,,homer ,,and ,,his ,,age ,by ,andrew ,lang ,illustration3 ,,algonquins ,,under ,,shield ,frontispiece ,to ,r4 ,w4 ,,raper ,,in ,,all ,,gratitude ,etext ,editor's note3 ,due to unclear typesetting of the original work1 which contains unidentifiable characters and blank spaces1 it has not been possible to capture this text completely4 ,where we have been unable to recover the meaning of the text1 this has been indicated by the annotation sic or blank space4 ,we hope that in the future a complete edition can be found and these gaps can be filled4 ,,preface ,in ,homer and the ,epic1 ten or twelve years ago1 ,i examined the literary objections to ,homeric unity4 ,these objections are chiefly based on alleged discrepancies in the narrative1 of which no one poet1 it is supposed1 could have been guilty4 ,the critics repose1 ,i venture to think1 mainly on a fallacy4 ,we may style it the fallacy of the analytical reader4 ,the poet is expected to satisfy a minutely critical reader1 a personage whom he could not foresee1 and whom he did not address4 ,nor are contradictory instances examined--that is1 as ,blass has recently reminded his countrymen1 ,homer is put to a test which ,goethe could not endure4 ,no long fictitious narrative can satisfy the analytical reader4 ,the fallacy is that of disregarding the ,homeric poet's audience4 ,he did not sing for ,aristotle or for ,aristarchus1 or for modern minute and reflective inquirers1 but for warriors and ladies4 ,he certainly satisfied them2 but if he does not satisfy microscopic professors1 he is described as a syndicate of many minstrels1 living in many ages4 ,in the present volume little is said in defence of the poet's consistency4 ,several chapters on that point have been excised4 ,the way of living which ,homer describes is examined1 and an effort is made to prove that he depicts the life of a single brief age of culture4 ,the investigation is compelled to a tedious minuteness1 because the points of attack--the alleged discrepancies in descriptions of the various details of existence--are so minute as to be all but invisible4 ,the unity of the ,epics is not so important a topic as the methods of criticism4 ,they ought to be sober1 logical1 and self-consistent4 ,when these qualities are absent1 ,homeric criticism may be described1 in the recent words of ,blass1 as a swamp haunted by wandering fires1 will o' the wisps4 ,in our country many of the most eminent scholars are no believers in separatist criticism4 ,justly admiring the industry and erudition of the separatists1 they are unmoved by their arguments1 to which they do not reply1 being convinced in their own minds4 ,but the number and perseverance of the separatists make on the general reader the impression that ,homeric unity is chose jugee1 that scientia locuta est1 and has condemned ,homer4 ,this is far from being the case3 the question is still open2 science herself is subject to criticism2 and new materials1 accruing yearly1 forbid a tame acquiescence in hasty theories4 ,may ,i say a word to the lovers of poetry who1 in reading ,homer1 feel no more doubt than in reading ,milton that1 on the whole1 they are studying a work of one age1 by one author8 ,do not let them be driven from their natural impression by the statement that ,science has decided against them4 ,the certainties of the exact sciences are one thing3 the opinions of ,homeric commentators are other and very different things4 ,among all the branches of knowledge which the ,homeric critic should have at his command1 only philology1 archaeology1 and anthropology can be called sciences2 and they are not exact sciences3 they are but skirmishing advances towards the true solution of problems prehistoric and proto-historic4 ,our knowledge shifts from day to day2 on every hand1 in regard to almost every topic discussed1 we find conflict of opinions4 ,there is no certain scientific decision1 but there is the possibility of working in the scientific spirit1 with breadth of comparison2 consistency of logic2 economy of conjecture2 abstinence from the piling of hypothesis on hypothesis4 ,nothing can be more hurtful to science than the dogmatic assumption that the hypothesis most in fashion is scientific4 ,twenty years ago1 the philological theory of the ,solar ,myth was preached as scientific in the books1 primers1 and lectures of popular science4 ,to-day its place knows it no more4 ,the separatist theories of the ,homeric poems are not more secure than the ,solar ,myth1 like a wave shall they pass and be passed4 ,when writing on ,the ,homeric ,house 7,chapter ,x47 ,i was unacquainted with ,mr4 ,percy ,gardner's essay1 ,the ,palaces of ,homer 7,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 iii4 pp4 #bfd-bhb74 ,mr4 ,gardner says that ,dasent's plan of the ,scandinavian ,hall offers in most respects not likeness1 but a striking contrast to the early ,greek hall4 ,mr4 ,monro1 who was not aware of the parallel which ,i had drawn between the ,homeric and ,icelandic houses1 accepted it on evidence more recent than that of ,sir ,george ,dasent4 ,cf4 his ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #dij-did4 ,mr4 ,r4 ,w4 ,raper1 of ,trinity ,college1 ,oxford1 has read the proof sheets of this work with his habitual kindness1 but is in no way responsible for the arguments4 ,mr4 ,walter ,leaf has also obliged me by mentioning some points as to which ,i had not completely understood his position1 and ,i have tried as far as possible to represent his ideas correctly4 ,i have also received assistance from the wide and minute ,homeric lore of ,mr4 ,a4 ,shewan1 of ,st4 ,andrews1 and have been allowed to consult other scholars on various points4 ,the first portion of the chapter on ,bronze and ,iron appeared in the ,revue ,archeologique for ,april #aije1 and the editor1 ,monsieur ,salomon ,reinach1 obliged me with a note on the bad iron swords of the ,celts as described by ,polybius4 ,the design of men in three shields of different shapes1 from a ,dipylon vase1 is reproduced1 with permission1 from the ,british ,museum ,guide to the ,antiquities of the ,iron ,age2 and the shielded chessmen from ,catalogue of ,scottish ,society of ,antiquaries4 ,thanks for the two ships with men under shield are offered to the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,browne1 ,s4,j41 author of ,handbook of ,homeric ,studies 7,longmans74 ,for the ,mycenaean gold corslet ,i thank ,mr4 ,john ,murray 7,schliemann's ,mycenae and ,tiryns71 and for all the other ,mycenaean illustrations ,messrs4 ,macmillan and ,mr4 ,leaf1 publishers and author of ,mr4 ,leaf's edition of the ,iliad4 ,,contents3 ,,chapter ,i3 ,,the ,,homeric ,,age ,,chapter ,,ii3 ,,hypotheses ,,as ,,to ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,the ,,epics ,,chapter ,,iii3 ,,hypotheses ,,of ,,epic ,,composition ,,chapter ,,iv3 ,,loose ,,feudalism3 ,,the ,,over-,,lord ,,in ,,iliad1 ,,books ,i4 ,,and ,,ii4 ,,chapter ,v3 ,,agamemnon ,,in ,,the ,,later ,,iliad ,,chapter ,,vi3 ,,archaeology ,,of ,,the ,,iliad--,,burial ,,and ,,cremation ,,chapter ,,vii3 ,,homeric ,,armour ,,chapter ,,viii3 ,,the ,,breastplate ,,chapter ,,ix3 ,,bronze ,,and ,,iron ,,chapter ,x3 ,,the ,,homeric ,,house ,,chapter ,,xi3 ,,notes ,,of ,,change ,,in ,,the ,,odyssey ,,chapter ,,xii3 ,,linguistic ,,proofs ,,of ,,various ,,dates ,,chapter ,,xiii3 ,,the ,,doloneia--,,iliad1 ,,book ,x4 ,,chapter ,,xiv3 ,,the ,,interpolations ,,of ,,nestor ,,chapter ,,xv3 ,,the ,,comparative ,,study ,,of ,,early ,,epics ,,chapter ,,xvi3 ,,homer ,,and ,,the ,,french ,,mediaeval ,,epics ,,chapter ,,xvii3 ,,conclusion ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations3 ,,algonquins ,,under ,,shield ,,the ,,vase ,,of ,,aristonothos ,,dagger ,,with ,,lion-,,hunters ,,rings3 ,,swords ,,and ,,shields ,,fragments ,,of ,,warrior ,,vase ,,fragment ,,of ,,siege ,,vase ,,algonquin ,,corslet ,,gold ,,corslet ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,homeric ,,age ,the aim of this book is to prove that the ,homeric ,epics1 as wholes1 and apart from passages gravely suspected in antiquity1 present a perfectly harmonious picture of the entire life and civilisation of one single age4 ,the faint variations in the design are not greater than such as mark every moment of culture1 for in all there is some movement2 in all1 cases are modified by circumstances4 ,if our contention be true1 it will follow that the poems themselves1 as wholes1 are the product of a single age1 not a mosaic of the work of several changeful centuries4 ,this must be the case--if the life drawn is harmonious1 the picture must be the work of a single epoch--for it is not in the nature of early uncritical times that later poets should adhere1 or even try to adhere1 to the minute details of law1 custom1 opinion1 dress1 weapons1 houses1 and so on1 as presented in earlier lays or sagas on the same set of subjects4 ,even less are poets in uncritical times inclined to archaise1 either by attempting to draw fancy pictures of the manners of the past1 or by making researches in graves1 or among old votive offerings in temples1 for the purpose of preserving local colour4 ,the idea of such archaising is peculiar to modern times4 ,to take an instance