,,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 ,,iii4     
,plenius ac melius ,chrysippo et        
,crantore4--,,horace4      ,,oxford3    
,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press4        
,m4,,dccc4,,lviii4      ,the right of   
,translation is reserved4               
,,studies ,,on ,,homer    ,,and    ,,the
 ,,homeric ,,age4      ,i4 ,,agor3      
,,polities ,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4  
,,ii4 ,,ilios3    ,,trojans ,,and       
,,greeks ,,compared4      ,,iii4        
,,thalassa3    ,,the ,,outer            
,,geography4      ,,iv4 ,,aoidos3       
,,some ,,points ,,of ,,the ,,poetry ,,of
 ,,homer4      ,,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     
,,advertisement4      ,since the        
,sections which relate to ,ethnology    
passed through the ,press1  the ,first  
,volume of ,mr4 ,rawlinson's ,herodotus 
has appeared4 ,earlier  possession of   
this important ,publication would have  
emboldened me  to proceed a step further
 in the attempt to specify the probable 
or  possible form of the original       
,ethnic relation between the ,pelasgians
  and the ,hellenes of the ,greek       
,peninsula1 but designating the latter  
as pure ,arian1 and the former as       
,arian1 with a residue or mixture of    
,turanian elements4    ,it has also been
 since the #8,olympus' was printed1 that
 ,i have become  acquainted with        
,welcker's recent and unfinished        
#8,griechische  ,gtterlehre1'           
7,gttingen1 #aheg47 ,i could have wished
 to refer to it  at various points1 and 
especially to avail myself of the       
clearer view1  which the learned ,author

 has given1 of the position of 4        
,founding himself in part on the        
exclusive appropriation by ,homer of the
  term  to ,jupiter1 he enables us to   
see how ,jupiter may have  inherited the
 sole use of the title as being #8the   
,ancient of days2'  and how  was a      
formation in the ,mythology wholly      
secondary and  posterior to his reputed 
son4 7,welcker1 sectt4 #bg1 #h4 pp4     
#adj-g47    ,another recent book1 ,m4   
,alfred ,maury's ,histoire des          
,religions de la  ,grce ,antique1       
undertakes the useful task of unfolding 
largely the  relations of the ,greek    
religion to the ,east4 ,but the division
 of it  which deals with ,homer         
specifically is neither complete nor    
accurate1  and affords a new            
illustration of the proposition which ,i
 chiefly  desire to establish1 namely1  
that ,homer ought to be treated as a    
separate and independent centre of      
study4      #aa1 ,,carlton ,,house      
,,terrace1 ,,london1        ,march #ae1 

#aheh4          ,,the ,,contents4       
,i4 ,,agor3    ,,or    ,,the ,,polities 
,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4             
,political ideas of later ,greece       
,page  #a    ,their strong development  
in ,heroic ,greece                      
#b    ,germ of the ,law of ,nations     
#d    ,grote's account of the ,heroic   
,polities                               
#e    ,their peculiar features1         
,publicity and ,persuasion              
#f    ,functions of the king in the     
,heroic ,polities                       
#h    ,nature of the ,pelopid ,empire   
#i    ,degrees in ,kingship and in      
,lordship                               
#aj    ,four forms of ,sovereignty      
#ab    ,first tokens of change in the   
,heroic ,polities                       
#ab    ,shown by analysis of the        
,catalogue                              
#ad    ,extended signs in the ,odyssey  
#ag    ,altered sense of  or ,king      
#ah    ,new name of ,queen              
#bj    ,disorganization caused by the   

,war                                    
#ba    ,arrival of a new race at manhood
                                    #bb 
,increased weight of the nobles         
#bd    ,altered idea of the kingly      
office                                  
#be    ,the first instance of a bad     
,king                                   
#bg    ,further change in the time of   
,hesiod                                 
#bh    ,veneration long adhering to the 
name                                #ca 
,five distinctive notes of  in the      
,iliad                     #cb    ,the  
nine ,greek  of the ,iliad              
#ce    ,the case of ,meges              
#cf    ,of ,phnix                       
#cg    ,of ,patroclus and ,eurypylus    
#ch    ,conditions of ,kingship in the  
,iliad                                  
#ci    ,the personal beauty of the      
,kings                                  
#dj    ,custom of resignation in old age
                                    #dj 
,force of the term                      

#da    ,gymnastic superiority of the    
,kings                                  
#dd    ,their pursuit of ,music and     
,song                                   
#de    ,ulysses as artificer and        
husbandman                              
#df    ,the ,kings as ,gentlemen        
#dg    ,achilles in particular          
#dh    ,tenderness and tears of the     
,greek chiefs                           
#di    ,right of hereditary succession  
#ej    ,right of primogeniture          
#eb    ,the ,homeric ,king 7#a7 as      
,priest                                 
#ee    7#b7 as ,judge                   
#ef    7#c7 as ,general                 
#eg    7#d7 as ,proprietor3 the         
#eh    ,his revenues1 from four sources 
in all                              #ei 
,burdens upon them                      
#fa    ,the political position of       
,agamemnon                              
#fb    ,the governing motives of the    
,war                                    
#fd    ,position of ,agamemnon in the   

army                                    
#ff    ,his personal character          
#fg    ,the relation of sovereign and   
subject a free one                      
#fg    ,the personal attendants of the  
,king                                   
#fi    ,the ,aristocracy or chief       
proprietors                             
#fi    ,the ,trades and ,professions    
#gj    ,the ,slaves of the ,homeric age 
#gb    ,the  or hired servants          
#gd    ,supply of military service      
#ge    ,whether there was a             
peasant-proprietary                     
#gg    ,political ,economy of the       
,homeric age                            
#gh    ,the precious metals not a       
measure of value                        
#ha    ,oxen in some degree a measure of
 value                              #hb 
,relative scarcity of certain metals    
#hd    ,mode of government of the ,army 
#he    ,its military composition        
#hh    ,chief descriptions of fighting  
men                                  #ia

    ,the ,battle and the ,ambuscade     
#ib    ,the  or ,council of the ,greeks 
#id    ,it subsisted in peace and in war
                                    #ig 
,opposition in the                      
#ih    ,agamemnon's proposals of ,return
                                     #ii
    ,the influence of ,speech in the    
,heroic age                             
#ajb    ,it was a subject of regular    
training                                
#ajc    ,varied descriptions of oratory 
in ,homer                               
#ajd    ,achilles the paramount ,orator 
#aje    ,the orations of the poems      
#ajf    ,the power of repartee          
#ajh    ,the power of sarcasm           
#aji    ,the faculty of debate in ,homer
                                        
#aaa    ,the discussion of the ,ninth   
,iliad                                  
#aaa    ,function of the ,assembly in   
the ,heroic age                         
#aad    ,the formal use of majorities   
unknown                                 

#aaf    ,the great decisions of the ,war
 taken there                            
#aag    ,it was not summoned exclusively
 by ,agamemnon                          
#aah    ,opposition in the ,agor by the 
chiefs                              #aai
    ,opposition by ,thersites           
#abj    ,grote's judgment on the case of
 ,thersites                             
#abc    ,how that case bears witness to 
the popular principle               #abf
    ,as does the ,agor on the ,shield   
#abf    ,mode of addressing the         
,assembly                               
#abi    ,its decisions in the ,seventh  
and ,ninth ,iliads                      
#abi    ,division in the ,drunken       
,assembly                               
#acj    ,appeal of ,telemachus to the   
,ithacan ,assembly                      
#acb    ,phacian ,assembly of the       
,eighth ,odyssey                        
#acd    ,ithacan ,assembly of the       
,twenty-fourth                          
#acf    ,councils or ,assemblies of     

,olympus                                
#acg    ,judicial functions of the      
,assembly                               
#aci    ,assembly the central point of  
the ,polity                             
#adj    ,the common soul or  in ,homer  
#ada    ,imperfect organization of      
,heroic ,polities                       
#adc      ,,ii4 ,,ilios4    ,,the       
,,trojans ,,compared ,,and ,,contrasted 
,,with ,,the ,,greeks4    ,relationship 
of ,troy and ,greece twofold            
#ade    ,greek names of deities found   
also in ,troas                          
#adg    ,include nearly all the greater 
deities                             #aej
    ,worship of ,vulcan in ,troas       
#aea    ,worship of ,juno and ,gaia in  
,troas                                  
#aec    ,worship of ,mercury in ,troas  
#aed    ,worship of ,scamander          
#aee    ,different view of ,rivers in   
,troas                                  
#aeh    ,essential character of ,trojan 
,river-worship                          

#afj    ,trojan impersonations from     
,nature rare                            
#afb    ,poverty of ,mythology among the
 ,trojans                               
#afe    ,their jejune doctrine of a     
,future ,state                          
#aff    ,redundance of life in the      
,greek system                           
#afh    ,worship from hills             
#afi    ,the nations compared as to     
external development of religion4--     
#a4 ,temples                            
#agj    #b4 ,as to endowments in land1  
or                             #agb     
#c4 ,as to ,groves'                     
#agc    #d4 ,as to ,statues of the ,gods
                                        
#agd    #e4 ,as to ,seers or ,diviners  
#agg    #f4 ,as to the ,priesthood3     
,priesthood in ,greece                  
#agi    ,priesthood in later ,greece    
#ahc    ,priesthood among the ,trojans  
#ahd    ,comparative observance of      
sacrifice                               
#ahg    ,the ,trojans more given to     

religious observances                   
#ahi    ,homer's different modes of     
handling for ,greece and ,troy          
#aij    ,moral superiority of his       
,greeks on the whole                    
#aib    ,homer's account of the         
abduction of ,helen                     
#aic    ,the ,greek estimate of ,paris  
#aig    ,its relation to prevailing     
views of ,marriage                      
#bjj    ,and to ,greek views of         
,homicide                               
#bjb    ,the ,trojan estimate of ,paris 
#bje    ,public opinion less developed  
in ,troy                                
#bjf    ,the ,trojans more sensual and  
false                                   
#bjg    ,trojan ideas and usages of     
,marriage                               
#baj    ,the family of ,priam           
#baa    ,stricter ideas among the       
,greeks                                 
#bae    ,trojan ,polity less highly     
organized                               
#baf    ,rule of ,succession in ,troy   

#bag    ,succession to the throne of    
,priam                                  
#bai    ,paris1 most probably1 was his  
eldest son                              
#bba    ,position of ,priam and his     
dynasty in ,troas                       
#bbc    ,meaning of  and of             
#bbd    ,evidence from the ,trojan      
,catalogue                              
#bbe    ,extent of his sovereignty and  
supremacy                               
#bbh    ,polity of ,ilios3 the          
#bcb    ,the ,assembly                  
#bcb    ,the greater weight of ,age in  
,troy                                   
#bcd    ,the absence of a  in ,troy     
#bcf    ,the greater weight of oratory  
in ,greece                              
#bci    ,trojans less gifted with       
self-command                            
#bdb    ,and with intelligence generally
                                    #bdd
    ,difference in the pursuits of      
high-born youth                         
#bde    ,difference as to               

#bdf    ,summary of differences         
#bdg      ,,iii4 ,,thalassa4    ,,the   
,,outer ,,geography ,,of ,,the          
,,odyssey4    ,why it deserves          
investigation                           
#bdi    ,principal heads of the inquiry 
#bea    ,the two ,spheres of ,inner and 
,outer ,geography                       
#beb    ,limits of the ,inner ,geography
                                        
#bee    ,the intermediate or doubtful   
zone                                    
#beg    ,the ,sphere of the ,outer      
,geography                              
#bfj    ,the two ,keys of the ,outer    
,geography                              
#bfa    ,the traditional interpretations
 valueless                          #bfb
    ,manifest dislocations of actual    
nature                             #bfc 
,postulates for examining the ,outer    
,geography                       #bfd   
,the ,winds of ,homer                   
#bfe    ,special notices of ,eurus and  
,notus                                  

#bfg    ,of ,zephyr and ,boreas         
#bfh    ,points of the ,compass for the 
two last                                
#bgj    ,for the two first              
#bgb    ,scheme of the four ,winds      
#bgc    ,signification of ,eurus        
#bgc    ,homeric distances and rates of 
speed                               #bge
    ,particulars of evidence on speed   
#bgg    ,the northward sea-route to the 
,euxine                                 
#bhj    ,evidence from ,il4 xiii4 #a-f  
#bha    ,from ,od4 vii4 #cai-bf         
#bhb    ,from ,od4 v4 #dd-eg            
#bhc    ,from ,od4 xxiv4 #aa-ac         
#bhe    ,amalgamated reports of the     
,ocean-mouth                            
#bhg    ,open-sea passage to the        
,ocean-mouth                            
#bhi    ,homeward passage by the        
,straits1 why preferred                 
#bij    ,three maritime routes to the   
,ocean-mouth                            
#bia    ,its two possible originals in  
nature                                  

#bib    ,straits of ,yenikal as         
,ocean-mouth                            
#bid    ,summary of facts from ,phnician
 reports                            #bie
    ,two sets of reports are blended    
into one                           #bif 
,the site of a2 ,north-western          
hypothesis                          #bih
    ,north-eastern hypothesis           
#cjj    ,argument from the              
#cjb    ,from the ,island ,thrinacie    
#cjb    ,local notes of a               
#cjc    ,site of ,ogygia                
#cjd    ,argument from the flight of    
,mercury                                
#cje    ,from the floatage of ,ulysses  
#cjf    ,from his homeward passage      
#cjh    ,site of ,scylla relatively to  
the ,dardanelles                        
#cji    ,why a cannot lie               
,north-westward                         
#caa    ,construction of ,od4 xii4 #c1  
#d                                      
#cab    ,construction of ,od4 v4 #bgf1  
#g                                      

#cae    ,genuineness of the passage     
questionable                            
#caf    ,its real meaning               
#cag    ,homer's indications of         
geographical misgivings                 
#cah    ,stages of the tour of ,ulysses 
to a 7i-vi47                       #cbj 
a and the ,euxine 7vi-viii47            
#cbe    ,remaining stages 7viii-xi47    
#cbg    ,directions and distances from a
 onwards                          #cbi  
,tours of ,menelaus and ,ulysses        
compared                                
#cca    ,the earth of ,homer probably   
oval                                    
#ccd    ,points of contact with ,oceanus
                                        
#ccg    ,the ,caspian and ,persian ,gulf
 belong to ,oceanus                     
#cch    ,contraction and compression of 
the ,homeric ,east                      
#cdj    ,outline of ,homer's terrestrial
 system                                 
#cdb    ,map of ,earth according to     
,homer                                  

#cdc      ,,excursus ,i4    ,parentage  
and ,extraction of ,minos4    ,on the   
genuineness of ,il4 xiv4 #cag-bg        
#cdd    ,on the sense of the line ,il4  
xiv4 #cba                               
#cdf    ,collateral testimony to the    
extraction of ,minos                    
#cdg      ,,excursus ,,ii4    ,on the   
line ,odyss4 v4 #bgg4    ,points of the 
question stated                         
#cdi    ,senses of  and                 
#cej    ,illustrated from ,il4 xiii     
#ceb    ,on the force of the ,homeric   
#ced    ,force of  with                 
#cef    ,illustrated from ,il4 ii4 #cec4
 ,od4 xxi4 #ada                         
#ceh    ,from ,il4 i4 #eig4 vii4 #bch4  
xii4 #bci1 #bdi                         
#cei    ,from ,il4 xxiii4 #cce-g        
#cfj    ,from ,il4 ii4 #ebf             
#cfb    ,application to ,od4 v4 #bgg    
#cfd    ,another sense prevailed in     
later ,greek                            
#cfe      ,,iv4 ,,aoidos4    ,,sect4 ,i4
    ,on the ,plot of the ,iliad4    ,the

 ,theory of ,grote on the structure of  
the poem                   #cff         
,offer related in the ,ninth ,book and  
its rejection                  #cfi     
,restitution and gifts not the object of
 ,achilles                   #cga       
,the offer was radically defective      
#cgc    ,apology needed in particular   
#cge    ,consistency maintained in and  
after ,il4 ix                           
#cgg    ,skilful adjustment of          
conflicting aims                        
#cgi    ,glory given to ,achilles       
#chj    ,glory given to ,greece         
#chj    ,trojan inferiority mainly in   
the ,chiefs                             
#chb    ,but it pervades the poem       
#chd    ,in the ,chiefs it is glaring   
#che    ,conflicting exigencies of the  
plan                                    
#chg    ,greeks superior even without   
,achilles                               
#chh    ,harmony in relative prominence 
of the ,chiefs                          
#chi    ,retributive justice in the two 

poems                               #cib
    ,the sufferings of ,achilles        
#cid    ,double conquest over his will  
#cie      ,,sect4 ,,ii4    ,the ,sense  
of ,beauty in ,homer3 human1 animal1 and
 inanimate4    ,his sense of ,beauty    
alike pure and strong                   
#cig    ,degeneracy of the popular idea 
had begun                           #cih
    ,illustrated by the series of       
,dardanid traditions1 7#a7 ,ganymede    
#cih    7#b7 ,tithonus1 7#c7 ,anchises  
#djj    7#d7 ,paris and ,venus          
#dja    ,homer's sense of ,beauty in the
 human form                             
#djb    ,his treatment of the ,beauty of
 ,paris                                 
#djb    ,beauty among the ,greek        
chieftains                              
#djd    ,ascribed also to the nation    
#dje    ,beauty of ,nireus              
#djf    ,of ,nastes and of ,euphorbus   
#djg    ,beauty placed among the prime  
gifts of man                            
#djh    ,homer's sense of ,beauty in    

animals                                 
#dji    ,especially in horses           
#daj    ,as to their movements          
#daa    ,as to their form and colour    
#dac    ,homer's sense of ,beauty in    
inanimate nature                        
#daf    ,the instance of ,ithaca        
#dag    ,germ of feeling for the        
picturesque in ,homer                   
#dai    ,close relation of ,order and   
,beauty                                 
#dbj    ,causes adverse to the          
development of the germ                 
#dba    ,beauty of material objects     
absorbed in their ,life                 
#dbc      ,,sect4 ,,iii4    ,homer's    
perception and use of ,number4    ,the  
traditional character of aptitudes      
#dbe    ,conceptions of ,number not     
always definite in childhood            
#dbg    ,nor even in manhood            
#dbh    ,no calculations in ,homer      
#dcj    ,greek estimate of the discovery
 of ,number                             
#dca    ,enumerative addition in ,od4   

iv4 #dab1 #dea                          
#dcb    ,highest numerals of the poems  
#dcb    ,the three hundred and sixty fat
 hogs                               #dcd
    ,the ,homeric                       
#dce    ,the numerals expressive of     
value                                   
#dcf    ,his silence as to the numbers  
of the armies                           
#dci    ,especially in the ,greek       
,catalogue                              
#ddj    ,case of the ,trojan bivouac    
#ddb    ,case of the herds and flocks in
 ,od4 xiv4                              
#ddc    ,hesiod's age of the ,nymphs    
#ddd    ,case of the cities of ,crete   
#dde    ,no scheme of chronology in     
,homer                                  
#ddf    ,case of the three ,decades of  
years                                   
#ddh    ,meaning of the  of ,homer      
#ddi    ,homer reckons time by          
generations                             
#dea    ,some difficulties of the       
,decades taken literally                

#deb    ,uses of the proposed           
interpretation                          
#dee      ,,sect4 ,,iv4    ,homer's     
,perceptions and ,use of ,colour4       
,modern perceptions of colour usually   
definite                      #deg      
,signs of immature perception in ,homer 
#deh    ,his chief adjectives of colour 
#dei    ,his quasi-adjectives of colour 
#dfj    ,applications of 1 1            
#dfj    ,of  and                        
#dfb    ,of                             
#dfe    ,of                             
#dff    ,the quasi-adjectives of colour2
                              #dfg      
,the  of ,homer                         
#dfh    ,the  and                       
#dfi    ,the 1 1                        
#dgj    ,the  and                       
#dgb     and its cognates2 also 1       
#dgc    1 1                             
#dgd    1 1 1                           
#dge    ,conflict of the colours        
assigned to the same object             
#dge    ,great predominance of white and

 black                              #dgf
    ,remarkable omissions to specify    
colour                             #dgg 
,in the case of the horse among others  
#dgi    ,in the case of human beauty1   
and of ,iris                            
#dhb    ,in the case of the heavens     
#dhc    ,causes of this peculiar        
treatment of colour                     
#dhc    ,license of poetry in the matter
 of colour                          #dhd
    ,illustrated from ,shakespeare      
#dhe    ,homer's contracted means of    
training in colour                      
#dhg    ,his system one of light and    
dark                                    
#dhh    ,colour in the later ,greek     
language                                
#dia    ,greek philosophy of colour     
#dic    ,nature of our advantage over   
,homer                                  
#die      ,note on  and 4    ,meanings  
for  heretofore suggested               
#dif    ,probably a native blue         
carbonate of copper                     

#dig     to be understood as hardened   
copper                         #dii     
,,sect4 ,v4    ,homer and some of his   
successors in ,epic ,poetry2            
particularly    ,virgil and ,tasso4     
,milton's place among ,epic poets       
#ejj    ,difficulty of comparing him    
with ,homer                             
#eja    ,the same as to ,dante          
#eja    neid and ,iliad2 their          
resemblances and contrasts              
#ejb    ,contrast between form and      
spirit in the neid                      
#ejc    ,catalogue in the ,iliad and in 
the neid                            #ejd
    ,character of neas in the neid      
#eje    ,character of neas in the ,iliad
                                    #ejg
    ,the fine character of ,turnus      
#ejh    ,the false position of ,virgil  
before ,augustus                        
#eji    ,difficulty of learning the poet
 from the poem                      #eaj
    ,his false position as to religion1 
liberty1 and nationality        #eaa    

,untruthfulness hence resulting         
#eab    ,homer is misapprehended through
 ,virgil                                
#eac    ,in minor matters1 e4 g4 ,simois
 and ,scamander                         
#eac     of ,homer and of ,virgil       
#eae    ,ethnological and genealogical  
dislocations                            
#eaf    ,action of the ,twelfth neid    
#ebj    ,unfaithful imitations of       
details                                 
#eba    ,maltreatment of the ,homeric   
characters                              
#ebb    ,and of the ,homeric ,mythology 
and ,ethics                             
#ebc    neas and ,dido in the ,shades   
beneath                                 
#ebe    ,the woman characters of ,homer 
and ,virgil                             
#ebg    ,virgil's insufficient care of  
minor proprieties                       
#ebh    ,and of the order of natural    
phenomena                               
#ebi    ,use of exaggeration in ,homer  
and in ,virgil                          

#ecj    ,contrast of principal aims     
respectively                            
#eca    ,character of the ,bard2 not    
found in ,virgil                        
#ecb    ,post-,homeric change in the    
idea of the ,poet's office              
#ecc    ,virgil's poetical disadvantages
                                    #ecd
    ,comparison of the ,trojan ,war with
 the ,crusades                     #ece 
,rinaldo and ,achilles                  
#ece    ,exaggerations of bulk in ,homer
 and in ,tasso                          
#ecf    ,mr4 ,hallam's judgment on the  
,jerusalem                              
#ecg    ,tasso's poetical disadvantages 
#ech    ,the man ,achilles in relation  
to the ,iliad                           
#eci    ,liberation of the ,sepulchre in
 relation to the ,gerusalemme       #edj
    ,intrusion of incongruous elements  
#edb    ,relative prominence of         
,tancredi and ,rinaldo                  
#edc    ,the ,woman-characters of ,tasso
                                        

#edd    ,the ,armida of ,tasso          
#ede    ,her resemblances and           
inferiority to ,dido                    
#edf    ,her passion ill-sustained      
#edf    ,obtrusiveness of the amatory   
element                                 
#edh    ,the ,affront of ,gernando      
#edi    ,difference in modes of         
describing personages                   
#eea    ,battles and ,similes of ,tasso 
#eeb    ,inferiority of the ,return in  
the ,gerusalemme                        
#eec    ,tasso's greatness except as    
compared with ,homer                    
#eed      ,,sect4 ,,vi4    ,some        
principal ,homeric ,characters in ,troy4
    ,hector3 ,helen3 ,paris4    ,homer's
 character-drawing power                
#eee    ,corruption of the later        
tradition                               
#eef    ,why specially destructive in   
his case                                
#eeg    ,mure's treatment of the        
,homeric characters                     
#eeh    ,the character of ,hector set   

off with generalities                   
#eeh    ,it became the basis for that of
 ,orlando                               
#eei    ,the martial heroism of ,hector 
second-rate                             
#eei    ,his boastfulness his only moral
 fault                              #efa
    ,hectoring and ,rodomontading       
#efb    ,hector's sense of the guilt and
 shame of ,paris                        
#efc    ,his responsibilities beyond his
 strength                           #efe
    ,brightness of his character as to  
the affections                   #efg   
,his piety1 gentleness1 and equity      
#efh    ,inequality of his character as 
a whole                             #efi
    ,apparent reason for it             
#efi    ,opposite views of the character
 of ,helen                              
#ega    ,homer's intention with respect 
to it                               #egb
    ,two adverse mentions of her only   
#egd    ,homer's epithets and simile for
 ,helen                                 

#ege    ,the case of ,bathsheba         
#egf    ,as to the free agency of ,helen
                                        
#egg    ,picture of ,helen in ,il4 iii4 
#egb    ,in ,il4 vi41 ,il4 xxiv41 ,od4  
iv4                                     
#eha    ,the marriage with ,deiphobus   
#ehc    ,general estimate of the        
,homeric ,helen                         
#ehd    ,the character of ,paris        
#ehe    ,his apathy1 levity1 and        
selfishness                             
#ehf    ,his place in the ,war          
#ehg    ,relation of his intellect to   
his morality                            
#ehh      ,,sect4 ,,vii4    ,the        
declension of the great ,homeric        
,characters    in the later ,tradition4 
,physical conditions of the ,greek      
,theatre                           #eij 
,absolute dependence on the popular     
taste                           #eib    
,general obliteration of the finer      
distinctions                     #eic   
,mutilation of the ,helen of ,homer     

#eic    ,the ,helen of ,euripides       
#eie    ,of ,isocrates and of ,virgil   
#eig    ,characters of ,achilles and    
,ulysses in ,homer                      
#eih    ,mutilation of the ,ulysses of  
,homer                                  
#fja    ,of the ,achilles of ,homer     
#fjb    ,the ,achilles of ,statius      
#fjd    ,homeric characters in ,seneca  
#fje    ,new relative position of       
,trojans and ,greeks                    
#fjf    ,trojanism in ,england          
#fjh    ,imitations of ,homeric         
characters by ,tasso                    
#fji    ,the ,troilus and ,cressida     
#faj    ,shirley's ,ajax and ,ulysses   
#fab    ,racine's ,iphignie             
#fac    ,racine's ,andromaque           
#fad    ,,conclusion                    
#fae          ,i4 ,,agor4    ,,the      
,,polities ,,of ,,the ,,homeric ,,age4  
,it is complained1 and perhaps not      
without foundation1 that the study of   
the ancient historians does not supply  
the youth of ,england with good         

political models3 that1 if we adjust our
 sympathies and antipathies  according  
to the division of parties and classes  
offered to our view  in ,rome1 ,athens1 
or ,sparta1 they will not be cast in an 
,english mould1  but will come out in   
the cruder forms of oligarchic or       
democratic  prejudice4 ,now ,i do not   
wait to inquire how far these defects   
may  be supplied by the political       
philosophers1 and in particular by the  
admirable treatise of ,aristotle4 ,and  
it certainly is true1 that in  general  
they present to us a state of political 
ideas and morals  greatly deranged3 the 
choice lies between evil on this side in
 one  form1 and on that side in another 
form3 the characters1 who can be        
recommended as examples1 are commonly in
 a minority or in exile4 ,nor  do ,i ask
 how far we ought to be content1 having 
an admirable range1  so to speak1 of    
anatomical models in our hands1 to lay  
aside the idea  of attaching our        
sympathies to what we see4 ,i would     

rather incite the  objector to examine  
and judge whether we may not find an    
admirable  school of polity1 and see its
 fundamental ideas exhibited under the  
truest and largest forms1 in a quarter  
where perhaps it would be the  least    
expected1 namely1 in the writings of    
,homer4    ,as respects religion1 arts1 
and manners1 the ,greeks of the heroic  
age  may be compared with other         
societies in the infancy of man4 ,but as
  respects political science in its     
essential rudiments1 and as respects    
the application of those principles by  
way of art to the government of         
mankind1 we may say with almost literal 
truth that they are the fathers  of it2 
and ,homer invites those who study him  
to come and view it in its  cradle1     
where the infant carries every lineament
 in miniature1 that we  can reasonably  
desire to see developed in manhood4     
,strong development of political ideas4 
,i cannot but deprecate the association 
established1 perhaps  unintentionally1  

by ,grote1 where1 throwing ,homer as he 
does into  hotch-pot1 so to speak1 with 
the #8legendary age1' he expresses      
himself in his ,preface#a1 as follows4  
#8,it must be confessed that  the       
sentimental attributes of the ,greek    
mind--its religious and  poetical       
vein--here appear in disproportionate   
relief1 as compared  with its more      
vigorous and masculine capacities--with 
those powers of  acting1 organizing1    
judging1 and speculating1 which will be 
revealed  in the forthcoming volumes4'  
,if the sentimental attribute is to be  
contra-distinguished from the powers1 ,i
 will not say of speculating1  but of   
acting1 organizing1 and judging1 then ,i
 know of nothing less  sentimental in   
the after-history of ,greece than the   
characters of  ,achilles and ,ulysses1  
than the relations of the ,greek chiefs 
to one  another and to their people1    
than the strength and simplicity which  
laid in those early times the           
foundation-stones of the ,greek national

  character and institutions1 and made  
them in the social order the  just      
counterparts of the material structures 
that are now ascribed  to the           
,pelasgians2 simple indeed in their     
elements1 but so durable  and massive in
 their combination1 as to be the marvel 
of all time4  ,the influences derived   
from these sources were of such vitality
 and  depth1 that they secured to an    
insignificant country a predominating   
power for centuries1 made one little    
point of the ,west an effective  bulwark
 against the ,east1 and caused ,greece  
to throw out1 to the right  and left1 so
 many branches each greater than the    
trunk4 ,even when the  sun of her glory 
had set1 there was yet left behind an   
immortal spark  of the ancient vitality1
 which1 enduring through all            
vicissitudes1  kindled into a blaze     
after two thousand years2 and we of this
 day  have seen a ,greek nation1 founded
 anew by its own energies1 become  a    
centre of desire and hope at least to   

,eastern ,christendom4 ,the  ,english   
are not ashamed to own their political  
forefathers in the  forests of the      
,northward ,european ,continent2 and the
 later statesmen  with the lawgivers of 
,greece were in their day glad1 and with
 reason  glad1 to trace the bold outline
 and solid rudiments of their own and   
their country's greatness in the poems  
of ,homer4 ,nothing in those  poems     
offers itself1 to me at least1 as more  
remarkable1 than the  deep carving of   
the political characters2 and what is   
still more1 the  intense political      
spirit which pervades them4 ,i will     
venture one step  farther1 and say that1
 of all the countries of the civilized  
world1  there is no one of which the    
inhabitants ought to find that spirit so
  intelligible and accessible as the    
,english3 because it is a spirit1  that 
still largely lives and breathes in our 
own institutions1 and1 if  ,i mistake   
not1 even in the peculiarities of those 
institutions4 ,there  we find the great 

cardinal ideas1 which lie at the very   
foundation of  all enlightened          
government3 and then we find1 too1 the  
men formed under  the influence of such 
ideas2 as one among ourselves1 who has  
drunk into  their spirit1 tells us2     
#a ,page xvii4      ,sagacious1 men of  
iron1 watchful1 firm1    ,against       
surprise and sudden panic proof4    ,and
 again1      ,the sombre aspect of      
majestic care1    ,of solitary thought1 
unshared resolve#b4    #b ,merope2 by   
,matthew ,arnold1 pp4 #id1 #ace4    ,it 
was surely a healthful sign of the      
working of freedom1 that in  that early 
age1 despite the prevalence of piracy1  
even that idea of  political justice and
 public right1 which is the germ of the 
law of  nations1 was not unknown to the 
,greeks4 ,it would appear that war could
  not be made without an appropriate    
cause1 and that the offer of redress    
made it the duty of the injured to come 
to terms4 ,hence the offer of  ,paris in
 the ,third ,iliad is at once readily   

accepted3 and hence1 even  after the    
breach of the ,pact1 arises ,agamemnon's
 fear1 at the moment  when he           
anticipates the death of ,menelaus1 that
 by that event the claim  to the        
restoration of ,helen will be           
practically disposed of1 and the        
,greeks will have to return home without
 reparation for a wrong1 of  which the  
corpus1 as it were1 will have           
disappeared#c4    #c ,il4 iv4 #afj-hb4  
,before proceeding to sketch the ,greek 
institutions as they are  exhibited in  
,homer1 ,i will give a sketch of the    
interesting account of  them which is   
supplied by ,grote4 ,i cite it more for 
contrast than for  concurrence2 but it  
will assist materially in bringing out  
into clear  relief the points which are 
of the greatest moment4    ,grote's     
account of the ,heroic ,polities4       
,the ,greek ,states of the historic     
ages1 says ,grote1 always present  to us
 something in the nature of a           
constitution1 as the condition  of      

popular respect towards the government1 
and of the sense of an  obligation to   
obey it#d4 ,the man who broke down this 
constitution1  however wisely he might  
exercise his ill gotten power1 was      
branded by  the name of 1 or despot1 8as
 an object of mingled fear and          
dislike40 ,but in the heroic age there  
is no system1 still less any            
responsibility#e3 obedience depends on  
personal reverence towards the  king or 
chief4 ,into those #8great individual   
personalities1 the race  or nation is   
absorbed#f4' ,publicity indeed1 through 
the means of the  council and assembly1 
essentially pervades the whole system#g2
 but it  is a publicity without         
consequences2 for the people1 when they 
have  heard1 simply obey the orders of  
the king#h4 ,either resistance or       
criticism is generally exhibited as     
odious1 and is never heard of at  all   
except from those who are at the least  
subaltern chiefs3 though  the council   
and assembly would in practice come to  

be restraints  upon the king1 they are  
not so exhibited in ,homer#i1 but are   
simple  media for supplying him with    
information1 and for promulgating his   
resolves#aj4 ,the people may listen and 
sympathize1 but no more4 ,in the        
assembly of the ,second ,iliad1 a       
#8repulsive picture' is presented to us 
of #8the degradation of the mass of the 
people before the chiefs#aa4'  ,for     
because the common soldiery1 in         
conformity with the #8unaccountable     
fancy' which ,agamemnon had propounded1 
made ready to go home1 ,ulysses         
belabours them with blows and covers    
them with scornful reproofs#ab2  and the
 unpopularity of a presumptuous critic1 
even when he is in  substance right1 is 
shown1 partly by the strokes that       
,ulysses inflicts  upon ,thersites1 but 
still more by the hideous deformities   
with which  ,homer has loaded him4    #d
 ,grote's ,hist4 ,greece1 vol4 ii4 p4   
#hc4    #e ,ibid4 p4 #hd4    #f ,ibid4  
p4 #ajb4    #g ,ibid4 p4 #aja4    #h    

,ibid4 p4 #hf4    #i ,ibid4 pp4 #ij1    
#ajb4    #aj ,ibid4 p4 #ib4    #aa      
,ibid4 p4 #ie4    #ab ,grote's ,hist4   
,greece1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #id1 #if4    ,it  
is1 ,i think1 in happy inconsistency    
with these representations1  that the   
historian proceeds to say1 that by means
 of the  and   we are enabled to trace  
the employment of public speaking1 as   
the  standing engine of government and  
the proximate cause of obedience1  #8up 
to the social infancy of the nation#ac4'
 ,but if1 in order to make  this        
sentence harmonize with what precedes   
and follows it1 we are to  understand   
that the ,homeric poems present to us no
 more than the dry  fact that public    
speaking was in use1 and are to infer   
that it did not  acquire its practical  
meaning and power until a later date1   
then ,i must  include it in the general 
protest which ,i beg leave to record    
against  the greater part of the        
foregoing propositions1 in their letter 
and in  their spirit1 as being neither  

warranted in the way of inference from  
,homer1 nor in any manner consistent    
with the undeniable facts of the  poems4
    #ac ,ibid4 p4 #aje4    ,their use of
 ,publicity and ,persuasion4            
,personal reverence from the people to  
the sovereign1 associated with  the     
duties he discharges1 with the high     
attributes he does or should  possess1  
and with the divine favour1 or with a   
reputed relationship to  the gods1      
attaching to him1 constitutes the       
primitive form in which  the relation of
 the prince and the subject is very     
commonly cast in  the early stages of   
society elsewhere than among the        
,greeks4 ,what is  sentimental1         
romantic1 archaic1 or patriarchal in the
 ,homeric polities  is common to them   
with many other patriarchal or highland 
governments4  ,but that which is beyond 
every thing distinctive not of ,greece  
only1  but of ,homeric ,greece1 is1 that
 along with an outline of sovereignty   
and public institutions highly          

patriarchal1 we find the full1 constant1
  and effective use1 of two great       
instruments of government1 since and    
still so extensively in abeyance among  
mankind2 namely1 publicity  and         
persuasion4 ,i name these two great     
features of the politics and            
institutions of the heroic age1 in order
 to concentrate upon them  the marked   
attention which ,i think they deserve4  
,and ,i venture to  give to this paper  
the name of the 1 because it was the    
,greek  ,assembly of those days1 which  
mainly imparted to the existing polities
  their specific spirit as well as      
features4 ,amid undeveloped ideas1  rude
 methods1 imperfect organization1 and   
liability to the frequent  intrusion of 
the strong hand1 there lies in them the 
essence of a  popular principle of      
government1 which cannot1 ,i believe1   
plead on its  behalf any other precedent
 so ancient and so venerable4    ,as is 
the boy1 so is the man4 ,as is the seed1
 so is the plant4 ,the dove  neither    

begets1 nor yet grows into the eagle4   
,how came it that the  prime            
philosophers of full-grown ,greece gave 
to the science of ,politics  the very   
highest place in the scale of human     
knowledge8 ,that they1  kings in the    
region of abstract thought1 for the     
first and perhaps the  only time in the 
history of the world1 came to think they
 discerned in  the turbid eddies of     
state affairs the image of the noblest  
thing for  man1 the noblest that        
speculation as well as action could     
provide for  him8 ,aristotle says that1 
of all sciences1  is      #ad2 and that 
ethical science constitutes but  a      
branch of it1   4 ,whence1 ,i ask1 did  
this ,greek idea  come8 ,it is not the  
,greece1 but it is the ,rome of history1
 which the  judgment and experience of  
the world has taken as its great teacher
 in  the mere business of law and       
political organization4 ,for so lofty a 
theory 7a theory without doubt          
exaggerated7 from so practical a person 

as ,aristotle1 we must assume a         
corresponding elevation of source4 ,i   
cannot help believing that the source is
 to be found rather in the  infancy1    
than in the maturity1 of ,greek society4
 ,as ,i read ,homer1 the  real first    
foundations of political science were   
laid in the heroic  age1 with a depth   
and breadth exceeding in their          
proportions any  fabric1 however        
imposing1 that the after-time of ,greece
 was able to  rear upon them4 ,that     
after-time was in truth infected with a 
spirit of  political exaggeration1 from 
which the heroic age was free4    #ad   
,ar4 ,eth4 ,nic4 i4 #b4    ,we shall    
have to examine the political picture   
presented by the heroic  age with       
reference to the various classes into   
which society was  distinguished in its 
normal state of peace3 to the           
organization of the  army in war1 and   
its mixture of civil with military      
relations3 to the  institutions which   
embodied the machinery of government1   

and to the  powers by which that        
machinery was kept in motion4           
,functions of the ,king4    ,let us     
begin with the ,king2 who constituted at
 once the highest class  in society1 and
 the centre of its institutions4    ,the
 political regimen of ,greece1 at the   
period immediately preceding  the       
,trojan war1 appears to have been that  
described by ,thucydides1  when he says 
that the tyrannies1 which had come in   
with the increase  of wealth1 were      
preceded by hereditary monarchies with  
limited  prerogatives#ae3         4 ,and
 again by ,aristotle2  444       444   1
            1      4 ,the threefold     
function of the ,king was to command the
 army1 to administer justice  chiefly1  
though not exclusively1 between man and 
man1 and to conduct  the rites of       
religion#af4    #ae ,thuc4 i4 #ac4      
#af ,ar4 ,pol4 ,,iii4 xiv4 xv4 ,v4 x4   
,independently of sovereignties purely  
local1 we find in ,homer traces  of a   
maritime ,cretan empire1 which had      

recently passed away3 and we  find a    
subsisting ,pelopid empire1 which       
appears to have been the first  of its  
kind1 at least on the ,greek mainland4  
,for the ,pelopid sceptre  was not one  
taken over from the ,perseids3 it was   
obtained through  ,mercury1 that is1    
probably through contrivance1 from      
,jupiter3 and the  difference probably  
consisted in one or both of these two   
particulars4  ,it comprehended the whole
 range of continental ,greece1  1 to    
which are added1 either at once or in   
its progressive extension1 the    7,il4 
ii4 #ajh7 of the ,minoan empire4        
,besides this1 it  consisted of a double
 sovereignty3 one1 a suzerainty or      
supremacy over  a number of chiefs1 each
 of whom conducted the ordinary         
government of  his own dominions2 the   
other1 a direct1 though perhaps not     
always an  effective control1 not only  
over an hereditary territory1 but over  
the unclaimed residue of minor          
settlements and principalities in the   

country4 ,this inference may1 ,i think1 
be gathered from the fact that  we find 
the force of ,agamemnon before ,troy    
drawn exclusively from his  ,mycenian   
dominions1 while he had claims of       
tribute from towns in the  south-west of
 ,peloponnesus1 which lay at some       
distance from his centre  of power1 and 
which apparently furnished no aid in the
 war of ,troy4    ,the ,pher of ,diocles
 lay on the way from ,pylos to ,sparta3 
and ,pher  is one of the towns which    
,agamemnon promised to ,achilles4 ,it   
should1  however1 be borne in mind that1
 as the family of names to which ,pher  
belonged was one so largely dispersed1  
we must not positively assume  the      
identity of the two towns4    ,degrees  
in ,kingship and in ,lordship4          
,kingship in ,homer is susceptible of   
degree2 it is one thing for the  local  
sovereignties1 such as those of ,nestor 
or ,ulysses1 and another  for the great 
supremacy of ,agamemnon1 which overrode 
them4 ,still the  ,greek  in the ,iliad 

constitute a class by themselves2 a     
class  that comprises the greater       
leaders and warriors1 who immediately   
surround ,agamemnon1 the head of the    
army4    ,of by much the greater part   
even of chiefs and leaders of           
contingents1  it is plain from the poem 
that though they were lords 77 of a     
certain tribe or territory1 they were   
not  or kings4    ,these chiefs and     
lords again divide themselves into two  
classes3 one  is composed of those who  
had immediate local heads1 such as      
,phnix1  lord of the ,dolopes1 under    
,peleus at ,phthia1 probably ,sthenelus 
under  ,diomed1 and perhaps also        
,meriones under ,idomeneus3 the other is
 the  class of chieftains1 to which     
order the great majority belong1 owning 
no subordination to any prince except to
 ,agamemnon4 ,among these1 again1  there
 is probably a distinction between those
 sub-chiefs who owned him  as a local   
sovereign1 and those who were only      
subject to him as the  head of the great

 ,greek confederation4    ,it is        
probable that the subordination of the  
sub-chief to his local  sovereign was a 
closer tie than that of the local       
sovereign to the head  of ,greece4 ,for1
 according to the evidence supplied by  
the promises of  ,agamemnon to          
,achilles#ag1 tribute was payable by the
 lords of towns  to their immediate     
political superior3 not a tribute in    
coined money1  which did not exist1 nor 
one fixed in quantity2 but a benevolence
  771 which must have consisted in      
commodities4 ,metals1 including  the    
precious metals1 would1 however1 very   
commonly be the medium of  acquittance4 
,again1 we find these sub-chiefs        
invested with dominion by  the local    
sovereign1 residing at his court1       
holding a subaltern command  in his     
army4 ,all these points are combined in 
the case of ,phnix4 ,on  the other hand1
 as to positive duty or service1 we know
 of none that  a sovereign like ,nestor 
owed to ,agamemnon1 except it were to   

take a  part in enterprises of national 
concern under his guidance4 ,but the    
distinction of rank between them is     
clear4 ,evidently on account of  his    
relation to ,agamemnon1 ,menelaus is 1  
higher in mere  kingship1 or more a     
king1 than the other chiefs3 ,agamemnon 
boasts#ah  that he is greatly the       
superior of ,achilles1 or of any one    
else in the  army2 and in the ,ninth    
,book ,achilles seems to refer with     
stinging1 nay1  rather with slaying     
irony1 to this claim of greater         
kingliness for  the ,pelopids1 when he  
rejects the offer of the hand of any one
 among  ,agamemnon's daughters2 ,no6 let
 him choose another son-in-law1 who may 
be worthy of him1 and who is more a king
 than ,i#ai2    #ag ,il4 ix4 #big4      
#ah ,il4 i4 #ahf4    #ai ,il4 ix4 #cib4 
' 1    4    ,but although one  might    
thus be higher than another1 the rank   
of the whole body of  is1 on the whole1 
well and clearly marked  off1 by the    
consistent language of the ,iliad1 from 

all inferior ranks3  and this           
combination may remind us in some degree
 of the ,british  peerage1 which has its
 own internal distinctions of grade1 but
 which  is founded essentially upon     
parity1 and is sharply severed from all 
the other orders of the community4 ,we  
shall presently see how this            
proposition is made good4    ,it thus   
far appears1 that we find substantially1
 though not very  determinately1        
distinguished1 the following forms of   
larger and lesser  ,greek sovereignty3  
,i4 ,that held by ,agamemnon1 as the    
head of ,greece4    ,,ii4 ,the local    
kings1 some of them considerable enough 
to have other  lords or princes 77 under
 them4    ,,iii4 ,the minor chiefs of   
contingents2 who1 though not kings1 were
  princes or lords 771 and governed     
separate states of their own3  such as  
,thoas for tolia1 and ,menestheus for   
,athens4    ,,iv4 ,the petty and        
scattered chiefs1 of whom we can hardly 
tell how far  any account is taken in   

the ,catalogue1 but who belonged1 in    
some sense1  to ,agamemnon1 by belonging
 to no one else4    ,first tokens of    
change in the ,heroic ,polities4        
,there are signs1 contained in the      
,iliad itself1 that the primitive       
monarchies1 the nature and spirit of    
which will presently be examined1  were 
beginning to give way even at the time  
of the expedition to ,troy4  ,the growth
 of the ,pelopid empire was probably    
unfavourable to their  continuance4 ,in 
any case1 the notes of commencing change
 will be found  clear enough4    ,minos 
had ruled over all ,crete as king2 but  
,idomeneus1 his grandson1  is nowhere   
mentioned as the king of that country1  
of which he appears  to have governed a 
part only4 ,among obvious tokens of this
 fact are  the following4 ,the cities   
which furnish the ,cretan contingent are
 all  contained in a limited portion of 
that island4 ,now1 although general     
words are employed 7,il4 ii4 #fdi47 to  
signify that the force was not  drawn   

from these cities exclusively1 yet      
,homer would probably have been  more   
particular1 had other places made any   
considerable contribution1  than to omit
 the names of them all4 ,again1 ,crete1 
though so large and  rich1 furnishes a  
smaller contingent than ,pylos4 ,and1   
once more1 if it  had been united in    
itself1 it is very doubtful whether any 
ruler of so  considerable a country     
would have been content that it should  
stand  only as a province of the empire 
of ,agamemnon4 ,in the many passages  of
 either poem which mention ,idomeneus1  
he is never decorated with a  title     
implying1 like that of ,minos 7 71 that 
he was ruler  of the whole island4      
,indeed1 one passage at least appears to
 bear  pretty certain evidence to the   
contrary4 ,for ,ulysses1 in his fabulous
  but of course self-consistent         
narration to ,minerva1 shows us that    
even  the ,cretan force in ,troy was not
 thoroughly united in allegiance to a   
single head4 #8,the son of ,idomeneus1' 

he says1 #8endeavoured to deprive  me of
 my share of the spoil1 because ,i did  
not obey his father in  ,troas1 but led 
a band of my own3'      ' '           1 
'   #bj4    #bj ,od4 xiii4 #bfe4    ,so 
likewise in the youth of ,nestor1 two   
generations back1 ,augeias  appears as  
the sole king of the ,epeans2 but1 in   
the ,catalogue1 his  grandson           
,polyxeinus only commands one out of the
 four ,epean divisions  of ten ships    
each1 without any sign of superiority3  
of the other  three1 two are commanded  
by generals of the ,actorid family1     
which  in the earlier legend appears as 
part of the court or following of       
,augeias#ba4 ,and wherever we find in   
the case of any considerable  ,greek    
contingent the chief command divided    
among persons other than  brothers1 we  
may probably infer that there had been a
 breaking up of  the old monarchical and
 patriarchal system4 ,this point        
deserves more  particular inquiry4      
#ba ,il4 xi4 #gji1 #ci1 #ej4    ,shown  

by analysis of the ,catalogue4    ,in   
the ,greek armament1 there are          
twenty-nine contingents in all4    ,of  
these1 twenty-three are under a single  
head2 with or without  assistants who1  
where they appear1 are described as     
having been  secondary4       #a4       
,locrians                with #dj ships4
     #b4 ,eubans                        
#dj     #c4 ,athenians                  
#ej     #d4 ,salaminians                
#ab     #e4 ,argives                    
#hj     #f4 ,mycenians                  
#ajj     #g4 ,lacedmonians              
#fj     #h4 ,pylians                    
#ij     #i4 ,arcadians                  
#fj    #aj4 ,dulichians c4              
#dj    #aa4 ,cephallenians              
#ab    #ab4 tolians                     
#dj    #ac4 ,cretans                    
#hj    #ad4 ,rhodians                   
#i    #ae4 ,symeans                     
#c    #af4 ,myrmidons                   
#ej    #ag4 ,phthians of ,phylace       
#dj    #ah4 ,phereans1 c4               

#aa    #ai4 ,phthians of ,methone c4    
#g    #bj4 ,ormenians c4                
#dj    #ba4 ,argissans c4               
#dj    #bb4 ,cyphians c4                
#bb    #bc4 ,magnesians                 
#dj                                     
-----                                   
#iff ships4    ,under brothers united in
 command1 there were four more          
contingents3      #a4 ,of ,aspledon and 
,orchomenus1 with   #cj ships4    #b4   
,of ,phocians                        #dj
    #c4 ,of ,nisuros1 ,cos c4           
#cj    #d4 ,of ,tricce c4               
#cj                                     
-----                                   
#acj ships4    ,in all these cases1     
comprising the whole armament except    
from two  states1 the old form of       
government seems to have continued4 ,the
 two  exceptions are3      #a4 ,botians2
 with #ej ships1 under five leaders4    
#b4 ,elians2 with #dj ships1 under four 
leaders4    ,it is quite clear that     
these two divisions were acephalous4 ,as

 to the  ,elians1 because the ,catalogue
 expressly divides the #dj ships into   
four  squadrons1 and places one under   
each leader1 two of these being of the  
,actorid house1 and a third descended   
from ,augeias4 ,as to the ,botians1  the
 ,catalogue indicates the equality of   
the leaders by placing the five  names  
in a series under the same category4    
,an indirect but rather strong          
confirmation is afforded by the passage 
in the ,thirteenth ,book#bb1 where five 
,greek races or divisions are  engaged  
in the endeavour to repel ,hector from  
the rampart4 ,they are1    #bb ,il4     
xiii4 #fhe-gjj4    #a4 ,botians4    #b4 
,athenians 7or ,ionians71 under         
,menestheus1 seconded by ,pheidas1      
,stichios1 and ,bias4    #c4 ,locrians4 
#d4 ,epeans 7of ,dulichium c47 under    
,meges1 son of ,phyleus1 with ,amphion1 
and ,drakios4 ,the addition of the      
patronymic to ,meges seems in this      
place to mark his position2 which is    
distinctly defined as the chief  one in 

the ,catalogue1 by his being mentioned  
there alone4    #e4 ,phthians1 under    
,medon and ,podarces4 ,these supplied   
two contingents1  numbered #ag and #ai  
respectively in the list just given2 and
 they  constituted separate commands1   
though of the same race4    ,it will be 
remarked that the ,poet enumerates the  
commanders of the  ,athenians1 ,epeans1 
and ,phthians2 but not of the ,locrians 
and ,botians4  ,obviously1 in the case  
of the ,locrians1 the reason is1 that   
,oilean  ,ajax1 a king and chief of the 
first rank1 and a person familiar to us 
in every page1 was their leader4 ,such a
 person he never mixes on equal  terms  
with secondary commanders1 or puts to   
secondary duties2 and  the text         
immediately proceeds to tell us he was  
with the ,telamonian  ,ajax#bc4 ,but why
 does it not name the ,botian leader8   
,probably1 we  may conjecture1 because  
that force had no one commander in      
chief1  but were an aggregation of      
independent bodies1 whom ties of blood  

or  neighbourhood drew together in the  
armament and in action4    #bc ,il4     
xiii4 #gja-h4    ,having thus           
endeavoured to mark the partial and     
small beginnings of  disorganization in 
the ancient form of government1 let us  
now observe  the character of the       
particular spots where they are found4  
,these  districts by no means represent1
 in their physical characteristics1 the 
average character of ,greece4 ,in the   
first place1 they are both on the       
highway of the movement between ,north  
and ,south4 ,in the second1 they  both  
are open and fertile countries2 a       
distinction which1 in certain  local    
positions1 at certain stages of society1
 not only does not favour  the          
attainment of political power1 but      
almost precludes its possession4  ,the  
,elis of ,homer is marked by two        
epithets having a direct reference  to  
fertility of soil2 it is 1              
horse-feeding1 and it is also  1        
wide-spaced or open4 ,again1 the        

twenty-nine towns assigned  in the      
,catalogue to the ,botians far exceed in
 number those which  are named for any  
other division of ,greece4 ,we have     
other parallel  indications2 such as the
 wealth of ,orchomenos#bd2 and of       
,orestius  with the variegated girdle4  
,he dwelt in ,hyle1 one of the          
twenty-nine1  amidst other ,botians who 
held a district of extreme fertility#be1
     4 ,now when we find signs like     
these in ,homer1  that ,elis and ,botia 
had been first subjected to revolution1 
not in the  shape of mere change of     
dynasty1 but in the decomposition1 so to
 speak1  of their ancient forms of      
monarchy1 we must again call to mind    
that  ,thucydides#bf1 when he tells us  
that the best lands underwent the most  
frequent social changes by the          
successions of new inhabitants1 names   
,botia1 and #8most of ,peloponnesus' as 
examples of the kind of district  to    
which his remark applied4    #bd ,il4   
ix4 #cha4    #be ,il4 v4 #gjg-aj4    #bf

 ,thuc4 i4 #b4    ,upon the whole1 the  
organization of the armament for ,troy  
shows us the  ancient monarchical system
 intact in by far the greater part of   
,greece4  ,but when we come to the      
,odyssey1 we find increasing signs of   
serious  changes2 which doubtless were  
then preparing the way1 by the overthrow
  of old dynasties1 for the great       
,dorian invasion4 ,and it is here worth 
while to remark a great difference4 ,the
 mere supervention of one race  upon    
another1 the change from a ,pelasgian to
 an ,hellenic character1  does not      
appear to have entailed alterations     
nearly so substantial in  the character 
and stability of ,hellenic government1  
as did the ,trojan  expedition2 which1  
by depriving societies of their natural 
heads1  and of the fighting men of the  
population1 left an open field to the   
operation of disorganizing causes4      
,strabo has a remarkable passage1 though
 one in which he makes no  particular   
reference to ,homer1 on the subject of  

the invasions and  displacements of one 
race by another4 ,these1 he says#bg1 had
 indeed  been known before the ,trojan  
war3 but it was immediately upon the    
close of the war1 and then after that   
period1 that they gained head3       1  
1        1                4 ,of this the
 ,odyssey  affords some curious         
indications4    #bg ,b4 xii4 #h1 #d4 p4 
#egb4    ,extended signs in the         
,odyssey4    ,among many alleged and    
some real shades of difference between  
the  poems1 we may note two of a        
considerable political significance3 the
  word ,king in the ,odyssey has        
acquired a more lax signification1 and  
the word ,queen1 quite unknown to the   
,iliad1 has come into free use4         
,altered meaning of #8,king4'    ,it    
will be shown how strictly1 in the      
,iliad1 the term 1 with  its appropriate
 epithets1 is limited to the very first 
persons of the  ,greek armament4 ,now in
 the ,odyssey there are but two ,states1
 with  the organization of which we have

 occasion to become in any degree       
acquainted3 one of them ,scheria1 the   
other ,ithaca4 ,of the first we do  not 
see a great deal1 and the force of the  
example is diminished by the  avowedly  
mythical or romantic character of the   
delineation3 but the  fact is worthy of 
note1 that in ,scheria we find there are
 twelve kings  of the country1 with     
,alcinous#bh1 the thirteenth1 as their  
superior  and head4 ,it is far more     
important and historically significant  
that1  in the limited and comparatively 
poor dominions of ,ulysses1 there are   
now many kings4 ,for ,telemachus        
says#bi1    #bh ,od4 viii4 #cia4 vi4    
#ed4    #bi ,od4 i4 #cid4      '        
1   4    ,his meaning must be to refer  
to the number of nobles who were now    
collected1 from ,cephallonia and the    
other dominions of ,ulysses1 into  that 
island4 ,the observation is made by him 
in reply to the ,suitor  ,antinous1 who 
had complained of his bold language1 and
 hoped he never  would be king in       

,ithaca#cj3    #cj ,ibid4 #chf4        '
         1     4    ,it is1 ,i think1   
clear1 that in this place ,antinous does
 not mean  merely1 #8,i hope you will   
not become one of us1' which might be   
said in  reference merely to the        
contingency of his assuming the controul
 of his  paternal estates1 but that he  
refers to the sovereignty properly so   
called3 for ,telemachus1 after having   
said there are many  in  ,ithaca1       
proceeds to say1 #8,let one of them be  
chosen'1 or #8one of these  may be      
chosen1 to succeed ,ulysses2'         ' 
1    4    #8but let me1' he continues1  
#8be master of my own house and         
property4'  ,thus we have  bearing two  
senses in the very same passage4        
,first1 it means the noble1 of whom     
there are many in the country1 and  it  
is here evidently used in an improper   
sense2 secondly1 it means  the person   
who rules the whole of them1 and it is  
here as evidently  employed in its      
original and proper signification4 ,it  

seems very  doubtful1 however1 whether1 
even in the ,odyssey1 the relaxed sense 
ever appears as a simple title in the   
singular number4 ,the only signs  of it 
are these2 ,antinous is told that he is 
like a king#ca in  appearance2 and he is
 also expressly called  in the strongly 
and generally suspected  of the         
,twenty-fourth ,book#cb4 ,so  again1 the
 kingly epithet  is not used in the     
singular for  any one below the rank of 
a  of the ,iliad1 except once1 where1   
in addressing ,agelaus the ,suitor1 it  
is employed by ,melanthius1 the         
goatherd1 one of the subordinate        
adherents and parasites of that         
party#cc4    #ca ,od4 xvii4 #daf4    #cb
 ,od4 xxiv4 #agi4    #cc ,od4 xxii4     
#acf4    ,this relaxation in the sense  
of 1 definite and limited as is  its    
application in the ,iliad1 is no        
inconsiderable note of change4    ,new  
name of ,queen4    ,equally1 or more    
remarkable1 is the introduction in the  
,odyssey of the  words  and 1 and the   

altered use of 4    #a4  is applied1    
,od4 iii4 #djc1 to the wife of          
,pisistratus1 son  of ,nestor2 to       
,arete1 queen of the ,phacians1 ,od4    
vii4 #ec1 #cdg2 to  ,penelope1 ,od4 xiv4
 #i1 #abg1 #dea2 xv4 #cgd1 #g2 xvii4    
#hc2 xxiii4 #b4    #b4  is applied in   
the ,iliad1 xiv4 #cbf1 to ,ceres only2  
but in the  ,odyssey1 besides ,minerva1 
in ,od4 iii4 #chj1 ,ulysses applies it  
twice  to ,nausicaa1 in ,od4 vi4 #adi1  
#age2 apparently in some doubt whether  
she is a divinity or a mortal4 ,i would 
not however dwell strongly on  this     
distinction between the poems2 for we   
seem to find substantially  the human   
use of the word  in the name of         
,agamemnon's daughter1  1 which is used 
in ,il4 ix4 #ade4    #c4  is used many  
times in the ,odyssey2 and is applied to
      a4 ,nausicaa1 ,od4 vi4 #aae4    b4
 ,tyro1 daughter of ,salmoneus1 ,od4 xi4
 #beh2 but only in the phrase           
1 which seems to resemble  4    c4      
,arete1 queen of the ,phacians1 ,od4    

xiii4 #ei4    d4 ,penelope1 ,od4 xvi4   
#ccb1 #g3 and elsewhere4    ,now it     
cannot be said that the use of the word 
is forborne in the  ,iliad from the want
 of fit persons to bear it2 for ,hecuba1
 as the wife  of ,priam1 and ,helen1 as 
the wife of ,paris1 possibly also       
,andromache1  7though this is much more 
doubtful#cd17 were all of a rank to have
  received it3 nor can we account for   
its absence by their appearing only  as 
,trojans2 for the title of  is          
frequently applied to ,priam1  and it is
 likewise assigned to ,paris1 though to 
no other member of the  ,trojan royal   
family4    #cd ,see inf4 #8,ilios4'     
,we have also two other cases in the    
,iliad of women who were queens of  some
 kind4 ,one is that of ,hypsipyle1 who  
apparently exercised supreme  power#ce  
in ,lemnos1 but we are left to inference
 as to its character3  the other is the 
mother of ,andromache#cf1    #ce ,il4   
vii4 #dfi4    #cf ,il4 vi4 #cie-g4 #dbe4
          4    ,she was what we term a  

,queen consort1 for her husband ,eetion 
was alive  at the time4 ,in the ,odyssey
 we are told that ,chloris1 whom ,neleus
  married1 reigned at ,pylos2    1 ,od4 
xi4 #bhe4 ,in this  place the word  may 
perhaps imply the exercise of sovereign 
power4 ,be this as it may1 the          
introduction of the novel title of      
,queen  betokens political movement4    
,there are other signs of advancing     
change in the character of kingship     
discernible from the ,odyssey1 which    
will be more conveniently  considered   
hereafter4 ,in the meantime1 the two    
which are already before  us are1 it    
will be observed1 exactly in the        
direction we might expect  from the     
nature of the ,trojan war1 and from the 
tradition of ,strabo4 ,we  have before  
us an effort of the country amounting to
 a violent1 and  also an unnaturally    
continued strain2 a prolonged absence of
 its best  heads1 its strongest arms1   
its most venerated authorities3 wives   
and  young children1 infants of         

necessity in many cases1 remain at home4
 ,it  was usual no doubt for a ruler1 on
 leaving his country1 to appoint some   
guardian to remain behind him1 as we see
 from the case of ,agamemnon1  7,od4    
iii4 #bfg17 and from the language of    
,telemachus1 7,od4 xv4 #hi72  but no    
regent1 deputy1 or adviser1 could be of 
much use in that stage  of society4     
,again1 in every class of every         
community1 there are boys  rapidly      
passing into manhood2 they form unawares
 a new generation1  and the heat of     
their young blood1 in the absence of    
vigorous and  established controul1     
stirs1 pushes forward1 and innovates4   
,once more1  as extreme youth1 so old   
age likewise was ordinarily a           
disqualification  for war4 ,and as we   
find ,laertes and ,peleus1 and ,mentius1
 with ,admetus1  besides probably other 
sovereigns whom ,homer has not named to 
us1 left  behind on this account1 so    
there must have been many elderly men of
 the  class of nobles 71  7 who obtained

 exemption from  actual service in the  
war4 ,there is too every appearance     
that1 in some  if not all the states of 
,greece1 there had been those who       
escaped from  service on other grounds2 
perhaps either from belonging to the    
elder  race1 which was more peculiarly  
akin to ,troy1 or from local jealousies1
  or from the love of ease4 ,for in     
,ithaca we find old men1 contemporaries 
and seniors of ,ulysses1 who had taken  
no part in the expedition2 and  there   
are various towns mentioned in different
 parts of the poems1  which do not      
appear from the ,catalogue to have made 
any contribution to  the force4 ,such   
were possibly the various places bearing
 the name of  ,ephyre1 and with higher  
likelihood the towns offered by         
,agamemnon to  be made over to          
,achilles#cg4    #cg ,there is a nexus  
of ideas attached to these towns that   
excites  suspicion4 ,it would have been 
in keeping with the character of        
,agamemnon to offer them to ,achilles1  

on account of his having already  found 
he could not control them himself4 ,no  
one of them appears in the  ,catalogue4 
,nor do we hear of them in the          
,nineteenth ,book1 when the  gifts are  
accepted4 ,it seems1 however1 just      
possible that the promise  by ,menelaus 
of the hand of his daughter ,hermione to
 ,neoptolemus may  have been an         
acquittance of a residue of debt        
standing over from the  original offer  
of ,agamemnon1 out of which the seven   
towns appear to  have dropped by consent
 of all parties4    ,disorganization    
caused by the ,war4    ,again1 as       
,cinyres#ch the ruler of ,cyprus1 and   
,echepolus#ci the son  of ,anchises1    
obtained exemption by means of gifts to 
,agamemnon1 so  may others1 both rulers 
and private individuals1 have done4 ,but
 the  two main causes1 which would      
probably operate to create perturbation 
in connection with the absence of the   
army1 were1 without much doubt1  first1 
the arrival of a new race of youths at a

 crude and intemperate  manhood2 and    
secondly1 the unadjusted relations in   
some places of the  old ,pelasgian and  
the new ,hellenic settlers4 ,their      
differences1 when  the pressure of the  
highest established authority had been  
removed1  would naturally in many places
 spring up afresh4 ,in conformity with  
the first of these causes1 the ,suitors 
as a body are called very  commonly     
#dj1 #8the domineering youths4' ,and the
  circumstances under which ,ulysses    
finds himself1 when he has returned  to 
,ithaca1 appear to connect themselves   
also with the latter of the  above-named
 causes4 ,but1 whatever the reasons1 it 
is plain that his  position had become  
extremely precarious4 ,notwithstanding  
his wealth1  ability1 and fame1 he did  
not venture to appeal to the people till
 he  had utterly destroyed his dangerous
 enemies2 and even then it was only  by 
his promptitude1 strength of hand1 and  
indomitable courage1 that he  succeeded 
in quelling a most formidable sedition4 

#ch ,il4 xi4 #bj4    #ci ,il4 xxiii4    
#bif4    #dj ,od4 ii4 #cbd1 #cca1 et    
alibi4 ,the epithet is1 ,i think1       
exactly  rendered by another word very  
difficult to translate into ,english1   
the  ,italian prepotenti4    ,nothing1  
then1 could be more natural1 than that1 
in the absence of the  sovereigns1 often
 combined with the infancy of their     
children1 the  mother should become the 
depositary of an authority1 from which1 
as we  see by other instances1 her sex  
does not appear to have excluded her3   
and that if1 as is probable1 the        
instances were many and simultaneous1   
this systematic character given to      
female rule should have its formal      
result on language in the creation of   
the word ,queen1 and its twin  phrase 1 
or ,mistress4 ,the extension of the word
  from  divinities to mortals might     
result from a subaltern operation of the
  same causes4    ,in the very same     
manner1 the diminished force of         
authority at its  centre would increase 

the relative prominence of such among   
the nobles  as remained at home4 ,on    
reaching to manhood1 they would in some 
cases1  as in ,ithaca1 find themselves  
practically independent4 ,the natural   
result would be1 that having1 though on 
a small scale1 that is to say1  so far  
probably as their own properties and    
neighbourhoods respectively  were       
concerned1 much of the substance of     
sovereignty actually in  their hands1   
they should proceed to arrogate its     
name4 ,hence come the   of ,ithaca and  
the islands near it2 some of them young 
men1  who had become adult since the    
departure of ,ulysses1 others of them   
old1 who1 remaining behind him1 had     
found their position effectively        
changed1 if not by the fact of his      
departure1 yet by the prolongation  of  
his absence4    ,the relaxed use1 then1 
of the term  in the ,odyssey1 and the   
appearance of the term  and of others in
 a similar category1  need not qualify  
the proposition above laid down with    

respect to the   of the ,iliad4 ,he1 as 
we shall see from the facts of the poem1
  stands in a different position1 and   
presents to us a living picture of  the 
true heroic age#da4    #da ,i need      
hardly express my dissent from the      
account given of the   and  in the note 
on ,grote's ,history of ,greece1 vol4   
,,ii4  p4 #hd4 ,there is no race in     
,troas called 4 ,every   was an 2 but   
many an  was not a 4 ,it is true  that  
an  might be  either of freemen or of   
slaves2 but so he  might of houses 7,od4
 i4 #cig71 of fishes 7,il4 xiii4 #bh71  
or of dogs 7,od4  xvii4 #cah74          
,altered idea of the ,kingly office4    
,this change in the meaning of the word 
,king was accompanied by  a             
corresponding change in the idea of the 
great office which it  betokened4 ,it   
had descended from a more noble to a    
less noble type4 ,i  do not mean by this
 that it had now first submitted to     
limitations4 ,the   of the ,greeks was  
always and essentially limited3 and     

hence  probably it was1 that the usurper
 of sole and indefinite power in the    
state was so essentially and deeply     
odious to the ,greeks1 because it  was  
felt that he had plundered the people of
 a treasure1 namely1 free  government1  
which they and their early forefathers  
had possessed from  time immemorial4    
,it is in the ,odyssey that we are first
 startled by meeting not only  a wider  
diffusion and more lax use of the name  
of king1 but together  with this change 
another one2 namely1 a lower conception 
of the kingly  office4 ,the splendour of
 it in the ,iliad is always associated  
with  duty4 ,in the simile where ,homer 
speaks of corrupt governors1 that draw  
down the vengeance of heaven on a land  
by crooked judgments1 it is  worthy of  
remark1 that he avoids the use of the   
word #db3    #db ,il4 xvi4 #chf4        
'   1          4    ,the worst thing    
that is even hinted at as within the    
limits of  possibility1 is slackness in 
the discharge of the office3 it never   

degenerates into an instrument of       
oppression to mankind4 ,but in the      
,odyssey1 which evidently represents    
with fidelity the political  condition  
of ,greece after the great shock of the 
,trojan war1 we find  that kingship has 
come to be viewed by some mainly with   
reference to  the enjoyment of great    
possessions1 which it implied or        
brought1 and as  an object on that      
account of mere ambition4 ,not of what  
we should call  absolutely vicious      
ambition3 it is not an absolute         
perversion1 but it  is a clear          
declension in the idea1 that ,i here    
seek to note            2               
1   4#dc    #dc ,od4 i4 #cia-c4    ,this
 general view of the office as one to be
 held for the personal  enjoyment of the
 incumbent1 is broadly distinguished    
from such a  case as that in the ,iliad1
 where ,agamemnon1 offering seven cities
  to ,achilles#dd1 strives to tempt him 
individually by a particular            
inducement1 drawn from his own          

undoubtedly rather sordid mind2    #dd  
,il4 ix4 #aee4            4    ,the     
moral causes of this change are in a    
great degree traceable to the           
circumstances of the war1 and we seem to
 see how the conception above  expressed
 was engendered in the mind of ,mentor1 
when he observes#de1  that it is now    
useless for a king to be wise and       
benevolent like  ,ulysses1 who was      
gentle like a father to his people1 in  
order that1  like ,ulysses1 he may be   
forgotten3 so that he may just as well  
be  lawless in character1 and oppressive
 in action4 ,the same ideas are         
expressed by ,minerva#df in the very    
same words1 at the second ,olympian     
meeting in the ,odyssey4 ,it would      
therefore thus appear1 that this        
particular step downwards in the        
character of the governments of the     
heroic age was owing to the cessation1  
through prolonged absence1  of the      
influence of the legitimate sovereigns1 
and to consequent  encroachment upon    

their moderate powers4    #de ,od4 ii4  
#bcj-d4    #df ,od4 v4 #h-ab4           
,instance of a bad ,king4    ,and it is 
surely well worthy of remark that we    
find in this very same  poem the first  
exemplification of the character of a   
bad and tyrannical  monarch1 in the     
person of a certain king ,echetus2 of   
whom all we know  is1 that he lived     
somewhere upon the coast of ,epirus1 and
 that he was  the pest of all mortals   
that he had to do with4 ,with great     
propriety1  it is the lawless ,suitors  
who are shown to be in some kind of     
relation  with him2 for in the          
,eighteenth ,odyssey they threaten#dg to
 send ,irus1  who had annoyed them in   
his capacity of a beggar1 to king       
,echetus1 that  he might have his nose  
and ears cut off1 and be otherwise      
mutilated4  ,the same threat is repeated
 in the ,twenty-first ,book against     
,ulysses  himself1 and the line that    
conveys it reappears as one of the      
,homeric  formul#dh2    #dg ,od4 xviii4 

#hc-f and #aad4    #dh ,od4 xxi4 #cjh4  
1   4    ,probably this ,echetus was a  
purchaser of slaves4 ,it is little      
likely  that the ,suitors would have    
taken the trouble of sending ,irus away1
  rather than dispose of him at home1   
except with the hope of a price2 as     
they suggest to ,telemachus to ship off 
,theoclymenus and ,ulysses 7still       
disguised7 to the ,sicels1 among whom   
they will sell well#di4    #di ,od4 xx4 
#chb1 #c4    ,kingship in the age of    
,hesiod4    ,the kingship1 of which the 
features were so boldly and fairly      
defined  in the ,homeric age1 soon      
passed away2 and was hardly to be found 
represented by any thing but its 1 the  
or despotism1  which neither recognised 
limit nor rested upon reverence or upon 
usage1  but had force for its           
foundation1 was essentially absolute1   
and could  not1 according to the        
conditions of our nature1 do otherwise  
than  rapidly and ordinarily degenerate 
into the positive vices1 which have     

made the name of tyrant #8a curse and a 
hissing' over the earth4 ,in  ,hesiod we
 find what ,homer nowhere furnishes2 an 
odious epithet attached  to the whole   
class of kings4 ,the   of the heroic age
 have  disappeared3 they are now        
sometimes the  still1 but sometimes  the
 1 the gift-greedy1 instead4 ,they      
desire that litigation  should increase1
 for the sake of the profits that it    
brings them#ej2    #ej ,hesiod 4 i4 #ci4
 #beh4 cf4 #bfb4                        
1     4    ,the people has now to       
expiate the wickedness of these         
corrupted kings2                        
'           ,a ,shield of ,achilles1    
manufactured after the fashion of the   
,hesiodic  age1 would not have given us1
 for the pattern of a king1 one who     
stood  smiling in his fields behind his 
reapers as they felled the corn#ea4     
,yet while ,hesiod makes it plain that  
he had seen kingship degraded  by abuse1
 he has also shown us1 that his age     
retained the ideas both  that justice   

was its duty1 and that persuasion was   
the grand basis of  its power4 ,for1 as 
he says in one of his few fine          
passages#eb1 at  the birth of a king1   
the ,muses pour dew upon his tongue1    
that he may  have the gift of gentle    
speech1 and may administer strict       
justice to  the people4 ,he then1 or the
 ancient writer who has interpolated    
him1  goes on to describe the work of   
royal oratory1 in thoughts chiefly      
borrowed from the poems of ,homer4 ,but 
the increase of wealth1 and the         
multiplication of its kinds through     
commerce1 mocked the simple state  of   
the early kings1 and tempted them into a
 rapacity1 before which  the barriers of
 ancient custom gave way3 and so1 says  
,thucydides#ec1        1     4 ,the germ
 of this evil is just discernible in the
 ,agamemnon  of the ,iliad3 and it is   
marked by the epithet of ,achilles1 who1
  when angry1 still knows how to strike 
at the weakest point of his  character1 
by calling him  #ed1 a king who eat up1 

or impoverished1 those under his        
command4 ,whether the charge was in  any
 great degree deserved or not1 we can   
hardly say4 ,helen certainly  gives to  
the ,achan king a better character#ee4  
,but however that may  be1 the reproach 
was altogether personal to the man4 ,the
 reverence due  and paid to the office  
must have been immense1 when ,ulysses1  
alone1 and  armed only with the sceptre 
of ,agamemnon1 could stem the torrent of
  the flying soldiery1 and turn them    
back upon the place of meeting4    #ea  
,il4 xviii4 #eef4    #eb ,hes4 ,theog4  
#hj-ig4    #ec ,thuc4 i4 #ac4    #ed    
,il4 i4 #bca4    #ee ,il4 iii4 #agi4    
,veneration long adhering to the name4  
,even in the ,iliad1 indeed1 we scarcely
 find the strictly patriarchal  king4   
,the constitution of the state has      
ceased to be modelled in any  degree on 
the pattern of the family4 ,the         
different classes are united  together  
by relations which1 though undefined and
 only nascent1 are  yet purely          

political4 ,ulysses1 in his character of
 king1 had been  gentle as a father#ef2 
but the idea which makes the king even  
metaphorically the father of his people 
is nowhere1 ,i think1 to  be found in   
,homer3 it was obsolete4 ,ethnical1     
local1 and dynastic  changes1 often     
brought about by war1 had effaced the   
peculiar traits  of patriarchal         
kingship1 with the exception of the old 
title of   2 and had substituted those  
heroic monarchies which retained1  in a 
larger development1 so much of what was 
best in the still older  system4 ,as    
even these monarchies had begun1 before 
the ,trojan war1 to  be shaken here and 
there1 and as the ,odyssey exhibits to  
us the state  of things when apparently 
their final knell had sounded1 so1 in   
the age  of ,hesiod1 that iron age1 when
 ,commerce had fairly settled in        
,greece1  and had brought forth its     
eldest-born child ,competition#eg1 they 
had  become a thing of the past4 ,yet   
they were still remembered1 and still   

understood4 ,and it might well be that1 
long after society had outgrown  the    
forms of patriarchal life1 men might    
nevertheless cling to its  associations2
 and so long as those associations were 
represented by old  hereditary          
sovereignties1 holding either in full   
continuity1 or by ties  and traditions  
not absolutely broken1 much of the      
spirit of the ancient  system might     
continue to subsist2 political freedom  
respecting the  tree1 under the shadow  
of which it had itself grown up4    #ef 
,od4 ii4 #dg4    #eg ,hesiod4 4 #ag-bd4 
,it should be easier for the ,english1  
than for the nations of most other      
countries1 to make this picture real to 
their own minds2 for it is the  very    
picture before our own eyes in our own  
time and country1 where  visible traces 
of the patriarchal mould still coexist  
in the national  institutions with      
political liberties of more recent      
fashion1 because  they retain their hold
 upon the general affections4    ,and1  

indeed1 there is a sign1 long posterior 
to the account given  by ,hesiod of the 
heroic age1 and distinct also from the  
apparently  favourable notice by        
,thucydides of the  1 which might  lead 
to the supposition that the old name of 
king left a good character  behind it4  
,it is the reverence which continued to 
attend that name1  notwithstanding the  
evil association1 which events could not
 fail to  establish between it and the  
usurpations 774 ,for when the  office of
 the  had either wholly disappeared1 as 
in ,athens1  or had undergone essential 
changes1 as in ,sparta1 so that  no     
longer appears with the philosophical   
analysts as one of the regular  kinds of
 government1 but  is substituted1 still 
the name  remained#eh1 and bore for long
 long ages the traces of its pristine   
dignity1 like many another venerable    
symbol1 with which we are loath  to     
part1 even after we have ceased either  
to respect the thing it  signifies1 or  
perhaps even to understand its          

significance4    #eh ,the title is      
stated to have been applied in ,attica  
even to the  decennial archons4         
,tittmann1 ,griechische                 
,staatsverfassungen1 b4 ii4 p4  #gj4    
,such is a rude outline of the history  
of the office4 ,let us now  endeavour to
 trace the portrait of it which has been
 drawn in the ,iliad  of ,homer4        
,notes of ,kingship in the ,iliad4      
#a4 ,the class of  has the epithet 1    
which is never used by  ,homer except to
 place the subject of it in some special
 relation with  deity2 as for 7a7 kings1
 7b7 bards1 7c7 the two protagonists1   
,achilles and ,ulysses1 7d7 several of  
the heroes who predeceased the  war1 7e7
 the herald in ,il4 iv4 #aib2 who1 like 
an ambassador in modern  times1         
personally represents the sovereign1 and
 is therefore      1 ,il4 i4 #ccd4      
#b4 ,this class is marked by the        
exclusive application to it of the      
titular epithet 2 which1 by the         
relations with ,jupiter which  it       

expresses1 denotes the divine origin of 
sovereign power4 ,the word   has a      
bearing similar to that of 1 but        
apparently  rather less exclusive4      
,although at first sight this may seem  
singular1  and we should perhaps expect 
the order of the two words to be        
reversed1  it is really in keeping2 for 
the gods had many reputed sons of whom  
they took no heed1 and to be brought up 
under the care of ,jupiter was          
therefore a far higher ascription1 than 
merely to be born or descended  from    
him4    #c4 ,to the 1 and to no one     
else1 is it said that ,jupiter has      
intrusted the sceptre1 the symbol of    
authority1 together with the            
prerogatives of justice#ei4 ,the sceptre
 or staff was the emblem of  regal power
 as a whole4 ,hence the account of the  
origin and successive  deliveries of the
 sceptre of ,agamemnon#fj4 ,hence       
,ulysses obtained  the use of it in     
order to check the ,greeks and bring    
them back to the  assembly1 ii4 #ahf4   

,hence we constantly hear of the sceptre
 as carried  by kings3 hence the epithet
  is applied to them exclusively  in    
,homer1 and the sceptre is carried by no
 other persons1 except by  judges1 and  
by herald-serjeants1 as their deputies4 
#ei ,il4 ii4 #bje4    #fj ,il4 ii4 #aja4
    #d4 ,the  are in many places spoken 
of as a class or order by  themselves2  
and in this capacity they form the  or  
council of  the army4 ,thus when        
,achilles describes the distribution of 
prizes by  ,agamemnon to the principal  
persons of the army1 he says#fa1    #fa 
,il4 ix4 #ccd4       '   1  4    ,in    
this place the ,poet seems manifestly to
 distinguish between the  class of kings
 and that of chiefs4    ,when he has    
occasion to speak of the higher order of
 chiefs who usually  met in council1 he 
calls them the #fb1 or the #fc3  but    
when he speaks of the leaders more at   
large1 he calls them by  other names1 as
 at the commencement of the ,catalogue1 
they are 1  1 or 3 and1 again1 #fd4 ,in 

two places1 indeed1  he applies the     
phrase last-named to the members of that
 select class  of chiefs who were also  
kings3 but there the expression is      
#fe1 a phrase of which the effect is    
probably much the same  as  3 the       
meaning seems to be those who were chief
 over  all orders of the ,greeks1 that  
is to say1 chiefs even among chiefs4    
,thus ,agamemnon would have been        
properly the only  4    #fb ,il4 ii4 #ec
 et alibi4    #fc ,il4 xix4 #cji4 ii4   
#hf4    #fd ,il4 ii4 #dhg1 #dic4 xx4    
#cjc4    #fe ,il4 ii4 #djd1 and vii4    
#cbg4 ,on the force of 1 see ,achis1  or
 ,ethnology1 p4 #dbj4    ,the same      
distinction is marked in the proceedings
 of ,ulysses1 when he  rallies the      
dispersed ,assembly3 for he addressed   
coaxingly1            1    whatever king
 or leading man he chanced to           
overtake#ff4    #ff ,il4 ii4 #ahh4      
#e4 ,the rank of the ,greek  is marked  
in the ,catalogue by this  trait2 that  
no other person seems ever to be        

associated with them on an  equal       
footing in the command of the force1    
even where it was such as to  require   
subaltern commanders4 ,agamemnon1       
,menelaus1 ,nestor1 ,ulysses1 the  two  
,ajaxes1 ,achilles1 are each named      
alone4 ,idomeneus is named alone as     
leader in opening the account of the    
,cretans1 ii4 #fde1 though1 when he  is 
named again1 ,meriones also appears     
7#fej1 #a71 which arrangement seems  to 
point to him as only at most a          
quasi-colleague1 and 4 ,sthenelus  and  
,euryalus are named after ,diomed       
7#efc-f71 but it is expressly added1    
'    4    ,thus his higher rank is not  
obscured4 ,again1 we know that1 in the  
case  of ,achilles1 there were five     
persons1 each commanding ten of his     
fifty  ships 7,il4 xvi4 #aga71 of whom  
no notice is taken in the ,catalogue    
7#fha-id71 though it begins with a      
promise to enumerate all those who  were
 in command of the fleet 7#dic71        
2    and in the case of the ,elians he  

names four leaders who had exactly the  
same command1 each over ten ships       
7#fah74 ,it thus appears natural to     
refer his silence about the five to the 
rank held by ,achilles as a king4    ,so
 much for the notes of this class in the
 ,iliad4    ,though we are not bound to 
suppose1 that ,homer had so rigid a     
definition of the class of kings before 
his mind as exists in the case  of the  
more modern forms of title1 it is clear 
in very nearly every  individual case of
 a ,greek chieftain of the ,iliad1      
whether he was a   or not4    ,the ,nine
 ,greek ,kings of the ,iliad4    ,the   
class clearly comprehends3      #a4     
,agamemnon1 ,il4 i4 #i1 and in many     
places4      #b4 ,menelaus   from ,il4  
xix4 #caj1 #caa1 where they remain      
#c4 ,nestor     with ,achilles1 while   
the other    #d4 ,ulysses    1 ver4     
#cji1 are sent away4    #e4 ,idomeneus  
,also for ,ulysses1 see xiv4 #cgi2 and  
various places in the ,odyssey4      #f4
 ,achilles1 ,il4 i4 #cca4 xvi4 #baa4    

#g4 ,diomed1 ,il4 xiv4 #bg1 compared    
with #bi and #cgi4      #h4 ,ajax       
,telamonius1 ,il4 vii4 #cba connected   
with #cdd4      #i4 ,ajax1 son of       
,oileus4    ,among the indications1 by  
which the last-named chief is shown to  
have  been a 1 are those which follow4  
,he is summoned by ,agamemnon  7,il4 ii4
 #djd-f7 among the   3 where all the    
abovenamed persons appear 7except       
,achilles71 and no others4 ,now the   or
 elders are summoned before in ver4 #ec 
of the same book1  and are called in    
ver4 #hf the  4 ,another proof of  the  
rank of ,oilean ,ajax is the familiar   
manner in which his name is  associated 
on terms of equality1 throughout the    
poem1 with that of ,ajax  ,telamonius4  
,but the part of the poem1 which        
supplies the most pointed testimony as  
a whole with respect to the composition 
of the class of kings1 is the  ,tenth   
,book4    ,here we begin with the       
meeting of ,agamemnon and ,menelaus     
7ver4 #cd74  ,next1 ,menelaus goes to   

call the greater ,ajax and ,idomeneus   
7#ec71 and  ,agamemnon to call ,nestor  
7#ed1 #gd74 ,nestor awakens ,ulysses    
7#acg72 and  then ,diomed 7#aeg71 whom  
he sends to call ,oilean ,ajax1 together
 with  ,meges 7#age74 ,they then        
conjointly visit the  or watch1         
commanded  by ,thrasymedes1 ,meriones1  
and others 7ix4 #hj4 x4 #eg-i74 ,nestor 
gives  the watch an exhortation to be on
 the alert1 and then reenters within    
the trench1 followed by the ,argeian    
kings 7#aid1 #e72                       
' '      1   4    ,the force of the term
 1 as marking off a certain class1 is   
enhanced by the lines which follow1 and 
which tell us that with them1  the kings
  ' 1 went ,meriones and ,thrasymedes by
 special  invitation 7#aif1 #g72        
4    ,now in this narrative it is not   
stated that each of the persons1 who    
had been called1 joined the company     
which visited the watch3 but all  who   
did join it are evidently 4 ,but we are 
certain that ,oilean  ,ajax was among   

them1 because he is mentioned in ver4   
#bbh as one of  those in the ,council1  
who were anxious to accompany ,diomed on
 his  enterprise4    ,ajax ,oileus      
therefore makes the ninth ,king on the  
,greek side in the  ,iliad4    ,these   
nine ,king-,chiefs1 of course with the  
exception of ,achilles1  appear in every
 ,council1 and appear either absolutely 
or almost alone4    ,the line between   
them1 and all the other chiefs1 is on   
the whole  preserved with great         
precision4 ,there are1 however1 a very  
few persons1  with regard to whom the   
question may possibly be raised whether 
they  passed it4    ,certain doubtful   
cases4    #a4 ,meges1 son of ,phyleus1  
and commander of the ,dulichian ,epeans1
 was  not in the first rank of warriors2
 for he was not one of the ten who1     
including ,menelaus1 were ready to      
accept ,hector's challenge#fg4  ,neither
 was he a member of the ordinary        
,council2 but on one occasion1  that of 
the ,night-council1 he is summoned4     

,those who attended on this  occasion   
are also1 as we have seen1 called       
kings#fh4 ,and we have seen  that the   
term has no appearance of having been   
loosely used3 since1  after saying that 
the kings followed ,nestor to the       
council1 it adds1  that with them went  
,meriones and ,antilochus#fi4    #fg    
,il4 vii4 #afg-gj4    #fh ,il4 x4 #age1 
connected with #aie4    #fi ,il4 x4     
#aif1 #g4    ,but when ,diomed proceeds 
to ask for a companion on his           
expedition1 six  persons are mentioned  
7#bbg-cb7 as having been desirous to    
attend him4  ,they are the two ,ajaxes1 
,meriones1 ,thrasymedes1 ,menelaus1 and 
,ulysses4  ,idomeneus and ,nestor are of
 course excepted on account of age4 ,it 
seems plain1 however1 that ,homer's     
intention was to include the whole      
company1 with those exceptions only4 ,he
 could not mean that one and one  only  
of the able-bodied warriors present hung
 back4 ,yet ,meges is not  mentioned2   
the only one of the persons summoned1   

who is not accounted  for4 ,i therefore 
infer that ,homer did not mean to       
represent him as  having attended2 and  
consequently he is in all likelihood not
 included  among the  by v4 #aie4    #b4
 ,phnix1 the tutor and friend of        
,achilles1 is caressingly called  by him
 #gj in the ,ninth ,book2 but the       
petting and familiar  character of the  
speech1 and of the whole relation       
between them1 would  make it hazardous  
to build any thing upon this evidence4  
#gj ,il4 ix4 #fjg4    ,in the ,ninth    
,book it may appear probable that he was
 among the elders  who took counsel with
 ,agamemnon about the mission to        
,achilles1 but it  is not positively    
stated2 and1 even if it were1 his       
relation to that  great chieftain would 
account for his having appeared there on
 this  occasion only 7,il4 ix4 #afh74   
,it is remarkable that1 at this single  
juncture1 ,homer tells us that          
,agamemnon collected not simply the  1  
but the  1 as if there were persons     

present1  who did not belong to the     
ordinary ,council 7,il4 ix4 #hi74       
,again1 in the ,nineteenth ,book1 we are
 told 7v4 #cjc7 that the    assembled in
 the encampment of ,achilles1 that they 
might urge  him to eat4 ,he refused2 and
 he sent away the #8other kings2' but   
there  remained behind the two ,atreid1 
,ulysses1 ,nestor1 and ,idomeneus1 #8and
  the old chariot-driving ,phnix4' ,the 
others are mentioned without  epithet1  
probably because they had just been     
described as kings2 and  ,phnix is in   
all likelihood described by these       
epithets1 for the reason  that the term 
would not include him 7xix4 #cjc-ab74   
,on the whole then1 and taking into our 
view that ,phnix was as a lord1  or 1   
subordinate to ,peleus1 and that he was 
a sub-commander in  the contingent of   
,achilles1 we may be pretty sure that he
 was not a  2 if that word had1 as has  
,i think been sufficiently shown1 a     
determinate meaning4    #c4 ,though     
,patroclus was in the first rank of     

warriors he is nowhere  called  or 2 but
 only 1 which is a word  apparently used
 with rather more latitude4 ,the        
subordinate position of  ,mentius1 the  
father of ,patroclus1 makes it          
improbable that he should  stand as a   
king in the ,iliad4 ,he appears to have 
been lieutenant to  ,achilles over the  
whole body of ,myrmidons4    #d4        
,eurypylus son of ,eumon#ga1 commander  
of a contingent of forty  ships1 and one
 of the ten acceptors of the challenge1 
is in one place  addressed as 4 ,it is  
doubtful whether he was meant to be     
exhibited as a 1 or whether this is a   
lax use of the epithet2  if it is so1 it
 forms the only exception 7apart from   
ix4 #fjg7 to the  rule established by   
above thirty passages of the ,iliad4    
#ga ,il4 ii4 #gcf1 #g4 vii4 #afg4 xi4   
#hai4    ,upon the whole1 then the      
evidence of the ,iliad clearly tends to 
show that the title  was a definite one 
in the ,greek army1  and that it was    
confined to nine persons2 perhaps with  

some slight  indistinctness on the      
question1 whether there was or was not a
 claim to  that rank on the part of one 
or two persons more4    ,conditions of  
,kingship in the ,iliad4    ,upon       
viewing the composition of the class of 
kings1 whether we include  in it or not 
such cases as those of ,meges or        
,eurypylus1 it seems to  rest upon the  
combined basis of      #a4 ,real        
political sovereignty1 as distinguished 
from subaltern    chiefship2      #b4   
,marked personal vigour2 and      #c4   
,either1 a4 ,considerable territorial   
possessions1 as in the case             
of ,idomeneus and ,oilean ,ajax2        
b4 ,extraordinary abilities though with 
small dominions1                      as
 in the case of ,ulysses2 or1 at the    
least1                   c4 ,preeminent 
personal strength and valour1 accepted  
in                      like manner as a
 compensation for defective political   
weight1 as in the case of ,telamonian   
,ajax4    ,although the condition of    

commanding considerable forces is1 as we
  see1 by no means absolute1 yet1 on the
 other hand1 every commander of  as     
large a force as fifty ships is a 1     
except ,menestheus only1  an exception  
which probably has a meaning4 ,agapenor 
indeed has sixty  ships2 but then he is 
immediately dependent on ,agamemnon4    
,the ,botians  too have fifty2 but they 
are divided among five leaders4         
,among the bodily qualities of ,homeric 
princes1 we may first note  beauty4     
,this attribute is not1 ,i think1       
pointedly ascribed in the  poems to any 
person1 except those of princely rank4  
,it is needless to  collect all the     
instances in which it is thus assigned4 
,of some of  them1 where the description
 is marked1 and the persons             
insignificant1  like ,euphorbus and     
,nireus#gb1 we may be the more          
persuaded1 that ,homer  was following an
 extant tradition4 ,of the ,trojan royal
 family it is the  eminent and peculiar 
characteristic2 and it remains to an    

observable  degree even in the case of  
the aged ,priam#gc4 ,homer is careful#gd
  to assert it of his prime heroes2     
,achilles surpasses even ,nireus2       
,ulysses possesses it abundantly1 though
 in a less marked degree2 it is         
expressly asserted of ,agamemnon2 and of
 ,ajax1 who1 in the ,odyssey1 is  almost
 brought into competition with ,nireus  
for the second honours2 the  terms of   
description are1 however1               
distinguishable one from the other4     
#gb ,il4 xvii4 #ea4 ii4 #fgc4    #gc    
,il4 xxiv4 #fca4    #gd ,il4 ii4 #fgd4  
,od4 xvi4 #age4 ,il4 iii4 #bbd1 #afi1   
#bbf1 and ,od4 xi4 #dfi4    ,again1 with
 respect to personal vigour as a        
condition of sovereignty1  it is        
observed by ,grote#ge that #8an old     
chief1 such as ,peleus and  ,laertes1   
cannot retain his position4' ,there     
appears to have been some  diversity of 
practice4 ,nestor1 in very advanced age1
 and when unable to  fight1 still       
occupies his throne4 ,the passage quoted

 by ,grote to uphold  his assertion with
 respect to ,peleus falls short of the  
mark3 for it  is simply an inquiry by   
the spirit of ,achilles1 whether his    
father  is still on the throne1 or has  
been set aside on account of age1 and   
the question itself shows that1 during  
the whole time of the life of           
,achilles1 ,peleus1 though old1 had not 
been known to have resigned the         
administration of the government4       
,indeed his retention of it appears  to 
be presumed in the beautiful speech of  
,priam to ,achilles 7,il4 xxiv4         
#dhf-ib74    #ge ,hist4 vol4 ii4 p4 #hg4
    ,custom of resignation in old age4  
,at the same time1 there is sufficient  
evidence supplied by ,homer to  show1   
that it was the more usual custom for   
the sovereign1 as he grew  old1 either  
to associate his son with him in his    
cares1 or to retire4  ,the practice of  
,troy1 where we see ,hector mainly      
exercising the  active duties of the    
government--for he feeds the troops#gf1 

as well  as commands them--appears to   
have corresponded with that of ,greece4 
,achilles1 in the ,ninth ,iliad1 plainly
 implies that he himself was not1  as a 
general1 the mere delegate of his       
father2 since he invites ,phnix  to come
 and share his kingdom with him4    #gf 
,il4 xvii4 #bbe4    ,but the duties of  
counsel continued after those of action 
had been  devolved3 for ,priam presides 
in the ,trojan 1 and appears upon the   
walls1 surrounded by the 1 who were1    
apparently1 still its  principal        
speakers and its guides4 ,and           
,achilles#gg1 when in command  before   
,troy1 still looked to ,peleus to       
provide him with a wife4    #gg ,il4 ix4
 #cid4    ,i find a clear proof of the  
general custom of retirement1 probably  
a gradual one1 in the application to    
sovereigns of the term 4  ,this word is 
commonly construed in ,homer as meaning 
youths3 but the  real meaning of it is  
that which in humble life we convey by  
the term  able-bodied2 that is to say1  

those who are neither in boyhood nor    
old age1 but in the entire vigour of    
manhood4 ,the mistake as to the  sense  
of the term has created difficulties    
about its origin1 and has  led ,dderlein
 to derive it from 1 with reference1 ,i 
suppose1 to  the heat of youth1 instead 
of the more obvious derivation form  and
  1 expressing the height of vital      
power4 ,a single passage will1 ,i       
think1 suffice to show that the word    
has this meaning3 which is  also        
represented in two places by the        
paraphrastic expression   #gh4 ,in the  
,sixteenth ,iliad1 ,apollo appears to   
,hector under the  form of ,asius       
7#gaf73    #gh ,il4 xvii4 #ebj4 ,od4    
xii4 #hc4           4    ,now the ,asius
 in question was full brother to        
,hecuba1 the mother of  ,hector and     
eighteen other children2 and he cannot1 
therefore1 be  supposed to have been a  
youth4 ,the meaning of the ,poet appears
 clearly  to be to prevent the          
supposition1 which would otherwise have 

been a  natural one in regard to        
,hector's uncle1 that this ,asius1 in   
whose  likeness ,apollo the unshorn     
appeared1 was past the age of vigour and
  manly beauty1 which is designated by  
the word 4    ,force of the term 4      
,there is not a single passage1 where   
this word is used with any  indication  
of meaning youths as                    
contra-distinguished from mature men4   
,but there is a particular passage which
 precisely illustrates the  meaning that
 has now been given to 4 ,in the        
,catalogue we are told  that ,hercules  
carried off ,astyoche#gi3    #gi ,il4   
ii4 #ffj4          4    ,pope renders   
this in words which1 whatever be their  
intrinsic merit1  are1 as a translation1
 at once diffuse and defective3         
#8,where mighty towns in ruins spread   
the plain1    ,and saw their blooming   
warriors early slain4'    ,cowper wholly
 omits the last half of the line1 and   
says1      #8,after full many a city    
laid in dust'4444    ,chapman1 right as 

to the epithet1 gives the erroneous     
meaning to the  substantive3            
#8,where many towns of princely youths  
he levelled with the ground4'    ,voss1 
accurate as usual1 appears to carry the 
full meaning3      #8,viele ,stdt'      
austilgend der gottbeseligten ,mnner4'  
,this line1 in truth1 affords an        
admirable touchstone for the meaning  of
 two important ,homeric words4 ,the     
vulgar meaning takes    as simply       
illustrious youths4 ,what could ,homer  
mean by cities  of illustrious youths8  
,is it their sovereigns or their        
fighting  population8 ,were their       
sovereigns all youths8 ,were their      
fighting  population all illustrious8   
,in no other place throughout the       
,iliad1  except one1 where the rival    
reading  is evidently to be  adopted1   
does the ,poet apply  to a mass of      
men#hj4 ,if1  then1 the sovereigns be   
meant1 it is plain that they could not  
all be  youths1 and therefore  does not 
mean a youth4 ,but now let us  take  in 

its strict sense as a royal title only2 
then let us  remember that thrones were 
only assumed on coming to manhood1 as is
  plain from the case of ,telemachus1   
who1 though his father1 as it was       
feared1 was dead1 was not in possession 
of the sovereign power4 #8,may          
,jupiter1' says ,antinous to him1       
#8never make you the  in ,ithaca3  which
 is your right1' or #8which would fall  
to you by birth#ha3'    #hj ,nor is it  
applied in the ,odyssey to any bodies   
more numerous  than the thirteen        
#8kings' of ,scheria1 ,od4 v4 #cgh2 and 
to them in the  character of kings4     
#ha ,od4 i4 #chf4          4    ,when   
,telemachus answers1 by proposing that  
one of the nobles should  assume the    
sovereignty4 ,lastly1 upon declining    
into old age1 it  was1 for the most     
part1 either as to the more active      
cares1 or else  entirely1 relinquished4 
,then the sense of ,il4 ii4 #ffj will   
come out  with ,homer's usual accuracy  
and completeness4 ,it will be that      

,hercules  sacked many cities of        
prince-warriors1 or vigorous and warlike
 princes4    ,thus1 then1 it was        
requisite that the ,homeric  should be a
  king1 a knig1 a man of whom we could  
say that actually1 and not              
conventionally alone1 he can1 both in   
mind and person4 ,such was the  theory  
and such the practice of the ,homeric   
age4 ,there is not a single  ,greek     
sovereign1 with the honourable exception
 of ,nestor1 who does  not lead his     
subjects into battle2 not one who does  
not excel them  all in strength of hand1
 scarcely any who does not also give    
proofs  of superior intellect1 where    
scope is allowed for it by the action of
  the poem4 ,over and above the work of 
battle1 the prince is likewise  peerless
 in the ,games4 ,of the eight contests  
of the ,twenty-third ,book1  seven are  
conducted only by the princes of the    
armament4 ,the single  exception is     
remarkable3 it is the boxing match1     
which ,homer calls   #hb1 an epithet    

that he applies to no other of the      
matches except the wrestling4    #hb    
,il4 xxiii4 #fec4    ,but his low       
estimation of the boxing comes out in   
another form1 the  value of the prizes4 
,the first prize is an unbroken mule3   
the second1  a double-bowled cup1 to    
which no epithet signifying value is    
attached4  ,but for the wrestlers 7a    
contest less dangerous1 and not         
therefore  requiring1 on this score1    
greater inducement to be provided17 the 
first  prize was a tripod1 worth twelve 
oxen2 and the second1 a woman slave1    
worth four4 ,what1 then1 was the        
relative value of an ox and a mule not  
yet broken8 ,mules1 like oxen1 were     
employed simply for traction4 ,they     
were better1 because more speedy in     
drawing the plough#hc2 but1 then1  oxen 
were also available for food1 and we    
have no indication that the  former were
 of greater value4 ,without therefore   
resting too strictly on  the number     
twelve1 we may say that the prize of    

wrestling was several  times more       
valuable than that of boxing4 ,again1   
the second prize of the  foot-race was a
 large and fat ox1 equal1 probably1 to  
the first prize  of the boxing-match#hd4
 ,epeus1 who wins the boxing-match      
against the  prince ,euryalus1 third    
leader of the ,argives1 was evidently a 
person  of traditional fame1 from the   
victory he obtains over an adversary of 
high rank4 ,but ,homer has taken care to
 balance this by introducing  a         
confession from the mouth of ,epeus     
himself1 that he was good for  nothing  
in battle#he2    #hc ,il4 x4 #ceb4      
#hd ,il4 xxiii4 #gej4    #he ,il4 xxiii4
 #fgj4        1   2    an expression    
which1 ,i think1 the ,poet has used1 in 
all likelihood1  for the very purpose of
 shielding the superiority of his       
princes1 by  showing that this gift of  
,epeus was a single1 and as it were     
brutal1  accomplishment4                
,accomplishments of the ,kings4    ,as  
with the games1 so with the more refined

 accomplishments4 ,there  are but four  
cases in which we hear of the use of    
music and song from  ,homer1 except the 
instances of the professional bards4    
,one of these is  the boy1 who upon the 
,shield of ,achilles plays and sings1 in
 conducting  the youths and maidens as  
they pass from the vineyard with the    
grapes4  ,it is the bard1 who plays to  
the dancers2 but his dignity1 and the   
composure always assigned to him1       
probably would not allow of his         
appearing in motion with such a body1   
and on this account the  may  be        
substituted2 of whose rank we know      
nothing4 ,in the other cases1 the  three
 persons mentioned are all princes3     
,paris is the first1 who had  the       
lighter and external parts of the       
character of a gentleman1 and  who was  
of the highest rank1 yet to whom it may 
be observed only the  instrument is     
assigned1 and not the song4 ,the second 
is the sublime  ,achilles1 whose        
powerful nature1 ranging like that of   

his ,poet through  every chord of the   
human mind and heart1 prompts him to    
beguile an  uneasy solitude by the      
,muse2 and who is found in the ,ninth   
,iliad#hf by  the ,envoys1 soothing his 
moody spirit with the lyre1 and singing1
 to  strains of his own1 the            
achievements of bygone heroes4 ,again1  
thirdly1  this lyre itself1 like the    
iron globe of the ,twenty-third ,book1  
had  been among the spoils of ,king     
,eetion4    #hf ,il4 ix4 #ahf4    ,but  
the royal and heroic character must with
 ,homer1 at least when  exhibited at its
 climax1 be all comprehensive4 ,as it   
soars to every  thing above1 so1 without
 stooping1 must it be master of every   
thing  beneath it4 ,accordingly1 the    
,poet has given it the last touch in the
  accomplishments of ,ulysses4 ,as he   
proves himself a wood-cutter and        
ship-builder in the island of ,calypso1 
so he is no stranger to the  plough and 
the scythe2 and he fairly challenges#hg 
,eurymachus the  ,suitor to try which of

 them would soonest clear the meadow of 
its  grass1 which drive the straightest 
furrow down a four-acre field4    #hg   
,od4 xviii4 #cff-ge4    ,so much for the
 corporeal accomplishments of the ,greek
 kings and  princes2 of their           
intellectual powers we shall have to    
treat in  considering the character of  
the governments of the heroic age4      
,the ,kings as ,gentlemen4    ,but these
 accomplishments1 mental and bodily1 are
 not vulgarly  heaped upon his          
characters by ,homer1 as if they were   
detailed in a  boarding-school          
catalogue4 ,the ,homeric king should    
have that which  incorporates and       
harmonizes them all3 he should be       
emphatically a  gentleman1 and that in a
 sense not far from the one familiar to 
the  ,christian civilization of ,europe4
 ,nestor1 ,diomed1 ,menelaus1 are in a  
marked manner gentlemen4 ,agamemnon is  
less so2 but here ,homer shows his      
usual discrimination1 for in ,agamemnon 
there is a sordid vein1 which  most of  

all mars this peculiar tone of          
character4 ,it is1 however1 in  the two 
superlative heroes of the poems1 that we
 see the strongest  development of those
 habits of feeling and action1 which    
belong to the  gentleman4 ,it will be   
admitted that one of these traits is the
 love of  that which is straightforward1
 truthful1 and above-board4 ,according  
to  the vulgar conception of the        
character of ,ulysses1 he has no credit 
for this quality4 ,but whatever the     
,ulysses of ,virgil or of ,euripides    
may be1 the ,ulysses of ,homer1 though  
full of circumspection1 reserve1  and   
even stratagem in dealing with enemies  
and strangers1 has nothing  about him of
 what is selfish1 tricky1 or faithless4 
,and1 accordingly1  it is into his mouth
 that ,homer has put the few and simple 
words1  which rebuke the character of   
the informer and the tale-bearer1 with  
a severity greater perhaps even than1   
under the circumstances1 was  necessary4
 ,when he is recognised by ,euryclea1 he

 strictly enjoins upon  her the silence1
 on which all their lives at the moment 
depended4 ,hurt  by the supposition that
 she could 7in our homely phrase7 be    
likely to  blab1 she replies that she   
will hold herself in1 hard as stone or  
as  iron4 ,she adds1 that she will point
 out to him which of the women in  the  
palace are faithful1 and which are      
guilty4 ,no1 he replies2 ,i will        
observe them for myself2 that is not    
your business#hh3    #hh ,od4 xix4      
#ejj-b4      1     2               '    
'   1   4    ,achilles as a ,gentleman4 
,as ,homer has thus sharply exhibited   
,ulysses in the character of a          
gentleman with respect to truth#hi1 so  
he has made the same exhibition  for    
,achilles with respect to courtesy3     
protesting1 as it were1 in this  manner 
by anticipation against the degenerate  
conceptions of those  characters1 which 
were to reproduce and render current    
through the  world ,achilles as a brute1
 and ,ulysses as a thorough knave4 ,but 

let us  see the residue of the proof4   
#hi ,in ,od4 xxii4 #dag1 he applies to  
,euryclea for the information1  which he
 had before declined4 ,this is after the
 trial of the ,bow3 the  other was      
before it was proposed1 and when the    
,chief probably reckoned  on having     
himself more time for observation than  
proved to be the case4    ,in the first 
,iliad1 when the wrath is in the first  
flush of its heat1  the heralds         
,talthybius and ,eurybates are sent to  
his encampment1 with  the appalling     
commission to bring away ,briseis4 ,on  
entering1 they  remain awe-struck and   
silent4 ,though1 in much later times1 we
 know that                  ,the        
messenger of evil tidings    ,hath but a
 losing office1    he at once relieves  
them from their embarrassment1 and bids 
them  personally welcome2      1 1  1   
'#ij    #ij ,il4 i4 #ccd4    ,and he    
desires ,patroclus to bring forth the   
object of their quest4 ,more            
extraordinary self-command and          

considerateness than this1 never has    
been ascribed by any author to any      
character4    ,again1 when in the ,ninth
 ,book he is surprised in his seclusion 
by the  envoys ,phnix1 ,ulysses1 and    
,ajax1 though he is prepared to reject  
every  offer1 he hails them all         
personally1 without waiting to be       
addressed  and with the utmost          
kindness#ia1 as of all the ,greeks the  
dearest to  him even in his wrath2 he of
 course proceeds to order an            
entertainment  for them4 ,but the most  
refined of all his attentions is that   
shown  to ,agamemnon in the             
,twenty-third ,book4 ,inferior to ,ajax1
 ,diomed1 and  ,ulysses1 ,agamemnon     
could not enter into the principal      
games1 to be  beaten by any abler       
competitor1 without disparagement to his
 office3  while there would also have   
been a serious disparagement of another 
kind in his contending with a secondary 
person4 ,accordingly1 ,achilles  at the 
close makes a nominal match for the use 

of the sling--of which  we never hear   
elsewhere in the poems--and1 interposing
 after the  candidates are announced1   
but before the actual contest1 he       
presents  the chief prize to ,agamemnon1
 with this compliment2 that there need  
be  no trial1 as every one is aware     
already how much he excels all others   
in the exercise4    #ia ,il4 ix4 #aig4  
,yet these great chiefs1 so strong and  
brave and wise1 so proud and  stern1 so 
equipped in arts1 manners1 and          
accomplishments1 can upon  occasion weep
 like a woman or a child4 ,ulysses1 in  
the island of  ,calypso daily pours     
forth his #8waterfloods' as he strains  
his vision  over the sea2 and he covers 
up his head in the halls of ,alcinous1  
while ,demodocus is singing1 that his   
tears may flow unobserved4 ,and so      
,achilles1 fresh from his fierce        
vengeance on the corpse of ,hector1     
yet1 when the ,trojan king#ib has called
 up before his mind the image  of his   
father ,peleus1 at the thought now of   

his aged parent1 and now  of his        
slaughtered friend1 sheds tears as      
tender as those of ,priam  for his son1 
and lets his griefs overflow in a deep  
compassion for  the aged suppliant      
before him4 ,nor is it only in sorrow   
that we may  remark a high              
susceptibility4 ,the ,greek chieftains  
in general are  acutely sensible of     
praise and of blame4 ,telemachus#ic is  
delighted  when gyptius commends him as 
a likely looking youth3 and even        
,ulysses1  first among them all in      
self-command1 is deeply stung by the    
remark of  the saucy ,phacian on his    
appearance1 and replies upon the        
offender  with excellent sense1 but with
 an extraordinary pungency#id4 ,a       
similar  temper is shown in all the     
answers of the chieftains to ,agamemnon 
when  he goes the round of the army#ie4 
#ib ,il4 xxiv4 #dhf4    #ic ,od4 ii4    
#cc1 #e4    #id ,od4 viii4 #aei4 and    
seqq4    #ie ,il4 iv4 #bca and seqq4    
,rights of ,hereditary ,succession4     

,the hereditary character of the royal  
office is stamped upon almost  every    
page of the poems2 as nearly all the    
chiefs1 whose lineage we are  able to   
trace1 have apparently succeeded their  
fathers in power4 ,the  only exception  
in the order1 of which we are informed1 
is one where1  probably on account of   
the infancy of the heir1 the brother of 
the  deceased sovereign assumes his     
sceptre4 ,in this way ,thyestes1 uncle  
to  ,agamemnon1 succeeded his father    
,atreus1 and then1 evidently without any
  breach of regularity1 transmitted it  
to ,agamemnon4    ,and such is probably 
the reason why1 ,orestes being a mere   
child#if1  a part of the dignity of     
,agamemnon is communicated to ,menelaus4
 ,for  in the ,iliad he has a qualified 
supremacy2 receives jointly with        
,agamemnon the present of ,euneus2 is   
more royal1 higher in rank1 than  the   
other chieftains3 we are also told of   
him#ig1     2 and he came to the second 
meeting of  in the ,second  ,book 1     

without the formality of a summons4     
#if ,od4 i4 #dj4    #ig ,il4 x4 #cb4    
,in a case like that of ,thyestes1 if we
 may judge from what actually  happened1
 the uncle would perhaps succeed instead
 of the minor1 whose  hereditary right  
would in such case be postponed until   
the next turn4    ,the case of          
,telemachus in the ,odyssey is          
interesting in many ways1  as unfolding 
to us the relations of the family life  
of the period4  ,among other points     
which it illustrates1 is that of the    
succession  to sovereignty4 ,it was     
admitted by the ,suitors1 that it       
descended to  him from his father#ih4   
,yet there evidently was some special1  
if not  formal act to be done1 without  
which he could not be king4 ,for        
,antinous  expresses his hope that      
,jupiter will never make ,telemachus    
king of  ,ithaca4 ,not because the      
throne was full1 for1 on the contrary1  
the  death of ,ulysses was admitted or  
assumed to have occurred#ii2 but        

apparently because this act1 whatever it
 was1 had not been performed in  his    
case4    #ih     1 ,od4 i4 #chg4    #ii 
,od4 i4 #cif4 ii4 #ahb4    ,perhaps the 
expressions of ,antinous imply that such
 a proceeding  was much more than       
formal1 and that the accession of       
,telemachus to  the supreme dignity     
might be arrested by the dissent of the 
nobles4  ,the answer too of the young   
prince#ajj 7   ' 7  seems to be at least
 in harmony with the idea that a        
practice1  either approaching to        
election1 or in some way involving a    
voluntary  action on the part of the    
subjects or of a portion of them1 had to
  be gone through4 ,but the personal    
dignity of the son of ,ulysses was      
unquestioned4 ,even the ,suitors pay a  
certain regard to it in the midst  of   
their insolence3 and when the young     
prince goes into the place of           
assembly#aja1 he takes his place upon   
his father's seat1 the elders           
spontaneously making way for him to     

assume it4    #ajj ,od4 i4 #cif4    #aja
 ,od4 ii4 #hb4    ,rights of            
primogeniture4    ,it may1 however1 be  
said with truth1 that ,telemachus was an
 only son1  and that accordingly we     
cannot judge from his case whether it   
was the  right of the eldest to succeed4
 ,whether the rights of primogeniture   
were acknowledged among the ,greeks of  
the heroic age1 is a question of  much  
interest to our own4 ,for1 on the one   
hand1 there is a disposition  to canvass
 and to dispute those rights4 ,on the   
other hand1 we live  in a state of      
society1 to which they probably have    
contributed more  largely than any other
 specific cause1 after the ,christian   
religion1  to give its specific form4   
,homer has supplied us with but few     
cases  of brotherhood among his greater 
characters4 ,we see1 however1 that      
,agamemnon everywhere bears the         
character of the elder1 and he appears  
to have succeeded in that capacity to   
the throne of ,atreus1 while  ,menelaus1

 the younger1 takes his inheritance in  
virtue of his wife4  ,tyro1 in the      
,eleventh ,odyssey1 is said to have     
borne1 on the banks of  the ,enipeus1   
the twins ,pelias and ,neleus4 ,in this 
passage the order  in which the children
 are named is most probably that of     
age#ajb4  ,we find ,pelias reigning in  
,iolcus1 a part of the original country 
of  the olids3 while ,neleus emigrates1 
and1 either by or before marrying       
,chloris1 becomes king of ,pylos in the 
south of ,greece#ajc4 ,of the  two      
brothers ,protesilaus and ,podarces1 the
 former1 who is also the  elder1        
commands the force from ,phylace4 ,he   
was1 however1 braver1 as  well as older4
 ,this statement of the merits1 ages1   
and positions of  the two brothers      
raises a question applicable to other   
cases where two  brothers are joined    
without ostensible discrimination in    
command4 ,of  these there are four in   
the ,catalogue4 ,the first is that of   
,ascalaphus  and ,ialmenus1 whom their  

mother ,astyoche bore clandestinely to  
,mars1   4 ,the expression seems to     
imply1 that it was at a  single birth4  
,but even by this supposition we do not 
get rid of the  idea of seniority in    
this case2 nor can we suppose all the   
pairs to  have been twins4 ,we naturally
 therefore ask1 whether this conjunction
  implied equality in command8 ,we may  
probably venture to answer1  without    
much doubt1 in the negative4 ,on the one
 hand1 there is nothing  unlikely in the
 supposition that the first named of two
 brothers was  the eldest1 and had the  
chief command4 ,while on the other hand 
it is  certain1 that there is no case of
 two coequal commanders except it be    
among these four1 which are all cases of
 brothers2 and which1 under the         
interpretation which seems the most     
natural one they can receive1 would     
bear fresh testimony to the prevalence  
of the custom of primogeniture4  ,again1
 among the sons of ,nestor1 who are     
exhibited to us as surrounding  him in  

the ,third ,odyssey1 we may perhaps     
find1 from the offices  assigned to them
 at the solemn sacrifice and otherwise1 
decisive signs  of primogeniture4       
,pisistratus steps forward to greet     
,telemachus on  his arrival1 and leads  
him to his seat#ajd1 sleeps near him    
under  the portico1 and accompanies him 
on his journey4 ,but these functions    
appertain to him because he was the     
bachelor 77 of the family1  as we are   
appropriately told in reference to his  
taking a couch near  the guest1 while   
the married persons always slept in some
 separate  and more private part of the 
palace#aje4 ,pisistratus1 therefore1 was
  probably the youngest son4 ,but it is 
also pretty clear that ,thrasymedes  was
 the eldest4 ,for in the sacrifice he   
strikes the fatal blow at the  ox3 while
 ,stratius and ,echephron bring it up1  
,aretus holds the ewer  and basin1      
,perseus holds the lamb1 ,pisistratus   
cuts up the animal and  ,nestor performs
 the religious rites of prayer and      

sacrifice#ajf4    #ajb ,od4 xi4 #bed1   
#f4    #ajc ,od4 xi4 #bha4    #ajd ,od4 
iii4 #cf4    #aje ,od4 iii4 #djb4 ,il4  
vi4 #bdb-ej4    #ajf ,od4 iii4 #dci-df  
and #ded4    ,and again1 when           
,pisistratus brings up ,telemachus and  
the disguised  ,minerva1 he places them1
 evidently as in the seat of honour1    
#8beside  his brother ,thrasymedes and  
his father4'    ,this is in perfect     
consonance with our finding ,thrasymedes
 only1  together with ,antilochus who   
fell1 selected for service in the       
,trojan  war4    ,upon this question1   
again1 an important collateral light is 
cast by  ,homer's mythological          
arrangements4 ,they are1 in fact1 quite 
conclusive  on the subject of           
primogeniture among the ,hellenes4 ,the 
,olympian order  is founded upon it4 ,it
 is as the eldest of the three ,kronid  
brothers1  and by no other title1 that  
,jupiter stands at the head of the      
,olympian  community4 ,with respect to  
the lottery1 he is but one of three4    

,his  being the ,king of ,air invests   
him with no right to command the ,king  
of  ,sea4 ,in the ,fifteenth ,book1 as  
he is of nearly equal force1 ,neptune   
declines to obey his orders until       
reminded by ,iris of his seniority4     
,the ,erinues1 says the ,messenger      
,goddess1 attend upon the elder4 ,that  
is to say1 his rights lie at the        
foundation of the moral order4 ,upon    
this suggestion1 the refractory deity at
 once succumbs#ajg4 ,and1  reciprocally1
 ,jupiter in the ,thirteenth ,odyssey   
recognises the claim of  ,neptune to    
respect as the oldest and best 7of      
course after himself7  of the           
gods#ajh4--    #ajg ,il4 xv4 #bjd-g4    
#ajh ,od4 xiii4 #ada4    ,thus exalted  
and severed in rank1 thus beautiful in  
person1 thus  powerful in hand and mind1
 thus associated with the divine        
fountain of  all human honours1 the     
,greek  of the ,iliad has other claims1 
too1 to be regarded as representing1    
more nearly perhaps than it has  ever   

been represented by any other class of  
monarchs1 a benignant and  almost ideal 
kingship4 ,the light of these great     
stars of heroic society  was no less    
mild than it was bright2 and they might 
well have supplied  the basis of that   
idea of the royal character1 which has  
given it so  extraordinary a hold over  
the mind of ,shakspeare1 and led him to 
adorn  it by such noble effusions of his
 muse4    ,function of the ,king as     
,priest4    ,the ,homeric ,king appears 
before us in the fourfold character of  
,priest1  ,judge1 ,general1 and         
,proprietor4    ,it has already been    
remarked1 that no priest appears among  
the ,greeks  of the ,troic age2 and1 in 
conformity with this view1 we find      
,agamemnon  in the ,iliad1 and ,nestor  
in the ,odyssey1 charged with the actual
  performance of the rite of sacrifice2 
nor is it apparently committed to  any  
other person than the head of the       
society1 assisted by his 1  officers who
 acted as heralds and as serjeants1 or  

by his sons4    ,but while this was the 
case in regard to what may be called    
state  sacrifices1 which were also      
commonly banquets1 we likewise learn1   
as to those of a more private character1
 that they must have been  performed by 
the head of the household4 ,to slay an  
animal for food  is in every case to    
sacrifice him 77 whether in the camp1   
the  palace of ,nestor1 the unruly      
company of the ,suitors1 or the peaceful
  cottage of ,eumelus2 and every animal 
ready for the knife was called an  #aji4
    #aji ,od4 xiv4 #gd4 #id4    ,as     
,judge and as ,general4    ,the judicial
 office of the king is made known to us1
 first1 by the  character of ,minos4    
,while on earth1 he had direct          
communications from  ,jupiter1 which    
probably referred to the administration 
of justice2  and1 in the ,shades        
beneath1 we find him actually exercising
 the office  of the judge4 ,nothing with
 which we become acquainted in ,homer   
has  the semblance of criminal justice1 

except the fines for homicide2 and  even
 these have no more than the semblance  
only4 ,the punishment was  inflicted1   
like other fines1 as an adjustment or   
compensation#aaj  between man and man1  
and not in satisfaction of the offence  
against  public morality1 peace1 or     
order4    #aaj ,il4 xviii4 #dih4    ,in 
the ,second ,iliad1 the remonstrance of 
,ulysses with the commonalty  declares  
that it is the king1 and to the king    
alone1 to whom ,jupiter  has committed  
the sceptre and the administration of   
justice1 that by  these he may fulfil   
his regal office#aaa3    #aaa ,il4 ii4  
#bjd4                                   
1     1          '  1   4    ,now the   
sceptre is properly the symbol of the   
judicial authority1 as we  know from the
 oath of ,achilles#aab3    #aab ,il4 i4 
#bcg4                                   
1        4    ,from the combined effect 
of the two passages it is clear that the
  duties of the judicature1 the         
determination of relative rights between

  the members of the community1         
constituted1 at least in great part1 the
  primary function of sovereignty4      
,still the larger conception of it1     
which includes the deliberative office1 
is that presented to us in the  speech  
of ,nestor to ,agamemnon1 on the        
occasion of the ,council which  followed
 the ,night-assembly#aac4    #aac ,il4  
ix4 #ih4                                
'1  1   4    ,the judicial function     
might1 however1 even in the days of     
,homer1 be  exercised by delegation4    
,for in the ,assembly graven on the     
,shield1  while the parties contend1 and
 the people sympathize some with one    
and some with the other1 it is the 1 or 
elders1 who deliver  judgment#aad4 ,of  
these persons each holds the sceptre in 
his hands4  ,the passage1 ,il4 i4 #bcg1 
seems to speak of one sceptre held by   
many  persons3 this scene on the ,shield
 exhibits to us several sceptres4  ,in  
the simile of the crooked judgments1 a  
plurality of judges#aae  are referred   

to4 ,but as we never hear of an original
 and independent  authority1 like that  
of ,il4 ii4 #bjd1 in the senators or    
nobles1 it  seems most likely that they 
acted judicially by an actual or virtual
  delegation from the king4    #aad ,il4
 xviii4 #ejf4    #aae ,il4 xvi4 #chf4   
,the duty of the king to command his    
troops is inscribed on every page  of   
the ,iliad2 and the only limit to it    
seems to have been1 that upon  the      
approach of old age it was delegated to 
the heir1 or to more than  one of the   
family1 even before the entire          
withdrawal of the sire from  public     
cares4 ,the martial character of the    
sovereign was indeed  ideally           
distinguishable from his regal one2 for 
,agamemnon was#aaf    #aaf ,il4 iii4    
#agi4      1  ' 1  ' 4    ,still1       
martial excellence was expected of him4 
,when ,hippolochus  despatched his son  
,glaucus to ,troy1 he enjoined him      
always to be  valiant1 and always to    
excel his comrades in arms#aag4    #aag 

,il4 vi4 #bjg4    ,lastly1 the king was 
a proprietor4 ,ulysses had very large   
landed  property1 and as many herds and 
flocks1 says ,eumus in a spirit of      
loyal exaggeration1 as any twenty chiefs
 alive#aah4 ,and ,homer1 who  always    
reserves his best for the ,lycians1 has 
made ,sarpedon declare1  in an          
incomparable speech1 the virtual        
condition on which estates like  these  
were held4 ,he desires ,glaucus to      
recollect1 why it is that they  are     
honoured in ,lycia with precedence at   
banquets1 and with greater  portions    
than the rest1 why looked upon as       
deities1 why endowed with  great estates
 of pasture and corn land by the banks  
of ,xanthus2 it is  that they may the   
more boldly face the burning battle1 and
 be great  in the eyes and in the minds 
of their companions4 ,so entirely is the
  idea of dignity and privilege in the  
,homeric king founded upon the sure     
ground of duty1 of responsibility1 and  
of toil#aai4    #aah ,od4 xiv4 #ih4     

#aai ,il4 xii4 #caj-bh4    ,what        
,hippolochus taught1 and ,sarpedon      
stated1 is in exact  correspondence with
 the practical part of the narrative of 
,glaucus in  the ,sixth ,book4 ,when    
,bellerophon had fully approved himself 
in ,lycia by  his prowess1 the king of  
the country gave him his daughter in    
marriage1  together with one half of his
 kingdom2 and the ,lycians presented him
  with a great and fertile demesne4     
,as proprietor2 the 4    ,this estate is
 called 2 a name never applied in ,homer
 but to the  properties of deities and  
of rulers4 ,he uses the word with       
reference to  the glebe-lands of        
,spercheius1 ,il4 xxiii4 #adh4          
,venus1 ,od4 viii4 #cfb4    ,ceres1 ,il4
 ii4 #fif4    ,jupiter1 ,il4 viii4 #dh4 
,and to the domains of                  
,bellerophon1 ,il4 vi4 #aid4    neas    
7promised by the ,trojan community if he
 should slay          ,achilles71 ,il4  
xx4 #ahd4    ,meleager1 ,il4 ix4 #egd4  
,sarpedon and ,glaucus1 ,il4 xii4 #cac4 

,the  on the ,shield1 ,il4 xviii4 #eej4 
,iphition 7  71 ,il4 xx4 #cia4          
,alcinous1 ,od4 vi4 #bic4    ,ulysses1  
,od4 xi4 #ahd1 and xvii4 #bii4    ,on   
the other hand1 the merely rich man     
7,il4 xi4 #fh7 has an 1 not  a 2 and the
 farm of ,laertes is called 1 not 4 ,and
  why8 ,because it was a private        
possession1 acquired by him apparently  
out of savings 7,od4 xxiv4 #bjf72       
'      1   ' 4    ,the word  is probably
 from 1 or from the same root with  that
 verb1 and signifies land which1 having 
been cut off from the  original common  
stock1 available for the uses of private
 persons1 has  been set apart for one of
 the two great public purposes1 of      
government  or of religion4    ,revenues
 and burdens on them4    ,besides their 
great estates1 the kings appear to have 
had at least two  other sources of      
revenue4 ,one of these was not without  
resemblance  in form to what we now call
 customs'-duties1 and may have contained
  their historical germ4 ,in the ,book  

of ,genesis1 where the sons of ,jacob   
go down to buy corn in ,egypt1 they     
carry with them a present for the       
ruler2 and doubtless the object of this 
practice was to conciliate the          
protection to which1 as foreigners1 and 
perhaps as suspected persons1  avowedly 
seeking their own gain1 they would not  
otherwise have had a  claim4 #8,take of 
the best fruits of the land in your     
vessels1 and carry  down the man a      
present2 a little balm1 and a little    
honey1 spices1 and  myrrh1 nuts1 and    
almonds#abj4' ,in conformity with the   
practice thus  exemplified1 when ,euneus
 in the ,seventh ,iliad despatches his  
ships from  ,lemnos to sell wine to the 
,greek army1 in return for which they   
obtain  slaves1 hides1 and other        
commodities1 he sends a separate supply1
   1 as a present to the two sons of    
,atreus#aba4 ,agamemnon indeed  is1 in  
the ,ninth ,book1 slily twitted by      
,nestor with the largeness of  the      
stores of wine1 that he had contrived to

 accumulate4    #abj ,gen4 xliii4 #aa4  
#aba ,il4 vii4 #dfg-ge4    ,so likewise 
we find that certain traders1 sailing to
 ,scheria1 made a  present to ,alcinous1
 as the sovereign1 of the captive       
,eurymedusa4 ,when  we compare this with
 the case of ,euneus1 the gift obviously
 appears to  have been a consideration  
for permission to trade#abb4    #abb    
,od4 vii4 #h-aa4    ,the other source of
 revenue traceable in the ,iliad was one
 sure to  lead to the extensive         
corruptions1 which must already have    
prevailed  in the time of ,hesiod4 ,it  
consisted in fees upon the              
administration of  justice4 ,in the suit
 described upon the shield1 the matter  
at issue is  a fine for homicide4 ,but  
quite apart1 as it would seem1 from this
 fine1  there lie in the midst1 duly    
#8paid into court1' two talents of gold1
 to  be given at the close to him1 of   
all the judges1 who should deliver  the 
most upright1 that is the most approved1
 judgment#abc3    #abc ,il4 xviii4 #ejh4

             4    ,however righteous the
 original intention of a payment in this
 form1 it  is easy to estimate its      
practical tendencies1 and curious to    
remark how  early in the course of time 
they were realized4    ,on the other    
hand1 the great possessions of the king 
were not given  him for his own use     
alone4 ,over and above the general      
obligation of  hospitality to strangers1
 it was his duty to entertain liberally 
the  principal persons among his        
subjects4 ,doubtless this provided the  
excuse1 which enabled the ,suitors to   
feast upon the stores of ,ulysses1      
without the shame1 in the very outset1  
of absolute rapine4 ,and it would       
appear from the ,odyssey that           
,alitherses#abd and other friends of the
  royal house1 frequented the table     
there as well as its enemies1 though    
not perhaps so constantly4    #abd ,od4 
xvii4 #fh4    ,in the ,seventh ,iliad1  
after his fight with ,hector1 ,ajax#abe 
repairs1  not invited1 but as if it were

 a matter of course1 to share the       
hospitality of ,agamemnon4 ,in the      
,ninth ,book1 ,nestor urges ,agamemnon  
to  give a feast to the elders1 as a    
duty of his office3    #abe ,il4 vii4   
#cac4       1  #abf1    #abf ,il4 ix4   
#gj4    adding1       ' #abg1    #abg   
,ibid4 #gc4    and then to take their   
counsel4 ,but perhaps the ordinary      
exercise of  this duty is best exhibited
 in the case of ,alcinous1 who is       
discovered  by ,ulysses on his arrival  
entertaining his brother kings in his   
palace#abh4    #abh ,od4 vii4 #di1 #ajh4
    ,i have not here taken specific     
notice of the 1 or tributes1  which1 as 
,agamemnon promised1 ,achilles was to   
receive1 from the  seven cities1 that it
 was proposed to place under his        
dominion4 ,the  expression is#abi1      
#abi ,il4 ix4 #aee4            1        
4    ,the connection of the ideas in the
 two lines respectively would appear  to
 show1 that the  may be no more than the
 fees payable to the  sovereign on the  

administration of justice4    ,thus then
 the king might draw his ordinary       
revenues mainly from the  following     
sources3    ,first and principally1 the 
public 1 or demesne land4    ,next1 his 
own private acquisitions1 such as the   
of ,laertes4    ,thirdly1 the fees on   
the administration of justice4          
,fourthly1 the presents paid for        
licenses to trade4    ,the position of  
,agamemnon4    ,the position of         
,agamemnon1 the greatest king of the    
heroic age1  constitutes in itself too  
considerable a feature of ,greek polity 
at  that period to be dismissed without 
especial notice4    ,he appears to have 
united in himself almost every advantage
 which could  tend to raise regal power 
to its acm4 ,he was of a house moving   
onward in its as yet unbroken career of 
accumulating greatness3 he was  the head
 of that house1 supported in ,lacedmon  
by his affectionate  brother ,menelaus2 
and the double title of the two was     
fortified  with twin supports1 by their 

marriages with ,clytemnestra and ,helen 
respectively4 ,this family was at the   
head of the energetic race  which ruled1
 and deserved to rule1 in the ,greek    
peninsula2 and which  apparently        
produced such large and full            
developments of personal  character1 as 
the world has never seen1 either before 
or since1 at  so infantine a stage of   
civilization4 ,there were various kings 
in the  army before ,troy1 but among    
them all the race of ,pelopids was the  
most  kingly#acj4 ,agamemnon possessed  
the courage1 strength1 and skill of a   
warrior1 in a degree surpassed only by  
the very greatest heroes of his  nation2
 and 7according to ,homer7 evidently    
exceeding that of ,hector1  the chief   
,trojan warrior opposed to him4 ,he must
 have been still in  the flower of his  
age2 and though neither gifted with     
extraordinary  talents1 nor with the    
most popular or attractive turn of      
character1 yet  he possessed in a high  
degree the political spirit1 the sense  

of public  responsibility1 the faculty  
of identifying himself with the general 
mind and will4 ,avarice and irresolution
 appear to have been the two  most      
faulty points in his composition4       
#acj ,il4 x4 #bci4    ,his dominions    
were the largest which1 up to that time1
 had been known  in that portion of the 
world3 including ,greece1 from ,mount   
,olympus to  the ,malean ,cape1 reaching
 across to the islands on the coast of  
,asia  ,minor1 and even capable of being
 held to include the island of ,cyprus4 
,before ,troy1 his troops were     7,il4
 ii4 #egg71  which must imply1 as his   
ships were not greatly more numerous    
than  those of some other contingents1  
that they were of large size2 and  he   
also supplied the ,arcadians1 who had   
none of their own1 7v4 #fab47  ,lastly1 
he bore upon him the mellow brightness  
of the patriarchal age1  signified by   
the title  4    ,thucydides was not an  
antiquarian1 or he would have left on   
his history  more marks of his          

researches in that department4 ,but he  
seems to have  formed with care the     
opinions which he expresses on archaic  
,greece1 in  the admirable introduction 
to his great work4 ,among them he says  
that1  as he conceives1 the fear of     
,agamemnon operated more powerfully than
  the oath given to ,tyndareus#aca1 or  
than good will1 in the formation  of the
 confederacy which undertook the war of 
,troy4    #aca ,thuc4 i4 #i4    ,it     
seems clear from ,homer1 that the name  
and fame of ,agamemnon were  known far  
beyond the limits of ,greece1 and that  
the reputation of  being connected with 
him was thought to be of value4 ,for    
,menelaus1 on  his return from ,pharos  
to ,egypt1 erected there a funeral mound
 in his  honour#acb1 '   2 which he     
would not have done in a  country1 to   
whose inhabitants that monarch was      
unknown4 ,and again1 when  ,ulysses is  
challenged by the ,cyclops to declare1  
to what and to whom he  and his crew    
belong1 he makes the reply1 that they   

are the subjects of  ,agamemnon1 the son
 of ,atreus#acc3    #acb ,od4 iv4 #ehd4 
#acc ,od4 ix4 #bfc4       '   ' 1       
4    ,ulysses evidently conceives the   
fame of the great monarch1 thus         
enhanced by success1 to have been likely
 to supply any one who belonged  to him 
with a defence against the formidable   
monster1 before whom he  stood4         
,governing motives of the ,war4    ,the 
statements of ,homer respecting the     
position of ,agamemnon and the  motives 
of the war1 fall short of1 but are not  
wholly at variance  with1 the opinion   
which has been expressed by ,thucydides4
 ,of the  oath to ,tyndareus ,homer     
knows nothing3 but he tells us of the   
oath1  by which the ,greek chieftains   
had bound themselves to prosecute the   
expedition4 ,before setting out1 they   
had a solemn ceremonial at ,aulis2  they
 offered sacrifices1 they made          
libations1 they swore1 they pledged     
hands#acd1 they saw a portent1 and had  
it interpreted by ,calchas#ace4  ,but   

all this only shows that the ,atreid    
were conscious how formidable  an       
enterprise they were about1 and how they
 desired accordingly that  their        
companion kings should1 after having    
once embarked1 be as deeply  pledged as 
possible to go forward4 ,it does not    
tell us what was the  original          
inducement to enter into the            
undertaking4 ,again1 it does not  appear
 that the ,greeks in general cared much 
about the abduction or  even the        
restoration of ,helen4 ,the only passage
 directly touching the  point is the one
 in which ,agamemnon#acf expresses his  
opinion that1 if  ,menelaus should die  
of his wound1 the army would probably   
return home4  ,it seems as if ,agamemnon
 thought1 that without doubt they would 
then be  in honour released from their  
engagement1 and that they would at once 
avail themselves of their freedom4 ,the 
hope of booty1 however1 would do  much2 
and the members of a conquering race    
unite together with great  facility for 

purposes of war1 through a mixture of   
old fellow-feeling  and the love of     
adventure1 as well as through           
anticipation of spoil4  ,on the other   
hand1 it was evidently no small matter  
to organize the  expedition3 much time  
was consumed2 a friendly embassy to     
,troy had been  tried without success2  
the ablest princes1 ,nestor and         
,ulysses1 were  employed in obtaining   
cooperation4 ,the general conclusion1 ,i
 think1 is1  that a combination of hope1
 sympathy1 respect1 and fear1 but       
certainly  a very strong personal       
feeling1 whatever its precise           
ingredients may  have been1 towards the 
,pelopid house1 must have operated      
largely in  the matter4 ,and it is in   
this spirit that we should construe the 
various declarations of ,homer          
respecting those who came to the war1 as
  courting the ,atreid1 and as acting   
for their honour2 namely these1    #acd 
,il4 ii4 #cjc-g4 #cci-da4    #ace ,ibid4
 #cjh1 #cbb4    #acf ,il4 iv4 #afi-gb4  

4 ,od4 v4 #cjg4      4 ,il4 xiv4 #acb4  
1 4 ,il4 i4 #aei4    ,before ,troy1     
,agamemnon is always regarded by others 
as responsible for  the expedition1 and 
it is plain that he so regards himself4 
,the use of  his sceptre by ,ulysses in 
the great effort to stem the torrent of 
the  retiring multitude1 is highly      
significant of the influence belonging  
to his station2 and when ,ulysses argues
 with the leaders1 he rests his  case on
 the importance of knowing the whole    
mind of ,agamemnon1 while he  strongly  
dwells on his royal authority1 and on   
the higher authority of  heaven as its  
foundation4    ,his position1 however1  
did not place him above the influence of
  jealousy and fear3 for he was         
gratified when he saw ,achilles and     
,ulysses1 the first of his chieftains1  
at variance#acg4 ,and his weight  and   
authority depended for their efficacy on
 reason1 and on the free  will of the   
,greeks4 ,agamemnon takes ,briseis from 
,achilles by an act  of force2 but he   

nowhere seeks to move the army1 or the  
individuals  composing it1 upon that    
principle2 nor does the prolongation of 
the service appear to have been placed  
beyond the judgment of the  particular  
chiefs and of the troops4 ,achilles not 
only declares that  he will go1 but says
 he will advise others to go with       
him#ach1 and  asks ,phnix to remain in  
his tent for the purpose4 ,the deference
 paid  to the ,head is a deference      
according to measure2 and the measure is
  that of his greater responsibility1   
his heavier stake in the war#aci4  ,his 
functions in regard to the host are1 to 
think for and advise it in  council1 and
 to stimulate it by exhortation and     
example in the field4  ,if we may rely  
on ,homer1 it was essentially1 so far as
 regarded the  relation between the     
general in chief and the rest of the    
body1 a free  military organization4    
#acg ,od4 vii4 #gg4    #ach ,il4 ix4    
#cef-fc1 #dag-bj4    #aci ,il4 iv4      
#dae-h4    ,personal ,character of      

,agamemnon4    ,the ,agamemnon of ,homer
 does not appear to be intended by the  
,poet for  a man of genius4 ,but on this
 very account1 the dominance of         
political  ideas in his mind is more    
remarkable4 ,on political grounds he is 
ready  to give up ,chryseis#adj4 ,on    
political grounds he quells his own     
avarice1 and slays ,trojans instead of  
taking ransom for them#ada4 ,he  deeply 
feels the responsibilities of his       
station1 and care banishes  his sleep4  
,the amiable trait in his character is  
his affection for  ,menelaus1 and in    
this1 as in many other respects1 he     
recalls the  ,jupiter of ,homer1 whose  
selfishness is nowhere relieved1 except 
by  paternal affection4    #adj ,il4 i4 
#aag4    #ada ,il4 vi4 #de-fb4          
,further1 ,agamemnon1 though without    
genius1 is a practitioner in  finesse4  
,in his love of this art1 ,i fear1 he   
resembles the tribe of  later           
politicians4 ,he resembles them1 too1 in
 outwitting himself by  means of it3 he 

is #8hoist upon his own petard4' ,this  
seems to be1 in  part at least1 the     
explanation of his unhappy device in the
 ,second  ,iliad1 to prepare the people 
for an attack on ,troy1 by counselling  
them  to go home forthwith4 ,the        
breakdown of his scheme is1 as it were1 
the  first-fruits of retribution for his
  in the ,first ,book4----    ,as1 upon 
the whole1 there is no idea of          
selfishness involved in the             
prerogatives of the ,homeric king1 so is
 it clear that1 except as  against mere 
criminals1 there is no general idea of  
coercion4 ,the  ,homeric king reigns    
with the free assent of his subjects--an
 assent  indeterminate1 but real1 and in
 both points alike resembling his       
kingly power4 ,the relation between     
ruler and ruled is founded in the  laws 
and condition of our nature4 ,born in a 
state of dependence1 man1  when he      
attains to freedom and capacity for     
action1 finds himself the  debtor both  
of his parents and of society at large2 

and is justly  liable to discharge his  
debt by rendering service in return4 ,of
  this we have various indications in   
,homer1 with respect to parents  in     
particular4 ,those who die young1 like  
,simoeisius by the hand of  ,ajax#adb1  
die before they have repaid to their    
parents the cost1 that  is the care1 of 
their education 774 ,in a most          
remarkable and  characteristic passage4 
,phnix describes how1 when he was young1
 some  deity restrained his wrath       
against his father1 and shows the infamy
  that would attend the taking away of  
that life1 in a country where  voluntary
 homicide1 in general1 was regarded more
 as a misfortune than  a crime#adc3     
#adb ,il4 iv4 #dgc-i4    #adc ,il4 ix4  
#dei4                                   
'        1   ' 1       '  4    ,the     
reciprocal obligations of father and son
 are beautifully shown by  ,andromache  
in her lament over ,hector1 when she    
speaks of her child#add3    #add ,il4   
xxii4 #dhe4 ,od4 xxiv4 #dcd4            

1 1 1  1   4    ,the relation of        
sovereign and subject free4    ,as to   
the relation between the subject and the
 sovereign authority1  it seems         
everywhere to be taken for granted4 ,in 
the ,twenty-fourth  ,odyssey1 the object
 of those who march against ,ulysses is 
not to put  down authority1 but to      
avenge the deaths of their sons and     
brothers4  ,but there appears nowhere in
 ,homer the idea that in this relation  
could be involved a difference of       
interest1 or even of opinion1 between   
class and class1 between governors and  
governed4 ,the king or chief  was       
uplifted to set a high example1 to lead 
the common counsels to  common ends1 to 
conduct the public and common           
intercourse with heaven1  to decide the 
strifes of individuals1 to defend the   
borders of the  territory from invasion4
 ,that the community at home1 or any    
regularly  subsisting class of it1 could
 require repression or restraint from   
the  government1 was an idea happily    

unknown to the ,homeric times4    ,those
 classes1 indeed1 were few and simple4  
,there was1 first of all1  the king2 and
 round him his family and his 1 the     
serjeants or  heralds1 who were his     
immediate1 and apparently his only      
immediate1  agents4 ,they conveyed his  
orders2 they assisted him in the        
,assembly1  in sacrifice1 and in        
banquets4 ,they appear to be the only   
executive  officers that are found in   
,homer4 ,with these was the ,bard1      
apparently  also an indispensable member
 of royal households4 ,both were        
recognised  among the established       
professions4    ,next to the kings and  
other sovereigns1 we must place the     
chief  proprietors of the country4 ,in  
the ,odyssey1 we find the members of the
  aristocracy having their own estates  
and functions1 and sustaining the  part 
of 1 or leaders in the ,assembly4 ,the  
judicial office1  as we have seen from  
the ,shield and otherwise1 was in their 
hands1  probably by delegation4 ,but it 

would appear1 that the distinction      
between them and the sovereign family   
was rather a broad one2 since1  in      
almost every case1 we seem to find the  
prince contracting a  marriage beyond   
his own borders4 ,laertes brings        
,anticlea#ade from  the neighbourhood of
 ,parnassus2 ,theseus marries ,ariadne  
from ,crete2  ,agamemnon and ,menelaus1 
belonging to ,mycen1 are united to the  
daughters of the king of ,sparta2 of the
 two daughters of ,icarius1  ,ulysses in
 ,ithaca married ,penelope1 and ,eumelus
 in ,pher married  ,iphthime 7,od4 iv4  
#gig72 one of the two1 at least1 and    
perhaps both1  must have married from a 
considerable distance2 ,menelaus sends  
his  beautiful daughter ,hermione to be 
the wife of ,neoptolemus in ,thessaly3  
and the only instance1 even apparently  
in the opposite sense1 seems  to be that
 of his son ,megapenthes1 who married a 
,spartan damsel1 the  daughter of       
,alector4 ,but then ,megapenthes was not
 legitimate2 he was  born of a          

slave-mother1 and therefore he was not a
 prince#adf4 ,all  these facts seem to  
show us that the royal houses formed a  
network  among themselves1 spread over  
,greece1 and keeping pretty distinct    
from  the aristocracy3 a circumstance   
which may1 in some degree1 help to      
explain the wonderful patience and      
constancy of ,penelope4    #ade ,od4 xi4
 #he4    #adf ,od4 iv4 #aj-ab4    ,other
 classes of the community4    ,next to  
the nobles1 and in the third place1 we  
may class what we should  now call      
trades and professions3 observing1      
however1 that1 in ,homer's  time1 both  
the useful arts and the fine arts had a 
social dignity1 as  compared with that  
of wealth and station1 which the former 
have long  ago lost1 and which the later
 have not retained in as full manner as 
perhaps might be desired1 not for their 
own advantage merely1 but to  secure due
 honour for labour1 and the humanizing  
effect of this kind of  labour in       
particular for society at large4 ,i draw

 the proof of their  estimation in the  
heroic age1 first1 from the manner in   
which they are  combined under the      
common designation of 1 and arranged  in
 a mixed order1 the preference being    
only given by a more emphatic           
description to the bard#adg3    #adg    
,od4 xvii4 #chc4                        
1   1    1   1   1       1    2    ,here
 ,i take   to represent the entire class
 of artificers1  of whom many are named 
in ,homer2 in a poor country like       
,ithaca1  depending very much on the use
 of boats for fishing and for its       
communications1 the carpenters might    
naturally represent the whole4    ,and  
next1 from the manner in which these    
arts were practised by  princes1 it     
seems plain that there was nothing in   
the pursuit of them  inconsistent with  
high rank4 ,the physicians1 or surgeons 
rather1 of  the ,greek army1            
,podaleirius and ,machaon1 were         
themselves princes and  commanders of a 
contingent3 and even ,paris1 who was not

 the man to  demean himself by          
employments beneath his station1 seems  
to have taken  the chief share in the   
erection of his own palace#adh3    #adh 
,il4 vi4 #cad4               '    1  '  
4    ,again1 the bard of ,agamemnon was 
appointed quasi-guardian#adi to         
,clytemnestra in her husband's absence3 
and ,phemius1 the bard of  ,ulysses#aej1
 proceeded to the ,assembly of the      
,twenty-fourth ,odyssey  in order to    
prevent any tumult1 together with ,medon
 the herald1 who  addressed the people  
accordingly4 ,the heralds1 or serjeants1
 are also  recognised as #aea4 ,again1  
,alitherses1 being the  or  seer of the 
island1 and apparently the only one1    
takes part in the  debates both of the  
,second and of the ,twenty-fourth       
,books4    #adi ,od4 iii4 #bfg4    #aej 
,od4 xvii4 #bfc4 xxiv4 #dci4    #aea    
,od4 xix4 #ace4    ,the professions1    
then1 thus far are five3      #a4       
,seers4    #b4 ,surgeons4    #c4        
,artificers4    #d4 ,bards4    #e4      

