral standard high1 even after religion has placed before our view a ,divine pattern for man to follow1 and how among the ,greeks religion1 first corrupted itself1 had already begun to pour out its own corruption upon morals1 we shall not venture to pitch our expectations very high3 optimism and pessimism are here alike out of place3 we want the clear1 dispassionate1 and direct discernment of the facts4 ,and when we observe how1 down to this day1 the epithets which ought to designate virtue only1 and in particular the word good1 tend irresistibly to attach themselves to other gifts1 such as genius1 rank1 wealth1 skill1 and power1 we must not hastily conclude1 from finding a similar use in ,homer1 that there was no idea or standard of goodness except that belonging to preeminence in the particular kind1 according to which a clever thief is a good thief2 good1 that is1 by doing effectually what he professes to do1 or good1 like the unjust steward of the parable1 in respect of the intelligence he displays1 though evil in respect of the direction which he gives to it#ghe4 #ghe ,luke xvi4 #a-i4 ,homer1 in speaking of different classes of society1 uses the line#ghf1 #ghf ,od4 xv4 #cbc4 4 ,but after all we can translate this1 without much verbal change1 or any departure from our own idiom1 #8such services as the lower orders render to good society1' or #8to the better classes4' ,mr4 ,grote#ghg says1 that #8the primitive import' of the words 1 1 and relates #8to power and not to worth2' and that the ethical meaning of them is a later growth1 which #8hardly appears until the discussions raised by ,socrates1 and prosecuted by his disciples4' ,i ask permission to protest against whatever savours of the idea that any ,socrates whatever was the patentee of that sentiment of right and wrong1 which is the most precious part of the patrimony of mankind4 ,the movement of ,greek morality with the lapse of time was chiefly downward1 and not upward4 ,it is admitted1 that what we may call the dynamical sense of the epithets has held its ground in later times along with their ethical signification3 the important question to be determined is1 whether the latter signification was an improvement introduced by civilization into the code of barbarism1 or whether it indicates a principle of human nature on its better1 which is also its weaker side1 and one which we see1 all along the course of history1 struggling to assert itself against the tyrannous invasion of other propensities and powers4 #ghg ,grote's ,hist4 of ,greece1 vol4 ii4 p4 #hh n4 ,the word is found in combination with what is absolutely vicious1 in the remarkable case of ,autolycus3 ' 1 ' #ghh4 #ghh ,od4 xix4 #cie4 ,but the meaning of appears to be1 one who excels2 the application of it to ,autolycus is not at all unlike the commendation of the unjust steward2 and the epithet did not in the later ,greek acquire any essentially different force1 or any exclusive appropriation to moral excellence4 ,its use in ,homer may be compared with his application of to ,clytemnestra4 ,yet it leans peculiarly to moral excellence4 ,for the is opposed to the 1 who is certainly a moral delinquent2 and the highest honour of the is1 that men proclaim him 7,od4 xix4 #cbi-cd74 ,again1 with respect to and its opposite 1 with other words similar to both4 ,in searching for the signs of a standard in its own nature absolute1 we can expect little from a class of terms1 which by their very structure bear witness that they are simply comparative4 ,especially the etymology of 1 directing us to the word as its root1 exhibits force as its most commanding and essential idea4 ,yet1 when the aristocracy of ,ithaca are called 7,od4 xxi4 #cbe7 1 must we not admit that even in this word there inheres a strong moral element8 ,use of the words and 4 ,but as to the words and 1 the case is far more clear3 and here ,i ask1 can it be shown that ,homer ever applies the word to that which is morally bad8 or the word to that which is morally good8 ,if it can1 cadit qustio2 if it cannot1 then we have advanced a considerable way in proving the ethical signification4 ,for it is on all hands admitted1 that besides their proper sense1 and 1 like our good and bad1 have a derivative meaning1 in which they are employed to denote what is agreeable1 or what is preeminent in its kind1 and the reverse respectively2 qualities which bear an analogy to goodness on the one hand1 and to badness on the other1 according to the universal testimony of human speech4 ,now1 if the use of this derivative sense stops short1 in the case of 1 when it comes to border on what is positively bad1 and in the case of 1 when it comes to touch upon what is positively good1 there must be a reason for the abrupt cessation1 at that point1 of the function of the words2 and it can be none other than that nature herself revolts from a contradiction in terms2 as we never say a good villain1 or a bad saint4 ,but the contradiction would not exist1 unless the ethical sense were inherent in the words4 ,now1 ,i venture to state1 with as much confidence as can well exist in the case of a negative embracing such a number of instances1 that we do find this limitation throughout the poems of ,homer1 in the secondary use both of and of 4 ,in one passage there is at first sight some obscurity in the meaning of the latter term1 ' #ghi4 ,here however the context plainly shows it to be1 #8it will not do for a mendicant to be shy4' #ghi ,od4 xvii4 #egh4 ,but the positive sense of both words can be clearly and indisputably made out from a number of passages1 of which ,i will quote a portion4 ,although it is true1 that in ,homer the word very often refers more to the ideas of particular excellences and of power1 than to that of moral worth2 yet in some passages we find a latent bias1 as it were1 towards the last named idea1 and in others we have a clear and full expression of it4 ,as an example of the first1 ,i quote the description of ,agamemnon#gij1 1 ' ' 1 #8,a good king1 and a brave warrior4' ,now the word here evidently has a special regard to the moral element4 ,homer surely intends to describe1 by the epithets he applies to each of the two substantives1 a special excellence suitable to each character respectively4 ,the goodness1 so to speak1 of a warrior consisted in bravery3 the goodness of a king1 partly indeed in prudence1 but chiefly in justice1 in mildness1 and in liberality4 ,if in this place meant merely #8good in the virtue of its kind1' then it might as well stand with as with 1 and therefore the antithesis would be a bad and pointless one4 #gij ,il4 iii4 #agi4 ,in other cases the moral colouring of the term is full and indubitable4 ,bellerophon#gia1 when he resists the seduction of the wife of ,prtus1 is 4 ,jupiter1 when incensed1 is described by ,minerva thus1 #gib4 ,to follow good advice is #gic4 ,a man who is 1 is also the one who must necessarily have regard and affection for his wife#gid4 ,and ,clytemnestra1 before she was corrupted1 had good dispositions2 ' #gie4 #gia ,il4 vi4 #afb4 #gib ,il4 viii4 #cfj4 #gic ,il4 xi4 #ghh4 #gid ,il4 ix4 #cda4 #gie ,od4 iii4 #bff4 ,the word again1 in a majority of cases1 refers to defect or calamity in things1 or to poltroonery1 or other baseness of that kind1 in persons3 but it directly indicates moral badness in such passages as the following4 ,leiodes pleads that he tried to keep the ,suitors from doing wrong1 #gif4 ,telemachus warns the ,suitors that the gods will turn upon them in wrath1 #gig4 ,jupiter views such deeds with indignation1 #gih4 ,and ,juno reproaches ,apollo for giving countenance to the ,trojans1 as ' 1 where our finding faithlessness in the immediate context1 points to moral depravity as the signification of the word #gii4 #gif ,od4 xxii4 #caf4 #gig ,od4 ii4 #fg4 #gih ,od4 xiv4 #bhd4 #gii ,il4 xxiv4 #fc4 ,use of the word 4 ,in the word 1 however1 we have an instance of an epithet never employed except in order to signify a moral or a religious idea4 ,like the word righteous among ourselves1 it is derived from a source which would make it immediately designate duty as between man and man1 and also as it arises out of civil relations4 ,but it is applied in ,homer to both the great branches of duty4 ,and surely there cannot be a stronger proof of the existence of definite moral ideas among a people1 than the very fact that they employ a word founded on the observance of relative rights to describe also the religious character4 ,it is when religion and morality are torn asunder1 that the existence of moral ideas is endangered4 ,minerva1 in the form of ,mentor1 is pleased with ,telemachus for handing the cup first to her at the festival in ,pylos1 because it is a tribute of reverence to superior age4 ,for this he is called #hjj 1 and the idea is that of relative duty4 ,again1 when she advises him for a while to let the ,suitors alone1 it is #hja2 and they do not know the retribution that hangs over them4 ,in this case the meaning must be either #8just' or #8pious4' #hjj ,od4 iii4 #eb4 #hja ,od4 ii4 #bhb4 ,in another case1 where the very same phrase is employed1 can only mean #8pious4' #8,jupiter1' says ,nestor1 #8ordained calamities for the ,greeks on their return1 because they were not all either intelligent or righteous#hjb3 #hjb ,od4 iii4 #acb-f4 4 #8,wherefore many of them perished' 7he continues7 #8through the wrath of ,minerva1 who set the two ,atrid at variance4' ,now here it appears that the original offence of the ,greeks could only have consisted in the omission of the usual sacrifices1 while the passage has no reference whatever to relative duties3 therefore must refer simply to duty towards the gods4 ,and1 however imperfect may be that notion of divine duty which made it consist in sacrifice wholly or mainly1 yet plainly the neglect to sacrifice was for the ,greeks of the heroic age a moral offence1 although it consisted only in the breach of a law of the class termed positive4 ,a passage yet more fatally adverse to the position of ,mr4 ,grote is1 ,i think1 that where ,homer describes the #hjc as 4 ,for there he appears to be speaking of persons clearly less advanced in civilization1 more rude1 less wealthy and intelligent1 than the ,greeks2 and yet he applies to them an epithet which proclaims them to have been1 in his opinion1 either the most just1 or the most pious of mankind4 #hjc ,il4 xiii4 #f4 ,religion and morals not dissociated4 ,moreover1 it does not appear that anywhere among the ,greeks were religion and morals as yet effectually dissociated4 ,it is true that the language of mere mythology treats the religious character of man as established by bounty in sacrifice4 ,but this is one of the points1 and a very vital one1 in which the theistic system of the ,greeks was worse than their ethical instinct1 and became1 therefore1 a positive source of corruption4 ,while the ,scriptures of the ,old ,testament rigidly controlled the propensity of man to substitute perfunctory observances for the service of the heart1 by saying1 #8to obey is better than sacrifice1' the ,jupiter of the ,greeks tells them1 that to sacrifice is better than to obey4 ,and it is only in the mouth of a traditive deity that we find any more elevated sentiment4 ,to a certain extent1 indeed1 yet not effectually1 this representation may be qualified1 if we recollect that in these passages the deities of ,olympus1 conceived according to the laws of anthropophuism1 when they have occasion to speak of human piety1 speak of it in that aspect under which it was peculiarly beneficial to themselves1 but do not on that account intend wholly to set aside its other parts1 while they undoubtedly disturb the scale of relative importance in the moral order4 ,but man1 the handiwork of ,god1 was less depraved than the idols which were the handiwork of man4 ,among the ,greeks1 the pious man is nowhere separated from the just or moral man4 ,not in words1 for the question of a stranger always is1 whether men are1 on the one hand1 insolent1 fierce1 and unrighteous1 or1 on the other1 hospitable and pious to the gods#hjd2 #hjd ,od4 vi4 #abj4 ' ' 1 1 2 ,nor are they in any instance separated in deeds4 ,we hear of no religious observances by the ,suitors in ,ithaca2 but ,nestor and ,menelaus are both found engaged in them4 ,the wicked gisthus1 having corrupted ,clytemnestra and gained the throne1 then offered many sacrifices to the gods in the hope of keeping it1 and suspended many decorations in their honour#hje2 but he is not on this account spoken of with less horror1 nor indeed did this extorted profession save him from divine vengeance1 sent by the hand of ,orestes4 ,nor does it appear that he had ever been liberal in sacrifice before4 ,the persons who are extolled1 obviously or expressly1 on this ground in the ,odyssey are1 the illustrious ,ulysses#hjf1 and the trusty ,eumus in his humble cottage#hjg4 ,so that on the whole1 as between ,greek and ,greek1 regularity in divine worship by sacrifice was neither taken for the substance of morality1 nor allowed as a substitute for it1 but was a test of it1 and was habitually found in union with it4 ,the connection is clearly set out in the case of ,eumus#hjh3 #hje ,od4 iii4 #bgb-e4 #hjf ,od4 i4 #fe-g4 #hjg ,od4 xiv4 #dbj4 #hjh ,ibid4 ' ' ' 4 ,moral elements in ,sacrifice4 ,nor must we forget that1 had it been otherwise1 a constant moral profanation1 abhorred by the feeling of the time1 would have been involved4 ,for sacrifice1 as ought to be the case with all ritual1 had a moral character and adjuncts4 ,it was either ordinary1 as at the common meal1 or solemn4 ,in the former case the surrender by man of a portion of his food was a witness to ,god as the giver1 and an expression of thankfulness intelligible to an unsophisticated age4 ,in the latter case1 and even in the former#hji1 prayer or thanksgiving were commonly combined with the rite4 ,the spirit of man1 when he approached the altar1 was bowed down before the powers of heaven2 and though it was a heavy sin in nations who had a clear knowledge of ,god to lapse into the practices of those who could but feebly grope 7to use the language of saint ,paul#haj7 for ,him1 yet the use of religious observances1 when it is ordinarily combined1 as we find it combined in ,greece1 with the possession in other respects of virtuous character1 is in effect one of the strongest testimonies to the existence of a substantive standard of morals1 which it associates at once with the unseen world1 and not with any mere reckoning of results1 drawn from the life and experience of man4 #hji ,od4 xiv4 #dbc4 #haj ,acts xvii4 #bg4 ,if then the ,greeks of the heroic age recognised a real type of good and evil in human action1 the next question is1 what were the motive powers by which they were drawn towards the practice of virtue8 ,these powers proceeded from three sources4 ,one was a regard to the gods2 to their rewarding the good1 and punishing the bad4 ,of this we have already treated in regard to some of the most important points4 ,the general proof rests upon almost every page of the poems1 especially as regards the punishment of the unkind1 unjust1 and cruel4 ,the ,homeric representations of a future state obscurely1 but sensibly1 add strength to the same class of sanctions4 ,the second was the voice of conscience1 speaking for each man within his own breast#haa4 #haa ,ngelsbach ,hom4 ,theol4 vi4 #ae4 ,the third was a sentiment ranging between reverence and fear1 which led to the performance of duty1 and to the avoidance of crime1 in consideration of the general authority and established opinion of mankind4 ,we may consider those examples from bygone days1 which are so often adduced either for warning or for imitation1 as belonging to this third division of moral powers4 ,the finer forms of this third class of sentiments pass by imperceptible shades into the second4 ,the principle of conscience4 ,after his conquest of ,hypoplacian ,thebes1 ,achilles would not despoil the body of the slain ,eetion1 3 accordingly he burnt him1 with his precious armour on4 ,now it would have been no crime to strip him of this valuable booty1 and therefore would have drawn down no vengeance3 but the high standard of his own chivalrous feelings would not suffer the act4 ,we have no reason to suppose that in this instance he had any regard to the general opinion of the ,greeks4 ,for as when they gathered round the corpse of ,hector1 every one of them inflicted a wound upon it1 and as it was the common custom of the war to strip the dead of their arms1 nothing can be more unlikely than that the army would have resented a similar proceeding on the part of ,achilles towards ,eetion4 ,it was therefore to his own mind that he deferred4 ,here there was a conscience not only taking notice of the broader and1 so to speak1 coarser1 outlines of duty1 but likewise exhibiting a refined and tender sense of it4 ,again1 ,telemachus says1 by way of appeal to the good feeling of the ,suitors themselves 7,od4 ii4 #ach471 ' 1 4 ,in this place he seems to refer to the sense of right within each man1 and by no means to their regard for appearances as before each other2 while that1 from which he exhorts them to abstain1 is a purely moral wrong4 ,so ,glaucus appears to aim at the individual conscience1 when he impresses on ,hector and the ,trojans the duty of recovering the body of ,sarpedon1 lest the ,myrmidons should deface his remains 7,il4 xvi4 #edd-f74 ,again1 ,menelaus addresses a similar exhortation to the ,greeks1 and here expressly exhorts each person to feel and act for himself 7,il4 xvii4 #bed71 1 ' 4 ,in one passage particularly1 ,telemachus distinguishes with great clearness the three kinds of motive by the terms proper to them respectively 7,od4 ii4 #fd-g72 7#a7 1 7#b7 ' 1 7#c7 ' 4 ,that is 1 for the self-judging conscience3 1 for human opinion3 and lastly1 fear1 in regard to the divine wrath4 ,the existence of the moral standard within a man is also1 ,i think1 very strongly implied in the word 1 which is applied to deep1 deliberate1 habitual1 or audacious wickedness4 ,for when it is intended to let in any allowance for mere weakness1 or for solicitation from without1 or for a foolish blindness1 then the word is used4 ,and ,i doubt whether1 in any one instance throughout the poems1 these two designations are ever applied to one and the same misconduct4 ,it is certainly contrary to the general and almost universal rule4 ,the is something done with clear sight and knowledge1 with the full and conscious action of the will3 it is something regarded as wholly without excuse1 as tending to an entire moral deadness1 and as entailing final punishment alike without notice and without mercy4 ,nothing can account for the introduction into a moral code of a form of offence conceived with such intensity1 and ranked so high1 except the belief that the man committing it had deliberately set aside that inward witness to truth and righteousness1 supplied by the law of our nature1 in the repudiation of which the universal and consentient voice of mankind has always placed the most awful responsibility1 the extremest degree of guilt that the human being can incur4 ,regard for general opinion4 ,the high place assigned throughout the poems to public opinion as a moral check is visible at every turn4 ,and this check applies variously to various classes4 ,with the most abandoned1 like the ,suitors1 it is feeble2 and is only invoked on special occasions1 as when ,telemachus combines it1 in the passage lately cited1 with the other moral sanctions4 ,even ,paris is represented as quite beyond the reach of it3 and ,helen meekly wishes1 that if the gods had determined she should live1 she could have been the husband of a man more open to the influence of the public sentiment#hab3 #hab ,il4 vi4 #cdi-ea4 ' ' 4 ,but upon characters less frivolous and less corrupt1 this power acts with great efficacy3 so much so1 that ,phnix says he was restrained1 when in his passion1 from killing his father by some benevolent deity1 whose mode of proceeding was1 we shall perceive1 very remarkable3 for the suggestion he made to ,phnix with such good effect was1 not that he would be punished by the gods for the offence1 but that he would become an offence and scandal among men#hac3 #hac ,il4 ix4 #dei-fa4 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' 4 ,the 1 or public opinion1 weighs even with the matron ,penelope among the motives to her virtuous and heroic conduct2 and the maid ,nausicaa1 no less circumspect than artless1 finds in the 1 the bitter gossip1 of ,scheria1 an apology for desiring ,ulysses not to enter the city in her company#had4 #had ,od4 vi4 #bgc-g4 ,but the sentiment of regard to general opinion comes out in other and yet finer forms as a practical regulator of conduct in the heroic age4 ,perhaps we might venture to rely upon the uses of the single word 1 with the cognate verb and adjective1 in ,homer1 for proof that the condition of the ,greeks of his age was a condition of high civilization1 in that which constitutes its most essential part1 namely1 that which relates to the affections and passions of man2 the expansion by moral forces of the one1 and the compression of the other4 ,shame1 in all its many forms1 has more than one pervading characteristic to mark it as an agent alike powerful and delicate in its influence upon human conduct4 ,first1 it essentially involves this idea3 that while it refers to an external standard1 independent of ourselves though able to act upon us1 still the power thus invoked is one altogether distinct from the idea of force4 ,so sensitive indeed is the feeling of shame1 that at the first moment when force comes into view1 it alters its nature1 and passes into fear4 ,that which it apprehends is something1 which dwells only in the ethereal region of opinion2 and yet this1 by the fineness of its appreciation1 it converts into an agent effective both to excite and to restrain4 ,thus it exhibits to us the human spirit guided by silken reins1 and in this way bears emphatic witness to the high training1 by which alone it can become susceptible of so gentle a guidance4 ,secondly1 it embraces not only the character of acts as they are in themselves or appear to us1 but also the aspect which they will naturally present to others4 ,it therefore essentially involves the recognition of a high form of relative duty3 it obliges us1 in regulating the whole tenour of our conduct1 to make the feelings of others an element in our own decisions4 ,this principle of a mutual regard1 not confined to certain positive acts of relative duty1 but pervading the whole course of moral action1 lies at the root of all genuine and high civilization4 ,shame must have reference to some standard exterior to ourselves1 and it therefore tends towards uprooting the law of selfishness4 ,in one of its highest forms1 the one perhaps most familiar to us in ,homer1 it is termed self-respect4 ,but self-respect does not mean a regard to self3 it means a virtuous regard to a standard established by adequate consent and authority1 and owned1 not set up1 by the individual conscience2 together with a determination that #8self' shall be made to conform to it4 ,the of this sentiment is what we term false shame3 which does evil1 or refrains from good1 in submission to a depraved standard of opinion external to us1 and in defiance of our own knowledge of right4 ,this kind of shame is treated with no respect in ,homer3 for examples of it we must look to ,amphimachus and ,leiodes1 two better-minded but complying ,suitors1 who end by perishing with the rest4 ,the force and forms of 4 ,the numerous forms of the sentiment of in the heroic age are a proof of the large and varied development to which it had already attained4 ,how fine a feeling is that according to which1 as with ,homer1 the bold men are also the shamefaced ones6 as in his line1 ' 4 ,this line1 as it is repeated1 seems to have the character of a in the poems#hae4 #hae ,il4 v4 #eca4 xv4 #efc4 ,the most marked and frequent use of is in the sense of self-respect as applied to military honour and bravery4 ,the words 1 1 which are employed as an exhortation to fight1 constitute one of the ,homeric formul4 ,homer does not permit this use of the word to the ,trojans3 but once it is employed for his gallant favourites1 the ,lycians4 7,il4 xvi4 #dbb4 xvii4 #ccf47 ,once1 indeed1 the term is applied to ,trojans1 but this is in the converse of the usual sense4 ,it would be 1 a disgrace1 says neas1 were we to let ,troy be taken through our want of manhood4 ,this is a lower signification4 ,and again1 as we shall see1 the established formula of military incitement for