much to the point1 ,virgil was a learned poet1 famous for his antiquarian erudition1 and professedly imitating and borrowing from ,homer4 ,now1 had ,virgil worked as a man of to-day would work on a poem of ,trojan times1 he would have represented his heroes as using weapons of bronze4 ,footnote3 ,looking back at my own poem1 ,helen of ,troy 7#ahhc71 ,i find that when the metal of a weapon is mentioned the metal is bronze4 ,no such idea of archaising occurred to the learned ,virgil4 ,it is the iron that pierces the head of ,remulus 7,aeneid1 ,,ix4 #fcc72 it is the iron that waxes warm in the breast of ,antiphates 7,,ix4 #gja74 ,virgil's men1 again1 do not wear the great ,homeric shield1 suspended by a baldric3 ,a,eneas holds up his buckler 7clipeus71 borne on his left arm 7,x4 #bf i74 ,homer1 familiar with no buckler worn on the left arm1 has no such description4 ,when the hostile ranks are to be broken1 in the ,aeneid it is with the iron 7,x4 #cgb71 and so throughout4 ,the most erudite ancient poet1 in a critical age of iron1 does not archaise in our modern fashion4 ,he does not follow his model1 ,homer1 in his descriptions of shields1 swords1 and spears4 ,but1 according to most ,homeric critics1 the later continuators of the ,greek ,epics1 about #hjj-edj ,b4,c41 are men living in an age of iron weapons1 and of round bucklers worn on the left arm4 ,yet1 unlike ,virgil1 they always give their heroes arms of bronze1 and1 unlike ,virgil 7as we shall see71 they do not introduce the buckler worn on the left arm4 ,they adhere conscientiously to the use of the vast ,mycenaean shield1 in their time obsolete4 ,yet1 by the theory1 in many other respects they innovate at will1 introducing corslets and greaves1 said to be unknown to the beginners of the ,greek ,epics1 just as ,virgil innovates in bucklers and iron weapons4 ,all this theory seems inconsistent1 and no ancient poet1 not even ,virgil1 is an archaiser of the modern sort4 ,all attempts to prove that the ,homeric poems are the work of several centuries appear to rest on a double hypothesis3 first1 that the later contributors to the ,,iliad kept a steady eye on the traditions of the remote ,achaean age of bronze2 next1 that they innovated as much as they pleased4 ,poets of an uncritical age do not archaise4 ,this rule is overlooked by the critics who represent the ,homeric poems as a complex of the work of many singers in many ages4 ,for example1 ,professor ,percy ,gardner1 in his very interesting ,new chapters in ,greek ,history 7#ahib71 carries neglect of the rule so far as to suppose that the late ,homeric poets1 being aware that the ancient heroes could not ride1 or write1 or eat boiled meat1 consciously and purposefully represented them as doing none of these things4 ,this they did on the same principle on which a writer of pastoral idylls in our own day would avoid the mention of the telegraph or telephone4 ,footnote3 ,op4 cit41 p4 #adb4 ,a writer of our own day1--there is the pervading fallacy6 ,it is only writers of the last century who practise this archaeological refinement4 ,the authors of ,beowulf and the ,nibelungenlied1 of the ,chansons de ,geste and of the ,arthurian romances1 always describe their antique heroes and the details of their life in conformity with the customs1 costume1 and armour of their own much later ages4 ,but ,mr4 ,leaf1 to take another instance1 remarks as to the lack of the metal lead in the ,epics1 that it is mentioned in similes only1 as though the poet were aware the metal was unknown in the heroic age4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,note on1 xi4 #bcg4 ,here the poet is assumed to be a careful but ill-informed archaeologist1 who wishes to give an accurate representation of the past4 ,lead1 in fact1 was perfectly familiar to the ,mycenaean prime4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #gc4 ,the critical usage of supposing that the ancients were like the most recent moderns--in their archaeological preoccupations--is a survival of the uncritical habit which invariably beset old poets and artists4 ,ancient poets1 of the uncritical ages1 never worked on the same principle as a writer in our day1 as regards archaeological precision2 at least we are acquainted with no example of such accuracy4 ,let us take another instance of the critical fallacy4 ,the age of the ,achaean warriors1 who dwelt in the glorious halls of ,mycenae1 was followed1 at an interval1 by the age represented in the relics found in the older tombs outside the ,dipylon gate of ,athens1 an age beginning1 probably1 about #ijj-hej ,b4,c4 ,the culture of this ,dipylon age1 a time of geometrical ornaments on vases1 and of human figures drawn in geometrical forms1 lines1 and triangles1 was quite unlike that of the ,achaean age in many ways1 for example1 in mode of burial and in the use of iron for weapons4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,r4 ,hall1 in his learned book1 ,the ,oldest ,civilisation of ,greece 7#aija71 supposes the culture described in the ,homeric poems to be contemporary in ,asia with that of this ,dipylon period in ,greece4 ,footnote3 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #di1 #bbb4 ,he says1 ,the ,homeric culture is evidently the culture of the poet's own days2 there is no attempt to archaise here4444 ,they do not archaise as to the details of life1 but the ,homeric poets consciously and consistently archaised1 in regard to the political conditions of continental ,greece1 in the ,achaean times4 ,they give in all probability a pretty accurate description of the loose feudalism of ,mycenaean ,greece4 ,footnote3 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #bbc1 #bbe4 ,we shall later show that this ,homeric picture of a past political and social condition of ,greece is of vivid and delicate accuracy1 that it is drawn from the life1 not constructed out of historical materials4 ,mr4 ,hall explains the fact by the conscious and consistent archaeological precision of the ,asiatic poets of the ninth century4 ,now to any one who knows early national poetry1 early uncritical art of any kind1 this theory seems not easily tenable4 ,the difficulty of the theory is increased1 if we suppose that the ,achaeans were the recent conquerors of the ,mycenaeans4 ,whether we regard the ,achaeans as ,celts1 with ,mr4 ,ridgeway1 victors over an ,aryan people1 the ,pelasgic ,mycenaeans2 or whether1 with ,mr4 ,hall1 we think that the ,achaeans were the ,aryan conquerors of a non-,aryan people1 the makers of the ,mycenaean civilisation2 in the stress of a conquest1 followed at no long interval by an expulsion at the hands of ,dorian invaders1 there would be little thought of archaising among ,achaean poets4 ,footnote3 ,mr4 ,hall informs me that he no longer holds the opinion that the poets archaised4 ,a distinction has been made1 it is true1 between the poet and other artists in this respect4 ,monsieur ,perrot says1 ,the vase-painter reproduces what he sees2 while the epic poets endeavoured to represent a distant past4 ,if ,homer gives swords of bronze to his heroes of times gone by1 it is because he knows that such were the weapons of these heroes of long ago4 ,in arming them with bronze he makes use1 in his way1 of what we call 'local colour4444' ,thus the ,homeric poet is a more conscientious historian than ,virgil6 ,footnote3 ,la ,grete de l',epopee1 ,perrot et ,chipiez1 p4 #bcj4 ,now we contend that old uncritical poets no more sought for antique local colour than any other artists did4 ,m4 ,perrot himself says with truth1 the ,,chanson ,,de ,,roland1 and all the ,gestes of the same cycle explain for us the ,iliad and the ,odyssey4 ,footnote3 op4 cit41 p4 #e4 ,but the poet of the ,,chanson ,,de ,,roland accoutres his heroes of old time in the costume and armour of his own age1 and the later poets of the same cycle introduce the innovations of their time2 they do not hunt for local colour in the ,,chanson ,,de ,,roland4 ,the very words local colour are a modern phrase for an idea that never occurred to the artists of ancient uncritical ages4 ,the ,homeric poets1 like the painters of the ,dipylon period1 describe the details of life as they see them with their own eyes4 ,such poets and artists never have the fear of anachronisms before them4 ,this1 indeed1 is plain to the critics themselves1 for they1 detect anachronisms as to land tenure1 burial1 the construction of houses1 marriage customs1 weapons1 and armour in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,these supposed anachronisms we examine later3 if they really exist they show that the poets were indifferent to local colour and archaeological precision1 or were incapable of attaining to archaeological accuracy4 ,in fact1 such artistic revival of the past in its habit as it lived is a purely modern ideal4 ,we are to show1 then1 that the ,epics1 being1 as wholes1 free from such inevitable modifications in the picture of changing details of life as uncritical authors always introduce1 are the work of the one age which they represent4 ,this is the reverse of what has long been1 and still is1 the current theory of ,homeric criticism1 according to which the ,homeric poems are1 and bear manifest