,heralds4    ,we may remark the absence 
of priests and merchants4 ,not that     
merchants  were unknown3 we find them   
mentioned by ,euryalus the ,phacian1 as 
1 but their business was esteemed       
sordid2 it too much  resembled that of  
the kidnapper or swindler1 and it is the
 reproach of  seeming to belong to this 
class that smartly stings ,ulysses#aeb4 
,and  even the merchant ,mentes1 whose  
form was assumed by ,pallas1 belonged   
to the ,taphians1 a tribe of            
pirates#aec4 ,as yet1 neither the order 
of priests would seem to have been      
completely taken over from the          
,pelasgians1 nor the class of merchants 
formed in imitation of the  ,phnicians4 
#aeb ,od4 viii4 #afa4    #aec ,od4 i4   
#ahc4    ,slaves in the ,homeric age4   
,after the classes we have named1 come  
the great mass of the population1  who  
till the ground and tend the live stock 
for themselves or their  employers1 if  
free1 and for their lords if slaves4    
,the fisherman1 too1  is distinctly     

noticed#aed in ,ithaca4 ,mr4 ,grote     
classes with the free  husbandmen the   
artisans#aee1 and separates both of them
 from the  1 or hired labourers1 and the
 slaves4 ,it appears to me1 however1    
that we ought to distinguish the        
artisans from the mere husbandmen1 as   
having been in a higher station4 ,on the
 other hand1 ,i see no passage  in      
,homer which clearly gives to the       
husbandmen as a class a condition       
superior to that of the hired servants1 
or even1 perhaps1 the slaves4  ,the     
evidence of the poems is not clear as to
 the existence or extent of  a peasant  
proprietary4 ,we must beware of         
confounding those conceptions  of a     
slavery maintained wholesale for the    
purposes of commerce1 which  our        
experience supplies1 with its earliest  
form1 in which the number  of slaves    
would seem to have been small1 and their
 ranks to have  been recruited          
principally by war1 with slight and     
casual aid from  kidnapping4 ,in those  

times1 the liability to captivity would 
seem to  have affected all men alike1   
independently of all distinctions       
whether  in rank or in blood4 ,the sons 
of ,priam were sold into slavery like   
any  one else3 the only difference was1 
that1 in proportion to the wealth of    
the parents1 there was a better chance  
of ransom4 ,it would appear that  the   
slaves of ,homer were properly1 even    
when not indoor1 yet domestic4  ,the    
women discharged the indoor and         
household offices3 except that a  few   
men performed strictly personal services
 about their masters1 as   and as       
carvers#aef 7  74 ,but  the men-slaves  
were more largely employed out of doors 
in the care  of flocks and herds1 fields
 and vineyards4 ,thus1 the slaves were  
in  a different position apparently from
 the freemen1 for they seem to  have    
been gathered as servants and attendants
 round the rich4 ,it would  appear1     
however1 from the case of ,eumus1 who   
had a slave of his own1  ,mesaulios#aeg1

 that they might hold property for      
themselves4 ,again1  not ,eumus only1   
but in the ,twenty-fourth ,odyssey      
,dolius and his six  sons1 sit down to  
table together with ,ulysses1 and fondly
 clasp his  hands4 ,they bear arms too2 
and this could not have been very       
strange1  for ,homer describes the      
arming of the sons without remark1 while
 he  calls both the father and ,laertes1
 on account of their old age#aeh1   4   
,the moral deterioration of slaves is   
noticed very  strongly by ,eumus        
himself#aei1 though not with reference  
to himself4  ,we have1 however1 no      
reason to suppose that their outward    
condition was  inferior to that of the  
free labouring population in any thing1 
except  that we must presume they did   
not take part in the assemblies or in   
war4 ,when ,achilles#afj in the infernal
 regions compares the highest  condition
 there with the lowest on earth1 he does
 not choose the slave1  but the labourer
 for hire 7 is his expression71 as the  

type  of a depressed condition upon     
earth4 ,the state of the hired servant  
probably resembled that of the slave in 
being dependent upon others1  and fell  
beneath it in the point of security4    
,this is the more likely1  because the  
point of the passage turns on the       
poverty of the employer1    #aed ,od4   
xxiv4    #aee ,hist4 ,greece ii4 p4 #hd4
    #aef ,od4 xvi4 #bdh1 #bec1 also 1   
,od4 i4 #ada4 ,there were likewise  in  
,scheria nine 1 who made arrangements   
for the dance4 ,these  were public      
officers 77 and may fairly be rendered  
#8masters of  the ceremonies4' 7,od4    
viii4 #beh47    #aeg ,od4 xiv4 #ddi-eb4 
#aeh ,od4 xxiv4 #dih4    #aei ,od4 xvii4
 #cbj-c4    #afj ,od4 xi4 #dhi-ia4      
' 1     1    as constituting the misery 
of the servant4    ,indeed1 if we       
consider the matter a little further1 we
 shall perhaps  see the greater reason  
to think1 that the expression  has been 
chosen otherwise than at random4 ,what  
do we mean by a hired servant1 at  a    

period in the movement of society when  
money did not exist8 ,we can  only mean 
one who was paid by food1 clothes1 and  
lodging1 like a slave1  but who was not1
 like a slave1 permanently attached to  
his master or  his master's estate4 ,the
 difference between the two would thus  
lie in  the absence of the permanent    
tie3 a difference much more against the 
1 than in his favour4    ,the position1 
then1 of the slaves was probably        
analogous to that of  domestic servants 
among ourselves1 who practically forfeit
 the active  exercise of political      
privileges1 but are in many respects    
better off  than the mass of those who  
depend on bodily labour4 ,it doubtless  
grew  out of the state of things in     
which slaves were practically servants1 
and servants of the rich1 that masters1 
or #afa1 were regarded  as constituting 
the wealthy class of the community4     
#afa ,od4 xiii4 #bbc4    ,supply of     
military service4    ,i stop for a      
moment to observe1 that the view here   

taken of the  comparatively restricted  
numbers and sphere of the slaves in     
heroic  ,greece may serve in some degree
 to answer the question1 why do we not  
hear of them in the army of the ,iliad8 
,as men of equal blood with the  ,greeks
 themselves1 they would perhaps be      
dangerous comrades in arms4  ,as persons
 established in charge of the property  
of the lord1 there  would be a strong   
motive to leave them behind for its     
care4 ,it is  very difficult to judge   
how far the state of heroic ,greece bore
 any  resemblance to the feudal system  
of the later middle ages1 and whether   
it did not present a more substantial   
correspondence with the allodial  system
 of the earlier4 ,we have before us a   
large number of independent             
proprietors1 each bound by usage        
probably to render personal service1    
but we have nothing that resembles the  
obligation to bring so many  retainers  
into the field with reference to the    
size of the estate4  ,and accordingly1  

in the ,iliad we do not find many merely
 personal  retainers4 ,the menial       
services in the tent of ,achilles are   
performed  by the women-captives1 or by 
,patroclus in person4 ,after ,patroclus 
was  dead1 his tent was attended only by
 ,automedon1 his charioteer1 and by  one
 other warrior4 ,agamemnon had no other 
male attendants that we hear  of1 except
 his two herald-serjeants1 ,talthybius  
and ,eurybates1 who  discharged a double
 function#afb3    #afb ,il4 i4 #cba4    
4    ,we may infer from the poems1 that 
each independent family  furnished one  
or more of its members1 drawn by lot1 to
 serve in the  expedition#afc4 ,such is 
the declaration of the pseudo-,myrmidon 
to  ,priam3 and again1 in the ,odyssey  
we find gyptius#afd of ,ithaca had  sent
 one son to ,troy1 while he kept three  
at home4 ,the inference  is             
strengthened#afe by the negative        
evidence of the ,twenty-fourth          
,odyssey4 ,there#aff ,dolius the slave  
appears with no less than six  sons3 but

 no mention is made of any member of his
 family as having  attended ,ulysses to 
,troy1 although1 if there had been such 
a person1  some reference to him here1  
in the presence of ,ulysses just        
returned1  would have been most         
appropriate4 ,indeed1 the six are       
introduced as  #8the sons' of ,dolius1  
which of itself almost excludes the idea
 of his  having sent any son to the war4
    #afc ,il4 xxiv4 #cif-djj4    #afd   
,od4 ii4 #ag4    #afe ,ibid4 #dgd4      
#aff ,od4 xxiv4 #chg4 #dig4    ,again1  
we see that the whole mass of the       
soldiery attended the  assemblies1 and  
were there addressed by kings and chiefs
 in terms  which seemed to imply a      
brotherhood4 ,they are #8friends1       
,danaan heroes1  satellites of          
,mars#afg1' and it is hard to suppose   
such words could  be addressed to       
persons held in slavery1 however mild1  
familiar1 or  favourable4 ,the          
employment of these terms may suggest a 
comparison  with our own modes of public

 address1 according to which the word   
#8,gentlemen' would be commonly used1   
though the audience should be  composed 
in great part of the humbler class4 ,but
 all these words are so  many proofs of 
that political freedom1 pervading the   
community and the  spirit of its        
institutions as a whole1 which exacts   
this kind of homage  from the great and 
wealthy on public occasions4    #afg    
,il4 ii4 #aaj4    ,it was a natural and 
healthful sign of the state of political
 society1  that slavery was held to be  
odious4 ,but it was odious on account   
of its effects on the mind1 and not     
because it entailed cruelty or          
oppression4 ,there is not1 ,i think1 a  
single passage in the poems which  in   
any degree conveys the impression either
 of hardship endured1 or of  resentment 
felt1 by any slave of the period4    ,as
 to a peasant proprietary4    ,neither1 
as has been said1 is there any thing in 
,homer1 which clearly  exhibits to us a 
peasant-proprietary2 or entitles us     

positively  to assert that the land was 
cultivated to a great extent by small   
proprietors1 each acting independently  
for himself4 ,on the one hand1 as  has  
been remarked1 we do not find large     
numbers of personal retainers  and      
servants about the great men3 but1 on   
the other hand1 ,homer does  not paint  
for us a single picture of the          
independent peasant4 ,in the  similes1  
in the legends1 on the ,shield of       
,achilles1 in ,ithaca1 we  hear much of 
large flocks and herds1 of great        
proprietors1 of their  harvest-fields   
and their vineyards1 but nothing of the 
small freeman1  with property in land   
sufficient for his family1 and no more4 
,the rural  labour1 which he shows us in
 action1 is organized on a large scale4 
,the question1 what after all was the   
actual condition of the ,greek  people  
in the age of the ,troica1 is thus left 
in great obscurity4  ,it is indeed at   
once the capital point1 and the one of  
which history1  chronicle1 and poem     

commonly take the least notice4 ,upon   
the whole  it would appear most         
reasonable1 while abstaining from too   
confident  assertion1 to suppose1    #a4
 ,that1 as respected primogeniture and  
the disposition of landed  property1    
society was aristocratically organized4 
#b4 ,that this aristocratic             
organization1 being founded on military 
occupation1 embraced a rather wide range
 of greater and of smaller  proprietors4
    #c4 ,that these proprietors1 by     
superior wealth1 energy1 and influence1 
led the remainder of the population4    
#d4 ,that there may have existed a      
peasant-proprietary class in            
considerable numbers1 neither excluded  
from political privilege nor  exempt    
from military service1 but yet not      
combined1 under ordinary  circumstances1
 by any community of interest or of     
hardship2 led1 not  unwillingly1 by the 
dominant ,achan race2 and by no means   
forming a  social element of such       
interest or attractiveness1 in the view 

of  the ,poet1 as to claim a marked     
place or vivid delineation1 which it    
certainly has not received1 on his      
canvass4    #e4 ,that the cultivation of
 the greater estates was carried on by  
hired  labourers and by slaves1 between 
which two classes1 for that period1 no  
very broad line of distinction can be   
drawn4    ,it is not within the scope of
 this work to enter largely upon the    
#8political economy' of the ,homeric    
age4 ,but1 as being itself an  important
 feature of polity1 it cannot be        
altogether overlooked2 and  this appears
 to be the place for referring to it4   
,political ,economy of the ,homeric age4
    ,there has been1 of late years1     
debate and research respecting the  name
 given to the important science1 which  
treats of the creation and  distribution
 of wealth4 ,the phrase #8political     
economy1' which has been  established by
 long usage1 cannot be defended on its  
merits4 ,the name  ,chrematistic has    
been devised in its stead2 an accurate1 

but perhaps  rather dry definition1     
which does not1 like the names  and  1  
and like the exceptionable title it is  
meant to displace1 take  the human      
being1 who is the real subject of the   
science1 into view4  ,homer has provided
 us beforehand with a word which1 as it 
appears  to me1 retrenches the phrase   
#8economy' precisely in the point where 
retrenchment is required4 ,the ,ulysses 
of the ,fourteenth ,odyssey1 in one  of 
his fabulous accounts of himself as a   
,cretan1 states#afh1    #afh ,od4 xiv4  
#bbb4                             ' 1   
4    ,and ,i believe that1 were it not  
too late to change a name1 #8political  
cophely' precisely expresses the idea of
 the science1 which1 having  its        
fountain-head in good housekeeping1     
treats1 when it has reached its         
expansion and maturity1 of the #8,wealth
 of ,nations4'    ,it was not           
surprising1 that the ,greeks of the     
heroic age should have  a name for the  
business of growing wealthy2 for it was 

one to which  ,hellenes1 as well as     
,pelasgians1 appear to have taken       
kindly4 ,of this  we find various       
tokens4 ,though the spirit of           
acquisition had not  yet reached the    
point1 at which it becomes injurious to 
the general  development of man1 we     
appear to have in the distinguished     
house of  the ,pelopids at least one    
isolated example of its excess4 ,we have
  the friendly testimony of ,nestor1 as 
well as the fierce invective of         
,achilles#afi1 to show that in          
,agamemnon it constituted a weakness3   
and  he is distinguished in war from the
 other great chieftains#agj1 by  his    
habit of forthwith stripping those whom 
he had slain4 ,but ,ulysses  also1 to   
whom we may be certain that ,homer did  
not mean in this matter  to impute a    
fault1 was1 according to ,eumus#aga1    
richer than any  twenty2 and after      
making every allowance for friendly     
exaggeration1 we  cannot doubt that     
,homer meant us to understand that1 in  

the wealth of  those days1 he was very  
opulent4 ,the settlement from time to   
time of  ,phnicians in ,greece1 and the 
ready docility of the ,hellenes in the  
art of navigation1 are signs to the same
 effect4 ,the idea of wealth  again is  
deeply involved in the name of 1 which  
appears to mean  a god-given felicity3  
and  is the epithet in common of the    
gods1  the rich man1 and the happy      
man#agb4 ,not that the ,greeks of those 
times were1 in a greater degree than    
ourselves1 the slaves of wealth1  but   
that they spoke out in their simplicity1
 here1 as also with other  matters1 what
 we keep in the shade2 and thus they    
made a greater show  of particular      
propensities1 even while they had less  
of them in reality4    #afi ,il4 ix4    
#gj-gc1 #ccj-c4 i4 #aba4    #agj ,il4   
xi4 #ajj1 #aaj4    #aga ,od4 xiv4       
#if-ajd4    #agb ,the gods1 ,il4 i4 #eii
 et alibi4 ,the rich man1 ,il4 xi4 #fh4 
,od4 i4  #bag4 ,the happy man1 ,od4 vi4 
#aeh4 xi4 #dhb4 ,il4 iii4 #ahb4 xxiv4   

#cgg4    ,but1 even more than from      
particular signs1 ,i estimate the       
capacity  of the ,homeric ,greeks for   
acquisition from the state of facts in  
the  poems4 ,here we observe a          
remarkable temperance1 and even a       
detestation  of excess1 in all the      
enjoyments of the senses1 combined with 
the  possession1 not only of a rude     
abundance in meat1 corn1 and wine1  but 
with the principle of ornament1 largely1
 though inartificially1  established in 
their greater houses and gardens2 with  
considerable  stores of the precious as 
well as the useful metals1 and of fine  
raiment2 and with the possession of     
somewhat rich works of art1 both in     
metal and embroidery4 ,this picture     
seems to belong to a stage1 although  a 
very early one1 in a process of rapid   
advance to material wealth and          
prosperity4 ,the wealth and the         
simplicity of manners1 taken together1  
would seem to imply that they had not   
yet had time to be corrupted  by it1 and

 consequently that1 by their energy and 
prudence1 they had  gathered it promptly
 and with ease4    ,the precious metals 
not a measure of value4    ,the         
commercial intercourse of the age1      
however1 was still an  intercourse of   
barter4 ,there can hardly be a stronger 
sign of the  rudeness of trading        
relations1 than the ,homeric use of the 
word 4  ,it signifies both the          
obligation to pay a debt regularly      
contracted for  value received 7,od4    
iii4 #cfg71 and the liability to sustain
 retaliation  after an act of rapine    
7,il4 xi4 #fhf1 #h74 ,the possession of 
the precious  metals was probably       
confined to a very few4 ,both these1 and
 iron1 which  apparently stood next to  
them in value1 formed prizes at the     
,games2 in  which1 speaking generally1  
only kings and chiefs took part4 ,a     
certain  approximation had been made    
towards the use of them as money1 that  
is1 as the measure of value for other   
commodities4 ,for1 as they were  divided

 into fixed quantities1 those quantities
 were in all likelihood  certified by   
some mark or stamp upon them4 ,nor do we
 ever find mere  unwrought gold and     
silver estimated or priced in any other 
commodity4  ,the arms of ,glaucus are   
indeed #agc1 and they are 4  ,but this  
means gilded or adorned with gold2 an   
object made of gold  would with ,homer  
be 4 ,such are the 1 the gold drops  or 
tassels of ,minerva's gis2 each of which
 is worth an hundred oxen4  ,thus gold1 
when manufactured1 even if not when in  
mass1 had its value  expressed in       
oxen#agd4    #agc ,il4 vi4 #bcf4    #agd
 ,il4 ii4 #ddh1 #i4    ,it is possible  
that gold and silver may1 to a limited  
extent1 have  been used as a standard1  
or as a medium of exchange4 ,the payment
 of  the judge's fee in the ,eighteenth 
,iliad suggests1 though it does not     
absolutely require1 this supposition4   
,like writing in the ,homeric age1  like
 printing when it was executed from a   
mould among the ,ancients1 the  practice

 may have existed essentially1 but in a 
form and on a scale  that deprived it of
 importance1 by limiting its extent4    
,oxen in some degree a measure of value4
    ,the arms of ,glaucus and ,diomed1  
and the drops of ,minerva's gis1 are1   
as we have seen1 valued or priced in    
oxen4 ,the tripod1 which was the  first 
prize for the wrestlers of the          
,twenty-third ,book1 was valued at      
twelve oxen3 the captive woman1 who was 
the second1 accomplished in  works of   
industry1 was worth four#age4    #age   
,il4 xxiii4 #gjb-e4    ,but ,laertes    
gave for ,euryclea no less than twenty  
oxen1 or rather the  value of twenty    
oxen 7 ' 1 ,od4 i4 #dca74 ,we need not  
ascribe the difference in costliness to 
the superior merit of ,euryclea2  but we
 may presume the explanation to be1 that
 ,laertes1 in time of  peace1 paid for  
,euryclea the high price of an importing
 market2 whereas  the ,greeks1 in a     
state of war before ,troy1 had probably 
more captives  than they knew how to    

feed4 ,they were1 at any rate1 in the   
country of  production3 and the price   
was low accordingly4    ,when we find it
 said that a woman slave was estimated  
at four oxen1 we  are not enabled at    
once to judge from such a statement     
whether oxen  were a measure of value1  
or whether the meaning simply was1 that 
a man1  who wanted such a slave1 would  
give four oxen for her4 ,but the case of
  ,euryclea clears up this point4 ,for  
what ,laertes gave was not the twenty   
oxen1 but something equal to them1      
something in return for which they      
could ordinarily be had4 ,again1 ,lycaon
 brought ,achilles the value of a       
hundred oxen1 a hundred oxen's          
worth#agf4 ,in this case1 then1 oxen are
  used as a medium for the expression of
 value4    #agf ,il4 xxi4 #gi4    ,in a 
passage of the ,odyssey1 we find that   
the ,suitors1 when they try  to make    
terms with ,ulysses in his wrath1       
promise as follows by the  mouth of     
,eurymachus#agg2    #agg ,od4 xxii4     

#eg-i4          1       ' 1       4     
,this has been rendered as a double     
engagement to pay the oxen and the      
metals4 ,it seems to me1 from the       
construction of the passage1 as if it   
would be more properly understood to be 
a declaration1 that they would  each of 
them bring him a compensation of the    
value of twenty oxen in  gold1 and in   
copper4 ,if ,eurymachus had meant to    
express the restoration  of the live    
stock of ,ulysses1 it is not likely that
 he would have  spoken of oxen only1    
especially in the goat-feeding and      
swine-feeding  ,ithaca4    ,there is    
another passage in the poems1 which     
seems to carry a similar  testimony one 
point further4 ,when ,euneus sends ships
 with wine to the  ,greek camp1 the     
,greeks pay him for his wine1 some with 
copper1 some  with iron1 some with      
hides1 some with slaves1 and some with  
oxen4  ,slaves1 as we have seen1 would  
probably be redundant in the camp4 ,the 
same would be eminently the case with   

respect to hides2 since they  would be  
redundantly supplied by the animals     
continually slaughtered  for the        
subsistence of the army4 ,even as to the
 metals1 we need not  feel surprise at  
the passage2 for they were acquired     
largely by spoil1  and not greatly      
needed by the force1 since wear and tear
 scarcely  constitute an element in the 
question of supply for those times4 ,but
  it is certainly more startling that   
any of the ,greeks should have sold     
oxen to the crews of ,euneus4 ,neither  
in that age nor in this would any       
merchants carry away oxen from a vast   
and crowded camp1 where they  would be  
certain to be in the highest demand4 ,i 
therefore presume the  meaning to be as 
follows2 that those particular ,greeks1 
who happened to  have more oxen than    
they wanted at the moment1 sold them to 
the people  of the ships2 and that the  
people of the ships took these oxen1 in 
exchange for wine1 not intending to     
carry them away1 but to sell them       

again1 perhaps against hides or slaves  
on the spot1 as the live cattle  would  
be certain to find a ready and          
advantageous market among other  ,greeks
 of the army4    ,oxen therefore1 in    
that age1 seem to have come nearer1 than
 any other  commodity1 to the discharge 
of the functions now performed by the   
precious metals3 for they were both used
 to express value1 and probably         
purchased not for use only1 but also    
with a view to re-sale4 ,thus the       
,homeric evidence1 with respect to them1
 is in conformity with the  testimony of
 schylus in the ,agamemnon1 who seems to
 represent the ox  as the first sign    
imprinted upon money#agh4    #agh ,agam4
 #cg4    ,the precious metals themselves
 were much employed for both personal   
ornament and for art4 ,this was1 no     
doubt1 their proper and established     
application2 and when they are stored1  
they are stored in common with  other   
metals not of the same class1 and with a
 view1 in all likelihood1  to           

manufacture4    ,relative scarcity of   
metals4    ,it appears clear1 from the  
,homeric poems1 that silver was more    
rare  than gold4 ,it is used1 when used 
at all1 in smaller quantities3 and  it  
much more rarely appears in the accounts
 of stored-up wealth4 ,a  like inference
 may be drawn1 perhaps1 from the books  
of ,moses2 and  it corresponds with the 
anticipations we should reasonably form 
from  the fact that gold is found in a  
native state1 and1 even when mixed  with
 other material1 is more readily fitted 
for use4 ,the extensive  employment of  
silver only arrives1 when society is    
more advanced1 and  when the use of     
money is more familiar and minute4      
,payments in the  precious metals on a  
somewhat large scale precede those for  
smaller  transactions4 ,we are not      
however to infer1 from the greater      
rarity of  silver1 that it was more     
valuable than gold3 the value depending1
 not  on the comparative quantities     
only1 but upon the compound ratio of the

  quantities as compared with the       
demand4 ,it would however appear from a 
passage in the account of the funeral   
games1 that gold1 if not silver1  was   
then much less esteemed than it now is4 
,for1 while a silver bowl  was the first
 prize of the foot-race1 a large and fat
 ox 7perhaps worth  three ordinary ones7
 was the second1 and a half talent of   
gold was only  the third#agi4    #agi   
,il4 xxiii4 #gdj-ea4    ,the position of
 iron1 however1 relatively to the other 
metals1 was very  different in the      
heroic age from what it now is3 and     
probably its great  rarity was due1 like
 that of silver1 to the difficulty of   
bringing the  metal into a state fit for
 use2 which could more readily be       
effected  with copper1 with tin1 or with
 1 in whatever sense it is to be        
interpreted4 ,iron1 however1 would      
appear to have been more valuable  than 
these metals2 greatly more valuable1 in 
particular1 than copper1  which is now  
worth from fifteen to twenty times as   

much as iron4 ,a  mass of crude iron is 
produced at the funeral games as a      
prize2 and  iron made into axe-heads    
forms another4 ,no other metal1 below   
the rank  of gold and silver1 is ever   
similarly employed in an unmanufactured 
state4--    ,let us now turn to a brief 
view of the polity and organization of  
the  army4    ,we perceive the          
organization of the ,greek communities  
in a double form3  both as a community1 
properly so called1 in time of peace1 a 
picture  supplied by the ,odyssey2 and  
likewise as an army1 according to the   
delineations of the ,iliad4    ,mode of 
government of the army4    ,the         
differences are worth noting3 but they  
do not seem to touch  fundamental       
principles4 ,agamemnon governed the army
 by the ordinary  political instruments1
 not by the rules of military           
discipline4  ,aristotle#ahj quotes from 
the ,iliad of his own day and place1 and
 as  proceeding from the mouth of       
,agamemnon1 the words1    #ahj ,pol4    

iii4 #ad4 #e4             and ,grote    
founds upon this citation the remark1   
that #8the ,alexandrian  critics effaced
 many traces of the old manners4' ,but  
was this really a  trace of the old     
manners8 ,is there a single passage now 
remaining of  the ,iliad1 a single      
thought1 a single word1 which at all    
corresponds  with the idea that         
,agamemnon had in his own hands1 in the 
shape of  a defined prerogative1 the    
power of capital punishment8 ,aristotle 
certainly accepts the passage1 and      
contrasts this military power of        
,agamemnon with the restraints upon him 
in the peaceful sphere of the  2 but ,i 
am by no means sure that ,english       
institutions do not  afford us the aid  
of far more powerful analogies for      
appreciating  the real political spirit 
of the ,homeric poems1 than any that    
even  ,aristotle could draw in his own  
day from the orientalizing government   
of ,alexander4 ,i do not1 however1 so   
much question the passage1 as  the      

construction put upon it4 ,the          
prerogatives of the ,greek kings  were  
founded in general duty and feeling1 not
 in law4 ,when ,ulysses  belaboured     
,thersites1 it was not in the exercise  
of a determinate  right1 but in         
obedience to the dictates of general    
prudence1 which1  upon a high emergency1
 the general sense approved4 ,doubtless1
 if  ,agamemnon had caught a runaway    
from the ranks1 he might have slain him2
  but is it supposed that ,ulysses might
 not8 ,what was the meaning of the      
advice of ,nestor1 to put the poltroons 
in the middle of the ranks1  but that   
their comrades about them should spear  
them if they should  try to run8 ,there 
is no criminal justice1 in the proper   
sense of the  term1 though there is     
civil justice1 in either of the ,homeric
 poems2  the wrongs of man to man are   
adjusted or requited by the latter form 
of remedy1 but the ideas on which the   
former rests were unknown3 there  is no 
king's peace1 more than there is a      

king's highway3 the sanctions  of force 
are added upon occasion to the general  
authority of office by  those who bear  
it1 according to the suggestions of     
their common sense4  ,had it been       
otherwise1 ,ulysses would never have put
 the wretched women  in his household1  
who could not1 like the ,suitors their  
paramours1 be  politically formidable1  
to a death1 which fully entitled him to 
say  with the ,agamemnon of the         
citation1    4 ,the general  reverence  
for rank and station1 the safeguard of  
publicity1 and the  influence of        
persuasion1 are the usual and sufficient
 instruments  for governing the army1   
even as they governed the civil         
societies of  ,greece4 ,in the ,assembly
 of the army1 the quarrel with ,achilles
 takes  place3 in the ,assembly arises  
the tumultuary impulse to return home3  
in the ,assembly1 that impulse having   
been checked1 it is deliberately        
resolved to see what they can do by     
fighting3 in the ,assembly it is        

determined to ask a truce for burials1  
and to erect the rampart3 in the        
nocturnal ,assembly that ,council is    
appointed to sit1 which sends the       
abortive mission to ,achilles4 ,every   
great measure affecting the whole  body 
is1 as we shall find1 adopted in the    
,assembly3 and1 finally1 it  is here    
that ,agamemnon explicitly confesses and
 laments his fault1 and  that the       
reconciliation with ,achilles is        
ratified4    ,we may therefore take the 
polity1 so to speak1 of the ,greek army 
into a  common view with that of the    
,ithacan 2 but first it will be well  to
 sketch its military organization4      
,its military composition4    ,next to  
the  came the   7,il4 ii4 #ahh71 or 1   
of the ,greek army4 ,they are pretty    
clearly distinguished from the  kings in
 the speech of ,achilles 7ix4 #ccd72    
when1 after describing the              
niggardliness of ,agamemnon with respect
 to booty1 he goes on to say1       '   
which ,i understand to mean1 he gave to 

these two classes prizes  different1 i4 
e4 proportioned to their respective     
stations4    ,the language of the       
,catalogue pointedly marks the same     
distinction in  other words4 ,at the    
beginning1 the ,poet invites the ,muses 
to tell him  7ver4 #dhg71           1   
and at the close he says 7ver4 #gfj71   
'     4    ,these two verses appear to  
be in evident correspondence with each  
other3 and if so1 we may the more       
confidently rely on the language  as    
carefully chosen to describe the two    
classes1 first the kings  as  7cf4 ,il4 
ii4 #bjd1 #bjg71 and1 secondly1 the  as 
4    ,this class1 it is probable1       
consisted1    ,first1 of the leaders of 
the minor and less significant          
contingents4    ,secondly1 of           
lieutenants1 or those who are named in  
the ,catalogue as  holding inferior     
commands under the great leaders 7such  
as ,meriones1  ,sthenelus1 and          
,euryalus74    ,but1 below the  of the  
,catalogue1 there would appear to  have 

been several grades of minor officers1  
in command of smaller  subdivisions of  
the army4 ,these would seem to have been
 described by a  general name1 4 ,when  
,nestor 7ii4 #cfb7 advises the          
distribution  of the army according to  
and 1 it will1 he says1 have the        
advantage of showing not only which of  
the soldiers1 but which of  the officers
 were good1 and which bad4 ,probably    
therefore there were  officers of each 1
 if not even1 under these1 of each 4    
,of the ,greeks nine are named in ,il4  
xi4 #cja-c1 who were slain by ,hector   
at once1 before he went among the       
privates 774 ,of these nine no  one is  
mentioned in any other part of the poem2
 and since at the same  time they are   
expressly declared to be 1 we may safely
 look  upon them as examples of the     
class of minor or secondary officers4   
,from  their names1 which have a strong 
,hellenic colour#aha1 we may venture  at
 least to conjecture1 that this class   
was chiefly ,achan1 or of  ,achan rank1 

and that the ,pelasgian blood of the    
army was principally  among the common  
soldiers4    #aha ,vid4 ,achis or       
,ethnology1 p4 #egd4    ,the maritime   
order of the armament1 which required a 
commander for each  vessel1 necessarily 
involved the existence of a class of    
what we may  call subaltern officers4   
,when ,helen describes the chieftains to
 ,priam from the tower1 of whom         
,idomeneus is one1 she proceeds 7,il4   
iii4 #bca72           4    ,again1 when 
,achilles went with fifty ships to      
,troy1 he divided his #bejj  men under  
five 1 whom he appointed to give the    
word of command  77 under him4 ,the     
force thus arranged formed five  or     
ranks1 ,il4 xvi4 #afh-gb3 and here the  
private persons are expressly  called   
7ver4 #agj74 ,most probably these  of   
the ,cretans1  and these five ,myrmidon 
leaders1 are to be considered as        
belonging to  a class below the 1 yet   
above the subalterns4    ,lastly1 we    
have to notice the privates1 so to      

speak1 of the ,greek army1  who are     
called by the several names of  7,il4   
ii4 #aia4 i4 #ed71   7ii4 #aih71 and    
7ii4 #bgh74    ,in their military       
character they are indeed a mass of     
atoms1  undistinguishable from one      
another1 but yet distinguished by their 
silence and order1 which was founded    
probably on confidence in their         
leaders4    ,the descriptions of        
fighting men4    ,no private or         
nameless#ahb person of the ,greek army1 
however1 on any  occasion performs any  
feat1 either great or small3 these are  
always  achieved by the men of birth and
 station3 and the three designations  we
 have mentioned1 the only ones which are
 used to designate the whole  mass of   
the soldiery1 represent them to us as a 
community bearing arms1  rather than as 
an army in any sense that is technical  
or professional4    #ahb ,even the      
instance1 in ,il4 xiii4 #baa1 of a      
nameless person who had  simply been    
wounded is a rare1 if not indeed the    

single1 exception4    ,all these were   
entitled to attend the 1 or ,assembly1  
if they  pleased4 ,and accordingly1 on  
the first ,assembly that ,achilles      
attended  after renouncing his wrath1 we
 find that1 from the great interest  of 
the occasion1 even those persons were   
present who did not usually  appear3    
namely1 the pilots of the ships1 and    
others who probably  had charge of them 
while ashore1 together with those who   
managed  the provisioning of the force  
771 or1 in our language1 the            
commissariat 7,il4 xix4 #db-e74    ,in  
their strictly military capacity they   
were1 however1 divided into    #a4 1 who
 fought in chariots1 commonly 7,il4     
xxiii4 #ccd-dj7 with  two horses4 ,when 
there were three 7xvi4 #dfg-ge71 the    
outrunner was  called 4 ,the chariot of 
,hector was drawn by four horses 7viii4 
#ahe71 but we have no such case among   
the ,greeks4 ,two persons went in  each 
chariot2 of whom the inferior 77 drove1 
and the superior  77 stood by him free  

to fight4 ,but probably none of these   
were of the mere  of the army1 or common
 soldiery4    #b4 1 the heavy-armed1 of 
the  4 ,these use the  longer spear1 the
 axe1 the sword1 or the stone4    #c4 1 
using the lighter spear 7,il4 xv4 #gji4 
xxiii4 #fbb4 ,od4  xviii4 #bfa74    #d4 
7,il4 ii4 #gbj4 iii4 #gi74    ,again1   
the men are distinguished by epithets   
according to merit2 each  being 1 1 or  
7,il4 xii4 #bfi71 or even 2  and with   
the last-named the precaution is taken  
to place them in the  midst of their    
comrades4    ,the policy of ,nestor1    
which recommended the muster of the     
whole army1  with a view to stronger    
mutual support among those who had      
peculiar  ties1 was entirely in harmony 
with what we meet elsewhere in the      
poems4 ,for instance1 in the defence of 
the rampart in the ,thirteenth  ,book1  
we find ,botians1 ,athenians1 and       
,locrians#ahc1 who were  neighbours1 all
 mentioned as fighting side by side4    
#ahc ,il4 xiii4 #fhe4    ,all ranks     

apparently went to the ,assemblies as   
freemen1 and were  treated there by     
their superiors with respect4 ,it was   
not those of  the common sort in        
general1 but only such as were clamorous
 for the  tumultuary breaking up of the 
,assembly1 that ,ulysses went so far as 
to hit 77 with the staff he bore1 the   
supreme sceptre of  ,agamemnon4 ,in     
addressing them he used the word 1 the  
same  word which he employed to their   
superiors1 the kings and chiefs 7,il4   
ii4 #aij1 #bjj74 ,when they heard a     
speech that they approved of1 they      
habitually and immediately shouted in   
applause#ahd1    #ahd ,il4 ii4 #ccc4    
'  444           and they commented     
freely among themselves on what occurred
 7,il4 ii4  #bga and elsewhere74    ,the
 modes of warfare in the heroic age were
 very simple3 the open  battle was a    
battle of main force1 as regarded both  
the chieftains and  the men1 relieved   
from time to time by a sprinkling of    
panics4 ,but  besides the battle1 there 

was another and a more distinguished    
mode of  fighting3 that of the  or      
ambuscade4 ,and the different estimate  
of  the two1 which reverses the popular 
view1 is eminently illustrative of  the 
,greek character4    ,the  or ambuscade4
    ,in that epitome of human life1     
which ,homer has presented to us on the 
,shield of ,achilles1 martial operations
 are of course included4 ,the           
collective life of man is represented by
 two cities1 one for peace  and the     
other for war4 ,two armies appear       
beneath the walls of the  latter2 and   
one of these takes its post in an       
ambush#ahe4 ,whenever  persons were to  
be appointed out of an army for this    
duty1 the noblest  and bravest were     
chosen4 ,hence ,achilles launches the   
double reproach  against ,agamemnon1    
that he has never had spirit enough to  
arm either  with the soldiery at large  
for battle1 or with the chiefs and prime
  warriors for ambuscade#ahf4 ,and the  
reason why the ambuscade stood  thus    

high as the duty and the privilege of   
the best1 is explained in  an admirable 
speech of ,idomeneus4 ,it is simply     
because it involves a  higher trial1    
through the patience it requires1 of    
moral as opposed to  animal courage4    
#ahe ,il4 xviii4 #eji1 #ac1 #bj4    #ahf
 ,il4 i4 #bbf4    ,the ,cretan leader   
supposes the case to have occurred1 when
 all the  flower of the army are picked 
for an ambush4 #8,there1' he says1 #8is 
the  true criterion of valour2       '  
and there it soon appears who is the    
hero1 and who the coward2 for  the flesh
 of the poltroon turns to one colour and
 another1 nor can he  settle his mind so
 as to sit quiet1 for his knees yield   
under him1 and  he shifts from resting  
on one foot to resting on the other2 his
 heart  is fluttering in his breast1 and
 his teeth chatter1 as he gives himself 
up for lost3 but the brave man1 from the
 moment when he takes his place  in the 
ambush1 neither changes colour1 nor is  
over nervous2 but only  prays that the  

time may soon come for him to mingle in 
the fearful  fight#ahg4' ,then he goes  
on to commend ,meriones as one suited   
for such  a trial4    #ahg ,il4 xiii4   
#bgf-hf4    ,in exact conformity with   
what we should expect from these        
descriptions1  it appears that ,ulysses 
was the warrior who was preeminent in   
the  1 while ,achilles towered so       
immeasurably above all others in the    
field4 ,when the ,greeks were concealed 
in the cavity of the ,horse1  and ,helen
 came down from the city imitating the  
voices of their  wives1 ,menelaus and   
,diomed were on the point of either     
going forth1  or answering2 but ,ulysses
 restrained them4 ,one ,anticlos was    
still  unwilling to be silent2 and      
,ulysses1 resolutely gagging him with   
his  hand1 #8saved the lives of all the 
,achans#ahh4' ,in all this we again  see
 how the poems of ,homer are1 like the  
,shield1 an epitome of life4  ,all the  
points of capital and paramount         
excellence1 for which he could  find no 

place in the hero of the one poem1 he   
has fully represented in  the hero of   
the other2 and he has so exhausted1     
between the two1 the  resources of our  
nature1 and likewise its appliances as  
they were then  understood1 that1 had he
 produced yet a third ,epic1 not even he
 could  have furnished a third          
protagonist to form its centre1 who     
should have  been worthy to count with  
,achilles and ,ulysses among the undying
 ideals  of human greatness4    #ahh    
,od4 iv4 #bgg-hh4    ,we have now       
considered the ,greek community of the  
heroic age1 as it  was divided in time  
of peace into classes1 and as in time of
 war it  resolved all its more potent   
and energetic elements into the form of 
a  military order4    ,we have also     
examined the position and functions of  
the king2 who  was at once a person1 a  
class1 and a great political            
institution4  ,it remains to consider   
two other political institutions of     
heroic  ,greece1 which not only1 with   

the king1 made up the whole machinery   
both  of civil and military             
administration for that period1 but     
likewise  supplied the essential germ1  
at least1 of that form of constitution1 
on which the best governments of the    
continent of ,europe have1 two of  them 
within the last quarter of a century1   
been modelled1 with such  deviations as 
experience has recommended1 or the      
change of times has  required4 ,i mean  
the form of government by a threefold   
legislative  body1 having for one of its
 members1 and for its head1 a single    
person1  in whose hands the executive   
power of the state is lodged4 ,this     
form has been eminently favoured in     
,christendom1 in ,europe1 and in        
,england2 and it has even survived the  
passage of the ,atlantic1 and the       
transition1 in the ,united ,states of   
,america1 to institutions which are  not
 only republican1 but highly democratic4
    ,the ,greek  or ,council4    ,of    
these two ,greek institutions1 we will  

examine first the 1 or  ,council4    ,it
 was the usage of the ,greeks to        
consider1 in a small preliminary        
meeting of principal persons1 which was 
called the 1 of the  measures to be     
taken in managing the ,assembly1 or 4   
,to the persons1 who were summoned      
thither1 the name of  appears  to have  
been officially applied4 ,it had thus   
become dissociated from  the idea of    
age1 its original signification3 for    
,nestor was the only  old man among the 
,greek senators4 ,idomeneus1 indeed1 was
 near upon  old age3 ,ulysses was       
elderly 7#ahi71 apparently not under    
fifty4 ,the majority would seem to have 
been rather under middle life2  so that 
was1 when thus employed1 a title1 not a 
description4 ,the   was composed of the 
men of greatest rank and weight2 and no 
more  required an advanced age among the
 qualifications for it1 than does the   
presbyterate of the ,christian ,church1 
though it too signifies eldership4      
#ahi ,il4 xxiii4 #gia4    ,before the   

great assembly of the ,second ,book1 we 
are told1 not  that ,agamemnon thought  
it would be well1 as it were for the    
nonce1  to consult the kings or seniors 
of the expedition2 but1 in language     
which indicates a fixed practice1 that  
the choice of the place for the  meeting
 was on this occasion by the ship of    
,nestor1 whose great age  possibly      
either made nearness convenient1 or     
entitled him to this mark  of honour3   
4 ,il4 ii4 #ec4    ,these  were         
summoned#aij again by ,agamemnon before 
the  sacrifice of the ,second ,book1    
which preceded the enumeration4 ,on this
  occasion they are not called a 2      
probably because they were not  called  
for consultation4    #aij ,il4 ii4      
#djh-i4    ,the ,council meets again in 
the ,ninth ,book#aia1 by appointment of 
the  ,assembly1 and sends the mission to
 ,achilles#aib4 ,in the same night1  and
 perhaps under the same authority1 the  
expedition of ,ulysses and  ,diomed is  
arranged4    #aia ,il4 ix4 #aj4 #hi4    

#aib ,il4 x4 #aie4    ,there is no      
indeed in the ,first ,book1 and none in 
the great  ,assembly of the ,nineteenth3
 but then both of these were summoned   
by ,achilles1 not by ,agamemnon1 and    
neither of them were called for         
properly deliberative purposes#aic4     
#aic ,il4 i4 #ed4 xix4 #da4    ,again1  
,ulysses1 in urging the ,greeks not to  
quit the assembly of the  ,second ,book 
prematurely1 reminds them that they     
ought to know fully the  views of       
,agamemnon1 and that they have not all  
had the advantage of  learning those    
views in the 4    ,in the ,seventh      
,book1 the ,council held under the roof 
of ,agamemnon  forms the plan for a     
pause to bury the dead1 and erect the   
rampart4  ,accordingly1 when just       
afterwards a herald arrives with a      
proposal  from ,troy1 he finds the      
,greeks in their ,assembly1 doubtless an
 ,assembly  held to sanction the project
 of the kings4 ,that this amounted to an
  institution of the ,greeks1 we may    

further judge from the familiar  manner1
 in which ,nestor mentions it in the    
,odyssey to ,telemachus1 on  seeing him 
for the first time1 7,od4 iii4 #abg74   
#8,ulysses and ,i1' he  says1 #8never   
differed3'  '   ' 1 '   #aid4    #aid   
,il4 vii4 #cdd1 #chb4    ,among other   
causes1 which might tend to promote the 
establishment of  the ,greek  or        
,council1 we may perhaps reckon with    
propriety the  inability of the old to  
discharge the full duties of sovereignty
 in  the heroic age4 ,bodily force      
usually undergoes a certain amount of   
decay1 before the mind has passed out of
 its ripeness2 and both kings  and      
subordinate lords1 who had ceased to    
possess the strength that was  requisite
 for bearing the principal burdens of   
government1 might still  make their     
experience available for the public good
 in the ,council2  even as we find that 
in ,troas the brothers of ,priam1 with  
others  advanced in life1 were the      
principal advisers of the ,assembly#aie4

    #aie ,il4 iii4 #adf-ec4    ,the  in 
time of peace4    ,i admit that we have 
no example to give of the use of the  by
  the ,greeks during peace1 so precise  
as those which the ,iliad supplies  for 
time of war4 ,but even in war we do not 
find it except before  ,assemblies1     
which had deliberative business to      
transact4 ,now the only  deliberative   
,greek  which we meet with in time of   
peace is that of  the ,twenty-fourth    
,odyssey4 ,the absence of a sovereign   
and a government  in ,ithaca at that    
time1 and the utter discord of the      
principal persons1  made a ,council     
quite impossible1 and left no measure   
open except a  direct appeal to the     
people4    ,it appears however clear1   
that the action of the  was not         
confined to war4 ,for we not only find  
the  on the ,shield#aif1  who sit in the
 1 exercising exclusively the office of 
judges1  but they are also distinctly   
noticed as a class or order#aig in the  
,ithacan ,assembly1 who had a place in  

it set apart for themselves4  ,nor are  
we without a proof which1 though        
conveyed in few words1 is  complete1 of 
the conjunction of the ,council with the
 sovereign in acts  of government4 ,for 
when ,ulysses in his youth undertook the
 mission to  ,messene1 in the matter of 
the sheep that had been carried off from
  ,ithaca1 he did it under the orders of
 ,laertes1 together with his            
council#aih3    #aif ,il4 xviii4 #ejf4  
#aig ,od4 ii4 #ad4    #aih ,od4 xxi4    
#ba4            4    ,and ,nausicaa     
meets her father ,alcinous1 on his way  
to the  of the  ,phacians4    ,upon the 
whole1 the  seems to have been a most   
important auxiliary  instrument of      
government2 sometimes as preparing      
materials for the  more public          
deliberations of the ,assembly1         
sometimes intrusted1 as a  kind of      
executive committee1 with its           
confidence2 always as supplying  the    
,assemblies with an intellectual and    
authoritative element1 in a             

concentrated form1 which might give     
steadiness to its tone1 and advise  its 
course with a weight adequate to so     
important a function4    ,opposition in 
the 4    ,the individuals who composed  
this ,council were of such a station    
that1 when they acted separately1 ,king 
,agamemnon himself might have  to       
encounter resistance and reproof from   
them in various instances4              
,accordingly1 upon the occasion when    
,agamemnon made a survey of the  army1  
and when he thought fit to rebuke       
,ulysses for slackness1 that  chieftain 
remonstrated with him something more    
than freely 7  7 both in voice and      
manner4 ,so far from trusting to his    
authority1  ,agamemnon made a soothing  
and even an apologetic reply#aii4       
,again1  when on the same occasion he   
reproved ,diomed#bjj1 ,sthenelus        
defended  his immediate ,chief in       
vainglorious terms4 ,these the more     
refined  nature of ,diomed himself      
induced him at once to disclaim1 but    

they  do not appear to have been        
considered as involving any thing in the
  nature of an offence against the      
station of ,agamemnon4 ,again1 though   
,diomed on this occasion restrained his 
lieutenant1 yet1 when he meets          
,agamemnon in the ,assembly of the      
,ninth ,book1 he frankly tells him that 
,jupiter1 who has given him the honours 
of the sceptre1 has not endowed  him    
with the superior power that springs    
from determined courage#bja2  and even  
the passionate invectives of ,achilles  
in the ,first ,book bear a  similar     
testimony1 because they do not appear to
 have been treated as  constituting any 
infringement of his duty4    #aii ,il4  
iv4 #cbi-fc4    #bjj ,ibid4 #che-dah4   
#bja ,il4 ix4 #cg4    ,in the #bjb1     
,nestor takes the lead more than        
,agamemnon4 ,as to  the ,assembly1 the  
whole plan in the ,second ,iliad is     
expressly founded  upon the supposition1
 that the army was accustomed to hear   
the chiefs  argue against1 and even     

overthrow1 the proposals of ,agamemnon4 
,his  advice that they should return    
home1 which ,grote#bjc considers only an
  unaccountable fancy and a childish    
freak1 is however capable of being      
regarded in this view1 that1 before     
renewing active operations without      
,achilles1 it was thought wise to test  
the feeling of the army1 and  that it   
could not be more effectually tried than
 by a recommendation  from the          
commander-in-chief that they should     
re-embark for ,greece4  ,the plan was   
over-refined2 and it may even seem      
ridiculous1 because it  failed1 and     
simply kindled an ungovernable passion1 
which would not  listen to debate4 ,but 
the proposal does not bear that         
character in the  ,ninth ,book1 where   
the same suggestion is renewed1 without 
the previous  knowledge of the chiefs1  
in the same words1 and at a time when   
the  ,greeks were in far worse          
condition4    #bjb ,cf4 ,od4 xi4 #eab4  
#bjc ,hist4 of ,greece1 vol4 ii4 #ie1   

#ig4    ,when ,agamemnon made it in     
order to be overruled it took effect3   
when  he made it in good earnest1 it    
failed4 ,if then the ,greeks could be   
retained contrary to his wish in the    
,ninth ,book1 it might be misjudged1    
but could hardly be absurd1 to expect a 
similar result in the ,second1  when    
they had less cause for discouragement4 
,and why did it take effect8 ,simply    
because the ,assembly1 instead of  being
 the simple medium#bjd through which the
 king acted1 was the  arena on which    
either the will of the people might find
 a rude and  tumultuary vent1 or1 on the
 other hand1 his royal companions in    
arms  could say1 as ,diomed says1 #8,i  
will use my right and resist your       
foolish  project in debate2 which you   
ought not to resent4'    #bjd ,grote ii4
 #ajd4      1    1      1 1      4      
,the proposal of ,agamemnon had been    
heard in silence#bje1 the mode  by which
 the army indicated its disinclination  
or its doubt4 ,but the  counter proposal

 of ,diomed1 to fight to the last1 was  
hailed with  acclamation#bjf2    #bje   
,il4 ix4 #cj4    #bjf ,ibid4 #ej4       
'     1           so that the ,assembly 
was then ripe for the plan of ,nestor1  
which at  once received its             
approval#bjg3    #bjg ,il4 ix4 #gi4     
'  '     1 ' 4    ,subsequently1 in the 
of the same ,book1 ,nestor tells        
,agamemnon  that it is his duty to      
listen as well as to speak1 and to adopt
 the  plans of others when they are good
 7#ajj-b74 ,at the same time1 the aged  
chieftain appears to submit himself to  
the judgment of ,agamemnon in the       
,council#bjh4 ,his expressions are      
perhaps matter more of compliment  than 
of business2 and at any rate we do not  
find any like terms used in  the        
,assembly4    #bjh ,ibid4 #ig4    ,it   
was a happy characteristic of heroic    
,greece1 that while she abounded  in    
true shame1 she had no false shame4 ,it 
was not thought that a king1  who had   
done wrong1 compromised his dignity by  

atonement2 but1 on the  contrary1 that  
he recovered it4 ,so says ,ulysses1 in  
the ,assembly of the  ,nineteenth       
,iliad#bji2    #bji ,il4 xix4 #ahb4     
' 1    4    ,this passage at once       
establishes in the most pointed manner  
both the  right to chide the head of the
 army1 and the obligation incumbent on  
him1 as on others1 where he had given   
offence to make amends4    ,thus then a 
large liberty of speech and judgment on 
the part of the  kings or chiefs1 when  
they differed from ,agamemnon1 would    
appear  to be established beyond        
dispute1 a liberty which in certain     
cases  resulted in his being summarily  
overruled4 ,i cannot therefore here     
subscribe even to the measured statement
 of ,mure1 who1 admits the  liberty of  
remonstrance1 but asserts also the      
sovereignty of the will  of ,agamemnon4 
,much less to the very broad assertions 
of ,grote1 that the  resolutions of     
,agamemnon appear uniformly to prevail  
in the ,council1  and that the nullity  

of positive function is still more      
striking in the  ,agor#baj4    #baj     
,grote's ,hist4 vol4 ii4 pp4 #ij1 #b4   
,to that institution it is now time for 
us to turn4    ,influence of ,speech4   
,the trait which is truly most worthy of
 note in the polities of  ,homeric      
,greece1 is also that which is so       
peculiar to them2 namely1  the          
substantive weight and influence which  
belonged to speech as an  instrument of 
government2 and of this power by much   
the most remarkable  development is in  
its less confined and more popular      
application to the  ,assembly4    ,this 
power of speech was essentially a power 
to be exercised over  numbers1 and with 
the safeguards of publicity1 by man     
among his  fellow-men4 ,it was also     
essentially an instrument addressing    
itself to  reason and free will1 and    
acknowledging their authority4 ,no      
government  which sought its power in   
force1 as opposed to reason1 has at any 
time used this form of deception4 ,the  

world has seen absolutism deck  itself  
with the titles and mere forms of       
freedom1 or seek shelter under  its     
naked abstractions3 but from the        
exercise of free speech as an           
instrument of state1 it has always      
shrunk with an instinctive horror4      
,one mode of proving the power of speech
 in the heroic age is1 by  showing what 
place it occupied in the thoughts of    
men1 as they are to  be gathered from   
their language4 ,another mode is1 by    
pointing to its  connection1 in         
practical examples1 with this or that   
course of action1  adopted or shunned4  
,a third is1 by giving evidence of the  
earnestness  with which the art was     
prosecuted1 and the depth and           
comprehensiveness  of the conceptions   
from which it derived its form4    ,we  
shall presently trace the course of     
public affairs1 as they were  managed by
 the ,greeks of the heroic age in their 
public assemblies4  ,for the present1   
let us endeavour to collect the true    

sense of ,homer  respecting oratory from
 his language concerning it1 from the   
characters  with whom he has            
particularly connected it1 and from the 
knowledge  which he may be found to have
 possessed of its resources4            
,although it is common to regard the    
,iliad as a poem having battle for  its 
theme1 yet it is in truth not less a    
monument of policy than of  war2 and in 
this respect it is even more broadly    
distinguished1 than in  most others1    
from later epics4    ,the adjectives in 
,homer are in very many cases the key to
 his inner  mind3 and among them all    
there is none of which this is more     
true1 than  the grand epithet 4 ,he     
confines it strictly to two subjects1   
battle and debate1 the clash of swords  
and the wrestling of minds4 ,of         
,achilles1 he says in the ,first        
,book#baa1 7#dij7    #baa ,he uses the  
epithet for battle in ,il4 iv4 #bbe1 #f4
 #abd1 #g4 #aac1 #h4  #ddh1 #ab4 #cbe1  
#ac4 #bgj1 #ad4 #aee1 and #bd4 #cia4    

'    1     '  4    ,in every other      
passage where he employs the word1 it is
 attached to the  substantive 4 ,thus   
with him it was in two fields1 that man 
was to  seek for glory2 partly in the   
fight1 and partly in the ,assembly4     
,the intellectual function was no less  
essential to the warrior-king of        
,homer1 than was the martial2 and the   
culture of the art of persuasion        
entered no less deeply into his early   
training4 ,how1 says ,phnix to          
,achilles1 shall ,i leave you1 ,i1 whom 
your father attached to you when  you   
were a mere child1 without knowledge of 
the evenhanded battle1 or  of the       
assemblies1 in which men attain to fame1
               '      ' 1  '   4    ,so 
he sent me to teach you the arts both of
 speech and fight#bab1    #bab ,il4 ix4 
#dch-dc4        ' 1   4    ,even so     
,ulysses1 in the under-world1 relates to
 ,achilles the greatness  of            
,neoptolemus in speech1 not less than in
 battle1 7,od4 xi4 #eaj-af47    ,nay1   

the  of little ,ithaca1 where there had 
been no ,assembly for  twenty years1 is 
with ,homer the  #bac4 ,in a            
description1  if possible yet more      
striking than that of ,phnix1 ,homer    
places before  us the orator at his     
work4 #8,his hearers behold him with    
delight2  he speaks with tempered       
modesty1 yet with confidence in himself 
772 he stands preeminent among the      
assembled people1 and while  he passes  
through the city1 they gaze on him as on
 a god#bad4 ,from a  passage like this  
we may form some idea1 what a real power
 in human  society was the orator of the
 heroic age2 and we may also learn how  
and  why it was1 that the great ,bard of
 that time has also placed himself in   
the foremost rank of oratory for all    
time4    #bac ,od4 ii4 #aej4    #bad    
,od4 viii4 #agj-c4    ,it is in the very
 same spirit that ,ulysses1 in the same 
most  remarkable speech given in the    
,odyssey#bae1 sets forth the different  
accomplishments by which human nature is

 adorned4 ,the three great  gifts of the
 gods to man are1 first1 corporeal      
beauty1 strength and  bearing1 all      
included in the word 2 secondly1        
judgment or good sense  771 and thirdly1
 the power of discourse1 or 4 ,to one   
man1  the great gift last named is the  
compensation for the want of corporeal  
excellence4 ,to another is given beauty 
like that of the ,immortals2  but then  
his comeliness is not crowned by        
eloquence3 '      4 ,for  in ,od4 xi4   
#cfg we have  4    #bae ,od4 viii4      
#aff-he4    ,varied descriptions of     
,oratory4    ,in full conformity with   
this strongly developed idea1 the ,poet 
places before us the descriptions of a  
variety of speakers4 ,there is          
,thersites#baf1 copious and offensive1  
to whom we must return4 ,there  is      
,telemachus1 full of the gracious       
diffidence of youth#bag1 but  commended 
by ,nestor for a power and a tact of    
expression beyond his  years4 ,there is 
,menelaus1 who speaks with a laconic    

ease#bah4 ,there  are the ,trojan       
elders1 or 1 who from their experience  
and  age chiefly guide the ,assembly1   
and whose volubility and shrill small   
thread of voice#bai ,homer compares to  
the chirping of grasshoppers4  ,then we 
have ,nestor the soft and silvery1 whose
 tones of happy and  benevolent egotism 
flowed sweeter than a stream of         
honey#bbj4 ,in  the hands of an inferior
 artist1 ,phnix must have reproduced    
him2  but an absorbing affection for    
,achilles is the key-note to all he     
says2 even the account in his speech of 
his own early adventures is  evidently  
meant as a warning on the effects of    
rage3 this intense  earnestness         
completely prevents any thing like      
sameness1 and thus the  two garrulities 
stand perfectly distinct from one       
another1 because  they have 7so to      
speak7 different centres of gravity4    
,lastly1 we have  ,ulysses1 who1 wont to
 rise with his energies concentrated    
within him1  gives no promise of        

display3 but when his deep voice issues 
from  his chest1 and his mighty words   
drive like the flakes of snow in        
winter#bba1 then indeed he soars away   
far above all competitors4    #baf ,il4 
ii4 #bab4    #bag ,od4 iii4 #bc1 #abd4  
#bah ,il4 iii4 #bac4    #bai ,il4 iii4  
#aej4    #bbj ,il4 i4 #bdh4    #bba ,il4
 iii4 #baf1 #bc4    ,it is very unusual 
for ,homer to indulge thus largely in   
careful and  detailed description4 ,and 
even here he has left the one           
superlative1  as well as other          
considerable1 orators1 undescribed4 ,the
 eloquence of  ,achilles is left to     
describe itself2 and to challenge       
comparison with  all the choicest       
patterns both of power and beauty in    
this kind1 that  three thousand years   
since ,homer1 and all their ebbing and  
flowing  tides1 have brought within the 
knowledge of man4 ,although he modestly 
describes himself as beneath ,ulysses in
 this accomplishment1 yet in  truth no  
speeches come near to his4 ,but ,homer's

 resources are not even  now exhausted4 
,the decision of ,diomed1 the           
irresolution of ,agamemnon1  the        
bluntness of ,ajax1 are all admirably   
marked in the series of  speeches       
allotted to each4 ,indeed ,homer has put
 into the mouth of  ,idomeneus1 whom he 
nowhere describes as an orator at all1 a
 speech  which is quite enough to       
establish his reputation in that        
capacity4  7,il4 xiii4 #bge-id47    ,in 
reviewing the arrangements ,homer has   
made1 we shall find one feature  alike  
unequivocal and decisive4 ,the two      
persons1 to whom he has given  supremacy
 in oratory1 are his two1 his only two  
godlike heroes 771  the ,achilles and   
the ,ulysses1 each of whom bears up1    
like the ,atlas of  tradition1 the      
weight of the epic to which he          
principally belongs4    ,how could      
,homer have conceived thoughts like     
these1 if government  in his eyes had   
rested upon either force or fraud8      
,moreover1 when  he speaks of persuasion

 and of strength or valour1 of the      
action of  the tongue and that of the   
hand1 he clearly does not mean that     
these  elements are mixed in the        
ordinary conduct of a sovereign to his  
subjects3 he means the first for peace1 
the latter for war2 the first  to be his
 sole instrument for governing his own  
people1 the latter for  their enemies   
alone4    ,if1 again1 we endeavour to   
estimate the importance of ,speech in   
the  heroic age by the degree in which  
the faculty was actually cultivated1  we
 must take the achievements of the ,poet
 as the best indicators of  the         
capacities of the age4 ,the speeches    
which ,homer has put into the  mouths of
 his leading orators should be tolerably
 fair representatives  of the best      
performances of the time4 ,nor is it    
possible that in any  age there should  
be in a few a capacity for making such  
speeches1  without a capacity in many   
for receiving1 feeling1 and             
comprehending  them4 ,poets of modern   

times have composed great works1 in ages
 that  stopped their ears against them4 
#8,paradise ,lost' does not represent   
the  time of ,charles the ,second1 nor  
the #8,excursion' the first decades of  
the present century4 ,the case of the   
orator is entirely different4 ,his      
work1 from its very inception1 is       
inextricably mixed up with practice4    
,it is cast in the mould offered to him 
by the mind of his hearers4 ,it  is an  
influence principally received from his 
audience 7so to speak7  in vapour1 which
 he pours back upon them in a flood4    
,the sympathy  and concurrence of his   
time is with his own mind joint parent  
of his  work4 ,he cannot follow nor     
frame ideals2 his choice is1 to be what 
his  age will have him1 what it requires
 in order to be moved by him1 or  else  
not to be at all4 ,and as when we find  
the speeches in ,homer1 we  know that   
there must have been men who could speak
 them1 so1 from the  existence of units 
who could speak them1 we know that there

 must have  been crowds who could feel  
them4    ,the orations of the ,poems4   
,now if we examine those orations1 we   
shall1 ,i think1 find not only  that    
they contain specimens of transcendent  
eloquence which have never  been        
surpassed1 but likewise that they evince
 the most comprehensive  knowledge1 and 
the most varied and elastic use1 of all 
the resources of  the art4 ,if we seek a
 specimen of invective1 let us take the 
speeches  of ,achilles in the debate of 
the ,first ,iliad4 ,if it is the        
loftiest  tone of terrible declamation  
that we desire1 ,i know not where 7to   
speak with moderation7 we can find any  
thing that in grandeur can  surpass the 
passage 7,il4 xvi4 #gd-i7 beginning1    
1 4 4 4    ,but if it is solemnity that 
is sought1 nothing can1 ,i think1 excel 
the     4 7,il4 i4 #bcc-dd47    ,what   
more admirable example of comprehensive 
statement1 which exhausts  the case1 and
 absolutely shuts up the mouth of the   
adversary1 than in  the speech of       

,ulysses to ,euryalus1 who has          
reproached him with looking  like a     
sharper8 ,that speech consists of twenty
 lines3 and ,i think any  one who       
attempts to give a really accurate      
summary of it will be apt to  find that 
his epitome1 if it be at all complete1  
has become unawares  a paraphrase4 ,nor 
is ,homer less successful in showing us1
 how he has  sounded the depths of      
pathos4 ,for though the speeches of     
,priam to  ,achilles in the             
,twenty-fourth ,iliad are spoken        
privately1 and from man  to man only1   
and are therefore not in the nature of  
oratory properly so  called1 they are   
conclusive1 a fortiori1 as to his       
knowledge of the  instruments by which  
the human affections might be moved so  
much more  easily1 when the speaker     
would be assisted at once by the        
friendliness  and by the electric       
sympathies of a multitude4    ,repartee 
and ,sarcasm4    ,all these are direct  
instruments of influence on the mind and

 actions  of man4 ,but of assaults in   
flank ,homer is quite as great a master4
 ,he  shows a peculiar genius for that  
which is properly called repartee2 for  
that form of speech1 which flings back  
upon the opponent the stroke of  his own
 weapon1 or on the supplicant the plea  
of his own prayer4 ,there  was one      
,antimachus1 a ,trojan1 who had grown   
wealthy1 probably by the  bribes which  
he received from ,paris in consideration
 of his always  opposing1 in the ,trojan
 ,agor1 the restoration of ,helen to the
 ,greeks4  ,his sons are mastered by    
,agamemnon in the field4 ,aware that he 
had a  thirst for money1 they cry1      
#8,quarter1 ,agamemnon6 we are the sons 
of  rich ,antimachus3 he will pay well  
for our lives4' #8,if1' replies the     
king1 #8you are the sons of that        
,antimachus1 who1 when ,menelaus came   
as envoy to ,troy1 advised to take and  
slay him1 here and now shall ye  expiate
 your father's infamy#bbb4' ,compare    
with this the yet sharper  turn of      

,ulysses on ,leiodes in the ,odyssey3   
#8,spare me1 ,ulysses6 ,i have  done no 
ill in your halls2 ,i stopped what ill  
,i could2 ,i was but ,augur  to the     
,suitors4' ,then follows the stern      
reply4 #8,if thou dost avow that  thou  
art ,augur to the ,suitors1 then often  
in prayer must thou have  augured my    
destruction1 and desired my wife for    
thine own2 wherefore  thou shalt not    
escape the painsome bed of death#bbc4'  
#bbb ,il4 xi4 #abb-db4    #bbc ,od4     
xxii4 #caj-be4    ,but the weapons of   
sarcasm1 from the lightest to the       
weightiest1 are  wielded by ,homer with 
almost greater effect than any others4  
,as a  sample of the former1 ,i take the
 speech of ,phnix when he introduces1   
by way of parable1 the ,legend of       
,meleager4 #8,as long as ,meleager      
fought1  all was well2 but when rage    
took possession of him--which 7,i would 
just  observe7 now and then bewilders   
other great minds also--then1' and so   
onward4    ,but for the great master of 

this art1 ,homer has chosen ,achilles4  
,as  with his invectives he grinds to   
powder1 so with the razor edge of  the  
most refined irony he cuts his way in a 
moment to the quick4 ,when  ,greece1 in 
the person of the envoy-kings1 is at his
 feet1 and he has  spurned them away1 he
 says1 #8,no3 ,i will go home3 you can  
come and see  me depart--if you think it
 worth your while4'      1  1      4    
,of this passage1 ,il4 ix4 #cef-fd1 the 
following translation may give a  very  
imperfect idea#bbd3    #bbd ,the version
 of ,voss is very accurate1 but1 ,i     
think1 lifeless4 ,the  version of       
,cowper is at this point not            
satisfactory3 he weakens1 by            
exaggerating1 the delicate expression 3 
,look thou forth at early dawn1    ,and1
 if such spectacle delight thee aught1  
,thou shalt behold me cleaving with my  
prows1 c4    ,the version of ,pope      
simply omits the line6      ,tomorrow we
 the favouring gods implore3    ,then   
shall you see our parting vessels       

crowned1    ,and hear with oars the     
,hellespont resound4        ,of fight   
with ,hector will ,i none2    ,tomorrow1
 with the rising sun1    ,each holy rite
 and office done1    ,i load and launch 
my ,phthian fleet2        ,come1 if thou
 thinkest meet1    ,see1 if thou carest 
for the sight1    ,my ships shall bound 
in the morning's light1    ,my rowers   
row with eager might1        ,o'er      
,helle's teeming main4    ,and1 if      
,poseidon give his grace1    ,then1 with
 but three revolving days1        ,i see
 my home again2    ,my home of plenty1  
that ,i left    ,to fight with ,troy2 of
 sense bereft6    ,the plenty of his    
house 7    7 is the finishing  stroke of
 reply on ,agamemnon1 who had thought   
that his resentment1  unsatisfied in    
feeling1 could be appeased with gifts4  
,in the same speech occurs the piercing 
sarcasm#bbe3    #bbe ,il4 ix4 #cdj4     
'       2    ,the ,greeks had come to   
,troy to recover the wife of ,menelaus3 
and while  they were there1 ,agamemnon  

took for a concubine the intended wife  
of  ,achilles4 ,was it1 he asks1 the    
privilege of the sons of ,atreus alone  
among mankind to love their wives8      
,agamemnon1 too1 being the chief  of the
 two2 who had laid hold on ,briseis1 as 
he had meant to keep  ,chryseis1 in     
disparagement of his own marriage bed4  
,nor can the reader  of this passage    
fail1 ,i think1 to be struck with the   
wonderful manner  in which it combines a
 stately dignity1 and an unimpeachable  
solidity  of argument1 with the         
fierceness of its personal onslaught4   
,the faculty of debate in ,homer4       
,the discussion of the ,ninth ,iliad4   
,if the power of oratory is remarkable  
in ,homer1 so likewise is the  faculty  
of what in ,england is called debate4   
,here the orator is a  wrestler1 holding
 his ground from moment to moment2      
adjusting his  poise1 and delivering his
 force1 in exact proportion to the      
varying  pressure of his antagonist4 ,in
 ,homer's debates1 every speech after   

the first is commonly a reply4 ,it      
belongs not only to the subject1  but to
 the speech that went before3 it        
exhibits1 given the question  and the   
aims of the speaker1 the exact degree of
 ascent or descent1  of expansion or    
contraction1 of relaxation or           
enhancement1 which  the circumstances of
 the case1 in the state up to which they
 were  brought by the preceding address1
 may require4 ,in the ,assembly of  the 
,first ,book1 five1 nay1 six1 successive
 speeches of ,achilles and              
,agamemnon#bbf bring their great        
contention to its climax4 ,but the      
discussion with the ,envoys deserves    
very particular notice4 ,ulysses  begins
 a skilled harangue to the offended hero
 with a most artful  and well-masked    
exaggeration of the martial fury of     
,hector4 ,he takes  care only to present
 it as part of a general picture1 which 
in other  parts is true enough2 but he  
obviously relies upon it as a mode of   
getting within the guard of ,achilles4  

,he next touches him upon the  point1 to
 which ,priam afterwards made a yet     
higher appeal2 the tender  recollection 
of his father ,peleus1 who had warned   
him how much more  arduous was the      
acquisition of self-command1 than that  
of daring4  ,he then recites the gifts  
of ,agamemnon3 and1 encouraged perhaps  
by  the kind greeting that1 with his    
companions1 he had received1 he  closes 
by urging that1 however hateful         
,agamemnon may be1 yet1 in  pity for the
 other ,greeks1 both high and low1 and  
in anticipation  of their gratitude1 he 
ought to arm4 ,i shall not attempt to   
analyse  the wonderful speech of        
,achilles which follows1 and to which   
some  references have already been made4
 ,suffice it to say1 that it commences  
with an intimation to ,ulysses that it  
will1 in the opinion of the  speaker1 be
 best for all parties if he tells out   
his mind plainly3 an  indirect and      
courteous reproof to ,ulysses for having
 thought to act  upon him by tact and by

 the processes of a rhetorician4 ,after 
this  follows such a combination of     
argument1 declamation1 invective1 and   
sarcasm as1 within the same compass1 ,i 
do not believe all the records  of the  
world can match4 ,but the general result
 of the whole is the  announcement that 
he will return to ,phthia the very next 
morning2  together with an absolute1    
unconditional rejection of all gifts and
  proffers1 until the outrage of        
,agamemnon is entirely wiped away#bbg3  
#bbf ,il4 i4 #ajf-bdd4    #bbg ,il4 ix4 
#chg4       '      4    ,when he has    
concluded1 all his hearers1 abashed by  
his masculine wrath1  are silent for a  
while4 ,then ,phnix1 in the longest     
speech of the  poem1 pours forth his    
unselfish and warm1 but prolix and      
digressive  affection4 ,this speech     
displays far less of rhetorical         
resource1  than that of ,ulysses4       
,ulysses had conceded1 as it were1 the  
right of  ,achilles to an unbounded     
resentment against ,agamemnon 7#cjj73   

,phnix1 on  the contrary1 by parable1   
menaces him with retribution from the   
,erins1  unless he shall subdue the     
mighty soul within him4 ,but ,achilles1 
touched in his better nature1 gives way 
a little to the more ethical  appeal1   
where he had been inflexible and        
invulnerable before the  intellectual   
and rhetorical address4 ,he now bids    
,phnix come himself1  and sleep in his  
encampment3 there they can consider     
together1 in the  morning1 whether to go
 or to stay 7#fah74 ,still he announces1
 that  nothing will induce him to quit  
the ships for the field 7#fji74 ,next   
comes blunt ,ajax into the palstra2     
deprecates the wasting of time2  is for 
taking back the answer1 bad as it may   
be3 ,achilles has evidently  made up his
 mind2 and cares not a rush for all or  
any of them4 #8,what1'  says the simple 
man-mountain1 #8the homicide of a       
brother or child is  atoned for by a    
fine1 and yet here is all this to-do    
about a girl4 ,aye1  and a single girl2 

when we offer seven of the very best1   
and ever so  much besides4' ,having thus
 reached the acm of his arts1 he now    
aims  at the friendly feeling of        
,achilles1 and in a single word bids him
 be  placable to men whom he has        
admitted beneath his roof1 and whom he  
owns  for as loyal friends as the whole 
army could find him4    ,the leverage of
 this straightforward speech1 which is  
only saved by  kindliness from falling  
into rudeness1 again produces an initial
  movement towards concession on the    
part of the great hero4 ,he replies  in 
effect to ,ajax1 #8,you have spoken     
well3 ,i like your way of going  to     
work3 but my heart swells and boils with
 the shame inflicted on  me before the  
,greeks by ,agamemnon4 ,tell them       
then'--there is now no  announcement of 
setting sail2 nay1 there is no longer   
any need for  debate in the morning     
whether to set sail or not--#8tell them 
that ,i  fight no more1 till ,hector1   
carrying slaughter and fire1 shall reach

  this camp1 these ships4 ,keen as he   
may be1 it will then be time enough  for
 ,,me to stay his onward path4'    ,such
 is the remarkable course of this       
debate4 ,but ,ulysses1 when they  return
 to ,agamemnon--meaning probably to     
bring him and all the ,greeks  fairly to
 bay--takes no notice of the partial    
relaxations of the iron  will of        
,achilles1 but simply reports that he   
has threatened to set  sail4 ,then comes
 the turn of ,diomed4 #8,you were wrong 
to cringe to him4  ,of himself1 he is   
arrogant enough3 you have made him      
worse4 ,let him  alone2 he will come    
when he thinks proper1 or when          
,providence wills it2  and no sooner4   
,my advice is that we sleep and eat now1
 and fight at  dawn4 ,i1 at any rate1   
will be there1 in the foremost of the   
battle4'    ,function of the ,assembly4 
,we will now proceed to consider the    
nature and place of the  or  ,assembly1 
in the heroic age3 and a view of the    
proceedings on several  occasions will  

further illustrate the great and        
diversified oratorical  resources of the
 ,poet4    ,a people cannot live in its 
corporate capacity without intermission1
  and the king is the standing          
representative of the community4 ,but   
yet  the 1 or ,assembly1 is the true    
centre of its life and its vital        
motion1 as the monarch is of its        
functional or administrative activity2  
and the greatest ultimate power1 which  
the king possesses1 is that  of         
influence upon his subjects collected   
there1 through the combined  medium of  
their reverence for his person1 and of  
his own powers of  persuasion4 ,in the  
case of the army before ,troy1 to the   
strength  of these ordinary motives is  
added1 along with a certain spirit of   
resentment for injury received in the   
person of ,helen1 the hope of  a rich   
booty on the capture of the city1 and   
the principle of pure  military honour2 
never perhaps more powerfully drawn than
 in the ,iliad1  nor with greater       

freedom from extravagances1 by which it 
is sometimes  made to ride over the     
heads of duty and justice1 its only     
lawful  superiors4    ,first1 it would  
appear to have belonged to the          
,assembly1 not indeed to  distribute the
 spoil1 but to consent to its           
distribution by the chief  commander1   
and his brother-leaders4 ,to the former 
it is imputed in the  ,ninth ,book4 ,but
 in the ,first ,book ,achilles says to  
him in the ,assembly1  ,we the ,greeks  
77 will requite you three and four-fold1
 when ,troy  is taken#bbh4 ,it is       
probable that he here means to speak of 
the chiefs  alone1 7but only so far as  
the act of distribution is concerned17  
because ,thersites uses the very same   
expression 7     #bbi7 in the ,second   
,book4 ,therefore the division of booty 
was  probably made on the king's        
proposal1 with the aid of the chiefs1   
but  with the general knowledge and     
consent of the army1 and in right of    
that consent on their part4    #bbh ,il4

 i4 #abg4    #bbi ii4 #bbg4    ,it must 
be remembered all along1 that the state 
of political society1  which ,homer     
represents to us1 is that in which the  
different elements  of power wear their 
original and natural forms2 neither much
 altered  as yet by the elaborate       
contrivances of man1 nor driven into    
their  several extremes by the          
consequences of long strife1 greedy     
appetite1  and furious passions1 excited
 by the temptations which the           
accumulation  of property presents4     
,in those simple times1 when the        
functions of government were few1 and   
its acts1 except perhaps the trial of   
private causes1 far between1  there was 
no formal distribution of political     
rights1 as if they could  be made the   
object of ambitious or contentious      
cupidity3 but the grand  social power   
that moved the machine was in the       
determinations of the  1 however        
informally declared4    ,grote has      
observed1 that in the ,homeric  no      

division of  affirmative and negative   
voices ever takes place4 ,it would      
require  a volume to discuss all that   
this remark involves and indicates4 ,i  
will however observe that the principle 
surely cannot be made good  from history
 or in philosophy1 that numbers prevail 
by an inherent  right4 ,decision by     
majorities is as much an expedient1 as  
lighting by  gas4 ,in adopting it as a  
rule1 we are not realizing perfection1  
but  bowing to imperfection4 ,we follow 
it as best for us1 not as best in       
itself4 ,the only right to command1 as  
,burke has said1 resides in  wisdom and 
virtue4 ,in their application to human  
affairs1 these great  powers have       
commonly been qualified1 on the one hand
 by tradition and  prepossession1 on the
 other hand by force4 ,decision by      
majorities has  the great merit of      
avoiding1 and that by a test perfectly  
definite1  the last resort to violence2 
and of making force itself the servant  
instead of the master of authority4 ,but

 our country still rejoices in  the     
belief1 that she does not decide all    
things by majorities4 ,the  first       
,greeks neither knew the use of this    
numerical dogma1 nor the  abuse of it4  
,they did not employ it as an           
instrument1 and in that they  lost3 but 
they did not worship it as an idol1 and 
in that they greatly  gained4 ,votes    
were not polled in the ,olympus of      
,homer2 yet a minority  of influential  
gods carry the day in favour of the     
,greeks against the  majority1 and      
against their ,head4 ,there surely could
 not be a grosser  error than to deny   
every power to be a real one1 unless we 
are able  both to measure its results in
 a table of statistics1 and to trace at 
every step1 with our weak and partial   
vision1 the precise mode by which  it   
works towards its end4    ,great        
decisions all taken there4    ,we have  
seen1 in the first place1 that all the  
great decisions of  the ,war were taken 
in the ,assembly of the ,greeks4 ,and   

here the first  reflection that arises  
is1 how deeply this method of political 
action  must have been engrained in     
their habits and ideas1 when it could   
survive the transition from peace to    
war1 and1 notwithstanding its  palpable 
inconveniences in a camp1 form the      
practical rule of its  proceedings under
 the eye of the enemy4    ,the force of 
this consideration is raised to the     
utmost height by the  case of the ,night
 ,assembly in the ,ninth ,book4 ,the    
,trojans1 no longer  confined to their  
walls1 are lying beside a thousand      
watch-fires1 just  outside the rampart4 
,some important measure is absolutely   
demanded on  the instant by the downcast
 condition of the less than half-beaten1
  but still thoroughly discouraged army4
 ,yet not even under these              
circumstances would ,agamemnon act      
individually1 or with the kings  alone4 
,he sends his heralds round the camp    
7,il4 ix4 #aa71           1         to  
summon an ,assembly noiselessly1 and man

 by man4 ,can there be a more           
conclusive proof of the vigour1 with    
which the popular principle  entered    
into the idea of the ,homeric polities8 
,if it be said that  such an operation  
could hardly be effected at night       
without stir1 ,i  reply that if it be   
so1 the argument for the power and      
vitality of the  ,assembly is but       
strengthened3 for ,homer was evidently  
far more careful  to speak in harmony   
with the political tone of his country  
than to  measure out time by the hour   
and minute1 or place by the yard1 foot1 
and inch2 as valuing not the latter     
methods less1 but the former more4      
,the ,greek army1 in fact1 is neither   
more nor less than1 so to speak1  the   
,state in uniform4 ,as the soldier of   
those days was simply the  citizen      
armed1 so the armament was the aggregate
 of armed citizens1  who1 in all except 
their arms and the handling of them1    
continued to  be what they had been     
before4 ,but when we find that in such  

great  emergencies political ideas did  
not give way to military expediency1 we 
cannot1 ,i think1 but conclude that     
those ideas rested on broad and deep    
foundations4    ,it further tends to    
show the free nature of the relation    
between the  ,assembly and the          
,commander-in-chief1 that it might be   
summoned by  others1 as well as by him4 
,we are told explicitly in the ,first   
,book1  that ,achilles called it        
together1 as he did again in the        
,nineteenth  for the ,reconciliation4   
,on the second of these occasions1 it   
may  have been his purpose that the     
reparation should be as public as had   
been the insult3 at any rate there was a
 determination to make the              
reconciliation final1 absolute1 and     
thorough4 ,but1 at the former  time1 the
 act partook of the nature of a moral   
appeal from ,agamemnon  to the army4 ,it
 illustrated1 in the first place1 the   
principle of  publicity so prevalent in 
the ,greek polities4 ,that which        

,calchas had  to declare1 he must       
declare not in a #8hole and corner1' but
 on his  responsibility1 liable to      
challenge1 subject to the   if he  told 
less than the truth1 as well as to the  
resentment of the sovereign  if he      
should venture on divulging it entire4  
,but secondly1 it shows  that ,achilles 
held the ,greeks at large entitled and  
bound to be parties  to the transaction4
 ,he meant that the ,greeks should see  
his wrong4  ,perhaps he hoped that they 
would intercept its infliction4 ,this at
  any rate is clear3 he commenced the   
debate with measured reproofs of        
,agamemnon#bcj2 but afterwards he rose1 
with a wider scope1 to a more  intense  
and a bitterer strain#bca4    #bcj ,il4 
i4 #aba-i4    #bca ,ibid4 #adi-ga4      
,when he found that the monarch was     
determined1 and when he had  repressed  
the access of rage which tempted him to 
summary revenge1 he  began to use       
language not now of mere invective      
against ,agamemnon1 but  of such        

invective as tended to set him at odds  
with the people4 ,then  further on1     
perhaps because they did not echo back  
his sentiments1  and become active      
parties to the terrible fray1 he both   
taunts and  threatens them4 ,for he     
begins#bcb1 #8,coward that thou art6    
,never  hast thou dared to arm with the 
people for the fight1 or with the       
leaders for the ambush4' ,and then#bcc4 
#8,devourer of the people6 over  what   
nobodies thou rulest6 or surely this    
would be the last of your  misdeeds4'   
,again1 in the peroration#bcd1 #8,by    
this mighty oath1 every  man among you  
shall lament the absence of ,achilles4' 
#bcb ,ibid4 #bbe4    #bcc ,ibid4 #bca4  
#bcd ,ibid4 #bci4    ,opposition in the 
,agor4    ,it has often been asserted   
that the principle of popular opposition
  in debate is only represented by      
,thersites4 ,but let us proceed step  by
 step4 ,it is at any rate clear enough  
that opposition by the  confederate     
kings is at once sufficiently           

represented in ,achilles2 and  that it  
is not represented by him alone1 since  
in the ,assembly of the  ,ninth ,book1  
,diomed both strongly reprehended       
,agamemnon1 and proposes  a course      
diametrically the reverse of his2 which 
course was forthwith  adopted by the    
acclamations of the army4    ,the case  
of ,thersites4    ,let us now pass on to
 ,thersites4 ,there is no more singular 
picture  in the ,iliad1 than that which 
he presents to us4 ,it well deserves    
examination in detail4    ,homer has    
evidently been at pains to concentrate  
upon this personage  all that could make
 him odious to the hearers of his song1 
while  nevertheless he puts into his    
mouth not only the cant of patriotism1  
but also a case that would perhaps have 
been popular1 had he not  averted the   
favour of the army by his insolent      
vulgarity4    ,upon its merits1 too1 it 
was a tolerable case1 but not a good    
one2  for he was wrong in supposing     
,achilles placable2 and again wrong in  

advising that the ,greeks1 now without  
,achilles1 should give way before  the  
,trojans1 to whom they were still       
superior in war4    ,he is in all things
 the reverse of the great human ideals  
of ,homer4 ,as1  in the pattern kings   
and heroes1 moral1 intellectual1 and    
corporeal  excellences1 each in the     
highest degree1 must be combined1 so    
,thersites  presents a corresponding    
complication of deformities to view4 ,as
 to  the first1 he is the most infamous 
person 77 in the army2  and he relies   
for his influence1 not on the sense and 
honour of the  soldiers1 but on a vein  
of gross buffoonery2 which he displays  
in the  only coarse allusion that is to 
be found in all the speeches of the     
poems4 ,as to the second head1 his      
voluble speech is as void of order  as  
of decency#bce4 ,as to the third1 he is 
lame1 bandy-legged#bcf1  hump-backed1   
round-shouldered1 peak-headed1 and      
lastly1 7among the  17 he is bald1 or   
indeed worse1 for on his head a hair is 

planted here and there#bcg4 ,lastly1    
hateful to all#bch1 he is most of  all  
hateful to1 as well as spiteful against1
 the two paramount heroes  of the poems1
 ,achilles and ,ulysses3 an observation 
inserted with equal  ingenuity and      
significance1 because ,homer1 by        
inserting it1 effectually  cuts off any 
favour which ,thersites might otherwise 
have gained with  his hearers from      
seeming to take the side of the wronged 
,achilles4 ,it  is also worthy of note1 
as indicating how ,homer felt the       
strength of  that bond which unites     
together all great excellences of       
whatever kind4  ,upon a slight and      
exterior view1 the two great characters 
of ,achilles  and ,ulysses appear       
antagonistic1 and we might expect to    
find their  likes and dislikes running  
in opposite directions4 ,but as1 in the 
,ninth  ,book1 ,ulysses is declared by  
,achilles to be one of those whom he    
loves  best among the ,greeks#bci1 so   
here they are united in carrying to the 

highest degree a common antipathy to    
,thersites4    #bce ,il4 ii4 #bac4      
#bcf 4 ,see ,buttmann1 ,liddell and     
,scott4 ,commonly rendered              
#8squinting4'    #bcg ,il4 ii4 #bad-ai4 
#bch ,ibid4 #bge1 #bbj4    #bci ,il4 ix4
 #aih4    ,while depriving the wretch of
 all qualities that could attract       
towards  him the slightest share of     
sympathy1 ,homer has taken care to leave
  ,thersites in full possession of every
 thing that was necessary for his       
trade2 an ample flow of speech 7#bac71  
and no small power of vulgar  invective 
7#bae74    ,again1 the quality of mere  
scurrility assigned to ,thersites1 and  
well  exemplified in his speech1 stands 
alike distinguished in ,homer from the  
vein of fun1 which he can open in the   
grave ,ulysses of the ,odyssey1  even   
while he is under terror of the         
,cyclops2 and from that tremendous  and 
perhaps still unrivalled power of       
sarcasm1 of which we have found  the    
climax in ,achilles4    ,in the short   

speech of ,thersites1 ,homer has        
contrived to exhibit  striking examples 
of malice 7vv4 #bbf1 #bcd71 coarseness  
7#bcb71 vanity  7vv4 #bbh1 #bca1 #bch71 
cowardice 7#bcf72 while it is a tissue  
of  consummate impudence throughout4 ,of
 this we find the finest stroke at  the 
end of it1 where he says#bdj1    #bdj   
,in #bcg he appears to follow what      
,achilles had said i4 #agj4       '    1
        1 1   #bda4    #bda ,il4 ii4    
#bda1 #b4    ,for here the wretch apes  
,achilles1 whom 7for the sake of        
damaging  ,agamemnon7 he affects to     
patronize1 and1 over and above the      
pretension  to speak of his feelings as 
if he had been taken into his confidence
 on  the occasion1 he actually closes   
with the very line which ,achilles1 at  
the moment of high passion1 had used in 
the ,assembly of the ,first ,book  7i4  
#bcb74    ,if we consider the selection 
of topics each by themselves1 with      
reference to effect1 the speech is not  
without a certain 3 he  hits the avarice

 of ,agamemnon hard 7#bbf72 and his     
responsibility as  a ruler 7#bcd73 while
 pretending to incite the courage of the
 ,greeks  7#bce71 he flatters their     
home-sickness and faint-heartedness by  
counselling the return 7#bcf72 and1 in  
supporting ,achilles1 he plausibly      
reckons on being found to have taken the
 popular side4 ,but if we  regard it1 as
 every speech should be regarded1 with  
reference to some  paramount purpose1 it
 is really senseless and inconsequent4  
,dwelling as  he does upon the wrong    
done to ,achilles1 and asserting the    
placability  of that chieftain1 he ought
 to have ended with recommending an     
attempt  to compensate and appease him2 
instead of which he recommends the      
,return1 which had been just abandoned4 
,but the real extravagance of  the      
speech comes out only in connection with
 his self-love2 when1 like  many better 
men1 he wholly loses whatever sense of  
the ridiculous he  might possess4 ,it is
 not only #8the women whom we give you' 

7#bbg72 #8the  service which we render  
you' 7#bch71 but it is also #8the       
gold#bdb that  some ,trojan may bring to
 ransom his son1 whom ,i1 or else some  
other  ,greek1 may have led captive4'   
,i1 ,thersites1 or some other ,greek6   
,the  only ,greek1 of whom we hear in   
the ,iliad as having made and sold on   
ransom captives during the war1 is      
,achilles#bdc2 and it is with him  that 
,thersites thus couples himself4 ,upon  
this1 ,ulysses1 perceiving  that he     
stands in opposition to the prevailing  
sentiment of the  ,assembly1 silences   
him by a judicious application of the   
sceptre to his  back and shoulders3 yet 
not even ,thersites does he silence by  
force1  until he has first rebuked him  
by reasoning#bdd4    #bdb ,il4 ii4      
#bbi-ca4    #bdc xxi4 #dj1 #gi4 xxii4   
#dd4    #bdd #bdf-ef4    ,such are the  
facts of the case of ,thersites4 ,are we
 to infer from it1  with ,grote1 that   
,homer has made him ugly and execrable  
because he was a  presumptuous critic1  

though his virulent reproaches were     
substantially  well founded1 and that   
his fate1 and the whole circumstances of
 this  ,assembly1 show #8the degradation
 of the mass of the people before the   
chiefs#bde8'    #bde ,grote's ,hist4    
,greece1 vol4 ii4 #ie1 #f4    ,in       
rallying the ,greeks1 says the          
distinguished historian#bdf1 ,ulysses   
flatters and soothes the chiefs1 but    
drives the people with harsh  reprimand 
and blows4 ,now surely1 as to the mere  
matter of fact1 this is  not quite so4  
,it is not the people1 but those whom he
 caught carrying  the matter by shouts1 
instead of returning to hear reason in  
the  ,assembly1 that he struck with the 
sceptre#bdg3    #bdf ,ibid4 pp4 #if1    
#ih4    #bdg ,il4 ii4 #aih4       '   ' 
1  '     and it may be observed1 that he
 addresses all classes alike by the word
  #bdh2 which1 though a term of         
expostulation1 is not one of            
disrespect4    #bdh ,ibid4 #aij1 #bjj4  
,if ,thersites represented the principle

 of reasoning in the public  ,assembly1 
we might well see in the treatment of   
him the degradation of  the people4 ,but
 it is railing1 and not reasoning1 that 
he represents2  and ,homer has separated
 widely between this individual and the 
mass  of the army1 by informing us that 
in the general opinion ,ulysses had     
rendered a service1 even greater than   
any of his former ones1 by  putting down
 ,thersites4 #8,ulysses has done a      
thousand good things in  council and in 
war3 but this is the best of all1 that  
he has stopped  the scoundrel in his    
ribaldry#bdi4'    #bdi vv4 #bga-h4      
,thersites spoke not against ,agamemnon 
only1 but against the sense of  the     
whole army 7#bab72 and the ground of the
 proceeding of ,ulysses is  not laid in 
the fact of his having resisted         
,agamemnon1 or ,agamemnon  with the     
whole body of the kings2 but in the     
manner of his speech1 and  in his having
 acted alone and against the general    
sentiment4 ,above  all1 we must         

recollect the circumstances1 under which
 ,ulysses ventured  to chastise even    
this rancorous and foul-mouthed railer4 
,it was at a  moment of crisis1 nay1 of 
agony4 ,the rush from the ,assembly to  
the  ships did not follow upon an       
orderly assent to a proposal1 such as   
was  generally given2 but it resulted   
from a tumultuous impulse1 like that  of
 blasts tossing the sea1 or sweeping    
down upon the cornfield 7,il4  ii4      
#add-ed74 ,if therefore ,ulysses employs
 the sceptre of ,agamemnon to  smite    
those who were shouting in aid of this  
ruinous tumult 7ii4 #aih71  we need not 
take this for a sample of what would be 
done in ordinary  circumstances1 more   
than the fate of ,wat ,tyler for a type 
of ,british  freedom under the          
,plantagenets4 ,odious too as was       
,thersites1 yet the  army1 amidst a     
preponderating sentiment of approval1   
still appear to  have felt some regret  
at his mishap#bej2    #bej ,il4 ii4     
#bgj4       1   1 '       for the first 

words would suggest1 that they knew how 
to value the  liberty of thought1 which 
had been abused1 disgraced1 and         
consequently  restrained1 in his person4
 ,surely it would be most precipitate to
  conclude1 from a case like this1 that 
the debates of the ,assemblies  were    
formal1 and that they had nothing to do 
but to listen to a sham  discussion1 and
 to register or follow decrees which    
were substantially  those of ,agamemnon 
only4    ,i believe that the mistake    
involved in the judgment we have been   
canvassing is a double one3 a mistake of
 the relation of ,agamemnon  to the     
other kings and chiefs2 and a mistake of
 the relation of the  sovereigns        
generally to their subjects4 ,agamemnon 
was strong in  influence and authority1 
but he had1 as we have already seen1    
nothing  like a despotic control over   
the other kings4 ,the kings were strong 
in personal ability1 in high descent1 in
 the sanction of ,jupiter1 in           
possession1 and in tradition3 but all   

their strength1 great as it was1  lay as
 a general rule in the direction of     
influence1 and not in that of  violence4
    ,i do not think1 however1 that we   
ought to be contented with the merely   
negative mode of treatment for the case 
of ,thersites4 ,i cannot but  conceive  
that1 upon an impartial review1 it may  
teach more1 than is  drawn from it by   
merely saying that it does not prove the
 ,assembly to  have been an illusion4   
,we must assume that ,homer's picture1  
if not  historical1 at least conformed  
to the laws of probability4 ,now1 what  
is  the picture8 ,that the buffoon of   
the army1 wholly without influence1     
capable of attracting no respect1 when  
the mass of the people had  overcome    
their homeward impulse1 had returned to 
the ,assembly1 and  were awaiting the   
proposition of the kings1 first         
continues to rail  77 while every one   
else is silent1 and then takes upon     
himself  the initiative in recommending 
the resumption of the project1 which    

they had that moment abandoned4 ,if such
 conduct could be ascribed by  the ,poet
 to a creature sharp-witted enough1 and 
as careful as others of  his own back1  
does not the very fact presuppose that  
freedom of debate  was a thing in       
principle at least known and familiar8  
,agor on the ,shield in ,il4 xviii4     
,in the scene depicted on the ,shield of
 ,achilles1 new evidence is  afforded us
 that the people took a real part in the
 conduct of public  affairs4 ,the people
 are in ,assembly4 ,a suit is in        
progress4 ,the matter  is one of        
homicide2 and the guilty person declares
 that he has paid the  proper fine1     
while his antagonist avers that he has  
not received it4  ,each presses for a   
judicial decision4 ,the people          
sympathizing1 some  with one1 and some  
with the other1 cheer them on4       '  
1       '   #bea4    #bea ,il4 xviii4   
#ejb4    ,i understand the latter words 
as declaring1 not that the heralds      
forbade and put a stop to the cheering  

of the people1 but either that  they    
kept it within bounds1 or rather that1  
when the proper time  came for the      
judges to speak1 these1 the heralds1    
procured silence4  ,according to the    
meaning of  in ,il4 ii4 #baa1        ' 1
   ' 4    ,now of the cheering of the   
people ,i venture to say1 not that it   
raises a presumption of1 but that it    
actually constitutes1 their             
interference4 ,the rule of every        
tolerably regulated assembly1 charged   
with the conduct of important matters1  
is to permit no expressions of  approval
 or otherwise during the proceedings1   
except from the parties  immediately    
belonging to the body4 ,the total       
exclusion of applause in  judicial cases
 belongs to a state of mind and manners 
different from  that of the heroic age4 
,but the exclusion of all applause by   
mere  strangers to the business rests   
upon a truth common to every age2       
namely1 that such applause constitutes a
 share in the business1 and  contributes

 to the decision4 ,it will be remembered
 how the cries of the  ,galleries became
 one of the grievous scandals of the    
first revolution  in ,france1 and how   
largely they affected the determinations
 of the  ,national ,assembly4 ,the      
irregular use of such a power is a      
formidable  invasion of legislative or  
judicial freedom3 the allowed possession
 of  the privilege amounts to           
participation in the office of the      
statesman  or the judge1 and            
demonstrates the substantive position of
 the 1 or  people1 in the ,assemblies of
 the heroic age4    ,but apparently     
their function was not completed by     
merely encouraging  the litigant1 with  
whom each man might chance to           
sympathize4 ,for we are  told not only  
that the ,judges1 that is to say1 the 1 
delivered  their opinions consecutively1
 but likewise that there lay in the     
sight  of all two golden talents1 to be 
given to him who should pronounce the   
fairest judgment 7xviii4 #ejh72       1 

4    ,thus it is plain that the judge   
who might do best was to get the  two   
talents3 but who was to give them8 ,not 
the  or elders  themselves1 surely2 for 
among them the competition lay4 ,there  
could  be but one way in which the      
disposal of this fee could be settled3  
namely1 by the general acclamation of   
the people1 to be expressed1  after     
hearing the respective parties1 in      
favour of him whose sentiments  they    
most approved4 ,and those1 to whom it   
may seem strange to speak of  vote by   
acclamation1 should remember1 that down 
to this day1 in all  deliberative       
assemblies1 an overpowering proportion  
of the votes are  votes by acclamation1 
or by the still less definite test of   
silence4  ,the small minority of        
instances1 when a difference of opinion 
is  seriously pressed1 are now settled  
by arithmetic2 they would then have     
been adjusted by some prudent appeal to 
the general will1 proceeding  from a    
person of ability and weight4 ,indeed   

even now1 in cases when  the numbers    
approximate to those of the ,greek army1
 there can be  no bon fide decision by  
arithmetic4 ,the demand1 however1 that  
dissension shall be the only allowed    
criterion of liberty1 is one which      
really worsens the condition of human   
nature beyond what the truth of         
experience requires4    ,decisions in   
,assemblies of ,il4 vii4 and ix4    ,and
 finally1 what shall we say to the      
direct evidence of ,agamemnon  himself8 
,idus#beb1 the ,trojan herald1 arrives  
with the offer to  restore the stolen   
property1 but not ,helen4 ,he is        
received in dead  silence4 ,after a     
pause1 ,diomed gives utterance to the   
general feeling4  #8,neither will we    
have the goods without ,helen1 nor yet  
,helen with the  goods4 ,troy is        
doomed4' ,the ,assembly shouts its      
approbation4 ,agamemnon  immediately    
addresses himself to the messenger2     
#8,idus1 you hear the  sense of the     
,achans1 how they answer you2 and ,i    

think with them4' ,at  the least this is
 a declaration as express as words can  
make it1 and  proceeding out of the     
mouth of the rival authority1 to the    
effect that  the acclamation of the     
,assembly was1 for all practical        
purposes1 its  vote1 and that it        
required only concurrence from the king1
 to invest it  with the fullest         
authority4 ,in the ,ninth ,iliad1 as we 
have seen1 the  vote held good even     
without that concurrence#bec4    #beb   
,il4 vii4 #cha4    #bec ,sup4 p4 #ajj4  
,we may now1 ,i hope1 proceed upon the  
ground that we are not to take  the ill 
success of a foulmouthed scoundrel1     
detested by the whole  army1 as a sample
 of what would have happened to the     
people1 or even  a part of them1 when   
differing in judgment from their king4  
,but what  shall we say to the argument1
 that no case is found where a person   
of humble condition takes part in the   
debates of the ,assemblies8 ,no  doubt  
the conduct of debates was virtually in 

the hands of those whose  birth1 wealth1
 station1 and habits of life gave them  
capacity for  public affairs4 ,even in  
the nineteenth century1 it very rarely  
happens  that a working man takes part  
in the proceedings of a county meeting3 
but no one would on that account suppose
 that such an assembly can be  used as  
the mere tool of the class who conduct  
the debate1 far less of  any individual 
prominent in that class4 ,if we cannot  
conceive freedom  without perpetual     
discord1 the faithful performance of the
 duty of  information and advice without
 coercion and oppression1 it is a sign  
either of our narrow-mindedness1 or of  
our political degeneracy2 but  a feeble 
eye does not impair the reality of the  
object on which it may  happen to be    
fixed4    ,still we may admit that among
 the numerous assemblies of the ,iliad1 
there is no instance where assent is    
given by one part of the ,assembly1  and
 withheld by the other4 ,there is1 as we
 have seen1 a clear and  strong case    

where the opinion of the                
commander-in-chief is rejected1  and    
that of an inferior commander adopted in
 its stead4 ,this in my  opinion goes   
far to prove all that is necessary4 ,we 
have from the  ,odyssey1 however1 the   
means of going further still4    ,only1 
before leaving the ,iliad1 let us       
observe the terms in which the  ,greek  
,assemblies are addressed by the kings3 
they are denominated  friends and       
heroes2 names which at least appear to  
imply their title  to judge1 or freely  
to concur1 at least as much as such a   
title was  recognised in the ancient    
councils and assemblies of the          
,anglo-saxons4  ,was this appearance a  
mockery8 ,i do not say we should compare
 it with  the organized1 secure and     
regular privileges of a few nations in  
modern  days4 ,but it would be a far    
greater mistake to treat it as an idle  
form1 or as otherwise than a weighty    
reality4    ,division in the ,drunken   
,assembly4    ,from what is related in  

that poem to have occurred after the    
capture  of ,troy1 it becomes abundantly
 clear that the function of the ,greek  
,assembly was not confined to listening4
 ,the army met in what1 for the  sake of
 distinction1 we may call the ,drunken  
,assembly#bed4 ,now1 the  influence of  
wine upon its proceedings is amply      
sufficient to show that  its acts were  
the acts of the people3 for ,homer never
 allows his chiefs  to be moved from    
their self-possession by the power of   
liquor4    #bed ,od4 iii4 #aci4         
,there was a marked difference of       
opinion on that occasion3 the people    
took their sides2      7,od4 iii4 #aej74
 ,one  half embarked2 the residue staid 
behind with ,agamemnon 7#aee-g74 ,the   
moiety1 which had sailed away1 split    
again 7#afb72 and a portion of  them    
went back to ,agamemnon4 ,we see1       
indeed1 throughout the ,odyssey1  how   
freely the crews of ,ulysses spoke or   
acted1 when they thought fit1  in       
opposition to his views4 ,if it be said1

 we must not argue from the  unruly     
speeches of men in great straits at sea1
 the answer is1 first1  that their      
necessities might rather tend to induce 
their acquiescence  in a stricter       
discipline2 and secondly1 that their    
liberty1 and even  license1 are not out 
of keeping with the general tone of the 
relations  between freemen of different 
classes1 as exhibited to us elsewhere in
  the ,homeric poems4    ,it may1       
indeed1 be said1 that the divisions of  
the ,greeks in the final  proceedings at
 ,troy were divisions1 not of the men1  
but of the chiefs4  ,this1 however1 upon
 the face of the text1 is very doubtful4
 ,we see from  the tale of the          
,pseudo-,ulysses1 in the ,thirteenth    
,odyssey 7#bfe1 #f71  that there were   
parties and separate action in the      
,greek contingents3  and it is probably 
to these that ,nestor may allude1 when  
he recommends  the ,review in order that
 the responsibility of the officers may 
be  brought home to them individually4  

,now1 in the case before us1 the  first 
division is thus described4 ,menelaus   
exhorted all the ,greeks  7 7 to go     
home3 ,agamemnon disagreed 7#ada1 #c73  
while they  were contesting the point1  
the ,assembly rose in two parties 7vv4  
#adi1  #ej72             '             4
    ,there is no intimation here that   
the people in dividing simply  followed 
their chiefs4 ,nay1 the tone of the     
description is such as  obliges us to   
understand that the movement was a      
popular one1 and took  its rise from the
 debate3 so that1 even if the chiefs and
 their men  kept together respectively1 
as they may have done1 still the chiefs 
may probably have followed quite as much
 as they led4 ,again1 when the  second  
separation takes place1 it is thus      
described1 #8,one portion  returned1    
under ,ulysses1 to ,agamemnon4          
,prognosticating evil1 ,i made  sail    
homewards with the whole body of my     
ships1 which followed me4  ,diomed did  
the same1 and 7 ' 7 invited his men 7to 

do it74  ,and after us at last came     
,menelaus4' 7vv4 #afb-h74 ,now here     
instruction  is given us on three       
points3    #a4 ,diomed urged his men2   
therefore it was not a mere matter of   
course  that they should go4    #b4     
,nestor mentions especially that his    
division all kept together 7   72       
therefore this did not always happen4   
#c4 ,it is very unlikely that the part1 
which is first named as having  returned
 with ,ulysses1 should have been        
confined to his own petty  contingent4  
,thus it is left in great doubt1 whether
 the chiefs and men did  uniformly keep 
together3 and the tenour of the         
narrative favours the  supposition1 that
 the men at least contributed materially
 to any joint  conclusions4    ,ithacan 
,assembly of ,od4 ii4    ,as1 in the    
first ,assembly of the ,iliad1 ,achilles
 acts his personal  quarrel in the      
public eye1 and lodges a sort of tacit  
appeal against  ,agamemnon1 so1 in that 
of the ,odyssey1 ,telemachus does the   

like  with reference to the ,suitors4   
,it is there that he protests against   
their continued consumption of his      
substance2 that he rejects their        
counter-proposal for the dismissal of   
his mother on their behalf1 and  that he
 himself finally propounds the voyage to
 the mainland#bee4  ,there too we find a
 most distinct recognition by ,mentor1  
his guardian1  of the powers and rights 
of the people2 for he loudly complains  
of  their sitting silent1 numerous as   
they are#bef1 instead of interposing  to
 rebuke the handful of ,suitors that    
were the wrongdoers4 ,but if1  according
 to the genius and usages of the heroic 
age1 the people had  nothing to do but  
to listen and obey their betters1 the   
expectation  that they should have risen
 to defend a minor against the          
associated  aristocracy of the country  
would have been absurd1 and could not   
have  been expressed1 as we find it     
expressed1 by ,mentor4    #bee ,od4 ii4 
#bab4    #bef ,od4 ii4 #bci-da4    ,it  

is true indeed1 as has been observed by 
,tittmann#beg1 that this  ,assembly     
makes no effective response to the      
appeal of ,telemachus2 and  that the    
,suitor ,antinous is allowed to declare 
in it his own intention1  and that of   
his companions1 to continue their       
lawless proceedings4  ,but what we see  
in the ,odyssey is not the normal state 
of the heroic  polities3 it is one of   
those polities disorganized by the      
absence  of its head1 with a people1 as 
the issue proves1 deeply tainted by     
disloyalty4 ,yet let us see what1 even  
in this state of things1 was  still the 
weight of the ,agor4 ,first1 when       
,telemachus desires to make  an initial 
protest against the acts of the         
,suitors1 he calls it to his  aid4      
,secondly1 though at the outset of the  
discussion no concession  is made to    
him1 yet he gains ground as it proceeds4
 ,the speech of  ,antinous1 the first   
,suitor who addresses the ,assembly     
7,od4 ii4 #he-abh71  is in a tone of    

sheer defiance1 and treats his attempt  
as a jest and as  an insult 7v4 #hf74   
,the next is that of ,eurymachus2 who1  
while deriding  the omens1 yet makes an 
advance by appealing to ,telemachus to  
take the  matter into his own hands1 and
 induce his mother to marry one among   
them 7#agh-bjg74 ,the third1 that of    
,leiocritus1 contains a further  slight 
approximation2 for it conveys an assent 
to his proposed voyage1  and recommends 
that ,mentor and ,alitherses shall      
assist him in making  provision for it  
7#bdb-ef74 ,thus even here we see that  
progression1  which may always be       
noticed in the ,homeric debates2 and the
 influence  under which it was effected 
must surely have been an apprehension of
  the ,assembly1 to which both          
,telemachus1 and still more directly    
,mentor1  had appealed4    #beg ,griech4
 ,staatsv4 b4 ii4 p4 #eg4    ,thirdly1  
however1 we perceive in this very       
account the signs of the  disordered and
 distracted state of the public mind4   

,for1 beyond a  sentiment of pity for   
,telemachus when he bursts into tears   
7v4 #ha71  they make no sign of approval
 or disapproval4 ,we miss in ,ithaca the
  well-known cheers of the ,iliad1 the  
'     4    ,they are dismissed without  
having made a sign2 just as it is in the
  ,assembly of the ,first ,iliad 7an    
exception in that poem72 where the mind 
of the masses1 puzzled and bewildered1  
is not in a condition to enable  them to
 interfere by the distinct expression of
 their sympathies#beh4    #beh ,od4 ii4 
#beg4 ,il4 i4 #cje4    ,there are1      
however1 two other instances of         
,assemblies in the ,odyssey4    ,phacian
 ,assembly of ,od4 viii4    ,the first  
of these is the ,assembly of the        
,phacians in the ,eighth ,book2  which  
we may safely assume to be modelled     
generally according to the  prevailing  
manners4    ,the petition#bei of        
,ulysses to ,alcinous is1 that he may be
 sent  onwards to his home4 ,the king   
replies1 that he will make arrangements 

about it on the following day#bfj4      
,accordingly1 the ,assembly of the      
,phacian people is called3 ,minerva     
herself1 under the form of the  herald1 
takes the pains to summon the principal 
persons#bfa4 ,alcinous  then proposes   
that a ship shall be got ready1 with a  
crew of fifty-two  picked men#bfb4 ,for 
his part he will give to this crew1     
together with  the kings1 an            
entertainment at the palace before they 
set out#bfc4  ,this is all done without 
debate4 ,then comes the banquet1 and the
 first  song of ,demodocus4 ,the company
 next return to the place of assembly1  
for the games4 ,it is here that ,ulysses
 is taunted by ,euryalus#bfd4 ,in  his  
reply he appeals to his character as a  
suppliant2 but he is the  suppliant of  
the king and all the people1 not of the 
king1 nor even of  the king and his     
brother kings1 alone#bfe2    #bei ,od4  
vii4 #aea4    #bfj ,od4 vii4 #ahi-id1   
#cag4    #bfa ,od4 viii4 #g-ae4    #bfb 
,the number deserves remark4 ,fifty1 as 

we know from the ,catalogue1  was a     
regular ship's crew of rowers4 ,what    
were the two8 ,probably a  commander1   
and a steersman4 ,the dual is used in   
both the places where  the numbers are  
mentioned 71 ver4 #cf1 1 #dh1  1 #di74  
,there are other passages where the dual
 extends beyond the  number two1 to     
three and four4 ,see ,nitzsch1 in loc4  
,but the use of it  here with so large a
 number is remarkable1 and may be best  
explained  by supposing that it refers  
to the 1 who were the principal men of  
the crew1 and that the fifty are not    
regarded as forming part of the  subject
 of the verb4 ,if this be so1 the       
passage shows us in a very  simple form 
the rudimentary nautical order of the   
,greek ships4    #bfc ,od4 viii4 #ch4   
#bfd ,od4 viii4 #aeh-fd4    #bfe ,od4   
viii4 #aeg4      1   1   4    ,we must  
therefore assume that ,alcinous1 in his 
proposal1 felt that he  was acting      
according both to precedent and the     
general opinion4 ,he does  not order any

 measure to be taken1 but simply gives  
his opinion in the  ,assembly about     
providing a passage1 which is silently  
accepted 7ver4  #df74 ,yet ,i cannot but
 take it for a sign of the strong       
popular infusion  in the political ideas
 of the age1 when we find that even so  
slight a  measure1 as the dispatch of   
,ulysses1 was thought fit to be proposed
 and  settled there4    ,but we have    
weightier matter disposed of in the     
,twenty-fourth ,odyssey1  which affords 
us an eighth and last example of the    
,greek ,assembly1 its  powers1 and      
usages4    ,the havock made of the      
,suitors by ,ulysses is at last         
discovered after  the bodies have been  
disposed of2 and upon the discovery1 the
 chiefs  and people repair in a mass to 
the open space where ,assemblies were   
held1 and which bears the same name with
 them#bff4 ,here the people are         
addressed on the one side by ,eupeithes1
 father of the leading ,suitor          
,antinous1 on the other1 by ,medon the  

herald1 and ,alitherses1 son of  ,mastor
 the ,seer4 ,and here we are supplied   
with further proofs1 that  the          
,assemblies were not wholly unaccustomed
 to act according to their  feelings and
 opinions4 ,there is no sign of         
perplexity or confusion2 but  there is  
difference of sentiment1 and each party 
acts upon its own4  ,more than half the 
meeting loudly applaud ,alitherses1 and 
break up1  determined not to meddle in  
the affair#bfg4 ,the other party keep   
their  places1 holding with ,eupeithes2 
they then go to arm1 and undertake the  
expedition against ,ulysses4 ,having    
lost their leader by a spear's throw  of
 ,laertes1 for which ,minerva had       
supplied him with strength1 they fall   
like sheep before the weapons of their  
great chief and his son4 ,yet1  though  
routed1 they are not treated as         
criminals for their resistance2  but the
 poem closes by informing us that       
,minerva1 in the form of  ,mentor#bfh1  
negotiated a peace between the          

parties#bfi4    #bff ,probably the      
strictly proper name of the ,assembly1  
as  distinguished from the place of     
meeting1 is  or   7as ,od4 iii4 #aca71  
but the name common to the two prevails4
    #bfg ,od4 xxiv4 #dfc4    #bfh ,od4  
xxiv4 #edf4    #bfi ,besides all the    
particulars which have been cited1 we   
have  incidental notices scattered about
 the poems1 which tend exactly in the   
same direction4 ,for example1 when      
,chryses prays for the restitution of   
his daughter1 his petition is addressed 
principally to the two ,atrid1  but it  
is likewise addressed to the whole body 
of  7,il4 i4 #ae71  that is1 either to  
the entire army1 or at any rate to all  
the kings2  or1 to all the members of   
the ,achan race4 ,this we may compare   
with the  application of the prayer of  
,ulysses in ,scheria to the king and    
people4    ,councils or ,assemblies of  
,olympus4    ,since the ,assemblies of  
,olympus grow out of the polytheistic   
form of  the ,greek religion1 we must   

treat them as part of its human element1
  and as a reflection of the heroic     
life4 ,there will therefore be an       
analogy perceptible between the relation
 of ,jupiter to the other  ,immortals in
 the ,olympian ,assembly1 and that of   
the ,greek ,sovereign  to all or some of
 those around him4 ,but as the deities  
meet in the  capacity of rulers1 we     
should seek this analogy rather in the  
relation  between ,agamemnon and the    
kings1 or between the local sovereign   
and his  elders 771 than between either 
of the two respective heads1  and the   
mass of those whom he ruled4 ,this      
analogy is in substance  sustained by   
the poems4 ,the sovereignty of ,jupiter 
undoubtedly stands  more elevated1 among
 the divinities of ,olympus1 than that  
of ,agamemnon1  or any other of his     
kings1 on earth4 ,it includes more of   
the element  of force1 and it           
approximates more nearly to a positive  
supremacy4  ,accordingly1 whatever      
indicates freedom in ,olympus will tend 

a  fortiori to show1 that the idea of   
freedom in debate was1 at least as      
among the chiefs1 familiar here below4  
,yet even in ,olympus the other  chief  
deities could murmur1 argue1 and object4
 ,the power of ,jupiter  is exhibited at
 its zenith in the ,assembly of the     
,eighth ,iliad1 when  he violently      
threatens all that disobey1 and         
challenges the whole pack  to try their 
strength with him4 ,the vehemence with  
which he spoke  produced the same       
intimidatory effect upon the gods1 as   
did the great  speech of ,achilles upon 
the envoys3 and the result upon the     
minds of  the hearers in the two cases  
respectively1 is described in lines     
which1  with the exception of a single  
word1 precisely correspond#bgj4 ,still1 
immediately after ,jupiter has given the
 peremptory order not to assist  either 
party1 ,minerva answers1 ,well1 we will 
not fight--which she never  had         
done--but we will advise2 and this      
,jupiter at once and cheerfully         

permits#bga4 ,but there is more than    
this4 ,be the cause what it may1  the   
personal will of ,jupiter1 fulfilled as 
to ,achilles#bgb1 is not  fulfilled as  
to ,troy4 ,the ,assembly of the ,fourth 
,book is opened with a  proposal from   
him1 that ,troy shall stand#bgc4 ,from  
this he recedes1  and it is decided that
 the city shall be destroyed2 while the 
only  reservation he makes is not at all
 on behalf of the ,trojans1 but simply  
on behalf of his own freedom to destroy 
any other city he may mislike1  however 
dear it may chance to be to ,juno4      
#bgj ,il4 viii4 #bh1 #i4 ix4 #dcj1 #a4  
#bga ,il4 viii4 #ch-dj4    #bgb ,il4 i4 
#e4    #bgc ,il4 iv4 #ag-ai4    ,the    
position of ,agamemnon1 of which        
,jupiter is in a great degree a         
reflection1 bears a near resemblance to 
that of a political leader  under free  
,european1 and1 perhaps it may be said1 
especially under  ,british1             
institutions4 ,its essential elements   
are1 that it is worked in  part by      

accommodation1 and in part by influence4
    ,besides its grand political        
function1 the  is1 as we have seen1  in 
part a judicial body4 ,but the great    
safeguard of publicity attends  the     
conduct of trials1 as well as the       
discussion of political affairs4  ,the  
partialities of people who manifest     
their feelings by visible signs  is thus
 prevented1 on the one hand1 by the     
cultivation of habitual  self-respect1  
from passing into fury1 and on the other
 hand1 from  degenerating into baseness4
    ,it is perhaps worthy of notice1 as 
assisting to indicate the  substantive  
and active nature of the popular        
interest in public  affairs1 that where 
parties were formed in the ,assemblies1 
those who  thought together sat         
together4 ,such appears to be the       
intimation of the  line in the          
,eighteenth ,iliad 7#ejb71       '  1  4
    ,as the   expresses their           
sentiments1  can hardly  signify any    
thing other than that they sat          

separately on each side  of the         
,assembly4 ,a similar arrangement seems 
to be conveyed in the  ,twenty-fourth   
,odyssey1 where we find that the party  
of the ,suitors  remained in a mass 7 ' 
1 v4 #dfd47 ,i think this  circumstance 
by no means an unimportant one1 as      
illustrative of the  capacity1 in which 
the people attended at the ,assemblies  
for either  political or judicial       
purposes4    ,judicial functions of the 
,assembly4    ,the place of ,assemblies 
is also the place of judicature4 ,but   
the  supremacy of the political function
 is indicated by this1 that the  word 1 
which means the ,assembly for debate1   
thus gives its own  designation to the  
place where both functions were         
conducted4 ,at the  same time1 we have  
in the word ,themis a clear indication  
that the  original province of          
government was judicial4 ,for that word 
in ,homer  signifies the principles of  
law1 though they were not yet reduced to
  the fixed forms of after-times2 but on

 the other hand ,themis was also  a     
goddess1 and she had in that capacity   
the office of summoning and of          
dissolving ,assemblies#bgd4 ,thus the   
older function1 as often happens1  came 
in time to be the weaker1 and had to    
yield the precedence to its  more       
vigorous competitor4    #bgd ,od4 ii4   
#fh1 #i4    ,but in ,homer's time1      
though they were distinguished1 they    
were not yet  divided4 ,on the ,shield  
of ,achilles1 the work of ,themis#bge is
 done in  full ,assembly3 and this      
probably signifies the custom of the    
time4 ,but  in the ,eleventh ,iliad1    
,patroclus passes by the ships of       
,ulysses#bgf1    #bge ,il4 xviii4 #dig4 
#bgf ,il4 xi4 #hjg4                     
'        4    ,and1 in the description  
of the ,cyclopes1 the line is yet more  
clearly  drawn2 for it is said#bgg1     
#bgg ,od4 ix4 #aab-ae4       ' '  1  4  
,in that same place1 too1 the public    
solemnities of religion were  performed3
 and though in the ,greek camp it was   

doubtless placed at the  centre of the  
line with a view to security1 its       
position most aptly  symbolized also its
 moral centrality1 as the very heart of 
the national  life4 ,at the spot where  
the ,assemblies were held were gathered 
into a  focus the religious1 as well as 
the patriotic sentiments of the country4
    ,the fact is1 that everywhere in    
,homer we find the signs of an intense  
corporate or public life1 subsisting and
 working side by side with  that of the 
individual4 ,and of this corporate life 
the  is the  proper organ4 ,if a man is 
to be described as great1 he is always  
great  in debate and on the field2 if as
 insignificant and good for nothing1    
then he is of no account either in      
battle or in council4 ,the two grand    
forms of common and public action are   
taken for the criteria of the           
individual4    ,when ,homer wished to   
describe the ,cyclopes as living in a   
state of  barbarism1 he says1 not that  
they have no kings1 or no towns1 or  no 

armies1 or no country1 but that they    
have no ,assemblies1 and no             
administration of justice1 which1 as we 
have seen1 was the primary  function of 
the ,assemblies4 ,and yet all1 or nearly
 all the ,states had  ,kings4 ,the      
lesson to be learned is1 that in heroic 
,greece the ,king1  venerable as was his
 title1 was not the fountainhead of the 
common  life1 but only its exponent4    
,the source lay in the community1 and   
the  community met in the ,agor4 ,so    
deeply imbedded is this sentiment in    
the mind of the ,poet1 that it seems as 
if he could not conceive an  assemblage 
of persons having any kind of common    
function1 without their  having1 so to  
speak1 a common soul too in respect of  
it4    ,the common ,soul or  in ,homer4 
,of this common soul the organ in ,homer
 is the  or #8,somebody2'  by no means  
one of the least remarkable1 though he  
has been one of  the least regarded1    
personages of the poems4 ,the  of ,homer
 is1 ,i  apprehend1 what in ,england we 

now call public opinion4 ,we constantly 
find occasions1 when the ,poet wants to 
tell us what was the prevailing         
sentiment among the ,greeks of the army4
 ,he might have done this  didactically1
 and described at length the importance 
of popular  opinion1 and its bearings in
 each case4 ,he has adopted a method    
more  poetical and less obtrusive4 ,he  
proceeds dramatically1 through the      
medium of a person1 and of a formula3   
1    4    ,it may1 however1 not seem    
worthy of remark1 considering the amount
 of  common interest among the ,greeks1 
that he should find an organ for it  in 
his 4 ,but when he brings the ,greeks   
and ,trojans together in the  ,pact1    
though it is only for the purpose of a  
momentary action1 still he  makes an    
integer pro hc vice of the two nations1 
and provides them  with a common  7,il4 
iii4 #cai73             4    ,we find   
another remarkable exemplification in   
the case of the ,suitors  in the        
,odyssey4 ,dissolute and selfish youths 

as they are1 and  competitors with one  
another for a prize which one only can  
enjoy1 they  are nevertheless for the   
moment banded together in a common      
interest4  ,they too1 therefore1 have a 
collective sentiment1 and a ready organ 
for  it in a  of the ,odyssey 7,od4 ii4 
#cbd71 who speaks for the body of       
,suitors3           4    ,all these are1
 in my view1 most striking proofs of the
 tenacious hold1  which the principle of
 a public or corporate life for all     
aggregations  of men had taken upon the 
mind of ,homer1 and upon ,greece in the 
heroic  age4 ,nor can ,i help forming   
the opinion1 that in all probability we 
may  discern in the ,homeric  the       
primary ancestor of the famous ,greek   
,chorus4 ,it is the function of the     
,chorus to give utterance to the  public
 sentiment1 but in a sense apt1         
virtuous1 and pious4 ,now this is  what 
the ,homeric  usually does2 but of      
course he does on behalf of  the        
community1 what the ,chorus does as     

belonging to the body of actors4    ,it 
is then surely a great error1 after all 
we have seen1 to conclude  that1 because
 the political ideas and practices of   
those times did not  wear the costumes  
now in fashion1 they were without their 
own real  vitality1 and powerful moral  
influence upon the minds and characters 
of  men4    ,imperfect organization of  
the ,heroic ,polities4    ,but1 on the  
other hand1 in repelling these unsound  
and injurious  notions1 we must beware  
of assuming too much of external        
resemblance  between the heroic age and 
the centuries either of modern          
,christendom  or even of historic       
,greece and ,rome4 ,all the determinate 
forms of  public right are the growth of
 long time1 of dearbought experience1   
and  of proved necessity4 ,right and    
force are supplements to one another2   
but the proportions1 in which they are  
to be mingled1 are subject to  no fixed 
rule4 ,if the existence of rights1 both 
popular and regal1  in the heroic age is

 certain1 their indeterminateness is    
glaring and  conspicuous4 ,but the shape
 they bore1 notwithstanding the         
looseness  of its outline1 was quite    
adequate to the needs of the time4 ,we  
must  not1 in connection with the heroic
 age1 think of public life as a         
profession1 of a standing mass of public
 affairs1 of legislation  eternally in  
arrear1 of a complex machinery of       
government4 ,there were  no regular     
regencies in ,greece during the ,trojan 
war4 ,there was no  ,assembly in ,ithaca
 during the long absence of             
,ulysses#bgh1 before  the one called by 
,telemachus1 and reported in the ,second
 ,book of the  ,odyssey4 ,we have seen1 
however1 in what way this lack of       
machinery  told upon the state of       
,greece by encouraging faction1 and     
engendering  revolution4 ,the strain of 
the ,trojan expedition was too great for
 a  system so artless and inorganic4    
,the state of ,ithaca in the ,odyssey   
is politically a state almost of        

anarchy2 though the symptoms of that    
disease were milder by far then1 than   
they could now be4 ,the condition  of   
the island shows us what its polity had 
been1 rather than what it  was4 ,but for
 all ordinary occasions it had sufficed4
 ,for ,assemblies  met only when they   
had something to do2 and rarely indeed  
would such  junctures arrive4           
,infractions of social order and social 
rights1 which  now more commonly take   
place by fraud1 were then due almost    
wholly to  violence4 ,and violence1 from
 its nature1 could hardly be the subject
  of appeal to the ,assembly3 as a      
general rule1 it required to be repaid  
on the instant1 and in the same coin4   
,judicial questions would not  often be 
of such commanding interest1 as to      
divide a people into two  opinions2 nor 
the parties to them wealthy enough to   
pay two talents  to the successful      
judge4 ,great controversies1 affecting  
allegiance  and the succession1 must of 
necessity in all ages be rare2 and of a 

disputed succession in ,greece the poems
 can hardly be said to offer  us an     
instance4 ,we find1 however1 in the last
 ,book of the ,odyssey1  that1 according
 to the ideas of that period1 when a    
question as to  the sovereignty did     
arise1 the people needed no instructor  
as to the  first measure they were to   
take4 ,they repaired1 as if by a common 
and  instinctive impulse1 to the ,agor2 
in which lay deposited their civil      
rights and their old traditions1 like   
the gems of the wealth of ,greece  in   
the shrine of the ,archer ,apollo#bgi4  
#bgh ,tittmann ,griech4 ,staatsv4 b4 ii4
 p4 #ef4    #bgi ,il4 ix4 #djd4         
,,ii4 ,,ilios4    ,,the ,,trojans       
,,compared ,,and ,,contrasted ,,with    
,,the ,,greeks4      ,we have perhaps   
been accustomed to contemplate the      
,trojans too  exclusively1 either as    
enemies of the ,greeks1 or else as      
constituting1  together with them1 one  
homogeneous chapter of antiquity1 which 
we  might be content to examine as a    

whole1 without taking notice of         
specific differences4 ,let us now       
endeavour to inquire what were the      
relations1 other than those of mere     
antagonism in the war1 between the  two 
nations2 what points they embraced1 and 
what affinities or discords  they       
disclose4 ,the direct signs of kindred  
between ,troy and ,greece have  already 
been considered2 but the examination    
into points of contrast  and resemblance
 as respects religion1 polity1 and      
character1 will  assist us in judging   
how far a key to those affinities and   
discords is  to be found in the         
different interfusion and proportion1 in
 the two  cases1 of ethnical elements   
which they possessed in common4    ,we  
have seen in another place#bhj that the 
,greeks1 or ,achans1 and the  ,trojans1 
were akin by the ,hellic element1 which 
appears to establish  a connection      
chiefly as regarded the royal house1 and
 other ruling  houses1 of ,troy4 ,on the
 other hand it has seemed clear1 from   

many  sources1 that the main affinity   
between the bulk of the two nations  was
 ,pelasgian4 ,as respects the           
ethnological question1 the supposition  
most consonant to the evidence as a     
whole appears to me to be1 that  in     
,troas we find ,hellic families1        
possessed of dominion over a  ,pelasgian
 people3 in ,greece we find ,hellic     
tribes1 placed in dominant              
juxtaposition with ,pelasgic tribes1 of 
prior occupancy2 constituting1  as is   
probable1 whole classes of the          
community1 and mingling with and        
powerfully modifying the aggregate      
composition so as to produce a  mixed   
result2 while in ,troy1 though the      
ruling houses are probably a  different 
order1 and there may be found here and  
there the tokens of  this influence1 yet
 the general face of society1 and the   
substance of  manners and institutions1 
are ,pelasgian4 ,it will be recollected1
 that  even in ,greece we trace two     
forms of ,hellic diffusion4 ,sometimes  

the  descendants of the ,helli appear as
 single families1 like the olids2       
sometimes as races1 like the ,achans4   
,the state of facts here supposed  as to
 ,troy is in accordance with the former 
class of indications within  ,greece    
itself4    #bhj ,achis1 or ,ethnology1  
sect4 ix4 p4 #dif4    ,upon the footing 
supplied by these assumptions1 ,i shall 
treat the  comparison of the two        
countries as to religion1 policy1 social
 usages1  and moral ideas and practice4 
,we have already been obliged1 in       
considering the respective shares of    
the ,hellenic and ,pelasgian factors in 
the compound ,greek character1 to       
anticipate in some degree the           
conclusions with regard to the religion 
of the ,trojans in its general          
character1 which ,i will now proceed    
more  fully to explain and illustrate4  
,we have found three conspicuous        
deities1 of worship apparently supreme  
and universal3 ,jupiter1 ,minerva1 and  
,apollo4 ,after these comes ,neptune1   

of a more doubtful position when we pass
 out of the ,hellenic and  ,phnician    
circles2 and ,latona with ,diana1 who1  
doubtless from the  vantage ground of   
early tradition1 take rank alike with an
 ,hellenic and  a ,pelasgian people4 ,we
 have also supposed ,ceres to be of     
immemorial  standing as a deity of the  
,pelasgians2 and ,venus to have made    
great way  among them4    ,greek names  
of deities found also in ,troas4        
,passing on from the consideration of   
,pelasgian religion at large1 it  will  
now be requisite to show1 with          
particular reference to ,troy1 how  far 
we find the names of the ,greek         
divinities recognised there2 nor  must  
we omit to consider1 in what degree     
identity of name implies  identity of   
person and function4    #a4 ,jupiter had
 a 1 or portion of consecrated land1 on 
,mount  ,gargarus2 and there ,onetor was
 his priest#bha4 ,he is1 with the       
,trojans as with the ,greeks1 the first 
and greatest of the gods#bhb4  ,he      

himself attests their abundant          
liberality in sacrifices offered  to    
himself#bhc4 ,the ,greek ,jupiter is    
,olympian2 the ,trojan ,jupiter  is     
,jupiter of ,ida4 ,except as to abode1  
there is no difference to be  discerned 
between the features of the two4    #bha
 ,il4 viii4 #dg1 #h4    #bhb ,il4 iii4  
#bih4    #bhc ,il4 iv4 #dh4    #b4 ,we  
have no direct indication1 in the       
,iliad1 of the worship of  ,neptune by  
the ,trojans4 ,but the legend of his    
employment under ,laomedon  must be     
taken to imply that his divinity was    
acknowledged in that  country3 confirmed
 as it is by his sharing with ,jupiter  
and ,apollo the  destruction of the     
,greek rampart after the conclusion of  
the war#bhd4    #bhd ,il4 xxi4 #ddb     
seqq4 vii4 #dei4 xii4 #ag4    #c4 ,in   
the case of ,juno1 ,i have elsewhere    
noticed#bhe the three  passages1 which  
alone appear to establish a faint       
connection between  her and the         
,trojans4    #bhe ,olympus1 sect4 iii4  

p4 #aig4    #d4 ,minerva had a temple on
 ,pergamus2 and was served there by a   
priestess1 ,theano2 who1 as the wife of 
,antenor1 was of the very  next rank to 
,priam and his house4 ,the goddess is   
addressed1 on the  occasion of the      
procession of the ,sixth ,book1 in a    
strain which seems  to acknowledge her  
possession of supreme power#bhf3 the    
defender of  cities1 excellent among    
goddesses1 she is entreated to have pity
 on  ,troy1 to break the lance of       
,diomed1 and to grant that he himself   
may  fall4    #bhf ,il4 vi4 #bih-cjj4   
#cje-aj4    #e4 ,apollo would appear to 
be the favourite among the great deities
  of the country4 ,he1 like ,minerva1   
has a temple in the citadel#bhg4        
,chryses is his priest at ,chryse1 and  
there too he has a temple4 ,he is  the  
special protector of ,cilla and of      
,tenedos#bhh4 ,with ,minerva1 he  is    
indicated as the recipient of supreme   
honour#bhi4 ,the ,lycian name1  so      
prevalent in ,troas1 establishes a      

special connection with him4 ,in  the   
,iliad1 he seems to be the ordinary and 
immediate ,providence to the  ,trojan   
chiefs1 as ,minerva is to the ,greek    
ones4 ,at the same time1 he  carries no 
sign of exclusive nationalism2 he bears 
no hatred to the  ,greeks2 but1 after   
the restitution and propitiation1 he at 
once accepts  the prayer1 and stays the 
pestilence#bij4    #bhg ,il4 v4 #ddf4   
#bhh ,il i4 #cg-i4    #bhi ,il4 vii4    
#edj4 xiii4 #hbg4    #bij ,il4 i4 #deg4 
#f4 ,latona must have been known among  
the ,trojans2 because ,homer has        
represented her as contending on the    
,trojan side in the war of the  gods1   
and as engaged in tending the wounded   
neas within the temple of  ,apollo on   
,pergamus4    #g4 ,the same reasons     
apply also to ,diana3 and we moreover   
find1 that she  instructed the ,trojan  
,scamandrius in the huntsman's art#bia4 
#bia ,il4 v4 #di4    #h4 ,venus is      
eminently ,trojan4 ,her relation to this
 people is marked  by her favour towards

 ,paris3 her passion for ,anchises3 her 
sending a  personal ornament as a       
marriage gift to ,andromache2 her       
ministerial  charge over the body of    
,hector 7,il4 xxiii4 #ahd-g72 her being 
chosen  as the model to which ,trojan   
beauties are compared1 while ,diana is  
the favourite standard for the ,greek   
woman4 ,it is also marked by  her       
zealous1 though feeble1 partizanship in 
favour of ,troy among  the ,immortals3  
and by the biting taunts of ,pallas1 of 
,helen1 and of  ,diomed#bib4    #bib    
,il4 v4 #dba-e4 #cdh-ea4 iii4 #dje-i4   
#i4 ,vulcan is not only known1 but has a
 cult in ,troy3 for ,dares is his       
priest1 and is a person of great wealth 
and consideration2 one of whose  sons he
 delivers from death in battle1 to      
comfort the old man in his  decline#bic4
    #bic ,il4 v4 #i4 and #bj-d4    #aj4 
,mars4 ,of this deity it would seem1    
that he has been given by  ,homer to the
 ,pelasgians1 mainly because of his so  
strongly marked  ,thracian character1   

and his want of recognition among the   
,hellenes1  who had a higher deity of   
war in ,minerva4 ,i have touched        
elsewhere  upon his equivocal position  
as between the two parties to the war4  
,it  corresponds with that of the       
,thracians1 who appear to form a point  
of  intersection1 so to speak1 for the  
,hellic and ,pelasgian races4 ,those of 
the plain of ,adrianople are1 like the  
,pelasgi1 horse-breeders1 dwelling  in a
 fertile country3 the ruder portion are 
among the mountains to the  north and   
west4    #aa4 ,mercury4 ,one sign only  
of the ordinary agency of this deity in 
,troas is exhibited2 he gives abundant  
increase to the flocks of  ,phorbas#bid4
    #bid ,il4 xiv4 #dij4    #ab4 ,earth 
77 would appear to have been recognised 
as an object of  distinct worship in    
,troas3 for when ,menelaus proposes the 
,pact1 he  invites the ,trojans to      
sacrifice a black lamb to her1 and a    
white one  to the ,sun2 while the       
,greeks will on their part offer up a   

lamb to  ,jupiter4 ,the proposal is at  
once accepted2 and the heralds are sent 
by  ,hector to the city for the         
lambs#bie1 which seems to be conclusive 
as  to the acknowledgment of these two  
deities in ,troy4    #bie ,il4 iii4     
#ajc4 #aaf4    #ac4 ,the ,sun4 ,besides 
that the passage last quoted for ,earth 
is also  conclusive for the ,sun1 we    
have another token of his relation to   
,troy1  in the unwillingness with which 
he closes the day1 when with his        
setting is to end the glory of ,hector  
and of his country#bif4    #bif ,il4    
xviii4 #bci4    ,we have thus gone      
through the list of the greater ,greek  
deities1  and have found them all       
acknowledged in ,troas1 with the        
following  exceptions3 #a4 of ,ceres1   
whom we may however suspect1 from her   
,pelasgian character1 to have been      
worshipped there under some name or     
form2 #b4 of ,aidoneus2 and #c4 of      
,persephone4 ,these exceptions will be  
further noticed4    ,again1 among the   

thirteen who have been identified as    
objects of ,trojan  worship1 we find    
one1 namely1 1 of whom we can hardly say
 that she  was worshipped in ,greece2   
though she was invoked1 as by ,agamemnon
 in  the ,nineteenth ,book1 and by      
,althea in the ,ninth1 to add a more    
solemn  sanction to oaths4    #ad4      
,together with her1 we may take notice  
of a fourteenth deity1  apparently of   
great consideration in ,troy1 namely1   
the ,river ,scamander4  ,he bears a     
marked sign of ancient worship1 in      
having a divine  appellation1 ,xanthus1 
as well as his terrestrial one1         
,scamander4 ,he  had an 1 by name       
,dolopion4 ,to him1 according to the    
speech  of ,achilles1 the ,trojans      
sacrificed live horses4 ,he enters into 
the division of parties among the gods  
about the war1 and fights  vigorously   
against ,achilles1 until he is at length
 put down by  ,hephstus1 or ,vulcan4 ,as
 a purely local deity1 however1 he has  
of  course no place in the ,greek       

mythology4    #ae4 ,though we have no   
direct mention of the translation of    
,tithonus  by 1 or ,aurora1 yet1 as     
,homer gives ,tithonus a place both in  
the  genealogy of the ,dardanid1 and    
likewise by the side of ,aurora1 we may 
consider that1 by thus recognising the  
translation1 he also points out  ,aurora
 as an acknowledged member of the       
supernatural order in ,troas4           
,several among these names call for more
 particular notice3 especially  those of
 ,vulcan1 ,earth1 and ,scamander4       
,worship of ,vulcan in ,troas4    ,the  
case of ,vulcan1 and his place in ,troy1
 may serve to remind us of  a           
proposition somewhat general in its     
application2 this namely1 that1  in     
classifying the ,trojan divinities1     
,homer need not have intended  to imply 
that the same name must in all cases    
carry exactly the same  attributes4 ,we 
must here bear in mind1 that probably   
all1 certainly  almost all1 of the      
properly ,olympian gods1 were ,greek    

copies modified  from ,oriental or from 
traditive originals4 ,but as these      
conceptions  were propagated in         
different quarters1 each country would  
probably add  or take away1 or otherwise
 alter1 in conformity with its own      
ruling  tendencies4 ,hence when we find 
a ,vulcan in ,greece1 and a ,vulcan in  
,troas1 it by no means follows1 that    
each of them presented the same         
features and attributes4 ,if ,homer     
believed them to be derived from a      
common original in ,egypt or elsewhere1 
that would be a good and valid  reason  
for his describing them by the same     
name1 though the ,trojan  ,vulcan might 
not present all the ,hellenic traits1   
nor vice vers4  ,in some cases1 such as 
those of ,jupiter1 ,apollo1 ,minerva1   
,diana1 and  ,venus1 there is such a    
correspondence of attributes entering   
into the  portraiture of the respective 
deities in the two countries1 that their
  identity1 at least so far as the      
evidence goes1 seems quite unimpaired   

and unequivocal4 ,but we have no means  
of showing from the poems1 that  the    
,trojan ,hephstus corresponded with the 
,greek one4 ,indeed when we  find no    
mention of his being actually worshipped
 in ,greece1 and at the  same time learn
 that he had a priest in ,troas1 the    
presumption arises1  that different     
conceptions of him prevailed in the two 
countries4  ,again1 there is nowhere    
assigned to him as a ,greek deity any   
such  exercise of power1 as that by     
which he saves ,idus1 a son of his      
priest  ,dares1 from imminent death on  
the field of battle4    ,these general  
considerations1 which tend to show that 
the identity  of name in a ,trojan and a
 ,greek deity may be compatible with    
much  of dissimilarity in the popular   
development of the functions1 will      
relieve us from difficulties1 which we  
should otherwise have had to  meet1 in  
accounting for the place of some of the 
,olympian divinities  in ,trojan        
worship4 ,we have found reason to       

suppose1 that ,vulcan may  have come    
into ,greece through ,phnicia4 ,but the 
,trojans appear to  have had very little
 connection with ,phnicia4 ,the precious
   of ,priam1 the cup that he carried to
 ,achilles1 was not ,phnician but       
,thracian#big4 ,the only token of       
intercourse mentioned is1 that ,paris   
brought textile fabrics from ,sidon#bih4
 ,again1 ,vulcan was especially         
worshipped in ,lemnos1 and had his      
terrestrial abode there4 ,but this  goes
 more naturally to account for the works
 of metal in ,thrace1 than  for the     
position of ,vulcan in ,troas2 higher as
 it was1 apparently1  than in ,greece4  
,again1 it is worth notice1 that the    
,vulcan of the  ,romans was1 like their 
,mars1 one of the old gods of ,etruria1 
a country  stamped with many ,pelasgian 
characteristics4 ,it may be1 that we    
ought  to look back to ,egypt for the   
origin of all these ,vulcans4 ,in the   
time  of ,herodotus#bii1 the ,egyptian  
priests claimed him as their own3 and   

,phtah1 the principal deity of ,memphis1
 was held by the later ,greeks  to      
correspond with their 4 ,even the two   
names carry tokens of  relationship4    
,from that fountain-head might be       
propagated diverging  copies of the     
deity3 and1 as far as we can judge1 the 
,vulcan worshipped  in ,troy was much   
more like the common ancestor1 than the 
highly  idealized artificer of ,olympus1
 upon whom the ,poet has worked out all 
his will#cjj4    #big ,il4 xxiv4 #bcd-e4
    #bih ,il4 vi4 #bhi-ib4    #bii      
,herod4 ii4 #ej4    #cjj ,dllinger      
,heid4 u4 ,jud4 ,,vi4 iii4 p4 #daa4     
,worship of ,juno and ,gaia in ,troas4  
,there is another of its points of      
contact with the ,olympian system1 in   
which this list of ,trojan deities is   
remarkable4 ,while investigating  the   
,greek mythology1 we have found reason  
to suppose that ,juno1 ,ceres1  and     
,gaia are but three different forms of  
the same original tradition  of a divine
 feminine3 of whom ,ceres is the        

,pelasgian copy1 ,juno  the vivid and   
powerful ,hellenic development1 and     
,gaia the original  skeleton1 retaining 
nothing of the old character1 but having
 acquired  the function of gaol-keeper  
for perjurors when sent to the other    
world#cja4 ,in the retention however of 
all three within the circle of          
religion1 we see both the receptiveness 
and the universalism of the  ,greek     
mythology4 ,now1 in ,troy1 where there  
was less of imaginative  power1 the case
 stands very differently4 ,of ,ceres1   
who represents  the ,pelasgian          
impression of the old earth-worshipping 
tradition1 we  hear nothing in ,troas4  
,probably she was not there1 because    
,gaia1 her  original1 was still a real  
divinity for the ,trojans4 ,but how are 
we  to explain the fact that ,gaia and  
,juno are both there8 ,i venture to     
suggest1 that it is because these are   
different names1 the foreign and  the   
domestic one1 for the same thing4 ,when 
,hector swears to ,dolon1 it  is by     

,jupiter1 #8the loud-thundering husband 
of ,here3' which almost  appears as if  
,juno held1 in the ,trojan oath1 a place
 more or less  resembling the place     
occupied in the ,greek oaths 7where     
,juno does not  appear at all7 by ,gaia4
    #cja ,rhea 77 shows us the fourth   
and cosmogonic side of the same         
conception4    ,again1 it is obvious    
that1 if this relation exists between   
,gaia and  ,juno1 it explains the fact  
that we do not find both1 so to speak1  
thriving together4 ,in ,troas ,gaia is  
worshipped1 but ,juno scarcely  appears4
 ,in ,greece ,juno is highly exalted1   
but ,gaia has lost all body1  and has   
dwindled to a spectral phantasm4 ,it is 
the want of imagination  in the ,trojan 
mythology1 which makes it a more        
faithful keeper of  traditions1         
stereotyped in the forms in which they  
were had from their  inventors4         
,worship of ,mercury in ,troas4         
,next1 as to ,mercury4 ,i have already  
adverted to the fact that  ,priam#cjb1  

notwithstanding his obligations to      
,mercury in the  ,twenty-fourth ,iliad1 
takes no notice of his divinity4 ,i     
think that  a close examination of the  
narrative tends to show1 that the ,greek
  ,mercury was not worshipped in ,troy2 
and leaves us to conclude that  ,homer  
uses a merely poetical mode of speech in
 saying that this god  gave increase to 
the flocks of ,phorbas#cjc3 even as when
 he makes  ,priam call ,iris an         
,olympian messenger#cjd4    #cjb        
,olympus1 sect4 iii4 p4 #bcd4    #cjc   
,il4 xiv4 #dij4    #cjd ,il4 xxiv4 #aid4
    ,he appears before ,priam and his   
companion ,idus1 when they are on  their
 way to the ,greek camp1 in the         
semblance of a young and noble          
,myrmidon4 ,there were1 we know#cje1    
certain visible signs1 by which  deities
 could in general be recognised or1 at  
least1 guessed as  such4 ,both ,idus1   
however1 and ,priam himself1 saw nothing
 of this  character in ,mercury1 and    
simply took him for a ,greek enemy#cjf4 