the ,trojans is different and less refined#haf4 #haf ,il4 vi4 #aab et alibi4 ,sometimes is an excess of deference1 or what we might call scrupulosity2 the feeling which carries the fastidious observance of some right sentiment towards others up to the point where it threatens to interfere with a public or other clear duty4 ,so ,telemachus begs of ,nestor1 #8tell me the truth1' ' 1 ' #hag4 #hag ,od4 iii4 #if4 ,in the ,doloneia1 ,agamemnon1 fearful that ,diomed will choose ,menelaus as a companion out of deference1 says1 #8,do not let influence you3 choose the best man4' ,sometimes it is compassion1 or ruth2 as when ,achilles1 before the ransom1 is said to show no towards the body of ,hector4 ,but here includes the idea of shame and self-respect4 ,sometimes it is reverence towards a superior1 as in ,od4 xiv4 #eje1 and in applied by ,helen to ,priam in ,il4 iii4 #agb4 ,in this manner it becomes applicable to the sentiments a man should entertain towards the gods1 ' 1 #hah4 #hah ,il4 xxiv4 #ejc4 ,and this is a very remarkable use of the term1 because ,priam certainly does not mean to urge upon ,achilles a dread of the gods1 but something quite distinct4 ,sometimes it is applied by a superior to an inferior2 and means #8his or her dues1' as among the ,immortals1 where ,jupiter says to ,thetis1 that he reserves the honour of the ransom for ,achilles1 #hai4 #hai ,ibid4 #aaa4 ,it may also be felt towards an inferior among men3 ,agamemnon is exhorted to feel it towards ,chryses#hbj1 for it is not a personal sentiment1 but implies an object1 outside the mere person who is the immediate occasion of it4 ,so ,achilles is intreated to revere 77 ,lycaon1 a vanquished and suppliant enemy#hba4 #hbj ,il4 i4 #bc4 #cgg4 #hba ,il4 xxi4 #gd4 ,sometimes it signifies the constitution of a special relation1 over and above the general bond between man and man4 ,a person's are his relations1 friends1 guests1 and the like4 ,even so a wanderer is to the gods 7,od4 v4 #ddg74 ,sometimes it means purely mental modesty1 as in ,od4 viii4 #aga1 ' 2 he speaks with that engaging bashfulness and careful indication of respect for his audience1 which forms a principal grace of the orator4 ,sometimes the physical1 as well as mental1 quality of modesty2 as when kept the goddesses at home 7,od4 viii4 #cbd74 ,sometimes1 again1 simply shyness2 as when ,telemachus is exhorted by ,minerva to put away in ,od4 iii4 #ad2 or as in the phrase ' 2 #8it will never do for a beggar to be shy4' ,no finer shading of sentiment1 ,i think1 can be found in the language of the most civilized nations1 nor any case so remarkable of a high and tender1 and at the same time largely developed state of feeling at a time when material progress was so partial1 rude1 and slight4 ,and of the vital importance of this element of the ,greek moral code1 we find a proof in the representation of ,hesiod1 who gives it as a characteristic of his iron1 or post-,homeric1 age1 that along with had fled from the earth4 ,other cognate terms4 ,there are other words1 the use of which in ,homer approximates occasionally to the sense of 4 ,the nearest of them is 7as in ,il4 xviii4 #agh71 with its verb 2 which1 as we have seen1 is sometimes applied simply to an internal standard recognised by the conscience4 ,but in ,il4 iv4 #bdb1 2 seems to be equivalent to 2 or #8for shame4' ,the word 1 too1 is sometimes used in a sense akin to that of 3 as when ,neptune exhorts the ,greeks1 7,il4 xiii4 #aba73 compare vi4 #cea4 ,again1 in ,od4 i4 #bfc1 ii4 #acf1 xxii4 #dj4 ,but this sentiment is usually half way between and fear1 because what it apprehends1 though it is not force1 yet neither is it simple disapproval2 rather it is disapproval with heat1 disapproval into which passion enters4 ,it contributes1 however1 to complete a very remarkable picture of the human mind4 ,the comparison between ,greeks and ,trojans1 or ,europeans and ,asiatics1 will prove1 we shall find1 greatly in favour of the former as to most parts of their morality4 ,we have now to touch upon a feature in ,greek manners which is unfavourable4 ,homicide in the heroic age4 ,with regard to the practice of homicide1 the ordinary ,greek morality was extremely loose2 while we have no evidence of a similar readiness for bloodshedding among the ,trojans3 and enough is told us of ,trojan life and manners to have probably brought out this characteristic1 had it existed4 ,among the ,greeks1 to have killed a man was considered in the light of a misfortune1 or at most a prudential error1 an #hbb1 when the perpetrator of the act had come among strangers as a fugitive for protection and hospitality4 ,on the spot1 therefore1 where the crime occurred1 it could stand only as in the nature of a private and civil wrong1 and the fine payable was regarded1 not 7which it might have been7 as a mode1 however defective1 of marking any guilt in the culprit1 but as1 on the whole1 an equitable satisfaction to the wounded feelings of the relatives and friends1 or as an actual compensation for the lost services of the dead man4 ,the religion of the age takes no notice of the act whatever#hbc4 #hbb ,il4 xxiv4 #dhj4 #hbc ,friedreich1 ,realien1 sect4 #aci4 ,the ordinary practice1 we learn from the blunt speech of ,ajax to ,achilles#hbd1 was to accept the established fine upon the loss even of a brother or a son1 if offered1 and then to let the slayer remain unharmed4 ,if he would not pay1 or if the relations would not accept the payment1 the alternative was flight3 but it does not appear that this entailed any loss of character1 perhaps rather otherwise4 ,it was1 however1 the most common issue of such an affair1 and1 as such1 it furnishes ,homer with a simile4 ,priam1 appearing before ,achilles by surprise1 is compared to a man who1 having had the misfortune to kill somebody1 appears unexpectedly in a strange place#hbe4 #hbd ,il4 ix4 #fcb-f4 #hbe ,il4 xxiv4 #dhj-b4 ,eight instances in the poems4 ,we will proceed to examine the cases of homicide recorded in the poems1 which are alike numerous and remarkable4 ,i4 ,medon#hbf1 the illegitimate brother of ,oilean ,ajax1 migrates from ,locris to ,phylace1 having1 in the usual phrase1 killed a man1 4 ,this man was a kinsman1 not improbably a brother1 7for may mean brother1 as in ,il4 iii4 #agd1 and xxii4 #bcd71 of his #8stepmother1' as she is called2 that is1 of ,eriopis1 the lawful wife of his father4 ,and yet he retains or improves his position in ,phylace1 and appears1 in the ,thirteenth ,iliad1 as the commander of all the ,phthians except the ,myrmidons4 #hbf ,il4 xiii4 #fei-g4 xv4 #ccc-f4 ,,ii4 ,theoclymenus#hbg1 of the prophetic family of ,melampus1 suddenly makes his appearance before ,telemachus1 when he is about to embark from the ,peloponnesus for ,ithaca4 ,he inquires of ,telemachus who he is#hbh2 and1 on finding that the youth is not in his own country1 but a stranger1 he says1 #8,so am ,i3 ,i have killed a man1 and am flying from the vengeance of his family3 they are powerful1 and ,i am in fear lest they should take my life4' ,telemachus immediately promises to take him on board1 and entertain him hospitably4 ,he does not seem at all shocked at the intimation he has received4 ,he does not think it worth while to ask the fugitive1 whether he killed the man wantonly1 or under provocation4 ,but he forthwith assigns to him the place of honour#hbi3 4 #hbg ,od4 xv4 #bbj et seqq4 #hbh ,od4 xv4 #bfj4 #hbi ,ibid4 #bhe4 ,,iii4 ,the next is an instance not less remarkable than the one last named4 ,tlepolemus1 the son of ,hercules and ,astyoche1 kills ,licymnius the maternal uncle of his father1 and his own grand-uncle4 ,the sufferer is1 moreover1 in his old age1 or he could hardly be the grand-uncle of an adult person2 and no plea or palliation is mentioned for the act4 ,the children and grandchildren of ,hercules prepare to levy war upon him3 but so far is he from having suffered in character for what hardly can have been other than a barbarous and brutal action1 that he is enabled to raise a large body of emigrants1 who accompany him to ,rhodes4 ,when distributed there in three settlements1 they are blessed by the peculiar favour of ,jupiter2 and ,tlepolemus appears before ,troy as the commander of the ,rhodian contingent#hcj4 #hcj ,il4 ii4 #feh-gj4 ,,iv4 ,again1 the friendship of ,achilles and ,patroclus had its origin in the circumstance that ,mentius delivered over his son into the protection of ,peleus1 because1 being a youth1 he had quarrelled with another youth1 the son of ,amphidamas1 over a game of dice1 and had slain him1 1 1 as the ,poet says2 that is1 of course1 without malice prepense#hca4 ,this is the more worthy of notice1 because it is evident that the character of ,patroclus1 partly perhaps for the sake of contrast with that of ,achilles1 and therefore of relief to it1 is meant to be represented as one of peculiar gentleness#hcb2 a quality in which no one of the great ,greek chieftains1 except ,menelaus1 can compete with him4 #hca ,il4 xxiii4 #hf4 #hcb ,il4 xix4 #bhb-cjj4 ,v4 ,in the ,fifteenth ,iliad1 ,hector slays ,lycophron1 son of ,mastor1 when he is aiming at ,ajax4 ,this was an inhabitant of ,cythera who had quitted his country for homicide1 #8but whom1' says ,ajax to ,teucer1 #8we honoured as if he had been a beloved parent#hcc4' #hcc ,il4 xv4 #dbi-dj4 ,,vi4 ,again1 the case of ,epeigeus is remarkable2 for he had been lord of ,budeum3 ' ,but having slain a cousin1 apparently also of the higher order1 he had to fly to ,peleus and ,thetis for protection#hcd4 #hcd ,il4 xvi4 #ega4 ,,vii4 ,in the ,thirteenth ,odyssey1 ,ulysses1 after being deposited in ,ithaca1 gives a fabulous account of himself to the disguised ,minerva1 in which we may be sure that he includes nothing which was deemed essentially dishonourable4 ,in this account he represents himself as a fugitive from ,crete on account of homicide4 ,orsilochus1 the son of ,idomeneus1 had endeavoured1 as he says1 to deprive him of his share of the ,trojan booty3 for this cause he waylaid him by night1 took away his life without being perceived by any one as he was returning from the country1 and then embarked1 to avoid the consequences1 in a ,phnician ship#hce4 #hce ,od4 xiii4 #bef-ge4 ,,viii4 ,an anonymous tolian1 having slain a man1 fled to ,ithaca1 visited ,eumus1 and as a matter of course was entertained1 nay petted1 by him2 7,od4 xiv4 #cgi-ha74 ,even this great number of instances do not so fully illustrate the familiarity of the practice1 and its thorough disconnection from the idea of moral turpitude1 as the mode in which it furnishes the material of general illustration or remark4 ,when ,homer desires to represent on the shield of ,achilles the ordinary form of public business in an assembly1 he chooses a trial for homicide#hcf4 ,and so ,ulysses1 when explaining to ,telemachus the formidable difficulties with which1 after the slaughter of the ,suitors1 he has to contend1 observes that those whom he has slain were the very flower of the community2 whereas1 in ordinary cases1 a man flies his country after having put but a single person to death1 and this even though he be one who has few to take up his quarrel#hcg4 #hcf ,il4 xviii4 #dgi4 #hcg ,od4 xxiii4 #aah-bb4 ,now if we knew these facts concerning the ,greeks of the heroic age1 and knew nothing else1 we should at once conclude that they were an inhuman and savage people1 who did not appreciate the value of human life4 ,but this is not so4 ,they are not a cruel people4 ,there is no wanton infliction of pain throughout the whole operations of the ,iliad1 no delight in the sufferings of others4 ,the only needless wounds are wounds given to the dead#hch2 a mode of action which imputed nothing brutal or degrading1 in times when mankind had not yet learned from the ,christian ,revelation the honour due to the human body4 #hch ,il4 xxii1 #cga4 ,it is not then mere savageness1 and the low estimate put upon life1 which determines the view of the heroic age with respect to homicide4 ,and if not1 then it can only be an unbalanced appreciation of some other quality1 such as courage1 which was commonly implied and exhibited in such cases4 ,why viewed with little disfavour4 ,it seems as though the display of force and spirit of daring1 which accompany crimes of violence in a rude age1 had such a value in the estimation of the early ,greeks1 as to excuse proceedings which would otherwise have been visited with the severest censure4 ,we shall find reason to believe that ,paris may have had a certain credit in their eyes for carrying off ,helen by the strong hand1 which went to redeem or mitigate his adultery1 and breach of hospitable rights4 ,this idea1 which is undoubtedly startling1 is supported by the strange narrative of ,hercules and ,iphitus4 ,iphitus was the possessor of certain fine mares4 ,hercules1 determined to possess them1 visited him1 received his hospitality1 slew him1 and carried off the animals4 ,now it may indeed be the mixed character of ,hercules1 which places his in the ,shades1 while he is himself among the ,immortals2 but still the scale is cast on the whole in his favour4 ,yet surely the story of ,iphitus exhibits a crime of the blackest dye2 and the only palliation of it that is conceivable seems to lie in this1 that he probably did not use stratagem1 but proceeded by main force4 ,the crime of gisthus1 the blackest in the poems1 appears to derive its highest intensity from the fact1 that he slew ,agamemnon like an ox at the stall1 in the friendly feast itself1 without notice or the opportunity of defence1 and by a plot deliberately laid4 ,such is the effect of all the three passages in which this outrage is described#hci4 ,the most favourable supposition which the case of ,hercules admits is1 that he came for plunder1 and put the possessor of the horses to death1 without premeditation1 upon his refusal to yield them up2 and that such an act1 though a proper object of divine resentment1 was yet not black enough to destroy his title to honour and a celestial abode#hdj4 #hci ,od4 i4 #ce-g4 iv4 #ebd-ce4 xi4 #dji-bj4 #hdj ,od4 xxi4 #bb-ch4 xi4 #fja-d4 ,we will now pass on to a kindred subject4 ,piracy in the heroic age4 ,thucydides has stated that in the earlier ages of ,greece the practice of piracy was alike widespread and honourable3 1 #hda4 ,in support of this opinion he refers to the questions then usually addressed to strangers on their arrival in a country2 such as that by ,nestor to the pseudo-,mentor and ,telemachus1 in order to learn what their business was1 or whether they were pirates#hdb2 #hda ,thuc4 i4 #e4 #hdb ,od4 iii4 #gb4 1 1 1 ' 1 2 ,now ,i think that the last line seems to explain the favourable view which was taken by the ,greeks of the practice of piracy4 ,for it combined with the hazards of navigation1 then so much more serious than at present1 the chance of desperate encounters4 ,it appealed1 in the very highest degree1 to the spirit of adventure2 a spirit congenial especially to the earliest youth of a people full of unsatisfied and1 so to speak1 hungry energies4 ,the mischief inflicted was inflicted on 1 on those with whom there was no close tie1 either as compatriots or as 4 ,now we must bear in mind that the law which1 even in the time of ,thucydides1 governed the relations of the ,greek tribes among themselves1 during the period of their high civilization1 was a permanent or ordinary state of hostility suspended from time to time by conventions for so many or so many years#hdc4 ,the same principle1 applied to a period when political organization was less mature1 and when men lived rather in knots and companies than in states1 involves the ,homeric view of piracy4 ,and that view1 entertained in such times1 should occasion far less surprise1 than our finding ,thucydides inform us that the same system continued throughout whole divisions of ,greece in his day2 1 1 1 1 #hdd4 ,the gains of the pirate's life were in some sense fairly balanced by its dangers4 ,the piracy of that age was not like piracy in ours1 the strong and well-armed waiting for the feeble and defenceless2 it was a game of more even chances1 and the real resemblance for it is to be found1 not among the ,algerine corsairs1 not even in the ,highland clans sweeping down from the mountains upon the ,lowland ,scots1 but most properly in the more even-handed forays of the border warfare between ,england and ,scotland4 #hdc ,it seems1 however1 possible that the sense of the might be the same as that which we attach to a lease for nine hundred and ninety-nine years4 #hdd ,thuc4 i4 #e4 ,there is indeed yet a higher authority for this kind of piracy1 than that to which ,thucydides has referred4 ,ulysses1 when he has destroyed the ,suitors1 considers1 in conversation with his wife1 not only how he is to preserve his remaining property in live stock1 but how he is to replace what his enemies have destroyed4 ,part he thinks his subjects will make up to him by presents1 but great part he will himself obtain by freebooting#hde2 #hde ,od4 xxiii4 #ceg4 4 ,we can hardly1 ,i think1 restrain the meaning of the word to the booty of legitimate and successful war4 ,sometimes1 as in the case of the ,cicones1 piracy is scarcely distinguishable from war2 but ,ulysses fairly relates of himself a piratical attack upon ,egypt1 which can leave us no room for scruple in supposing1 that he might without hesitation think of doing again what he thought it worth while to pretend that he had done before4 ,both these last-named instances may serve1 however1 to show that1 in times when preparedness for war was habitual1 the pirate took no great advantage in such attacks as these4 ,for with the ,cicones ,ulysses had the worst of it at last#hdf2 and in the case of ,egypt1 according to his fable1 the whole party were taken prisoners or slain4 ,kidnapping1 however1 such as that of ,eumus stolen in his childhood1 is not1 ,i presume1 to be regarded as equal in honour to freebooting with the strong hand1 thus apparently stamped with the sanction of ,ulysses4 #hdf ,od4 ix4 #ei4 ,and yet this model-man had been stung to the very quick by ,euryalus in ,phacia1 who said to him1 #8,you do not look like a man to compete in athletic games2 but rather like one of the captains of merchant vessels1 who looks after the cargo and makes rapacious profits#hdg6' #hdg ,od4 viii4 #aei-fd4 ,nor1 after all1 is this so strange as at first sight it might appear2 for the ,phnicians1 the merchants of those days1 were also kidnappers and slave-dealers3 and if their transactions were not1 like those of the pirates1 uniformly bad1 they were1 when exceptionable1 double-dyed in guilt1 because they involved fraud as well as robbery4 ,mixed view of it in the poems4 ,again1 as to piracy1 it by no means appears that it was attended with respect1 nor is the language of the poems quite uniform regarding it4 ,in the of the ,twenty-fourth ,odyssey1 and also in that of the ,eleventh1 the shade of ,agamemnon calls freebooters of this description #hdh4 ,the ,cretan piracy of the pseudo-,ulysses in ,egypt is mentioned as an act of 1 an outrage deservedly punished by ,jupiter#hdi4 ,on the other hand1 ,greek trade1 like ,phnician1 embraced kidnapping4 ,at least the ,taphians carried away from her country the ,phnician nurse1 who in her turn carried off the young ,eumus4 #hdh ,od4 xxiv4 #aaa4 #hdi ,od4 xiv4 #bfb4 ,upon the whole1 after allowing liberally for the masculine character and redundant energies of the ,hellenic people1 we shall best explain their favourable view of piracy by remembering the near relation it then bore both to war1 which we know may be just and honourable1 as well as to trade1 which we regard as in itself both innocent and beneficial4 ,since ,homer's time the character of war has been softened1 and that of trade has been elevated1 almost immeasurably2 while that of piracy has been lowered2 hence there is now a wide gulf1 where there was then scarcely even a seam discernible2 and ,homer might have sung the expressive words of ,gothe in ,faust1 ,krieg1 ,handel1 und ,piraterie ,dreieinig sind sie1 nicht zu trennen4 ,we may also1 ,i think1 find among the ,greeks a tendency to family feuds1 beyond certain limits1 of which the poems do not afford any instance on the ,trojan side4 ,of these1 two have already been noticed among the homicides4 ,medon kills his father's wife's kinsman4 ,tlepolemus kills his grand-uncle4 ,but also ,phnix for a quarrel flies from his father's home and settles in ,dolopia4 ,phyleus1 the father of ,meges1 for a similar reason migrates to ,dulichium#hej4 ,eurystheus1 as the great grandson of ,jupiter1 is of reputed kin to ,hercules his son2 but persecutes him through life with the imposition of cruel and endless toils4 ,meleager has a fierce feud with his family1 which is recited by ,phnix as a warning to ,achilles4 ,bellerophon is expelled from ,greece by a family quarrel4 gisthus himself is the cousin of ,agamemnon4 #hej ,il4 ii4 #fbi4 ,as with families1 so with communities4 ,the pre-,troic legends are almost invariably legends of the internal raids and wars of ,greece4 ,they were a people of the strong and the red hand1 marvellously combined with high refinement1 true love of art and song1 and an unexampled political genius4 ,but although the ,homeric age had not ceased to be as yet an age of violence1 it was as far as possible from being one marked by a general sway either of unbridled appetite1 or of ungovernable passion2 and if it is sometimes mistakenly supposed to have borne this character1 the appearances which produce the illusion are due only to the fact1 that vice of all kinds then went straight forward to its work1 and had not yet learned1 in the school of the wisdom of this world1 how much it might gain from method1 order1 and reserve4 ,temperance in the heroic age4 ,we have ample signs of that regard for temperance1 bodily as well as mental1 which ,homer united with his thoroughly convivial spirit4 ,by the mouth of ,ulysses1 he reprehends even that mild form of excess in wine which does no more than promote garrulity 7,od4 xiv4 #dfc-f74 ,when the ,greeks were about to suffer great calamities on their return1 he makes them proceed in a state of drunkenness to the ,assembly#hea4 ,when ,elpenor dies by an accidental fall1 he assigns drunkenness as the cause1 and takes care to inform us that he was young1 and neither valiant nor sensible#heb4 ,ulysses encourages the brutal ,polyphemus to drink1 with a view to his own liberation4 ,and the proceedings of the monster1 when intoxicated1 are certainly more revolting than those of ,stephano1 if not than those of ,caliban1 in the ,tempest4 ,again1 though it is certainly true1 that the most vivid denunciation of excess in liquor to be found throughout the poems is put into the mouth of the ,suitor ,antinous#hec1 yet ,i think it was plainly meant to be accepted as spoken in earnest1 and as expressing the sense of ,homer4 ,wine1 we thus learn1 caused the ,centaur ,eurytion to lose his ears and nose4 ,in no single case does the ,poet permit liquor to act in the slightest degree upon the self-possession of his heroes1 or of any character whom he esteems2 or represent them as either doing1 or leaving undone1 any act through excess in drink#hed4 ,the only allusion to its influence1 in connection with a practical result1 is one very faint1 and perfectly innocent4 ,it is when1 dissatisfaction having prevailed among the ,grecian kings and army1 as we see from the speech of ,diomed1 ,nestor recommends ,agamemnon to treat his ,council to a supper1 before proceeding to obtain their advice2 and observes to him1 that he can readily do it1 for he has wine and all other provision in abundance4 ,the intention apparently is to lay the ground for concord1 not in excess1 nor even here in hilarity1 but at least in amicable humour#hee4 ,to the ,immortals1 indeed1 it is conceded to abide at the banquet for the livelong day1 but not to men2 for the pseudo-,mentor observes to ,nestor in the ,third ,odyssey1 that it is not seemly to sit long at the sacred 7that is1 regular and public7 feast#hef4 #hea ,od4 iii4 #aci4 #heb ,od4 x4 #eeb-fj4 xi4 #fa4 #hec ,od4 xxi4 #bic-cjd4 #hed ,even ,scott1 one of the most refined1 as well as greatest1 among imaginative writers1 once allows his hero to commit himself grossly in point of manners1 under the influence of intoxication4 ,it is in ,rob ,roy 7chap4 xii471 at ,osbaldiston ,house4 #hee ,il4 ix4 #fi4 #hef ,od4 iii4 #cce4 ,it is much to be regretted that ,horace1 who in many cases has shown himself an accurate reader of ,homer1 has in this point grossly mistaken him3 ,laudibus arguitur vini vinosus ,homerus#heg4 #heg ,hor4 ,ep4 i4 #ai1 #f4 ,and this summary