marks of being1 a mosaic of the poetry of several ages of change4 ,till ,wolf published his ,prolegomena to blank space 7#agie7 there was little opposition to the old belief that the ,,iliad and ,odyssey were1 allowing for interpolations1 the work of one1 or at most of two1 poets4 ,after the appearance of ,wolfs celebrated book1 ,homeric critics have maintained1 generally speaking1 that the ,,iliad is either a collection of short lays disposed in sequence in a late age1 or that it contains an ancient original kernel round which expansions1 made throughout some centuries of changeful life1 have accrued1 and have been at last arranged by a literary redactor or editor4 ,the latter theory is now dominant4 ,it is maintained that the ,iliad is a work of at least four centuries4 ,some of the objections to this theory were obvious to ,wolf himself--more obvious to him than to his followers4 ,he was aware1 and some of them are not1 of the distinction between reading the ,,iliad as all poetic literature is naturally read1 and by all authors is meant to be read1 for human pleasure1 and studying it in the spirit of the analytical reader4 ,as often as he read for pleasure1 he says1 disregarding the purely fanciful historical conditions which he invented for ,homer2 as often as he yielded himself to that running stream of action and narration2 as often as he considered the harmony of colour and of characters in the ,epic1 no man could be more angry with his own destructive criticism than himself4 ,wolf ceased to be a ,wolfian whenever he placed himself at the point of view of the reader or the listener1 to whom alone every poet makes his appeal4 ,but he deemed it his duty to place himself at another point of view1 that of the scientific literary historian1 the historian of a period concerning whose history he could know nothing4 ,how could the thing be possible8 he asked himself4 ,how could a long poem like the ,iliad come into existence in the historical circumstances8 ,footnote1 exact place in paragraph unknown3 ,preface to ,homer1 p1 xxii41 #agid44 ,wolf was unaware that he did not know what the historical circumstances were4 ,we know how little we know1 but we do know more than ,wolf4 ,he invented the historical circumstances of the supposed poet4 ,they were1 he said1 like those of a man who should build a large ship in an inland place1 with no sea to launch it upon4 ,the ,iliad was the large ship2 the sea was the public4 ,homer could have no readers1 ,wolf said1 in an age that1 like the old hermit of ,prague1 never saw pen and ink1 had no knowledge of letters2 or1 if letters were dimly known1 had never applied them to literature4 ,in such circumstances no man could have a motive for composing a long poem4 ,footnote3 ,prolegomena to the ,iliad1 p4 xxvi4 ,yet if the original poet1 ,homer1 could make the greater part of the songs1 as ,wolf admitted1 what physical impossibility stood in the way of his making the whole8 ,meanwhile1 the historical circumstances1 as conceived of by ,wolf1 were imaginary4 ,he did not take the circumstances of the poet as described in the ,odyssey4 ,here a king or prince has a minstrel1 honoured as were the minstrels described in the ancient ,irish books of law4 ,his duty is to entertain the prince and his family and guests by singing epic chants after supper1 and there is no reason why his poetic narratives should be brief1 but rather he has an opportunity that never occurred again till the literary age of ,greece for producing a long poem1 continued from night to night4 ,in the later age1 in the ,asiatic colonies and in ,greece1 the rhapsodists1 competing for prizes at feasts1 or reciting to a civic crowd1 were limited in time and gave but snatches of poetry4 ,it is in this later civic age that a poet without readers would have little motive for building ,wolfs great ship of song1 and scant chance of launching it to any profitable purpose4 ,to this point we return2 but when once critics1 following ,wolf1 had convinced themselves that a long early poem was impossible1 they soon found abundant evidence that it had never existed4 ,they have discovered discrepancies of which1 they say1 no one sane poet could have been guilty4 ,they have also discovered that the poems had not1 as ,wolf declared1 one 'harmony of colour 7unus color74 ,each age1 they say1 during which the poems were continued1 lent its own colour4 ,the poets1 by their theory1 now preserved the genuine tradition of things old2 cremation1 cairn and urn burial2 the use of the chariot in war2 the use of bronze for weapons2 a peculiar stage of customary law2 a peculiar form of semi-feudal society2 a peculiar kind of house4 ,but again1 by a change in the theory1 the poets introduced later novelties2 later forms of defensive armour2 later modes of burial2 later religious and speculative beliefs2 a later style of house2 an advanced stage of law2 modernisms in grammar and language4 ,the usual position of critics in this matter is stated by ,helbig2 and we are to contend that the theory is contradicted by all experience of ancient literatures1 and is in itself the reverse of consistent4 ,the artists of antiquity1 says ,helbig1 with perfect truth1 had no idea of archaeological studies4444 ,they represented legendary scenes in conformity with the spirit of their own age1 and reproduced the arms and implements and costume that they saw around them4 ,footnote3 ,l',epopee ,homerique1 p4 #e2 ,homerische ,epos1 p4 #d4 ,now a poet is an artist1 like another1 and he1 too--no less than the vase painter or engraver of gems--in dealing with legends of times past1 represents 7in an uncritical age7 the arms1 utensils1 costume1 and the religious1 geographical1 legal1 social1 and political ideas of his own period4 ,we shall later prove that this is true by examples from the early mediaeval epic poetry of ,europe4 ,it follows that if the ,iliad is absolutely consistent and harmonious in its picture of life1 and of all the accessories of life1 the ,iliad is the work of a single age1 of a single stage of culture1 the poet describing his own environment4 ,but ,helbig1 on the other hand1 citing ,wilamowitz ,moellendorff1 declares that the ,iliad--the work of four centuries1 he says--maintains its unity of colour by virtue of an uninterrupted poetical tradition4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,untersuchungen1 p4 #bib2 ,homerische ,epos1 p4 ,i4 ,if so1 the poets must have archaeologised1 must have kept asking themselves1 ,is this or that detail true to the past8 which artists in uncritical ages never do1 as we have been told by ,helbig4 ,they must have carefully pondered the surviving old ,achaean lays1 which were born when the heroes could not read1 or boil flesh1 or back a steed4 ,by carefully observing the earliest lays the late poets1 in times of changed manners1 could avoid anachronisms by the aid of tradition1 which gave them a very exact idea of the epic heroes4 ,such is the opinion of ,wilamowitz ,moellendorff4 ,he appears to regard the tradition as keeping the later poets in the old way automatically1 not consciously1 but this1 we also learn from ,helbig1 did not occur4 ,the poets often wandered from the way4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,homerische ,epos1 pp4 #b1 #c4 ,thus old ,mycenaean lays1 if any existed1 would describe the old ,mycenaean mode of burial4 ,the ,homeric poet describes something radically different4 ,we vainly ask for proof that in any early national literature known to us poets have been true to the colour and manners of the remote times in which their heroes moved1 and of which old minstrels sang4 ,the thing is without example3 of this proofs shall be offered in abundance4 ,meanwhile1 the whole theory which regards the ,iliad as the work of four or five centuries rests on the postulate that poets throughout these centuries did what such poets never do1 kept true to the details of a life remote from their own1 and also did not4 ,for ,helbig does not1 after all1 cleave to his opinion4 ,on the other hand1 he says that the later poets of the ,iliad did not cling to tradition4 ,they allowed themselves to be influenced by their own environment3 this influence betrays ,,itself ,,in ,,the descriptions of ,,details4444 ,the rhapsodists1 7reciters1 supposed to have altered the poems at will71 did not fail to interpolate relatively recent elements into the oldest parts of the ,epic4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,epos1 p4 #b4 ,at this point comes in a complex inconsistency4 ,the ,tenth ,book of the ,iliad1 thinks ,helbig--in common with almost all critics--is one of the most recent lays of the ,iliad4 ,but in this recent lay 7say of the eighth or seventh century7 the poet describes the ,thracians as on a level of civilisation with the ,achaeans1 and1 indeed1 as even more luxurious1 wealthy1 and refined in the matter of good horses1 glorious armour1 and splendid chariots4 ,but1 by the time of the ,persian wars1 says ,helbig1 the ,thracians were regarded by the ,greeks as rude barbarians1 and their military equipment was totally un-,greek4 ,they did not wear helmets1 but caps of fox-skin4 ,they had no body armour2 their shields were small round