,mercury1 after some genial             
conversation1 conducts his chariot to   
the quarters of ,achilles1 and then1    
before quitting him1 announces  himself4
 ,not1 however1 like ,apollo to ,hector 
7,il4 xv4 #bef71 and ,minerva  to       
,ulysses 7,od4 xiii4 #bii71 simply by   
giving his name3 but he also  declares  
himself to be an ,immortal1   7#dfj74   
,this unusual  circumstance raises a    
presumption1 that he was not already    
known as a  divinity to ,priam2 and the 
presumption seems to become             
irrefragable1  when we find that ,priam1
 though given to the observances of     
religion1  uses no act or expression of 
reverence or even recognition to his    
benefactor1 either on his first         
declaration and departure 7#dfj1 #g71 or
  upon his second nocturnal appearance  
7#fhb71 followed by a second and  final 
flight to ,olympus 7#fid74    #cje      
,olympus1 sect4 v4    #cjf ,il4 xxiv4   
#cdg1 #cee1 #ceh-fj4    ,the case of    
,scamander will require particular      

notice3 because it is  immediately      
connected with the question1 whether the
 ,trojans partook of  that tendency to a
 large imaginative development of       
religion1 which so  eminently           
distinguishes the ,grecian              
supernaturalism4    ,we will therefore  
consider carefully the facts relating to
 this deity1  and such other kindred    
facts as ,homer suggests4    ,he speaks 
of ,dolopion as follows#cjg2    #cjg    
,il4 v4 #gg4               1        1  '
   4    ,this is entirely in keeping1 as
 to particulars1 with the ,pelasgian    
and ,trojan institutions4 ,the  of      
,homer is apparently always the  priest4
 ,dolopion was a man in very high       
station and honour1 like the  priests of
 ,rome1 and of early tolia#cjh2 but not 
like those of later  ,greece4 ,and he   
had been #8made' or #8appointed' priest2
 as ,theano was  chosen to be priestess 
by the people4 ,the priesthood of the   
,homeric age  never appears as a caste  
in these latitudes4 ,the only           

approximation to  caste is in the gift  
of the 1 which1 as we find from the     
,odyssey1  was hereditary in the family 
of ,melampus#cji4 ,thus far1 then1 the  
evidence respecting ,scamander certainly
 would appear to belong to the  category
 of ,homer's historical statements4     
#cjh ,il4 ix4 #ege4    #cji ,od4 xv4    
#bbc and seqq4    ,beyond this1         
everything assumes a figurative stamp4  
,scamander fights  as a deity with      
,achilles1 and his waters are so        
powerful that they can  only be subdued 
by the immediate action of the god of   
fire4 ,the hero1  too1 is aided by the  
powerful blasts of ,zephyr and of       
,notus1 whom ,juno  rouses up to scorch 
the ,trojans#caj4 ,as we can hardly     
doubt1 that  the plague in the ,first   
,book represents some form of           
marsh-fever1 so  here it appears likely 
that the ,poet takes very skilful       
advantage of a  flood1 caused by summer 
rains1 which had annoyed the ,greeks1   
and which  had been followed by the     

subsidence of the waters upon the return
 of  hot weather4    #caj ,il4 xxi4 #cca
 and seqq4    ,scamander is very great  
in the ,iliad1 but with a purely local  
greatness4 ,as a person1 he speaks both 
to men and to gods4 ,he addresses       
,simois as his beloved brother2 but it  
is entirely on the affair of the  deluge
 and the heat4 ,though he takes part in 
the war1 the distinction  is not awarded
 to him of being a member of the smaller
 and select  ,olympian community3 he    
merely stands included by presumption in
 the  general category of ,rivers#caa4  
#caa ,il4 xx4 #g4    ,worship of        
,scamander4    ,we have a description   
from the mouth of ,achilles of certain  
sacrifices1  as belonging to the worship
 of ,scamander#cab3    #cab ,il4 xxi4   
#acj-b4      '         1      1     '   
4    ,this offering of live horses is   
peculiar1 and unlike anything else      
represented to us in the ,homeric poems4
 ,not only the youths1 but even  the    
dogs1 whom ,achilles offers to the      

,shade of ,patroclus1 are slain  before 
they are cast into the fire4 ,the same  
thing is not mentioned  with respect to 
the four horses1 who are also among the 
victims2 but  it is probably1 even from 
the physical necessities of the case1 to
 be  presumed4    ,it may1 perhaps1 be  
argued1 that this speech of ,achilles   
partakes  of the nature of a sarcasm4   
,the fine ,trojan horses were reared and
  pastured on the river banks2 taunts   
often pass between the warriors of  the 
two sides3 the   may have had the force 
of forsooth4 ,some  doubt may attach to 
the evidence1 which the passage gives1  
on this  ground2 and also from the      
singularity of the practice that is     
imputed4  ,it is1 on the whole1 however1
 safest to assume that it is            
trustworthy4    ,the case will then     
stand thus2 that we have apparently one 
single case  in ,troy of a pure local   
impersonation of a power belonging to   
external  nature4 ,now this might happen
 under peculiar circumstances1 and yet a

  very broad distinction might subsist  
between the religion of the two  nations
 as to imaginative development4         
,scamander was indeed a great power for 
the ,trojans2 it was the great  river of
 the country1 the   4 ,the child of the 
great ,hector was named by him          
,scamandrius1 while ,simoeisius#cac  was
 the son of a very insignificant person4
 ,another ,scamandrius was  a           
distinguished huntsman1 taught by       
,diana1 in a country where the          
accomplishment was rare#cad4 ,his       
floods1 however useful in time of  war1 
would in time of peace do fearful       
damage4 ,it is possibly the  true       
explanation of the last among the lines 
quoted from the speech  of ,achilles1   
that he carried away1 in sudden spates1 
many of the  horses that were pastured  
on his banks4 ,the ,trojans1 then1 may  
have had  strong motives for deifying   
,scamander1 and particularly for        
providing  him with a priest1 who might 
beseech him to keep down his waters4    

,and  it will be remembered1 from the   
case of ,gaia1 that the ,trojan religion
  was1 without doubt1 favourable to the 
idea of purely elemental deities3  what 
lacked was the vivid force of fancy1    
that revelled in profuse                
multiplication4    #cac ,il4 iv4 #dgd1  
#dhh4    #cad ,il4 v4 #di4    ,different
 view of ,rivers in ,troas4    ,for we  
cannot fail to perceive1 that the idea  
of a river-god did not  enter into the  
,trojan as it did into the ,greek life4 
,ulysses1 when in  difficulty1 at once  
invokes the aid of the ,scherian        
river#cae1 at  whose mouth he lands4    
,now the ,trojans are driven in masses  
into the  ,scamander by the terrible    
pursuit of ,achilles1 and they hide and 
sculk1  or come forth and fight1 about  
its banks and waters4 ,yet no one of    
them invokes the ,river1 although that  
,river was a deity contending on  their 
side4 ,so entirely was he without place 
in their consciousness as  a power able 
to help1 even though he may have been   

publicly worshipped  in deprecation of a
 calamity1 which he was known to be able
 to inflict4    #cae ,od4 v4 #dde4      
,with this remarkable silence we may    
compare1 besides the prayer and         
thanksgiving of ,ulysses1 the invocation
 of ,achilles to ,spercheius#caf4  ,on  
his leaving home1 his father ,peleus had
 dedicated his hair as an  offering to  
be made to the ,river on his return1 and
 to be accompanied  by a hecatomb4 ,this
 would have been a thank-offering2 and  
as such1 in  accordance with the prayer 
of ,ulysses1 it implies the power of the
  ,river deity to confer benefits4 ,nor 
is that power rendered doubtful  by the 
fact1 that in the particular case the   
prayer is not fulfilled1  and that the  
hair is therefore devoted to the remains
 of ,patroclus4 ,we  may remark1 again1 
the sacrifice offered1 apparently almost
 as matter  of course1 by the ,pylian   
army to ,alpheus1 on their merely       
reaching  his banks#cag4 ,and1 as a     
whole1 the multitudinous impersonations 

of  natural objects in the ,greek       
mythology are1 both with ,homer and in  
the  later writers1 of a benign and     
genial character4 ,this bright and sunny
  aspect is in contrast with the        
formidable character of ,scamander1 and 
of the worship offered to him4    #caf  
,il4 xxiii4 #add4    #cag ,il4 xi4 #gbh4
    ,there is1 perhaps1 enough of       
resemblance between the ,scamander of   
the  ,trojan mythology1 and the         
,spercheus or ,alpheus of the ,greek1 to
 suggest  the question1 whether the     
deification of this river may possibly  
have  been due to the ,hellic           
influences1 which resided in the royal  
houses  of the country4 ,there are not  
wanting signs1 that the family of ,priam
  was closely connected with the river  
and its banks4 ,the name given  to      
,hector's child is one such token2 and  
we know that the mares of  ,erichthonius
 were fed upon the marshes near         
,scamander#cah4 ,it is also  worth      
observation that the ,priest of         

,scamander was called ,dolopion1  while 
,dolops was the name of a son of        
,lampus1 a ,trojan of the highest  rank1
 brother to ,priam1 and one of the  of  
,troy#cai4    #cah ,il4 xx4 #bba4       
#cai ,il4 iii4 #adg-i4 xv4 #ebe-g4      
,but though there may be a special      
relation between the worship  of        
,scamander1 and the influence of the    
royal family1 ,i think the  explanation 
is chiefly to be sought in the specific 
differences which  separate it from     
,river-worship1 as generally conceived  
in the ,olympian  system4    ,there is  
another aspect of ,river-worship in     
,greece1 with which it  seems to have   
more affinity4 ,there is the terrible   
adjuration of ,styx1  which implies its 
vindictive agency#cbj4 ,this river is   
represented on  earth by a branch from  
itself1 called ,titaresius1 near the    
,perrhbian  ,dodona#cba4 ,the ,rivers   
are expressly invoked1 in this          
character1 by  ,agamemnon in the        
adjuration of the ,pact3 and are        

associated with the  deities that punish
 perjury after death4 ,moreover1 it is  
curious that1  when ,agamemnon makes an 
adjuration before ,greeks alone1 he     
omits the  appeal to the ,rivers1 whom  
he had named when he was acting for the 
two  peoples jointly#cbb4 ,this seems to
 show that the invocation of ,rivers1   
or of some class of ,rivers1 in a       
retributive capacity1 was familiar1  and
 may have been peculiar1 to the         
,trojans4    #cbj ,il4 xiv4 #bga4 xv4   
#cg4    #cba ,il4 #b4 #gea-e4    #cbb   
,compare ,il4 iii4 #bgf4 xix4 #beh4     
,true aspect of ,trojan ,river-worship4 
,in effect1 then1 the grand distinction 
seems to be this4 ,the worship of       
,scamander in ,troas belonged to the    
elemental system and earth-worship1     
which the ,greeks1 for the purposes of  
their ,olympus1 had refined away  into a
 poetical vivifying ,power1 replete with
 more bland influences3  retaining it1  
more or less1 for the purpose of        
adjuration1 in the  darker and sterner  

sense4 ,accordingly1 while ,scamander1  
who is also  called ,xanthus1 has1 as a 
god1 a mark of antiquity in the double  
name#cbc1 he shows none of the ,greek   
anthropophuistic ingredients4  ,even for
 speech and action1 he does not take the
 human form2 but he is1  simply and     
strictly1 the element alive4    #cbc    
,il4 xx4 #gd4    ,the species of        
deification1 implied in earth-worship1  
scarcely lifted  the objects of it in   
any degree out of the sphere of purely  
material  conceptions4 ,thus1 while     
,scamander1 from his superior power1 is 
no  more than ,nature put in action1 all
 the other ,rivers of ,troas exhibit  to
 us ,nature purely passive1 a blind     
instrument in the hand of deity4  ,the  
total silence and inaction of           
,simois#cbd1 after the appeal of        
,scamander1 makes his impersonality more
 conspicuous1 than if he had  not been  
addressed4 ,again1 when the ,greeks have
 quitted the country1  ,apollo takes up 
the streams of the eight rivers that    

descend from ,ida1  including great     
,scamander1 like so many firemen's hose1
 and turns them  upon the rampart to    
destroy it4 ,we have no example in      
,homer of this  mechanical mode of      
handling ,greek rivers4    #cbd ,il4    
xxi4 #cjh4    ,the distinction of       
treatment seems to be due to a          
difference in the  mythology of the two 
countries as its probable source4 ,and  
,i find an  analogous method of         
proceeding with reference to the ,winds4
 ,in the  ,iliad they are deities1      
addressed in prayer1 and capable of     
receiving  offerings4 ,in the ,odyssey  
they are mere senseless instruments of  
nature1 under the control of olus4 ,but 
then in the ,iliad ,homer deals  with   
them for a ,greek purpose 7for ,i do not
 except the impersonation  of ,boreas1  
,il4 xx4 #bjc1 where the ,dardanid      
family is concerned73 it is  ,achilles  
who prays to them3 it is the ,greek     
war-horse that they beget4  ,in the     
,odyssey he introduces them amidst a    

system of foreign1 that is  to say1 of  
,phnician traditions4    ,turning now to
 other objects1 let us next see whether 
further inquiry  will confirm the       
suggestions1 which ,i have founded on   
the cases of ,gaia  and of ,scamander4  
,at the head of ,scamander are two      
fountains1 and hard by them are the     
cisterns1 which the women of the city   
frequent for washing clothes4  ,thus the
 spot is one of great notoriety2 yet    
there is not a word  of any deity       
connected with these fountains4 ,this is
 in remarkable  contrast with what we   
meet in ,homer's ,greek topography4     
,ulysses#cbe1  immediately on being     
aware that he has been disembarked in   
,ithaca1  prays to the ,nymphs of the   
grotto1 which was dedicated to them4    
,there  they had their bowls and vases1 
and their distaffs of stone1 with which 
they spun yarn of sea-purple#cbf4 ,and  
the harbour1 in which he was  landed1   
was the harbour of ,phorcys1 the old man
 of the sea#cbg4 ,so  again at the      

fountain1 where the people of the town  
drew water1 there  was an altar of the  
,nymphs that presided over it1 upon     
which all the  passers-by habitually    
made offerings#cbh4 ,nor could this be  
wonderful1  as all groves1 all          
fountains1 all meadows1 and probably all
 mountains1  had their proper indwelling
 ,nymphs according to the ,greek        
mythology2  while the ,rivers were      
impersonated as deities1 and the sea too
 teemed  at every point with            
preternatural life4    #cbe ,od4 xiii4  
#cef4    #cbf ,od4 xiii4 #ajc4    #cbg  
,ibid4 #if4    #cbh ,od4 xvii4 #bjh-aa4 
,trojan impersonations from ,nature     
rare4    ,homer has named many1 besides 
,scamander1 of the rivers of ,mount     
,ida2 but to none1 not even to ,simois1 
nor again to ,ida or ,gargarus          
themselves1 does he assign any of these 
local inhabitants4    ,there are1       
however1 three curious cases of ,nymphs 
assigned by him  to ,troas4 ,the  1     
called ,abarbaree1 bears two sons to    

,bucolion#cbi1 a spurious child of      
,laomedon2 and another nymph of  the    
same class bears ,satnius to ,enops#ccj4
 ,a third similar case is  recorded in  
the ,twentieth ,book#cca4 ,these would  
appear to be simple  cases of spurious  
births1 and to have no proper connection
 with  mythology4 ,for the mother of    
,satnius is called 2 a name never       
applied by ,homer to the ,immortals4    
,if1 however1 the ,nymphs be deities1   
they mark another difference between    
,greece and ,troy3 for ,homer never     
attributes lusts to the ,nymphs of the  
,greek ,olympus4    #cbi ,il4 vi4 #ba4  
#ccj ,il4 xiv4 #ddd4    #cca ,il4 xx4   
#chd4    ,amidst the whole detail of the
 ,iliad1 in one instance only have we   
,trojan ,nymphs conceived after the     
,greek fashion3 it is when those of  the
 mountains1 according to the speech of  
,andromache1 planted elms  round about  
the fresh-made tomb of her father       
,eetion4    ,as a general rule1 no      
,trojan refers in speech either to any  

legend1  or to any intermediate order1  
of supernatural beings4 ,destiny1 named 
by ,hecuba1 is1 as we have seen1 a      
metaphysical idea1 rather than a        
person#ccb4    #ccb ,il4 xxii4 #dce4    
xxiv4 #bji4    ,the very name of        
,olympus itself is a symbol of          
nationality2 and around  it are grouped 
the forms1 which either the popular     
belief1 or the  imagination of the      
,poet1 incorporated into the company of 
objects  for worship4 ,they form a body 
wonderfully brilliant and diversified4  
,they pervade the ,greek mind in such a 
way1 as to appear alike in its          
didactic1 and its most deeply pathetic  
moods4 ,the speech of ,phnix  gives us  
the ,parable of  and the 3 then the     
episode of  ,meleager1 which is founded 
on the wrath of ,diana3 but into this   
legend  itself1 inserted into the       
speech1 is again interpolated the       
separate  legend of ,apollo and         
,alcyone#ccc4 ,the speech of ,agamemnon1
 in the  ,nineteenth ,book1 affords us  

another example#ccd4 ,the case is the   
same  in the most pathetic strains4     
,achilles1 in the interview with ,priam1
  exhorts him to take food by the       
example of ,niobe1 and appends her      
tale#cce3 ,penelope1 praying to ,diana  
in the extremity of her grief1  recites 
the tale of the daughters of            
,pandareus#ccf4 ,even the ,suitor       
,antinous points his address to ,ulysses
 with the semi-divine legend of  the    
,centaurs and ,lapith#ccg4 ,everywhere1 
and from all the receptacles  of        
thought1 mythology overflows4 ,but in   
,troy the case is quite  different4     
,there the human mind never seems to    
resort to it1 either  for food or in    
sport4 ,we find deities1 priests1       
prophets1 ceremonial1  all apparently in
 abundance3 in all of these1 except the 
first1 the  ,greeks are much poorer2 but
 each of them1 in and for himself1 is in
  contact with an entire supernatural   
world1 the creation of luxuriant  and   
energetic fancy1 which ranges alike over

 the spheres of sense and  of           
metaphysics4 ,andromache1 virtuous and  
sincere as ,penelope1 has no  such      
mental wealth2 her thoughts1 and those  
of ,hecuba and ,priam1 both  ordinarily 
and also on the death of ,hector1 are   
limited to topics the  most obvious and 
primitive1 with which society1 however  
undeveloped1 is  familiar4 ,from this   
limitation1 and from the nature of those
 legends  respecting deities1 of which  
the scene is laid in ,troas1 it seems   
reasonable to believe that the          
mythological dress is of purely         
,hellenic  origin4    #ccc ,il4 ix4     
#eei4    #ccd ,il4 xix4 #ij-acc4    #cce
 ,il4 xxiv4 #fjb-ag4    #ccf ,od4 xx4   
#ff4    #ccg ,od4 xxi4 #bie-cjd4    ,the
 dedication to ,jupiter of the lofty and
 beautiful chestnut-tree#cch  near      
,troy1 is in correspondence with the oak
 of ,dodona1 and indicates  quite a     
different train of thought from those   
which conceived the  ,greek ,olympus4   
,it is probably both a fragment of      

nature-worship in  its ,oriental form1  
and likewise a portion of the external  
and ritual  development1 in which the   
religion of ,troy was evidently prolific
  enough4 ,and in this case the negative
 evidence of ,homer is especially       
strong2 because the great number of the 
particular spots on the plain  of ,troy1
 which he has had occasion to           
commemorate1 constitute a much  more    
minute topography there1 than he has    
given us on any other scene1  not even  
excepting ,ithaca3 so that he could     
hardly have avoided showing  us1 had it 
been the fact1 that the religion of     
,troy entered largely  into what ,mr4   
,grote has so well called #8the         
religious and personal  interpretation  
of nature4'    #cch ,il4 v4 #fig1 and   
vii4 #fj4    ,next as to those divine   
persons of the second order1 who are so 
abundantly presented to us by ,homer in 
relations with the ,greeks4 ,iris       
visits the ,trojans thrice4 ,first1 she 
repairs to their ,assembly in the  form 

of ,polites4 ,secondly1 she appears to  
,helen1 as her sister-in-law  ,laodice4 
,she delivers her message to ,priam in  
the ,twenty-fourth ,book  without       
disguise2 perhaps because it was        
necessary#cci that he should  have the  
assistance of a deity seen and heard1 in
 order to embolden  him for a seemingly 
desperate enterprise4 ,but there is     
nothing in his  account of the          
interview1 which requires us to suppose 
that the person  ,iris was known to     
,priam4 ,the expression he uses is#cdj  
#cci ,il4 xxiv4 #bbj4    #cdj ,il4 xxiv4
 #bbc1 #aid4            4    ,and again1
 he calls her an ,olympian messenger#cda
 from ,jupiter4  ,another passage       
carries the argument a point further1 by
 showing us  that the appearance of this
 benignant deity was alarming1 doubtless
  because it was strange1 to him4 ,when 
she arrives1 she addresses him  very    
softly   7#agj73 but he is seized with  
dread2    #cda ,sup4 p4 #aee4           
an emotion1 which ,i do not remember to 

have found recorded on any  apparition  
of a divinity to a ,greek hero4         
,poverty of ,trojan ,mythology4    ,thus
 far then it would appear probable1 that
 in the ,trojan mythology  the list of  
major deities was more contracted than  
in ,greece1 and that  the minor deities 
were almost unknown4 ,but perhaps the   
most marked  difference between the two 
systems is in the copious development on
 the  ,greek side of the doctrine of a  
future state1 compared with the jejune  
and shadowy character of that belief    
among the ,trojans4    ,jejune doctrine 
of a ,future ,state4    ,in the         
narrative of the sack of ,hypoplacian   
,thebes1 and again in her  first lament 
over ,hector1 ,andromache does indeed   
speak of her husband1  father1 and      
brothers1 respectively1 as having       
entered the dwellings of  ,aides#cdb4   
,but these references are slight1 and it
 may almost be said  perfunctory4 ,not  
another word is said either in the      
,twenty-second ,book1  or in the whole  

of the ,twenty-fourth1 about the shade  
of ,hector4    #cdb ,il4 vi4 #dbb4 xxii4
 #dhb4    ,when ,pope closed his ,iliad 
with the line      ,and peaceful slept  
the mighty ,hector's shade1    it       
probably did not occur to him1 that he  
was not merely altering  the poetry of  
,homer1 but falsifying also his picture 
of the ,trojan  religion2 which had     
indeed its funeral rites1 but so        
described as to  leave us no means of   
concluding1 that they were in any degree
 directed  to procuring the comfort and 
tranquillity of the dead4 ,the silence  
observed about the spirit of ,hector is 
remarkable from the contrast  with the  
case of ,patroclus4 ,both are mourned   
for passionately1 by  those who love    
them best3 but the shade of ,patroclus  
is the great  figure in the mourning of 
,achilles1 while ,hector's existence    
after  death is but once owned1 faintly 
and in the abstract4 ,nor1 as we  see   
from the ,odyssey1 was this homage to   
the shade of ,patroclus a  thing        

occasional or accidental4 ,we there meet
 the souls of all the  great departed of
 the ,war1 in the under-world4 ,that    
region1 opened  to ,ulysses1 had        
formerly been opened to ,hercules4 ,even
 the dissolute  ,suitors cannot be      
dismissed from life1 without our being  
called to  accompany their spirits past 
the ,leucadian rock to the place of     
their  destination4 ,the warriors slain 
in battle with the ,cicones are thrice  
invoked by the survivors#cdc4 ,nay      
,elpenor himself1 most insignificant  of
 men1 is duly brought before us in his  
last home#cdd4    #cdc ,od4 ix4 #fe4    
#cdd ,od4 xi4 #ea4    ,we are1 however1 
enabled to open another chapter of      
evidence1 that  bears upon this         
interesting subject4 ,it is obtained    
through the medium  of the oaths of the 
two nations respectively4    ,displacing
 the elemental powers from their        
ordinary religion1 the  ,greeks made    
them gaolers1 as it were1 of the        
under-world1 and gave  them this for    

their proper business4 ,hence they are  
paraded freely in  the ,greek oaths#cde4
 ,agamemnon before the ,pact invokes1   
with ,jupiter1  the ,sun1 the ,rivers1  
the ,earth1 the infernal gods4 ,in the  
,nineteenth  book1 the same2 omitting   
however the ,rivers1 and naming1 instead
 of  simply describing1 the ,erines#cdf4
 ,in the ,fourteenth ,iliad1 ,juno      
apparently swears by ,styx1 ,earth1     
,sea1 and the infernal gods#cdg4 ,in    
the ,fifteenth1 by ,earth1 ,heaven1     
,styx1 the head of ,jupiter1 and their  
marriage bed#cdh4 ,calypso swears1 for  
the satisfaction of ,ulysses1  and      
according to his fashion as the         
imponens1 by ,earth1 ,heaven1 and       
,styx#cdi4 ,thus the ,greeks made an    
effective use of these earthy and       
material divinities1 in connection with 
their large development of the  ,future 
,state1 by installing them as the       
official punishers of perjury4  ,now the
 ,trojans appear1 from what we have     
seen1 to have worshipped this  class of 

deities2 but as super-terranean1 not as 
sub-terranean gods4  ,had they not been 
thus worshipped at the least1 ,agamemnon
 could not  have included them in the   
,invocation of the ,pact1 where he had  
to act  and speak for both nations#cej4 
,and while we see they sacrificed lambs 
to ,earth and ,sun1 still we have a     
curious proof that these deities were   
not worshipped in ,troy as avengers of  
perjury4 ,for when in the ,tenth  ,book 
,hector swears to ,dolon1 he invokes no 
divinity1 except ,jupiter  the          
loud-thundering husband of ,juno4 ,there
 may1 as we have seen here1  be a faint 
reference to the earthy character of the
 ,trojan ,juno2 but  there is no        
well-developed system1 which uses a     
particular order of  powers for the     
punishment of perjurors in a future     
state4 ,we can hardly  doubt that this  
was primarily because the doctrine of   
the ,future ,state  was wanting in deep 
and practical roots1 so far as we can   
see1 among  the ,trojans4 ,a            

materializing religion seems essentially
 hostile to the  full development of    
such a doctrine4 ,and it is not a little
 curious to  find that in this same     
country1 where the oath was less solemn 
than  in ,greece1 and the life after    
death less a subject of practical and   
energetic belief1 perjury and breach of 
faith should have been1 as we  shall    
find they were1 so much more lightly    
regarded4    #cde ,il4 iii4 #bgf4       
#cdf ,il4 xix4 #beh4    #cdg ,il4 xiv4  
#bga-d1 #bgh1 #i4    #cdh ,il4 xv4      
#cf-dj4    #cdi ,od4 v4 #ahd4    #cej   
,il4 iii #bfd-ge4    ,for the sake of   
realizing to ourselves the contrast     
between the  religious system of ,troy1 
as we thus at least by glimpses seem  to
 perceive it1 and the wonderful         
imaginative richness of the             
preternatural system of the ,greeks as  
exhibited in ,homer1 it may be  well to 
point briefly to a few cases1 which are 
the more illustrative1  because they are
 the accessories1 and not the main      

pillars of the  system4 ,take1 then1 the
 personifications of all the forms of   
,terror in  the train of ,mars3 the     
transport1 by ,sleep and ,death1 of the 
body of  ,sarpedon to his home2 the     
tears of blood wept by ,jupiter2 the    
agitation  of the sea in sympathy with  
,neptune's warlike parade2 the dread of 
,aidoneus lest the crust of earth should
 give way under the tramp of  the gods  
in battle2 the mourning garb of ,thetis 
for the friend of her  son's youth2 the 
long train of ,nymphs1 rising from the  
depths of the  sea to accompany her1    
when she mounts to visit the sorrowing  
,achilles2  the redundant imagery of the
 nether world2 the inimitable tact with 
which he preserves the identity of his  
great chieftains when visited  below1   
but presents each under a deep tint of  
sadness4 ,all this makes  us feel not   
only that war1 policy1 and poetry1 are  
indissolubly blended  in the great mind 
of ,homer1 and of his race1 but that the
 harmonious  association of all these   

with the ,olympian religion was the work
 of a  vivifying imagination1 which was 
a peculiar and splendid part of their   
inheritance4    ,worship from the hills4
    ,there is a more marked trace in the
 ,trojan worship1 than is to be found   
among the ,greeks1 of the practice of   
the ,persian2 who paid homage to  the   
,deity1      ,to loftiest heights       
ascending1 from their tops1    ,with    
myrtle-wreathed tiara on his brow#cea4  
#cea ,wordsworth's ,excursion1 b4 iv4   
,for ,hector offered to ,jupiter        
sometimes 7which may be referred to a   
different cause7 on the highest ground  
of the city1 sometimes on the  tops of  
,ida#ceb3    #ceb ,il4 xxii4 #aga4      
1  '       4    ,at all events we may   
say1 that the only sign remaining in    
,greece of  this principle of worship1  
was one common to it with ,troy1 and    
seen in  the epithet  applied to        
,jupiter1 as well as in the association 
between the seats of the gods1 and the  
highest mountains4    ,on the other     

hand1 the religion of the ,trojans      
appears to have abounded  more in       
positive observance and hierarchical    
development1 than that of  the ,greeks4 
,this subject may be considered with    
reference to the several subjects  of   
#a4 ,temples4    #b4 ,endowments 774    
#c4 ,groves4    #d4 ,statues4    #e4    
,seers or ,prophets4    #f4 ,the        
,priesthood4    ,troy and ,greece as to 
,temples4    ,it has been debated1      
whether the ,greeks of the ,homeric age 
had yet  begun to erect temples to the  
gods4    ,the only case of a temple1    
distinctly and expressly mentioned as   
existing in ,greece1 is in the passage  
of the ,catalogue respecting the        
,athenians1 on which there hangs a      
slight shade of doubt4 ,but another     
passage1 though it does not contain the 
word1 seems to be conclusive as  to the 
thing4 ,it is that where ,achilles      
mentions treasures1 which lie  within   
the stony threshold of ,apollo at       
,pytho#cec3    #cec ,il4 ix4 #djd4 ,ld4 

,aberdeen's ,essay1 p4 #hf4      '      
1     1   4    ,though there may have   
been treasuries which were not temples1 
they  could hardly have been treasuries 
of the gods3 for in what sense could    
treasures be placed under their special 
protection1 unless by being  deposited  
in places which were peculiarly theirs8 
,in the ,odyssey1 ,eurylochus promises  
to build a temple to the ,sun1  on      
getting safe to ,ithaca#ced2 and        
,nausithous#cee1 the father of          
,alcinous1 built temples of the gods in 
,scheria4 ,now ,scheria was not         
,greece2 yet it was more akin to ,greece
 than to ,troy4    #ced ,od4 xii4 #cde4 
#cee ,od4 vi4 #aj2 vii4 #ef4    ,it is1 
on the other hand1 observable that1     
though under these  circumstances we can
 hardly deny that temples existed among 
the ,greeks1  yet we have no case in    
,homer of a temple actually erected to a
 purely  ,hellic deity4    ,our clear   
instances are1 in fact1 confined to the 
temples of ,minerva at  ,troy and       

,athens1 and the temples of ,apollo at  
,troy1 ,chryse#cef1 and  ,pytho3 and    
when we see old ,nestor performing      
solemn sacrifice in the  open air at    
,pylos1 himself1 too1 a reputed         
grandchild of ,neptune1 we  cannot      
suppose that it was usual with the      
,hellenes to worship ,hellenic  gods in 
temples4 ,it is possible1 though ,i     
would not presume to say  more1 that    
,apollo and ,minerva may have been the  
only deities to whom it  was usual in   
that age to erect temples1 whether in   
,greece or ,troy4    #cef ,il4 i4 #ci4  
,i must not1 however1 presume to dismiss
 this subject without noticing  the     
line1 ,od4 vi4 #bff2         ' 1   4    
,this verse is often interpreted as     
#8the place of assembly round about  the
 beautiful temple of ,neptune4' ,so     
,eustathius#ceg3 so one of the          
scholiasts3 the other interprets it to  
mean a  only4 ,nitzsch1  ,terpstra#ceh  
and ,crusius take it for a temple4 ,the 
word   without a substantive is a form  

found nowhere else in ,homer3 so that   
we have only the aid of reason to       
interpret it4 ,now1 this  was the  place
 of the public assemblies for business4 
,it is surely improbable1  that there   
could have been a roofed temple in the  
midst of it1 which  would interrupt both
 sight and hearing4 ,on the other hand1 
we know  that before ,troy the altars   
were in the  of the camp#cei3 and  this 
would cause no inconvenience4 ,it would 
seem then1 that   means not a covered   
temple1 but a consecrated spot1 in all  
likelihood  inclosed1 on which an altar 
stood4    #ceg ,in loc4    #ceh         
,terpstra1 c4 iii4 #d4    #cei ,il4 xi4 
#hjg1 #h4    ,i would not1 however1     
argue absolutely upon the word 1 in     
cases  where it is found without a word 
signifying to construct1 or other  signs
 marking it as a building4 ,for its     
resemblance to  raises  the question1   
whether it may not originally have meant
 the consecrated  land which passed     
under the name of 4 ,if so1 it may have 

had  this sense in a passage like that  
of the ,catalogue2 where the epithet    
joined to it 7   7 is one more suitable 
to the idea of a  piece of ground1 than 
of a temple2 though applicable by       
,homeric usage  to the latter too1 and  
though sufficiently supported by     4  
7,il4 v4 #eab47    #b4 ,the derivation  
of  is supposed1 by some philologists1  
to be  the same with that of templum4   
,and if so1 there is a marked analogy   
between this association and that of    
with 4 ,each would seem  to indicate the
 customs of a race1 which had both      
dedicated lands and  a priesthood1      
before it began to raise sacred         
edifices4    ,as to endowments in land4 
,as respects the endowment in land1     
which was sometimes consecrated to  the 
gods1 and was called 1 ,i presume we    
must conclude that1  wherever such an   
endowment was found1 there must have    
been a priesthood  supported by it4 ,for
 it is difficult to conceive what other 
purpose  could have been contemplated1  

at such a time1 by such an appropriation
  of land4 ,and again we may assume     
that1 where the  or glebe  existed1     
there would be if not a temple yet at   
least an altar1  something which        
localized the worship in the particular 
spot4    ,it is indeed much more easy to
 suppose a temple without a priesthood1 
than a glebe4 ,and here it is again     
remarkable1 that we meet with no        
example in ,homer of a glebe set apart  
for an exclusively ,hellic god4    ,the 
cases of glebes1 with which he supplies 
us1 are these3    #a4 ,of ,ceres1 a     
,pelasgian deity1 in ,thessaly1 ,il4 ii4
 #fif2    #b4 ,of ,jupiter1 on ,mount   
,gargarus in ,troas1 together with an   
altar1 ,il4  viii4 #dh2    #c4 ,of      
,venus1 a ,pelasgian deity1 at ,paphos  
in ,cyprus1 with an altar1 ,od4  viii4  
#cfb2    #d4 ,of ,spercheius in         
,thessaly1 with an altar1 ,il4 xxiii4   
#adh4 ,as  respects this case1 we have  
indeed found1 that the imaginative      
deification of ,nature appears to have  

been ,hellenic1 and not ,pelasgian4     
,still1 with the case of ,scamander     
before us1 and considering that we  find
 the  attached to ,spercheius in an     
eminently ,pelasgian  district1 while   
there is no example of such an          
inheritance for the  deities among the  
,hellic tribes1 it seems most rational  
to consider the  appropriation of it as 
belonging to the ,pelasgian period1 and 
as having  simply lived over into the   
,hellenic age4    #c4 ,the  of ,homer   
appears to be quite different from the 3
  and to mean rather what we should call
 a site for religious worship1 as       
distinguished from an endowment which1  
as such1 would produce the means  of    
subsistence4 ,such places were required 
by the spirit of ,hellenic  religion1 as
 much as by the ,pelasgian worship1 and 
we find them  accordingly disseminated  
as follows3 we have    #a4 ,in ,scheria1
 the  of ,minerva1 ,od4 vi4 #bia1 #cba4 
#b4 ,at ,ismarus1 the  of ,apollo1 in   
which dwelt ,maron the priest1  ,od4 ix4

 #bjj4    #c4 ,in ,ithaca1 the  of the  
,nymphs1 with an altar1 beside the      
fountain1 where all passers-by offered  
sacrifice1 ,od4 xvii4 #bje-aa4    #d4   
,in ,ithaca again1 the  of ,apollo1     
where public sacrifice was  performed in
 the city on his feast-day1 ,od4 xx4    
#bgg1 #h4    #e4 ,in ,botia1 ,onchestus 
is called the   of ,neptune1 ,il4 ii4   
#ejf4    #f4 ,the  of ,persephone are on
 the beach beyond ,oceanus1 and are     
composed of poplars and willows1 ,od4 x4
 #eji4    #g4 ,in the great ,assembly of
 gods before the ,theomachy1 all the    
,nymphs  are summoned1 who inhabit  as  
well as fountains and meadows1 ,il4  xx4
 #h4 ,but here the meaning includes any 
grove1 dedicated or not4 ,and  again1   
#h4 ,the attendants of ,circe are such  
as inhabit 1 groves1 or  fountains1 or  
rivers1 ,od4 x4 #cej4    ,thus the 1    
when used in the religious sense1 means 
a grove or  clump of trees1 sometimes   
with turf1 or with a fountain2 set apart
  as a place for worship1 and inhabited 

by a deity or his ministers1  yet quite 
distinct from a property capable of     
supporting them4 ,these  clumps appear  
to be so appropriated more commonly by  
,hellenic1 than by  ,pelasgian practice4
    ,as to statues of the gods4    #d4  
,we will take next the case of statues  
of the gods4    ,in the opinion of      
,mure1 the metaphor which represents    
human affairs  as resting in the lap of 
the gods 7  71 gives conclusive         
evidence that the custom of making      
statues of the deities prevailed  among 
the ,greeks4 ,i do not however see why  
this particular figure  should bear upon
 the question1 more than any of the     
other very numerous  representations    
which treat them as endowed with various
 members of the  body4 ,if this evidence
 be receivable at all1 it is            
overwhelming4 ,but  it is open to some  
doubt1 whether1 because gods are        
mentally conceived  according to the    
laws of anthropomorphism1 we may        
therefore assume that  they were also   

materially represented under the human  
form4    ,we have1 ,i believe1 no more  
than one single piece of direct evidence
 on  the subject1 and it is this2 that1 
when the ,trojan matrons carry their    
supplication to the temple of ,minerva1 
together with the offering of a  robe1  
they deposit it on her knees 7,il4 vi4  
#cjc71     4 ,this appears to be quite  
conclusive as to the existence of a     
statue of ,minerva at ,troy3 but it     
leaves the question entirely open1      
whether it was an ,hellenic1 as well as 
a ,pelasgian1 practice thus to          
represent the gods4    ,it is quite     
plain1 ,i think1 that the practice was  
not one congenial  or familiar to the   
mind of ,homer4 ,had it been so1 he     
surely must have  made large poetic use 
of it4 ,whereas on the contrary it is by
 inference  alone1 though certainly by  
unavoidable inference1 from language    
which  he uses without that intention1  
that we become assured even of their    
existence in his time4 ,he speaks1      

indeed1 more than once of placing   in  
temples1 or of suspending them in honour
 of the gods#cfj3  but our title to     
construe this of statues appears to be  
wholly  conjectural4    #cfj ,od4 iii4  
#dch4 xii4 #cdg4    ,it would seem      
inexplicable that a poet1 who enlarges  
with so much  power1 not only on the    
,shield of ,agamemnon and the ,arms of  
,achilles1  but on the ideal gis of     
,minerva1 the chariot of ,juno1 the bow 
of ,apollo1 and the metallic handmaids  
of ,vulcan1 should entirely  avoid      
description of the statues of the       
,olympian gods1 if they were  habitually
 before his eyes4    ,i have argued     
elsewhere that we see in ,homer the     
,hellenic1 not the  ,pelasgian1 mind4   
,and if it be so1 then ,i think we are  
justified  in associating with his      
,hellenism1 as one among many signs1    
this  remarkable silence4 ,the ritual   
and external development of ,pelasgian  
religion would delight in statues as    
visible signs3 the ,hellenic  idealism  

would not improbably eschew them4 ,hence
 we may treat this  practice of the     
period as belonging to ,pelasgian       
peculiarities4    ,if this be so1 then  
,i think we may pass on to the          
conclusion1 that the  original tendency 
to produce visible forms of the         
,divinity was not  owing to1 and formed 
no part of1 the efforts of the human    
imagination1  so largely developed in   
,homer1 to idealize religion1 and to    
beautify  the world by its imagery4     
,but1 on the contrary1 so far as we can 
judge  from ,homer1 it first prevailed  
among a race inclined to material and   
earthy conceptions in theology1 and from
 them it spread to others of  higher    
intelligence4 ,it was a crutch for the  
lameness of man1 and not  a wing for his
 upward aspirations4    ,and indeed1 as 
it appears to me1 this proposition is   
sustained even  by the past experience  
and present state of ,christendom4 ,when
 faith  was strongest1 images were      
unknown to the faithful4 ,nor is it art1

  which produces them3 it is merely a   
kind of corporal and mechanical         
imitation4 ,no considerable work of art 
is at this moment1 ,i believe1 in  any  
,christian country1 an object of        
religious worship4 ,the sentiment  which
 craves for material representations of 
such objects in order  to worship them1 
appears also commonly to exact that they
 should be  somewhat materialized4 ,the 
higher office of art1 in connection with
  devout affection1 seems to be that it 
should point our veneration  onwards1   
not arrest it4 ,it holds out the finger 
which we are to follow1  not the hand   
which we are to kiss4    ,as to ,seers  
or ,diviners4    ,the order of ,seers or
 ,diviners was common to ,greeks1       
,trojans1 and  probably we may add1 from
 its being known among the ,cyclopes1 to
 all  contemporary races4 ,it is        
singular that we should find here1 and  
not  among the priesthood1 the traces of
 caste1 or the hereditary descent  of   
the gift4 ,in all other points1 this    

function stands apart from  hierarchical
 developments4 ,for the 1 except as to  
his gift1  is like other men4 ,melampus 
engages to carry off oxen4 ,polypheides 
migrates upon a quarrel with his father4
 ,cleitus is the lover of  ,aurora4     
,theoclymenus has committed             
homicide#cfa4 ,teiresias is called  1 a 
lord or prince#cfb4 ,we do not know that
 ,calchas fought as  well as prophesied1
 but it may have been so1 since         
,helenus1 the son  of ,priam1 and       
,eunomus1 the ,mysian leader1 were seers
 or augurs not  less than warriors4 ,but
 the most instructive specimen of this  
order  among the ,greeks is the ,suitor 
,leiodes#cfc1 who was also 1  or        
inspector of sacrifices1 to the body of 
,suitors4 ,now ,ulysses had1  in        
consideration of a ransom1 spared ,maron
 the priest of ,apollo at  ,ismarus#cfd4
 ,but1 far from recognising in the      
professional character  of ,leiodes a   
title to immunity1 he answers the plea  
with characteristic  and deadly         

repartee4 ,and this1 notwithstanding    
that ,leiodes was1 as  we learn1        
distinguished from the rest of the      
,suitors by the general  decency of his 
conduct4    #cfa ,od4 xv4 #bbd et seqq4 
#cfb ,od4 xi4 #aej4    #cfc ,od4 xxii4  
#caj-bi4 xxi4 #add4    #cfd ,od4 ix4    
#aig-bja4    ,the  apparently inspected 
sacrifices1 but did not offer them2  for
 this character is clearly distinguished
 in the ,iliad#cfe from  that of the    
priest4 ,indeed1 the word  in ,homer    
appears properly  to apply to those     
minor offices of sacrifice1 which did   
not involve  the putting to death of    
victims2 as in ,il4 ix4 #bai1 where1 it 
may be  observed1 the function is not   
performed by the principal person1 but  
is deputed by ,achilles to ,patroclus4  
,the inspection of slain animals  would 
probably stand in the same category1    
among divine offices1 as the            
interpretation of other signs and       
portents4    #cfe ,il4 xxiv4 #bba4      
,the members of this class are1 upon the

 whole1 as broadly distinguished  from  
the priests in ,homer1 as are the       
prophets of the ,old ,testament  from   
the ,levitical priesthood4    ,they were
 called by the general name of 1 or by  
other names1  some of them more limited3
 such as 1 1 1  4 ,they sometimes       
interpreted from signs and omens2       
sometimes1 as in ,il4 vi4 #hf1 and vii4 
#dd1 without them4    ,the diffusion of 
the gift among the royal house of ,troy1
 where  ,polydamas had it as well as    
,helenus1 and possibly also ,hector1 is 
less  marked than the great case of the 
family of ,melampus4 ,the augur was  in 
all respects a citizen1 while possessed 
of a peculiar endowment3  and the #cff  
mentioned in the invocation of          
,achilles1 whether  they were the royal 
house1 or persons dispersed through the 
community1  evidently formed a more     
conspicuous object among the ,helli than
 we find  in any ,pelasgian race4       
,again2 in ,greece we find the oracles  
of ,delphi  and ,delos1 as well as of   

,dodona2 but there is no similar organ  
for the  delivery of the divine will    
reported to us in ,troy4    #cff ,il4   
xvi4 #bce4    ,as to the ,priesthood4   
,we come now to the last and most       
important point connected with the      
outward development of the religious    
system1 that of the priesthood3  and    
here ,i shall endeavour to describe     
distinctly the evidence with  regard to 
both nations4 ,first1 let us consider   
the case of priesthood  as it respects  
the ,greeks4    ,we have at least one   
instance before us in the ,iliad1 where 
a combined  religious action of ,greeks 
and ,trojans is presented to us4 ,in the
  ,third ,book1 ,priam comes from ,troy 
to an open space between the armies1    
and meets ,agamemnon and ,ulysses4 ,the 
honour of actually offering  the        
sacrifice is allotted to the ,greeks4   
,no priest appears2 and the  function is
 performed by the ,king1 ,agamemnon4 ,it
 is therefore natural  to suppose that  
the ,greeks have with them in ,troas no 

sacrificing  priest4 ,on every occasion1
 the ,greek ,sovereign offers sacrifice 
for  himself and for the army4 ,so also 
do the soldiery#cfg at large for        
themselves2    #cfg ,il4 ii4 #djj4      
'    4    ,there was an altar#cfh for   
the very purpose in the part of the     
camp appropriated for ,assemblies2 a    
fact which1 though it does not          
demonstrate1 accords with the union of  
the regal and sacerdotal  functions4    
,nor can we account for the absence of  
priests from the  camp1 on the same     
principle as for that of bards2 since   
poems  were a luxury1 but sacrifices a  
necessity4 ,and we find ,calchas        
representing the class of religious     
functionaries that the ,greek nation    
did acknowledge2 namely1 the ,seers1 who
 interpreted the divine will1  without  
any fixed ministry belonging to any     
particular place1 although  the gift was
 generally derived from ,apollo1 as one 
among his peculiar  attributes4    #cfh 
,il4 xi4 #hjg1 #h4    ,in the remarkable

 passage1 which enumerates for us the   
principal  trades and professions of    
,greece in the heroic age#cfi1 we find  
mentioned the prophet1 the physician1   
the artificer1 the divinely  prompted   
bard2 but not the priest4 ,yet1 had such
 an order existed1 it  could not well1  
on account of its importance1 have been 
omitted4 ,for in  truth this enumeration
 is1 as we have before seen1 nearly     
exhaustive1  as applied to an age when  
there was no professional soldier1 when 
the  husbandman1 fisherman1 or herd1    
could not be called a 1  for he had no  
relation to the public1 and when        
commerce was confined  to foreigners    
like the ,phnicians1 or pirates like the
 ,taphians1 and  formed no part of the  
business of the settled communities of  
,greece4    #cfi ,od4 xvii4 #chd-f4     
,on the other hand1 in the ,legend of   
,phnix concerning ,meleager1 we  have a 
notice of priests as having existed at  
that time in tolia4 ,the  embassy1 which
 was sent to conciliate ,meleager1      

consisted of elders and  of the best1 or
 most distinguished1 among the priests2 
1     4 ,il4 ix4 #egd4    ,now1 the word
 1 ,i apprehend1 indicates an ,hellenic 
race1 for  ,tydeus is 2 and it is worth 
notice1 that in this passage the  elders
 are called tolian1 but not the priests4
    ,again1 this event took place during
 the reign of neus1 two generations     
before the ,trojan war#cgj4 ,at that    
time the ,hellenic influence was  quite 
recent in ,middle and in ,southern      
,greece4 ,the family of ,sisyphus  had  
indeed arrived there at least two       
generations before1 but it  disappeared1
 and it had never risen to great power4 
,it was the date  of ,augeias1 of       
,neleus1 and of ,pelops2 all of them1   
apparently1 the  first of their         
respective families in ,peloponnesus4   
,so again the name  ,portheus1 assigned 
to the father of neus1 probably marks   
him as the  first ,hellenic occupant of 
the country4    #cgj ,il4 ix4 #ece4     
,plato observes1 that new settlers might

 naturally remain for a time  without   
religious institutions#cga of their own4
    #cga ,legg4 vi4 #g4    ,the         
,hellenes1 then1 had recently come into 
tolia at the time1 and  even on this    
ground were less likely to have had     
priests of their own  institution4 ,but 
it is not to be supposed that1 finding a
 hierarchy  among the ,pelasgian tribes1
 devoted to the worship of such deities 
7,minerva and ,apollo for example7 as   
they themselves acknowledged1 they      
would extirpate such a body4 ,the most  
probable supposition is1 that  it would 
continue in all cases for a time4 ,the  
person of ,chryses1  the priest of      
,apollo1 was respected1 at least for the
 moment1 even  by ,agamemnon#cgb in his 
displeasure4 ,fearless of his threats1  
the  injured priest immediately appealed
 to his god for aid4 ,we cannot doubt   
that interests thus defended would be   
generally left intact4 ,still1  as      
priests were1 in the language of        
political economy1 unproductive         

labourers1 and as they seem to have held
 their offices not by descent  but by   
election1 we can easily perceive a road1
 other than that of  violence1 to the   
extinction of the order among a people  
that set no  store by its services4     
#cgb ,il4 i4 #bh4    ,there is yet      
another place1 in which the name is     
mentioned among the  ,greeks4 ,it is in 
the ,assembly of the ,first ,iliad1 held
 while the plague  is raging4 ,achilles 
says1 #8,let us inquire of some prophet1
 or priest1  or interpreter of dreams   
7for dreams too are from ,jupiter71 who 
will  tell us1 why ,apollo is so much   
exasperated#cgc4' ,but the allusion here
  seems plainly to be to ,chryses1 who  
had himself visited the camp1 and  had  
appeared with the insignia of his       
priestly office in a previous  ,assembly
 of the ,greeks#cgd4 ,being now in      
possession of the whole open  country1  
they of course had it in their power to 
consult either him or  any other ,trojan
 priest not within the walls4 ,we       

cannot1 therefore1  argue from this     
passage1 that priesthood was a          
recognised ,hellenic  institution at the
 period4    #cgc ,il4 i4 #fb4    #cgd   
,il4 i4 #ae4    ,in the ,odyssey1 we    
find ,menelaus engaged in the solemn    
rites of a great  nuptial feast2 and    
,nestor in like manner offering         
sacrifice to ,neptune1  his titular     
ancestor1 in the presence of thousands  
of the people4 ,in  neither of these    
cases is there any reference to a       
priest3 and on the  following day       
,nestor with his sons offers a new      
sacrifice1 of which the  fullest details
 are given4    ,again1 had there been   
priests among the ,homeric ,greeks1 it  
is hardly  possible but that we must    
have had some glimpse of them in        
,ithaca1  where the order of the        
community and the whole course of ,greek
 life are  so clearly laid open4    ,an 
important piece of negative evidence to 
the same effect is afforded  by the     
great invocation of ,achilles in the    

,sixteenth ,iliad4 ,it will be          
remembered1 that we there find the rude 
highland tribe of the ,helli in         
possession of the country where ,dodona 
was seated1 together with the  worship  
of the ,pelasgian ,jupiter2 and         
themselves apparently exercising  the   
ministry of the god4 ,now that ministry 
was not priesthood1 but  interpretation2
 for they are 1 not #cge4    #cge ,il4  
xvi4 #bce4    ,it therefore appears     
clear1 that the ,hellenic tribes of     
,homer's day did  not acknowledge a     
professional priesthood of their own2   
that there was  no priest in the ,greek 
armament before ,troy2 that the priest  
was not  a constituent part of ordinary 
,greek communities3 and that1 if he was 
any where to be found in the ,homeric   
times1 it was as a relic1 and in        
connection with the old ,pelasgian      
establishments of the country4    ,at a 
later period1 when wealth and splendour 
had increased1 and when  the increased  
demand for them extended also to        

religious rites1 the  priesthood became 
a regular institution of ,greece4 ,it is
 reckoned by  ,aristotle1 in the        
,politics1 among the necessary elements 
of a ,state2  while he seems also to    
regard it as the natural employment of  
those1  who are disqualified by age from
 the performance of more active duties  
to the public1 either in war or in      
council4 ,the priest was1 even in       
,homer's time1 a distinctly privileged  
person4 ,like other people1 he  married 
and had children3 but his burdens were  
not of the heaviest4 ,he  would live    
well on sacrifices1 and the proceeds of 
glebe-land3 and it  is curious1 that    
,maron the priest had the very best wine
 of which we  hear in the poems#cgf4    
,the priest formed no part of the       
teaching power  of the community1 either
 in this or in later ages4 ,dllinger    
makes the  observation#cgg1 that        
,plutarch points out as the sources of  
religious  instruction three classes of 
men1 among whom the priests are not even

  included4 ,they are 7#a7 the poets1   
7#b7 the lawgivers1 and 7#c7 the        
philosophers3 to whom ,dio ,chrysostom  
adds the painters and sculptors4  ,so   
that ,isocrates may well observe1 that  
the priesthood is anybody's  affair4    
,plato#cgh in the  requires his priests1
 and their parents  too1 to be free from
 blemish and from crime3 but carefully  
appoints  a separate class of 1 to      
superintend and interpret the laws  of  
religion2 as well as stewards1 who are  
to have charge of the  consecrated      
property4    #cgf ,od4 ix4 #bje4    #cgg
 ,dllinger1 ,heid4 u4 ,jud4 iv4 #a4     
#cgh ,plat4 ,legg4 vi4 #g4 7ii4 #gei47  
,the priest of the heroic age would     
however appear to have slightly  shared 
in the office of the 1 although the  had
 no special  concern with the offering  
of sacrifice4 ,the inspection of victims
 would  fall to priests1 almost of      
course1 in a greater or a less degree2  
and  there is some evidence before us1  
that they were entitled to interpret    

the divine will4 ,it is furnished by the
 speech of ,achilles#cgi1 which  appears
 to imply some professional capacity of 
this kind3 and1 for  ,troy at least1 by 
the declaration#chj of ,priam1 who      
mentions priests  among the persons1    
that might have been employed to report 
to him a  communication from heaven4    
#cgi ,il4 i4 #fb4    #chj ,il4 xxiv4    
#bb4    ,we have now seen the case of   
priesthood among the ,greeks4 ,with the 
,trojans it is quite otherwise4 ,we are 
introduced1 at the very beginning  of   
the ,iliad1 to ,chryses#cha the priest  
77 of ,apollo4 ,in the  fifth ,iliad we 
have a ,trojan#chb1 ,dares1 who is      
priest of ,vulcan2 and  we have also    
,dolopion1 who1 as #chc of the          
,scamander1 filled  an office apparently
 equivalent4 ,chryses the priest is also
 called an  #chd2 and though1 on the    
other hand1 it was the duty of ,leiodes 
in the ,odyssey to offer#che prayer on  
behalf of the ,suitors1 yet  he is never
 termed 4 ,in the ,sixth ,iliad appears 

,theano1 wife  of ,antenor1 and         
priestess of ,minerva#chf4 ,and in the  
,sixteenth1 we  have ,onetor#chg1 priest
 of ,idan ,jupiter4 ,again1 while ,eumus
 in the  ,odyssey does not recognise the
 priest among the ,greek professions1   
but  substitutes the prophet1 ,priam1 on
 the contrary1 in the ,twenty-fourth    
,iliad1 says he would not have obeyed   
the injunction to go to the  ,greek camp
 if conveyed to him by any mortal1 of   
such as are in these  professions#chh1  
#cha ,il4 i4 #bc4    #chb ,il4 v4 #i4   
#chc ,ibid4 #gf4    #chd ,il4 i4 #aa4   
#che ,od4 xxii4 #cbb4    #chf ,il4 vi4  
#bih4    #chg ,il4 xvi4 #fjd4    #chh   
,il4 xxiv4 #bba4         1 1  1    where
 it might be questioned1 whether  and   
are different  persons1 or whether he   
speaks of the  2 but in either  case it 
is equally clear that he names the      
priest1 1 apart from  either4 ,the      
speech of ,mentes1 in ,od4 i4 #bjb1     
probably suffices to draw  the line     
between the  and the 4    ,it further   

appears that among the allies of ,troy1 
as well as in the  country1 the priest  
was known2 for in the ,ninth ,odyssey we
 find  ,maron1 son of ,euanthes the     
priest of ,apollo at ,ismarus#chi1 among
  the ,cicones4 ,the city they inhabited
 was sacked by ,ulysses on his way  from
 ,troy1 and on this account we must     
infer that1 as they were allies  of     
,troy 7,il4 ii4 #hdf71 so likewise they 
belonged to the family of  ,pelasgian   
tribes4    #chi ,od4 ix4 #aif-i4    ,to 
these priests1 personally engaged in the
 service of the deities1 a  personal    
veneration1 and an exemption from       
military service1 appear to  have       
attached1 which were not enjoyed by the 
4 ,this is plainly  developed in the    
case of ,chryses4 ,the offence is not   
that of carrying  off a captive1 for    
there could be no guilt in the act1 as  
such matters  were then considered1 but 
rather honour3 it is the insult offered 
to  ,apollo in the person of his        
servant1 by subjecting his daughter to  

the  common lot of women of all ranks1  
including the highest1 that draws  down 
a frightful vengeance on the army4 ,so1 
again1 the priest never  fought2        
,dolopion1 ,dares1 and ,onetor1 all     
become known to us through  their having
 sons in the army1 whose parentage is   
mentioned4 ,and as  to the priest       
,maron1 ,ulysses says he was spared from
 a feeling of awe  towards the god1 in  
whose wooded grove1 or portion1 he      
resided#cij3    #cij ,ibid4 #aii-bja4   
'                4    ,but it does not  
appear that the 1 though he was endowed 
with a  particular gift1 bore1 in       
respect of it1 such a character1 as     
would  suffice to separate him from     
ordinary civil duties1 and to make him1 
like the priest1 a clearly privileged   
person4    ,upon the other hand1 we     
should not omit to notice that we are   
told  in the case of ,theano1 though she
 was of high birth and the wife of      
,antenor1 that she was made priestess by
 the ,trojan people4 ,the same  fact is 

probably indicated in the case of       
,dolopion1 who1 we are told1  had been  
made or appointed  to ,scamander 7  ,il4
 v4  #gg74 ,and the appearance of the   
sons of priests in the field appears to 
show1 that there was nothing like       
hereditary succession in the order2     
which was replenished1 we may probably  
conclude1 by selections having  the     
authority or the assent of the public   
voice4 ,thus the body was  popularly    
constituted1 and was in thorough harmony
 with the national  character4 ,it does 
not1 on that account1 constitute a less 
important  element in the community1 but
 rather the reverse4    ,now1 whatever  
might be the other moral and social     
consequences of  having in the community
 an order of men set apart to maintain  
the  solemn worship of the gods1 it must
 evidently have exercised a very        
powerful influence in the maintenance of
 abundance and punctuality in  ritual   
observances4 ,there can be no doubt1    
that the priest lived by  the altar     

which he served1 and lived the better in
 proportion as it  was better supplied4 
,besides animals1 cakes of flour too1   
and wine1  were necessary for the due   
performance of his office#cia2 and in   
the  case of ,maron this wine was so    
good1 that the priest kept it secret    
from his servants1 and that it has drawn
 forth the ,poet's most genial          
praise#cib3    #cia ,il4 i4 #deh1 #dfb4 
#cib ,od4 ix4 #bje4      1 1      ,he   
was rich too2 for he had men and women  
servants in his house4 ,so  was ,dares1 
the priest of ,vulcan#cic4 ,so probably 
was ,dolopion1 priest  of ,scamander2 at
 any rate his station was a high one2 as
 we see from  the kind of respect paid  
to him 7 '   72 and we have  another    
sign in both these cases of the station 
of the parents1 from  the position of   
the sons in the army1 which is not among
 the common  soldiery 771 but among the 
notables4 ,the sons of ,dares fight in  
a chariot2 and the name of ,hypsenor1   
son of ,dolopion1 by its etymology      

indicates high birth4    #cic ,il4 v4   
#i1 #gh4    ,comparative observance of  
,sacrifice4    ,in point of fact the    
,homeric poems exhibit to us1 together  
with the  existence and influence of a  
priestly order1 a very marked           
distinction  in respect to sacrifice    
between the ,trojans and the ,greeks3 a 
state of  things in entire conformity   
with what we might thus expect4    ,in  
no single instance do we hear of a      
,trojan chief1 who had been  niggardly  
in his banquets to the gods4 ,hector#cid
 is expressly  praised for his          
liberality in this respect by ,jupiter1 
and neas  by ,neptune#cie4 ,the         
commendation1 however1 extends to the   
whole  community4 ,in the ,olympian     
,assembly of the ,fourth ,book1 ,jupiter
 says  that1 of all the cities inhabited
 by men1 ,troy is to him the dearest2   
for there his altar never lacked the    
sacrifice1 the libation and the  savoury
 reek1 which are the portion of the     
gods#cif3    #cid ,il4 xxii4 #agj4 xxiv4

 #afh4    #cie ,il4 xx4 #bih4    #cif   
,il4 iv4 #dh4             1            4
    ,but the ,greeks1 thus destitute of 
priests1 often fail1 as we might        
expect1 in the regularity of their      
religious rites4 ,ulysses#cig1  indeed1 
is in this1 as in all the points of     
excellence1 unimpeachable4  ,but his was
 not the rule of all4 neus1 two         
generations before the  ,troica1 while  
sacrificing to the other deities1 either
 forgot or did  not think fit 7 '   7 to
 sacrifice to ,diana#cih2  hence the    
devastations of the ,calydonian boar4   
,nor is his the only case  in point4    
#cig ,od4 i4 #fa4    #cih ,il4 ix4 #ebc4
    ,the account given by ,nestor to    
,telemachus in the ,third ,odyssey is   
somewhat obscure in this particular4 ,he
 says that1 after the ,greeks  embarked1
 the deity dispersed them2 and that then
 ,jupiter ordained the  misfortunes of  
their return1 since they were not all   
intelligent and  righteous#cii4 ,it     
appears to be here intimated1 that the  

,greeks in  the first flush of victory  
forgot the influence of heaven2 and that
 an  omission of the proper sacrifices  
was the cause of the first dispersion4  
#cii ,od4 iii4 #aca4    ,after they     
collect again in ,troas1 the ,atreid    
brothers differ1 as  ,menelaus proposes 
to start again1 and ,agamemnon to       
remain1 and offer  sacrifices in order  
to appease ,minerva2 but1 as ,nestor    
adds1 the  deities are not so soon      
appeased4 ,agamemnon1 therefore1 seems  
to have  been too late with his         
celebration2 and ,menelaus1 again1 to   
have  omitted it altogether4    ,the    
party who side with ,menelaus offer     
sacrifices on their arrival at          
,tenedos1 seemingly to repair the former
 error3 but ,jupiter is incensed1  and  
causes them to fall out anew among      
themselves4 ,a portion of them  return  
once more to ,agamemnon#djj4    #djj    
,ibid4 #afd4    ,menelaus finds his way 
to ,lesbos1 and then sails as far as    
,malea4 ,here  he encounters a storm1   

and with part of his ships he gets to   
,egypt3  where he is again detained by  
the deities1 because he did not offer up
  the proper hecatombs#dja4 ,such       
remissness is the more remarkable1      
because ,menelaus certainly appears to  
be one of the most virtuous  characters 
in the ,greek host4    #dja ,ibid4 #ace4
    ,the course1 however1 of the siege  
itself affords a very marked  instance1 
in which the whole body of the ,greeks  
was guilty of omitting  the regular     
sacrifices proper to be used in the     
inauguration of a great  undertaking4   
,in the hasty construction of the trench
 and rampart1 they  apparently forgot   
the hecatombs#djb4 ,neptune immediately 
points out  the error in the ,olympian  
,court2 and uses it in aid of his       
displeasure  at a work1 which he thinks 
will eclipse the wall of ,troy1 executed
  for ,laomedon by himself in           
conjunction with ,apollo4 ,jupiter      
forthwith  agrees#djc1 that after the   
siege he shall destroy it4 ,and the     

,poet1  returning to the subject at the 
commencement of the ,twelfth ,book1     
observes that the work could not last1  
because it was constructed  without     
enlisting in its favour the good will of
 the ,immortals#djd4  ,this omission of 
the ,greeks is the more characteristic  
and remarkable1  because the moment when
 they erected the rampart was a moment  
of  apprehension1 almost of distress4   
#djb ,il4 vii4 #dej4    #djc ,ibid4     
#dei4    #djd ,il4 xii4 #c1 #i4         
,thus1 then1 it appears that1 as a      
nation1 the ,trojans were much  more    
given to religious observances of a     
positive kind1 than the  ,greeks4 ,they 
were1 like the ,athenians#dje at a later
 epoch1  4 ,and1 again1 as between one  
,greek and another1  there is no doubt  
that the good are generally1 though not 
invariably1  scrupulous in this respect1
 and the bad commonly careless4 ,thus   
much  is implied particularly in ,od4   
iii4 #aca1 as well as conclusively shown
  in the general order of the ,odyssey4 

,but1 as between the two nations1  we   
cannot conceive that the ,poet had any  
corresponding intention4  ,although a   
more scrupulous formality in religion   
marks the ,trojans  than the ,greeks1   
and although in itself1 and cteris      
paribus1 this  may be the appropriate   
sign of piety1 yet it is a sign only2 as
 a sign  it may be made a substitute1   
and1 as a substitute1 it becomes the    
characteristic of gisthus and           
,autolycus1 no less than it is of ,eumus
  and ,ulysses4 ,as between the two     
nations1 the difference is evidently    
associated with other differences in    
national character and morality4  ,we   
must look therefore for broader grounds1
 upon which to form an  estimate of the 
comparative virtue of the two nations1  
than either the  populousness of        
,olympus on the one side1 or the array  
of priests and  temples on the other4   
#dje ,acts xvii4 #bb4    ,nowhere do the
 signs of historic aim in ,homer seem to
 me more evident1  than in his very     

distinct delineations of national       
character on  the ,greek and the ,trojan
 part respectively4 ,but this is a      
general  proposition2 and it must be    
understood with a certain reservation as
 to  details4    ,two modes of handling 
for ,greece and ,troy4    ,it does not  
appear to me that ,homer has studied the
 more minute points  of consistency in  
motive and action among the ,trojans of 
the poem1 in  the same degree as among  
the ,greeks4 ,he has 7so to speak7      
manuvred  them as subsidiary figures1   
with a view to enhancing and setting    
off those in whom he has intended and   
caused the principal interest  to       
centre2 not so as to destroy or diminish
 effects of individual  character1 but  
so as to give to the collective or joint
 action on the  ,trojan side a          
subordinate and ministerial function in 
the machinery  of the poem4 ,as ,homer  
sung to ,greeks1 and ,greeks were his   
judges and  patrons as well as his      
theme1 nay rather as his heart and soul 

were  ,greek1 so on the ,greek side the 
chain of events is closely knit2 if  its
 direction changes1 there is an adequate
 cause1 as in the vehemence  of         
,achilles1 or the vacillation of        
,agamemnon4 ,but he did not sing to     
,trojans2 and so1 among the ,trojans of 
the ,iliad1 there are as it were        
stitches dropped in the web1 and the    
connection is much less carefully       
elaborated4 ,thus they acquiesce in the 
breach of covenant after the  single    
combat of the ,third ,book1 although the
 evident wish among  them1 independent  
of obligation1 was for its              
fulfilment#djf4 ,then  in the ,fourth   
,book1 after the treachery of ,pandarus1
 the ,trojans not  only do not resent   
it1 but they recommence the fight while 
the ,greek  chiefs are tending the      
wounded ,menelaus#djg2 which conduct    
exhibits1  if the phrase may be         
permitted1 an extravagance of disregard 
to the  obligations of truth and honour4
 ,hector1 in the ,sixth ,book1 quits the

  battle field upon an errand1 to which 
it is hardly possible to assign  a      
poetical sufficiency of cause1 unless we
 refer it to the readiness  which he not
 unfrequently shows to keep himself out 
of the fight4  ,again1 there is         
something awkward and out of keeping in 
his manner of  dealing with the ,fabian 
recommendations of ,polydamas when the  
crisis  approaches4 ,some of these he   
accepts1 and some he rejects1 without   
adequate reason for the difference1     
except that he is preparing himself  as 
an illustrious victim for ,achilles1 and
 that he must act foolishly  in order   
that the superior hero1 and with him the
 poem itself1 may not  be baulked of    
their purpose4    #djf ,il4 iii4 #dea-d4
    #djg ,il4 iv4 #bbj4    ,thus1 again1
 ,homer has given us a pretty clear idea
 even of the  respective ages of the    
,greek chiefs4 ,it can hardly be doubted
 that  ,nestor stands first1 ,idomeneus 
second1 ,ulysses third3 while ,diomed   
and ,antilochus are the youngest2 ,ajax 

and ,achilles probably the next4  ,but  
as to ,paris1 ,helenus1 neas1 ,sarpedon1
 ,polydamas1 we find no  conclusion as  
to their respective ages derivable from 
the poem4    ,yet though ,homer may use 
a greater degree of liberty in one case1
  and a lesser in another1 as to the    
mode of setting his jewels1 he  always  
adheres to the general laws of truth and
 nature as they address  themselves to  
his poetical purpose4 ,thus there may be
 reason to doubt1  whether he observed  
the same rigid topographical accuracy in
 dealing  with the plain of ,troy1 as he
 has evinced in the ,greek ,catalogue3  
but  he has used materials1 all of which
 the region supplied2 and he has        
arranged them clearly1 as a poetic      
whole1 before the mental eye of  those  
with whom he had to do4 ,even so we may 
be prepared to find that  he deals with 
the moral as with the material ,troas1  
allowing himself  somewhat more of      
license1 burdening himself with somewhat
 less of  care4 ,and then we need not be

 surprised at secondary or inferential  
inconsistencies in the action1 as       
respects the ,trojan people1 because  it
 has not been worth his while to work   
the delineation of them1 in  its        
details1 up to his highest standard2 yet
 we may rely upon his  general          
representations1 and we are probably on 
secure ground in  contemplating all the 
main features of ,trojan life and       
character as  not less deliberately     
drawn1 than those of the ,greeks4 ,for1 
in truth1  it was requisite1 in order to
 give full effect among his countrymen  
to  the ,greek portrait1 that they      
should be able1 at least up to a certain
  point1 to compare it with the ,trojan4
    ,moral superiority of his ,greeks4  
,regarding the subject from this point  
of view1 ,i should say that ,homer  has1
 upon the whole1 assigned to the ,greeks
 a moral superiority over  the ,trojans1
 not less real1 though less broad and   
more chequered1 than  that which he has 
given them in the spheres of            

intellectual and of  military           
excellence4 ,but1 in all cases alike1 he
 has pursued the same  method of casting
 the balance4 ,he eschews the vulgar and
 commonplace  expedient of a formal     
award3 he decides this and every other  
question  through the medium of action4 
,the first thing1 therefore1 to be done 
is1 to inquire into the morality of his 
contemporaries1 as it is  exhibited     
through the main action of the poems4   
,it is admitted on all hands that1 in   
the ethical picture of the  ,odyssey1   
the distinctions of right and wrong are 
broad1 clear1 and  conspicuous4 ,but the
 case of the ,iliad is not so simple4   
,the conduct  of ,paris1 which leads to 
the war1 is so flagrant and vile1 and   
the  conduct of the ,greeks in demanding
 the restoration of ,helen before they  
resort to force1 so just and reasonable1
 that it is not unnaturally  made matter
 of surprise that any war could ever    
have arisen upon such a  subject1 except
 the war of a wronged and justly        

incensed people against  mere ruffians1 
traitors1 and pirates4 ,the ,trojans    
appear at first sight  simply as        
assertors of a wrong the most gross and 
aggravated1 even in  its original form2 
their iniquity is further darkened by   
obstinacy1 and  their cause is the cause
 of enmity to every law1 human and      
divine4 ,yet  the ,greeks do not assume 
to themselves1 in connection with the   
cause of  the war1 to stand upon a      
different level of morality3 and the    
amiable  affections1 with the sense of  
humanity1 if not the principles of      
honour  and justice1 are exhibited in   
the detail of the ,iliad as prevailing  
among the ,trojans1 little less than    
among the ,greeks4    ,now1 let us first
 endeavour to clear away some           
misapprehensions that  simply darken the
 case3 and after this let us inquire    
what exhibition  ,homer has really given
 us of the moral sense of the ,greeks   
and the  ,trojans respectively1 in      
connection with the crime of ,paris4    

,in the first place1 something is due to
 the falsification by later  poets of   
the ,homeric tradition3 and to the      
reflex affiliation upon  ,homer of those
 traits which1 through the influence    
first of the ,cyclic  poets1 probably   
exaggerating the case in order to       
conceal their  relative want of         
strength1 and then of the tragedians and
 ,virgil1  have come to be taken for    
granted as genuine parts of the original
  portraiture4    ,according to the     
,argument of the  1 as it has been      
handed down  to us1 ,paris1 having been 
received in hospitality by ,menelaus1   
was left  by him under the friendly care
 of his wife1 on his setting out for    
,crete4 ,he then corrupted ,helen2 and  
induced her1 after being corrupted1  to 
elope with him1 and with the greater    
part of the moveable goods of           
,menelaus4    ,upon this tale our ideas 
have been formed1 and1 this being so1 we
  marvel why ,homer does not make the   
,greeks feel more indignation at a      

proceeding which simply combined        
treachery1 robbery1 and adultery4 ,as   
he prizes so highly the rights of       
guests1 and pitches their gratitude     
accordingly1 we cannot understand how he
 should be so insensible to the         
grossest imaginable breach of their     
obligations4    ,homer's account of the 
abduction4    ,homer is here made       
responsible for that which1 in part1 he 
does not  tell us1 and which is         
positively1 as well as inferentially1 at
 variance  with what he does tell us4   
,he tells us absolutely1 that ,helen was
 not  inveigled into leaving ,sparta1   
but carried off by force3 and that the  
crime of adultery was committed after1  
and not before1 her abduction4    ,this 
difference alters the character of the  
deed of ,paris1 in a  manner by no means
 so insignificant according to the      
heroic standard  of morality1 as        
according to ours4 ,as it seems plain   
from ,homer's  expression1 #djh1 that   
,paris carried off ,helen in the first  

instance by an act of violence1 so also 
it is probable that1 when  the first    
adultery was committed in the island of 
,cranae1 he was her  ravisher much more 
than her corrupter4 ,her offence appears
 to have  consisted mainly in the mere  
acceptance1 at what precise date we know
  not1 of the relation thus brought into
 existence between them1 and in         
compliances that with the lapse of time 
naturally followed1 such as  the visit  
to the ,trojan horse4 ,it would have    
been1 however1 under all  the           
circumstances1 an act of superhuman     
rather than of human virtue1  if she had
 refused1 through the long years of her 
residence abroad1 to  recognise ,paris  
as a husband3 and accordingly the light1
 in which she  is presented to us by the
 ,poet1 is that of a sufferer infinitely
 more  than of an offender#dji4    #djh 
,il4 iii4 #ddd4    #dji ,see inf4       
,aoidos1 sect4 vi4    ,when we regard   
,helen from this point of view1 we      
perceive that ,homer's  narrative is at 

least in perfect keeping with itself4   
,the ,greeks have  made war to avenge   
the wrongs of ,helen not less than those
 of ,menelaus3  nay1 ,menelaus himself1 
the keenest of them all1 is keen on her 
behalf  even more than on his own#daj4  
,he regards her as a person stolen from 
him3 and the ,greeks regard ,paris only 
as the robber4    #daj ,il4 ii4 #ehi4   
,we have no reason to suppose the       
,cyprian ,epic to be a trustworthy      
supplement to the narrative of ,homer4  
,we have seen some important  points of 
discrepancy from the ,iliad4 ,and there 
are others4 ,for  instance1 this poem   
makes ,pollux immortal and ,castor only 
mortal1 while  ,homer acquaints us in   
the ,iliad with the interment of both1  
and in the  ,odyssey with their         
restoration on equal terms to an        
alternate life4 ,it  gives ,agamemnon   
four daughters1 the ,iliad but three4   
,it brings ,briseis  from ,pedasus1 the 
,iliad brings her from ,lyrnessus4 ,and 
there is other  matter in the plot1 that

 does not appear to correspond at all   
with the  modes of ,homeric             
conception#daa4 ,had ,homer told us the 
same story as  the ,cyprian ,epic1 he   
would perhaps have made his countrymen  
express all  the indignation we could   
desire4    #daa ,dntzer1 pp4 #i-af4     
,fragm4 iv4 xi4 xv4    ,and now let us  
consider what is the view taken of the  
abduction in the  ,iliad by the various 
persons whose sentiments are made known 
to us3  and how far that view can be    
accounted for by the general tone of the
  age1 or by what was peculiar to the   
character and institutions of each      
people respectively4    ,helen herself  
nowhere utters a word of attachment or  
of respect to  ,paris4 ,even of his     
passions she appears to have been the   
reluctant1  rather than the willing     
instrument4 ,she thinks alike meanly of 
his  understanding#dab and of his       
courage#dac3 and he shares#dad in the   
rebukes which she everywhere heaps upon 
herself2 though1 with the  delicacy and 

high refinement of her irresolute but   
gentle character1  she never reproaches 
him in the presence of his parents1 by  
whom he  continued to be loved4    #dab 
,il4 vi4 #ceb4    #dac ,il4 iii4        
#dbh-cf1 and vi4 #cea4    #dad ,il4 vi4 
#cef4    ,to the ,trojan people he was  
unequivocally hateful#dae4 ,they would  
have  pointed him out to ,agamemnon1 if 
they could3 for they detested him like  
black ,death4 ,it was by a mixture of   
bribery and the daring assertion  of    
authority1 that he checked those        
movements in the ,assembly1 which  had  
it for their object to enforce the      
restoration of ,helen to  ,menelaus#daf4
 ,of all his countrymen1 ,hector appears
 to have been most  alive to his guilt1 
and is alone in reproaching him with    
it#dag4 ,it is  under the influence of a
 sharp rebuke from ,hector1 that he     
proposes to  undertake a single combat  
with ,menelaus#dah4    #dae ,il4 iii4   
#dec4    #daf ,il4 vii4 #ced-fd1 and xi4
 #abc4    #dag ,il4 iii4 #df-ec4    #dah

 ,ibid4 #fh-ge4    ,the ,greek estimate 
of ,paris4    ,the only persons on the  
,greek side1 who utter any strong       
sentiment  in respect to ,paris1 are    
,diomed and ,menelaus4 ,this is         
singular2 for  when we consider what was
 the cause of war1 we might have        
expected1  perhaps1 that recurrence to  
it would be popular and constant among  
the  ,greeks4 ,nor is this all that may 
excite surprise4 ,diomed is unmeasured  
in vituperating ,paris1 but it is for   
his cowardice and effeminacy4  ,the only
 word1 which comes at all near the      
subject of his crime1 is  3 and by      
mocking him as a dangler after virgins1 
the brave  son of ,tydeus shows how     
small a place the original treachery of 
,paris  occupied in his mind4           
,menelaus1 indeed1 has a keen sense of  
the specific nature and malignity  of   
the outrage4 ,he beseeches ,jupiter to  
strengthen his hand against the  man who
 has done such deadly wrong1 not to him 
only1 but to all the  laws which unite  

mankind3                 1    #dai4     
#dai ,ibid4 #cea-d4    ,but then ,homer 
has already1 in the ,catalogue1         
introduced ,menelaus to  us as          
distinguished from the rest of his      
countrymen1 by his greater  keenness to 
revenge the wrongs and groans of        
,helen#dbj4 ,accordingly1  the injured  
husband returns on other occasions to   
the topic3 calls the  ,trojans  1 and   
invokes upon them the anger of  1  the  
,jupiter of hospitality#dba2    #dbj    
,il4 ii4 #ehh-ij4    #dba ,il4 xiii4    
#fbj-g4                 ' 1   ' 4       
,thus it is plain1 that ,menelaus       
resents not only a privation and an  act
 of piracy1 but a base and black breach 
of faith4 ,it is quite  plain1 on the   
other hand1 that in this respect he     
stands alone among  his countrymen4     
,they1 regarding the matter more        
crudely1 and from a  distance1 appear to
 see in it little beyond a violent      
abduction1 which  it is perfectly right1
 for those who can1 to resent and       

retrieve1 but  which implies no         
extraordinary and damning guilt in the  
perpetrator4    ,hence probably that    
singular appearance of apathy on the    
part of the  ,greeks1 which might at    
first sight seem to entail on them a    
moral  reproach1 in some degree allied  
to that which justly attaches itself  to
 the ,trojan community4 ,it is not      
possible1 indeed1 to take a full        
measure of their state of mind in regard
 to the crime of ,paris1  without       
condemning the views and propensities to
 which it was due4  ,but the causes were
 various3 and the blame they may deserve
 is both  very different from that which
 must fall upon the ,trojans1 and is    
also different in a mode1 which may help
 to illustrate some main  distinctions  
in the two national characters4    ,i   
speak here1 as everywhere1 of the       
adjustment of acts and motives  in the  
poem as poetical facts1 that is to say1 
as placed relatively  to one another    
with care and accuracy in order to      

certain effects2  and as liable to be   
tried under the law of effect1 just as1 
in a  simple history1 all particulars   
alleged are liable to be tried under    
the law of fact4 ,the assumption of     
truth or fable in the poem does  not    
materially widen or narrow the field of 
poetical discussion4 ,the  critic looks 
for consistency as between motive and   
action1 causes and  effects1 in the     
voyage to ,lilliput or ,laputa1 as well 
as in ,thucydides  or ,clarendon4 ,the  
difference is that1 in the one case1 our
 discussion  terminates with the genius 
of the inventor2 in the other we are    
verifying the life and condition of     
mankind4    ,if then we admit the       
abduction1 and inquire for what probable
 cause it  is that the wrong1 being so  
obvious and gross1 was not more         
prominent  in the mind of the people who
 had endured it1 a part at least of the 
answer is this4 ,we do not require to go
 back three thousand years in  the      
history of the world in order to learn  

how often it happens that1  when a      
conflict has arisen between nations1 the
 original causes of  quarrel tend       
irresistibly to become absorbed and lost
 in its incidents4  ,as long as honour  
and security are held to depend more on 
strength than  on right1 relative       
strength must often prevail over        
relative right  in the decision of      
questions1 where the arbitrement of     
battle has  been invoked4 ,both the     
willingness of the ,trojans to restore1 
and the  willingness of the ,greeks to  
accept the atonement1 may be expedients 
of  the ,poet to give a certain moral   
harmony to his work2 of which it is  a  
marked feature that it artfully divides 
our sympathies throughout1  so far at   
least as is needed for the interest of  
the poem4 ,on the one  side1 the        
ambition and rapacity of ,agamemnon may 
have induced him not  only not to seek1 
but even to decline or discourage       
accommodation2  which1 we may observe1  
he never promotes in the ,iliad4 ,having

 got a  fair cause of war1 he may have  
been bent on making the most of it1  and
 confident1 as ,thucydides believes he  
was1 in his power to turn it  to        
account4 ,while1 on the other hand1     
,troy was not so far from or so  strange
 to ,greece1 as to be exempt from the   
fear of appearing afraid2  and1 until it
 had become too late1 she may have      
thought her safety  would be compromised
 by the surrender of ,helen4    ,here   
may be reasons why restitution was      
neither given on the one side1  nor     
steadily kept in view on the other3     
especially as it was of course  included
 in the idea of the capture of the city4
 ,but it is not clear  that this was    
enough to account for the apathy of the 
,greeks in general  with respect to the 
crime of ,paris1 which we might have    
expected to  find a favourite and       
familiar topic with his enemies at      
large1 instead  of being confined1 as it
 is1 to the immediate sufferer by the   
wrong4    ,its relation to prevailing   

views of marriage4    ,now1 the answer  
to this question must after all be      
sought partly in  the prevalent ideas of
 the heroic age2 and partly in those    
which were  peculiar more or less to the
 ,greek people4    ,according to        
,christian morality1 the abduction and  
appropriation of a  married woman is not
 simply a crime when committed1 but it  
is a crime  that is aggravated by every 
day1 during which her relation with her 
seducer or ravisher is continued4 ,this 
was not so in the heroic age4    ,we    
have examples in the poems of what      
,homer considers to be a continued      
course of crime4 ,such is the conduct of
 the ,suitors in the ,odyssey1  who for 
years together waste the substance of   
,ulysses1 woo his wife1  oppress his    
son1 and cohabit with the servants4     
,this was habitual  crime1 crime        
voluntarily and deliberately persevered 
in1 when it might  at any time have been
 renounced4    ,this vicious course of  
the ,suitors is never called by ,homer  

an 2 it  is described by the names of   
and #dbb4 ,so likewise  the series of   
enormities committed by gisthus1 the    
corruption of  ,clytemnestra1 the murder
 of her husband1 the expulsion of       
,orestes and  prolonged usurpation of   
the throne2 these are never called by   
the name  of 2 but 1 and not one of the 
severer names quoted above1 is the      
appellation always given by ,homer to   
the crime of ,paris4    #dbb ,od4 xxi4  
#adf4 xxiii4 #fg4 xiii4 #aic4 xxii4 #fd4
 ,see ,olympus1 sect4  ii4 p4 #afb4     
,the  of a man is a crime so far        
partaking of the nature of error1  that 
it is done under the influence of       
passion or weakness2 perhaps  excluding 
premeditation1 perhaps such that its    
consequences follow  spontaneously in   
its train1 without a new act of will to 
draw them1  so that the act1 when once  
committed1 is practically irretrievable4
  ,something1 according to ,homer1 was  
evidently wanting in the crime of       
,paris1 to sink it to the lower depths  

of blackness4 ,perhaps we may find  it  
partly in the nature of marriage1 as it 
was viewed by his age4    ,having taken 
,helen to ,troy1 he made her his wife1  
and his wife she  continued until the   
end of the siege4 ,we should of course  
say he did  not make her his wife1 for  
she was the wife of another man4 ,but   
the  distinction between marriage de    
facto and marriage de jure1 clear  to us
 in the light of ,divine ,revelation1   
was less clear to the age of  ,homer4   
,helen was to ,paris the mistress of his
 household2 the possessor  of his       
affections1 such as they were2 the sole 
sharer1 apparently1  of his dignities   
and of his bed4 ,to the mind of that    
period there  was nothing dishonourable 
in the connection itself1 apart from its
  origin2 while1 to our mind1 every day 
of its continuance was a fresh          
accumulation of its guilt4 ,the higher  
wrong of wounded and defrauded          
affections was personal to ,menelaus4   
,in the aspect it presented to the      

general understanding1 the act of       
,paris1 once committed1 and sealed by   
the establishment of the de facto       
conjugal relation1 remained an act  of  
plunder and nothing else4    ,and to    
,greek views of homicide4    ,to        
comprehend these notions1 so widely     
differing from our own1 we may  seek    
their further illustration by a         
reference to the established view  of   
homicide4 ,he1 who had taken the life of
 a fellow creature1 was  bound to make  
atonement by the payment of a fine4 ,if 
he offered that  atonement1 it was not  
only the custom1 but the duty1 of the   
relations  of the slain man to accept   
it4 ,so much so1 that the blunt mind of 
,ajax takes this ground as the simplest 
and surest for argument with  ,achilles1
 whom he urges not to refuse reparation 
offered by ,agamemnon1  in consideration
 that reparation 77 covers the slaughter
 of a  brother or a son4 ,beforehand1   
the ,greek would have scorned to accept 
a  price for life4 ,but1 the deed being 

done1 it came into the category of      
exchangeable values4 ,even so the       
abstraction of ,helen1 once committed1  
assumed for the common mind the         
character of an act of plunder1         
differing from the case of homicide1    
inasmuch as the thing taken could  be   
given back1 but not differing from it as
 to the essence of its moral  nature1   
however aggravated might have been the  
circumstances with which  it was        
originally attended4    ,now1 wherever  
the moral judgment against plunder has  
been greatly  relaxed1 that of fraud in 
connection with it is sure to undergo a 
similar process2 because1 in the same   
degree in which acts of plunder  are    
acquitted as lawful acquisition1 fraud  
is sure to come into  credit by assuming
 the character of stratagem4 ,we may1 ,i
 think1 find  an example of this rule in
 the ,thirteenth ,odyssey2 where1 with  
an  entire freedom from any             
consciousness of wrong1 ,ulysses feigns 
to have  slaughtered ,orsilochus at     

night by ambush1 in consequence of a    
quarrel  that had previously occurred   
about booty#dbc4    #dbc ,od4 xiii4 #beh
 et seqq4    ,here then we reach the    
point1 at which we must take into view  
the  peculiar ideas and tendencies of   
the ,greek mind in the heroic age1  as  
they bear necessarily upon its          
appreciation of an act like that  of    
,paris4 ,the ,greeks1 of whom we may    
fairly take ,diomed as the type1  detest
 and despise him for affectation1       
irresolution1 and poltroonery3  these   
are the ideas uppermost in their mind3  
we are not to doubt that1  besides      
seeking reparation for ,menelaus1 they  
condemned morally the  act which made it
 needful2 what we have to account for   
is1 that they  did not condemn it in    
such a manner as to make this moral     
judgment the  ruling idea in their minds
 with regard to him4    ,we have seen   
that1 according to ,homer1 instead of   
,helen's having been  originally the    
willing partner of the guilt of ,paris1 

he was1 under her  husband's roof1 her  
kidnapper and not her corrupter4 ,her   
offence seems  to have consisted in     
this1 that she gave a half-willing      
assent to the  consequences of the      
abduction4 ,though never escaping from  
the sense of  shame1 always retaining   
along with a wounded conscience her     
original  refinement of character1 and  
apparently fluctuating from time to time
  in an alternate strength and weakness 
of homeward longings#dbd1 the  specific 
form of her offence1 according to the   
ideas of the age1 was  rather the       
preterite one of unresisting            
acquiescence1 than the fact  of         
continuing to recognise ,paris as a     
husband during the lifetime of          
,menelaus4 ,it was the having changed   
her husband1 not the living with a  man 
who was not her husband2 and hence we   
find that she was most kindly  treated  
in ,troy by that member of the royal    
house1 namely ,hector1 who  was himself 
of the highest moral tone4    #dbd ,see 

,il4 iii4 #aci4 ,od4 iv4 #bei-fa4       
,the offence of ,paris1 though also     
7except as to the mere restitution  of  
plundered goods7 a preterite offence1   
was more complex4 ,he violated  the laws
 of hospitality1 as we find distinctly  
charged upon him by  ,menelaus#dbe4 ,he 
assumed the power of a husband over     
another man's  wife4 ,this he gained by 
violence4 ,now1 paradoxical as it may   
appear1  yet perhaps this very          
ingredient of violence1 which we look   
upon as  even aggravating the case1 and 
which in the view of the ,greeks was the
  proper cause of the war1 7for their   
anxiety was to avenge the forced        
journey and the groans of ,helen17 may  
nevertheless have been also the  very   
ingredient1 which morally redeemed the  
character of the proceeding  in the eyes
 of ,greece4 ,this it might do by       
lifting it out of the  region of mere   
shame and baseness1 into that class of  
manful wrongs1  which they habitually   
regarded as matters to be redressed     

indeed by  the strong hand1 but never as
 merely infamous4 ,hence1 when we find  
the  ,greeks full of disgust and of     
contempt towards ,paris1 it is only for 
the effeminacy and poltroonery of       
character which he showed in the war4   
,his original crime was probably        
palliated to them by its seeming to     
involve something of manhood and of the 
spirit of adventure4 ,so that we  may   
thus have to seek the key to the        
inadequate sense among the ,greeks  of  
the guilt of ,paris in that which1 as we
 have seen1 was the capital  weakness of
 their morality2 namely1 its light      
estimation of crimes of  violence1 and  
its tendency to recognise their         
enterprise and daring as  an actual     
set-off against whatever moral wrong    
they might involve4    #dbe ,il4 iii4   
#ced4    ,the chance legend of ,hercules
 and ,iphitus1 in the ,odyssey1 affords 
the  most valuable and pointed          
illustration of the great moral         
question#dbf  between ,paris and        

,menelaus1 which lies at the very       
foundation of the  great structure of   
the ,iliad4 ,for in that case also1 we  
seem to find  an instance of abominable 
crime1 which notwithstanding did not    
destroy  the character of its           
perpetrator1 nor prevent his attaining  
to ,olympus2  apparently for no other   
reason1 than that it was a crime such as
 had  probably required for its         
commission the exercise of masculine    
strength  and daring4    #dbf ,vid4 ,od4
 xxi4 #bb-cj4    ,there remained1       
however1 even according to contemporary 
ideas1 quite  enough of guilt on the    
part of ,paris4 ,the abduction and      
corruption of  a prince's wife1 combined
 with his personal cowardice1 his       
constant  levity and vacillation1 and   
his reckless indifference to his        
country's  danger and affliction1 amply 
suffice to warrant and account for      
,homer's  having represented him as a   
personage hated1 hateful1 and           
contemptible4  ,but while the foregoing 

considerations may explain the feelings 
and  language of the ,greeks1 otherwise 
inexplicable1 there still remains       
enough of what at first sight is        
puzzling in the conduct1 if not in the  
sentiments1 of the ,trojans4    ,the    
,trojan estimate of ,paris4    ,we ask  
ourselves1 how could the ,trojans       
endure1 or how could ,homer  rationally 
represent them as enduring1 to see the  
glorious wealth and  state of ,priam1   
with their own lives1 families1 and     
fortunes1 put upon  the die1 rather than
 surrender ,helen1 or support ,paris in 
withholding  her8 ,the people hate him3 
the wise ,antenor opens in public       
assembly the  proposal to restore ,helen
 to the ,greeks3 ,hector1 the prince of 
greatest  influence1 almost the actual  
governor of ,troy1 knew his brother's   
guilt1 and reproached him with it#dbg4  
,how is it that1 of all these  elements 
and materials1 none ever become         
effective8    #dbg ,il4 iii4 #df-eg4    
,we must1 ,i think1 seek the answer to  

the questions partly in the  difference 
of the moral tone1 and the moral code1  
among ,greeks and  ,trojans2 partly in  
the difference of their political       
institutions4    ,we shall find it      
probable that1 although the ostensible  
privileges  of the people were not less1
 yet the same spirit of freedom did not 
pervade ,trojan institutions2 that their
 kings were followed with a more        
servile reverence by the people2 that   
authority was of more avail1  apart from
 rational persuasion2 that amidst       
equally strong sentiments  of connection
 in the family and the tribe1 there was 
much less of moral  firmness and        
decision than among the ,greeks1 and    
perhaps also a far  less close adherence
 to the great laws of conjugal union1   
which had  been violated by the act of  
,paris4 ,indeed it would appear from the
  allusion of ,hector to a tunic of     
stone#dbh1 that ,paris was probably by  
law subject to stoning for the crime of 
adultery3 a curious remnant1 if  the    

interpretation be a correct one1 of the 
stern traits of pristine  justice and   
severity1 still remembered amidst a     
prevalent dissolution  of the stricter  
moral ties4    #dbh ,il4 iii4 #eg4      
,although it results from our previous  
inquiries that the plebeian  substratum1
 so to speak1 of society1 was perhaps   
nearly the same in  both countries1 yet 
the opinions of the masses would not    
then have the  same substantiveness of  
character1 nor so much independence of  
origin1  as in times of ,christianity1  
and of a more elaborate development of  
freedom and its main conditions4 ,then1 
much more than now1 the first           
propelling power in the formation of    
public opinion would be from the  high  
places of society3 and in the higher    
sphere of the community1 if  not in the 
lower1 ,greece and ,troy were1 while    
ethnically allied1 yet  materially      
different as to moral tone4 ,it is      
remarkable1 that there is  no  in ,troy4
    ,the ,trojans more sensual and      

false4    ,if we may trust the general  
effect of ,homer's representations1 we  
shall conclude that the ,trojans were   
more given to the vices of  sensuality  
and falsehood1 the ,greeks1 on the other
 hand1 more inclined  to crimes of      
violence3 in fact1 the latter bear the  
characteristics of  a more masculine1   
and the former of a feebler1 people4 ,in
 the words  of ,mure1 the contrast      
shadows forth #8certain fundamental     
features of  distinction1 which have    
always been more or less observable1    
between  the ,european and ,asiatic     
races#dbi4'    #dbi ,greek ,lit4 vol4 i4
 p4 #cci4    ,on looking back to the    
previous history of ,troy1 we find that 
,laomedon  defrauded ,neptune and       
,apollo of their stipulated hire3 and   
,anchises  surreptitiously obtained a   
breed of horses from the sires belonging
 to  ,laomedon1 who was his             
relative#dcj4 ,the conditions of the    
bargain1  under which ,paris fought with
 ,menelaus1 are shamelessly and grossly 

violated4 ,pandarus1 in the interval of 
truce1 treacherously aims at  and wounds
 ,menelaus with an arrow2 but no ,trojan
 disapproves the deed4  ,euphorbus comes
 behind the disarmed ,patroclus1 and    
wounds him in the  back2 and even       
princely ,hector1 seeing him in this    
condition1 then only  comes up and      
dispatches him4 ,that these were not    
isolated acts1 we may  judge from the   
circumstance that ,menelaus1 ever mild  
and fair in his  sentiments1 when he    
accepts the challenge of ,paris1        
requires that ,priam  shall be sent for 
to conclude the arrangement1 because his
 sons--and  he makes no exceptions--are 
saucy and faithless1    #dca4 ,this     
must1 ,i think1 be taken as             
characteristic of ,troy2  though he     
mildly proceeds to take off the edge of 
his reproach by a   about youth and age4
 ,but the most scandalous of all the    
,trojan  proceedings seems to have been 
the effort made1 though unsuccessfully1 
to have ,menelaus put to death1 when he 

came on a peaceful mission to  demand   
the restoration of his wife#dcb4    #dcj
 ,il4 v4 #bfi4    #dca ,il4 iii4 #aje4  
#dcb ,il4 xi4 #aci4    ,nothing of this 
admiration for fraud apart from force   
appears either in  the conduct of the   
,greeks during the war1 or in their     
prior history3  and the passage         
respecting ,autolycus1 which1 more than 
any other1  appears to give countenance 
to knavery1 takes his case out of the   
category of ordinary human action by    
placing it in immediate relation  to a  
deity2 so that it illustrates1 not the  
national character as it  was1 but      
rather the form to which the growing    
corruptions of religion  tended to bring
 it4 ,yet1 while ,homer gives to the    
,trojans alone the  character of        
faithlessness1 he everywhere1 as we must
 see1 vindicates  the intellectual      
superiority of the ,greeks in the       
stratagems of the  war4 ,and if1 as ,i  
think is the case1 ,i have succeeded in 
proving above  that the doctrine of a   

future state was less lively and        
operative among  the ,trojans than among
 the ,greeks1 it is certainly           
instructive to view  that deficiency in 
connection with the national want of all
 regard  for truth4 ,this difference    
teaches us1 that the imprecations       
against  perjurers1 and the prospects of
 future punishment1 were probably no    
contemptible auxiliaries in overcoming  
the temptations to present  falseness1  
with which human life is everywhere     
beset4    ,as respects sensuality1 the  
chief points of distinction are1 that we
  find a particular relation to this    
subject running down the royal line  of 
,troy2 and that1 whereas in ,greece we  
are told occasionally of some  beautiful
 woman who is seduced or ravished by a  
deity1 in ,troas we  find the princes of
 the line are those to whose names the  
legends are  attached4 ,the inference   
is1 that in the former case a veil was  
thrown  over such subjects1 but that in 
the latter no sense of shame required   

them to be kept secret4 ,the cases that 
come before us are those of  ,tithonus1 
who is said to become the husband of    
,aurora2 of ,anchises1 for  whom ,venus 
conceives a passion2 and of ,paris1 on  
whom the same deity  confers the evil   
gift of desire#dcc1 and to whom she     
promises the most  beautiful of women1  
the wife of ,menelaus4 ,all these are   
stories1 which  seem to have tended to  
the fame of the parties concerned on    
earth1 and  by no means to their        
discredit with the ,immortals4 ,and     
again1 if1 as  some may take to be the  
case1 we are to interpret the three #dcd
  of ,troas as local deities1 how       
remarkable is the fact that ,homer      
should  thus describe them as tainted   
with passions1 which nowhere appear     
among  the corresponding order within   
the ,greek circle6 ,there1 male deities 
alone are licentious4 ,juno1 ,minerva1  
,diana1 and ,persephone1 whom alone  we 
can call properly ,greek goddesses of   
the period1 have no such impure         

connection with mortals1 as the         
goddesses both of the ,trojan and of the
  ,phnician traditions4    #dcc ,il4    
xxiv4 #cj4    #dcd ,sup4 p4 #afb4    ,we
 hear indeed of ,orion#dce1 who was also
 the choice of ,aurora3 but we  cannot  
tell whether he belonged more to the    
,trojan than to the ,greek  branch of   
the common stem4 ,to the ,greek race he 
cannot have been alien1  as he is among 
,greek company in the ,eleventh         
,odyssey3 but then he is  not there as  
an object of honour2 he appears in a    
state of modified  suffering1 engaged in
 an endless chase#dcf4 ,we also find    
,iasion1  probably in ,crete1 who is    
reported to have been loved by          
,ceres#dcg3  but he was immediately     
consumed for it by the thunderbolt of   
,jupiter4  ,and so the detention of     
,ulysses by the beautiful and immortal  
,calypso  is not in ,homer a glory1 but 
a calamity2 and it allays none of the   
passionate longings of that hero for his
 wife and home4    #dce ,od4 v4 #aba4   

#dcf ,od4 xi4 #egb4    #dcg ,od4 v4     
#abh4    ,the marked contrast1 which    
these groups of incidents present1 is   
perhaps somewhat heightened by the      
enthusiastic observation of the  ,trojan
 ,elders on the ,wall in the ,third     
,iliad#dch4 ,though susceptible  of a   
good sense1 yet1 when the old age of the
 persons is taken into  view1 the       
passage seems to be in harmony with the 
,trojan character at  large1 rather than
 the ,greek3 and perhaps it may bear    
some analogy  to the licentious glances 
of the ,suitors#dci4 ,if so1 it is very 
significant that ,homer should assign to
 the most venerable elders  of ,troy1   
what in ,greece he does not think of    
imputing except to  libertines1 who are 
about to fall within the sweep of the   
divine  vengeance4    #dch ,il4 iii4    
#aed-fj4    #dci ,od4 xviii4 #afj-bab4  
,the difference between the races in    
this respect seems to have been  deeply 
rooted1 for there is evidently some     
corresponding difference  between their 

views and usages in respect to marriage4
    ,trojan ideas and usages of         
marriage4    ,the character of ,priam1  
which has been so happily conceived by  
,mure#ddj1 undoubtedly bears on its very
 surface the fault of over  indulgence1 
along with the virtues of gentleness and
 great warmth  and keenness of the      
affections4 ,but it may be doubted1     
whether the  poems warrant our treating 
him as individually dissolute4 ,his life
  was a domestic life3 but the family   
was one constructed according to        
,oriental manners4 ,according to those  
manners1 polygamy and wholesale         
concubinage were in some sense the      
privilege1 in another view almost  the  
duty1 of his station2 confined1 as these
 abuses must necessarily be  from their 
nature 7and as they even now are in     
,turkey71 to the highest  ranks wherever
 they prevail4 ,the household of ,priam1
 notwithstanding  his diversified       
relations to women1 is as regularly     
organized as that  of ,ulysses3 and when

 he speaks of his vast family1          
constituted as it  was1 he makes it     
known to ,achilles1 in a moment of      
agonizing sorrow1  and evidently by way 
of lodging a claim for sympathy#dda1    
though  the effect upon modern ears may 
be somewhat ludicrous4 #8,i had1' he    
says1 #8fifty sons3 nineteen from a     
single womb3 the rest from various      
mothers in my palace4' ,he might have   
added that he had also twelve           
daughters#ddb1 whom he probably does not
 need to mention on the  occasion1 as in
 this department he was not a bereaved  
parent4    #ddj ,lit4 ,greece1 vol4 i4  
p4 #cda and seqq4    #dda ,il4 xxiv4    
#dic-g4    #ddb ,il4 vi4 #bdh4          
,hecuba1 the mother of the nineteen1 was
 evidently possessed of rights  and a   
position peculiar to herself4 ,the very 
passage last quoted  distinguishes her  
from the 1 and throughout the poem she  
moves  alone#ddc4    #ddc ,see          
particularly vi4 #hg and seqq4 #cfd and 
seqq4    ,the family of ,priam4    ,of  

the children of ,priam we meet with a   
great number in various places  of the  
poem4    ,there are1 ,i think1 five     
expressly mentioned as children of      
,hecuba4      ,hector1 ,il4 vi4 #hg4    
,helenus1 ibid4    ,laodice1 vi4 #beb4  
,deiphobus1 ,il4 xxii4 #ccc4    ,paris1 
7because ,hecuba was  to ,helen17 ,il4  
xxiv4    ,next1 we have two children of 
,laothoe1 daughter of ,altes1 lord of   
the  ,lelegians of ,pedasus4            
,lycaon1 ,il4 xxi4 #hd4    ,polydorus1  
ibid4 #ia4    ,next ,gorgythion1 son of 
,kastianeira1 who came from ,aisume1    
7,il4 viii4  #cjb74    ,then we have1   
without mention of the mother1          
,agathon           ,pammon         ,il4 
xxiv4    ,antiphonos     #bdi-ea4       
,hippothoos        ,dios                
,cassandra1 xxiv4 #fii4    ,mestor1     
xxiv4 #beg4    ,troilos1 ,il4 xxiv4     
#beg4    ,echemmon#ddd1 v4 #aei4        
,chromios#ddd1 ibid4    ,antiphos1 iv4  
#dij4 xi4 #aja4    ,cebriones1 viii4    
#cah4    ,polites1 ii4 #gia4    #ddd    

,possibly one of these is 1             
illegitimate3 for they are  together in 
the same chariot1 as ,antiphus and ,isus
 were4 ,one of the  two would be the    
charioteer2 who was commonly1 though not
 always1 an  inferior4    ,and1 lastly1 
illegitimate 771      ,isos1 ,il4 xi4   
#aja4    ,doryclos1 xi4 #dhi4           
,democoon1 iv4 #dii4    ,medesicaste1   
xiii4 #agc4    ,the most important      
conclusion derivable from the comparison
 of the  names thus collected is1 that  
the children of ,priam1 and consequently
  their mothers1 fell into three ranks3 
#a4 ,the children of ,hecuba4    #b4    
,the children of his other wives4    #c4
 ,the children of concubines1 or of     
chance attachments1 who were1  1        
bastards4    ,the name  with ,homer1 at 
least among the ,greeks1 ordinarily     
marks  inferiority of condition4 ,the   
mothers of the four  are never  named4  
,this may1 however1 be due to accident4 
,at any rate ,lycaon  appears to have   
the full rank of a prince3 he was once  

ransomed with  the value of a hundred   
oxen1 and1 when again taken1 he promises
 thrice  as much2 again1 in describing  
himself as the half-brother of ,hector1 
he avows nothing like spurious birth4   
,the reference to him by ,priam         
explains his position more clearly1 and 
places it beyond doubt that  ,laothoe   
was recognised as a wife1 for she       
brought ,priam a large  dowry#dde2 and  
if her sons be dead1 says the aged king1
 #8it will be  an affliction to me and  
to their mother4' ,the language used in 
another  passage about ,polydorus is    
also conclusive#ddf4 ,he is described as
 the  youngest and dearest of the sons  
of ,priam1 which evidently implies his  
being in the fullest sense a member of  
the family4 ,again1 in the palace  of   
,priam there were separate apartments1  
not for the nineteen only1 but  for the 
fifty4 ,thus they seem to have included 
all the three classes4  ,so that it is  
probable enough that the state of       
illegitimacy did not  draw the same     

clear line as to rank in ,troy1 which it
 drew in ,greece4    #dde ,il4 xxii4    
#ea1 #c4    #ddf ,il4 xx4 #djg4 xxi4    
#gi1 #ie4    ,laothoe1 mother of ,lycaon
 and ,polydorus1 was a woman of princely
 rank3  and when ,lycaon says that      
,priam had many more besides her#ddg1   
#ddg ,il4 xxi4 #hh4       '   1    1    
he probably means many more of the same 
condition1 wives and other  well-born   
women1 who formed part of his family4   
,so that ,homer1 in all likelihood1     
means to describe to us the threefold   
order1    #a4 ,hecuba1 as the principal 
queen4    #b4 ,other wives1 inferior but
 distinctly acknowledged4    #c4 ,either
 concubines recognised as in a position 
wholly subordinate1 or  women who were  
in no permanent relation of any kind    
with ,priam4    ,beyond the case of     
,priam1 we have slender means of        
ascertaining the  usages and ideas of   
marriage among the ,trojans4 ,we have   
,andromache1  wife of ,hector2 ,helen1 a
 sort of wife to ,paris2 ,theano1 wife  

to  ,antenor1 and priestess of ,minerva2
 who also took charge of and brought  up
 his illegitimate son ,pedus#ddh4 ,the  
manner in which this is  mentioned1 as a
 favour to her husband1 certainly shows 
that the mark  of bastardy was not      
wholly overlooked1 even in ,troy4 ,but1 
besides this  ,pedus1 we meet in        
different places of the ,iliad no less  
than ten  other sons of ,antenor1 all1  
,i think1 within the fighting age4 ,this
 is  not demonstrative1 but it raises a 
presumption that some of them were      
probably the sons of other wives than   
,theano2 who is twice described as      
,theano of the blooming cheeks1 and can 
hardly therefore be supposed to  have   
reached a very advanced period of       
life#ddi4    #ddh ,il4 v4 #ga4    #ddi  
,il4 vii4 #bih4 xi4 #bbd4    ,but it is 
clear from the important case of ,priam1
 even if it stands  alone1 that among   
the ,trojans no shame attaches to the   
plurality of  wives1 or to having many  
illegitimate children1 the birth of     

various  mothers4 ,it is possible that  
the manners of ,troy1 with regard to    
polygamy1 were at this time the same    
7unless as to the reason given17  with  
those which ,tacitus ascribes to the    
,germans of his own day3  ,singulis     
uxoribus contenti sunt2 exceptis admodum
 paucis1 qui1 non  libidine1 sed ob     
nobilitatem1 plurimis nuptiis           
ambiuntur#dej4 ,we  must add to this1   
that ,paris1 in detaining as his wife   
the spouse of  another man still living1
 does an act of which we have no        
example1  to which we find no           
approximation1 in the ,greek manners of 
the time4  ,its significance is         
increased1 when we find that after his  
death she  is given to ,deiphobus3 for  
this further union alters the individual
  trait into one which is national4 ,her
 ,greek longings1 as well as her        
remorse for the surrender of her honour 
to ,paris1 afford the strongest         
presumption that the arrangement could  
hardly have been adopted  to meet her   

own inclination2 and that it must have  
been made for  her without her choice1  
as a matter of supposed family or       
political  convenience4    #dej ,tac4   
,germ4 c4 #ah4    ,we seem therefore to 
be justified in concluding that1 as     
singleness  did not enter essentially   
into the ,trojan idea of marriage1 so   
neither  did the bond with them either  
possess or even approximate to the      
character of indissolubility4 ,the      
difference is very remarkable between   
the horror which attaches to the first  
crime of gisthus in ,greece1  the       
corruption of ,clytemnestra1 though it  
was analogous to the act of  ,paris1 and
 the indifference of the ,trojans to the
 offence committed  by their own prince4
 ,we have no means indeed of knowing    
directly how  gisthus was regarded by   
the ,greeks around him1 during the      
period  which preceded the return and   
murder of ,agamemnon4 ,but we find that 
,jupiter1 in the ,olympian ,court1      
distinctly describes his adultery as a  

substantive part of his sin#dea2    #dea
 ,od4 i4 #ce4               '  1  '  4  
,and ,i think we may rest assured1 that 
,jupiter never would give  utterance on 
,olympus to any rule of matrimonial     
morality1 higher than  that which was   
observed among the ,greeks on earth4    
,so again1 it was a specific part of the
 offence of the ,suitors in  the        
,odyssey1 that they sought to wed       
,penelope while her husband was         
alive#deb2 that is to say1 before his   
death was ascertained1 though it  was   
really not extravagant to presume that  
it had occurred4    #deb ,od4 xxii4 #cg4
    ,stricter ideas among the ,greeks4  
,from both these instances1 and more    
especially from the last1 we must1  ,i  
think1 reasonably conclude that the     
moral code of ,greece was far  more     
adverse to the act of ,paris1 considered
 as an offence against  matrimonial     
laws1 than the corresponding rule in    
,troy4    ,in connection with this      
topic1 we may notice1 how ,homer has    

overspread  the ,dardanid family1 at the
 epoch of the war as well as in former  
times1 with redundance of personal      
beauty4 ,of ,paris we are prepared  to  
hear it as a matter of course2 but      
,hector has also the   #dec2 and1 even  
in his old age1 the   of ,priam was     
admired by ,achilles#ded4 ,deiphobus    
again is called  and  #dee1 and on two  
of ,priam's daughters severally does    
,homer  bestow the praise of being each 
the most beautiful#def among them  all4 
,with this was apparently connected1 in 
many of them1 effeminacy1  as well as   
insolence and falseness of character2   
for we must suppose  a groundwork of    
truth in the wrathful invective of their
 father1 who  describes his remaining   
sons as 7,il4 xxiv4 #bfa47    #dec ,il4 
xxii4 #cgj4    #ded ,il4 xxiv4 #fcb4    
#dee ,il4 xii4 #id4 and ,od4 iv4 #bgf4  
,see also the case of ,euphorbus1 ,il4  
xvii4 #ea4    #def ,the sense of  in    
,homer1 though emphatic1 is not         
absolute4       '  1  1     '   4    ,an

 invective1 which completely corresponds
 with the ,greek belief  concerning     
their general character in the ,third   
,book#deg4 ,the great  ,greek heroes are
 also beautiful2 but their mere beauty1 
particularly in  the ,iliad1 is for the 
most part kept carefully in the shade4  
#deg ,il4 iii4 #ajf4    ,trojan polity  
less highly organized4    ,we will turn 
now to the political institutions of    
,troy4 ,less advanced  towards          
organization1 and of a less firm tone   
than in ,greece1 they will  help to     
explain how it could happen that a      
people should bear prolonged  calamity  
and constant defeat1 and could pass on  
to final ruin1 for the  wicked and      
wanton wrong of an individual prince4   
,it has been noticed1 that the idea of  
hereditary succession was  definite1 as 
well as familiar1 in ,greece4 ,in ,troy 
it appears to have  been less so4 ,and  
this is certainly what we might expect  
from the  recognition in any form1      
however qualified1 of polygamy4 ,it     

tends to  confound the position of any  
one wife1 although supposed supreme1    
with  that of others2 and in confounding
 the order of succession1 as among  the 
issue of different wives1 it altogether 
breaks up the simplicity of  the rule of
 primogeniture4    ,and again1 if1 as we
 shall presently see1 the ,trojan race  
had a less  developed capacity for      
political organization1 they would be   
less  likely to establish a clear rule  
and practice of succession1 which is  a 
primary element of political order in   
well-governed countries4    ,the        
evidence as to the ,asiatic rule of     
inheritance is1 ,i admit1  indirect and 
scanty3 nor do ,i attempt to place what 
,i have now to offer  in a rank higher  
than that of probable conjecture4    #a4
 ,sarpedon was clearly leader of the    
,lycians1 with some kind of  precedence 
over ,glaucus4    ,the general tenour of
 the poem clearly gives this impression4
 ,he speaks  and acts as the person     
principally responsible#deh4 ,but by    

birth he  was inferior to ,glaucus2 for 
he was the grandson of ,bellerophon only
  in the female line through ,laodamia1 
while ,glaucus stood alone in the  male 
line through ,hippolochus4 ,i do not    
venture to rely much on the  mere order 
of the names2 and therefore ,i do not   
press the fact1 which  indeed is not    
needed for the argument1 that it makes  
,laodamia junior  to ,hippolochus4 ,it  
will be said that ,sarpedon was in chief
 command1  because he was of superior   
merit4 ,but among the ,greeks we have no
  instance in which superior merit gives
 preeminence as against birth4  ,and the
 reputation of divine origin clearly    
could not put aside the  prior right of 
succession4    #deh ,see ,il4 v4 #dhb4  
,again1 both ,sarpedon and ,glaucus are 
both expressly called  #dei1 kings4     
,now1 they were first cousins1 and they 
belonged  to the same kingdom4          
,hippolochus was perhaps still          
alive#dfj2 for  he gave ,glaucus a      
parting charge1 and his death is not    

mentioned4 ,in  ,greece we find the heir
 apparent called king1 namely1          
,achilles3 but  the title is never given
 to more than one person standing in the
 line  of succession4 ,a possible       
explanation1 ,i think1 is1 that the     
,lycian  kingdom had been divided#dfa3  
but if this be not so1 then the use of  
the term seems to prove that in ,asia   
all the children of the common  ancestor
 stood1 or might stand1 upon the same   
footing by birth3 and as  if it was left
 to other causes1 instead of to a       
definite and single  rule1 to determine 
who should succeed to the throne4       
#dei ,il4 xii4 #cai4    #dfj ,il4 vi4   
#bjg4    #dfa ,il4 vi4 #aic4    #b4 ,in 
a former part of this work#dfb1 ,i have 
stated reasons for  supposing that neas 
represented the elder branch of the     
house of  ,dardanus4 ,but1 whether he   
did so or not1 it is sufficiently clear 
from  the ,iliad that he was not without
 pretensions to the succession4 ,the    
dignity of his father ,anchises is      

marked by his remaining at ,dardania1   
and not appearing in the court of       
,priam4 neas habitually abstains  from  
attending the meetings or assemblies for
 consultation1 in which  ,priam1 where  
they are civil1 and ,hector1 where they 
are military1  takes the lead4 ,achilles
 taunts him expressly with looking      
forward to  the succession after the    
death of ,priam1 and with the           
anticipation of  public lands which he  
was to get from the ,trojans forthwith1 
if he  could but slay the great ,greek  
warrior4 ,the particular succession1 to 
which the taunt refers1 is marked out2  
it is the dominion1 not over the  mere  
,dardanians1 but over the  #dfc4 ,in    
following down  the genealogy1 neas does
 not adhere to either of the two lines  
7from  ,ilus and ,assaracus             
respectively7 throughout1 as senior1 and
 therefore  supreme2 but1 after putting 
the line of ,ilus first in the earlier  
part  of the chain1 he places his own   
birth from ,anchises before that of     

,hector from ,priam4    #dfb ,on the  1 
see ,achis1 sect4 ix4    #dfc xx4 #ahj4 
,apart from the question which was the  
older line1 the effect of all  these    
particulars1 taken together1 is to show 
an indeterminateness  in the rule of    
succession1 of which we have no         
indication among the  ,greeks4 ,even the
 incidental notice of the right of      
,priam to give it  to neas1 if he       
pleased1 is as much without example in  
anything ,homer  tells us of the ,greek 
manners1 as the corresponding power     
conferred by  the ,parliament on the    
,crown in the ,tudor period was at      
variance with  the general analogies of 
,english history and institutions4      
,succession to the ,throne of ,priam4   
#c4 ,the third case before us is one in 
the family of ,priam itself4 ,it        
appears extremely doubtful whether we   
can1 upon the authority of the  poems1  
confidently mark out one of his sons as 
having been the eldest1  or as standing 
on that account in the line of          

succession to the throne  of ,priam4    
,the evidence1 so far as it goes1 seems 
rather to point to  ,paris2 while the   
question lies between him and ,hector4  
,theocritus#dfd indeed calls ,hector the
 eldest of the twenty children  of      
,hecuba4 ,but this is an opinion1 not an
 authority2 and the number  named shows 
it to be unlikely that he was thinking  
of historic  accuracy1 for ,homer says1 
,hecuba had nineteen sons1 while she had
 also  several daughters#dfe4    #dfd   
,idyll4 xv4 #aci4    #dfe ,il4 xxiv4    
#dif4 vi4 #beb4    ,there can be no     
doubt whatever1 that ,hector was the    
most conspicuous  person1 the most      
considerable champion of the city4 ,he  
was charged  exclusively with the       
direction of the war1 and with the      
regulation of  the supplies necessary to
 feed the force of ,trojans and of      
allies4  ,polydamas1 who so often takes 
a different view of affairs1 and        
,sarpedon1 when having a complaint to   
make1 alike apply to him4 neas  is the  

only person who appears upon the field  
in the same rank with  him1 and he      
stands in a position wholly distinct    
from the family of  ,priam4 ,as among   
the members of that family1 there can be
 no doubt of  the preeminence of        
,hector4 ,he was1 indeed1 in actual     
exercise of the  heaviest part of the   
duties of sovereignty4 neas1 in the     
genealogy1  finishes the line of        
,assaracus with himself2 and1 to all    
appearance1  as not less a matter of    
course1 the line of ,ilus with          
,hector#dff4  ,again1 the name          
,astuanax1 conferred by the people on   
his son1 appears  to show that the crown
 was to come to him4 ,but all this in no
 degree  answers the question1 whether  
,hector held his position as probable   
king-designate by birth1 or whether it  
was rather due to his personal          
qualities1 and his great and unshared   
responsibilities and exertions4  ,there 
are several circumstances1 which may    
lead us to incline towards  the latter  

alternative4    #dff ,il4 xx4 #bdj4     
7#a47 ,when his parents and widow bewail
 his loss1 it is the loss of  their     
great defender and chief glory#dfg1 not 
of one who by death had  vacated the    
place of known successor to the         
sovereignty4    #dfg ,il4 xxii4 #ef1    
#dcc1 #ejg4 xxiv4 #bi4    7#b47 ,had    
,hector been by birth assured of the    
seat of ,priam1 his right  would have   
been sufficient cause for giving to his 
son at once the  name of ,astuanax4 ,but
 this we are told the people did for the
 express  reason1 that ,hector was the  
only real bulwark of ,troy4 ,it seems   
unlikely that in such a case his        
character as heir by birth would have   
been wholly passed by4 ,the name1       
therefore1 appears to suggest1 that it  
was by proving himself the bulwark of   
the throne that ,hector had become  as  
it were the presumptive heir to it#dfh4 
#dfh ,il4 vi4 #djb1 and xxii4 #ejf4     
,when ,hector takes his child in his    
arms1 he prays1 on the infant's  behalf1

 that he may become1 like himself#dfi1  
#dfi ,il4 vi4 #dgg4                     
1      ' 1        that is1 that he may  
become distinguished and valiant1 and   
may mightily  rule over the ,trojans4   
,this seems to point to succession by   
virtue of  personal qualities rather    
than of birth4    ,paris most probably  
the eldest-born4    ,there are also     
signs that ,paris1 and not ,hector1 may 
have been the  eldest son of ,priam1 and
 may have had that feebler inchoate     
title to  succession1 which1 in the day 
of necessity1 his brother's superior    
courage and character was to set aside4 
,this supposition accords better with   
the fact of his having had  influence   
sufficient to cause the refusal of the  
original demand for  the restitution of 
,helen1 peacefully made by the ,greek   
embassy2 and the  endurance of so much  
evil by his country on his behalf4      
,it explains the fact of his having had 
a palace to himself on ,pergamus2  a    
distinction which he shared with ,hector

 only#dgj1 for the married  sons as well
 as daughters of ,priam in general slept
 in apartments  within the palace of    
their father#dga4 ,and also it accords  
with his  original expedition1 which was
 evidently an affair of great pains and 
cost2 and with his being plainly next in
 military rank to ,hector among  the    
sons of ,priam4    #dgj ,il4 vi4 #cac1  
#cag1 #cgj4    #dga ,ibid4 #bdb-ej4     
,further1 it would explain the fact1    
otherwise very difficult to deal  with1 
that alone among the children of ,priam1
 ,paris or ,alexander is  honoured with 
the significant title of 4 ,helenus is  
called  1 and ,hector  1 but neither    
expression is of the same  rank1 or has 
a similar effect4 ,this exclusive       
application of the term   is a very     
strong piece of evidence1 if1 as ,i     
believe to be  the case1 it is nowhere  
else applied in the ,iliad to a person  
thus  selected1 without indicating      
either the possession1 or the hereditary
  expectancy of a throne4    ,and       

indeed1 even if we could show that      
,homer had applied the name   to two    
brothers in one family1 the result would
 be the  same1 as far as the main       
argument is concerned1 for there is no  
such  pronounced mark of equality found 
among brothers in any of the royal      
families of ,greece4    ,again2 in      
considering the law of succession among 
the ,greeks1 we have  found four cases  
in the ,catalogue1 where contingents    
were placed under  the command of two   
leaders seemingly co-ordinate2 they are 
in every  instance brothers1 and the    
four dual commands occur in a total of  
twenty-nine4 ,or let us state the case  
in another form1 so as to include  the  
cases of ,botia and ,elis4 ,among       
sixteen ,trojan contingents1 there  are 
but six where the chief authority is    
plainly in a single hand2 out  of       
twenty-nine ,greek contingents1 there   
are twenty-three1 and1 of the  remaining
 six1 four are the cases of brothers4   
,this fact is material1  as tending to  

show a looser and less effective        
military organization in  the ranks of  
the ,trojans and their allies1 than in  
those of the ,greeks2  a circumstance   
which does not prove1 but which         
harmonizes with1 the  hypothesis that   
they were wanting also in a defined     
order of succession  to the seat of     
political power4    ,there are other    
reasons1 immediately connected with     
,hector1 for  supposing that ,homer     
intended to represent ,paris as older   
than his  brother#dgb4 ,paris had been  
in manhood for at least twenty years1   
according to the letter of the poem1    
which must at least represent a  long   
period of time4 ,but ,hector has one    
child only1 a babe in arms1  which is in
 itself a presumption of his being less 
advanced in life4  ,again1 we must      
suppose his age probably to be not very 
different from  that of ,andromache4    
,but it is quite plain that she was a   
young mother2  since after the slaughter
 of ,eetion1 her father1 ,achilles      

shortly  took a ransom for her mother1  
who thereupon went back to the house of 
her own father1 ,andromache's maternal  
grandfather1 and subsequently  died     
there#dgc4 ,if then the grandfather of  
,andromache was alive when  ,thebe was  
taken1 and ,hector's age was in due     
proportion to her own1  he must in all  
likelihood have been younger than       
,paris4 ,again1 it may  be noticed that 
the term  is nowhere ascribed to ,paris1
 but it is  assigned to ,hector at his  
death#dgd4 ,notwithstanding its         
complimentary  use for ,ulysses in ,od4 
viii4 #ace1 that word has a certain     
leaning to  early life4 ,but we have a  
stronger1 and indeed ,i think a         
conclusive  argument in the speech of   
,andromache after his death#dge2    #dgb
 ,il4 xxiv4 #gfe4    #dgc ,il4 vi4      
#dbf-h4    #dgd ,il4 xxii4 #cfc4    #dge
 ,il4 xxiv4 #gbe4      1 '   4    ,thus 
he is distinctly called young4 ,and we  
may consider it almost  certain1 under  
these circumstances1 that ,paris was the

 first-born son  of ,priam#dgf1 but that
 his right of succession oozed away like
 water  from a man's hand4    #dgf      
,possibly ,horace meant to convey this  
opinion in the words ,quid  ,paris8 ut  
salvus regnet1 vivatque beatus1 ,cogi   
posse negat4 ,epist4 ,i4  ii4 #aj4      
,the relations of race between the      
,trojans and the ,greeks have already   
been examined1 in connection with the   
great ,homeric title of   #dgg2 under   
some difficulties1 which resolve        
themselves into  this1 that ,homer1 on  
almost every subject so luminous a      
guide1 is in  all likelihood here1 as it
 were1 retained on the side of silence2 
and  that we have no information1 except
 such as he accidentally lets fall4     
,but he was under no such preoccupation 
with regard to the institutions  of     
,troy2 so that1 while he had no occasion
 for the same amount of  detail as he   
has given us with reference to the      
,greeks1 or the same  minute accuracy as
 he has there observed1 enough appears  

to supply a  tolerably clear and        
consistent outline4    #dgg ,achis1     
sect4 ix4 p4 #dib4    ,we have been     
accustomed too negligently to treat the 
,homeric term ,troy1  as if it          
designated only or properly a single    
city4 ,but in ,homer it  much more      
commonly means a country1 with the city 
sometimes called ,troy  for its capital1
 and containing many other cities beside
 it4 ,the proper  name1 however1 of the 
city in the poems is 1 not 4 ,ilios  is 
used above an hundred and twenty times  
in the ,iliad and ,odyssey1  and always 
strictly means the city4 ,the word  is  
used nearly  ninety times1 and in the   
great majority of cases it means the    
country4  ,often it has the epithets 1 1
 1 which speak for  themselves4 ,but    
more commonly it is without an epithet2 
and then too it  very generally means   
the country4 ,when the ,greeks speak1   
for example1  of the voyage 1 this is   
the natural sense1 rather than to       
suppose it means a city not on the sea  

shore1 and into which1 till the  end of 
the siege1 they did not find their way  
at all#dgh4    #dgh ,one only of the    
epithets of the word ,ilios seems to    
point out  that it may too mean the     
district4 ,it is 1 used ,il4 v4 #eea1   
and  in four other places4    ,priam and
 his dynasty in ,troas4    ,according to
 the genealogical tree in the ,twentieth
 ,iliad1 ,dardanus  built ,dardania     
among the mountains3 his son            
,erichthonius became  wealthy by        
possessions in the plain2 and ,tros1 the
 son of ,erichthonius1  was the real    
founder of the ,trojan state and        
name#dgi4    #dgi ,il4 xx4 #bcj4       '
    4    ,thus the name of ,troes at    
that time covered the whole race4 ,but  
the  town of ,ilios must1 from its name1
 have been built not earlier than  the  
time of ,ilus1 the son of ,tros4 ,and   
now the dynasty separates into  two     
lines1 as ,assaracus1 the brother of    
,ilus1 continues to reign in  ,dardania4
 ,thus the local existence of the       

,dardanian name is prolonged2  for it is
 plain that the ,dardanian throne was   
associated1 at least in  dignity1 with a
 rival1 and not a subordinate1          
sovereignty4 ,still it  does not extend 
beyond the hills4 ,it was over these    
that neas fled  from ,achilles#dhj4 ,but
 even the ,dardanians did not wholly    
cease to be  known by the appellation of
 ,trojans2 for not only does ,homer     
frequently  use the dominant name ,troes
 for the entire force opposed to the    
,greeks1  which is naming the whole from
 the principal part1 but he also uses   
the  word ,troes to signify all that    
part of the force1 which was under the  
house of ,dardanus in either branch2 and
 he distinguishes this portion  from the
 rest of the force described under the  
name 1 at the  opening of the ,trojan   
,catalogue3    #dhj ,ibid4 #ahi4        
1 ' #dha4    #dha ,il4 ii4 #hae4 ,so    
likewise ,il4 vi4 #aaa4 xiii4 #gee4     
xvii4 #ad4 xviii4  #bbi4    ,this line  
is followed by an account of the whole  

force opposed to the  ,greeks1 in       
sixteen divisions4 ,of these the eleven 
last bear each their  own national name1
 beginning with the ,pelasgians of      
,larissa1 and ending  with the ,lycians2
 and they are under leaders1 whom the   
whole course  of the poem marks as not  
being ,trojan1 but independent4 ,these  
eleven  evidently were the  of ver4     
#hae4    ,the five first contingents are
 introduced and commanded as follows3   
#a4 ,troes under ,hector#dhb3    #dhb   
,ver4 #haf4           4    #b4          
,dardanians1 under neas1 with two of the
 7ten7 sons of ,antenor1  ,archelochus  
and ,acamas1 for his colleagues#dhc3    
#dhc ,ver4 #hai4       '    4    #c4    
,trojans of ,zelea1 at the extreme spur 
of ,ida1 under ,pandarus#dhd3    #dhd   
,ver4 #hbd-f4                 4    #d4  
,people of ,adresteia and other towns1  
under ,adrestus and ,amphius1  sons of  
,merops of ,percote#dhe3    #dhe ,ver4  
#hbh4       '  ' 1 4 4 4    #e4 ,people 
of ,percote and other towns1 under      

,asius3       '  1 4 4 4    ,and then   
begins the enumeration of the ,allies1  
each under their  respective national   
names4    ,it seems evident1 that these 
five first-named contingents comprise   
the  whole of the subjects of the race  
of ,dardanus4 ,first come the ,trojans  
of the capital and its district1 under  
,hector4 ,then1 taking precedence  on   
account of dignity1 the ,dardanian      
division of neas4 ,in the third         
contingent the ,poet returns to the name
 ,troes1 which1 ,i think1 plainly       
enough overrides the fourth and fifth1  
just as in the ,greek ,catalogue  the   
name ,pelasgic ,argos#dhf introduces and
 comprehends a number of  contingents   
that follow1 besides that of ,achilles4 
#dhf ii4 #fha4    ,there are several    
reasons1 which tend plainly to this     
conclusion4  ,the sense of  7#hae7 and  
the reference to the diversity of       
tongues spoken 7#hjd7 almost require the
 division of the force between  ,troes  
and allies2 it is also the most natural 

division4 ,the fourth  and fifth        
contingents are not indeed expressly    
called ,troes1 but this  name1 already  
given to the third1 may include them4   
,we must1 ,i think1  conclude that it   
does so1 when we find clear proof that  
they were  not independent national     
divisions3 for the troops of ,percote   
were  in the fifth1 but the sons of     
,percosian ,merops command the fourth1 a
  fact inexplicable if these were the   
forces of independent ,states1 but      
natural enough if they were all under   
the supremacy of ,priam and his  house4 
,in the great battle of the ,twelfth    
,iliad1 the ,trojans are    7xii4 #hg74 
,sarpedon commands the allies with      
,glaucus  and ,asteropus 7v4 #aja71 thus
 accounting for eleven of the sixteen   
divisions in the ,catalogue4 neas1 with 
two sons of ,antenor1 commands  the     
,dardanians1 thus disposing of a        
twelfth4 ,again1 ,hector1 with          
,polydamas and ,cebriones1 commands the 
1 evidently  the division standing first

 in the ,catalogue4 ,this makes the     
number  thirteen4 ,the three remaining  
contingents of the ,catalogue are       
#a4 ,zelean ,troes1 under ,pandarus1    
7since slain17 ,il4 ii4 #hbd-g4      #b4
 ,adresteans c4 under ,adrestus and     
,amphius1 7#hbh-cd17 both slain1    ,il4
 v4 #fab4 vi4 #fc4      #c4 ,percotians 
c4 under ,asius 7#hce-i74    ,these     
three remaining divisions of the        
,catalogue evidently reappear  in the   
second and third of the five ,divisions 
of the ,twelfth ,book4  ,the ,second is 
under ,paris1 with ,alcathous1          
son-in-law of ,antenor1 and  ,agenor1   
one of his sons4 ,in the command of the 
,third1 ,helenus and  ,deiphobus1 two   
sons of ,priam1 are associated with1 and
 even placed  before1 ,asius4 ,the      
position given in these divisions to the
 family of  ,priam appears to prove1    
that the troops forming them were among 
his  proper subjects4    ,again1 the    
territorial juxtaposition of these      
districts1 between  ,phrygia1 which lay 

behind the mountains of ,ida1 on the one
 side1 and  the sea of ,marmora with the
 gan on the other1 perfectly agrees with
  the description in the ,twenty-fourth 
,iliad#dhg of the range of country      
within which ,priam had the preeminence 
in wealth1 and in the vigour and        
influence of his sons4 ,strabo quotes   
this passage as direct evidence  that   
,priam reigned over the country it      
describes1 which is rather more  than it
 actually states2 and he says that      
,troas certainly reached to  ,adresteia 
and to ,cyzicus4    #dhg ,il4 xxiv4     
#edc-e4    ,again1 we have various signs
 in different passages of a political   
connection between the towns we have    
named and the race of ,priam4           
,melanippus1 his nephew1 was employed   
before the war at ,percote#dhh4         
,democoon#dhi1 his illegitimate son1    
tended horses at ,abydus2  doubtless1   
says ,strabo#dij1 the horses of his     
father4    #dhh ,il4 xv4 #edh4    #dhi  
,il4 iv4 #ii4    #dij ,p4 #ehe4    ,the 

partial inclusion of the ,dardanians    
within the name of ,troes is  further   
shown by the verse#dia1    #dia ,il4    
xiii4 #dfc4      1      and by the      
appeal of ,helenus to neas and ,hector  
jointly1 as the  persons chiefly        
responsible for the safety of the ,troes
 and ,lycians3  the name ,lycians being 
taken here1 as in some other places#dib1
 to  denote most probably a race akin to
 and locally interspersed with the      
,trojans4    #dib ,see ,il4 iv4 #aig1   
#bjg4 xv4 #dhe4    ,but the ,dardanians 
have more commonly their proper         
designation  separately given them4 ,it 
never includes the ,troes4 ,and we never
 find  the two appellations1 ,troes and 
,dardans1 covering the entire force4    
,whenever the ,dardans are named with   
the ,troes1 there is also another  word1
 either 1 or 4    ,the word ,troes1 it  
is right to add1 is sometimes confined  
strictly to  the inhabitants of the     
city3 but the occasions are rare1 and   
perhaps  always with contextual         

indications that such is the sense4     
,another sign that ,priam exercised a   
direct sovereignty over the  territory  
which yielded the five contingents may  
perhaps be found in  the fact1 that we  
do not find any of his nephews in       
command of them4  ,they were led by     
their local officers1 while the brothers
 of ,priam  constituted a part of the   
community of ,troy1 and chiefly         
influenced the  ,assembly3 and their    
sons1 though apparently more            
considerable persons  than most of those
 local officers in general1 simply      
appear as acting  under ,hector without 
special command4 ,the brothers of ,priam
 are ,lampus1  ,clytius1 and ,hiketaon4 
,his nephews and other relatives are    
,dolops the  son of ,lampus2 ,melanippus
 the son of ,hiketaon2 ,polydamas1      
,hyperenor1  and ,euphorbus1 the sons of
 ,panthous and his wife ,phrontis4      
,had the senior members of the family   
held local sovereignties1 we  should    
have found their sons in local commands4

 ,but we find only two  sons of ,antenor
 in command1 as either colleagues or    
lieutenants of  neas1 over the ,dardans1
 whom we have no reason to suppose they 
had  any share in ruling4    ,strabo1   
indeed1 contends1 that there are nine   
separate   immediately connected with   
,troy#dic1 besides the 4 ,of these      
states one he thinks was ,lelegian1 and 
was ruled over by ,altes1  father of    
,laothoe1 one of ,priam's wives4        
,another by ,munes1 husband of          
,briseis4 ,another1 ,thebe1 by ,eetion1 
father of ,andromache4 ,others he       
considers to be represented by ,anchises
 and ,pandarus3 but this does  not well 
agree with the structure of the         
,catalogue4 ,he refers also  to         
,lyrnessus and ,pedasus2 which are      
nowhere mentioned by ,homer as          
furnishing contingents1 but they had    
apparently been destroyed1 as well  as  
taken1 by ,achilles4 ,he places several 
of the dynasties in cities  thus        
destroyed3 and they all1 according to   

him1 lay beyond the limits  marked out  
in the ,twenty-fourth ,iliad4    #dic   
,strabo xiii4 #g4 p4 #ehd4    ,this     
assemblage of facts appears to point to 
a very great diversity of  relations    
subsisting between ,priam1 with his     
capital1 and the states1  cities1 and   
races1 of which we hear as arrayed on   
his side in the war4  ,there are first  
the cities of ,troas1 or ,troja proper1 
furnishing the  five1 or if we except   
,dardania four out of the five1 first   
contingents  of the ,catalogue4 ,over   
these ,priam was sovereign4    ,there   
are next the cities1 so far as they can 
be traced1 under the   mentioned by     
,strabo1 such as ,thebe1 and the cities 
of ,altes  and ,munes4 ,these were      
probably in the same sort of relation to
 the  sceptre of ,priam1 as the ,greek  
states in general to that of ,agamemnon4
    ,thirdly1 there are the independent 
nations4 ,of these eleven named  in the 
,catalogue2 others are added as newly   
arrived in the ,tenth  ,book#did1 and   

further additions were subsequently     
made1 such as the  force under ,memnon1 
and the ,keteians under ,eurypylus#die4 
,nothing  perhaps tends so much1 as the 
powerful assistance lent to ,priam by   
numerous and distant allies1 to show how
 justly in substance ,horace has        
described the ,trojan war as the        
conflict between the ,eastern and the   
,western world4 ,the two confederacies1 
which then came into collision1  between
 them absorbed the whole known world of 
,homer2 and foreshadowed  the great     
conflicts of later epochs4    #did ,il4 
x4 #dbh-cj4    #die ,od4 xi4 #eai-bb4   
,political institutions of ,troy4    ,we
 may now proceed to consider the        
political institutions of the  kingdom  
of ,priam1 which has thus loosely been  
defined4    ,the  of the ,trojans is    
less clearly marked1 than he is among   
the ,greeks3 for 7as we shall find7 they
 had no 1 and therefore we  have not the
 same opportunities of seeing the       
members of the highest  class collected 

for separate action in the conduct of   
the war4 ,still1  however1 the name is  
distinctly given to the following       
persons on the  ,trojan side1 and to no 
others4      #a4 ,priam1 ,il4 v4 #dfd1  
xxiv4 #fcj4    #b4 ,paris1 iv4 #if4     
#c4 ,rhesus1 x4 #dce4    #d4 ,sarpedon1 
xii4 #cai4 xvi4 #ffj4    #e4 ,glaucus1  
xii4 #cai4    ,among the ,trojans1 as   
among the ,greeks1 it was the custom for
 the  kings1 as they descended into the 
vale of years1 to devolve the more      
active duties of kingship on their      
children1 and to retain1 perhaps  only  
for a time1 those of a sedentary        
character4 ,hence ,hector at least      
shares with ,priam the management of    
,assemblies1 as it is he#dif who        
dissolves that of the ,second ,book1 and
 calls the military one of the  ,eighth4
 ,hence1 too1 he speaks of himself as   
the person responsible for  the burdens 
entailed by the war upon the ,trojans4  
#8,i did not1' he says  to the allies1  
#8bring you from your cities to multiply

 our numbers1  but that you might defend
 for me the wives and children of       
,trojans2  with this object in view1 ,i 
exhaust the people for your pay and     
provisions#dig4' ,hence we have neas    
leading the ,dardanians1 while his      
father ,anchises nowhere appears1 and1  
as it must be presumed1 remains  in his 
capital4 ,hence1 while ten or twelve    
sons of ,antenor bear arms  for ,troy1  
and two of them are the colleagues of   
neas in the command of  the ,dardanian  
contingent1 their father appears among  
the 1  who were chief speakers in the   
,assembly within the city4 ,we do not   
know  that ,antenor was a king2 more    
probably he held a lordship subordinate 
to ,priam1 in a relation somewhat more  
strict than that between  ,agamemnon and
 the ,greek chieftains1 and rather      
resembling that between  ,peleus and    
,mentius2 but the same custom of partial
 retirement seems to  have prevailed in 
the case of subaltern rulers1 as indeed 
it would be  dictated by the same       

reasons of prudence and necessity4      
#dif ,il4 ii4 #hjh4 viii4 #dhi4    #dig 
,il4 xvii4 #bbc-f4    ,the   of ,troy   
was not1 any more than those of ,greece1
 an  absolute despotism4 ,in ,troy1 as  
in ,greece1 the public affairs were     
discussed and settled in the            
,assemblies1 though with differences1   
which  will be noticed1 from the ,greek 
manner of procedure4 ,it was in the     
,assembly that ,iris1 disguised as      
,polites1 addressed ,priam and ,hector  
to  advise a review of the army#dih4    
,and it was again in an ,assembly that  
,antenor proposed1 and that ,paris      
refused1 to give up ,helen3 whereupon   
,priam proposed the mission of ,idus to 
ask for a truce with a view to  the     
burial of the dead1 and the people      
assented to the proposal#dii2    #dih   
,il4 ii4 #gie4    #dii ,il4 vii4 #cgi4  
'      ' 4    ,it was in the ,assembly1 
too1 that those earlier proposals had   
been  made1 of which the same personage 
procured the defeat by corruption4      

,lastly1 in the ,eighth ,book1          
,hector#ejj1 as we have seen1 holds a   
military  of the army by the banks of   
the ,scamander4 ,at this he  invites    
them to bivouac outside the ,greek      
rampart1 and they accept  his proposal  
by acclamation4 ,this ,assembly on the  
field of battle is  an argument a       
fortiori to show1 that ordinary affairs 
were referred  among the ,trojans to    
such meetings4 ,we have1 indeed1 no     
detail of any  ,trojan ,assembly except 
these three4 ,but we have references to 
them1  which give a similar view of     
their nature and functions4 ,idus1 on   
his  return1 announces to the ,assembly 
that the truce is granted#eja4 ,it  is  
plain that the restoration of ,helen was
 debated before1 as well as  during the 
war1 in the ,assembly of the people2    
because ,agamemnon slays  the two sons  
of ,antimachus on the special ground    
that the father had  there proposed that
 ,menelaus1 if not ,ulysses1 should be  
murdered#ejb1  when they came as ,envoys

 to ,troy1 for the purpose of demanding 
her  restoration4 ,this ,antimachus was 
bribed by ,paris1 as the ,poet tells us1
  to oppose the measure#ejc4 ,again1    
,polydamas1 in one of his speeches1     
charges ,hector with having used him    
roughly1 when he had ventured  to differ
 from him in the ,assemblies1 upon the  
ground that he ought  not1 as a stranger
 to the ,trojan 1 to promote dissension 
among  them#ejd4    #ejj ,il4 viii4     
#dhi1 #edb4    #eja ,il4 vii4 #dad-g4   
#ejb ,il4 xi4 #ach4    #ejc ,ibid4 #abc4
    #ejd ,il4 xii4 #baa-ad4    ,trojan  
institutions do not1 then1 present to   
our view a greater  elevation of the    
royal office4 ,on the contrary1 it is   
remarkable1 that  the title of 1 which  
,homer applies to the chief speakers of 
the ,trojan ,assembly1 not being kings1 
is also used by him to describe  ,ilus  
the founder of the city#eje4 ,it is1    
however1 possible1 perhaps  even likely1
 that this title may be applied to ,ilus
 as a younger son1  if his brother      

,assaracus was the eldest and the       
heir#ejf4    #eje ,il4 xi4 #cg4    #ejf 
,il4 xx4 #bcb4    ,but although it thus 
appears that monarchy was limited in    
,troy1 as it  was in ,greece1 and that  
public affairs were conducted in the    
assemblies  of the people1 the method   
and organization of these ,assemblies   
was  different in the two cases4    #a4 
,the guiding element in the ,trojan     
government seems to have been age       
combined with rank2 while among the     
,greeks1 wisdom and valour were         
qualifications1 not less available than 
age and rank4    #b4 ,the ,greeks had   
the institution of a 1 which preceded   
and  prepared matter for their          
,assemblies4 ,the ,trojans had not4     
#c4 ,the ,greeks1 as we have seen1      
employed oratory as a main instrument   
of government2 the ,trojans did not4    
#d4 ,the aged members of the ,trojan    
royal family rendered their aid to  the 
state1 not as counsellors of ,priam in  
private meetings1 but only in  the      

,assembly of the people4    ,a few words
 on each of these heads4    ,the greater
 weight of ,age in ,troy4    #a4 ,the   
old men who appear on the wall with     
,priam1 in the ,third ,book1  are really
 old1 and not merely titular or official
 2 they  are#ejg1    #ejg ,il4 iii4     
#aej4         4    ,there are no less   
than seven of them1 besides ,priam4     
,three are his  brothers1 ,lampus1      
,clytius1 ,hiketaon2 the others probably
 relatives1  we know not in what precise
 degree3 ,panthous1 ,thymtes1 ,ucalegon1
  ,antenor4 ,they are called            
collectively the  1 as well as  the  2  
and they were manifestly habitual       
speakers in the  ,assembly4    ,there is
 nothing in the ,greek life of the      
,homeric poems that comes near  this    
aggregation of aged men4 ,now we have no
 evidence1 that their being  thus       
collected was in any degree owing to the
 war4 ,theano1 wife of  ,antenor1 was   
priestess of ,minerva in ,troy2 which   
makes it most probable  that he resided 

there habitually1 and not only on       
account of the war4    ,the only group  
at all approaching this is1 where we see
 ,mentius and  ,phnix at the ,court of  
,peleus2 but we cannot say whether this 
was a  permanent arrangement4 ,phnix1 as
 we know1 was lord of the ,dolopians1   
and if so1 could not have been a        
standing assistant at the court of      
,peleus2 we do not know that the ,trojan
 elders held any such local  position   
apart from ,troy1 even in any single    
case2 and on the other  hand1 we have no
 knowledge whether ,phnix and ,mentius1 
even when at  the court of ,peleus1 took
 any share in the government of his     
immediate  dominions4 ,the name 1 as    
usually employed among the ,greeks to   
describe a class1 had no necessary      
relation to age whatever4    ,of the    
respect paid to age in ,greece1 we have 
abundant evidence2 but we  find nothing 
like this gathering together of a body  
of old men to be  the ordinary guides of
 popular deliberation in the            