character1 unfortunately false1 has saved men the trouble of collecting the true one from the works of the ,poet himself4 ,self-control in the heroic age4 ,when we turn to another form of temperance or self-government1 namely1 that which we call self-control1 we find it eminently exemplified among ,greeks4 ,it appears as a pervading and national quality in that silence on the field of battle1 which they combined with such an inward energy of determination4 ,in ,ulysses it is carried up to its perfection4 ,perhaps the only occasions on which he even seems to relax it are those of the answer to ,euryalus in the ,eighth ,odyssey1 and the reply to ,agamemnon in the ,fourth ,iliad4 ,so much1 however1 of emotion as he suffers to escape him in those passages1 only serves to heighten the effect of his words1 not to make him deflect by one jot or tittle1 though in undoubted warmth1 from the true rule of reason4 ,but we find this quality not only developed powerfully in a pattern-man like ,ulysses2 it is also strongly infused into such a warrior as ,diomed4 ,this is proved by the manner in which he bears#heh the chiding of ,agamemnon on his rounds1 and rebukes ,sthenelus for having been provoked into a petulant answer4 ,at the same time it is highly illustrative of the national character1 that this young and ardent warrior1 who could thus bear a reprimand on the field1 stored up the recollection of it within his breast3 and when1 at the beginning of the ,ninth ,book1 ,agamemnon showed his own faint-heartedness by advising the abandonment of the enterprise1 then ,diomed1 having watched his opportunity1 recalled the circumstances1 and quietly but effectively replied upon ,agamemnon#hei4 ,nay more1 perhaps the most striking proof of the abundance of this high quality among the ,greeks is in the very case where it is on the whole outmatched by the passion that it ought to master1 namely1 in the case of ,achilles4 ,there is something indeed sublime in the manner in which1 many times over1 when he feels the tide of wrath rising within him1 he eyes his own passion1 even as a tiger is eyed by its keeper1 and puts a spell upon it1 so that it dare not spring4 ,thus it is1 when he parleys with himself on the question1 whether he shall end the strife with ,agamemnon by slaying him1 in the ,assembly of the ,first ,book4 ,and thus again1 when he feels that the words which ,priam has incautiously let drop are kindling a flame which1 if further fed1 would consume the aged and sorrowing suppliant1 he is conscious of the rising tempest1 and before it has swollen to such force as to disturb his self-command1 he sternly1 but yet not unkindly1 bids him to desist4 ,it is by trying them in mental conflicts like these1 that ,homer shows us of what mettle his ,greek kings were made4 ,it would be curious to draw out a list of the multitude of words in which he describes1 under every possible aspect1 the power and habit of self-control4 ,but perhaps one of his slightest is also one of his most effective touches4 ,the applause of the ,greeks in their ,assembly is always described by a word different from that employed to describe the very same indication of feeling by the ,trojans4 ,he usually says ' for the ,greeks3 for the ,trojans it is 4 ,the ,greeks shout forth their energetic approval3 the ,trojans clatter1 as if their tongues could not bear restraint4 #heh ,il4 iv4 #daa-ah4 #hei ,il4 ix4 #cb-di4 ,yet we must not suppose1 either on account of the self-command of the ,greeks that they were apathetic1 or on account of their frequent homicides that they were inhuman1 and savagely indifferent to the infliction of pain on their fellow-creatures4 ,neither the ,greeks nor the ,trojans appear to have been ferocious in the treatment of enemies4 ,the extreme point to which they go is that of giving no quarter3 but they never1 even in the exasperation of battle1 inflict torture with their weapons4 ,the immolation of twelve ,trojan youths over the dead ,patroclus is doubtless cruel3 but it falls far short of what the passions of war have produced in other times and countries4 ,with the manner of inflicting death1 passion never has to do4 ,savage ideas occasionally expressed4 ,an inquiry1 however1 which seems to be most curious1 is suggested by the passages in which ,hecuba wishes that she could eat ,achilles#hfj1 ,achilles that he could find it in his heart to devour ,hector#hfa2 and again in which ,jupiter#hfb suggests to ,juno1 that nothing could satiate her spite against ,troy so well as if she were to eat up ,priam and his whole family4 ,for the question arises1 how is it that we find these remains of the wildest savagery in company with a refinement of manners and feeling1 which the poems very frequently exhibit1 and which even reaches in some important points to a degree never exceeded in any country or any period of the world8 #hfj ,il4 xxiv4 #bab4 #hfa ,il4 xxii4 #cde-h4 #hfb ,il4 iv4 #ce4 ,the answer ,i presume to be this3 that the civilization of the ,greeks in the heroic age1 though as to the mind it was really a very high1 was yet also a very young civilisation4 ,its path was marked and decided1 but it had not had time to travel far from barbarism4 ,it was not safe by distance1 nor defended by the ramparts of long tradition1 nor strengthened by the force of continuing bent1 and consolidated immemorial habit4 ,the ,homeric gentleman1 with his civilization1 stood1 in respect to barbarism1 like him who voyages by sea1 digitis a morte remotus ,quatuor aut septem2 only the thickness of the plank is between him and the wilderness which he has left3 and if passion makes a breach1 the mood of the wild beast reappears4 ,we may account for the cannibalish observation of ,jupiter by the fact that he has no self-control in ,homer3 but that of ,hecuba is to be accounted for on the principle ,i have endeavoured to describe4 ,so it is with ,achilles3 and so1 too1 when the wise ,ulysses1 slaughtering the wretched women of his household who had erred1 seems tinged for once with a flush of barbarism4 ,when we let loose the tiger within us1 his range is limited not by any force springing from our own will or choice1 but by the strong dikes and barriers of social wont1 and by habits of thought as well as action1 which have been accumulated by the long labours of many successive generations of mankind4 ,we have already#hfc noticed something that will well bear comparison with this state of things in the reports which are made to us respecting modern ,persia1 the cradle in all likelihood of the family of ,achilles4 #hfc ,achis or ,ethnology1 sect4 x4 p4 #egj4 ,at the same time it is to be borne in mind that this cannibalism1 of which we have glimpses in ,homer1 in the first place was limited1 even in speculation1 to enemies2 and in the second place1 existed in speculation only4 ,of this we have pretty strong proof from the case of the crew of ,ulysses in the ,twelfth ,odyssey4 ,they did not touch the oxen of the ,sun1 until death from hunger stared them in the face4 ,then ,eurylochus made a manful speech on the subject of the option before them1 between dying on the one side1 and the slaughter of some of the animals on the other4 ,but those circumstances of the last extremity1 to which they were reduced1 were the very circumstances in which the fortitude even of ,christians#hfd has given way1 and with respect to which no prudent man dares to pronounce a judgment upon persons that so succumb4 ,yet there is not in the case before us the slightest hint at a resort to this most horrible remedy4 #hfd ,the awful #8,ugolino' of ,dante ends with the line ,poscia pi che 'l dolor pot 'l digiuno4 ,i am free to own that ,i cannot dismiss from my mind the suspicion that what the poet means to convey to us in these darkly veiled expressions is the devouring of the wretched children by their parent4 7,inferno1 xxxiii4 #ge47 ,not unfamiliar to later ,greece4 ,besides the circumstance1 that in ,homer the cannibal dicta1 abstractedly so shocking1 are the mere words of phrensied passion1 and that there are no corresponding acts1 we have to observe that the ,poet is never found exhibiting the sentiment of joy in connection with the positive infliction of suffering upon an enemy4 ,it was by no means so among the later ,greeks4 ,too many instances might1 indeed1 be supplied of the increase of cruelty with the lapse of time4 ,homer1 again1 has nowhere made woman to be even the sorrowing minister of justice3 as if he felt that there was a radical incompatibility between the proper gentleness of her nature1 and the use of the sword of punishment4 ,but in the ,hecuba of ,euripides1 after the aged matron1 exasperated by the treacherous murder of her son ,polydorus1 has put to death the two children of the assassin ,polymestor1 and has likewise put out his eyes1 he addresses to her these words 7v4 #abcc71 ' '1 and she1 no way shrinking from the imputation1 replies 1 2 ,in one place ,homer has taken an opportunity of showing us1 what he thinks of the principle of exultation over fallen enemies4 ,when ,euryclea is about to shout over the fallen ,suitors1 ,ulysses1 though he has not yet ended the bloody work of retribution1 gravely checks her4 #8,it is wrong1' he says1 #8to exult over the slain4 ,these men have been overtaken by divine providence1 and by their own perverse deeds3 for they regarded no human being1 noble or vile1 with whom they had to do3 wherefore they have miserably perished in their wickedness4' ,the whole tone and language of this rebuke1 so grave and earnest as it is1 and more sad even than it is stern1 is worthy of any moral code that the world has known4 ,wrath in ,ulysses and in ,achilles4 ,there is indeed a terrible severity in the proceedings of ,ulysses against the ,suitors1 the women1 and his rebellious subjects4 ,but it is plain that the case1 which ,homer had to represent1 was one that required the hero to effect something like a reconquest of the country4 ,it is also plain that ,homer felt that these stern measures would require a very strong warrant4 ,hence without doubt it is1 that the preparations for the crisis are so elaborate2 the insults offered to the disguised master of the palace so aggravated2 and the direct agency of ,minerva introduced to deepen his sufferings4 ,hence1 again1 when the incensed warrior is about to pursue with martial ardour the flying insurgents1 his eagerness is mildly marked as excessive1 and is effectually checked by the friendly but decisive intervention of ,jupiter4 ,some critics have objected to this passage1 and have argued that it could not be genuine4 ,they surely must forget1 that ,homer does not seek to present us in his protagonists with a faultlessness which would have carried them out of the sphere1 such as it was conceived by him and by his age1 of life either divine or human4 ,both ,ulysses and ,achilles may err4 ,but where they err1 it is in measure and degree4 ,ulysses is the minister of public justice1 and of divine retribution4 ,but he is composed1 like ourselves1 of flesh and blood1 and he carries his righteous office1 in a natural heat1 to the verge of cruelty4 ,then the warning voice is vouchsafed to him1 and he at once dutifully obeys4 ,and is1 then1 a thing like this so new and strange to us8 ,and has neither our philosophy nor our experience of life taught us that there are no circumstances1 in which a good and just man runs so serious a risk of becoming harsh and cruel unawares1 as when he is hurried along by the torrent of an originally righteous indignation8 ,even so with ,achilles4 ,he is1 no more than ,ulysses1 merely vengeful1 but he resents a wrong done to justice1 to decency1 and to love1 in his person4 ,upon the stream of this resentment he is carried1 until it threatens to become a torrent4 ,then1 by an admirable design1 he is chastised in the yet deeper passion of his soul1 his friendship for ,patroclus2 and so is recalled within the bounds of his duty to his suffering countrymen4 ,but in both cases the foundation of conduct is just and sound3 by neither is any sanction given to the principle which the ,gospel rebukes1 #8an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth4' ,for a wrong done to principles of public morality and justice is in each case alike the thing chiefly resented1 although in each case the person who resents it is also a person that had greatly suffered by it4 ,again1 we should misunderstand ,homer's picture of the ,greek character1 if we conceived that he left no room in it for those accesses of emotion1 with respect to which it may be difficult to say whether they contributed most to its strength or its weakness1 while it seems clear that they are in near association with both4 ,the ,poet's intention does not oblige him to place his protagonists beyond the reach of human infirmity1 as we see in the stubborn wrath of ,achilles1 and in the awakened keenness of ,ulysses for the blood of his rebellious subjects#hfe4 ,and though he never exhibits them as vicious1 still1 in the case of ,ulysses1 as well as in that of ,achilles1 he has introduced into his picture great quickness of temper1 which is indeed nearly1 though not necessarily1 connected with sensitiveness of honour4 ,on two occasions in particular is this observable3 in the sharp answers namely of ,ulysses1 first to ,agamemnon1 who on his circuit accuses him of remissness in military duty#hff2 and secondly to the of ,euryalus#hfg1 who has taken him for a or merchant1 and a rogue to boot4 #hfe ,od4 xxiv4 #ebf1 #cg4 #hff ,il4 iv4 #cej4 #hfg ,od4 viii4 #ahe1 #afb4 ,the ,domestic affections4 ,the point in which the ethical tone of the heroic age stands highest of all is1 perhaps1 the strength of the domestic affections4 ,a marked indication of the power of this principle among mankind is to be found in its prevalence even among the ,olympian deities4 ,for its appearance there has no relation to divine attributes properly so called2 it is strictly a part of the mythology2 a sentiment copied from the human heart and life1 and transferred to these inventive or idealized formations4 ,indeed we always find it in connection with that in which they are most human1 namely1 the indulgence of their sensual passions1 and the results of that indulgence in their human progeny4 ,it is not1 therefore1 among the higher or traditive deities that we find the sentiment2 it does not exist in ,apollo or ,minerva1 whose love is always of a different kind1 and is grounded in the gifts or character of the person who is the object of it1 as for instance1 the great ,ulysses#hfh1 or1 in a smaller sphere1 the skilful ,phereclus1 who built the ships of ,paris#hfi4 ,it is in ,jupiter over ,sarpedon1 in ,neptune for the blindness of his brutal son ,polyphemus1 in ,mars over ,ascalaphus1 in ,venus about neas2 and these two last are the two deities whose ethical and intellectual standard is the lowest of all#hgj4 #hfh ,od4 iii4 #bba4 #hfi ,il4 v4 #ei4 #hgj ,il4 xvi4 #dca1 #ei4 ,od4 i4 #fh-ga4 ,il4 xv4 #aae2 and ,il4 v4 #caa-ag4 ,when we come down to earth1 we find the sentiment strong everywhere4 ,among the ,trojan royal family1 where there is but little sense of the higher parts of morality1 this feeling is intense alike with ,priam and with ,hecuba4 ,the latter is not passionate1 she is #hga4 ,yet on the death of ,hector we see her become a tigress1 and wish she could devour the conqueror#hgb4 ,ulysses chooses for the title by which he would be known that of the ,father of ,telemachus#hgc4 ,it is true indeed that1 then as now1 the imperiousness of bodily wants made itself felt2 and it was then more ingenuously acknowledged4 ,hence ,telemachus1 attached to his father1 when he explained the double cause of his grief and care to the ,ithacan assembly1 first named the death or absence of his father1 but then proclaimed as the chief matter1 the continuing waste and threatened destruction of his property#hgd3 #hga ,il4 vi4 #bea4 #hgb ,il4 xxiv4 #bab4 #hgc ,il4 ii4 #bfj4 #hgd ,od4 ii4 #dh4 ' 1 ' 4 ,and the gist of his complaint against the ,suitors was1 not their urging ,penelope to marry1 but their living upon him while prosecuting the suit#hge4 ,but then this is a father1 whom he has never known or consciously seen4 ,the ,shade of ,achilles in the nether world is anxious upon one subject3 it is that he may know if old ,peleus is still held in honour4 ,in another he is also deeply interested2 it is the valour of his son3 and the gloom of his chill existence is brightened into an exulting joy1 when he learns that ,neoptolemus is great in fight#hgf4 ,the mother of ,ulysses died neither of disease nor of old age1 but of a broken heart for the absence of her son#hgg4 ,but the most signal proof of the power of the instinct is in its hold upon the self-centred character of ,agamemnon1 which1 as a general rule1 leaves no room in his thoughts for anything1 except policy alone1 that lies beyond the range of his personal propensities and especially his appetite for wealth4 ,but when the gallant ,menelaus1 ashamed of the silence of his countrymen1 accepts the challenge of ,hector#hgh1 ,agamemnon seizes him by the hand1 and beseeches him not to run so terrible a hazard4 ,and again1 in the 1 when ,diomed has to select a companion1 ,agamemnon1 in dread lest his choice should fall on ,menelaus1 desires him to take not the man of highest rank1 but the most valiant and effective companion for an enterprise of so critical a kind4 ,his motive was apprehension for the safety of his brother#hgi3 #hge ,ibid4 #ej and seqq4 #hgf ,od4 xi4 #did1 #ech4 #hgg ,od4 xi4 #aih-bjc4 #hgh ,il4 vii4 #ib-aai4 #hgi ,il4 x4 #bcd-dj4 '1 4 ,the war too is full of the most pleasing instances of attachment between brothers2 ,ajax and ,teucer1 ,glaucus and ,sarpedon1 and many other instances less illustrious1 might be quoted4 ,it is the sad end of ,polydorus which at the last works up ,hector into the most daring heroism2 and again in the ,odyssey1 the advantage is set forth of having brothers1 who defend a man while he is living1 and avenge him when he is dead#hhj4 #hhj ,od4 viii4 #ehe1 xxiv4 #dcd1 and xvi4 #ig1 #aae-ba4 ,and hence it is that1 even though ,greeks were hot of head and ready of hand1 we find no instance where1 in consequence of a broil1 one member of a family inflicts violence or death upon another of the same household4 ,the horrible idea of parricide1 and the execration with which public opinion would brand such a crime1 restrain ,phnix at the very height of his passion from laying hands upon his father#hha3 #hha ,il4 ix4 #dfa4 ' 4 ,directly that we pass beyond the household and its affections intertwined by habit1 the aspect of the case alters4 ,out of six instances of unpremeditated homicide in ,homer1 three#hhb are committed upon relations by blood or by affinity1 though not very near ones4 ,medon1 the bastard of ,oileus1 kills a relation of the lawful wife4 ,tlepolemus the son of ,hercules kills his grand-uncle ,licymnius4 ,epeigeus of ,budeum kills his cousin4 #hhb ,il4 xiii4 #fie-g4 ii4 #feh-gj4 xvi4 #eg4 ,relationships close1 not wide4 ,this marked line of distinction1 between the homicides of crime and the homicides of misfortune1 illustrates another point in the structure of ,greek society4 ,relationships do not appear to have been reckoned by them as subsisting beyond a rather narrow range4 ,we cannot trace any defined idea of kin more remote than the first cousin4 ,the lexicographers treat the term as capable of a wider sense2 but the only individuals named as by ,homer1 whose relationships we can follow1 are first cousins3 namely1 ,caletor son of ,clytius1 and ,dolops son of ,lampus1 both first cousins of ,hector#hhc4 ,there are also persons named in the poems1 whose consanguinity we can trace1 while it is nowhere noticed by the ,poet3 for instance1 ,eumelus is first cousin1 once removed1 to ,nestor4 ,priam and ,anchises are second cousins3 neas and ,hector third4 ,these relationships are never referred to4 ,thus then society is not arranged in clans1 but in tribes1 united by the general sense of a common name1 a common abode1 a common history1 a common religion1 and a remote sense of a common tribal stock1 without any sense of personal affinity in each individual case4 ,again1 it is curious to observe that the xenial relation was not less vivacious than that of blood4 ,the tie of blood subsists in the second generation from the common ancestor2 and ,diomed and ,glaucus similarly own one another as 1 because two generations before neus had entertained ,bellerophon#hhd4 #hhc ,il4 xv4 #dai1 #bb2 #ebe1 #ed4 #hhd ,il4 vi4 #bae4 ,purity in the heroic age4 ,the elevated and free social position of womankind in the ,homeric times of itself implies a great purity of ideas respecting them4 ,this subject1 however1 will receive a separate discussion4 ,there is a passage of ,athenus which conveys to us a tradition of no ordinary beauty1 and effectually severs for us ideas and objects which only a corrupt bias has associated4 ,he tells us that ,zeno of ,citium#hhe1 whatever the practice of the ,stoic leader may have been1 conceived of 1 the ,god of ,love1 as a deity of friendship1 liberty1 concord1 and public happiness1 and of nothing else4 ,so likewise his antecessors in philosophy taught that this deity was as a being perfectly pure3 4 ,this idea took refuge in the ,venus 1 the opposite one in the 1 or promiscuous#hhf4 ,in the later ages of ,greece1 the distinction of these two characters one from the other feebly lived on3 but there was no subjective basis for the separate existence of the former1 and it was practically eclipsed1 if not absorbed4 ,the true severance of the ideas probably was effected before the time of ,homer2 and they were lodged in separate impersonations4 ,the effective form of the ,celestial ,venus is to be sought most probably in ,diana1 though it was natural for ,plato and the philosophers to keep alive the memory of the distinction by way of apology for the popular religion4 ,the traces of this unstained conception were in later times only to be found in the sphere of art1 and were even there not always visible3 but in the ,homeric poems1 and probably in the ,homeric period1 this purity of admiring sentiment towards beautiful form appears to have been a living reality4 #hhe ,athen4 b4 xiii4 c4 xii4 p4 #ef4 #hhf ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 ,,ii4 ii4 #da4 ,plato ,sympos4 #h4 7#ahj ,c47 ,our inquiry on this subject must have reference partly to the ,poet1 and partly to his period and nation4 ,i will first deal with the points which have a bearing upon the age as well as the bard3 and will thereafter subjoin what appears to touch ,homer only4 ,lay of the ,net of ,vulcan4 ,let us commence1 then1 by considering that one and only case1 in the whole compass of twenty-eight thousand lines1 which might lead to an opposite conclusion3 the case of the second ,lay of ,demodocus1 or the adultery of ,mars and ,venus#hhg4 #hhg ,od4 viii4 #bff-cff4 ,of course it is impossible to justify this single passage upon its own merits3 but there are many circumstances that ought to be borne in mind by those who wish to form an accurate judgment upon it in its connection with the morals either of the ,poet himself1 or of the age to which he belonged4 ,of these the most important1 in my view1 is the tendency which the ,pagan religion already powerfully showed to become itself the positive corrupter of morality1 or1 to speak perhaps more accurately1 to afford the medium1 through which the forces of evil and the downward inclination would principally act for the purpose of depraving it4 ,even in ,homer's time1 the existing mythology contained ample warrant for the scene of indulgence here laid bare2 and we see the remaining modesty and delicacy of mankind feebly resisting the torrent of passion1 which ought to have been counteracted1 but which1 on the contrary1 was principally swollen and impelled1 by the agency of the acknowledged religion of the country4 ,it was impossible for ,homer to be altogether above the operation of influences so closely allied with an origin believed to be celestial3 nor could it be easy for the popular ,poet wholly to disregard the tastes of his hearers3 the ,poet1 whose strains swept over the whole height and depth of life and nature1 both human and divine1 could not absolutely shut out from his encyclopdic survey so marked a characteristic of ,olympian habits4 ,he has not omitted to mark as peculiar1 in more ways than one1 the licence he has assumed4 ,the lay is sung in an assembly attended by men only3 and it purports also to describe a scene1 from which the goddesses intentionally kept away4 ,the amusement