bucklers2 their weapons were bows and daggers4 ,these customs could not1 at the time of the ,persian wars1 be recent innovations in ,thrace4 ,footnote3 ,herodotus1 vii4 #ge4 ,had the poet of ,,iliad1 ,book ,x41 known the ,thracians in this condition1 says ,helbig1 as he was fond of details of costume and arms1 he would have certainly described their fox-skin caps1 bows1 bucklers1 and so forth4 ,he would not here have followed the ,epic tradition1 which represented the ,thracians as makers of great swords and as splendidly armed charioteers4 ,his audience had met the ,thracians in peace and war1 and would contradict the poet's description of them as heavily armed charioteers4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that the latest poets1 such as the author of ,book ,x41 did not introduce recent details1 those of their own time1 but we have just previously been told that to do so was their custom in the description of details4 ,now ,studniczka ,footnote3 ,homerische ,epos1 pp4 #g-aa1 cf4 ,note ,i2 ,zeitschrift fur die ,oestern ,gymnasien1 #ahhf1 p4 #aie4 explains the picture of the ,thracians in ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 on ,helbig's other principle1 namely1 that the very late author of the ,tenth ,book merely conforms to the conventional tradition of the ,epic1 adheres to the model set in ancient ,achaean1 or rather ancient ,ionian times1 and scrupulously preserved by the latest poets--that is1 when the latest poets do not bring in the new details of their own age4 ,but ,helbig will not accept his own theory in this case1 whence does it follow that the author of the ,tenth ,book must1 in his opinion1 have lived in ,achaean times1 and described the ,thracians as they then were1 charioteers1 heavily armed1 not light-clad archers8 ,if this is so1 we ask how ,helbig can aver that the ,tenth ,book is one of the latest parts of the ,iliad8 ,in studying the critics who hold that the ,iliad is the growth of four centuries--say from the eleventh to the seventh century ,b4,c4--no consistency is to be discovered2 the earth is never solid beneath our feet4 ,we find now that the poets are true to tradition in the details of ancient life--now that the poets introduce whatever modern details they please4 ,the late poets have now a very exact knowledge of the past2 now1 the late poets know nothing about the past1 or1 again1 some of the poets are fond of actual and very minute archaeological research6 ,the theory shifts its position as may suit the point to be made at the moment by the critic4 ,all is arbitrary1 and it is certain that logic demands a very different method of inquiry4 ,if ,helbig and other critics of his way of thinking mean that in the ,iliad 7#a7 there are parts of genuine antiquity2 other parts 7#b7 by poets who1 with stern accuracy1 copied the old modes2 other parts 7#c7 by poets who tried to copy but failed2 with passages 7#d7 by poets who deliberately innovated2 and passages 7#e7 by poets who drew fanciful pictures of the past from their inner consciousness1 while1 finally 7#f71 some poets made minute antiquarian researches2 and if the argument be that the critics can detect these six elements1 then we are asked to repose unlimited confidence in critical powers of discrimination4 ,the critical standard becomes arbitrary and subjective4 ,it is our effort1 then1 in the following pages to show that the unus color of ,wolf does pervade the ,epics1 that recent details are not often1 if ever1 interpolated1 that the poems harmoniously represent one age1 and that a brief age1 of culture2 that this effect cannot1 in a thoroughly uncritical period1 have been deliberately aimed at and produced by archaeological learning1 or by sedulous copying of poetic tradition1 or by the scientific labours of an editor of the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,we shall endeavour to prove1 what we have already indicated1 that the hypotheses of expansion are not self-consistent1 or in accordance with what is known of the evolution of early national poetry4 ,the strongest part1 perhaps1 of our argument is to rest on our interpretation of archaeological evidence1 though we shall not neglect the more disputable or less convincing contentions of literary criticism4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,hypotheses ,,as ,,to ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,the ,,epics ,a theorist who believes that the ,homeric poems are the growth of four changeful centuries1 must present a definite working hypothesis as to how they escaped from certain influences of the late age in which much of them is said to have been composed4 ,we must first ask to what manner of audiences did the poets sing1 in the alleged four centuries of the evolution of the ,epics4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 as a champion of the theory of ages of expansion1 answers that the ,iliad and ,odyssey are essentially1 and above all1 ,court poems4 ,they were composed to be sung in the palaces of a ruling aristocracy 444 the poems are aristocratic and courtly1 not popular4 ,footnote3 ,companion to the ,iliad1 pp4 #b1h4 #ahib4 ,they are not ,volkspoesie2 they are not ballads4 ,it is now generally recognised that this conception is radically false4 ,these opinions1 in which we heartily agree--there never was such a thing as a popular ,epic--were published fourteen years ago4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 however1 would not express them with regard to our ,iliad and ,odyssey1 because1 in his view1 a considerable part of the ,iliad1 as it stands1 was made1 not by ,court bards in the ,achaean courts of ,europe1 not for an audience of noble warriors and dames1 but by wandering minstrels in the later ,ionian colonies of ,asia4 ,they did not chant for a military aristocracy1 but for the enjoyment of town and country folk at popular festivals4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xvi4 #aijj4 ,the poems were begun1 indeed1 he thinks1 for a wealthy aristocracy living on the product of their lands1 in ,european ,greece2 were begun by contemporary court minstrels1 but were continued1 vastly expanded1 and altered to taste by wandering singers and reciting rhapsodists1 who amused the holidays of a commercial1 expansive1 and bustling ,ionian democracy4 ,footnote3 ,companion to the ,iliad1 p4 ,,ii4 ,we must suppose that1 on this theory1 the later poets pleased a commercial democracy by keeping up the tone that had delighted an old land-owning military aristocracy4 ,it is not difficult1 however1 to admit this as possible1 for the poems continued to be admired in all ages of ,greece and under every form of society4 ,the real question is1 would the modern poets be the men to keep up a tone some four or five centuries old1 and to be true1 if they were true1 to the details of the heroic age8 ,it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that some part of the most primitive ,iliad may have been actually sung by the court minstrel in the palace whose ruins can still be seen in ,mycenae4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xv4 ,but1 by the expansionist theory1 even the oldest parts of our ,iliad are now full of what we may call quite recent ,ionian additions1 full of late retouches1 and full1 so to speak1 of omissions of old parts4 ,through four or five centuries1 by the hypothesis1 every singer who could find an audience was treating as much as he knew of a vast body of ancient lays exactly as he pleased1 adding here1 lopping there1 altering everywhere4 ,moreover1 these were centuries full of change4 ,the ancient ,achaean palaces were becoming the ruins which we still behold4 ,the old art had faded1 and then fallen under the disaster of the ,dorian conquest4 ,a new art1 or a recrudescence of earlier art1 very crude and barbaric1 had succeeded1 and was beginning to acquire form and vitality4 ,the very scene of life was altered3 the new singers and listeners dwelt on the ,eastern side of the ,aegean4 ,knights no longer1 as in ,europe1 fought from chariots3 war was conducted by infantry1 for the most part1 with mounted auxiliaries4 ,with the disappearance of the war chariot the huge ,mycenaean shields had vanished or were very rarely used4 ,the early vase painters do not1 to my knowledge1 represent heroes as fighting from war chariots4 ,they had lost touch with that method4 ,fighting men now carried relatively small round bucklers1 and iron was the metal chiefly employed for swords1 spears1 and arrow points4 ,would the new poets1 in deference to tradition1 abstain from mentioning cavalry1 or small bucklers1 or iron swords and spears8 or would they avoid puzzling their hearers by speaking of obsolete and unfamiliar forms of tactics and of military equipment8 ,would they therefore sing of things familiar--of iron weapons1 small round shields1 hoplites1 and cavalry8 ,we shall see that confused and self-contradictory answers are given by criticism to all these questions by scholars who hold that the ,epics are not the product of one1 but of many ages4 ,there were other changes between the ages of the original minstrel and of the late successors who are said to have busied themselves in adding