,assemblies4    ,it is true that we hear
 by implication of both ,hector and     
,polydamas1  who were not old1 as taking
 part in affairs3 but all the           
indications  in the ,iliad go to show   
that ,hector's share in the government  
of ,troy1  though not limited to the    
mere conduct of the forces in the field1
  yet arose out of his military office1 
and probably touched only such  matters 
as were connected with the management of
 the war4 ,polydamas  evidently was     
treated as more or less an interloper4  
,but even if it were otherwise1 and if  
the middle-aged men of high  station and
 ability took a prominent part in       
affairs1 the existence of  this         
grey-headed company1 with apparently the
 principal statesmanship  of ,troy in   
their hands1 forms a marked difference  
from ,greek manners4  ,for in ,greece at
 peace we have nothing akin to it2 while
 in ,greece at  war upon the plain of   
,troy1 we see the young ,diomed as well 
as the old  ,nestor1 and the rather     

young ,achilles and ,ajax1 as well as   
the elderly  ,idomeneus1 associated with
 the middle-aged men in the government  
of the  army and its operations4    ,the
 absence of a  in ,troy4    ,first then1
 ,i think it plain that the ,trojans had
 no 1 for the  following reasons3    #a4
 ,that although we often hear of        
deliberations and decisions taken on    
the part of the ,trojans1 and we have   
instances enough of their holding       
assemblies of the people1 yet we never  
find mention of a 1 or  ,council1 in    
connection with them4    #b4 ,in the    
,second ,book1 ,homer describes the     
,trojan  thus 7,il4 ii4  #ghh1 #i73     
'          1    4    ,this latter line  
is only to be accounted for by the      
supposition1 that  ,homer meant to      
describe a difference between the usages
 of the ,trojans1  and those of the     
,greeks2 whose  were recognised as      
members of  the 1 even when in the      
,assemblies4    ,of the separate place  
of the ,greek  in the ,assemblies1 we   

have  conclusive proof from the ,shield 
of ,achilles 7xviii4 #dig1 #ejc73       
'        and afterwards1                
'   1   4    ,and again1 where the      
,ithacan  make way for ,telemachus1 as  
he  passes to the chair of his father4  
,but in ,troy the  7such is probably the
 meaning of ,il4 ii4 #ghi47  have no    
separate function3 the young and the old
 meet together3 while  in ,greece1      
besides distinct places in the          
,assembly1 the  had an  exclusive       
function in the 1 at which they met     
separately from the  young4    #c4 ,it  
would appear that the  was with the     
,trojans not occasional1  as with the   
,greeks1 for great questions1 but       
habitual4 ,and this agrees  with the    
description in ,il4 ii4 #ghh4 ,for when 
,jupiter sends ,iris to  ,troy1 she     
finds the people in ,assembly1 but      
apparently for no special  purpose1 as  
she immediately1 in the likeness of     
,polites1 begins to  address ,priam1 and
 we do not hear of any other business4  

,so1 when  ,idus came back from the     
,greeks1 he found the ,trojan ,assembly 
still  sitting4 ,all this looks as if   
the entire business of administering the
  government rested with that body only4
    ,i draw a similar inference from the
 remarkable expression in ,il4 ii4      
#ghh1  4 ,this seems to express that    
there was a standing1  probably a daily1
 assembly of the ,trojans1 not formally 
summoned1 and  open to all comers1 which
 acted as the governing body for the    
state4  ,the line would then mean1 not  
simply #8the ,trojans were holding an   
assembly1' but #8the ,trojans were      
holding their assembly as usual4'       
,the names  and  appear to have been    
merely  descriptive1 and not titular4   
,both are applied to the ,trojan elders4
    ,and so 1 1 1 are constantly used   
without any1  so to speak1 official     
meaning4 ,in ,il4 x4 #adg1 the          
expression    can hardly mean #8to      
attend the 1' for the singular  number  
would be the proper term for the        

specially convoked3 and  ,i interpret it
 as meaning1 to attend at or to hold the
 usual council4  ,this is among the     
,greeks4 ,among the ,trojans1 in ,il4 x4
 #dae-ag1 ,dolon  says1         1   1   
1      4    ,now the word  is applied1  
,il4 xii4 #dad1 to ,sarpedon1 as well   
as in xiii4 #dfc and elsewhere to neas4 
,neither were among the   4 ,but        
further1 it is applied1 ,od4 ix4 #aab1  
to the  itself3       ' '  1      ,and  
therefore the word1 though it means     
councillor in a general sense1  does not
 mean officially member of a 1 as       
opposed to an  or  ,assembly4    ,the   
phrase  1 in the passage ,il4 x4        
#dae-ag1 does not  oppose1 but supports 
what has now been said4 ,it is quite    
plain that  this of ,hector's was a     
small military meeting1 or council of   
war1  just as in viii4 #dhi he held an 1
 or assembly of the army1 both  ,trojans
 and allies2 it was not a meeting of a  
of ,troy1 because  it was held in the   
field1 far from the city1 and without   

any of the  ,elders1 who were the great 
and  of ,troy2 for ,hector  had already 
arranged 7,il4 viii4 #eag-ai7 that the  
old men should remain  in the city1 to  
defend the walls from any night attack3 
most of all  however because1 as we hear
 of no  before the military ,assembly   
in the ,eighth ,book1 so we hear of no  
,assembly following the meeting  for    
deliberation in the ,tenth4 ,generals in
 modern times hold councils  of war3 but
 no parallel can be drawn between them1 
and ,councils for  dispatching the      
affairs of a ,state4    ,as we never    
have occasion to become acquainted with 
,trojan politics in  peace1 we can only 
argue the case as to the nonexistence of
 a council  from the state of war4 ,but 
in ,greece1 it will be remembered1 both 
war  and peace present their cases of   
the use of this institution1 as one     
regularly established1 and apparently   
invested with both a deliberative  and  
an executive character4    ,the greater 
weight of oratory in ,greece4    ,it is 

next to be inquired1 whether the        
,trojans1 like the ,greeks1  employed   
eloquence1 detailed argument as         
furnishing1 and the other  parts of     
oratory1 a main instrument of           
government4    ,i think it is plain1    
that the decisions of their ,assemblies 
were  governed rather by simple         
authority2 by the  1 the  simple        
declarations1 of persons of weight4     
,the report of the re-assembled  of the 
,greeks in the ,second  ,book begins    
with the #baath line1 and ends with the 
#cihth3 occupying  #ahh lines4 ,but the 
,trojan  of the same ,book is despatched
 in  twenty-one lines 7#ghh-hjh74    ,a 
more remarkable example is afforded by  
the second ,trojan ,assembly  7,il4 vii4
 #cde-cgi74 ,for this  is described as 1
 2  and well it might be1 in            
circumstances so arduous4 ,the ,elders  
in the  ,third ,book were of opinion    
that1 beautiful as ,helen was1 it was   
better  to restore her1 than to continue
 the sufferings and dangers of the  war4

 ,accordingly1 ,antenor urged in this   
,assembly that she should be  restored1 
together with the plundered property4   
,he referred also to the  recent breach 
of a sworn covenant on the ,trojan side1
 and said no good  could come of it4    
,this he effects in a speech of six     
lines2 the first  of which is the mere  
vocative address to the ,assembly1 and  
the last is  marked as surplusage with  
the obelos 7#cdh-ec74    ,paris1 the    
person mainly concerned1 replies4 ,he   
does not address  himself to the        
,assembly at all1 but to ,antenor3 and  
he disposes of the  subject of debate in
 eight lines 7#ceg-fd74 ,four of them   
are given to  the announcement of his   
intentions1 and four to abuse of        
,antenor4    ,it was impossible to      
conceive a subject more likely to cause 
debate2  and excitement we see there    
was1 but after the speech of ,paris1    
nothing  more was said about ,helen1    
either for or against the restoration4  
,priam  then arose1 and in a speech of  

eleven lines 7#cfh-gh7 laid down another
  plan of proceeding1 namely1 by a      
message to the ,greeks for a truce with 
a view to funeral obsequies1 which was  
at once accepted4    ,oratory of greater
 weight in ,greece4    ,nowhere1 in     
short1 among the ,trojans have we any   
example1 ,i do not  say of multiplied or
 lengthened speeches1 but of real       
reasoning and  deliberation in the      
conduct of business3 though ,glaucus    
tells his story  at great length to     
,diomed on the field of battle 7,il4 vi4
 #ade-baa71  and neas to ,achilles 7,il4
 xx4 #aii-beh7 nearly equals him4       
,indeed1 it  may almost be said1 the    
,trojans are long speakers when in      
battle1 and  short when in debate3 the  
,greeks copious in debate1 but very     
succinct  in battle4    ,again1 we may  
observe the different descriptions which
 the ,poet  has given of the elocution  
of ,nestor1 and of that of the ,trojan  
in their respective 4 ,to ,nestor 7,il4 
i4 #bdh1 #i7  he seems to assign a soft 

continuous flow indefinitely prolonged4 
,theirs he describes as resembling the  
of grasshoppers  7,il4 iii4 #aea1 #b71 a
 clear trill or thread of voice1 not    
only without  any particular idea of    
length attached to it1 but apparently   
meant  to recall a sharp intermittent   
chirp4 ,yet there is an odd proof that  
to ,priam at least1 as one of these old 
men1 there was attached1 by  the younger
 ones1 the imputation of favouring      
either too many or else  too long       
orations4 ,for1 in the  of the ,second  
,book1 ,iris in the  character of       
,polites1 though there is no account of 
what had preceded  her arrival1         
objurgates ,priam as both then          
encouraging what may be  called         
indiscriminate speaking1 and as having  
formally1 before the war1  been addicted
 to the same practice#ejh2    #ejh ,il4 
ii4 #gif4       1      1     ' ' 4      
,upon the whole1 ,i think it must have  
been ,homer's intention1 while          
representing both ,trojans and ,greeks  

as carrying on public affairs in  their 
public ,assemblies1 to draw a very      
marked distinction between them  in     
regard to the use of that powerful      
engine of oratory1 which played  so     
conspicuous a part in the former1 as    
well as in the later stages of  the     
,greek history4    ,and it is important1
 that nowhere does a sentiment escape   
the lips of  a ,trojan chieftain1 which 
indicates a consciousness of the        
political  value of oratory4 ,ulysses1  
in a state of peace1 describes before   
the  ,phacians beauty and eloquence as  
the noblest gifts of the gods to        
man#eji3 and employs  and 1 eloquence   
and intelligence1 as  convertible terms4
 ,polydamas1 when rebuking ,hector in   
the ,thirteenth  ,iliad1 delivers a     
passage in many respects strikingly     
analogous4 ,he  speaks1 however1 of  and
 1 mind and counsel#eaj2 he does not    
drop a word relating to public speech or
 to eloquence as instruments of         
government1 though he describes the     

mental quality and the habit which  he  
names as of priceless value for the     
benefit of ,states4    #eji ,od4 viii4  
#agj1 #e1 #g4    #eaj ,il4 xiii4        
#gbf-cd4    ,the phrases applied to the 
,trojan elders appear to indicate1 that 
they  derived their political character 
from taking a prominent part in the     
,assembly1 and from that alone4 ,for the
 word  indicates an  elder acting in and
 among the 1 or people4 ,and this name  
the ,poet  uses but twice3 once in ,il4 
iii4 #adi1 where he enumerates the eight
  persons1 who bore that character in   
,troy2 and once with reference to  ,ilus
 7,il4 ii4 #cgb74 ,homer nowhere employs
 this term for any of the  ,greeks4     
,the want of the  shows us1 that there  
was no balance of forces  in the ,trojan
 polity1 less security against          
precipitate action1 more  liability to  
high-handed insolence and oppression of 
the people1 and1  on the other hand1    
unless the danger had been neutralized  
by mildness  or lethargy of character1  

likewise in all likelihood to           
revolutionary  change4    ,trojans less 
gifted with self-command4    ,again1 on 
the ,trojan side we do not find the     
silence and  self-possession of the     
,greeks4 ,after the enumeration in the  
,third ,book1  at its opening1 we find  
that the ,trojans marched with din and  
buzz3         '  ' 1      but as to the 
,greeks1 we are told that they marched  
in profound  silence3 and the ,poet     
skilfully heightens the contrast by     
mentioning  that they breathed forth    
what they did not articulate1 and that  
they  were steeled with firm resolution 
to stand by one another#eaa3    #eaa    
,il4 iii4 #b1 #h4       ' '     1       
4    ,we are finally told that each     
leader indeed gave the word to his men1 
while all beside were mute#eab3    #eab 
,il4 iv4 #dbi4                 '   1    
'   1          but from the ,trojans    
there arose a sound1 like that of sheep 
bleating  for their lambs#eac3    #eac  
,ibid4 #dcf4            4    ,and1      

again1 we find the relation of the      
burning of the dead given with  the     
usual consistency of the ,poet4 ,the men
 of the two armies met3 and  on both    
sides they shed tears as they lifted    
their lifeless comrades on  the wagons3 
but1 he adds1 there was silence among   
the ,trojans1      '        and it was  
because the king had felt that there    
would be indecency in a  noisy show of  
sorrow3 while the ,greeks needed not the
 injunction 7,il4  vii4 #dbf-cb71 from  
their spontaneous self-command4    ,when
 the ,poet speaks of the ,trojan        
,assembly in the ,seventh ,book as   1  
he evidently means to describe an       
excitement tending  to disorder3 and one
 contrasted in a remarkable manner with 
the  discipline of the ,greeks1 who were
 summoned to meet silently in the       
night1 that they might not1 in          
gathering1 arouse the enemy outside the 
ramparts4 ,even in their respective     
modes of expressing approbation1  ,homer
 makes a shade of difference4 ,when the 

,greeks applaud1 it is    1 or what we  
call loud or vehement cheering3 but     
when the ,trojans1 it is    1 which     
signifies a more  miscellaneous and     
tumultuous noise4    ,in short1 it would
 appear to be the intention of ,homer to
 represent  the ,greeks as possessed of 
a higher intelligence throughout4 ,in   
the  ,odyssey1 we find that ,ulysses    
made his way into ,troy disguised as  a 
beggar1 communicated with ,helen1 duly  
informed himself 7     #ead71 and       
contrived to despatch certain of the    
,trojans before he departed4 ,in the    
,iliad we are supplied with abundant    
instances of the superior management of 
the ,greeks1 and likewise of  their     
auxiliary gods1 in comparison with those
 of the ,trojans4 ,juno  outwits ,venus 
in obtaining from her the cestus1 and   
then proceeds  to outwit ,jupiter in the
 use of it4 ,minerva1 on observing that 
the  ,greeks are losing1 7,il4 vii4 #ag7
 betakes herself to ,troy1 where ,apollo
  proposes just what she wants1 namely1 

a cessation of the general  engagement1 
with a view to a personal encounter     
between ,hector and some  chosen        
chieftain3 she immediately adopts the   
plan2 and he causes it to  be executed  
through ,helenus4 ,it both stops the    
general havoc among the  ,greeks1 and   
redounds greatly to the honour of their 
champion ,ajax4 ,at  the end of the day1
 however1 ,nestor suggests to the ,greek
 chiefs1 on  account of their heavy     
losses 7,il4 vii4 #cbh71 that they      
should1 on the  occasion of raising a   
mound over their dead1 likewise dig and 
fortify  a trench1 which might serve to 
defend the ships and camp4 ,in the mean 
time the ,trojans are made to meet2 and 
they send to propose the very  measure1 
namely1 an armistice for funeral rites1 
which the ,greeks  desire1 in order1    
under cover of it1 to fortify themselves
 7,il4 vii4  #cfh-ig74 ,and this        
accordingly ,agamemnon is enabled to    
grant as a sort  of favour to the       
,trojans 7,il4 vii4 #djh73    #ead ,od4 

iv4 #beh4           4    ,this superior 
intelligence is probably meant to be    
figured by the  exchange of arms between
 ,glaucus and ,diomed4 ,and1 again1 when
 ,hector  attempts anything in the      
nature of a stratagem1 as the mission of
  ,dolon by night1 it is only that he   
may fall into the hands of ,diomed  and 
,ulysses4 ,but there does not appear to 
be in any of these cases  a violation of
 oath1 compact1 or any absolute rule of 
equity by the  ,greeks4    ,of all these
 traits1 however1 it may be said1 that  
they are of no  value as evidence1 if   
taken by themselves4 ,they are means    
which would  obviously occur to the     
,poet1 zealous for his own nation4 ,it  
is their  accordance with other         
indications1 apparently undesigned1     
which  warrants our relying upon them as
 real testimonies1 available for an     
historic purpose4    ,difference in     
pursuits of high-born youth4            
,although1 on the whole1 we seem to have
 the signs of greater wealth  among the 

,trojans than the ,greeks1 yet in       
certain points also their  usages were  
more primitive and simple4 ,thus we find
 the youths of the  house of ,nestor    
immediately about his person2 and       
,patroclus1 as well  as ,achilles1 was  
apparently brought up at the court of   
,peleus4 ,again1  the youthful ,nestor  
travels into ,thessaly for a campaign3  
,ulysses  goes to hunt at the ,court of 
his grandfather ,autolycus4 ,the        
,ithacan  ,suitors employ themselves in 
manly games4 ,but we frequently come    
upon  passages where we are incidentally
 informed1 that the princes of the      
house of ,dardanus were occupied in     
rustic employments4 ,thus ,melanippus1  
son of ,hiketaon1 and cousin of ,hector1
 who was residing in ,priam's  palace1  
and treated as one of his children1 had 
before the war tended  oxen in          
,percote#eae4 neas1 the only son and    
heir of ,anchises1 had  been similarly  
occupied among or near the hills1 at the
 time when he  had a narrow escape from 

capture by ,achilles#eaf4 ,lycaon1 son  
of  ,priam1 was cutting the branches of 
the wild fig for the fellies of         
chariot-wheels when ,achilles took him  
for the second time3 on the first       
occasion1 he had been at work in a      
vineyard#eag4 ,antiphos and ,isos1  sons
 of ,priam1 had been captured by        
,achilles whilst they were acting  as   
shepherds#eah4 ,anchises was acting as a
 herdsman1 when he formed  his          
connection with ,venus#eai4 ,the name of
 ,boucolion1 an illegitimate  son of    
,laomedon1 seems to indicate that he was
 bred for the like  occupation#ebj4     
#eae ,il4 xv4 #edf-ea4    #eaf ,il4 xx4 
#ahh4    #eag ,il4 xxi4 #cg4 #gg4       
#eah ,il4 xi4 #aje4    #eai ,il4 ii4    
#hba4 v4 #cac4    #ebj ,il4 vi4 #be4    
,from the force1 variety1 and extreme   
delicacy of his uses of the  word1 it is
 evident that ,homer set very great     
store by the sentiment  which is        
generally expressed through the word 1  
and which ranges  through all the       

varieties of shame1 honour1 modesty1 and
 reverence4  ,though a minute1 it is a  
remarkable circumstance1 that he        
confines  the application of this term  
to the ,greeks2 except1 ,i think1 in one
  passage1 where he bestows it upon his 
particular favourites the  ,lycians#eba1
 and a single other one1 where neas#ebb 
employs it under  the immediate         
inspiration of ,apollo1 with another    
sense1 in an appeal  to ,hector and his 
brother chiefs1 not to the soldiery at  
large4    #eba ,il4 xvi4 #dbb4    #ebb  
,il4 xvii4 #ccf4    ,with the ,greeks it
 supplies the staple of military        
exhortation#ebc  from the chiefs to the 
army2 1 4    #ebc ,il4 v4 #ghg4 viii4   
#bbh4 et alibi4    ,but quite a         
different form of speech is uniformly   
addressed to the  ,trojans proper3 it is
       1 1    1    which is below the   
other1 and appeals to a less peculiar   
and refined  frame of intelligence and  
of sentiment4    ,summary of            
differences4    ,whatever may be thought

 of the degree of detail into which     
7guided as  ,i think by the text7 ,i    
have ventured to carry this discussion1 
and of  the particularity of some of the
 inferences that have been drawn1 ,i    
venture to hope few will quit the       
subject without the conviction that     
,homer has worked with the purpose and  
precision which are his wont1 in  the   
diversities which mark the general      
outline of his ,greeks and his          
,trojans1 and of the institutions of    
each respectively2 and that he has  not 
altogether withheld from his national   
portraits the care1 which he  is        
admitted to have applied to his         
individual characters on both sides     
with such extraordinary success4 ,if we 
look to the institutions of the  two    
countries1 although the comparison is   
diversified1 we must upon  the whole    
concede to the ,greeks1 that they had   
laid more firmly than  their adversaries
 those great corner stones of human     
society1 which are  named in their      

language1 1 1 and 4 ,in the polity of   
,troy  we find more scope for impulse1  
less for deliberation and persuasion2   
more weight given to those elements of  
authority which do not depend  on our   
free will and intelligence1 less to     
those which do2 less of  organization   
and of diversity1 less firmness and     
tenacity of tissue1 in  the structure of
 the community4 ,we are told of no  and 
no 1  no intermediate ranks of officers 
in the army2 no order of nobles or      
proprietors1 such as that which         
furnished the ,suitors of ,ithaca4      
,there  are1 in short1 fewer secondary  
eminences2 it is a state of things1 more
  resembling the dead level of the      
present ,oriental communities subject   
to a despotic throne1 though such was   
not the throne of ,priam4 ,among  the   
people themselves1 there is more of     
religious observance and  apparatus1 but
 not more of morality3 less tendency    
indeed to crimes  of violence and       
turbulence1 but also less of truth1 of  

honour1 above  all of personal          
self-mastery and self-command4 ,the     
,greeks never would  have produced the  
,paris of the ,iliad2 for on behalf of  
no such dastard  would they have been   
induced to bleed4 ,but if they had      
engendered  such a creature1 they would 
not have paid the penalty3 for man in   
the ,trojan type would not have had the 
energy to recover it from the           
warrior-statesmen of the ,achan race1   
and under no circumstances could  the   
really extravagant sentiment put by     
,virgil into the mouth of  ,diomed#ebd  
have been fulfilled3    #ebd n4 xi4     
#bhf4            ultro ,inachias        
venisset ad urbes    ,dardanus1 et      
versis lugeret ,grcia fatis4            
,,iii4 ,,thalassa4    ,,the ,,outer     
,,geography ,,of ,,the ,,odyssey4       
,the legendary ,geography of the        
,odyssey may in one sense be compared   
with that of ,ariosto1 and that of      
,bojardo4 ,i should be the first1       
indeed1 to admit that a disquisition1   

having for its object to  establish the 
delimitation of the ,geography of either
 of those poets1  and to fix its        
relation to the actual surface of the   
earth1 was but  labour thrown away4 ,for
 two thousand years1 however1 perhaps   
for more1  the ,geography of the        
,odyssey has been a subject of interest 
and of  controversy4 ,in entering upon  
that field ,i ask myself1 why the case  
of  ,homer is in this respect so        
different from that of the great        
,italian  romancers8 ,it is not only    
that1 great as they were1 we are dealing
 with  one before whom their greatness  
dwindles into comparative littleness4   
,nor is it only1 though it seems to be  
in part1 because the adventures  of     
,ulysses are1 or appear to be1 much more
 strictly bound up with  place1 than    
those of ,orlando1 ,rinaldo1 or         
,ruggiero4 ,the difference1 ,i  think1  
mainly lies in this1 that an intense    
earnestness accompanies  ,homer every   
where1 even through his wild and noble  

romance4 ,cooped up  as he was within a 
narrow and local circle--for such it    
was1 though  it was for so many         
centuries the centre of the whole       
greatness of the  world--here is his    
effort to pass the horizon #8by strength
 of thought2'  to pierce the mist2 to   
shape the dim1 confused1 and conflicting
  reports he could pick up1 according to
 the best of his knowledge and  belief1 
into land and sea2 to people its        
habitable spots with the  scanty        
material he could command1 every where  
enlarged1 made good1 and  adorned out of
 the wealth of his vigorous imagination2
 and to form1  by effort of the brain1  
for the first time as far as we know in 
the  history of our race1 an idea of a  
certain configuration for the surface   
of the ,earth4    ,hence1 perhaps1 may  
have flowed the potency of the charm1   
which has  attended the subject of      
,homer's ,outer ,geography4 ,the subject
 has1  however1 in my belief1 its       
utility too4 ,it is rarely otherwise    

than  well worth while to trace even the
 erroneous thoughts of powerful  minds4 
,but1 moreover1 in the present instance1
 ,i apprehend we can  learn1 through the
 ,outer ,geography of ,homer1 important 
and interesting  matter of history1     
which is not to be learned from any     
other source4  ,for the ,poet has       
embedded into his imaginative scheme a  
multitude of  real geographical and     
physical traditions2 and by means of    
these1 upon  comparing them with their  
proper originals1 we can judge with     
tolerable  accuracy what were the limits
 of human enterprise on the face of     
earth  in the heroic age4    ,the       
question before us is1 what map of the  
earth did ,homer shape in  his own mind1
 that he might adjust to it the voyages 
and tours of his  heroes ,menelaus and  
,ulysses1 particularly the latter8 ,and 
in order to a  legitimate inquiry the   
first step to be taken is negative4 ,do 
not let  us engage in the vain attempt  
to construct the ,geography of the      

,odyssey  upon the basis of the actual  
distribution of the earth's surface4    
,such  a process can lead to no         
satisfactory result4 ,whatever materials
 ,homer  may have obtained to assist    
him1 we must consider as so many atoms2 
,i speak of course1 as to all that lay  
beyond the narrow sphere of his  ,greek 
knowledge and experience4 ,he had no    
adequate means of placing  the different
 parts of the accounts which reached him
 in their true  geographical relations  
to one another4 ,the outer world was for
 him  broken up into fragments1 and     
these fragments were rearranged at his  
pleasure1 with the aid of such lights   
only1 as his limited physical  knowledge
 could afford him4    ,principal heads  
of the inquiry4    ,assuming for the    
present that the ,phnicianism of the    
,outer ,geography  has been on the whole
 sufficiently proved1 ,i proceed to a   
more exact  examination of the subject  
itself2 and ,i propose to inquire into  
the  following questions4    #a4 ,has   

,homer two modes of dealing with the    
subject of locality1  considered at     
large8 if so1 can it be shown that he   
applies them to two  distinct           
geographical regions2 one the           
circumscribed central tract of  land and
 sea within which he lived1 the other a 
wider and larger zone1  which lay beyond
 it in all directions2 and can a line be
 drawn with  reasonable confidence and  
precision between these geographical    
regions  accordingly8    #b4 ,if it be  
established that ,homer has a system of 
,outer ,geography1  severed by a        
sufficiently-defined barrier from his   
,inner ,geography1  then are there any1 
and if so what1 keys1 or leading ideas  
of local  arrangement for the former    
scheme1 which1 themselves derived from  
the  evidence of his text1 should be    
used for the adjustment of its details8 
#c4 ,under the system thus ascertained1 
what was the route of ,menelaus1  and   
more especially of ,ulysses1 as these   
presented themselves to the  mind of    

,homer8    ,i set out from the          
proposition1 which1 as ,i conceive1     
rests upon  universal consent1 that     
within a certain sphere the poems may be
  considered as a record of experimental
 geography2 and one sometimes  carried  
down into detail with so much of        
accuracy1 that it embraces  even the    
miniature of that branch of knowledge1  
to which we usually  give the name of   
topography4    ,by way of example for   
the former1 ,i should say that when     
,homer  describes the ,botian towns1    
when he measures the distance over the  
gean1 nay1 when he makes ,ulysses       
represent that he floated in ten  days  
from some point near ,crete to the      
,thesprotian coast1 he is a  geographer4
 ,again1 in his variously estimated     
account of the interior  of ,ithaca1 he 
is a topographer4 ,he is the same on the
 whole1 though  probably with greater   
license1 when he is dealing with the    
,plain of  ,troy4    ,the two spheres of
 ,geography4    ,in speaking of the     

experimental geography of ,homer1 of    
course ,i do  not intend to imply that  
he had1 even within his narrow sphere1  
the  means that later science has       
afforded of establishing situations and 
distances with absolute precision4 ,he  
could only proceed by the far  ruder    
testimony of the senses1 trained in the 
school of experience4  ,neither do ,i   
mean that the experience was in every   
case his own1 though  to a great extent 
his geographical information was        
probably original1  and acquired by him 
principally in the exercise of his      
profession as an  itinerating ,bard4    
,but by the experimental and real       
geography of ,homer1  ,i mean these two 
things2 first1 that the ,poet believed  
himself to be  describing pro tanto     
points upon the earth's surface as they 
actually  were2 secondly1 that his means
 of information were for practical      
purposes adequate4 ,the evidence of the 
passage containing the simile of  the   
,thought 7,il4 xv4 #ehj7 would suffice1 

were there none other1 to show  that he 
was himself a traveller2 he also lived  
among a people already  accustomed to   
travel1 and familiar with the navigation
 of a certain  portion of the earth's   
surface4 ,in a former part of this work 
,i have  given several instances to     
illustrate the disposition of the early 
,greeks with respect to travel#ebe4 ,a  
people of habits like theirs was  well  
qualified to supply a practical system  
of geography for the whole  sphere with 
which it was habitually conversant4     
#ebe ,achis1 or ,ethnology2 sect4 vii4  
p4 #ccf4    ,but the boldness and       
maturity of navigation may be measured  
pretty  nearly by the length of its     
voyages4 ,the geographical particulars  
of  the ,wanderings1 however dislocated 
and distorted1 show us that the  people 
who had supplied them had acquired a    
considerable acquaintance  with all the 
waters within1 and probably also1 nay1  
,i should be  disposed to say certainly1
 some that were without1 the ,straits of

  ,gibraltar4 ,but in all the poems of  
,homer we find the traces of ,greek     
knowledge and resort become fainter and 
fainter1 as we pass beyond  certain     
points4 ,on the ,greek ,peninsula1 to   
the south of the ,ambracian  gulf on the
 west and of ,mount ,olympus on the     
east1 we have the signs  of a constant  
intercourse to and fro4 ,the same tokens
 extend to the  islands immediately     
surrounding it1 and reaching at least as
 far as  ,crete4 ,indeed1 apart from    
particular signs1 we may say that1      
without  familiar and frequent          
intercourse among the members that      
composed it1  the empire of ,agamemnon  
could not have subsisted4    ,but1 at   
certain distances1 the mode of          
geographical handling becomes  faint1   
mistrustful1 and indistinct4 ,distances 
are misstated1 or cease  to be stated at
 all4 ,the names of countries are massed
 together in such  a way as to show that
 the ,poet had no idea of a particular  
mode of  juxtaposition for them4        

,topographical or local features1 of a  
character  such as to identify a        
description with some particular place  
or  region as its prototype in nature1  
are erroneously transposed to some      
situation which1 from general           
indications1 we can see must be upon a  
different and perhaps distant part of   
the surface of the globe4 ,again1  by   
ceasing to define distances and         
directions1 he shows from time to  time 
that he has lost confidence in his own  
collocation1 that he is  not willing to 
challenge a comparison with actual      
nature1 and that1  from want of accurate
 knowledge1 he feels he must seek some  
degree of  shelter in generalities4     
,it is obvious that1 under the          
circumstances as they have thus far been
  delineated1 the geography of the      
poems1 with a centre fixed for it       
somewhere in ,greece1 say at ,olympus or
 ,mycen1 might be first of all  divided 
into three zones1 ranging around that   
centre4 ,the first and  innermost would 

be that of the familiar knowledge and   
experience of  his countrymen4 ,the     
second would be that of their rare and  
occasional  resort4 ,the third would be 
a region wholly unknown to them1 and    
with  respect to which they were wholly 
dependent on foreign1 that is on        
,phnician1 report2 much as a ,roman1    
five hundred years ago1 would           
practically depend upon the reports of  
,venetians and ,genoese mariners  for   
all or nearly all his ultra-marine      
knowledge4    ,now1 though we may not be
 able to mark positively at every point 
of the  compass the particular spot at  
which we step from the first zone to the
  second1 and from the second to the    
third1 yet there is enough of the       
second zone discernible to make it serve
 for an effectual delimitation  between 
the first and the third2 between the    
region of experience and  that of       
marvel2 of foreign1 arbitrary1          
unchecked1 and semifabulous  report4    
,just as we are unable to fix the moment

 at which night passes  into dawn1 and  
dawn into day2 but yet the dawn of      
morning1 and the  twilight of evening   
are themselves the lines which broadly  
separate  between the day and the night1
 lying respectively at the extremities  
of  each4 ,so with the poems of ,homer1 
it may be a question whether a given    
place1 say ,phnicia1 is in the first or 
the second zone2 or whether  some other1
 such as ,scheria1 or as the ,bosphorus1
 is in the second or  the third2 but it 
will never be difficult to affirm of any
 important  place named in the poems    
either that it is not in the zone of    
common  experience1 or else that it is  
not in the zone of foreign fable4       
,limits of the ,inner ,geography4       
,let me now endeavour to draw the lines1
 which thus far have been laid  down    
only in principle4    #a4 ,and first it 
seems plain1 that the experimental      
knowledge of ,homer  extended over the  
whole of the continental territory      
embraced within  the ,greek ,catalogue1 

including1 along with the continent1    
those islands  which he has classed with
 his mainland1 and not in his separate  
insular  group#ebf4    #ebf ,il4 ii4    
#fde-hj4    #b4 ,it may be slightly     
doubtful whether he had a similar       
knowledge of  the islands forming the   
base of the gean4 ,there is a           
peculiarity in  the ,cretan description 
7,il4 ii4 #fde-eb71 namely1 that after  
enumerating  certain cities he closes   
with general words 7#fdi71       '1    4
    ,still he uses characteristic       
epithets3 and in another place 7,od4    
xiv4  #beg71 he defines 7of course by   
time7 the distance from ,crete to       
,egypt4  ,so again in ,rhodes 7#fef71   
,camirus has the characteristic epithet 
of  4 ,on the whole we may place this   
division within the first  zone of      
,homeric geography4    #c4 ,homer would 
appear to have had an accurate knowledge
 of the  positions of the islands of    
,lemnos1 ,samothrace1 ,imbros1 ,lesbos1 
,samos1  and ,chios#ebg4 ,these we may  

consider1 without further detail1 as    
answering practically for the whole gean
 sea4    #ebg ,il4 xiv4 #bbe-cj4 xiii4  
#aj-af1 #cc4 xiv4 #bha4 xxiv4 #gh1 #gec1
 #dcd4  ,od4 iii4 #afi-gb4    #d4 ,homer
 knew the positions of ,emathia and     
,pieria1 relatively to one  another and 
to ,greece2 and the general course of   
the southern ranges of  the ,thracian   
mountains#ebh4 ,the ,trojan ,catalogue  
appears to show that  he also knew the  
coast-line westward from the            
,dardanelles1 as far as  to the river   
,axius4 ,there we may consider that his 
,pieria begins1 with  ,greece upon its  
southern and western border4    #ebh    
,il4 xiv4 #bbe-cj4 ,od4 v4 #ej4    #e4  
,it would appear that ,homer had a      
pretty full knowledge of the  southern  
coast-line of the ,propontis4 ,he seems 
to place the ,thracians  of the ,trojan 
,catalogue on the northern side of that 
sea1 but his  language is quite general 
with respect to this part of it4 ,on the
 south  side1 however1 and in the whole 

north-western corner of ,asia ,minor1   
we appear to find him at home#ebi4 ,thus
 much we may safely conclude  from the  
detail of the ,trojan ,catalogue2 from  
the particular account  of the ,idan    
rivers in the ,twelfth ,iliad#ecj2 from 
the latter part  of the journey of ,juno
 in the ,fourteenth#eca2 and from the   
speech of  ,achilles in the             
,twenty-fourth#ecb1 which fixes the     
position of ,phrygia  relatively to     
,troy4    #ebi ,forbiger thinks he knew 
the southern coast of the ,black sea to 
a  certain extent4 ,handbuch der ,alten 
,geographie1 sect4 #d4 p4 #aj4    #ecj  
,il4 xii4 #ag-bd4    #eca ,il4 xiv4     
#bhj-d4    #ecb ,il4 xxiv4 #edc-f4      
#f4 ,from the point of ,lectum to the   
southward1 ,homer shows a knowledge  of 
the coast-line as far as ,lycia in the  
south-western quarter of ,asia  ,minor4 
,but here we must close his inner       
sphere4 ,the ,solyman mountains  supply 
the only local notice in the poems which
 can be said to belong  to the interior 

country1 and of these his conceptions   
are evidently as  far as possible from  
geographical4 ,in the ,sixth ,iliad#ecc 
he appears  to conceive of the ,solyman 
people as bordering upon ,lycia4        
,although  the name has suggested to    
some a connection with ,jerusalem1 we   
ought  to consider it as representing   
that for which it stands in geography1  
a part of the grand inland mass of      
,asiatic mountains4 ,but from the       
proximity of the ,solymi to ,lycia1     
,homer would appear to have moved them  
greatly westward4 ,again1 when ,neptune 
in the ,fifth ,odyssey sees ,ulysses    
from the ,solyman mountains on his way  
from ,ogygia1 we must suppose  that     
,homer conceived them to command some   
point of a neighbouring and  continuous 
line of sea1 which would allow of such a
 prospect4 ,he would  hardly have made  
,neptune see ,ulysses from ,lycia1 or   
from a point across  the mountains of   
,thrace1 or from one on the other side  
of the actual  ,mount ,taurus4    #ecc  

,il4 vi4 #ahd4    ,we have now1 ,i      
think1 made the circuit of the whole    
zone1 and it is a  small one1 of the    
real or experimental geography of       
,homer4    ,the intermediate or doubtful
 ,zone4    ,let us take next the        
intermediate zone1 which marks the      
extreme and  infrequent points of ,greek
 resort4    ,beginning in the west and  
north-west1 we have found ,sicania 7now 
,upper  ,calabria71 ,epirus1 and the    
country of the ,thesprotians#ecd1       
marking  the points of this intermediate
 region4 ,to the northward1 we may  fix 
it at ,emathia4 ,in the north-east1 it  
seems to be bounded by the  northern    
shore of the ,sea of ,marmora4 ,the     
,thracians of ,homer inhabit a  country 
which he calls 1 ,il4 xx4 #dhe1 and     
which the ,hellespont  enclosed 771 that
 is to say1 washes on two sides at      
least4 ,the  ,hellespont1 as in this    
place it is termed 1 signifies to the   
,eastern part of its waters in          
particular2 and the name probably       

includes the ,propontis 7which he might 
well suppose to have a strong  current  
throughout1 like the ,straits of        
,gallipoli71 together with the  northern
 gean between ,chalcidice and the       
,thracian ,chersonese4 ,he has          
described these ,thracians in very vague
 terms#ece1 and without any  local      
circumstance1 in the ,catalogue3 but the
 form of the coast-line  apparently     
implied in the word 1 and the epithet of
 fertility1  appear to indicate the     
plain of ,adrianople and the ,maritz4   
,but this  inclosure on two sides       
terminates when the northern shore      
begins to  trend directly to the        
eastward3 and the 1 or ,bosphorus1 which
  no man but ,jason ever succeeded in   
passing1 are to be considered as in  the
 zone of a semifabulous or exterior     
chorography4    #ecd ,achis1 or         
,ethnology1 sect4 iv4 p4 #bce4    #ece  
,il4 ii4 #hdd1 #e4    ,when we pass into
 the south-east1 we find that ,cyprus1  
,phnicia1 and  ,egypt may perhaps most  

properly be placed in the doubtful zone4
 ,we have  seen that ,cyprus was known  
as a stage on the passage to the ,east1 
and  as within the possible military    
reach of ,agamemnon4 ,but its lord did  
not join in the war3 and ,homer has no  
details about the island1 beyond  the   
specification of ,paphos as the seat of 
the residence1 and of the  principal    
worship1 of ,venus4    ,we have no      
instance of any visit paid by ,greeks to
 ,phnicia under  ordinary circumstances4
 ,the tour of ,menelaus is1 like that of
 ,ulysses1  outside the sphere of       
ordinary life4 ,he describes himself in 
it to  ,telemachus as    ' #ecf1 which  
may be  compared with ,od4 i4 #d4       
respecting ,ulysses4 ,we hear of the    
,taphians  there2 for it was at ,sidon  
that they kidnapped the nurse of ,eumus4
  ,piracy in those times probably       
reached somewhat further than trade4    
,these same ,taphians appear to be of   
doubtful ,hellenism4 ,on the one  hand1 
,mentes their leader was a  to          

,ulysses#ecg4 ,but 7#a7 we thus  find   
them in ,phnicia#ech1 which is not a    
place of usual ,greek resort4  7#b7     
,they sail to ,temese in foreign parts1 
'   7,od4  i4 #ahc71 which we do not    
find elsewhere said of ,greeks4 ,the    
case of  the pseudo-,ulysses cannot     
stand as a precedent for the rest of    
,greece1  nor even for the rest of      
,crete#eci4 7#c7 ,the father of ,mentes 
had  given ,ulysses poison for his      
arrows1 which ,ilus1 the ,hellene1 had  
from  motives of religion refused him4  
,this at once supplies a particular     
reason for the xenial bond between them1
 and suggests that this ,taphian  prince
 may have been1 though a 1 yet of a     
different religion and  race4 7#d7 ,the 
absence of the ,taphians from the war1  
especially as a  tribe so much given to 
navigation1 further strengthens the     
presumption  that they were not properly
 ,greeks4    #ecf ,od4 iv4 #hc4    #ecg 
,od4 i4 #aje4    #ech ,sup4 ,ethnology1 
sect4 iv4    #eci ,ibid4    ,phnicia1   

then1 hangs doubtfully on the outer     
verge of the ,greek  world1 and belongs 
to the intermediate zone4 ,yet more     
decidedly is  this the case with ,egypt4
 ,for ,ulysses means something unusual1 
when  he describes the voyage as one    
lasting for five days across the open   
sea1 even with the very best wind all   
the way1 from ,crete2 and it is         
elsewhere described as at a distance    
formidably great4 ,such is the idea     
apparently intended by the statement1   
that the very birds do but make  the    
journey once a year over so vast a      
sea#edj4 ,no ordinary ,greek ever  goes 
to ,egypt3 and when the pseudo-,ulysses 
planned his voyage thither1  it was     
under a sinister impulse from ,jupiter1 
who meant him ill#eda3    #edj ,od4 iii4
 #cbj-b4    #eda ,od4 xiv4 #bdc4        
4    ,again1 the ,poet appears to have  
entirely misconceived the distance  of  
,pharos from the coast4 ,he places it at
 a day's sail from 1  meaning probably  
by that name the ,nile4 ,vain attempts  

have been made to  get rid by           
explanation of this geographical error4 
,nitzsch#edb says  truly1 that for the  
geography of this passage ,homer was    
dependent on  the gossip of sailors1 and
 compares it with that of ,ogygia1      
,scheria1  and the rest4 ,when ,menelaus
 went to ,egypt1 it was involuntarily1  
as we  are assured by ,nestor#edc2      
#edb ,on ,od4 iv4 #ced4    #edc ,od4    
iii4 #bii4                            4 
,beyond the circumscriptions which have 
thus been drawn1 lie the  countries of  
the ,outer ,geography4 ,outwards their  
limit in the mind of  ,homer was either 
the great ,river ,ocean1 or else the    
land immediately  bordering upon it4    
,their inner line1 that is1 the line    
nearest to the  known ,greek or ,homeric
 world1 may be defined by a number of   
points  specified in the poems4 ,we     
have1 for example1 the ,lotophagi and   
,libya  in the south2 the land of the   
,cyclops on the west2 7,i pass by       
,sicily1  because it can1 ,i think1 be  

shown1 that ,homer transplanted it into 
another quarter27 ,scheria to the       
north-west1 the ,abii1 ,glactophagi1    
and ,hippemolgi1 to the north4 ,then    
come the ,strait of the 1 or            
,bosphorus1 pretty accurately conceived 
as to its site2 next towards  the east1 
the ,amazons and the ,solymi with their 
mountains2 in the  south-east the 1 and 
then the widely spread 4 ,all the       
places and people visited by ,ulysses   
after the ,lotophagi1 that have not     
been named1 must be conceived to lie yet
 further outwards4    ,i have now       
explained the grounds on which ,i assume
 the existence  of two great zones1 the 
one of a real1 the other of an          
imaginative1  fluctuating1 and          
semi-fabulous ,geography in ,homer2 and 
of a third zone1  drawn as a somewhat   
indeterminate border-ground between     
them4    ,sphere of the ,outer          
,geography4    ,i come now to consider  
what are the keys or leading ideas of   
local  arrangement which we can first   

obtain from the particulars of the      
,outer  ,geography of ,homer1 and which 
we may then apply to the solution of    
such  questions of detail as it         
presents4    ,it is plain that we have  
real need of some such keys4 ,to        
ascertain the  general direction of the 
movements of the ,wanderings of         
,ulysses1 and  the general idea         
entertained by the ,poet of the         
distribution of land  and sea1 is an    
essential preliminary to the solution of
 such questions  as1 ,where were the    
,sirens8 or1 ,where were the            
,lstrygones8 ,according to  the         
statement ,i have recently given1 many  
of the points1 that ,ulysses  in the    
,wanderings visited by sea1 would appear
 to have been so fixed by  ,homer1 as to
 imply his belief that the chieftain    
sailed over what we  know to be the     
,european continent4    ,the two        
propositions1 which ,i have already     
ventured to state as being  the keys to 
the ,outer ,geography of the ,odyssey1  

are in the following  terms#edd3    #edd
 ,see ,ethnology1 sect4 iv4 p4 #cjd4    
#a4 ,that ,homer placed to the northward
 of ,thrace1 ,epirus1 and the  ,italian 
peninsula1 an expanse1 not of land1 but 
of sea1 communicating  with the ,euxine2
 or1 to express myself in other words1  
that he greatly  extended the ,euxine   
westwards1 perhaps also shortening it   
towards  the ,east2 and that he made it 
communicate1 by the gulfs of ,genoa and 
,venice1 with the southern              
,mediterranean4    #b4 ,that he         
compounded into one two sets of         
,phnician traditions  respecting the    
,ocean-mouth1 and fixed the site of it  
in the ,north-,east4    ,in the first   
place1 ,i assume that it would be a     
waste of time to enter  upon an         
elaborate confutation of the traditional
 identifications1 which  the pardonable 
ambition of after-times has devised for 
the various  points of the wanderings4  
,according to those expository figments1
  we must believe that the land of the  

,cyclops is an island1 that it  is the  
same island which reappears at a later  
date as ,thrinacie1  that olia is       
,stromboli in sight of that island of   
the ,cyclops1  7though it took ,ulysses 
nine days of fair wind to sail from it  
to  within sight of ,ithaca17 and that  
,ulysses could sail straight across  the
 sea from olia to ,ithaca4 ,we must look
 for the ,lstrygones and  their         
perpetual day in the latitudes of the   
,mediterranean4 ,we must  either place  
the ocean northward1 7but wholly without
 any prototype  in nature17 and the     
under-world on the west coast of ,italy1
 where  there is no stream whatever1 and
 seek1 too1 for fogs and darkness in    
the choicest atmospheres of the world2  
or else we must remove the  ,ocean-mouth
 to a distance about four times as far  
from the island  of ,circe1 as that     
island is from ,greece1 whereas the poem
 evidently  presumes their comparative  
proximity4 ,but in truth1 it is useless 
to go  on accumulating single           

objections1 for it is not upon these    
that the  confutation principally       
depends4 ,the confutation of these      
pardonable  but idle traditions rests on
 broader grounds4 ,the grounds are such 
as  really these1 that in no one        
particular do these ,italian fables--for
  such ,i must call them1               
notwithstanding the partial countenance 
they  receive from the chaotic and      
seemingly adulterated parts of the      
,theogony of ,hesiod#ede--satisfy the   
letter of the text of ,homer2 that  in  
the attempt to give it a geographical   
character1 they misconceive  its spirit2
 and that they oblige us to override and
 nullify not only  the facts of actual  
geography1 for that we might do without 
violating  any law of reason and        
likelihood under the conditions of the  
case1 but  also the positive indications
 which ,homer has given us from         
phenomena  that lay within his knowledge
 and experience4 ,in fact1 they would   
oblige us to condemn ,homer as          

geographically unworthy of trust1 within
  the sphere of the every day life and  
resort of the ,greeks1 as well as  in   
regions1 which he and his countrymen    
never visited4    #ede ,hes4 ,theog4    
#ajaa-ae4    ,and the result of all the 
violence thus done to ,homer would be1  
that we  should have sacrificed at once 
his language and his imagination1 in the
  attempt to struggle with              
contradictions to the actual geography  
which  defy every attempt at            
reconciliation4    ,at the outset1      
according to my view1 both admissions   
must be made1 and  principles must be   
laid down1 as cardinal and essential to 
the conduct  of the inquiry we have now 
in hand4    ,dislocation of actual      
nature4    ,it must1 ,i think1 be       
admitted1    #a4 ,that ,homer has       
dislocated or transplanted the          
traditions he  had received4 ,for       
example1 he has either carried the      
,bosphorus  westwards#edf1 or else the  
,straits of ,messina eastwards4    #edf 

,mller's ,orchomenos1 p4 #bgd4    #b4   
,that therefore as we are on this       
occasion inquiring not into the         
geographical information ,homer can give
 us1 but into the errors he  had        
embraced1 we must not be surprised if we
 fail to arrive at any  conclusions1    
either wholly self-consistent or        
demonstratively clear4 ,we  must exact  
from his text1 with something less than 
geographical rigour1  even the          
conditions of inward harmony4    ,it may
 then reasonably be asked1 if this be   
so1 how are we to find any  clue to his 
meaning4    ,my answer is1 by laying    
down rules which will enable us to      
discriminate between his primary and his
 secondary statements2 between  the     
results of his knowledge1 and the fruits
 of his fancy4    ,by his knowledge ,i  
mean1 what he had seen1 what he had     
travelled over1  what was familiarly and
 habitually known to his countrymen1 so 
as to  give him ample opportunities of  
refreshing recollection1 of enlarging   

knowledge1 and of correcting error4     
,by the fruits of his fancy ,i mean1 the
 forms he has thought fit to  give to   
statements of geography lying outside   
the world of his own  experience1 and   
that of the ,greeks in general4 ,these  
statements1  gathered here and there as 
time and opportunity might serve1 he    
could  hardly have moulded into a       
correct and consistent scheme4          
,emancipating  himself wholly from      
obligations which it was impossible for 
him to  fulfil1 he has treated them     
simply as the creatures of his poetic   
purpose1 and has analysed1 shifted1 and 
recombined them into a world of  his    
own1 in the creation and adjustment of  
which1 the principal factor  has of     
necessity been his own will4            
,postulates for the inquiry4    ,i      
therefore lay down the following        
postulates3    #a4 ,that1 ,homer having 
an ,inner or known and an ,outer or     
imagined world1  between which a line   
may be drawn with tolerable certainty1  

the voyage  of ,ulysses1 from the       
,lotophagi to ,scheria inclusive1 lies  
in the ,outer  world4    #b4 ,that we   
may not only implicitly accept the      
geographical statements  of ,homer1 when
 they lie within his own horizon or the 
,inner world1 but  may fearlessly argue 
from them4    #c4 ,that arguments so    
drawn are available and paramount1 as   
far as  they go1 for governing the      
construction of passages relating to the
  geography of the ,outer world4    #d4 
,that we have no title to argue1 when we
 find a point in the ,outer  world      
described in such a manner as to        
correspond with some spot now  known1   
that ,homer gave to that tract or region
 in his own mind1 the  site which we may
 now know it to occupy1 but that he is  
quite as likely  to have placed it      
elsewhere4    #e4 ,that arguments       
grounded on the physical knowledge of   
the ,poet are  to be trusted4 ,i would  
name by way of example1 7subject only to
 a  certain latitude for inexactness17  

such arguments as are drawn from the    
directions of winds1 and from other     
patent and cardinal facts of common     
experience1 for example1 the distances  
which may be traversed within  given    
times4    #f4 ,so likewise are the      
indications1 which harmonize with known 
or  reasonably presumed historical and  
ethnological views1 to be trusted as    
good evidence on questions relating to  
his geographical meaning4    ,in order1 
however1 to be in a condition to make   
use of indications  supplied by the     
,winds1 we must consider what the ,winds
 of ,homer are4    ,the ,winds of       
,homer4    ,the ,winds of ,homer are    
only four in number1 and the manner of  
their  physical arrangement is rude4 ,it
 by no means corresponds with our own1  
but varies from it greatly1 just as his 
points of the compass varied  from ours4
 ,and though he names only four winds1  
yet ,i apprehend we must  consider that 
upon the whole he uses them with such   
latitude1 as to  express under the name 

of some one of them every gale that     
blew4    ,as to some of these winds1    
,homer has provided us with an abundance
 of  trustworthy data for their point of
 origin3 and through them the  evidence 
as to the rest may be enlarged4         
,homer's governing points1 from which to
 measure arcs of the horizon  were1 as  
is evident1 the sunrise and the sunset4 
,this is clearly shown  by his          
expressions1 such as   '  1 for the     
east1 and  then in opposition to this1  
#edg for the west4  ,again1 when        
,ulysses urges upon his companions that 
he has lost all  means of forming a     
judgment of their position1 his mode of 
expression  is this1 that he does not   
know where is dusk or where is dawn2    
where  the joy-giving sun rises1 or     
where he sinks#edh4 ,we must therefore  
dismiss from our minds the four cardinal
 points to which we are  accustomed4    
,they were not cardinal points for      
,homer4 ,we must also  remember not only
 7#a7 that ,homer had only two#edi1 but 

also 7#b7 that  his two did not         
correspond with any of our four1 and    
7#c7 that from the  variation of sunrise
 and sunset with the seasons of the year
 a certain  amount of vagueness was of  
necessity introduced into his           
conceptions of  the point of origin for 
each of the different winds4    #edg    
,il4 xii4 #bci1 #dj4    #edh ,od4 x4    
#aij-b4    #edi ,wood 7,genius of       
,homer1 p4 #bc17 says1 #8only four1'    
meaning only  four winds4 ,but it is    
pretty clear that ,homer's four winds   
were not at  anything like ninety       
degrees from one another4 ,there is in  
,homer no  word meaning strictly either 
south1 or north4 ,daksha1 however1 from 
whence is derived 1 means southerly as  
well as on the right3  but probably ,s4 
,e4 rather than ,s4 ,pott1 ,etymolog4   
,forschungen1 ,,ii4 #ahf1  #g4    ,we   
should not1 however1 exaggerate this    
vagueness4 ,it had its cause in  the    
variations of the ecliptic1 and1 like   
its cause1 it was limited4  ,i suppose1 

however1 that the eye guesses rudely at 
the deviations of  the ecliptic1 and    
that we must take ,n4,w4 and ,s4,e4 for 
the two cardinal  points of ,homer4     
,homer's west then ranged to the north  
of west1 and ,homer's east to  the south
 of east4 ,but although this must be    
borne in mind when we  translate his    
winds into our language1 yet of course  
the winds  themselves were arranged1 not
 technically so as each to cover a      
certain  arc on the horizon1 but with   
reference to the directions in which    
they  were found by experience commonly 
to blow4 ,and in associating each wind  
with a particular point of the horizon1 
we must bear in mind that such  a point 
is to be regarded as its centre1 and    
that the same name would  be given to a 
wind within a number of points on either
 side of it4    ,as to the respective   
prevalence of the different winds1 the  
criterion  is certainly a rude one1     
still it is a criterion1 which is       
provided  for us by the comparative     

frequency of the occasions on which they
 are  mentioned4 ,eurus is mentioned in 
the poems seven times1 ,notus fifteen2  
,boreas twenty-seven1 subject to a small
 deduction for cases where he is  simply
 a person2 and ,zephyr twenty-six4 ,the 
latter pair are the leading  ,winds of  
the poem3 not necessarily that they     
indicated the prevailing  currents of   
air1 but that they represented such     
currents of air as  usually prevailed   
with force sufficient to make them good 
poetical  agents4    ,we may also learn1
 from the epithets given to the winds1  
the  impressions which they respectively
 made upon the mind of ,homer4    ,eurus
 never has a character attached to it4  
,notus seldom has any  epithet2 but     
still it is mentioned1 by the comrade of
 ,ulysses in ,od4  xii4 #bhi1 as one of 
the most formidable winds4 ,this may    
probably  have been on account of its   
direction relatively to the place of the
  speaker2 because from that point it   
blew right upon ,scylla#eej4 ,again1  as

 ,zephyr and ,notus are nowhere else    
associated by the ,poet1 the            
presumption arises on that ground also  
that here ,notus is put in for a        
special and local reason4 ,it is called 
1 and is so essentially  allied with the
 idea of moisture1 that  stands simply  
for wet  7 1 ,il4 xi4 #haj74    #eej    
,od4 xii4 #dbg4    ,the characteristic  
epithets of ,boreas are 1 1 and  4 ,the 
first of these indicates that he blew   
hard3 and we know  the same thing from  
the facts1 that ,achilles desired him to
 contribute  towards rapidly consuming  
the pyre of ,patroclus1 and that he is  
often  used for a storm#eea4    #eea    
,il4 xxiii4 #aid4    ,but1 of all the   
winds1 the ,zephyr evidently was the    
most prominent in  the view of ,homer4  
,it is  7,od4 xiv4 #deh71   7,il4  ii4  
#adh71  7,il4 xxiii4 #bjh71  7,il4      
xxiii4 #bjj1 and ,od4  xii4 #bhi71      
7,od4 xii4 #djh72 and it alone of the   
winds roars1    7,il4 iv4 #bgf74 ,in    
,od4 xii4 #bhi1 it is mentioned with    

,notus3 they are the winds most apt to  
destroy ships even despite or  without  
the gods4 ,for ,notus1 as ,i have said1 
this character seems to  be local3 but  
the ,zephyr is here called 1 and the    
sense of the  passage is in accordance  
with his general reputation4 ,he1 with  
,boreas1  is invoked for the pyre of    
,patroclus3 and these two are the only  
winds  which are ever employed singly to
 make foul weather4 ,homer's other      
modes of creating a tempest by the      
agency of the winds are 7#a7 to make  a 
combination of all or several of them1  
7#b7 to cover the matter in a           
generality by speaking of the   without 
distinction4    ,there is1 however1 in  
,homer a faint trace of the milder      
character1  which was afterwards more   
fully recognised in ,zephyr1 when he had
 moved  down from the north1 and become 
a simple west wind4 ,in the description 
of the ,elysian plain1 we find that it  
is never vexed with tempest or  with    
rain1 but that the happy spirits        

dwelling there are incessantly          
refreshed with the ,zephyrs which spring
 from ,ocean#eeb4 ,but even here  the   
breezes are 3 and this word means what  
is called  blowing fresh4 ,and the      
conception of the wind here is rather as
 a  sea-wind1 and therefore not a cold  
one1 than as being soft and gentle4     
#eeb ,od4 iv4 #efe-i4    ,of these four 
,winds1 ,homer has made1 on various     
occasions1 two couples4  ,he repeatedly 
associates ,boreas and ,zephyr in the   
same work#eec3    #eec ,il4 ix4 #d4     
'     1      1   4    ,and again1 for   
the purposes of ,achilles1 the two come 
together over the  sea1 and quickly fall
 to1 that the pyre may be consumed2 even
 as the  prayer of the hero had been    
addressed to them in common#eed4    #eed
 ,il4 xxiii4 #aid1 #bab4    ,in the same
 way1 ,eurus and ,notus are associated  
together as exciting  the ,icarian ,sea4
 ,this passage is curiously illustrative
 of ,homer's  distinctions between the  
winds4 ,he has two successive similes1  

both  describing the agitation of the   
same ,assembly#eee4 ,in the first it is 
compared to the ,icarian ,sea lashed by 
,eurus1 and by ,notus charging from  the
 clouds4 ,in the second1 to a           
corn-field1 on which ,zephyr powerfully 
sweeps down#eef4    #eee ,il4 ii4       
#add-f1 #adg-i4    #eef ,the arrangement
 of these similes tells powerfully      
against the  ingenious argument of ,mr4 
,wood concerning the birthplace of      
,homer4  ,genius of ,homer1 pp4 #g-cc4  
,from a just consideration of these     
passages1 it becomes clear that the     
four winds of ,homer were not at        
equidistant points of the compass1  but 
that each two of them were capable of   
association1 while neither  member of   
one pair is ever described1 except in a 
single passage1  which ,i will presently
 notice1 as cooperating with one of the 
other4  ,of course ,i do not refer to   
those cases1 where the ,poet raises all 
the  four winds at once1 simply to      
create a hurricane2 no bad conjecture1  

,i  will add1 for those times1 in       
anticipation of the modern discovery    
that  hurricanes are eddies1 and that it
 is their circular motion which makes   
them seem to blow almost simultaneously 
in all directions#eeg4    #eeg ,see     
,general ,reid's ,law of ,storms and    
,variable ,winds4 ,london4 #ahdi4       
,let us now inquire what can be done    
towards ascertaining more  particularly 
the leading points of these winds1 of   
which we have  surveyed the general     
descriptions4    ,points of origin for  
,zephyr and ,boreas4    ,i begin with   
the more prevailing pair1 ,zephyr and   
,boreas4    ,there can1 ,i think1 be no 
hesitation in deriving  from 4  ,it may 
be well to remind the reader that  is   
the same word in  substance with  and   
#eeh4    #eeh ,buttmann4 ,lexil4 voc4 4 
,thus the north-west is his cradle4 ,but
 he is so closely associated  with      
,thrace and with ,boreas1 the former    
being his residence1 and  the latter#eei
 his companion1 that though he may mean 

any wind  from west up to north1 we must
 consider him as usually leaning from   
the north-west towards the north1 while 
he properly belongs to the  north-west  
rather than any other given point of the
 compass4    #eei ,il4 xxiii4 #bad4     
,the position of ,boreas is the best    
defined of all the winds of ,homer4  ,he
 cannot come from any point to the west 
of due north3 for all that  space is    
appropriated to ,zephyr4 ,he is equally 
well defined on the  other side4 ,for he
 blows from ,thrace1 both generally1 as 
in ,il4 ix4  #e1 and particularly on the
 ,plain of ,troy#efj4 ,i hold to be of  
no  authority1 as fixing the direction  
of this wind1 the ,boreas which  carries
 the pseudo-,ulysses from ,crete to     
,egypt#efa3 for there ,homer  is already
 beyond the ,inner ,world1 and he only  
knows the position of  ,egypt from      
,phnician report4 ,but we have other    
trustworthy indications  from within the
 sphere of ,greek nautical knowledge1 in
 his carrying  ,hercules from ,ilium to 

,cos#efb1 in his preventing a voyage    
from ,crete  to ,ilium#efc1 and in the  
fate of ,ulysses1 who1 in rounding      
,malea1  is carried off by ,boreas to   
the westward of ,cythera#efd4 ,all these
  operations can be performed only by a 
wind blowing from the quarter  between  
east and north-east4    #efj ,il4 xxiii4
 #bad1 as above4    #efa ,od4 xiv4 #bec4
    #efb ,il4 xiv4 #bee4 xv4 #bf4       
#efc ,od4 xix4 #bjj4    #efd ,od4 ix4   
#ha4    ,putting together these         
indications1 ,i think we must conclude  
that the  ,boreas of ,homer is a wind to
 the east of north4 ,but it seems plain 
that  he does not embrace nearly the    
whole quadrant from north to east4 ,for1
  like and even more than ,zephyr on the
 other side of the pole1 he has a       
leaning towards the polar side1 and1 in 
the absence of more particular  marks1  
,homer should be taken to mean by him a 
,n4,n4,e4 wind1 that is1 a  wind ranging
 principally or wholly from ,n4 to      
,n4,e4    ,i take the line ,il4 ix4 #e1 

which many have treated as a difficulty1
 for  a sound and valuable geographical 
indication4 ,boreas and ,zephyr blow    
from ,thrace4 ,to a ,greek1 say at      
,mycen1 ,thrace1 which reaches from the 
,adriatic to the ,euxine1 covers more   
than ninety degrees of the horizon4  ,it
 is from within those ninety degrees    
that every ,boreas1 and probably  every 
,zephyr1 of ,homer can be shown to blow4
 ,these are facts which  we may hold in 
deposit1 ready for service in the       
explanation of the  movements of the    
,outer ,geography4    ,and along with   
them we must keep in mind the ,homeric  
affinity and  sympathy established      
between ,boreas and ,zephyr4 ,it is so  
considerable1  and they are especially  
in such local proximity1 that           
practically  we should not go far wrong 
were we to say ,homer divides the whole 
circumference of his horizon into three 
nearly equal arcs of #abj  degrees1 more
 or less4 ,the first of these1 beginning
 from due west1  is given to ,zephyr and

 to ,boreas4 ,the next1 reaching to     
within #cj of  the ,south ,pole1 to     
,eurus3 and the third1 embracing the    
residue of the  circle1 to ,notus4      
,points of the ,compass for ,notus and  
,eurus4    ,notus is the great southern 
wind1 ,eurus being comparatively of     
little  account4 ,now1 one of the chief 
data applicable to determining the      
direction of these winds is the passage 
,il4 ii4 #add-f4 ,here they are         
described as disturbing the ,icarian    
,sea1 which was within the sphere of    
,greek navigation4 ,now the position of 
that sea1 on the coast of ,asia  ,minor 
to the south of ,samos1 shows1    #a4   
,that both these winds in ,homer have a 
decidedly southern character4    #b4    
,that one1 of course ,eurus1 must come  
from the east1 and the other1  ,notus1  
in that place1 from the west of south4  
,because the conflict of  the two winds 
presumes a considerable space between   
the points from  which they blow1 while 
the position of the ,icarian ,sea       

requires both  to be southern4 ,but in  
the ,fifth ,odyssey1 too1 ,notus is     
treated as the  proper antagonist of    
,boreas4 ,his centre therefore lies a   
little to the  westward of due south2   
but ,eurus does not approach the ,south 
,pole1  and every wind from about       
,s4,s4,e4 to ,w4 will probably fall     
within the  ,homeric description of     
,notus4    ,the associations of ,notus  
and ,eurus are frequent#efe4 ,on one    
occasion1 however1 ,notus is combined   
with ,zephyr1 though there is no        
corresponding case of junction between  
,eurus and ,boreas4 ,notus and  ,zephyr 
are sent from the sea by ,juno to blast 
the ,trojan army with  heat4 ,boreas    
would of course be a cold wind3 and     
,eurus would be cold on  the plain of   
,troy1 from passing over the chain of   
,ida3 though in ,greece  he melts the   
snow that ,zephyr has brought4          
,differences of season1 as  well as of  
situation1 may have to do with these    
varieties of operation4    #efe ,il4 ii4

 #add-f4 xvi4 #gfe4 ,od4 v4 #ccj4 xii4  
#cbf4    ,though less strong than       
,zephyr and ,boreas1 ,notus is a        
stronger wind  than ,eurus4 ,and though 
generally the counterpart of ,boreas1   
his power  of cooperating with ,zephyr  
shows that he must reach over the       
quadrant  from the ,south pole to ,west1
 whereas we have no ,boreas coming down 
from  the ,north pole as far as ,east4  
,as the opposite of ,zephyr1 ,eurus     
blows principally from the              
south-eastern quarter2 and hence is in  
frequent cooperation with ,notus1  but  
never with any other wind4 ,he must1    
however1 be understood to cover  the    
whole space from the rigidly northern   
,boreas down to ,notus1 or  from about  
,n4,e4 to within #cj of the ,south pole4
 ,boreas is inflexibly  confined by all 
the evidence of the poems to a very     
narrow space3 and  ,eurus1 his neighbour
 eastward1 does not much frequent those 
points of  the compass that lie nearest 
to him4        ,illustration3 winds and 

directions    ,the accompanying sketch  
expresses what ,i believe to be in the  
main  ,homer's arrangement of the       
,winds4 ,at the same time1 ,i do not    
know that  we have any practical example
 of any wind in ,homer which blows from 
within forty-five degrees on either side
 of due ,east1 or from within  about the
 same number of degrees on either side  
of due ,west4 ,perhaps it  was from     
their local infrequency1 that he does   
not appear to have put  such winds in   
requisition#eff4    #eff ,friedreich has
 discussed the winds of ,homer 7,realien
 der ,il4 und  ,od4 4 #c74 ,his results 
are to me unsatisfactory3 but the fault 
seems  to lie in his basis4 ,for 7#a7 he
 fixes the four ,winds of ,homer as the 
four cardinal points3 and 7#b7 he finds 
data for ascertaining the  ,winds in the
 ,passages of the ,outer ,geography1    
instead of determining  those ,passages 
themselves by the ,winds1 after these   
latter have been  ascertained from      
evidence belonging to the sphere of     

,homer's own  experience4    ,the name  
,eurus is further attached to the point 
of sunrise by the root  1 to which it is
 traced#efg4 ,the tracts of ,aides are  
with ,homer    7,il4 xx4 #fe74 ,may not 
this  come from the  same source8 ,the  
,cimmerian darkness of ,homer is close  
to the mouth  of ,ocean1 and near that  
chamber of the ,sun1 which is at a#efh4 
,viewing dawn as the middle point       
between night and day1 ,homer possibly  
connected it with each4 ,it seems       
further possible1 that he connected  the
 ,eastern with the ,western darkness3   
both because this would bring  his two  
regions of the future world into        
relations with each other1 and  because 
he makes the ,sun disport himself with  
his oxen on the same spot  in ,thrinacie
 after his setting in the evening1 and  
before his rising in  the morning3 a    
passage1 which for its full explanation 
might require  the supposition1 that    
,homer believed the earth to be         
cylindrical in  form1 and thus the      

extremes of ,east and ,west to meet#efi4
 ,there will  shortly be occasion to    
revert to this subject1 in further      
considering  what were the constituent  
parts of ,homer's ,east4    #efg        
,liddell and ,scott in voc4    #efh ,od4
 xi4 #ac-af4 xii4 #a-d4    #efi ,see    
,friedreich1 ,realien1 4 #i4 p4 #ai4    
,homeric distances and rates of speed4  
,i shall trust mainly then to winds1    
thus ascertained from ,homer's ,inner   
world1 as the means of indicating the   
directions of the movements  described  
in his ,outer one4 ,but besides         
directions1 we have distances  to       
consider4 ,and here too we have some    
evidence1 supplied by his  experimental 
knowledge1 to guide us4    ,by combining
 the inner-world data of distance with  
those of  direction1 we shall obtain the
 essential conditions of decision for   
the  outer-world problems4 ,conditions  
both essential and sufficient1 when we  
can lay hold upon them2 but we shall    
still have to contend with this         

difficulty1 that in one or two          
remarkable cases the ,poet takes refuge 
in language wholly vague1 and leaves us 
no guide for our conjectures1  except   
the rule of making the unascertained    
conform in spirit to what  has been made
 reasonably certain4    ,the distances  
of which ,i now speak are sea-distances4
 ,it is a somewhat  remarkable fact1    
that ,homer scarcely gives us           
land-distances at all4  ,telemachus and 
,pisistratus drive in two days from     
,pylus to ,sparta3 but  it is not the   
wont of the ,poet to describe places1   
which communicate  over land1 by the    
number of days occupied in travelling   
between them4  ,this circumstance is    
illustrative of a trait1 which assumes  
great  importance in ,homer's ,outer    
,geography1 namely1 the miniature scale 
of  his conceptions as to all           
land-spaces2 a trait1 ,i may add1 to    
which we  shall have occasion to revert4
    ,the sea-distances of ,homer are    
performed in no less than six different 

modes4      #a4 ,by ordinary sailing4   
#b4 ,by ordinary rowing4    #c4 ,by     
rafts1 ,od4 v4 #bea4    #d4 ,by drifting
 on a timber1 ,od4 xiv4 #caj-ae4    #e4 
,by floating and swimming1 ,od4 v4 #cgd1
 #e1 #chh1 #cii4    ,sixthly1 and       
lastly1 the ships of the ,phacians      
perform their voyages  by an inward     
instinct1 and with a rapidity described 
as marvellous4    ,evidence as to rates 
of motion4    ,the language of the poems
 nowhere takes cognizance of any        
difference in  speed as between sailing 
and rowing4 ,for example1 when ,achilles
 speaks  of the time of his voyage to   
,phthia as dependent upon 1 which  the  
favour of ,neptune could give1 he       
evidently means a good sea and  the     
absence of tempest1 and does not at all 
bargain for a wind from  a particular   
quarter1 which was not a matter lying   
within ,neptune's  especial province4   
,nor does there seem to be1 on general  
grounds1 any  cause for assuming a      
difference between the average speeds of

 rowing  and of sailing1 when we        
consider1 in favour of the first1 that  
the  crew rowed almost to a man1 with   
little cargo to carry2 and1 to the      
prejudice of the second1 that the       
science and art of building quick       
sailers could not then have been        
understood4 ,i therefore take rowing    
and sailing as equal in celerity4 ,so   
that we have in reality no more  than   
five different cases to consider4       
,but1 again1 ,i think there is no reason
 why we should assume a  difference in  
speed between drifting on a piece of    
timber1 and making  way by floating and 
swimming only4 ,in practicability there 
may be a  considerable difference3 but  
that is not the point before us4    ,the
 four methods now remaining seem to     
require the assumption of  different    
speeds respectively4    ,now ,homer has 
supplied us with the times necessary for
 performing known  distances in two     
cases2 and has also given us a third    
case1 which may  be used for checking   

one of the other instances4    ,a case  
of known distance is that from the mouth
 of the ,straits  of ,gallipoli to      
,phthia4 ,this1 according to ,achilles  
in the ,ninth  ,iliad#egj1 would1 with  
favourable weather1 be performed so as  
to  arrive on the third day4 ,it may    
amount to a little more than three      
degrees1 and may be taken at two hundred
 and twenty miles4 ,the time is  three  
days and two nights4 ,so that1 for      
ordinary sailing or rowing1 a  day and a
 night may be taken at about ninety     
miles1 of course without  any pretension
 to minute accuracy4    #egj ,il4 ix4   
#cfb4    ,secondly4 ,with a good        
passage1 a ship sailing from ,crete to  
,egypt  arrives on the fifth day 7,od4  
xiv4 #beg74 ,but we cannot consider     
,homer's  opinion of the distance       
between ,crete and ,egypt as entitled to
 the  full weight of his experimental   
knowledge4 ,again1 it is to be borne in 
mind1 that here the north wind1 which   
carries the ship1 was a prime one  7 1  

#bec74 ,lastly1 much might depend on the
 part of ,crete1  from which we suppose 
the vessel to have sailed4    ,as       
respects the last-named question1 we    
must1 from the habits of  ancient       
navigation1 suppose the eastern         
extremity of the island to have  been   
the point of departure2 because no      
sailor would have committed  himself to 
,boreas on the open sea1 as long as he  
could make way under  cover of a shore  
lying to windward4    ,the distance     
between the eastern point of ,crete and 
the western mouth  of the ,nile is about
 three hundred and fifty miles2 the time
 five days  and four nights4 ,this would
 give a somewhat less rate of progress  
per  diem than the last case2 but then  
it is likely that ,homer took the       
distance to be greater in that almost   
unknown sea 7see ,od4 iii4 #cbj47  than 
it really is2 so that we have cause to  
view the two computations  as in        
substance accordant4 ,and even if they  
had clashed1 the former  would still be 

entitled to our acceptance4    ,what1   
however1 does appear to be the case is1 
that ,homer mistook the  course from    
,crete to ,egypt4 ,it is really ,s4 ,w43
 he has defined it by  the wind ,boreas1
 which never blows from a point         
westward1 or at the  very uttermost     
never from one materially westward1 of  
,n4 ,so that the  course must have been 
about ,s4 ,now1 as ,homer knew the      
position of  ,crete1 this would show    
that he brought ,egypt too much to the  
westward1  by shortening the eastern    
recess or arm of the ,mediterranean2 an 
error  in exact conformity1 ,i conceive1
 with all his operations in imagining   
the geography of the east4 ,but this by 
the way4    ,the third test of          
sea-distances is supplied by the        
pretended passage  of ,ulysses1 on a    
mast1 from a point just out of sight of 
,crete#ega to  ,thesprotia#egb4 ,he     
arrives on the tenth night4 ,the        
distance exceeds1  by about one half1   
the voyage from ,troas to ,phthia4 ,the 

time is nearly  four times as long4 ,but
 then some allowance may be made for    
delay on  the score of the irregular    
winds 7 7 which prevailed4 ,we may      
therefore justly calculate the rate of a
 floating or drift-passage at  about one
 half that of a sailing passage1 or two 
miles an hour instead  of four4 ,and    
here our direct evidence closes4    #ega
 ,od4 xiv4 #cja4    #egb ,ibid4 #caj-ae4
    ,at an intermediate point between   
these1 we may place the mode of  passage
 by raft1 which brought ,ulysses from   
,ogygia4 ,for merchant ships  were built
 broad in the beam2 and the raft was as 
broad as a merchant  ship#egc4 ,thus    
constructed1 and with its flat bottom1  
it must have  been very greatly slower  
than an ordinary sailing vessel1 and ,i 
venture  to put it by conjecture as low 
as two and a half miles an hour4    #egc
 ,od4 v4 #bdi-ea4    ,lastly1 we have to
 consider the rates of the ,scherian    
ships4 ,about  these the only thing that
 is clear is1 that ,homer meant to      

represent  them as far exceeding all    
known speed of the kind4 ,they went1    
says  ,alcinous1 to ,euba1 or as the    
verse may be rendered1 to ,euba and     
back1  in a day#egd3 they are like a    
chariot with four horses scouring the   
plain2 the hawk1 swiftest of birds1     
could not keep up with them#ege4  ,we   
cannot1 ,i think1 pretend to appreciate 
with great precision ,homer's  meaning  
in this point2 but it is plain that1 as 
he had a map of some  kind in his head1 
he must have had some meaning with      
respect to the  distance performed by   
the ship from ,scheria1 though probably 
a vague  one4 ,i think we may venture to
 take it at three times the speed of the
  ordinary sailing vessel1 or at about  
twelve miles an hour4    #egd ,od4 vii4 
#cbe4    #ege ,od4 xiii4 #ha1 #hf4      
,thus1 taking drift-speed for our unit1 
we have the following scale             
approximately established3    #a4 ,drift
  #b miles per hour  #dh miles per day  
of #bd hours4    #b4 ,raft  #a drift  #b

 miles per hour  #fj miles per day of   
#bd hours4    #c4 ,sailing or rowing    
ship  #b drift  #d miles per hour  #if  
miles per  day of #bd hours4    #d4     
,hawk-ship of ,scheria  #c sailing ship 
#f drift  #ab miles per hour   #bhh     
miles per day of #bd hours4--    ,let us
 next proceed to consider1 whether there
 are any cardinal ideas  of particular  
places or arrangements in the ,outer    
,geography of ,homer1  which govern its 
general structure4 ,for such ideas may1 
together  with the data that we have now
 drawn from the circle of his ,inner  or
 ,experimental ,geography1 assist us in 
the examination of what  undoubtedly at 
first sight appear to be almost chaotic 
details4    ,northward sea-route to the 
,euxine4    ,setting out from this      
point1 my first business is to show1    
that ,homer  believed in a sea-route    
from the ,mediterranean to the ,euxine1 
other  than that of the ,straits of     
,gallipoli and the ,bosphorus4 ,this    
route  was formed in his mind1 as ,i    

shall endeavour to prove1 by cutting off
  the land from east to west1 a little  
to the north of the ,peninsula  of      
,greece1 all the way from the ,adriatic 
to the ,euxine4 ,thus we  practically   
substitute an expanse of sea for the    
mass of the ,european  continent2 and we
 must not conceive of any definite      
boundary to this  1 other than the      
mysterious one which may finally        
separate  it from ,ocean4 ,or1 in other 
words1 we must give to the ,black ,sea  
an indefinite extension to the west and 
north-west1 perhaps also  shortening it 
in the direction of the ,east4 ,this is 
the one master  variation from nature in
 ,homer's ideal geography#egf2 and1 when
 his  belief on this subject has been   
sufficiently proved1 almost every thing 
else will fall into its place with      
comparative ease4    #egf ,on this      
hypothesis is founded the ,homeric      
,erdkarte of ,forbiger1  ,handbuch der  
,alt4 ,geogr4 ,i4 #d4    ,i will        
endeavour to illustrate and sustain this

 hypothesis from  the positive evidence1
 either direct or inferential1 of the   
poems3  and ,i hope to show that it     
stands upon grounds independent of the  
negative argument1 that it is absolutely
 necessary in order to supply  a key to 
the ,wanderings4 ,at the same time1 ,i  
hold that that negative  argument1 if   
made good1 would suffice3 for1 though we
 do no violence  to probability in      
imputing to the geography of the        
,odyssey any amount  of variance1       
however great1 from actual nature1 yet  
we should sorely  offend against reason1
 if we supposed that ,homer had         
constructed a  route so elaborate and   
detailed1 without laying it out before  
his own  mental vision1 and presenting  
it to that of his hearers1 after the    
fashion of something like a map4 ,this  
was alike demanded by the realism  7so  
to speak7 of the time1 and needful for  
the complete comprehension  and easy    
enjoyment of the romance4    ,the       
indications on this subject1 apart from 

the evidence of the  ,wanderings        
themselves1 are as follows3    #a4      
,when1 in the ,thirteenth ,iliad#egg1   
,jupiter turns away his eyes  from the  
battle by the ,ships1 he turns them     
towards the north-east3 in  the         
direction1 that is1 in which1 according 
to the hypothesis above  stated1 there  
was for ,homer not1 as we now know to be
 the case1 a  wide expanse of land      
capable of containing a countless       
multitude of  tribes1 but1 after a      
certain interval1 a vast and unexplored 
sea4 ,now  the ,poet tells us1 not that 
,jupiter looked over an indefinite mass 
of  continent1 or the  2 but that he    
looked over the country  of the         
,thracians1 the ,mysians1 the           
,hippemolgi1 the ,glactophagi1 and  the 
,abii4 ,moreover1 he indicates1 by      
giving characteristic epithets to  each 
of these nations1 that they lay more or 
less within the sphere  of contact with 
,greek intercourse and experience1 and  
therefore at no  great distance to the  

northward3 for not only are the         
,thracians riders  of horses1 but the   
,mysians are fighters hand to hand1 the 
,hippemolgi  are formidable or          
venerable1 and the ,abii are the most   
righteous of  men4 ,the ,glactophagi are
 defined by their name as feeders upon  
milk4  ,this limited and characteristic 
enumeration is in conformity1 at the    
very least1 with the hypothesis1 that   
,homer imagined in that direction  no   
continuous succession of land and of    
inhabitants1 but a sea  circumscribing  
the country of ,thrace to the north4    
#egg ,il4 xiii4 #a4    #b4 ,a more      
marked indication is1 ,i think1 yielded 
by the passage of the  ,odyssey1 in     
which ,alcinous says to ,ulysses1 #8,we 
will convey you to your  home1 even     
though it should be more distant than   
,euba1 the furthest  point that has been
 visited by our people2 of whom some saw
 it1 when  they carried ,rhadamanthus   
thither1 in the matter of ,tityus1 son  
of the  ,earth#egh4'    #egh ,od4 vii4  

#ai-bf4    ,it appears to me evident1   
that ,homer means in this place to      
suppose a  maritime route between       
,scheria and ,euba1 to the ,north of    
,thrace4 ,he is  not1 we must remember1 
experimentally informed as to the       
position of  ,scheria itself1 and       
probably he conceived it to lie quite   
outside the  sphere of ,greece1 at a    
considerable distance to the northward4 
,though  he brings ,ulysses from thence 
to ,ithaca in a day1 this is effected   
by the privileged and miraculous        
rapidity of passage1 which was the      
distinguishing gift of the ,phacians1 as
 the kin of the ,immortals4  ,they are  
indeed in contact1 according to the     
poem1 with the habitable  world1 but    
they are strictly upon the outer line of
 it4 ,they are of  the race of ,neptune3
 related to the ,cyclops and the        
,giants3 their  ordinary life and their 
maritime routes could not1 without doing
  utter violence to the conceptions of  
the ,poet1 be brought within the  sphere

 of ordinary ,greek experience4 ,we     
cannot1 therefore1 be intended  to      
suppose them to have carried the ancient
 ,rhadamanthus past every  known town1  
port1 and point in ,greece2 past        
,ithaca1 ,dulichium1 the  ,cephallenes1 
,pylus1 and the rest4 ,nor would ,euba1 
thus approached1  be to ,ulysses1 who   
had himself visited ,aulis on his way to
 ,troy1 a  good type of remoteness3 nor 
does it answer that description for the 
,phacians themselves1 if we consider it 
according to geographic prose2  for     
though the way to it is long1 it is not 
so distant in a direct line  as other   
parts of ,greece1 ,crete for example2   
and any people who had  made a voyage to
 ,euba by sea1 round the peninsula1     
would know very  well that the proper   
way to it was by land4 ,we must1 in     
short1 presume  such a position for the 
,scheria of ,homer1 as to imply a       
communication  by sea between it and    
,euba1 other than that through the known
 waters  of ,greece4    ,but if we      

suppose a maritime passage from the     
,adriatic round ,thrace  to exist1 then 
we keep the ,phacians entirely in their 
own element1  as borderers between the  
world of ,greek experience1 and the     
world of  fable4 ,they still1 when they 
carry ,rhadamanthus1 as in all other    
cases1  hang upon the skirt1 as it were1
 of actual humanity4 ,and1 thus viewed1 
,euba might fairly stand for a type of  
extreme remoteness4    #c4 ,another     
passage of ,homer1 when understood      
according to its  geographical bearings1
 appears to me1 of itself1 nearly       
conclusive upon  this question4    ,when
 ,mercury is ordered to carry the       
message of the gods from ,olympus  to   
,calypso#egi1 his proceedings are       
carefully described4 ,he equipped       
himself with his foot-wings 7,od4 v4    
#dd71 took in hand his wand 7#dg71  and 
got upon the wing 7#di74 ,the next step 
in the narrative is1    #egi ,od4 v4    
#dc-eh4       ' 1     7#ej47    ,he then
 bounded along the wave 7#ea71 reached  

the remote island 7#ee71  landed on the 
beach 7#ef71 and finally arrived at the 
cave 7#eg74 ,i think  no one can read   
this description1 which extends over    
sixteen verses1  without feeling that it
 is meant to convey to us1 that ,mercury
 moved  with great rapidity in a right  
line1 the shortest by which he could    
reach his destination4 ,but now1 if this
 be so1 then1 as ,pieria lies to  the   
northward of ,olympus1 we have only to  
ask how does he pursue his  further     
route8 ,from ,pieria he sweeps down upon
 the sea1 and rides upon  the waves     
7#ed7 all the way to ,ogygia4 ,it is    
hopeless to fit this even  by a moderate
 deviation either way to any existing   
sea3 we have only1  therefore1 to       
conclude1 in conformity with the other  
indications1 that  ,homer believed in a 
to the northward of ,pieria4 ,we cannot 
take  refuge in the plea1 that ,homer   
did not know where ,pieria lay4 ,first1 
because it was on the ,olympian border  
of ,thessaly1 and as ,homer knew  that  

region well1 he must have known that    
,pieria lay to the north of  it4        
,secondly1 it was probably within the   
circle of ,greek traditions2  since it  
is sometimes read for  in ,il4 ii4 #gff1
 and at any  rate they seem to be in all
 likelihood different forms of the same 
word4 ,thirdly1 a complete proof is     
given by the route of ,juno in the      
,fourteenth ,iliad4 ,she passes1 in     
accordance with the actual geography1   
from ,olympus to ,pieria1 from ,pieria  
7apparently verging eastwards7 to       
,emathia1 and so by the ,thracian       
mountains1 evidently of ,chalcidice1 to 
,lemnos#ehj4    #ehj ,il4 xiv4 #bbe-cj4 
#d4 ,there is another passage which may 
be cited in direct corroboration  of    
these views#eha4 ,the spirits of the    
,suitors passed 7#a7 the stream  of     
,ocean1 and 7#b7 the ,leucadian rock2   
and also passed 7#c7 the gates of  the  
,sun1 and 7#d7 the people of ,dream     
,land4    #eha ,od4 xxiv4 #aa4          
,northward route to the ,euxine4    ,now

 it may be observed1 that to pass the   
,leucadian rock is not the way  from    
,ithaca to the ,straits of ,gibraltar3  
the course would lie round  either the  
north or the south point of             
,cephallonia4 ,neither is it the  way to
 the ,bosphorus and ,black ,sea2 which  
must be sought by steering  first in a  
southerly direction4 ,but it is the way 
to ,ocean1 and the  nether ,shades1 if  
,i am correct in my belief that ,homer  
believed the  route to lie along the    
,adriatic1 and round the north of       
,thrace4 ,nor  am ,i aware of any other 
view of his geography1 on which this    
passage  can be explained4 ,the         
evidence1 which it affords1 is at first 
sight  conclusive in support of the     
proposition1 that ,homer's route to the 
,ocean-mouth lay up the ,adriatic4 ,but 
there are two grounds1 on which a       
scruple may be felt about its reception4
 ,first1 it stands in the second  1 the 
only considerable portion of either poem
 which appears1  to me at least1 open to

 the suspicion that it may have been    
seriously  tampered with4 ,secondly1 the
 order of the passage is singular1 as it
  runs thus3 they passed1 or they went  
towards1 the channels of ,ocean1  and   
the ,leucadian rock1 and the gates of   
the ,sun3 while1 according to  ,homer's 
geography1 the ,leucadian rock would    
come first1 the gates of  the ,sun      
second1 and ,ocean-mouth would be the   
last of the three points4    ,but in    
answer to the first1 the suspicions     
affecting this passage are  too vague   
and indeterminate to warrant our        
rejecting its evidence1  where it is in 
harmony with the general testimony of   
,homer4 ,even if  these lines were      
interpolated1 they would be remarkable  
as embodying an  ancient1 probably a    
very ancient opinion1 as to ,homer's    
geographical  view on the point at      
issue4    ,as regards the second1 we may
 cite the parallel case of ,menelaus in 
his narrative of his own tour4 ,after   
,cyprus and ,phnicia1 he describes  his 

visits in the following order3 7#a7     
,egypt1 7#b7 ,ethiopians1 7#c7          
,sidonians1 7#d7 ,erembi1 7#e7 ,libya4  
,it is evident that this cannot be      
intended to be understood as the order  
in which the several places were        
actually visited#ehb4    #ehb ,od4 iv4  
#hc-e4    ,we have thus1 ,i hope1       
secured for ,ulysses1 without drawing   
upon the  ,wanderings for testimony1    
what seamen call a good or wide berth2  
room  enough for the disposition of his 
marvels1 and the mystery of the         
distances between them4 ,in this        
northern division of the  we  may       
imagine ,homer to have placed1 without  
any impropriety1 or any  violence done  
to his experience of his own latitude1  
both the double  day of the ,lstrygones1
 and the fogs of the ,cimmerians4 ,into 
it he  might well drive ,ulysses by the 
force of the south wind#ehc1 and from   
it bring him back by the strength of    
,zephyr or of ,boreas#ehd4 ,lastly1  by 
means of this 1 we can avoid placing    

,circe and the ,sunrise  to the west of 
,homer's own country2 and we are not    
obliged to find his  representation of  
the  involving him in the hopeless      
absurdity  of contradiction to his own  
experimental knowledge of the general   
direction of ,jason's course with the   
ship ,argo4    #ehc ,od4 xii4 #cbe1     
#dbg4    #ehd ,od4 v4 #dhe4 x4 #be4 xii4
 #djg4    ,amalgamated reports of the   
,ocean-mouth4    ,i now pass on to the  
second of the two propositions1 on which
 it  appears to me that a reasonable    
interpretation of the ,outer ,geography 
is to be founded4    ,it is this3 that  
the ,poet has compounded into one two   
sets of ,phnician  traditions respecting
 the ,ocean-mouth1 one of them          
originally  proceeding from1 or         
belonging to1 the ,west1 and the other  
to the  ,north-east3 and that he has    
chosen the north-eastern site as the    
ground  on which to fix the scene of his
 amalgamated representation4    ,the    
argument1 which has recently been       

adduced for another purpose from  the   
,twenty-fourth ,odyssey1 is available to
 show that the ,ocean-mouth  of ,homer  
is towards the north3 but it does not   
suffice to decide the  question between 
,north-east and ,north-west1 nor does it
 decide whether  ,homer simply          
transplanted the ,straits of ,gibraltar1
 or whether he mixed  together the      
accounts of it and of some other strait1
 and welded them  into one4    ,this    
question we must examine from the       
evidence concerning the  ,ocean-mouth   
supplied by the ,wanderings themselves4 
,ulysses and his companions1 when they  
enter the great ,river ,ocean1  enter it
 at a point far north1 by the city and  
country of the  ,cimmerians1 who are    
enveloped in cloud and vapour#ehe3 and  
they  are carried up or against the     
stream 7 71 by the breath of            
,boreas#ehf1 to the mouth of the        
,inferno4 ,returning from thence1 they  
come down the stream 7  ,od4 xi4 #fci7  
back to the sea 772  and they there find

 themselves at the isle of ,circe1 where
 is the  dwelling of 1 and where is also
 the couch1 from which the sun rises  in
 the morning4    #ehe ,od4 xi4 #ac1 #ba4
    #ehf ,od4 ,x4 #ejg4    ,in this     
account it is not difficult to trace    
certain outlines of  truth4 ,the ideas  
of ,homer respecting the gates of ,ocean
 would be drawn  from reports which may 
have related prim facie to any one of   
several  geographical points2 to the    
,straits of ,gibraltar1 to the          
,bosphorus1 to  the ,straits of ,yenikal
 leading into the ,sea of ,azof1 or to  
all the  three4 ,at one and all of these
 there appears to be a continual stream 
flowing inwards in the direction of the 
,mediterranean or 4 ,one  and all1 as   
sea-straits1 present the character of a 
vast marine river4  ,in exact accordance
 with these physical facts1 ,homer makes
 the ship  of ,ulysses1 entering the    
great ,river ,ocean1 sail up the stream4
 ,we  may observe in passing1 that he   
describes his  as 1  in evident contrast

 with the ,ocean1 which is marked1      
therefore1 by a  contraction of shores4 
,further1 ,homer had conceived the      
existence of what we may call           
ultra-terrene parts1 both westwards and 
eastwards4 ,on the one hand1  ,menelaus1
 after death1 is to be carried to the   
,elysian plain1 where  ,zephyrs         
continually blow1 springing fresh from  
the bed of western  ,ocean4 ,on the     
other hand1 the groves of ,persephone   
are on the beach of  ,ocean1 but in the 
furthest ,east4    ,still it does not at
 all follow from this1 that he had in   
his mind  the idea of a double egress   
from the ,mediterranean1 or1 the   at   
large1 to the ,ocean4 ,on the contrary1 
we never hear of any mode of  access to 
it except one2 and his placing the point
 where ,ulysses enters  it amidst mist  
and cloud1 and his calling in the aid of
 ,boreas to carry  the ship to the      
groves of ,persephone and mouth of the  
,shades 7which  he probably intended to 
be the exact counterpart in position of 

the  ,elysian plain71 lead to the belief
 that his egress from sea to ,ocean  was
 in the north1 and that the further     
route to the ,shades lay1 for  the most 
part1 in a southerly direction4         
,open-sea ,passage to ,ocean-mouth4     
,the reader of the ,odyssey will        
observe1 that ,ulysses encounters on his
  passage tempests indeed1 but yet      
nothing in the nature of a dangerous    
maritime passage1 before he has entered 
the ,ocean-river1 and then1  completing 
his excursion to the nether world1 has  
returned to the  island of ,circe#ehg4  
,therefore we may say with certainty1   
that the  mouth of ,oceanus is1         
according to the ideas of ,homer1       
accessible by the  broad and open sea4  
,thus we have attained a first condition
 for the  determination of its site4    
#ehg ,od4 xii4 #c4    ,but1 before he   
sets out a second time from a1 ,circe1  
now his friend1  directs him as to his  
onward and homeward course4 ,first1 he  
was to  reach the island of the         

,sirens#ehh4 ,after passing beyond this1
 the  deity no longer lays before him a 
single and continuous route#ehi3  but   
indicates to him two alternatives1 each 
involving a most dangerous  passage4    
,the first is described in the lines    
,od4 xii4 #ei-gb1 beginning    4 ,the   
second1 which she recommends in vv4     
#gc-aaj1 begins  with    3 where the  is
 the apodosis to the  of  v4 #ei4 ,now1 
it must be remembered1 that physically  
there was nothing  to prevent his       
returning by the way he came1 and thus  
avoiding both of  these passages4 ,why  
then does ,homer expose him to such     
extraordinary  danger1 leaving him no   
option but either total destruction1 or 
the  certain loss1 at the least1 of six 
men of his crew#eij8    #ehh ,ibid4 #ci1
 #afg4    #ehi ,ibid4 #ef4    #eij      
,ibid4 #aji1 #aj4    ,the voyage of     
,ulysses might have been given us by the
 ,poet as the  execution of a divine    
plan1 comprehensively premeditated as a 
whole3  but it is not so3 it is shown us

 as simply prolonged from time to time  
by some error of his own or of his      
companions1 or by the spite of          
,neptune1 or by the vengeance which the 
,sun demanded and obtained#eia4  ,at a  
he has nothing to do1 but to take the   
best way home4 ,tiresias  had indeed    
prophesied that he would come to        
,thrinacie#eib1 but nowhere  intimates  
that he was to be divinely compelled to 
do this1 or that he  would take that    
route for any other reason than         
according to his own  best judgment4    
,why then does he not return1 as he had 
come1 by the open  sea1 instead of      
tempting either of the two passages of  
peril8    #eia ,od4 i4 #ge4 xii4 #cgc et
 seqq4    #eib ,od4 xi4 #ajd-g4    ,the 
answer ,i believe to be this4 ,he was   
subject to the resentment of  ,neptune1 
who operates by storm in the open sea4  
,otium divos rogat in  patenti prensus  
go4 ,as in the heroic age1 every wound1 
generally  speaking1 is death1 so storm 
either invariably or commonly means     

foundering or shipwreck4 ,thus then     
,ulysses might prudently keep to        
landlocked waters and narrow seas1 even 
with a crisis of great danger  before   
him1 rather than face the angry ,sea-god
 on the long passages  over the open    
main1 by which he had come to the land  
of the ,cyclops1  and so onwards to a4  
,rationalized1 and reduced to its       
simplest form1 this seems to imply  that
 the routes pointed out to him by       
,circe1 and perhaps especially  that    
which he was to prefer1 were short cuts 
either to his home1 or at  least back   
into the ,inner or ,greek world4 ,and in
 conformity with this  supposition1 the 
whole prediction of ,circe appears to   
presume that a  passage of moderate     
length would bring him back within the  
known world2  for it never speaks of the
 breadth of any unknown sea to be       
crossed1  which to the navigators of    
that day was always its most formidable 
feature4    ,in the mental view of      
,homer1 then1 the passage of ,scylla    

could not lie  much beyond the horizon  
of his own ,greek world and of geography
 proper4  ,this was the more eligible of
 the two routes4 ,the other was that of 
the 1 or ,bosphorus4 ,it was rejected as
 involving certain  destruction3 for    
only ,jason had safely passed it by the 
aid of ,juno1  and ,pallas was not now  
at hand to succour ,ulysses2 since he   
was outside  that ,greek world1 to which
 her action has been restricted1        
generally  speaking1 and in all         
likelihood for poetical reasons1 in the 
,odyssey4  ,now1 since both these       
passages are spoken of as apparently    
lying near  the island of the ,sirens1  
which is itself separated1 as far as we 
can  judge1 by no long interval from a  
and ,circe1 the next inferences  we have
 to draw are two of very great          
importance4 ,the first is1 that         
although the one strait of ,homer       
physically corresponds with the         
,straits of ,messina1 while by the other
 he plainly means the ,bosphorus1  yet  

he conceived of these as within no great
 distance of one another4  ,the second  
inference is that1 according to the     
belief of ,homer1 the  waters beyond the
 ,bosphorus were accessible by some     
channel other than  that of the         
,dardanelles and ,sea of ,marmora3 for  
otherwise ,ulysses could  not have      
placed himself on the farther side of   
those terrible narrows1  except by      
navigating one of them4    ,three       
maritime routes to ,ocean-mouth4        
,there were therefore three maritime    
routes by which ,homer conceived  that  
mouth of ,ocean1 which ,ulysses entered1
 to be approachable3    #a4 ,the route  
by which the hero actually arrived      
there3    #b4 ,the route of ,scylla and 
,charybdis1 by which he returned from   
it3    #c4 ,the route of the ,bosphorus1
 by which ,jason had passed1 and which  
,ulysses might1 according to the        
description of ,circe1 have attempted4  
,but now1 what in the view of ,homer was
 this mouth of ,ocean8 that is1  on what

 geographical basis rested the reports  
or descriptions which he  adopted for   
the groundwork of his picture8 ,we      
cannot but admire1 as we  pass along1   
the manner in which the ,phnicians      
guarded the treasures of  their distant 
markets3 no way lay to them except      
through a choice of  terrors2 terror in 
the boundless expanse of devouring      
waters2 terror  in shipwreck by the 1   
which none but ,jason 7so says ,circe1  
the  ,phnician witness7 had escaped2    
terror in certain loss of men by the    
voracious maw of ,scylla4 ,what1        
however1 was this ,ocean-mouth that lay 
beyond them8    ,my answer is1 that     
there are two mouths of ,ocean1 either  
of which  might tolerably correspond    
with the ,homeric picture1 if tried only
 by  its relation to the intermediate   
points that are represented by these    
dangerous passages4    ,firstly1 the    
,straits of ,gibraltar1 leading to the  
,atlantic4    ,secondly1 the ,straits of
 ,kertch or ,yenikal1 leading to the    

,sea of ,azof4    ,straits of ,gibraltar
 as ,ocean-mouth4    #a4 ,as regards the
 ,straits of ,gibraltar1 they correspond
 with the  ,homeric description in      
respect of their great distance from    
,ithaca3 of  their current ever setting 
inwards to the ,mediterranean3 of their 
being  accessible1 without previously   
leaving the wide or open sea for any    
narrow passage3 of their being1 we may  
confidently believe1 within the         
maritime experience of the ,phnicians4  
,further1 on the route to them  there   
lies an island triangular in form1 which
 was already described  by the name     
,thrinacie#eic4 ,again1 it would appear 
that there were  other islands between  
,thrinacie and this ,ocean-mouth4 ,for  
both ,circe  and the ,sirens inhabit    
islands4 ,even the nearest of the       
,balearic isles1  namely1 ,ibiza1 is    
from the ,straits of ,gibraltar about as
 far as ,crete  from ,egypt1 which we   
know to have been estimated by the ,poet
 at five  days' sail4 ,it seems1        

however1 not unlikely that ,homer1      
having received  a notice of the        
,balearic isles in the ,phnician reports
 concerning the  ,pillars of ,atlas1    
carried them over1 together with ,atlas 
himself1 into  the eastern situation1   
where he blends two sets of traditions  
into one4  ,he may therefore have been  
supplied from this source with materials
 for  his island of ,circe and island of
 the ,sirens4    #eic ,od4 xii4 #abg4   
,lastly1 although the misty ,cimmerians 
are close by the ,ocean-mouth1  while   
the atmosphere of ,gibraltar is warm and
 sunny1 yet even the  fogs may find     
their prototype in ,st4 ,george's       
,channel#eid1 or in the  ,straits of    
,dover1 and it may also be said that1 in
 the hazy distance of  a ,phnician      
captain's tale1 they might from ,homer's
 point of view seem  to stand nearly    
together4 ,but still this is a          
difficulty4 ,there are  other more      
serious impediments1 which make it      
absolutely impossible for  us to say    

that the ,homeric mouth of ,ocean       
corresponds with the ,straits  of       
,gibraltar4 ,this one especially3 that  
he has1 by a multitude of ties1         
fastened down his mouth of ,ocean to an 
eastern rather than a western  site2 for
 there1 at least hard by1 is the        
dwelling of ,aurora2 there is  the      
morning couch of the ,sun2 there is     
,circe1 sister of etes1 to whose        
country ,jason sailed through the       
,bosphorus2 and these both have had the 
,sun for their father1 and ,perse1      
daughter of ,ocean1 without doubt an    
eastern and not a western personage1 for
 their mother#eie4 ,the site  of a will1
 however1 together with that of ,ogygia1
 receive presently  a fuller            
consideration4    #eid ,quart4 ,rev4    
vol4 #ajb4 p4 #cbd4    #eie ,od4 x4     
#ace-i1 and xii4 #a-d4    ,straits of   
,yenikal as ,ocean-mouth4    ,let us    
turn then to the other alternative in   
the inquiry4    #b4 ,as the ,straits of 
,gibraltar offer a resemblance to the   

,homeric  picture1 by their lying beyond
 the ,straits of ,messina1 so do the    
,straits of ,yenikal1 by their lying    
beyond the ,bosphorus4 ,the perpetual   
current inwards#eif is another feature  
of correspondence1 such as may  apply to
 both the cases1 and such as probably   
assisted the process at  which ,i shall 
presently glance4 ,the whole group of   
,oriental conditions1  attaching to     
,homer's ,ocean-mouth1 appear to be     
exactly realized in the  straits of     
,yenikal4    #eif ,danby ,seymour's     
,black ,sea and ,sea of ,azof1 ch4 xvii4
    ,the ,cimmerian country of ,homer is
 represented down to the present day  by
 the ,crimea1 one of the most ancient   
passages from ,asia into ,europe1  and  
probably known to the ,phnicians1 who   
could well enough pass the  ,bosphorus  
themselves1 while making it a bugbear to
 others4 ,the cloud1  in which these    
,cimmerians are wrapped1 finds its      
counterpart in the  notoriously frequent
 winter fogs of the ,euxine4 ,the       

peninsula1 lying  on the very ,straits  
themselves1 is in exact correspondence  
with the  passage 7,od4 xi4 #ac71       
'  '              4    ,the only point  
of the description which is less        
faithfully represented  at this point   
than at the other1 is the epithet 4     
,this agrees  better with the deep water
 of ,gibraltar1 than with the 7now at   
least7  shallow current of ,yenikal#eig4
    #eig ,ibid4 ,the minimum appears to 
be fourteen feet3 but it seems to  have 
been much deeper in old times4    ,nor  
is it unnatural1 that near the          
,cimmerian darkness he should place  the
 home of ,aurora and the ,eastern ,sun3 
for it is out of darkness that  dawn and
 day must ever rise2 and we have        
occasion to notice1 in various  forms1  
the association in ,homer's mind of     
ideas belonging to darkness  with the   
,east4 ,again1 there is a combination of
 a northerly with an  easterly direction
 in the conditions of the ,homeric      
description1 which  is exactly met by   

the position of these ,straits          
relatively to ,greece4    ,but if we    
say1 that these ,straits form the single
 prototype of the  ,homeric description1
 we are again met by hopeless           
contradictions4  ,for there does not lie
 any triangular island close by the     
,bosphorus1  which might answer to      
,thrinacie3 and there is no free        
maritime passage  whatever1 other than  
the ,bosphorus1 by which the            
,ocean-mouth1 that is1  the mouth of the
 ,palus ,motis1 can be attained by a    
person who has  ,troy for his point of  
departure4    ,these facts appear to    
direct us plainly towards one           
satisfactory1 and  as it seems          
inevitable1 conclusion4 ,it is exhibited
 in the sentences  that immediately     
follow4    ,first1 it seems at once     
clear that ,homer either knew1 or else  
dimly  figured to himself by ,phnician  
report1 certain geographical facts1     
including those which follow3--    #a4  
,that there was an island1 whose figure 

was defined by a word  signifying three 
promontories1 and which was accessible  
by a passage on  the western side of    
,greece4    #b4 ,that near this island1 
there lay on one side the jaw of a      
dangerous  narrow4    #c4 ,that either  
on the other side of it or in some other
 neighbouring  quarter lay the open sea1
 and a route along it1 by which the     
further  side of the island might be    
reached1 without traversing the narrow4 
#d4 ,that at a point beyond both these  
openings 7,i say nothing for the        
present of the points of the compass7   
there lay a great stream such  as he    
called 1 flowing always inwards to the 1
 which he  supposed to be fed by it     
7,il4 xxi4 #aif74    #e4 ,that there was
 likewise a passage1 which ,homer called
 the 1  accessible from the eastern side
 of ,greece2 and through which ,jason1  
and as he believed ,jason alone1 had    
sailed4    #f4 ,that at a point beyond  
this passage too1 there lay an expanse  
of  sea1 1 and again a great stream1    

such as he called 1  flowing always     
inwards to the 4    ,now we have seen   
that he gives us in the poem one mouth1 
and one  mouth only1 of 1 which         
corresponds with every one of these     
propositions taken singly3 it is1       
according to him1 beyond ,thrinacie1    
beyond the ,straits of ,scylla and      
,charybdis1 attainable by an open sea   
passage1 and beyond the  or ,bosphorus4 
,it seems to follow almost              
mathematically1 that he believed in an  
open  sea route1 which must have lain to
 the north1 and which established a     
communication1 independent of the       
,bosphorus1 between the ,mediterranean  
and the ,euxine4    ,he blends two sets 
of reports into one4    ,it also hereby 
appears that he had received from the   
,phnicians  two sets of reports1 one    
relating to western1 and the other to   
north-eastern navigation1 but both      
involving a description of a great      
inward flowing stream as an ultimate    
point1 agreeably to his idea of  the    

,river ,ocean4 ,these two ulterior      
points1 obtained respectively  from each
 set of reports1 ,homer1 led by the     
similarity of features1  has blended    
into one4 ,we can even now take his     
untrue representation  to pieces1 and   
can see where and how it separates into 
two1 each of  them geographically true4 
,in his one mouth of ,ocean he has      
combined  the conditions1 that in nature
 belong to two separate geographical    
points4 ,both the north-eastern report  
and the western report he  has          
amalgamated1 by carrying the remote     
point of the former round1  so to speak1
 in order to meet the latter3 and having
 thus made his  ,ocean-mouth northern1  
as well as eastern1 he consistently     
calls in  ,boreas to take the ship of   
,ulysses to the mouth of the ,shades    
below1 so  as to fix that point in the  
east1 because it was the counterpart to 
his  ,elysian fields which lay in the   
west4 ,the two sets of ,phnician reports
  are in this way oddly brought to      

integrate one another4 ,the ,ocean mouth
  in the ,euxine gets the benefit of the
 open sea route2 and the ,ocean  mouth  
at ,gibraltar has credit for being      
placed in a northern latitude  and      
eastern longitude2 each report thus     
throwing its own separate  attributes   
into the common stock4    ,the effect of
 thus forcing ,yenikal and ,gibraltar to
 meet1 naturally  enough brings the     
,faro of ,messina and the ,bosphorus    
near to one  another3 and hence ,circe1 
in the ,twelfth ,book1 names them to    
,ulysses as  alternative routes1 both   
apparently lying in the same region4    
,but again ,i say1 that in order to     
comprehend the ,outer or imaginary      
geography of the ,odyssey1 we must      
entirely dismiss from our minds the  map
 of ,europe as it is4 ,we must treat as 
having been a real map to  ,homer only  
the little sphere which was embraced    
within the resort of  ordinary ,greek   
navigation4 ,beyond that narrow range1  
we must consider  him as distributing   

land and sea in the manner he best      
could1 by  the aid of reports1          
necessarily in that age most indistinct1
 and in  all likelihood exaggerated1 and
 even wilfully darkened to boot1 by     
trading craft4 ,sometimes therefore he  
puts a people upon poetical  terra firma
 at points1 where it fortunately but    
accidentally turns  out that nature has 
provided an antitype for the imagery of 
the ,poem4  ,sometimes he lodges them   
where there is none2 ubi nl nisi pontus 
et  aer4 ,but though details are to be  
thus disposed of1 still the one  master 
variation from actual nature is this2   
the sea extended from  the              
,mediterranean to the ,euxine1 behind1  
i4 e4 to the north of1 the  ,bosphorus  
and of ,thrace4 ,this gives us that open
 passage into the  ,euxine1 by which    
,homer supposed ,ulysses to have reached
 the maritime  region1 that ,jason had  
sought and found through the ,bosphorus4
    ,in sum2 it is too plain to require 
much of the detailed proof which ,i     

have tried to give1 that ,homer believed
 in a great expanse of waters  lying    
somewhere to the north4 ,the probability
 is1 that from some  ,phnician source he
 had heard rumours of the great ,german 
,ocean4 ,it  need not to us appear      
strange that his mind did not readily   
conceive  an extent of land like that of
 the continent of ,europe1 when we      
notice  that his experience made him    
conversant partly with islands1 partly  
with countries in minute subdivisions1  
and of small breadth from sea  to sea4  
,this great imaginary mass of waters he 
included within the  1 to which         
everything belonged as far as the point 
where the  great ,river ,oceanus was    
reached4    ,i think then that we have  
now found the two keys to the ,outer    
,geography1    #a4 ,in the sea-route    
north of ,thrace2    #b4 ,in the        
amalgamation of the western with the    
north-eastern report of  the            
,ocean-mouth4    ,from the site of the  
,ocean-mouth of ,homer1 we may most     

naturally  proceed to examine the site  
of a2 which1 as being within one day's  
sail1 is a kind of porter's lodge to    
it#eih1 and is a point of the  utmost   
importance in the system4 ,hitherto ,i  
have proceeded only by  assertion1 so   
far as the site of the ,homeric a is    
conceived4 ,but to  defend the second   
main proposition or key to the system1  
in the face of  counter-theories1 it    
will be necessary to examine1 with as   
much care as  may be1 all the ,homeric  
evidence that bears either upon this    
question1  or upon the kindred one of   
the site of ,ogygia4    #eih ,od4 xii4  
#aj-ac4    ,we have then to inquire1    
subject to the rules which have been    
laid  down1 first1 whether a1 the island
 of ,circe1 is to be placed1 its        
northward direction being generally     
admitted1 in the north-west or in  the  
north-east8    ,secondly1 as dependent  
very much upon the prior question1 and  
as  entering at the same time largely   
into the proof of it1 what is the  site 

of ,ogygia1 the island of ,calypso8     
,north-western hypothesis for the site  
of a4    ,now ,i think that the         
arguments1 which have been used for the 
north-western theory1 have been         
principally founded1    #a4 ,upon       
precipitate inferences1 drawn from some 
one or more of ,homer's  outer-world    
statements1 and then illegitimately used
 in order to govern  the rest of them2  
#b4 ,upon the course of the later       
tradition1 which was led1 probably by   
the course of colonization1 to identify 
and appropriate the particulars  of the 
,outer ,geography rather in the ,west   
than in the ,east4 ,for ,sicily  and    
,italy became at an early period        
familiar to the ,greeks2 but it was     
long before they grew to be well        
acquainted with the more dangerous1     
remote1 and isolated navigation of the  
,black ,sea#eii4 ,perhaps1  indeed1 the 
main reason for placing the tour of     
,ulysses all along in  the ,west has    
been no better than this2 that ,homer   

has given us an  account of an island   
apparently corresponding in form with   
,sicily2  which it may very well do1 and
 yet the conception of the site may be  
totally erroneous4 ,again1 with respect 
to traditional authority1 ,i  apprehend 
it may be asserted1 that the ,fragment  
of ,mimnermus#fjj1  which carries ,jason
 to the ,east1 to the chamber of the    
,sun1 and to the  city of etes1 as to   
one and the same point1 expresses an    
universal  tradition1 so far as the     
voyage of the ,argonauts is concerned4  
,and ,i  would also observe1 that the   
current local appropriations about the  
coast of ,italy seem to be given up on  
all hands as geographically  worthless3 
the only question is1 not so much that  
of removal1 as  into which of two       
quarters they shall be transplanted4 ,on
 the other  hand1 the principal         
arguments for the north-eastern         
hypothesis are1  as ,i conceive1 founded
 upon legitimate inferences1 drawn from 
the  inner-world or experimental        

statements of ,homer1 and then applied1 
by a  law essentially sound1 to         
determine the cardinal problems of his  
,outer  ,geography4    #eii ,mller's    
,orchomenos1 p4 #bfi4    #fjj ,mimn4    
,fragm4 x4 quoted in ,strabo1 i4 p4 #fg4
    ,north-eastern hypothesis4    ,for  
example1 much will depend upon the      
answer to the question1 whether  we are 
to carry the ,straits of ,messina1 or   
rather the fable of ,scylla  and        
,charybdis1 taken to represent them1    
eastwards1 or whether we are in         
preference to move the ,bosphorus       
westwards4    ,i answer without         
hesitation1 that it is much more        
reasonable to  construe ,homer as       
shifting essentially the site of ,scylla
 and  ,charybdis1 than the site of the  
,bosphorus2 and for the following       
reasons4    ,we have not the slightest  
reason to suppose that either ,sicily or
 the  ,scylla passage came within the   
experimental knowledge of ,homer and the
  ,greeks of his time1 either as to the 

island and the ,strait themselves1  or  
as to the direction in which they lay4  
,we find indeed that a continuance of   
winds1 which ranged between ,e4  and ,s4
 ,w4 detained ,ulysses in ,thrinacie or 
,trinacria4 ,it has from this  been1 as 
,i think by much too hastily1 inferred  
that ,thrinacie lay to  the north-west  
of ,ithaca#fja4 ,even if it did so1 we  
should still  miss the true bearing of  
,sicily1 which is west1 with all        
inclination  to the south1 and not      
north-west1 from ,ithaca4 ,but the      
assumption is  in fact unwarranted4 ,the
 wind1 which principally held ,ulysses  
fast in  ,thrinacie1 was1 as is evident 
from the passage1 ,notus1 a southerly   
wind4 ,eurus plays a secondary part     
there#fjb4 ,besides this1 the wind1     
which ,ulysses needed1 may have been    
needed to bring him not to ,ithaca1  but
 to some point on his way to ,ithaca1   
from whence his bearings would  be      
known2 to some point at which1 from the 
,outer1 it would have been  practicable 

for him to re-enter the ,inner or ,greek
 world4 ,the needful  conditions would  
be satisfied if1 for instance1          
,thrinacie lay either  north-west or    
north-east from the ,dardanelles2 and   
then ,ulysses would  want either ,zephyr
 or else ,boreas to get there4 ,and the 
opposite theory  proceeds upon the      
entirely arbitrary1 nay1 untrue1        
assumption1 that the  way back through  
the ,narrows was1 like the way by which 
,ulysses had  come to a1 an open-sea    
route1 and not one in which the course  
would  have to be governed by fixed     
points of land lying along the course4  
#fja ,mller's ,orchomenos1 p4 #bgb4     
,nitzsch1 ,od4 xii4 #cfa4    #fjb ,od4  
xii4 #cbe1 #f4    ,there is then no     
middle term between ,thrinacie and any  
fixed point of  the ,inner ,homeric     
world1 from which we can by direct      
inference argue as  to its site4 ,and   
the winds1 which detain ,ulysses in     
,thrinacie1 go far  of themselves to    
show that this island is not on the site

 of ,sicily4    ,the case is far        
otherwise in regard to the ,bosphorus1  
or 1 of  the ,odyssey4 ,for here we     
know1    #a4 ,that ,homer was familiar  
with the ,dardanelles1 a stage on the   
way to  it1 and not very far from it3   
#b4 ,that he makes ,jason pass the      
,bosphorus3    #c4 ,that he also makes  
,jason settle at ,lemnos1 and become    
sovereign of  the island1 evidently in  
connection with his route from ,thessaly
 to the  ,east4    ,but ,thessaly1 and  
,lemnos too1 are places of the inner    
world3 with  ,lemnos the ,poet appears  
to have been accurately acquainted2 and 
the  line between that island and the   
home of ,jason determines absolutely  so
 much as this2 that the general         
direction of his voyage was known by    
,homer1 at least up to this point1 to   
have lain to the north-eastward  through
 the ,straits of ,gallipoli4    ,i hold 
therefore that the passage of the  is   
fixed immovably1  by known-world        
evidence1 as to its general direction3  

that to  transplant it to the west1 is  
to break up the foundations of ,homer's 
experimental knowledge1 which is always 
to be trusted3 whereas to move  his     
,thrinacie eastward is merely to suppose
 that he gave the site which  was       
poetically most convenient to a         
tradition which1 as it came to him1  had
 no site at all1 no positive local or   
geographical determination4             
,character and site of ,thrinacie4      
,again1 ,i take the island ,thrinacie by
 itself2 and ,i contend that1  although 
the report on which this delineation was
 founded may probably  have had its     
origin in ,sicily1 yet the ,thrinacie of
 ,homer is associated  rather with the  
,east than with the ,west4    ,for1     
though he has given us no geographical  
means for directly  determining the     
site1 he has supplied us with other     
means that belong1  not to ,phnician    
rumour or fireside tale1 but to his own 
knowledge and  experience4 ,since       
nothing can be more certain1 than that  

the leading  local association of the   
,sun1 for ,homer as for all mankind1 is 
with the  east4 ,it is true that he is  
in the west just as often as in the     
east2  but we certainly hold ,napoleon  
to belong more to ,corsica than to      
,saint  ,helena2 and so the mind        
connects the ,sun with the place of his 
daily  birth1 and not with that of his  
daily death4 ,now1 without entering upon
  any other question for the present1 ,i
 only observe1 that in ,thrinacie  are  
the oxen with which the ,sun disports   
himself when not engaged in  his daily  
labours2 that is1 as he himself supplies
 the explanation1  both before they     
begin1 and after they are ended#fjc4 ,in
 deference1  then1 to those             
associations1 founded on actual nature1 
which for the  present purpose are      
strictly facts1 ,i cannot hesitate to   
maintain1 that  the island of ,thrinacie
 is upon the whole1 relatively to       
,greece1 an  eastern island4    #fjc    
,od4 xii4 #chj4    ,a like inference may

 be drawn from the names ,lampetie 77   
and  ,phaethusa 771 which he has given  
to the ,nymphs of the ,sun4 ,had the    
island been in his intention western1 he
 would have called them by  names of a  
different etymology4    ,and as the     
,scylla passage1 which is on its coast1 
is near the 1  ,i think we shall pretty 
closely conform to the views of ,homer1 
if  we make ,thrinacie form the western 
side of the ,bosphorus1 and if we       
separate it by an imaginary or poetical 
,scylla from the main land of  ,turkey  
in ,europe4    ,again1 it is admitted   
that  has his name from 4 ,from the     
personal relations of etes1 as well as  
from those of his daughter  ,circe1 we  
may therefore argue respecting the site 
of a1 provided we  can attach them to   
any known and fixed point of the system 
of ,homeric  ideas4    ,now their       
parentage furnishes a point of this     
kind1 on both the  father's and the     
mother's side4 ,their father is the     
,sun3 a divinity  not1 like the ,apollo 

or ,minerva#fjd1 de-localized1 but one  
having his  daily sojourn 7out of       
work-hours7 in the east4 ,the mother is 
,perse3 and  enough1 ,i think1 has been 
shown with respect to the import of this
 name  for the ,achan mind#fje1 to make 
it pretty certain that1 when ,homer     
gives a residence to the children of    
,perse1 he intends it to be in the      
east4    #fjd ,see ,olympus1 sect4 iii4 
p4 #hb4    #fje ,see ,achis1 or         
,ethnology1 sect4 x2 and ,olympus1 sect4
 iv4 p4 #bbj1  on ,persephone4    ,it is
 now time to bring more directly into   
the discussion a point much             
contested--the situation of the island  
of ,calypso4 ,the usual modes of        
solution1 which place the original of   
this picture on the ,bruttian  coast or 
in ,malta#fjf1 are inadmissible in      
spirit as well as in the  letter4 ,for  
very great remoteness is the most       
essential point in the  description1 and
 to bring it near would wholly change   
its character4 ,it  requires eighteen   

days of favourable wind#fjg to come by  
raft within  sight of ,scheria from     
,ogygia3 while even the distance from   
,crete to  ,egypt1 a greater one than   
from the ,bruttian coast to ,greece1    
might  be performed1 as ,homer thinks1  
in five#fjh4 ,it is the midpoint1 or    
#fji1 of a vast expanse of sea3 and     
,mercury1 passing thither  from         
,olympus1 mentions the route as one     
which traverses a mighty space  of      
water1 without habitations of men       
between#faj4 ,again1 the name  of       
,calypso 77 places it wholly beyond the 
circle of ,greek  maritime experience3  
as does her relation to ,atlas1 who     
holds the  pillars1 that is1 stands at  
the extremity1 of earth and sea4 ,the   
first  and cardinal point to be fixed   
therefore is its decided1 if not extreme
  remoteness4    #fjf ,schnemann de     
,geogr4 ,hom4 p4 #bj4 ,nitzsch on ,od4  
v4 #ej1 n4    #fjg ,od4 v4 #bfh-ge4     
#fjh ,od4 xiv4 #beg4    #fji ,od4 i4    
#ej4    #faj ,od4 v4 #ajj-b4    ,next1  

if it is thus remote1 we find by a      
process of exhaustion that it  must be  
in the north4 ,as far as we know1 ,homer
 recognised the ,african  coast by      
placing the ,lotophagi upon it1 and the 
,ethiopians inland from  the ,east all  
the way to the extreme ,west4 ,in that  
direction there is no  more 1 or sea4   
,and again1 as ,nitzsch truly remarks1  
,scheria is  on the proper homeward line
 of the voyage of ,ulysses#faa4         
,consequently  he cannot pass1 nor can  
he even approach1 ,ithaca while on his  
way to  ,scheria3 ,i add1 he must come  
to it down the ,adriatic on his way to  
,ithaca4    #faa ,nitzsch on ,od4 v4    
#bgf-h4    ,site of ,ogygia to the ,east
 of ,north4    ,now we are provided with
 an important argument1 drawn1 like some
  preceding ones1 from what we may      
fairly call ,homer's experience1 and    
tending to fix the site of ,ogygia in   
the north or north-east4 ,it is  derived
 from the route taken by ,mercury1 when 
he carries the message  of the          

,immortals to ,calypso1 which in another
 point of view we have  already had to  
examine#fab3    #fab ,od4 v4 #ej4       
' 1    4    ,we are obliged to suppose1 
as has been observed1 that ,mercury1 who
  does not march1 but flies like a bird 
wont to hunt for fish#fac1 must  move in
 a direct line towards his object4 ,but 
,pieria is a district  stretching along 
the shore of ,macedonia2 it begins in   
the south1 to  the eastward of ,olympus1
 and then extends due north of it4 ,its 
limits  are variously defined#fad2 but  
the only question about it could be1    
whether it verges1 not to the westward1 
but to the eastward of ,north4  ,again1 
from the route of ,juno in the          
,fourteenth ,iliad#fae1 no question  can
 arise1 except what would tend to give  
,pieria an eastward turn4    #fac ,ibid4
 #ea-c4    #fad ,cramer's ,greece1 i4   
#bjd4    #fae ,il4 xiv4 #bbf4    ,a line
 drawn from ,olympus over the centre of 
,pieria would carry ,mercury  to the    
,north4 ,it might1 consistently with the

 condition of crossing  ,pieria1 diverge
 a little either to the east or the west
 of due ,north1  but only a little4     
,consequently the island of ,calypso may
 be affirmed  to be1 according to the   
intention of ,homer1 in the ,north1 and 
not very  far from due ,north4    ,this 
conclusion is confirmed by two other    
arguments2 which are both  of the class 
which ,i have described as legitimate1  
because they are  founded on ,homer's   
physical knowledge of the direction of  
the winds4    ,after the storm has      
destroyed the ship of ,ulysses to the   
south of  ,thrinacie1 ,notus1 a wind of 
decidedly southerly character1 carries  
him  back again to ,scylla1 ,od4 xii4   
#dbf3 and again1 when he has passed it1 
he proceeds thus#faf3    #faf ,od4 xii4 
#ddg4       '  1            4    ,now   
there is no mention between these two   
passages either of any change  of wind1 
or of any particular wind4 ,consequently
 it seems rational to  assume that      
,homer meant us to understand a         

continuance of the wind just  named1    
namely ,notus4 ,even independently of   
this collocation1 we should  be thrown  
back upon the general rule of the       
,wanderings1 which is that  southerly   
winds blow ,ulysses away from home1     
while northerly ones bring  him back    
again4    ,consequently1 the natural    
construction to put upon the passage is1
 that  it was a south wind1 whether a   
little east or west of south matters    
not much1 which continued to blow1 and  
which drifted ,ulysses away  from       
,ithaca to the island of ,calypso4 ,this
 is in entire accordance  with the      
passage which describes him as windbound
 by ,eurus and ,notus  at ,thrinacie2   
since the way from home is presumably   
the exact reverse  of the way towards   
it4 ,but it will be said1 this implies  
that he  made westing on his way to     
,ogygia from a4 ,i answer1 that this is 
probably so3 for ,circe is described as 
immediately connected with the  east1   
while ,calypso is far1 as ,mercury      

complains1 from all land and            
habitation3 so that apparently her      
island is1 in the intention of  ,homer1 
materially to the westward1 as well as  
greatly to the northward1  of a4 ,but   
the main direction taken from ,scylla is
 northward2 and1  since ,scylla is near 
the 1 and the  are the ,bosphorus  of   
actual nature1 it must be taken from a  
point near the ,bosphorus1  along the   
imaginary expanse of an enlarged and    
westward-reaching ,euxine4    ,according
 to this argument1 then1 ,ogygia might  
lie upon a line drawn  from ,mount      
,olympus in a direction not very wide   
either way of ,st4  ,petersburgh4       
,nor are we wholly without means of     
measuring the distance4 ,he floats      
7from ,scylla7 for nine days1 and       
arrives on the tenth4 ,now this is just 
what happened to the                    
pseudo-,ulysses#fag1 who in the same    
space of time  drifted from a point near
 ,crete to the country of the           
,thesprotians4 ,we  may therefore fix   

,ogygia as 7in the intention of the     
,poet71 at about  the same distance from
 ,scylla1 which we measure from the     
south of  ,epirus to a point near1 yet  
not in sight of1 ,crete4 ,but this in   
passing4    #fag ,od4 xiv4 #caj-ae4     
#cja-d4    ,the corresponding argument  
is derived from the homeward passage of 
,ulysses1 and stands as follows3    ,for
 seventeen days ,ulysses pursues his    
raft-voyage from ,ogygia to  ,scheria2  
and the raft threatens to founder on the
 eighteenth4 ,he then  floats1 by the   
aid of the girdle he had received from  
,ino4 ,up to this  point there is no    
positive indication of the wind2 the    
argument from  the relation between his 
course and the stars ,i will consider   
shortly4  ,but after he has put on the  
girdle1 and when ,neptune withdraws his 
persecution1 since he is now approaching
 the horizon of the ,inner  world again1
 ,minerva's agency revives1 and she     
sends a north wind or a                 
north-north-east wind1 ,boreas1 to bring

 him to ,scheria4    ,now there is no   
reason for our supposing that ,homer    
meant to represent  ,ulysses as changing
 his general direction at this          
particular point4 ,the  orders of ,circe
 with respect to the stars all indicate 
a single right  line from ,ogygia to    
,scheria1 and neither the wind nor his  
course alter1  until he has seen the    
island on the far horizon4 ,the natural 
inference  therefore is1 that ,boreas1  
the ,n4 or ,n4 ,n4 ,e4 wind1 which at   
last  drifted him in1 was the wind which
 had brought him all the way from the   
island of ,calypso1 over an unbroken and
 unincumbered expanse of sea4    ,we    
appear to have seen1 thus far1 that     
,ogygia is greatly to the  northward1   
and probably somewhat to the westward1  
of the ,strait of  ,scylla4 ,we shall   
obtain further light upon the site of   
that island1 if  we can more precisely  
define the position of ,scylla with     
regard to  what lay southward1 as well  
as with respect to what lay northward1  

from  it4    ,our data are as follows3  
#a4 ,thrinacie appears to be close to   
,scylla1 for it is reached   7xii4      
#bfa74    #b4 ,the comrades of ,ulysses1
 when they arrive at the island1 and    
when  he attempts to dissuade them from 
landing1 reply by asking what is to     
become of them if they set sail at      
night1 and are then caught by a  squall 
of ,eurus or of ,zephyr 7#bhd-ic74      
#c4 ,the ship is windbound in ,thrinacie
 for a month by ,eurus and ,notus2      
which may be taken in ,homer as the     
winds that cover the whole horizon  from
 a point north of east to the western   
quarter#fah4    #fah ,see sup4 p4 #bgd4 
#d4 ,when they finally set sail1 we are 
not told with what wind it was3  but1   
after they have got out of sight of the 
island1 the sky darkens1  and mischief  
follows#fai2    #fai ,od4 xii4 #djc-h4  
1        and the ship goes to pieces in 
the tempest4 ,at length ,zephyr ceases1 
and ,notus blows ,ulysses back upon     
,scylla4    #e4 ,if it was the intention

 of ,homer to place ,thrinacie by the   
,bosphorus1 then the next point which   
,ulysses had to make was the            
,dardanelles4    ,scylla and the        
,dardanelles4    ,the question therefore
 is1 what conclusion can we draw from   
the  evidence now before us as to the   
position of ,scylla relatively to the   
,dardanelles8 ,i think a pretty clear   
one4    ,we have at least two of those  
statements1 which may be called         
experimental1 now before us4 ,homer knew
 the position of the mouth of  the      
,dardanelles4 ,he knew the nature of the
 wind ,notus4 ,and there is a  third    
piece of evidence not unimportant1 which
 we may here properly  bring into view4 
,we have seen that1 in ,il4 ii4 #hde1   
,homer confines  or contains his        
,thracians 7 7 by the ,hellespont3 and  
the  ,hellespont with him means all the 
waters from the ,sea of ,marmora to the 
northern gan inclusive4 ,now by this he 
intends only a part of the  ,thracians1 
those1 say1 of the plain of ,adrianople4

 ,it is presumable  therefore that he   
believed the configuration of the coast 
at the two  extremities of the          
,dardanelles to be something like at    
least two of the  sides of a square1    
running ,n4 and ,w4 respectively3 for   
unless it formed  a portion of some     
marked figure1 it would not answer his  
description of  including a certain     
district1 and the words would become    
applicable to  the whole of ,thrace     
alike4 ,therefore it appears that ,homer
 thought the  northern coast of the ,sea
 of ,marmora trended1 from its western  
point1  more rapidly to the north1 than 
is really the case4    ,the most        
decisive evidence1 however1 is that     
which had been previously  named4       
,when the storm came1 which shattered   
the ship1 ,ulysses was on the true      
course from ,thrinacie to the           
,dardanelles4 ,but if we know the point 
for  which he was making in a right line
 from point x1 and if we also  know the 
wind which carried him back to point x1 

then the line on  which point x itself  
lies is also known4 ,in other words1 as 
,notus1  or say the ,s4,s4,w4 wind1     
carried him back upon ,scylla1 ,scylla  
lies to  the ,n4,n4,e4 of the inner     
mouth of the ,dardanelles3 and the      
unnamed wind  which takes him back to   
,scylla is ,notus1 which we are entitled
 to  consider as blowing 7even as       
,boreas1 its counterpart1 blows from due
 ,n4  to the eastward7 from any point   
between the limit of ,eurus on the ,east
  of ,south1 and #de or even #ij degrees
 beyond ,south to the westward4    a1   
then1 is in the ,east2 with somewhat of 
an inclination1 as measured  from       
,greece1 towards the north4 ,ulysses has
 much westing to make1 in  order to get 
to ,scheria4 ,part of this is made on   
his passages between  a and ,ogygia in  
the farther north4 ,the rest in the     
course of his  long seventeen days'     
voyage from the north1 which is         
propelled1 as it  would appear1 by      
,boreas1 and therefore includes also a  

slight westerly  inclination4    ,all   
these arguments converge towards the    
same conclusions1 and all of  them are  
mainly founded1 not on ,homer's         
outer-world representations1  but upon  
indications drawn from his knowledge of 
nature1 or else from  his experimental  
or otherwise familiar acquaintance with 
the ,inner  world3 that is1 they are    
built not on the figures of his fancy1  
but on  the facts of his own and his    
countrymen's every-day experience4      
,and now let us consider the adverse    
construction put upon the text of  the  
,odyssey2 particularly with regard to   
the island of a4    ,why a cannot lie   
,north-westward4    ,it is quite plain1 
from the accounts given of the route    
both ways1 that  the ,ocean-mouth is    
meant by ,homer to be near the island of
 a2 that  is1 within a day's sail#fbj of
 that island4 ,how is this reconcilable 
with the doctrine1 which places the     
island in the far north-west8 ,in  the  
north-east we have an ,ocean-mouth1 the 

situation of which the ,poet1  guided up
 to a certain point by his inner-world  
knowledge1 has not very  inaccurately   
conceived4 ,in the north-west there is  
no ,ocean-mouth4 ,the  ,straits of      
,gibraltar1 though they lie rather to   
the south of west from  ,ithaca1 must be
 carried far into the north for the     
purpose2 in what  form1 or with what    
accompaniments1 it is hard to conceive4 
,to attempt  such a transposition would 
involve the complete abandonment of all 
actual geography1 and would after all   
leave us involved in hopeless  confusion
 in the effort to construct any         
tolerable scheme from the text  of      
,homer4    #fbj ,od4 xi4 #aa4           
,construction of ,od4 xii4 #c1 #d4      
,at the mere transportation1 indeed1 we 
need not scruple overmuch1 if  we could 
justify the proceeding by other clear   
indications of ,homer's  intention4 ,but
 there is no such justification4 ,it is 
hardly possible  to exaggerate the      
violence done to the text of ,od4 xii4  

#c1 #d1 by the  interpretation which    
,nitzsch 7following1 as ,i admit1       
,eustathius71 puts  upon it4 ,the ship1 
leaving the stream of ,ocean1 reaches   
the sea and the  island#fba3    #fba    
,od4 xii4 #c4       ' 1  '         1   4
    ,the 1 the rising1 or rising-point  
of the sun1 does not1 he says1  mean the
 east1 but only the first appearance of 
the sun on their return  from darkness1 
which is a kind of dawning on them4 ,and
 the dwelling of  the early-born ,dawn1 
and the place 7such appears to be the   
meaning of  7 of the ,dances of her     
kindred or attendant ,nymphs--who in    
later  mythology became the virgin train
 of ,hours1 that now delight us in the  
frescoes of ,guido and ,guercino--not   
only do not mean anything eastern1  but 
apparently in this place are conceived  
to have no meaning whatever1  and to be 
an idle1 indeed a most inconvenient and 
bewildering1  pleonasm4 ,and thus the   
magic poetry of this passage and all the
 curious  traditions it involves1 are   

destroyed1 in order to make room--for   
what8  ,for the hypothesis that ,homer  
places the dwelling of ,morning and the 
chamber of the rising ,sun far to the   
westward of the country that he  himself
 inhabited#fbb6    #fbb ,in the well    
known case of a noble description in the
 ,antiquary1  ,walter ,scott has made   
the sun set on the east coast of ,great 
,britain3  but this was unawares and not
 on purpose4 ,had he recited instead of 
writing1 the error could not have       
escaped correction4    ,there is1 ,i    
confess1 something almost of navet in   
the confession  of ,nitzsch1 that #8it  
sounds rather strange to interpret      
without any reference to sunrise1 since 
it is the customary counterpart  to 1   
the sunset4' ,but fortunately there is  
no ,homeric evidence  against it3 as    
indeed there cannot well be1 since the  
word occurs in  no other passage4 ,with 
respect to 1 ,nitzsch contends that it  
means  not dawn1 but light3 and he      
quotes the passages which say1 #8your   

glory  shall reach as far as 1' and     
#8horses1 the best to be found beneath  
the ,sun and 4' ,certainly it is most   
allowable1 7though ,i by no means  think
 the sense of dawn inadmissible in these
 two passages17 especially  as day goes 
nowhere except preceded by dawn1 to     
generalize the word   so as to make it  
equivalent to light4 ,but the fatal flaw
 in the  interpretation is this1 that   
when  is thus used1 it is invariably    
apart from any circumstances which can  
give a local colour to its  meaning4    
,but wherever there is any thing local  
implied1 as is admitted  to be in the   
case before us1 the  uniformly means the
 east1 though  with a certain           
indefiniteness perhaps as to northward  
and southward  inclination4 ,for        
instance1 when ,homer speaks of         
omen-birds flying  eastwards1 he        
describes them as flying   '  1 and the 
opposite movement as  1 which here      
evidently means north-west1  although it
 too may signify darkness in general4   

,the whole aim of the  passage 7,od4    
xii4 #a-e7 is1 to fix locality2 and it  
is in the teeth of  all ,homeric usage  
to deprive  in such a passage of local  
force1  while it confessedly can have no
 local meaning but an eastern one4      
,to me1 ,i confess1 it appears that     
,homer has nowhere done more1  and      
rarely so much1 in a single passage1 as 
in this1 with a view  of declaring his  
intention4 ,the island a1 irrespective  
of all  geographical argument1 is1 as we
 have seen1 directly bound and fastened 
to an eastern site by four separate     
cords4 ,first1 as the rising point  of  
the ,sun4 ,secondly1 as the residence of
 ,dawn4 ,thirdly1 because  ,circe1 its  
mistress1 has the ,sun1 the most eastern
 of all mythological  conceptions except
 the ,dawn1 for her father4 ,fourthly1  
because she has  also ,perse1 whose name
 indicates a trans-,phnician origin1 for
 her  mother4 ,and further1 ,i am       
convinced we cannot alter the place of a
  without uprooting the whole ,phnician 

scheme of the ,outer ,geography4    ,the
 scope and range thus given to the      
adventures of ,ulysses confines  them   
without doubt to the northern           
semi-circle1 but allows them to  reach1 
within that semi-circle1 to its eastern 
and to its western  extremities1 as they
 are imagined by the ,poet4 olus and the
  ,lstrygonians are evidently placed by 
him in the north-west4 ,the  hypothesis1
 which has here been maintained for a   
and ,calypso1  supplies an effectual    
counterpart1 and properly fills up the  
eastern  corner4 ,but1 independently of 
all other objections1 the north-western 
hypothesis for these islands jumbles    
them1 if ,i may so speak1 in one  heap  
with the others1 and leaves the eastern 
quarter towards the ,north  wholly      
unoccupied4 ,and yet that ,east was1 for
 a ,greek1 the source and  the scene of 
the richest legendary and mythological  
representations4  ,such an incongruous  
view of the question would not1 ,i      
think1 be at all  in keeping with       

,homer's ordinary modes of conceiving1  
handling1 and  presenting his materials4
    ,construction of ,od4 v4 #bgf1 #g4  
,but ,i am aware that1 up to this time1 
we have left out of view a  passage1 of 
which ,i freely admit that the          
prevailing1 and in so far  the most     
obvious1 interpretation is against me4  
,ulysses sails over  the sea from       
,ogygia1 governing the rudder of his    
raft with art1 and  watching the stars1 
especially the ,great ,bear2 which at   
that period1 ,i  believe1 was nearer the
 ,pole1 and was a more conspicuous and  
splendid  astronomical object1 than it  
now is4 ,it was with respect to this    
constellation that he had received a    
particular order from ,calypso#fbc3     
#fbc ,od4 v4 #bgf4           1  1     ' 
4    ,or1 according to the common       
construction of the words1 he was to    
keep  that constellation on the left    
during his voyage4 ,but if his course   
lay  in the direction of a right line   
drawn from ,st4 ,petersburgh to ,corfu1 

it appears that ,arctus1 when visible to
 him1 would be visible on the  right1   
and not on the left4    ,i could not1   
however1 accommodate myself to this     
passage at such a  cost as that of      
oversetting an interpretation of the    
general scheme1  which is so deeply     
rooted both in the letter and spirit of 
the poem1  as is the eastern1 and       
likewise somewhat north-eastern1        
hypothesis  for a1 together with a      
northern site for ,ogygia4 ,these two1  
it may  be observed1 stand together4 ,it
 is plain1 from the times occupied by   
the several stages between a and        
,ogygia1 and from the language used     
where no precise time is stated1 that   
the ,poet conceived the distance        
between them to be limited1 though very 
considerable4 ,and indeed the           
north-western hypothesis for a would do 
nothing for the passage ,i  have quoted1
 unless we also carry ,ogygia into the  
north-west1 in order  that ,ulysses1 on 
his way home from it1 may have ,arctus  

on his left4  ,inasmuch1 however1 as the
 admission of the received sense for the
 lines  would involve us in a new series
 of the most complicated and hopeless   
contradictions1 we must look for relief 
in some other direction4    ,on the     
genuineness of the passage4    ,i desire
 to eschew1 as a general rule1 the      
dangerous and seductive  practice of    
questioning the genuineness of the text 
because it seems to  stand in conflict  
with a favoured interpretation4 ,i may  
however state1  without unduly relying  
on them1 one or two particulars which1  
drawn  from the poem itself1 may show   
that these two lines are not unjustly   
open to the suspicion of interpolation4 
#a4 ,the two lines are wholly void of   
any necessary connection with what      
precedes and follows them1 and the text 
is complete without them4  ,we should   
not break up the passage generally by   
removing them4 ,this  argument1 however1
 is one purely negative4    #b4 ,these  
lines tell us1 that ,calypso had bid    

,ulysses keep ,arctus on his  left4 ,now
 ,homer has given us a speech of        
,calypso#fbd on the subject of  this    
voyage1 in which she promises to send1  
from behind him1 a breeze  which shall  
carry him home4 ,but there is in this   
speech no order to  him whatever about  
observing the stars2 and the promise of 
the wind in  some degree1 though not    
perhaps quite conclusively1 tends to    
show that  no such injunction was       
needed4 ,for it is plain that1 if the   
wind blew  fair across the open sea1 he 
did not depend at all upon the helm1 and
  noticing the stars would be of no     
assistance to him4 ,i rely1 however1    
more upon this1 that there is here a    
sort of patchwork1 very unlike  ,homer's
 usual method1 in the mode in which the 
injunction is recorded4  ,clearly1 if   
,calypso gave a direction respecting the
 stars1 the proper  place for it was in 
the speech where she delivered to       
,ulysses what may  be called his general
 instruction for the voyage4 ,and ,i am 

not sure  whether another instance can  
be found in the whole of the poems1     
where  an omission of something relevant
 and material in one of the speeches  is
 supplied by a recital in the subsequent
 narrative4 ,it is wholly  contrary to  
the manner of ,homer1 who so uniformly  
throws into speech  and the dramatic    
form whatever is susceptible of being   
thus handled4    #fbd ,od4 v4 #afj-gj4  
#c4 ,the expression '   is found nowhere
 else in ,homer1  though the phrase '   
occurs many times4    #d4 ,there is no  
other passage in the ,wanderings1 or    
elsewhere in the  poems1 which describes
 the conduct of navigation by means of  
the  stars4 ,in the ,iliad we have the  
mention of a star in connection with    
sea-travelling2 but it is simply as a   
portent1 7 1 ,il4 iv4  #gf74 ,on this1  
however1 if it stood alone1 ,i should   
place no commanding  stress3 and it     
should also be observed that the        
objection is one which1  if admitted1   
would displace eight lines4    ,so much 

for the genuineness of the passage4     
,as respects the grammatical meaning of 
the phrase1 ,i have endeavoured  to     
discuss it at large in a separate paper2
 and to show that its real  sense is in 
fact the reverse of that which is       
ordinarily assumed4 ,it  means1 ,i      
believe1 a star looking towards the     
left1 and therefore a  star looking from
 and situated on the right hand in the  
sky4    ,in no case1 however1 can ,i    
admit it to be the true meaning of      
,homer1  that ,ulysses is to follow a   
south-westward course from ,ogygia to   
,scheria2 because this is at variance   
with all the trustworthy1 ,i must  add  
with the consentient1 indications of    
,homer's intention in the whole         
arrangement of the tour1 as well as in  
the particular description of  ,circe's 
island4 ,it is also in contradiction to 
those indications1 drawn  from his inner
 or experimental geography1 which       
determine at certain  points the        
bearings applicable to the ,outer or    