of the deities present is not universal3 ,neptune1 the senior one among them1 does not laugh#hhh1 but takes the matter gravely1 and desires to put an end to the scandal1 by promising to make to the injured husband a pecuniary reparation#hhi4 ,he evidently appears to act under an impulse of offended dignity at least1 though not of modesty4 ,again1 the ,poet endeavours to give a ridiculous air1 not only a laughable one1 to the whole proceeding1 through the extreme mortification of the guilty persons2 who1 when released1 are made to disappear in real dismay and discomfiture#hij4 ,in this point he altogether differs1 undoubtedly1 from the generality of the writers of licentious pieces1 as materially as he does in the simplicity of his details2 and that supposition of a partially moral aim on which some have ventured1 is not so extravagant as to deserve total and absolute rejection4 #hhh ,the translation in ,pope's ,odyssey1 which in the most material parts has a more highly charged colouring than the ,greek original1 here reverses the sense4 ,homer says ,neptune did not laugh1 3 ,pope says1 #8even ,neptune laughs aloud4' ,pope's work is a great work3 but it is not a good rendering1 nor a bad rendering1 of ,homer3 it is no rendering at all4 ,od4 viii4 #bdd4 #hhi ,od4 viii4 #cdg1 #cef4 #hij ,od4 viii4 #cfa1 #b4 ,it has been common to employ1 in vindication of ,homer1 the supposition that the passage is spurious4 ,there is something rather more marked in the personal agency of the ,sun than the poems elsewhere present2 and undoubtedly ,apollo is made to assume a tone wholly singular1 and unsupported by what is told of him in the rest of the poems4 ,these are arguments1 so far as they go1 against it4 ,but ,i do not venture to adopt this alluring expedient3 for the general character of the colouring1 diction1 and incidents1 appears to be ,homeric enough4 ,and again1 if licentiousness was to come in1 this was exactly the way for its entrance1 because it was after a banquet2 because it was among men exclusively1 and not in the presence of women2 because of the connection with mythology2 and because the tale is thoroughly in keeping with the mythological character of the personages chiefly concerned4 ,the direct reference however of the evil to the influence of a perverted religion can be supported by distinct evidence from other parts of the poems4 ,in the ,iliad there appear to be but two passages1 which can fairly be termed indelicate4 ,one is the account of the proceeding of ,juno1 with the accompanying speech of ,jupiter1 in the ,fourteenth ,book#hia4 ,this relation belongs strictly to the mythology of the poem1 and it is evidently handled in an historical manner2 for ,jupiter's details1 at least as it seems to me1 are introduced for the purpose of fixing ancient national legends1 as much as the stories of ,nestor and ,phnix4 ,the other passage is that1 which in a few words contains the sensual advice given by ,thetis1 as a mother1 to her son ,achilles in his grief1 by way of comfort2 #hia ,il4 xiv4 #cab-bh4 #cdf-ec4 '#hib4 #hib ,il4 xxiv4 #acj4 ,this precisely exemplifies the relation of which ,i speak4 ,the deity teaches the debased lesson3 the human hero passes by the recommendation in silence4 ,homer would have put no such language as this into the mouth of one of his matrons4 ,when we come to pass sentence upon ,homer1 we must remember that1 since in the ,odyssey he represents the comic as well as the serious side of life1 he ought in justice to be first compared with his successors4 ,and here we not only shall find he gains by the comparison with ,aristophanes or with ,horace1 but that he gains yet much more when tried by the standard of the other great school of poets which followed him in associating heroic subjects with wit and with amusement1 namely1 the poets of the ,italian romance4 ,there is hardly1 perhaps1 one of that whole school of ,christian writers1 who has not descended to licentiousness of far more malignant type4 ,nor let it be supposed that the neid shows in this respect any superiority in ,virgil or in his hearers4 ,as to ,virgil1 and as to his poems1 if we take the whole of them into view1 ,i am afraid that whatever the veil of words may do1 the case was in reality bad enough3 as to the hearers of the neid1 we must remember that they were not a people1 but a court3 we must compare his ,roman auditors with the hearers of ,homer1 not as to that particular only of their public amusements1 but as to the whole2 that is1 we must compare the ,homeric poems not with the neid alone1 but with the neid and the ,floralia4 ,in ,homer's time1 men had not learned to screen their vices behind walls which also serve to fortify them4 ,and it still remains more than doubtful whether the appetite of ,homeric ,greece would have endured the garbage on which ,christian ,florence was content to feed1 during its carnivals1 in the period of its most famous civilization4 ,evidence of comparative purity4 ,from this scene let us turn to consider the evidence for asserting the comparative purity of ,homer's age1 and the peculiar purity of his mind4 #b4 ,we find in ,homer no trace whatever of the existence of those unnatural vices1 which appear to have deeply tainted the lives of many of the most eminent ,greeks of later days#hic2 which drew down the blasting sentence of ,st4 ,paul#hid2 which in early times had been visited on the ,cities of the plain2 and which1 it is no less strange than horrible to think1 have left their mark upon more than one period or portion even of the literature of ,christendom1 in a manner and degree such as must excite scarcely less of surprise than shame4 #hic ,athenus1 b4 xiii4 c4 #gg-hd4 #hid ,rom4 i4 #bd-g4 ,the seizure of ,ganymedes became in later times the basis of a tradition of this kind3 but there is not a trace of it in ,homer4 ,the intense love and admiration of beauty to which his pages bear constant witness is wholly disconnected from animal passions1 and in its simplicity and earnestness is1 for its combined purity and strength1 really nearer the feeling of some of the early ,italian painters1 and of ,dante1 than any thing else ,i can recall4 ,this is the more remarkable when we bear in mind what had already1 and long before his time1 happened in the ,east1 and is recorded for us in the ,book of ,genesis4 ,homer most rarely alludes to what is unbecoming in the human form3 in the case of woman not once1 and in the case of men only where he has a legitimate and sufficient purpose4 ,thus when ,ulysses#hie threatens to strip ,thersites to the skin in the event of his repeating his turbulence and insolence1 it is plainly with an honest view to inflict upon him the last extremity of shame1 and to make him an object of general and wholly unmixed disgust4 ,again1 when ,priam refers to the likelihood that his own body may be stripped naked1 and then mangled by animals after his death1 every one feels that the insult to natural decency1 which he anticipates1 contributes only to enhance the agony of his feelings4 ,and the scene in the ,odyssey1 where ,ulysses emerges from the sea upon the coast of ,scheria1 will always be regarded as one of the most careful1 and yet most simple and unaffected1 examples of true modesty contained in the whole circle of literature4 ,now these appear to be1 not peculiarities1 but samples of the general manners4 ,we should look in vain for the proofs of an equal truth and fineness of perception among the ,hebrews or among their forefathers1 unless it be among a very few individuals1 who1 under a direct teaching from above1 became select examples of virtue4 #hie ,il4 ii4 #bfb4 ,see also on this subject1 ,il4 v4 #dbi4 vi4 #ceg4 ,od4 v4 #adi-ei1 #bbg4 ,many other indications in the poems converge upon the same point4 ,the horror with which incest was regarded is one4 ,the deep grief and humility stamped on the character of ,helen is a second4 ,the manner in which the chastity of ,bellerophon is held up to admiration1 and followed by reward1 is a third#hif4 ,the high-toned living widowhood of ,penelope is of itself conclusive on the point before us4 #hif ,il4 vi4 #afa1 #b4 ,homer's subject in the ,iliad was one1 which tempted and almost forced him into indecency1 where he had to refer to the original crime of ,paris or to describe his private life4 ,the manner in which he has handled it is deserving of all praise4 ,he treats as an evil gift the original promise and temptation to ,paris4 ,the scene in the end of the ,third ,book was necessary in order to complete the view of the character of that bad prince3 and it could not have been drawn in a manner less calculated to seduce the mind1 whether by the management of its details1 or by the sentiments of loathing which it raises against the principal actor4 ,undoubtedly we must1 as regards the whole morality of the poems1 ascribe much to the praise of ,homer personally3 yet it is plain that he represented his age in no small degree4 ,first1 because1 as a popular and famous minstrel1 he could not have been in sharp or general contrast with the feeling of his contemporaries4 ,secondly1 because we perceive remains of this seriousness and purity in the older ,greek writers junior to ,homer4 ,thirdly1 because we find from ,thucydides that1 at the time when the original ,olympian games were instituted1 it was still the custom carefully to avoid the exposure of the human form1 and that a different practice was introduced afterwards by the ,lacedmonians1 probably without evil intention1 and for gymnastic ends alone 7,thuc4 i4 #f74 ,and now1 if we contemplate the belief1 ideas1 and institutions of the heroic period1 as they would work upon an individual1 we shall1 perhaps1 find that they fully justify the outline with which this section began4 ,we may1 indeed1 see in the ,homeric pictures of that age much to condemn or to deplore2 but we may also be led to believe that if1 through ,god's mercy1 there have been happier1 there also have been less happy forms1 for human destiny to be cast in4 ,life of the high-born ,greek4 ,the youth of high birth1 not then so widely as now separated from the low1 is educated under tutors in reverence for his parents1 and in desire to emulate their fame3 he shares in manly and in graceful sports1 acquires the use of arms1 hardens himself in the pursuit1 then1 of all others the most indispensable1 the hunting down of wild beasts1 gains the knowledge of medicine1 probably also of the lyre4 ,sometimes1 with many-sided intelligence1 he even sets himself to learn how to build his own house or ship1 or how to drive the plough firm and straight down the furrow1 as well as to reap the standing corn#hig4 ,and when scarcely a man1 he bears arms for his country or his tribe1 takes part in its government1 learns by direct instruction and by practice how to rule mankind through the use of reasoning and persuasive power in political assemblies1 attends and assists in sacrifices to the gods4 ,for all this time he has been in kindly and free relations1 not only with his parents1 his family1 his equals of his own age1 but with the attendants1 although they are but serfs1 who have known him from infancy on his father's domain4 #hig ,od4 xviii4 #cff-ge4 ,he is indeed mistaught with reference to the use of the strong hand4 ,human life is cheap2 so cheap that even a mild and gentle youth may be betrayed1 upon a casual quarrel over some childish game with his friend1 into taking it away4 ,and even so throughout his life1 should some occasion come that stirs up his passions from their depths1 a wild beast1 as it were1 awakes within him1 and he loses his humanity for the time until reason has re-established her control4 ,short1 however1 of such a desperate crisis1 though he could not for the world rob his friend or his neighbour1 yet he might be not unwilling to triumph over him to his cost1 for the sake of some exercise of signal ingenuity3 while1 from a hostile tribe or a foreign shore1 or from the individual who has become his enemy1 he will acquire by main force what he can1 nor will he scruple to inflict on him by stratagem even deadly injury#hih4 ,he must1 however1 give liberally to those who are in need2 to the wayfarer1 the poor1 the suppliant who begs from him shelter and protection4 ,on the other hand1 should his own goods be wasted1 the liberal and open-handed contributions of his neighbours will not be wanting to replace them4 #hih ,od4 xiii4 #bei-gj4 ,his early youth is not solicited into vice by finding sensual excess in vogue1 or the opportunities of it staring in his eye and sounding in his ear4 ,gluttony is hardly known2 drunkenness is marked only by its degrading character and the evil consequences that flow so straight from it1 and is abhorred4 ,but he loves the genial use of meals1 and rejoices in the hour when the guests1 gathered in his father's hall1 enjoy a liberal hospitality1 and the wine mantles in the cup#hii4 ,for then they listen to the strains of the minstrel1 who celebrates before them the newest and the dearest of the heroic tales that stir their blood1 and rouse their manly resolution to be worthy1 in their turn1 of their country and their country's heroes4 ,he joins the dance in the festivals of religion2 the maiden's hand upon his wrist1 and the gilded knife glancing from his belt1 as they course from point to point1 or wheel in round on round#ijj4 ,that maiden1 some ,nausicaa or some ,hermione of a neighbouring district1 in due time he weds1 amidst the rejoicings of their families1 and brings her home to cherish her1 #8from the flower to the ripeness of the grape1' with respect1 fidelity1 and love4 #hii ,od4 viii4 #e-aa4 xiv4 #aic-h4 #ijj ,il4 xviii4 #eid-fjb4 ,whether as a governor or as governed1 politics bring him1 in ordinary circumstances1 no great share of trouble4 ,government is a machine1 of which the wheels move easily2 for they are well oiled by simplicity of usages1 ideas1 and desires2 by unity of interest2 by respect for authority1 and for those in whose hands it is reposed2 by love of the common country1 the common altar1 the common festivals and games1 to which already there is large resort4 ,in peace he settles the disputes of his people1 in war he lends them the precious example of heroic daring4 ,he consults them1 and advises with them1 on all grave affairs2 and his wakeful care for their interests is rewarded by the ample domains which are set apart for the prince by the people#ija4 ,finally1 he closes his eyes1 delivering over the sceptre to his son1 and leaving much peace and happiness around him#ijb4 #ija ,il4 ix4 #egh4 xii4 #cac4 #ijb ,od4 xxiii4 #bha-d4 ,such was1 probably1 the state of society amidst the concluding phase of which ,homer's youth1 at least1 was passed4 ,but a dark and deep social revolution seems to have followed the ,trojan war3 we have its workings already become visible in the ,odyssey4 ,scarcely could even ,ulysses cope with it1 contracted though it was for him within the narrow bounds of ,ithaca4 ,on the mainland1 the bands of the elder society are soon wholly broken4 ,the ,pelopid1 ,neleid1 neid houses are a wreck3 disorganization invites the entry of new forces to control it3 the ,dorian lances bristle on the tolian beach1 and the primitive ,greece1 the patriarchal ,greece1 the ,greece of ,homer1 is no more4 ,ethics of earlier and later ,paganism4 ,when we take a general survey of the practical morality of the ,heroic age1 and compare it with that of later times1 we must at once be struck with the great superiority of the former1 in all that most nearly touches the moral being of man4 ,the mere police of society1 indeed1 improves with the advance of civilization4 ,the law of determinate rights to property1 which we rather dangerously call the law of meum and tuum1 whereas it is but a limited part of that great ordinance1 comes to be better understood in later times1 and better defended by penal sanctions4 ,a clearer ideal1 as well as actual1 distinction1 is gradually established between force and civil right4 ,but who will venture to say that the duties of man to the ,deity1 or the larger claims of man upon man1 were better understood in the age of ,pericles or ,alexander1 of ,sylla or of ,augustus1 than in the days of ,homer8 ,it is to be expected that1 when the elements of wealth are for the most part such as nature offers1 when man has hardly left the mark of his hand upon the earth1 when little has been appropriated1 and that little indeterminately1 then the description of right which is least understood should also be least respected2 namely1 the law which withdraws things from original community of use into individual dominion4 ,to this day we dispute1 what was the pristine foundation of the law of property4 ,why do we not perceive that this is equivalent to an admission1 that in the first periods of political society1 the whole idea of property must of necessity have been more or less vague8 ,and consequently1 that even plunder in primitive times is a different thing from plunder in later times1 not only as to public estimation1 but as to the moral colour of the act1 and that it should be judged accordingly8 ,points of superiority in the former4 ,let us then consider the notes of moral superiority which the ,heroic age of ,greece presents to us4 ,human sacrifices were not then offered upon bloody altars to the gods4 ,not even the direst extremity of suffering suggested the thought of cannibalism as an alternative of escape from death#ijc4 ,wailing infants were not then exposed to avoid the burden of their nurture4 ,the grey hairs of parents were treated with reverence and care2 and if their weakness brought down insult upon them1 it stung the souls of their children1 even after death4 ,to age in general a deep and hearty reverence was paid by the young4 ,woman1 the grand refining element of society1 had not then been put down in the estimation of any man1 far less of the wisest men1 to the level of persons degraded by the habits of captivity1 and was not held to be a 4 ,slavery itself was mild and almost genial4 ,it implied the law of labour1 and possibly1 in ordinary cases1 a prohibition to rise in life3 but of positive oppression1 and of suffering in connection with it1 or of any penal system directed to its maintenance1 we have no trace whatever4 ,marriage was the honourable and single tie between man and his helpmate#ijd4 ,connections with very near relations were regarded with horror2 the wife was the representative1 the intelligent companion and friend1 of her husband2 adultery was held in aversion1 a crime rarer then than in most after-periods3 and the sacred bond between husband and wife was not liable to be broken by the poor invention of divorce4 #ijc ,od4 xii4 #cbg-ea4 #ijd ,on this and the kindred points1 see inf4 sect4 ix4 ,organized unchastity had not then become a kind of devil's law for society4 ,the very name and nature of unnatural lusts appear to have been unknown in ,greece1 centuries after ,sodom had been smitten for its crimes4 ,the detestable invention1 which set gladiators to kill one another for the amusement of enraptured spectators1 was reserved for times more vain of their philosophy and their artificial culture4 ,the rights of the poor were acknowledged in the form of an unlimited obligation to relieve them1 under pain of the divine displeasure3 and no stranger or suppliant could be repelled from the door of any one1 who regarded either the fear of ,god or the fear of man4 ,as respects the gods1 the remains of ancient piety still in some degree checked the activity of the critical faculty1 and the reverence for the ,power that disposes events and hates the wicked was not yet derided by speculation1 nor wholly buried beneath fable and corruption4 ,true1 sacrifice was regarded as the indispensable and effective basis of religion3 but in general1 as between ,greek and ,greek1 those who were most careful of virtue were also most regular in their offerings4 ,men were believers in prayer3 they thought that1 if in need they humbly betook themselves to supplication1 they would be heard and helped4 ,in short1 they kept their hold upon a higher power1 which we see to have been real1 because they resorted to it at those times when human nature eschews illusion1 and cries out for reality4 ,ulysses1 in affliction or in need1 addresses himself to the gods3 even gisthus1 when alarmed1 begins to think much of them3 but ,cicero or ,quintilian1 when the arrow of grief has touched them to the quick1 seek for comfort in philosophical calculations on the great woe and little weal of life4 ,yet1 even while all this was so1 there lay in the accumulating mythology the thickly scattered seeds of destruction1 both for belief and for duty4 ,how could marriage continue single1 pure1 or permanent1 in the face of the promiscuous lusts of ,jupiter8 ,why should not helpless infants be exposed1 when ,juno1 disgusted with the form of ,vulcan1 threw him down into the sea8 ,why should not man make a joyous spectacle of blood and wounds1 when they were already beheld with amusement by the highest of the gods8 ,the examples of rebellion1 of discord1 of luxury and selfish ease1 were all of them ready to forward the process of corruption among men2 and this armoury of curses was prepared too in the very quarter1 where his eye should behold nothing but what is august and pure4 ,again4 ,in all descriptions of tender feelings the ,greeks of the ,homeric age are much nearer than those of later times to the standard of truth and nature4 ,the heroes of ,homer weep freely2 but1 says the ,agamemnon of ,euripides#ije1 while he complains of the restriction1 weeping is the recognised privilege of humble life only2 #ije ,iph4 in ,aul4 #ddf4 ' 4 ,and ,aristotle thought1 as is thought now1 that weeping was unfit for men4 ,the wise man1 he conceives#ijf1 cannot incite others to mourn with him1 ' 3 but women1 and woman-like men1 1 are glad of such companionship in sorrow4 #ijf ,aristot4 ,eth4 ,,ix4 xi4 #d4 ,there are indeed three most important points of the ,homeric poems1 in which it would appear that the ,greek character greatly hardened1 and greatly sank1 as the nation advanced in its career4 ,one of them is the principle of sympathy4 ,another is that of placability1 which ,homer has very powerfully exhibited in ,achilles4 ,the third is that of humility1 of which we have an example in ,helen1 in the ,helen of ,troy and the ,helen of ,sparta1 such as heathenism nowhere else1 ,i believe1 presents to us4 ,it has thus appeared that if we take the state of morality as it appears among mankind in the poems of ,homer1 and compare it with that of ,greece in its highest civilization1 we find before us two grand differences4 ,those offences against the moral law1 which constitute crimes of violence1 were more justly appreciated at the later period2 but as to those which constitute1 in the language of ,christianity1 the lusts of the mind and of the flesh1 a great preference is due to the former4 ,we are naturally led to inquire1 ,whence these two movements in opposite directions8 ,that mankind should either lose ground or gain it1 in morality as a whole1 is far less startling at first sight1 than that1 at one and the same time1 with respect to one great portion of the moral law there should be progress1 and with respect to another1 retrogression4 ,in reality1 however1 this was the condition of man3 retrogression as to his spiritual life1 but advance and development1 up to a certain point1 with regard to the intellectual and the social career4 ,sins of the flesh lay chiefly between ,god and the individual conscience3 the social results did not palpably and immediately reach beyond the persons immediately concerned4 ,but crimes of violence struck directly at the fabric of society by destroying security of person and property2 and robbed mankind1 especially the ruling part of mankind1 of the immense advantages and enjoyments which they reaped from civilized life4 ,thus1 the moral sense was quick1 and even grew quicker with the lapse of time1 when it was fed and prompted by such motives of self-interest as lay within its appreciation1 like those which the desire to enjoy the commodities of life supplied4 ,but it languished and all but died1 when its business was to maintain those virtues which involve severe self-denial1 and of which the reward never can be fully appreciated except by those who are so favoured as to practise them in the highest degree4 ,nor must we overlook some special bearings of the institution of slavery upon this question4 ,as it grew and was consolidated1 it of course entailed an increased necessity for laws to defend life