to1 mutilating1 and altering his old poem4 ,kings and courts had passed away2 old ,ionian myths and religious usages1 unknown to the ,homeric poets1 had come out into the light2 commerce and pleasure and early philosophies were the chief concerns of life4 ,yet the poems continued to be aristocratic in manners2 and1 in religion and ritual1 to be pure from recrudescences of savage poetry and superstition1 though the ,ionians did not drop the more primitive phases of belief which had clung to them2 these rose to the surface with the rest of the marvellous ,ionic genius1 and many an ancient survival was enshrined in the literature or mythology of ,athens which had long passed out of all remembrance at ,mycenas4 ,footnote3 ,companion to the ,iliad1 p4 #g4 ,amazing to say1 none of these more primitive phases of belief1 none of the recrudescent savage magic1 was intruded by the late ,ionian poets into the ,iliad which they continued1 by the theory4 ,such phases of belief were1 indeed1 by their time popular1 and frequently appeared in the ,cyclic poems on the ,trojan war2 continuations of the ,,iliad1 which were composed by ,ionian authors at the same time as much of the ,,iliad itself 7by the theory7 was composed4 ,the authors of these ,cyclic poems--authors contemporary with the makers of much of the ,,iliad--were eminently un-,homeric in many respects4 ,footnote3 ,cf4 ,monro1 ,the ,cyclic ,poets2 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii1 pp4 #cdb-chd4 ,they had ideas very different from those of the authors of the ,iliad and ,,odyssey1 as these ideas have reached us4 ,helbig states this curious fact1 that the ,homeric poems are free from many recent or recrudescent ideas common in other ,epics composed during the later centuries of the supposed four hundred years of ,epic growth4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,epos1 p4 #c4 ,thus a signet ring was mentioned in the ,ilias ,puma1 and there are no rings in ,iliad or ,odyssey4 ,but ,helbig does not perceive the insuperable difficulty which here encounters his hypothesis4 ,he remarks3 ,in certain poems which were grouping themselves around the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 we meet data absolutely opposed to the conventional style of the ,epic4 ,he gives three or four examples of perfectly un-,homeric ideas occurring in ,epics of the eighth to seventh centuries1 ,b4,c41 and a large supply of such cases can be adduced4 ,but ,helbig does not ask how it happened that1 if poets of these centuries had lost touch with the ,epic tradition1 and had wandered into a new region of thought1 as they had1 examples of their notions do not occur in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,by his theory these poems were being added to and altered1 even in their oldest portions1 at the very period when strange fresh1 or old and newly revived fancies were flourishing4 ,if so1 how were the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 unlike the ,cyclic poems1 kept uncontaminated1 as they confessedly were1 by the new romantic ideas8 ,here is the real difficulty4 ,cyclic poets of the eighth and seventh centuries had certainly lost touch with the ,epic tradition2 their poems make that an admitted fact4 ,yet poets of the eighth to seventh centuries were1 by the theory1 busily adding to and altering the ancient lays of the ,iliad4 ,how did they abstain from the new or revived ideas1 and from the new genre of romance8 ,are we to believe that one set of late ,ionian poets--they who added to and altered the ,iliad--were true to tradition1 while another contemporary set of ,ionian poets1 the ,cyclics--authors of new ,epics on ,homeric themes--are known to have quite lost touch with the ,homeric taste1 religion1 and ritual8 ,the reply will perhaps be a ,cyclic poet said1 ,here ,i am going to compose quite a new poem about the old heroes4 ,i shall make them do and think and believe as ,i please1 without reference to the evidence of the old poems4 ,but1 it will have to be added1 the rhapsodists of #hjj-edj ,b4,c41 and the general editor of the latter date1 thought1 we are continuing an old set of lays1 and we must be very careful in adhering to manners1 customs1 and beliefs as described by our predecessors4 ,for instance1 the old heroes had only bronze1 no iron1--and then the rhapsodists forgot1 and made iron a common commodity in the ,iliad4 ,again1 the rhapsodists knew that the ancient heroes had no corslets--the old lays1 we learn1 never spoke of corslets--but they made them wear corslets of much splendour4 ,footnote3 ,the reader must remember that the view of the late poets as careful adherents of tradition in usages and ideas only obtains sometimes2 at others the critics declare that archaeological precision is not preserved1 and that the ,ionic continuators introduced1 for example1 the military gear of their own period into a poem which represents much older weapons and equipments4 ,this theory does not help us4 ,in an uncritical age poets could not discern that their genre of romance and religion was alien from that of ,homer4 ,to return to the puzzle about the careful and precise continuators of the ,iliad1 as contrasted with their heedless contemporaries1 the authors of the ,cyclic poems4 ,how non-,homeric the authors of these ,cyclic poems were1 before and after #ffj ,b4,c41 we illustrate from examples of their left hand backslidings and right hand fallings off4 ,they introduced 7#a7 ,the ,apotheosis of the ,dioscuri1 who in ,homer 7,iliad1 ,,iii4 #bdc7 are merely dead men 7,cypria74 7#b7 ,story of ,iphigenia ,cypria4 7#c7 ,story of ,palamedes1 who is killed when angling by ,odysseus and ,diomede 7,cypria74 ,homer's heroes never fish1 except in stress of dire necessity1 in the ,odyssey1 and ,homer's own ,diomede and ,odysseus would never stoop to assassinate a companion when engaged in the contemplative man's recreation4 ,we here see the heroes in late degraded form as on the ,attic stage4 7#d7 ,the ,cyclics introduce ,helen as daughter of ,nemesis1 and describe the flight of ,nemesis from ,zeus in various animal forms1 a ,maerchen of a sort not popular with ,homer2 an ,ionic ,maerchen1 ,mr4 ,leaf would say4 ,there is nothing like this in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 7#e7 ,they call the son of ,achilles1 not ,neoptolemus1 as ,homer does1 but ,pyrrhus4 7#f7 ,they represent the ,achaean army as obtaining supplies through three magically gifted maidens1 who produce corn1 wine1 and oil at will1 as in fairy tales4 ,another ,ionic non-,achaean ,maerchen6 ,they bring in ghosts of heroes dead and buried4 ,such ghosts1 in ,homer's opinion1 were impossible if the dead had been cremated4 ,all these non-,homeric absurdities1 save the last1 are from the ,cypria1 dated by ,sir ,richard ,jebb about #ggf ,b4,c41 long before the ,odyssey was put into shape1 namely1 after #ffj ,b4 ,c4 in his opinion4 ,yet the alleged late compiler of the ,odyssey1 in the seventh century1 never wanders thus from the ,homeric standard in taste4 ,what a skilled archaeologist he must have been6 ,the author of the ,cypria knew the ,iliad1 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ced4 but his knowledge could not keep him true to tradition4 7#g7 ,in the ,a,ethiopis 7about #ggf ,b4,c47 men are made immortal after death1 and are worshipped as heroes1 an idea foreign to ,iliad and ,odyssey4 7#h7 ,there is a savage ritual of purification from blood shed by a homicide 7compare ,eumenides1 line #bgc74 ,this is unheard of in ,iliad and ,odyssey1 though familiar to ,aeschylus4 7#i7 ,achilles1 after death1 is carried to the isle of ,leuke4 7#aj7 ,the fate of ,ilium1 in the ,cyclic ,little ,iliad1 hangs on the ,palladium1 of which nothing is known in ,iliad or ,odyssey4 ,the ,little ,iliad is dated about #gjj ,b4,c4 7#aa7 ,the ,nostoi mentions ,molossians1 not named by ,homer 7which is a trifle72 it also mentions the ,asiatic city of ,colophon1 an ,ionian colony1 which is not a trivial self-betrayal on the part of the poet4 ,he is dated about #gej ,b4,c4 ,thus1 more than a century before the ,odyssey received its final form1 after #ffj ,b4,c41 from the hands of one man 7according to the theory71 the other ,ionian poets who attempted ,epic were betraying themselves as non-,homeric on every hand4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #cdg-chc4 ,our examples are but a few derived from the brief notices of the ,cyclic poets' works1 as mentioned in ancient literature2 these poets probably1 in fact1 betrayed themselves constantly4 ,but their contemporaries1 the makers of late additions to the ,odyssey1 and the later mosaic worker who put it together1 never betrayed themselves to anything like the fatal extent of anachronism exhibited by the ,cyclic poets4 ,how1 if the true ancient tone1 taste1 manners1 and religion were lost1 as the ,cyclic poets show that they were1 did the contemporary ,ionian poets or rhapsodists know and preserve the old manner8 ,the best face we can put on the matter is to say that all the ,cyclic poets were recklessly independent of tradition1 while all men who botched at the ,iliad were very learned1 and very careful to maintain harmony in their pictures of