,phnician sphere4    ,before proceeding 
to draw up in propositions the whole    
outline of the  interpretation which ,i 
venture to give to the route of         
,ulysses1 ,i would  call attention to   
the means1 which the ,poet has adopted  
to signify to  us his own doubt and     
incertitude respecting its actual       
bearings at  several important points4  
,by means of the wind ,boreas he        
indicates to us the direction1 not      
however the distance1 of the ,lotophagi4
 ,after leaving them1 he tells  us      
nothing either of distance or direction 
between their country and  that of the  
,cyclopes4 ,from this point he provides 
us with certain aids  until we reach    
olia4 ,when in olia1 ,ulysses is to the 
north-west of  ,ithaca3 for the ,zephyr 
given by olus1 he says1 would have      
carried  him home4 ,from this isle1 six 
days of rowing take him to ,lstrygonia4 
,another passage of indefinite length   
next carries him to a2 and1  arriving   
here1 he is entirely out of his         

bearings2 he cannot tell where  is east 
or west#fbe1 the point of dusk or the   
point of dawn1 until he  has been duly  
instructed by ,circe3 but he sees an    
unbounded sea 7  7 on every side of him4
    #fbe ,od4 x4 #aij4    ,homer's      
geographical misgivings4    ,this       
expression of ignorance1 put into the   
mouth of ,ulysses1 probably  conveys the
 true sense of the ,poet2 who1 more or  
less puzzled  with even his own method  
of harmonizing the ,phnician reports1   
and  suspecting that it might not bear  
the test of application to actual       
nature1 shielded himself by             
anticipation1 through giving us to      
understand that he did not mean to      
submit ,circe's isle to the strict      
rules of geographical measurement4      
,and indeed it was no wonder that he    
felt some diffidence1 when we  recollect
 that he had to concentrate in a single 
point facts or  traditions that embraced
 east1 north1 and west4 ,eastern his    
site must  be to allow of the rising of 

the sun1 and the accompanying legends3  
he may have had misgivings1 lest his    
,thrinacie1 and also other  traditions  
of which he had to work up the          
materials1 should in reality  lie       
westward from ,greece3 lastly1 an       
appreciable northern element  was       
involved in the general direction of the
 navigation through the  ,bosphorus1    
which in fact supplies a kind of        
meeting-point for the two  former4 ,the 
remedy is1 thus to hang the island of   
,circe in a vague and  shadowy distance1
 which gives the nearest practicable    
approach to an  exemption from the laws 
imposed by any determinate configuration
 of the  earth4    ,nor are these the   
only cases1 in which ,homer has afforded
 us tokens  of his own want of clear    
knowledge and confidence in regard to   
the  scenes through which he has carried
 his hero4 ,on the contrary1 he has     
indicated the haziness of his views1 and
 the insecurity of the ground  he trod1 
by forbearing in several other instances

 to fix with precision  the particular  
winds which favoured or opposed the     
voyage of ,ulysses1  or to particularize
 the distances he travelled4            
,homeward route of ,ulysses4    ,we are 
now at liberty to approach the last     
portion of our subject4 ,we  have1 ,i   
trust1 fixed the distinction of the     
,inner and ,outer ,geography2           
ascertained the keys of the outer       
system1 and fixed its governing  points4
 ,it remains to inquire what1 according 
to the data ascertained1  did the ,poet 
intend to be the route of ,ulysses over 
the face of his  ideal map2 and then1   
finally1 to show its relation to that of
 ,menelaus1  and to ,homer's general    
conception of the configuration and     
distribution  of the surface of the     
earth4    ,i4 ,his first halting-place1 
after quitting ,troy1 is with the       
,cicones1  in ,thrace4 ,this visit was  
paid with scarcely a deviation from his 
homeward route3 and therefore it does   
not belong to the ,outer  ,geography4   

,the ,cicones of the ,odyssey were      
probably placed near the  northernmost  
point of the gan sea 7,od4 ix4 #ci74    
,,ii4 ,from the country of the ,cicones1
 he sails southward1 under a  heavy     
north-north-east gale 7,od4 ix4 #fg71   
which lasts for three days4  ,he has    
then fair weather1 till he gets to ,cape
 ,malea4 ,but1 as he is  rounding ,cape 
,malea1 the north-north-easter returns1 
and drives him  down the west coast of  
,cythera 7now ,cerigo71 and so out to   
sea 7#gi-ha74  ,after nine days' sail1  
with  1 he reaches the land of the      
,lotophagi 7#hb-d74 ,now1 as it took    
five days of the best possible wind  to 
sail from ,crete to ,egypt 7,od4 xiv4   
#bec71 we may perhaps assume that1  in  
the ten days of veering gales1 about an 
equal distance was made  in the general 
direction of south-south-east indicated 
for us by the  ,boreas of v4 #hb4 ,this 
will place the ,lotophagi on the ,syrtis
 ,major1 now  the ,gulf of ,sidra4 ,here
 the region of the marvel-world begins3 

and the  mention of the  1 in lieu of   
the pure ,boreas1 may be taken  as fair 
notice from the ,poet1 that he had no   
precise knowledge on what  portion of   
the coast of ,africa ,ulysses was to set
 his foot4    ,the ,lotophagi are full  
of ,egyptian resemblances3 and it       
appears that1  as ,egypt and ,phnicia   
were for ,homer the two greatest        
border-lands  between the real and the  
imagined worlds1 therefore ,ulysses     
makes his  first step into the ,outer   
world through a quasi-,egyptian people1 
and  his last step out of it among a    
quasi-,phnician people4    ,,iii4 ,the  
voyage from the land of the ,lotophagi  
to the next stage1 the  country of the  
,cyclopes1 is without the smallest      
indication either  of distance or       
direction 7#ajc-e74 ,but as1 within the 
,outer sphere1  northern winds are      
always homeward1 and southern ones carry
 ,ulysses  outward1 we may assume that  
,homer here intended some southern wind2
  though1 as he breaks at this juncture 

the last link with the known  world1 he 
could not venture to state any thing    
like the precise point  of the compass4 
,shall we place the ,cyclopes of ,homer 
on any point of terra firma1 or  must we
 imagine a country for them8            
,tradition has answered this question by
 commonly placing them in  ,sicily4 ,but
 a vague tradition1 as we have seen1 is 
of little authority  in regard to       
,homeric questions2 and in this         
instance1 ,i think1 it may  be shown to 
be in error1 for the following reasons3 
#a4 ,the country of the ,cyclopes is not
 an island3 it is mainland 7  1 #ajf71  
with an island near to it1 #aje4 ,by the
 expression 1  ,homer sometimes means a 
great island such as ,crete3 but we have
 no  authority for supposing he would   
apply it to ,sicily4    #b4 ,it can     
hardly be doubted that the little which 
,homer probably did  know of ,sicily is 
represented to us by his ,thrinacie4    
,and all this  consists in two points3  
the first1 that it was an island 7,od4  

xii4  #abg73 the second1 that it was    
triangular1 and derived its name from   
its form4 ,but his ,thrinacie he has    
given to the oxen of the ,sun3 and      
therefore he certainly does not mean it 
to be the land of the ,cyclopes1  or he 
would have given it the same name on    
both occasions4 ,indeed1 on  the        
contrary1 he has actually given another 
name to the land of the  ,cyclopes3 it  
is the   of ,od4 vi4 #d4 ,i may add1    
that  the epithet  is not generally     
applicable to ,sicily1 which is         
channelled all through with hill and    
dale1 and which nowhere1 unless  perhaps
 between ,syracuse and ,catania1 seems  
to present any great  breadth of plain4 
#c4 ,besides this1 ,ulysses traverses   
very long distances#fbf1 in order  to   
reach a from ,hypereia3 but ,thrinacie1 
on the other hand1 is very  near a1 so  
that he has not retraced his distance1  
and therefore  cannot be in ,sicily4    
#fbf ,see ,od4 x4 #bh and #hj4    ,where
 then were situated these ,cyclopes1 to 

whose country ,ulysses came  after      
quitting the ,lotophagi8 ,it is plain   
that they were not within the  ,greek   
maritime world1 or ,homer would1 we may 
be sure1 have indicated  their position 
by the time of the voyage1 or by the    
quarter from which  the wind blew to    
take him there4    ,i submit that ,homer
 meant to place the ,cyclopes in        
,iapygia1 the heel of  ,italy2 a region 
nearly corresponding1 on the west of the
 ,ionian sea1  with the position of     
,scheria on the east4 ,this hypothesis  
is consistent  with the whole evidence  
in the case1 and might well stand on    
that  ground only4 ,but it is1 ,i think1
 also sustained by a separate argument  
from the migration of the ,phacians#fbg4
    #fbg ,od4 vi4 #d4    ,the ,phacians1
 descended like the ,cyclopes from      
,neptune1 were recent  inhabitants of   
,scheria2 they formerly dwelt near the  
,cyclopes in  ,hypereia1 and were       
dislodged from thence by the violence of
 their  brutal neighbours4 ,they removed

 under ,nausithous1 and settled in      
,scheria4    ,they were flying from a   
race who had no ships with which to     
follow  them4 ,if ,hypereia in which    
they lived was ,iapygia1 any place in   
the  situation of ,scheria1 or near it1 
would be a natural place of refuge  for 
them4 ,but if they had been in ,sicily1 
,homer in all likelihood would  not have
 carried them beyond the neighbouring   
coast of ,italy1 which  would have      
afforded them the security they desired4
    ,,iv4 ,from ,iapygia or ,hypereia1  
the country of the ,cyclopes1 ,ulysses  
proceeds to pay his double visit to     
olia4 ,we are not assisted in  the first
 instance 7,od4 ix4 #efe4 x4 #a47 by any
 indication of wind or  distance4 ,it is
 not unfair to presume that ,stromboli1 
with its active  volcano1 was the       
prototype of this gusty island4 ,but1   
like other  places1 it is not on the    
site of its prototype4 ,for olus gives  
,ulysses  a ,zephyr or north-west wind1 
which would have carried him home1 had  

it  not been for the folly of his       
comrades 7,od4 x4 #be1 #df74 ,the olia  
of  ,homer then must conform to these   
two conditions3    #a4 ,it must lie     
north-west of ,ithaca4    #b4 ,there    
must be a continuous open sea between   
them2 and one  uninterrupted by land1 so
 that one and the same wind may carry a 
ship  all the way4    ,to meet these    
conditions1 we have only to move olia   
northward4 ,for the  northern part of   
,italy has no existence in the ,outer   
,geography4 ,it is  swept away1 along   
with the great mass of the ,european    
continent1 and  the  covers all4        
,after the opening of the bag 7x4 #dh1  
#ed7 the ship is driven back by a   upon
 olia4 ,but here we have had another    
valuable indication4  ,they had enjoyed 
the ,zephyr nine full days1 and they    
were in sight of  home on the tenth 7v4 
#bh1 #i71 when the folly was committed4 
,therefore  olia is between nine and ten
 days' sail to the north-west of        
,ithaca3  or1 with an allowance of fifty

 miles for the distance to the horizon1 
there will be about one thousand miles  
between them4    ,v4 ,the fifth stage is
 ,lstrygonia3 and it is reached after   
seven days'  rowing 7x4 #hj74 ,there is 
no indication of direction in the       
voyage3 but  we have a sure proof that  
the prototype of this place was far     
north2  namely1 that there is here      
perpetual day2                          
1   '  4    ,it cannot1 ,i think1 be    
doubted that ,homer obtained information
 of a  region displaying this natural   
peculiarity from ,phnician mariners1    
who had penetrated into the ,german     
,ocean to the northward of the  ,british
 ,isles4 ,his retentive mind has1 then1 
made an early record of  this1 along    
with so many other singular reports1 out
 of which a large  proportion have been 
verified4    ,there is another proof    
that we are here nearly1 or rather      
quite1 at  the furthest bound of        
distance ever reached by ,ulysses4 ,for 
the united  distances 7#a7 from within  

sight of ,ithaca to olia1 and 7#b7 from 
olia  to ,lstrygonia1 make seventeen    
days1 the same number occupied in a much
  slower craft on the voyage from       
,ogygia to ,scheria4    ,it will be     
found1 under the rules of calculation   
which have been  adopted1 that we may   
place ,lstrygonia at near seventeen     
hundred miles  from ,iapygia4 ,if we are
 to suppose that by the name ,artacie1  
given to  the fountain in ,lstrygonia1  
he means an allusion to a place of that 
name in the ,euxine1 ,i take this as a  
new sign of his dim and confused        
extension of that sea to the westward4  
,the name ,lstrygonia appears to belong 
to a city1 not to a country4  ,it is 1  
and it is also   4 ,homer avoids        
calling it either a land 77 or an island
 774 ,by the former  term he sometimes  
designates large islands as well as     
portions of a  continent4 ,the epithet  
points to a steep and rocky site3 but   
his forbearing to fix it as continent or
 island seems to show1 that  he was     

himself in doubt upon the point4 ,the   
trait of perpetual day1  however1 speaks
 most explicitly for the bona fides of  
the tradition  on which the ,poet       
proceeds1 and for the latitude from     
whence it came3  and it seems far from  
improbable that ,iceland may have been  
the dimly  perceived original of        
,lstrygonia2 of which the site in the   
,odyssey is  near the actual site of    
,denmark4    ,,vi4 ,the sixth stage is  
a4 ,this could only be reached by a long
  passage from ,lstrygonia4 ,the ,poet  
has not ventured to define its  extent  
or direction4 ,but he leaves himself an 
ample margin by the  declaration from   
the mouth of ,ulysses1 that he knew     
nothing on his  arrival of the latitude 
or longitude 7,od4 x4 #aij-b73 and he is
 content  with planting it immovably    
near the point of sunrise1 though with a
  great vagueness of conception 7,od4 x4
 #ace-i2 xii4 #a-d74    ,there is indeed
 something near a verbal contradiction  
between the  declaration of ,ulysses in 

,od4 x41 that he1 being then at a1 did  
not  know where to look for sunrise or  
for sunset1 and his narrative in  xii4  
#c1 #d1 where he so directly associates 
the island with the land of  sunrise4   
,but he had remained there a full year  
in friendly company with  ,circe 7x4    
#dff-i71 and he was instructed by her as
 to his movements1  so that we may1 ,i  
presume1 fairly consider that during    
that time he  learned what on his first 
arrival was strange to him4    ,the     
course from ,lstrygonia to a is prim    
facie conjectural3 but  it is not really
 so1 for ,lstrygonia is fixed by the    
times and winds  from ,hypereia2 and a  
is practically determined by its local  
relations  to ,ocean-mouth1 ,thrinacie1 
and the ,bosphorus4    ,the ,euxine does
 not abound in islands1 such as we might
 appropriate to  ,circe and the ,sirens3
 for it is little likely that a rock    
like the ,isle  of ,serpents1 which on a
 recent occasion acquired a momentary   
notoriety1  should have been noticed    

particularly in the navigation of the   
heroic  age4 ,it is much more likely1   
that ,homer brought his islands for the 
,euxine from among the materials        
provided by his western traditions4 ,we 
may however reasonably presume that     
,homer meant to place a at the  east end
 of the ,euxine1 not far perhaps from   
the ,colchis of etes3 and  in that      
neighbourhood ,i shall venture to       
deposit three islands1 vaguely          
corresponding with the ,baleares1 which 
may have been transplanted  into this   
vicinity together with the other        
traditions of the western  ,ocean-mouth4
    7#a7 ,from hence1 under the         
directions of ,circe1 they sail for one 
day  with a toward breeze1 to the       
,ocean-mouth1 hard by that abode of the 
,cimmerians1 which is wrapt in perpetual
 mist and night 7,od4 xi4 #a-ai74       
,circe promised them the aid of ,boreas1
 when ,ulysses1 alarmed at the  unusual 
journey he was to make1 asked who would 
guide him4 ,i therefore  infer that     

,boreas was to blow not before1 but     
after1 they had entered  the            
,ocean-mouth1 and was to carry them up  
the stream4 ,before reaching  it1 we may
 assume that1 as usual on his way       
outwards1 he was sailing  with a wind   
from some southern quarter4    7#b7 ,in 
the ,ocean-river1 they haul their vessel
 high and dry1 and  proceed by land up  
the stream to the mouth of the ,shades  
or under-world  7,od4 xi4 #bj-b74       
7#c7 ,from the mouth of the ,shades they
 return to their ship1 and in it  down  
77 the ,ocean stream1 and to the an     
island4 ,they go first by  rowing1 and  
then by a favourable breeze1 of which   
the direction is not  mentioned 7,od4   
xi4 #fch-dj2 xii4 #a-c3 also xxiii4     
#cbb-e47    ,,vii4  4 ,this island is   
reached with an  2 the  quarter is not  
named1 nor is the distance1 but from the
 terms of the  passages it would appear 
to have been very short4 7,od4 xii4     
#adi-ed1  #afe-g2 also #ci1 and xxiii4  
#cbf47    ,,viii4 ,avoiding the 1 the   

hero passes between ,scylla and         
,charybdis1 to ,thrinacie1 the island of
 the ,sun4 ,the strait is reached       
forthwith1  7,od4 xii4 #bja71 after     
leaving the island1 and  ,thrinacie is  
reached forthwith in like manner 7 v4   
#bfa7 after  leaving the strait 7,od4   
xi4 #ajf1 #g2 xii4 #bfb2 xxiii4 #cbg-i4 
,the last  passage appears to place the 
and the ,scylla passage close  together1
 as it says that he came to them both1  
though he passed only  through ,scylla74
    ,in ,thrinacie he is detained by    
,notus1 blowing for a month1 and by  the
 total absence of any wind but ,notus   
and ,eurus4 ,the common point  of these 
winds is1 that they are chiefly in the  
southern hemisphere4  ,also it would    
seem from this part of the ,fourth ,book
 that ,boreas was  evidently the wind   
that ,ulysses required to help him      
forward on his way  home1 rather than   
,zephyrus3 for it was the latter wind   
that caught them  when they were already
 on their passage1 and brought the      

hurricane in  which the ship went to    
pieces 7,od4 xii4 #djh74                
,accordingly1 as the ,bosphorus is      
geographically fixed1 ,i place          
,thrinacie beside it1 and ,scylla beside
 ,thrinacie4    ,it will be observed    
that1 after allowance is made for too   
much northing  in the north coast of the
 ,propontis1 the mouth of ,scylla will  
be at  the point1 from which a ,n4 ,n4  
,e4 wind would have brought ,ulysses to 
the  ,dardanelles1 and would thus have  
placed him1 by the shortest cut1 at  the
 very gate of the gan1 and of the known 
route to his home4    ,the ,crimea has  
so much the character of an island1 and 
its  south-eastern face appears to be   
both in scenery and climate so          
delightful1 while again its proximity to
 the ,ocean-mouth of the ,odyssey  is so
 suitable1 that we might be tempted to  
consider it as representing  the abode  
of the ,sirens4 ,but it is too large for
 one of ,homer's 4  ,probably1 too1 the 
isle of ,sirens should lie on the direct

 route from  a to the ,straits4    ,,ix4
 ,when out of sight of the island       
7#djc71 the ship encounters a  violent 1
 and founders4 ,ulysses mounts on a     
couple of spars  7#dbd74 ,in one night  
,notus drifts him upon the passage of   
,scylla and  ,charybdis1 which he       
traverses in safety 7#dbg-cj1 #ddb-f71  
and then  drifting on1 apparently with  
the same wind1 he reaches1 on the tenth 
day1 the island of ,calypso1   7xii4    
#ddg1 #h2 xxiii4 #ccc71  which is the   
or central point of the  7,od4 i4 #ej73 
that  is to say which1 as nearly due    
north from ,greece1 not only is         
conceived  to be alike removed from the 
supposed eastern and western ,ocean1 but
  also if not equidistant1 yet very     
distant1 at all points from main land4  
,x4 ,the next stage to ,ogygia is       
,scheria1  7,od4 vi4 #h71 or the        
7,od4 v4 #cde74 ,leaving ,ogygia on his 
raft 7v4 #bfc and seqq471  he keeps     
,arctos set on his right1 and looking   
towards his left hand1  till on the     

eighteenth day 7v4 #bgh71 he arrives in 
sight of ,scheria4  ,neptune1 coming up 
from among the ,ethiopians1 discerns him
 afar1 from  the ,solyman mountains     
7#bhb74 ,the storm rises1 and the raft  
is tossed in  a hurricane of all the    
winds 7#bic and #cca1 #b74 ,at length it
 founders  7#cgj73 ,minerva sends a     
brisk ,boreas1 and the hero drifts to   
,scheria1  arriving on the third day    
7#chb-ih74 ,homer gives to ,scheria the 
name  of  7,od4 v4 #cdh1 #ej72 and it   
does not appear clear that he           
considered it as an island4 ,at the same
 time1 the term  may mean  the shore3   
and the word  may be used1 like   ' 1   
for  an island1 if it be presumed to be 
of extraordinary size4    ,,xi4 4 ,the  
living ship of the ,phacians leaves     
somewhat early  in the day1 after the   
proper rites2 the goods having been     
stowed at  daybreak 7,od4 xiii4 #ah1 and
 seqq47 ,no wind is named3 but1 with a  
speed  more rapid than that of a hawk1  
the vessel1 propelled by oars1 reaches  

,ithaca before the next dawn4 ,od4 xiii4
 #gh1 #hf1 #ic-e4    ,directions and    
distances from a4    ,we have however   
still to consider the directions and    
distances of the  tour1 from a onwards1 
on the way home4    ,homer plainly      
intends to describe very short passages1
 first to the  island of the ,sirens1   
next from that island to ,scylla1 and   
then from  ,scylla to the landing on the
 coast of ,thrinacie4 ,they are not     
defined3  but they by no means          
correspond with the very considerable   
eastward  stretch of the ,euxine from   
the ,bosphorus4    ,it has already been 
observed that ,homer shortens the       
eastern recess of  the ,mediterranean1  
and brings ,egypt nearly to the         
southward of ,crete3  and that this is  
part of a system of compression which   
abbreviates  all the distances of his   
,outer geography eastward from ,lycia4  
,we have  now come to another example of
 the working of this idea in his mind3  
placing a and the ,sirens so near the   

,bosphorus1 he plainly curtails  the    
eastward ,euxine1 like the eastward     
,mediterranean4    ,ten days floatage   
northwards from ,scylla would give us a 
distance of  nearly five hundred miles  
in that direction1 up to the point where
 we  should fix the island of ,calypso4 
,but from ,ogygia to within sight of    
,scheria1 ,ulysses occupies eighteen    
days in sailing by raft3 which will give
 us for the whole distance  at sixty    
miles per diem1 with an allowance of    
fifty miles1 as the  distance from which
 ,ithaca had become visible1 about      
eleven hundred and  thirty miles4 ,we   
have also to consider the further       
question1 how far  ,scheria is to be    
placed from ,ithaca4 ,we must reckon the
 time occupied  by the hawk-like ship at
 not less than sixteen hours2 and we    
cannot  reckon the distance below one   
hundred and eighty or ninety miles4     
,thus ,ogygia ought to be reckoned at   
fully thirteen hundred miles from       
,ithaca4 ,lstrygonia is1 as we have     

found1 nearly seventeen hundred from    
,ithaca4 ,and the site of ,ogygia will  
be upon the point which is both  at the 
distance of five hundred miles from the 
,homeric or transposed  ,scylla1 and of 
eleven hundred and thirty miles from the
 ,homeric  ,scheria4 ,this point will1  
,i think1 lie a little to the west of   
the real  site of ,kieff4    ,the actual
 distance from ,ithaca to the middle    
point of ,corfu may be  about eighty    
miles4 ,corfu is said to resemble in its
 natural features  the ,scheria of      
,homer4 ,but if this be admitted1 we    
must remove the site  of the island in  
the direction of ,dalmatia to more than 
double its real  distance from ,ithaca1 
so as to satisfy the conditions of the  
,phacian  voyage4 ,it will then be near 
the point where we may1 consistently    
with  all the representations of ,homer1
 cut off the ,greek peninsula1 and      
substitute for the northward land the   
great spaces of his sea4    ,the island 
of ,calypso1 thus determined1 will      

satisfy in a great degree  the          
conditions of the  4 ,it may be nearly  
equidistant  from a and the ,cimmerian  
country in the south-east1 from ,scylla 
in  the south1 and from the possible    
extension of the ,cimmerian country  to 
the north4 ,towards olia and ,lstrygonia
 on the west the distances  will indeed 
be greater2 but as among very great     
distances ,homer may  naturally fail to 
maintain the close measurements of small
 ones4    ,tours of ,menelaus and       
,ulysses compared4    ,thus1 then1 we   
have brought ,ulysses home2 and now let 
us proceed to  examine the undeveloped1 
but still rather curious1 relation      
between the  tours of the two           
chieftains1 ,ulysses and ,menelaus4     
,the readers of ,dante will recollect   
with what complex precision1 as  a      
poetical ,architect1 he has actually1   
for the purposes of his work1  built an 
,universe of ,hell1 ,purgatory1 and     
,paradise4 ,every line of his  poem has 
a determinate relation to a certain     

point in space1 fixed in  his own mind2 
but whether every such point be fixed or
 not in nature  is no more material1    
than if it were simply one to be        
determined by  axes of coordinates4     
,intricate as the fabric is1 this great 
brother  of ,homer in his art never for 
a moment lets drop the thread of his    
labyrinth1 but holds it steadily from   
the beginning of the first canto  to the
 end of the hundredth4 ,homer1 composing
 for a younger world1 had  to deal with 
all ideas whatsoever in simpler forms2  
but1 ,i think1 it is  discernible that  
in his way he1 too1 made a systematic   
distribution of  the ,outer ,earth1 as  
he had rather vaguely conceived it in   
his teeming  imagination4    ,we are apt
 to forget1 from the comparatively      
summary manner in which  the subject is 
dismissed by the ,poet1 that the voyages
 and travels of  ,menelaus occupy a time
 almost as long as those of ,ulysses4   
,he has but  recently returned1 says    
,nestor to ,telemachus1 in the last year

 of his  father's wanderings#fbh3 and   
,menelaus himself states1 that he came  
home only in the eighth year after the  
capture of ,troy#fbi4 ,and as in  point 
of time1 so likewise they are           
geographically in correspondence4  ,to  
,menelaus ,homer has given1 in outline1 
the southern world from east  to west1  
and to ,ulysses1 in detail1 the northern
 world from west to  east4 ,it is true  
that he made ,ulysses begin his         
,wanderings1 properly  so called1 with  
the ,lotophagi in ,africa3 but this is  
because it was  necessary to throw him  
at ,malea1 by some wide and             
irrecoverable  deviation1 off his route 
to ,ithaca4 ,so ,menelaus loses his     
course at  the very same critical point1
 the ,malean ,promontory#fcj4 ,then the 
two  strike off to the opposite ends of 
the diameter3 ,menelaus to ,crete1  for 
,cyprus1 ,phnicia1 and ,egypt1 in the   
south-east2 ,ulysses to ,africa1  for   
the ,cyclopes1 olia1 and ,lstrygonia1 in
 the north-west4 ,again1  ,menelaus     

visits ,libya to the westward1 where1 it
 will be remembered1 he  is to find his 
home after death in the ,elysian fields4
 ,the counterpart  of this is in the    
eastward movement of ,ulysses along a   
northern zone  to the isle of ,circe1   
and in his visit to the ,shades4 ,again1
 it is  ,phnicia1 which in the          
south-east forms a kind of boundary line
 between  the known and the unknown     
world4 ,accordingly ,homer has given us 
an  idealized ,phnicia on the           
north-western line4 ,perhaps only       
partial1  but still perfectly real1     
resemblances of character establish a   
poetical relation between the  and the 4
 ,other parts  of the ,phacian character
 might seem to have been borrowed from  
the  ,egyptians4 ,no one1 ,i think1 can 
doubt that ,homer had the ,phnicians  to
 some extent in his mind1 when he       
invented the ,phacians4 ,but he has     
given us another etymological sign of   
the connection4 ,the   stand in evident 
connection with #fca4 ,who but they     

could give  that name to the island     
where ,eumus was born8 an island with   
which  we see them to have been in      
relations by a double token2 the first1 
a  ,phnician slave carried thither by   
the ,taphians2 and the second1 ,eumus   
as a boy carried off thence by the      
,phnicians1 who had paid it a visit     
with a cargo of fine goods4 ,the island 
of 1 lying north-west from  ,chios1     
probably owed its title to the same     
source3 if not also 1  corrupted from 4 
,surely then1 like  from 1 so ,homer    
made  from 4 ,it being always remembered
 that ,scheria is for  ,homer1 like     
,phnicia1 a maritime land4 ,it is       
nowhere called an island2  from which we
 know1 that ,homer either believed it to
 be attached to the  continent1 or to   
form1 like ,crete#fcb1 a continent of   
itself4    #fbh ,od4 iii4 #cah4    #fbi 
,od4 iv4 #hb4    #fcj ,od4 iii4 #bhf-ij4
    #fca ,od4 xv4 #djb4 ,much difficulty
 has been raised about this 3  see ,wood
 on ,homer1 pp4 #i-af2 but surely       

without need4 ,we have  no occasion to  
translate  into trans1 1 or  beyond4    
,the  1 or ,syros1 has the same bearing 
in respect  to ,delos1 as  in respect to
 ,chios1 which is called   1 ,od4 iii4  
#agj4 ,it may perhaps mean to windward1 
and this would  correspond with the idea
 of  as the prevailing wind  of the gan4
 ,another difficulty is made about the  
phrase    1 which is interpreted as     
describing the position relatively  to  
,delos4 ,i know not why this should     
constitute a difficulty at all1  if     
,syros is to the west and north of      
,delos4 ,but there would be no          
difficulty1 even if ,delos were west of 
,syros3 for the words     may apply     
grammatically to either of the two      
islands as viewed  from the other4      
#fcb ,od4 xix4 #agb4    ,the ,erembi of 
,menelaus are generally understood to be
 the ,arabians4  ,the thiopes1 whom he  
also visits1 extend from the extreme    
east to  the furthest west of the       
surface of the earth2 and they possibly 

may  have a counterpart in the          
,cimmerians of the north4 ,in the same  
zone  with the thiopes1 on the borders  
of ,ocean to the south1 a passage of    
the ,iliad places the  #fcc4 ,herodotus 
supports ,homer  in this1 as in most    
other particulars4 ,and the researches  
of the most  recent travellers sustain  
the assertion of these two old          
ethnologists  of ,greece1 that there are
 dwarfed races in the interior of       
,africa1  accessible from ,egypt4       
#fcc ,il4 iii4 #b-f4    ,thus1 then1 it 
would appear in general that the voyage 
and travels of  ,menelaus1 together with
 those of ,ulysses1 including in the    
former his  final passage to ,elysium1  
cover the entire surface of the earth1  
such  as ,homer had conceived it4 ,this1
 however1 can only be taken generally1  
and tells us little of what ,homer      
thought concerning the actual form  of  
the earth's surface1 while it leaves    
untouched various questions  regarding  
its distribution in detail4 ,with some  

of these let us now  endeavour to deal4 
,and first1 what was ,homer's belief    
concerning the form of the earth8       
,earth of ,homer probably oval4    ,the 
passage of the poems which bears most   
directly upon the solution of  this     
question is that which describes the    
,shield of ,achilles4 ,we here  learn   
that1 in finishing his work1 ,vulcan    
gave it the great ,river ,ocean  for a  
border#fcd4 ,from this it follows       
conclusively1 that the form of  the     
,shield was that which ,homer also      
conceived to be nearest to the  form of 
the surface of the ,earth4    #fcd ,il4 
xviii4 #fjg4    ,the question then      
arises1 what was the form of the        
,shields treated of  by ,homer8 ,and it 
is one not easy to answer4 ,homer       
compares the light of  this very ,shield
 of ,achilles in a subsequent passage to
 that of the  moon#fce3 but he does not 
say the full moon1 and the moon in      
certain  stages might suggest the oval1 
although when full it would require the 

circular shape4 ,the epithets which he  
uses do not solve the question3  for    
some of them appear to agree better with
 the one supposition1 and  some with the
 other4 ,the  1 for instance1 in ,il4   
xi4  #cb1 suggests a shape adapted in a 
great degree to that of the human  form4
 ,the  of ,il4 xv4 #fdf appears         
absolutely to require it4  ,no circular 
shield1 which reached down to the feet1 
could have been  carried on the arm4    
,but1 on the other hand1 ,homer calls   
the shield  #fcf and  1 which certainly 
at first sight favour  the idea of a    
circular form4 ,shall we then suppose   
that both forms  prevailed8 ,and if so1 
which of the two shall we assign to the 
,shield of  ,achilles8    #fce ,il4 xix4
 #cgd4    #fch ,plut4 ,lacon4 ,instit4  
7,opp4 vi4 #hih47 ed4 ,reiske2 ,potter's
 ,greek4  ,antiq4 ,b4 iii4 ch4 iv4      
#fcf ,il4 v4 #dcc4    ,it appears that  
in the military system of historic      
,greece the round  shield chiefly       
prevailed2 but for the time of ,homer ,i

 cannot help  leaning to the supposition
 that the ,shield was oval4 ,for ,i do  
not know  any explicit testimony1 with  
respect to its primitive form1 that can 
weigh against the lines of ,tyrtus#fcg2 
#fcg ,tyrt4 ii4 #bd4 ,also ,anthol4     
,grc4       1   1  1             4      
,another strong testimony to the same   
effect is borne by the ancient  custom  
of bearing the dead warrior upon his    
shield1 whence came the  old formula of 
the ,spartan mothers1  1   2 ,bring it1 
or be  brought upon it#fch4    ,with    
respect to the ,homeric epithets1 it is 
impossible to reconcile  those which    
favour the oblong form with the rival   
sense3 but the    might apply to any    
regular figure1 and the  is  hardly     
strained if we understand it of an oval 
pretty regularly formed4    ,to a       
certain extent1 the natural form of the 
hides of animals affords  an indication2
 they were worn as cloaks coming down to
 the heels1  and they would properly cut
 into the oblong form#fci4 ,again1 in   

the  expression   #fdj1 ,i understand   
the epithet to  mean that the shields   
were rested on the ground in front of   
the bearers  of them4 ,the meaning      
common to it1 in the three places where 
,homer uses  it1 seems to be #8from the 
ground1' or #8from the base4'    #fci   
,il4 x4 #bd1 #agh4    #fdj ,il4 xiii4   
#acj4 ix4 #ecg4 x4 #ae4    ,it would not
 be satisfactory to assume that the two 
forms prevailed1  but that they had1    
though different1 been confounded by    
,homer2 and on  the whole we shall      
perhaps do best to consider the  as an  
oval4    ,it follows that such was1 in  
,homer's estimation1 the form of the    
world4  ,and this interpretation agrees 
with the other ,homeric indications on  
the subject4    ,we must1 ,i think1 take
 ,homer to have supposed something like 
an equal  extension of the earth        
northward and southward from ,greece4   
,but1  whether we judge from the ,tours 
of the ,odyssey or from the general     
indications of the poems1 we have1 ,i   

think1 no sign of an extension          
correspondingly great either eastward or
 westward4 ,the flights of  migratory   
birds1 and the prevailing winds1 are    
both evidently from  the poles or from  
the quarters near them4 ,the only great 
positive  developments of distance in   
the ,odyssey are those towards          
,lstrygonia  and ,ogygia1 both of which 
lie in the north2 the latter1 as an 1   
with a sea stretching far beyond it4    
,all appearances1 too1 go to show  that 
the ,eastern ,ocean was in ,homer's view
 at no great distance2 and ,i  apprehend
 we should consider the ,western one as 
being on his map about  equally remote  
from ,greece4 ,now the oval figure will 
give us what we  thus appear to want1   
namely a shorter diameter of the earth  
from east  to west1 than the diameter   
from north to south4 ,some other        
particulars  of evidence will appear as 
we proceed4    ,points of contact with  
,oceanus4    ,in conformity with his    
declaration1 that the ,ocean-,river     

surrounds the  earth1 he as it were     
realizes his belief in it1 by giving us 
instances  of actual contact with it at 
very many points of the compass4 ,thus  
the  ,pigmies in the ,south are visited 
by the cranes1 on their way to the      
,ocean in the ,south#fda4 ,the gods     
feast with the ,ethiopians by the       
,ocean1 and this must be in the ,s4 ,e41
 as ,neptune takes the ,solyman         
mountains 7which are in immediate       
association with ,lycia1 a point of  the
 inner world7 on his way back to the    
,thalassa#fdb4 ,ulysses visits  ,ocean1 
as we have seen1 in the ,east4 ,the     
,great ,bear escapes dipping  into its  
waters in the ,north#fdc4 ,menelaus is  
destined to the ,elysian  plain beside  
the ,ocean1 at the point from which     
,zephyr blows1 therefore  between ,west 
and ,north#fdd4    #fda ,il4 iii4 #e4   
#fdb ,il4 xxiii4 #bje4 i4 #dbc4 ,od4 v4 
#bhb1 #c4    #fdc ,od4 v4 #bge4 ,il4    
xviii4 #dhi4    #fdd ,od4 iv4 #efa-i4   
,the ,caspian ,sea and ,persian ,gulf4  

,this noble conception of a great       
circumfluent ,river was doubtless       
founded upon reports of two classes     
which had reached ,homer4 ,one  class   
would be reports of streams flowing from
 some great outer water  into the       
,thalassa1 and seeming to feed it4 ,the 
other class might be  formed by reports 
of waters outside the ,thalassa1 and not
 known to  communicate with it1 which   
,homer would at once very naturally     
reckon  as portions of his great        
world-embracing ,stream4 ,with the      
former  class we have already dealt     
largely in discussing the ,ocean-mouth4 
,to the latter one1 ,phnician sailors   
might contribute reports of the         
,atlantic and ,german ,oceans4 ,and     
particularly in the east1 ,i think1 we  
cannot doubt that1 along with the       
rumours and traditions of ,arabians1    
,ethiopians1 ,persians1 and ,cimmerians1
 ,homer cannot but have received  other 
vague rumours of waters as well as      
lands2 of waters exterior  to his       

,thalassa 7which included the           
,mediterranean and the ,euxine71  waters
 of which two would clearly be the      
,caspian ,sea1 and the ,persian  ,gulf4 
,on these two ,i wish to fix attention2 
and indeed the only other  water he was 
likely to have heard of would probably  
be the ,red ,sea4  ,now it will be      
observed upon any map1 #a4 that the     
,caspian lies north  and south2 #b4 that
 a line prolonged from ,n4 to ,s4 down  
the ,caspian  will strike the ,persian  
,gulf4 ,in conjunction with this1 let   
the reader  observe the course of       
,ulysses4 ,quitting the ,euxine at the  
,ocean-mouth1  or ,straits of ,yenikal1 
he turns round to the right by the ,sea 
of ,azof1  enlarged so as to join the   
,caspian4 ,in the interval between them 
there  is still a low salt valley1 which
 may in ,homer's time have been a       
water-way#fde4 ,he is thus in a         
condition to proceed southward towards  
the dwelling of ,persephone1 which ,i   
have already shown some cause for       

placing in the east and to the south4   
,now the provision of wind1 which       
,homer has made for his hero1 is        
precisely that which this hypothesis    
requires#fdf3    #fde ,voyages de       
,pallas1 vol4 i4 p4 #cbj1 ,paris #ahje4 
#fdf ,od4 x4 #ejg4            4    ,in  
other words1 from ,homer's use of       
,boreas in this place it appears  that  
he meant to describe the course of his  
,ocean-stream at this  quarter as from  
south to north1 or thereabouts2 and this
 is the line  actually formed by the    
junction of the ,persian gulf and the   
,caspian1  which ,i submit that we may  
accordingly with propriety consider as  
genuine fragments of geography1         
incorporated into his fabulous          
conception of the ,ocean-stream4    ,it 
is indeed true that the vague accounts1 
which had probably reached  ,homer of   
these two waters1 must be supposed not  
to have included the  indispensable     
element of a current4 ,the same remark1 
however1 will  apply to whatever he may 

have heard of the ,german or ,atlantic  
,oceans4  ,but in dealing with these    
shadowy distances1 his inference would  
be  amply warranted1 without the means  
of complete identification1 if he  had  
heard of any waters in positions        
agreeing with that of his ideal  ,ocean1
 capable of communicating easily with   
its mouth1 and1 above all1  independent 
of the ,thalassa4    ,one word before we
 finally quit the subject of the        
enchanted ,river2 in  order to complete 
the chain of connection between the     
,persephone of  ,homer and the waters of
 the ,persian gulf1 in the character of 
a part of  ,ocean1 at that point upon   
the beach1 which so well balances the   
,elysian  plain in the west4    ,i have 
already endeavoured to make use of the  
names ,perseus1 ,perse1  and            
,persephone1 as evidences which attach  
the ,persians to the eastern  extremity 
of ,homer's ideal world1 and which      
connect the ,greek race  with a ,persian
 origin4 ,but here we have a            

geographical trait1 which  deserves     
further consideration4 ,the groves of   
,persephone are on the  shore of ,ocean1
 in the east1 and to the south of the   
sunrise4 ,what is  the meaning of these 
groves8 ,we are compelled1 by unvarying 
analogies  of signification1 to         
understand them as both the symbols and 
the sites  of a certain organized       
worship1 which was paid to ,persephone4 
,but if  paid1 then paid by whom8       
,certainly not by the nations of the    
dead3 for  the place1 where these groves
 were1 was not within the kingdom of the
  goddess1 but it was on the shore of   
,ocean4 ,ulysses1 too1 was to haul up   
his ship there1 and only then to enter  
into the abode of king ,aidoneus4  ,it  
therefore seems to follow1 that the     
,poet meant us to understand this  as a 
place where ,persephone was habitually  
worshipped by a portion of  the human   
race1 which could only be his ,persians 
or his ,ethiopians4 ,i  do not say that 
the two were sharply severed in his     

mind2 but here the  race to which he    
chiefly points appears to be the        
,persian race#fdg4    #fdg ,od4 x4      
#ejh-ab4    ,there are even etymological
 signs1 independent of ,homer1 which    
deepen  the association between the     
,east and the ,under-world4 ,some       
writers  have compared the name         
,cimmeria with the ,arabic word kahm1   
black1  and ra1 the mark of the oblique 
case in ,persian3 ,motis with the       
,hebrew ,maweth1 meaning death3 and have
 treated the ancient ,tartarus as       
equivalent to the modern ,tartary1 and  
as formed by the reduplication of  ,tar1
 in ,tarik1 the ,persic word for        
darkness#fdh4    #fdh ,welsford on      
,engl4 ,language1 pp4 #ge1 #gf1 #hh4    
,bleek's ,persian  ,vocabulary1         
7,grammar1 p4 #agj47    ,contraction of 
the ,homeric ,east4    ,next let me wind
 up what relates to the contraction and 
compression of  the ,homeric ,east4     
,homer's experience did not supply him  
with any example of a great  expanse of 

land3 but the detail and configuration  
of the countries1  with which he was    
acquainted1 was minute4 ,this probably  
was the reason  why he so readily       
assumed the existence of that sea to the
 northward  of ,thrace1 in which he has 
placed the adventures of ,ulysses4 ,to  
that  sea1 as we perceive from the terms
 of days which he has assigned to  the  
passages of ,ulysses1 he attached his   
ideas and his epithets for  vastness2   
epithets1 which he never bestowed on    
regions of land2 and  ideas1 which were 
sure1 indeed1 to form a prominent       
feature in the  ,phnician reports1 that 
must have supplied him with material4   
,acting on  the same principle1 it would
 appear that he greatly shortens the    
range  of ,asia ,minor eastwards4       
,through the medium of the ,solymi 7,il4
 vi4  #ahd1 #bjd7 he appears to bring   
the ,solyman mountains close upon       
,lycia4  ,a chain now bearing that name 
skirts the right bank of the ,indus3 but
  it is probable that ,homer identified1

 or rather confounded1 them with  the   
great chain of the ,caucasus between the
 ,euxine and the ,caspian1  and with the
 ,taurus joining it1 and bordering upon 
,lycia3 for1 on the  one hand1 we cannot
 but connect them with the ,solymi1 the 
warlike  neighbours of the ,lycians3 and
 on the other1 since ,neptune1 from     
these  mountains1 sees ,ulysses making  
his homeward voyage from ,ogygia1 it    
follows that they must have been        
conceived by ,homer to command a clear  
view of the ,euxine1 and of its westward
 extension4 ,thus he at once  brings    
,egypt nearer to ,crete 7helping us to  
explain the ,boreas of ,od4  xiv4 #bec71
 and ,phnicia nearer to ,lycia3 and it  
is in all likelihood  immediately behind
 ,phnicia that he imagined to lie the   
country of the  ,persians and the       
7,od4 x4 #ejg71 on the shore of that    
eastern portion of ,oceanus1 for which  
the reports both of the ,caspian  and of
 the ,red ,sea1 probably1 as we have    
seen1 have formed parts of his          

materials4 ,thus we find much and varied
 evidence converging to support  the    
hypothesis1 that ,homer greatly         
compressed his ,east1 and brought       
,persia within moderate distance of the 
,mediterranean4    ,in the obscure      
perspectives of ,grecian legend1 we seem
 to find various  points of contact     
between ,egypt1 ,phnicia1 and ,persia2  
and each of  these points of contact    
favours the idea that ,persia and       
,phnicia were  closely associated in    
,homer's mind4    ,proteus1 a ,phnician 
sea-god1 is placed only at a short      
distance from  the ,egyptian coast4     
,helios1 strongly associated with ,egypt
 through his  oxen1 is associated with  
,phnicia and with the remoter east by   
his  relationship to ,circe1 and by his 
residence1 the  4 ,and  again1 from the 
family of ,danaus1 a reputed ,egyptian1 
descends ,perseus1  in whose name we    
find a note of relationship between the 
,persians and  the ,greeks4 ,lycia1 too1
 is near the ,solymi1 and the ,solyman  

hills are  really ,persian4 ,here is a  
new ray of light cast on ,homer's       
passion for  the ,lycians of the        
,war#fdi4    #fdi ,see ,achis1 sect4    
iii4    ,a few words more will suffice  
to complete a probable view of the      
terrestrial system of ,homer4    ,the   
,ocean surrounds the earth4 ,on its     
south-eastern beach are  the groves of  
,persephone1 and the descent to the     
,shades3 on its  north-western1 the     
,elysian plain4 ,the whole southern     
range between is  occupied by the 1 who 
stretch from the rising to the setting  
sun#fej4 ,the natural counterpart in the
 cold north to their sun-burnt  swarthy 
faces is to be found in the ,cimmerians1
 ,homer's ,children of  the ,mist#fea4  
,accordingly1 they are placed by the    
,ocean mouth1 hard  by the island of    
,circe and the ,dawn2 nearly in contact1
 therefore1  with the ,ethiopians of the
 extreme east4 ,two hypotheses seem to  
be  suggested by ,homer's treatment of  
the north4 ,perhaps ,homer imagined     

that the ,cimmerians occupied the       
northern portion of the earth  from east
 to west1 as the ,ethiopians occupied   
the southern3 a very  appropriate       
conjecture for the disposal of the      
country from the ,crimea  to the ,cwmri4
 ,on the other hand1 it seems plain that
 ,homer must have  received from his    
,phnician informants two reports1 both  
ascribed to  the ,north1 yet apparently 
contradictory3 the one of countries     
without  day1 the other of countries    
without night4 ,the true solution1 could
  he have known it1 was by time2 each   
being true of the same place1 but  at   
different seasons of the year4 ,not     
aware of the facts1 ,homer has  adopted 
another method4 ,while preserving the   
northern locality for both  traditions1 
he has planted the one in the           
north-west1 at the craggy  city of      
,lamus2 and the other in the north-east1
 together with his  ,cimmerians4    #fej
 ,od4 i4 #bd4    #fea ,od4 xi4 #ae4     
,outline of his terrestrial system4     

,on the foundation of the conclusions   
and inferences at which we have  thus   
arrived1 ,i have endeavoured to         
construct a map of the ,homeric  ,world4
 ,the materials of this map are of      
necessity very different4  ,first1 there
 is the inner or ,greek world of        
geography proper1 of which  the surface 
is coloured in red4    ,next1 there are 
certain forms of sea and land1 genuine1 
but wholly or  partially misplaced1     
which may be recognised by their general
 likeness  to their originals in        
,nature4    ,thirdly1 there is the great
 mass of fabulous and imaginative       
skiagraphy1 which1 for the sake of      
distinction1 is drawn in smooth  instead
 of indented outline4    ,the ,map      
represents1 without any very important  
variation1 the ,homeric  ,world drawn   
according to the foregoing argument4 ,to
 facilitate  verification1 or the       
detection of error1 ,i have made it     
carry1 as far  as possible1 its own     
evidences1 in the inscriptions and      

references upon  it4                    
,illustration3      ,,map      of the   
,outer ,geography of the ,odyssey       
,,and ,,of ,,the      ,form of the      
,earth      ,,according ,,to ,,homer4   
,,excursus ,i4    ,,on ,,the ,,parentage
 ,,and ,,extraction ,,of ,,minos4       
,in former portions of this work1 ,i    
have argued from the name and  the      
,phnician extraction of ,minos1 both to 
illustrate the dependent  position of   
the ,pelasgian race in the ,greek       
countries#feb1 and  also to demonstrate 
the ,phnician origin of the ,outer      
,geography  of the ,odyssey#fec4 ,but ,i
 have too summarily disposed of the     
important question1 whether ,minos was  
of ,phnician origin1 and of  the        
construction of the verse ,il4 xiv4     
#cba4 ,this verse is capable            
grammatically of being so construed as  
to contain an assertion of it2  but upon
 further consideration ,i am not        
prepared to maintain that it  ought to  
be so interpreted4    #feb ,achis or    

,ethnology1 sect4 iii4    #fec ,ibid4   
sect4 iv4    ,genuineness of ,il4 xiv4  
#cag-bg4    ,the ,alexandrian critics   
summarily condemned the whole passage   
7,il4  xiv4 #cag-bg71 in which ,jupiter 
details to ,juno his various affairs    
with goddesses and women4 #8,this       
enumeration1' says the ,scholiast 7,a7  
on verse #cbg1 #8is inopportune1 for it 
rather repels ,juno than attracts  her3 
and ,jupiter1 when greedy1 through the  
influence of the ,cestus1 for  the      
satisfaction of his passion1 makes a    
long harangue4' ,heyne follows  up the  
censure with a yet more sweeping        
condemnation4 ,san absurdiora1  quam hos
 decem versus1 vix unquam ullus         
commentus est rhapsodus#fed4  ,and yet  
he adds a consideration1 which might    
have served to  arrest judgment until   
after further hearing4 ,for he says1    
that the  commentators upon them ought  
to have taken notice that the           
description  belongs to a period1 when  
the relations of man and wife were not  

such1  as to prevent the open           
introduction and parading of concubines2
 and  that ,juno might be flattered and 
allured by a declaration1 proceeding    
from ,jupiter1 of the superiority of her
 charms to those of so many  beautiful  
persons4    #fed ,obss4 in loc4         
,heyne's reason appears to me so good1  
as even to outweigh his  authority3 but 
there are other grounds also1 on which  
,i decline to bow  to the proposed      
excision4 ,the objections taken seem to 
me invalid on  the following grounds2   
#a4 ,for the reason stated by ,heyne4   
#b4 ,because1 in the whole character of 
the ,homeric ,juno1 and in the  whole of
 this proceeding1 it is the political   
spirit1 and not the  animal tendency1   
that predominates4 ,of this ,homer has  
given us distinct  warning1 where he    
tells us that ,juno just before had     
looked on ,jupiter  from afar1 and that 
he was disgusting to her2 7v4 #aeh7     
4 ,it is therefore futile to argue about
 her1 as if she  had been under the     

paramount sway either of animal desire1 
or even of  the feminine love of        
admiration1 when she was really and     
exclusively  governed by another        
master-passion4    #c4 ,as she has      
artfully persuaded ,jupiter1 that he has
 an obstacle  to overcome in diverting  
her from her intention of travelling to 
a  distance1 it is not at all unnatural 
that ,jupiter should use what he        
thinks1 and what1 as ,heyne has shown1  
he may justly think1 to be proper  and  
special means of persuasion4    #d4 ,the
 passage is carefully and skilfully     
composed2 and it ends with a  climax1 so
 as to give the greatest force to the   
compliment of which it  is susceptible4 
#e4 ,all the representations in it      
harmonize with the manner of handling   
the same personages elsewhere in ,homer4
    #f4 ,the passage has that strong    
vein of nationality1 which is so        
eminently characteristic of ,homer4 ,no 
intrigues are mentioned1 except  such as
 issued in the birth of children of     

recognised ,hellenic fame4  ,the gross  
animalism of ,jupiter1 displayed in the 
,speech1 is in the  strictest keeping   
with the entire context2 for it is the  
basis of the  transaction1 and gives    
,juno the opportunity she so adroitly   
turns to  account4    #g4 ,those1 who   
reject the passage as spurious1 because 
the action  ought not at this point to  
be loaded with a speech1 do not1 ,i     
think1  bear in mind that a deviation of
 this kind from the strict poetical     
order is really in keeping with ,homer's
 practice on other occasions1           
particularly in the disquisitions of    
,nestor and of ,phnix4 ,such  a         
deviation appears to be accounted for by
 his historic aims4 ,to  comprehend him 
in a case of this kind1 we must set out 
from his point  of departure1 according 
to which1 verse was not a mere exercise 
for  pleasure1 but was to be the one    
great vehicle of all knowledge3 and a   
potent instrument in constructing a     
nationality4 ,thus1 then1 what the      

first aim rejected1 the second might in 
given cases accept and even  require4   
,now in this short passage there is a   
great deal of important  historical     
information conveyed to us4    ,we may  
therefore with considerable confidence  
employ such evidence as  the speech may 
be found to afford4    ,let us1 then1   
observe the forms of expression as they 
run in series1      ' '   #fee4    '    
#fef4    '    #feg4    #fee ,ver4 #cag4 
#fef ,ver4 #cai4    #feg ,ver4 #cba4    
,sense of ,il4 xiv4 #cba4    ,taken     
grammatically1 ,i presume the last verse
 may mean1 7#a7 ,the  daughter of the   
distinguished ,phnix3 or 7#b7 ,the      
daughter of a  distinguished ,phnician3 
or 7#c7 ,a distinguished ,phnician      
damsel4    a4 ,against the first it may 
be urged1 that we have no other account 
from ,homer1 or from any early          
tradition1 of this ,phnix1 here         
described  as famous4    b4 ,against the
 second and third1 that ,homer nowhere  
directly declares  the foreign origin of

 any great ,greek personage4    c4      
,also1 that in each of the previous     
cases1 ,homer has used the  proper name 
of a person nearly connected in order to
 indicate and  identity the woman1 whom 
therefore it is not likely that he would
 in  this single case denote only by her
 nation1 or the nation of her father4   
d4 ,against the third1 that1 in the only
 other passage where he has  to speak of
 a ,phnician woman1 he uses a feminine  
form1 3       '   7,od4 xv4 #dag74 ,but 
is grammatically capable of the         
feminine1 as is shown by ,herod4 i4     
#aicfeh4    #feh ,see ,jelf's ,gr4      
,gramm4 #ajc4    e4 ,also that ,homer1  
in the few instances where he uses the  
word  1 confines it to men4 ,he1        
however1 gives the epithet   to ,latona4
    ,the arguments from the structure of
 the passage1 and from the uniform      
reticence of ,homer respecting the      
foreign origin of ,greek personages1    
convince me that it is not on the whole 
warrantable to interpret   in this place

 in any other manner1 than as the name  
of the father of  ,minos4    ,the name 1
 however1 taken in connection with the  
period to  which it applies--nearly     
three generations before the            
,troica--still  continues to supply of  
itself no trifling presumption of the   
,phnician  origin of ,minos4    ,it     
cannot1 ,i suppose1 be doubted that the 
original meaning of 1  when first used  
as a proper name in ,greece1 probably   
was #8of ,phnician  birth1 or origin4'  
,but1 if we are to judge by the         
testimony of ,homer1  the time1 when    
,minos lived1 was but very shortly after
 the first  ,phnician arrivals in       
,greece2 and his grandfather ,phnix1    
living four  and a half generations     
before the ,troica1 was in all          
likelihood  contemporary with1 or       
anterior to1 ,cadmus4 ,at a period when 
the  intercourse of the two countries   
was in its infancy1 we may1 ,i think1   
with some degree of confidence construe 
this proper name as indicating  the     

country of origin4    ,collateral       
evidence4    ,the other marks connected 
with ,minos and his history give such   
support  to this presumption as to bring
 the supposition up to reasonable       
certainty4 ,such are1    #a4 ,the       
connection with ,ddalus4    #b4 ,the    
tradition of the nautical power of      
,minos4    #c4 ,the characteristic      
epithet 2 as also its relation to the   
other ,homeric personages with whose    
name it is joined4    #d4 ,the fact that
 ,minos brought a more advanced form of 
laws and polity  among a people of lower
 social organization2 the proof thus    
given that  he belonged to a superior   
race3 the probability that1 if this race
  had been ,hellenic1 ,homer would have 
distinctly marked the connection  of so 
distinguished a person with the         
,hellenic stem3 and the apparent        
certainty that1 if not ,hellenic1 it    
could only be ,phnician4    ,the        
positive ,homeric grounds for believing 
,minos to be ,phnician are  much        

stronger1 than any that sustain the same
 belief in the case of  ,cadmus3 and the
 negative objection1 that ,homer does   
not call him by  the name of the country
 from which he sprang1 is in fact an    
indication  of the ,poet's uniform      
practice of drawing the curtain over    
history or  legend1 at the point where a
 longer perspective would have the      
effect  of exhibiting any ,greek hero as
 derived from a foreign source1 and thus
  of confuting that claim to            
autochthonism which1 though it is not   
much  his way to proclaim such matters  
in the abstract1 yet appears to have    
operated with ,homer as a practical     
principle of considerable weight4       
,,excursus ,,ii4    ,,on ,,the ,,line   
,,odyss4 ,v4 #bgg4      ,i have the less
 scruple in making the verse ,od4 v4    
#bgg the subject of  a particular       
inquiry1 because the chief elements of  
the discussion  are important with      
reference to the laws of ,homeric       
,greek1 as well as  with regard to that 

adjustment of the ,outer ,geography1    
which ,i have  supported by a detailed  
application to every part of the        
narrative of  the ,odyssey1 and which ,i
 at once admit is in irreconcilable     
conflict  with the popular construction 
of the account of the voyage from       
,ogygia  to ,scheria1 as far as it      
depends upon this particular verse4     
,the passage is#fei 7the  referring to  
in v4 #bgc7    #fei ,od4 v4 #bgf1 #g4   
1  1     '   4    ,the points upon which
 the signification of the last line must
 depend1  seem to be as follows3    #a4 
,the meaning of the important ,homeric  
word 4    #b4 ,the form of the phrase  1
 which is an    in ,homer4    #c4 ,the  
force of the preposition 1 particularly 
with the accusative4    ,the second of  
these points may be speedily dismissed4 
,for 7#a7 the only  question that can   
arise upon it would be1 whether         
7assuming for the  moment the sense of 7
 #8the left of his hand' means the left 
of  the line described by the onward    

movement of his body1 or the left of    
the direction in which his hand1 that   
is1 his right or steering hand1  points 
while upon the helm2 which would be the 
exact reverse of the  former4 ,but1     
though the latter interpretation would  
be grammatically  accurate1 it is too   
minute and subtle1 as respects the      
sense1 to agree  with ,homer's methods  
of expression4 ,and 7#b7 some of the    
,scholiasts  report another reading1 1  
instead of 1 which would present no     
point of doubt or suspicion under this  
head4    ,we have then two questions to 
consider2 of which the first is the     
general use and treatment by ,homer of  
the word 4    ,senses of  and 4    ,it  
appears to me well worth consideration  
whether the  and   of ,homer ought not1 
besides the senses of right and left1 to
  be acknowledged capable of the senses 
of east and west respectively4    ,the  
word  takes the sense of left by way of 
derivation and  second intention only4  
,the word  is that1 which etymologically

 and primarily expresses  the function  
of the left hand4 ,the use of this as   
the principal hand  is abnormal1 and    
places the body as it were askew        
7compare 1  scvus1 schief7#ffj4 ,in     
,homer the only word used singly1 i4 e4 
without a substantive1 to express the   
left hand is 4 ,at the same  time1 we   
cannot draw positive conclusions from   
this fact1 because   could not stand in 
the hexameter to represent a feminine   
noun  singular1 on account of the laws  
of metre1 which in this point are       
inflexible4    #ffj ,liddell and ,scott4
     means the left hand in ,il4 i4     
#eja4 xvi4 #gcd4 xxi4 #dij4 ,this       
adjective is but once used in ,homer    
except for the hand3 viz41 in ,od4  iii4
 #bie we have   for #8the foreland on   
the left4' ,but    may have meant       
originally the left hand gates of ,troy4
    ,the application of  to the right   
hand 7from which we may  consider  as an
 adaptation for metrical purposes71 is  
to be  sufficiently accounted for1      

because it was the hand by which        
greetings  were exchanged1 and          
engagements contracted#ffa4 ,but it is  
not so with  3 and while we contemplate 
the subject in regard only to the  uses 
of the member1 the word  remains        
perfectly unexceptionable1  and even    
highly expressive and convenient1 in its
 function of  expressing the left hand4 
#ffa ,il4 ii4 #cda4 x4 #edb4    ,it     
appears that the ,greek augurs1 in      
estimating the signification of  omens1 
were accustomed to stand with their     
faces northwards2 or rather1  ,i        
presume1 with their faces set towards a 
point midway between sunset  and        
sunrise4 ,the most common descriptions  
of omen in the time of ,homer  appear to
 have been 7#a7 the flight of birds1 and
 7#b7 the apparition  of thunder and    
lightning4 ,the test of a good moving   
omen was1 that it  should proceed from  
the west1 and move to the east2 and of a
 bad moving  omen1 that it should       
proceed from the east1 and move to the  

west4  ,possibly we may trace in this   
conception the cosmogonical arrangement1
  which planted in the ,west the        
,elysian plain1 and in the ,east the    
dismal and semi-penal domain of         
,aidoneus and ,persephone4 ,possibly    
the brightness of the sun1 which caused 
the ,east to be regarded as  the        
fountain of light1 may be the foundation
 of it3 together1 on the  other hand1   
with that close visible association     
between the ,west and  darkness1 which  
the sunset of each day brought before   
the eyes of men2  so that to lie   meant
 to lie towards the ,west1 and was the  
regular opposite of lying towards the   
sun#ffb4    #ffb ,od4 ix4 #be1 #f4      
,whatever may have been the basis of the
 doctrine of the augurs1 there  grew up 
an established association 7#a7 between 
the west and what was  ill-omened or    
evil1 and through this 7#b7 between what
 was ill-omened  or evil and the left   
side of a man4 ,the west was unlucky1   
because the  science of augury made it  

so4 ,the left hand was unlucky1 because 
in  the inspection of omens it was      
western4 ,one half of the objects in    
the world1 and of the actions of the    
human body1 thus lay1 from their        
position relatively to omens1 under an  
incubus of ill-fortune4 ,it was         
retrieved from this threatening         
condition1 by an euphemism2 by the      
application of a word not merely        
innocent#ffc1 but preeminently good4    
,everything covered by the blight of    
evil omen was to be1 not only not       
harmful1 but 1 better than the best4    
,consequently it would  appear that the 
word  probably meant westerly1 before it
 could  mean on the left hand3 because  
not the left hand only1 but everything  
westerly1 was within the range of the   
evil to which it was intended to  apply 
a remedy4    #ffc ,compare the use of   
the word 4    ,in a passage like ,il4   
vii4 #bch1 the meaning of  and   is1    
plainly1 right and left4 ,but what is it
 in the speech of ,hector1  where he    

tells ,polydamas that he cares not for  
omens#ffd1    #ffd ,il4 xii4 #bch-dj4   
'  '    '  1    ' '     4    ,in the    
first place1 it is a more appropriate1  
because more direct1  method of         
description with respect to birds of    
omen to say1 they fly  eastward or      
westward1 than that they fly to the     
right or the left  hand3 since the sense
 of right and left has no determinate   
standard  of reference1 but requires the
 aid of an assumption that the person   
is actually looking to the north1 so    
that the words may thus become          
equivalent to east and west4 ,but in    
this case1 which is one of warriors  on 
the battle-field1 would there not be    
something rather incongruous  in        
interpolating the suggestion of their   
turning northwards as they  spoke1 in   
order to give the proper meaning to     
these two words8 ,we must  surely       
conceive of ,hector standing on the     
battle-field with his face  towards the 
enemy1 if we are to take his posture    

into view at all4 ,if  he stood thus1 he
 would look1 as far as we can judge1 to 
the west of  north4 ,now the  was the   
north-west with ,homer1 and not the     
west3  and1 conversely1 the  inclined to
 the south of east4 ,in this way he     
would nearly have his face to the       
former1 and his back to the latter2  and
 if so the meaning of right and left    
would be not only farfetched1  but      
wholly improper1 while the meaning of   
east and west would be no  less correct 
than natural4    ,i must add1 that there
 are other places in ,homer where       
difficulty  arises1 if we are only      
permitted to construe  and  by  right   
and left4 ,i will even venture to say1  
that there are passages in  the         
,thirteenth ,book which render the      
topography of the battle that it        
describes1 not only obscure1 but even   
contradictory1 if  in  them means left2 
and which become perfectly harmonious if
 we allowed  to understand it as        
signifying west4    ,illustrated from   

,il4 xiii4    ,these are respectively   
,il4 xiii4 #fge and #gfe4    ,in order  
to apprehend the case1 it will be       
necessary to follow closely  the        
movement of the battle through most of  
the ,book4    #a4 ,il4 xiii4 #abf-i3    
,the ,ajaxes are opposed to ,hector1    
1 #cab1 #af4    #b4 ,the centre being   
thus provided for1 ,idomeneus proceeds  
to the left1   '  7#cbf71 which is the  
station of ,deiphobus2 and  makes havock
 in this quarter4    #c4 ,deiphobus1    
instead of fighting ,idomeneus1 thinks  
it prudent to fetch  neas1 who is       
standing aloof1 #deh and seqq4    #d4   
,summoned by ,deiphobus1 neas comes with
 him1 attended also by ,paris  and      
,agenor1 #dij4    #e4 ,they conjointly  
carry on the fight at that point1 with  
indifferent  success 7#die-fgc71 but no 
decisive issue4    #f4 ,hector1 in the  
centre1 remains ignorant that the       
,trojans were being  worsted  '  by the 
,greeks1 #fge4    #g4 ,by the advice of 
,polydamas he goes in search of other   

chiefs to  consider what is to be done2 
of ,paris among the rest1 whom he finds1
   '  7#gfe74 ,with them he returns to  
the centre1 #gec1 #hjb1  #hji4    ,now  
the following propositions are1 ,i      
think1 sound3    #a4 ,when ,homer thus  
speaks of '  in ,il4 xiii4 #cbf1 #fge1  
and  #gfe1 respectively1 he evidently   
means to describe in all of them the    
same side of the battle-field4 ,where   
,idomeneus is1 in #cbi1 thither he      
brings neas in #dfi1 who is attended at 
the time by ,paris1 #dij2 and  there    
,paris evidently remains until summoned 
to the centre in #gfe4    #b4 ,if ,homer
 speaks with reference to any particular
 combatant1 of his  being on the left or
 the right of the battle1 he ought to   
mean the  ,greek left or right if the   
person be ,greek1 and the ,trojan left  
or  right if the person be ,trojan4     
#c4 ,this is actually the rule by which 
he proceeds elsewhere4 ,for in  the     
,fifth ,book1 when ,mars is in the field
 on the ,trojan side1 he says1  ,minerva

 found him  ' 1 ,il4 v4 #cee4 ,what is  
the point  thus described1 and how came 
he there8 ,the answer is supplied by an 
earlier part of the same ,book4 ,in v4  
#ce1 ,minerva led him out of the        
battle4 ,in v4 #cf1 she placed him by   
the shore of the ,scamander2 that  is to
 say1 on the ,trojan left1 and in a     
position to which1 he being a  ,trojan  
combatant1 the ,poet gives the name of  
' 4    ,now '  is commonly interpreted  
#8on the left4' ,but if it means  on the
 left in ,il4 xiii41 then the passages  
are contradictory3 because  this would  
place ,paris on both wings1 whereas he  
obviously is described  as on the same  
wing of the battle throughout4    ,but  
if we construe  as meaning the west in  
all the three  passages1 then we have   
the same meaning at once made available 
for all  the three places1 so that the  
account becomes self-consistent again2  
and if the meaning be #8on the west1'   
then we may understand that  ,idomeneus 
most naturally betakes himself to the   

west1 because that  was the quarter of  
the ,myrmidons1 where the ,greek line   
was deprived  of support4 ,if1 however1 
it be said1 that the ,greek left is     
meant  throughout1 then the expression  
in v4 #gfe is both contrary to what     
would seem reasonable1 and at variance  
with ,homer's own precedent in  the     
,fifth ,book4    ,thus there is         
considerable reason to suppose that1 in 
,homer1   may sometimes mean #8west4'   
,so that if  in ,od4 v4 #bgg really     
means  #8upon1' the phrase will signify1
 that ,ulysses was to have ,arctus on   
the  west side of him1 which would place
 ,ogygia in the required position to    
the east of north4    ,the force of  in 
,homer4    ,the point remaining for     
discussion is at once the most difficult
 and  the most important4 ,what is the  
true force of the ,homeric 8    ,i find 
the senses of this preposition clearly  
and comprehensively  treated in ,jelf's 
,greek ,grammar1 where the leading      
points of its  various significations   

are laid down as follows#ffe3    #ffe   
,jelf's ,gr4 ,gr4 ,nos4 #fcc-e4    #a4  
,its original force is upon1 or on4     
#b4 ,it is applied to place1 time1 or   
causation4 ,of these three1 when        
treating of a geographical question1 we 
need only consider the first  with any  
minuteness4    #c4 1 when used locally1 
means with the genitive 7a7 on or at1   
and 7b7 motion towards a place or thing4
 ,with the dative 7a7 on  or at1 and 7b7
 by or near4 ,with the accusative 7a7   
towards1  and 7b7 #8extension in space  
over an object1 as well with verbs of   
rest as of motion4' ,of this sense      
examples are quoted in      for verbs of
 motion1 and '    for  verbs of rest4   
,both are from ,homer1 in ,il4 vii4 #hc1
 and ,od4 xi4 #egg4    ,the ,homeric    
and '  are also quoted as examples of   
this last-named sense4 ,but in ,od4 v4  
#bgg1 if the meaning be on the  left1 it
 is plainly quite beyond these          
definitions3 for so far from  being an  
object extended over space1 the star is1

 as it appears on the  left1 a luminous 
point1 and nothing more4 ,it was an     
extension over  space1 such as the eye  
has from a window over a prospect2 but  
then  that space is the space which lies
 over-against the star2 so that if  the 
space be on the left1 the star must be  
looking towards the left  indeed1 but   
for that very reason set on the right4  
,the difference here  is most important 
in connection with the sense of the     
preposition4 ,if  '  means on the left1 
it is only on a single point of the     
left2 if it means towards or            
over-against the right1 it means towards
  or over-against the whole right4 ,now1
 the former of these senses is1 ,i      
contend1 utterly out of keeping with the
 whole ,homeric use of  as  a           
preposition governing the accusative3   
while the latter is quite in  keeping   
with it4    ,force of  with 4    ,the   
idea of motion1 physical or             
metaphysical1 in some one or other of   
its modifications1 appears to inhere    

essentially in the ,homeric use  of     
with the accusative4 ,in the great      
majority of instances1 it is  used with 
a verb of motion1 which places the      
matter beyond all doubt4  ,in almost all
 other instances1 either the motion of a
 body1 or some  covering of space where 
there is no motion1 are obviously       
involved4  ,thus the ,zephyr 7#fff7     
whistles   4 ,a hero1 or  a bevy of     
maidens1 may shout  #ffg4 ,the rim of a 
basket is  covered with a plating of    
gold1  '   3 that  is1 the gold is drawn
 over it#ffh4 ,achilles looks#ffi    4  
,the sun appears to mortals   #fgj4     
,here we  should apparently understand  
#8spread1' or some equivalent word4 ,we 
have  #8animals as many as are born'    
#fga4 ,or1 again1 we have #8may  his    
glory be' 7spread7   #fgb4 ,again3      
is1 #8,i shall live long#fgc4' ,and     
,achilles seated  himself ' '  #fgd4 ,a 
dragon with a purple back is#fge    4   
,the shoulders of ,thersites1 compressed
 against his  chest1 are1   #fgf4 ,the  

horses of ,admetus stand  even with the 
rod across their backs#fgg1    4 ,i     
have not confined these examples to     
merely local cases1 because a more      
varied illustration1 ,i think1 here     
enlarges our means of judgment4  ,in    
every case1 it appears1 we may assert   
that extension1 whether in  time or     
space1 is implied2 and the proper word  
to construe  7except  with certain verbs
 of motion1 as1 #8he fell on1' and the  
like7 will be  over1 along1 across1 or  
over-against4 ,further1 we have in ,il4 
vi4 #djj1  according to one reading1 the
 preposition  combined with the verb  1 
and governing the accusative4           
,andromache appears1    #fff ,od4 ii4   
#dba4    #ffg ,od4 vi4 #aag4 ,il4 v4    
#aja4    #ffh ,od4 iv4 #acb4    #ffi    
,il4 i4 #cej4    #fgj ,od4 iii4 #c4     
#fga ,od4 iv4 #dag4    #fgb ,od4 vii4   
#ccb4    #fgc ,il4 ix4 #dae4    #fgd    
,il4 i4 #cej4    #fge ,il4 ii4 #cjh4    
#fgf ,ibid4 #cah4    #fgg ,ibid4 #gfe4  
'   ' 4    ,the recent editions read 3  

,i suppose because the accusative cannot
  properly give the meaning upon her    
breast4 ,but we do not require that     
meaning4 ,the sense seems to be1 that   
,andromache was holding her infant      
against her breast2 that is1 the infant 
was held to it by her hands  from the   
opposite side4 ,the idea of an infant on
 her breast is quite  unsuited to a     
figure declared to be in motion4 ,but   
the sense may also  be1 stretched over  
or across her breast4 ,thus we always   
have extension  involved in  with the   
accusative1 whether in range of view or 
sound1  steps of a gradual process1     
actual motion1 pressure towards a point 
which is initial motion1 or extension   
over space4 ,but the ,homeric use  of   
with the accusative will nowhere1 ,i    
think1 be found applicable  to the      
inactive1 motionless position of a      
luminous point simply as  perceived in  
space4 ,and if so1 it cannot be         
allowable to construe '    1 having     
7,arctus7 on his left hand4    ,the     

nearest parallel that ,i have found to  
the phrase in ,od4 v4 #bgg1 is  the     
direction given by ,idomeneus to        
,meriones1 who had asked him 7,il4      
xiii4 #cjg7 at what point he would like 
to enter the line of battle4            
,idomeneus1 after giving his reasons1   
concludes with this injunction3       ' 
' ' '  4    ,in the ,odyssey1 the order 
is to keep ,arctus '  4 ,here  it is to 
keep ,idomeneus 7and ,meriones himself1 
who preceded him71 '   4 ,the parallel  
is not complete1 because in the latter  
case the object of the verb moves2 in   
the former it does not move4  ,let us1  
however1 consider the meaning of the    
latter passage1 which is  indisputable4 
,it is #8hold or keep us1' not on the   
left1 but #8towards1  looking and moving
 towards1 the left of the army4'        
,probably then they  were coming from   
its right4 ,therefore1 if for the moment
 we waive the  question of motion1 the  
order of ,calypso was to keep ,arctus   
looking  towards the left of the ship3  

and accordingly ,arctus was to look from
  its right4    ,we must1 ,i apprehend1 
seek the key to the general meaning of  
this  phrase from considering that idea 
of motion involved in the ordinary      
manifestation of omens1 which appears to
 be the basis of the  phrase itself4    
,now1 it seems to be the essential and  
very peculiar  characteristic of this   
phrase in ,homer1 and of the sister     
phrases   7whether written in one word  
or in two7 and 1 that they  very        
commonly imply a position different from
 that which they seem  at first sight to
 suggest4 ,for that which goes towards  
the left is  naturally understood to go 
from the right1 and vice vers4    #8,to'
 and not #8on' is the essential         
characteristic of the ,homeric   with   
the accusative4 ,accordingly1 where  is 
so used with the words   or 1 we may    
often understand an original position of
 the  person or thing intended1         
generally opposite to the point or      
quarter  expressed4 ,in such a case as  

444  '  we should  join '  with the     
subject of 1 and not with its object4   
,not ,a found ,b on the left1 but ,a    
7coming7 towards the left found ,b      
7there74 ,again1 in ,il4 xiii4 #fge1  ' 
should1 ,i submit1  be construed towards
 the left1 or in the direction of the   
left4    ,now1 while there is not a     
single passage in ,homer that refuses to
 bear  a construction founded on these  
principles1 an examination of a variety 
of passages will1 ,i believe1 supply us 
with instances to show1 that  there is  
no other consistent mode of rendering   
the phrases   2  ' 2 1 1 1 2   1  1 and 
others4    ,and although in some of     
these phrases the idea of motion is     
actually  included1 while the motion of 
omens was the original groundwork of    
them  all1 yet1 as frequently happens1  
the effect remains when the cause has   
disappeared4 ,a bird called  is one     
moving  2 and this1  according to the   
law of omens1 is usually a bird from the
 left moving  towards the right4 ,and   

thus1 by analogy1 a star '  is a star   
on the right not moving but looking     
towards the left4 ,once more1 when  we  
recollect that '  habitually or very    
frequently means on  the right as well  
as moving towards the left1 it is not   
difficult to  conceive so easy and      
simple a modification of this sense as  
brings it  to being on the right1 while 
also looking1 instead of moving1 towards
  the left4 ,lightning1 which had       
appeared on the right1 would ,i         
apprehend  be  ' 3  '  would be         
#8,arctus on the  right2' and the       
introduction of the word  cannot surely 
reverse  the signification4    ,in later
 ,greek1 the expressions  and 1 with 1  
which seems to be the counterpart of    
both1 the preposition   sometimes being 
divided from and sometimes united with  
its case1 appear  to be equivalent to   
our ,english phrases #8on the right1'   
and #8on the  left4' ,but not so in     
,homer4    ,illustrated from ,il4 ii4   
#cec4 ,od4 xxi4 #ada4    ,let us now    

examine various places of the poems1    
where  and    7single or combined7      
cannot mean on the right1 but may be    
rendered either 7#a7 from the left1 or  
7#b7 towards the right4 ,thus we  have1 
,il4 ii4 #cec1       '1   4    ,this    
means lightning on and from the left1 so
 that the lightning  passes1 or seems to
 pass1 towards the right4 ,the analogy  
of this  case to that of the star is    
very close2 because it is rarely that   
lightning gives the semblance of motion3
 and this expression precisely          
exemplifies the observation1 that these 
phrases often really imply a  position  
of the subject exactly opposite to that 
which at first sight  would be supposed4
    ,again1 when ,antinous bids the     
,suitors rise in turn for the trial of  
the  bow1 he says1 ,od4 xxi4 #ada1      
'  1      and he goes to explain himself
 beyond dispute1 by referring to the    
order observed by the cupbearer at the  
feast2        1    4 7#adb7    ,his     
meaning evidently is1 ,rise up1         

beginning on or from the left4    ,from 
,il4 i4 #eig4 vii4 #bch4 xii4 #bci1     
#bdi4    ,the practice of the cupbearer 
is stated with respect to ,vulcan1 ,il4 
i4  #eig3                4    ,so the   
7,il4 vii4 #ahc7 goes round  with the   
lots for the  chieftains to draw4 ,the  
beggar#fgh in making his round follows  
the  supreme law of luck1 and goes 4    
,and as this meaning seems to be        
established1 we must give the same      
sense1 in ,il4 ix4 #bcf1 to     1 as to 
the  in ,il4 ii4 #cec1 namely1 that     
,jupiter displayed celestial signs on   
the left4    #fgh ,od4 xvii4 #cfe4      
,again1 ,hector boasts of his           
proficiency in moving his shield so as  
to  cover his person1 ,il4 vii4 #bch1   
'  1 ' '   4    ,we should translate    
this probably without much thought #8to 
the right  and to the left4' ,but when  
we consider what sense is required by   
the  idea to be conveyed1 it is evident 
that   means1 from the left  side of his
 person towards the right1 and '  from  

the right  side of his person towards   
the left4 ,that is to say1 the first    
position  before and during the motion1 
in each case1 is at the side opposite to
  that indicated by the adjectives      
respectively4    ,again1 in a well known
 passage 7,il4 xii4 #bci47 ,hector tells
 ,polydamas  that he cares not for      
omens1 be they good or bad2      '  '   
'  1    ' '  1   4    ,apart from the   
question1 whether the sense of right and
 left is  suitable to this passage at   
all1 and assuming it to be so1 the      
meaning  is from the left for   and from
 the right for ' 1  on their way in each
 case to the opposite quarter4          
,again1 the portent which had drawn     
forth the observation of ,hector was1   
7,il4 xii4 #bai17       1 '   1         
namely1 an eagle appearing on the right 
and then moving towards the  left4 ,now 
is not properly a verb of motion2 and   
yet we see that   '  means to close the 
army in from the right2 that is  to say1
 the eagle1 which does the act ' 1 is   

itself on the  right4    ,there were in 
fact three things1 which originally     
might1 and commonly  would1 be included 
in each of these phrases4 ,for example1 
in '  1      #a4 ,appearance at a       
particular point on the right2    #b4   
,motion from that point towards the     
left2    #c4 ,rest at another point on  
the left4    ,of these the second named 
indicates the first and principal       
intention  of the word2 but when it     
passes to a second intention or         
derivative  sense1 it may include either
 the first point1 or the third1 or both4
  ,in the later ,greek it appears rather
 to indicate the point of rest2  but in 
the ,homeric phrases of the             
corresponding word 1   1  1  1   1   ' 1
 the starting-point1 and not the        
resting-point1  is the one brought into 
view4 ,it is the commencement of the    
motion1 in  every one of these cases1   
which is indicated by the phrase1 and   
not its  close4    ,being engaged upon  
this subject1 ,i shall not scruple to   

examine one  or two remaining passages1 
which may assist in its more thorough   
elucidation4    ,from ,il4 xxiii4       
#cce-g4    ,i therefore ask particular  
attention to the passage in the         
,twenty-third  ,book of the ,iliad1     
where ,nestor instructs his son         
concerning his  management in the       
chariot-race4 ,on either side of a dry  
trunk upon the  plain1 there lay two    
white stones 7xxiii4 #cbi74 ,they formed
 the goal1  round which the chariots    
were to be driven1 the charioteer       
keeping them  on his left hand4 ,the    
pith of the advice of ,nestor is1 that  
his son  is to make a short and close   
turn round them1 so as to have a chance 
of winning1 in spite of the slowness of 
his team4 ,the directions are  7#cce-g73
               ' '           1     4    
,it is clear from the last line and a   
half that the goal was to be on  his    
left hand4 ,but what is the meaning of  
'  8  ,nothing can be more scientific   
than the precept4 ,the horses are to    

make  a sharp turn3 the impetus in the  
driver's body might throw him forward   
if he were not prepared3 he is to do    
what every rider in a circus now  does1 
to lean inwards2 and that is expressed  
by leaning ' 1  of the goal--for  must1 
,i apprehend1 be understood to agree    
with  the dual  7#cbi71 and not the     
plural  7#ccd72 particularly  because   
the word  is repeated immediately after 
it4 ,the meaning  then is1 that he is   
desired to lean to the left of the goal1
 while all  the time he keeps on its    
right4 ,we should under the same        
circumstances  say1 #8,lean gently      
towards the right side of the goal1 as  
you are about  to turn round it4' ,he1  
meaning the same thing1 says1 #8,lean   
towards the  left2 that is1 lean from   
the right1 or while keeping on the      
right1  of the object named4 ,now this  
,i take to be exactly the sense of ,od4 
v4 #bgg4 ,ulysses was bid to sail1      
having the ,great ,bear placed on his   
right1 but looking from his right1 and  

towards his left1 as every star  looks  
towards the quarter opposite to that in 
which it is itself seen4  ,he is to have
 the star e dextr1 because from that    
point it looks ad  sinistram4 ,it looks 
across him towards his left1 just as    
,antilochus  was to lean in the         
direction across the goal towards its   
left4    ,the whole of this             
interpretation without doubt depends    
upon the word  2 and ,i do not presume  
to say that it is necessarily1 under    
grammatical rules1 to be understood of  
the goal1 and not of the horses4  ,but  
it is the more natural construction3 and
 ,homer often reverts merely  by this   
demonstrative pronoun1 without further  
indication1 to a subject  which he has  
only named some time back#fgi4    #fgi  
,so  1 ,il4 i4 #abg1 and particularly   
in ,il4 i4 #chi1  meaning ,chryseis1 who
 has not been named since v4 #cgb4      
,but if grammar leave that question in  
any degree open1 ,i apprehend  that     
physical considerations must decide it4 

,it is impossible for the  driver to    
lean to the left of his horses as they  
are rounding the goal4  ,to the left of 
his chariot he may lean1 as he stands   
upon it3 but to  their left he cannot1  
for they are considerably in advance of 
him2  and in order to make the turn at  
all1 they must1 at each point of the    
curve1 which is a curve to the left1 be 
much further along the curve1  and      
consequently much further to the left1  
than he can possibly be4 ,it  would be a
 parallel case1 if there were two riders
 round a circus1 one  following the     
other1 and the rider of the after horse 
were told to lean  to the right of the  
fore horse4 ,therefore the word  can1 ,i
 submit1  only refer to the two stones1 
which form the goal4    ,from ,il4 ii4  
#ebf4    ,a line in the ,greek          
,catalogue will enable us to carry the  
question  still further4 ,in ,il4 ii4   
#eag1 after the two ,botian contingents1
 come  the ,phocians3 and the ,poet     
says1 ver4 #ebf1       '  '  4    ,i see

 that this is translated even by ,voss  
#8on the left4' ,now is not  this       
contrary to all likelihood8 ,was not all
 propitious movement with  ,homer from  
left to right8 ,has not this been proved
 by the cases of the  ,immortals1 the   
,omens1 the ,cupbearer1 the ,beggar1 and
 the ,herald8 ,is it  likely1 or is it  
even conceivable1 that ,homer should    
depart from this  principle in his order
 of the army8 ,surely the meaning is    
this3 ,having  fixed for himself        
geographically the order of his         
contingents1 he has  likewise to state  
their order of array upon the field2 and
 accordingly  by this line he informs   
us1 that the ,phocians1 who were the    
second  of the races he mentions1 stood 
'  of the ,botians3 he of  course means 
us to understand that the ,abantes1 the 
third race1 were  '  of the ,locrians1  
and so on through the whole3 or in other
  words1 that he informs us he does not 
forget to follow1 amidst the            
multitudinous detail of the ,catalogue1 

the established1 the religious1  and the
 propitious order of enumeration1       
namely1 the order which begins  from the
 left1 and moves towards the right4     
,thus we must in this place translate ' 
#8towards1 that is1  looking towards the
 left of the ,botians2' or #8looking to 
the ,botians  on their left1' i4 e4 of  
the ,phocians2 the ,phocians being1     
whichever  construction we adopt1 on the
 right1 actually on the right1 not the  
left of the ,botians4 ,the real force of
 the expression probably is  this3 that 
the ,botians1 having taken their ground1
 the ,phocians came  up and took theirs 
next to them on their right4            
,application to ,od4 v4 #bgg4    ,now   
this case is precisely in point for ,od4
 v4 #bgg3 because   is not properly a   
verb of motion3 and in all likelihood it
 may be  relied on independently of     
further details from ,homer1 because it 
brings the matter to an easy test1      
through the certainty which we may  well
 entertain1 that ,homer would have the  

order of his army begin from  left to   
right1 like every other duly and        
auspiciously constituted order4         
,there is1 however1 another             
interpretation proposed as follows3     
they1  the ,phocians1 took ground next  
77 to the ,botians on the left1 i4  e4  
of the army2 the two together1 as it    
were1 forming its left wing4 ,to  this  
construction there seem to be conclusive
 objections3    #a4 ,why should ,homer  
tell us that the ,botians and ,phocians 
together  constituted a division of the 
army1 when he tells us nothing similar  
respecting any of the twenty-six        
contingents that remain8 ,neither of    
these races were particularly           
distinguished either politically or in  
arms4    #b4 ,it appears clear that the 
,botians and ,phocians did not together 
form a division of the army3 for1 in the
 ,thirteenth ,book1 the ,botians  fight 
in company with the ,athenians or       
,ionians1 the ,locrians1 ,phthians1  and
 ,epeans1 but not with the ,phocians4   

,il4 xiii4 #fhe1 #f4    #c4 ,neither did
 the ,botians belong to the left wing of
 the army at all3  for they are found   
defending the centre of the ships       
against ,hector  and the ,trojans1 with 
the two ,ajaxes in their front4 ,il4    
xiii4 #cad-af1  #fgd-hd1 #fhe1 #gjj2    
#gja1 #b2 #gai1 #bj4    #d4 ,there is   
nowhere the smallest sign1 that the     
,greek army was divided  into wings and 
centre at all4    #e4 ,the order of the 
,catalogue is a geographical order1 and 
not that  of a military arrangement4    
,therefore it was requisite for ,homer  
to  tell us how the troops were arranged
 in the ,review4 ,this he has  effected 
by telling us that the ,phocians1 the   
second of his tribes1  drew up on the   
right of the ,botians3 which we have    
only to consider  tacitly repeated all  
through1 and the order is thus both     
complete and  propitious4 ,but1         
according to the other construction1 the
 ,poet begins  with an arrangement by   
wings1 of which we hear nowhere else3   

and then  he forthwith forgets and      
abandons it4    #f4 ,i do not think '   
can be construed to the left of the     
army4 ,the army has nowhere been named4 
,the phrases   and '   require us to    
have a subject clearly in view4 ,it is  
frequently  named1 as in '  4 ,when it  
is connected with omens1 it  means to   
the west1 and  the reverse4 ,again1     
is to begin pouring wine from the left1 
and towards the right end of  the rank  
whom the cupbearer may be serving4 ,the 
#8army' has not been  mentioned since   
the reassembling in v4 #bjg4    ,these  
objections appear to me fatal to the    
construction now under our  view4 ,they 
do not indeed touch the question whether
 '  should  be interpreted on the left1 
or 7on the right and7 towards the left4 
,that must1 ,i think1 be decided by the 
general principles of augury duly       
applied to order and enumeration4    ,on
 the whole1 then1 ,i contend that it is 
wrong to construe ,od4 v4  #bgg1 #8to   
sail with ,arctus on his left hand4' ,it

 would be much more  nearly right1 and  
would1 in fact1 convey the meaning1     
though not in  a grammatical manner1 if 
we construed it #8to sail with ,arctus  
on  his right hand4' ,but the manner of 
construing it1 grammatically and        
accurately1 as ,i submit1 is this3 #8to 
sail with ,arctus looking towards  the  
left 7of his hand1 or his left hand72'  
that is to say1 looking  from his right4
 ,and generally1 that the proper mode of
 construing '   and   in ,homer is1     
towards the left1 towards the  right2   
or1 conversely1 from the right1 from the
 left4    ,this meaning is in exact     
accordance with the ,north-eastern1 and 
is  entirely opposed to the             
,north-western1 hypothesis4 ,and ,i     
venture to  believe that1 itself        
established by sufficient evidence from 
other  passages in the poems1 it enables
 us to give a meaning substantially1    
though perhaps not minutely             
self-consistent1 though of course one   
not  based upon the true configuration  

of the earth's surface as it is now     
ascertained1 to every passage in ,homer 
which relates to the ,outer  ,geography 
of the ,odyssey4    ,both '  and '   are
 used repeatedly in the  ,hymn to       
,mercury#fhj4 ,one of the passages      
resembles in its form that  of the      
eagle1 ,il4 xii4 #bai4 ,it is this3     
#fhj ,hymn4 ,merc4 #aec4 ,cf4 #dah1     
#dbd1 #dii4      1   '   4    ,and      
probably the basis of the idea is the   
same4 ,the really correct  ,greek       
expression for #8on the left hand' ,i   
take to be    1 which is used by        
,euripides#fha4    #fha ,hecuba #aabg4  
,sense altered in later ,greek4    ,but 
in the later ,greek the idea of the     
point of arrival prevailed over  that of
 the point of departure3 and1           
conventionally at least1 the  1 with its
 equivalent 1 came to mean simply #8on  
the  right1' and ' 1 #8on the left4' ,it
 is worth notice1 that we  have a like  
ambiguous use in ,english of the word   
towards4 ,sometimes  towards the left   

means being on the left3 sometimes it   
means moving  from the right in the     
direction of the left3 and a room       
#8towards the  south' means one with its
 windows on the north1 looking out over 
the south1 like as the star ,arctus     
looks out towards the left of           
,ulysses#fhb4    #fhb ,i have observed  
that   means a bird flying from the     
left towards the right1 and  1 the      
reverse4 ,here however  the force of the
 epithet is derived from immediate      
connection with the  motion implied1 and
 with the doctrine of omens3   would of 
course be the right shoulder1 and 1 as  
we have seen1 may stand  alone to       
signify the right hand4 ,and so in      
general with these words1  when used as 
epithets1 apart from a preposition      
implying motion1 and  from any relation 
to omens4          ,,iv4 ,,aoidos4      
,,sect4 ,i4    ,on the ,plot of the     
,iliad4    ,theory of ,grote on the     
,iliad4    ,although the hope has       
already been expressed at the           

commencement of  this work1 that for    
,england at least1 the main questions as
 to the  ,homeric poems have well nigh  
been settled in the affirmative sense2  
yet ,i must not pass by without notice  
the recently propounded theory  of      
,grote4 ,i refer to it1 partly on       
account of the general authority of  his
 work2 for this authority may give a    
currency greater than is really  due to 
a portion of it1 which1 as lying outside
 the domain of history  proper1 has     
perhaps been less maturely considered   
than his conclusions  in general4 ,but  
it is partly also because ,i do not know
 that it has yet  been treated of       
elsewhere2 and most of all because the  
discussion takes  a positive form2 for  
the answer to his argument1 which       
perhaps may be  found to render itself  
into a gratuitous hypothesis1 depends   
entirely  upon a comprehensive view of  
the general structure of the poem1 and  
the  reciprocal relation and adaptation 
of its parts4    ,grote believes1 that  

the poem called the ,iliad is divisible 
into two  great portions3 one of them he
 conceives to be an ,achilleis1 or a    
poem  having for its subject the wrath  
of ,achilles1 which comprises the ,first
  ,book1 the ,eighth1 and all from the  
,eleventh to the ,twenty-second ,books  
inclusive2 that the ,books from the     
,second to the ,seventh inclusive1  with
 the ,ninth and ,tenth1 and the two last
 ,books1 are portions of what  may be   
called an ,ilias1 or general description
 of the ,war of ,troy1  which have been 
introduced into the original ,achilleis1
 most probably  by another hand2 or1 if 
by the original ,poet1 yet to the       
destruction1  or great detriment1 of the
 poetic unity of his work4    ,in       
support of this doctrine he urges1      
#a4 ,that the ,books from the ,second to
 the ,seventh inclusive in no  way      
contribute to the main action1 and are  
#8brought out in a spirit  altogether   
indifferent to ,achilles and his        
anger#fhc4'    #fhc ,grote's ,hist4 of  

,greece1 vol4 ii4 p4 #beh n4    #b4     
,that the ,ninth ,book1 containing a    
full accomplishment of the wishes  of   
,achilles in the ,first1 by #8atonement 
and restitution#fhd1' is  really the    
termination of the whole poem1 and      
renders the continuance  of his ,wrath  
absurd3 therefore1 and also from the    
language of  particular passages1 it is 
plain that #8the ,books from the        
,eleventh  downwards are composed by a  
,poet1 who has no knowledge of that     
,ninth  ,book1 7or1 as ,i presume he    
would add1 who takes no cognizance of   
it#fhe4'7    #fhd ,ibid4 p4 #bda n4     
#fhe ,ibid4 p4 #bdd n4    #c4 ,the      
,jupiter of the ,fourth ,book is        
inconsistent with the ,jupiter of  the  
,first and ,eighth4    #d4 ,the abject  
prostration of ,agamemnon in the ,ninth 
,book is  inconsistent with his spirit  
and gallantry in the ,eleventh4    #e4  
,the junction of these ,books to the    
,first ,book is bad2 as the ,dream  of  
,agamemnon #8produces no effect1' and   

the ,greeks are victorious1 not         
defeated#fhf4    #fhf ,ibid4 p4 #bdg4   
#f4 ,for the latter of these reasons1   
the construction of the wall and  fosse 
round the camp landwards is out of      
place4    #g4 ,the tenth ,book1 though  
it refers sufficiently to what precedes1
 has  no bearing on what follows in the 
poem4    ,grote has argued conclusively 
against the supposition that we owe the 
continuous ,iliad#fhg to the labours of 
,pisistratus1 and shows that it  must   
have been known in its continuity long  
before4 ,he places the poems  between   
#hej and #ggf ,b4 ,c4#fhh2 admits the   
splendour of much of the  poetry which  
he thus tears from its context#fhi2 yet 
he apparently is  not startled by the   
supposition1 that the man1 or the men1  
capable of  composing poetry of the     
superlative kind that makes up his      
,achilleis1  should be so blind to the  
primary exigencies of such a work for   
its  effect as a whole1 that he or they 
could also be capable of thus  spoiling 

its unity by adding eight books1 which  
do not belong to the  subject1 to       
fifteen others in which it was already  
completely handled  and disposed of4    
,and though our historian leans to the  
belief of a  plurality of authors for   
the ,iliad1 he does not absolutely      
reject the  supposition that it may be  
the work of one#fij4    #fhg ,grote's   
,history of ,greece1 vol4 ii4 p4 #baj4  
#fhh ,ibid4 p4 #agh4    #fhi ,ibid4 p4  
#bfj1 #bcf1 #bfg4    #fij ,ibid4 p4     
#bfi4    ,offer of ,il4 ix4 and its     
rejection4    ,as to the ,ninth         
,book#fia1 he refers it more decisively 
to a separate  hand2 and he makes no    
difficulty about presuming that the     
,homerids  could furnish men capable of 
composing 7for example7 the wonderful   
speech of ,achilles from the #cjgth to  
the #dbith line4 ,happy ,homerids6  and 
felix prole virm1 happy land that could 
produce them6    #fia ,ibid4    ,it     
appears to me that these are wild       
suppositions4 ,against no  supposition  

can there be stronger presumptions than 
against those  which1 by dissevering the
 prime parts of the poem1 produce a     
multiplication of ,homers2 and however  
,grote may himself think that           
enlargements such as he describes1 do   
not imply of necessity at least  a      
double authorship1 few indeed1 ,i       
apprehend1 will be found1 while         
admitting his criticisms on the poem1 to
 contend that it can still be  the      
production of a single mind4 ,still less
 can ,i think that any one  would now be
 satisfied with the sequence of ,books  
proposed1 or with the  mutilated        
proportions1 any more than with the     
reduced dimensions1 of  the work as a   
whole4    ,i will say not that the      
propounder of such a theory1 but that   
such  a propounder of any theory1 is    
well entitled to have the question      
discussed1 whether those proportions are
 indeed mutilated by the  change1 or    
whether they are1 on the contrary1      
restored4 ,let me observe1  however1 at 

the outset1 that it is the general      
argument with which  only ,i shall be   
careful to deal4 ,i do not admit the    
discrepancies#fib  alleged2 but neither 
is it requisite to examine each case in 
detail1  since ,grote concedes1 that his
 own theory does not relieve him from   
conflict with particular passages of the
 poem4    #fib ,note1 pp4 #bdj-d4    ,as
 respects the ,ninth ,book1 this theory 
seems to proceed on a  misconception of 
the nature of the offence taken by      
,achilles2 as  respects the others1 upon
 a similar misconception of the measure 
which  the ,poet intends us to take of  
his hero's greatness1 and of the modes  
by which he means us to arrive at our   
estimate4    ,it takes time to sound the
 depths of ,homer4 ,possibly1 or even   
probably1  many may share the idea that 
what ,achilles resents is the mere loss 
of  a captive woman1 and that           
restitution would at once undo the      
wrong4 ,but  they misconceive the act1  
and the man also1 to whom the wrong was 

done4  ,the soul of ,achilles is stirred
 from its depths by an outrage1 which   
seems to him to comprehend all vices    
within itself4 ,he is wounded in  an    
attachment that had become a tender one2
 for he gives to ,briseis the  name of  
wife 7 71 and avows his care and        
protection of her  in that character4 ,a
 proud and sensitive warrior1 he is#fic 
insulted  in the face of the army2 and  
to the ,greeks1 whose governing         
sentiment  was 1 or honour1 insult was  
the deadliest of all inflictions4       
,further1 he is defrauded by the        
withdrawal of that which1 by the public 
authority1 presiding over the           
distribution of spoil1 he had been      
taught  to call his own2 and he keenly  
feels the combination of deceit with    
insolence#fid4 ,justice is outraged in  
his person1 when he alone among  the    
warriors is to have no share of the     
booty4 ,in this he rightly sees  an     
ingratitude of threefold blackness2 it  
is done by the man1 for whose  sake#fie 

he had come to ,troy without an interest
 of his own2 it is  done to the man1    
whose hand1 almost unaided1 had earned  
the spoil which  the ,greeks            
divided#fif3 lastly1 it is done to him1 
on whose valour the  fortunes of their  
host with the hopes of their enterprise 
principally  depended1 and whose mere   
presence on the field of itself drives  
and  holds aloof the principal champions
 of ,troy#fig4 ,and1 lastly1 while  the 
whole army is responsible by            
acquiescence and is so declared by  him1
 7 '   1 ,il4 i4 #bii17 the insult and  
wrong  proceed from one1 whose avarice  
and irresolution made him in the eyes   
of ,achilles at once hateful and        
contemptible#fih4    #fic 1 ,il4 i4     
#bjc1 #bad4 1 ,il4 ix4 #cfh1 also       
#fdf-h4    #fid ,il4 ix4 #cgj-f3 when he
 returns again and again to the word3  1
 #cga2 1 #cge2 1 #cgf4    #fie ,il4 i4  
#aeb4    #fif ,ibid4 #afe-h4    #fig    
,il4 v4 #ghi4    #fih ,il4 i4 #bbe-h4   
,such is the deadly wrong1 that lights  

up the wrath of ,achilles4 ,and1  as he 
broods over his injuries1 according to  
the law of an honourable  but therefore 
susceptible1 and likewise a fierce and  
haughty nature1  the flame waxes hotter 
and hotter1 and requires more and more  
to quench  it4 ,thus there is a terrible
 progression and expansion in his       
revenge3  and by degrees he arrives at a
 height of fierce vindictiveness1 that  
minutely calculates the modes in which  
the suffering of its object  can be     
carried to a maximum1 yet so as to leave
 his own renown  untouched1 and open the
 widest field for the exercise of his   
valour4  ,it is not vice1 nor is it     
virtue1 which ,homer is describing in   
his  ,achilles2 it is that strange and  
wayward mixture of regard for right  and
 justice with self-love on the one side1
 and wrath on the other1  which are so  
common among us men of meaner scale4    
,the difference is1  that in ,achilles  
all the parts of the compound are at    
once deepened to  a superhuman          

intensity1 and raised to a scale of     
magnificence which  almost transcends   
our powers of vision4 ,we must1 indeed1 
no more look  for a didactic and        
pedantic consistency in the movement of 
his mind1  than in shocks from an       
earthquake1 or bursts of flame from a   
volcano4  ,but a real consistency there 
is2 and doubtless it could be measured  
by  the rules of every day1 if only     
every day produced an ,achilles4    ,let
 us now follow his course with close    
attention4    ,restitution not the      
object of ,achilles4    ,it can hardly  
fail to draw remark1 that the spirit of 
,achilles never  from the first moment  
fastens on mere restitution1 or on      
restitution  at all1 as its object4     
,with his knowledge of his own might1   
which was  enough to prompt him1 had he 
not been restrained from heaven1 to     
assail  and slay ,agamemnon on the spot1
 he nevertheless does not so much as    
entertain the thought of fighting to    
keep ,briseis4 ,his thought is far      

other than this3 #8,i will not lift a   
finger against one of you for the  girl1
 since you choose to take from me what  
you gave 7#bih1 #i74 ,i will  not hold  
what you think fit to grudge4' ,while he
 adds1 that they shall  not touch an    
article of what is properly his own#fii4
 ,not that he  cares for mere possession
 or dispossession4 ,were that his       
thought1 he  would have lifted up the   
invincible arm for the retention of     
,briseis4  ,but his thought is this1    
#8,one outrage you have done to justice 
and  to me1 and1 encouraged as well as  
commanded by great deities1 ,i bear  it2
 but not even under their promises and  
injunctions will ,i endure  that you    
shall sin again4' ,the loss he had      
suffered now became quite  a subordinate
 image in his mind2 punishment of the   
offenders1 and  not restitution1 was    
ever before his view4 ,his first threat 
is that  of withdrawal 7,il4 i4 #afi73  
which1 he conceives1 will put a stop to 
,agamemnon's rapacious accumulations4   

,next 7#bcc7 he swears the mighty  oath 
that every ,greek shall rue the day of  
his wrong1 and look in vain  to         
,agamemnon for protection against the   
sword of ,hector4 ,again1 in his  prayer
 to ,thetis1 he intreats that she will  
induce ,jupiter to drive the  ,greeks in
 rout and slaughter back upon the ships 
and the sea4 ,he never  dreams of the   
mere reparation of his wrong3 when he   
refers to ,briseis  in the great oration
 of the ,ninth ,book1 it is for the     
purpose of a  slaying sarcasm against   
the ,atreid2 his soul utterly refuses to
 treat  the affair in the manner of an  
action at law for damages2 he looks for 
nothing less than the prostration of the
 ,grecian host and its being  brought to
 the very door of utter and final ruin1 
with the compound  view of avenging     
wrong1 glorifying justice1 enhancing the
 sufferings  of his foe1 and magnifying 
the occasion and achievements of his own
  might1 to be put forth when the proper
 time shall come4    #fii ,the 1 v4     

#cjj1 must mean what he had not acquired
 by gift of  the army2 since in ,il4 #i4
 #cce1 as well as in i4 #afg1 #cef1 he  
apparently  speaks of ,briseis as the   
only prize he had received4    ,the     
offer radically defective4    ,the hero 
withdraws1 and remains aloof4 ,the      
,greeks1 after a panic  and a recovery1 
determine to carry on the war without   
him4 ,but the  hostile deities1 less    
under restraint than the friendly ones1 
give  active encouragement to the       
,trojan chiefs and army in the fight4   
,they  are discerned by the ,greeks1 who
 accordingly recede#gjj4 ,finding  that1
 instead of driving the ,trojans to the 
city1 on the contrary1  even before the 
single fight of ,hector and ,ajax1 they 
themselves had  suffered loss1 they     
supply their camp with the defences1    
which it  had never needed while the    
name of ,achilles and his prowess kept  
the  enemy either within their walls1 or
 in the immediate vicinity of the  city4
 ,this happens in the ,seventh ,book1   

and it is the first note of  the        
consequences of the ,wrath4 ,in the     
,eighth1 they are more decidedly        
worsted under a divine influence1 and   
are driven back upon their  works1 while
 the ,trojans bivouac on the place of   
battle4 ,the army had  suffered no heavy
 loss3 yet the infirm will of ,agamemnon
 gives way3  and1 portending greater    
evils1 he a second time counsels        
flight#gja4  ,the advice is warmly      
repudiated by ,diomed and the other     
chiefs4 ,still  the course of their     
affairs is now by undeniable signs      
altered for the  worse4 ,hereupon1      
,nestor advises an attempt to conciliate
 ,achilles by  offers of restitution and
 of gifts1 with close union and         
incorporation  into the family of       
,agamemnon4 ,now it is most important   
that we should  observe1 that gifts and 
kind words were the beginning and the   
end  of this mission4 ,there was no     
confession of wrong authorized by       
,agamemnon1 or made by the ,envoys1 to  

,achilles4 ,the woes of the ,greeks  are
 described3 ,achilles is exhorted to lay
 aside his ,wrath3 he is  told of all   
the fine things he will receive upon his
 compliance3 but  not one word in the   
speech of ,ulysses conveys the admission
 at length  gained from ,agamemnon in   
the ,nineteenth ,book1 that he has      
offended4  ,therefore ,achilles is not  
appeased3 but1 ,i must add1 neither is  
justice  satisfied1 nor right           
re-established4    #gjj ,il4 v4 #fje1   
#gjb4    #gja ,il4 ix4 #bf4    ,apology 
needed also4    ,presents and promises  
were not what ,achilles wanted4 ,on the 
contrary1  to his inflamed and          
inexorable spirit1 being less than and  
different  from the thing he sought1 the
 very offer of them was matter of new   
exasperation4 ,the very offer of them   
thus made seemed1 and in some  degree   
rightly seemed1 to imply that they who  
tendered it must take him  for a man1   
whose mind was cast in the same sordid  
mould as that of the  king1 who had     

given the offence4 ,gifts indeed        
,achilles must have1 and  abundance of  
them1 when he is at last to be appeased3
 but it is not in  order to swell an    
inventory of possessions3 it is that the
 memory of  them may dwell in his mind1 
and stand upon the record of his life1  
like  the golden ornaments that he wore 
upon his manly person1 namely1 to       
exhibit and to make felt his glory4     
,i do not indeed presume to say we have 
evidence to show that ,achilles  would  
have relented at the period of the      
mission1 if a frank confession  of      
wrong1 and apology for insult1 had been 
made together with the  proffer of the  
gifts4 ,on the contrary1 with his higher
 sentiments there  mingled a towering   
passion of a vindictive order4 ,it was  
as it were  the corruption or abuse1 not
 the basis1 of the mood of the estranged
  ,achilles3 but it was there1 and      
there1 like everything ,achillean1  in  
colossal proportions4 ,still ,i think it
 has not been sufficiently  observed    

that1 as matter of fact1 the proceeding 
of the ,ninth ,book was  radically      
defective1 because it treated the affair
 as 7so to call  it7 one of mere        
merchandize1 to be disposed of like the 
balance of an  account4    ,when        
,achilles finds that the desire to      
avenge the death of ,patroclus  has     
become paramount within him1 and in     
consequence renounces the  ,wrath#gjb1  
it is true that he does not stipulate   
for an apology4 ,but  neither does he   
stipulate for the gifts4 ,both however  
are given1 and  the apology comes first 
in the faltering speech of              
,agamemnon#gjc1 who  distinguishes      
between two kinds of atonement2    #gjb 
,il4 xix4 #fg4    #gjc ,ibid4 #acd-h4   
1  ' ' 4    ,were there any doubt about 
the reality of this distinction1 it     
might  be removed by evidence which the 
,odyssey supplies4 ,eurualus1 who       
appears to have been one of the         
secondary kings in ,scheria1 had not yet
  atoned for his insult to ,ulysses1    

when ,alcinous recommended that all  the
 twelve1 who belonged to that order1    
should make a present to the  departing 
stranger4 ,but from ,eurualus1 he       
observes1 something more is  requisite2 
he must offer an apology as well as a   
gift#gjd2    #gjd ,od4 viii4 #cij-dae4  
4    ,and this is done accordingly1 in  
the amplest and frankest manner4    ,all
 this should be borne in mind1 when we  
estimate the consistency of  the ,poet  
through the medium of the conduct of    
,achilles4    ,it was not a moment's    
light apprehension1 suffered by         
,agamemnon and the  army1 that could    
avail to obliterate his resentment4     
,they had scarcely  tasted of the cup of
 bitterness2 he required that they      
should drain it  to the dregs4 ,he will 
not hear of the return of ,briseis3     
#gje4 ,with a mixture of close argument1
 terrible denunciation1  and withering  
sarcasm1 he overpowers and silences the 
,envoys4 ,only  ,phnix can address him1 
and that after a long pause and in      

tears4    #gje ,il4 ix4 #ccf4    ,yet   
the mighty spirit of ,achilles sways to 
and fro in the tempest of  its own      
emotions4 ,again he has threatened to   
depart3 bidding them1 with  a bitterness
 that mounts far away into the region of
 the sublime1 come  the next day and    
see1 if they think such a sight can be  
worth their  seeing1 his fleet speeding 
homeward across the broad ,hellespont2  
or  north gean4 ,but this course of     
action would have balked his appetite   
for glory2 which1 as he knew#gjf1 he    
could only buy1 and that with  his life1
 at ,troy4 ,perhaps1 too1 he was        
softened by the respect of the  ,envoys1
 who were personally agreeable to him2  
perhaps grimly pleased  with the awe    
that his ,titanic passion had inspired2 
perhaps affected  with a sympathetic    
feeling of regard by the straightforward
 bluntness  of ,ajax4 ,at any rate it is
 plain that there followed upon the     
speech  of the ,telamoniad chief#gjg a  
greater sign of yielding1 than any      

which the paternal exhortations of      
,phnix1 or those most artfully  drawn   
pictures by ,ulysses#gjh of the rage and
 fury of ,hector1 had  sufficed to      
produce4 ,in answer to ,ulysses1 to the 
bottom of whose  astuteness his clear   
eye had pierced1 he says1 #8,i shall    
go#gji4' ,in  answer to ,phnix#gaj1     
#8,to-morrow we will decide1 whether to 
go or  stay4' ,in answer to ,ajax1 he   
makes a more sensible advance4 ,he now  
so  far relents as to tell them1 he will
 bethink himself of battle2 yet it      
shall only be when the hand of ,hector1 
dealing death to ,greeks1 and  flame to 
their vessels1 shall have reached the   
tents and ships of the  ,myrmidons4     
,then it will be time enough3 for then1 
at his encampment  and by his dark ship1
 he trows that he will stay the course  
of  ,hector1 however keen for fight#gaa4
    #gjf ,il4 i4 #ceb-d4    #gjg ,il4   
ix4 #fbd-db4 ,sup4 ,agor1 p4 #aaa4      
#gjh ,ibid4 #bcg-dc1 and #cjd-f4    #gji
 ,ibid4 #ceg4    #gaj ,ibid4 #fag4      

#gaa ,il4 ix4 #fdi-ee4    ,consistency  
maintained in and after ,il4 ix4        
,thus far1 then1 we surely have no      
pretext for saying that ,homer has      
departed from the purpose of his poem1  
of which the man ,achilles is the       
centre and animating principle1 and his 
,wrath with its terrible effects  the   
theme4 ,these effects are now developed 
up to a certain point3 not  such a point
 as really to endanger the army1 or     
excite strong sympathy  or apprehension 
on its behalf1 but yet such a point as  
entirely to tame  the irresolute egotism
 of ,agamemnon1 and drive his but       
half-masculine  character into efforts  
again to lay hold upon the prop1 which  
he had so  rashly and lightly1 as well  
as selfishly and unjustly1 put away4    
,if we were to consider ,achilles as    
engaged in a mere personal quarrel1  we 
must condemn him1 without any           
qualification whatever1 for not         
accepting the reparation now tendered by
 ,agamemnon4 ,but if we bear in  mind   

that the wrong done was a public wrong1 
that no confession of this  wrong was   
made1 that the other kings and leaders1 
and the whole army1  became in some     
degree parties to it by their           
acquiescence1 and that he  was thus as  
much or more the vindicator of great    
public rights than  the mere avenger of 
a personal offence1 it is not so clear  
that the  conduct of ,achilles after the
 mission of the ,ninth ,book is         
incapable  in principle of              
justification1 according to the moral   
code of ,greece4  ,it must1 however1    
undoubtedly remain amenable to severe   
censure on the  score of excess3 a      
culpability1 for the penal notice of    
which ,homer has  made abundant         
provision in the sequel of the poem4    
,but this question is by the way3 the   
main issue raised is as to the  poetical
 consistency and effect of the          
structure1 which ,homer has  chosen for 
his work4 ,upon this there is surely    
little room for doubt4    ,from the     

,ninth ,book we commence afresh3        
,achilles in his moody  seclusion1 the  
,greeks in a manful determination to do 
their best2 even  ,agamemnon is now     
roused to feel what he has brought upon 
the army1  thrown back from his moral   
irresolution as a chief upon his        
personal  courage as a soldier1 and     
resolved to appear in the field1 that he
 too  may earn his laurels there4       
,and these intentions are gallantly     
fulfilled4 ,the night foray of ,diomed  
and ,ulysses stands well1 as one of the 
minor but safe measures1 by  which a    
skilful generalship often makes its     
first efforts to raise the  spirits of a
 downcast army4 ,agamemnon then appears1
 and shows himself  to be a warrior of a
 high1 nay of the highest order of      
strength and  valour4 ,the other kings  
exert themselves with their wonted      
chivalry4  ,but the decree of ,jove1    
working through the accidents of war1   
drives  three of the four great         
champions from the field1 and leaves    

only  ,ajax2 who1 invincible wherever he
 is found1 yet cannot be everywhere1    
nor1 single handed1 govern the result of
 battle along the whole extent  of the  
line4 ,and now come the great exertions 
and successes of the  ,trojans1         
especially ,sarpedon and his ,lycian    
contingent1 ,hector playing  rather a   
conventional than a real part4 ,now it  
goes hard indeed with  the ,greeks2 the 
fire touches the ships2 ,patroclus must 
go forth and  die2 and the ,wrath is at 
an end1 for it is drowned in the        
bitterness of  the tears of ,achilles4  
,with reference1 then1 to the main      
purpose of the poem1 it proceeds        
regularly to its climax1 and there is no
 limb of the ,iliad separable  from the 
body without destroying the symmetrical1
 masculine1 and broad  development of   
its general plan4 ,i speak now of the   
principal fabric  of the poem4 ,few who 
are not prepared to pull that in pieces 
will1 ,i  apprehend1 accede to the      
proposal to shear it of the two last    

,books1  which therefore hardly require 
a separate defence4    ,skilful         
adjustment of conflicting aims4    ,to  
me it appears well worthy of remark1    
with what extraordinary skill  ,homer   
has contrived to adjust his poem to the 
several aims which he had  to keep in   
view4 ,the grand one doubtless was the  
glory of his country  in the person of  
,achilles#gab4 ,still he was bound not  
to sacrifice  poetically the martial    
fame of the rest of ,greece even to the 
first  among them1 whatever calamities  
he might make the army suffer on his    
account4 ,to avoid this sacrifice1 he   
was obliged to uphold the military      
character and power of the ,greeks in   
their struggle with the ,trojans1  even 
when deprived of the prowess of their   
great champion ,achilles4  ,and yet he  
could not degrade ,hector and the       
,trojans1 or he would have  reached the 
lame conclusion of adorning his own     
country's heroes with  a poor and       
unworthy triumph4 ,thus his course was  

to be steered among a  variety of       
difficulties1 all pressing upon him from
 opposite quarters4    #gab ,on the     
character of ,achilles1 ,i recommend    
reference to ,colonel  ,mure1 ,lit4     
,greece1 i4 #bgc-ia1 and #cjd-ad4 ,in no
 part of his treatment  of the poems has
 that excellent ,homerist 7if ,i may    
presume to say so7  done better service4
 ,see likewise ,professor ,wilson's     
,essays1 ,critique  iv3 and the         
,prlections of the ,rev4 ,j4 ,keble1 i4 
#ij-ajd4 ,this refined  work1 which     
criticizes the poems in the spirit of a 
,bard1 set an early  example1 at least  
to ,england1 of elevating the tone of   
,homeric study4    ,we see at once how  
steadily he kept in view his pole-star2 
how he  handled the events and          
characters of his poem so as to give the
 most  powerful1 or rather it may be    
said the most overpowering1 impression  
of the greatness of his hero1 which is  
lifted higher and higher by  the whole  
movement of the work as it proceeds4    

,let us now examine  whether1 in giving 
full scope to his main purpose1 he has  
been obliged  to sacrifice others which 
were also important1 nay1 if the highest
  excellence was his aim1 even          
indispensable4    ,the paramount glory  
of ,achilles is established by this3    
first1 that in  the ,ninth ,book the    
whole army1 as it were1 lies at his     
feet1 and is  spurned from thence3      
secondly1 that when he finally comes    
forth1 it  is not in deference to those 
who have insulted him1 but it is under  
the burning impulses of his own heart4  
,let us now proceed to inquire  whether 
the ,poet has or has not satisfied two  
other great demands4 ,has  he1 as a     
,greek1 done all that was required to   
glorify ,greece1 and is  ,achilles its  
crown only1 or is he its substitute8    
,has he1 as a man1  vindicated the      
principles of the moral order1 and of   
that retributive  justice which1 even in
 this world1 visibly maintains at least 
a partial  balance between human action 

and its consequences to the agent8      
,glory given to ,greece4    ,we should  
look in vain1 ,i think1 for a finer and 
subtler exercise of  poetic art1 than in
 the mode in which ,homer has contrived 
to convey to  us1 both the general1 and 
in particular the military inferiority  
of  the ,trojans1 as compared with the  
,greeks4 ,hardly any reader can be so   
superficial in his observation of the   
poem1 as not to rise from it with  this 
inferiority sufficiently impressed upon 
his mind4 ,yet there is  not a passage  
or a word throughout1 in which it is    
asserted4 ,and why8  ,because every     
direct assertion that the ,trojans were 
less valiant or  less strong than their 
antagonists1 would have been so much    
detracted  from the glory of overcoming 
them4 ,it was essential to the work of  
the  ,poet1 that he should represent the
 contest as an arduous one4 ,he might   
have done this in the coarse method1 for
 which his theurgy would have  afforded 
the materials3 that is1 by converting   

his ,trojans into mere  puppets1 whose  
arm1 at every turn of the narrative1    
merely represented  the impelling force 
of some deity or other1 and1            
independently of  such extraneous aid1  
was powerless4 ,but this would have     
destroyed the  full-flushed humanity of 
,homer's poem4    ,as it is1 he has     
availed himself of the divine element to
 make up by  its assistance for the     
comparative weakness of the ,trojan     
chiefs3 but  it is only a subdued and   
occasional assistance1 so that there is 
no  glaring difference in point of free 
agency between the two parties4 ,nor    
can it be without a purpose1 that the   
two deities1 who appear in the  field on
 behalf of the ,trojans1 namely1 ,venus 
and ,mars1 are sent off it  both        
wounded1 the one whining1 and the other 
howling1 by the prowess  of ,diomed4 ,if
 the ,greeks are to suffer by the gods1 
he takes care that  it shall not be by  
those gods who are the mere national    
partisans of  ,troy1 but by a higher    

agency2 by the decree of ,jupiter1 now  
temporarily  indeed1 but effectively1   
set against them4    ,it is by an       
indefinitely great number of strokes and
 touches each  indefinitely small1 that 
,homer has gained his object4 ,the      
,trojan  successes are always effected  
with the concurrence of supernatural    
power2 the ,greeks not unfrequently     
without1 and sometimes even against     
it#gac4    #gac ,il4 xvi4 #ghj4    ,he  
as it were sets up the ,trojans1 so to  
speak1 by generalities2 but  he gives to
 the ,greeks1 with certain occasional   
exceptions1 the whole  detail of solid  
achievement4 ,sometimes he allows a     
panic of doubt and  fear to seize their 
host1 but he takes care to make the     
sentiment only  flit like a momentary   
shade over the sun4 ,thus1 when the     
assembled  chieftains of the ,greek army
 hesitate to accept the challenge of    
,hector#gad1    #gad ,il4 vii4 #ic4     
1  ' 4    ,but after a short interval1  
and a proper appeal1 nine champions     

appear1  each and all burning to meet   
,hector in single combat4 ,sometimes he 
contrives to direct his praises to      
martial appearance and exterior1  but   
carefully avoids the real touches of    
heroic character2 as when  he bestows on
 ,paris the noble simile of the  4      
,generally  he pays off1 as it were1 the
 ,trojans with high-sounding words1 and 
reserves nearly all the true qualities  
of heroes1 as well as their  exploits1  
for the ,achans4 ,with them are the     
sagacity1 consistency1  firmness1       
promptitude1 enterprise1 power of       
adapting means to ends1                 
comprehensiveness of view1 as well as   
main strength of hand4 ,but by  the     
expedients ,i have mentioned1 the       
,trojans are raised to1 and kept  at and
 no more than at1 the level necessary to
 make them worthy and  creditable       
antagonists4 ,one other engine for the  
purpose has been  employed by him1      
namely1 the real valour and manhood of  
the ,lycian  kings and forces#gae1 with 

whom he had evidently a strong and      
peculiar  sympathy2 whose chief1        
,sarpedon1 is really a better man in war
 than  ,hector1 though much less        
pretentious2 and who1 under this prince1
  achieve the only real1 great1 and     
independent success that is to be  found
 on that side throughout the whole      
course of the poems1 namely1  the first 
forcing of the ,greek entrenchments#gaf4
    #gae ,since the first portion of    
this work went to press1 ,i have found  
from the recent and still unfinished    
work of ,welcher1 ,griechische          
,gtterlehre1 i4 #b4 n41 that            
philological evidence appears to have   
been  recently obtained of a close      
relationship between the ,lycians and   
the  ,greeks4    #gaf ,il4 xii4 #cig-i4 
,the ,trojan inferiority indeed lies    
very much more palpably in the  chiefs1 
than in the common soldiers4 ,between   
the bulk of the army on  the one side   
and on the other1 ,homer represents no  
great--at least no  glaring difference4 

,sometimes the fight is carried on upon 
terms purely  equal#gag1 as during the  
forenoon of the day in the ,eleventh    
,book3  where there is superiority1 it  
is assigned to the ,greeks#gah or to    
the ,trojans#gai1 according as the      
exigencies of the poem may require4     
,still he contrives some note of        
difference so as to draw a line between 
the merit of the respective successes2  
thus1 when the ,trojans turn the        
,greeks to flight1 there is commonly an 
intimation1 in more or less  general    
terms1 of a divine agency stimulating   
them4 ,hostile weapons  are indeed often
 turned aside on behalf of ,greeks3 but 
only in one  instance1 ,i think1 do the 
,greeks derive decided advantage from a 
panic  divinely inspired3 it is when1 in
 the ,sixteenth ,book1 ,jupiter instils 
into ,hector the spirit of fear#gbj4    
#gag ,il4 xi4 #fg-hc4    #gah ,ibid4    
#ij4    #gai ,il4 viii4 #ccf4 xvi4 #efi4
 xvii4 #eif4    #gbj ,il4 xvi4 #fef4    
,this absence of broad contrast between 

the two soldieries is in entire         
accordance with what we have seen reason
 to presume as to their  composition2   
namely1 that the rank and file on both  
sides was in all  likelihood composed   
from kindred and ,pelasgian races4      
,yet a strong jealousy on behalf of his 
country is ever the predominant         
sentiment in the ,poet's mind2 and      
accordingly he insinuates1 with  much   
art1 suggestions which keep even the    
,trojan soldiery somewhat  below the    
,greeks2 while to the chieftains of the 
,greek army1 though  his laudatory      
epithets are nearly as high on the one  
side as on the  other1 he assigns in    
action an enormous superiority1 both    
military  and intellectual4             
,accordingly1 when we come to cast up   
the results  of the actual encounters1  
we are astounded at the littleness1 the 
almost nothingness1 of the ,trojan      
achievements1 and at the large havock   
wrought by their opponents1 even during 
the period when ,achilles was in        

estrangement#gba4    #gba ,this would be
 best shown by a list of the            
considerable personages  slain on the   
two sides respectively4    ,as regards  
the armies at large1 observe the similes
 used in the ,fourth  ,book#gbb4 ,the   
,greeks move in silence and discipline1 
like the swelling  waves when the       
tempest is just beginning to gather3 the
 ,trojans1 like  innumerable sheep1 who 
stand bleating in the fold while they   
are being  milked#gbc4 ,in the ,fifth   
,book1 while it is mentioned1 as if     
casually1  that ,apollo1 ,mars1 and     
,eris1 were stirring and keeping up the 
,trojans1  it is subjoined1 without     
ostensible reference to this intimation1
 but  plainly in artful contrast with   
it1 that the ,greeks found sufficient   
incentives in the exhortations of the   
two ,ajaxes1 of ,ulysses1 and  of       
,diomed#gbd4 ,again1 when ,hector       
returns1 after his battle with          
,ajax#gbe1 to his comrades1 we are told 
that they rejoiced in finding  him      

restored to them in safety1 contrary to 
their expectation1    4 ,on the other   
hand1 it is added1 the ,greeks led      
,ajax to ,agamemnon1 exulting in his    
victory over ,hector 7  74 ,the ,greeks 
feel no thankfulness1 because they had1 
we are  evidently to understand1 felt no
 fear4 ,and the chief rejoices in his   
victory1 which it really was4 ,it was1  
indeed1 ended as a drawn battle1  though
 ,ajax had had the best of it at every  
stage2 but not so much for  the honour  
of ,hector1 as for the purposes of the  
poem1 since ,hector  had to meet        
,achilles in the field1 and he would    
have been degraded by  encountering an  
antagonist that anybody else had        
palpably worsted4 ,to  state the paradox
 as ,homer had to confront it1 the      
problem was to make  ,ajax conqueror1   
without letting ,hector be conquered4   
#gbb ,ver4 #dba-ch4    #gbc ,ver4       
#eag-bj4    #gbd ,il4 v4 #eag-ba4       
#gbe ,il4 vii4 #cjg-ab4    ,inferiority 
glaring in the ,chiefs4    ,when we look

 to the case of the chieftains as a     
whole1 the contrast is  glaring4 ,no    
first rate1 or even second rate1 ,greek 
chieftain is ever  killed in fair field3
 ,tlepolemus1 slain by ,sarpedon1 comes 
the nearest  to that rank1 but is not in
 it4 ,patroclus is only slain after     
being  disarmed by ,apollo3 and here it 
seems to me as if for once the ,poet had
  a little overshot his mark2 for the   
artifice is gross1 and covers the       
pretended exploit of ,hector with       
indelible disgrace4 ,in fact1 ,hector   
never once achieves a considerable      
success in the field3 though only       
,achilles1 the first ,greek warrior1 is 
allowed completely to overcome  him#gbf1
 yet he is decidedly inferior in fight  
to both ,diomed and  ,ajax1 who jointly 
occupy the two next places1 but as      
between whom ,homer  has not decisively 
marked the claim to precedence4 ,in     
general terms1  he gives it to ,ajax    
more emphatically#gbg1 but he details   
more and  greater acts of prowess in    

favour of ,diomed4    #gbf ,compare ,il4
 ii4 #gfh1 with ,il4 v4 #dad4    #gbg   
,il4 xi4 #ahe-bji4    ,even with        
,agamemnon ,hector is admonished1 on the
 part of ,jupiter1  not to contend3 and 
he follows the advice4 ,of the ,trojan  
chiefs who  really fight1 a large       
proportion are slain2 ,glaucus1 neas1   
,deiphobus1  and ,polydamas are the most
 considerable who survive4 ,no eminent  
,trojan in fact is ever allowed to      
display real heroism1 except under      
circumstances where the issue is quite  
hopeless3 accordingly ,homer has  never 
surrounded ,hector with true heroic     
grandeur1 in deed as well  as word1     
until his final battle against          
,achilles1 when he is at last  brought  
to bay1 and when his doom is certain4   
,all the considerable  injuries         
inflicted upon great ,greek chieftains  
are from causes not  implying personal  
prowess in their rivals3 from the arrows
 of ,pandarus  or of ,paris1 or by the  
chance hit of some insignificant1 or at 

the  least secondary1 but desperate     
,trojan1 such as ,socus1 or such as     
,coon1  struck even as he is himself    
receiving or about to receive his own   
death-blow#gbh4 ,but for these ignoble  
wounds1 which were inflicted  on many   
chiefs1 including three prime heroes1   
,agamemnon1 ,diomed1 and  ,ulysses1 the 
,greeks1 according to the agency of the 
poem as it stands1  never would have    
been driven back upon their ships at    
all4    #gbh ,il4 xi4 #beb1 #dcg4       
,conflicting exigencies of the plan4    
,now ,homer's difficulty in this matter 
was not simply that which has  been     
heretofore pointed out1 or which has    
been commonly supposed4 ,his  aim1 says 
,heyne#gbi1 in representing the         
disasters of the ,greeks is1  ut per eas
 ,achillis virtus insigniatur1 quippe qu
 destituti ,achivi  succumbunt1 edem    
reddit vincunt4 ,but this is surely a   
misstatement  of the case4 ,homer has   
not represented the ,greeks plus        
,achilles as  superior to the ,trojans1 

and the ,greeks minus ,achilles as      
inferior  to them4 ,this was what a     
vulgar artist1 whose mind could only    
hold  one idea at a time1 would have    
done2 nay1 what it was difficult to     
avoid doing1 for it was vital to        
,homer's purpose that the vengeance of  
,achilles should be completely satiated3
 it was not to be thought of  that this 
transcendent character1 this ideal hero1
 should be balked by  man of woman born2
 the whole web of the ,poet's thought   
would have been  rent across1 had there 
been failure in such a point4 ,what was 
needful  in this view could only be     
accomplished by the extremest calamities
 of  the ,greeks4 ,these calamities he  
had to bring about1 and yet to give to  
the ,greeks a real superiority of       
military virtue4 ,we have seen already  
how he effected the latter3 how did he  
manage the former8 ,partly by  giving   
,achilles1 in right of his mother       
,thetis1 such an interest in  the courts
 of heaven1 as to throw a preponderating

 divine agency for  the time on the side
 of the ,trojans2 partly by a skilful   
use of the  chances of war1 in assigning
 to ,troy a superiority in the          
comparatively  ignoble skill 7as it was 
then used7 of the bow4 ,thus he causes  
the  ,greeks to be worsted1             
notwithstanding their superiority3 by   
their being  worsted1 he satisfies the  
exigencies of his plot2 by exhibiting   
their  superiority1 he fulfils the      
conditions of his own office as a       
national  poet4 ,to speak of the        
ingenuity of ,homer may sound strange1  
for we are  accustomed to associate his 
name with ideas of greater nobleness2   
but  still his ingenuity1 in this       
adjustment of conflicting demands upon  
him1 appears to be such as has never    
been surpassed4    #gbi ,exc4 ii4 ad    
,il4 xxiv4 s4 iv4 vol4 viii4 p4 #hja4   
,see1 however1  also p4 #hjb4    ,greeks
 superior even without ,achilles4       
,and here ,i1 for one1 cannot but admire
 the way in which ,homer has  made      

purposes1 which others would have found 
conflicting1 to serve  as reciprocal    
auxiliaries4 ,the ,embassy of the ,ninth
 ,book certainly  glorifies ,achilles3  
but let us ask1 does it not help also to
 glorify  ,greece8 ,let us consider what
 had happened4 ,the withdrawal of       
,achilles  was at once felt as a great  
blow2 and it acted on the whole tone of 
the army4 ,this appears in various ways4
 ,we read it in the home-sick  impulses 
of the ,second ,assembly 7b4 ii472 in   
the advice of ,nestor to  take measures 
for securing the responsibility of      
officers and men  7ii4 #cfj-h72 in the  
slackness of various chiefs during the  
,circuit  of ,agamemnon 7b4 iv472 in its
 being recorded to the honour of that   
leader 7iv4 #bbc7 that he did not flinch
 from his duty2 lastly1 in the          
momentary reluctance of the ,greek      
heroes to encounter ,hector 7vii4  #ic74
 ,all this is thoroughly natural4       
,having leant upon a prop1 they  were   
not at once aware of their remaining and

 intrinsic strength4 ,they1  like all   
persons who have not learned the habit  
of self-reliance1  required to learn it 
with pain4 ,hence1 after the very first 
touch  of comparative weakness in the   
field1 they conceive the idea of the    
rampart4 ,they had not really been      
worsted3 but their enemies had  learned 
to face them2 their position was now no 
longer what it had used  to be1 when    
,hector did not venture out in front of 
the ,dardanian ,gate4  ,but the building
 of the rampart produced1 as was        
natural1 an increased  weakness4        
,besides this1 ,jupiter1 seeing that the
 tendency of events  was not to give a  
sufficiently rapid and decisive triumph 
to ,achilles1  now inhibited those      
deities1 who were friendly to ,greece1  
from taking  part1 while he himself     
7viii4 #ge7 alarmed and abashed the     
,greeks  with his thunder4 ,they thus   
feel themselves thrown one full stage   
further into weakness4 ,what more       
natural1 than that they should turn  to 

,achilles1 and try his disposition      
towards them8 ,this is effected  in the 
,ninth ,book4 ,they then become         
acquainted practically1 for the  first  
time1 with the fierceness of the seven  
times heated furnace of  the ,wrath4    
,this experience teaches them1 that they
 must do or die4 ,so  at last1 the      
bridge behind them being broken1 ,greece
 is put upon her  mettle4 ,the gallant  
,diomed becomes the spokesman at once of
 chivalry  and of common sense4 #8,you  
should not have asked him4 ,by asking1  
you  have emboldened and hardened him4  
,let him alone4 ,rely upon yourselves4  
,refresh yourselves with sleep and a    
good meal1 and then1 order out the      
troops1 and have at them3 ,i for my part
 will be found in the van#gcj4'  ,then  
it is that the ,greeks understand their 
position1 and1 casting  off hope from   
,achilles1 place it in themselves4      
,hence that great  development of       
valorous energies in the ,eleventh      
,book1 which proves  that in equal      

fight1 even though ,achilles were       
absent1 ,troy had not a  hope3 so that  
the expedient of chance-wounds1         
disabling all the prime  warriors but   
,ajax1 is absolutely necessary in order 
to bring about the  required amount of  
disaster4 ,it appears to me1 ,i confess1
 that this is  a masterly adjustment1   
alike true in nature1 and high in art4  
#gcj ,il4 ix4 #fig-gji4    ,but first1  
after the great repulse1 comes the      
pilot-balloon1 the  tentative effort1 of
 the ,doloneia4    ,next to the skill   
and power with which the ,poet has      
discriminated the  characters of his    
greater ,greek heroes1 ,i am tempted to 
admire the  circumspection and          
precision1 with which he has assigned   
their relative  degrees of prominence in
 the action4 ,to those who complain of  
the  ,doloneia for want of a purpose1 ,i
 would reply that1 in the first place1  
besides its merits as an operation with 
reference to the circumstances  of the  
moment1 7for it feeds the army1 as it   

were1 with milk1 when they  were not yet
 ready for strong meat17 it remarkably  
varies the tenour of  the action1 which 
without it would have fallen into       
something of sleepy  sameness1 by       
substituting stratagem for force1 and   
night-adventure for  the conflicts of   
the day4 ,let those who doubt this      
strike out the ,tenth  ,book1 and then  
consider how the course of the military 
transactions of  the poem would stand   
without it3 how much more justly the    
first moiety  of the military action of 
the poem would stand liable to the      
imputation  of monotony1 which even now 
is of necessity the besetting danger of 
the whole poem4 ,but more2 ,i contend   
that the ,doloneia constitutes1  in the 
main1 the  of ,ulysses4 ,his            
distinguished part in the  ,second ,book
 is political only1 and has no concern  
with his military  qualifications4 ,his 
ordinary military exploits elsewhere are
 secondary1  and also scattered4 ,to    
assign to him a great share in the field

  operations would have been a much less
 fine preparation1 than the ,iliad  now 
affords1 for his appearance in the      
,odyssey2 and it would also have        
hazarded sameness as between his        
achievements and the other   of the     
great chiefs4 ,besides1 there was little
 room in the field1 as  the martial art 
was then understood1 for his distinctive
 qualities1  self-reliance1 presence of 
mind1 fertility in resource4 ,but       
military  distinction1 even in the time 
of ,homer1 lay in two great departments1
  one known as the fight 771 the other  
as ambush 774 ,the latter  was of fully 
equal1 nay1 on account of its sharper   
trial of moral  courage#gca1 it was even
 of still greater honour4 ,to this class
 the  night adventure essentially       
belonged4 ,here ,ulysses is thoroughly  
at  home4 ,in the ,doloneia1 ,diomed is 
merely the sword in the hand of         
,ulysses2 who directs the operation1 and
 overrules his brave companion  when he 
thinks fit1 as1 for example1 in the     

matter of the slaughter  of ,dolon4 ,in 
what other way could ,homer have given  
us an equally  characteristic           
illustration of the military qualities  
of ,ulysses8    #gca ,see ,il4 i4       
#bbf-h4 xviii4 #eji-ac4 and especially  
xiii4 #bge-hf3 and  ,sup4 ,agor1 p4 #ib4
    ,harmony in relative prominence of  
the ,chiefs4    ,now this view of the   
,doloneia fills up1 ,i think1 what must 
otherwise  be admitted to be a gap in   
the poem4 ,it being thus filled up1 let 
us  observe the accuracy with which     
shares in the action of the poem are    
assigned to the respective chiefs4      
,nestor has his own place apart as      
universal counsellor4 ,ulysses also1    
who1 as the great twin conception  to   
,achilles1 must never be allowed to     
appear in a light of inferiority  to any
 one1 is so managed as not to eclipse   
the might of ,ajax or the  bravery of   
,diomed2 and yet he has all his         
attributes kept entire for  the great   
part he had to play in the ,odyssey1 and

 is never beaten1  never baffled1 never 
excelled4 ,then ,ajax1 ,diomed1         
,agamemnon1 ,menelaus1  even elderly    
,idomeneus1 have each the stage made    
clear for them at  different times1 and 
with scope proportioned to their several
 claims  upon us4 ,the very intervals   
between their several appearances are   
made as wide as possible3 for ,diomed is
 in the ,fifth and ,eleventh  ,books1   
,ajax in the ,seventh1 ,agamemnon in the
 ,eleventh1 ,idomeneus in  the          
,thirteenth#gcb1 ,menelaus in the       
,seventeenth4 ,ajax excels in sheer     
might1 ,diomed in pure gallantry of     
soul1 and what is called dash2          
,agamemnon's dignity as a warrior is    
most skilfully maintained1 yet  without 
his being brought into rivalry with     
those two still greater  heroes1 by     
,hector's being counselled to avoid him4
 ,menelaus1 secondary  in mere force1   
though with a spirit no less brave than 
gentle1 is  carried well through by the 
care taken that he shall only meet with 

appropriate adversaries1 and the same   
pains are employed on behalf of         
,idomeneus4 ,for ,patroclus1 as the     
friend and second self of ,achilles1    
,homer's fertile invention has secured a
 kind of distinction1 which  does not   
displace that of others1 and which1     
notwithstanding1 is  eclipsed by none of
 them4 ,he turns the ,trojan host2 he   
slays the great  ,sarpedon2 he is       
himself slain only by foul play4 ,i     
cannot vindicate  the clumsy            
intervention of ,apollo1 and the        
meanness of the part  played by ,hector 
in this cardinal passage of his career2 
still ,i find  it curious and           
instructive to observe in all this a new
 instance of  the intense care1 with    
which the ,poet watches over the        
character  especially of his ,achilles4 
,he exalts him1 by exalting first those 
secondary eminences1 far above which he 
keeps him towering4 ,therefore  he would
 have ,patroclus slain indeed1 but not  
defeated1 by ,hector2 and  to this      

capital object he appears to have made1 
perhaps unavoidably1  considerable      
sacrifices4    #gcb ,he bears the chief 
part from #bjf4 to #dhh4    ,upon the   
whole1 then1 it would seem that ,homer  
had to maintain a  complex regard to a  
variety of objects4 ,first of all there 
was the  relation to observe between    
,achilles and all the other personages  
of  his poem on both sides of the       
quarrel4 ,then in distributing his minor
  ,alps1 the other prime or             
distinguished ,greek warriors1 about    
this  great ,alp1 he had to keep in mind
 and provide for their relations to  one
 another1 as well as to him4 ,lastly1 he
 had to carry ,hector and the  ,trojans 
so high1 that to overcome their chief   
should be his crowning  exploit1 and yet
 so low1 that they should not stand     
inconveniently  between the ,greeks and 
the view of such national heroes as     
,ulysses1  ,diomed1 ,ajax1 and          
,agamemnon4 ,like ,jupiter on ,ida#gcc1 
from none of  these objects has he ever 

removed his bright and watchful eye2 for
 all  of them he has made a provision   
alike deliberate and skilful4    #gcc   
,il4 xvi4 #fdd4    ,it only remains to  
consider the outline of the plot in     
reference to  the ,providential         
,government of the world1 and the       
administration of  retributive justice2 
a subject which has been ably handled by
 ,mr4  ,granville ,penn#gcd4    #gcd ,in
 his #8,examination of the ,primary     
,argument of the ,iliad4'  ,dedicated to
 ,lord ,grenville4 #ahba4    ,i am not  
able to admit that broad distinction1   
which is frequently  drawn between the  
provision made for satisfying this great
 poetical and  moral purpose in the     
,iliad and in the ,odyssey respectively4
 ,in each ,i  find it not only          
remarkable1 but even elaborate4 ,in each
 poem1 ,homer  exhibits1 above all      
things else1 one chosen human character 
with the  amplest development4 ,but     
diversity is the key-note of the        
development  in the ,odyssey1 grandeur  

or magnitude in the ,iliad4 ,the        
hurricane-like  forces1 that abound in  
the character of ,achilles1 entail a    
greater  amount of aberration from the  
path of wisdom4 ,but there is not       
wanting  a proportionate retributive    
provision4 ,ulysses1 after a long course
  of severe discipline patiently        
endured1 has awarded to him a peaceful  
old age1 and a calm death1 in his       
,ithaca barren but beloved1 with  his   
people prospering around him4 ,achilles1
 on the other hand1 is so  loaded with  
gorgeous gifts that1 wonderful as is    
their harmony in all  points but one1   
that one is the centre4 ,he has not the 
same unfailing  and central solidity of 
moral equipoise4 ,in himself gallant1   
just1  generous1 refined1 still         
indignity can drive him into an         
extremity of  pride and fierceness1     
which call for stern correction4 ,hence 
it comes  about that1 while the         
adversity of ,ulysses is the way to     
peace1 the  transcendent glory of       

,achilles is attended by a series of    
devouring  agonies2 the rival           
excitements of fierce pain and fiercer  
pleasure  accompany him along a path1   
which soon and suddenly descends into   
the  night of dismal death4 ,alike in   
the one case and in the other1 the      
balance of the moral order is preserved2
 and that ,erins1 who1 in so  many      
particular passages of the poems1 makes 
miniature appearances in  order to      
vindicate the eternal laws1 such as the 
heroic age apprehended  them1 likewise  
presides in full development over the   
general action of  each of these        
extraordinary poems4    ,retributive    
justice in the two poems4               
,retributive justice1 inseparably       
interwoven with human destiny 7for  thus
 much the ,erins signified7 tracks and  
dogs ,achilles at every  stage4 ,take   
him1 for instance1 as the ,ninth ,book  
shows him1 at the very  summit of his   
pride4 ,it is in no light or joyous     
mood1 that he repels  the ,envoys4 ,who 

among readers does not seem to see his  
spirit writhe1  when he describes the   
hot and bursting resentment in his      
breast1 the  stinging recollection of   
the outrages he has undergone#gce4 ,even
 by  the irrepressible curiosity1 which 
compels him to mount upon his ship  for 
view1 and to send out ,patroclus to     
learn the course of the battle1  ,homer 
has shown us how false was any semblance
 of peace1 that he could  even now enjoy
 in his giddy elevation4    #gce ,il4   
ix4 #fdf-h4    ,the rampart is pierced1 
the ships are reached1 the firebrand is 
hurled1  and the first ,greek ship      
burns4 ,achilles must not depart from   
his word3  but his restlessness now     
conceives an expedient1 the sending     
forth of  ,patroclus to the fight4 ,at  
the same time1 he takes every precaution
  that sagacity can suggest3 he clothes 
his friend in his own armour1  exhorts  
the ,myrmidons to support him1 above all
 enjoins him to confine  himself to     
defensive warfare1 and not to follow the