and goods against violence4 ,but as regarded the other class of offences1 its influence was all in the sense of more and more relaxation4 ,for beauty and defencelessness1 when they were combined in slaves1 at once wrought up attraction to the uttermost1 and removed all obstacles to enjoyment4 ,while at the same time the partial indulgence1 which at all periods has commonly attended such commerce between slaves and their masters1 operated as a safety valve to let off the political dangers of that system3 so that1 on the one hand1 slavery was a feeder to lust1 and1 on the other1 lust was a buttress to slavery4 ,that it was not on moral grounds that in the later times of ,greece life and property were better defended than in the former1 we may partly judge from finding that1 though it is in the nature of all society that a nation should rather incline to gild the days of its forefathers with ornaments beyond the truth1 the later ,greek traditions crammed the heroic age with a mass of crimes of which ,homer knows nothing4 ,he sets ,minos and ,rhadamanthus before us as characters positively good3 ,thyestes and others are at worst neutral in character3 but all these1 according to the later tradition1 were either accessory to1 or contaminated with1 the most horrible enormities4 ,notes in the ,poems of commencing decline4 ,it seems1 indeed1 as if ,homer had himself lived to note the signs of moral degeneracy4 ,in part1 we may perhaps say1 it is inseparably associated with that deterioration in the character and idea of government1 which begins to be traceable in the ,odyssey4 ,but in that poem he has given us another indication of it1 unlike any thing in the ,iliad1 where he never contrasts the present unfavourably with the past1 except as to mere corporal strength4 ,for he makes ,minerva as ,mentor deliver to ,telemachus the sentiment1 that among sons a small number only are equal to their fathers#ijg1 a very few indeed excelling them1 but the greater part falling short of them4 ,in later times1 we have come to associate threnodies of this kind with the notion that they are complaints of course1 formul taken up and reiterated successively from generation to generation4 ,it may or may not be just thus to view them3 but whether it be just or not for later times1 ,i think that we ought not so to limit the force of the idea when it meets us in the age of ,homer3 the world was then young1 and human society had not so learned its #8ancient saws or modern instances1' as to separate them from the truths of experience and of observation4 ,the greatest ornament of the poems of ,hesiod1 the series of the ,ages declining from gold to iron1 probably expresses the actual state of the facts1 as it seems to move on the same line with the narrative of the early ,scriptures3 and ,homer's lamentation on degeneracy in all likelihood may belong to a real portion of the same descending process4 #ijg ,od4 ii4 #bgf4 ,,sect4 ,,ix4 ,woman in the ,homeric age4 ,no view of a peculiar civilization can on its ethical side be satisfactory1 unless it include a distinct consideration of the place held in it by woman4 ,and1 besides1 the position of the ,greek woman of the heroic age is in itself so remarkable1 as even on special grounds to require separate and detailed notice4 ,it is likewise so elevated1 both absolutely and in comparison with what it became in the historic ages of ,greece and ,rome amidst their elaborate civilization1 as to form in itself a sufficient confutation of the theories of those writers who can see in the history of mankind only the development of a law of continual progress from intellectual darkness into light1 and from moral degradation up to virtue4 ,the idea and place of woman have been slowly and laboriously elevated by the ,gospel3 and their full development has constituted the purest and most perfect protest1 that the world has ever seen1 against the sovereignty of force4 ,for it is not alone against merely physical1 but also against merely intellectual strength1 that this protest has been lodged4 ,to the very highest range of intellectual strength known among the children of ,adam1 woman seems never to have ascended1 but in every or almost every case to have fallen somewhat short of it4 ,but when we look to the virtues1 it seems probable both that her average is higher1 and that she also attains in the highest instances to loftier summits4 ,certainly there is no proof here of her inferiority to man4 ,now it is nowhere written in ,holy ,scripture that ,god is knowledge1 or that ,god is power2 while it is written that ,god is love3 words which appear to set forth love as the central essence1 and all besides as attributes4 ,woman then holds of ,god1 and finds her own principal development in that which is most ,god-like4 ,thus1 therefore1 when ,christianity wrought out for woman1 not a social identity1 but a social equality1 not a rivalry with the function of man1 but an elevation in her own function reaching as high as his1 it made the world and human life in this respect also a true image of the ,godhead4 ,within the pale of that civilization which has grown up under the combined influence of the ,christian religion as paramount1 and of what may be called the ,teutonic manners as secondary1 we find the idea of woman and her social position raised to a point even higher than in the poems of ,homer4 ,but it would be hard to discover any period of history or country of the world1 not being ,christian1 in which they stood so high as with the ,greeks of the heroic age4 ,there are various heads under which we may inquire into the subject before us4 ,one is the law of marriage in the heroic age1 and the state of the specific relation between the sexes4 ,a second is the employments assigned to women2 how high did they reach1 and how low did they descend8 ,a third is the social footing on which they stood1 as tested by manners4 ,a fourth is the general outline of the woman's character1 as it is to be estimated from the varied specimens which ,homer has set before us4 ,law and custom of marriage4 ,firstly2 a main criterion of the general condition of woman in a given state of society is to be found in the view which it may exhibit of the great institution of marriage4 ,in proportion as that institution is purified and elevated by just restraint1 the condition of woman is honourable1 free1 and happy4 ,in proportion as it is relaxed1 in accommodation to human infirmity or appetite1 the condition of woman is degraded and servile2 for where desire is the law1 strength is its appropriate and only sanction1 and the cause of the weaker fails4 ,just as a strict and efficient police is most important to the unprotected1 so a strict law of marriage is most for the interest of the woman4 ,the general position of womankind in the ,homeric age is high on both sides of the ,archipelago2 but1 as respects marriage1 its chiefest pillar1 it is perceptibly even higher among the ,greeks than among the ,trojans4 ,among the multitude of cases1 that either directly or incidentally come before us in the poems1 there is nothing that at all resembles the ,asiatic household of ,priam1 or that seems to favour polygamy4 ,nor have we any instance where a wife is divorced or taken away from her husband1 and then made the wife of another man during his lifetime4 ,the froward ,suitors1 who urge ,penelope to choose a new husband from among them1 do it upon the plea that ,ulysses must be dead1 and that there is no hope of his return3 a plea not irrational1 if we presume that the real term of his absence came to even half the number of years which ,homer has assigned to it4 ,the ancient law of ,england1 while it repudiated the principle of divorce1 recognised the presumption of the husband's death1 when brought near to certainty by a long term of absence1 as equivalent to death itself for the purpose of exempting the wife from civil penalty in case of her marriage4 gisthus1 again1 finds it extremely difficult to corrupt ,clytemnestra3 and his success in inducing her to marry him entails1 as if a matter of course1 the murder of her former husband4 ,the crime is mentioned by ,jupiter1 in the ,olympian ,court1 as consisting of the two parts1 of which he by no means specifies the latter as the more atrocious#ijh2 #ijh ,od4 i4 #cf4 7#a7 ' 1 7#b7 ' 4 ,the law of marriage differs from most other human laws in a very important particular4 ,it is their excellence to impose the minimum of restraint1 which will satisfy the absolute wants of society3 but the aim and the criterion of a good law of marriage is to impose the maximum of restraint that human nature can be induced bon fide to accept4 ,doubtless there is here also a conceivable excess3 but it would be and has been indicated by the general withholding of submission1 or evasion of obedience4 ,up to that point1 the restrictions of the marriage law are not evils to be endured for the sake of a greater good1 but are good in themselves4 ,in order that this great institution may thoroughly fulfil its ends1 it is especially requisite1 #a4 ,that it should not be contracted between more than one man and one woman4 #b4 ,that it should on both sides be1 in the main and as a general rule1 deliberate and spontaneous4 #c4 ,that the contract1 once made1 should not be dissolved4 ,and closely allied to these there is yet a fourth negative3 #d4 ,that nuptials should not be contracted between persons who stand within certain near degrees of relationship4 #e4 ,it is always requisite that this engagement should exclude not only the possibility of marriage for either partner with a third person1 but also any other fleshly connection without marriage4 ,of these propositions1 the first1 third1 and fourth1 are heads of restraint on marriage4 ,every one of the three was acknowledged by the ,greeks of the heroic age4 ,marriage always single4 ,the rule of conjugal fidelity was admitted1 though not wholly without relaxation1 to be as applicable to men as to their wives4 ,this1 and all the other restrictions1 were applied to women with undeviating strictness4 #a4 ,as regards the first1 it is plain1 from a mass of evidence so large as to amount1 in spite of its being negative1 to demonstration1 that the uniform practice of the ,greeks required the marriage union to be single4 ,this1 however1 of itself1 is saying little2 but it imports much besides what is on the surface3 it implies1 that1 with due allowances1 the spirit of the marriage contract is a spirit of equity and of well adjusted rights1 as between those who enter into it4 #b4 ,this relation was also conceived by the ,greeks in a spirit of freedom4 ,it held a central place in life thoroughly ,european1 as opposed to the ,oriental ideas4 ,nay1 it approximated very much to the ideas prevailing in our own country as well as age4 ,we do not find in the poems any instance of a marriage enforced against the will of a young maiden1 or contracted when she was of years too tender to exercise a judgment4 ,nausicaa fears that if she is seen with ,ulysses1 censorious tongues will immediately put it about that she is going to be married to him4 ,they will say1 #8,who is this tall and handsome stranger with ,nausicaa8'#iji ,surely she is going to become his bride4 ,truly she has picked up some gallant from afar1 who has strayed from his ship3 or some god has come down to wed her4 ,better it were if she found a husband from abroad1 since1 forsooth1 she looks down upon her ,phacian suitors1 though they are many and noble4 ,then continues this model of maidens2 #8,thus ,i shall come into disgrace2 and indeed ,i myself should be indignant with any one who should so act1 and who1 against the will of her parents1 frequented the company of men before being publicly married4' ,in this remarkable passage we have such an exhibition of woman's freedom1 as scarcely any age has exceeded4 ,for it clearly shows that the marriage of a damsel was her own affair1 and that1 subject to a due regard freely rendered to authority and opinion1 she had1 when of due age1 a main share in determining it4 ,that is to say1 to the extent of choosing a mate among the competitors4 ,the expression of giving away or promising a daughter1 by parents1 is often used#iaj1 but we perceive the limits of its meaning from the passage just quoted4 ,the more so1 because similar expressions as to the proceedings of parents are applied in ,homer to the marriages of sons#iaa4 ,i do not suppose it would have been open to any maiden to remain single4 ,that all should marry1 that there should be no class living in celibacy1 was a kind of law for society in its infant state1 even as now it may be said to be almost a law for the most numerous classes of society4 ,above all ,i suppose it to be clear that a marriageable widow could not ordinarily remain in widowhood4 ,no reproach arises to ,helen1 on account of the renewal of her irregular union with ,deiphobus2 and when ,penelope1 or others in her behalf1 contemplate the death of ,ulysses1 and her consequent release from the marriage state1 that change is always treated as the immediate preface to another crisis1 namely1 the choice of a second husband4 #iji ,od4 vi4 #bge-hh4 #iaj ,il4 xi4 #bif4 xix4 #bi4 ix4 #ada4 vi4 #aia4 ,od4 vii4 #caa4 iv4 #f4 #iaa ,il4 ix4 #cid4 ,od4 iv4 #aj4 ,although social intercourse with man might not1 as ,nausicaa says1 be sought by damsels1 it might innocently come on occasions such as those afforded by public festivities1 or by an ordinary calling#iab4 #iab ,il4 xviii4 #efg1 #eic1 and xxii4 #abf4 ,freedom of the woman4 ,but again1 the persecution of ,penelope by the ,suitors bears emphatic testimony to the freedom of woman within the limits ,i have described4 ,the utmost of their aim is to coerce her into marrying some one2 even as their sin lies in bringing this pressure to bear upon her before the death of ,ulysses has been ascertained4 ,on the other hand1 the pressure is a moral one3 her violent removal is never thought of2 and the absolute silence of the poem on the subject proves that it would have been at variance with the prevailing manners1 had any cabal been formed1 in order even to constrain her choice towards a particular person4 ,the very presents1 by which the profligate ,suitors endeavoured to ingratiate themselves with the women of the household of ,ulysses1 speak favourably of the free condition of the sex1 and seem to show1 that it descended even into lower stations4 ,for the ,greek in the heroic age1 marriage was the pivot of life4 ,it took place in the bloom of age3 hence#iac the beautiful expression1 1 ,od4 vi4 #ff1 xx4 #gd4 ,it even marks of itself the age of persons2 ,alcinous has five sons1 three 1 and two 1 7,od4 vi4 #fc73 three youths or bachelors1 and two married4 #iac ,friedreich1 ,realien1 4 #eg4 p4 #bjj4 ,presents were usually brought by the bridegroom1 and dowries sometimes given with the bride4 ,where the two concurred1 the presents may have been either in the nature of compliments1 or intended to meet the expense of the wedding festivities4 ,the absence of the former1 and the occurrence of the latter1 seem each to be more or less in the nature of an exception4 ,with a wife returning to her parents1 the dowry returned also#iad4 ,on the other hand1 to judge from the story of ,vulcan and ,venus1 wherever adultery was committed1 the guilty man was bound to pay a fine#iae4 ,the poems give us several instances where personal gifts and energy served instead of wealth1 as recommendations in suing for a wife#iaf4 ,the drawing of the ,bow affords a conspicuous example of the prevailing ideas4 #iad ,od4 ii4 #acb4 #iae ,od4 viii4 #cbi4 #iaf ,od4 xi4 #bhg4 xiv4 #baj4 ,il4 xiii4 #cfc4 ,upon the whole1 then1 in all that related to forming engagements by marriage1 there seems to have been preserved a large regard to the freedom and dignity of woman#iag4 ,war was doubtless in this respect her great enemy2 she then became the prey of the strongest1 and it is probable that this may have been the most powerful instrument in promoting the extensive introduction of concubinage into ,greece4 #iag ,friedreich1 ,realien1 c4 ,,iii4 ii4 p4 #bjd4 ,with respect to the ceremonial of marriage1 and the nature of its formal engagement1 the ,homeric poems furnish us with scanty evidence4 ,there is no mention1 in fact1 of any promise or vow attending it4 ,the expression 1 in ,od4 iv4 #c1 seems to contain all that would be included by us when we speak of celebrating marriage4 ,not that it was the mere banquet that created the conjugal relation3 it was doubtless the 1 the solemn public acknowledgment1 to which relatives and friends1 and1 in such a case as that of ,hermione1 the public or people of the state1 thus became witnesses4 ,this subject will be further considered in connection with the case of ,briseis4 ,perpetuity of the tie of marriage4 #c4 ,if the mode of entry into the obligations of married life was as simple and indeterminate as we have supposed1 such a want of formalities greatly enhances the strength of the testimony borne by the facts of the heroic age to what may be called the natural perpetuity of the marriage contract4 ,it is a very remarkable circumstance1 that1 of the two great poems of ,homer1 each should in its own way bear emphatic testimony to this great1 and1 for all countries that can bear it1 this most precious law4 ,neither poem presents us with any case of a divorced wife2 of a couple between whom the marriage tie1 after having once been duly formed1 had ceased to subsist4 ,and each poem in its own way raises this negative evidence to a form of the greatest cogency1 from its happening to present the very circumstances under which1 if under any1 the dissolution of the bond would have been acknowledged4 ,in the ,iliad1 the wife of ,menelaus1 his 1 has been living for many years in de facto adultery with ,paris4 ,the line between marriage on the one hand1 and continued cohabitation together with public recognition on the other1 being faintly drawn1 ,helen is familiarly known in ,troy as the wife of ,paris2 so she is called by the ,poet1 and so she calls herself#iah4 ,menelaus1 too1 is described as her former husband#iai4 ,whether this was a mere acquiescence in a certain state of facts1 or the regular result of more relaxed usages respecting marriage in ,troy1 may be doubtful4 ,but it is clear that the view of the ,greeks was directly opposite4 ,they never speak of ,paris as the husband of ,helen4 ,in their estimation1 all the rights of ,menelaus remained entire2 and1 as we shall see1 it appears that1 even while the possession of them was withheld from him1 he acknowledged the reciprocal obligations4 ,nay1 ,hector himself seems to describe ,helen as still the wife of ,menelaus2 ' #ibj4 ,the war was 7so to speak7 juridically founded on the fact1 that the lawful marriage was not dissolved by adultery1 even with the addition of all that followed3 that the relation of ,helen to her ancient husband was unchanged4 ,accordingly1 ,agamemnon recollects with pain1 that if his brother should die1 he will no longer be in a condition to demand her restoration1 and to enforce it by arms1 for his soldiers will forthwith return home#iba4 #iah ,il4 iii4 #dbg4 xxiv4 #gfc4 #iai ,il4 iii4 #adj4 ,of ,deiphobus1 we are never told that he was ,helen's husband3 and he could only for a very short time have had possession of her4 ,the only trace of the connection is that1 when ,helen went down to the horse1 ,deiphobus followed her4 ,od4 iv #bgf4 #ibj ,il4 iii4 #ec4 #iba ,il4 iv4 #afi-ge4 ,the result is in full conformity with this view4 ,when the war ends1 ,helen resumes her place as a matter of course in the house of ,menelaus4 ,she bears it with unconstrained and perfect dignity2 and her relations to her husband carry no mark of the woful interval1 except that its traces indelibly remain in her own penitential shame4 ,it is plain that the ,greeks heartily detested the crime of adultery3 for one of the three great chapters of accusation against the ,suitors is1 that they wooed the wife of ,ulysses in his lifetime#ibb4 ,but it is not less plain that they knew nothing of the idea1 that by that crime it was placed in the power of any person to obtain or to confer a release from the obligations of marriage4 #ibb ,od4 xxii4 #ch4 ,next to adultery1 desertion or prolonged absence has afforded the most favoured plea for the destruction1 so far as human law can destroy it1 of the marriage bond4 ,and indeed it is hardly possible to push the opposite doctrine to its extreme1 and to say that no married person may remarry1 except with demonstrative evidence of the death of the original husband or wife respectively4 ,probably1 however1 no period of the world has exhibited a more stringent application of the doctrine of indissolubility to the case of desertion1 than that on which the plot of the ,odyssey is founded2 where1 after an absence of the husband prolonged to the twentieth year1 ,penelope still waits his return2 prays that death may relieve her from the dread necessity of making a new choice2 and1 thus directed by her own conscience and right feeling1 likewise apprehends condemnation by the public judgment in the event of her proceeding to contract a new engagement#ibc4 #ibc ,od4 xvi4 #ge4 ,the ,heroic age has left no more comely monument1 than its informal1 but instinctive1 and most emphatic sense1 thus recorded for our benefit1 of the sanctity of marriage1 of the closeness of the union it creates1 and of the necessity of perpetuity as an element of its capacity to attain its chief ends1 and to administer a real discipline to the human character4 ,greek ideas of incest4 #d4 ,a further proof of the elevated estimate of marriage among the ,greeks is afforded by their views1 so far as they can be traced1 of the offence termed incest4 ,the ,homeric deities1 indeed1 were released in this respect1 as in others1 from all restraint4 ,eris1 or ,enuo#ibd1 was both the sister and the concubine of ,mars3 ,juno1 the sister and the wife of ,jupiter4 olus#ibe1 though called 1 must have been more than man2 because ,jupiter had made him warden of the ,winds1 which it was his prerogative to confine or to let loose#ibf4 ,and in virtue1 ,i suppose1 of belonging to the class of superior beings1 his six daughters were1 without any consciousness of offence1 the wives1 the 1 of his six sons#ibg4 #ibd ,il4 iv4 #dda4 #ibe ,od4 x4 #b4 #ibf ,od4 x4 #bj4 #ibg ,od4 x4 #g4 ,in ,troy1 ,helen apparently becomes the wife of two brothers in succession4 ,we must not overrate the force of merely negative evidence1 but it will be observed that ,homer does not furnish us with any trace of this usage among the ,greeks4 ,the story of ,phnix probably implies1 that the connection of the same woman with a father and a son was incestuous2 for the full efficacy of the remedy proposed by his mother turns on the supposition1 that there would remain to his father no alternative but incest after ,phnix had gained his object1 and that such an alternative would at once deter him from the love of the stranger4 ,in ,scheria1 ,alcinous is married to ,arete1 the daughter of his elder brother ,rhexenor#ibh4 ,tyro was the wife of ,cretheus1 and was apparently also his niece#ibi4 ,again1 we appear to find in the ,iliad an example of a marriage1 by one shade yet less desirable1 that of a man with his aunt4 ,tydeus1 the father of ,diomed1 was married to a daughter of ,adrastus3 and gialeia the wife of ,diomed1 as she is called 1 was probably his aunt likewise#icj4 #ibh ,od4 vii4 #fe1 #f4 #ibi ,see ,achis1 sect4 ix4 ,od4 xi4 #bce-g4 #icj ,il4 iv4 #aba4 ,we have also among the ,trojans an example of a man's marriage with his aunt4 ,iphidamas1 son of ,antenor#ica1 was brought up in the house of ,cisses his maternal grandfather2 and he contracted a marriage with his mother's sister just before proceeding to the war4 #ica ,il4 xi4 #bbj-f4 ,at the same time1 the law of incest is clearly a progressive one from the infancy of mankind onwards1 and what we have to consider is not so much its precise extent1 as the degree of genuine aversion with which the violation of it is regarded4 ,upon this subject there can be no doubt1 when we read the passage in the ,eleventh ,odyssey respecting the of dipus and ,epicaste1 and the fearful consequences which1 though it was done in ignorance1 it entailed upon them#icb4 ,in principle1 then1 that restriction of the field of choice1 which adds so greatly to the intimacy and firmness of the marriage tie1 was fully recognised in ,greece4 #icb ,od4 xi4 #bga-hj4 ,neither do we want traces in ,homer of that remarkable effect of the unifying power of marriage1 which confers upon each partner in the