life and manners1 except when they introduced changes in burial1 bride-price1 houses1 iron1 greaves1 and corslets1 all of them things1 by the theory1 modern1 and when they sang in modern grammar4 ,yet despite this conscientiousness of theirs1 most of the many authors of our ,iliad and ,odyssey were1 by the theory1 strolling irresponsible rhapsodists1 like the later jongleurs of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in mediaeval ,france4 ,how could these strollers keep their modern ,ionian ideas1 or their primitive1 recrudescent phases of belief1 out of their lays1 as far as they did keep them out1 while the contemporary authors of the ,cypria1 ,the ,sack of ,ilios1 and other ,cyclic poets were full of new ideas1 legends1 and beliefs1 or primitive notions revived1 and1 save when revived1 quite obviously late and quite un-,homeric in any case8 ,the difficulty is the greater if the ,cyclic poems were long poems1 with one author to each ,epic4 ,such authors were obviously men of ambition2 they produced serious works de longue haleine4 ,it is from them that we should naturally expect conservative and studious adhesion to the traditional models4 ,from casual strollers like the rhapsodists and chanters at festivals1 we look for nothing of the sort4 ,they might be expected to introduce great feats done by sergeants and privates1 so to speak--men of the nameless ,greek3 laos1 the host1 the foot men--who in ,homer are occasionally said to perish of disease or to fall under the rain of arrows1 but are never distinguished by name4 ,the strollers1 it might be thought1 would also be the very men to introduce fairy tales1 freaks of primitive ,ionian myth1 discreditable anecdotes of the princely heroes1 and references to the ,ionian colonies4 ,but it is not so2 the serious1 laborious authors of the long ,cyclic poems do such un-,homeric things as these2 the gay1 irresponsible strolling singers of a lay here and a lay there--lays now incorporated in the ,iliad and ,odyssey--scrupulously avoid such faults4 ,they never even introduce a signet ring4 ,these are difficulties in the theory of the ,iliad as a patchwork by many hands1 in many ages1 which nobody explains2 which1 indeed1 nobody seems to find difficult4 ,yet the difficulty is insuperable4 ,even if we take refuge with ,wilamowitz in the idea that the ,cyclic and ,homeric poems were at first mere protoplasm of lays of many ages1 and that they were all compiled1 say in the sixth century1 into so many narratives1 we come no nearer to explaining why the tone1 taste1 and ideas of two such narratives--,illiad and ,odyssey--are confessedly distinct from the tone1 taste1 and ideas of all the others4 ,the ,cyclic poems are certainly the production of a late and changed age8 ,footnote3 ,for what manner of audience1 if not for readers1 the ,cyclic poems were composed is a mysterious question4 ,the ,iliad is not in any degree--save perhaps in a few interpolated passages--touched by the influences of that late age4 ,it is not a complex of the work of four incompatible centuries1 as far as this point is concerned--the point of legend1 religion1 ritual1 and conception of heroic character4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,hypotheses ,,of ,,epic ,,composition ,whosoever holds that the ,homeric poems were evolved out of the lays of many men1 in many places1 during many periods of culture1 must present a consistent and logical hypothesis as to how they attained their present plots and forms4 ,these could not come by accident1 even if the plots are not good--as all the world held that they were1 till after ,wolf's day--but very bad1 as some critics now assert4 ,still plot and form1 beyond the power of chance to produce1 the poems do possess4 ,nobody goes so far as to deny that2 and critics make hypotheses explanatory of the fact that a single ancient kernel of some #bejj lines1 a kernel altered at will by any one who pleased during four centuries1 became a constructive whole4 ,if the hypotheses fail to account for the fact1 we have the more reason to believe that the poems are the work of one age1 and1 mainly1 of one man4 ,in criticising ,homeric criticism as it is to-day1 we cannot do better than begin by examining the theories of ,mr4 ,leaf which are offered by him merely as a working hypothesis4 ,his most erudite work is based on a wide knowledge of ,german ,homeric speculation1 of the exact science of ,grammar1 of archaeological discoveries1 and of manuscripts4 ,footnote3 ,the ,iliad4 ,macmillan ,co4 #aijj1 #aijb4 ,his volumes are1 ,i doubt not1 as they certainly deserve to be1 on the shelves of every ,homeric student1 old or young1 and doubtless their contents reach the higher forms in schools1 though there is reason to suppose that1 about the unity of ,homer1 schoolboys remain conservative4 ,in this book of more than #abjj pages ,mr4 ,leaf's space is mainly devoted to textual criticism1 philology1 and pure scholarship1 but his ,introductions1 ,notes1 and ,appendices also set forth his mature ideas about the ,homeric problem in general4 ,he has altered some of his opinions since the publication of his ,companion to the ,iliad7#ahib71 but the main lines of his old system are1 except on one crucial point1 unchanged4 ,his theory we shall try to state and criticise2 in general outline it is the current theory of separatist critics1 and it may fairly be treated as a good example of such theories4 ,the system is to the following effect3 ,greek tradition1 in the classical period1 regarded the ,iliad and ,odyssey as the work of one man1 ,homer1 a native of one or other of the ,ionian colonies of ,asia ,minor4 ,but the poems show few obvious signs of origin in ,asia4 ,they deal with dwellers1 before the ,dorian invasion 7which the poet never alludes to71 on the continent of ,europe and in ,crete4 ,footnote3 ,if the poet sang after the tempest of war that came down with the ,dorians from the north1 he would probably have sought a topic in the ,achaean exploits and sorrows of that period4 ,the ,dorians1 not the ,trojans1 would have been the foes4 ,the epics of ,france of the eleventh and twelfth centuries dwell1 not on the real victories of the remote ,charlemagne so much as on the disasters of ,aliscans and ,roncesvaux--defeats at ,saracen hands1 ,saracens being the enemies of the twelfth-century poets4 ,no ,saracens1 in fact1 fought at ,roncesvaux4 ,the lays are concerned with good old times2 presumably between #aejj and #aajj ,b4,c4 ,their pictures of the details of life harmonise more with what we know of the society of that period from the evidence of buildings and recent excavations1 than with what we know of the life and the much more rude and barbaric art of the so-called ,dipylon period of geometrical ornament considerably later4 ,in the ,dipylon age though the use of iron1 even for swords 7made on the lines of the old bronze sword71 was familiar1 art was on a most barbaric level1 not much above the ,bed ,indian type1 as far1 at least1 as painted vases bear witness4 ,the human figure is designed as in ,tommy ,traddles's skeletons2 there is1 however1 some crude but promising idea of composition4 ,the picture of life in the ,homeric poems1 then1 is more like that of1 say1 #aejj-aajj ,b4,c4 than of1 say1 #ajjj-hej ,b4,c4 in ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion4 ,certainly ,homer describes a wealthy aristocracy1 subject to an ,over-,lord1 who rules1 by right divine1 from golden ,mycenae4 ,we hear of no such potentate in ,ionia4 ,homer's accounts of contemporary art seem to be inspired by the rich art generally dated about #aejj-abjj4 ,yet there are many traces of apparent anachronism1 of divergence from the more antique picture of life4 ,in these divergences are we to recognise the picture of a later development of the ancient existence of #aejj-abjj ,b4,c48 ,or have elements of the life of a much later age of ,greece 7say1 #hjj-eej ,b4,c47 been consciously or unconsciously introduced by the late poets8 ,here ,mr4 ,leaf recognises a point on which we have insisted1 and must keep insisting1 for it is of the first importance4 ,it is a priori the most probable supposition that1 in an uncritical age1 poets do not reproduce the circumstances of the old time1 but only clothe the old tale in the garb of their own days4 ,poets in an uncritical age always1 in our experience1 clothe old tales with the garb of their own time1 but ,mr4 ,leaf thinks that1 in the case of the ,homeric poems1 this idea is not wholly borne out by the facts4 ,in fact1 ,mr4 ,leaf's hypothesis1 like ,helbig's1 exhibits a come-and-go between the theory that his late poets clung close to tradition and so kept true to ancient details of life1 and the theory that they did quite the reverse in many cases4 ,of this frequent examples will occur4 ,he writes1 ,the ,homeric period is certainly later than the shaft tombs 7discovered at ,mycenae by ,dr4 ,schliemann71 but it does not necessarily follow that it is post-,mycenaean4 ,it is quite possible that certain notable differences between the poems and the monuments 7of ,mycenae7 in burial1 for instance1 and in women's dress may be due to changes which arose within the ,mycenaean age itself1 in