 ,trojans1 when  repulsed1 to the city4 
,what then happens to him8 ,that which  
often  befalls ourselves3 that when we  
have turned our back upon wisdom1       
wisdom turns her back upon us4 ,achilles
 insisted upon the disaster  of his     
countrymen4 ,when it came1 it           
constrained him to send out his  friend3
 and the calamity he had himself invoked
 was death to the man  that he loved    
better than his own soul4    ,and why   
did ,patroclus die8 ,it was not that    
,achilles imprudently exposed  him to   
risks beyond his strength4 ,he was      
abundantly able to encounter  ,hector4  
,hector had no care1 so long as the     
battle was by the ships1  to encounter  
this chief4 ,and ,achilles had enjoined 
him to fight by  the ships only1 lest1  
if he attempted the city1 a deity should
 take  part against him#gcf4 ,patroclus 
disobeyed1 and perished accordingly4    
,as ,achilles had refused to follow the 
laws of wisdom for himself1 so1  when he
 carefully obeyed them1 they were not to

 avail him for the  saving of his       
friend4 ,heaven fought against          
,patroclus2 ,jupiter1 after             
deliberation1 tempted him from the      
ships1 by causing ,hector to fly        
towards the city2 and the counsel of    
,achilles was now baffled as he  had    
baffled the counsels of others1 the dart
 was launched that was to  pierce his   
soul to the quick4    #gcf ,il4 xvi4    
#ic4    ,double conquest over ,achilles4
    ,thus his proud will was doomed to  
suffer4 ,the suffering is followed by   
the reconciliation1 and by the climax of
 his glory and revenge in the  death of 
,hector4 ,how in these ,books we see him
 moving in might almost  preternatural1 
with the whole world as it were1 and all
 its forces1  in subjection to his arm6 
,but he has only passed from one excess 
of  feeling into another3 from a        
vindictive excess of feeling against    
the ,greeks1 to another vindictive      
excess of feeling against ,hector4  ,the
 mutilation and dishonour of the body of

 his slain antagonist now  become a     
second idol1 stirring the great deep of 
his passions1 and  bewildering his mind4
 ,thus1 in paying off his old debt to   
the eternal  laws1 he has already       
contracted a new one4 ,again1 then1 his 
proud  will must be taught to bow4      
,hence1 as ,mr4 ,penn has well shown1   
the  necessity of the ,twenty-fourth    
,book with its beautiful machinery#gcg4 
,achilles must surrender the darling    
object of his desire1 the wreaking  of  
his vengeance on an inanimate corpse4   
,on this occasion1 as before1  he is    
subdued3 and both times it is through   
the medium of his tender  affections4   
,but in both cases his evil             
gratification is cut short3 and  the    
authority of the providential order is  
reestablished4 ,the ,greeks  pursue     
their righteous war3 the respect which  
nature enjoins is duly  paid to the     
remains of ,hector1 and the poem closes 
with the verse which  assures us that   
this obligation was duly and peacefully 

discharged4    #gcg ,see the #8,primary 
,argument of the ,iliad1' pp4 #bda-gc4  
,with these views1 ,i find in the plot  
of the ,iliad enough of beauty1  order1 
and structure1 not merely to sustain the
 supposition of its own  unity1 but to  
bear an independent testimony1 should it
 be still needed1  to the existence of a
 personal and individual ,homer as its  
author4      ,,sect4 ,,ii4    ,the sense
 of ,beauty in ,homer2 human1 animal1   
and inanimate4    ,the idea of ,beauty1 
especially as it is connected with its  
most  signal known manifestation in the 
human form1 and again the 1 or          
corruption of that idea1 have each their
 separate course and history  in the    
religion and manners1 as well as in the 
arts1 of ,greece4 ,by the  idea of      
,beauty1 ,i mean here the conception of 
it in the human mind as  a pure and     
wonderful essence1 nearly akin to the   
,divine2 derived from  heaven1 and both 
continually and spontaneously tending to
 revert to its  source4 ,by the         

corruption of that idea1 ,i mean the    
conception of it  either mainly or      
wholly with reference to animal         
enjoyment2 sometimes  within1 and       
sometimes beyond1 the laws of ,nature4  
,in the works of ,homer1 we find the    
first of these conceptions  exceedingly 
prominent and powerful4 ,it approaches  
almost to a worship3  and yet is        
scarcely at all tainted with the second1
 scarcely presents  the smallest        
deflection from the very loftiest type4 
,in ,homer1 that  is to say1 in the     
,homeric descriptions of human          
characters and life1  we never find     
,beauty and ,vice pleasurably           
associated3 he seems to  have felt in   
the sanctuary of his mind as much at    
least as this1 if  not more2 that a     
derogation from purity involved of      
itself a descent  from the highest to a 
lower form of beauty3 and therefore he  
never  associates his highest           
descriptions of beauty with vice3       
differing  in this not only from so many

 heathen1 but even from many ,christian 
authors4    ,the ,dardanid traditions4  
,but yet it is most remarkable that1    
even in ,homer's time1 the level  of    
popular tradition on the subject of     
beauty had begun to descend1  and though
 he had escaped the taint1 yet it had   
touched his age4  ,let us1 for example1 
take that most striking series of       
traditions  in the ,dardanian royal     
family1 which are recorded in the poems 
of  ,homer4 ,that family appears to have
 had personal beauty for an almost      
entailed inheritance4 ,not only ,hector1
 ,deiphobus1 neas1 as well as  ,paris1  
possessed it1 but ,priam1 even in his   
old age and affliction1  was divinely   
beautiful as he entered the apartment of
 ,achilles2 and1  as they sat at meat1  
and he admired ,achilles1 ,achilles     
returned his  admiration#gch4    #gch   
,il4 xxiv4 #dhc1 #fca4 ,sup4 ,ilios1 p4 
#baf4    ,the line of traditions in this
 family1 to which ,i now refer1 affords 
the best illustration of the idea of    

beauty as ever striving1 by  an inner   
law1 to rise to a heavenly life4 ,there 
are four of these  traditions3 and as we
 pass from the older to the more recent1
 at  each step that we make1 we lose    
some grain of the first ethereal        
purity4 ,the earliest of them all is the
 translation1 since coarsely  and       
without ground called the rape1 of      
,ganymede3 consistently indeed  so      
called1 according to the idea of the    
fable which has prevailed in  later     
ages1 but most absurdly1 if it be       
applied to the tradition in  the shape  
in which it stands with ,homer4 ,with   
him the tale of ,ganymede  is the most  
simple and perfect assertion of the     
principle that beauty1  heavenly in its 
origin1 is heavenly also in its destiny2
 and that  the heaven-born and          
heaven-bound should contract no taint   
upon its  intermediate passage4 ,there  
were three sons1 says ,homer1 born to   
,tros2  ,ilus was one1 ,assaracus       
another3 and the third was ,ganymede1 a 

match  for gods4 ,ganymede1 the most    
beauteous of men1 whom1 for his beauty1 
and seemingly before he had come to     
maturity for succession1 the gods       
snatched up and made the cupbearer of   
,jupiter1 that he might dwell for  ever 
among the ,immortals#gci3    #gci ,il4  
xx4 #bcc-e4                          1 '
  4    ,the idea of sanctity1 indeed1 is
 not to be discovered here2 its traces  
can only be found among the inspired    
records2 the resemblance to the  deity  
does not reach beyond the flesh and     
mind2 yet the sum of the tale  is full  
of interest4 ,the other sons grew up1   
and became kings2 he1  that he might not
 linger1 might not suffer1 might not    
contract taint  or undergo decay on     
earth1 was taken up to that sphere1     
which is the  proper home of all things 
beautiful and good4    ,the thought is  
somewhat related to that of the         
following remarkable  lines by ,emerson3
      ,perchance not he1 but nature     
ailed2    ,the world1 and not the       

infant1 failed4    ,it was not ripe yet 
to sustain    ,a genius of so fine a    
strain1    ,who gazed upon the sun and  
moon    ,as if he came unto his own3    
,and pregnant with his grander thought1 
,brought the old order into doubt4      
,his beauty once their beauty tried2    
,they could not feed him1 and he died1  
,and wandered backward1 as in scorn1    
,to wait an on to be born4    ,far as   
the tradition of ,ganymede1 according to
 ,homer1 is below that  of ,enoch1 it is
 set by a yet wider distance above the  
later version  of the same tale4 ,thus1 
in ,euripides1 we find him the          
7,iph4 ,aul4 #ajcg73 and what is more   
sad is to find1 that  this utterly      
debased and depressed idea prevailed    
over the original and  pure one1 even to
 its extinction1 and was adopted and    
propagated by the  highest and the      
lowest poets of the ,italian            
romance#gdj4    #gdj ,for example1 we   
might quote the ,orlando ,furioso of    
,ariosto2 and  the very vulgar poet1    

,forteguerra1 in the ,ricciardetto1 vi4 
#bc3      ,il nettar beve1 e ,ganimede  
il mesce1    ,che tanto a ,giuno sua    
spiace e rincresce4      ,next in order 
to the tradition of ,ganymede comes that
 of ,tithonus1  who1 on account of his  
beauty1 was carried up1 not by the gods 
at  large1 to be as one of them1 but by 
,aurora to become her husband1 in  which
 capacity he remained in the upper      
regions#gda4 ,this is a step  downwards2
 but the next is a stride4 ,in the third
 tradition1 so far as  is known from the
 authentic works of ,homer1 neas is the 
son of ,venus  and ,anchises1 but       
without their standing in the relation  
of husband and  wife4 ,the particulars  
of the narrative are supplied in the    
early ,hymn1  which perhaps was the more
 readily ascribed to ,homer1 because it 
was  believed to embody a primitive form
 of the tradition4 ,jupiter inspired    
,venus with a passion for ,anchises1    
and1 after having arrayed herself in    
fine vestments and golden ornaments1 she

 presented herself to him as he  was    
playing the lyre in solitude on ,ida2   
when the connection was formed  that    
gave birth to neas#gdb4    #gda ,il4 xi4
 #a4 ,od4 v4 #a4    #gdb ,hymn4 ad ,ven4
 #de-hj4    ,the next fall is the       
greatest of all3 according to the later 
tradition1  ,venus1 to obtain a         
favourable judgment from ,paris 7of the 
next  generation to ,anchises71 promised
 him a wife of splendid beauty and      
divine extraction1 whom he was to obtain
 by treachery and robbery1 as  well as  
adultery2 and filled him with what      
,homer pronounces an evil  passion#gdc4 
#gdc ,il4 xxiv4 #cj4    ,the ,poet1     
indeed1 tells us nothing of this        
promise1 which appears to  imply powers 
far greater than any that the ,homeric  
,aphrodite possessed4  ,but he mentions 
the contest1 informs us that ,venus was 
the winner1  makes ,paris boast of her  
partiality1 and introduces her as       
mentioning  her own favours to          
,helen#gdd4    #gdd ,il4 iii4 #fd1 #ddj1

 #dae4    ,such was the downward course 
of all in the nature of man that        
belonged  to the moral sphere1 apart    
from the cherishing power of ,divine    
,revelation2 for the chronological order
 of these legends is also that  of their
 descent1 step by step1 from innocence  
to vice4    ,homer1 as we have already  
seen1 represents a very early and chaste
  condition of human thought4 ,we have  
now to observe how strong and  genuine1 
as well as pure1 was his appetite for   
beauty4    ,since here1 as elsewhere1 it
 is not the ,poet's usage to declare    
himself  by express statements and      
elaborate descriptions1 we must resort  
in the  usual manner to secondary       
evidence2 which1 however1 converging    
from  many different and opposite       
quarters upon a single point1 is perhaps
  more conclusive than mere statement1  
because it shows that we are not        
dealing with a simple opinion1 but with 
a sentiment1 a passion1 and a  habit1   
which penetrated through the ,poet's    

whole nature4    ,i shall notice        
,homer's sense of beauty with reference1
 first and  chiefly1 to the human       
countenance and form2 next1 with respect
 to  animals2 and thirdly1 with respect 
to inanimate objects and to             
combinations of them4    ,as regards the
 first and chief branch of this inquiry1
 we must notice  to what persons1 and in
 what degrees1 ,homer assigns beauty1   
from whom  he withholds it2 and how far 
he considers it to give a title to      
special  notice1 in cases where no other
 claim to such a distinction can be made
  good4    ,we may then observe that    
,homer does not commonly assign personal
  beauty to any human person1 who is    
morally odious4 ,in any questionable    
instance where he does so assign it1 he 
seems to follow an historical           
tradition1 or to be constrained by his  
subject4 ,he has covered  ,thersites    
with every sort of deformity2 and in the
 description of the  persons and of the 
twelve dissolute women among the fifty  

domestic  servants of ,ulysses1 there is
 barely a word that implies beauty#gde4 
#gde ,od4 xxii4 #dbd-gc4    ,melantho   
indeed1 the most conspicuous offender1  
is called in the  ,eighteenth           
,odyssey#gdf 4 ,but it seems probable1  
that he  followed a local tradition     
concerning her2 for1 if she had been    
simply  a creation of his own1 he       
certainly would not have represented her
 as  the daughter of the old and        
faithful ,dolius#gdg1 who1 with his six 
sons1 bore arms for ,ulysses4    #gdf   
,od4 xviii4 #cba-e4    #gdg ,od4 xxiv4  
#dif4    ,treatment of the beauty of    
,paris4    ,so also the beauty of ,paris
 was an inseparable incident of the     
,trojan  tale4 ,yet it is remarkable how
 little it is brought into relief4      
,where  he is called beautiful1 it is by
 way of sarcasm and reproach#gdh1       
#gdh ,il4 iii4 #ci4      1  4    ,the   
only passage1 in which his beautiful    
appearance is described at  all1 is from
 the mouth of ,venus#gdi1 to whom ,homer

 never intrusts  anything1 to be either 
said or done1 that he wishes us to      
regard with  favour4    #gdi ,ibid4     
#cia4    ,compelled1 however1 to set off
 the imposing exterior of this prince1  
if only for the purpose of heightening  
the contrast with his cowardice  in     
action1 he introduces him flourishing   
his pair of spears at the  commencement 
of the ,third ,iliad2 and what is more1 
when he again goes  forth in his newly  
burnished arms at the close of the      
,sixth1 bestows  upon him one of the    
very noblest of his similes1 that of the
 stall-kept  horse1 high fed and sleek  
in coat1 who having broken away from his
  manger rushes neighing over the       
plain#gej4    #gej ,il4 iii4 #ah4 and   
vi4 #ejf4    ,it was necessary1 in order
 to make up the true portrait of ,paris1
 that  his exterior should be thus      
splendid1 and his movements imposing2   
and  it was also a part of the subtle   
plan1 by which ,homer made use of words 
and appearances to bring up the ,trojan 

chieftains and people to some  kind of  
level with the ,greek4 ,yet there is    
something singular in the  fact that    
,homer1 who does not1 ,i think1 repeat  
his similes in any other  remarkable    
case1 reproduces the whole of this      
splendid passage in the  ,fifteenth     
,iliad for ,hector#gea4 ,there is here1 
we may rely upon it1  some peculiar     
meaning4 ,possibly he grudged the       
exclusive appropriation  of so splendid 
a passage to so despicable a person4    
,there is also  another singularity in  
his mode of proceeding4 ,the simile is  
given to  ,hector without addition1 and 
the poem proceeds    #gea ,il4 xv4 #bfc4
           ' 4    ,but where he applies 
it to ,paris1 immediately after the     
conclusion of  the noble passage he     
subjoins 7,il4 vi4 #eab471              
1 ' 1 4    ,what is the meaning of 8 ,it
 is commonly taken as equivalent to   1 
which means the ,sun4 ,i cannot but     
believe that ,homer  means by it to     
signify the cock1 called in ,greek 4    

,the   1 is used as a simile for        
,achilles2 and it would be much against 
the manner of ,homer to use the same    
simile for a ,trojan1 and that  ,trojan 
,paris4 ,whereas by the strut of the    
cock he may mean to reduce  and modify  
the effect of the noble figure of the   
stall-horse4    ,beauty of the ,greek   
chiefs and nation4    ,achilles1 who is 
not only the bravest but by far the most
 powerful man  of the host1 is also by  
far the most beautiful2 and the very    
strongest  terms are used to describe   
the impression which his appearance     
produced  on ,priam amidst the          
profoundest sorrow#geb2    #geb ,il4    
xxiv4 #fbi4                             
' 1     1      4    ,it may be doubted1 
whether any other ,poet would have      
ventured to  combine the highest and    
most delicate beauty1 with a strength   
and size  approaching the superhuman4   
,it was requisite for ,achilles1 as the 
ideal man1 not only to want no great    
human gift1 but also to have in         

unmatched degrees whatever gifts he     
possessed4 ,the beauty of ,achilles  is 
the true counterpart to the ugliness and
 deformity of ,thersites4    ,it        
appertains to the character of ,ulysses1
 who comes next to ,achilles1  that he  
too should not be wanting in any thing  
that pertains to the  excellence of     
human nature2 while completeness and    
manifoldness is  the specific character 
of his endowments1 as unparalleled      
splendour  is of those possessed by     
,achilles4 ,ulysses#gec1 therefore1 is  
also  beautiful4 ,again1 the office and 
function of ,agamemnon require him  to  
be an object capable of attracting      
admiration and reverence4 ,he1          
accordingly1 is of remarkable beauty1   
but of the kind of beauty that  has in  
it most of dignity#ged2    #gec ,od4    
xiii4 #dcj-c4    #ged ,il4 iii4 #afi4   
'     1    '  4    ,homer never         
absolutely withholds beauty from any of 
his ,greek heroes1  yet he does not     
always expressly state that they        

possessed it4 ,this  endowment is1 for  
instance1 never given to ,diomed1 but it
 is ascribed  to ,ajax in the ,eleventh 
,odyssey#gee2    #gee ,od4 xi4 #dfi4    
1  1      1 '  4    ,it is probably     
because ,diomed equals ,ajax in         
chivalry1 and very far  excels him in   
mental gifts1 that ,homer has thrown    
weight into the scale  of ,ajax by      
assigning to him expressly1 while he is 
silent about ,diomed1  the gift of a    
beautiful person4    ,as with           
individuals1 so does ,homer deal with   
masses4 ,it may be observed  that he has
 a lower class of epithets for the      
,trojans than the ,greeks1  and never   
allows them the benefit of the same     
national designations4  ,individual     
beauty in men is confined on both sides 
to the higher ranks2  but no ,trojan1   
however beautiful1 is ever honoured with
 the title  of 4 ,again1 while he never 
gives to the ,trojans as a body any     
epithet which describes them as         
possessed of beauty1 he has assigned    

several expressions of this order to the
 ,greek race4 ,such are the  epithets   
and 1 and the phrase  1 7,il4  v4 #ghg4 
viii4 #bbh47    ,beauty of ,nireus and  
others4    ,we have yet to examine how  
far ,homer makes beauty a title to      
distinguished notice on behalf of those 
who have no other claim4 ,the  passage  
in the ,catalogue1 where ,nireus is     
named#gef1 is highly curious  with      
reference to this part of the subject4  
,it is as follows3    #gef ,il4 ii4     
#fga-e4            1    1    ' 1    1   
1 '      '  1     4    ,these five lines
 form the largest of the merely personal
 descriptions  contained in the         
,catalogue4 ,yet they are given to a    
man1 of whom we are  frankly told that  
he was a poor creature1 and that he had 
but a small  following4 ,even this does 
not show the whole strength of the case4
    #a4 ,his ships were only three3 no  
other commander1 having so few1 is      
named at all4 ,the next smallest number 
is seven3 these were the vessels  of    

,philoctetes1 and they seem to be named 
on account of his peculiar  history and 
great merit4    #b4 ,this is the only   
instance1 in which the contingent       
supplied by a  single and wholly        
insignificant place is named by itself4 
#c4 ,this is also one among very few    
cases of an ordinary birth1 where  the  
mother 7,aglae7 is named as well as the 
father 7,charopos73 the  others are     
usually cases of reputed descent from   
deities or heroes4    #d4 ,the names    
given to both parents are taken from    
their personal  beauty4 ,they thus      
enhance the title of the son2 and1 as we
 cannot well  suppose them connected    
with history1 they were probably        
invented by the  ,poet for that purpose4
    #e4 ,the repetition of the name of  
,nireus thrice1 and in each case at  the
 beginning of the verse1 the most       
prominent and emphatic part of it       
according to the genius of the ,greek   
hexameter1 is plainly intentional4      
#f4 ,all this care is taken in the most 

ingenious manner to mark a man1  who did
 nothing to enable ,homer to name him in
 any other part of the  ,iliad4    ,one 
and one only key is to be found1 which  
will lay open the cause of  these       
singular provisions3 it is ,homer's     
intense love of beauty1 which  made it  
in his eyes of itself a title to        
celebrity4 ,so he determined1           
apparently1 that the paragon of form    
should be immortal2 and he has  given   
effect to his determination1 for no     
reader of the ,iliad can pass  by the   
place without remembering ,nireus4      
,in a less marked manner1 he has given a
 kindred emphasis to the case  of       
,nastes1 who wore golden ornaments1 and 
therefore was presumably of  strikingly 
handsome person4 ,with his brother      
,amphimachus he commanded  the ,carians1
 and his name is mentioned thrice 7but  
that of his brother  twice only71       
together with the fact that he wore gold
 like a girl#geg4    #geg ,il4 ii4 #hfg4
    ,there is something1 as it appears  

to me1 most tender and refined1 in  this
 mode used by ,homer of fastening       
attention through repetition of  the    
word1 which he wishes gently but firmly 
to stamp upon the memory4  ,we have     
another instance of it in ,il4 xxii4    
#abg1                           1      '
  4    ,there is yet another passage    
which affords a striking proof of what  
may be called the worship of beauty in  
,homer4 ,in the ,seventeenth  ,iliad1   
,euphorbus1 the son of ,panthoos1 falls 
by the hand of ,menelaus4  ,homer gives 
him great credit for charioteering1 the 
use of the spear1  and other            
accomplishments2 but he performs no     
other feat in the poem  than that of    
wounding in the back the disarmed1 and  
astounded1 and  heaven-deserted         
,patroclus4 ,at best1 we must call him a
 very secondary  personage4 ,though his 
personal comeliness was not defaced like
 that  of ,paris by cowardice or vice1  
still he was of the same race that in   
,italy has taken its name from ,zerbino4

 ,yet ,homer adorns his death with  a   
notice1 perhaps more conspicuous than   
any which he has attached to  the death 
of any warriors of the ,iliad1 with the 
exceptions of ,hector1  ,sarpedon1 and  
,patroclus4 ,ten of the most beautiful  
lines of the poem  are bestowed in      
lamenting him1 chiefly by an unsurpassed
 simile1 which  compares the youth to a 
tender olive shoot1 the victim1 when its
  blossoms are overcharged with         
moisture1 of a sudden hurricane4 ,the   
,poet  was moved to this tenderness by  
the remembrance of his beauty1 of his   
hair1 like the hair of the ,graces1 in  
its tresses bound with golden and       
silver clasps#geh4    #geh ,il4 xvii4   
#ej-fj4 ,compare the sympathizing       
account of the death of  the young      
bridegroom ,iphidamas 7,il4 xi4 #bda-c74
    ,beauty placed among the prime      
gifts4    ,although it is true that     
,homer eschews with respect to beauty1  
as well  as in other matters1 the       
didactic mode of conveying his          

impressions1  yet he has placed them    
distinctly on record in the answer of   
,ulysses to  ,euryalus4 ,speaking not at
 all of women1 but of men1 he places the
 gift  of personal beauty among the     
prime endowments that can be received   
from  the providence of the gods1 in a  
rank to which only two other gifts are  
admitted1 namely1 the power of thought 7
 or 71 and the power  of speech 774 ,in 
the idea of personal beauty1 conveyed   
under  the names 1 1 and 1 evidently    
included vigour and power1  for it is to
 his supposed incapacity for athletic   
exercises#gei1 that  the discourse has  
reference4 ,nor can it be said1 that    
this full and  large appreciation by    
,homer of the value of bodily           
excellence1 was  simply a worldly or a  
pagan1 as opposed to a ,christian1 view4
    #gei ,od4 viii4 #afg-gg4    ,it is  
not true1 on the one hand1 that when we 
cease to entertain  sufficiently        
elevated views of the destiny and       
prerogatives of the  soul1 our standard 

for the body rises either in proportion 
or at all4  ,nor is it true1 on the     
other1 that when we think highly of the 
soul1  we ought in consequence to think 
meanly of the body1 which is both its   
tabernacle and its helpmate4 ,in truth1 
a somewhat sickly cast seems  to have   
come over our tone of thought now for   
some generations back1  the product1    
perhaps1 in part of careless or         
emasculated teaching  in the highest    
matters1 and due also in part to the    
overcrowding of  the several functions  
of our life4 ,but ,homer distinctly     
realized to  himself what we know       
faintly or scarce at all1 though nothing
 is more  emphatically or conspicuously 
taught by our religion1 namely1 that the
  body is part and parcel of the integer
 denominated man4    ,but the quality of
 measure ran in rare proportion through 
all the  conceptions of the ,poet4      
,stature was a great element of beauty  
in the  view of the ancients for women  
as well as for men3 and their admiration

  of tallness1 even in women1 is hardly 
restrained by a limit4 ,but  ,homer1 who
 frequently touches the point1 has      
provided a limit4 ,among  the           
,lstrygonians1 the women are of enormous
 size4 ,two of the crew of  ,ulysses1   
sent forward to make inquiries1 are     
introduced to the queen4  ,they find her
 #8as big as a mountain1' and are       
disgusted at her#gfj3    #gfj ,od4 x4   
#aab4                                  '
  1  '  4    ,the large humanity of     
,homer is also manifested1 among other  
signs1 by  his sympathy with high       
qualities in the animal creation4 ,there
 is no  passage of deeper pathos in all 
his works1 not ,andromache with her     
child1 not ,priam before ,achilles1 than
 that which recounts the death  of the  
dog ,argus#gfa4 ,the words too are so   
calm and still1 they seem  to grow faint
 and fainter1 each foot of the verse    
falls as if it were  counting out the   
last respirations1 and1 in effect1 we   
witness that  last slight and scarcely  

fluttering breath1 with which life is   
yielded  up3    #gfa ,od4 xvii4 #cbg4   
'   '   1    ' ' 1  4    ,we may also   
trace the same sympathy in minor forms4 
,as1 for  instance1 where he says       
,telemachus went to the ,ithacan        
assembly not  unattended#gfb3    #gfb   
,od4 ii4 #aj4       '   1  '   1     4  
,we are certainly prepared to hear that 
some adviser1 either divine or  at the  
least human1 some friend or faithful    
servant1 was by his side3  but no--it is
 simply that some dogs went with him3   
4    ,there is no sign1 however1 that   
,homer attached the peculiar idea of    
beauty to the race of dogs in any       
remarkable degree4 ,indeed1 it is only  
in certain breeds that the dog can be   
called by comparison a beautiful        
animal4 ,what he always commends is     
their swiftness2 and ,homer's ideas  of 
beauty were nowhere more lively than in 
regard to motion4 ,but we see  the      
,poet's feeling for form much more      
characteristically displayed in  the    

case to which we shall now proceed4     
,beauty in animals1 especially horses4  
,among other inferences which the poems 
raise in respect to ,homer  himself1 it 
can hardly be doubted that he was a     
great lover of horses1  and felt their  
beauty1 partially in colour1 much more  
in form1 and in  movement most of all4  
,this was quite in keeping with the     
habits of his country and his race4     
,both the ,trojans and the ,greeks      
appear not only to have employed horses 
in such uses as war1 journeys1 races1   
and agricultural labour1 but to  have   
given attention to developing the breeds
 and points of the animal4  ,in his     
,catalogue1 ,homer1 at the close1       
invokes the ,muse to inform him  which  
were the best of the horses1 as well as 
of the heroes1 on the  ,greek side4 ,he 
constantly uses epithets both for       
,trojans and ,greeks  connected with    
their successful care and training of   
the animal3  1 1 1 4    ,he not only    
treasures the traditions connected with 

the animal1 but  treats them as a part  
of history4 ,accordingly1 when ,diomed  
desires  ,sthenelus to make sure of the 
horses of neas he carefully proceeds to 
state1 that it is because their sires   
were of the race that ,jupiter  gave to 
,tros4 ,to them ,anchises1 without the  
knowledge of their owner  ,laomedon1    
brought his own mares1 and so obtained a
 progeny of six3  of whom he kept four  
himself1 and gave two to his son neas   
7,il4 v4  #bfe-gc7 that he might take   
them to ,troy4    ,nay he goes back     
further yet3 where1 except in ,homer1   
should we find a  tradition like that of
 the mares of ,erichthonius1 fetched    
from a time  five generations before his
 subject8 ,their children had ,boreas   
for  their sire4 ,three thousand mothers
 ranged over the plains of the ,troad1  
and made their lord the wealthiest of   
men4 ,so light was their footstep1  that
 if they skimmed the sea it touched the 
tips only of the curling  foam2 and if  
they raced over the cornfield1 the ripe 

ears sustained  their tread without one 
being broken#gfc4    #gfc ,il4 xx4      
#bbj-i4    ,as to movement1 form1 and   
colour4    ,in other places ,homer      
describes with no less of sympathetic   
emotion the  vivid and fiery movements  
of the animal4 ,the most remarkable of  
all is  the noble simile of the         
stall-kept horse1 whom every reader     
seems to  see as with proud head and    
flowing mane1 when he feels his liberty1
 he  scours the boundless pastures4     
,that adaptation1 or effort at          
adaptation1 of sound to sense1 which    
with  poets in general 7always excepting
 especially ,dante and ,shakespeare17   
is a sign that they have applied their  
whole force to careful  elaboration1 is 
with ,homer only a proof of a fuller and
 deeper flow  of his sympathies3        
wherever we find it1 we may be sure that
 his whole  heart is in the passage4 ,in
 this very simile how admirable is the  
transition from the fine stationary     
verse that describes the charger's      

customary bathe1         1    to his    
rapid and easy bounding over the plain1 
when every dactyl marks  a spring#gfd2  
#gfd ,il4 vi4 #eaa4           '    4    
,for this adaptation of metre to sense  
in connection with the movement  of     
horses1 we may take another example4 ,to
 describe ,agamemnon dealing            
destruction among the routed ,trojans on
 foot1 we have a line and a half  of    
somewhat accelerated but by no means    
very rapid movement#gfe2    #gfe ,il4   
xi4 #aeh4       ' '         4    ,but   
when he comes to the ,trojan horses in  
their flight1 we have two  lines1       
dactylic to the utmost extent that the  
metre will allow1 except  in one        
half-foot2                   '      '   
1      4    ,then1 coming back to the   
dead charioteers1 he visibly slackens   
again2                                  
'      1     4    ,to exhibit           
numerically the relative distribution of
 times in these  members of the         
sentence1 we have these three very      

different proportions2      ,in the     
first1 #ac long syllables to #h short4  
,in the second1 #af long syllables to   
#bb short4      ,in the third1 #aa long 
syllables to #aj short4    ,he has      
imparted much of the same glowing       
movement to the speech1  which in the   
,nineteenth ,iliad is assigned to the   
,immortal horses of  ,achilles2 though  
the subject includes a reference to the 
death of their  master#gff4 ,in nearly  
every line1 throughout the passage1 that
 relates  to their own motion1 the      
number of dactyls is at the maximum1 and
 in  the ten lines there are eighty-six 
short syllables to sixty long ones2  a  
proportion1 which ,i doubt our finding  
elsewhere in ,homer1 except it  be among
 the similes1 to which ,homer seems in  
many cases to give a  peculiarly elastic
 prosodial movement4    #gff ,il4 xix4  
#djh-ag4    ,rhesus1 king of the        
,thracians1 who arrives at ,troy after  
the  commencement of the ,wrath1 becomes
 sufficiently distinguished for the     

central point of interest in the        
,doloneia1 by virtue chiefly of his     
horses4 ,they are the most beautiful1   
says ,dolon1 and the largest that  ,i   
have ever seen#gfg2    #gfg ,il4 x4     
#dcg4       1  '  4    ,the justice of  
this panegyric is corroborated by the   
emphatic  expression of ,nestor1 who    
pronounces them1             and their  
unparalleled excellence forms the       
subject of the speech of  the old king1 
on the return of ,ulysses and ,diomed to
 the camp#gfh4    #gfh ,il4 x4 #edd-ec4 
,it is not only1 however1 in elaborate  
pictures that ,homer shows his  feeling 
for horses1 but also1 and not less      
markedly1 in minor touches4  ,does he   
not speak with the manifest feeling of a
 skilled admirer of the  animal1 when he
 describes the pair driven by ,eumelus1 
rapid as birds1  the same in shade of   
colour1 the same in years1 the same to a
 hair's  breadth in height across their 
backs#gfi8    #gfi ,il4 ii4 #gfd4       
1  1    1 1    4    ,again1 we are met  

by the same feeling which1 in a bolder  
flight1 made  the horses of ,rhesus     
weep1 when ,pandarus falls headlong from
 the  chariot of neas1 and his arms     
rattle over him in death4 ,the horses1  
instead of plunging or starting off1    
with a finer feeling tremble by  the    
corpse#ggj2    #ggj ,il4 v4 #bie4       
4    ,we may trace the same disposition1
 under a lighter and more amusing  form1
 in what had already passed between neas
 and ,pandarus4 ,pandarus  had excused  
himself for not having brought a chariot
 and horses to  ,troy1 on account of his
 fears about finding forage for them    
where  such crowds were to be gathered  
into a small space2 at the same time    
describing1 rather boastfully1 his      
father ,lycaon's eleven carriages  with 
a pair for each4 7,il4 v4 #aib-bjc47    
neas replies by inviting him  into his  
chariot when he will see what ,trojan   
horses are like4 ,then1 he  continues1  
do you fight1 and ,i will drive2 or1 as 
you may choose1 do  you drive1 and ,i   

will fight4 ,pandarus immediately       
replies1 that neas  had better by all   
means be the driver of his own horses4  
,then again1 ,homer will have the utmost
 care taken of them2 and1 so to  speak1 
he looks to it himself4 ,when he        
describes them as unemployed1 he        
specifies their food2 those of ,achilles
 during the ,wrath stand#gga1    #gga   
,il4 ii4 #ggf4          4    ,but those 
of ,lycaon1 which had remained at home1 
were#ggb    #ggb ,il4 v4 #aif4          
4    ,to each he gives the appropriate  
provender3 to the former1 in an         
encampment1 what the grassy marsh by its
 side afforded3 to the latter1  in a    
king's palace1 the grain1 or hard food1 
of their proper home4    ,and so in the 
night-adventure of the ,tenth ,book1    
when ,ulysses drags  away the bodies of 
those ,thracians whom ,diomed has slain1
 it is to make  a clear path for the    
horses of ,rhesus which were to be      
carried off1  that they may not take    
fright from treading on corpses#ggc2    

#ggc ,il4 x4 #dhi-ic4          ' 4      
,throughout the chariot-race1 in the    
,twenty-third ,book1 we find them       
uppermost in the ,poet's mind1 though   
the drivers1 being his prime  heroes1   
are not wholly forgotten4    ,even as to
 colour1 of which ,homer's perceptions  
appear to have been  so vague1 it may be
 remarked1 that he employs it somewhat  
more freely  with reference to horses1  
than to other objects having definite   
form or  powers of locomotion4    ,but  
his liveliest conceptions of them are   
with respect to motion1  form1 and      
feelings3 and ,i suppose there is no    
poem like the ,iliad for  characteristic
 touches in respect to any of the three4
    ,beauty in inanimate nature4    ,it 
has been much debated whether the       
ancients generally1 and whether  ,homer 
in particular1 had any distinct idea of 
beauty in landscape4    ,it may be      
admitted1 even in respect to ,homer1    
that his similes1 to  which one would   
naturally look for proof1 less commonly 

refer to the  eye than to other         
faculties4 ,they commonly turn upon     
sound1 motion1  force1 or multitude3    
rarely1 in comparison1 upon colour1 or  
even upon  form2 still more rarely upon 
colour or form in such combinations as  
to  constitute what we call the         
picturesque4    ,it seems to me1 that we
 may draw the best materials of a       
demonstration  in this case from        
comparing his descriptions of the form  
of scenery  by means of the outlines of 
countries1 with his use of other        
epithets  which he employs to denote    
beauty4    ,the country of ,lacedmon was
 mountainous1 and it is hence termed by 
,homer in the ,odyssey and in the       
,catalogue1 4 7,il4 ii4 #eha1 ,od4 iv4  
#a47    ,but it is also termed by him   
7,il4 iii4 #bci71 and this1 it may  be  
observed1 in a speech of ,helen's2 to   
whom1 while she was at ,troy1  the image
 of it in memory could hardly1 perhaps1 
be agreeable from any  moral            
association4 ,we are1 therefore1 led to 

refer it to the physical  conformation  
or beauty of the district4    ,next1 we 
have pretty clear proof that in ,homer's
 mind the epithet   was one proper to   
describe beauty in the strictest sense4 
,for  he says of ,helen1 with regard to 
her daughter ,hermione#ggd3    #ggd ,od4
 iv4 #ac4                           ' 1 
1     4    #8,she had a lovely 77       
daughter1 endowed with the beauty of    
golden ,aphrodite4' ,and ,i observe but 
few passages in ,homer1 perhaps  only   
one 7,od4 xxiii4 #cjj71 when  does not  
naturally and  properly bear this sense4
 ,a sense etymologically analogous to   
our own  use of the word lovely1 which  
we employ to indicate not only beauty1  
but a high degree of it4    ,it         
therefore appears to be clear that      
,homer called ,lacedmon 1  because it   
was shaped in mountain and valley1 and  
because countries  so formed present a  
beautiful appearance to the eye1 as     
compared with  countries of other forms 
less marked4 ,it is applied to ,emathia 

7,il4  xiv4 #bbe7 and to ,scheria 7,od4 
vii4 #gi71 both mountainous2 to the city
  ,ilios1 7,il4 v4 #baj71 which stood on
 ground high and partially abrupt  near 
the roots of ,ida2 and ,i do not find it
 in any place of the poems  associated  
with flat lands4    ,the other instance 
which ,i shall cite seems to present the
 argument in  a complete form1 within   
the compass of a single line4    ,when  
describing ,ithaca in the ,odyssey1     
,telemachus says it is#gge1    #gge ,od4
 iv4 #fjf4      1    4    ,here we may  
assume that by 1 goat-feeding1 he means 
mountainous1 and even sharp and rocky2  
moreover consequently1 in  comparison1  
barren1 so that it could not be         
agreeable in the sense of  being        
profitable4 ,on the other hand1 the     
horse is an animal ill-suited  to range 
among rocks2 and by  ,homer always means
 a district or  country sufficiently    
open and plain to be suitable for       
feeding horses  in numbers4 ,now1 in    
saying that ,arran is more  than        

southern  ,lancashire1 we should leave  
no doubt upon the mind of any reader as 
to the meaning2 which must surely be    
that it offers more beauty to the  eye4 
,just such a comparison does ,homer make
 of the scenery of ,ithaca as  it was   
with what it would have been1 if the    
island had been flat4    ,i ought       
however to notice the very forced       
interpretation of ,damm1 which  is this3
  1 sc4 1 nam est patria mea2 et ad     
subintelligit      4    ,homer was      
better versed in the art of wedding     
words to thought1 than  such an         
interpretation supposes4 ,for1 according
 to it1 the thought  of ,homer was this2
 #8,though you rule over broad and open 
,argos1 my  mountainous ,ithaca is      
dearer to me1 because it is my country4'
 ,so  that he has left out the point of 
the sentence1 without the faintest      
trace to guide his reader4 ,the idea of 
the sentence1 which is prolonged        
through many verses1 turns entirely on  
the difference between an  open and a   

steep rocky country as such1 and not in 
the least on  native attachments4 ,and  
,telemachus1 who is lauding the richness
 and  fertility of ,argos1 and          
apologizing for the barrenness of       
,ithaca1  not ungracefully1 in passing1 
throws in1 by way of compensation1 the  
element of beauty1 as one possessed by  
,ithaca1 and as one which it must  miss 
if it were flat4    ,indeed1 we here    
trace the usual refinement of ,homer in 
this1 that  ,telemachus does not say1   
,true1 your ,argos is rich1 but my      
,ithaca is  picturesque3 but1 after     
commending the fertility of broad       
,argos1 he  says1 #8,in ,ithaca we have 
no broad runs#ggf1 and nothing like a   
meadow3  it will feed nothing but goats1
 yet it is more picturesque than if  it1
 a little speck of that kind1 were flat 
and open4'    #ggf ,he uses the phrase  
4 ,it is curious to find the word  runs1
 so recently re-established as the      
classical word for the large  open      
spaces of pasturage in the regions of   

,australasia4    ,the word  is less     
frequently used in ,homer than 2  but we
 have it in six places besides this4    
,there is only one of them  where it is 
capable of meaning dear1 in connection  
with the idea of  country#ggg4 ,in      
another it means enjoyable or splendid1 
being applied  to the banquet#ggh4 ,in  
the other places it is applied to a town
 on the  ,shield1 a cavern in ,ithaca   
7twice71 and the garments put upon      
,venus in  ,cyprus2 and in those four   
places it can only mean fair or         
beautiful4    #ggg ,il4 xxii4 #aba4     
#ggh ,il4 ix4 #bbh4    ,we are not1     
then1 justified in limiting ,homer's    
sense of natural beauty  to what was    
associated with utility#ggi4 ,on the    
contrary1 it appears  plainly to extend 
to beauty proper1 and even to that kind 
of beauty in  nature which we of the    
present day most love4    #ggi ,see ,mr4
 ,cope's ,essay on the ,picturesque     
among the ,greeks2  ,cambridge ,essays1 
#ahef4 p4 #abf4    ,i have dealt thus   

far with the most doubtful part of the  
question1 and  have ventured to dissent 
from ,mr4 ,ruskin1 whose authority ,i   
admit1 and  of whose superior insight1  
as well as of his extraordinary powers  
of  expression1 ,i am fully conscious4  
,germ of feeling for the picturesque4   
,mr4 ,ruskin thinks#ghj that #8,homer   
has no trace of feeling for what we     
call the picturesque'2 that ,telemachus 
apologizes for the scenery of  ,ithaca2 
and that rocks are never loved but as   
caves4 ,i think that the  expressions ,i
 have produced from the text show that  
these propositions  cannot be sustained4
 ,at the same time ,i admit that the    
feeling with  ,homer is one in the bud  
only3 as1 indeed1 until within a very   
few  generations1 it has lain           
undeveloped among ourselves4 ,homer may 
have  been the father of this sentiment 
for his nation1 as he was of so much    
besides4 ,but the plant did not grow up 
kindly among those who followed  him4   
#ghj ,ruskin's ,modern ,painters1 part  

iv4 chap4 xiii4 pp4 #ahi-ib4    ,i      
assent entirely1 on the other hand1 to  
what ,mr4 ,ruskin has said  respecting  
his sense of orderly beauty in common   
nature4 ,the garden  of ,alcinous is    
truly ,dutch in its quadrangular        
conceptions2 but it is  plain that the  
,poet means us to regard it as truly    
beautiful#gha4  ,symmetry1 serenity1    
regularity1 adopted from the forms of   
living beauty  which were before him1   
enter largely into ,homer's conceptions 
of one  form1 at least1 of inanimate    
beauty4    #gha ,od4 vii4 #aab-cb4      
,the scenery of the cave of ,calypso#ghb
 is less restrained in its cast1  than  
is the garden in ,scheria2 but even here
 ,homer introduces four  fountains1     
which compose a regular figure1 and are 
evidently meant  to supply an element of
 form which was required by the         
fashionable  standard4    #ghb ,od4 v4  
#fc-ge4    ,another element of          
landscape1 as we understand it1 is1 that
 the natural  objects which it          

represents should be in rather extensive
 combination2  and our established      
traditions would also require that the  
view of them  should be modified by the 
rendering of the atmosphere1 especially 
with  reference to the scale of         
distances4    ,it is very difficult to  
find instances of extended landscape in 
,homer4  ,but ,i think that we have at  
least one1 in the famed simile1 where he
  compares the ,trojan watchfires on the
 plain to the calm night1 which  by the 
light of moon and stars exhibits a      
breadth of prospect to the  rejoicing   
shepherd's eye4 ,here are certainly     
tranquillity and order2  but with them  
we seem also to have both extent and    
atmosphere2 to which  even bold and even
 broken outline must be added by those  
who1 like  myself1 are not prepared to  
surrender to the destroying  the        
line#ghc    #ghc ,il4 viii4 #eeg4       
'   1   4    ,upon the whole1           
considering ,homer's early date1 and the
 very late  development among the       

moderns of a taste for scenery of the   
picturesque  and romantic order1 ,i do  
not know that we are entitled even at   
first  sight to challenge him as        
inferior to any modern of analogous date
  in this province4 ,yet we may fairly  
pronounce that he is inferior to        
himself2 that is to say1 he appears to  
have a sense of beauty1 in the  region  
of inanimate nature1 certainly less keen
 in proportion than  that1 with which he
 looked upon the animated creation4     
,what is deficient in him with respect  
to landscape may however1 in all        
likelihood1 be more justly referred to  
positive than to negative causes4       
,causes adverse to a more developed     
feeling4    ,it may be questioned       
whether the disposition to appreciate   
still  nature1 especially in large and  
elaborated combinations1 may not in     
part depend upon conditions that were   
not to be found in the age of  ,homer4  
,i should say1 if the expression may be 
allowed1 that we of this  generation    

take landscape medicinally4 ,human life 
grows with the course  of ages2 and1    
especially in our age1 it has grown to  
be excited and  hurried4 ,but nature has
 a reacting tendency towards repose2    
and1 even  in the case of the grosser   
stimulants1 it seems to be their        
soothing  power which most helps to     
recommend them4 ,besides the fact1      
however1  that we have wants which the  
,greeks had not1 this subject may be    
regarded in a broader view4    ,the mind
 of ,homer and the mind of his age were 
not addicted even to  contemplation1 far
 less to introspection4 ,of ideas       
properly subjective  there are very few 
indeed to be found in the poems4 ,we    
have one such  furnished by the passage 
where he equates thought to a wing1 in a
  simile for the swift ships of the     
,phacians1         4    ,and another1   
the most remarkable that he supplies1   
when in more detail  he uses the motion 
of a thought for an illustration of the 
rapid flight  of ,juno#ghd4    #ghd ,il4

 xv4 #hj4    ,even when it became       
speculative1 the ,greek mind did not    
give a  subjective turn to its          
speculations4 ,it was probably          
,christianity  which1 by the stimulus it
 applied to the general conscience1     
first gave  mankind the introspective   
habit on a large scale2 and mixed causes
  may often render the tendency         
excessive and morbid4 ,but the tendency 
of the heroic age1 standing at its      
maximum in ,homer1 was to pour life     
outward1 nay almost to force it into    
every thing4 ,the fountain from  within 
overflowed2 and its surplus went to make
 inanimate nature  breathe4 ,the profuse
 and easy fertility of ,homer in simile 
surely of  itself demonstrates a        
wonderful observation and appreciation  
of nature2  but1 as has been remarked1  
these similes are very rarely indeed    
still  similes4 ,they delight in sound1 
in multitude1 above all in motion4  ,the
 automatic chairs of ,vulcan1 the living
 theatre of the ,shield of  ,achilles1  

that oldest mirror of our world1 the    
bounding armour of the  same hero1 what 
are all these but the proofs of that    
redundant energy  of life1 whose first  
resistless impulse it was to carry the  
vital fire  of ,prometheus into every   
object that it encountered1 and which1  
not yet  having felt the palsying touch 
of exhaustion1 lay under no necessity of
  curative provisions for repose8       
,therefore1 while admitting the defect  
of ,homer with respect to colour1 and   
admitting also that landscape 7if  we   
are to understand by it the elaborate   
combination of natural objects  reaching
 over considerable distances7 is a great
 addition to the  enjoyment and wealth  
of mankind1 ,i think the capital        
explanation of the  question raised is  
to be found1 not in the want of any     
space1 or of any  faculty1 in the mind  
of ,homer1 but in the fact that the     
space and the  faculties were all       
occupied with more active and vivifying 
functions2  that the beautiful forms in 

nature1 which we see as beautiful forms 
only1 were to him the hem of the        
garments1 as it were1 of that life  with
 which all nature teemed4 ,accordingly1 
the general rule of the  poems is1 that 
where we should be passive1 he is       
active2 that which we  think it much to 
contemplate with satisfaction1 he is    
ever at work1  with a bolder energy and 
a keener pleasure1 to vivify4 ,we deal  
with  external nature1 as it were       
unrifled2 he saw in it only the residue 
which remained to it1 after it had at   
every point thrown off its cream  in    
supernatural formations4 ,his uplifting 
and vitalizing process is  everywhere at
 work4 ,animate nature is raised even to
 divinity2 and  inanimate nature is     
borne upward into life4    ,if1 then1   
,homer sees less in the mere sensible   
forms of natural objects  than we do1 it
 probably is in a great degree because  
the genius of his  people and his own   
genius had taught him to invest them    
with a soul1  which drew up into itself 

the best of their attractions4 ,mr4     
,ruskin  most justly tells us1 with     
reference to the sea1 that he cuts off  
from the material object the sense of   
something living1 and fashions  it into 
a great abstract image of a             
sea-power#ghe4 ,yet it is not1 ,i       
think1 quite true1 that the ,poet leaves
 in the watery mass no element  of life4
 ,on the contrary1 ,i should say the key
 to his whole treatment  of external    
nature is to be found in this one       
proposition3 wheresoever  we look for   
figure1 he looks for life4 ,his waves   
7as well as his fire7  when they are    
stirred#ghf1 shout1 in the very word 77 
that  he gives to the ,assembly of      
,achans3 when they break in foam1 they  
put on the plume of the warrior's       
helmet#ghg 773 when  their lord drives  
over them1 they open wide for joy#ghh3  
and when he  strides upon the field of  
battle1 they1 too1 boil upon the shore1 
in an  irrepressible sympathy with his  
effort and emotion#ghi4    #ghe ,modern 

,painters1 part iv4 ch4 xiii4 p4 #agd4  
#ghf ,il4 xxiii4 #baf4 i4 #dhb4    #ghg 
,il4 iv4 #dbd4    #ghh    1 ,il4 xiii4  
#bi4    #ghi ,il4 xiv4 #cib4            
,,sect4 ,,iii4    ,homer's perceptions  
and use of ,number4    ,while the       
faculties of ,homer were in many        
respects both intense and  refined in   
their action1 beyond all ordinary1      
perhaps we might say  beyond all modern1
 examples1 there were other points in   
which they  bear the marks of having    
been less developed than is now common  
even  among the mass of many civilized  
nations4 ,in the power of abstraction   
and distinct introspective              
contemplation1 it is not improbable that
 he  was inferior to the generality of  
educated men in the present day4 ,in    
some other lower faculties1 he is       
probably excelled by the majority  of   
the population of this country1 nay even
 by many of the children  in its        
schools4 ,i venture to specify1 as      
examples of the last-named  proposition1

 the faculties of number1 and of colour4
 ,it may be true of  one or both of     
these1 that a certain indistinctness in 
the perception  of them is incidental   
everywhere to the early stages of       
society4 ,but  yet it is surprising to  
find it where1 as with ,homer1 it       
accompanies a  remarkable quickness and 
maturity not only of great mental       
powers1 but  of certain other           
perceptions more akin to number and     
colour1 such as  those of motion1 of    
sound1 and of form4 ,but let us proceed 
to examine1  in the first place1 the    
former of these two subjects4    ,it may
 be observed at the outset1 that        
probably none of us are aware  to how   
great an extent our aptitudes with      
respect to these matters are            
traditionary1 and dependent therefore   
not upon ourselves1 but upon  the       
acquisitions made by the human race     
before our birth1 and upon  the degree  
in which those acquisitions have        
circulated1 and have been  as it were   

filtered through and through the        
community1 so as to take  their place   
among the elementary ideas1 impressions1
 and habits of  the population4 ,for    
such parts of human knowledge1 as have  
attained  to this position1 are usually 
gained by each successive generation    
through the medium of that insensible   
training1 which begins from the  very   
earliest infancy1 and which precedes by 
a great interval all the  systematic1   
and even all the conscious1 processes of
 education4 ,nor am  ,i for one prepared
 by any means to deny that there may be 
an actual  #8traducianism' in the case3 
on the contrary1 in full consistency    
with  the teaching of experience1 we may
 believe that the acquired aptitudes  of
 one generation may become1 in a greater
 or a less degree1 the  inherited and   
inborn aptitudes of another4    ,we     
must1 therefore1 reckon upon finding a  
set of marked differences in  the       
relative degrees of advancement among   
different human faculties in  different 

stages of society1 which shall be simply
 referable to the  source now pointed   
out1 and distinct altogether from such  
variations  as are referable to other   
causes4 ,it is not difficult to admit   
this to  be true in general3 but the    
question1 whether in the case before us 
it applies to number and colour1 can of 
course only be decided by an            
examination of the ,homeric text4       
,yet1 before we enter upon this         
examination1 let us endeavour to throw  
some further light upon the general     
aspect of the proposition1 which  has   
just been laid down4    ,of all visible 
things1 colour is to our ,english eye   
the most striking4  ,of all ideas1 as   
conceived by the ,english mind1 number  
appears to be  the most rigidly         
definite1 so that we adopt it as a      
standard for  reducing all other things 
to definiteness2 as when we say that    
this  field or this house is five1 ten1 
or twenty times as large as that4  ,our 
merchants1 and even our schoolchildren1 

are good calculators4 ,so  that there is
 a sense of something strikingly        
paradoxical1 to us in  particular1 when 
we speak of ,homer as having had only   
indeterminate  ideas of these subjects4 
,conceptions of ,number not always      
definite4    ,there are however two     
practical instances1 which may be cited 
to  illustrate the position1 that number
 is not a thing to be as matter  of     
course definitely conceived in the mind4
 ,one of these is the case  of very     
young children4 ,to them the very lowest
 numbers are soon  intelligible1 but all
 beyond the lowest are not so1 and only 
present  a vague sense of multitude1    
that cannot be severed into its         
component  parts4 ,the distinctive mark 
of a clear arithmetical conception is1  
that  the mind at one and the same time 
embraces the two ideas1 first of the    
aggregate1 secondly of each one of the  
units which make it up4 ,this  double   
operation of the brain becomes more     
arduous1 as we ascend higher  in the    

scale4 ,i have heard a child1 put to    
count beads or something of  the sort1  
reckon them thus3 #8,one1 two1 three1   
four1 a hundred4' ,the  first words     
express his ideas1 the last one his     
despair4 ,up to four1  his mind could   
contain the joint ideas of unity and of 
severalty1 but  not beyond2 so he then  
passed to an expression wholly general1 
and  meant to express a sense like that 
of the word multitude4    ,but though   
the transition from number definitely   
conceived to number  without bounds is  
like launching into a sea1 yet the      
conception of  multitude itself is in   
one sense susceptible of degree4 ,we may
 have  the idea of a limited1 or of an  
unbounded1 multitude4 ,the essential    
distinction of the first is1 that it    
might possibly be counted2  the notion  
of the second is1 that it is wholly     
beyond the power of  numeration to      
overtake4 ,probably even the child1 to  
whom the word  #8hundred' expressed an  
indefinite idea1 would have been faintly

  sensible of a difference in degree    
between #8hundred' and #8million1'  and 
would have known that the latter        
expressed something larger  than the    
former4 ,the circumscribing outline of  
the idea apprehended  is loose1 but     
still there is such an outline4 ,the    
clearness of the  double conception is  
indeed effaced2 the whole only1 and not 
the whole  together with each part1 is  
contemplated by the mind2 but still     
there  is a certain clouded sense of a  
real difference in magnitude1 as        
between one such whole and another4     
,and this leads me to the second of the 
two illustrations1 to which  reference  
has been made4 ,that loss of            
definiteness in the conception of       
number1 which the child in our day      
suffers before he has counted over  his 
fingers1 the grown man suffers also1    
though at a point commonly  much higher 
in the scale4 ,what point that may be1  
depends very much  upon the particular  
habits and aptitudes of the individual4 

,a student  in a library of a thousand  
volumes1 an officer before his regiment 
of a  thousand men upon parade1 may have
 a pretty clear idea of the units as    
well as of the totals2 but when we come 
to a thousand times a thousand1  or a   
thousand times a million1 all view of   
the units1 for most men1  probably for  
every man1 is lost3 the million for the 
grown man is in  a great degree like the
 hundred for the child4 ,the numerical  
term has  now become essentially a      
symbol2 not only as every word is by its
  essence a symbol in reference to the  
idea it immediately denotes2 but1  in a 
further sense1 it is a symbol of a      
symbol1 for that idea which  it denotes1
 is itself symbolical3 it is a          
conventional representation  of a       
certain vast number of units1 far too   
great to be individually  contemplated  
and apprehended4 ,as we rise higher     
still from millions1  say for example1  
into the class of billions1 the         
vagueness increases4  ,the million is   

now become a sort of new unit1 and the  
relation of two  millions to one        
million1 is thus pretty clearly         
apprehended as being  double2 but this  
too becomes obscured as we mount1 and   
even 7for  example7 the relation of     
quantity between ten billions of        
wheat-corns1  and an hundred billions of
 the same1 is far less determinately    
conveyed  to the mind1 than the relation
 between ten wheat-corns and one4 ,at   
this  high level1 the nouns of number   
approximate to the indefinite character 
of the class of algebraic symbols called
 known quantities4    ,in proportion as 
our conception of numbers is definite1  
the idea of  them1 instead of being     
suited for an address to the            
imagination1  remains unsuited for      
poetic handling1 and thrives within the 
sphere  of the understanding only4 ,but 
when we pass beyond the scale of        
determinate into that of practically    
indeterminate amounts1 then the  use of 
numbers becomes highly poetical4 ,i     

would quote1 as a very noble  example of
 this use of number1 a verse in the     
,revelations of ,st4 ,john4  #8,and ,i  
beheld1 and ,i heard the voice of many  
angels round about the  throne1 and the 
beasts and the elders3 and the number of
 them was ten  thousand times ten       
thousand1 and thousands of              
thousands#gij4' ,as a  proof of the     
power of this fine passage1 ,i would    
observe1 that the  descent from ten     
thousand times ten thousand to thousands
 of thousands1  though it is in fact    
numerically very great1 has none of the 
chilling  effect of anticlimax1 because 
these numbers are not arithmetically    
conceived1 and the last member of the   
sentence is simply1 so to speak1  the   
trail of light which the former draws   
behind it4    #gij ,rev4 v4 #aa4    ,now
 we must keep clearly before our minds  
the idea1 that this poetical  and       
figurative use of number among the      
,greeks at least preceded what  ,i may  
call its calculative use4 ,we shall find

 in ,homer nothing that  can strictly be
 called calculation4 ,he repeatedly     
gives us what may  be termed the factors
 of a sum in multiplication2 but he     
never even  partially combines them1    
even as they are combined for example in
  ,cowper's ballad1      ,john ,gilpin's
 spouse said to her dear1      ,though  
wedded we have been    ,these twice ten 
tedious years1 yet we      ,no holiday  
have seen4    ,reference has been made  
to the convenience which we find in     
using  number as a measure of quantity1 
and as a means of comparing things  of  
every species in their own kind4 ,but we
 never meet with this use  of it in     
,homer4 ,he has not even the words      
necessary to enable him to  say1 #8,this
 house is five times as large as that4' 
,if he had the idea  to express1 he     
would say1 ,five houses1 each as large  
as that1 would  hardly be equal to this4
 ,the word  may be called an adverb of  
multiplication2 but it is never used for
 these comparisons4 ,indeed1  ,damm     

observes1 that in a large majority of   
instances it signifies an  indefinite   
number1 not a precise one4  is found    
only once1 and  in a sense wholly       
indeterminate3 the passage is#gia     4 
does not even exist4 ,ajax lifts a      
stone1 not  #8twice as large as a mortal
 of to-day could raise'1 but so large   
that  it would require two such mortals 
to raise it4 ,all ,homer's numerical    
expressions are in the most elementary  
forms2 such forms1 as are  without      
composition1 and refuse all further     
analysis4    #gia ,od4 v4 #cjf4         
,greek estimate of the discovery of     
,number4    ,his use of number appears  
to have been confined to simple         
addition3 and  it is probable that all  
the higher numbers which we find in the 
poems1  were figurative and most vaguely
 conceived4 ,if we are able to make     
good the proof of these propositions    
from the ,homeric text1 we shall  then  
be well able to understand the manner in
 which ,numeration1 or  the science of  

number1 is spoken of by the ,greeks of  
the historic age  as a marvellous       
invention4 ,it appears in schylus1 as   
among the very  greatest of the         
discoveries of ,prometheus#gib3    #gib 
sch4 ,prom4 ,v4 #dfh4 see also ,soph4   
,naupl4 ,fragm4 v4        1  1          
he goes on to add1        4    ,so that 
the use of numbers by rule was to the   
,greek mind as much a  discovery as the 
letters of the alphabet1 and is even    
described here  as a greater one3 much  
as in later times men have viewed the   
use of  logarithms1 or of the method of 
fluxions or the calculus4 ,in full      
conformity with this are the superlative
 terms1 in which ,plato speaks  of      
number4 ,number1 in fact1 seems to be   
exhibited in great part of the  ,greek  
philosophy1 as if it had actually been  
the guide of the human  mind in its     
progress towards realizing all the great
 and cardinal ideas  of order1 measure1 
proportion1 and relation4    ,up to what
 point human intelligence1 in the time  

of ,homer1 was able to  push the process
 of simple addition1 we do not precisely
 know4 ,it is  not1 however1 hastily to 
be assumed that1 in any one of his      
faculties1  ,homer was behind his age2  
and it is safer to believe that the     
poems1  even in these points1 represent 
it advantageously4 ,now1 in one place   
at least1 we have a primitive account of
 a process of addition4 ,the  passage is
 in the ,fourth ,odyssey1 where         
,menelaus relates1 how ,proteus  counted
 upon his fingers the number of his     
seals#gic4 ,that it was  a certain      
particular number is obvious1 because   
when four of them  had been killed by   
,eidothee1 their skins were put upon    
,menelaus and  his three comrades1 and  
the four ,greeks were then counted into 
the  herd1 so that the word  here       
evidently means a definite total4  ,this
 addition by ,proteus1 however1 was not 
addition in the proper  arithmetical    
sense1 and would be more properly called
 enumeration3 it  was probably effected 

simply by adding each unit singly1 in   
succession1  to the others1 with the aid
 of the fingers1 7proved through the    
word  17 but not by the aid of any scale
 or combination of units1  either       
decimal or quinal4 ,in the word  we     
have1 indeed1 the first  step towards a 
decimal scale2 but we have not even that
 in the case  of the number five1 there 
being no  or 4 ,the meaning of          
evidently is1 not that he arranged the  
numeration in fives1  but that1 by means
 of the fingers of one hand1 employed   
upon those of  the other1 he assisted   
the process of simple enumeration4      
#gic ,od4 iv4 #dab1 #dea4    ,highest   
numerals of the poems4    ,homer's      
highest numeral is 4 ,he describes the  
,myrmidons as being  #gid1 though1 if we
 assume a mean strength of about        
eighty-five  for their crews1 the force 
would but little have exceeded four     
thousand3 and at the maximum of one     
hundred and twenty for each ship1  it   
would only come to six thousand4 ,again1

 ,homer uses the expression   1 to      
denote a person of instructed and       
accomplished mind#gie4    #gid ,il4     
xxiii4 #bi4    #gie ,od4 ii4 #af4       
,next to the 1 the highest numerals     
employed in the poems are  those        
contained in the passage where the ,poet
 says that the howl of  ,mars1 on being 
wounded by ,diomed1 was as loud as the  
shout of an army  of nine thousand or   
ten thousand men#gif3    #gif ,il4 v4   
#hfj4       '          4    ,but it is  
clear that the expressions are purely   
poetical and  figurative4 ,for he never 
comes near the use of such high numbers 
elsewhere2 and yet it obviously lay in  
his path to use these1 and  higher      
numbers still1 when he was describing   
the strength of the ,greek  and ,trojan 
armies4    ,the highest ,homeric number1
 after those which have been named1 is  
found in the three thousand horses of   
,erichthonius4 ,this we must also       
consider poetical1 because it is so far 
beyond the ordinary range  of the poems1

 and in some degree likewise because of 
the obvious  unlikelihood of his having 
possessed that particular number of     
mares#gig4    #gig ,il4 xxi4 #bea4      
,only thrice1 besides the instances     
already quoted1 does ,homer use the     
fourth power of numbers2 it is in the   
case of the single thousand4 ,a         
thousand measures of wine were sent by  
,euneos as a present to ,agamemnon  and 
,menelaus4 ,a thousand watch-fires were 
kindled by the ,trojans on the  plain4  
,iphidamas1 having given an hundred oxen
 in order to obtain his  wife1 then     
promised a thousand goats and sheep out 
of his countless  herds#gih4 ,in all    
these three cases1 it is more than      
doubtful whether  the word thousand is  
not roughly and loosely used as a round 
number4  ,the combination of the        
thousand sheep and goats with the       
hundred oxen1  immediately awakens the  
recollection that even the ,homeric     
hecatomb1  though meaning etymologically
 an hundred oxen1 practically meant     

nothing of the kind1 but only what we   
should call a lot or batch of  oxen4    
,again1 it is so obviously improbable   
that the ,trojans should  in an hurried 
bivouac have lighted just a thousand    
fires1 and placed  just fifty men by    
each1 that we may take this passage as  
plainly  figurative1 and as conveying no
 more than a very rude approximation1 of
  such a kind as would be inadmissible  
where the practice of calculation  is   
familiar4 ,it is then most likely1 that 
in the remaining one of  the three      
passages1 the ,poet means only to convey
 that a large and  liberal present of   
wine was sent by ,euneus1 as the        
consideration for  his being allowed to 
trade with the army4 ,there is certainly
 more of  approximation to a definite   
use of the single thousand1 than of the 
three1 the nine1 or the ten3 but this   
difference in definiteness is  in       
reality a main point in the evidence4   
,most of all does this become  palpable1
 when we consider how strange is in     

itself the omission to  state the       
numbers of the combatants on either side
 of this great  struggle3 an omission so
 strange1 of what would be to ourselves 
a fact  of such elementary and primary  
interest1 that we can hardly account for
  it otherwise than by the admission1   
that to the ,greeks of the ,homeric  age
 the totals of the armies1 even if the  
,poet himself could have  reckoned them1
 would have been unintelligible4    #gih
 ,il4 vii4 #ega4 viii4 #efb4 xi4 #bdd4  
,among all the numbers found in ,homer1 
the highest which he appears to  use    
with a clearly determinate meaning1 is  
that of the three hundred  and sixty fat
 hogs under the care of ,eumus in       
,ithaca#gii2    #gii ,od4 xiv4 #bj4     
4    ,the reason for considering this   
number as having a pretty definite sense
  in the ,poet's mind 7quite a different
 matter1 let it be borne in mind1  from 
the question whether the circumstance is
 meant to be taken as  historical7 is1  
that it stands in evident association   

with the number  of days1 as it was     
probably then reckoned1 in the year4 ,it
 seems plain  that he meant to describe 
the whole circle of the year1 where he  
says1  that for each of the days and    
nights which ,jupiter has given1 or1 in 
his own words#hjj1    #hjj ,od4 xiv4    
#ic4              1    the greedy       
,suitors are not contented with the     
slaughter of one animal1  or even of    
two4 ,eumus then gives an account of the
 wealth of ,ulysses  in live stock1 both
 within the isle and on the mainland1   
from whence  the animals were supplied3 
and adds1 that from the ,ithacan store a
  goatherd took down daily a fat goat1  
while he himself as often sent  down a  
fat hog4 ,i have dwelt thus particularly
 on the detail of this  case1 because it
 may fairly be inferred from the        
correspondence between  the number of   
the hogs and the days of the year1 that 
for once1 at all  events1 the ,poet     
intended to speak1 though somewhat at   
random1 yet in  a degree arithmetically1

 and that of so high a number as #cfj4  
,there are other cases of lower numbers 
in different parts of the poems1  where 
it may be argued1 with varying measures 
of probability1 that  ,homer had a      
similar intention4    ,the  and numerals
 of value4    ,the word 1 without doubt1
 affords a striking proof of vagueness  
in the ideas of the heroic age with     
respect to number3 and this  vagueness  
extends1 yet apparently in varying      
degrees1 to the adjective  4 ,i have    
elsewhere#hja referred to adjectives of 
this  formation as indicative of the    
fact1 that for those generations of     
mankind oxen may be said to have        
constituted a measure of value2 and     
this fact certainly involves an aim at  
numerical exactitude4 ,it seems1        
indeed1 on general grounds far from     
improbable1 that the business of        
exchange may have been the original     
guide of our race into the art1 and     
thus into the science1 of arithmetic4   
#hja ,agor1 p4 #hb4    ,in the          

description of the ,shield of ,minerva1 
which had an hundred  golden drops or   
tassels1 we are told that each of them  
was 1  or worth an hundred oxen4 ,this  
use of the word must be regarded as     
strongly charged with figure4 ,minerva  
was arming to mingle among men  upon the
 plain of ,troy#hjb1 and it is not      
likely1 therefore1 that  the ,poet would
 represent her in dimensions utterly    
inordinate4 ,he  judiciously reserves   
this license of exaggeration without    
bounds for  scenes where he is beyond   
the sphere of relations properly human1 
as  for example1 the ,theomachy and the 
,under-world4 ,now we may venture  to   
take the ,homeric value of an ox before 
,troy at half an ounce of  gold4 ,in the
 prizes of the wrestling match1 where a 
tripod was worth  twelve oxen1 a highly 
skilled woman 7 '  7 was worth          
four#hjc4 ,two ounces of gold would be a
 low price for such a person in  almost 
any age4 ,according to this computation1
 each drop on the gis of  ,minerva would

 weigh fifty ounces3 the whole would    
weigh above #cjj lbs4  avoirdupois1 and 
if we were to assume the purely         
ornamental fringe  in a work of this    
kind to weigh one tenth part of the     
whole1 the gis  itself would weigh      
nearly a ton and a half4 ,prim facie1   
this is  susceptible of explanation in  
either of two ways3 the one1 that the   
numbers are used poetically and not     
arithmetically2 the other1 that of      
sheer intentional exaggeration in bulk4 
,the rules of the ,poet1 as they  are   
elsewhere applied1 oblige us to reject  
the latter solution1 and  consequently  
throw us back upon the former4    #hjb  
,il4 ii4 #dej4    #hjc ,il4 xxiii4 #gjc1
 #e4    ,the numerals of value4         
,again1 we are told that1 when ,diomed  
obtained the exchange of arms from      
,glaucus1 he gave a suit of copper1 and 
obtained in return a suit of  gilt#hjd2 
#hjd ,il4 vi4 #bcf4       1 ' 4    ,here
 there seems to be a mixture of the     
metaphorical and the  arithmetical use4 

,for1 on the one hand1 it is singular   
that he should  have chosen numbers     
which require the aid of a fraction to  
express  their relation to one another4 
,he could certainly not have meant to   
say  that the values of the two suits   
were precisely as #ajj3i1 or as #aa3a4  
,and yet1 on the one hand1 he could     
scarcely use the term 1  except with    
reference to the known and usual value  
of a suit of armour1  while the 1 from  
its use in other places1 must be        
suspected  of having no more than a     
merely indeterminate force4    ,with    
this fractional relation of #ajj3i1 may 
be compared the arrangement  at the     
feast in ,pylos1 where each division of 
five hundred persons  was supplied with 
nine oxen4 ,these numbers1 however1 are 
probably  less vague than in some other 
cases3 for the provision stated1 though 
large1 is not beyond what a rude plenty 
might suggest on a great public         
occasion4    ,again1 ,lycaon1 when      
captured for the second time by         

,achilles1 reminds  that hero of what he
 had fetched or been worth to him on the
 former  occasion#hje3    4 ,here we    
have a decisive proof  of the figurative
 use of number4 ,had the young prince   
been ransomed  by ,priam1 a great price1
 no doubt1 would have been given4 ,but  
,achilles  sold him into ,lemnos1      3
 and to the  ,lemnians he could hardly  
have value but as a labourer1 although  
indeed  it chanced that he was          
afterwards redeemed1 by a  of           
,priam#hjf1  at a high price4 ,we       
cannot1 then1 suppose that he had       
brought any such  return as would be    
represented by a full hundred of oxen4  
#hje ,il4 xxi4 #gi4    #hjf ,il4 xxi4   
#db4    ,the evidence thus far1 ,i      
think1 tends powerfully to support the  
hypothesis1 that there is an amount of  
vagueness in ,homer's general  use of   
numbers1 unless indeed as to very low   
ones1 which cannot be  explained        
otherwise than as metaphorical or purely
 poetical3 and that  his mind never had 

before it any of those processes1 simple
 as they are  to all who are familiar   
with them1 of multiplication1           
subtraction1 or  division4    ,i admit  
it to be possible1 that his manner of   
treating number may have  been owing to 
his determination to be intelligible1   
and to the state of  the faculties of   
his hearers1 as much as1 or even more   
than1 his own4  ,but to me the          
supposition of the infant condition even
 of his faculties  with respect to      
number1 though at first sight startling1
 approves  itself on reflection as one  
thoroughly in conformity with analogy   
and  nature4 ,indeed the experience of  
life may convince us that to this  hour 
we should be mistaken1 if we supposed   
arithmetical conceptions  to be uniform 
in different minds2 that the relations  
of number are  faintly and imperfectly  
apprehended1 except by either practised 
or else  peculiarly gifted persons2 and 
that1 in short1 there is nothing more   
mysterious than arithmetic to those who 

do not understand it4 ,as one           
illustration of this opinion1 ,i will   
cite the difficulty which most  educated
 persons1 when studying history1        
certainly feel in mastering  its        
chronology2 while to those who are apt  
at figures it is not only  acquired with
 ease1 but it even serves as the nexus  
and support of  the whole chain of      
events4    ,there were several          
occasions1 upon which it would have been
 most  natural and appropriate for      
,homer to use the faculty of            
multiplication2  yet on no one of these 
has he used it4 ,he constantly supplies 
us with  the materials of a sum1 but    
never once performs the process4        
,silence as to the numbers of the       
armies4    ,the first example in the    
,iliad is supplied by that passage of   
the  unhappy speech of ,agamemnon to the
 ,assembly in the ,second ,book1 which  
causes the fever-fit of home-sickness4  
,he compares the strength of  the ,greek
 army with that of the ,trojans2 and he 

only effects the  purpose by this feeble
 but elaborate contrivance4 #8,should   
the ,greeks  and ,trojans agree to be   
numbered respectively1 and should the   
,trojans  properly so called be placed  
one by one1 but the ,greeks in tens1 and
  every ,trojan made cupbearer to a     
,greek ten1 many of our tens would be   
without a cupbearer#hjg4' ,in the first 
place1 the fact that he calls  this     
ascertaining of comparative force       
numbering  is  remarkable2 for it would 
not have shown the numbers of either    
army2 nor  even the difference1 by which
 the ,greeks exceeded a tenfold ratio to
  the ,trojans2 but simply1 by leaving  
an unexhausted residue1 the fact  that  
they were more1 whether by much or by   
little1 than ten times as  many as the  
besieged4 ,secondly1 it seems plain     
that1 if ,homer had known  what was     
meant by multiplication1 he would have  
used the process in  this instance1 in  
lieu of the elaborate 7yet poetical7    
circumlocution  which he has adopted2   

and would have said the ,greeks were ten
 times1  or fifteen times1 or twenty    
times1 as many as the inhabitants of    
,troy4    #hjg ,il4 ii4 #abc-h4         
,after this1 ,ulysses reminds the       
,assembly of the apparition of the      
dragon they had seen at ,aulis4 ,the    
phrase    1 which he  employs1 may      
grammatically either belong to the epoch
 of the gathering  at ,aulis1 or to the 
time of the plague1 which had carried   
off a part of  the force a fortnight or 
three weeks before4 ,in whichever       
connection of  the two we place it1 it  
affords an instance of extreme          
indefiniteness  in the use of two       
adverbs which are at once expressive of 
time and  of number2 for on one         
supposition he must use them to express 
whole  years1 and on the other they must
 mean near a fortnight1 and therefore  a
 certain number of days4    ,the next   
case is remarkable4 ,it is that of the  
,catalogue4    ,the resolution1 which   
introduces it1 was not a resolution to  

number the  host2 but simply to make a  
careful division and distribution of the
 men  under their leaders1 with a view  
to a more effective responsibility1     
both of officers and men#hjh4 ,but when 
the ,poet comes to enumerate the        
divisions1 it is evidently a great      
object with him to make known the       
relative forces1 and thus the relative  
prominence and power1 of the  different 
,states of ,greece4 ,yet nothing can be 
more imperfect than the  manner in which
 the enumerating portion of his task is 
executed4 ,in the  first place1 we trace
 again the old habit of the loose and   
figurative  use of numbers4 ,for ,homer 
could hardly mean us to take literally  
all  the numbers of ships1 which he has 
stated in the ,catalogue3 since1  in    
every case where they come up to or     
exceed twenty1 they run in  complete    
decades without odd numbers2 subject to 
the single exception  of the twenty-two 
ships of ,gouneus4 ,podalirius and      
,machaon have thirty1  the ,phocians    

forty1 ,achilles fifty1 ,menelaus sixty1
 ,diomed eighty1  ,nestor ninety1       
,agamemnon an hundred3 the only full    
multiple of ten  omitted being the      
utterly intractable 4 ,but again1 he    
gives  us no effectual clue to the      
numbers of the crews4 ,each of the fifty
  ships of the ,botians had one hundred 
and twenty men1 and each of the  seven  
ships of ,philoctetes had fifty#hji4    
,thus he supplies us with the  two      
factors of the sum1 which would find the
 number of men1 in each  of these two   
cases2 but in neither case does he      
perform the sum2 and  such is the       
uniform practice throughout the poems4  
,for the ,greek force  generally1 he has
 not even given us the factors4 ,it has 
indeed been  conjectured1 that fifty may
 have been the smallest ship's company1 
and  one hundred and twenty the largest3
 but this is mere conjecture2 and  even 
if it be well founded1 still we do not  
know whether the generality  of the     
ships were about the mean1 or nearer one

 or the other of the  extremes4 ,again1 
it would appear probable from the       
,odyssey1 that these  numbers1 of fifty 
and one hundred and twenty1 are         
exclusive at least  of pilots and       
commanders1 if not also of the          
stewards#haj and the  minor             
officers#haa2 for the number mentioned  
by ,alcinous#hab is  fifty-two2 and     
although he says that all were to sit   
down to row1 the  texts when compared   
cannot but suggest1 that the number     
fifty was an  usual complement of oars1 
and that the two were the captain and   
pilot  respectively#hac4    #hjh ,il4   
ii4 #cfb-h4    #hji ,il4 ii4 #eji1 #gai4
    #haj ,il4 xix4 #dd4    #haa ,il4 ii4
 #cfb1 #e4    #hab ,od4 viii4 #ce4      
#hac ,sup4 ,agor1 p4 #ace4    ,plainly1 
there must have been very great         
inequalities in the crews  of the ,greek
 armament2 or ,homer could not have     
said1 after giving  ,agamemnon an       
hundred ships1 that he had by far the   
largest force of all  the chiefs#had2   

#had ,il4 ii4 #egg4                     
'4    ,for ,diomed and ,idomeneus have  
each eighty ships1 and ,nestor has      
ninety1  so that their numbers would    
come very near ,agamemnon's1 unless     
their  ships were smaller4 ,but to sum  
up this discussion4 ,it is evident that1
  if only we suppose the ,greeks of     
,homer's time to have had a definite    
and well developed sense of number1 the 
mention by ,homer of the amount  of     
force in the ,trojan expedition would   
have been a fact of the highest         
national interest and importance4 ,yet  
he has left us nothing1 which can  be   
said even definitely to approximate to a
 record of it1 though the  enumeration  
of the ,catalogue appears almost to     
force the subject upon  him4 ,the fair  
inferences seem to be1 that he did not  
understand the  calculative use of      
numbers at all1 or beyond some very     
limited range2  and that1 even within   
that range1 he for the most part        
employed them  poetically and           

ornamentally2 they were decorative and  
effective1 like  epithets to his song1  
but they were not statistical2 as       
expressions of  force they were no more 
than 7as it were7 tentative1 and that   
but very  rudely4    ,i am further      
confirmed in the belief of ,homer's     
indeterminate  conception of number1    
from the strange result to which the    
contrary  opinion would lead4 ,he tells 
us of the ,trojan bivouac#hae2    #hae  
,il4 viii4 #efb4      ' '            4  
,in this case he has given us again the 
factors of a sum in  multiplication1    
though not the product4 ,did he mean    
them to be taken  literally8 ,if he did1
 then it is indeed strange that1        
although he says  nothing whatever on   
the subject of number in the ,trojan    
,catalogue1  yet he has here supplied us
 with all the particulars necessary for 
estimating the ,trojan force1 while as  
to the ,greek army1 we remain  unable to
 say whether it amounted to fifty       
thousand1 or to half1 or  to twice or   

thrice that number4 ,but it is quite    
plain from the total  absence of        
specified numbers in the ,trojan        
,catalogue1 that he had no  desire1 as  
indeed he had no occasion1 to give an   
accurate account of  the ,trojan force4 
,on the other hand it appears1 from the 
details of  the ,greek ,catalogue1 that 
he did wish to describe the amount of   
the  force on that side1 as far as he   
could conceive or convey it4 ,if all    
this be so1 then nothing can show more  
clearly than the thousand ,trojan       
watch-fires1 with their fifty men at    
each1 ,homer's figurative manner of     
employing numerical aggregations4 ,if   
however we admit the figurative  use1 we
 at once find everything harmonious4 ,he
 describes the ,trojans by  the method  
of bold enhancement1 at a juncture of   
the poem where it is  his purpose to    
make them terrible to the ,greek        
imagination4    ,the instance of        
,proteus in the ,odyssey has already    
been referred to3  but one more marked  

is afforded by the description that     
,eumus gives of  the herds and flocks of
 ,ulysses4 ,this1 again1 is one of the  
instances  where the spirit and gist of 
the passage almost required that a total
  should be stated4 ,for the object is  
to give a telling account4 ,the  wealth 
of this prince1 says the ,poet1 was     
boundless2 none of the  heroes1 whether 
of ,ithaca or of the fertile continent1 
had so much2 no1  nor had any twenty of 
them4 ,then he mentions how many herds  
of cattle1  goats1 and swine1 and flocks
 of sheep there were1 but gives no      
numbers  of any of the herds1 nor any   
total3 though1 shortly before1 the poem 
had mentioned the three hundred and     
sixty fat hogs under the care of        
,eumus1 and had also given us the sows  
in the usual manner1 stating  that there
 were twelve sties with fifty in each2  
but not specifying  anywhere the total  
of six hundred which these figures yield
 when  multiplied together#haf4    #haf 
,od4 xiv4 #ac-bj4    ,again1 then the   

result of all these passages1 as well as
 of more  which might be quoted1 is1 ,i 
think1 to show that ,homer's conceptions
  of number1 and his use of number1     
especially when beyond a very low       
limit1 were so indeterminate1 that they 
may not improperly be called            
figurative4    ,hesiod's age of the     
,nymphs4    ,in support and in          
illustration of this belief with respect
 to ,homer1  ,i would once more refer to
 the curious fragment ascribed to       
,hesiod  respecting the age of the      
,nymphs with beauteous locks1 which     
begins1                4    ,in the     
,etymol4 ,magn4 #ac4 #cf1 the reading is
 2 and ,ausonius1  following this       
authority in his ,eighteenth ,idyll1    
makes the  no  less than #if years4 ,but
 the sense of  is fixed by ,homer's     
account  of ,nestor1 and otherwise1 in  
such a way as greatly to favour the     
reading 4 ,the word therefore means the 
term between birth and  the prime of    
life1 which may well be taken at thirty 

years4 ,then comes  a table as follows4 
,the age of the daw  #i ages of men4    
,the age of the stag  #d of daws  #cf of
 men4      ,the age of the crow  #c of  
stags  twelve of daws  #ajh of men4     
,the age of the palm  #i of crows  #bg  
of stags  #ajh of daws  #igb of    men4 
,the age of the ,nymph  #aj of palms    
#ij of crows  #bgj of stags     #ajhj of
 daws  #igbj of men4    ,and if the  be 
#cj years1 the age of the ,nymphs  #cj  
#igbj   #bia1fjj years4 ,but the point  
most remarkable for us is1 that while   
,hesiod1 if ,hesiod it be1 supplies us  
with the whole of the first  factors    
after the 1 for this long sum1 he does  
not actually  perform one single        
multiplication2 nor does he even define 
the 1  which is the first and most vital
 element of all4    ,he has thus given  
us at once a very pretty poetical       
invention for  expressing approximately 
the age of ,nymphs1 who are ,jove-born  
indeed1  yet are not immortal1 and a    
remarkable proof of the indefiniteness  

of  numerical conceptions1 and of total 
unacquaintance with the rules of        
arithmetic#hag4    #hag ,i subjoin the  
rest of this curious fragment2          
'              '        1   4    ,it is 
noticed by ,pliny1 7,nat4 ,hist4 vii4   
#dh47 who terms it fabulous2  but it is 
with more propriety1 ,i think1 to be    
called poetical4    ,one consequence of 
the proposition ,i have advanced with   
respect to  ,homer is1 to destroy       
altogether a supposed discrepancy       
between the  ,iliad and the ,odyssey1   
which has often been paraded as a       
reason1 among  others1 for assigning    
them to different authors4 ,it is truly 
alleged  that1 in the ,catalogue#hah1   
,crete is called 2 and that in  the     
,nineteenth ,odyssey#hai we are told of 
it1    #hah ,il4 ii4 #fdi4    #hai ,od4 
xix4 #agc4                              
'     1 1   4    ,each of these words   
appears to be interpreted as strictly1  
as it  would be if caught by an auditor 
in the accounts of some delinquent      

,joint-,stock ,company2 and thus1       
forsooth1 a diversity of authors for    
the two poems is to be made good4 ,now  
it is not a little odd1 if both  these  
poets looked at the subject with the eye
 of statisticians1 that  while each     
found a different number of cities in   
,crete1 yet each found  an even1 and    
more or less a round number4 ,but why is
  to  be more strictly interpreted than 
8 ,and again1 if we are to  construe    
statistically1 what are we to do with   
the very  word that precedes it1 namely1
 8 ,the simple fact of the              
juxtaposition of that word with the     
should surely have  sufficed to show1   
that the whole manner of speech was     
7what we now  call7 poetical4 ,so       
regarding it1 ,i venture even to say    
that the effect  of a comparison with   
the epithet in the ,catalogue is to     
establish1 not  a discrepancy in point  
of fact1 but rather a similarity in the 
measure  of figurative conception and   
expression3 so that in consequence1 as  

far  as it is worth any thing1 it rather
 tends to prove the identity1 than  the 
diversity1 of authorship between the two
 poems4    ,a second consequence1 which 
must be drawn from the foregoing        
conclusions1 is this2 that we shall do  
wrong to search the poems of  ,homer for
 any scheme of chronology4 ,the minute  
enumerations of the  ,mosaic books have 
perhaps given the tone to our ordinary  
historical  inquiries3 but1 at least    
with respect to ,homer1 it must appear  
an  erroneous course to use his         
numerical statements as literal1 when   
they are applied to time1 after we have 
had so much evidence of their  generally
 ornamental and figurative character4   
,when ,homer has occasion to define     
distance1 he does not attempt to  do it 
by a fixed measure1 but by reference    
always to human or other  action3 it is 
as far as a man can throw a spear1 7 72 
or as  far as a man's cry can be heard 7
   72 or as far1  when we come to larger
 spaces1 as we can sail within a certain

 time2 if  ,i make a good passage1 says 
,achilles#hbj1 ,i may get to ,phthia on 
the  third day3 and again1 we hear of   
the distance that a ship can perform    
within the day#hba4 ,the horses of the  
gods in ,homer clear1 at each  bound1 a 
space as large as the eye can cover     
along the surface of the  sea4 ,as he   
comes to speak of points more remote and
 less known1 he  becomes greatly more   
vague1 and says of ,egypt1 that even the
 birds do  not get back from it within  
the year#hbb3 without doubt drawing his 
idea from those birds which periodically
 migrate4    #hbj ,il4 ix4 #cfb4    #hba
     1 ,od4 iv4 #cef4    #hbb ,od4 iii4 
#cbb4 ,with this compare the ,tempest1  
,act ii4 ,sc4 #a2  where1 be it         
observed1 ,shakespeare is treating his  
subject as one of  ,dreamland4          
,ant4 ,who's the next heir of ,naples8  
,seb4                                   
,claribel4      ,ant4 ,she that is queen
 of ,tunis3 she1 that dwells            
,ten leagues beyond man's life2 she that

 from ,naples           ,can have no    
note1 unless the sun were post1         
7,the man i' th' moon 's too slow17 till
 new-born chins           ,be rough and 
razorable4      ,no scheme of           
,chronology in ,homer4    ,as with      
spaces1 so with times4 ,the year indeed 
by its revolution forms  itself into a  
natural whole1 and is thus in a manner  
self-defined4 ,so  the waxing and waning
 moon defines the month4 ,but even with 
these  well marked terms ,homer deals   
loosely2 for the birth of infants is    
promised to take place after the        
revolution of a year from the time of   
conception#hbc4    #hbc ,od4 xi4 #bdh4  
,case of the three decades of years4    
,i do not remember that he ever mentions
 a very high number of days or  of      
years1 but his use of both days and     
years1 when it does not embrace  terms  
defined by custom1 has the marks of     
being highly poetical4 ,take  for       
instance the principal and almost only  
statements of the poem1 that  can claim 

to be called chronological4 ,they are   
those which represent  the period of the
 siege as a decade of years1 preceded by
 a decade  of preparation1 and followed 
by a third decade for the vicissitudes  
of the ,return4 ,here are three terms of
 years1 all found in a ,poet1  who does 
not elsewhere deal in terms of years at 
all4 ,of history1  or what purports to  
be such1 ,homer has given us a great    
deal1 and  he has placed it in the      
exactest and clearest order4 ,but in no 
one  instance1 out of all his prior     
history1 does he found himself on any   
numerical definitions of time4          
,moreover1 these three terms of years   
are all exactly equal1 which heightens  
the unlikelihood of their being         
historical4 ,lastly1 the three terms are
 just of the number of years  required  
to make up what was1 according to all   
appearances1 the ,homeric  term of a 1  
or generation of men4    ,the passage1  
on which the proof of this last         
assertion must principally  be founded1 

is that in the ,first ,book#hbd1 which  
describes the age of  ,nestor2    #hbd  
,il4 i4 #bej-b4       '          '1     
'       1    4    ,i take the word  to  
mean here1 #8the term of thirty years1' 
but  with the necessary qualification of
 #8or thereabouts2' and for the         
following reasons3    ,nestor is        
represented in the ,iliad as the oldest 
of the ,greek  chieftains of the first  
order4 ,yet ,ulysses#hbe was elderly1 4 
,idomeneus1 again1 was older than       
,ulysses1 as is plain from the  more    
marked manner in which his advance in   
years is described4 ,he  is #hbf1 and   
not fully ablebodied1 as appears from   
his  somewhat limited share in military 
operations2 but ,nestor is evidently    
older than ,idomeneus1 as he always     
addresses the whole body with the       
authority that belongs to the most      
extended experience1 and as he  never   
takes an active part1 either in battle  
or in the games4 ,we must1  accordingly1
 suppose ,nestor to be represented as at

 this time an old  man of seventy1 or   
from that to seventy-five4    #hbe ,il4 
xxiii4 #gia4    #hbf ,il4 xiii4 #cfa4   
,now the passage implies that he was in 
the third 1 and in the  midst1 i4 e4 not
 at either extremity1 of it3 the words  
are   4 ,no lower number than thirty    
years will place ,nestor fairly  among1 
or in the midst of1 the third generation
 from his birth4 ,if1 for  example1 we  
take five and twenty years as the term1 
he would have been  not so much among   
the third as on the eve of arriving     
within the fourth  generation4 ,but     
neither can we assign to  any meaning1  
which shall  make it sensibly exceed    
thirty years4 ,for as we may say with   
confidence  that the ,nestor of the     
,iliad is over seventy1 so1 on the other
 hand1  we may fairly compute that he is
 under eighty2 inasmuch as1 though  he  
takes no part in exertions actually     
athletic1 he spares himself  nothing    
else4 ,he is found by ,agamemnon1 when  
the commander in chief  goes his rounds1

 on the field and at the head of his    
division3 he is  wakeful for the night  
council1 and he goes about awaking      
others#hbg4  ,retaining so large a share
 of bodily activity1 he is still not    
represented as possessed of strength in 
such a degree as to border upon  the    
marvellous2 he is simply1 in regard to  
corporal qualities1 what  would now be  
called a remarkably fine old gentleman4 
,but if instead of  thirty we were to   
take forty years1 then1 in order to have
 well entered  into the third term he   
must have been already much beyond      
eighty1  indeed1 probably beyond ninety1
 in the ,iliad1 and above an hundred in 
the ,odyssey2 an age1 which1 as he      
retains in that poem all his mental     
powers1 we may be quite sure ,homer did 
not mean to assign to him4 ,if1  then1  
meant any term of years1 it must1 in all
 likelihood1 have  been somewhere about 
thirty years4    #hbg ,il4 x4 #aeg4     
,homer has been careful1 in the case of 
,nestor1 to mark1 by an  appropriate    

change of expressions1 the difference   
between his age in  the two poems       
respectively4 ,in the ,iliad he is      
exercising the kingly  office among the 
third generation since his birth4 ,in   
the ,odyssey he  is said to have        
exhausted the three terms#hbh2    #hbh  
,od4 iii4 #bde4 ,the meaning may be that
 he had reigned for above  two          
generations3 but in the ,iliad no more  
is implied than that he had  lived well 
into a third4            ' 4    ,that   
lucidity and accuracy in ,homer's       
expressions1 to which we are so  often  
beholden1 may stand us yet further in   
good stead4 ,two   had passed1 not of   
men at large1 but of the men       ' 1  
of those who were bred and born with    
him1 of his  contemporaries4 ,now this  
proves that by  ,homer does not mean the
  full duration of human life1 but that 
average interval between the            
successions of men1 which general       
experience places at about thirty       
years4 ,for if ,homer had meant by  the 

whole time required for  the dying out  
of a generation1 ,nestor could not have 
outlived two  generations of            
contemporaries4 ,in this sense1 his     
contemporaries were  manifestly not two 
generations1 but one1 or little more4   
,but if the  ,poet meant the usual      
interval at which child succeeds to1 or 
rather  follows upon1 father1 the       
expression is clear2 for the meaning is1
 that  he had seen two of these terms of
 years1 or successions1 pass over  those
 who were born at the same time with    
himself4 ,and in fact this  sense of the
 term  is much closer to its etymology  
than any other4  ,we may1 then1 on the  
whole1 pretty safely assume it to be a  
term of  years1 having the number       
thirty1 so to speak1 for its pivot4 ,and
 thus  the three decades of the war     
become yet more inadmissible as         
historical  expressions1 because they   
are under the strongest suspicion of    
being  poetically employed in order to  
make up the 1 so far at least as  they  

and it can be considered to approximate 
to an actual number at all4    ,in full 
conformity with this reasoning1 it has  
been shown by ,mure1  that the events of
 the third decade1 with their times1    
instead of ten  years only1 make up     
eight years and seven months#hbi3 and he
 proceeds  in the same direction with   
the foregoing argument so far1 at least1
 as  to observe1 that the decades and   
their arrangement are conceived #8in a  
mixed spirit of hyperbole and method1'  
which commonly marks the genius  of     
heroic romance#hcj4    #hbi ,lit4       
,greece1 i4 #dfj4 ii4 #aci4    #hcj     
,ibid4 ii4 #ach4    ,that1 however1     
which enables me with great confidence  
at once to urge  ,homer's historical    
authority1 and yet to decline           
recognising him as a  chronologist at   
all1 is the fact1 that he nowhere founds
 his history at  all in chronology1 or  
in the numbering of events by years1    
more than  he numbers distances by      
miles1 but that he arranges the         

succession  of occurrences by the  or   
succession of human generations4 ,on    
these generations we must look as the   
real time-keeping organism of his       
works3 and the time with its elastic    
periods1 although indeterminate in  its 
details1 is kept by him most accurately 
and effectually as a whole2  so that his
 generations1 which are dispersedly     
recorded in various  parts of the poems1
 always tally when they meet4 ,this is  
not the place  for the proof of the     
assertion3 ,i only refer to it1 because 
it may help  to dispel the illusion apt 
to possess the mind with respect to     
,homer's  decades4 ,we1 with our        
definite numerical ideas1 may naturally 
consider  that if an author of our own  
day had said a war lasted in            
preparation1  action1 and return1 each  
ten years1 and if it was afterwards     
found  perhaps to have lasted 7say7 only
 for ten years altogether or little     
more1 such an author would have proved  
himself unworthy of belief3 he  would   

have broken faith with us4 ,but ,homer  
does not break faith with  us in using  
numbers poetically2 they belong to his  
pictorial and not  to his historical    
apparatus1 and in connection with this  
pictorial  apparatus it is that he      
constantly employs them4 ,i doubt if    
there is  any exception to be made to   
the broad assertion1 that1 unless in the
  single case of the war1 with the      
preceding and following decades1  ,homer
 never applies number to narrative4 ,and
 yet the poems are full of  independent 
narratives4 ,of all these1 very few     
indeed are left unfixed  in date2 and in
 every case the date1 when found1 is    
found1 of course  with a certain margin1
 by means of the order of generations4  
,difficulties of the literal            
interpretation4    ,now this view of    
,homer's mode of chronology will serve1 
,i think1 to  explain some difficulties 
that have heretofore led to much of     
needless  perplexity4 ,if ,i am right1  
it will follow that we must not adopt   

these decades as a guide to determine   
arithmetically the order of  events1    
because ,homer has never conceived them 
arithmetically1 but  has conceived them 
rather as we conceive millions or       
billions4 ,hence  they are more justly  
to be viewed as a drapery thrown loosely
 over  his action1 than as a rigid      
framework into which it must at all     
costs  be made to fit4 ,let us apply    
this to various cases2 and among them   
to those of ,telemachus and ,neoptolemus
 respectively4 ,ulysses left            
,telemachus a mere child1  '  #hca4 ,he 
comes back and  finds him not a full    
man1 for if he had been a full man1 he  
would have  been guilty of a rooted     
cowardice beyond excuse1 which there is 
no sign  that ,homer meant to impute to 
him2 but yet he was approaching manhood4
  ,still he is contemptuously called    
#hcb by ,antinous4 ,upon the  whole1 the
 case of ,telemachus would perhaps1     
according to the analogy  of the poems1 
best fall in with an absence of not more

 than fifteen  years1 though it does not
 absolutely exclude nineteen4 ,here     
there may  be a slight1 yet there is not
 a glaring1 discrepancy4 ,but in another
  case1 that of the number of the days  
for which ,telemachus was absent1  ,mure
 has shown how little ,homer cares to   
follow the lapse of time1 in  a case    
where it does not essentially touch the 
general order of the  poem1 with the    
precision that he observes in everything
 that he treats  historically#hcc4 ,i   
cannot treat this as a difficulty with  
respect to  the question of authorship1 
or admit it to be one3 it is his        
childlike  and indeterminate but        
poetical habit of handling numbers for  
effect1  just as a painter handles      
colour4 ,on the other hand1 in the case 
of  ,argus1 on whom dark death laid     
hold#hcd1    #hca ,od4 xii4 #aab1 #add4 
#hcb ,od4 iv4 #ffe4    #hcc ,mure1      
,hist4 ,lit4 ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #dcg4  
#hcd ,od4 xvii4 #cbg4      ' '   1    he
 precisely coincides with his own       

decades4 ,yet ,i believe he does  this  
not from any sense of the necessity of  
such coincidence1 but  because in that  
incomparable passage he had the extreme 
old age of a  dog to represent1 and to  
this the expression of the twentieth    
year  was suited4 ,when1 however1 we    
come to the case of ,neoptolemus1 we    
find this to be one extremely difficult 
of adjustment for any critic1  who would
 insist upon a merely numerical         
precision in ,homer4 ,we must  indeed   
dismiss from our minds the tales about  
the concealment of a  beardless         
,achilles at ,scyros1 under a female    
disguise2 from which he  was extracted  
by the art of ,ulysses4 ,of these       
stories ,homer knows  nothing2 though it
 seems probable that the grace and      
beauty of the  great warrior1 as he     
stands in ,homer1 may have been         
connected with1  or may have suggested1 
them4 ,but what the ,poet does represent
 is1  that ,achilles went to ,troy when 
without experience in war1 that he  was 

put under a certain tutelage of ,phnix  
his original teacher1 and  now one of   
his lieutenants1 that ,patroclus as his 
senior was desired  by ,peleus to give  
him good advice1 and that he is called  
#hce4  ,yet his son ,neoptolemus        
succeeds him in command before the close
 of  the war1 and attains to very high  
distinction4 ,it is yet more needful  to
 be observed1 that his distinction is in
 council1 as well as in  the field#hcf4 
,the age of ,achilles is1 indeed1       
presumably somewhat  raised by the fact1
 that ,phnix seems to represent himself 
as a good  deal younger than ,peleus1   
who1 he says1 treated him as a father   
might  have done#hcg4 ,and again1       
,achilles is never represented as a     
young  man in the ,iliad1 while ,diomed 
is so represented4 ,still there is a    
decided incompatibility in the          
statements as to ,achilles and his son1 
if we suppose that ,homer carried in his
 mind the effect of his three  decades1 
as determining precisely the growth of  

,neoptolemus in years  and strength2 for
 ,neoptolemus is more advanced at the   
end of the war1  than his illustrious   
father had been at its beginning4 ,mure 
has been  at the pains#hch to arrange   
all these matters which depend on the   
decades chronologically1 without1 ,i    
think1 removing the impression that     
mere chronology is considerably strained
 by them1 and that if strictly  judged1 
the narrative is1 to all appearance1    
chargeable with some few  years of      
maladjustment4 ,it seems to me more near
 the truth to consider  the three       
decades1 together making up a 1 as a    
distribution of  time which the ,poet   
adopted for its symmetry and grandeur1  
since it  represented the war as        
absorbing an age or generation of men3  
but not  to hold him bound to adjust the
 relations of all the events he narrates
  with reference to a minute regularity 
of progression1 which he seems  not to  
have taken into account1 and which his  
hearers were probably  quite incapable  

of appreciating4 ,if we wish to test his
 historical  credit1 we may try him by  
his own scheme of chronology1 namely1   
his  genealogies4 ,his legends embrace  
some seven generations4 ,the same       
characters are produced and reproduced  
in many of them2 but they are  nowhere  
presented in such a way as to be        
inconsistent with their order  of       
succession according to the ordinary    
laws of human nature4    #hce ,il4 ix4  
#dch4 and xi4 #ghc4    #hcf ,od4 xi4    
#eaj-ab4    #hcg ,il4 ix4 #dha4    #hch 
,lit4 ,greece1 ii4 #ada4    ,uses of the
 proposed interpretation4    ,the       
application of these considerations to  
the poems will assist in  explaining    
difficulties1 which it has been thought 
worth while by  learned men to raise4   
,for instance2 while we take the three  
decades of years historically1  we are  
perplexed by such questions as1 ,how it 
came about that the  ,greeks#hci never  
had been mustered till nine years had   
passed4  ,secondly1 how it was that the 

,trojans had never until then seen them 
in such force#hdj2 whereas we know that 
multitudes of the ,greek army  had      
died#hda2 and there is no sign that any 
such communication with  their native   
country took place during the course of 
the war1 as might  have sufficed to     
replenish their ranks4 ,thirdly1 why the
 ,trojans had  remained so closely shut 
within the walls1 and yet at the same   
time  the ,greeks had so seldom come    
near them1 that ,priam should not have  
learnt to know ,agamemnon and his       
compeers by sight during so long a      
period2 and this although ,achilles may 
probably have been absent1 for          
considerable intervals1 on his predatory
 expeditions4 ,fourthly1 how it  came   
about that the great number of allies   
speaking various tongues1  who had      
gathered round ,priam to assist him1    
should1 like the ,greek  army1 not have 
been marshalled at an earlier time4     
#hci ,il4 ii4 #cfj4    #hdj ,il4 ii4    
#gii4    #hda ,il4 i4 #eb4 ii4 #cjb4    

,but if we suppose the term of ten years
 to be in the main a figurative         
expression for conveying the idea of    
effort lengthened in duration1 as  well 
as extraordinary in intensity1          
difficulties like these1 which at  the  
worst are perhaps not very serious1     
either wholly vanish1 or are  reduced to
 insignificant proportions4 ,we are then
 at liberty to suppose  that1 without at
 all departing from the general truth of
 history1 ,homer  felt himself          
authorized to compress1 to expand1 or to
 group the events  of the war1 in such a
 manner as he thought best for the      
concentration  of interest1 and for the 
production of adequate poetical and     
national  effect4      ,,sect4 ,,iv4    
,homer's ,perceptions and ,use of       
,colour4    ,the subject of the ,homeric
 numbers has been discussed at          
considerable  length1 on account of its 
connection with important questions of  
history4 ,that of colours may1 even on  
its own merits1 deserve a  careful      

examination4 ,this inquiry will         
resemble1 however1 the former           
discussion in the appearance of paradox1
 which the argument may seem  to        
present4 ,next to the idea of number1   
there is none perhaps more  definite to 
the modern mind generally1 as well as in
 particular to  the ,english mind1 than 
that of colour4 ,that our own country   
has some  special aptitude in this      
respect1 we may judge from the          
comparatively  advantageous position1   
which the ,british painters have always 
held  as colourists among other         
contemporary schools4 ,nothing seems    
more  readily understood and retained by
 very young children among us1 than  the
 distinctions between the principal     
colours4 ,in regard to one point1  the  
case of numbers is here reversed4 ,there
 the idea becomes indefinite  as we     
ascend in the scale1 here it is as we   
descend4 ,colour becomes  doubtful as it
 becomes faint1 more and more clear as  
it is accumulated  and heightened4 ,but 

the facility with which we discriminate 
colour in  all its marked forms1 is     
probably the result of traditional      
aptitude1  since we seem to find1 as we 
go far backward in human history1 that  
the  faculty is less and less mature4   
,i am conscious that the subject1 which 
is now before us1 in reality  deserves a
 scientific investigation1 which ,i am  
not capable of  affording to it3 and    
also that we are1 as yet1 far from being
 able  to render the language of the    
ancients for colour into our own with   
the confidence1 which we can feel in    
almost every other department of        
interpretation4 ,my endeavours will be  
limited1 firstly1 to a collection  of   
#8realien1' or facts of the poems1 in   
the case of ,colour3 and1  secondly1 to 
pointing out what appears to be the     
basis of the ideas and  perceptions of  
,homer respecting it1 and the relation  
of that basis to  the ideas of the later
 ,greeks4    ,among the signs of the    
immaturity which ,i have mentioned1 the 

following  are found in the poems of    
,homer3    ,i4 ,the paucity of his      
colours4    ,,ii4 ,the use of the same  
word to denote not only different hues  
or tints  of the same colour1 but       
colours which1 according to us1 are     
essentially  different4    ,,iii4 ,the  
description of the same object under    
epithets of colour  fundamentally       
disagreeing one from the other4    ,,iv4
 ,the vast predominance of the most     
crude and elemental forms of  colour1   
black and white1 over every other1 and  
the decided tendency to  treat other    
colours as simply intermediate modes    
between these extremes4    ,v4 ,the     
slight use of colour in ,homer1 as      
compared with other elements  of beauty1
 for the purpose of poetic effect1 and  
its absence in certain  cases where we  
might confidently expect to find it4    
,each of these topics will deserve a    
distinct notice4    ,homeric adjectives 
of ,colour4    ,i4 ,first1 then1 with   
respect to the paucity of his colours4  

,we find1 ,i  think1 scarcely more than 
the following words which can with      
certainty  be described as adjectives of
 colour properly so called3      #a4 4  
#b4 4    #c4 4    #d4 4    #e4 4    #f4 
4    #g4 4    #h4 4    ,there are other 
words which are taken from objects that 
have colour1  and to most of which ,i   
shall hereafter refer3 but which can    
hardly1 in  consistency with the whole  
evidence from the text of ,homer1 be    
classed  as adjectives of definite      
colour4    ,now we must at once be      
struck with the poverty of the list     
which  has just been given1 upon        
comparing it with our own list of       
primary  colours1 which has been        
determined for us by ,nature1 and which 
is as  follows3      #a4 ,red4    #b4   
,orange4    #c4 ,yellow4    #d4 ,green4 
#e4 ,blue4    #f4 ,indigo4    #g4       
,violet4    ,to these we are to add--   
#h4 ,white1 the compound of all colours2
    #i4 ,black1 the negative or absence 
of them all4    ,out of these nine1     

three at least stand unrepresented4 ,for
   can mean none of them3 and  can do no
 more than double either  1 or 1 or 4   
,the most favourable presumptions  would
 perhaps arrange the ,homeric list as   
follows3      #a4 1 white4    #b4 1     
black4    #c4 1 yellow4    #d4 1 red4   
#e4 1 violet4    #f4 1 indigo4    ,and  
thus orange1 green1 and blue would      
remain without any corresponding  terms4
 ,but1 in truth1 when we examine further
 into ,homer's mode of  employing his   
adjectives of colour in detail1 we shall
 perceive that he  is by no means so    
rich as this classification would allow4
    ,the other words which will         
presently be considered1 but which have 
very slight claims indeed to be treated 
as adjectives of definite  colour1 are  
as follows3      #a4 4    #b4 4    #c4 4
    #d4 4    #e4 4    #f4 4    #g4 4    
#h4 4    #i4 4    #aj4 4    #aa4 4      
#ab4 4    #ac4 4    ,along with each of 
these adjectives1 which are the chief   
though not  quite the only ones of their

 class in ,homer1 ,i shall take the     
cognate  words1 such as verbs or        
compounds1 which may belong to them4    
,applications of them4    ,,ii4 ,let us 
now review the particular applications  
which ,homer has  made of these words   
respectively4 ,among them1 however1 it  
will not be  necessary to include  and 1
 because those epithets indicate  ideas 
which have at all times been used1 to a 
considerable extent1 by  way of         
approximation only4    #a4  is applied  
by ,homer to the following objects3     
a4 horses1   1 ,il4 ix4 #djg4    b4 hair
 of men1  1 passim3 ,achilles1 ,il4 i4  
#aig4    c4 hair of women1  1 ,il4 xi4  
#gci2 1 ,il4 v4 #ejj4    #b4  is        
evidently the same word with the ,latin 
ruber1 and with  our own #8ruddy1' as   
well as probably the ,german roth4      
,it is used by ,homer for      a4       
,copper in ,il4 ix4 #cfe4    b4 ,nectar1
 ,il4 xix4 #ch4    c4 ,wine1 ,od4 v4    
#ic4    d4 ,blood3 in 1 ,il4 x4 #dhd4   
#c4  again is the ,latin purpura1 and   

our #8purple1' as well as  our          
#8porphyry4' ,in the uses of this word  
we shall find for the first  time a     
startling amount of obvious discrepancy3
 and it will require to  be considered  
in the proper place1 whether this       
discrepancy is to be  referred to a bold
 exercise of the ,poet's art1 or to an  
undeveloped  knowledge and a            
consequently defective standard of      
colour4    ,the word  is employed as    
follows for objects of sense3    a4     
,blood1 ,il4 xvii4 #cfa4    b4 ,dark    
cloud1 ibid4 #eea4    c4 ,wave of a     
river when disturbed1 ,il4 xxi4 #cbf4   
d4 ,wave of the sea1 ,il4 i4 #dhb2 and  
the disturbed sea1 ,il4 xvi4 #cia4    e4
 ,the ball with which the ,phacian      
dancers played1 ,od4 viii4 #cgc4    f4  
,garments1 as ,il4 viii4 #bba2 ,od4 iv4 
#aae4    g4 ,carpets1 as ,od4 xxi4 #aea2
 ,il4 xxiv4 #fde4    h4 ,the rainbow1   
,il4 xvii4 #edg4    i4 ,metaphorically  
it is applied to ,death1 ,il4 v4 #hc3   
and1 as it would  appear1 to bloody     

death only4    ,further1 the verb  is   
applied      a4 to the sea darkening1   
,il4 xiv4 #af4    b4 to the mind        
brooding1 ,il4 xx4 #eea4    ,again1 the 
compound  is applied      a4 to wool1   
,od4 vi4 #ec4    b4 to garments woven of
 it1 ,od4 xiii4 #ajh4    ,in this       
epithet we have the additional idea of  
the sea introduced2 and  it literally   
means #8sea-purple4' ,but ,i postpone   
any remark with respect  to ,homer's    
particular intention in the use of the  
word1 until we come  to the epithets    
derived from 1 a violet4    ,three forms
 of colour at least seem to be          
comprehended under this group  of words2
    #a4 ,the redness of blood4    #b4   
,the purple proper1 as of the sea in    
,il4 i4 #dhb4 ,to this also  probably   
belongs the rainbow1 of whose seven     
colours three may be  said to belong to 
the family of blue3 and which is termed 
blue by  ,shakespeare4    #c4 ,the grey 
and leaden colour of a dark cloud when  
about to burst in  storm1 and of a river

 when disturbed4    ,we shall hereafter 
see reason to suppose that the word may 
also and  often mean what is tawny or   
brown4    ,of  and 4    #d4 ,the word   
is very important in this inquiry2 and  
unfortunately it is not less obscure4   
,it at once throws us back on the prior 
question1 what was 8 ,but  this question
 remains almost wholly undetermined#hdb2
 so that we must  follow1 as well as we 
can1 the ,homeric applications of the   
word itself1  together with its         
adjective and its compounds4 ,these are 
very numerous4  ,first we have the      
substantive  introduced in three places3
 in  each of which it evidently belongs 
to a combination of colours as well  as 
of substances4    #hdb ,see note at the 
end of the ,section4    a4 ,once it is  
simply4 ,the interior wall of the hall  
of  ,alcinous is covered with sheets of 
copper#hdc2 and round the top is a   or 
fringe of 4 ,od4 vii4 #hg4    #hdc      
,ibid4    b4 ,twice it is  4 ,on the    
breast-plate of ,agamemnon there  are   

twenty stripes or layers of tin1 twelve 
of gold1 and ten   4 ,il4 xi4 #bd1      
,also2    c4 ,upon his shield there were
 ten rounds of copper2 and then1        
apparently on the face of the shield    
within these1 twenty white bosses  7 7  
made of tin1 if such be the meaning of 3
 in  the centre of all1 there was one   
boss  4 ,il4 xi4 #ce4    ,passing now to
 1 we come next to three passages where 
it may  be questioned whether they      
describe colour only1 or substance only1
 or  both4    d4 ,upon the breastplate  
of ,agamemnon1 which has ten layers of  
black  1 there are on either side three 
7,il4 xi4 #bf74  ,these are compared to 
the rainbow1 which1 as we have already  
seen1 is  described elsewhere as 4    e4
 ,on the silver-plated belt of          
,agamemnon there is a  4  ,il4 xi4 #ch1 
#i4    f4 ,around the golden vineyard on
 the shield of ,achilles1 with its      
silver stakes1 there is a fence of  and 
a trench 77  described as 4 ,il4 xviii4 
#efd4    ,the other applications at once

 appear to have reference to colour     
only4    g4 ,to the eyebrows of ,jupiter
 and ,juno4 ,il4 i4 #ebh4 xv4 #ajb4     
xvii4  #bji4    h4 ,to a dark cloud of  
vapour2 but not to a storm-cloud4 ,il4  
xxiii4  #ahh4 v4 #cde4 xx4 #dah4    i4  
,to the hair of ,hector1 ,il4 xxii4     
#djb2 and to the beard of ,ulysses1     
when he is restored to beauty by        
,minerva4 ,od4 xvi4 #agf4 ,with this we 
may compare the hyacinthine hair of     
,ulysses in ,od4 vi4 #bca4    j4 ,to the
 serried masses of the ,greeks3     4   
,il4 iv4 #bha4 ,now this epithet must   
have been derived from  their arms1 and 
these would probably be composed in the 
main of two  elements1 not easy to      
combine in a common idea of colour2     
firstly1  copper1 which is ruddy2 and   
secondly1 the hides of oxen upon the    
shields and elsewhere4 ,homer never     
7except in ,il4 xiii4 #gjc1 and ,od4    
xiii4 #cb7 describes these animals by   
any epithet of colour4 ,in those  two   
passages they are  4 ,this epithet will 

be considered  presently4 ,in the       
meantime1 we may assume it as probable1 
that a dark  colour would predominate1  
and that accordingly we should so       
understand  3 but the leaning towards   
blue1 which so often characterizes  the 
epithet1 thus entirely escapes4 ,the    
word is also applied to the  ,trojan    
host1 in ,il4 xvi4 #ff4    k4 ,thetis   
puts on mourning garments for           
,patroclus1 when about to  appear to    
,achilles1 ,il4 xxiv4 #ic4              
'         '    4    ,here ,homer is     
careful to inform us that the 1 or hood 
and  mantle1 was the blackest garment   
possible2 and1 since in ,il4 iv4 #bhg we
  find that he was acquainted with      
pitch1 we need not scruple to assume    
that here he speaks literally1 and      
either means a real black1 which1       
nevertheless1 he also calls 1 or sees no
 difference between the  genuine black  
and the colour of 4    l4 ,when the wave
 of ,charybdis retires1 the shore       
appears   4 ,now the colour of sea-sand1

 when it has just been left by the      
wave1 is a dull but also rather a light 
brown4    ,we take now the compounds4   
#a4  is applied    a4 ,to ,neptune1 e4  
g4 ,il4 xv4 #agd4    b4 ,to a mare1 ,il4
 xx4 #bbd4    #b4  is applied to        
,amphitrite1 or the sea1 beating on     
rocks1 ,od4  xii4 #fj4    #c4  is used  
for the foot of a beautiful table 7,il4 
xi4 #fbh74  ,here possibly substance may
 be designated rather than colour4      
,metal at  the foot would give          
steadiness to a table4    #d4 ,we have  
and  for the prow of a ship4  ,evidently
 it is the coloured prow3 for otherwise 
the prow would be of  the same hue with 
the rest of the ship4 7,il4 xv4 #fic1 et
 alibi47 ,so  the prows of ships are    
called 1 in ,il4 ii4 #fcg1 and ,od4 ix4 
#abe4 ,now  was red earth or ochre2 and 
yet it seems that ,homer  uses  as      
equivalent to 4 ,for the first epithet  
is  applied in the ,catalogue to the    
ships led by ,ulysses2 and the second in
  ,od4 x4 #abg to the vessel in which he

 sailed4    ,the uses of this group of  
words thus appear to exhibit a degree of
  indefiniteness1 hardly reconcilable   
with the supposition that ,homer        
possessed accurate ideas of colour4     
,there is no one colour that can  cover 
them all4 ,the hood of ,thetis is       
closely akin to black2 the prow  of a   
ship to at least a dull red2 the sand is
 of russet or a lightish  brown2 the    
cloud a leaden grey2 the hair and       
eyebrows are of a deep  but not a dull  
colour2 the cornice in the hall of      
,alcinous must have  been in relief and 
contrast as compared with the copper    
wall1 and  sufficiently light or clear  
to strike the eye at a distance1 in an  
interior lighted at night only from the 
ground4 ,with perhaps this  exception1  
the word #8dark' will cover all the uses
 of 3 but dark  derives its force from a
 relation to light1 and not to colour4  
,of 1 4    #e4  in ,homer is clearly a  
word descriptive of colour3 but it as   
clearly partakes of the indefinite      

character attaching to the other  words 
of the class4    a4 ,the blood drawn by 
,pandarus from ,menelaus is compared to 
the  colour 1 used for staining ivory4  
,in this simile1 the sense leans  to    
red1 especially as the hue of ivory is  
so near to that of flesh  7,il4 iv4     
#ada74 ,it is mentioned in other places1
 probably with the same  sense1 as an   
ornamental dye4    b4 ,in ,il4 xxiii4   
#ded1 we learn that one of the horses of
 ,diomed was  1 with a round white mark 
on his forehead4 ,whether we render this
  bay or chestnut1 it is materially     
different from the red colour of  blood4
    c4  is used for blood1 ,od4 xviii4  
#if4    d4 ,as is  in ,il4 xvi4 #aei4   
e4 ,and  in ,il4 xxiii4 #gaf4 ,this word
 is also applied to a  cloak1 ,il4 x4   
#acc4    f4 ,a dragon or serpent1 borne 
by an eagle1 is 1 apparently  because   
dappled or streaked with his own blood1 
,il4 xii4 #bjj-f1 #bah-ba4    g4 ,ships 
are 1 ,od4 xi4 #abc1 and xxiii4 #bgb3   
this word is  apparently synonymous with

 4    h4 ,the serpent is   1 ,il4 ii4   
#cjh4 ,and we have the    1 ,il4 x4 #bc4
    ,on the whole1 we trace here not    
less than three senses3 that in which   
is applied to the horse1 which appears  
to be the equivalent  of 1 the more     
prevailing word3 next1 that of the tawny
 and  dull-coloured lion's hide3 then   
that of the brighter but yet deep       
colour of blood1 which is freely called 
4 ,so that   merely renders other words1
 and does not at all assist to make up  
deficiencies in the ,homeric vocabulary 
for the expression of colour4           
,considered as an epithet of colour1 the
 word 1 meaning  blood-red1 is          
inappropriate to the dragon or serpent1 
and further  serves to illustrate that  
vagueness1 of which the signs multiply  
as we  proceed4    #f4  is applied in   
,homer as follows3    a4 ,to human hair 
in connection with old age1 ,il4 xxii4  
#gd et alibi4    b4 ,to the sea1 ,il4 i4
 #cej et passim4 ,it remains to inquire1
 whether  this refers to the sea1 or to 

the foam upon it4    c4 ,to iron1 ,il4  
ix4 #cff4 xx4 #bfa4 ,od4 xxi4 #c1 #ha4  
xxiv4 #afg4    d4 ,to the hide of a     
wolf1 which ,dolon put on for his       
nocturnal  expedition1 ,il4 x4 #ccd4    
,the meaning of the word here appears to
 be not  #8gray' but #8white4' ,it is   
,homer's evident intention to exhibit   
,dolon as  a sort of simpleton#hdd 7x4  
#caf1 #ag72 and accordingly he takes a  
white  covering1 which makes him visible
 to the eye by night1 so that ,ulysses  
saw him 71 #cci74    #hdd ,the          
celebrated ,hunter noticed that ,homer  
had made ,dolon an  only son with five  
sisters1 as a proof of the ,poet's      
sagacity in  observation3 having himself
 found1 that youths under such          
circumstances  are generally more or    
less effeminate4 ,i owe this information
 to one of  the most distinguished      
living members of the profession1 which 
,hunter  himself adorned4 ,it was also a
 favourite remark1 ,i believe1 with ,mr4
  ,rogers4    ,the last1 then1 of these 

four uses is white4 ,the first clearly  
inclines to the same idea4 ,the second  
might bear either of two senses4  ,but  
iron cannot be brought nearer to white1 
even if we assume it to  be always      
polished1 than a bluish grey2 which1 in 
truth1 is somewhat  distant from white4 
,it will1 moreover1 be seen1 that ,homer
 also  describes iron as 1 and as 4     
,the quasi-adjectives of colour4    ,i  
now come to the class of words1 in      
dealing with which it will be  shown    
that they have not in general even the  
pretensions of those that  have preceded
 to be treated as adjectives of definite
 colour4    #g4  is used in ,homer1     
a4 ,chiefly in a metaphorical sense1 as 
directly descriptive of fear4    b4 ,for
 the paleness of the face derived from  
fear1 as in    1 ,il4 x4 #cgf and xv4   
#d4 ,this use discloses to us the basis 
of the  last-named metaphor4    c4 ,for 
twigs1 apparently when fresh-pulled by  
,eumus to make a bed  for ,ulysses1 who 
was an unexpected guest2 ,od4 xvi4 #dg4 

d4 ,for honey1 ,il4 xi4 #fcj3 where it  
must mean either pale1 or fresh4    e4  
,for the olive-wood club of the ,cyclops
 in ,od4 ix4 #cbj1 #cgi4 ,here1  for the
 first time1 we find the word applied to
 an object that might  perhaps be called
 green4 ,but still there are two        
observations to be  made4 ,first1 even  
the leaf of the olive is rather grey    
than green3  and this is the bark1 not  
the leaf1 which is yet more grey1 and   
yet  less green4 ,secondly1 the         
governing idea is not the greenness1 but
 the  newness3 for ,ulysses says that he
 heated it in the ashes until it was    
about to take fire1   2 although freshly
 cut1 and still  seething with the sap4 
f4 ,the derivative  is applied to the   
nightingale in ,od4 xix4  #eah1 as a    
lover of the woods3 and here the idea of
 greenness seems to  be rather less     
faintly indicated4    ,upon the whole1  
then1  indicates rather the absence than
 the  presence of definite colour1      
although it is derived from 1 meaning   

young herbage4 ,if regarded as an       
epithet of colour1 it involves at  once 
an hopeless contradiction between the   
colour of honey on the one  side1 and   
greenness on the other4 ,again1 the more
 we assume it to mean  green1 the more  
startling it becomes that it could have 
taken paleness1  as is manifestly the   
case1 for its governing idea4 ,next to  
paleness1  it serves chiefly for        
freshness1 i4 e4 as opposed to what is  
stale or  withered3 a singular          
combination with the former sense4 ,the 
idea of  green we scarcely find1 unless 
once1 connected with this word in the   
poems of ,homer3 and yet it is a        
remarkable fact that there is no other  
word in the poems that can even be      
supposed to represent a colour1  which1 
not the rainbow only1 but every day     
nature1 presents so largely  to the eye4
    #h4 ,i take next the word 4 ,the    
,homeric sense of this word seems       
somewhat to resemble that of 2 although 
there is the difference  between them1  

that the derivation here is from 1 soot4
    ,this epithet is applied by ,homer1 
in sufficient conformity1 as is         
contended1 with the idea of soot1    a4 
,to the interior of the palace of       
,ulysses1 ,od4 xxii4 #bci1 and to  that 
of ,priam1 ,il4 ii4 #dae4 ,in the latter
 case the word will1 as it  appears from
 the context1 bear to be construed with 
reference to the  state of a house      
blackened by a conflagration4    b4 ,to 
the dark ash  1 which ,achilles poured  
over his  head1 ,il4 xviii4 #bc1 and    
which1 in ver4 #be1 is called  3  this  
material ,laertes also used for the same
 purpose in ,od4 xxiv4 #cae4  ,yet the  
propriety of the second of these two    
applications depends1  first1 upon the  
rather hardy supposition1 that both     
,achilles and  ,laertes had by them1 at 
the moment of their sorrow1 the remains 
of a  wood-fire2 and1 secondly1 upon the
 assumption that the word  may  mean    
fire-ashes as well as dust in general4  
,but we may doubt both of  these        

assumptions2 while1 if  means #8dust1'  
and  #8sooty1'  it becomes plain that   
this epithet is used1 like others1 with 
very  great latitude4    #i4 ,it may be 
admitted that1 at a first view1 the     
words  and   would appear to be in the  
strictest sense epithets of  colour4    
,but it still would seem that they add  
nothing to ,homer's  defective means of 
expressing it3 and not only so1 but1 in 
fact1 scanty  as is their use1 it is so 
little congruous1 that we are driven to 
suppose he must have employed these     
words in a sense not only elastic1  but 
altogether indeterminate and purely     
figurative4    1 or rosy-fingered1 has  
become1 through ,homer's example and    
authority1 a classical epithet for the  
morning4 ,it is1 however1 more  open to 
criticism than is usually the case with 
the ,homeric epithets4  ,there is       
nothing strange in personifying ,morn1  
in order to embellish  her with an      
epithet belonging to personal beauty2   
but redness1 applied  to the fingers1   

and not merely to their tips1 is more   
than equivocal in  this respect1 since  
that colour is only even admissible in  
the interior  of the hand1 which is the 
part not seen1 and therefore presumably 
the  part not intended in 4    ,there   
are certain very fugitive tints of the  
sky1 which approach to the  hue of the  
rose3 but if ,homer had the colour of   
that flower definitely  in his view1 it 
is most singular that he should never   
use it1 either  for the human form or   
otherwise1 except on this and one other 
occasion  only4    ,the nature of that  
other occasion is yet more strange4     
,hector's corpse  is anointed1 in ,il4  
xxiii4 #ahf1 with rosy oil1  4 ,it does 
not appear allowable to follow ,damm in 
rendering this as oil made  from roses3 
for we have no such thing as  in ,homer1
 except from  the olive-tree4 ,it       
therefore applies to the hue of olive   
oil3 and no  conceivable use of an      
epithet could be more conclusive to show
 an  extreme vagueness in the ,poet's   

ideas of colour1 as well as probably in 
those of his age4    #aj4 ,the violet1  
no less than the rose1 has supplied     
,homer with  epithets1 which he has used
 in such a manner as to deprive them of 
all  specific force as vehicles for the 
expression of a peculiar colour4        
,there is certainly a great temptation1 
when we find in ,homer the   1 to give  
him credit for the full meaning of this 
very  beautiful epithet1 which he uses  
thrice for the sea 7,il4 ix4 #bih1 ,od4 
v4 #ee1 xi4 #ajf71 and never in any     
other connection4 ,but when we examine  
his employment of cognate words1 it is  
obvious that he can mean little  more by
 the epithet1 than to convey a rather   
vague idea of darkness4    ,for he uses 
as an epithet for iron 7,il4 xxiii4     
#hej73 and  1 first for the wool 7,od4  
iv4 #ace7 with which ,helen is          
spinning4 ,here we might be tempted to  
presume a purple dye4 ,yet it  would be 
a somewhat strained supposition3 for    
what title have we to say  that dyeing  

was in use among the ,greeks of the     
,homeric age8 ,do we hear  of any dye   
except that of the 1 a name which tends 
to indicate  a foreign character8 ,and  
does not the introduction of the ,monian
  or ,carian woman in the simile of ,il4
 iv4 #ada1 to stain the ivory--a  most  
simple example of the art1 or scarcely  
an example at all--afford  a strong     
presumption1 that the art was foreign to
 ,greece8 ,such is  apparently the true 
inference3 but1 if it be the true one1  
then we at  once lose the specific force
 of purple for all the mantles1 carpets1
  and the like1 in the poems2 and we are
 only entitled to presume them to  have 
been woven of a dark wool4    ,this     
construction is supported by the second 
and only other passage1  in which ,homer
 has used the word 4 ,for here 7,od4 ix4
 #dbf7 he  speaks of the living sheep of
 ,polyphemus as         1   4    ,this  
passage appears evidently to apply to   
what we term black sheep1  which are    
more strictly of a dark brown4 ,so      

viewed1 it affords another  most        
striking token of the indeterminateness 
of ,homeric colours1 that  the name of  
the violet can be employed with such a  
signification4 ,and  it also seems to   
carry forward the proof that the  1  the
 1 and all other woven objects with that
 epithet annexed1 were  in reality      
either black or brown4    #aa4 ,homer   
employs the word  with evident relation 
to colour2 but  it is for two objects   
only1 viz4      a4 ,for oxen1 in ,il4   
xiii4 #gjc1 and ,od4 xiii4 #cb4      b4 
,for the sea1 without reference to any  
peculiar state of it1 in    ,il4 i4     
#cej1 et alibi4    ,there is no small   
difficulty in combining these two uses  
by reference  to the idea of a common   
colour4 ,the sea is blue1 grey1 or      
green4 ,oxen  are black1 bay1 or brown4 
,i do not refer to their lighter        
colours1  which are excluded by the     
nature of the epithet4 ,it is remarkable
 that1  among colours properly so       
called1 ,homer has none whatever1       

derived from  the name of an object1    
that are light1 unless it be in the case
 of  the rose4 ,the violet1 the unknown 
1 the 1 the 1 the  1 the 1 whatever else
 they may be1 are all dark4 ,and  to    
this class  evidently belongs4    ,wine 
is mentioned by ,homer in nearly one    
hundred and forty places3  in the       
majority of them it has an epithet3 but 
only ten times is it  described by an   
epithet of colour4 ,of these two are    
used for it1   and 2 so that he plainly 
conceived of it as dark1 but  probably  
without a determinate hue4 ,he more     
frequently calls it 3  but this word1   
which fluctuates between the ideas of   
flame and smoke1  either means tawny1 or
 else refers to light1 and not to       
colour1 and  bears the sense of         
sparkling4    ,thus then 1 like so many 
other words that we have gone through1  
vaguely indicates a dark hue1 but cannot
 be referred to any one of the  known   
principal colours4    #ab4 ,the word    
has already been disposed of in         

connection  with  and 4    #ac4  is     
applied in ,homer      a4 to horses1 as 
in ,il4 ii4 #hci2 viii4 #ahe4      b4 to
 iron1 as in ,od4 i4 #ahd4      c4 to a 
lion1 as in ,il4 x4 #bc4      d4 to     
copper utensils1 as in ,il4 ix4 #abc2   
xxiv4 #bcc4      e4 to a bull1 ,il4 xvi4
 #dhh2 and to oxen1 ,od4 xviii4 #cga4   
f4 to an eagle1 ,il4 xv4 #fij4    ,with 
this word we may take its compound 4 ,it
 is used      a4 for wine1 as we have   
seen4      b4 for copper1 ,il4 iv4 #die 
et alibi4      c4 for smoke1 ,od4 x4    
#aeb4    ,we have also the 1 men of the 
tawny or swarthy countenance1  beneath  
the ,southern sun4    ,in what manner   
are we to find a common thread upon     
which to hang the  colours of iron1     
copper1 horses1 lions1 bulls1 eagles1   
wine1 swarthy  men1 and smoke8 ,we must 
here again adopt the vague word #8dark1'
 a word  of light and not of colour1 for
 the purpose4 ,but as the idea of       
includes flame struggling with smoke1 so
 there may be a flash of light  upon the

 dark object4 1 sooty or smutty1 belongs
 to the same  group with  and 1 and need
 not1 therefore1 be separately          
discussed4    ,all the remainder of the 
words noted for examination are to be   
dealt  with in two groups1 each         
referable to a single idea3 the first   
that of  motion1 and the second that of 
light4    #ad1 #ae4 ,among adjectives of
 motion1 which have sometimes been      
improperly treated as adjectives of     
colour1 are  and 4  ,the former acquires
 an affinity to white1 because it may   
signify  an object which1 from being    
rapidly moved1 assumes in the light the 
appearance of whiteness#hde1 and along  
with it may be placed its  derivatives 1
 1 1 1 1 1  and 4 ,the latter1 as in  1 
1  1  1 seems to mean whatever from the 
same cause  appears to shift its hues4  
#hde ,see ,achis1 or ,ethnology1 p4     
#chc4    #af4 ,of those adjectives of   
light in ,homer1 which have also been   
taken  for adjectives of colour1 the    
most important is 4 ,its uses1  however1

 are only as follows3    a4  1 ,il4 xvi4
 #cd4    b4 1 the standing epithet1 and 
even a proper name1 of  ,minerva1 ,il4  
viii4 #djf4    c4 2 applied to the eye  
of a lion1 when1 reaching the height  of
 his wrath1 he makes his rush at the    
hunters1 ,il4 xx4 #agb4    ,the last of 
these passages seems effectually to fix 
the sense of the  term4 ,the word       
describes a progression4 ,the lion does 
not  enhance the colour of his eye as he
 waxes angry4 ,if1 for example1   can be
 taken as blue1 it certainly does not   
become more blue3  on the contrary1     
rage1 when kindling fire in the eye1    
rather subdues  its peculiar tint by    
flooding it with a vivid light4 ,so the 
word  seems clearly to refer to the     
brightening flash of the eye under the  
influence of passion4 ,of light and its 
movement1 as also of sound1  and of     
beautiful form1 ,homer's conceptions are
 even more distinct  and lively1 than   
those of colour are1 if not dull1 yet at
 least  indeterminate4     is derived   

from 2 and has for its root 1 to see4   
,the  meaning of bright or flashing will
 suit the sea1 as well as the epithet   
blue4 ,and it suits ,minerva far better4
 #8,blue-eyed' would be for her but  a  
tame epithet4 ,the luminous eye1 on the 
contrary1 entirely accords  with her    
character1 and belongs to a marked trait
 of those primitive  traditions1 which  
she appears to represent#hdf4    #hdf   
,see ,olympus1 sect4 ii4 p4 #ec4        
,welcker 7,griechische ,gtterlehre1  vi4
 #fc1 p4 #cjj7 treats the name  as      
immediately akin to  and  the idea of   
light4    #ag4  is applied to the lion  
in ,od4 xi4 #faa2 and it is the  proper 
name of the father of ,nireus in the    
,catalogue1 while his mother  is 4 ,from
 this latter use we see that  is not in 
,homer  an epithet of colour2 since he  
never describes the face by means of    
colour4 ,its etymology refers us to     
gladsomeness2 and this is much more     
connected1 in the ,poet's mind1 with    
light than with colour4    #ah1 #ai4    

,besides these we have      1 glossy1   
like 1 or fat2 and 1 applied          a4
 to a web1 ,il4 iii4 #abf4          b4  
to the gis1 ,il4 xvii4 #eid4          c4
 to the sea1 ,il4 xiv4 #bgc4          d4
 to the rim of the ,shield1 ,il4 xviii4 
#dhj4    ,we have also the   7,od4 viii4
 #bfe71 or twinkling of the  feet in the
 dance3 and the verb  is applied to the 
eyes of  ,venus 7,il4 iii4 #cig71 to    
arms 7,il4 xii4 #aie et alibi71 and to  
the  golden palace of ,neptune 7,il4    
xiii4 #bb74 ,the marble1 from which the 
words are derived1 was white3 but that  
signification would not suit any  of the
 uses of the words1 except the web of   
,helen4 ,the sense1 that will  suit     
them1 is one derived from the idea of   
light1 that of glittering or  sparkling4
    ,lastly3  7,il4 v4 #ggj2 ,od4 xiii4 
#ajc7 is so evidently an  atmospheric   
epithet only1 that it requires no       
detailed discussion4 ,it  is worthy of  
note1 as it indicates the idea of       
atmospheric transparency4    ,conflict  

of colours in the same object4    ,,iii4
 ,we might have attained to some nearly 
similar results1 by taking  the names of
 substantives in ,homer1 and considering
 the differences in  the epithets of    
colour by which he describes them4      
,thus1 for example1 iron is violet1     
grey1 and  or tawny4 ,there is  a       
certain opposition between the first and
 second3 a very marked one  between the 
second and third4 ,when considered as   
names of colour1 they  cannot be        
reconciled1 but they may perhaps be made
 in some degree to  harmonize by        
introducing the element of light4 ,iron 
is dark or tawny if  in the shade3 while
 under light it may appear grey4        
,again1 the dragon1 or serpent1 which is
  in ,il4 ii4 #cjh1 is  also  in ,il4   
xi4 #bf2 and is compared to the rainbow1
 which is   in ,il4 xvii4 1 being       
applied to the lion's hide in  ,il4 x4  
#bc1 is essentially of a dull colour1   
but the rainbow is as  essentially      
bright4 ,here1 again1 the only mode of  

harmonizing is by  the supposition that 
,homer really regulates the use of those
 epithets  according to light2 and thus 
the same object may be dull and bright  
in  different positions4    ,again1  is 
in composition white 773 but it is also 
1 smutty4 ,in truth it is neither3 but  
its near connection both  with light and
 with darkness will admit of its being  
referred to either4    ,great           
predominance of white and black4        
,,iv4 ,i have next to notice the vast   
predominance in ,homer of the two       
simple opposites1 white and black1 which
 may be called1 perhaps1 the  elemental 
forms of colour3 white being the        
compound of the seven  prismatic colours
 in their natural proportions1 and black
 the absence1  or simple negative1 of   
them all4    ,the adjective 1 or        
#8black1' is used1 in its different     
degrees1  cases1 and numbers1 about one 
hundred and seventy times4 ,besides     
this1  we have the verb 1 and several   
compounds from the adjective4 ,it  also 

forms a very frequent element in proper 
names4    ,the word 1 or #8white1' is   
used nearly sixty times3 its compound   
forty more1 but almost all of these as  
the stock-epithet  of ,juno1 which      
should not be taken into the account4   
,we have also  1 1 and some proper      
names4 ,but this by no means  exhausts  
,homer's means of expressing whiteness4 
,for that purpose he  also uses 1 1     
perhaps 1 and an extensive group  of    
words having  for its centre4 ,in all1  
whiteness1 or something  intended for   
it1 may perhaps be thus expressed one   
hundred times or  more4    ,now assuming
 for the moment that adjectives of      
colour1 in the prismatic  sense of the  
word1 are found in ,homer1 still it is  
remarkable how  rarely they are found1  
in comparison with whiteness and        
blackness4    ,for example3 except as a 
proper name1 and as the stock-epithet of
  ,menelaus1  is1 ,i think1 hardly found
 ten times in ,homer4  1 and its cognate
 words1 come but six times3  is an   3  

is only introduced in its compound      
twice2 yet it  is probably the best red 
in ,homer3  and  come but  thirteen     
times3  and the kindred words are found 
in all  twenty-three times2 but it has1 
,i think1 been shown that this word was 
wanting1 with ,homer1 in the ingredient 
of specific colour1 and only  implied   
what was dark1 whether brown1 crimson1  
purple1 or even black4    ,omissions to 
specify colour4    ,v4 ,it remains to   
complete this circle of evidence1 by    
adducing cases  where ,homer's omission 
to name colour1 or to describe by means 
of it1  is deserving of remark4    #a4  
,homer's similes are so rich in the use 
of all sensible imagery1  that we might 
have expected to find colour a frequent 
and prominent  ingredient in them4 ,but 
it is not so4 ,they turn chiefly1 ,i    
think1 upon  the following ideas3       
#a4 ,motion4    #b4 ,force4    #c4      
,form4    #d4 ,sound4    #e4 ,symmetry4 
#f4 ,number4    #g4 ,light and          
,darkness4    #h4 ,very rarely1 upon    

,colour4    ,in the greater part of them
 colour is not even mentioned4 ,i have  
seen  the similes of the poems reckoned 
at two hundred3 and ,i have found it    
difficult to note more than three which 
turn upon colour1 even when it  is      
vaguely conceived4    ,the first is the 
blood of ,menelaus1 compared to a       
crimson dye1 on the  cheek-piece of a   
horse1 ,il4 iv4 #ada4    ,the second1   
the meditations of ,nestor1 likened to  
the darkening of the  sea before a      
storm1 ,il4 xiv4 #af-bb4    ,thirdly1   
the cloud in which ,minerva is wrapped  
is compared to the  rainbow1 ,il4 xvii4 
#edg-eb4    ,of these the second is very
 indefinite3 the idea of the first1 as  
we  have seen1 was inaccurately and     
loosely conceived3 and the third is one 
of the most striking proofs of the want 
of a close discrimination of  colours in
 ,homer4    ,yet here again we may find 
life and beauty in the passage1 if only 
we construe it of a cloud illuminated by
 the rays falling on it4  ,indeed1      

generally the element of light brings us
 back to ,homer's usual  definiteness1  
when his use of colour makes him        
obscure4    #b4 ,again1 in the numerous 
and very exact epithets by which the    
,poet has  described the form and       
appearance of different countries1 we   
scarcely  find any epithet of colour4   
,out of about sixty of these epithets in
 the  ,greek ,catalogue1 there are but  
three that refer to colour1 and these   
all mention whiteness only 71 ,il4 ii4  
#fdg1 #fef1 and 1  ibid4 #gce74    ,in  
the case of the horse4    #c4 ,it is    
most singular that1 though ,homer so    
loved the horse that he  is never weary 
of using him with his whole heart for   
the purposes of  poetry1 yet in all his 
animated and beautiful descriptions of  
this  animal1 colour should be so little
 prominent4 ,it is said1 indeed1 that   
,homer tells us the horses of ,eumelus  
corresponded in colour 7  ,il4 ii4      
#gfe72 but what the colour was we know  
not2 and the question may  also be      

raised1 whether the epithet employed    
does not more properly  indicate        
similarity in the fineness of their     
coat4 ,perhaps the only  cases1 where   
colour is distinctly assigned to horses1
 are the following  two3    ,first1 that
 of the horses of ,rhesus4 ,there the   
colour is the negative  one of          
whiteness1 which seems1 with its        
counterpart blackness1 to have  been so 
much more present to the mind of ,homer 
than any intermediate  colour4 ,these   
horses were 7,il4 x4 #dcg7  4 ,and      
afterwards ,nestor in a noble line      
declares them like1 not to anything     
having colour1 but to the rays of the   
sun 7,il4 x4 #edg74 ,thus reappears  the
 old identification in ,homer's mind of 
light and colour4 ,there is1  however1  
another reason to which it may be       
suspected that we owe the  mention of   
colour in this instance3 namely1 that   
the whiteness is  intended to make them 
visible in the gloom1 and thus to assist
 the  capture by night4    ,the second  

case is1 that of the horse of ,diomed in
 the chariot-race4  ,here ,idomeneus    
mentions the bay or chestnut colour     
7,il4 xxiii4 #ded7  with the white mark1
 but then it is the only means of       
identifying the  master1 which is       
essential to his purpose in the speech4 
,apart from  these special reasons1     
,homer speaks indeed twice of the    of 
horses2 this1 however1 is of horses in  
the abstract4 ,nestor 7,il4 xi4  #fhj7  
mentions a set of one hundred and fifty 
mares all with colour1  that is to say1 
3 a new proof of the lax use of the     
word1 as they  would hardly be all      
alike4    ,among the four horses of     
,hector 7,il4 viii4 #ahe71 the two of   
the ,atreid  7,il4 xxiii4 #bie71 and the
 three of ,achilles 7xvi4 #dge7 we find 
only the  name ,xanthus which is clearly
 referable to colour3 and this is in    
truth  the only colour which1 besides   
white1 he ever gives to his horses4 ,for
  it is more probable that by the name  
he meant to refer to the  effect of     

light from rapidity of motion3 while  in
 ,il4 xxiii4 #dji1   and  7,il4 viii4   
#dhe7 may signify brightness or darkness
  indeed1 but neither of these is       
colour4    ,again1 in the magnificent   
simile of the   there is no  colour4    
,the three thousand horses of           
,erichthonius 7,il4 x4 #bba7 have  no   
colour4 ,the horses of ,diomed 7,il4 v4 
#beg7 have none4 ,nor have the          
heaven-born horses of ,tros1 nor those  
which ,anchises bred from them  7,il4 v4
 #bfe4 et seqq474 ,none of the teams for
 the race in ,il4 xxiii4  have colour4  
,lastly2 ,homer abounds in              
characteristic and set epithets  for    
horses1 such as 1 1 1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1 and
 others2 but none of them are  taken    
from colour4    ,yet colour is in horses
 a thing so prominent that it seems1    
wherever  they are at all               
individualized1 almost to force itself  
into the  description4 ,let us take two 
examples allied in their beauty1        
although  separated in birth by         

twenty-two hundred years4 ,the first is 
from  ,euripides1 where the ,chorus in  
,iphigenia in ,aulide describes the     
,grecian host before embarcation#hdg4   
#hdg ,eurip4 ,iph4 in ,aul4 #bac-bb4    
'     1                 1   -     1     
1  '  1          1  '      4    ,the    
second1 also eminently beautiful1 is    
from ,macaulay1 where in the  #8,battle 
of the ,lake ,regillus'1 after the      
deadly conflict of ,mamilius  and       
,herminius1 he describes what then      
happened to their steeds4      ,fast1   
fast1 with heels wild spurning1         
,the dark-grey charger fled2    ,he     
burst through ranks of fighting men1    
,he sprang o'er heaps of dead4444       
,but like a graven image      ,black    
,auster kept his place1    ,and ever    
wistfully he looked      ,into his      
master's face4    ,how                  
characteristically the element of colour
 enters into these  admirable           
descriptions4    #d4 ,it is not1        
however1 the case of the horse alone1 on

 which an  argument may be founded4     
,homer abounds with notices of other    
animals1  both domesticated and wild4   
,we have oxen1 dogs1 goats1 hogs1 and   
sheep4  ,none of his stock epithets for 
them are drawn from colour2 and we have 
seen that by his wine-coloured oxen1 and
 his violet-coloured sheep1 he1  in all 
likelihood1 means no more than dark or  
tawny4 ,his epithets for  wild animals  
are of the same character when they     
occur1 and similarly  depend on the     
scale of degrees between light and      
darkness1 not upon  colour4 ,once he    
mentions a white goose 7,od4 xv4 #afa72 
but it is borne  on high in the talons  
of an eagle1 and the object evidently is
 to  create a clear visual image4    #e4
 ,i would not lay overmuch stress on the
 fact1 that ,homer never refers  to     
colour in connection with the human     
frame1 unless as regards the  hair1     
which is either  or 3 expressions which1
 as we  shall see1 are apparent         
exceptions1 and not real ones4 ,the     

olive hue  of the ,mediterranean        
latitudes makes colour a less prominent 
element  in human beauty for a ,greek   
climate1 than it is for ours4 ,still its
  almost entire exclusion is an element 
in the case4 ,one instance that  ,i have
 noticed1 which introduces it1 adds to  
the general mass of  testimony4 ,when   
,minerva 7,od4 xvi4 #age7 restores the  
beauty of ,ulysses1  the expression is  
4 ,now this certainly does not  mean    
that his flesh became black again4 ,it  
can only signify that he  resumed the   
olive tint1 which was associated with   
personal vigour and  beauty4 ,so that   
even the  of ,homer means dark1 and is  
indefinite3  as might indeed be shown by
 many other instances4    #f4 ,lastly1  
it seems to deserve remark1 that there  
is not one single  epithet of ,iris     
taken from colour4 ,she is once1 and    
only once1   7,il4 viii4 #cih72 but this
 is in virtue of her office1 and  has no
 relation to the rainbow2 as1 indeed1   
gold with ,homer always  belongs to     

light rather than to colour4 ,all her   
other epithets1 without  exception1 are 
taken from motion only4 ,she is swift 7 
and 71  swift of foot 7 71 swift as the 
wind 771 storm-footed  7#hdh71 but from 
colour she derives no part whatever of  
her  ,homeric costume4 ,now though the  
chain of traditions which identified    
,iris with the rainbow was broken#hdi1  
yet the traces of it were not  wholly   
lost4 ,for ,homer treated the rainbow1  
physically1 as a prophet  of storm 7,il4
 xvii4 #edh73 and again1 we find that   
she was still  tempest-footed4 ,this    
epithet can only be derived from her    
original  relation to the rainbow4 ,it  
is therefore highly instructive1 that   
none  of her traits of colour should    
have been preserved4    #hdh ,il4 xviii4
 #dji4 xxiv4 #aei4    #hdi ,see         
,olympus1 sect4 ii4 p4 #aeg4    ,lastly1
 let us take the case of the sky1 or the
 heavens4 ,here ,homer  had before him  
the most perfect example of blue4 ,yet  
he never once so  describes the sky4    

,his  is starry 7,il4 i4 #cag71 or broad
 7,il4  iii4 #cfd71 or great 7,il4 i4   
#dig71 or iron 7,od4 xv4 #cbh71 or      
copper 7,od4  iii4 #b4 ,il4 xvii4 #dbe72
 but it is never blue4 ,this is an      
important  piece of negative testimony4 
,we have now before us a pretty large1  
though ,i by no means venture to        
suppose it a complete1 collection of the
 facts of the case4    ,causes of this  
peculiar treatment4    ,i submit that   
they warrant the two following          
propositions3    #a4 ,that ,homer's     
perceptions of the prismatic colours1 or
 colours of the  rainbow1 which depend  
on the decomposition of light by        
refraction1 and  a fortiori of their    
compounds1 were1 as a general rule1     
vague and  indeterminate4    #b4 ,that  
we must therefore seek another basis for
 his system of colour4    ,but a few    
words may be permitted on the cause     
which has led to his  treatment of the  
subject in a manner so different from   
that of the  moderns4    ,are we        

justified in referring it to his reputed
 blindness8    ,are we to suppose a     
defect in his organization1 or in that  
of his  countrymen8    ,or are we to    
reject altogether the idea of defect1   
and to treat his  use of colour as one  
conceived in the spirit which1 with even
 the most  perfect knowledge1 would     
properly belong to his art8    ,the mere
 tradition of ,homer's blindness is     
hardly relevant4 ,the  presumption of it
 drawn from the poems1 because they make
 ,demodocus  blind1 is inappreciably    
minute4 ,the testimony of the ,hymn to  
,apollo is  ancient#hej2 but1 as his    
blindness 7if he really was blind7      
allowed  of the most vivid conceptions  
of light1 it will not account for       
defectiveness in his conceptions of     
colour4 ,the vigorous apprehension  and 
accurate description of sensible objects
 in the poems demonstrate1  that we     
cannot seek in this hypothesis for an   
explanation of what may  be either      
singular1 crude1 or irregular4    #hej  