union an equal and common relation to the family of the other1 by a convention which has so much of the moral strength of fact4 ,the most remarkable of all the indications upon this subject in the poems is that1 which relates to the future life of ,menelaus4 ,he is said to be elected to the honour of a place in the region of ,elysium after this life1 not in virtue of his own merits1 but as being1 through his marriage with ,helen1 the son-in-law of ,jupiter4 ,the recognition of relationships through the wife or husband to the husband or wife respectively1 and the existence of names to describe them1 is a sign of the completeness of the union effected by the marriage tie4 ,that these terms were not merely formal and ceremonious1 we may judge from the speech of ,alcinous3 1 1 1 ' #icc4 #icc ,od4 viii4 #eha-c4 ,now of these words we have the following2 1 for any relative by affinity2 1 1 father-in-law2 1 mother-in-law2 1 brother-in-law2 1 sister-in-law2 1 son-in-law2 1 daughter-in-law2 1 stepmother2 or the lawful wife1 in relation to a spurious son4 ,there is but one real example1 ,eeriba1 of a stepmother in ,homer 7,il4 v4 #chi74 ,and1 lastly1 we have 1 husband's sister-in-law1 a relationship not expressed by any word in the ,english and many other languages4 ,the are always separate from the 4 ,the formation of this large circle of relationships by affinity is the correlative to a well-defined strictness in the marriage law4 ,for these relationships would mean nothing1 but would simply betoken and even breed confusion1 unless marriage were perpetual and incest eschewed4 ,friedreich#icd truly observes1 that the law of incest1 instead of being tightened1 was relaxed at a later period in ,greece2 a very decided mark of moral retrogression1 which cannot be cancelled by all the splendours of her history4 #icd ,realien1 c4 ,,iii4 ii4 ,fidelity in married life4 #e4 ,we come now to the remaining question2 how was this great obligation practically observed in the ,greece of the heroic age8 ,part1 at least1 of the answer is easy to give4 ,by women it was observed admirably4 ,except only in the case of ,anteia1 two generations old1 there is no instance in ,homer of a woman who seeks the breach of it4 ,the forcible or half forcible seduction#ice1 and progressive contamination1 of a part of the unmarried women who belong to the household of ,ulysses1 is one of the three great crimes which draw down from ,heaven such fearful vengeance upon the ,suitors4 ,of the 1 we hear but twice in the poems2 nor can we say that this word meant more than a concubine#icf4 ,among the ,greek chieftains1 cases of homicide are more frequent than those of bastardy4 ,and when such instances are mentioned1 it is not in the hardened manner of later times4 #ice ,od4 xxii4 #cg1 4 #icf ,il4 ix4 #ddi4 ,od4 xiv4 #bjc4 ,it is something at least that1 in such matters1 a nation should be alive to shame4 ,we have various signs that this was so in ,greece4 ,one of them is the tender expression#icg3 #icg ,il4 ii4 #ead1 cf4 xvi #ahd4 1 4 ,it must be remembered1 when we touch upon these morbid parts in human life and nature1 that the society of that period did not avail itself of the expedient of the professional corruption of a part of womankind in order to relieve the virtue of the residue from assault4 ,among the ,greek chieftains and their families1 ,polydore1 a sister of ,achilles1 had a spurious son#ich4 ,nestor#ici sprang from a father of spurious birth4 ,each ,ajax had a spurious brother4 ,only ,menelaus of all the chiefs is mentioned as having himself had an illegitimate son4 ,this son1 who has the touching name of ,megapenthes1 was born to him by a slave1 evidently after the rape of ,helen2 he was apparently recognised in part2 his marriage was celebrated at the same time with that of his legitimate sister ,hermione1 but it was contracted with a person of lower station4 ,he was 1 the last as well as the first2 though ,helen1 owing1 as the ,poet intimates1 to a divine decree1 had no more children1 with whom to console her husband1 after her return from the abduction4 #ich ,il4 xvi4 #age4 #ici ,od4 xi4 #bed4 ,the superior rank conferred by lawful birth is in every case strongly marked2 and this perhaps is the reason why we never find the succession to sovereignty in ,greece disturbed by illegitimate offspring4 ,the great majority of illegitimate births in ,homer are those ascribed to the paternity of deities4 ,it is probable that this extraction may be pleaded to cover sometimes marriages which were conceived to be beneath the station of the woman2 sometimes instances like that of ,astyoche#idj1 when war had both excited passion1 and provided opportunities and victims for its gratification#ida4 ,setting these cases aside1 the cases of illegitimacy in heroic ,greece appear to be rare4 #idj ,il4 ii4 #feh-fj4 #ida ,achis1 or ,ethnology1 ,sect4 ix4 p4 #ecd4 ,at the same time1 instances are found#idb in which a spurious child 7only1 however1 ,i think in the case of a son7 is brought up in a manner approaching to that of the legitimate offspring3 and a certain relationship is acknowledged to exist1 for the wife is said to be 1 or step-mother1 to the illegitimate son4 ,in the case of ,pedus1 it was ,theano1 ,antenor's wife1 who herself educated the bastard3 but it is plain that in ,troas concubinage was far more fully recognised1 than in ,greece4 #idb ,il4 v4 #fi-ga4 ,od4 xiv4 #bjc4 ,agamemnon in the ,first ,iliad1 as we have seen1 when announcing his attention to make ,chryseis a partner of his bed1 by no means treats this concubinage as being what it would have been with ,priam1 a matter of course and requiring no apology1 but founds it upon his preferring her to his wife ,clytemnestra#idc4 #idc ,il4 i4 #aab4 ,in the camp before the walls of ,troy it certainly appears as if by the use of the word 1 prize1 ,homer might1 as it is commonly assumed1 mean to indicate1 for most of the principal chiefs1 that they had captives taken in war for concubines4 ,but the point is far from clear2 and at any rate ,menelaus1 as is observed by ,athenus1 forms an exception#idd4 ,this circumstance affords rather a marked proof of ,greek ideas with respect to the durability of the marriage tie2 for that author is probably right in ascribing it to his being1 as it were1 in the presence of his wife ,helen4 ,this concubinage1 however1 appears to have been single in each case where it prevailed2 or1 if it was otherwise1 ,homer has at least deemed the circumstance unfit to be recorded4 ,there is no sign that the seven ,lesbian damsels of ,il4 ix4 #abh were concubines4 #idd ,athen4 xiii4 #c4 1 4 ,achilles1 after the removal of ,briseis1 had ,diomede#ide for the companion of his couch4 ,but ,briseis appears to have had his attachment in a peculiar degree4 ,he calls her his #idf4 ,it is said that the word may mean a concubine#idg4 ,i do not find any passage in ,homer1 except this of ,il4 ix41 where it may not with the most obvious propriety be translated #8wife4' ,it has its highest force1 no doubt1 in such expressions as and 3 even as we say intensively #8wedded wife4' ,but the term is the standing phrase for wife1 as much as for children2 and it is impossible1 consistently with what we see of the usages of marriage among the ,greeks1 to suppose that the same term was alike applicable to wives and concubines4 ,nor is it necessary to draw such a conclusion from this passage4 ,we might be tempted to suppose1 that ,achilles here puts a strain as it were upon the use of the word1 and for the moment calls ,briseis his wife1 in order to prepare the way for the tremendous and piercing sarcasm which immediately follows#idh3 #ide ,il4 ix4 #ffd4 #idf ,ibid4 #ccf4 #idg ,damm1 ,liddell and ,scott4 ,in ,od4 iv4 #fbc1 ,nitzsch considers that must mean wives of the 4 ,in ,od4 ix4 #aae1 ,i find no reason for departing from the plain meaning of wives4 ,it would be giving too much credit to the ,cyclopes for civilization1 were we to suppose that they recognised a distinction between wife and concubine4 #idh ,il4 ix4 #cdj4 ' 2 ,but we may1 ,i think1 more justly1 and without any resort to figure1 observe1 that the whole argument of this passage turns upon and requires us to suppose his having treated ,briseis as he would have treated a wife4 ,so likewise his declaration1 that every good man loves and cares for his wife1 becomes insipid1 and the whole comparison with the case of ,menelaus senseless1 unless we are to give the force of wife to the name 4 ,probably the explanation may be1 that she was designated for marriage with him2 for in the ,nineteenth ,book1 where she utters a lamentation over ,patroclus1 she declares how that chief kindly encouraged her to bear up in her widowhood and captivity1 promising that she should be the wife of ,achilles1 and that the banquets1 which1 with their attendant sacrifices1 seem to have constituted for the ,homeric ,greeks the ceremonial of marriage1 should be celebrated on their return to ,phthia#idi4 ,i should therefore suppose that we might with strict justice render 1 in ,il4 ix4 #ccf1 #8my bride2' always remembering that we are dealing with a relation that was not governed by rules1 and that might virtually inure by usage only4 #idi ,il4 xix4 #bie-i4 ,the subsequent passage#iej1 in which the hero speaks of marrying some damsel of ,hellas or ,phthia1 is quite consistent with this construction1 for1 as it is plain that no actual marriage had been concluded between them1 his relation to ,briseis terminated with her removal de facto4 ,the same passage1 as well as the custom of ,greece1 makes it reasonable to understand that the mother of ,neoptolemus1 whoever she may have been1 was now dead4 #iej ,il4 ix4 #cie-g4 ,mode of contracting marriage4 ,indeed it is to be remembered all along1 that we are speaking of a state1 rather than an act4 ,we know nothing of a ceremonial of ,homeric marriage beyond the exchange of gifts and the celebration of festivities in connection with the domicile1 neither of which could ordinarily have place in the case of a captive while continuing such4 ,she would grow into a wife in virtue of intention on the part of her lord1 confirmed by habit1 and sealed by a full recognition when the circumstances1 that would alone admit of it1 should have arrived4 ,the concubinage of the ,greek chiefs1 practised as it was during a long absence from home1 bears an entirely different domestic and social character from that of ,priam4 ,it clearly constitutes1 especially if the connections were single1 the mildest and least licentious of all the forms in which the obligations of the marriage tie could be relaxed4 ,the presence of a concubine within the precinct of the family seems to have been differently viewed by the ,greeks2 for here1 and here only1 do we find the disparaging word 7whence the ,latin pellex7 applied to a person in that position4 ,the two cases of it are as follows4 ,in one of them ,ulysses feigns a story of his having been a son of the ,cretan ,castor1 born of a 1 but 7which he mentions as a departure from the general rule7 regarded by his father as much as were his legitimate children#iea4 ,the other is the instance of ,phnix in the ,ninth ,iliad4 ,amyntor his father had an intended or actual concubine2 and1 bestowing his affections on her1 slighted the mother of his child4 ,she1 in resentment or self-defence1 entreated her son ,phnix to cross or anticipate his father#ieb1 and win the woman to his own embraces#iec4 ,he complied2 and thus drew down upon himself the dire wrath and curses of his father1 which kindled his own anger in return2 but he restrained himself from the act of parricide1 and became a fugitive instead4 ,this legend is somewhat obscure2 but it appears to indicate plainly that concubinage was not a recognised institution among the ,greeks1 as it seems to have been among the ,trojans4 #iea ,od4 xiv4 #aii-bjd4 #ieb ,the expression is 4 #iec ,il4 ix4 #ddg1 and seqq4 ,so again1 when ,laertes had purchased ,euryclea#ied1 we are told that he never attempted to make her his concubine1 anticipating the resentment of his wife4 ,it is plain1 therefore1 that this would have been an admitted offence on his part2 and accordingly1 that concubinage was contrary to the ideas of ,greece respecting conjugal obligation4 #ied ,od4 i4 #dcc4 ,dignity of conjugal manners4 ,within the precinct of the ,greek marriages1 which was secured and fenced in the manner we have seen1 there prevailed that tenderness1 freedom1 and elevation of manners1 which was the natural offspring of a system in the main so sound and strict4 ,the general tone of the relations of husband and wife in the ,homeric poems is thoroughly natural2 it is full of dignity and warmth2 a sort of noble deference1 reciprocally adjusted according to the position of the giver and the receiver1 prevails on either side4 ,i will venture to add1 it is full also of delicacy1 though we must be content to distinguish1 in considering this point1 between what is essential and what is conventional1 and must make some allowance for the directness and simplicity of expression that characterized an artless age#iee4 #iee ,see ,friedreich1 ,realien1 c4 ii4 4 #ef4 pp4 #aif-bjj1 where this subject is excellently treated4 ,with this delicacy was combined a not less remarkable freedom in the ,greek manners with respect to women4 ,we find ,penelope appearing in her palace at will1 on all ordinary occasions1 before the ,suitors2 although1 on the other hand1 no woman would be present where any thing like license was to be exhibited1 as we may judge from the case of the lay of ,demodocus in the ,eighth ,odyssey4 ,the general freedom of woman is however most fully exhibited in the case of ,nausicaa4 ,she goes forth into the country with her maidens unattended4 ,when ,ulysses appears there is no fear of him as a man1 or even as a stranger1 but only from his condition at the moment4 ,this difficulty she surmounts with a dignity which she could not have possessed by virtue of her personal character only1 nor except in a case where great liberty was habitually and traditionally enjoyed by women4 ,her arrangement of the manner in which he is to enter the city apart from her1 and her regard in this matter to opinion1 both rest upon the same presumption of her freedom from petty control1 as does her playful demand upon ,ulysses for 1 or salvage4 ,again1 how remarkable it is that ,alcinous1 far from being surprised that his maiden daughter should have entered into conversation with a stranger1 is actually on the point of finding fault with her for not having shown a greater forwardness1 and brought him home in her own company3 a reproach1 from which ,ulysses saves her by his intercession#ief4 #ief ,od4 vii4 #bih1 #cjg4 ,social position of the wife4 ,it is not only from this or that particular1 but it is from the whole tone of the intercourse maintained between men and women1 that we are really to judge what is the social position of the latter4 ,and this tone it is which supplies such conclusive evidence with respect to the age of ,homer4 ,achilles observes1 that love and care#ieg towards a wife are a matter of course with every right-minded man4 ,love and care1 indeed1 may be shown to a pet animal4 ,it is not on the mere words1 therefore1 that we must rest our conclusions2 but upon the spirit in which they are spoken1 and the whole circle of signs with which they are associated4 ,it is on the reciprocity of all those sentiments between man and wife1 father and daughter1 son and mother1 which are connected with the moral dignity of the human being4 ,it is on the confidence exchanged between them1 and the loving liberty of advice and exhortation from the one to the other4 ,the social equality of man and woman is of course to be understood with reserves1 as is that other equality1 which nevertheless indicates a political truth of the utmost importance1 the equality of all classes in the eye of the law4 ,there are differences in the nature and constitution of the two great divisions of the race1 to be met by adaptations of treatment and of occupation2 without such adaptations1 the seeming equality would be partiality alike dangerous and irrational4 ,but1 subject to those reserves1 we find in ,homer the fulness of moral and intelligent being alike consummate1 alike acknowledged1 on the one side and on the other4 ,the conversation of ,hector and ,andromache in the ,sixth ,iliad1 of ,ulysses and ,penelope in the ,twenty-third ,odyssey1 the position of ,arete at the court of ,alcinous1 and that of ,helen in the palace of ,menelaus1 all tell one and the same tale4 ,ulysses1 for example1 where he wishes to convey his supplication in ,scheria to the ,king1 does it by falling at the ,queen's feet3 but she does not supplicate her husband3 the address to her seems to have sufficed4 ,and ,helen appears1 in the palace of ,menelaus1 on such a footing relatively to her husband1 as would perfectly befit the present relations of man and woman4 ,nay1 we may take the speech of ,helen in the ,sixth ,iliad1 addressed to ,hector1 where she touches on the character of ,paris1 as equal to any of them by way of social indication4 ,what we there read is not the sagacity or intelligence of the speaker1 but it is the right of the wife 7so to call her7 to speak about the character of her husband and its failings1 her acknowledged possession of the standing ground from which she can so speak1 and speak with firmness1 nay1 even with an authority of her own4 #ieg ,il4 ix4 #cda4 ,when we see ,briseis1 the widow of a prince1 sharing the bed of ,achilles1 and delivered over as a slave into the hands of ,agamemnon1 when we find ,hector anticipating that ,andromache might be required to perform menial offices for a ,greek mistress1 and ,nestor encouraging the army not to quit ,troy until they had forced the ,trojan matrons into their embraces1 we are struck with pity and horror4 ,but we must separate between the danger and suffering which uniformly dogs the weak in times of violence1 most of all1 too1 after the sack of a city1 and what belongs to the age of ,homer in particular4 ,after this separation has been effected1 there remains nothing which ought to depress our views of the position of woman in the heroic age4 ,the sons of ,priam1 princes of ,troy1 were sold into captivity by ,achilles as he took them#ieh3 of course the purchasers put them to menial employments4 ,not only so1 but ,eumus1 the faithful swineherd and slave of ,ulysses1 was by birth royal3 his father ,ctesios was king of two wealthy and happy cities#iei4 ,from the name 1 it would appear probable that she also1 the chamber-woman of the palace of ,alcinous1 though a captive1 was of noble birth#ifj4 #ieh ,il4 xxi4 #dj4 #iei ,od4 xv4 #dac4 #ifj ,od4 vii4 #h4 ,there is not in the whole of the poems an instance of rude or abusive manners towards woman as such1 or of liberties taken with them in the course of daily life4 ,if ,melantho gets hard words1 it is not as a woman1 but for her vice and insolence4 ,the conduct of the ,ithacan ,suitors to ,penelope1 as it is represented in the ,odyssey1 affords the strongest evidence of the respect in which women were held4 ,her son had been a child3 there was no strong party of adherents to the family2 yet the highflown insolence of the ,suitors1 demanding that she should marry again1 is kept at bay for years1 and never proceeds to violence4 ,force of conjugal attachments4 ,we find throughout the poems those signs of the overpowering force of conjugal attachments which1 from all that has preceded1 we might expect4 ,while admitting the superior beauty of ,calypso as an ,immortal1 ,ulysses frankly owns to her that his heart is pining every day for ,penelope#ifa4 ,it is the highest honour of a hero to die fighting on behalf of his wife and children4 ,the continuance of domestic happiness1 and the concord of man and wife1 is a blessing so great1 that it excites the envy of the gods1 and they interrupt it by some adverse dispensation#ifb4 ,and no wonder2 for nothing has earth to offer better1 than when man and wife dwell together in unity of spirit3 their friends rejoice1 their foes repine3 the human heart has nothing more to desire#ifc4 ,there is here apparently involved that great and characteristic idea of the conjugal relation1 that it includes and concentrates in itself all other loves4 ,and this very idea is expressed by ,andromache1 where1 after relating the slaughter of her family by ,achilles1 she tells ,hector1 #8,hector1 nay but thou art for me a father1 and a mother1 and a brother1 as well as the husband of my youth#ifd4' ,to which he in the same spirit of enlarged attachment replies1 by saying that neither the fate of ,troy1 which he sees approaching1 nor of ,hecuba1 nor of ,priam1 nor of his brothers1 can move his soul like the thought1 that ,andromache will as a captive weave the web1 and bear the pitcher1 for some dame of ,messe or of ,hypereia#ife4 #ifa ,od4 v4 #bae4 #ifb ,od4 xxiii4 #baj4 #ifc ,od4 vi4 #ahj-e4 #ifd ,il4 vi4 #dbi1 #cj4 ,compare the following3 ,domino suo1 im ,patri2 conjugi suo1 im ,fratri2 ancilla sua1 im filia3 ipsius uxor1 im soror2 ,ablardo1 ,heloissa4 ,abl4 ,opp4 #ife ,il4 vi4 #dej-g4 ,woman-characters of ,homer4 ,with the pictures which we thus find largely scattered over the poems1 of the relations of woman to others1 the characters which ,homer has given us of woman herself are in thorough harmony4 ,among his living characters we do not find the viragos1 the termagants1 the incarnate fiends1 of the later legends4 ,nay1 the woman of ,homer never dreams of using violence1 even as a protection against wrong4 ,it must be admitted1 that he does not even present to us the heroine in any more pronounced form1 than that of the moral endurance of ,penelope4 ,the heroine proper1 the ,joan of ,arc1 is certainly a noble creation3 but yet one perhaps implying a state of things more abnormal1 than that which had been reached by the ,greeks of the ,homeric age4 ,the pictures of women1 which ,homer presents to us1 are perfect pictures2 but they are pictures simply of mothers1 matrons1 sisters1 daughters1 maidens1 wives4 ,the description which the ,poet has given us of the violence and depravity of ,clytemnestra1 is the genuine counterpart of his high conception of the nature of woman#iff3 #iff ,od4 xi4 #dbg4 1 4 ,for1 in proportion as that nature is elevated and pure1 does it become more shameful and degraded when1 by a total suppression of its better instincts1 it has been given over to wickedness4 ,of the minor infirmities of our nature1 as well as of its grosser faults1 the women of ,homer betray much less than the men4 ,nowhere has he introduced into a prominent position the character of a vicious woman4 ,the only instance of the kind is among a portion of the female attendants in the palace of ,ulysses1 where1 out of fifty1 no more than twelve were at last the willing tools1 having at first#ifg been the reluctant victims1 of the lust of the proud and rapacious band of ,suitors4 ,clytemnestra1 indeed1 appears as a lofty criminal in the perspective of the poem1 but her wickedness1 too1 is wholly derivative4 gisthus corrupts her by a long course of effort1 for1 as ,homer informs us1 she had been a right-minded person2 ' #ifh4 ,on the one side we have only to place her and the saucy slut ,melantho2 on the other1 we have ,andromache1 ,hecuba1 and ,briseis in the ,iliad2 in the ,odyssey1 ,penelope and ,euryclea1 ,arete and ,nausicaa2 the slightly drawn figures1 such as that of the mother of ,ulysses in the ,eleventh ,odyssey1 are in the same spirit as the more full delineations4 ,there is not a single case in the poems to qualify the observation1 first1 that the woman of ,homer is profoundly feminine3 secondly1 that she is commonly the prop of virtue1 rarely the instrument1 and 7in this reversing the order of the first temptation7 never the source1 of corruption4 #ifg ,od4 xxii4 #cg4 #ifh ,od4 iii4 #bff4 ,in company with all that we have seen1 we likewise find that the limits of the position of woman are carefully marked1 and that she fully comprehends them4 ,there is nowhere throughout the poems a single effort at self-assertion3 the ground that she holds1 she holds without dispute4 ,if at any point a stumblingblock could be likely to be found1 it would be between a mother just parting with her authority1 and a son newly come of age4 ,yet ,penelope and ,telemachus never clash1 and thoroughly understand one another4 ,again1 the ,homeric man1 even the ,homeric good man1 is sometimes the subject of hasty1 vehement1 and tumultuous passions2 the woman never4 ,she finds her power in gentleness2 she rules with a silken