that later part of it of which our knowledge is defective--almost as defective as it is of the subsequent ',dipylon' period4 ,on the whole1 the resemblance to the typical ,mycenaean culture is more striking than the difference4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 pp4 xiii4-xv4 #aijj4 ,so far ,mr4 ,leaf states precisely the opinion for which we argue4 ,the ,homeric poems describe an age later than that of the famous tombs--so rich in relics--of the ,mycenaean acropolis1 and earlier than the tombs of the ,dipylon of ,athens4 ,the poems thus spring out of an age of which1 except from the poems themselves1 we know little or nothing1 because1 as is shown later1 no cairn burials answering to the frequent ,homeric descriptions have ever been discovered--so relics corroborating ,homeric descriptions are to seek4 ,but the age attaches itself in many ways to the age of the ,mycenaean tombs1 while1 in our opinion1 it stands quite apart from the post-,dorian culture4 ,where we differ from ,mr4 ,leaf is in believing that the poems1 as wholes1 were composed in that late ,mycenaean period of which1 from material remains1 we know very little2 that much new was not added1 as he thinks1 in the ,ionian development which lasted perhaps from the ninth century ,b4,c4 to the seventh4 ,we cannot agree with ,mr4 ,leaf1 when he1 like ,helbig1 thinks that much of the detail of the ancient life in the poems had early become so stereotyped that no continuator1 however late1 dared intentionally to sap the type1 though he slipped from time to time into involuntary anachronism4 ,some poets are also asserted to indulge in voluntary anachronism when1 as ,mr4 ,leaf supposes1 they equip the ancient warriors with corslets and greaves and other body armour of bronze such as1 in his opinion1 the old heroes never knew1 such as never were mentioned in the oldest parts or kernel of the poems4 ,thus the traditional details of ,mycenaean life sometimes are regarded as stereotyped in poetic tradition2 sometimes as subject to modern alterations of a sweeping and revolutionary kind4 ,as to deliberate adherence to tradition by the poets1 we have proved that the ,cyclic epic poets of #hjj-ffj ,b4,c4 wandered widely from the ancient models4 ,if1 then1 every minstrel or rhapsodist who1 anywhere1 added at will to the old kernel of the ,achilles was1 so far as he was able1 as conscientiously precise in his stereotyped archaeological details as ,mr4 ,leaf sometimes supposes1 the fact is contrary to general custom in such cases4 ,when later poets in an uncritical age take up and rehandle the poetic themes of their predecessors1 they always give to the stories a new costume1 as ,m4 ,gaston ,paris remarks in reference to thirteenth century dealings with ,french epics of the eleventh century4 ,but1 in the critics' opinion1 the late rehandlers of old ,achaean lays preserved the archaic modes of life1 war1 costume1 weapons1 and so forth1 with conscientious care1 except in certain matters to be considered later1 when they deliberately did the very reverse4 ,sometimes the late poets devoutly follow tradition4 ,sometimes they deliberately innovate4 ,sometimes they pedantically archaise1 bringing in genuine1 but by their time forgotten1 ,mycenaean things1 and criticism can detect their doings in each case4 ,though the late continuators of the ,iliad were able1 despite certain inadvertencies1 to keep up for some four centuries in ,asia the harmonious picture of ancient ,achaean life and society in ,europe1 critics can distinguish four separate strata1 the work of many different ages1 in the ,iliad4 ,of the first stratum composed in ,europe1 say about #acjj-aaej ,b4,c4 7,i give a conjectural date under all reserves71 the topic was ,,the ,wrath of ,,achilles4 ,of this poem1 in ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion1 7a7 the ,first ,book and fifty lines of the ,second ,book remain intact or1 perhaps1 are a blend of two versions4 7b7 ,the ,valour of ,agamemnon and ,defeat of ,,the ,achaeans4 ,of this there are portions in ,book ,,xi41 but they were meddled with1 altered1 and generally doctored1 down to the latest period1 namely1 the age of ,pisistratus in ,athens1 the middle of the sixth century ,b4,c4 7c7 ,the fight in which1 after their defeat1 the ,achaeans try to save the ships from the torch of ,hector1 and the ,valour of ,patroclus 7but some critics do not accept this71 with his death 7,,xv41 ,,xvi4 in parts74 7d7 ,some eighty lines on the ,,arming ,,of ,,achilles 7,,xix474 7e7 ,perhaps an incident or two in ,books ,,xx41 ,,xxi4 7f7 ,the ,slaying ,,hector by ,achilles1 in ,books ,,xxi41 ,,xxii4 7but some of the learned will not admit this1 and we shall1 unhappily1 have to prove that1 if ,mr4 ,leaf's principles be correct1 we really know nothing about the ,,slaying ,,of ,,hector in its original form74 ,of these six elements only did the original poem consist1 ,mr4 ,leaf thinks2 a rigid critic will reject as original even the ,valour of ,patroclus and the ,,death ,,of ,,hector1 but ,mr4 ,leaf refuses to go so far as that4 ,the original poem1 as detected by him1 is really the work of a single poet1 perhaps the greatest in all the world's history4 ,if the original poet did no more than is here allotted to him1 especially if he left out the purpose of ,zeus and the person of ,thetis in ,book ,i41 we do not quite understand his unapproachable greatness4 ,he must certainly have drawn a rather commonplace ,achilles1 as we shall see1 and we confess to preferring the ,iliad as it stands4 ,the brief narrative cut out of the mass by ,mr4 ,leaf1 then1 was the genuine old original poem or kernel4 ,what we commonly call the ,,iliad1 on the other hand1 is1 by his theory1 a thing of shreds and patches1 combined in a manner to be later described4 ,the blend1 we learn1 has none of the masterly unity of the old original poem4 ,meanwhile1 as criticism of literary composition is a purely literary question1 critics who differ from ,mr4 ,leaf have a right to hold that the ,iliad as it stands contains1 and always did contain1 a plot of masterly perfection4 ,we need not attend here so closely to ,mr4 ,leaf's theory in the matter of the ,first ,expansions1 7#b7 and the ,second ,expansions1 7#c7 but the latest ,expansions 7#d7 give the account of ,the ,,embassy to ,achilles with his refusal of ,agamemnon's ,,apology7,book ,,ix471 the blank space 7,book ,,xxiv471 the ,,reconciliation ,,of ,,achilles ,,and ,agamemnon1 ,,and the ,,funeral ,games of ,patroclus 7,,xxiii474 ,in all these parts of the poem there are1 we learn1 countless alterations1 additions1 and expansions1 with1 last of all1 many transitional passages1 the work of the editor inspired by the statesman1 that is1 of an hypothetical editor who really by the theory made our ,,iliad1 being employed to that end by ,pistratus about #edj ,b4,c4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 pp4 x41 xiv4 #aijj44 ,mr4 ,leaf and critics who take his general view are enabled to detect the patches and tatters of many ages by various tests1 for example1 by discovering discrepancies in the narrative1 such as in their opinion no one sane poet could make4 ,other proofs of multiplex authorship are discovered by the critic's private sense of what the poem ought to be1 by his instinctive knowledge of style1 by detection of the poet's supposed errors in geography1 by modernisms and false archaisms in words and grammar1 and by the presence of many objects1 especially weapons and armour1 which the critic believes to have been unknown to the original minstrel4 ,thus criticism can pick out the things old1 fairly old1 late1 and quite recent1 from the mass1 evolved through many centuries1 which is called the ,iliad4 ,if the existing ,,iliad is a mass of expansions1 added at all sorts of dates1 in any number of places1 during very different stages of culture1 to a single short old poem of the ,mycenaean age1 science needs an hypothesis which will account for the ,,iliad as it stands4 ,everybody sees the need of the hypothesis1 ,how was the medley of new songs by many generations of irresponsible hands codified into a plot which used to be reckoned fine8 ,how were the manners1 customs1 and characters1 unus color1 preserved in a fairly coherent and uniform aspect8 ,how was the whole ,greek world1 throughout which all manner of discrepant versions and incongruous lays must1 by the theory1 have been current1 induced to accept the version which has been bequeathed to us8 ,why1 and for what audience or what readers1 did somebody1 in a late age of brief lyrics and of philosophic poems1 take the trouble to harmonise the body of discrepant wandering lays1 and codify them in the ,iliad8 ,an hypothesis which will answer all these questions is the first thing needful1 and hypotheses are produced4 ,believers like ,mr4 ,leaf in the development of the ,iliad through the changing revolutionary centuries1 between say #abjj and #fjj ,b4,c41 consciously stand in need of a working hypothesis which will account1 above all1 for two facts3 first1 the relatively correct preservation of the harmony of the picture of life1 of ideas political and religious1 of the characters of the heroes1 of the customary