,hymn4 ad ,apoll4 v4 #agb4    ,neither  
can we resort to the supposition of     
anything1 that is to be  properly called
 a defect in his organization2 when we  
bear in mind  his intense feeling for   
form1 and when we observe his effective 
and  powerful handling of the ideas of  
light and dark4    ,license of ,poetry  
as to colour4    ,our answer to the     
third question must also1 ,i think1 be  
in the  negative4 ,it is true1 indeed1  
that much of merely literal discrepancy 
as to colour might be understood to     
appertain to the license of poetry4     
,there is high poetical effect in what  
may be called straining epithets  of    
colour4 ,but it seems essential to that 
effect1    7#a47 ,that the straining    
should be the exception1 and not the    
rule4    7#b47 ,that there should be a  
fixed standard of the colour itself1 so 
that the departures from it may be      
measured4 ,otherwise the result is  not 
license1 but confusion4 ,shakespeare    
with high effect says#hea1    #hea      

,macbeth ii4 #c4                        
,here lay ,duncan1    ,his silver skin  
laced with his golden blood4    ,here   
the idea is not that silver is of the   
same colour as skin1 nor  gold as blood2
 but that the relation of colour between
 silver and gold  may be compared with  
that between skin and blood3 the skin   
throws the  blood into relief1 as a     
ground of silver would throw out a      
projection  of gold4 ,in license of this
 kind we can always trace both a rule   
and an  aim4 ,the rule is relaxed only  
for the particular occasion4 ,the effect
  produced is that of tenderness1       
dignity1 and purity4 ,had ,shakespeare  
been describing the horrible carnage of 
a battlefield1 he probably  would have  
spoken of black or foul gore instead of 
using a brightening  figure4    ,now    
this purpose is not traceable in        
,homer's use of certain words1 if  we   
are required to treat them as adjectives
 of colour4 ,there is no  ,poet1 whose  
rationale is commonly more accessible2  

but these cases1  upon such a principle1
 do not admit of a rationale at all4    
,take for instance his use of the       
rainbow4 ,it is 7#a7 1 and 7#b7  like a 
1 which is 4 ,of these1 the first may be
 construed  dark with a hue of crimson2 
the second1 dark with a hue of deep blue
 or  indigo4 ,surely we have here1      
viewing it as a whole1 a most inadequate
  treatment of the colours of the       
rainbow4 ,shakespeare indeed says#heb1  
#heb ,troilus and ,cressida1 i4 #c1 sub 
fin4      ,his crest1 that prouder than 
blue ,iris bends2    and again1 in the  
,tempest1 ,ceres addresses ,iris        
thus#hec2    #hec ,tempest1 iv4 #a4 ,the
 rainbow is mentioned as of many        
colours1 in  ,merry ,wives of ,windsor1 
iv4 #e1 ,winter's ,tale1 iv4 #c1 and    
,king ,john1 iv4  #b4      ,and with    
each end of thy blue bow dost crown     
,my bosky acres4444    ,but 7#a7 blue   
differs from 1 which is essentially     
dark1 and  is not blue4 7#b7 ,blue1     
taken largely1 represents three of the  

seven  prismatic colours3 i4 e4 indigo  
and purple along with itself4 7#c7 ,in  
the last quoted passage1 ,iris is also  
called #8many-coloured messenger1'  and 
with #8saffron wings4' ,how different an
 effect do these words  give1 as they   
form a whole1 from that of the simile in
 ,il4 xvii4 ,in  what manner then are we
 to understand ,homer8 ,i answer1 in the
 way  of metaphor2 and with reference to
 light and dark1 not to prismatic       
colour4 ,the  on the buckler and belt   
are dark and terrible3  so is the storm 
of which ,iris is the type1 and it is in
 viewing the  rainbow as a type of what 
is awful1 that we are to find the reason
 of  ,homer's simply treating it as     
dark1 and not as a series and system of 
colours4 ,perhaps we ought not to       
overlook the possibility that ,homer    
may also mean to compare the shifting   
hues of the serpent with the  varied    
appearance of the rainbow4    ,again1   
let us take his use of 4 ,now the       
question is1 did  ,homer mean by this   

simply to express darkness1 that is to  
say was  dark his idea of 1 or did he1  
with the specific idea of black  in his 
mind1 use the term which denoted it     
poetically for the olive  complexion of 
,ulysses8 ,surely the former3 for the   
latter use of it  would have been bad4  
,it would have been straining the figure
 in the  wrong direction4 ,for blackness
 would be a fitting trope only where the
  object was to describe something awful
 or repulsive4    ,but beauty of form in
 ,homer always leans to light hues and  
not to dark  ones1 whence the ,greeks   
are 1 and the ,trojan ,hector1 though   
beautiful1 is  only4 ,therefore it was  
not ,homer's object to give  an enhanced
 idea of darkness in the tints of       
,ulysses4 ,and yet1 if   for him meant  
specifically black1 then  was the height
 of  exaggeration in the wrong sense4   
,but if by  he only understood  dark1   
that was a fair description of the olive
 tint1 as compared with  the withered   
and shrivelled skin of old age4    ,we  

have other proofs from the poems that   
,homer conceived of  as  dark1 and not  
specifically as black4 ,the former idea 
accords best with  his calling earth 1  
when it is fresh behind the plough 7,il4
 xviii4  #edh73 and his calling blood 1 
not stagnant gore1 but blood fresh  as  
it comes spurting from the wound 7,il4  
i4 #cjc71                and again1 the 
fresh blood of ,venus herself3          
7,il4 v4 #ced74 ,it would be bad poetry 
to call the blood of ,venus  black1 for 
the same reasons which make it good     
poetry in ,shakespeare  to call the     
blood of ,duncan golden4 ,so the   of   
,il4 xxiv4 #gi  is evidently no more    
than dark2 though in vii4 #fd we may    
properly say  the sea blackens4    ,so  
again with wine-coloured oxen1 smutty   
thunder-bolts1 violet-coloured  sheep1  
and many more1 it is surely conclusive  
against taking them for  descriptions of
 prismatic colours or their compounds1  
that they would  be bad descriptions in 
their several kinds4    ,homer's means  

of training in colour4    ,we must then 
seek for the basis of ,homer's system   
with respect to  colour in something    
outside our own4 ,and it may prepare us 
the more  readily to acknowledge such a 
basis elsewhere1 if we bear in mind1    
that many of the great elements and     
sources of colour for us presented      
themselves differently to him4 ,the     
olive hue of the skin kept down the     
play of white and red4 ,the hair tended 
much more uniformly1 than with  us1 to  
darkness4 ,the sense of colour was less 
exercised by the culture  of flowers4   
,the sun sooner changed the             
spring-greens of the earth into  brown4 
,glass1 one of our instruments of       
instruction1 did not exist4 ,the        
rainbow would much more rarely meet the 
view4 ,the art of painting was  wholly1 
and that of dyeing was almost1 unknown2 
and we may estimate  the importance of  
this element of the case by recollecting
 how much1  with the advance of         
chemistry1 the taste of this country in 

colour has  improved within the last    
twenty years4 ,the artificial colours1  
with  which the human eye was           
conversant1 were chiefly the            
ill-defined1 and  anything but          
full-bodied1 tints of metals4 ,the      
materials1 therefore1  for a system of  
colour did not offer themselves to      
,homer's vision as  they do to ours4    
,particular colours were indeed         
exhibited in rare  beauty1 as the blue  
of the sea and of the sky4 ,yet these   
colours were1  so to speak1 isolated    
fragments2 and1 not entering into a     
general  scheme1 they were apparently   
not conceived with the precision        
necessary  to master them4 ,it seems    
easy to comprehend that the eye may     
require a  familiarity with an ordered  
system of colours1 as the condition of  
its  being able closely to appreciate   
any one among them4    ,i conclude1     
then1 that the organ of colour and its  
impressions were but  partially         
developed among the ,greeks of the      

heroic age4    ,in lieu of this1 ,homer 
seems to have had1 firstly some crude   
conceptions of colour derived from the  
elements2 secondly and  principally1 a  
system in lieu of colour1 founded upon  
light and upon  darkness1 its opposite  
or negative4 ,we have seen that the  of 
,homer1 which is applied to fine olive  
tints in the skin1 and which  joins     
hands with  and 1 means dark1 the       
absence of  light4 ,on the other hand1  
the basis of whiteness is clearly       
indicated  to us in the etymology of 1  
which is the same as that of   to see1  
and of  light in  the year1 the walk or 
course of  light2 as well as in the     
cognate words1 which appear to have     
their  root in the ,sanscrit loch1 from 
whence lochan1 an eye#hed4    #hed      
,pritchard's ,celtic ,nations1 p4 #bai4 
,his system one of light and dark4      
,as a general proposition1 then1 ,i     
should say that the ,homeric colours    
are really the modes and forms of       
light#hee1 and of its opposite or       

rather negative1 darkness3 partially    
affected perhaps by ideas drawn  from   
the metals1 like the ruddiness of       
copper1 or the sombre and dead  blue of 
1 whatever the substance may have been2 
and here and  there with an inceptive   
effort1 as it were1 to get hold of other
 ideas  of colour4    #hee ,vid4 ,gthe1 
,geschichte der ,farbenlehre1 ,works1   
vol4 #ec1 p4 #ba4  7,stuttgart1 #ahcc47 
,under the application of this          
principle1 ,i believe that all1 or      
nearly  all1 the ,homeric words will    
fall into their places3 and that we     
shall  find that the ,poet used them1   
from his own standing-ground1 with great
  vigour and effect4 ,we can now see why
  and  with their  kindred words have   
such an immense predominance3 though    
white and black  are the limiting ratios
 of colour1 rather than colour itself4  
,of the transparent and opaque1 or      
chiaroscuro1 we cannot expect to  hear  
from ,homer3 yet1 as has been observed1 
a rudiment of it may be  contained in   

the highly poetical  of the cave or sea2
 and  again in the   7,od4 xiii4 #bfi71 
since  is the basis of  the epithet4    
,when we speak of colour proper1 we     
speak of an effect which is produced  by
 the decomposition of light1 and which1 
so long as the eye can  discharge its   
function1 is complete1 whatever the     
quantity1 or the  incidence1 of light   
upon the object said to have colour may 
happen to  be4    ,when we speak of     
light1 shade1 and darkness1 we refer to 
the quantity  of light1 not decomposed1 
which falls upon that object1 and to the
 mode  of its incidence4    ,of light1  
shadow1 and darkness thus regarded1     
,homer had lively and  most poetical    
conceptions4 ,this description of       
objects by light and its  absence tax   
his materials to the uttermost4 ,his    
iron-grey1 his ruddy1  his starry       
heaven1 are so many modes of light4 ,his
 wine-coloured oxen  and sea1 his violet
 sheep1 his things tawny1 purple1 sooty1
 and the  rest1 give us in fact a rich  

vocabulary of words for describing what 
is dark so far as it has colour1 but    
what also varies between dull and       
bright1 according to the quantity of    
light playing upon it4 ,here 7for       
example7 is the link between his   and  
his  4    ,as these words all follow in 
the train1 so to speak1 of 1 even so    
is attended by its own family1 all      
falling under the meaning of  the       
,english adjective light4 ,on the one   
hand  and 2 on  the other 1 1 and 1 all 
mean light2 but the  first two are dull1
 and represent the twilight of colour1  
or debateable  ground between it and its
 negative1 while the last three are     
bright and  glistering4    ,nothing can 
be more poetical than ,homer's ideas of 
dark and light4 ,it  was a redundancy of
 life in these ideas1 that made him     
associate light  with motion2 as in     
those fine lines 7,il4 ii4 #dcg71       
'   4    ,and1 again1 in the ,arming of 
,achilles 7,il4 xix4 #cfb71       '  1  
4    ,so1 on the other hand1 the idea of

 darkness went to animate  metaphysical 
conceptions1 as in black fate1 black    
death1 black clouds  of death1 black    
pains 7,il4 ii4 #hei1 #hcd4 xvi4 #cej4  
iv4 #aag74    ,naturalists tell us1 that
 there exist kinds of creatures         
respecting  which it is known1 that     
their organs are sensitive to light and 
darkness1 but with no perception        
whatever either of colour or of         
form#hef4 ,so far as respects form1     
,homer perceived keenly such forms  as  
were beautiful3 but of mere geometrical 
form he may have had very  indistinct   
ideas1 if we are to judge from his      
epithets for the form of  a shield4 ,the
 parallel is nearer in the case of      
colour2 for even his  perceptions were  
as yet undigested2 as if they were      
novel1 not aided by  tradition1 acquired
 very much by himself1 and fixed as yet 
neither by  custom nor nomenclature4    
#hef ,wilson's ,five ,gateways of       
,knowledge1 p4 #d4    ,from the remains 
which have reached us of the colours of 

the ancients1  it has been found        
practicable to treat of them in precise 
detail#heg4  ,but1 in examining the     
question from the works of ,homer1 we   
must bear  in mind1 first1 their very   
early date1 and1 secondly1 the          
likelihood  that heroic ,greece may     
probably have been far behind some      
countries of  the east in the use and in
 the idea of colour1 which has always   
had a  privileged home there4    #heg   
,see1 for instance1 #8,ancient and      
,modern ,colours1 by ,william  ,linton4'
 ,london #aheb4    ,colour in the later 
,greek language4    ,the tendency1      
however1 to a mixture of the two        
questions of light and  colour appears  
to be traceable more or less in the     
popular language1  and likewise in the  
philosophy1 of the later ,greeks4    ,in
 the classical period1 the hues of the  
eye were divided1 as  the  darkest1  the
 intermediate1 and  the lightest4       
,the word 1 leek-green1 appears to be   
quite adequate to the  expression of the

 colour4 ,it is used by ,aristotle2 but 
,i do not know  that it is found in the 
poets or writers of the best age4 ,for  
the  classical ,greek the idea of       
greenness is expressed by 1 as  far as  
it is expressed at all4 ,now this word  
seems inadequate on two  grounds4       
,first1 its predominant idea is that of 
#8fresh' or #8recent2'  which is but    
accidentally1 and not invariably1 the   
property of those  objects in nature    
that are green4    ,when we find the    
word  applied alike to objects of a     
green  colour1 and to others that have  
no colour1 7or else not in respect of   
their colour17 but yet which are fresh  
or newly sprung1 we are led to  conclude
 that it was for freshness1 and not for 
greenness1 that the  word was generally 
used4 ,this idea is confirmed by two    
circumstances4  ,first1 that when  does 
signify colour1 as in the case of       
paleness1 7where it cannot mean what is 
fresh17 it signifies the most           
indefinite and feeble colour1 little    

more indeed than a negative4    ,the    
meaning of   is probably ashy-pale fear4
 ,in the green of  the olive we see the 
point of connection between this use of 
the term  on the one hand1 and natural  
verdure on the other4 ,so that the image
 of  the colour green1 to the ,greeks1  
was neither lively and bright on the    
one hand1 nor was it strong and deep on 
the other4    ,the second circumstance  
is this3 that the word  is applied by   
the  later ,greeks to objects that have 
a colour1 but a colour which is not     
green3 and this by authors who had the  
full use of sight4 ,thus1 in            
,euripides1 7,hecuba #abd17 we have     
for blood freshly shed4  ,it seems plain
 that1 when the epithet could be thus   
used1 colour could  only be very        
carelessly and faintly conceived in the 
minds either of  those who used the     
expression1 or of those to whom it was  
addressed4    ,i shall not open the     
general subject of the treatment of     
colour by the  later ,greeks1 or by the 

,latin poets4 ,but that it continued to 
be both  faint and indefinite down to a 
very late period1 and in a degree which 
would now be deemed very surprising1 we 
may judge both from the general  tenour 
of the neid1 and from the remarkable    
verse of ,albinovanus1 an  ,augustan    
poet1 which applied the epithet         
#8purpureus' to snow2      ,brachia     
purpure candidiora nive4    ,neither do 
,i enter into the question1 whether the 
shadows of white  may afford any ground 
for this epithet3 because an answer1    
drawn from  the secrets as it were of   
science or art1 could not avail for the 
interpretation of the works of a poet1  
who must describe for the common  eye4  
,so we may note the #8cervix rosea' of  
,horace#heh1 and of ,virgil#hei4    #heh
 ,hor4 ,od4 ,i4 #ac4 #b4    #hei ,virg4 
n4 i4 #djb4    ,greek philosophy of     
colour4    ,such examination as ,i have 
been able to make would lead me to      
suppose  whatever of this kind was crude
 or defective in the common ideas of    

,greece was not without points of       
correspondence in its philosophy4       
,the treatise  1 popularly ascribed to  
,aristotle1 would  appear to belong to  
some other author4 ,it1 however1 in     
conformity with  ,greek ideas#hfj1 bases
 the system of colour not1 as we do1    
upon the  prismatic decomposition of    
light1 but upon the four elements2 of   
which  it declares air1 water1 and even 
earth when dry1 to be white1 fire  to be
  or yellow2 from the mixtures of these 
arise all other  colours1 and 1 or      
black1 is the absence of light4    #hfj 
,vid4 ,gthe1 ,farbenlehre1 ,works1 vol4 
#ec4 p4 #bc4    ,dr4 ,prantl1 a recent  
editor of this ,treatise1 has1 in a     
learned ,essay  of his own1 gathered    
together the systems of the various     
,greek writers  upon colour2 and        
especially that of ,aristotle1 from the 
testimony  afforded by his              
,meteorologica and other works4 ,it     
exhibits a curious  combination of the  
aim at scientific exactness1 with the   

want of the  physical knowledge which   
is1 in such matters1 its necessary      
basis4 ,its  leading ideas appear to be 
as follows4    ,if we pass by the mere  
metaphysical portion of the subject1 the
 basis  of colour is laid theoretically 
in transparency and motion4 ,with the   
idea of whiteness are associated dryness
 and heat2 and with blackness  their    
counterparts1 wet and cold#hfa4 ,the air
 is white1 fire the  highest form of    
white2 water is black#hfb1 earth the    
highest negation  of colour1 and        
blackest of all4 ,all other colours are 
treated as  intermediate between white  
and black#hfc4 ,an analogy prevails     
between  the intervals of the principal 
colours1 and those of sound1 taste  771 
and other sensible objects4 ,there are  
seven colours#hfd3  namely1    #hfa     
,prantl's ,aristoteles ber die ,farben1 
pp4 #aja1 #c4    #hfb ,ibid4 pp4 #ajd1  
#f4    #hfc ,ibid4 p4 #aji4 ,ar4        
,metaph4 ,i4 #g4 #ajeg a4 #bc4    #hfd  
,ibid4 p4 #aaf4 ,ar4 de ,sens4 #d4 #ddb 

a4 #ab4      #a4  black4    #b4  gold4  
#c4  white4    #d4  red4    #e4  violet4
    #f4  green4    #g4  blue4    ,the   
or grey is a mode of black 7 72 and the 
is  ingeniously described as having the 
same relation to light1 which  richness 
77 has to sweetness 774 ,red1  or  1 is 
light seen through black4 ,this is the  
most positive  colour after 2 then comes
 green1 and then 77 violet#hfe4  ,he    
proceeds1      2 meaning1 ,i suppose1   
that  the  7the same thing is said by   
,prantl of 1 which he  translates brown7
 is so closely akin to the negative1 or 
blackness1 as  to be indistinguishable  
from it4 ,thus ,aristotle appears to    
treat grey  as outside his scale        
altogether2 he gives  sometimes to red  
and sometimes to blue#hff2 and  or brown
 is wholly omitted4  ,his order likewise
 varies3 for1 in different passages1    
and   change places4    #hfe ,ibid4 p4  
#aah4 ,met4 ,,iii4 #d4 #cgd b4 #ca4     
#hff ,comp4 ,met4 ,i4 #e4 #cdb b4 #d4   
with ,,iii4 #d4 #cgd a4 #bg4    ,nature 

of our advantage over ,homer4    ,this  
condition of the philosophy of colour1  
so many centuries after  ,homer1 and in 
the mind of such a man as ,aristotle1   
may assist in  explaining to us the     
undeveloped state of ,homer's           
perceptions in this  particular         
department4    ,there appears to be a   
remarkable contrast between such        
undigested  ideas1 and the solidity1    
truth1 and firmness of the remains of   
colour  that have come down to us from  
the ancients4 ,the explanation1 ,i      
suppose1 is1 that those1 who had to make
 practical use of colour1 did  not wait 
for the construction of a philosophy1   
but added to their  apparatus from time 
to time all substances which1 having    
come within  their knowledge1 were found
 to produce results satisfactory and    
improving to the eye4 ,and even so      
,homer1 though his organ was little     
trained in the discrimination of        
colours1 and though he founded himself  
mainly upon mere modifications of light 

apart from its decomposition1  yet has  
made very bold and effective use of     
these limited materials4  ,his figures  
in no case jar1 while they never fail to
 strike4 ,nor are  we to suppose that we
 see in this department an exception to 
that  comparative profusion of power    
which marked his endowments in general1 
and that he bore1 in the particular     
point1 a crippled nature2 but  rather we
 are to learn that the perceptions so   
easy and familiar to  us are the results
 of a slow traditionary growth in       
knowledge and in  the training of the   
human organ1 which commenced long before
 we took  our place in the succession of
 mankind4 ,we exemplify1 even in this   
apparently simple matter1 the old       
proverbial saying3 #8,the dwarf sees    
further than the giant1 for he is lifted
 on the giant's shoulders4'        ,note
 on the meaning of  and 4      ,the     
first impression from the ,homeric text 
is likely to be that     is a metal4    
,for the substantive is mentioned but   

thrice in    ,homer2 and always in      
immediate connection with metals4       
#a4 ,il4 xi4 #bd4 ,upon the buckler of  
,agamemnon there are1 with twelve    1  
folds1 rims1 or plies1 of gold1 and     
twenty of tin1 ten of     7 74      #b4 
,il4 xi4 #cd4 ,on the shield of the     
king1 there were twenty white    bosses 
of tin1 and1 in the middle1 one of  7 74
      #c4 ,od4 vii4 #hf4 ,the walls of  
the palace of ,alcinous were coated with
     within1 and round about them there 
was a cornice or fringe    77 of 4      
,there is no doubt that1 in later ,greek
 at least1 the word acquired    other   
significations3 such as lapis lazuli1   
the blue cornflower1    the rockbird    
7also as being blue71 and1 lastly1 a    
blue dye or    lacquer#hfg4 ,but1       
moreover1 it seems impossible to        
identify the     of ,homer with any     
metal in particular4      #hfg ,liddell 
and ,scott in voc4 ,millin1 ,minralogie 
,homrique1 p4    #adi4      ,some have  
asserted the  of ,homer to be steel#hfh4

 ,but to this    there seem to be       
conclusive objections4 ,it appears very 
doubtful1    whether the ,greeks were   
acquainted with the process of making   
steel    in masses by the immersion of  
iron in water4 ,the ,english translation
    of ,beckmann's ,history of          
,inventions ascribes the knowledge of   
the    process to ,homer2 but apparently
 in error#hfi4 ,there is no allusion    
whatever to it3 for it is not at all    
implied by the elementary    process of 
the manufacture of a tool in ,od ix4    
#cia-c4 ,it was only    by fire that    
iron could be made malleable at all3 and
 no doubt it    was known that by its   
immersion in water hardness was restored
 or    increased 7      74 ,but we have 
no    trace either of the repetition of 
the process on the same piece of        
metal1 or of its application to         
unmanufactured iron1 or of a new        
denomination for iron when thus heated  
and cooled4 ,on the contrary1    in this
 passage the metal when fully hardened  

is still declared to be    3 and we have
 nowhere in ,homer any trace of a       
relation between     and 1 except the   
merely negative one1 that neither of    
them is cast into the furnace for making
 the ,shield of ,achilles4      #hfh    
,friedreich1 ,realien1  #ba4 p4 #hf4    
#hfi ,vol4 ii4 p4 #cbe4      ,again1 the
 hardness of iron was such as apparently
 met all their    wishes1 and almost of 
itself constituted a difficulty4 ,hence 
it is    used along with stones as a    
symbol of hardness2          #hgj4      
,again1 we do not find it worked up with
 other    metals2 for example1 on the   
buckler or shield of ,agamemnon4 ,as we 
have seen1 it is not used by ,vulcan in 
making the shield of ,achilles4    ,the 
god casts into the fire gold and silver1
 copper and tin2 lead    being          
apparently excluded as too soft1 and    
iron as too hard for    working in      
masses with the other metals4 ,but the  
idea of hardness    is never associated 
with 2 and1 if it had been hard like    

steel1 certainly it would not have been 
a suitable material for the    intricate
 forms of dragons4      #hgj ,il4 iv4   
#eaj4      ,again1 the adjective  means 
in colour what is blue and what    is   
deep2 and by no means corresponds with  
the ordinary colour of    steel4 ,all   
this1 besides the strength of the       
negative evidence1 seems    inconsistent
 with the idea that  can have been      
steel4      ,the ,compiler of the ,index
 to ,eustathius makes  7in voc47        
simply a dark metal4 ,but ,millin argues
 that  without an epithet    is tin1 and
 that with the epithet  it is lead4 ,he 
observes that    ,pliny#hga appears to  
call tin by the name of plumbum simply1 
and    lead by the name of plumbum      
nigrum3 so that the double use of       
and  for tin would be like that of      
plumbum and    stannum for the same     
metal in ,latin4 ,this idea treats the  
substance    as taking its name from the
 colour3 and is so far sustained by the 
use of the ,german blei1 which ,i       

presume is the same word as blau1    for
 lead4 ,but it would be singular that   
,homer should thus have double    names 
for two metals1 which of all classes of 
objects have perhaps    been most       
commonly designated by single ones4 ,and
 this hypothesis    is not in accordance
 with the evident meaning of  in ,homer2
    since the word indicates a dark and 
deep hue very far from that of    tin1  
which ,homer describes as white4 ,the   
after use of  is    equally adverse to  
the interpretation suggested4      #hga 
,h4 ,n4 xxxiv4 #af4 s4 #dg4      ,the   
most probable interpretation for this   
difficult word appears    to be that    
which is also in accordance with its    
subsequent use and    description as a  
colour4 ,from ,linton's #8,ancient and  
,modern ,colours1'    7p4 #ba17 it      
appears that there was a  1 which was a 
native blue carbonate of copper3 and    
that1 according to the express          
testimony of ,dioscorides1 this was     
obtained by the ancients from    the    

copper-mines3             1 v4 #ajf4    
,this interpretation would account for  
our finding     in ,homer3 for the      
rarity of its use3 for the dark colour  
and    the affinity to 4 ,such a        
substance would make a good relief      
for the cornice in the palace of        
,alcinous1 against the copper-plated    
walls3 and would stand well in the rest 
of the passages where it    appears to  
be placed in relief with other metals1  
,il4 xviii4 #efd1    xi4 #ci1 and even  
on the buckler of ,agamemnon1 xi4 #bd4  
,for on this    buckler1 though the     
serpents1 called 1 are evidently placed 
in contrast with the 1 and though among 
the  there are ten    of 1 yet1 as they 
are combined with twelve of gold and    
twenty    of tin1 the general effect    
would be one such as we need not suppose
    ,homer to have rejected4 ,this blue 
carbonate is still found among    other 
copper-ores1 but less in our deep mines1
 than in the shallow    ones worked by  
the ancients4 ,i understand from a      

gentleman versed    in metallurgy1 that 
in its purest form it is crystalline1   
rarely    massive or earthy1 of a deep  
azure1 brittle1 easily powdered1 and    
thus readily converted to use as a      
pigment4      ,i should therefore       
suppose that the  is not a metal3 that  
the     on the buckler mean lines or    
bands coloured in pigment3 and    that  
the boss on the shield is probably a    
nodule of the substance    in its native
 state4 ,we can thus understand why  is 
not used    either with the gold1       
silver1 1 and tin1 in the forge of      
,vulcan1 or with the gold1 silver1 iron1
 and  of the chariot    of ,juno#hgb4   
,we can also understand why1 though  is 
not used    in the forge1 yet the trench
 round the vineyard on the shield of    
,achilles is #hgc4 ,this interpretation 
is also in conformity    with the       
,homeric employment of the adjective 4  
#hgb ,il4 xviii4 #dgd4 v4 #gbb4         
#hgc ,ibid4 #efd4      ,i understand    
that there is1 in the ,museo ,borbonico 

at ,naples1 a    spoon or ladle1 with a 
boss on the end of the handle1 which is 
formed    of this native blue carbonate 
of copper bored through for the purpose4
      ,of the four significations given 
to  in ,homer 7copper1 brass1    bronze1
 and iron#hgd71 ,i adhere to the first4 
,it cannot be iron1    7#a7 because it  
is never mentioned as hard in the same  
way with it1    7#b7 because it is so   
much more common1 7#c7 because these    
metals are    expressly distinguished   
one from the other1 as in ,il4 v4 #gbc4 
#hgd ,eustath4 ,il4 i4 p4 #ic4          
,neither can the  of ,homer be bronze4  
,not1 however1 from    absolute want of 
hardness3 for ,i learn from competent   
authority that    very good cutting     
instruments 7not1 of course1 equal to   
steel7 may be    made in a bronze       
composed of #hg parts copper1 and #ab   
parts tin4 ,but    for the following    
reasons3      #a4 ,homer always speaks  
of it as a pure metal along with other  
pure    metals1 even where ,vulcan casts

 it into the furnace to be wrought2     
,il4 xviii4 #dgd4      #b4 ,again1      
because1 although we must not argue too 
confidently from    ,homer's epithets of
 colour1 yet in this case we may lay    
considerable    stress not only on his  
7since the  of ,homer    leans to       
brightness71 but upon the  and 1 which  
mean bright    and gleaming4 ,these     
epithets of light would not apply to    
bronze3 nor    would ,homer plate with  
bronze the walls of the palace of       
,alcinous4    ,neither does it appear   
likely that he would give us a heaven of
    bronze among the imposing imagery of
 battle1 ,il4 xvii4 #dbd4      #c4 ,it  
does not appear that ,homer knew        
anything at all of the fusion    or     
alloying of metals4      ,we have1 then1
 to conclude that  was copper1 hardened 
by some    method2 as some think by the 
agency of water3 or else1 and more      
probably1 according to a very simple    
process1 by cooling slowly in    the    
air4 7,see ,millin1 ,minralogie         

,homrique1 pp4 #abf-cb47      ,,sect4   
,v4#hge    #hge ,the substance of this  
and the two following ,sections formed  
two  ,articles in the ,quarterly        
,review1 ,nos4 #bja and #bjc1 for       
,january and  ,july respectively1 #aheg4
 ,they are reprinted with the obliging  
approval  of ,mr4 ,murray4    ,homer and
 some of his ,successors in ,epic       
,poetry3 in particular1 ,virgil  and    
,tasso4    ,milton and ,dante in        
relation to ,homer4    ,the great ,epic 
poets of the world are members of a     
brotherhood still  extremely limited1   
and1 as far as appears1 not likely to be
 enlarged4  ,it may indeed well be      
disputed1 with respect to some of the   
existing  claimants1 whether they are or
 are not entitled to stand upon the     
,golden ,book4 ,there will also be      
differences of opinion as to the        
precedence among those1 whose right to  
appear there is universally  confessed4 
,pretensions are sometimes advanced     
under the influence of  temporary or    

national partialities1 which the silent 
action of the  civilized mind of the    
world after a time effectually puts     
down4 ,among  these there could be none 
more obviously untenable1 than that set 
up on  behalf of ,milton in the         
celebrated ,epigram of ,dryden1 which   
seemed to  place him at the head of the 
poets of the world1 and made him combine
  all the great qualities of ,homer and 
of ,virgil4 ,somewhat similar ideas     
were broached by ,cowper in his ,table  
,talk4 ,the lines1 as they are less     
familiarly remembered1 may be quoted    
here3      ,ages elapsed ere ,homer's   
lamp appeared1    ,and ages ere the     
,mantuan swan was heard2    ,to carry   
,nature lengths unknown before1    ,to  
give a ,milton birth1 asked ages more4  
,but this great master is also subject  
to undue depreciation1 as well  as      
flattered by extravagant worship4 ,i    
myself have been assured in a  company  
composed of ,professors of a ,german    
,university1 who were ardent  admirers  

of ,shakespeare1 that within the sphere 
of their knowledge  ,milton was only    
regarded as of equal rank with          
,klopstock4 ,it is not1  ,i trust1      
either national vanity or religious     
prejudice1 nor is it  the mere wonder   
inspired by the wide range of his       
attainments and  performances1 which    
makes ,england claim that he should be  
numbered in  the first class of epic    
poets2 in that class of which ,homer is 
the  head1 distinguished before all     
competitors by a clear and even a vast  
superiority4    ,it would be difficult  
to institute any satisfactory comparison
 between  ,milton and ,homer2 so        
different1 so wanting in points of      
contact1 are  the characters partly of  
the men1 and even much more of their    
works4  ,perhaps the greatest and the   
most pervading merit of the ,iliad is1  
its  fidelity and vividness as a mirror 
of man and of the visible sphere  in    
which he lived1 with its infinitely     
varied imagery both actual and  ideal4  

,but that which most excites our        
admiration in ,milton is the  elasticity
 and force of genius1 by which he has   
travelled beyond the  human sphere1 and 
bodied forth to us new worlds in the    
unknown1 peopled  with inhabitants who  
must be so immeasurably different from  
our own  race4 ,homer's task was one1   
which admitted of and received what we  
may  call a perfect accomplishment2     
,milton's was an undertaking beyond the 
strength of man1 incapable of anything  
more than faint adumbration1  and one of
 which1 the more elevated the           
spectator's point of view1 the  more    
keenly he must find certain defects     
glare upon him4 ,the poems of  ,milton  
give us reason to think that his        
conceptions of character were  masculine
 and powerful2 but the subject did not  
admit of their being  effectually       
tested4 ,for his nearest approaches to  
perfection in his  art1 we must look    
beyond his epics4    ,a comparison      
between ,milton and ,dante would be     

somewhat more  practicable1 but it would
 not accord with the composition of the 
group1  which ,i shall here attempt to  
present1 and which has ,homer for its   
centre4 ,on the other hand1 ,dante      
might1 far better than ,milton1 be      
compared with ,homer2 for while he is in
 the ,purgatorio and ,paradiso  far more
 heavenly than ,milton1 he is also      
throughout the ,divina  ,commedia truly 
and profoundly human4 ,he is incessantly
 conversant with  the nature and the    
life of man2 and though for the most    
part he draws  us1 as ,flaxman has drawn
 him1 in outline only1 yet by the       
strength and  depth of his touch he has 
produced figures1 for example1          
,francesca and  ,ugolino1 that have as  
largely become the common property of   
mankind1  if not as ,achilles and       
,ulysses1 yet as ,lear and ,hamlet4     
,still the  theological basis1 and the  
extra-terrene theatre1 of ,dante's poem 
remove him to a great distance from     
,homer1 from whom he seems to have      

derived little1 and with whom we may    
therefore feel assured he could  have   
been but little acquainted4    ,the     
poets1 whom it is most natural to       
compare with ,homer1 are those  who have
 supplied us in the greatest abundance  
with points of contact  between their   
own orbits and his1 and who at the same 
time are such  manifest children of     
genius as to entitle them to the honour 
of being  worsted in such a conflict4   
,these conditions ,i presume to be most 
clearly fulfilled by ,virgil and ,tasso2
 and we may begin with the elder  of the
 pair4    ,perhaps ,chapman has gone too
 far when he says #8,virgil hath nothing
 of  his own1 but only elocution2 his   
invention1 matter1 and form1 being  all 
,homer's#hgf4' ,yet no small part of    
this sweeping proposition can           
undoubtedly be made good4    #hgf       
,commentary on ,il4 ii4    ,with an     
extraordinary amount of admitted        
imitation and of obvious  similarity on 
the surface1 the neid stands1 as to     

almost every  fundamental particular1 in
 the strongest contrast with the ,iliad4
 ,as  to metre1 figures1 names1 places1 
persons and times1 the two works1  where
 they do not actually concur1 stand in  
as near relations one to  another1 as   
seem to be attainable without absolute  
identity of subject2  yet it may be     
doubted whether any two great poems can 
be named1 which  are so profoundly      
discordant upon almost every point that 
touches  their interior spirit2 upon    
everything that relates to the truth of 
our nature1 to the laws of thought and  
action1 and to veracity in the          
management of the higher subjects1 such 
as history1 morality1 polity1  and      
religion4    ,contrast between form and 
spirit in the neid4    ,the immense     
powers of ,virgil as a poet had been    
demonstrated before he  wrote the neid4 
,he had shown their full splendour in   
the ,georgics2  though the 1 or 7so to  
speak7 the heart1 even of that great    
work was touched with paralysis by his  

,epicurean and self-centring            
philosophy4 ,the neid does not bear a   
fainter impression of his genius4  ,the 
wonderfully sustained beauty and majesty
 of its verse1 the imposing  splendour  
of its most elaborate delineations1 the 
power of the author  in unfolding1 when 
he strives to do it1 the resources of   
passion1 and  even perhaps the skill    
which he has shown in the general       
construction  of his plot1 cannot be too
 highly praised4 ,but while its general 
nature  as an epic 7for the epic poem is
 preeminently ethical7 brought its      
defects into fuller view1 the particular
 object he proposed to himself  was     
fatal to the attainment of the very     
highest excellence4 ,while  ,homer sang 
for national glory1 the poem of ,virgil 
is toned throughout  to a spirit of     
courtierlike adulation4 ,no muse1       
however vigorous1 can  maintain an      
upright gait under so base a burden4    
,catalogue in the ,iliad and in the     
neid4    ,and yet1 in regard to its     

external form1 the neid is perhaps1 as a
  whole1 the most majestic poem that the
 ,european mind has in any age          
produced4 ,we often hear of the lofty   
march of the ,iliad2 but though  its    
versification is always appropriate and 
therefore never mean1  it only rises    
into stateliness1 or into a high-pitched
 sublimity1  when ,homer has occasion to
 brace his energies for an effort4 ,he  
is  invariably true to his own          
conception of the bard#hgg1 as one who  
should win and delight the soul of the  
hearer2 and so1 when he has  strung     
himself1 like a bow1 for some great     
passage of his action1  #8has brought   
the string to the breast1 the iron to   
the wood1' and  has hit his mark1       
straightway he unbends himself again4   
,thus he  ushers in with true grandeur  
the marshalling of the ,greek army in   
the  ,second ,book1 partly by the       
invocation of the ,muses1 and partly by 
an  assemblage of no less than six      
consecutive similes1 which describe     

respectively the flash of the ,greek    
arms1 the resounding tramp1 the         
swarming numbers1 the settling down of  
the ranks as they form the  line1 the   
busy marshalling by the commanders1 the 
majesty of ,agamemnon  preeminent among 
them#hgh4 ,having done this1 he sets    
himself about  the ,catalogue1 with no  
contempt indeed of poetical             
embellishment by  epithets1 and with an 
occasional relief by short legends1 but 
still  in the main as a matter of       
business1 historical1 geographical1 and 
topographical4 ,and thus he proceeds1   
with perfect tranquillity1 for  near    
three hundred lines1 until his work is  
done4 ,we then find that  he has given  
us1 together with a most minute account 
of the forces1  a living map of the     
territories occupied by the ,greek races
 of the  age4 ,but ,virgil1 in his      
imitation of the ,homeric ,catalogue    
7upon  which there will be further      
occasion to comment hereafter1 with     
reference to other matters71 has pursued

 a course quite different4  ,waiving    
,homer's gorgeous introduction1 which   
pours from a single  point a broad      
stream of splendour over the whole1     
,virgil with vast1  and indeed rather   
painful1 effort1 carries us through his 
long-drawn  list at a                   
laboriously-sustained elevation4 ,to    
vary the wearisome  task1 he uses every 
diversity of turn that language and     
grammar can  supply#hgi4 ,he passes from
 nominative to vocative1 and from       
vocative  to nominative4 ,somebody was  
present1 and then somebody was not      
absent4  ,arms and accoutrements are got
 up as minutely1 as if he had been a    
careful master of costumes dressing a   
new drama for the stage4 ,that  we may  
never be let down for a moment1 he      
distributes here and there  the similes1
 which ,homer accumulated at the        
opening1 and introduces1  between the   
accounts of military contingents1       
legends of twenty or more  lines4 ,upon 
the whole1 the level of his verse       

through the ,catalogue1  instead of     
being1 like ,homer's1 decidedly lower1  
is even higher than is  usual with him4 
,there is not in it1 ,i think1 a single 
verse approaching  to the sermo         
pedestris4 ,his reader misses that      
tranquillizing relief  so agreeable in  
,homer1 which varies as it were the play
 of the muscles1  and freshens the      
faculties for a return to higher        
efforts4 ,virgil seems  to treat us1 as 
horses at a certain stage of their      
decline are treated  by experienced     
drivers1 who keep them going from fear  
that1 if they  once let them stop or    
slacken1 they will be unable to get up  
their pace  again4 ,he never unbends his
 bow4 ,but a table-land may be as flat1 
and  even wearisome1 as a plain2 and the
 ornaments in the neid frequently  are  
not1 and indeed could hardly be1 more   
ornamental than the passages  which they
 purport to embellish4    #hgg ,od4     
xvii4 #che4    #hgh ,il4 ii4 #dee-hc4   
#hgi ,see also ,lessing's ,laocoon1 c4  

xviii4 respecting the ,shield in  the   
neid4    ,the difference of the two     
,catalogues cannot be more clearly      
exhibited  than by comparing ,homer's   
description of the very first           
contingent1  that from ,botia#hhj1 with 
,virgil's opening paragraph about       
,mezentius2  or ,homer's last and nearly
 simplest1 on the ,magnesians#hha1 with 
the  description of ,camilla1 7certainly
 a description of remarkable beauty17   
with which is closed the glittering     
procession of the ,italian army in  the 
neid4    #hhj ,il4 ii4 #did-eaj4 n4 vii4
 #fdg-ed4    #hha ,il4 ii4 #gef-i4 n4   
vii4 #hjc-ag4    ,the sustained         
stateliness of diction1 metre1 and      
rhythm in the neid  is a feat1 and an   
astounding feat2 but it is more like the
 performance  of a trained athlete1     
between trick and strength1 than the    
grandeur  of free and simple ,nature1   
such as it is seen in the ancient       
warrior1  in ,diomed or ,achilles2 or in
 ,homer1 the ancient warrior's only     

bard4  ,different persons will1         
according to their temperaments1 be apt 
to  treat this augustness of diction as 
a merit or a fault3 all1 however1  must 
acknowledge it to be a wonder4 ,in this 
respect ,virgil has been  followed with 
no ordinary power1 but yet not equalled1
 by ,tasso4 ,and  the impression1       
created in this respect by the neid as  
it stands1 must  be heightened when we  
remember that it is still an unfinished 
poem1  and that the author had at his   
decease by no means brought it1 and the 
later books of it in particular1 up to  
what he considered the proper  standard4
    ,the immense and untold amount of   
imitation in ,virgil has perhaps tended 
to make us less than duly sensible of   
his vast original powers2 and  the mean 
and feeble effects produced by the      
character1 if we can call  it a         
character1 of his neas1 cheat us into an
 untrue supposition that  he could not  
have possessed a real power of this the 
highest kind of  delineation4           

,character of neas4    ,it is perhaps   
hardly possible to exhaust the topics of
 censure which  may be justly used      
against the neas of ,virgil4 ,his moral 
deficiencies  are not 7so to speak7     
hidden amidst the accomplishments of a  
manly  intellect1 nor his intellectual  
mediocrity redeemed by any fresh and    
genuine virtues4 ,he is not1 to our     
knowledge1 a statesman2 nay more1  he is
 not a warrior2 for we feel that his    
battles and feats of war are  the       
poet's1 and not his3 and when he appears
 in arms we are tempted  to ask1 #8,son 
of ,venus1 what business have you here8'
 ,the violent  exaggerations1 by which  
,virgil attempts to vamp up his hero's  
martial  character1 only produce the  of
 ,longinus2 a cold reaction1            
approaching to a shudder1 through the   
reader's mind4 ,as1 for instance1  when 
in the ,shades below1 the poet          
represents the ,greek chieftains#hhb  as
 trembling and flying at the sight of   
him1 the nobleness of the  verses cannot

 excuse either the tasteless solecism of
 the thought1  or the profanation       
offered to the memory of ,homer in the  
person of  his heroes1 who indeed often 
made neas tremble1 but never trembled   
at him themselves4 ,but ,virgil goes    
further yet1 when he makes ,diomed      
assert#hhc that1 having been engaged in 
single combat with neas1 he  knows by   
experience how terrible a warrior he    
will prove2 and that1 had  there been   
two more such men1 ,troy would have     
conquered ,greece1 and  not ,greece     
,troy4 ,now1 neas never in the ,iliad   
even once executes a  real feat of war2 
and as to the single combat between the 
two chiefs1  ,diomed first knocked him  
down with a stone#hhd1 and then1 after  
he had  been carried off and apparently 
set to rights by his mother1 he was     
thrice saved from the deadly charge of  
the same warrior by the single          
intervention of ,apollo1 who by divine  
force arrested the attack4 ,in  passing1
 it may be observed that1 since ,virgil 

could1 with impunity1 as  it appears1 so
 far as his popularity was concerned1   
thus mutilate and  falsify the author   
from whose wealth he so largely         
borrowed1 either the  knowledge of      
,greek literature in its head and       
father1 ,homer1 must have  been very low
 among even the educated ,romans1 or    
else their standard of  taste must have 
been seriously debased before they could
 accept such  compliments4    #hhb ,at  
,danam proceres1 etc4--n4 vi4 #dhi4     
#hhc n4 xi4 #bhb-g4    #hhd ,il4 v4     
#cjb-aj4    ,it is common to find fault 
with neas for his vile conduct to ,dido1
 and  for the wretched excuse he offers 
in his own behalf1 when he encounters   
her offended spirit in the regions of   
,aidoneus and ,persephone4 ,but the     
truth is1 that this fairly exhibits and 
illustrates not only the total          
unreality of this particular character1 
but1 as will be further noticed         
presently1 the feeble and deteriorated  
conception of human nature at  large1   

which ,virgil seems to have formed4 ,man
 has been treated by him  as1 on the    
whole1 but a shallow being3 he had not  
sounded the depths of  the heart1 nor   
measured either the strength of good or 
the strength of  evil that may abide in 
it4 ,the ,virgilian neas is a made up   
thing1 far  fitter to stand among the   
1 than among men of true  flesh and     
blood4      ,thy bones are marrowless1  
thy blood is cold2    ,thou hast no     
speculation in those eyes    ,which thou
 dost glare with#hhe4    #hhe ,macbeth  
iii4 #c4    ,nor can we draw an apology 
for the defects of this primary         
character  in ,virgil from the neas of  
,homer4 ,the ,dardanian ,prince is      
indeed  in the ,iliad1 as to everything 
essential1 a taciturn and background    
figure4 ,he is placed very high in      
station and authority1 and1 as we  have 
seen#hhf1 he may probably have been1 by 
the dignity of lineal  descent1 the head
 of the whole ,trojan race4 ,but ,homer 
pays him off  with generalities2 for1 as

 no ,poet is greater in the really      
creative  work of character1 so none    
better understands how1 where the       
purpose  of his poem requires it1 to    
take a lay figure1 and stuff him out    
with  straw4 ,in what may be called the 
vital action of the ,iliad1 neas has  no
 considerable share1 either martial or  
political4 ,he is very far  indeed      
behind the noble ,sarpedon in the first 
capacity1 and ,polydamas  in the second1
 as well as ,hector in both4 ,still1 if 
there is in the  ,homeric neas nothing  
grand1 nothing vigorous1 nothing        
profound1  there is on the other hand   
nothing over-prominent or pretentious1  
and  therefore nothing mean1 nothing    
inconsistent1 nothing untrue4 ,all the  
,homeric characters1 down to ,thersites1
 are drawn each in its way with  a      
master's hand2 neas forms no exception3 
on the contrary1 we have  to admire the 
skill with which1 in a kind of middle   
distance1 his  outline is filled up1 and
 he is kept entirely clear of any       

confusion  with either those greater    
characters on the ,trojan side1 who have
 been  named1 or with the effeminate    
,paris4 ,this is the more worthy of     
note1  because1 as the favourite child  
of ,venus1 he bore a qualified and dim  
resemblance to her chief minion2 as we  
may see by certain traits of his  very  
negative bearing in the field1 and by   
,apollo's putting him 7if  the phrase   
may be allowed7 to bed in ,pergamus#hhg1
 when he had been  rescued from ,diomed1
 just as ,venus had done with ,paris1   
after she had  saved him in the ,third  
,book from ,menelaus#hhh4    #hhf       
,achis1 or ,ethnology1 sect4 ix4 p4     
#dia4    #hhg ,il4 v4 #dde4    #hhh ,il4
 iii4 #chb4    ,neither did ,virgil fail
 in the delineation of his hero1 or     
#8protagonist1' from simple want of     
power to portray human character4 ,no   
such want can be ascribed to the poet of
 the ,fourth ,book of the neid4  ,and if
 it be true that1 amidst all the stormy 
wildness and intensity of  the passion  

of ,dido1 there is something not quite  
natural--something  that recalls the    
very remarkable imitation of it in the  
#8,duchesse de  la ,vallire' of ,madame 
de ,genlis1 and leaves us almost at a   
loss to  say which of the two has most  
the character of a copy1 and which of   
an original--what are we to say of the  
genuine and manly character of  ,turnus8
 ,the whole of that sketch is as good   
and true as we can desire2  and the     
noble speech in particular1 in which he 
rebukes the trim  cowardice of ,drances1
 is a work of such extraordinary power  
and merit1  that it is fit 7and this ,i 
take for the summit of all eulogies7    
even to  have been spoken by the        
,achilles of ,homer4 ,in vigorous       
reasoning1 in  biting sarcasm1 in       
chivalrous sentiment1 and in indignant  
passion1 it  presents a combination not 
easily to be matched2 and it is1 as a   
whole1  admirably adapted to the        
oratorical purpose1 for which it is     
presumed  to have been delivered4 ,but1 

indeed1 from our first view of ,turnus  
to  our last1 we do not find in him a   
single trait feeble in itself1 or       
unworthy of the masculine idea and      
intention of the portrait1 except       
where1 in the very last passage of his  
life1 his free agency seems to  be      
taken1 as it were by force1 out of his  
hands4    ,the false position of        
,virgil4    ,the failure in the neas of 
,virgil cannot be compared with the case
 of  any modern romance1 such as the    
,waverley or ,old ,mortality of ,scott1 
where the hero may be an insipid person4
 ,all the greater modern  inventors have
 been compelled to lay their foundations
 in the palpable  breadth of some       
historic event3 it was the prouder      
distinction of the  ,homeric epic1 that 
it had a living centre2 it hung upon a  
man2 there  was enough of vital power in
 ,homer for this end3 his ,achilles and 
his  ,ulysses were each an ,atlas1 that 
sustained the world in which they  also 
moved4 ,virgil made his poem an neid1   

instead of following the  example of the
 ,cyclic poets2 he thus pledged himself 
to his readers1  that neas should be its
 centre1 its pole1 its inward light and 
life4  ,but he did not keep his word3 he
 had drawn the bow of ,homer without    
,homer's force4 ,he marks perhaps the   
final transition from the old epic  of  
the first class to the new4 ,after him  
we have the epics of fact1 the          
,pharsalia1 the ,thebaid1 and so forth4 
,but neas stands before us with  the    
pretensions of ,achilles and ,ulysses2  
and the failure is great in  proportion 
to the gigantic scale of the attempt4   
,when1 in the ,italian  romance1 the    
character of the ideal man1 as shown in 
,orlando1 again  became the basis of new
 epic poems1 we again find in the       
protagonist  great weakness indeed1 as  
compared with ,achilles and ,ulysses2   
but  strength and success as compared   
with the neas of ,virgil4    ,upon the  
whole we are thrown back on the         
supposition that this crying  vice of   

the neid1 the feebleness and untruth of 
the character of  neas1 was due to the  
false position of ,virgil1 who was      
obliged to  discharge his functions as a
 poet in subjection to his dominant     
obligations and liabilities as a courtly
 parasite of ,augustus4 ,as  the entire 
poem1 so the character of its hero1 was1
 before all other  things1 an instrument
 for glorifying the ,emperor of ,rome4  
,it at once  followed1 that in all      
respects must that character be such as 
to avoid  suggesting a comparison       
disadvantageous to the person whose     
dignity1  for political ends1 had       
already been elevated even into the     
unseen  world2 nay1 whose forestalled   
divinity was to be kept in a relation   
of absolute and broad superiority to the
 image of his human ancestor4  neas is  
himself addressed in the action of the  
neid1 as      ,ds genite1 et geniture   
deos4    ,in order to arrive at the     
disastrous effects of this mental       
servitude1  take1 first1 the measure of 

the cold and unheroic character of      
,augustus2 then estimate the degree of  
relative superiority1 which it  was     
essential to ,virgil's position that he 
should preserve for him  throughout2 and
 thus we may come to some practical     
conception of the  straitness of the    
space within which ,virgil had to       
develop his neas1  or1 in other words1  
to run his match against ,homer4 ,all   
the faults1 and  all the faultiness1 of 
his poem may be really owing1 in a      
degree none  can say how great1 to this 
original falseness of position4    ,on  
account of the personal principle on    
which the ancient epic was  constructed1
 failure in the character of the hero   
must almost of  necessity have entailed 
failure in the poem4 ,most of all would 
this  follow in a case where1 as in the 
neid1 the hero is never out of view1    
and where the action does not1 as in the
 ,iliad1 travel away from his  person1  
in order then to enhance the splendour  
and effectiveness of his  reappearance4 

,thus the falseness of ,virgil's        
position was not confined  to an        
individual character1 but extended to   
his entire work4 ,living1  too1 in an   
age less natural and more critical than 
that of ,homer1 he  provided against    
criticism1 so far as regarded its merely
 technical  functions1 more1 and he     
studied nature less4 ,he had to         
construct his  epic for a court1 and a  
corrupt court1 not for mankind at large2
 it  followed1 that he could not take   
his stand upon those deep and broad     
foundations in human nature itself1     
which gave ,homer a position of         
universal command4 ,hence as a general  
rule he does not sing from the  heart1  
nor to the heart4 ,his touches of       
genuine nature are rare4 ,such  of them 
as occur have been carefully noted and  
applauded1 for he is  always studious to
 set them off by choice and melodious   
diction4 ,for my  own part1 ,i find     
scarcely any among them so true as the  
simile of the  mother labouring with her

 maidens at night1 which he owes to     
,homer#hhi3    #hhi ,hom4 ,il4 xii4     
#dcc4      ,castum ut servare cubile    
,conjugis1 et possit parvos educere     
natos#hij4    #hij n4 viii4 #djg-ac4    
,as to religion1 liberty1 and           
nationality4    ,with rare exceptions1  
the reader of ,virgil finds himself     
utterly at a  loss to see at any point  
the soul of the poet reflected in his   
work4 ,we  cannot tell1 amidst the      
splendid phantasmagoria1 where is his   
heart1  where lie his sympathies4 ,in   
,homer a genial spirit1 breathed from   
the  ,poet himself1 is translucent      
through the whole2 in the neid we look  
in  vain almost for a single ray of it4 
,again1 ,virgil lived at a time when    
the prevailing religion had lost        
whatever elements of real influence     
that of ,homer's era either possessed in
 its own right1 or inherited  from      
pristine tradition4 ,it was undermined  
at once by philosophy and  by           
licentiousness2 and it subsisted only as

 a machinery1 a machinery1  too1 already
 terribly discredited1 for civil ends4  
,thus he lost one  great element of     
truth and nature1 as well as of         
sublimity and pathos4  ,the extinction  
of liberty utterly deprived him of      
another4 ,homer saw  before him both a  
religion and a polity young1 fresh1 and 
vigorous2 for  ,virgil both were        
practically dead3 and whatever this     
world has of true  greatness is so      
closely dependent upon them1 that it was
 not his fault  if his poem felt and    
bears cogent witness to the loss4 ,even 
the sphere  of personal morality was not
 open to him2 for what principle of     
truth  or righteousness could he        
worthily have glorified1 without passing
  severe condemnation on some capital   
act of the man1 whom it was his  chief  
obligation to exalt8    ,and once more4 
,homer sang to his own people of the    
glorious deeds of  their sires1 to whom 
they were united by fond recollection1  
and by  near historic and local ties4   

,this was at once a stimulus and a      
check2  it cheered his labour1 and at   
the same time it absolutely required    
him to study moral harmony and          
consistency4 ,virgil sang to ,romans of 
the deeds of those who were not ,romans1
 and whom only a most hollow  fiction   
connected with his hearers1 through the 
dim vista of a thousand  years1 and     
under circumstances which made the      
pretence to historical  continuity      
little better than ridiculous4 ,or      
rather1 he sang thus1 not  to ,romans1  
but to their ,emperor2 he had to bear in
 mind1 not the great  fountains of      
emotion in the human heart1 but his     
town-house on the  ,esquiline1 and his  
country-house on the road from ,naples  
to ,pozzuoli4  ,in dealing with ,greeks1
 with ,trojans1 with ,carthaginians1 he 
again lost  ,homer's double advantage3  
he had nothing to give a healthy        
stimulus  to his imagination1 and       
nothing to bring him or to keep him to  
the  standard of truth and nature4 ,and 

here1 perhaps1 we hit upon some clue  to
 the superior character and attractions 
of ,turnus4 ,the ,poet was now  for once
 upon true national ground3 he was an   
,italian minstrel1 singing  to          
,italians1 whether truly or mythically  
is of less consequence1 about  an       
,italian hero4 ,thus he had something   
like the proper materials to  work with2
 and the result is one worthy of his    
noble powers1 though  it has the strange
 consequence of setting all the best    
sympathies of  his readers1 and of      
implying that his own were already set1 
in direct  opposition to the ostensible 
purpose of his poem4    ,it appears1    
however1 as if this great and splendid  
,poet1 being  thrown out of his true    
bearings in regard to all the deeper    
sources  of interest on which an epic   
writer must depend1 such as religion1   
patriotism1 and liberty1 became         
consequently reckless1 alike in major   
and in minor matters1 as to all the     
inner harmonies of his work1 and        

contented himself with the most         
unwearied and fastidious labours in its 
outward elaboration1 where he could give
 scope to his extraordinary  powers of  
versification and of diction without    
fear of stumbling upon  anything unfit  
for the artificial atmosphere of the    
,roman court4 ,the  consequence is1 that
 a vein of untruthfulness runs          
throughout the whole  neid1 as strong   
and as remarkable as is the genuineness 
of thought and  feeling in the ,homeric 
poems4 ,homer walks in the open day1    
,virgil by  lamplight4 ,homer gives us  
figures that breathe and move1 ,virgil  
usually  treats us to waxwork4 ,homer   
has the full force and play of the      
drama1  ,virgil is essentially operatic4
 ,from ,virgil back to ,homer is a      
greater  distance1 than from ,homer back
 to life4    ,homer is misapprehended   
through ,virgil4    ,but more4 ,virgil  
is at once the copyist of ,homer1 and1  
for the  generality of educated men1 his
 interpreter#hia4 ,in all modern ,europe

  taken together1 ,virgil has had ten   
who read him1 and ten who remember  him1
 for one that ,homer could show4 ,taking
 this in conjunction with the  great    
extent of the ground they occupy in     
common1 we may find reason to  think    
that the traditional and public idea of 
,homer's works1 throughout  the entire  
sphere of the ,western civilization1 has
 been formed1 to a  much greater degree 
than could at first be supposed1 by the 
,virgilian  copies from him4 ,this is   
only to say1 in other words1 that it has
 been  sadly impaired1 not to say       
seriously falsified2 for there is       
scarcely  a point of vital moment1 in   
which ,virgil follows ,homer faithfully1
 or  represents him either fairly or    
completely4 ,now this traditional idea  
is not only the stock idea that governs 
the indifferent public1 but  it is      
likewise the idea with which the        
individual student starts1 and  which   
governs him until he has reached such a 
point in his progress as  to discover   

the necessity1 and be conscious moreover
 of the strength1  to throw it off4     
,this1 however1 is a point that1 from   
the nature of  human life and its       
pursuits1 very few students indeed can  
reach at  all4 ,elsewhere we shall see1 
with what evil and untrue effect ,virgil
  has handled some of the ,homeric      
characters4 ,it is the same in every    
minor trait2 and it seems strange that  
so great a ,poet should not have  had   
enough of reverence for another ,poet1  
greater still and enshrined  in almost  
the worship of all ages1 to have        
restrained him from such  constant and  
wanton1 as well as wilful1 mutilations  
of the ,homeric  tradition4 ,it would1  
however1 appear that ,virgil's          
miscarriages are not  all due to        
carelessness1 in the common sense of it4
 ,in many instances1  unless so far as  
they can be referred to the necessities 
that press  upon a courtier1 it would   
seem as if they must be ascribable to   
torpor  in the faculties1 or defect in  

the habit of mind1 by which ,homer      
should  have been appreciated4 ,nay1    
sometimes he appears to have been moved 
simply by metrical convenience to alter 
the traditions of ,homer4 ,let us  take 
first a minor instance to test this     
assertion4    #hia ,in ,dibdin's        
#8,editions of the ,greek and ,latin    
,classics1' we find  nineteen editions  
of ,virgil between #adfi and #adgh4 ,the
 ,princeps  of ,homer was only printed  
in #adhh4 ,panzer1 according to ,dibdin1
  enumerates ninety editions of ,virgil 
in the #aeth century 7ii4 #edj474  ,mr4 
,hallam says 7,lit4 ,eur41 i4 #dbj471   
#8,ariosto has been after ,homer  the   
favourite poet of ,europe4' ,i presume  
this distinguished writer does  not mean
 to imply that ,homer has been more read
 than any other poet4  ,can his words   
mean that ,homer has been more approved8
 ,it is worth while  to ask the         
question3 for the judgments of ,mr4     
,hallam are like those of  ,minos1 and  
reach into the future4    ,nothing can  

be more marked than the prominence of   
the ,scamander as  compared with the    
,simois in ,homer4 ,the ,simois is named
 by him only six  times1 and none of the
 passages show it to have been a        
considerable  stream4 ,in the           
,twenty-first ,book#hib1 ,scamander     
invites ,simois to join  him in pouring 
forth the flood which was to bear away  
,achilles1 but  his #8brother' neither  
replies1 nor takes part in the action4  
,it would  appear1 indeed1 from         
geographical considerations1 which      
belong to the  topography of the ,troad1
 that in the summer ,simois was probably
 dry4  ,this entirely accords with the  
passage in which this river supplies    
#hic1 a figure1 as may be presumed1 of  
grass1 for the horses  of ,juno4 ,at any
 rate1 that passage is at variance with 
the idea of the  river as a tearing     
torrent4 ,again1 ,homer mentions#hid    
that many heroes  fell1 he does not say 
in1 but about1 the stream3 above all1 he
 does not  say they fell into its       

waters1 but in the dust of it1 or near  
it3    #hib ,il4 xxi4 #cjg1 et seqq4    
#hic ,il4 v4 #ggg4    #hid ,il4 xii4    
#bb4       1           4    ,again1     
,scamander is personified as the god    
,xanthus1 and plays a great  part in the
 action3 ,simois is not personified at  
all4 ,scamander is  1  and much besides3
 ,simois has no epithets4 ,simoeisius is
  the son of ,anthemion1 a person of    
secondary account2 but ,scamandrius is  
the name given by ,hector to his boy4   
,simois1 for all we know1 may have  been
 either a dry bed1 or little better than
 a rivulet2 but armed men  are thrown   
into ,scamander1 and whirled by him to  
the sea4 ,lastly1 the  plain where the  
,greek army was reviewed is  1   4 ,now 
a right conception of these rivers is   
not altogether  an insignificant affair1
 but is material to the clearness of our
 ideas  upon the military action of the 
poem4 ,what then has ,virgil done with  
them8 ,he has simply reversed the       
,homeric representation4 ,xanthus is    

with him the unmarked river1 ,simois is 
the mighty torrent4 ,witness  these     
passages3      ,mitto ea1 qu muris      
bellando exhausta sub altis1    ,quos   
,simois premat ille viros4 7n4 xi4      
#bef47    ,again3      ,victor apud     
rapidum ,simoenta sub ,ilio alto4 7n4 v4
 #bfa47    ,and most of all1 the passage
 which he has directly carried off from 
,homer1 and corrupted it on his way 7n4 
i4 #ajd73                ,ubi tot       
,simois correpta sub undis    ,scuta    
virm galeasque et fortia corpora volvit4
    ,and why all this8 ,plainly1 ,i     
apprehend1 because1 while ,scamander was
  a word disqualified from entering into
 the ,latin hexameter1 ,xanthus  also   
was somewhat less convenient than       
,simois for the march of his  resounding
 verse4 ,now this is a sample in small  
things of what ,virgil  has done in     
nearly all things1 both small and great4
     of ,homer and ,virgil4    ,there   
are instances in which ,virgil is       
popularly thought to profit  by the     

comparison with ,homer1 and where1      
notwithstanding1 a full  consideration  
may lead to a reversal of the sentence4 
,the  of  the ,eleventh ,odyssey1 for   
example1 is thought inferior to that of 
the  ,sixth neid4 ,to bring them fairly 
together1 we should perhaps put out  of 
view the philosophical and prophetical  
part of the latter#hie2 but  whether we 
do it or not is little material in the  
comparison4 ,in either  way1 the        
,inferno of ,virgil is1 upon the whole1 
a stage procession of  stately and      
gorgeous figures2 but it has no         
consistent or veracious  relation to any
 idea of the future or unseen state     
actually operative  among mankind4 ,yet 
there existed such an idea1 at least in 
the times  of which ,virgil was         
treating1 if not at the period when he  
lived4 ,it  was surely a subject of the 
deepest interest1 and of the most solemn
  pathos4 ,what we are as men here      
depends very much on our conception  of 
what we are hereafter to be4 ,there is  

nothing more touching in all  the       
history of the race of ,adam1 than its  
blind and painful feeling  after a      
future still invisible4 ,there is no    
witness to the comparative  degradation 
of a race or age1 so sure as its having 
ceased to yearn  towards any thing      
beyond the grave4 ,homer has shown us in
 the ,eleventh  ,odyssey#hif1 that1     
together with his keen sense of the     
present and  visible1 he felt the full  
force of this mysterious drawing towards
 the  unseen4 ,he is plainly as much in 
earnest here1 as in any part of the     
poems4 ,virgil1 on the other hand1      
succeeds in investing his hell with     
almost unequalled pomp1 approximating at
 times to splendour4 ,homer  attempts   
nothing of the kind2 but he produces a  
perfect and profound  impression of     
those regions1 according to the idea in 
his own mind3  they are shadowy1 gloomy1
 cold1 above all1 and in one word1      
dismal4  ,virgil contrives to leave the 
reader convinced that he is a very      

great artist3 ,homer lets all such      
matters take care of themselves4  ,but  
while ,virgil creates no impression at  
all on the mind as to the  ,world of    
,shades1 no image of the timid1 vague1  
and dim belief that  was entertained    
respecting it1 ,homer has set it all    
before us with a  truthfulness never    
equalled or approached4 ,and yet ,virgil
 abounds in  details and measurements   
which ,homer avoids4 ,tartarus is twice 
as deep  as the distance from earth to  
sky#hig1 and the ,hydra has fifty       
mouths4  ,yet the details of the one    
give no impression of reality1 while the
  utter local vagueness and dreaminess  
of the other is far more definite  in   
its effect1 because it is made to       
minister to the appropriate  ideas of   
sadness1 sympathy1 and awe4 ,as to      
particular passages1 the  appearance of 
,dido is full of grandeur2 but her      
silence1 the basis of  it1 is borrowed  
from that of ,ajax2 while in the        
,odyssey the striding of  ,achilles in  

silence over the meadow of asphodel1    
when he swells with  exultation upon    
hearing that his son excelled in council
 and in war1 is  perhaps one of the most
 sublime pieces of human representation1
 which  ,homer himself ever has         
produced4    #hie n4 vi4 #gbd-hic4      
#hif ,we cannot safely assume the second
  of ,od4 xxiv4 to be free  from        
interpolations4    #hig ,homer has used 
this figure2 but in an entirely         
different  connection1 ,il4 viii4       
#ac-af4    ,ethnological dislocations4  
,let us now give an instance of         
,virgil's utter indifference to historic
  truth and consistency4 ,it is the more
 remarkable1 because as he was          
pretending to derive the ,julian family 
from the stock of neas1 there  would    
apparently have been some advantage in  
adhering strictly to the  ,homeric      
distinctions as to races on both sides  
in the ,trojan war4 ,but  this appears  
to be entirely beneath his attention4   
,for instance1 he  calls the ,homeric   

,greeks ,pelasgi#hih4 ,it may be said he
 was guided by  the ,italian traditions1
 which connected the ,greek and         
,pelasgian names  as early colonists of 
that country4 ,but first1 some regard   
should be  paid to ,homer in matters    
which concern ,troy2 and it is rather   
violent  to call the ,greeks ,pelasgi1  
when the only ,pelasgi named in the war 
by  the ,poet are placed on the side of 
their enemies4 ,secondly1 as it was  his
 purpose throughout to depress the      
,greeks1 why should he thus thrust  them
 into view as one with an ,italian race8
 ,above all1 why do this  in a case1    
where ,homer had himself supplied a link
 between ,italy and  ,troy8 ,again1     
,virgil calls the ,greek camp ,dorica   
castra#hii4 ,but the  ,dorians at the   
period of the ,trojan war were utterly  
insignificant1 and  are never once named
 by ,homer in connection with the       
contest4 ,again1  ,virgil calls ,diomed1
 and the city of ,arpi founded by him1  
tolian1 and  makes him complain that he 

was not allowed to go back to           
,calydon#ijj1  simply because his father
 ,tydeus1 as a son of neus1 had been of 
tolian extraction2 though he commanded  
the ,argives1 and had nothing  whatever 
to do with the tolians of ,homer4       
,again1 following a late and            
purposeless tradition1 he calls ,ulysses
 olides#ija1 though ,homer  has given   
the descent of ,ulysses#ijb without in  
any manner attaching  it to the line of 
the olids1 a collection of families     
whose descent1  on account probably of  
their historical importance1 he is more 
than  ordinarily careful to mark4       
#hih n4 vi4 #ejc4    #hii n4 ii4 #bg4   
vi4 #hh4    #ijj n4 xi4 #bci-bgj4       
#ija n4 vi4 #ebi4    #ijb ,od4 xvi4     
#aah4    ,with cases of simple          
inaccuracy1 to which ,i do not seek to  
attach undue  weight1 we may connect the
 manner in which he confounds1 on the   
other  side1 the distinctions of the    
,trojan races1 so accurately marked by  
,homer4 ,in the ,twentieth ,iliad1 the  

genealogy of the reigning families  of  
,troy and of ,dardania is given with    
great precision4 ,the distinction       
between ,trojans and ,dardanians is     
preserved through the ,iliad1 though    
the ,trojan name is sometimes1 but      
rarely1 used to include the whole       
indigenous army1 and sometimes it even  
signifies the entire force1  including  
the allies1 which opposed the ,greek    
army4 ,we might here1  however1 suppose 
that it would have been in the interest 
of ,virgil's  aim to maintain1 or even  
sharpen1 the distinction between the    
,dardanian  line1 which was at most but 
indirectly worsted by the ,greeks1 and  
the  line of ,ilus1 which fatally both  
sinned and suffered in the conflict of  
the ,troica4 ,but1 on the contrary1 he  
is still less discriminating in  the use
 of names here1 than he has been for the
 ,greeks4 ,the companions  of neas are  
sometimes ,teucri1 ,trojani1 or         
,trojugen--sometimes  nead1 sometimes   
,dardanid4 ,in the first of these names 

he entirely  contravenes ,homer1 who    
produces a ,teucer eminent among the    
,greeks1  but nowhere connects the name 
with ,troy1 while ,virgil makes a       
,cretan  ,teucer#ijc the founder of the 
,trojan race4 ,i grant that he here     
founds himself upon what may be called a
 separate tradition1 though  it is vague
 and slender1 of a ,teucrian race in    
,troas4 ,in the two last  appellations1 
without any authority1 he wholly alters 
the effect of  the ,greek patronymic1   
and changes the mere family-name into a 
national  appellation4 ,then again they 
appear as the ,pergamea gens#ijd4 ,but  
,pergamus in ,homer was simply the      
citadel of ,troy1 and is a correlative  
to #ije3 the ,english might almost as   
well be called the people  of the       
,tower4 ,not content yet1 he will also  
have the ,trojans to be  ,phryges3      
#ijc n4 iii4 #ajd4    #ijd n4 vi4 #fc4  
#ije ,scott and ,liddell1 in voc4       
,phrygibusque adsis pede1 diva1         
secundo#ijf2    #ijf n4 x4 #bee4 ,cf4 i4

 #fah1 ,phrygius ,simois2 vii4 #eig1 et 
alibi4    though in ,homer the          
,phrygians are a people both            
ethnologically and  politically         
separate#ijg from the ,trojan races4    
,again as to neas  himself4 ,he is      
called ,rhteius heros#ijh2 but if       
,virgil chose thus  to designate his    
hero by reference to a single point of  
the ,trojan  territory1 it should have  
been one with which he was locally      
connected1  whereas the dominions of his
 family were not near the promontory  or
 upon the coast1 but among the hills at 
the other extreme of the  country4 ,then
 again neas is ,laomedontius heros#iji2 
but ,laomedon was  of the branch of     
,ilus1 while neas belonged to that of   
,assaracus2 and  was moreover perjured1 
while the line of ,assaracus was marked 
with no  such taint4 ,so we have again--
    #ijg ,il4 iii4 #ahd4    #ijh ,il4   
xii4 #dcf4    #iji ,il4 viii4 #ah4      
,dardanus1 ,iliac primus pater urbis et 
auctor#iaj2    #iaj ,ibid4 #acd4 ,cf4   

vi4 #fej4    but ,dardanus founded      
,dardania1 while ,ilium did not exist   
until the time  of his great grandson   
,ilus4 ,and here ,virgil seems wholly to
 forget that  he had himself made       
,teucer the head of the race#iaa4 ,in   
describing the  migration of this hero  
from ,crete to ,troas1 he says3    #iaa 
n4 iii4 #ajd4                           
,nondum ,ilium et arces    ,pergame     
steterant2 habitabant vallibus imis#iab4
    #iab n4 iii4 #aji4    ,here he not  
only rejects ,homer1 who places         
,dardanus and the original  settlement  
among the mountains1 but likewise       
represents what is in  itself           
improbable1 since eminences1 and not    
bottoms1 were commonly  sought by the   
first colonists with a view to security4
 ,choosing to  depart from ,homer1 he   
does not even agree with                
,apollodorus#iac4  ,lastly1 he is not   
less neglectful of the actual           
topography2 for he  implies that ,ilium 
is among the hills1 while it was1       

according to  ,homer's express words and
 according to universal opinion1 on the 
plain  as opposed to the hills4 ,again  
we have from ,virgil the allusion--     
#iac ,apollod4 ,,iii4 xii4 #a4          
quibus obstitit ,ilium1 et ingens       
,gloria ,dardani#iad4    #iad n4 vi4    
#fc4    ,here is another case of metre  
against history1 and in all such  cases 
history must go 7as is said7 to the     
wall4 ,ilium would not  satisfactorily  
admit the genitive case2 there could    
therefore be no  glory of ,ilium1 and on
 this account ,virgil liberally assigns 
vast  renown to ,dardania1 which was a  
place of no renown whatever4 ,but he is 
quite as ready1 it must be admitted1 to 
contradict himself as he is to          
contradict ,homer4 ,in n4 ii4 #edj1 he  
gives it to be understood that the  city
 of ,troy alone was the kingdom of      
,priam1 and that the ,greek camp  was   
beyond it1 for he makes ,priam say of   
his return from the camp1      meque in 
mea regna remisit4    ,but a very little

 further on he calls ,priam 7v4 #eef71  
tot quondam populis regnisque superbum  
,regnatorem ,asi4    ,each account is   
alike inaccurate3 ,priam had more than a
 city1 but his  dominions were confined 
to a mere nook of ,asia ,minor4 ,and    
again1 before  quitting this part of the
 subject1 let us observe how1 in the    
case of  ,anchises1 he departs from     
,homer1 even where it would have served 
the  purpose of his story to follow him 
closely4 ,the ,anchises of ,homer is  an
  2 he does not appear at ,troy among   
the  of  the city1 or of ,priam's court1
 which would have made him a secondary  
figure2 he resides at ,dardania as an   
independent sovereign1 and it  seems not
 unlikely that in lineal dignity1 at    
least1 he was even before  ,priam4 ,but 
the ,anchises of ,virgil is resident in 
,troy#iae2 and is  therefore1 of course1
 to be taken for a subject of ,priam4   
,here the  alteration very much lowers  
the rank of neas1 and so far1 therefore1
  of ,augustus4    #iae n4 ii4 #fcd4    

,the effect of all this is1 without any 
real gain either moral or  poetical1    
entirely to bewilder the mind of the    
reader of the neid1 in  regard to a     
subject of real interest both historical
 and ethnological1  with respect to     
which ,homer has left on record a most  
careful and  clear representation4 ,it  
must indeed be admitted1 that the       
intervening  poets had set many examples
 of similar license2 indeed they had    
made  irregularity a rule2 but they had 
no such powerful reasons as ,virgil  had
 for imitating1 in some points at least1
 the precision of ,homer1 and  besides1 
he has perhaps exceeded them all in the 
multitude and variety  of his departures
 from it4 ,on the other hand1 some      
allowance1 ,i admit1  should be made for
 the less flexible character of the     
,latin tongue1  which might have made   
the peculiar accuracy of ,homer a real  
difficulty  to ,virgil4    ,i have thus 
minutely traced out this course of      
inconsistency and  contradiction in     

particular instances1 because they are  
highly  illustrative of the character of
 ,virgil's work1 if not of his mind4    
,after the political and courtly idea of
 the poem1 he seems to have  abandoned  
all solicitude except for its form and  
sound1 and to have  been totally        
indifferent as to presenting any        
veracious1 or if that  word imply too   
much credulity1 any self-consistent     
pattern1 of manners1  places1 events1 or
 characters4    ,virgil must1 materially
 at least1 have saturated himself with  
the ,iliad  before he planned the neid1 
for his borrowing is alike incessant    
and diversified2 and this it is which   
renders it so singular that he  should  
at once have exposed himself to the     
double charge of servilely  imitating   
and of gratuitously disfiguring his     
original4    ,if we look to the action  
of the ,twelfth ,book of the neid1 it is
 all  made up from ,homer cut in pieces 
and recast4 ,it begins with the idea of 
the single combat1 borrowed from the    

,third and ,seventh ,iliads4 ,then  come
 the pact and the breach of it by       
,juturna1 under ,juno's influence1      
which are borrowed from the treachery of
 ,pandarus1 prompted by ,minerva1  under
 the same instigation4 ,next1 the flight
 of ,turnus before neas is  borrowed    
from that of ,hector before ,achilles4  
,after this1 ,turnus is  disabled by a  
divine agency1 like ,patroclus before   
,hector2 a downfall  brought about in   
the one case1 as in the other1 without  
peril and  without honour1 so that here 
we have a copy even of one among the    
few points where the ,iliad was little  
worthy to be imitated4 ,lastly1  the    
thought of ,pallas in the mind of neas  
7more highly wrought1  however1 and very
 effective71 plays the part of the      
recollection of  ,patroclus#iaf in the  
mind of ,achilles4    #iaf ,il4 xxii4   
#cca-dg4    ,unfaithful imitations of   
detail4    ,both here and elsewhere1 the
 imitations in detail are too numerous  
to  be noted4 ,some of them even descend

 to a character which1 independently  of
 their minuteness1 approaches the       
ludicrous4 ,the very dung1 in which  the
 ,oilean ,ajax loses his footing#iag1 in
 the ,twenty-third ,iliad1  is          
reproduced in the ,fifth neid1 that     
,nisus may flounder in it4 ,but  even   
here we may note two characteristic     
differences4 ,homer trips up a          
personage1 whom he has no particular    
occasion to set off favourably4  ,virgil
 chooses for the object of derision     
,nisus1 on whom1 in the  beautiful      
episode which soon after follows1 he is 
about to concentrate  all the tenderest 
sympathies of his hearers4 ,and again1  
,homer makes  ,ajax slip where1 as he   
says1 the oxen had just been slain over 
,patroclus3 ,virgil has no such probable
 cause to allege for the presence  of   
the obnoxious material#iah1 but says    
csis forte juvencis4 ,now  the ,trojans 
had in fact left the tomb of ,anchises1 
and had gone to a  chosen spot to       
celebrate the foot-races#iai2 so that   

even his gore and  ordure are quite out 
of place4    #iag ,il4 xxiii4 #gge-ha4  
n4 v4 #ccc1 #cef4    #iah ,ibid4 #cbi4  
#iai ,ibid4 #bhf-ij4    ,so again1 of   
all the formul in ,homer1 it is not very
 clear why  ,virgil should have chosen  
to recall the rather commonplace line   
in his own more ambitious and resounding
 verse1      ,postquam exemta fames1 et 
amor compressus edendi#ibj2    #ibj n4  
viii4 #ahe4    but it is still more     
singular that1 instead of saying that   
hunger and  thirst were satisfied1 he   
should leave out thirst altogether1 and 
fill  up his hexameter by mentioning    
hunger twice over4    ,still it seems   
not a little strange1 notwithstanding   
the power of the  disabling causes which
 have been enumerated1 that1 with so    
vast an  amount of material imitation1  
,virgil should not have acquired1 even  
by  accident or by sheer force of use1  
some traits of nearer resemblance in    
feeling1 and in ethical handling1 to his
 great original4    ,his maltreatment of

 the ,homeric characters is most        
conspicuous1  perhaps1 in the instance  
of ,helen4 ,this case1 indeed1 deserves 
a  separate consideration of the causes 
which have reduced a beautiful1         
touching1 and remarkably original       
portrait to a gross and most common     
caricature4 ,but ,ulysses1 as the prince
 of policy1 had perhaps a better  claim 
to be comprehended by a ,roman at the   
court of ,augustus4 ,yet  the ,ulysses  
of ,virgil simply represents the naked  
ideas of hardness1  cunning1 and        
cruelty4 ,he is never named but to be   
abused2 and1 though  the mention of him 
is not very frequent1 it is easy to     
construct from  the poem a pretty large 
catalogue of vituperative epithets1     
unmitigated  by any single one of an    
opposite character4 ,he is durus1 dirus1
  svus1 pellax1 fandi fictor1 artifex1  
inventor scelerum1 and  scelerum        
hortator4 ,even physical circumstances1 
however1 and those  too of the broadest 
notoriety1 ,virgil entirely overlooks4  

,nothing can  be more at variance with  
the effeminate character of the ,homeric
 ,paris1  his impotence in fight1 and   
his distinction limited to the bow1     
which  was then the coward's weapon1    
than to represent him as possessed of   
vast physical force4 ,yet even on this  
,virgil has ventured4 ,in the games  of 
the ,fifth ,book1 when neas invites     
candidates for the pugilistic           
encounter1 the huge ,dares immediately  
presents himself1 and he is  described  
as the only person who could box with   
,paris#iba6    #iba n4 v4 #cgj4         
,solus qui ,paridem solitus contendere  
contra4    ,heyne urges by way of       
apology the authority of ,hyginus1 who  
was no  more than the contemporary of   
,virgil himself2 and presumes that      
,virgil followed authorities now lost3 a
 sorry defence1 because the             
representation is inconsistent not      
merely with the facts1 but with the     
essential idea of the ,paris of ,homer1 
and therefore proves that ,virgil  did  

not try or care to understand the       
character1 or to be faithful to  his    
master4    ,maltreatment of ,mythology  
and ,ethics4    ,but it is time to give 
some instances1 which show an utter     
disregard of  either mythological or    
moral consistency4    ,in the ,eighth   
neid1 neas and ,anchises are much       
troubled in mind2 and  so it appears    
they must have continued1      ,n signum
 clo ,cytherea dedisset aperto2         
,namque improviso vibratus ab there     
fulgor    ,cum sonitu venit#ibb4    #ibb
 n4 viii4 #ebc4    ,this idea of a      
,cytherea tonans is as incongruous as it
 is novel4  ,to preserve the            
characteristic attributes of the several
 deities of  the ,pagan mythology       
contributes to beauty1 and was therefore
 at least  an obligation imposed by the 
poetic art2 but ,virgil is not content  
with simply departing from it by taking 
the management of thunder  and lightning
 out of the hands of ,jupiter and the   
highest deities2  he cannot be satisfied

 without giving it to ,venus4 ,with her 
,homeric  character1 and with any       
consistent conception of her attributes1
 it is  utterly irreconcilable4    ,but 
again1 in the ,second neid1 ,virgil     
makes ,venus address to her son  the    
following majestic lines1 when he was   
about to slay ,helen amidst  the        
conflagration of ,troy3      ,non tibi  
,tyndaridis facies invisa ,lacn         
,culpatusve ,paris3 ,divm inclementia1  
,divm    ,has evertit opes1 sternitque a
 culmine ,trojam#ibc4    #ibc n4 ii4    
#fja4    ,in which he plainly imitates  
the words of ,priam1         1     1    
#ibd4    #ibd ,il4 iii4 #afd4    ,now1  
even with reference to the acquittal of 
,helen1 the cases are  quite dissimilar4
 ,what ,homer puts into the mouth of    
,priam1 ,virgil  stamps with the        
authority of a deity3 what ,priam says  
of the ,homeric  ,helen1 who had been   
carried off by ,paris1 and whose general
 character  was very far from depraved1 
the ,venus of ,virgil says of a hardened

  traitress as well as adulteress4      
,again1 what ,priam says relative to    
himself1 #8,i do not blame thee1' seems 
in the neid to resemble the  unlimited  
enunciation of an abstract proposition4 
,but1 above all1 let  us notice how     
lamentably ,virgil has mauled the       
sentiment by introducing  ,paris into   
the passage1 of whose moral guilt1 if   
there be such a thing  as moral guilt   
upon earth1 there could be no doubt1 and
 whom ,homer1  with true poetic justice1
 has taken care to punish by making him 
the  object of the general reprobation  
and hatred of his countrymen#ibe4  ,in  
acquitting such an offender1 and        
throwing the charge of his crimes  upon 
the ,immortals1 by the mouth1 too1 of   
one belonging to their  number1 ,virgil 
has given into the worst form of        
fatalism1 that namely  which annihilates
 all moral sanctions and ideas as       
applicable to human  conduct4    #ibe   
,il4 iii4 #dec1 and elsewhere4    ,and  
this he has done with no plea whatever  

which might have been  drawn1 valeat    
quantum1 from the exigencies of his     
poem4 ,paris was  not before the eye of 
neas3 ,venus was not dissuading her son 
from  taking vengeance upon ,paris2 he  
is forced into our sight2 the allusion  
is as irrelevant with reference to the  
purpose of the passage1 as it  is       
blameworthy in an ethical point of view2
 and in all probability the  mention of 
him is introduced for no other reason   
than that it supplied  ,virgil with a   
hemistich to fill up a gap in an        
extremely fine passage1  and to secure  
its prosodial equilibrium1 to which the 
balance of moral  sanctions is          
sacrificed without remorse4    ,as it is
 with the management of his gods1 so    
with his conception  of human nature2   
,virgil seems to have lost the sight of 
its higher  prerogatives1 and especially
 of the great and noble truth1 that it  
is susceptible of divine influences     
without the loss of its free  agency4   
,the poems of ,homer1 notwithstanding   

their copious theurgy1 are  throughout  
eminently and entirely human4 ,their    
human agency is adorned  and elevated   
7as well as unhappily lowered and       
darkened71 it is even  modified and     
controlled1 but never inwardly          
mutilated1 curtailed or  superseded1 by 
the interference of the ,immortals4     
,but1 in regard to his  relations with  
the deities1 neas is a mere puppet2 and 
the gallant  spirit of ,turnus on his   
last battlefield is1 as it were1 put    
down  within him by main force from     
heaven4    neas and ,dido in the        
,shades4    ,thus for example1 ,virgil  
is not ashamed to introduce to us neas  
in  the shades below apologizing to     
,dido for his black desertion of her by 
saying1 #8he could not help it1 the gods
 compelled him2 and really he  never    
thought she would take it so much to    
heart4'      ,invitus1 regina1 tuo de   
litore cessi2    ,sed me jussa dem 444  
,imperiis egere suis2 nec credere quivi 
,hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre     

dolorem#ibf4    #ibf n4 vi4 #dfj4       
,compare with this the extraordinary    
truth1 beauty1 and manfulness of  the   
speech1 in which ,ulysses takes his     
farewell of ,calypso#ibg4 ,this  is its 
tenour3 #8,be not incensed2 ,i know     
,penelope is less beautiful  than thou2 
yet is my desire1 from day by day1      
towards my home2 and  if ,i be wrecked  
upon my way1 this too ,i will endure1   
even as ,i have  endured much before4'  
,in ,virgil's hands1 the chief would    
probably  have shuffled off the         
responsibility from himself upon the    
shoulders  of the gods4 ,never shall we 
find one of ,homer's heroes doing this1 
either beforehand1 as by saying1 #8,i do
 not wish to do it1 but ,i am  ordered1'
 or retrospectively4 ,there is one      
exception2 it is when  ,agamemnon says  
that 1 the goddess of ,mischief1 with   
,jupiter1 had  misled him#ibh1 and that 
he was not himself to blame4 ,but       
,agamemnon1  alone among the ,greek     
heroes1 had in his character a strong   

element  of what we call shabbiness2 and
 what is more1 he uses this plea only   
after making reparation1 and not1 as    
neas does1 in lieu of any4 ,to  resume1 
however1 the thread4 ,sometimes the     
,homeric heroes are pious1  sometimes   
disobedient2 sometimes bold1 and        
sometimes fearful2 sometimes  they      
submit to overpowering force1 sometimes 
they struggle even against  destiny2 but
 they never appear before us shorn of   
the first attribute  of manhood1 its    
free will4    #ibg ,od4 v4 #bae-bd4     
#ibh ,il4 xix4 #hf4 ,when ,achilles     
7#bgj7 as it were countersigns this1 it 
is evidently in his character of a      
high-bred gentleman2 a character1 of    
which he gives so many proofs in the    
poem4    ,it seems then that ,virgil    
really did not care to form the habit1  
and  thus commonly failed in the power1 
of working the higher springs of  our   
nature4 ,he puts the clay into the fire1
 but the pitcher does not  always come  
out such as he intended it2 not even    

when1 instead of  trusting1 like ,homer1
 to simple action as the vehicle of his 
meaning1  he uses the precautionary     
measure of describing it4    ,thus he   
prepares us to expect in ,mezentius a   
monster of impiety1  cruelty1 and       
brutality1 from the account and the     
epithets by which  he is introduced to  
us#ibi4 ,in words scattered here and    
there1 this  #8contemptor divm' is made 
to sustain his impious character4       
,dextra  mihi deus1 he says2 and again  
nec divm parcimus ulli#icj4 ,but  these 
are really mere black patches1 set upon 
a character with which  they do not     
accord2 they remain patches still1 and  
not parts of it4  ,practically1         
,mezentius proceeds in the poem only as 
an affectionate  father1 and as a       
gallant warrior1 should do2 and there is
 no more of  real impiety in him1 than  
there is of real piety in neas4 ,nay1   
here  again ,virgil shows his contempt  
of consistency4 ,for1 when ,mezentius   
slays ,orodes1 who prophesied that his  

conqueror would meet with a  similar    
fate upon the field of battle1          
,mezentius replies in the most  decorous
 manner 7copying the very language of   
,achilles to the dying  ,hector#ica71   
#ibi n4 vii4 #fdh2 viii4 #g1 #dhb4      
#icj n4 x4 #ggc1 #hhj4    #ica ,il4     
xxii4 #cfe4      ,nunc morere4 ,ast de  
me divm pater atque hominum rex         
,viderit#icb4    #icb n4 x4 #gdc4       
,woman characters of ,homer and ,virgil4
    ,though ,virgil is esteemed a       
woman-hater1 he has availed himself of  
the use of female characters to a degree
 only exceeded1 so far as ,i  recollect1
 by the highly susceptible ,tasso4 ,his 
celestial machinery is  principally     
worked by ,juno and by ,venus3 we miss  
altogether in him that  jovial might of 
the ,homeric ,jupiter1 which is recalled
 in the historic  portraits of king     
,henry the ,eighth of ,england4 ,of     
mortals we have1  besides the mute      
,lavinia1 and minor or transitory       
personages1 ,dido1  ,juturna1 ,amata1   

,camilla4 ,all these play very marked   
parts in the poem2  indeed1 they supply 
the mainsprings of the action2 and the  
characters  of all are drawn with great 
spirit and success1 while the ,passion  
of  ,dido will probably always be quoted
 as the most magnificent witness1  which
 the whole range of the poem affords1 to
 the original power and  genius of its  
author4 ,yet even in these1 his signal  
successes1 it is  curious to notice the 
dissimilarity between ,virgil and       
,homer4 ,homer1  too1 has been eminently
 successful in his women4 ,his greater  
studies of  ,helen1 ,andromache1 and    
,penelope are fully sustained by the    
truth and  force of all the less        
conspicuous delineations3 ,hecuba1      
,briseis1 the  incomparable ,nausicaa1  
the faithful ,euryclea1 the pert and    
heartless  ,melantho4 ,but how different
 are the works of the two poets6 ,in all
  ,virgil's women 7as on the other hand 
his men are apt to be effeminate7  there
 is a tinge of the masculine4 ,many a   

woman would stab herself for  love like 
,dido2 but none1 not even in ,france1   
with her pomp1 apparatus1  and          
self-consciousness4 ,their fates1 too1  
are all of a violent  character4 ,amata1
 as well as ,dido1 commits suicide2     
,camilla is slain2  ,juturna is immortal
 indeed1 but is dismissed from earth    
with what for  her comes nearest to an  
image of death2 with defeat1            
mortification1  shame4 ,but on the      
contrary1 the feminineness of ,homer's  
women has never  been surpassed4 ,in    
,hecuba alone1 at one single point in   
the story1  there is an apparent        
exception2 yet it is no great violence  
done to  nature1 if we find in her after
 ,hector's death the wild ferocity of   
the dam deprived of her offspring1 and  
if revenge then drives her for  a moment
 into the temper of a cannibal4         
,elsewhere beyond doubt1 even  in       
,melantho1 the feminine character is not
 wholly obliterated1 but is  left at the
 point where in actual life             

licentiousness and vanity might  leave  
it4 ,in ,helen1 ,andromache1 ,nausicaa1 
it reaches a perfection which  has never
 been surpassed1 unless by ,shakespeare1
 in human song4 ,there  is1 however1    
something to be observed1 which is more 
striking and  characteristic4 ,the      
,virgilian delineations of women tell us
 absolutely  nothing1 or next to        
nothing1 of the social position of      
womankind either  at the epoch of neas  
or at any other2 a matter which has     
stood so  differently in different ages 
and states of mankind1 yet which has at 
all times been one of the surest tests  
for distinguishing a true and  healthy  
from a hollow civilization4 ,but the    
,homeric poems furnish a  picture of    
this interesting subject not a whit less
 complete than any  other picture they  
contain4 ,the ,woman of the heroic age  
of ,greece  stands before us in that    
immortal verse no less clear1 no less   
truly  drawn1 no less carefully shaded1 
than the ,warrior1 the ,statesman1 and  

the ,king4    ,these are great matters3 
but ,virgil is also as careless1 as     
,homer is  careful1 of minor            
proprieties4 ,for instance1 he describes
 the ,italian  smiths engaged in        
preparing suits of armour upon the      
invasion of neas4  ,some1 he says1 make 
breastplates of brass2 and he continues1
      ,aut leves ocreas lento ducunt    
argento#icc4    #icc n4 vii4 #fcc4      
,here1 we presume1 his purpose was to   
represent the hammering process by  a   
heavy spondaic line--in evident         
imitation of ,homer1 who has done it    
still more completely in the            
#icd4    #icd ,il4 ii4 #edd4    ,but    
,homer always gains his metrical objects
 without injuring the sense2  ,virgil1  
on the contrary1 has committed an error1
 by representing silver  7a most rare   
and valuable metal1 especially in the   
,trojan times7  as used in large masses 
for making armour2 and a grosser        
solecism1  by representing the greaves  
as made of far finer material than the  

breastplates4 ,perhaps he was helped    
into this error by a careless           
reminiscence1 that ,homer had in some   
way connected silver with the  greaves4 
,this is not1 however1 in armour as     
generally used1 but in the  case of some
 of the greatest chiefs1 including      
,paris1 whose dandyism1  we know1       
extended particularly to his arms4 ,nor 
are even his greaves  made of1 or even  
plated with1 silver1 but only the clasps
 of them3               1   #ice4       
#ice ,il4 iii4 #ccj4    ,virgil is      
careful enough as to geography1 when he 
deals with countries  under the eye of  
his hearers4 ,but he can scarcely be    
excused for  inverting the ,homeric     
order of the mountains piled up by the  
giants4  ,homer places ,mount ,pelion on
 ,ossa1 and ,ossa on ,olympus3       '  
1  '      #icf4    #icf ,od4 xi4 #cae4  
,this description is in conformity with 
the proportionate heights of  the       
mountains1 among which ,olympus is the  
highest1 ,ossa the next1  ,pelion the   

least4 ,but ,virgil makes ,pelion the   
base1 and ,olympus the  apex3      ,ter 
sunt conati imponere ,pelio ,ossam      
,scilicet1 atque ,oss frondosum         
involvere ,olympum#icg4    #icg ,georg4 
i4 #bha4    ,it is not simply that      
,homer is here geographically accurate1 
and ,virgil  the reverse4 ,homer has    
adopted the pyramidal structure1 which  
satisfies  the eye1 and lays a firm and 
obvious road1 so to speak1 to the skies4
  ,virgil does not4 ,he subjoins to his 
description the verse1      ,ter pater  
extructos disjecit fulmine montes4      
,but ,jupiter might have spared himself 
the trouble3 the mountains would  have  
tumbled of themselves4    ,confusion of 
natural ,phenomena4    ,before parting  
from the subject1 it may be well to give
 another example  of the indifference of
 ,virgil to the association between     
poetry1 and  the order of external      
nature as such4 ,in the ,fourth neid1 he
 speaks of  ,mercury as passing over    
,mount ,atlas on his way to ,carthage2  

from what  point ,i do not now inquire4 
,the lines are these#ich2    #ich n4 iv4
 #bdh-ea4      ,atlantis1 cinctum       
assidue cui nubibus atris    ,piniferum 
caput et vento pulsatur et imbri2       
,nix humeros infusa tegit3 tum flumina  
mento    ,prcipitant senis1 et glacie   
riget horrida barba4    ,his            
pine-bearing head1 girt with clouds1 is 
beaten by wind and rain4  ,so far so    
good4 ,but while such is the temperature
 of the air at the  summit1 it grows    
colder1 not warmer1 as we descend3 for  
snow covers his  shoulders4 ,this is the
 second image4 ,next1 we mount again to 
his mouth1  which discharges rivers over
 his chin3 and not even here have we    
done  with incongruity1 for his beard1  
although thus watered from above1 is    
rough and stiff with ice4 ,now such a   
confusion1 as is here exhibited1  of    
images which nature always exhibits in a
 fixed and very imposing  order1 is1 we 
may be assured1 no mere casual error1   
but indicates a  rooted indifference    

about matters which the poets of nature 
study1 not  only with accuracy1 but with
 an accuracy which is the fruit of their
  reverence and love4    ,the ,dolopes  
of ,homer are a part of the ,myrmidons1 
for they are the  subjects of           
,phnix#ici1 and ,phnix commands the     
fifth division of  the ,myrmidons3 they 
are named by ,virgil as a separate      
race#idj4 ,the  ,rhadamanthus of ,homer 
appears to have been conceived by the   
,poet as a  mild and benevolent         
character1 for he is placed in the      
,plains of the  ,blest1 while ,minos    
administers severer justice in the      
under-world4 ,but  the ,rhadamanthus of 
,virgil is the judge of the infernal    
regions1 and is  the image of rigour2   
while his ,minos#ida has the very mild  
and also  secondary function of dealing1
 in the vestibule of the ,shades1 with  
the  cases of such persons as had been  
unjustly condemned on earth#idb4        
,again1 where ,homer uses exaggeration  
to enhance effect1 ,virgil carries  it  

far into caricature4 ,in the ,iliad1    
,diomed#idc heaves a stone1 of  a weight
 that #8two men such as are nowadays 7  
7  could scarcely lift4' ,he allows for 
a short interval since the ,trojan  war1
 and says that two ordinary men of his  
day could scarcely lift  what warriors  
of extraordinary strength1 by an        
extraordinary effort1  then raised and  
hurled4 ,in another place1 ,ajax flings 
a stone1 such as  even a man in the     
fullest vigour could now scarcely       
hold#idd4 ,again1  ,hector discharges   
against the ,greek rampart one which two
 strong men  could hardly raise with a  
lever2 but then he is specially aided by
  ,jupiter#ide4 ,now in the ,fifth neid1
 neas gives to ,mnestheus1 as a  prize1 
a breastplate which he himself had won1 
the spoil of ,demoleos4  ,this          
,demoleos#idf was no hero1 for he is    
never named by ,homer2 again1  the      
,demoleos of ,virgil wore the           
breastplate when he chased the ,trojans 
flying in all directions 7#8palantes1'  

n4 v4 #bfe71 so that it must  have been 
light to him3 there was no time at all  
for human degeneracy1  since they are   
still his contemporaries that are on the
 stage2 and yet  such was the weight of 
this breastplate1 that two men together 
could  scarcely carry it on their       
shoulders4    #ici ,il4 ix4 #dhd1 and   
xvi4 #aif4    #idj n4 ii4 #g4    #ida n4
 vi4 #dcb4    #idb ,although it may be a
 deviation from the direct path1 yet1   
having  noticed in so much detail the   
unfaithfulness of ,virgil to his        
original1  ,i will also give an instance
 of the accuracy of ,horace4 ,in the    
,seventh  ,ode of the ,first ,book1 he  
has occasion to refer to the places made
  famous in ,homeric song2 and ,athens  
with him is ,palladis urbs2 so ,argos   
77 is aptum equis1 ,mycn 77 dites1      
,larissa  77 opima4 ,lacedmon is        
patiens1 an epithet corresponding  with 
no particular word in ,homer1 but not   
contradicted by any2 it had  acquired   
the character since his time4    #idc   

,il4 v4 #cjc4 ,see also ,il4 xx4 #bhe4  
#idd ,il4 xii4 #chb4    #ide ,ibid4     
#dde-ej4    #idf ,homer names a         
,demoleon1 son of ,agenor2 but he is    
slain fighting  for the ,trojans4 ,il4  
xx4 #cie4      #8,vix illam famuli      
,phegeus ,sagarisque ferebant           
,multiplicem1 connixi humeris#idg4'     
#idg n4 vi4 #bcc4    ,let it not be     
thought that the varied examples1 which 
have here been  quoted1 are either      
irrelevant or without serious           
significance4 ,there  cannot1 surely1 be
 a more decided error than to treat     
accuracy in  matters of this kind as a  
matter of sheer indifference4 ,it is not
 only  inseparable from the function of 
the primitive ,poet as the historian  of
 his subject1 but it appertains also to 
the perfection of his  poetic nature1   
that he should have a nice sense of     
proportion even in  figurative language4
 ,i have dwelt1 however1 upon minor     
points1 not for  their own sake1 but    
because the manner in which ,virgil     

handles them  appears to throw no       
unimportant light upon the frame and    
temper of his  work at large1 and of the
 later as compared with the earliest    
poetry4    ,contrast of principal aims4 
,in diction1 ,virgil is ornate and      
,homer simple2 in metre1 ,virgil is     
uniform and sustained1 ,homer free and  
varied2 in the faculty of  invention1   
for which the historical office of early
 poetry still  leaves ample room1 ,homer
 is inexhaustible1 while1 from the      
needless  accumulation of imitations in 
every sort and size1 ,virgil gives      
ground  to suspect that he was poor1 at 
least by comparison4 ,the first thought 
of ,homer was his subject1 and the      
second his nation2 the first thought  of
 ,virgil was his ,emperor and the court 
around the throne1 the second  the      
elaboration of his verse4 ,characters1  
feelings1 facts1 were used by  ,virgil  
for producing on the mind the effect of 
scenic representation2  the end of      
,homer1 on the contrary1 was to give    

adequate vent1  in and through these    
things poetically conceived and handled1
 to  his own yearnings1 and to the      
sympathies of his hearers#idh4 ,the     
intercommunion of spirit between the    
poet and those to whom he sang1  was not
 in him a sordid quest of popularity2 it
 was only an expression  of the truth   
that he founded both his composition and
 his hopes upon  the basis of a great   
effort to be the organ of the general   
heart of  mankind4 ,all this we may     
discern in his notices1 informal as they
 are1  of the profession of the         
minstrel3    #idh ,the aim of the poet  
as such is finely1 but somewhat too     
exclusively1 expressed in the ,sonnet of
 ,filicaja1 ,dietro a questi  ancor io4 
1    #idi    #idi ,od4 xvii4 #che4    in
 the names he assigns to them1 where    
they were not historical  characters1 1 
and  2 in the moral uprightness  with   
which he invests them2 for1 though it   
was the office of ,phemius to  delight1 
his heart was never with the licentious 

and guilty band that  held the palace of
 ,ulysses3       '    #iej4    #iej ,od4
 xxii4 #cca4    ,and again1 in the      
offices of guardianship which they      
exercised2 for  ,agamemnon1 when he left
 his home for ,troy1 carefully enjoined 
upon the  bard of his palace the care of
 ,clytemnestra2 and his advice1 with her
  own right sense1 for a time stood her 
in good stead#iea4 ,such was the  bard  
in the living description of ,homer2    
such he was represented in  the ,poet   
himself1 never thrust into view1 but    
ever understood1 ever  perceived1       
through his works4 ,on the other hand1  
the character of the  bard1 as exhibited
 in ,virgil1 is what may be termed      
professional3 the  fire and power of    
genius may be in him1 but they must work
 only under  conventional forms1 and for
 ends prescribed according to the spirit
 of  that lower and narrower utility    
which is1 not logically perhaps1 but    
yet very effectively1 denominated       
utilitarianism4 ,a remarkably high  form

 of exterior art1 with a radical        
inattention to substance1 both  of facts
 and laws1 has been the result in the   
case of ,virgil4 ,and it  is rather     
significant1 that this great ,poet has  
nowhere placed upon  his canvass the    
figure of the bard amidst the abodes of 
man2 as if the  very type had perished  
from the earth in those degenerate days1
 and  the memory of him could not be    
recalled4 ,an effete and corrupted age  
could no longer conceive a mind like the
 mind of ,homer2 an olian harp  so      
finely strung1 that it answers to the   
faintest movement of the air  by a      
proportionate vibration3 with every     
stronger current its music  rises1 along
 an almost immeasurable scale1 which    
begins with the lowest  and softest     
whisper1 and ends in the full swell of  
the organ4    #iea ,od4 iii4 #bfg4      
,change in the idea of the ,poet's      
office4    ,by a false association of   
ideas1 we have come to place accuracy   
and  genius in antagonism to one        

another4 ,it is ,homer who may best     
undeceive  us3 except indeed that most  
complete solution which the mind gladly 
perceives when1 ascending to the ,author
 of all being1 it finds in ,him  alone  
the source and the perfection1 alike of 
,order and of ,light2 alike  of the most
 minute1 and of the most gigantic       
operations4 ,but among men  ,homer best 
exemplifies this union4 ,it is not      
indeed the precision of  dry facts1     
terminating upon itself3 it is the      
precision of sympathies1  of sympathies 
with nature and with man1 to which the  
minute and  scrupulous adjustments of   
,homer are to be referred2 and this     
precision  is probably due by no means  
to conscious effort1 but to the         
spontaneous  operations of the soul4 ,in
 this view his far-famed1 but not even  
yet  fully fathomed1 accuracy is no     
deduction from his greatness1 but is in 
truth a proof of the near approach to   
perfection in the organization  of his  
faculties4 ,the later poets have too    

often torn asunder1 what in  him was    
harmoniously combined4 ,they have       
conferred upon their art a  deadly gift1
 in claiming first an exemption ad      
libitum from the laws1  not only of dry 
fact1 but of ,truth in its higher sense1
 of harmony and  self-consistency1 and  
of all1 except a merely external beauty1
 which  was meant to be the vehicle and 
not the substitute for all those great  
and discarded qualities4 ,in this work  
of laceration1 ,virgil has borne  no    
secondary share4    ,upon the whole1    
though it is doubtless natural that     
,virgil should  be compared with ,homer1
 the mind is astonished at finding that 
he  should so often even have gained a  
preference4 ,we may account for his     
being chosen as ,dante's guide1 by their
 being countrymen1 and by the  almost   
universal ignorance of ,greek when      
,dante wrote4 ,it is far more           
staggering to find ,saint ,augustine    
emphatically call him#ieb ,poeta  magnus
 omniumque prclarissimus atque optimus2 

for he was no stranger  to ,greek       
influences1 inasmuch as the philosophy  
of ,plato had a very  high place in his 
estimation#iec4 ,nor can this be readily
 accounted  for1 except by the advantage
 which ,virgil had through writing in   
the  ,latin tongue1 and by the very     
great decay of poetical tastes and      
perceptions4    #ieb ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 i4 
#c4    #iec ,ibid4 viii4 #d-aa4         
,still let us not do wrong to the memory
 of him1 who thrilled with an           
immeasurable love1 as he bore the sacred
 vessels of the ,muses2 and who  has    
received so unequivocally the seal of   
that approbation of mankind1  prolonged 
through ages1 which comes near to an    
infallible award4 ,it is  but fair to   
admit1 that we must not measure the     
relative rank of ,homer  and ,virgil    
simply by the comparative merits of     
their epic works4 ,homer  lived in the  
genial and joyous youth of a poetic     
nation and a poetic  religion1 and amid 
the influences of the soul of freedom3  

,virgil among  a people always          
matter-of-fact rather than poetical1 in 
an age and a  court where the heart and 
its emotions were chilled1 where liberty
  was dead1 where religion was a        
mockery1 and the whole higher material  
of his art had passed from freshness    
into the sear and yellow leaf4  ,whether
 ,virgil1 if he had lived the life of   
,homer in ,homer's country  and ,homer's
 time1 could have composed the ,iliad   
and the ,odyssey1 may be  more than     
doubtful2 but it is indisputably clear  
that ,homer could not  have produced    
them1 if it had been his misfortune to  
live at the date  and in the sphere of  
,virgil4    ,i pass on now to make some 
attempt at comparison between the work  
of  ,tasso and the ,iliad of ,homer4    
,but although the relation between the  
subjects appears to recommend the choice
 of ,tasso for this purpose  rather than
 any other ,italian poet1 ,i have to    
confess1 that as far as  the qualities  
of the men are concerned1 both ,bojardo 

and ,ariosto are in  my estimation more 
,homeric than ,tasso2 as being nearer to
 nature in its  truest sense1 as not    
conveying the same impression of        
perpetual effort  and elaboration1 as   
exempt from the temptation to the       
conceits so  unhappily frequent in the  
,gerusalemme1 and generally as working  
with  a freer and broader touch1 and    
exhibiting a more vigorous and elastic  
movement4    ,the ,war of ,troy and the 
,crusades4    ,there is1 however1 a     
striking resemblance between the        
relation in  which the ,trojan war stood
 to ,greece1 and that of the ,crusades  
to  ,western ,europe4 ,the political    
unity and collective existence of       
,greece  was greatly due to the first1  
that of ,christendom to the second4     
,the combination of races and of chiefs1
 the arduous character and              
extraordinary prolongation of the       
effort1 the chivalry displayed1 the     
disorganizing effects upon the countries
 which supplied the invading  army1 the 

representation in each of ,europe       
against ,asia1 of ,western  mankind     
meeting ,eastern mankind in arms1 and   
the proof of superior  prowess in the   
former1 establish many broad and deep   
analogies between  the subjects of these
 poems4 ,in both struggles1 too1 the    
object  purported to be the recovery of 
that which the ,east had unrighteously  
acquired3 and into both what is called  
sentiment far more largely  entered1    
than is common in the history of the    
wars which have laid  desolate our      
earth4    ,exaggeration as used by      
,homer and by ,tasso4    ,as ,godfrey is
 ,tasso's version of ,agamemnon1 so the 
,rinaldo of ,tasso  occupies a place in 
the ,jerusalem1 similar to that of      
,achilles in the  ,iliad4 ,now the whole
 character of ,achilles1 mental and     
corporeal1 which  ranks at least among  
the most wonderful of all the works of  
,homer1 is  colossal and vast1 but is   
not unduly exaggerated4 ,although the   
son of  ,peleus evidently was of great  

bodily size1 yet ,homer never calls him 
by  the epithets  and 1 but reserves    
them for ,ajax1 because  they suggest a 
predominance of the animal over the     
incorporeal element1  which1 in the case
 of ,achilles1 the ,poet utterly        
eschews4 ,the character  of ,rinaldo as 
a warrior 7and in no other respect does 
he present any  salient point7 is1 as   
will be shown1 exaggerated unduly1 but  
yet does  not leave the impression of   
the vast or colossal1 because the excess
  beyond common nature is not in harmony
 with the rest of the delineation4      
,thus the strength of ,achilles is the  
very highest2 none can use his  spear4  
,but ,rinaldo1 in the assault of the    
,tower1 does the work of a              
battering-ram4 ,he takes up and carries 
a beam1 of which we are told1      ,n   
cos alte mai1 n cos grosse    ,spiega l'
 antenne sue ligura nave#ied4    #ied   
,gerus4 xix4 #cf4    ,with this he      
breaks the bars1 and beats down the     
gates2 and the stanza  proceeds3        

,non l' arite di far pi si vanti1       
,non la bombarda1 fulmine di morte#iee4 
#iee ,ibid4 #cg4    ,no such excess of  
muscular power as this is ascribed to   
,achilles2  and yet a much more lively  
impression of grandeur in his martial   
character is left upon the mind of the  
reader2 the fact being that mere        
exaggeration freezes1 while the adjusted
 representation of greatness  warms4    
,the largest size assigned by ,homer to 
any even of his mythological  personages
 who are in relations with man1 and this
 only in the ,shades  below1 is in the  
case of ,otus and ,ephialtes4 ,at nine  
years old1 when  they were put to death1
 they were nine cubits broad1 nine      
fathoms  7fifty-four feet7 high#ief4    
,these were they1 who piled the         
mountains  up to heaven4 ,they are among
 the few figures absolutely gigantic1   
which appear in ,homer2 but they hover  
only in the distance through the  mists 
of the ,under-world1 and in describing  
even them he has adhered  strictly to   

the limits of what may be termed the    
gigantesque4 ,further  on1 he describes 
,tityus as reaching over nine acres2 but
 he nowhere  presents any such person to
 us in active motion1 or in any relation
  with man on earth4 ,in ,il4 xxi4      
however1 occurs a passage which it is   
more easy to impugn2 for ,mars1 who had 
marched about among the ,trojans  and   
the ,greeks in battle without driving   
either friends or foes from  their      
propriety by his bulk1 and had fought   
with ,diomed in the plain  of ,troy on  
terms favourable to that hero1 when     
overthrown by ,minerva  in the battle of
 the gods1 covers seven acres 7#djg74   
,although ,homer  has skilfully avoided 
localizing the conflict1 this may be    
thought to  wear the aspect of a        
poetical incongruity2 because in the    
,mars of the  ,theomachy we cannot      
wholly forget the ,mars of the plain4   
,as a general  rule1 however1 ,homer    
does not employ vast size1 except in    
cases where  it can suggest no          

comparison with objects of ordinary     
dimensions1 and  where1 accordingly1 it 
in no way jars with our customary       
standard4    #ief ,od4 xi4 #caa4    ,but
 if there be incongruity in the         
dimensions of the prostrate ,mars of    
,homer1 what shall we say to ,tasso1    
who1 carefully setting out in detail    
that his infernal assembly is held      
within the four walls of the palace  of 
,pluto1 describes the sub-terranean     
monarch1 when he sits in actual         
council1 as exceeding in mass1 and that 
immeasurably1 any mountain  whatever8   
,n tanto scoglio in mar1 n rupe         
alpestra1    ,n pur ,calpe s' innalza1 o
 'l magno ,atlante1    ,ch' anzi lui non
 paresse un picciol colle#ieg4    #ieg  
,gerus4 iv4 #f4    ,thus1 where ,homer  
is in excess1 ,tasso multiplies upon him
 by a  thousandfold4 ,this is not       
grandeur1 but extravagance2 nor is it   
vastness1 but indistinctness1 of which  
an impression is left upon the  mind4   
,the passage is followed by a           

description of the countenance and      
gorge of ,pluto1 which all readers must 
remember1 but which all readers  must   
likewise wish they could forget4 ,in    
general it is curious to  compare the   
very sparing use which ,homer has made  
of mere bulk as a  poetical engine1 with
 the boundless redundance of it1 not    
only even to  nausea in such writers as 
,fortiguerra1 who vulgarize everything  
they  touch1 but even in a patriarch of 
,italian romance like ,bojardo4    ,it  
would not1 however1 repay the trouble to
 be entailed by the perusal1  were ,i to
 draw out in detail a comparison between
 the diction1 taste1  figures1 and all  
other incidents of poetic handling1 in  
,tasso1 and  those of ,homer4 ,it is    
better to direct attention to what more 
easily  admits of being brought into    
juxtaposition--that is1 the general     
structure and movement of the poems1 and
 the manner in which the  greater laws  
of the poetic art are applied to the    
respective subjects4    ,mr4 ,hallam    

adopts an opinion of ,voltaire1 that in 
the choice of his  subject ,tasso has   
been superior to ,homer2 and adds1 that 
#8in the  variety of occurrences1 in the
 change of scenes and images1 and of    
the trains of sentiment connected with  
them in the reader's mind1 we  cannot   
place the ,iliad on a level with the    
,jerusalem2' that1 by unity  of subject 
and place1 the poem of ,tasso has a     
coherence and singleness  not to be     
found in the neid2 and that1 while we   
expect the victory of  the ,christians1 
#8we acknowledge the probability and    
adequacy of the  events that delay      
it#ieh4'    #ieh ,hallam's ,literature  
of ,europe1 ii4 #bfh4    ,of the        
,italians themselves1 some place the    
work of ,tasso at the very  head of all 
,epic compositions3 others maintain1    
that it was surpassed  by the ,orlando  
,furioso4 ,tiraboschi1 while declining  
to weigh the poems  against each other  
generally1 yet compares the poets1 and  
gives the  higher place to ,ariosto#iei4

 ,neither the agitated1 struggling1 and 
dependent life of ,tasso1 nor the       
character of the time in which he       
lived1 were favourable to the attainment
 of the very summit of poetic           
excellence4 ,the freshness of the       
morning of ,christian civilization in   
,italy had worn away4 ,the romantic     
poetry1 which seemed so congenial  to   
that country1 and which had attained to 
such high perfection1 had  now run its  
course3 it was rather an effort against 
nature1 than a  movement in the line of 
it1 when ,tasso wrought upon a subject  
which  required him to bridle his       
country's freer ,muse1 and train her to 
historic grandeur and severity4 ,he has 
left us the undoubted work of a  great  
mind1 adorned with abundant and1 in some
 respects1 extraordinary  beauties2 yet 
many would own themselves not to have   
experienced from  the ,jerusalem that   
peculiar sort of satisfaction1 which any
 work of  simple tenour1 if nearly      
approaching perfection in its kind1 even

  though that kind be somewhat below the
 epic1 never fails to impart to  the    
mass of its readers4    #iei ,lett4     
,ital41 vol4 vii4    ,granting it to be 
true1 that the ,siege of ,jerusalem is a
 nobler subject  than the ,wrath of     
,achilles1 together with all that it    
includes of the  siege of ,troy1 yet    
neither is the ,siege of ,jerusalem1    
with the high  elements it comprehends1 
really the staple of the subject matter 
of  ,tasso1 nor is the ,siege of ,troy  
the real subject of the poem of ,homer4 
,tasso had evidently studied with       
attention the ,iliad as well as the     
neid2 and he has taken largely from1 or 
worked largely after1 both1  but a great
 deal more1 as far as ,i have seen1 from
 the former than the  latter4 ,in which 
selection1 doubtless1 he chose well4    
,the copy of a  copy is pretty sure to  
be a vulgar work4 ,without noticing at  
present  anything except what governs   
the main action1 it may be observed1    
that  the ,wrath of ,achilles is        

reproduced in the ,offence1 given and   
taken1 of  ,rinaldo3 and the relation of
 the one to ,godfrey is evidently       
suggested  by that of the other to      
,agamemnon4    ,achilles the subject of 
the ,iliad4    ,it is needful here to   
return to a topic1 which ,i have already
 more  lightly touched4 ,we may reckon  
it among the chief distinctions of      
,homer1 that he has been able to make of
 the individual man the broad  basis of 
the most heroical among epic songs4 ,the
 weak thread of the  neid is really     
sustained by something that lies behind 
the figure of  neas1 namely1 by its     
hanging on the splendid fortunes of     
,rome2 the  ,odyssey is toned more      
nearly to the colour of a domestic      
painting2 but  in the ,iliad1 the man   
,achilles is the power whose action     
propels1 and  whose inaction stops1 the 
world-wide conflict before ,troy4 ,the  
,poet has  accomplished this great feat 
by dint of powers1 that have given to   
the  character of his hero on the one   

hand dimensions absolutely colossal1    
and1 on the other1 the finest lines that
 miniature itself could require4    ,for
 efforts of such a range as this1       
after-poets had not the necessary       
strength4 ,they had not such command    
over the high-born material1 of  which  
man is formed1 as to make their mode of 
treating it in one single  figure the   
main stake1 on which the fortune of     
their entire works was  to depend4 ,men 
like ,tasso sought and found a basis1   
less elevated  indeed and splendid1 but 
equally solid1 and far more accessible1 
in the  great events of history1 or in  
the multitude of associations1 alike    
noble and familiar1 which belonged to   
them4 ,these1 which with ,homer  had    
been organically1 and not mechanically  
alone1 grouped about the  one great     
,humanity of his poem1 now became the   
central stem of the  epic2 and the      
properly and strictly personal element1 
which had been  primary1 became no more 
than accessory4 ,but events are made for

 man1  and not man for events2 and we   
can scarcely doubt that the transition  
from the older epic1 which gathered all 
its interests around the human  soul as 
a centre1 to the newer1 which exhibits  
the human soul itself  in a subordinate 
relation to external history or fortune1
 has been a  transition downwards4 ,it  
may be said1 that ,achilles is not the  
subject  of the ,iliad1 in the same     
sense as ,ulysses of the ,odyssey4 ,it  
is at  any rate true that the action of 
the ,odyssey is more directly related   
to the hero1 than that of the ,iliad4   
,and so precise is the working  of      
,homer's intellect in all that          
appertains to poetical consistency1     
that a distinction of shade1 just       
proportioned to this difference1 is     
perhaps perceptible in the very exordia 
of the two poems1    1 and   1 1 4 ,the 
one seems to propose  the ,wrath of the 
,man3 the other the ,man himself4 ,but  
substantially  the proposition is       
questionable3 ,achilles is in effect1 as

 truly as  ,ulysses1 the life and       
strength1 the chief glory and beauty1 of
 his own  poem4    ,it might perhaps be 
doubted1 whether even the ,liberation of
 ,jerusalem  was a finer subject for    
,christendom1 than the siege of ,troy   
for the  ,greek race4 ,for it is a      
mistake to suppose that because the     
,redemption  of mankind infinitely      
transcends all other transactions1 the  
poetry  which is composed about it will 
therefore be excellent in proportion4   
,but at any rate this is not the        
question4 ,homer's subject is1 indeed1  
the ,titanic passion of ,achilles1 and  
to this subject every ,book of the      
,iliad1 some of them positively and some
 negatively1 but every one of  them     
effectively1 contributes2 but is the    
,liberation of ,jerusalem the  true     
subject of the poem of ,tasso8          
,subject of the ,gerusalemme more       
doubtful4    ,the three first ,cantos1  
with the ninth1 the eleventh1 and the   
nineteenth1 are the only ones1 which are

 in strictness occupied with  the proper
 theme of the ,jerusalem4 ,the fifth1   
fifteenth1 and sixteenth1  and large    
portions at the least of the other      
eleven1 are taken from  the ,siege1 and 
are given to the truancy1 or erratic and
 separate  adventures1 of those who     
ought to have carried it on2 mainly of  
the two  principal ,christian warriors1 
,rinaldo and ,tancredi4 ,in short1 near 
a  moiety of the work is occupied1 not  
with the ,liberation of ,jerusalem at   
all1 but with the events which draw away
 the champions pledged to it1  upon     
errands of a character the most         
incongruous with the grand design4      
,will it be answered1 that in the same  
manner ,achilles disappears  from the   
eye of the spectator during one moiety  
of the ,iliad8 ,the  apparent parallel  
is wholly false4 ,for the subject of the
 ,iliad is  the passion of ,achilles2   
and the whole movement of the poem in   
his  absence bears directly upon the    
enhancement and elevation of that       

subject4 ,it exhibits to us the         
successive efforts of the ,greeks1 and  
of their most redoubted chieftains1 one 
by one1 to make up for the  seclusion of
 ,achilles from the fighting host4 ,it  
was impossible for  ,homer more         
effectually to magnify his hero1 than by
 recounting fully  these exploits and   
their failure4 ,in showing the perils   
and calamities  brought about by his    
absence1 they deeply impress us with the
 grandeur  and efficacy of his presence1
 and prepare us for the reappearance of 
something more than man3 of something   
which1 but for a most skilful           
preparatory mechanism1 we should        
probably have repelled as an unnatural  
exaggeration4 ,but the love-born        
vagaries of the warriors of ,tasso are  
mere impediments to the conquest of     
,jerusalem1 and have no effect  whatever
 in enhancing the poetical greatness of 
the achievement which  was to crown the 
work1 while they seriously deduct from  
the power and  effectiveness1 already in

 the case of ,rinaldo but moderate1 of  
the  characters assigned to the warriors
 themselves4    ,it may therefore be    
true1 as ,mr4 ,hallam has said1 that the
 events  in ,tasso spring naturally one 
from another2 but so may a series of    
successive turnings off the line of a   
road we have been travelling1  when     
taken singly1 produce no serious1 and   
even no sensible1 deviation2  yet their 
effect1 when taken together1 may be     
wholly to change our  direction1 and    
prevent us from making any way at all   
towards our point4  ,without doubt1 each
 incident of an epic poem ought to      
follow naturally  in the train of that  
which directly precedes it2 but it is   
far more  important that it should bear 
a legitimate relation to the central    
design1 and should magnify1 not detract 
from1 the grandeur of that on  which the
 whole fabric principally depends4      
,but there are surely many other        
objections to the mode1 which ,tasso    
has adopted1 of impeding and retarding  

the accomplishment of his main  action4 
,considering the nature of his theme1   
and the solemnity of the  sanctions     
under which the ,crusades were          
undertaken1 although we have  no right  
to ask that passion and infirmity should
 be banished from the  camp1 yet the    
wholesale entanglement of the very first
 warriors in  love affairs1 their       
rushing in a mass1 with few exceptions  
besides  greyheads of the camp1 upon the
 track of ,armida1 their compelling     
,godfrey to allow the interests of this 
treacherous beauty to interrupt  the    
august purpose of their undertaking1 and
 then the very large  proportion of the 
poem occupied in unravelling the web    
thus tangled1  form1 to my view at      
least1 a bad poetical mixture of the    
intrusive with  the ,christian elements 
of the design4    ,nor let it here be   
said1 that even so our great ,achilles  
stays the  progress of the ,greeks      
towards triumph for the love of a weak  
woman4  ,we need not dwell on such      

distinctions as that ,briseis was a     
noble and  worthy1 but ,armida an       
unworthy object of attachment2 that     
,achilles was  but one1 while ,tasso    
touches all1 who by age were capable1   
with the  same phrensy4 ,it is not even 
this worthy attachment alone1 that acts 
upon ,achilles3 that is not the main    
stress of the tempest which so  rends   
the strong heaving oak when he cries1   
1 '     1  '        1  '  #ifj4    #ifj 
,il4 ix4 #fdf4    ,in ,achilles1 baffled
 love is surmounted by the image of     
agonizing  pride1 pierced through and   
through2 and high over this again towers
  his hatred of the meanness of         
,agamemnon1 and his sense of ,justice1  
stung to the very inmost quick4 ,even   
supposing the question to be open1      
whether ,homer has mixed his ingredients
 in due or in undue proportions1  at all
 events there is no essential conflict  
among them4 ,but such a  conflict       
becomes visible and glaring1 when a     
scope is assigned to the  impulses and  

sway of personal passion upon an army   
devoted to ,god and  to the highest aim1
 such as it is quite impossible to      
exemplify1 nay to  suppose1 in any army 
that has ever been banded together for  
any even of  the meaner ends of earthly 
policy4    ,again1 although ,tasso's    
poem is eminently ,christian in its     
general  intention1 who does not feel   
that1 instead of gathering our main     
sympathies and interest by means of his 
accessory circumstances round  his      
principal subject1 he has too           
effectually severed them from it1  and  
has left it so bare and naked1 that his 
liberation of ,jerusalem  is after all  
very like a common capture and sack2    
very like what1  mutatis mutandis1 the  
capture of it by the ,saracens must have
 been8  ,we leave him with our minds    
full of ,tancredi and ,clorinda1 of     
,rinaldo  and ,armida1 of ,gildippe and 
,odoardo2 but the associations1 which   
these  names suggest1 connect themselves
 with any subject1 rather than with  the

 liberation of the ,holy ,sepulchre2 and
 the respected ,godfrey1 with  his      
plans1 has1 at most points of the poem1 
little more share in our  thoughts than 
the ,jupiter of the ,iliad1 as he feasts
 remotely grand on  ,olympus1 or sits on
 ,ida for the convenience of a nearer   
view4    ,relative places of ,rinaldo   
and ,tancredi4    ,besides these        
objections of irrelevant interpolation1 
incongruous  mixture1 and divided       
interests1 it may be observed that the  
relative  prominence of the heroes of   
,tasso is not clearly pronounced4 ,no   
one  can doubt as to the question1 who  
is the first1 and by far the first1     
figure of the ,iliad4 ,achilles ever    
haunts us1 either in recollection  or by
 sight2 at any rate1 he stands among and
 above his brother  chieftains1 as ,saul
 out-topped by head and shoulders the   
people of  ,israel4 ,but it is not easy 
to say who is the hero or protagonist of
  the ,jerusalem4 ,although the interest
 which he attracts is inferior1  yet the

 virtues1 intellect1 and moral force of 
,godfrey stand high  and clear beyond   
those of all the other more prominent   
personages3  he bears himself so meekly 
in his high office1 and yet so perfectly
  and so exclusively exhibits the       
political spirit1 that by mere moral    
and official greatness he stands1 in any
 general view of the poem1 an           
inconvenient neighbour and a dangerous  
rival to the two other figures1  for one
 of whom the title of hero must have    
been designed4 ,taking1  next1 the yet  
more serious question between ,tancredi 
and ,rinaldo1 which  of this pair is    
intended to command the chief interest8 
,apparently1  in ,tasso's intention1 it 
is ,rinaldo2 because without him the    
main  action stops1 with him it         
proceeds4 ,and yet the poet has assigned
 to  ,tancredi the deadly single combat 
with1 and the triumph so powerfully     
described over1 ,argante1 the only      
really great and terrible champion on   
the ,mahometan side4 ,how would the     

,iliad stand1 if ,diomed had killed     
,hector1 and had left to ,achilles only 
neas or ,sarpedon8    ,tasso here seems 
himself to have felt an incongruity1 and
 to have  sought to compensate ,rinaldo 
in quantity for the 7comparatively7     
deficient quality of his conquests4 ,in 
the final assault he slays a  multitude 
of the enemy like sheep#ifa2 when1 as   
the poet says1 in a  manner surely far  
beneath his theme1 the taste of victory 
had excited  in him the appetite of     
carnage#ifb4    #ifa ,gerus4 xx4 #ee4   
#ifb ,ibid4 #ed4    ,nor is it only in  
the distribution of military glory1 that
 ,rinaldo  appears to have suffered for 
the advantage of ,tancred4 ,on one      
occasion  indeed1 immediately after the 
death of ,gernando1 ,tasso has degraded 
,tancred for the advantage of ,rinaldo4 
,for the poet makes this warrior  plead1
 that the offence of ,rinaldo should be 
considered according to  the quality of 
him who committed it1 and that there can
 be no such  thing as true justice      

without respect of persons3             
,or ti sovvegna    ,saggio signor1 chi  
sia ,rinaldo1 e quale2            444   
non dee chi regna    ,nel castigo con   
tutti esser uguale4    ,vario  l'       
istesso error ne' gradi vari2    ,e sol 
l' egualit giusta  co' pari#ifc4    #ifc
 ,gerus4 v4 #cf4    ,it was acting on an
 opinion of this kind1 in the case of   
the ,master of  ,stair after the        
,massacre of ,glencoe1 that left        
uneffaced a deep stain  on the memory of
 ,william ,,iii4 and of ,scotland4      
,doubtless there have  been periods     
when1 even in ,christian countries1 such
 sentiments have  been professed as well
 as practised2 but can there have been  
any period  when the utterance of them  
from the mouth of a knight1 who is      
exhibited  to us as a pattern1 would not
 have caused a revulsion in the minds of
  ordinary hearers or readers8    ,the  
,woman-characters of ,tasso4    ,the    
,jerusalem is greatly overstocked with  
interesting couples2 so much  so1 that  

at times we almost seem to be reading a 
,pastoral poem4 ,taken  singly1 the     
details of these love-stories are worked
 up with infinite  art and beauty1 and  
are the most effective and successful   
portions of  the whole ,epic2 but the   
aggregate is so much too large1 that it 
chills  the general tone1 as well as    
weakens the broader effects4 ,the excess
  of quantity is1 indeed1 gross and     
glaring4 ,tasso has followed the        
,christian ,romancers in employing      
largely the idea of the woman-warrior1  
practically unknown to ,homer1          
introduced with great spirit but no very
  elevated moral effect in ,virgil1     
carried by ,bojardo and ,ariosto to its 
perfection2 and1 without doubt1 a       
conception far more suitable to the     
standard of those great poets of fancy1 
than to the lofty level of the  ,epic or
 the higher drama1 which deal with the  
greatest powers and the  deepest        
problems of our nature4 ,still1 as to   
the manner of employing  it1 we need not

 deny that high praise must be accorded 
to the ,clorinda  of ,tasso4 ,it is     
indeed easy to criticize the religious  
incidents of her  death1 and not easy to
 understand what business she has after 
death  in a tree of the enchanted wood2 
or why1 when that wood becomes the  prey
 of the carpenters1 she is so           
unceremoniously overlooked in her       
uncomfortable abode4 ,but as to the main
 exhibition of the character1  she      
follows ,bradamante without degeneracy3 
pure1 upright1 chivalrous1  thoroughly  
martial1 and yet not grossly masculine4 
,she falls to  the lot of ,tancred4 ,but
 besides the ,sofronia1 the ,erminia1   
and the  ,gildippe1 in the second degree
 of prominence1 there is projected on   
the picture another person yet more     
conspicuous than even ,clorinda1        
namely1 ,armida2 so different that they 
can hardly be compared1 and yet         
inconveniently jarring from the         
similarity of their relations to the    
great heroes of the poem4 ,both1 too1   

are lovely2 both figure in the  camp4   
,notwithstanding1 however1 the profusion
 of charms1 which ,tasso  has called    
into existence to set off the person and
 the powers of  ,armida1 nothing can be 
more unsatisfactory than her character  
itself1  except its place in the poem1  
and her particular relation to ,rinaldo4
  ,when every one else is ravished by   
her overpowering attractions1 he        
remains insensible3 and yet afterwards1 
with no poetical justification  for the 
change1 he becomes desperately enamoured
 of her4 ,here we see  that feebleness  
in the conception and exhibition of     
character1 which  depresses the flight  
of ,tasso1 which excludes him from a    
place in the  class1 quite as open to   
poets as to philosophers1 the class of  
the  greatest masters of thought and of 
human nature4    ,the ,armida of ,tasso4
    ,we become acquainted with ,armida1 
the beautiful enchantress1 first in  the
 guise of a forlorn damsel1 who implores
 succour from the ,christian  heroes2   

and this is perhaps the most successful 
portion of the rle  assigned to her4    
,then she appears as the ,circe of her  
own gardens3  then she is a ,dido       
without an neas1 for the escape of      
,rinaldo from  the disgraceful servitude
 into which she had inveigled him bears 
no  resemblance to the fond and deep    
passion of the ,carthaginian queen1     
which grew out of an honourable         
hospitality afforded to the ,trojans in 
distress4 ,with a disagreeable amount of
 likeness in detail1 the copy  still    
misses the original1 and loses all that 
force and majesty of  intense passion to
 which here1 and here alone1 ,virgil has
 been enabled  to ascend4 ,then instead 
of that tragic end of ,dido1 in which1  
though  with an attitude somewhat       
theatrical1 softness and fierceness are 
so  wonderfully blended1 so that she    
does not forfeit sympathy even in  her  
keenest longings for revenge1 ,armida   
has recourse to an expedient  which is  
wholly debased and vulgar4 ,she simply  

offers herself for  sale1 promising to  
be the prize of any warrior of the      
,egyptian camp1  who shall execute her  
vengeance on ,rinaldo for the offence of
 having  escaped out of her toils4      
,nor have we yet done with the doublings
 of her tortuous path4 ,she sees        
,rinaldo pass her in the battle2 and1   
not without infinite doubting1  shoots  
an arrow at him4 ,it is perhaps         
difficult to define in language  what it
 is1 that constitutes the difference    
between the mental  struggles of genuine
 passion1 and mere incongruous          
vacillation4 ,we see  the former in     
,dido2 and one sign of it is a certain  
progression4 ,where  the law of nature  
is followed1 perpetual fluctuation is   
not allowed2  by degrees1 though they   
may be slow and many1 the mind is worked
 up to  a strong resolve1 where it      
abides3 its agitation and seeming reflux
 is  but the receding wave of the       
advancing tide2 and when once a strong  
purpose is full-formed after struggle in

 a truly powerful nature1  whether of   
man or woman1 it must not be changed4   
,now this is what we  miss in ,armida4  
,she is ever playing at backwards and   
forwards4 ,thrice  she draws the bow1   
thrice she relaxes it3 at last she      
discharges the  arrow1 but with it a    
wish that it may miss3      ,lo stral   
vol2 ma con lo strale un voto    ,subito
 usc1 che vada il colpo a voto#ifd4     
#ifd ,gerus4 xx4 #fc4    ,not           
unnaturally1 this unsatisfactory passage
 leads us to one of the  worst of all   
the provoking conceits that disfigure   
from time to time  the beautiful pages  
of this poem3      ,tanto poteva in lei1
 bench perdente1    7,or che potria     
vittorioso87 amore#ife4    #ife ,ib4    
#fd4    ,yet1 after all this1 revenge   
again gets the upper hand1 and her eye  
follows the arrow with avidity1 hoping  
it may strike4 ,she then repeats  the   
shot again and again1 and while doing it
 is again herself shot in  return by    
love3      ,e mentre ella saetta1 ,amor 

lei piaga#iff4    #iff ,ib4 #fe4        
,again the same alternation is          
reiterated2 but her champions fail4 ,she
  flies4 ,she resumes the part of ,dido2
 apostrophizes her own weapons in a     
speech of near thirty lines1 entreating 
them to despatch her4 ,rinaldo  then    
arrests her arm2 and yet once more1 in  
stanzas replete with beauty  of diction1
 we have the same unsatisfactory and    
indecisive mixture of  ill-assorted     
emotions1 without the strength either of
 harmony or of  contrast1 founded on no 
natural law1 connected by no moral or   
mental  tie1 ordered to no end or       
consummation4 ,however1 he vows himself 
her  adorer1 and she gives herself up to
 his disposal3      ,ecco l' ancella    
tua2 d' essa a tuo senno    ,dispon1 gli
 disse2 e le fia legge il cenno#ifg4    
#ifg ,ib4 #acf4    ,and so we leave     
them4 ,but unhappily we cannot1 in      
leaving them1 forget  that she is a     
,mahometan and a sorceress2 that her    
frauds have been the  great scandal of  

the army1 and the main obstacle to the  
completion of  its design2 that she has 
never throughout the whole poem         
exhibited a  single quality containing  
in it the elements of just moral        
attraction2  and that this triumph of   
mere corporeal form1 without one        
solitary  note of inward loveliness1 is 
achieved over the greatest of the       
warriors of ,christ1 when engaged1 under
 the immediate and special  direction of
 the ,almighty1 in the recovery of the  
,holy ,sepulchre from  infidel dominion4
 ,with all these circumstances before   
us1 it must  be admitted that a more    
lame and unsatisfactory contribution to 
the  climax of a great ,christian poem  
could hardly have been contrived4  ,nor 
is the impression much amended by the   
dedication of the eight  last stanzas of
 the work to the completion of the      
victory by ,godfrey4  ,a reader may1 on 
the contrary1 well feel perturbed by the
 sharpness  of the transition1 and by   
the air of unconsciousness with which1  

in  gathering up the threads of the     
action1 ,tasso has brought into close   
neighbourhood matters so heterogeneous1 
that they form a kind of moral  chaos4  
,and the observation applies to the     
close of the poem1 which may  well have 
accompanied it throughout its course2   
that the sympathies of  the reader are  
not evoked and managed with due1 or with
 any1 reference  to the greatness and   
nobleness of the objects1 but1 on the   
contrary1  are allured into the wrong   
quarter4 ,homer has carefully contrived1
 in  the case of ,paris1 that even his  
extraordinary personal attractions      
shall do nothing to give him a hold upon
 our favour1 while he has  given his    
warmest sympathies to the beauty of the 
innocent1 though  comparatively         
insignificant1 ,euphorbus#ifh4 ,how tame
 and flat1 on  the contrary1 has ,tasso 
made the stainless ,erminia1 whom indeed
 he  altogether forgets before the poem 
closes2 and what efforts of art has  he 
not used to gather admiring interest    

around the character and fate  of the   
heartless1 even when enamoured1 ,armida4
 ,nay1 more1 with some  brilliant       
exceptions1 especially that noble one of
 the first view of  ,jerusalem1 how cold
 and slack1 how uninteresting to the    
reader1 is the  movement of the main    
action of the poem1 compared with that  
of the  love-stories which invade and   
engross so inordinate a portion of the  
ground4 ,we seem to feel that1 after    
all1 the ,siege of ,jerusalem is not    
the principal business in hand2 it is   
the task which must somehow or  other be
 got through1 but it is not the life and
 pulse1 the light and  joy of the poem4 
,as the ,siege of ,troy was the         
instrument of ,homer1 to  enable him to 
develop his ,achilles1 so the much      
higher subject of the  ,crusade is the  
tool of ,tasso to enable him to exhibit 
his workmanship1  chiefly in connection 
with love-stories1 upon very inferior   
persons  and performances4 ,the relative
 values of the setting and the jewel are

  totally different in the two cases4   
#ifh ,il4 xvii4 #ea4    ,the affront of 
,gernando4    ,besides the first great  
hindrance to the prosecution of the     
siege  in the seductive power of ,armida
 when she appears in the camp1  there is
 a second1 namely1 the slaughter of     
,gernando by ,rinaldo1  upon a personal 
affront4 ,it has here been objected to  
the first1  that the effect assigned to 
it is out of proportion to all example  
and to all likelihood1 though it may be 
suitable to the passionate              
susceptibilities of ,tasso's individual 
mind2 and that this  disproportion jars 
peculiarly from the more than usual     
elevation of the  subject4 ,is the      
second obstacle more happily conceived8 
,rinaldo1 in the ,fifth ,canto1 unlike  
his companions1 has proved  impregnable 
to the assaults of ,armida's mingled    
beauty and art3      ,ma perch' a lui   
colpi d' amor pi lenti    ,non hanno il 
petto oltra la scorza inciso1    ,n     
molto impaziente  di rivale1    ,n la   

donzella di seguir gli cale#ifi4    #ifi
 ,gerus4 v4 #ab4    ,he rather aspires  
to succeed to the fallen ,dudone in the 
immediate  command of the forces4 ,yet  
even with respect to this1 his ambition 
purports to be under the guidance of    
high principle3                         
,i gradi primi    ,pi meritar che       
conseguir desio#igj4    #igj ,ibid4     
#aea4    ,presently the ,norwegian      
,prince ,gernando1 moved by jealousy1   
insults  him2 on which ,rinaldo there   
and then gives him the lie1 and slays   
him4    ,it is hardly possible to       
measure the inferiority of this         
combination1  as respects poetic art and
 effect1 to the scene of the ,first     
,book of  the ,iliad1 with which it must
 naturally be compared3 where ,achilles 
is stung1 and stung at once in every    
fibre of his deep1 proud1 and           
impassioned nature1 by the mingled      
meanness and tyranny of ,agamemnon4     
,the affront in ,homer is so contrived  
that it shall contain all  the highest  

elements of provocation3 avarice1       
tyranny1 injustice1  ingratitude1 on the
 one side are made to exacerbate the    
wounds  inflicted by public degradation1
 and by the sudden loss of a beloved    
object1 on the other4 ,but the insult of
 ,gernando to ,rinaldo is an  every-day 
insult of the streets3 yet an ,american 
duellist could not  have been more      
summary in his proceedings1 than is the 
great ,christian  champion4 ,the brutal 
provocation instantly breaks down both  
the piety  and the moral firmness of    
,rinaldo4 ,it is not so with ,achilles4 
,in him  there is a conscious force of  
self-command1 which absolutely1 though  
not relatively to his passion1 is even  
beyond that of other men2 and  though   
unequal1 indeed1 yet is all but not     
unequal to controlling that  tempestuous
 flood of wrath4 ,nothing can be grander
 than the picture of  this his first    
great mental convulsion4 ,we must quote 
the lines3         '  '1           1    
1  '  1      1   #iga4    #iga ,il4 i4  

#ahh4    ,then1 while the strong current
 eddies to and fro within him1 and while
  his fingers1 playing instinctively on 
the handle of his sword1 cause  its     
blade to be seen1 comes the warning     
vision of ,pallas to him1 and to  him   
alone4 ,this admonition restores the    
disturbed balance of his mind2  and1 his
 inward wound assuaged with the promise 
of a future revenge1 to  be wrought out 
for him by the self-condemning hands of 
the inflicters  and abettors of the     
wrong1 he moodily foregoes the reckoning
 of blood4    ,such is the solid1 the   
,cyclopian structure of the fabric1 into
 which  ,homer has built his characters4
 ,had the hero of ,tasso indeed been    
endowed with a sublimity of passion     
beyond or like that of ,achilles1 we    
might not have been entitled to call him
 strictly to account for the  slaughter 
of ,gernando4 ,but the truth is1 that he
 is a somewhat jejune  and feeble       
character2 and his offence in this      
instance is not from  the excess of the 

impelling1 but from the defect1 or      
rather the utter  absence1 of the       
restraining power4    ,gioberti1 in a   
posthumous work#igb1 remarks that the   
heroes of  ,paganism are more effective 
than those of ,christianity1 because the
  standard by which they are measured is
 lower1 the idea imperfect  instead of  
perfect4 ,there is1 ,i believe1 much    
both of truth and of  depth in this     
observation4 ,it is no more than justice
 that ,tasso should  have the benefit of
 it1 which is not inconsiderable4       
#igb ,la ,riforma ,cattolica1 lately    
published at ,turin1 with an  excellent 
preface by ,massari4    ,differing modes
 of describing personages4    ,such1    
however1 as his heroes are1 he takes the
 precaution to describe  them in outline
 at a very early stage indeed of his    
proceedings1  namely1 in the stanzas    
#h-aj of the ,first ,canto4 ,he here    
places before  us ,godfrey1 ,baldwin1   
,tancred1 ,boemondo1 and ,rinaldo2 and  
he resumes  from time to time the       

business of describing them4 ,bojardo   
and  ,ariosto avoid this2 but it is     
probably because they were dealing with 
characters of well-known type1 already  
familiar to their audience4  ,homer1 who
 drew so much more powerfully1 had more 
to describe than  any of them4 ,and yet 
it may be said he never describes       
characters at  all1 with the very slight
 exceptions of ,nestor1 in a few words1 
and  ,thersites with somewhat more      
detail3 the latter1 it is evident1      
because  he wanted to concentrate       
contempt and disgust upon his qualities1
 for  exhibiting which in action he     
could not afford to such a wretch any   
extended space3 the former1 perhaps     
because he has thought it better  for   
effect to abstain from marking him      
through the poem by distinctive         
epithets1 and could produce a certain   
roundness of figure1 highly  suitable to
 the personage1 in this way with more   
convenience4 ,but1 in  general1 ,homer's
 characters are described by their      

actions only1 with  the aid of choice   
and characteristic epithets1 and here   
and there of  some small but pointed    
allusion1 not from themselves nor from  
the ,poet1  but in the speeches of      
others4 ,thus he grapples with the full 
scale of  the demands of the dramatic   
art4 ,others could not follow him4 ,we  
must  not blame ,tasso for a proceeding 
quite necessary by way of clue to his   
poem2 rather1 indeed1 we should praise  
the ingenious manner in which he  has   
effected his purpose1 by a survey which 
the ,almighty takes of the  ,christian  
camp2 a proceeding alike conducive to   
the religious character  of his poem1   
not always so well cared for1 and to the
 supply of the  first necessities of his
 readers4    ,in the details of his     
battles1 ,tasso is a great and skilful  
describer4  ,perhaps in this point      
alone1 out of so many1 he may be termed 
superior  to ,homer4 ,at least we may be
 disposed to think he has nothing so    
unsatisfactory under this head as the   

death of ,patroclus4 ,it may  be another
 question how far he is indebted for    
instruction in this  department to his  
great countrymen1 especially ,ariosto1  
and also  whether he has anywhere       
equalled the magnificent account of that
  terrible contest with ,rodomonte1     
which1 in the ,furioso1 sums up         
,ruggiero's triumphs4    ,as nearly all 
the greater situations and combinations 
of the  ,gerusalemme1 and its general   
framework1 have been suggested by the   
ancients1 so the minor imitations are   
too numerous for notice4 ,many  of      
,tasso's similes are extremely beautiful
 and finished2 and he has  followed     
,homer in employing them to relieve the 
narrative of battle2  but he has not    
observed the same judicious parsimony in
 other parts of  his poem2 he has       
apparently not perceived1 certainly not 
followed1 the  general rules of ,homer  
in the distribution of this ornament1   
and the  result has been that they      
produce a somewhat cloying effect4      