thread2 she is eminent for the uniformity of her self-command1 and for the observance of measure in all the relations of life4 ,the misogynism which marked ,euripides and other later writers has1 and could have1 no place in ,homer3 the moral standard of his women is higher than that of his men2 their office1 which they perform without fault1 is to love and to minister1 and their reward to lean on those whom they serve4 ,the lower aspect of the relation between the two sexes is in the poems wholly secondary4 ,all that tends to sensualize it is commonly repelled or hidden1 and1 when brought into mention at all1 is yet carefully and anxiously depressed4 ,even the cases of exception1 which lie beyond the pale of marriage1 are kept in a certain analogy with it1 and are as far as possible removed from the promiscuous and brutal indulgence1 which marked the later ,pagan ages1 including those of the greatest pride and splendour1 and which still so deeply taints the societies of ,christendom4 ,we may find1 if it be needed1 some further evidence of the high position of woman upon earth in the relation subsisting between the ,homeric gods and goddesses respectively4 ,for that relation approaches as nearly as may be to equality in force and intelligence1 while in purity the latter are on the whole superior4 ,after ,jupiter1 the deities most elevated in ,homer are1 ,juno and ,minerva1 ,neptune and ,apollo2 and of all these1 ,i think1 we must consider ,minerva to have stood first in his estimation4 ,this arrangement could not but harmonize with1 while it also serves to measure1 his ideas of the earthly place and character of woman4 ,a similar inference is suggested by the tendency of the ,greeks to enshrine many ideas1 sometimes great1 and occasionally both great and good1 in feminine impersonations4 ,we will1 lastly1 inquire into the employments of women in the heroic age2 both to ascertain how nearly they could approach to the summits of society1 and also what was their general share in the division of occupations4 ,women were admitted to sovereignty4 ,among nations where war1 homicide1 and piracy so extensively prevailed1 it is certainly deserving of peculiar consideration1 that we should find any traces of the exercise of sovereignty by a woman4 ,there are however three cases in the poems1 which in a greater or less degree serve to imply that it was neither unknown nor wholly unfamiliar4 #a4 ,andromache states1 that her mother was queen in ,hypoplacian ,thebes4 ,the word is #ifi4 ,it implies more than being the mere wife of a king2 though1 as it was during the life time of her husband ,eetion1 we cannot justly infer from it that there was here any exercise of independent sovereign power4 ,it is the only instance in the ,iliad1 where we have any word1 that has for its basis1 applied to a woman4 #ifi ,il4 vi4 #dbe4 #b4 ,the common tradition is1 that ,jason acquired possession of ,lemnos by marriage with ,hypsipyle its queen4 ,this is so far supported by ,homer that1 while ,jason clearly appears in the poems as a ,greek1 we notwithstanding find his son sovereign of ,lemnos1 without any indication of a conquest or regular migration1 and ,hypsipyle is mentioned as his mother4 ,the simple fact that the mother1 contrary to ,homer's usual practice1 is in this case named as well as the father1 raises a presumption that it is because she had reigned in the island#igj4 #igj ,il4 vii4 #dfh1 #i4 ,in the ,eleventh ,odyssey we are told that ,neleus1 the younger of the two illegitimate sons of ,tyro1 came to dwell in ,pylos1 and that he married ,chloris1 the youngest daughter of ,amphion an ,iasid1 giving large presents to obtain her hand#iga4 ,the text proceeds1 #iga ,od4 xi4 #bed-g1 #bha-e4 1 4 ,this may mean that she became his queen when he was king of ,pylos3 or it may mean that he became her husband when she was already queen there4 ,the ,odyssey discloses to us the manner in which1 under circumstances like those of the ,trojan war1 sovereign power would naturally pass into female hands otherwise than by inheritance4 ,it would appear that1 when ,agamemnon set sail for ,troy1 he left ,clytemnestra in charge of his affairs as well as of his young son ,orestes1 only taking the precaution to provide her with a trustworthy counsellor in the person of his ,bard#igb4 ,as it was by inveigling ,clytemnestra that gisthus obtained the sovereign power1 she must evidently have been its depository4 #igb ,od4 iii4 #bfc-h4 ,in like manner it would appear1 that ,penelope was left in charge of ,telemachus by ,ulysses when he went to ,troy1 and that ,mentor was appointed to perform for her some such friendly office1 as that which the ,bard undertook for ,clytemnestra4 ,the statement here is1 that ,ulysses committed to him authority over his whole household#igc4 ,but it is plain that ,penelope had the indoor management2 since ,telemachus speaks of the mode in which she regulated the reception of strangers#igd1 and we hear of her rule in other matters#ige4 ,here we see openings for the natural formation of the word 1 which seems originally to have meant1 not a king's wife merely1 but a woman in the actual exercise of royal authority2 and which first appears in the ,odyssey4 #igc ,od4 ii4 #bbe-g4 #igd ,od4 xx4 #abi-cc4 comp4 xix1 #cag4 sqq4 #ige ,od4 xxii4 #dbf1 #g4 ,the ordinary occupation of women of the highest rank in the poems is undoubtedly to sit engaged1 along with their maidens of the household1 in spinning1 weaving1 or embroidery4 ,thus we find it with ,helen1 ,penelope1 and ,andromache4 ,but when ,hector bids ,andromache retire to these duties1 he speaks of them in contradistinction not to all other duties1 but to war1 which1 as he says1 is the affair of men4 ,even this rule1 however1 was subject to exception4 ,the ,bellerophon of ,homer fights with the ,amazons#igf2 and the part taken by the goddesses in the ,theomachy shows1 that the idea of women-soldiers was not wholly strange to his mind2 as it is in fact to this day1 ,i believe1 less attractively exemplified in the ,african kingdom of ,dahomey4 ,but manual employments1 taken alone1 would not afford a just criterion4 ,the dialogues of the speeches clearly show that then1 as now1 the woman was concerned in all that concerned her husband4 #igf ,il4 vi4 #ahf4 ,and to the service of the gods4 ,next to political supremacy1 we may naturally inquire how far women were qualified for the service of the gods4 ,we have various signs1 more or less clear1 of their sharing in it4 ,the reference to the ,nurses of ,dionysus cannot be wholly without force in this direction4 ,the abstraction of ,alcyone by ,apollo has probably a more positive connection with female ministry4 ,but we are provided1 as far as ,troy at least is concerned1 with one clear and conclusive instance4 ,the ,sixth ,iliad affords us a glimpse of a female priesthood1 and a worship confined to women1 that subsisted among the ,trojans4 ,helenus1 alarmed at the feats of ,diomed1 urges ,hector to desire ,hecuba to collect the aged women for a procession to the temple of ,athene1 with a robe for a gift1 and with the promise of a hecatomb 7,il4 vi4 #ge-aja74 ,hector then acquaints the troops1 that he was going to desire the old counsellors and the matrons of the city to supplicate the deities1 and to promise hecatombs 7iii4 #ae74 ,there seems to be something of policy in the way in which he thus generalizes1 for the army1 his account of the design3 perhaps afraid of the effect that might be produced by its peculiar character4 ,when he finds ,hecuba1 he lays upon her precisely the injunction that ,helenus had recommended4 ,she sends her female servants to collect the aged women through the city 7#bhf1 #g74 ,she leads them to the temple of ,athene in the citadel4 ,they are there received by ,theano1 who had been appointed1 apparently by the ,trojan public#igg1 priestess to that deity4 ,theano takes the robe from ,hecuba1 and herself offers it and prays4 ,her prayer is for the city1 and not for the men by name1 but for the wives and infants3 and her promise is1 we will sacrifice1 1 twelve1 not oxen1 but heifers1 yearlings1 untouched by the goad 7,il4 vi4 #bif-caj74 ,thus the feminine element runs apart through the whole4 #igg ,eustath4 in loc4 ,we have no reason to conclude that this order of things was exceptional2 for though the time was one of peculiar danger and emergency1 the temple1 the worship1 and the priesthood stand before us as belonging to the regular institutions of ,troy4 ,we have no case like that of ,theano among the ,greeks4 ,it could1 indeed1 hardly be expected2 as priesthood had not yet grown to be an ,hellenic institution4 ,yet1 while the direct force of the narrative speaks for ,troy alone1 we are justified in giving it a more general significance1 because the ,greek woman is apparently rather before than behind the ,trojan one in influence1 and in the substantiveness of her position4 ,in the ,trojan genealogy#igh no notice is taken of women2 nor have we any means of judging whether they were regarded as capable of succession to the throne1 or what was their political and historical importance4 ,but among the ,greek races this was clearly great4 ,the large number of women whom ,homer has introduced in the realm of ,aides1 and the parts assigned to them1 are plain indications of their important share in the movement of ,greek history4 #igh ,il4 xx4 #bae-dj4 ,their household employments4 ,the apportionment of the ordinary employments of women appears to have been managed in general accordance with the suppositions1 towards which all the foregoing facts would lead us4 ,we have them indicated in a great variety of passages of the poems1 from among which we may select two in particular4 ,the first relates to ,circe and her attendant ,nymphs2 but we may take it as an exact copy of the arrangements of a prince's household4 ,circe has four female servants1 who are called 4 ,the first provides the seats with the proper coverings2 the second prepares and lays the tables2 the third mixes the wine and brings the goblets2 the fourth carries water1 and lights the fire to boil it#igi4 #igi ,od4 x4 #cdh-ei4 ,the second passage exhibits to us the household of ,ulysses at the break of day1 when the in-door and out-door servants are setting about their morning duties4 ,there were fifty women servants4 ,of these twelve were employed as flour-grinders 772 and this appears to have been the most laborious employment among all those assigned to women4 ,eleven of the twelve have finished their task and retired to rest2 the twelfth remains till the morning at her work1 and curses the ,suitors who cause her such fatigue#ihj4 #ihj ,od4 xx4 #aje4 ,cf4 xxii4 #dba4 ,it is now dawn#iha4 ,part of the maid-servants are lighting the fire4 ,the old but active ,euryclea is up betimes1 and has#ihb the place of housekeeper4 ,she desires a part of them to set smartly about sweeping the house1 and putting the proper covers on the furniture2 another part are to wipe the tables and the cups2 a third bevy1 no fewer than twenty in number1 are dispatched for water#ihc4 #iha ,od4 xx4 #abb4 #ihb ,od4 xxii4 #dbe4 #ihc ,ibid4 #adi-ef1 #aeh4 ,meantime the men-servants 7 or 7#ihd of the ,suitors have made their appearance1 and they set about preparing logs for the fire4 ,then come in from the country the swineherd with his swine1 the goatherd with his goats2 and1 from over the water1 the cowherd with his cow1 and with more goats4 #ihd ,od4 xvi4 #bdh1 #ec4 xx4 #afj4 ,taking the general evidence of the poems1 it stands thus4 ,of agricultural operations1 we find women sharing only in the lighter labours of the vintage#ihe2 or perhaps acting as shepherdesses#ihf4 ,the men plough1 sow1 reap1 tend cattle and live stock generally2 they hunt and they fish2 and they carry to the farm the manure that is accumulated about the house#ihg4 #ihe ,il4 xviii4 #efg4 #ihf ,such seems to be the most probable meaning of ,il4 xxii4 #abf-h4 #ihg ,od4 xvii4 #bii4 ,within doors1 the women seem to have the whole duty in their hands1 except the preparation of firewood and of animal food4 ,the men kill1 cut up1 dress1 and carve the animals that are to be eaten4 ,the women1 on the other hand1 spin1 weave1 wash the clothes1 clean the house1 grind the corn1 bake the bread and serve it#ihh1 with all the vegetable or mixed food1 or what may be called made dishes#ihi 7 74 ,they also prepare the table1 and hand the ewer with the basin for washing4 ,and a portion of them act as immediate attendants to the mistress of the palace1 ,andromache1 ,penelope1 or ,helen4 #ihh ,od4 iv4 #fbc4 #ihi ,od4 vii4 #agb-f1 et alibi4 ,their service about the bath4 ,thus far all is easy and becoming2 but an apparent difficulty confronts us when we find1 that it was the usage for women to undertake certain duties connected with the bathing of men4 ,sometimes this was done by servants2 thus it was managed for ,telemachus and ,pisistratus in the palace of ,menelaus1 and for ,ulysses in that of the ,phacian king4 ,on the other hand1 it was sometimes an office of hospitality rendered by women1 and even by young damsels1 of the highest rank1 to distinguished strangers of their own age or otherwise4 ,polycaste1 the young and fair daughter of ,nestor1 7as the text is commonly interpreted17 bathed and anointed ,telemachus1 and put on him a cloak and vest#iij4 ,helen herself1 when she was living in ,troy1 performed the like offices for ,ulysses1 on the occasion of his mission thither in the disguise of a beggar#iia3 #iij ,od4 iii4 #dfd-h4 #iia ,od4 iv4 #beb4 ' 1 4444 ,and lastly1 the goddess ,circe discharged the very same function1 with some addition to the description1 on behalf of ,ulysses her visitor4 ,for here it is explicitly stated1 that she poured water over his head and shoulders#iib3 #iib ,od4 x4 #cfa4 ' ' 1 1 4 ,this usage has given occasion1 as was perhaps to be expected1 to much criticism#iic upon the immodest habits of ,homer and his age4 ,pains have also been taken in their defence#iid4 ,and certainly1 if there be need of a defence1 ,eustathius does not supply one by pleading1 that it was the custom of the time1 and that the ,pylian princess doubtless acted by the command of her father#iie4 ,what is wanted appears to me not to be defence1 but simply the clearing away of misapprehensions as to the facts4 #iic ,see ,pope on ,od4 iii4 #dfd-h4 #iid ,ngelsbach1 ,hom4 ,theol4 v4 #cd4 #iie ,eustath4 in loc4 #adgg4 ,it would assuredly be strange1 were we to detect real immodesty among such women of the heroic age as ,homer has described to us2 or even among such men4 ,at a period when the exposure1 among men only1 of the person of a man constituted the last extremity of shameful punishment#iif1 and when even in circumstances of the utmost necessity ,ulysses exhibited so much care to avoid anything of the kind#iig1 it is almost of itself incredible that habitually1 among persons of the highest rank and character1 and without any necessity at all1 such things should take place4 ,and1 as it is not credible1 so neither1 ,i think1 is it true4 #iif ,il4 ii4 #bfj-d4 #iig ,od4 vi4 #abf-h4 ,it may be observed1 that there is no case of ablution thus performed in the ,iliad4 ,but this appears to be only for the same reason1 as that which makes the meals of the camp more simple1 than those which were served in the tranquillity of peace and home4 ,explanations of the presumed difficulty4 ,the words commonly employed by ,homer in this matter refer to two separate parts of the operation3 first1 the bathing and anointing1 then the dressing4 ,they are commonly for the first and 3 for the second 1 with the names of the proper vestments added 7,od4 iii4 #dfg72 #iih 4 #iih ,or 1 as in ,od4 x4 #cfe4 ,but the whole question1 in my view1 really depends upon this3 whether the verbs used mean the performance of a particular operation1 or the giving to the person concerned the means of doing it for himself4 ,just as by feeding the poor1 we mean giving them wherewithal to feed themselves4 ,this is the suggestion of ,wakefield#iii1 and ,i believe it to be the satisfactory and conclusive solution of the whole question4 ,we might be prevailed upon to travel a good way in company with ,heroic simplicity1 and yet not quite be able to reach the point which the opposite interpretation would require4 #iii ,on ,pope1 ,od4 iii4 #dfd-h4 ,i think that the construction1 which ,i have indicated as the proper one1 is conclusively made good1 first by the general rules for the sense of the words 1 1 and kindred words in ,homer3 and secondly1 by the detailed evidence of facts4 ,when the guests at a feast wash their hands1 the standard expression is in the middle voice1 ' 4 ,when ,ulysses and ,diomed washed in the sea1 the expression is 3 when they afterwards bathed and anointed themselves1 it is 1 1 #ajjj4 ,to smear arrows with poison is #ajja4 ,for the maidens of ,nausicaa1 when they bathe and are anointed1 we have and #ajjb4 ,in fact the usage is general4 #ajjj ,il4 x4 #egb-g4 #ajja ,od4 i4 #bfb4 #ajjb ,od4 vi4 #if2 cf4 #bai1 #bj4 ,the case stands rather differently with 4 ,here the active usage is1 ,i believe1 the common one4 ,but there is ample authority for the converse or active use of the middle voice1 which corresponds with the middle use of the active4 ,as for instance1 ' ' #ajjc4 #ajjc ,il4 x4 #ccc4 ,cf4 ,od4 xi4 #dbg4 ,there can therefore surely be no reason to doubt that in this place follows the inclination of the leading words of the passages1 and signifies1 that as the water and the oil1 so likewise the fresh clothing to put on1 were given by the damsel for the purpose1 but by no means that the operations1 or any of them1 were actually performed by her4 ,if the word meant #8to put on1' there would be1 as ,eustathius#ajjd observes1 an 1 for the was as a matter of course put on before the 4 ,but if it means #8to give for the purpose of putting on1' then there is no solecism in the mode of expression4 #ajjd ,on ,od4 iii4 #dfg4 ,we must not1 however1 pass by the case of ,circe in the ,tenth ,odyssey1 where1 as we have seen1 it is stated that the water was actually poured by the ,sorceress over the head and shoulders of ,ulysses4 ,it is also true that the old word 1 equivalent to 1 is used there in the active voice4 ,upon this ,i observe three things3 #a4 ,the statement that the water was poured over his head and shoulders1 as he sat in the bath1 evidently implies that what may be called essential decency was preserved4 #b4 ,even if it were not so1 we could not in this point argue from the manners or morals of a ,phnician goddess to those of a ,greek damsel4 #c4 ,the meaning probably of is middle1 in this as well as in the other cases3 she gave him water to wash with1 pouring it over his head and shoulders1 and then leaving to him the substance of the operation1 which was not completed by this mere act of affusion4 ,case of ,ulysses landed in ,scheria4 ,finally1 let us consider the evidence from the case of ,ulysses in ,scheria1 which appears of itself conclusive4 #a4 ,in ,od4 vii4 #bif4 ,ulysses says that ,nausicaa 7according to the popular construction of the term7 bathed him3 ' 4 #b4 ,but from ,od4 vi4 #baj1 we find that what she did was not to bathe him1 but to give orders to her attendants that he should be bathed1--that is1 should be provided with the requisites for bathing4 ,her words were1 ' 1 ' ' 4 #c4 ,upon this they took him to a recess1 gave him clothing and oil1 and bid him bathe himself1 ' 3 upon which he requested them to stand off1 as otherwise he could not proceed3 ' 7ibid4 #bah-bb74 ,it would appear therefore1 that the statements of ,homer give no ground whatever for sinister or disparaging imputation4 ,his pictures do not entirely correspond with modern ideas3 but they may well leave on our minds the impression that1 in the period he described1 if the standard of appearances in this department was lower1 that of positive thought and action was higher1 as well as simpler1 than in our own day4 ,we have now concluded what it seemed needful to say on the employments of women4 ,subsequent declension of the place of woman4 ,it was1 however1 little likely that a state of things1 such as has been described1 should last4 ,the idea of marriage was in aftertimes greatly lowered1 together with the moral tone in general2 and the very name of 1 with its kindred words1 underwent a change of sense1 and was made applicable to such a relation as that established between the ,greek chieftains in the war of ,troy and their captives in cases where they had wives already#ajje4 #ajje ,the case of ,achilles1 who calls ,briseis his wife1 and who had no other1 has been already discussed4 ,thus1 in the ,hecuba of ,euripides1 as the mother of ,cassandra1 she intercedes with ,agamemnon to avenge the murder of her son ,polydorus1 on the ground that the youth had become a 1 or relation by affinity to ,agamemnon1 who had a wife already#ajjf3 #ajjf ,hecuba1 #hag4 4 ,and1 in the ,troades1 ,cassandra has with ,agamemnon certain 7#beh72 and again1 #ajjg4 #ajjg ,ibid4 #dd4 cf4 ver4 #ceh4 ,similar language is used in the case of ,andromache#ajjh4 ,the ideas of the heroic age would have admitted no such depravation of marriage4 #ajjh ,ibid4 #gbd4 ,in truth it would seem not only as if1 before ,christianity appeared1 notwithstanding the advance of civilization1 the idea and place of woman were below what they should have been1 but actually as if1 with respect to all that was most essential1 they sank with the lapse of time4 ,the contrast between the views of the marriage state entertained in the heroic age1 and at the period which we regard as the acm of the ,greek civilization1 will1 perhaps1 be best conceived by referring to the passage ascribed to ,demosthenes1 as it is quoted by ,athenus1 which explains succinctly the several uses of prostitutes1 concubines1 and wives1 apparently as classes all alike recognised1 and without any note of a moral difference in their social position and repute respectively4 ,the first are for pleasure1 the second for daily use1 the last for legitimate offspring1 and for good housekeeping#ajji4 #ajji ,athenus xiii4 #ca4 ,dllinger ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 ix4 #ca4 ,and yet it continued to be1 in the time of ,aristotle1 a favourable distinction of ,greece as compared with the barbarians1 that the woman was not with them equivalent to the slave4 ,throughout their history they continued to be a nation of monogamists1 except where they became locally tainted with oriental manners#ajaj4 #ajaj ,arist4 ,pol4 ,i4 ii4 #d4 ,dllinger ix4 #be4 ,again1 ,aristotle1 in the ,nicomachean ,ethics1 taking a general survey of the relation between man and wife1 describes it as a government indeed1 but as analogous to that natural and perfect form of government which he terms aristocracy4 ,it is founded on merit and fitness4 ,the man leaves to the woman all for which she is best suited1 and each kind contributes its particular gifts to make up the common stock4 ,there was much1 then1 of solidity1 and permanence in the ground secured for the ,greek woman by the heroic age4 ,but the philosopher1 sagacious and dispassionate as he is1 had still a much less elevated view of her position than ,homer had exhibited4 ,there may#ajaa1 he says1 be in a tragedy a good or bad woman1 a good or a bad slave2 there is room for variety even in these2 4 ,no such classification1 no such comparison1 could have found place in the heroic age4 ,yet more remarkable is the little postscript assigned to the widows of the dead in the funeral oration assigned by ,thucydides to ,pericles3 8,if ,i must also say a few words1 for you that are now widows1 concerning what constitutes the merit of a woman1 ,i will sum up all in one short admonition4 ,it will be much for your character not to sink beneath your own actual nature 7 72 and to be as little talked about as possible among men1 whether for praise or for dispraise#ajab40 #ajaa ,aristot4 ,poet4 c4 #bh4 #ajab ,thuc4 ii4 #de4 ,,sect4 ,x4 ,the office of the ,homeric ,poems in relation to that of the early ,books of ,holy ,scripture4 ,even if they are regarded in no other light than as literary treasures1 the position1 both of the oldest books among the ,sacred ,scriptures1 and1 next to them1 of the ,homeric poems1 is so remarkable1 as not only to invite1 but to command the attention of every inquirer into the early condition of mankind4 ,each of them opens to us a scene1 of which we have no other literary knowledge4 ,each of them is1 either wholly or in a great degree1 isolated2 and cut off from the domain of history1 as it is commonly understood4 ,each of them was preserved with the most jealous care by