,like ,virgil1 he has been betrayed into
 imitating ,homer in certain  cases1    
where the whole reason of the case was  
changed3 as1 for  instance1 in the      
,invocation before the ,catalogue1 and  
in the wish  expressed for multiplied   
organs of speech4 ,to ,homer1 a reciting
 poet1  the ,catalogue was a great      
effort of memory1 and it therefore      
justified  the special application to   
the ,muse3 to ,tasso it must have been  
one of  the easier parts of his         
performance4 ,as respects the second    
point1 what  can be more reasonable in  
the case of an unwritten composition8   
what  less so1 when the poet works with 
pen and ink8 ,nor is the case much      
mended by supposing that ,tasso had in  
mind his recitations1 unless the        
recitation had been1 not the accident1  
but the rule1 so that the poem  would   
itself1 in the ordinary course of       
thought1 be conceived of as  associated 
with the act of reciting4    ,tasso     
seems1 however1 to have fallen into a   

more serious error in  introducing a    
,second ,catalogue into his poem4 ,the  
first may be defended  by the same      
reasoning1 which so amply warrants that 
of ,homer4 ,but what  interest could    
,christendom or ,italy feel in the      
detailed muster-roll of  the ,egyptian  
army8    ,the ,return of ,rinaldo4      
,if in the ,jerusalem the ,wrath is     
beneath the standard of the ,iliad1  so 
is the ,return4 ,on the side of         
,rinaldo1 indeed1 it is most just and   
right1 that he should be extricated from
 the entanglements of the  seductive    
,armida3 but1 on the side of ,godfrey1  
there is the same sorry  management of  
all the moral elements of the case4 ,in 
,homer1 ,achilles  was justly and most  
deeply offended3 on every principle     
known to the  creed of ,paganism1 or to 
,greek life and experience1 he justly   
resented  the offence3 the utmost that  
can be imputed to him is a decided      
excess  in the indulgence of a          
thoroughly righteous feeling3 and this  

was  terribly expiated by the bloody    
death of that friend1 who was to him  as
 a second self4 ,but the gross offence  
of ,agamemnon is dealt with  according  
to the most righteous rules2 and he is  
compelled by word  and gift to appease  
the man whom he had robbed1 insulted1   
and striven  to degrade4 ,while he is   
brought both to restitution and to      
apology1  how different is the          
arrangement of ,tasso's poem6 ,rinaldo  
was wronged  by ,gernando3 but ,godfrey 
had done no more than his duty3 he was  
the  minister of public justice1 of     
lawful authority1 and of military       
discipline3 in respect to him1 and      
likewise in respect to the army1        
,rinaldo was the offender1 ,godfrey and 
public right were only the  sufferers2  
yet ,godfrey and public right give way  
under the pressure of  adversity1 and   
the offender comes back in a kind of    
triumph4    ,if it has been found       
possible in the case of ,virgil to      
institute a more  minute comparison with

 ,homer1 this cannot be attempted in the
 case  of ,tasso1 for his work hardly   
admits of juxta-positions in detail4    
,we have already noticed the abundant   
stock of real analogies between  the    
subject of the ,trojan expedition1 and  
that of the ,crusades4  ,tasso himself1 
in his anxiety to follow ,homer1 even   
added to them1 by  feigning a           
centralization of the ,christian        
enterprise1 which ,i fear did  not      
really exist4 ,but to imitate is one    
thing1 to be like is another2  and it   
still remains hard really to compare the
 poems1 far harder the  poets4 ,in order
 to see this clearly1 let us ascend a   
height1 and view  the scene which lies  
before us4 ,how vast a deluge of time   
and of events  has swept away the very  
world in which ,homer lived1 and the    
worlds that  succeeded his3 the place of
 nativity is changed1 the great gulf of 
time  is stretched between1 the language
 is another1 the religion new1 all  the 
chains of association have been taken to

 pieces and re-forged1 all  the old     
chords of feeling are now mute1 and     
others that give forth a  different     
music are strung in their stead4 ,and   
there is also1 it must  be confessed1 a 
great and sharp descent from the stature
 of ,homer1 as a  creative poet1 to that
 of ,tasso4 ,yet he too is a classic of 
,italy1 and  a classic of the world2 and
 if for a moment we feel it a           
disparagement  to his country that she  
suffers in this one comparison1 let her 
soothe  her ruffled recollection by the 
consciousness1 that though ,tasso has   
not become a rival to ,homer1 yet he    
shares this failure with every epic     
writer of every land4 ,on the other     
hand1 no modern poet1 dealing with      
similar subject-matter1 has been equal  
to ,tasso4 ,none has erected1  upon     
similar foundations to his1 a fabric so 
lofty and so durable1 so  rich in beauty
 and in grace3 so well entitled1 if not 
to vie with the  very greatest          
achievement of the ages that went before

 him1 at least  to challenge or to win  
the admiration of those generations that
 have  succeeded4 ,but his defeat is1   
after all1 his greatest victory4 ,to    
lose  the match against ,homer is a     
higher prize than to win it from his    
other  competitors4 ,few indeed are the 
sons of genius1 and elect among the     
elect1 who can be brought into          
comparison with that sire and king of   
verse2 and ,tasso1 we are persuaded1    
would bear against none a grudge  for   
thus far1 in his own words1 limiting his
 honours3                      e ci fia 
sommo onore2    ,questi gi con ,gernando
 in gara venne#igc4    #igc ,ger4 v4    
#bj4      ,,section ,,vi4    ,some      
principal ,homeric characters in ,troy4 
,hector3 ,helen3 ,paris4    ,to one only
 among the countless millions of human  
beings has it been  given to draw       
characters1 by the strength of his own  
individual hand1  in lines of such force
 and vigour1 that they have become1 from
 his  day to our own1 the common        

inheritance of civilized man4 ,that one 
is  ,homer4 ,ever since his time1       
besides finding his way into the usually
  impenetrable ,east1 he has provided   
literary capital and available stock  in
 trade for reciters and hearers1 for    
authors and readers of all times  and of
 all places within the limits of the    
,western world2      ,adjice ,moniden1 a
 quo1 ceu fonte perenni1      ,vatum    
,pieriis ora rigantur aquis4    ,like   
the sun1 which furnishes with its light 
the close courts and  alleys of ,london1
 while himself unseen by their          
inhabitants1 ,homer has  supplied with  
the illumination of his ideas millions  
of minds that were  never brought into  
direct contact with his works1 and even 
millions  more1 that have hardly been   
aware of his existence4 ,as the full    
flow of  his genius has opened itself   
out into ten thousand irrigating        
channels  by successive subdivision1    
there can be no cause for wonder1 if    
some  of them have not preserved the    

pellucid clearness of the stream4 ,like 
blood from the great artery of the heart
 of man1 as it returns through          
innumerable veins1 it is gradually      
darkened in its flow4 ,the very         
universality of the tradition has       
multiplied the causes of corruption4    
,that which1 as to documents1 is a      
guarantee1 because their errors  correct
 one another1 as to ideas is a new      
source of danger1 because  every thing  
depends upon constant reference to the  
finer touches of  an original1 which has
 escaped from view4 ,and this           
universality is his  alone4 ,an         
,englishman may pardonably think that   
his great rival in the  portraiture of  
character is ,shakespeare--a ,briton may
 even go further1  and challenge1 on    
behalf of ,sir ,walter ,scott1 a place  
in this princely  choir1 second to no   
other person but these4 ,yet the fame of
 ,hamlet1  ,othello1 ,lady ,macbeth1 or 
,falstaff1 and much more that of        
,varney1 or  ,ravenswood1 or ,caleb     

,balderston1 or ,meg ,merrilies1 has not
 yet come1  and may never come1 to be a 
world-wide fame4 ,on the other hand1    
that  distinction has long been         
inalienably secured to every character  
of the  first class1 who appears in the 
,homeric poems4 ,he has conferred upon  
them a deathless inheritance4    ,but1  
through waywardness and infirmity1      
mankind corrupts that with  which it    
sympathizes1 and undermines what it     
obeys4 ,the same law of  waste and      
decomposition1 which from day to day    
corrodes the works of  nature1 operates 
also in divers manners and degrees upon 
the creations  of mind4 ,as the         
portraitures of individual character1 to
 be found in  the works of the great    
masters of the imaginative faculty1 are 
among  the very highest of these        
creations1 so1 because they are the     
greatest1  they are the most difficult  
to render into other forms1 and to      
transfuse through new media4 ,among the 
ancient sculptures it is easier  to find

 a good ,faun than a good ,venus1 while 
again those works1 which  embody the    
very highest ideals1 are not only rare1 
but are in most  instances unique4 ,in  
like manner the ,punch and the          
,harlequin1 the broad  characters of    
primitive spectacle and farce1 readily  
become national1  and are transmitted1  
spontaneously as it were1 through ages  
without  substantial change2 but the    
finer and nobler representations of man1
  requiring greater effort1 and a       
different order of mind to comprehend1  
as well as to project them1 rapidly     
degenerate in the very points on  which 
their peculiar excellence depends4      
,other causes1 besides mental impotence 
in the recipient1 contribute  towards   
this result4 ,one main agent is1 the    
inability or the  disinclination of     
mankind to go back to originals4 ,for   
the mass1 a  modernizing process is     
commonly in demand1 is readily          
furnished1  and is itself again and     
again varied from age to age4 ,it is    

always  easier to derive from what is   
itself derivative1 than to go up to  the
 fountain-head4 ,into the business of   
every profession1 including  7now more  
than ever7 that of letters1 necessity   
drives her adamantine  clamps3 and the  
and the 1 or slang and the clap-trap1   
maintain a too successful struggle to   
depress its higher and more  genial     
aims4    ,causes of injury to ,homeric  
characters4    ,it is not difficult to  
point out reasons why the characters of 
,homer  should have been peculiarly     
exposed to injury from the lapse of     
time4  ,most of all from two causes2    
because they were of such extraordinary 
and refined merit1 and because of the   
form in which they were conveyed4  ,not 
only did they bear the stamp that the   
highest genius alone could  affix1 but  
nothing less than care1 sympathy1 and   
manly effort1 could  enable men to      
comprehend them4 ,for they were not     
exhibited in the set  forms of          
descriptive passages1 which might be    

learnt by rote1 but they  were wrought  
out in the fine1 as well as deep and    
strong lines of life  and action2 and   
none of them could be defined in terms1 
until they had  first been profoundly   
felt within4 ,we were to become         
acquainted with  them as friends1 by    
living with them through their varied   
fortunes2 not  as strangers1 by some    
letter of introduction1 that sets forth 
their  birth1 parentage1 calling1 and   
qualifications4 ,for earnest and hearty 
attention they provided the richest     
possible reward2 by the careless  they  
were to be enjoyed indeed1 but scarcely 
to be apprehended4 ,to  the eyes of such
 men there is little or nothing to      
discriminate1 as  between ,agamemnon1   
,ajax1 ,diomed1 ,menelaus1 and          
,patroclus2 and if ,nestor  is a good   
deal older1 ,ulysses a good deal more   
cunning1 and ,achilles  even more       
valiant than the rest1 a single touch   
disposes of these  differences1 and     
enables us to reduce all the eight      

nearly to a common  type4 ,a prior      
examination of particular instances will
 best prepare  us for weighing the force
 of those other causes1 besides the     
weakness  of human nature1 and the      
excellence of the works in the general  
sense  of the words1 that contributed to
 depress and deface the ,homeric        
characters4    ,in the present ,section1
 then1 ,i propose to invite attention to
 a few  ,homeric characters1 as they    
stand in the poems1 which1 as far as ,i 
am  able to judge1 stand in need as yet 
of further elucidation4    ,perhaps     
there is no one particular in which     
,colonel ,mure has rendered  such       
important service to the modern         
,homerid1 as in his account of  the     
,homeric characters4 ,in general1 ,i    
shall best discharge my duty by  simply 
referring the reader to his pages4 ,i   
venture1 however1 to think1  that while 
the paramount subject of the great      
,grecian characters is  incomparably    
handled by him throughout1 some         

exception may be taken to  his          
representation of a part of the ,trojan 
personages2 of ,hector1 for  example1   
and more particularly 7if she may be    
placed in this class7 of  ,helen4 ,at   
least1 ,i presume to regard some of them
 as fairly capable of  being presented  
in another light1 and ,i shall proceed  
at once to make  the attempt with       
,hector4    ,relation of ,orlando to    
,hector4    ,i4 #8,in the character of  
this hero1' says ,mure1 #8good and evil 
are so curiously blended that it is hard
 to say which element                   
predominates#igd4' ,is there not a      
different view of the composition of    
qualities1 which ,mure has thus placed  
in equipoise8    #igd ,character of     
,hector1 ,lit4 ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #cdg4
    ,it is indeed eminently true1 as in 
the same place he proceeds to  observe1 
that in order to maintain what may be   
called the conventional  balance1 or    
stage-equality1 which was necessary in  
order to give  interest to his poem1    

,homer has magnified the prowess of     
,hector1 in  general terms1 as of the   
highest transcendental order3 but that  
in  actual achievement he is greatly    
surpassed by the leading ,greek heroes4 
,indeed1 in many places of the ,iliad it
 even seems questionable1 whether       
,hector is a hero at all4    ,how       
successful ,homer's art has been in thus
 paying off the ,trojan  champion with  
generalities1 while he nevertheless     
reserved the true  palm of military     
virtue to his own countrymen1 we may1   
perhaps1 best  judge from considering   
the effect which the picture has had    
upon the  poets of ,italy1 and upon     
,european opinion at large1 in more     
recent  times4 ,with the former1 the    
name of ,hector seems to be the prime   
type  of the heroic character4 ,thus    
,tasso celebrates--      #8,il buon     
,foresto1 dell' ,italia ,ettorre#ige4'  
#ige ,ger4 xvii4 #fi4    ,and further4  
,beyond the ,alps1 ,orlando was the     
prime warrior or  protagonist1 as well  

as the finest character1 of the medival 
romance1  until it was modified by      
,ariosto1 whose courtly object it was to
  elevate ,ruggiero above him4 ,but with
 the poets who followed ,ariosto1       
,ruggiero seems to have been put by as  
an interpolation1 and ,orlando  to have 
resumed his paramount place4 ,now the   
character of ,orlando  is plainly       
modelled upon the traditional idea of   
,hector1 with the  ,christian element   
attached to and pervading it4 ,that     
,hector was thus  chosen1 in preference 
to ,achilles or any ,greek hero1 may be 
owing1  among other causes1 to these4   
,first1 that the ,roman poets1 ,virgil  
especially1 had taught ,italians to look
 to ,troy as the cradle of their        
grandeur4 ,secondly1 that the character 
of ,hector1 from the large  infusion    
into it of moral and of passive         
ingredients1 was better fitted  for     
coalescing with the ,christian ideas4   
,and thirdly1 that1 as the  part        
assigned to ,italian patriotism in the  

middle ages was commonly  defensive1 in 
this point also ,hector offered a more  
appropriate model4  ,there is more1     
however1 to observe2 for it may be      
thought that1 among  the ,trojans1 neas 
would have offered a better groundwork  
for ,italian  poets4 ,but here we may   
remark how the genuine and masculine    
birth  outlives the spurious4 ,the      
natural ,hector of ,homer thrust aside  
the  pale and sickly automaton of the   
neid1 even in ,italy1 its adopted       
country4 ,the latter was so artificial  
and effete1 that it would not  even bear
 copying3 the former had a foundation in
 truth1 upon which the  structure of    
exaggeration could be reared4 ,thus     
,hector became1 after  two thousand     
years1 the central power of a new and   
splendid literature4    ,but when we    
turn back to the verse of ,homer1 and   
put together the  evidence in the case  
piece by piece1 surprise is excited by  
the  contrast between the pretensions of
 ,hector1 having its basis in general   

descriptions and in the later tradition1
 on the one side1 and on the  other the 
actual performances1 in the ,iliad      
itself1 of the ,trojan  champion4       
,first1 there is ,achilles1 his known   
superior2 of whom1 as  a warrior1 he    
comes within no measurable distance4    
,but besides this1  he suffers virtual  
defeat at the hands1 once of ,diomed1   
and twice  of ,ajax2 glaringly as to the
 former1 and not doubtfully as to the   
latter3 for though the first battle is  
interrupted1 and is taken for  a drawn  
one1 yet ,ajax has had the best of it at
 every point1 and1  while the ,trojans  
are too happy upon the mere escape of   
his opponent  without bodily harm1      
,homer carries him to the tent of       
,agamemnon  rejoicing in his victory 7  
#igf74 ,it is yet more worthy  of note1 
that ,hector is never permitted in      
actual fight to overcome  any one       
considerable ,greek4 ,in the case of    
,patroclus1 the ,poet has  even laid    
this fact much too barely open2 for he  

makes ,hector little1  if anything1 more
 than the mere executioner of death upon
 an unarmed  man4 ,menelaus1 who stood  
in what we may call the third rank of   
,grecian  heroes1 is indeed1 on one     
occasion1 withdrawn from conflict with  
him1  as being too greatly inferior to  
risk the fight2 but the conflict for    
the body of ,patroclus#igg is so        
contrived as to show even this prince   
holding the field with success in       
despite of the ,trojan chief2 and1      
during the absence of ,achilles and     
,patroclus from the contest1 no less    
than nine other ,greek warriors offer   
themselves to meet him in single        
combat#igh4    #igf ,il4 vii4 #cab4     
#igg ,ibid4 #aji4    #igh ,ibid4 #afa4  
,the greatest exploit of ,hector1 in the
 whole ,iliad1 is the bursting  open of 
the gates of the ,greek rampart#igi4    
,but if we compare this  with the feat  
of ,sarpedon1 who had just before opened
 a breach by  tearing down the          
battlement#ihj1 we must give a decided  

preference to  the ,lycian hero2 for he 
performs his achievement in the teeth of
 ,ajax  and ,teucer1 who are on the     
spot2 while there is not a single ,greek
  commander present when ,hector breaks 
through the gates4 ,the comparative     
feebleness of ,hector's military        
character is1 however1 most pointedly   
shown in the ,eleventh ,book1 when      
,jupiter determines to give effect  to  
the decision that honour shall be done  
to him#iha4 ,in the first  place1 he    
receives a friendly warning to keep out 
of the way as long  as ,agamemnon       
remains on the field4 ,he accordingly   
enters the battle  only when ,agamemnon 
has retired2 but he is forthwith driven 
out of it  by ,diomed#ihb4 ,when he     
again returns to it1 the ,greeks under  
,machaon  baffle all his efforts1 until 
that very secondary chieftain has been  
disabled by an arrow from the bow of    
,paris#ihc4 ,and according to all  human
 appearances1 the ,trojans must have    
been defeated and shut up in  the city  

by the ,greeks even without ,achilles1  
such was the superiority  of ,achan     
arms1 had not ,homer called in the      
inferior agency of  stones and arrows to
 wound three of the four chief remaining
 ,grecian  warriors1 namely ,diomed1    
,agamemnon1 and ,ulysses2 besides       
,eurypylus and  ,machaon#ihd4    #igi   
,il4 xii4 #dde-ga4    #ihj ,ib4         
#cib-djg4    #iha ,il4 xi4 #ahf-ij4     
#ihb ,il4 xi4 #cdi-fg4    #ihc ,ib4     
#ejb-g4    #ihd ,ib4 #ffj4    ,the only 
occasion when ,hector comes out as a    
really great and gallant  warrior is    
that one when he is certain to be1 and  
is accordingly1  worsted by the         
overpowering might and divine arms of   
,achilles4 ,for  here ,homer could      
safely give him ample scope without     
endangering or  obscuring the fame of   
that hero1 to whom1 with art never      
surpassed1  he has given an             
immeasurable1 but yet not a forced or   
unnatural1  preeminence4    ,hector     
second-rate as a hero4    ,the place of 

,hector1 then1 as a fighting hero1 is   
certainly no more  than second-rate2 but
 so far1 ,i venture to think1 is ,homer 
from having  almost equally weighted in 
his character the scales of good and    
evil  respectively1 that1 with the      
exception of his boastfulness1 it is    
hard  to fasten on him so much as a     
single fault4 ,this boastfulness1 and   
the  disproportion between pretension   
and performance1 is not altogether      
confined to him1 but extends in some    
measure to the other ,trojan  warriors1 
except ,sarpedon2 for example1 to       
,polydamas1 neas1 and ,paris4  ,some of 
the best ,greeks too1 particularly      
,diomed1 are touched with  it#ihe4 ,and 
perhaps1 in our more elaborated and     
artificial condition  of society1 we are
 not quite fair judges how far this     
practice1 which  may seem to stand in   
sharp contrast with the prevailing      
modesty of  the ,homeric heroes1 may    
have been with them not a substitute    
for1  but a kind of embellishment and   

auxiliary to1 their strength of soul    
and hand4 ,with us it is justly         
suspected of implying a tendency to     
fall short in performance3 with them it 
may have appertained to that            
straightforwardness in the expression of
 inward emotions1 which made  them 7for 
example7 weep so freely whenever the    
chord of sorrow was  touched within     
them4    #ihe ,il4 vi4 #abg4    ,so     
conspicuous is this quality1 says ,mure1
 that the name of the ,trojan  chief is 
to this day synonymous in our own tongue
 with #8bluster' or  #8swagger#ihf4'    
,but it is remarkable that the very same
 thing has  happened in the case of the 
word #8rodomontade1' which is derived   
from  ,rodomonte1 the most powerful1    
next to ,ruggiero1 of all the heroes of 
the ,furioso4 ,this circumstance seems  
to make probable1 what1 without  it1    
would be only possible1 namely1 that we 
misconstrue the phrases2  and that1     
according to the true meaning1 a        
rodomontader is a man  passing himself  

off for a ,rodomonte3 and one who       
hectors is a man  falsely pretending to 
be a ,hector4    #ihf ,mure1 i4 #ceb4   
,another very high authority1 ,lord     
,grenville1 intimately acquainted with  
the poems of ,homer1 supplies a marked  
example of the blinding force  of       
literary traditions4 ,for in his #8,nug 
,metric#ihg1' he says3 #8,a  hectoring  
fellow is 444 strangely distorted in its
 use to express a  meaning almost the   
opposite of its original4' ,and he adds 
in a note3  #8,the ,hector of ,homer    
unites1 we know1    #ihg p4 #he4        
,the mildest manners with the bravest   
mind4'    ,the disposition of the       
,trojan chief to brag is1 however1 the  
more  offensive1 because it vents itself
 so much in the first person  singular2 
because in the case of ,patroclus it    
seems to be associated  with an act at  
least unmanly2 and because upon many    
occasions ,hector  shows even more than 
a prudential regard to his personal     
safety4    ,what is more strange is1    

that his ordinary strain of boasting is 
chequered with passages of more genuine 
modesty and humility than are  to be    
found in the speech of any other        
chieftain on either side4 ,as for       
example1 when he acknowledges his marked
 inferiority to ,achilles2       '    1 
#ihh4    #ihh ,il4 xx4 #dcd4    ,but    
above all1 in the incomparable verse of 
his prayer over his infant  son2        
1  '   #ihi4    #ihi ,il4 vi4 #dgi4     
,hector's moral character4    ,homer is 
of all poets the most free from any     
thing that can be called  trick2 but    
perhaps it may be that the same         
necessity of his position1  which       
obliged him to magnify ,trojan prowess  
in words1 while it falls so  short in   
deeds1 has found its way from the       
narrative into the dramatic  part of the
 poem4 ,if so1 then in ,hector's boasts 
we may recognise ,homer  working out his
 own general purpose rather than        
conforming with perfect  fidelity to    
tradition1 or finishing an ideally      

perfect portrait with  the power and    
exactitude1 which he has applied to his 
greater ,grecian  heroes4 ,yet1 be the  
cause what it may that has led ,homer to
 exhibit in  ,hector the disagreeable   
gift of a bragging disposition1 ,mure   
appears to  show less than his usual    
precision when he ascribes to ,hector in
 one  place a partial#iij1 and in       
another a total1 indifference to the    
moral  guilt of his brother ,paris4     
#iij ,vol4 i4 pp4 #cdi1 #fj4            
,whatever may be the reason1 the fact   
undoubtedly is1 that neither on  the    
,trojan1 nor even on the ,greek side1 do
 we find displayed such a  sense of the 
shameful crime of ,paris as we might    
have anticipated  from a first view of  
the manners and feelings of the age4 ,as
 far as  regards the ,poet himself1 we  
may read his indignant sense of it in   
the portraiture he has been careful to  
give of ,paris himself1 and of  his ill 
fame among his countrymen2 but1         
undoubtedly1 although his act  is       

everywhere described as the cause of    
war1 it is nowhere spoken of1  among    
those who had suffered by it1 with the  
passion and indignation  which we might 
suppose it would have aroused4 ,of all  
the ,greeks1  only ,menelaus alludes to 
it as an act of guilt4 ,various causes  
may  be assigned for this with more or  
less confidence4 ,a probable one  is1 as
 we have seen#iia1 that the act partook 
of the character of  an abduction or    
rape1 in which enterprise and force gild
 or hide the  ugly features of crime4   
,an unpopular form of criminality might 
then1  as now1 come off the more easily 
from being covered by another which  is 
popular4 ,it also without doubt appears1
 that another reason may be  the length 
of time which1 in any view of the case1 
must have elapsed  since the act had    
taken place4 ,but perhaps the solution  
of the question  is to be mainly found  
in this consideration1 common to modern 
with  ancient times1 that the causes of 
war are apt to be swallowed up in  its  

circumstances4 ,in entering upon the    
arbitrement of the sword1 men  do not   
choose a fixed position1 but they embark
 upon a stream1 always  powerful and    
often ungovernable4 ,when once the      
armament was on the  shores of the      
,hellespont1 there would be on both     
sides the motive of  military honour1   
and1 besides this1 with the ,trojans1   
the defence of  their families and      
homes1 with the ,greeks the hope of     
plunder and of  license4 ,hence1 even   
after the ,greeks are weakened and      
discouraged by  the secession of        
,achilles1 it is not from them1 but from
 the ,trojans1  that a proposal proceeds
 for deciding the case of ,helen by     
single  combat4 ,hence1 upon the        
shameful escape of ,paris from          
fulfilling this  engagement1 after his  
defeat by ,menelaus1 we find little     
expression of  indignation on one side1 
and no confession of wrong on the other4
 ,but  the criticism of ,mure seems to  
amount to this2 that it was a capital   

fault on the part of ,hector1 not to    
have his mind constantly full of a      
question1 which was rarely thought of at
 all by any one on either side1  except 
,paris and ,menelaus1 the persons most  
directly interested4    #iia ,see sup4  
,ilios1 pp4 #aif-bje4    ,it is plain1  
however1 that ,homer has represented    
,hector as keenly  feeling and          
resenting1 not only his brother's       
cowardice1 but his  sensuality4 ,twice  
does he address him as mad with lust1   
and as a  deceiver of women#iib3 out of 
his five speeches addressed to ,paris1  
only one is not reproachful2 and in the 
only one which extends beyond  a few    
lines he barbs his reproaches on the    
score of cowardice by fully  setting    
forth his guilt1 both morally and as    
towards his country1 in  that1 being a  
coward1 he was also a ravisher#iic4 ,the
 charge1 however1  also takes a more    
specific form4 ,we see that ,hector was 
greatly  delighted1   when his          
rebuke#iid had stirred up ,paris to     

offer to stake the whole issue on a     
single combat with ,menelaus4 ,but  it  
is said1 why1 when the battle had been  
lost1 did not ,hector enforce  the terms
 of the bargain8 ,the answer seems to be
 this4 ,we stand here  at a juncture in 
the poem1 where its theurgy supersedes  
its human  mechanism4 ,it is presumable 
that this very thing was about to be    
done1  when the order of events was     
interrupted by the counsel of the gods4 
,agamemnon had at the close of the      
,third ,book in due course demanded     
,helen4 ,jupiter immediately apprehended
 the consequences2 he saw that if  faith
 were kept1 ,achilles would neither be  
avenged nor glorified2 and  he          
accordingly invited the assembly on     
,olympus to determine1 whether  ,helen  
should be rendered back or not4 ,when   
this had been settled in  the negative1 
the question was how to prevent it2 and 
it was done1 on  the suggestion of      
,juno1 by causing ,pandarus to renew the
 war without  the privity of ,hector4   

,this shows pretty clearly that the     
restoration  of ,helen was about to take
 place1 had not the gods interfered2 and
  therefore amply suffices to relieve   
,hector from reproach1 who1 it may  be  
observed1 takes no part until1 when the 
armies have been long in  conflict1 he  
has been stung by the reproaches of     
,sarpedon 7v4 #dic74  ,if censure be due
 to the arrangement1 it must be lodged  
against the  ,poet1 and not against one 
of his personages1 who simply does not  
appear  because there is no part for him
 to play4    #iib ,il4 iii4 #ci and     
xiii4 #gfi4    #iic ,il4 iii4 #df-ea4   
#iid ,ib4 #gf4    ,his responsibilities 
beyond his strength4    ,let us now     
proceed to a somewhat more general view 
of the character of  ,hector4    ,he    
occupies in the ,homeric tradition a    
place altogether peculiar1  as1 at the  
time of the poem1 the sole eminently    
warlike member of an  unwarlike family2 
as the general of a divided and         
incongruous army2 and  as singly        

responsible in chief for the safety of  
his country1 while he  has not been     
invested with the dignity and power of  
king4 ,as to the  first of these points1
 we have the direct testimony of ,homer3
          #iie4    #iie ,il4 vi4 #djc4  
,of his brothers1 ,deiphobus alone is   
represented as in any degree  deserving 
or sharing his confidence4 ,of his      
relatives1 ,polydamas  appears to have  
been a rival in the council1 neas in the
 succession to  political supremacy3 and
 these were the two most considerable   
persons  of the class4 ,it has1 ,i      
conceive1 been shown to be probable1    
that  ,paris was his senior#iif2 and    
that he held his place in ,troy by merit
  against age4 ,his uneasy relations    
with his allies might be inferred  from 
their constituting the great bulk of his
 force1 even were they  not more        
distinctly betokened by the reproach of 
,sarpedon1 and by the  speech in which  
he himself enters on the subject4       
,together with his  power over the army1

 he had the virtual charge of the safety
 of the  state1 and we see signs of his 
influence there2 but yet he did not     
direct the policy of ,troy3 for the only
 important measure1 which is  recorded  
as having been taken by the ,trojans1   
namely the rejection of  the proposals  
of ,antenor to give back ,helen to the  
,greeks1 was taken in  his absence and  
without his knowledge4 ,thus we see in  
,hector's case1  abundantly accumulated1
 the elements of a false position4 ,and1
 in a  word1 in order to estimate his   
character aright1 we must keep in full  
view that inferiority of the ,trojans1  
subjects not less than princes1  as     
respects political genius and           
organization1 to which the ,iliad1 when 
carefully examined1 bears ample         
testimony4    #iif ,ilios1 pp4 #bai-bc4 
,under the weight of public charge1 as  
,agamemnon in the ,greek camp1 so1  and 
yet more1 ,hector on the ,trojan side1  
appears to reel2 so1 and yet  more2 for1
 in ,hector's case1 political power is  

crippled by his not  being in actual    
possession of the supreme station1 while
 responsibility  is edged and enhanced  
by his being not only the head to       
devise1 but  also the right hand to     
execute4 ,in neither of the two1        
however1 do we  find strong will1       
definiteness1 and constancy of purpose1 
or unfailing  courage4 ,but ,agamemnon  
has the advantage of both wiser counsels
 around  him1 and stronger arms than his
 own near his side4 ,hector has little  
aid4 ,sarpedon alone of the ,trojan     
commanders 7for neas really does        
nothing7 can be called a warrior of     
note2 and his inferiority to            
,patroclus1 notwithstanding his thorough
 gallantry1 is decorated rather  than   
hidden by the stage machinery of divine 
consultations on the  subject of his    
death4 ,but as ,sarpedon in the field   
plays a part much  inferior to the      
corresponding one of ,diomed or ,ajax1  
so ,polydamas1  the ,nestor of the      
,trojans1 is not equal to his kindly and

 genial  counterpart4 ,four times he    
gives his counsel in the field4 ,twice  
he  prefaces it with personal           
imputations 7xii4 #baa1 and xiii4 #gbf72
 and  when1 in the ,twelfth ,book       
7#baa71 he recommends the abandonment of
 the  assault on the ships in deference 
to an omen1 feeling and judgment are    
alike on the side of ,hector's reply1   
who overturns his augury by the  known  
7though1 as they proved1 deceitful7     
counsels of ,jupiter1 and  emphatically 
pleads against doubtful signs the       
indubitable dictates of  patriotism4    
,his bright side in the affections4     
,the prophetic gift1 for whatever       
reason1 is assigned pretty largely  by  
,homer to the ,trojans4 ,without        
entering into the case of ,cassandra1   
it attaches to ,helenus1 and also 7xii4 
#bch7 apparently to ,polydamas1  who    
undertakes to interpret a sign4 ,hector 
himself had the weight of  prescience on
 his breast1 for he tells               
,andromache#iig that he well  knows the 

day of ruin is at hand2 and1 when he is 
at the point of  death1 he              
prognosticates the coming fate of       
,achilles4 ,the concentrated  strain of 
his duties and his previsions is too    
much for the strength  of a character   
which1 from the intellectual or dramatic
 point of view1  is impulsive1          
fluctuating1 and unequal1 and which must
 therefore  undoubtedly be set down as  
so far secondary4 ,but when we pass from
  intellect to moral tone1 from  to 1 we
 certainly find  in ,hector one among   
the most touching1 the most human1 of   
all the  delineations of masculine      
character in the ,iliad4 ,in him alone  
has  ,homer presented to us that most   
commanding and most moving combination1 
of a woman's gentleness and deep        
affection with warlike and heroic       
strength4 ,if the hand of ,hector was   
far weaker than that of the son  of     
,peleus1 the tempestuous griefs of      
,achilles do not open to us a  character
 nearly so attractive as the depth of   

the gentle affections  of ,hector1 and  
the mildness warmed into such brilliancy
 by his martial  fame4 #8,thy love to me
 was wonderful2 passing the love of     
women#iih4'  ,the constancy and tenacity
 of the attachments of ,ulysses come out
 in  his relations to ,penelope and     
,telemachus3 but1 dwelling harmoniously 
in a character of far broader scope and 
more varied sensibilities1 the  peculiar
 element of a tenderness matching that  
of woman is the only one  they do not   
contain4 ,hector is neither a warrior   
nor a statesman after  the primary1 that
 is the ,achan1 type3 but for a model of
 intensity and  softness in the love of 
a father and a husband1 it is to him    
that we  must repair1 in the            
incomparable scene by the ,scan gate2   
incomparable1  unless we may compare it 
with that other scene1 so near at hand1 
where  the sight of young ,polydorus    
slain1 piercing him to the heart1 raised
  him in his last hour to the heights of
 heroism2 and where the interest  and   

sympathy1 that he has attracted all     
along1 are absorbed into  admiration of 
the real sublimity of that closing hour1
 when he resolved  to be for ever famous
 at least in his too certain death4     
#iig ,il4 vi4 #ddg4    #iih #b ,samuel  
i4 #bf4    ,probably a main reason why  
,hector has become the groundwork of the
  modern ,orlando is1 that no one of the
 ,homeric heroes exhibits a  combination
 of qualities supplying so appropriate a
 basis for the  character of a          
,christian hero2 a tone so sensibly     
approximating to  that of the gospel4   
,partly because of those acts of piety  
towards the  ,immortals1 which can      
hardly receive in the case of ,hector   
any but a  favourable construction1 and 
which drew down the all but unanimous   
compassion of the ,olympian assembly on 
his remains2 but partly also1  and yet  
more1 in that mild1 just1 and tender    
estimate of character1  which not only  
secured his constant gentleness of      
demeanour towards  ,helen1 but made him 

her protector against the acrimony of   
others1 and  rendered him considerate   
and kind even to ,paris#iii1 so soon as 
he saw  him disposed at length to be    
personally active in the mortal struggle
  he had brought upon his country4      
,there is1 perhaps1 no virtue more      
especially ,christian1 than the temper  
which thus equitably and gently  makes  
allowances for human weakness1          
particularly if it be weakness by  the  
effects of which we ourselves have      
suffered4    #iii ,il4 vi4 #eba4    ,the
 employment1 however1 of ,hector for the
 purposes of ,christian poetry  has     
certainly had the effect of perverting  
for us the true ,homeric  tradition4    
,but1 in order to understand this1 we   
must throw aside the  ,hector of our    
proverbs or our plays1 travel back to   
the ,iliad1 and set  out anew from the  
starting-point of its great author4 ,we 
must there  be content to take him not  
as a pure effort of imagination aimed at
  the production of an ideal man1 but as

 a part of the poem of ,homer1          
subordinated like every other part of it
 to its main purpose1 as well  as to the
 general laws of historical consistency4
 ,in modelling the  several heroes1 he  
made the exigencies of his ,hector yield
 to the  exigencies of his ,achilles1   
who could have no real competitor4 ,nor1
  with the fine characteristic sense he 
has everywhere shown of the  national   
differences between ,greek and ,trojan1 
could he build up his  ,hector on the   
same foundations with his ,greek heroes1
 or give him that  strength and tenacity
 of tissue which belongs to the         
,european and  ,achan character4 ,he    
could not equip him with either the     
dauntless  chivalry in battle1 or the   
profound unswerving sagacity in council1
  which were reserved for the kings of  
his own race1 and for those most  nearly
 allied to them4 ,he has imparted to the
 character of the chief  ,trojan hero1  
no less than to that of the ,trojan     
people at large1 a  decided ,asiatic    

tinge1 which modifies their community of
 colour with  the properly ,european    
races4 ,in such characters1 instinct and
 sentiment  take oftentimes the place of
 inquiry and reflection1 and impulse    
does the work of conviction3 the ideas  
of right1 order1 consistency1  moral    
dignity and self-respect1 are less      
clearly1 less symmetrically1  conceived4
 ,though in particular cases1 such as   
that of ,hector1 the  deficiency may be 
made up by a liberal and full           
development of the most  affectionate   
emotions1 we feel1 in comparing it with 
the ,greeks1 that  we are dealing with a
 more contracted type of manhood3 as if 
morally1  no less than locally1 we had  
gone back with ,homer one full stage    
nearer to the cradle of our race1 and   
had arrested and fixed the human        
character at the very point where it is 
neither child nor man4    ,inequality of
 his character4    ,the character of    
,hector1 as it has been here            
interpreted1 does not give  that        

satisfaction to the mind1 which thorough
 clearness and oneness  would impart4   
,his intellectual qualities and his     
affections are not  on the same scale2  
his martial character jars even with    
itself4 ,yet  perhaps in these very     
circumstances we may upon consideration 
find  but fresh reason to admire the    
skill of ,homer1 and that rarely erring 
instinct which forbade him to forget his
 whole in running after his  details4   
,his first object seems to have been to 
give the fullest and boldest  prominence
 to the colossal shape1 moral as well as
 physical1 of  ,achilles1 and therefore 
to tone down whatever could diminish its
  effect4 ,and here the point of danger 
evidently lay in ,agamemnon2  the chief 
of the army was too likely to be the    
chief of the poem4  ,accordingly he has 
broken the unity of that character1 and 
has  chequered it with weakness in      
various forms4 ,but this was not all3 he
  had to keep the ,greeks before the    
,trojans1 as well as ,achilles before   

the ,greeks2 not only that he might     
consult his popularity1 but that he     
might indulge the genial vein of his    
poesy1 and follow the impulses  of his  
patriotism1 in maintaining high above   
all question their  intellectual and    
martial superiority4 ,had this1 however1
 been all1  his task would have been    
easy2 he would then have had only to    
depress  their opponents in all the     
properties that attract admiration4 ,but
 if  he had simply done this1 if he had 
cut off the interest and sympathies  of 
his readers from the ,trojans by general
 disparagement1 he would have  deprived 
,greek valour of its choicest crown4 ,it
 is a noble necessity of  war that1 even
 in the interest of countrymen1 we      
cannot do injustice to  adversaries1    
without feeling the offence recoil on   
our own heads4    ,thus it was          
impossible for ,homer to make his       
,trojan hero at once great  and         
consistent2 and if he has made ,hector  
unequal1 it was to avoid  making him    

mean4 ,by chequering his martial daring 
with boastfulness1  and with occasional 
weakness of purpose1 he has effectually 
provided  against any interference1 from
 this quarter1 to the prejudice of those
  chieftains whose praises he was to    
sing in the courts and throngs of       
,greece4 ,thus he has left the field    
quite clear for expatiating on their    
military virtues2 and if1 for sufficient
 reasons1 he has departed from  his rule
 in the case of ,agamemnon1 who receives
 his compensation in  superiority of    
rank and power1 all his other ,greek    
characters1 bearing  forward parts in   
the poem1 are constructed in faultless  
conformity to  the idea1 or modification
 of an idea1 which he had selected for  
the  basis of each4 ,there is not a flaw
 in the picture of ,achilles1 ,diomed1  
,ajax1 ,nestor1 ,menelaus1 or ,ulysses4 
,not that all these are of a type       
equally elevated1 or alike wonderful2   
but that there is no one thing  in any  
of them which does not manifestly       

conform to its type1 and no  one thing  
consequently which jars with any other4 
,having thus given to  his countrymen a 
clear and marked ascendancy in what then
 at least were  the only great and      
governing elements of human society1 the
 strong  mind1 and the strong hand1 he  
does his best for the ,trojans with what
  remained1 that is to say1 with the    
softer affections of domestic life1     
adding only so much of the martial      
element as was needful to make them  no 
discreditable adversaries for his       
countrymen4 ,thus1 consistently  with   
all his poetic objects1 he has been     
enabled to present us1 to say  nothing  
of the highly respectable character of  
,hecuba1 with the three  unsurpassed    
pictures of ,priam1 of ,andromache1 and 
perhaps even most1 of  ,hector4    ,the 
character of ,helen4    ,,ii4 ,let us   
now pass on to a production never       
surpassed by the mind or  hand of man4  
,the character of ,argeian ,helen       
occupies a large place in ,grecian      

history1 and is of extreme importance to
 the entire structure of  the ,iliad4   
,on behalf of the first of these        
propositions1 we call as  witnesses her 
temple at ,sparta1 and the ,encomium of 
,isocrates4 ,as to  the second1 the     
reason is expressed in some of ,homer's 
noblest oratory3                      2 
'     2    ' #ajjj2    #ajjj ,il4 ix4   
#ccg4    ,was she a vicious woman and a 
seductress1 or was she more nearly a    
victim and a penitent8 ,do the laws of  
poetical verisimilitude and  beauty1 as 
they were understood by ,homer1 allow us
 to suppose that he  intended to        
represent his countrymen1 of whom he has
 presented to us  so lofty a conception1
 as agitating the world1 forsaking home1
 pouring  forth their blood1 and        
throwing their country into certain     
confusion1  for the sake of a vile and  
worthless character8 ,certainly there   
were  periods1 when in the ,greek mind  
the worship of beauty was so thoroughly 
dissociated from all which beauty ought 

to typify1 that an ,iliad so            
constructed might have been approved4   
,but these were periods long after      
,homer's flesh had mouldered in the     
grave4    ,the present inquiry has      
nothing to do with the opinion that     
,helen  was1 or that she was not1 an    
historical personage4 ,for my own part1 
,i  know of no reason except            
discrepancies of mere traditional       
chronology  for disbelieving her        
existence4 ,these seem to arise entirely
 from  the practice of putting on a par 
with ,homer tales of very inferior      
authority to his4 ,but even apart from  
this1 considering what1 under  ordinary 
circumstances1 the chronology of        
pre-historic times is likely  to be1 and
 how many more chances there are for the
 preservation of  great events in       
outline1 than for a careful adjustment  
of their  relative times1 ,i cannot but 
think that difficulties arising from    
other legends as to ,helen1 and bearing 
simply upon time1 form a very           

insufficient reason for the wholesale   
rejection of belief in her  existence4  
,even if1 however1 she never existed at 
all1 it still is not  one whit the less 
reasonably to be presumed1 that ,homer  
in fictions  concerning her would be    
governed here and elsewhere by all the  
laws1  including the moral laws1 of his 
art4    ,neither is it now the question1
 whether ,helen was the model of an     
heroic character4 ,that is probably     
inconsistent1 for the earliest  times of
 ,greece1 with her adulterous relation  
to ,paris and afterwards  to ,deiphobus4
 ,but there is a vast space between a   
faultless and a  worthless woman4 ,the  
idea of ,helen represented by the later 
tradition1  from the ,greek tragedians  
downwards1 is strictly the latter idea3 
and  this representation has naturally  
occupied the popular mind1 which is     
deprived of the power of access to the  
remote ,homeric picture4 ,now  it seems 
to be plain that1 if this representation
 be substantially  true1 it is a great  

reproach to the bard of the ,iliad as a 
bard1 and  stamps him as one1 who has   
done his best to poison morality at its 
fountain-head4 ,for there can be no     
question1 that he has made his ,helen   
highly attractive1 and that he intends  
her to possess our sympathies4  ,is it  
then true1 or is it false8 ,let us      
proceed to examine the evidence4    ,in 
the ,iliad we meet more than once with  
the line1       '     #ajja    #ajja    
,il4 ii4 #cef1 #eij4    and expositors1 
in order to avoid ascribing to ,helen   
any personal  wrongs1 or the            
representation of her as rather a       
sufferer than an  offender1 have        
resorted to a forced construction of the
 passage1 and  have interpreted the     
words as referring to the expedition    
undertaken1  and the griefs suffered1 on
 account of ,helen#ajjb4    #ajjb ,see  
,heyne on ,il4 ii4 #cef4 ,g4 ,c4        
,crusius 7,hanover4 #ahde1 on do47      
,chapman translates in the same sense2  
but ,voss refers the outsetting  and the

 groans to ,helen herself2 so too the   
,scholiasts4    ,homer's intention with 
respect to it4    ,unless this forced   
construction be the one intended by     
,homer1 the  popular conception of her  
must at once explode4 ,according to the 
direct  and natural construction1 the   
,greeks made war to avenge the wrong she
  had suffered1 and the groans which    
that wrong had drawn from her4  ,and it 
is to be observed that this line#ajjc is
 put into the mouth  of ,menelaus1 whom 
it is very natural to represent as most 
eager to  avenge the wrongs of his wife1
 but somewhat far-fetched to represent  
as thinking of revenge for the trouble  
of the expedition he had so  keenly     
promoted4 ,the line1 in fact1 unless    
justifiably strained by  these          
expositors1 is conclusive in support of 
the belief that the only  evil which can
 justly be imputed to the ,homeric      
,helen simply amounts  to this1 that she
 was not a woman of perfect virtue      
backed by absolute  and indomitable     

heroism4 ,pope has rather rudely        
approximated towards  rectifying the    
prevalent impression in a note#ajjd1    
where he observes  that in all she says 
of herself #8there is scarce a word that
 is not big  with repentance and good   
nature4'    #ajjc ,il4 ii4 #eij4        
#ajjd ,on ,pope's ,il4 iii4 #afe4       
,before examining the direct evidence   
with respect to the ,homeric ,helen1    
let us advert to some which is indirect4
 ,and in the first place it may  be     
observed1 that ,menelaus never expresses
 the slightest resentment  against her1 
or appears to have considered her as    
having in any manner  injured him4      
,next1 ,priam1 whose character is       
evidently intended to  attract a good   
deal of our sympathy and respect1       
treated her as a  daughter3       1  1  
#ajje4    #ajje ,il4 xxiv4 #ggj4    ,nor
 was this a mere figure2 for in the     
,third ,book he addresses her as        
#ajjf1 and makes her sit down by his    
side4 ,in conformity  with this picture1

 her sister-in-law ,laodice addresses   
her as   #ajjg4 ,priam goes on to acquit
 her of all responsibility in his  eyes 
with regard to the war3    #ajjf ,il4   
iii4 #afb4    #ajjg ,ibid4 #acj4        
1     4    ,and that this was not meant 
to cover ,paris1 we may learn from the  
many  passages1 which show us how the   
general sentiment of ,troy detested him4
  ,had ,helen been of the character     
which is commonly imputed to her1 such  
an absolution as this would probably not
 have been ascribed to ,priam2  while   
most certainly it would not have been   
recorded to the honour of  ,hector that 
he always restrained those1 who were    
disposed to taunt her  on account of the
 woes she had brought upon ,troy#ajjh4  
#ajjh ,il4 xxiv4 #gfh-gb4    ,she       
describes herself indeed as the object  
of general horror in ,troy  7   #ajji74 
,but these words do no more than  state 
the impression1 at a moment of agony1 on
 her own humbled and  self-mistrusting  
mind3 while1 even had they given a      

faithful picture of  the manner in which
 she was regarded by the ,trojans1 still
 they might  well be explained with     
reference to the woes of which she had  
been at  least the occasion1 and the    
sentiment they describe might as        
naturally  have been felt1 even had she 
been the lawfully obtained wife of      
,paris4    #ajji ,ibid4 #gge4    ,there 
are two other passages1 which may seem  
at first sight to betoken  a state of   
mind adverse to her among the ,greeks4  
,but the explanation  of them is simply 
this1 that the cause of woe is naturally
 enough  denounced on account of the    
misfortunes it has entailed1            
irrespective  of the question whether or
 in what degree it may be a guilty      
cause#ajaj4 ,thus ,achilles calls ,helen
 1 #8that horrible ,helen2'  but it is  
only when her abduction has produced to 
him the bitter and  harrowing affliction
 of the death of ,patroclus4 ,when he   
mentions her  in the magnificent speech 
of the ,ninth ,book to the envoys1 she  

is   1 #8the fair-haired ,helen4' ,now1 
if she had been vile1 the  course of his
 argument must have constrained him then
 to state it4 ,for  he was reasoning    
thus3 ,may ,i not resent the loss of    
,briseis1 who was  dear to me 7#ajaa71  
when the sons of ,atreus have made their
  loss of ,helen the cause of the war8  
,had ,helen been worthless1 it would    
have added greatly to the stringency of 
his argument to have drawn the  contrast
 in that particular1 between the woman  
whom ,agamemnon had taken  away1 and the
 woman that he was seeking1 by means of 
the convulsive  struggle of a nation1 to
 recover4    #ajaj ,il4 xvi4    #ajaa   
,il4 ix4 #ccf4    ,the other passage is 
in ,od4 xxiii41 where ,penelope1 after  
the  recognition of her husband1 speaks 
of ,helen in these words3--       '     
#ajab4    #ajab ,od4 xxiii4 #bbb4       
,but even in this only passage where the
 act of ,helen is so described1  several
 points are to be observed4 ,first1 it  
is referred to a  preternatural         

influence1 which is not the manner of   
this ,poet in cases  at least of deep   
and deliberate crime2 secondly1 no      
epithet of infamy  is applied to her2   
thirdly1 we must observe the drift of   
the speaker4  ,penelope is excusing     
herself to ,ulysses1 for her own extreme
 caution  and reserve in admitting his  
identity4 ,therefore she is naturally   
led  to enhance the dreadful nature of  
the occurrence where a wife gives       
herself over into the power of any man1 
other than one known to be  her husband2
 and this1 whether the act be voluntary 
or involuntary4  ,accordingly she refers
 to the act of ,helen rather than to the
 agent1  and treats it as horrible2 but 
avoids charging it as wilful4           
,homer's ,epithets for ,helen4    ,on   
the other hand1 we may observe that the 
general tenour of the  epithets bestowed
 upon ,helen leans on the whole towards 
the laudatory  sense4    ,she is      1 
the high-born2 ,il4 vi4 #bib2 ,od4 xxii4
 #bbg2 most probably    agreeing in     

sense with the next phrase4       1 the 
child of ,jupiter2 ,il4 iii4 #aii2 et   
alibi4       1 the daughter of ,jupiter2
 ,il4 iii4 #dbf4       1 the excellent1 
or flower of women2 ,il4 iii4 #aga1     
#bbh2    and ,od4 iv4 #cje2 xv4 #ajf4   
1 of the beautiful cheeks2 ,od4 xv4     
#abc4      2 ,od4 xv4 #eh2 2 ,il4 iii4  
#cbi1 et alibi1 the    fair-haired4     
1 the white-armed2 ,il4 iii4 #aba2 ,od4 
xxii4 #bbg4      1 the well-rounded2    
,il4 iii4 #bbh2 et alibi4      ,and     
lastly1 1 the ,argive2 ,il4 ii4 #afa2   
and in no less than    twelve other     
places4    ,no one of these appellations
 carries the smallest taint or censure4 
,the epithet  in all probability applies
 to her personal beauty and  majesty1 as
 we find it used of ,paris and of       
,clytemnestra4 ,it would  appear1       
however1 that the use of the term       
,argive or ,argeian1 in many  passages  
where it is not required for mere       
description1 has a special  force4 ,for 
,homer never exhibits that which is     

simply ,greek in any other  than an     
honourable light2 and in calling ,helen 
,argeian1 he certainly  expresses       
something of general sympathy towards   
her4 ,no other person1  except only     
,juno1 is called ,argeian4 ,plainly the 
effect of his epithets  for her as a    
whole is quite out of harmony with the  
ideas1 which the  later tradition has   
attached to her name4 ,a yet more marked
 indication  in her favour1 than any of 
them taken singly will supply1 may be   
derived from his likening her1 in the   
palace of ,menelaus1 to ,diana3      1  
#ajac4    #ajac ,od4 iv4 #abb4    ,he   
certainly would not have associated by  
this comparison one1 of whom  he meant  
us to think ill1 with the chaste and    
even severe majesty of  his ever-pure   
,diana 7 74    ,so much with regard to  
the designations applied to ,helen in   
the ,iliad  and ,odyssey4 ,next1 with   
regard to her demeanour4 ,it is admitted
 to be1  so far as the matter of        
chastity is concerned1 without any fault

 other  than the inevitable one of her  
position4 ,besides other qualities that 
will be noticed presently1 she appears  
in the light of a refined and  feeling1 
a blameless and even matronly person2 a 
character1 which1 as  we shall see1 her 
abduction by ,paris from ,menelaus did  
not disentitle  her to bear4    ,we must
 beware of applying unconditionally1 to 
women placed under  conditions widely   
different1 ideas so specifically        
,christian as those  that belong to the 
absolute sanctity of the marriage tie4  
,we must  rather look for the moral     
aspect of the case in the opinions of   
the  period1 and in the particular      
circumstances which attended the rupture
  of the bond in the given instance1    
than assume it from the naked fact  that
 there was a rupture4    ,the case of   
,bathsheba4    ,it may seem not unfair  
to compare the case of ,helen with the  
somewhat  similar case of ,bathsheba    
among the ,jews4 ,if on the one hand we 
are  bound to bear in mind the inferior 

station of the latter personage1 on  the
 other it is to be remembered that the  
,greeks were further removed  from the  
light of ,divine ,revelation4 ,now we   
are not accustomed to look  upon the    
character of ,bathsheba as infamous1    
though she lived with ,king  ,david as  
one among his wives1 while ,uriah1 her  
former husband1 who  had been robbed of 
her1 was sent to certain death on her   
account2 and  this1 so far as we are    
informed1 without awakening in her any  
peculiar  emotions of sympathy1 sorrow1 
reluctance1 or remorse4 ,and this1 as ,i
  take it1 mainly for two               
reasons--first1 that we have no signs of
 any  passion1 and in particular of any 
antecedent passion1 for the offending   
king on her part2 secondly1 that she    
does not appear to have been  otherwise 
than passively a party to the abduction4
    ,it is in the capacity of wife1 and 
only wife1 to ,paris that ,helen        
appears to us in the ,iliad3 where she  
herself speaks of ,menelaus as her      

#ajad4    #ajad ,il4 iii4 #dbi cf4 #afc4
 ,see ,ilios1 pp4 #bjj1 #bjc4    ,now   
the presumed reasons for not regarding  
the character of ,bathsheba  as infamous
 apply with nearly equal force to       
,helen4 ,indeed the  character of ,helen
 in one point stands higher in ,homer   
than that of  ,bathsheba in the ,old    
,testament1 because she lived with      
,paris as a  recognised and only wife1  
and because of her gentleness1 and      
especially  of her repentance4 ,of these
 as to ,bathsheba1 we know nothing2 but 
such  pleas as tell for her tell in the 
main also for ,helen4 ,we have no       
indication1 either in the ,iliad or in  
the ,odyssey1 of her having at  any time
 felt either passion or affection       
towards the worthless ,paris4  ,above   
all1 as it will be attempted to prove1  
the language of the poems  not only does
 not sustain the idea that she willingly
 left the house of  her husband         
,menelaus1 but it shows something which 
closely approaches  to the direct       

contrary4    ,but there is no method of 
measuring so accurately the view and    
intention of ,homer as to the impression
 we were meant to receive of  ,helen1 as
 by comparing the language he applies to
 her with the widely  different terms in
 which he describes the conduct of      
,clytemnestra1 in  conjunction with     
gisthus1 during the absence of          
,agamemnon3       '     #ajae4    #ajae 
,od4 iii4 #bgb4    ,in speaking of her  
own abduction1 ,helen indeed uses the   
word  #ajaf4 ,and again in her sharp    
expostulation with ,aphrodite1  she     
says1 #8,what1 will you take me 77 to   
some other ,phrygian or  ,monian city1  
where you may have a favourite#ajag8'   
,now this by no  means implies her      
having acted freely2 the word  is that  
commonly  applied to the carrying off   
captives from a conquered city1 as   is 
to the removal of inanimate objects4    
,undoubtedly in one of her  passages of 
self-reproach she says#ajah3    #ajaf   
,od4 iv4 #bfb2 ,il4 xxiv4 #gfd4    #ajag

 ,il4 iii4 #djj-b4    #ajah ,ibid4 #agd4
        1    4    ,but1 in the first    
place1 it is neither here nor anywhere  
else said that  her flight was          
voluntary2 and on the other hand1       
without doubt1 it is  not to be         
pretended that she had resisted with the
 spirit of a martyr4  ,the real question
 is as to the first and fatal act of    
quitting her  husband1 whether it was   
premeditated1 and whether it was of her 
free  choice4 ,now both branches of this
 question appear to be conclusively     
decided by the word  in the following   
passage#ajai1 spoken by  ,paris3        
#ajai ,ibid4 #ddb-d4         '  '   1   
'              4    ,and the rest of the
 passage corroborates the evidence1 by  
showing that  she was free from any act 
of guilt at the time when the voyage was
  commenced4 ,the representation of     
,menelaus himself1 in the ,thirteenth   
,iliad1 accords with the speech of      
,paris4 ,he charges that ,prince and his
  abettors not with having corrupted his

 wife1 but with having carried  her off1
                 ' 1   ' #ajbj4    #ajbj
 ,il4 xiii4 #fbf4    ,again1 in the only
 place where ,helen refers jointly to   
her own share  and to that of ,paris in 
the matter#ajba1 she distinguishes their
  respective parts1 saying to ,hector1  
#8,you have had to toil on account of   
me1 shameless that ,i am1 and  ' 1 on   
account of the  sin of ,paris4'    #ajba
 ,il4 vi4 #cee4    ,picture of ,helen in
 ,il4 iii4    ,let us now follow the    
character of ,helen1 as it is exhibited 
in life  and motion before us by the    
,poet4 ,in the ,third ,book1 when ,paris
 is  about to encounter ,menelaus1      
,iris1 in the form of her sister-in-law 
,laodice1 announces the fact to ,helen1 
and lets her know that her own  fate is 
suspended on the issue1 which will      
decide whether she is to  be the wife of
 ,paris or of ,menelaus4 ,laodice finds 
her busied in  embroidery1 which is to  
represent the ,war of ,greeks and       
,trojans4 ,the  expression1  1 with     

which the disguised goddess addresses   
her1  is a sign that she was held in    
respect1 and that when she speaks#ajbb  
in the last ,book of the taunts and     
skits of which she was the object1  we  
must understand her to use the natural  
exaggeration of impassioned  grief4 ,at 
the call of the seeming ,laodice1 moved 
apparently by  tenderness towards her   
former husband#ajbc1 ,helen goes forth1 
clad in  a robe of simple white#ajbd4   
,on her reaching the walls ,priam calls 
her to his side1 that she may tell him  
the name of a kingly warrior1  who      
proves to be ,agamemnon4 ,in doing this1
 he gently acquits her of  all          
responsibility for the war4 ,she answers
 in a speech of uncommon  grace1 #8that 
she dreads while she reveres and loves  
him3 would that  she had miserably died 
rather than leave her family1 her       
nuptial bed1  her infant1 and her       
friends4 ,but this could not be2 so that
 she ever  pined away in tears4' ,she   
designates herself here and             

elsewhere#ajbe  as 1 and also as 1      
brazen-faced or shameless2 but yet she  
appears at all times to have retained   
the fond recollection of her home  and  
friends#ajbf1 and to have lived in grave
 and sorrowful retirement4  ,everywhere 
she seems not only not to avoid1 but to 
search for1 the  opportunity of bitter  
self-accusation4 ,thus1 when she has    
pointed out  the ,greek chieftains whom 
she knew personally1 she proceeds1 #8but
 ,i do  not see my brothers1 ,castor and
 ,polydeuces3 perhaps they came not from
  ,greece2 perhaps1 though here1 yet on 
account of my infamy and reproach1  they
 will not appear in fight#ajbg4'        
#ajbb ,il4 xxiv4 #gfh4    #ajbc ,il4    
iii4 #aci4    #ajbd ,see ,damm on 4     
#ajbe ,il4 vi4 #cdd1 #cef2 ,od4 iv4     
#ade4    #ajbf ,od4 iv4 #ahd1 #bed4     
#ajbg ,il4 iii4 #bcf-db4 ,cf4 ,il4 iii4 
#djd4 and xxiv4    ,paris1 after his    
defeat1 is removed by ,aphrodite from   
the field3  ,menelaus remains as victor4
 ,but ,helen still tarries upon the     

wall1  evidently hoping that the hour of
 her restoration had now at last        
arrived4 ,the goddess ,venus then       
appears to her1 disguised in the  form  
of an aged servant2 and endeavours to   
attract her by a glowing  description of
 ,paris1 in his beauty and his splendid 
garments4 ,by  this address ,helen was  
alarmed#ajbh3 and her alarm almost      
became  stupefaction1 when she perceived
 the features of the deity4 ,but a      
strong reaction followed3 so that she   
made a bitter and stinging  reply4      
,gentle on all other occasions1 she is  
here sharp and sarcastic4  ,she#ajbi    
reproaches ,venus with having come to   
prevent ,menelaus from  taking her home 
in right of his victory2 then bids her  
assume to  herself the odious character 
she sought to force on one who had too  
long borne it1 and utterly refuses to   
go4 ,venus hereupon intimidates  her1 by
 a threat of making her hateful alike to
 ,greek and ,trojan1 and  so bringing   
her to miserable destruction4 ,she then 

obeys1 covering  her face in shame and  
indignation2 and when placed by the     
goddess in  front of ,paris in their    
chamber1 she sharply reproaches him2 but
 the  real delicacy of her character is 
maintained in this1 that she does it    
1 with averted and downcast eyes4 ,in   
what follows1  she is but the reluctant 
instrument of a passion1 which ,homer   
seems to  have described in this place1 
contrary to his wont1 with the distinct 
purpose of raising indignation to the   
highest pitch1 and covering ,paris  with
 a contempt and shame proportioned to   
the crime he had committed1  and to the 
miseries of which by crime he had been  
the cause4    #ajbh ,the expression is  
4 ,the verb is used  by ,homer most     
commonly to denote apprehension 7as in  
,il4 iv4 #bjh4 xv4  #g4 xvi4 #bhj1 #eji4
 xviii4 #bbc72 though it also sometimes 
signifies other  kinds of excitement1   
such as anger or surprise4    #ajbi     
#chc-ih4    ,upon the whole1 this       
delineation of ,helen in the ,third     

,book may well  be taken as one of the  
most masterly parts of the ,iliad4 ,the 
extreme  fineness and delicacy of its   
shading mark it as an immortal work of  
genius1 and the gentleness of ,helen    
towards ,priam1 with her severity to    
herself1 and her sternness both to the  
corrupter1 and to the goddess  that     
aided and inspired him1 form a moral    
picture of the most striking  truth and 
beauty4 ,indeed1 if the question be     
asked1 where does ,paganism  come       
nearest to the penitential tone and the 
profound self-abasement  that belong to 
,christianity1 we might find it         
difficult to point out an  instance of  
approximation so striking as is1 here   
and elsewhere1 the  ,helen of ,homer4   
,in ,il4 vi4 ,il4 xxiv4 ,od4 iv4    ,in 
three other places of the poems1 ,helen 
is put prominently forward4    ,in the  
,sixth ,book1 before ,hector repairs to 
the field1 he goes to  the palace of    
,paris to summon him forth4 ,he finds   
the effeminate  prince handling         

uselessly his arms1 while ,helen is     
superintending the  beautiful works of  
her women#ajcj4 ,by and by it appears   
that1 sensible  of the shame of her     
husband's cowardice1 though without     
interest in his  fame1 she has been     
persuading him to go forth and fight2   
and she takes  the opportunity of       
,hector's presence to offer him a chair 
that he may  rest from his fatigues2 to 
revile herself as1 next to her husband1 
the  cause of them2 and1 while grieving 
that she had outlived her infancy1  to  
lament also that1 if she was to live at 
all1 she had not been united  to one    
less impervious to the sentiment of     
honour4    #ajcj ,il4 vi4 #cba-e4       
,again1 ,homer has thought her not      
unworthy of the third place1 with       
,andromache and ,hecuba1 as mourners    
over the mighty ,hector1 in the  deeply 
touching description of the return of   
his remains to ,troy#ajca4  ,the tenour 
of this speech is kept in the exactest  
harmony with what has  gone before4     

#ajca ,il4 xxiv4 #gfj-ge4    ,we now bid
 adieu to the ,helen of ,homer in her   
sorrow and shame among  the ,trojans4   
,but the ,poet presents her to us again 
in prosperity and  domestic peace1 as   
the ,queen of ,menelaus2 who1 though not
 the heir  of the high throne of        
,agamemnon1 yet held a station in       
,greece1 after  the ,return1 of highly  
elevated influence4 ,this is a picture1 
which  it would not have been in        
accordance with the usual course of     
,homer  to set before us1 had his mind  
attached to ,helen the character given  
to her by the later tradition2 for where
 does he represent to us the  wicked in 
prosperity1 without bringing down on    
them subsequently the  vengeance of     
heaven8 ,but on the ,helen of the       
,odyssey he has left no  note of sorrow1
 except the most moving and appropriate 
of all1 namely  this1 that the gods gave
 her no child after ,hermione1 the      
daughter of  her early youth#ajcb4      
#ajcb ,od4 iv4 #ac4    ,from her stately

 chamber she comes forth into the hall1 
after the  feast4 ,she is attended by   
three maidens1 who bear respectively the
  first her seat1 the second its        
covering1 the third her work-basket and 
distaff4 ,she remarks on the likeness of
 ,telemachus to ,ulysses1 and  humbly   
recollects to confess1 that she herself 
has been the cause of  the sufferings of
 the ,greeks4 ,the allusions then made  
to ,ulysses cause  her1 with the rest1  
to weep tenderly2 and when her husband  
with his  friends resumes the banquet1  
she infuses into their wine the soothing
  drug1 supposed to have been opium1    
which she had obtained from ,egypt1  to 
make them forgetful of their sorrows4   
,then she begins to tell tales  in      
honour of ,ulysses3 and how1 when in his
 beggar's dress he escaped  scatheless  
from ,troy1 and left many of the        
,trojans slaughtered behind  him1 she   
alone1 amidst the wailings of the women1
 was full of joy1 for  her heart had    
been yearning towards her home4         

,there is indeed a trait that deserves  
notice in the speech of ,menelaus1      
which has been lately mentioned4 ,helen 
came down to detect1 if  possible1 the  
,greeks concealed within the ,horse3    
therefore1 to act  in the interest of   
the ,trojans4 ,now if1 on the one hand1 
she looked  back on her country and her 
first husband with many yearnings1 yet  
it was not to be wondered at that as a  
woman1 nowhere pretending  to the       
character of a heroine1 she should be so
 far pliable to the  wishes or subject  
to the compulsion of the                
,trojans--especially when we  remember  
her love and reverence for their head1  
and for ,hector1 who  had but lately    
died in their defence--as to make this  
effort to defeat  the stratagem of the  
besiegers4 ,but ,menelaus1 in referring 
to the  incident1 carefully spares      
,helen's feelings by another of those   
strokes  of exceeding tact and          
refinement for which ,homer's writings  
are so  remarkable1 both generally1 and 

as to the chivalrous character of this  
hero in particular4 #8,thither1' he     
says1 that is to the ,horse1 #8thou     
camest2 and no doubt1' he adds1 #8it was
 the influence of some celestial  being1
 favourable to ,troy1 that prompted     
thee2' thus preventing by  anticipation 
the sting that his words might carry3   
'     1     #ajcc4    #ajcc ,od4 iv4    
#bgd4    ,her marriage to ,deiphobus4   
,tradition has assigned ,deiphobus to   
,helen1 as a husband after the  death of
 ,paris4 ,this tradition is supported1  
though not expressly1  yet sufficiently1
 by the ,odyssey2 for1 says ,menelaus1  
when the ,greeks  had constructed the   
,horse1 and when ,helen was brought down
 to detect  those who were within it1 by
 imitating the voices of their wives    
respectively1 it is added1          '   
#ajcd4    #ajcd ,od4 iv4 #bgf4    ,and  
by the further passage in ,od4 vii4     
#eag1 which represents ,ulysses as      
repairing straight from the ,horse to   
the house of ,deiphobus1 in company     

with ,menelaus4    ,presuming therefore 
that this tale was well founded1 it may 
be  remarked1 that the selection of     
,deiphobus1 as the person who should    
take ,helen to wife1 was probably       
founded on his superior merit#ajce4  ,it
 was under his image1 that ,minerva came
 upon the field to inveigle  ,hector    
into facing ,achilles3 and ,hector then 
described him as the one  whom he loved 
by far the best amidst his full         
brothers1 the children of  ,priam and of
 ,hecuba4 ,this therefore thoroughly    
accords with the idea1  that ,helen was 
held in respect4 ,nor let it be thought 
strange1 that  she was not permitted to 
remain single4 ,the idea of single life 
for  women1 outside their fathers' home1
 seems to have been wholly unknown      
among the ,greeks of ,homer4 ,when      
marriageable1 they married2 when their  
country was overcome1 they became1 as of
 course1 the appendages of the  couch of
 the captor4 ,penelope herself never    
dreamt of urging that1 when  once the   

return of ,ulysses was out of the       
question1 she could have  any other     
option than to make choice among the    
,suitors whose wife she  would become4  
,telemachus contemplates her immediate  
restoration to her  father's home when  
he1 her son1 should assume the full     
prerogatives of  manhood4    #ajce      
,lycophron1 #afh2 ,schol4 on ,il4 xxiv4 
#bea4 ,in the ,troades of  ,euripides   
she is introduced1 saying that          
,deiphobus took her by force1  against  
the will of the ,phrygians 7,trojans71  
#ied-e4    ,the whole ,homeric evidence1
 then1 appears to show that1 from the   
moment of her removal1 neither the      
usages of society1 nor the ideas of     
religion or the moral code1 could allow 
,helen to remain in the single  state4  
,but it may be said this seems to prove 
too much on her behalf2  namely1 that   
both the abduction and the subsequent   
life were against  her will4 ,it is1    
however1 entirely in keeping with the   
testimony of the  poems1 to suppose that

 her whole offence lay in having        
permitted at  the first1 perhaps half   
unconsciously1 the attentions of a      
flatterer1  who became at once a        
paramour and a tyrant to his victim4 ,in
 order to  comprehend the heroic age1 it
 is indispensable that we should        
recollect  that the responsibilities of 
women were contracted in proportion to  
her  strength2 and that the heroism of  
endurance1 in which she has since       
excelled1 is a ,christian product4      
,that element of weakness and lightness 
in a character otherwise  beautiful1    
which the incident of the ,horse        
betrays1 was probably at  once the      
source and the measure of her offending 
in reference to the  cause of war4 ,it  
was a mind of relaxed fibre1 and        
vacillated under  pressure4 ,less than  
this we cannot suppose1 and there is no 
occasion  to suppose more4 ,the respect 
felt1 within certain limits1 for women  
in  the heroic age1 and so powerfully   
proved by the ,odyssey1 may perhaps  be 

adverse to the supposition that ,paris  
carried her away without  some degree of
 previous encouragement4 ,i confine     
myself to #8perhaps1'  because it is    
nowhere indicated in the poems1 and we  
can at most have  only a presumption to 
this effect4 ,on the other hand1 it     
seems certain  that what she expiated in
 life-long sadness was1 at any rate1 no 
more  than the first step in the ways of
 folly1 the thoughtless error of        
short-sighted vanity1 which the state of
 manners did not permit her             
subsequently to redeem4 ,repent she     
might3 but to return was beyond her     
power4    ,on the whole1 it may be said 
with confidence that the ,helen of the  
,homeric poems has been conceived1 by an
 author himself of peculiar  delicacy1  
with great truth of nature1 and with no 
intention to deprive  her of a share in 
the sympathies of his hearers2 that he  
has made her  a woman1 not cast in the  
mould of martyrs1 nor elevated in moral 
ideas  to a capacity of comprehension   

and of endurance above her age1 but yet 
endowed with much tenderness of feeling1
 with the highest grace and  refinement1
 and with a deep and peculiar sense of  
shame for having  done wrong4 ,probably 
her appreciation of virtue and of       
honour1 though  beneath that of the     
highest matronly characters1 may have   
been in no  way inferior to that of     
society at large in her own time1 and   
superior  to the standard of many       
following epochs2 nay superior also to  
that  which has prevailed1 at least     
locally1 even at some periods of the    
,christian era3 as1 for example1 when   
,ariosto wrote the remarkable  passage--
      ,perche si de' punir donna o      
biasmare    ,che con uno1 o pi d' uno1  
abbia commesso    ,quel1 che l' uom fa  
con quante n' ha appetito    ,e lodato  
ne va1 non che impunito#ajcf8    #ajcf  
,orl4 ,fur4 iv4 #ff4    ,general        
estimate of the ,homeric ,helen4    ,the
 degradation of ,helen by the later     
tradition will be treated of  hereafter4

 ,meantime it will be seen how much on  
this subject ,i have  the misfortune to 
differ from ,mure1 who has been usually 
so great a  benefactor to the students  
of ,homer4 ,with him #8,helen is the    
female  counterpart of ,paris#ajcg4'    
,paris and ,helen are respectively #8the
  man of fashion and the woman of       
pleasure of the heroic age4' #8,both    
are unprincipled votaries of sensual    
enjoyment2 both self-willed and         
petulant1 but not devoid of amiable and 
generous feeling4' ,he finds  indeed in 
her a #8tenderness of heart and kindly  
disposition2' and  says that #8traces of
 better principle seem also to lurk     
under the  general levity of her        
habits4' ,this petulance1 this general  
levity1  ,i do not find2 but rather the 
notes of a fatal fall1 continually and  
deeply felt under the general grace and 
beauty of her character4 ,what  ,mure   
calls her #8petulant argument with her  
patron goddess1' we take  to be the     
noble and indignant reaction of a soul  

under the yoke of  conscious slavery1   
and still quick to the throb of virtue4 
,indeed ,i  derive some comfort from the
 closing words of his criticism1 in     
which1  after expressing his pity and   
condemnation1 he says that still #8we   
are  constrained to love and admire4'   
,in the whole circle of the classical   
literature1 as far as it is known to us1
 there is1 ,i repeat1 nothing  that     
approaches so nearly to what ,christian 
theology would term a sense  of sin1 as 
the humble demeanour1 and the           
self-denouncing1 self-stabbing  language
 of the ,argeian ,helen4    #ajcg ,book 
ii4 ch4 viii4 sect4 #bj4    ,the        
character of ,paris4    ,,iii4 ,the     
character of ,paris is as worthy1 as any
 other in the poems1 of  the powerful   
hand and just judgment of ,homer4 ,it is
 neither on the one  hand slightly1 nor 
on the other too elaborately1 drawn2 the
 touches are  just such and so many1 as 
his poetic purpose seemed on the one    
hand to  demand1 and on the other to    

admit4 ,paris is not indeed the         
gentleman1  but he is the fine          
gentleman1 and the pattern voluptuary1  
of the heroic  ages2 and all his        
successors in these capacities may well 
be wished joy  of their illustrious     
prototype4 ,the redeeming1 or at least  
relieving  point in his character1 is   
one which would condemn any personage   
of higher intellectual or moral         
pretensions2 it is a total want of      
earnestness1 the unbroken sway of levity
 and of indifference to all  serious and
 manly considerations4 ,he completely   
fulfils the idea of the  poco-curante1  
except as to the display of his personal
 beauty1 the  enjoyment of luxury1 and  
the resort to sensuality as the best    
refuge  from pain and care4 ,he is not a
 monster1 for he is neither savage nor  
revengeful2 but still further is he from
 being one of ,homer's heroes1  for he  
has neither honour1 courage1 eloquence1 
thought1 nor prudence4  ,that he bears  
the reproaches of ,hector without       

irritation1 is due to  that same moral  
apathy1 and that narrowness of          
intelligence1 which  makes him          
insensible to those of his wife4 ,no man
 can seriously resent  what he does not 
really feel4 ,he is wholly destitute    
even of the  delicacy and refinement    
which soften many of the features of    
vice2 and  the sensuality he shows in   
the ,third ,book#ajch partakes largely  
of the  brutal character which marks the
 lusts of ,jupiter4 ,no wise1 no        
generous  word1 ever passes from his    
lips4 ,on one subject only he is        
determined  enough2 it is1 that he will 
not give up the woman whom he well knows
 to  be without attachment to him#ajci1 
and whom he keeps not as the object  of 
his affections1 but merely as the       
instrument of his pleasures4 ,one       
solicitude only he cherishes2 it is to  
decorate his person1 to exhibit  his    
beauty1 to brighten with care the arms  
that he would fain parade1  but has not 
the courage to employ against the       

warriors of ,greece4    #ajch ,il4 iii4 
#dcg-dh4    #ajci ,ibid4 #dbh4    ,there
 are other greater achievements in the  
,iliad1 but none finer1  or more        
deserving our commendation1 than the    
manner in which ,homer  has handled the 
difficult character of ,paris4 ,it was  
quite necessary  to raise him to a      
certain point of importance2 had he been
 simply  contemptible1 his place in the 
early stages of the ,trojan tale1 and   
the prolongation of the ,war on his     
account1 would have involved a  too     
violent departure from the laws of      
poetical credibility4 ,this  importance 
,homer1 whether from imagination or from
 history1 has  supplied2 in part by his 
very high position4 ,even if ,i were    
wrong in  the opinion that the ,poet    
meant to represent him as the eldest    
son1 or  the eldest living son1 of      
,priam1 it would still at least be plain
 that  he is more eminent and           
conspicuous than any other member of the
 royal  house after ,hector2 while he is

 so much less worthy than ,deiphobus1   
for example1 that no one1 ,i think1     
could doubt that his distinction is  due
 to his being senior to that respectable
 prince and warrior1 and  to the rest of
 his brothers4 ,further1 the ,poet has  
raised him to the  very highest         
elevation in two particulars2 one the   
gift of archery1  the other the         
endowment of corporeal grace and beauty4
 ,but neither of  these involves one    
particle of courage1 or of any other    
virtue2 for the  archer of ,homer's time
 was not like the ,british bowman1 who  
stood with  his comrades in the line1   
and discharged the function in war which
 has  since fallen to musketry2 he was a
 mere sharpshooter1 always having the   
most deliberate opportunity of aim at   
the enemy1 and always himself out  of   
danger4 ,no archer is ever hit in the   
,iliad2 but ,pandarus1 so skilled  in   
the bow1 is slain1 and ,paris is        
disgraced1 when they respectively       
venture to assume the spear4 ,again1 the

 ,poet has contrived that the           
accomplishments of ,paris1 though in    
themselves unsurpassed1 shall  attract  
towards him no share1 great or small1 of
 our regard4 ,this  prince really does  
more1 than even ,hector does1 to stay   
the torrent of  the ,grecian war2 for in
 the ,eleventh ,book1 from behind a     
pillar1 he  wounds ,diomed1 who had     
fought with the ,immortals1 ,eurypylus1 
who had  also been one of the nine      
accepters of ,hector's challenge1 and   
,machaon1  one of the two surgeons4     
,thus ,homer#ajdj has been able to make 
him  most useful in battle1 most lovely 
to the eye1 and yet alike detestable    
and detested4    #ajdj ,il4 xi4 #cfh-gi1
 #eha-d1 #eje-g4    ,this aim he        
attains1 not by that tame method of     
description which he so  much eschews1  
but by the turn he gives to narrative1  
and by the colour  he imparts to it in  
one or a few words4    ,paris1 though   
effeminate and apathetic1 is not gentle1
 either to his  wife or his enemies2    

and1 when he has wounded ,diomed1 he    
wishes the  shot had been a fatal one4  
,the reply of ,diomed cuts deeper than  
any  arrow when he addresses him as1    
,bowman6 ribald6 well-frizzled          
girl-hunter#ajda6    #ajda ,il4 xi4     
#che4    ,again1 the ,poet tells us1 as 
if by accident1 that when1 after the    
battle with ,menelaus1 he could not be  
found1 it was not because the  ,trojans 
were unwilling to give him up1 for they 
hated him with the  hatred1 which they  
felt to dark ,death#ajdb4 ,and again we 
learn1 how  he uses bribery to keep his 
ground in the ,assembly2 how he refuses 
to  recognise even his own military     
inferiority1 but lamely accounts for    
the success of ,menelaus by saying that 
all men have their turn#ajdc2  and how  
he causes shame to his own countrymen   
and exultation to the  ,greeks1 when    
they contrast the pretensions of his    
splendid appearance  with his miserable 
performances in the field#ajdd4    #ajdb
 ,il4 iii4 #ded4    #ajdc ,il4 vi4 #cci4

    #ajdd ,il4 iii4 #dc1 #ea4    ,homer1
 full as he is of the harmonies of      
nature1 differs in this as in  so many  
points from most among later writers1   
that he does not set at  nought the due 
proportion between the moral and the    
intellectual man1  nor combine high     
gifts of mind with a mean and bad heart4
 ,he never  varies from this rule2 and  
he has been careful to pay it a marked  
observance in the case of ,paris4 ,no   
set of speeches in the ,iliad are       
marked by greater poverty of ideas4 ,if 
he cleans his arms and builds  his      
house1 which are honourable employments1
 they are employments  immediately      
connected with the ostentation to which 
he was so much  given4 ,more than this1 
the ,poet informs us1 through the medium
 of  ,helen1 that he was but ill        
supplied with sense1 and that he was too
 old  to mend3       ' '    1  '        
#ajde4    #ajde ,il4 vi4 #cgb4    ,the  
immediate transition1 in the ,third     
,book1 from the field of battle1  where 

he was disgraced1 to the bed of luxury1 
is admirably suited to  impress upon the
 mind1 by the strong contrast1 the real 
character of  ,paris4 ,nor let it be    
thought1 that ,homer has gratuitously   
forced upon  us the scene between him   
and his reluctant wife4 ,it was just    
that he  should mark as a bad man him   
who had sinned grossly1 selfishly1 and  
fatally1 alike against ,greece and his  
own family and country4 ,this           
impression would not have been          
consistent and thorough in all its      
parts1 if we had been even allowed to   
suppose that1 as a refined1             
affectionate1 and tender husband1 he    
made such amends to ,helen as the  case 
permitted for the wrong done her in his 
hot and heady youth4 ,such  a           
supposition might excusably have been   
entertained1 and it would have  been    
supported by the very feebleness of the 
character of ,paris and  by his part in 
the war1 had ,homer been silent upon the
 subject4 ,he1  therefore1 though with  

cautious hand1 lifts the veil so far as 
to show  us that in our variously       
compounded nature animal desire can use 
up  and absorb the strength which ought 
to nerve our higher faculties1 and      
that1 as none are more cruel than the   
timid1 so none are more brutal  than the
 effeminate4    ,one hold1 and one only1
 ,paris seems to retain on human        
affection in  any sort or form4 ,the    
paternal instinct of ,priam makes him   
shudder and  retire1 when he is told    
that ,paris is about to meet ,menelaus  
in single  combat4 ,this trait would    
have been of extraordinary and universal
  beauty1 had the object of the         
affection been even moderately worthy3  
it is a remarkable proof of the         
debasement of ,paris1 and of the strong 
sense which ,homer gives us of that     
debasement1 that the tender father      
seems in a measure tainted by the very  
warmth and strength of his love4        
,,sect4 ,,vii4    ,the declension of the
 great ,homeric ,characters in the later

  ,tradition#ajdf4    #ajdf ,see note p4
 #ejj4 sup4    ,physical conditions of  
the ,greek ,theatre4    ,one legitimate 
mode of measuring the true greatness of 
,homer is1 by  observing what has become
 of the materials and instruments he    
worked  with1 upon their passing into   
other hands4 ,acting on this principle1 
let us now pass on to consider the      
murderous maltreatment1 which the  most 
remarkable of all the ,homeric          
characters have had to endure in  the   
later tradition2 partly1 as ,i have     
already observed1 from general1  and    
partly from special causes4 ,on the more
 general influence of this  kind ,i have
 already touched4 ,among the special    
causes1 we should place  the declension 
in the fundamental ideas of morals and  
of politics  between the time of ,homer 
and the historic age4 ,with this we may 
reckon one which1 though it may appear  
to be technical1 must1 in all           
likelihood1 have been most important1   
namely1 the physical necessities        

imposed by the fixed conditions of      
dramatic representation among the       
,greeks#ajdg4 ,their theatres were      
constructed on a scale1 which may be    
called colossal as compared with ours4  
,both polity and religion entered  into 
the institution of the stage4 ,the      
intense nationality of their  life      
required a similar character in their   
plays1 and likewise in the  places where
 they were to be represented4 ,not      
therefore a particular  company of      
auditors1 but rather the whole public of
 the city1 where the  representation    
took place1 was to be accommodated4 ,in 
consequence1 the  dimensions of the     
buildings exceeded the usual powers of  
the human eye  and ear2 so that the     
figure was heightened by buskins1 the   
countenance  thrown into bolder and     
coarser outline by masks1 and the voice 
endowed  with a great increase of power 
by acoustic contrivances within the     
masks1 as well as aided by the          
construction of the buildings4 ,all this

  was the more strictly requisite1      
because the plays were acted in the     
open air4    #ajdg ,schlegel1 ,lect4    
iii4 vol4 i4 p4 #ha2 ,donaldson1 ,greek 
,theatre1  sect4 ii4    ,now this       
general exaggeration of feature beyond  
the standard of  nature had an          
irresistible tendency to affect the mode
 in which  characters were modelled for 
representation2 to cause them to be laid
  out morally as well as physically in  
strong outline1 in masses large  and    
comparatively coarse4 ,the fine and     
careful finishing of ,homer  required   
that those1 who were to recite him1     
should retain an entire  and unfettered 
command over the measure in which the   
bodily organs were  to be employed4 ,the
  '  of ,achilles to ,patroclus might   
bear  to be spoken in a voice of        
thunder1 and would absolutely require   
the  bard to use considerable exertion  
of the lungs2 but the scenes of ,helen  
with ,priam in the ,third ,book1 of     
,hector with ,andromache in the ,sixth1 

of ,priam with ,achilles in the         
,twenty-fourth1 would admit of no such  
treatment2 and as these passages could  
not themselves be rendered1 so  neither 
could anything bearing a true analogy to
 ,homer be given1 unless  the actor had 
enjoyed full liberty to contract as well
 as expand his  own volume of sound1 or 
unless he had enjoyed both easy access1 
on any  terms he pleased1 to the ears of
 his audience1 and the full benefit of  
that most important assistance1 which   
the eye renders to the ear by  observing
 the play of countenance that           
accompanies delivery4 ,king ,lear1      
,king ,john1 or ,othello1 could not have
 been represented more truly and        
adequately in a ,greek theatre1 than the
 ,achilles1 or than the ,helen1  of     
,homer4 ,those who have ever happened to
 discuss with a deaf person  a critical 
subject1 requiring circumspect and      
tender handling1 will  know how much the
 necessity for constant tension of the  
voice restrains  freedom in the         

expression of thought1 and mars its     
perfectness4 ,the  ,greek actors lay    
under a somewhat similar necessity1 and 
to their  necessities of course the     
diction of the tragedians was1 whether  
consciously or unconsciously1 adapted4  
,let it1 however1 be borne in mind1 that
 when we criticize the  conceptions of  
the ,homeric characters by the later    
,greek writers1  it need not be with the
 supposition that we have eyes to       
discern in  ,homer what they did not    
see4 ,their reproductions must be taken 
to  represent not so much the free      
dictates of the mind and judgment of    
the later poets1 as the conditions of   
representation to which they  were      
compelled to conform1 and the popular   
sentiments and opinions  which1 in the  
character of popular writers1 they could
 not but take  for their standard4 ,the 
invention of printing has given a       
liberty and  independence to thought1 at
 least in conjunction with poetry and   
the  drama1 such as it could not possess

 while the poet1 in ,athens for         
example1 could sing in no other way but 
one1 namely1 to the nation  collected in
 a mass4 ,the poet of modern times may  
write for a minority  of the public1    
nay1 for a mere handful of admirers1    
which is destined1  yet only in         
after-years1 to grow like the           
mustard-seed of the parable4  ,but the  
,athenian dramatist was compelled to be 
the poet of the majority  at the moment1
 and to be carried on the stream of its 
sympathies1  however adverse its        
direction might be to that in which1 if 
at liberty  to choose1 he would himself 
have moved4    ,obliteration of the     
finer distinctions4    ,accordingly1    
when we come to survey the literary     
history of those great  characters which
 the ,poet gave as a perpetual          
possession to the world1  we find1      
naturally enough1 that the flood of the 
more recent traditions  has long ago    
come in upon the ,homeric narrative1    
like the inundation  brought by ,neptune

 and ,apollo over the wall and trench of
 the ,greeks4  ,like every other deluge1
 in sweeping away the softer materials1 
which  give the more refined lines to   
the picture1 it leaves the comparatively
  hard and sharp ones harder and sharper
 than ever4 ,thus it is with the        
,homeric characters1 transplanted into  
the later tradition4 ,the broader       
distinctions of his personages one from 
another have been not only  retained1   
but exaggerated3 all the finer ones have
 disappeared4 ,no  one1 deriving his    
ideas from ,homer only1 could confound  
,diomed with  ,ajax1 or either with     
,agamemnon1 or any of the three with    
,menelaus1 or  any of the four with     
,achilles2 but when we come down to the 
age of  the tragedians1 what remains to 
mark them1 except only for ,agamemnon   
his office1 and for ,achilles his       
superiority in physical strength8 ,in   
the ,homeric poems1 the strong and      
towering intellectual qualities even    
outweigh the great physical and animal  

forces of his chief hero3 by  the usual 
predominance in man of what is gross    
over what is fine1 the  principal and   
higher parts of his character are       
afterwards suppressed1  and it becomes  
comparatively vulgarized4 ,in the       
,ulysses of ,homer1  again1 the         
intellectual element predominates in    
such a manner1 that not  even the most  
superficial reader can fail to perceive 
it4 ,he and ,helen  stand out in the    
,iliad from among others with whom they 
might have  been confounded2 the first  
by virtue of his self-mastery and       
sagacity1  the second1 not only by her  
beauty and her fall1 but by the         
singularly  tender and ethereal shading 
of her character4 ,the later tradition1 
laying rude hands upon the subtler      
distinctions thus established1 has      
degraded these two great characters1 the
 one into little better than a  stage   
rogue1 the other into little more than a
 stage voluptuary1 who  adds to the     
guilt of that character the further and 

coarse enormities  of faithlessness1 and
 even of bloodthirstiness4    ,even so  
soon as in the time of the ,cyclical    
writers the character of  ,helen had    
begun to be altered4 ,in ,homer she is  
the victim of ,paris1  carried off from 
her home and country1 and only then     
yielding to his  lust4 ,in the  1 as we 
have that poem reported by ,proclus1 she
  begins by receiving his gifts1 that is
 to say1 his bribes2 she is an          
adulteress under her husband's roof2 and
 she joins in plundering him1  in order 
to escape with her paramour4    ,it is  
in ,euripides that we find the largest  
and most diversified  reproduction of   
the old ,homeric characters1 and to him1
 therefore1  among the three tragedians1
 we should give our chief attention4    
,when we  consider them as a whole1     
according to his representation of them1
 we  find that their entire primitive   
and patriarchal colouring has gone4     
,the manners are not those of any age in
 particular2 least of all are  they the 

manners of a very early age4 ,and1 as   
the entire company has  lost its        
distinctive type1 so have the members of
 it when taken singly4  ,in the         
,troades1 for example1 ,menelaus is     
simply the injured and  exasperated     
husband2 ,helen is the faithless wife2  
and she is kept up to  a certain        
standard of dramatic importance in the  
eye of the world only  by another       
departure from the ,homeric picture1 for
 she is armed with  an enormous power of
 argument and sophistry4 ,by a similar  
appendage of  ingenious disquisition1   
the essentially plain and matronly      
qualities of  ,hecuba have been overlaid
 and hidden4 ,achilles1 in the          
,iphigenia1 is  a gallant and a generous
 warrior2 but we have neither the       
grandeur of  his tempestuous emotions as
 in ,homer1 nor1 on the other hand1 any 
of  that peculiar refinement with which 
they are in so admirable a manner  both 
blended and set in contrast4 ,agamemnon 
has lost1 in ,euripides1  his           

vacillation and misgivings1 and is the  
average and1 so to speak1  rounded king 
and warrior1 instead of the mixed and   
particoloured1 but  in no sense         
common-place1 character that ,homer has 
made him4 ,though  ,andromache is a     
passionately fond mother1 she has       
nothing whatever  that identifies her as
 the original ,andromache4 ,indeed1 of  
the ,homeric  women1 it may be said that
 in ,euripides they have ceased to be   
womanly2  they have in general nothing  
of that adjective character 7if the     
phrase  may be allowed71 that ever      
leaning and clinging attitude1 to which 
support from without is a moral         
necessity1 and which so profoundly      
marks them all in ,homer4 ,again1       
,iphigenia1 ,cassandra1 ,polyxena1 who  
are  either scarcely or not at all      
,homeric1 have now become grand         
heroines1  with unbounded stage-effect2 
but there is no stage-effect at all in  
,homer's ,helen1 or in his ,andromache4 
,andromache1 for example1 is not        

elaborately drawn4 ,she is rather a     
product of ,homer's character and       
feeling1 than of his art4 ,she is simply
 what ,tennyson in his #8,isabel'  calls
 #8the stately flower of perfect        
wifehood4' ,in her simplicity1  the true
 idea of her might easily have been     
preserved by the later  literature1 had 
the conception of woman as such remained
 morally the  same4 ,but the ,andromache
 of ,homer was doomed to deteriorate1 on
 account  of her purity1 as his         
,achilles1 his ,ulysses1 his ,helen     
degenerated1  because the flights of    
such high genius could not be sustained1
 and  weaker wings drooped down to a    
lower level4 ,as ,hecuba was the aged   
matron of the ,iliad1 and ,helen its    
mixed type of woman1 so ,andromache  was
 the young mother and the wife4 ,her one
 only thought lay in her  husband and   
her child2 but in the ,troades1 wordy   
and diffuse1 she  discusses1 in a most  
business-like manner1 the question      
whether she  shall or shall not transfer

 her affections to the new lord1 whose  
property she has become4 ,she ends1     
indeed1 by deciding the question        
rightly2 but it is one that the ,homeric
 ,andromache never could have           
entertained4    ,three1 however1 among  
the ,homeric characters1 have been      
mangled by  the later tradition much    
more cruelly than any others2 they are  
those  prime efforts of his mighty      
genius1 ,helen1 ,achilles1 and ,ulysses4
  ,the first1 most probably1 on account 
of the wonderful delicacy with  which in
 ,homer it is moulded3 the others on    
account of their singular               
comprehensiveness and breadth of scope4 
,each of these three cases well         
deserves particular consideration4      
,mutilation of the ,helen of ,homer4    
,in the case of ,helen1 the extreme     
tenderness of the colouring1 that       
,homer has employed1 multiplied         
infinitely the chances against its      
preservation4 ,among all the women of   
antiquity1 she is by nature the  most   

feminine1 the finest in grain1 though1  
as in many other instances1  a certain  
slightness of texture is essentially    
connected with this  fineness4 ,her     
natural softness is very greatly        
deepened by the double  effect of her   
affliction and her repentance4 ,a quiet 
and settled  sadness broods over her    
whole image1 and comes out not only when
 she  weeps by the body of ,hector1 or  
when her husband's presence reminds her 
of her offence1 but even under the      
genial smiles and soothing words  of old
 ,priam on the wall4 ,vehement and      
agonizing passion draws deep  strong    
lines1 which1 even in copies1 may be    
easily caught and easily  preserved2 it 
is quite different with the profound    
though low-toned  suffering1 of which   
the passive influence1 the penetrating  
tint1  circulates as it were in every   
vein1 and issues into view at every     
pore4    ,helen of ,euripides1          
,isocrates1 ,virgil4    ,let us now     
consider how the character of ,helen    

reappears in ,euripides1  in ,isocrates1
 and in ,virgil4    ,in the ,agamemnon1 
schylus had designated her under the    
form of a  pun1 as  2 and these phrases1
 as they stand1 cannot  be said in any  
manner to force us beyond the limits of 
the ,homeric  tradition4 ,but in the    
,hecuba she is cursed outright by the   
,chorus1  and represented by ,hecuba    
herself as having been the great agent1 
instead of the passive occasion and the 
suffering instrument1 in the  calamitous
 fall of ,troy#ajdh4 ,in the ,troades   
she is the shame of the  country1 the   
slayer of ,priam1 the willing fugitive  
from ,sparta#ajdi4  ,andromache         
denounces her in the fiercest manner1   
and gives her for her  ancestors not    
,jupiter1 but ,death1 ,slaughter1       
,vengeance1 ,jealousy1 and  all the     
evils upon earth#ajej4 ,menelaus is     
furiously enraged1 calls on  his        
attendants to drag her in by her        
blood-guilty hair1 will not give  her   
the name of wife1 will send her to      

,lacedmon#ajea1 there herself  to die as
 a satisfaction to those whose death she
 has guiltily brought  about4 ,when she 
asks whether she may be heard in defence
 of herself1 he  answers summarily1 no3 
#ajdh ,hecuba1 #dbi1 #ibd-ca4    #ajdi  
,troades1 #acb1 #cgg4    #ajej ,ver4    
#ggj4    #ajea ,ver4 #hee-gh4         '1
   #ajeb4    #ajeb ,ver4 #ijj4    ,she  
then delivers a sophistical speech#ajec1
 and pleads1 that she  could not be     
guilty in yielding to a passion which   
even ,jupiter  could not resist1 while  
she retaliates abuse on ,menelaus for   
leaving  her exposed to temptation4     
,quantum mutata6 ,as respects           
,deiphobus1  however1 she declares that 
she only yielded to force1 and that she 
was  often detected1 after the death of 
,paris1 in endeavours to escape over    
the wall to the ,greeks4    #ajec ,ver4 
#iji-fj4    ,we have moreover an        
example1 in the ,helen painted by       
,euripides1 of  the rude manner in which
 characters not understood1 and taken to

 be  inconsistent by an age which had   
failed to understand them1 were torn  in
 pieces1 and how the several fragments  
started anew1 each for itself1  on the  
stream of tradition4 ,in ,homer we have 
the touching contrast  between the      
chastity of ,helen's mind1 and the      
unlawful condition in  which she lived4 
,the latter1 taken separately1 was      
presumed to imply  an unchaste soul2 the
 former a lawful condition4 ,instead    
therefore of  the one narrative1 we have
 two2 a shade or counterfeit of ,helen  
plays  the part of the adulteress with  
,paris1 while the true and living ,helen
  remains concealed in ,egypt1 keeping  
pure her husband's bed1 so that1  though
 her name has become infamous1 her body 
may remain untainted4  ,this latter     
tradition is chiefly valuable1 because  
it marks the mode of  transition from   
the ,homeric to the spurious            
representations1 and the  consciousness 
of the early poets1 that they were not  
preserving the  image drawn by ,homer4  

,no scheme1 however1 constructed of such
 flimsy  materials1 could live2 and1    
naturally enough1 the character of      
,helen  the wife was forgotten1 that of 
,helen the voluptuary was preserved4    
,from the vituperation and disgrace of  
,helen in most of the plays  of         
,euripides1 we pass to the elaborate    
panegyric handed down to us  in the  of 
,isocrates4 ,the falsehood eulogistic is
 not less  unsatisfying than the        
falsehood damnatory4 ,for now1 with the 
lapse  of time1 we find a further       
depression of the moral standard4 ,we   
have  here1 in its most absolute form1  
the deification of beauty#ajed2   1  1  
#ajee4 ,but it  is totally disjoined    
from purity4 ,he does not warrant and   
support his  eulogy upon ,helen1 by     
recurring to the true ,homeric          
representation of  her2 but he boldly   
declares the high value of sensual      
enjoyment#ajef1  commends the ambition  
of ,paris to acquire an unrivalled      
possession and  thereby a close affinity

 with the gods1 and sees in the war only
 a  proof of the immense and just       
estimation in which both parties held so
  great a treasure#ajeg1 without the    
smallest scruple as to the means by     
which it was to be acquired or held4    
,from this picture we may pass on  to   
the ,helen of ,virgil1 which represents 
the destructive process in its  last    
stage of exaggeration1 and leaves       
nothing more for the spirit of  havoc to
 devise4    #ajed ,i do not remember to 
have seen the principles of ,isocrates  
rigorously applied in modern literature1
 excepting in the ,adrienne de  la      
,cardonnaye of ,m4 ,eugne ,sue's ,le    
,juif ,errant4    #ajee ,hel4 ,enc4 #fa4
    #ajef ,ibid4 #dg4    #ajeg ,ibid4   
#ed4    ,in n4 i4 #fej1 ,helen is       
declared to have sought ,troy and       
unlawful  nuptials1 instead of having   
been carried off from home against her  
will4 ,in n4 vi4 #eac1 she is           
represented as having made use of the   
religious orgies on the fatal night1 to 

invite the ,greeks into ,troy2  and1    
after first carefully removing all      
weapons for defence1 she is  said to    
have opened the apartment of her        
sleeping husband ,deiphobus  to         
,menelaus1 in the hope that1 by becoming
 accessory to a treacherous  murder1 she
 might disarm the resentment of one whom
 she had so deeply  wronged4 ,but even  
this passage has probably done less     
towards occupying  the modern mind with 
the falsified idea of ,helen1 than one  
of most  extraordinary scenic grandeur  
in the second neid2 where neas relates  
how he saw her1 the common curse of her 
own country and of ,troy1  crouching    
beside the altar of ,vesta1 amidst the  
lurid flames of the  final              
conflagration1 in order to escape the   
wrath of ,menelaus4      ,illa sibi     
infestos eversa ob ,pergama ,teucros    
,et pnas ,danam et deserti conjugis iras
    ,prmetuens1 ,troj et patri communis 
,erynnis1    ,abdiderat sese1 atque aris
 invisa sedebat4          ,n4 ii4       

#ega-d4    ,and then1 in language1 the  
glowing magnificence of which serves to 
hide  the very paltry character of the  
sentiment1 neas proceeds to announce    
that he was about to slay the woman who1
 according to himself1 had  lived for   
ten years as a friend among his friends2
 when1 at the right  moment1 his mother 
,venus appeared1 and reminded him that  
on the whole  he might do rather better 
to think about saving1 if possible1 his 
own  father1 wife1 and boy4    ,thus1 in
 the ,helen of ,virgil1 we have splendid
 personal beauty combined  with an      
accumulation of the most profoundly     
odious moral features4  ,she is lost in 
sensuality1 a traitress alike to ,greece
 and to ,troy1  willing to make         
miserable victims of others in the hope 
of purchasing  her own immunity3 all her
 deep remorse and sorrow1 all her       
tenderness  and modesty1 are blotted out
 from her character1 and the void places
 in  the picture are filled by the      
detestation1 with which both ,greeks and

  ,trojans regarded1 as indeed they     
might well regard1 such a monster4 ,but 
let us pass on4    ,achilles and        
,ulysses4    ,among the many proofs of  
the vast scope of ,homer's mind1 one of 
the  most remarkable is to be found in  
the twin characters of his prime  heroes
 or protagonists4 ,it seems as if he had
 taken a survey of human  nature in its 
utmost breadth and depth1 and1 finding  
that he had not  the means to establish 
a perfect equilibrium between its       
highest powers  when all in full        
development1 had determined to represent
 them1 with  reference to the two great 
functions of intellect and passion1 in  
two  immortal figures4 ,in each of the  
two1 each of these elements has been    
represented with an extraordinary power1
 yet so1 that the sovereignty  should   
rest in ,achilles as to the one1 and in 
,ulysses as to the other4  ,but the     
depth of emotion in ,ulysses is greater 
than in any other male  character of the
 poems1 except ,achilles2 only it is    

withdrawn from view  because so much    
under the mastery of his wisdom4 ,and in
 like manner  on the other hand1 a far  
greater power1 directed to the purpose  
of  self-command and self-repression1 is
 shown us in ,achilles than in any      
other character except ,ulysses2 but    
this also is under partial eclipse1     
because the injustice1 ingratitude1     
scorn1 and meanness which ,agamemnon    
concentrates in the robbery of a beloved
 object from him1 appeal so             
irresistibly to the passionate side of  
his nature as to bring it out in        
overpowering proportions4    ,these     
being the leading ideas of the two      
characters1 ,homer has equipped  each of
 them with the apparatus of a           
full-furnished man2 and in  apportioning
 to each his share of other qualities   
and accomplishments1  he has made such a
 distribution as on the whole would give
 the best  balance and the most         
satisfactory general result4 ,thus it is
 plain that  the character of ,achilles1

 covering as it did volcanic passions1  
was  in danger of degenerating into     
phrensy4 ,homer has1 therefore1 assigned
  to him a peculiar refinement4 ,his    
leisure is beguiled with song1          
consecrated to the achievements of      
ancient heroes2 he has the finest  tact1
 and is by far the greatest gentleman1  
of all the warriors of the  poems2 even 
personal ornaments to set off his       
transcendent beauty#ajeh  are not       
beneath his notice1 a trait which would 
have been misplaced in  ,ulysses1       
ludicrous in ,ajax1 and which is in     
,paris contemptible1 but  which has its 
advantage in ,achilles1 because it is a 
simple accessory  subordinate to greater
 matters1 and because1 so far as it     
goes1 it  is a weight placed in the     
scale opposite to that which threatens  
to  preponderate1 and to mar by the     
strong vein of violence the general     
harmony of the character4    #ajeh ,il4 
ii4 #hge4    ,in the same way1 as       
,ulysses is distinguished by a          

never-failing  presence of mind1        
forethought1 and mastery over emotion1  
so the danger  for him lies on the side 
of an undue predominance of the         
calculating  element1 which threatens to
 reduce him from the heroic standard to 
the low level of a vulgar               
utilitarianism4 ,here1 as before1 ,homer
 has  been ready with his remedies4 ,he 
exhibits to us this great prince and    
statesman as bearing also a character of
 patriarchal simplicity1 and  makes him1
 the profoundest and most astute man of 
the world1 represent  the very childhood
 of the human race in his readiness to  
ply the  sickle or to drive the         
plough#ajei4 ,above all--and this is the
 prime  safeguard of his character--he  
makes ,ulysses a model for ,greece of   
steady unvarying brightness in the      
domestic affections4 ,the emotion of    
,hector in the ,sixth ,iliad1 and of    
,priam in the ,twenty-fourth1 are not   
capable of comparison with those of     
,ulysses1 because theirs constitute  the

 central points of the characters1 and  
likewise are the products  of great     
junctures of danger and affliction      
respectively1 while his  exhibit and    
indeed compose a settled and standing   
bent of his soul4  ,he alone1 of all the
 chieftains who were beneath the walls  
of ,troy1  is full of the near          
recollection of his son1 his            
,telemachus#ajfj2  his desire and       
ambition never pass indeed beyond barren
 ,ithaca1 and  his daily thought through
 long years of wandering and detention  
is  to return there#ajfa1 to see the    
very smoke curling upward from its      
chimneys1 so that the charms of a       
goddess are a pain to him1 because  they
 keep him from ,penelope#ajfb4    #ajei 
,od4 xviii4 #cff-ge4    #ajfj ,il4 ii4  
#bfj4    #ajfa ,od4 i4 #eh4    #ajfb    
,od4 v4 #bae-bj4    ,such was the care  
with which1 in each of these great and  
wonderful  characters1 ,homer provided  
against an exclusive predominance of    
their  leading trait4 ,but in vain4     

,achilles too1 more slowly however than 
his rival1 passed1 with later authors1  
into the wild beast2 ,ulysses  descended
 at a leap into the mere shopman of     
politics and war2 and it  is singular to
 see how1 when once the basis of the    
character had been  vulgarized1 and the 
key to its movements lost1 it came to be
 drawn in  attitudes the most opposed to
 even the broadest and most undeniable  
of  the ,homeric traits4    ,mutilation 
of the ,ulysses of ,homer4    ,there is 
nothing in the political character of   
,ulysses more remarkable1  than his     
power of setting himself in sole action 
against a multitude2  whether we take   
him in the government of his refractory 
crew during  his wanderings2 or in the  
body of the ,horse1 when a sound would  
have  ruined the enterprize of the      
,greeks1 so that he had to lay his      
strong  hand over the jaws of the       
babbler ,anticlus#ajfc2 or in the stern 
preliminaries to his final revenge upon 
the ,suitors2 or in his war with  his   

rebellious subjects2 or1 above all1 in  
the desperate crisis of the  ,second    
,iliad1 when by his fearless courage1   
decision1 and activity he  saves the    
,greek army from total and shameful     
failure4 ,and yet1 much as  the         
,mahometans#ajfd were railed at by the  
poets of ,italy1 indeed of  ,england1 in
 the character of image-worshippers1 so 
,ulysses is held up  to scorn in        
,euripides as a mere waiter upon popular
 favour4 ,thus in the  ,hecuba he is    
#ajfc ,od4 iv4 #bhe-h4    #ajfd ,in     
proof of the establishment of this      
curious usage in our  literature1 7which
 attracted the notice of ,selden17 see  
,mawmet1  ,maumetry in ,richardson's    
,dictionary1 with the illustrative      
passages4                     1    1 1 4
    ,now1 when the most glaring and     
characteristic facts of the narrative   
of ,homer can be thus boldly traversed1 
there is scarcely room for  astonishment
 at any other kind of misrepresentation4
 ,as when ,hecuba  laments1 in the      

,troades#ajfe1 that her lot is to be the
 captive of the  base1 faithless1       
malignant1 all-stinging maker of        
mischief4 ,such is the  standing type of
 ,ulysses in the after-tradition4       
,whenever anything bad1  cruel1 and     
above all mean1 is to be done1 he is the
 ever-ready1 and  indeed thoroughly     
,satanic1 instrument4    #ajfe ,tro4    
#bhe-i1 #abaf4    ,the ,second ,epistle 
of the ,first ,book of ,horace is full  
of interest with  reference to this     
subject1 because in it he gives us the  
result of his  recent re-perusal of the 
,homeric poems at ,prneste4 ,and1       
accordingly1  we find here a great      
improvement upon the ,ulysses of the    
,greek drama4  ,he seems to have struck 
,horace at this time more forcibly1 or  
more  favourably1 than any other        
,homeric character2 for1 after          
describing in  strong terms what was    
amiss both within and without the walls 
of ,troy1  he makes this                
transition#ajff2    #ajff ,hor4 ,ep4 ,i4

 ii4 #ah4      ,rursus1 quid virtus et  
quid sapientia possit1    ,utile        
proposuit nobis exemplar ,ulyssen4      
,he considers this hero as the conqueror
 of ,troy1 and notices his              
self-restraint and indomitable courage  
in adversity4 ,such was the  advantage  
of an impression fresh from the ,homeric
 text1 instead of  those drawn from the 
muddy source of the current traditions4 
,it does  not diminish but enhances the 
compliment1 when the acute but          
,epicurean  writer goes on to intimate1 
in more than half-earnest1 that these   
virtues of ,ulysses were too high for   
imitation1 and that he himself was      
content rather to emulate the suitors of
 ,penelope1 and the easy life of  the   
youths about ,alcinous#ajfg4    #ajfg   
,hor4 ,epist4 ,i4 ii4 #a-ca4    ,but if 
some small instalment of justice was    
thus done by ,horace to  the ,homeric   
,ulysses1 ,virgil withdrew the boon1 and
 was careful to  reproduce1 without     
mitigation or relief1 the worst features

 of the  worst form of the character4   
,with him it is ,ulysses who is chosen  
to  play the slayer of ,palamedes and   
the betrayer of ,sinon#ajfh1 and to     
lead the party which1 conducted by      
,helen1 was to massacre ,deiphobus in   
his chamber#ajfi4 ,on account of his    
fierce cruelty1 even the #8ground  is   
cursed for his sake2' poor ,ithaca is   
loaded with imprecations by  neas as he 
passes near it4 ,once he is called      
infelix1 the greatest  compliment that  
he anywhere receives2 but his name in   
few cases escapes  the affix of some    
abusive epithet1 drawn alike from       
inhumanity or from  cunning1 it seems to
 matter little from which#ajgj4    #ajfh
 n4 ii4 #ij4 et seqq4    #ajfi n4 vi4   
#fbh4    #ajgj n4 iii4 #bgb4 sup4 p4    
#ebb4    ,of the ,achilles of ,homer4   
,the character of ,achilles was more    
fortunate1 in the handling it           
experienced from the ,greek drama1 than 
that of ,ulysses4 ,in the  ,iphigenia of
 ,euripides1 the hero of the ,iliad     

appears as a faithful  lover1 and as a  
gallant and chivalrous warrior4 ,at the 
same time1 it  has lost altogether the  
breadth of touch and largeness of scope1
 with  which it is drawn in ,homer4 ,we 
miss entirely that unfathomable power   
of intellect1 of passion1 and also of   
bodily force1 all combined in  one      
figure1 which carry the ,achilles of    
,homer beyond every other human  example
 in the quality of sheer grandeur1 and  
make it touch the limits  of the        
superhuman4 ,there is nothing said or   
done by the ,achilles of  ,euripides1   
nothing reported of him or assigned to  
him1 no impression  borne into a        
reader's mind concerning him1 which     
would not have been  perfectly suitable 
to other warriors2 for example1 to the  
,diomed of  ,homer4 ,he falls back into 
a class1 and becomes a simple member of 
it1  instead of being a creation        
paramount and alone2 alone1 like        
,olympus  amidst the mountains of       
,greece2 alone for ever in his          

sublimity1 amidst  the famous memories  
of other heroes1 no less truly than he  
was alone in  his solitary encampment   
during the continuance of the ,wrath4   
,with ,pindar ,achilles appears in a    
different dress4 ,he is here conceived  
without mind1 as a youth marvellous in  
strength1 hardihood1 and  swiftness of  
foot1 growing up into a mighty          
warrior#ajga4 ,the ,achilles  of ,pindar
 is but as a pebble broken away from the
 mountain-mass of  ,homer4    #ajga     
,pind4 ,nem4 iii4 #dc-fd4    ,catullus1 
in his beautiful poem on the ,nuptials  
of ,peleus and ,thetis1  had a rare     
opportunity of setting forth the glories
 of ,achilles4 ,and  he is in fact made 
the main subject of the nuptial song1   
properly so  called2 yet nothing of him 
is really celebrated by the poet#ajgb1  
except his valour and his swiftness2 all
 the rest is simple  amplification and  
embellishment4 ,it seems by this time to
 have been  wholly forgotten1 that the  
,homeric ,achilles had a soul4    #ajgb 

,epithal4 ,pel4 and ,thet4 #cci-cgb4    
,the discernment of ,horace did not here
 enable him1 as it had enabled  him     
before1 to escape from the popular      
delusions1      ,scriptor honoratum si  
forte reponis ,achillem1    ,impiger1   
iracundus1 inexorabilis1 acer1    ,jura 
neget sibi nata1 nihil non arroget      
armis#ajgc4    #ajgc ,hor4 ,a4 ,p4 #abj4
 ,it will be remembered that the        
ruthless ,bentley  struck out even the  
honoratum of the text1 and1 with an     
audacity  surpassing his great          
ingenuity1 put in ,homereum4    ,the    
character is exhibited here in a light  
at once feeble and  misleading1 for its 
cardinal point is made to be the        
supremacy of  force over right4 ,now in 
,homer it is a sense that right has been
  deeply violated1 which serves for the 
very groundwork out of which his        
exasperation rises4 ,he does not view   
the question as one of meum and  tuum   
only1 or even mainly4 ,his eye is first 
upon the gross wrong  done1 and only    

then upon himself as the subject of it4 
,he resists  ,agamemnon's claim#ajgd for
 a compensation at the very first1 when 
it  is urged1 not against him1 but      
against the ,greeks at large#ajge2 and  
he bursts out into indignant            
vituperation of the greedy king before  
,agamemnon has threatened to take       
,briseis1 and when he has only insisted 
that1 if the ,greeks do not compensate  
him1 he will then help himself to  the  
prize either of ,achilles or of ,ajax or
 of ,ulysses4 ,in truth he  is the      
assertor of the supremacy of law over   
will1 much more than of  force over law2
 and there is the greatest difference   
between pushing a  sound and true       
principle even to gross excess1 and     
proceeding from the  outset upon a false
 one4 ,the former1 not the latter1 is   
the case of the  ,achilles of the       
,iliad4    #ajgd ,il4 i4 #abb4    #ajge 
,ib4 #adi4    ,the ,achilles of         
,statius4    ,the poet ,statius         
observed1 with sagacity enough1 that the

 ,achilles of  ,homer was but a torso2  
that the ,iliad had only allowed him to 
be  exhibited in one light1 as it were1 
and at a single juncture of his  career4
 ,so he resolved to profit by the       
ungotten mine1 and to found  a poem on  
the whole ,achilles1 child and man1 in  
his rising1 at his  zenith1 and in his  
setting blaze2                          
,nos ire per omnem    7,sic amor est7   
heroa velis 444    444 sed tot juvenem  
deducere ,troj#ajgf4    #ajgf ,stat4    
,achill4 i4    ,we are therefore perhaps
 entitled to expect from him a fuller   
and more  comprehensive grasp of the    
character than was usual1 even although 
the  narrative is broken off4 ,the five 
books which remain of this work do  not 
bring him so far as to the plains of    
,troy2 but we leave him on the  voyage  
from ,scyros to ,troas4 ,they are       
chiefly occupied1 therefore1 with  his  
residence there in the disguise of a    
maiden1 and with the incidents  of his  
sojourn4    ,now the story of ,achilles 

at ,scyros1 and of his connexion with   
,deidamia1 harmonizes with one side of  
his character as it is drawn in  ,homer4
 ,it is evident that his personal beauty
 was not less graceful  than manful2 and
 he alone of the ,greek chieftains is   
related to have  worn ornaments of gold4
 ,therefore that in the days of his     
boyhood  he should wear the dress of    
maidens1 and pass for one of them1 is   
at any rate in accordance with a        
particular point of the ,homeric        
tradition1 though little adequate to its
 lofty tone as a whole4 ,but  this      
particular point is just what ,statius  
contrives wholly to let  drop4 ,he shows
 us ,achilles like the sham ,anne ,page1
 in the ,merry ,wives  of ,windsor#ajgg1
 #8as a great lubberly boy1' neither    
careful nor able  to give any grace to  
the movement of his limbs4 ,for1 in the 
dance1 he  would break the heart of any 
rightminded master of the ceremonies3   
#ajgg ,act v4 sc4 #e4      ,nec servare 
vices1 nec jungere brachia1 curat3      

,tunc molles gressus1 tunc aspernatur   
amictus    ,plus solito1 rumpitque      
choros1 et plurima turbat4    ,nor does 
this writer appear at all to have       
apprehended the main  ideas of the      
,homeric character4 ,in the ,iliad1 the 
education which  ,achilles receives is  
the ordinary education of men of his    
rank1 and  his transcendent powers in   
after-life are due to a just1 yet no    
more  than a just1 development of his   
extraordinary original gifts4 ,but in   
,statius he is represented as having    
owed everything to the peculiar         
training of ,chiron2 whose semiferine   
life he shared1 so that his diet  in    
childhood consisted of the raw entrails 
of lions1 and the marrow of  half-dead  
she-wolves6 ,his mind1 indeed1 was not  
overlooked amidst these  brutalities1   
for he exhausts a long catalogue of     
acquirements2 but  ,statius1 as might be
 expected1 completely drops out of his  
political  education what is its one    
grand element in ,homer1 namely1 the art

 of  government over man by speech4     
,instead of this1 ,chiron the ,centaur  
merely teaches him those abstract rules 
of right1 by which he had  himself been 
wont to govern ,centaurs#ajgh4    #ajgh 
,achilleis1 v4 #afc4    ,to the same age
 with the ,achilleis of ,statius belongs
 the ,troades  of ,seneca4 ,however this
 play may be criticized1 as a study1    
like the  others of the same author1 for
 the closet only1 and however it may    
betray the choice of ,euripides for a   
model1 it seems to be by some  degrees  
better1 in the conception and use of    
some famous ,homeric  characters1 than  
any production since the time of        
schylus4 ,the  delineation of           
,andromache1 if it has not ceased to be 
theatrical1 is  full at least of intense
 affection1 all still centring in       
,hector4  ,ulysses1 though reviled by   
that matron in her passionate grief1 at 
least does the humane action of allowing
 her a little time to weep  before the  
sentence of ,calchas is executed upon   

,astyanax1 and shows  something too of  
the intellect of his antitype#ajgi4     
,helen is  exhibited not as vicious1 but
 as wanting in firmness of character4   
,she  is driven by solicitation into the
 offence of alluring ,polyxena to her   
immolation1 under the name of a bridal  
with ,neoptolemus2 commences the        
performance of this false part with     
self-reproach1 and then1 challenged  by 
,andromache1 quits it and avows the     
truth#ajhj4    #ajgi ,seneca1 ,troades1 
#gfe4 ,ibid4 #fji et seqq4    #ajhj ,act
 iv4    ,but here we find a new form of 
departure from the ancient and genuine  
tradition4 ,the principal motive1       
assigned by ,seneca to the ,greeks  for 
putting ,astyanax to death1 is a        
terrified recollection of his  father   
,hector1 and a dread lest1 upon         
attaining to manhood1 he should  avenge 
his own country against ,greece4 ,again1
 ,andromache1 as it were1  intimidates  
,ulysses1 by invoking the shade of her  
husband3                        ,rumpe  

fatorum moras2    ,molire terras1       
,hector1 ut ,ulyssen domes6    ,vel     
umbra satis es#ajha4    #ajha ,ibid4    
#fhe4    ,a strange inversion of the    
relations drawn by ,homer4    ,during   
all the time1 however1 in which we moved
 among the ,greeks and  among the       
earlier ,romans1 the corrupting process 
acted only upon each  of the ,homeric   
creations by itself1 and there was no   
cause at work1  which went to alter and 
pervert wholesale their collective      
relations to  one another4    ,new      
relative position of ,trojans and       
,greeks4    ,but from the period when   
the neid appeared1 or at least so soon  
as  it became the normal poem of the    
,roman literature1 a new cause was  in  
operation which1 without mitigating in  
any degree the previous  depraving      
agencies1 introduced a new set of them1 
and began to disturb  the positions of  
the two grand sets of characters1 ,greek
 and ,trojan1  relatively to one        
another4    ,virgil had sought to give  

to the ,csars the advantage of a hold   
upon  royal antiquity by fabulous       
descent4 ,he had before him the choice  
between ,greece and ,troy1 which alike  
and alone enjoyed a world-wide  honour4 
,he could not hesitate which to select4 
,the ,greek histories were  too near and
 too well known4 ,besides1 the ,greek   
dynasties generally  had dwindled before
 they disappeared4 ,the splendour of the
 ,pelopids  in particular had been      
quenched in calamity and crime1 and no  
other  of the ,homeric lines had        
attained to greatness in political      
influence  or historic fame4 ,but the   
family of ,priam had fallen gloriously  
in  fighting for hearth and altar3 it   
had disappeared from history in its     
full renown1 #8,magna mei sub terras    
ibat imago4' ,virgil chose too the      
house which was most ancient1 and which 
traced link by link1 as that of         
,agamemnon did not1 a known and a named 
lineage up to ,jupiter4    ,from this   
cause1 both in the neid itself and      

afterwards1 the ,trojan  characters were
 set upon stilts1 and the ,greeks were  
left to take their  chance4 ,besides the
 loss of equilibrium1 and the allowed   
predominance  of coarser elements1 which
 we have to lament in the ,greek        
handling of  them1 we now see them pass1
 with the ,romans1 even into            
insignificance4  ,the ,diomed of ,arpi  
is a person wholly unmarked2 and he1    
like all the  rest of his countrymen1 is
 treated by ,virgil simply as an        
instrument  for obtaining enhanced      
effect1 in the interest that he         
endeavours to  concentrate on his       
,trojan characters2 whereas the key to  
all ,homer's  dispositions in the ,iliad
 is to be found in the recollection1    
that he  dealt with everything ,trojan  
in the manner which was recommended and 
required by his ,greek nationality4     
,from this time forward1 we find the    
palm both of valour and of wisdom clean 
carried over from the ,greek  to the    
,trojan side3 the heroes of ,homer      

remain1 like unhewn boulders  on the    
plain1 crude1 gross1 and reciprocally   
almost indistinguishable  masses of     
cunning or ferocity4    ,virgil gave the
 tone in this respect1 not only to the  
literature of  ancient ,rome1 but to    
that of ,christian ,italy4 ,for this    
reason1 we may  presume1 among others1  
,orlando1 the prime hero of the ,italian
 romance1  is1 as ,i have before        
observed1 modelled upon ,hector4 ,he is 
in many  respects a very grand          
conception4 ,pulci1 in describing his   
death1 rises  even to the sublime when  
he says there is      #8,un ,dio1 ed una
 ,fede1 ed uno ,orlando4'    ,which we  
may render in prose #8,one ,god1 one way
 to ,god1 one true type  of manhood4'   
,still it is remarkable that in         
,bojardo1 as well as in  ,ariosto1 the  
purer traces of the ,homeric arrangement
 thus far at  least remain1 that        
,orlando1 although he is the type of the
 ,christian  chivalry1 yet1 as he       
resembles ,hector in piety and virtue1  

so likewise  retains his likeness in    
this respect1 that he is not the most   
formidable or valiant warrior of the    
poems4 ,in ,ariosto particularly1  he is
 made inferior to ,mandricardo1 to      
,rodomonte1 and most of all1 but  this  
for personal and prudential reasons1 to 
,ruggiero4 ,these three  perhaps may be 
considered as being respectively the    
,ajax1 the ,diomed1  and the ,achilles  
of the ,orlando ,furioso4    ,and now   
the fancy for derivation from a ,trojan 
stock1 of which ,virgil  had set the    
fashion1 was fully developed4 ,ariosto1 
at great length and  in the most formal 
manner1 establishes this lineage for his
 patrons1  the family of ,este4 ,others 
followed him4 ,the humour passed even   
beyond  the limits of ,italy1 into these
 then remote isles4 ,a ,trojan origin   
was ascribed to the ,english nation1 and
 the authority of ,homer1 as to         
characters and history1 was openly      
renounced by ,dryden4      #8,my        
faithful scene from true records shall  

tell    ,how ,trojan valour did the     
,greek excel3    ,your great forefathers
 shall their fame regain1    ,and       
,homer's angry ghost repine in          
vain#ajhb4'    #ajhb ,prologue to       
,dryden's ,troilus and ,cressida2 and   
again in the  ,epilogue spoken by       
,thersites3      #8,you ,british fools1 
of the old ,trojan stock4'      ,in     
,oxford1 at the revival of classical    
letters1 the name of ,trojans  was      
assumed by those who were adverse to the
 new ,greek studies1 and  who1 having   
nothing but a name to rely on1 doubtless
 chose the best  they could4    ,the    
,imitations by ,tasso4    ,throughout   
the #8,jerusalem' of ,tasso1 we find    
imitations which are  invested with     
greater interest than the remote copies 
commonly  in circulation1 because1 from 
the large infusion of many leading      
arrangements1 copied from ,homer1 into  
the plot of the poem1 we may  conclude  
with reason that they were in all       
likelihood drawn immediately  from the  

original4 ,some of these personages1    
too1 are in so far closely  imitated    
from ,homer1 that ,tasso has spent      
little or nothing of his own  upon them1
 but has simply equipped them with as   
much of the ,homeric  idea as he thought
 available4    ,the most successful     
among them is ,godfrey1 modelled1 but   
also perhaps  improved1 upon ,agamemnon1
 who is by no means in my view one of   
the  greater characters of the ,iliad1  
though he has been incautiously called  
by ,mitford #8ambitious1 active1 brave1 
generous1 and humane#ajhc4'  ,agamemnon 
has indeed that primary and fundamental 
qualification for  his office1 the      
political spirit1 so to term it1 and the
 sense of  responsibility1 which are so 
well developed in ,godfrey2 but it is   
doubtful whether he is entitled to be   
called either thoroughly brave1  or at  
all generous or humane4 ,agamemnon's    
character is admirably  adapted to its  
place and purpose in the ,iliad2 in any 
more general  view1 ,godfrey's both     

stands higher in the moral sphere1 and  
perhaps  forms by itself a better poetic
 whole4    #ajhc ,hist4 ,greece1 ch4 i4 
sect4 iv4    ,while the action of       
,achilles in the ,iliad is apparently   
assigned to  ,rinaldo1 there is room to 
doubt whether ,tasso meant the person or
  character of his hero to carry        
corresponding marks of resemblance4  ,in
 what may be called a by-place of his   
poem1 he has made a passing  attempt to 
reproduce both ,achilles and ,ulysses   
under the names of  ,argante and ,alete1
 who appear as envoys from the ,sultan  
of ,egypt to the  ,frankish camp4 ,for  
the benefit of the former1 ,tasso has   
translated the  two lines that describe 
,achilles in ,horace1 and has added a   
spice of  the ,virgilian ,mezentius3    
,impaziente1 inesorabil1 fero1    ,nell'
 arme infaticabil ed invitto1    ,d'    
ogni ,dio sprezzatore1 e chi ripone     
,nella spada sua legge e sua            
ragione#ajhd4    #ajhd ,gerus4 ii4 #ei4 
,accordingly1 ,argante proves to be the 

prime warrior on the ,pagan side1  and  
his character1 described in these lines1
 is consistently carried  through4      
,it is perhaps not to be regretted1 that
 ,tasso has left on record no  other    
mark that ,achilles was in his mind2 for
 it is only the most  debased edition of
 ,achilles to whom ,argante bears the   
slightest  resemblance4 ,the same is the
 case with ,alete4 ,of humble origin1 he
  rises to high honours by his powers of
 invention and of speech1 and by  the   
pliability of his character4 ,prompt in 
fiction1 adroit in laying  snares1 a    
master of the disguised calumnies #8che 
sono accuse1 e pajon  lodi#ajhe1' he    
evidently recalls the caricatures1 which
 for two  thousand years had circulated 
under the name of the ,homeric ,ulysses4
  ,thus ,tasso's acquaintance with the  
text1 whatever it may have been1  did   
not avail to open his eyes1 darkened by 
corrupt tradition1 or to  bring him     
nearer to the truth as regarded those   
sovereign creations of  the genius of   

,homer4 ,so sure it is1 both in this and
 in other matters1  that when           
long-established falsehoods have had    
habitual and undisturbed  possession of 
the public mind1 they form an atmosphere
 which we inhale  long before           
consciousness begins4 ,hence the        
spurious colours with which  we have    
thus been surreptitiously imbued1 long  
survive the power1  or even the act1 of 
recurrence to the original standards4   
,for that  recurrence rarely takes place
 with such a concentration of the mind  
as  is necessary in order to the double 
process1 first1 of disentangling  itself
 from the snares of a false conception1 
and secondly1 of building  up for       
itself1 and this too from the very      
ground1 a true one4    #ajhe ,gerus4 ii4
 #eh4    ,shakespeare and ,chaucer4     
,in the ,troilus and ,cressida1 of which
 ,shakespeare had at least a share1  we 
see1 perhaps1 one of the lowest and     
latest pictures of mere medival         
,homerism4 ,the sun of the ancient      

criticism had set2 that of the modern   
had not risen4 ,it must be admitted     
that1 in this play1 although it  shows  
the clear handiwork of ,shakespeare in  
some splendid passages1  and much of    
beautiful and of characteristic diction1
 we scarcely  find one single living    
trait of the father of all bards        
preserved4  ,our incomparable dramatist1
 by no fault of his own1 came in at the 
very end of that depraved lineage of    
copyists1 for which progressive         
degeneracy is the necessary law4 ,as is 
said#ajhf1 he followed ,lydgate2        
,lydgate drew from a ,guido of ,messina1
 who in the thirteenth century  founded 
himself on ,dictys ,cretensis and ,dares
 ,phrygius4    #ajhf ,stevens on        
,troilus and ,cressida4    ,before his  
time ,chaucer1 we may presume1 had drawn
 from the same  sources4 ,yet his poem  
of #8,troilus and ,cressida' bears a    
token of the  familiarity of the        
,english mind with free institutions    
under the  ,plantagenets4 ,the fidelity 

with which traditions are preserved1 and
  also the facility with which they are 
revived1 no doubt often depends  more   
upon moral sympathies1 than upon any    
cause operating simply  through the     
intellect of man4 ,though dealing with  
un-,homeric persons1  or events1 or     
both1 and copying again from copies     
probably very  corrupt1 yet ,chaucer1 as
 an ,englishman accustomed to ,english  
ideas of  government1 brings out with   
much more freshness and freedom the     
notion  of public deliberation in ,troy1
 7nay1 even the very word parliament is 
not wanting17 than do the poets of the  
literary age of ,greece4      ,for which
 delibered was by ,parliment    ,for    
,antenor to yielden out ,cresside1      
,and it pronounced by the ,president    
,though that ,hector may full oft praid2
    ,and finally1 what wight that it    
withsaid    ,it was for nought1 it must 
ben1 and should1    ,for substaunce of  
the parliment it would#ajhg4    #ajhg   
,chaucer's ,troilus and ,cressida1 book 

iv4    ,but let us return to the        
so-called ,shakespeare4    ,thersites is
 converted into the modern fool4 ,diomed
 struts upon his  toes1 while in ,homer 
his modesty among the ,greeks is the    
peculiar  ornament of his valour4 ,ajax1
 whom ,homer has made lumpish and       
goodnatured1 is full of haughty follies1
 the coxcomb of warriors2 while  the    
mere bulk which1 combined with bravery  
and bluntness1 formed his  peculiar     
note1 is made the distinctive           
characteristic of ,achilles4 ,it  is    
still more grievous to find the relation
 of this hero to ,patroclus  degraded by
 foul insinuations1 entirely foreign to 
the ,iliad1 to its  author1 and even to 
its age4 ,agamemnon is a mere stage     
king2 and  it can be no wonder that     
,nestor's character1 which requires a   
fine  appreciation from its gently      
rounded construction1 should have become
  thoroughly commonplace and vapid4 ,the
 same lot befalls ,ulysses1 who is  made
 to play quite a secondary part4 ,paris1

 without any mending of his  moral      
qualities1 is allowed to present a much 
more respectable figure3  the ,helen of 
,homer reproaches his cowardice2 but    
here he says1 #8,i  would fain have     
armed to-day1 but my ,nell would not    
have it so#ajhh4'  ,she appears as the  
mere adulteress2 and those1 who remember
 how she  is treated in ,homer1 will be 
able to measure the declension that time
  and unskilled hands had wrought1 when 
they read the speech of ,diomed         
describing her as follows3    #ajhh ,act
 iii4 sc4 #a4      ,she's bitter to her 
country3 hear me1 ,paris6    ,for every 
false drop in her bawdy veins    ,a     
,grecian's life hath sunk3 for every    
scruple    ,of her contaminated carrion 
weight    ,a ,trojan hath been slain3   
since she could speak    ,she hath not  
given so many good words breath    ,as1 
for her1 ,greeks and ,trojans suffered  
death#ajhi4    #ajhi ,act iv4 sc4 #a4   
,the palm of pure heroism is now become 
so entirely ,hector's property1  that   

,achilles only slays him by means of the
 swords of his ,myrmidons1  not by his  
own proper might2 and that1 too1 does   
not happen  until1 wearied and disarmed1
 he applies to ,achilles to forego his  
vantage#ajij3 so that ,ajax says with   
very great propriety indeed1    #ajij   
,troilus and ,cressida1 v4 #i4          
,great ,hector was as good a man as     
he#ajia4    #ajia ,ibid4 v4 #aj4        
,shirley's #8,contention of ,ajax and   
,ulysses1' independently of other       
merits1 deserves notice for a partial   
return towards just conception  of the  
,homeric characters4 ,yet even here the 
claim of ,ajax to the arms  of ,achilles
 is founded principally on the          
impeachment of ,ulysses as a  coward2   
and the reply of that chieftain rests   
much too exclusively on  setting up his 
political merits and achievements1 as if
 he were strong  in no other title4     
,the description of ,ajax may deserve to
 be quoted3      ,and now ,i look on    
,ajax ,telamon1    ,i may compare him to

 some spacious building2    ,his body   
holds vast rooms of entertainment1      
,and lower parts maintain the offices2  
,only the garret1 his exalted head1     
,useless for wise receipt1 is fill'd    
with lumber4    ,dryden followed        
,shakespeare in the portion of this     
field which he had  selected2 and cast  
afresh the subject of ,troilus and      
,cressida4 ,he  departed alike from     
,shakespeare and from ,chaucer by making
 ,cressida  prove innocent1 a           
supposition1 says ,scott1 no more       
endurable in the  preceding age1 than   
one #8which should have exhibited ,helen
 chaste1 or  ,hector a coward4' ,all the
 incongruities of ,shakespeare's play   
are here  reproduced1 including the     
mixture of the modern element of love   
with  the ,greek and ,trojan chivalry2  
,ajax and ,achilles are depressed to one
  and the same low level4      ,ajax and
 ,achilles6 two mudwalls of fool1       
,that differ only in degrees of         
thickness#ajib1    #ajib ,dryden's      

,troil4 and ,cress41 act ii4 sc4 #c4    
says ,thersites2 and ,ulysses answers in
 a similar strain4 ,troilus fairly      
slays ,diomed in single combat1 and is  
then himself slain by ,achilles in  the 
crowd4 ,hector is dispatched1 behind the
 scenes1 under the swords of  a         
multitude of men#ajic4    #ajic ,act v4 
sc4 #b4    ,racine's ,andromaque and    
,iphignie4    ,a short time before this 
play of ,dryden's1 ,racine had taken the
  characters of the ,trojan war in hand4
 ,his #8,andromaque' and #8,iphignie1'  
however1 afford us no new lights1 and   
might very well have been  conceived by 
a person who had never read a line of   
,homer1 though in  various passages     
there are imitations which must have    
filtered from  the ,homeric text4 ,he   
was content in general to copy the      
traditions as  given by ,euripides2 and 
it may provoke a smile to read an       
apology of  one of his editors1         
,boisjermain1 for the manner in which   
,ulysses is  handled in the             

#8,iphignie4' ,appearing1 near the      
outset of the piece1 as  a personage of 
very high importance1 he notwithstanding
 plays in the  plot a part wholly       
insignificant1 instead of assuming1 as  
he does in  ,euripides1 the important   
function of urging the slaughter of     
,iphigenia  for the honour and benefit  
of ,greece4 ,speaking of the critics who
  blame this arrangement1 the editor    
says1 they have failed to observe  that 
,racine has adopted the jealousy and    
intrigues of ,hermione as the  prime    
movers against ,iphigenia1 and that     
these produce the same result  as might 
otherwise 7forsooth7 have been brought  
about by the reasonings  of ,ulysses4   
,the work of literary profanation could 
hardly be carried  further3 it was not  
to be thus capriciously bandied about   
from pillar  to post1 that ,homer       
constructed his deathless masterpieces4 
,in the  #8,andromaque1' much as it is  
praised1 we miss1 still more egregiously
  than in the #8,iphignie1' all the     

simplicity and grandeur of the ,greek   
heroic age1 and find ourselves environed
 by the infinite littleness of  merely  
passionate personal intrigues1 which    
have self only for their  pole and      
centre4 ,nothing can be more            
unsatisfactory than to see these        
archaic ,grecian characters dressed in  
the very last ,parisian fashions1  with 
speech and action accordingly4 ,the     
total want of breadth and  depth of     
character1 and of earnestness and       
resolution1 as opposed to  mere         
violence1 is such that at parts of the  
#8,andromaque' we are almost  compelled 
to ask1 whether we are reading a tragedy
 or a burlesque8 ,as1  for instance1    
when1 with the ,sixth ,iliad yet        
lingering upon our mental  vision1 we   
hear ,andromache say to her confidante1 
,tu vois le pouvoir de mes yeux#ajid2   
#ajid ,acte iii4 sc4 #e4    and when    
,hermione threatens her pis-aller lover1
 ,orestes1 with  respect to ,pyrrhus1   
,s'il ne meurt aujourd'hui--je puis     

l'aimer demain#ajie4    #ajie ,acte iv4 
sc4 iii4    ,it is here1 too1 that we   
see carried perhaps to the very highest 
point of exaggeration the misstatement  
of the relative martial merits  and     
performances of ,hector and his         
adversaries4 ,the ,greeks ,hermione1    
herself a ,spartan1 describes as        
,des peuples qui dix ans ont fui devant 
,hector2    ,qui cent fois1 effrays de  
l'absence de l',achille1    ,dans leur  
vaisseaux brlants ont cherch leur asyle2
    ,et qu'on verroit encore1 sans      
l'appui de son fils1    ,redemander     
,hlne aux ,troyens impunis#ajif4        
#ajif ,acte iii4 sc4 #c4    ,it was well
 that the handling of ,homer should     
cease altogether for  a time1 when the  
characters and scenes belonging to his  
subject had  become so thoroughly       
anti-,homeric1 that they only falsified 
what  they ought to have assisted to    
perpetuate4 ,an interval has followed1  
during which they have been allowed to  
repose4 ,it would be hazardous  to      

conjecture1 after the failures of so    
many ages1 how far they  can hereafter  
be satisfactorily reproduced4 ,it has   
been reserved  for ,goethe1 with his    
vigorous grasp of classical antiquity1  
to  tread regions bordering upon that of
 the ,iliad and ,odyssey with the       
consciousness of a master's power4 ,in  
his #8,iphigenie1' for example1 he  has 
given to his scenes1 events1 and        
characters the tone and colouring1  with
 which alone they ought to be invested4 
,and1 if the study and  investigation of
 ,homer shall henceforward be carried on
 with a zeal  at all proportioned to the
 advantages of the present age1 they    
cannot  fail to accumulate materials1   
which it may be permitted us to hope    
that  future genius will mould into such
 forms as1 if only they are faithful  to
 the spirit of their original1 must     
alike abound in beauty1 truth1  and     
grandeur1 and alike avail for the       
delight and the instruction of  mankind4
           99       99       99       99

       99    ,conclusion4    ,we have   
now walked1 in the train and in the     
light of the great ,poet  of antiquity1 
through a long1 yet1 so far at least as 
he is a party1  not a barren circuit4   
,we have begun with his earliest        
legends1 faintly  glimmering upon us    
from the distance of an hundred         
generations4 ,we have  seen the         
creations of his mind live and move1    
breathe and almost burn  before us1     
under the power and magic of his art4   
,we have found him  to have shaped a    
great and noble mould of humanity1      
separate indeed  from our experience1   
but allied through a thousand channels  
with our  sympathies4 ,we have seen the 
greatness of our race at one and the    
same  time adorned with the simplicity  
of its childhood1 and built up in  the  
strength of its maturity4 ,we have seen 
it unfold itself in the  relations of   
society and sex1 in peace and in war1 in
 things human  and things divine2 and   
have examined it under the varied lights

 of  comparison and contrast4 ,we have  
seen how the memory of that great age1  
and of its yet greater ,poet1 has been  
cherished3 how the trust which he       
bequeathed to mankind has been          
acknowledged1 and yet how imperfectly it
  has been discharged4 ,we have striven 
to trace the fate of some among  his    
greatest creations2 and having          
accompanied them down the stream of     
years even to our own day1 it is full   
time to part4 ,nemesis must not  find   
me#ajig1    #ajig ,il4 i4 #bg4        '1
    4    ,to pass from the study of     
,homer to the ordinary business of the  
world  is to step out of a palace of    
enchantments into the cold grey light   
of a polar day4 ,but the spells1 in     
which this sorcerer deals1 have no      
affinity with that drug from            
,egypt#ajih1 which drowns the spirit in 
effeminate indifference3 rather they are
 like the  1  the remedial              
specific#ajii1 which1 freshening the    
understanding by  contact with the truth

 and strength of nature1 should both    
improve  its vigilance against deceit   
and danger1 and increase its vigour and 
resolution for the discharge of duty4   
#ajih ,od4 iv4 #bbj-f4    #ajii ,od4 x4 
#bhg4          ,transcriber's ,note     
,page headers in the printed book have  
been converted to headings1 and  are    
marked with swung dashes4      ,the map 
at the back of the book has been moved  
to accompany its  description in the    
text4      ,the following apparent      
errors have been corrected3    p4 #g    
#ad2 and that ethical--footnote marker  
added    p4 #i  changed to     p4 #bj   
changed to     p4 #bf 4#dc--;footnote   
marker added    p4 #bh no where changed 
to nowhere    p4 #ca  changed to     p4 
#dd   changed to      p4 #eb ,iaolcus   
changed to ,iolcus    p4 #fa #abf       
changed to #abf1    p4 #fb  changed to  
p4 #fd  changed to     p4 #gj  changed  
to     p4 #if  changed to     p4 #if    
changed to     p4 #if 7note7 #djh-h     
changed to #djh-i    p4 #ig  changed to 

p4 #ih  changed to     p4 #ajj  changed 
to     p4 #ajc 7note7 #bd1 #cia changed 
to #bd4 #cia    p4 #ajd  changed to     
7two instances7    p4 #aaj  changed to  
p4 #aag  changed to     p4 #aai ,coward 
that that changed to ,coward that    p4 
#aba slighest changed to slightest    p4
 #abc render you0 changed to render you'
    p4 #aca  changed to     p4 #adj     
7note7 #dig changed to #dig4    p4 #aea 
changed to     p4 #aec 7sidenote7 in    
,troas changed to in ,troas4    p4 #aec 
changed to     p4 #afb 7note7 ,ibid     
changed to ,ibid4    p4 #agb  changed to
     p4 #agb  changed to     p4 #agi the
 the same changed to the same    p4 #ahj
  changed to     p4 #baa  changed to    
p4 #baf   changed to      p4 #bbf       
colleagues#dhc4 changed to              
colleagues#dhc3    p4 #bcf  changed to  
p4 #bcg  changed to     p4 #bcg  changed
 to     p4 #bcg  changed to     p4 #bci 
twenty one changed to twenty-one    p4  
#bci  changed to     p4 #bci  changed to
     p4 #bdf  changed to     p4 #bea    

rout changed to route    p4 #bed        
arbitary changed to arbitrary    p4 #bgi
  changed to     p4 #bhg  changed to    
p4 #bid the footnote marker after       
current of ,yenikal had no matching     
footnote in the printed book2 the       
footnote attached to the preceding      
quotation from ,od4 xi4 #ac appears to  
correspond to this marker4    p4 #cbj   
7#giha7 changed to 7#gi-ha7    p4 #ccj  
or ,corfu changed to of ,corfu    p4    
#cec 7#ie-fgc7 changed to 7#die-fgc7    
p4 #cee #dae changed to #dae4    p4 #ceg
  changed to  7two instances7    p4 #ceh
 #ada4 changed to #ada1    p4 #cei      
7sidenote7 xii1 #bci changed to xii4    
#bci    p4 #cfc  changed to     p4 #cge 
the speech changed to speech    p4 #chd 
7note7 persongaes changed to personages 
p4 #cic gallant just changed to gallant1
 just    p4 #daj   changed to  '    p4  
#dac short1 changed to short4    p4 #dah
 ,though changed to #8,though    p4 #dcj
  changed to     p4 #dcg  changed to    
p4 #dei and violet changed to and blue  

p4 #dfe ,od x4 changed to ,od4 x4    p4 
#dhc  changed to     p4 #ead thown      
changed to thrown    p4 #edf exchantress
 changed to enchantress    p4 #egh      
passage1 changed to passage    p4 #fac  
,boisjermain1' changed to ,boisjermain1 
,inconsistent spelling1 hyphenation1    
italics and punctuation have  otherwise 
been kept as printed4      ,the         
following are used inconsistently in the
 book3    ablebodied and able-bodied    
abovenamed and above-named    anything  
and any thing    battlefield and        
battle-field    bon and bona            
breastplate and breast-plate            
commonplace and common-place    control 
and controul    cornfield and corn-field
    farfetched and far-fetched          
foulmouthed and foul-mouthed            
fountainhead and fountain-head    later 
and latter    ,outer ,geography and     
,outer geography    pseudo-,ulysses and 
,pseudo-,ulysses    reenter and re-enter
    reestablished and re-established    
,s4,e4 and ,s4 ,e4 7etc47               

semifabulous and semi-fabulous          
tomorrow and to-morrow    watchfires and
 watch-fires