the nation to which they severally belonged4 ,by far the oldest of known compositions1 and with conclusive proof upon the face of them that their respective origins were perfectly distinct and independent1 they1 notwithstanding1 seem to be in no point contradictory1 while in many they are highly confirmatory of each other's genuineness and antiquity4 ,still1 as historical representations1 and in a purely human aspect1 they are greatly different4 ,the ,holy ,scriptures are like a thin stream1 beginning from the very fountain-head of our race1 and gradually1 but continuously finding their way through an extended solitude1 into times otherwise known1 and into the general current of the fortunes of mankind4 ,the ,homeric poems are like a broad lake outstretched in the distance1 which provides us with a mirror of one particular age and people1 alike full and marvellous1 but which is entirely dissociated by an interval of many generations from any other records1 except such as are of the most partial and fragmentary kind4 ,in respect of the influence which they have respectively exercised upon mankind1 it might appear almost profane to compare them4 ,in this point of view1 the ,scriptures stand so far apart from every other production1 on account of their great offices in relation to the coming of the ,redeemer1 and to the spiritual training of mankind1 that there can be nothing either like or second to them4 ,but undoubtedly1 after however wide an interval1 the ,homeric poems thus far at least stand in a certain relation to the ,scriptures1 that no other work of man can be compared to them4 ,their immediate influence has been great2 but that influence which they have mediately exercised through their share in shaping the mind and nationality of ,greece1 and again1 through ,greece upon the world1 cannot readily be reduced to measure3 ,les vraies origines de l'esprit humain sont l2 tous les nobles de l'intelligence y retrouvent la patrie de leurs pres#ajac4 ,insomuch that1 passing over the vast interval between those purposes which concern salvation1 and every other purpose connected with man1 this remains to be admitted1 that there is a relative parallelism between the oldest ,holy ,scriptures and the works of ,homer4 ,for each of them stands at the head of the class of powers to which they respectively belong2 and the minor seems to present to our view1 as well as the major one1 the indications of a distinct ,providential aim that was to be attained through its means4 #ajac ,renan1 tudes d',histoire ,religieuse1 p4 #dj4 ,the relation1 however1 of the ,homeric poems to the earlier portion of the ,sacred ,scriptures1 appears to me to be capable of being represented in a more determinate form than it assumes when they are merely compared as being respectively the oldest known compositions1 and as each confirming the testimony of the other by numerous coincidences of manners4 ,providential functions of ,greece and ,rome4 ,for the ,eastern world1 it is1 ,i suppose1 generally acknowledged that we ought to regard ,mahometanism as having had1 no less than ,judaism1 a place1 though doubtless a very different place1 in the determinate counsels of ,god4 ,so in the ,west1 we must view the extraordinary developments1 which human nature received1 both individually and in its social forms1 among the ,greeks and ,romans1 as having been intended to fulfil high ,providential purposes4 ,they supplied materials for the intellectual and social portions of that ,european civilization1 which derives its spiritual substance from the ,christian ,faith4 ,and they wrought out solutions apparently conclusive for the questions which absolutely required an answer1 as to the capacity or incapacity of man1 when without the aid of especial divine light and guidance1 to work out his own happiness and peace4 ,that ,divine ,word1 which tells us that the ,redeemer came in the fulness of time1 indirectly points to the great transactions which filled the space of ages since the ,fall1 when time was not yet full2 and the greatest of all those great transactions surely were the parts played by ,greece and ,rome1 as the representatives of humanity at large in its most vigorous developments4 ,they too1 as well as the discipline of the ,jewish people1 doubtless belonged to the ,divine plan4 ,all these varied manifestations may differ much in their character and rank1 but yet1 like the body1 soul1 and spirit of a man1 they are to be referred to one origin1 and they are integrants to one another4 ,just in the same manner with the parallel currents of historical events1 it would appear that the early ,scriptures and the ,homeric poems combine to make up for us a sufficiently complete form of the primitive records of our race4 ,the ,scriptures of the ,old ,testament give us the history of the line1 in which the promise of the ,messiah was handed down4 ,but the intellectual and social developments of man are there represented in the simplest and the slightest1 nay1 even in the narrowest forms4 ,with the exception of ,solomon1 who1 in spite of his wisdom1 was enticed away from ,god by lust1 and of the two illustrious specimens of uncorrupted piety in the midst of dangerous power1 ,joseph and ,daniel1 ,i know not whether we can1 on the authority of ,holy ,scripture1 point to any character of the ,mosaic or ,judaic history as great in any other sense1 than as the organs of that ,almighty ,one1 with whom nothing human is either great or small4 ,it is plain that if we bring the leading characters of that history into contrast with the ,achilles or the ,ulysses of ,homer1 and with his other marked personages1 these latter undoubtedly give us a representation and development of human nature1 and of man in his social relations1 that ,scripture from its very nature could not supply4 ,each has its own function to perform1 so that there is no room for competition between them1 and it is better to avoid comparison altogether2 and to decline to consider the legislation of ,moses as a work to be compared either with the heroic institutions1 or with systems like those of ,lycurgus or of ,solon4 ,we then obtain a clear view of it as a scheme evidently constructed not alone with human but with superhuman wisdom1 if only we measure it in reference to its very peculiar end4 ,that end was not to give political lessons to mankind1 which are more aptly supplied elsewhere4 ,it was to fence in1 with the ruder materials of the ceremonial and municipal law1 a home1 within which the succession of true piety and enlightened faith might be preserved2 a garden wherein the ,lord ,god might1 so to speak1 still walk as ,he had walked of old1 and take ,his delight with the sons of men4 ,but this high calling had reference only to chosen persons1 a few among the few4 ,over and above this interior work1 there was a national vocation also4 ,the aim of that vocation seems to have been to isolate the people1 so as to stop the influences from without that might tend in the direction of change2 and so far to crystallize1 as it were1 its institutions within1 that they might preserve in untainted purity the tradition and the expectation of ,him that was to come4 ,when the ,almighty placed his seal upon ,abraham by the covenant of circumcision1 and when ,he developed that covenant in the ,mosaic institutions1 in setting the ,jewish people apart for a purpose the most profound of all ,his wise designs1 ,he removed it1 for the time of its career1 out of the family of nations4 ,sacred ,books not mere literary records4 ,should we1 like some writers of the present day1 cite the ,pentateuch before the tribunal of the mere literary critic1 we may strain our generosity at the cost of justice1 and still only be able to accord to it a secondary place4 ,the mistake surely is to bring it there at all1 or to view its author otherwise than as the vehicle of a ,divine purpose1 which uses all instruments1 great1 insignificant1 or middling1 according to the end in view1 but of which all the instruments are perfect1 by reason not of what is intrinsic to themselves1 but1 simply and solely1 of their exact adaptation to that end#ajad4 #ajad ,to show with what jealousy believers in revelation may justly regard the mere literary handling of the ,older ,scriptures1 ,i would refer to the remarkable work of ,m4 ,ernest ,renan1 #8tudes d',histoire ,religieuse4' ,this eloquent and elastic writer treats the idea of a revealed religion as wholly inadmissible2 highly extols the ,bible as a literary treasure2 but denies that the general reading of the ,bible is a good1 except in so far as il vaut beaucoup mieux voir le peuple lire la ,bible que ne rien lire 7pp4 #ge1 #che74 ,if1 however1 we ought to decline to try the ,judaic code by its merely political merits1 much more ought we to apply the same principle to the sublimity of the ,prophecies1 and to the deep spiritual experiences of the ,psalms4 ,in the first1 we have a voice speaking from ,god1 with the marks that it is of ,god so visibly imprinted upon it1 that the mind utterly refuses to place the prophetical books in the scale against any production of human genius4 ,and all that is peculiar in our conception of ,isaiah1 or of ,jeremiah1 does not tend so much to make them eminent among men1 as to separate them from men4 ,homer1 on the other hand1 is emphatically and above all things human3 he sings by the spontaneous and the unconscious indwelling energies of nature2 whereas these are as the trumpet of unearthly sounds1 and cannot1 more than ,balaam could1 depart from that which is breathed into them1 to utter either less or more4 ,but most of all does the ,book of ,psalms refuse the challenge of philosophical or poetical competition4 ,in that ,book1 for well nigh three thousand years1 the piety of saints has found its most refined and choicest food2 to such a degree indeed1 that the rank and quality of the religious frame may in general be tested1 at least negatively1 by the height of its relish for them4 ,there is the whole music of the human heart1 when touched by the hand of the ,maker1 in all its tones that whisper or that swell1 for every hope and fear1 for every joy and pang1 for every form of strength and languor1 of disquietude and rest4 ,there are developed all the innermost relations of the human soul to ,god1 built upon the platform of a covenant of love and sonship that had its foundations in the ,messiah1 while in this particular and privileged ,book it was permitted to anticipate ,his coming4 ,we can no more then compare ,isaiah and the ,psalms with ,homer1 than we can compare ,david's heroism with ,diomed's1 or the prowess of the ,israelites when they drove ,philistia before them with the valour of the ,greeks at ,marathon or ,plata1 at ,issus or ,arbela4 ,we shall most nearly do justice to each by observing carefully the boundary lines of their respective provinces4 ,providential uses of the ,homeric poems4 ,it appears to be to a certain extent agreed that ,rome has given us the most extraordinary example among all those put upon record by history1 of political organization2 and has bequeathed to mankind the firmest and most durable tissue of law1 the bond of social man4 ,greece1 on the other hand1 has had for its share the development of the individual2 and each has shown in its own kind the rarest specimen that has been known to the world1 apart from ,divine revelation4 ,the seeds of both these1 and of all that they involved1 would appear to be contained in the ,homeric poems#ajae4 ,the condition of arts1 manners1 character1 and institutions1 which they represent1 is alike in itself entire1 and without any full parallel elsewhere4 ,it is for the bodily and mental faculties of man1 that which the patriarchal and early ,hebrew histories are for his spiritual life4 #ajae ,in the ,roman ,history of ,mommsen is contained a masterly comparison between those two rival developments of human life1 the collective and the individual1 which are represented by ,rome1 and by later or historic ,greece1 respectively4 7,mommsen ,rm4 ,gesch4 ,i4 #b4 pp4 #ah-ba47 ,both of them are open to criticism4 ,in the one we may notice and brand the characteristic of an iron repression1 in the other that of a lawless freedom4 ,but the age which ended with the war of ,troy1 and cast the reflection of its dying beams upon its noble but chequered epilogue in the ,odyssey1 appears to make no fundamental deviation from the mean of wisdom in either direction3 on the whole1 it united reverence with independence1 the restraint of discipline with the expansion of freedom3 and it stood alike removed1 in the plenitude of its natural elasticity1 from those extremes which in modern religion have1 on the one side1 absorbed the individual1 and on the other 7so to speak7 excommunicated him by isolation4 ,of the personal and inward relations of man with ,god1 of the kingdom of grace in the world1 ,homer can tell us nothing3 but of the kingdom of ,providence much1 and of the opening powers and capabilities of human nature1 apart from divine revelation1 everything4 ,the moral law1 written on the tables of stone1 was in one sense a schoolmaster to bring us to ,christ1 because it demonstrated our inability to tread the way of righteousness and pardon without the ,redeemer4 ,and perhaps that ceremonial law1 which indulged some things to the hardness of heart that prevailed among the ,jews1 was by its permissions1 as some have construed a very remarkable passage in ,ezekiel#ajaf1 a schoolmaster in another sense2 because it witnessed to the fact that they had greatly fallen below the high capacities of their nature4 ,and again1 in yet a third sense1 we may say with reverence that these primeval records are likewise another schoolmaster1 teaching us1 although with another voice1 the very same lesson3 because they show us the total inability of our race1 even when at its maximum of power1 to solve for ourselves the problems of our destiny2 to extract for ourselves the sting from care1 from sorrow1 and above all1 from death2 or even to retain without waste the vital heat of the knowledge of ,god1 when we have become separate from the source that imparts it4 #ajaf ,ezek4 xx4 #be4 ,they complete the code of primitive instruction4 ,it seems impossible not to be struck1 at this point1 with the contrast between the times preceding the ,advent1 and those which have followed it4 ,since the ,advent1 ,christianity has marched for fifteen hundred years at the head of human civilization2 and has driven1 harnessed to its chariot as the horses of a triumphal car1 the chief intellectual and material forces of the world4 ,its learning has been the learning of the world1 its art the art of the world1 its genius the genius of the world1 its greatness1 glory1 grandeur1 and majesty have been almost1 though not absolutely1 all that in these respects the world has had to boast of4 ,that which is to come1 ,i do not presume to portend3 but of the past we may speak with confidence4 ,he who hereafter1 in even the remotest age1 with the colourless impartiality of mere intelligence1 may seek to know what durable results mankind has for the last fifteen hundred years achieved1 what capital of the mind it has accumulated and transmitted1 will find his investigations perforce concentrated upon1 and almost confined to that part1 that minor part1 of mankind which has been ,christian4 ,before the ,advent1 it was quite otherwise4 ,the treasure of ,divine ,revelation was then hidden in a napkin3 it was given to a people who were almost forbidden to impart it2 at least of whom it was simply required1 that they should preserve it without variation4 ,they had no world-wide vocation committed to them2 they lay ensconced in a country which was narrow and obscure2 obscure1 not only with reference to the surpassing splendour of ,greece and ,rome1 but in comparison with ,assyria1 or ,persia1 or ,egypt4 ,they have not supplied the ,christian ages with laws and institutions1 arts and sciences1 with the chief models of greatness in genius or in character4 ,the ,providence of ,god committed this work to others2 and to ,homer seems to have been intrusted the first1 which was perhaps1 all things considered1 also the most remarkable stage of it#ajag4 #ajag ,i must frankly own that1 for one1 ,i can never read without pain the disparaging account of the ,greek mind and its achievements which1 in the ,fourth ,book of the ,paradise ,regained1 so great a man as ,milton has too boldly put into the mouth of our ,blessed ,lord4 ,we there find our sympathies divided1 in an indescribable and most unhappy manner1 between the person of the ,all-wise1 and the language and ideas1 on the whole not less just1 which are given to ,satan4 ,in particular1 ,i lament the claim1 really no better than a childish one1 made on the part of the ,jews1 to be considered as the fountainhead of the ,greek arts and letters1 and the assumption for them of higher attainments in political science4 ,this is a sacrifice of truth1 reason1 and history to prejudice1 by which1 as by all such proceedings1 religion is sure to be in the end the loser4 ,christianity supplied a centre to history4 ,without bearing fully in mind this contrast between the providential function of the ,jews and that of other nations1 we can hardly embrace as we ought the importance of the part assigned1 before the ,advent of our ,lord1 to nations and persons who lived beyond the immediate and narrow pale of ,divine ,revelation4 ,the relation of the old dispensation to those who were not ,jews1 was essentially different from that of ,christendom to those who are not ,christians4 ,only the fall of man and his recovery are the universal facts with which ,revelation is concerned2 all others are limited and partial4 ,the interval between the occurrence of the first1 and the provision for the second1 was occupied by a variety of preparations in severalty for the revelation of the kingdom of ,god4 ,until the ,incarnation1 the world's history was without a centre4 ,when the ,incarnation came1 it showed itself to be the centre of all that had preceded1 as well as of all that was to follow3 and since the withdrawal of the visible ,messiah1 the history of man has been grouped around ,his ,word1 and around the ,church in which the effect and virtue of ,his ,incarnation are still by ,his unseen power prolonged4 ,the picture thus offered to our view is a very remarkable one4 ,we see the glories of the world1 and that greatest marvel of ,god's earthly creation1 the mind of man1 become like little children1 and yield themselves to be led by the hand of the ,good ,shepherd3 but it seems as though the ancient promise of ,his coming1 while just strong enough to live in this wayward sphere1 was not strong enough to make the conquest of it2 as if nothing but ,his own actual manifestation in the strength of lowliness and of sorrow1 and crowned by the extremity of contempt and shame1 was sufficient to restore for the world at large that symbol of the universal duty of individual obedience and conformity1 which is afforded by the establishment of the authority of the spiritual ,king over all the functions of our nature1 and all the spheres1 however manifold and remote they may seem to be1 in which they find their exercise4 ,nor is this lesson the less striking because this1 like other parts of the divine dispensations1 has been marred by the perversity of man1 ever striving to escape from that inward control wherein lies the true hope and safety of his race4 ,but1 even after the ,advent1 it was not at once that the ,sovereign of the new kingdom put in ,his claim for all the wealth that it contained4 ,as1 in the day of ,his humiliation1 ,he rode into ,jerusalem1 foreshadowing his royal dominion to come1 so ,saint ,paul was forthwith consecrated to ,god as a kind of first fruits of the learning and intellect of man4 ,yet for many generations after ,christ1 it was still the ,supreme will to lay in human weakness the foundations of divine strength4 ,not the ,apostles only1 but the martyrs1 and not the martyrs only1 but the first fathers and doctors of the ,church1 were men of whom none could suspect that they drew the weapons of their warfare from the armouries of human cultivation3 nor of them could it be said1 that by virtue of their human endowments they had achieved the triumphs of the cross2 as it might perhaps have been said1 had they brought to their work the immense popular powers of ,st4 ,chrysostom1 or the masculine energy of ,st4 ,athanasius1 or the varied and comprehensive genius of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,nor1 again1 if we are right in the belief that we are not to look for the early development of humanity in the pages of ,jewish and patriarchal history1 but rather to believe that it was given to another people1 and the office of recording it to the father1 not only of poetry1 but of letters1 does it seem difficult to read in this arrangement the purpose of the ,most ,high1 and herewith the wisdom of that purpose4 ,had the ,scriptures been preserved1 had the ,messiah been ,incarnate1 among a people who were in political sagacity1 in martial energy1 in soaring and diving intellect1 in vivid imagination1 in the graces of art and civilized life1 the flower of their time1 then the divine origin of ,christianity would have stood far less clear and disembarrassed than it now does4 ,the eagle that mounted upon high1 bearing on his wings the ,everlasting ,gospel1 would have made his first spring from a great eminence1 erected by the wit and skill of man2 and the elevation of that eminence1 measured upward from the plain of common humanity1 would have been so much to be deducted from the triumph of the ,redeemer4 ,purpose served by the design4 ,thus the destructive theories of those1 who teach us to regard ,christianity as no more than a new stage1 added to stages that had been previously achieved in the march of human advancement1 would have been clothed in a plausibility which they must now for ever want4 #8,god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise2 and ,god hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty2 and base things of the world1 and things which are despised1 hath ,god chosen1 yea1 and things which are not1 to bring to nought things that are#ajah4' ,an unhonoured undistinguished race1 simply elected to be the receivers of the ,divine ,word1 and having remained its always stiffnecked and almost reluctant guardians1 may best have suited the aim of ,almighty ,wisdom2 because the medium1 through which the most precious gifts were conveyed1 was pale and colourless1 instead of being one flushed with the splendours of ,empire1 ,intellect1 and ,fame4 #ajah #a ,cor4 i4 #bg1 #h4 ,transcriber's ,note ,page headers in the printed book have been converted to headings1 and are marked with swung dashes4 ,the following apparent errors have been corrected3 p4 xiv sovereignity changed to sovereignty p4 #db 7note7 vii-x4 changed to vii4-x4 p4 #gi unequivocially changed to unequivocally p4 #aah insolence3 changed to insolence3' p4 #afe changed to p4 #agc attention1 changed to attention4 p4 #aib exemplfied changed to exemplified p4 #bgg order changed to order4 p4 #bhe ,hom ,theol4 changed to ,hom4 ,theol4 p4 #bhh ,ganymed changed to ,ganymede p4 #bia changed to p4 #bii peoples1 changed to peoples p4 #cbj changed to p4 #cbh in disaffection has yet been exhibited4#fjg1 the footnote anchor has been added to the text4 p4 #ccf changed to p4 #ceb subject so changed to subject to p4 #ced #b4 changed to 7#b47 p4 #cef changed to p4 #cfd it sessential changed to its essential p4 #cfe in #gaa41 the footnote anchor has been added to the text4 p4 #cgg purity1 of changed to of purity1 p4 #chc 7note7 #bfd changed to #bfd4 p4 #djc 7note7 ,romische changed to ,rmische p4 #djd elswehere changed to elsewhere p4 #daj devolopment changed to development p4 #dbj changed to p4 #dbf morality4 changed to morality1 p4 #dcf changed to p4 #dfj changed to p4 #dgd changed to p4 #did in ,ajax had a spurious brother1 a footnote anchor has been removed from the text4 p4 #dii 7note7 in excellently changed to is excellently p4 #eje changed to p4 #eag changed to ,the following are used inconsistently in the book3 aftertimes and after-times battlefield and battle-field bowstring and bow-string cupbearer and cup-bearer dependence and dependance ,d and ,dii ,dioscuri and ,dioscouroi ,erinus and ,erinues fountainhead and fountain-head ,histie and ,hestie i4 e4 and i4e4 indoor and in-door preeminence and pre-eminence reestablished and re-established stepmother and step-mother synonym and synonyme ,theomythology and ,theo-mythology