law 7such as the bride-price in marriage71 and of the details as to weapons1 implements1 dress1 art1 houses1 and so forth1 when these are not 7according to the theory7 deliberately altered by late poets4 ,next1 the hypothesis must explain1 in ,mr4 ,leafs own words1 how a single version of the ,iliad came to be accepted1 where many rival versions must1 from the necessity of the case1 have once existed side by side4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xviii4 #aijj4 ,three hypotheses have1 in fact1 been imagined3 the first suggests the preservation of the original poems in very early written texts2 not1 of course1 in ,homer's autograph4 ,this view ,mr4 ,leaf1 we shall see1 discards4 ,the second presents the notion of one old sacred college for the maintenance of poetic uniformity4 ,mr4 ,leaf rejects this theory1 while supposing that there were schools for professional reciters4 ,last1 there is the old hypothesis of ,wolf3 ,pisistratus 7about #edj ,b4,c47 was the first who had the ,homeric poems committed to writing1 and brought into that order in which we now possess them4 ,this hypothesis1 now more than a century old1 would1 if it rested on good evidence1 explain how a single version of the various lays came to be accepted and received as authorised4 ,the ,greek world1 by the theory1 had only in various places various sets of incoherent chants orally current on the ,wrath of ,the public was everywhere a public of listeners1 who heard the lays sung on rare occasions at feasts and fairs1 or whenever a strolling rhapsodist took up his pitch1 for a day or two1 at a street corner4 ,there was1 by the theory1 no reading public for the ,homeric poetry4 ,but1 by the time of ,pisistratus1 a reading public was coming into existence4 ,the tyrant had the poems collected1 edited1 arranged into a continuous narrative1 primarily for the purpose of regulating the recitals at the ,panathenaic festival4 ,when once they were written1 copies were made1 and the rest of ,hellas adopted these for their public purposes4 ,on a small scale we have a case analogous4 ,the old songs of ,scotland existed1 with the airs1 partly in human memory1 partly in scattered broadsheets4 ,the airs were good1 but the words were often silly1 more often they were ,fescennine--more dirt than wit4 ,burns rewrote the words1 which were published in handsome volumes1 with the old airs1 or with these airs altered1 and his became the authorised versions1 while the ancient anonymous chants were almost entirely forgotten4 ,the parallel is fairly close1 but there are points of difference4 ,burns was a great lyric poet1 whereas we hear of no great epic poet in the age of ,pisistratus4 ,the old words which ,burns's songs superseded were wretched doggerel2 not such were the ancient ,greek heroic lays4 ,the old ,scottish songs had no sacred historic character2 they did not contain the history of the various towns and districts of ,scotland4 ,the heroic lays of ,greece were believed1 on the other hand1 to be a kind of ,domesday book of ancient principalities1 and cities1 and worshipped heroes4 ,thus it was much easier for a great poet like ,burns to supersede with his songs a mass of unconsidered sculdudery old lays1 in which no man or set of men had any interest1 than for a mere editor1 in the age of ,pisistratus1 to supersede a set of lays cherished1 in one shape or another1 by every ,state in ,greece4 ,this holds good1 even if1 prior to ,pisistratus1 there existed in ,greece no written texts of ,homer1 and no reading public1 a point which we shall show reasons for declining to concede4 ,the theory of the edition of ,pisistratus1 if it rested on valid evidence1 would explain how a single version of the poems came to be accepted1 namely1 because the poem was now written for the first time1 and oral versions fell out of memory4 ,but it would not1 of course1 explain how1 before ,pisistratus1 during four or five centuries of change1 the new poets and reciters1 throughout the ,greek world1 each adding such fresh verses as he pleased1 and often introducing such modern details of life as he pleased1 kept up the harmony of the ,homeric picture of life1 and character1 and law1 as far as it confessedly exists4 ,to take a single instance3 the poems never allude to the personal armorial bearings of the heroes4 ,they are unknown to or unnamed by ,homer1 but are very familiar on the shields in seventh century and sixth century vases1 and ,a,eschylus introduces them with great poetic effect in blank space4 ,how did late continuators1 familiar with the serpents1 lions1 bulls' heads1 crabs1 doves1 and so forth1 on the contemporary shields1 keep such picturesque and attractive details out of their new rhapsodies8 ,in mediaeval ,france1 we shall show1 the epics 7eleventh to thirteenth centuries7 deal with ,charlemagne and his peers of the eighth century ,a4,d4 ,but they provide these heroes with the armorial bearings which came in during the eleventh to twelfth century ,a4,d4 ,the late ,homeric rhapsodists avoided such tempting anachronisms4 ,wolf's theory1 then1 explains how a single version came to be accepted4 ,it was the first ,,written version2 the others died out1 like the old ,scots orally repeated songs1 when ,burns published new words to the airs4 ,but ,wolf's theory does not explain the harmony of the picture of life1 the absence of post-,homeric ideas and ways of living1 in the first written version1 which1 practically1 is our own version4 ,in #ahib 7,,companion ,,to ,,the ,iliad7 ,mr4 ,leaf adopted a different theory1 the hypothesis of a ,homeric school which busied itself with the tradition of the ,homeric poetry1 for there must have been some central authority to preserve the text intact when it could not be preserved in writing4 ,were there no such body to maintain a fixed standard1 the poems must have ended by varying indefinitely1 according to the caprice of their various reciters4 ,this is perfectly obvious4 ,such a school could keep an eye on anachronisms and excise them2 in fact1 the ,maori priests1 in an infinitely more barbarous state of society1 had such schools for the preservation of their ancient hymns in purity4 ,the older priests insisted on a critical and verbatim rehearsal of all the ancient lore4 ,proceedings were sanctioned by human sacrifices and many mystic rites4 ,we are not told that new poems were produced and criticised2 it does not appear that this was the case4 ,pupils attended from three to five years1 and then qualified as priests or tohunga ,footnote3 ,white1 ,,the ,ancient ,,history ,,of ,,the ,maori1 ,,vol4 i4 pp4 #h-ac44 ,suppose that the ,asiatic ,greeks1 like the ,maoris and ,zunis1 had ,poetic ,colleges of a sacred kind1 admitting new poets1 and keeping them up to the antique standard in all respects4 ,if this were so1 the relative rarity of anachronisms and of modernisms in language in the ,homeric poems is explained4 ,but ,mr4 ,leaf has now entirely and with a light heart abandoned his theory of a school1 which is unsupported by evidence1 he says4' ,the great problem1 he writes1 for those who maintain the gradual growth of the poems by a process of crystallisation has been to understand how a single version came to be accepted1 where many rival versions must1 from the necessity of the case1 have once existed side by side4 ,the assumption of a school or guild of singers has been made1 and ,mr4 ,leaf1 in #ahib1 made the assumption himself3 as some such hypothesis we are bound to make in order to explain the possibility of any theory 7#ahib74 ,footnote3 ,,companion ,,to ,,the ,iliad1 pp4 #bj1 #ba4 ,but now 7#aijj7 he says1 after mentioning the assumption of a school or guild of singers1 that the rare mention of ,greek3 ,homeridai in ,chios gives no support to this hypothesis1 which lacks any other confirmation4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 xviii4 p4 xix4 ,he therefore now adopts the ,wolfian hypothesis that an official copy of ,homer was made in ,athens at the time of ,solon or ,pisistratus1 from the rhapsodies existing in the memory of reciters4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xix4 ,but ,mr4 ,leaf had previously said ,footnote3 ,,companion ,,to ,,the ,iliad1 p4 #aij4 that the legend which connects his 7,pisistratus's7 name with the ,homeric poems is itself probably only conjectural1 and of late date4 ,now the evidence for ,pisistratus which1 in #ahib1 he thought conjectural and of late date1 seems to him a sufficient basis for an hypothesis of a ,pisistratean editor of the ,iliad1 while the evidence for an ,homeric school which appeared to him good enough for an hypothesis in #ahib is rejected as worthless1 though1 in each case1 the evidence itself remains just what it used to be4 ,this is not very satisfactory1 and the ,pisistratean hypothesis is much less useful to a theorist than the former hypothesis of an ,homeric school1 for the ,pisistratean hypothesis cannot explain the harmony of the characters and the details in the ,iliad1 nor the absence of such glaring anachronisms as the ,cyclic poets made1 nor the general pre-,odyssean character of the language and grammar4 ,by the ,pisistratean hypothesis there was not1 what ,mr4 ,leaf in #ahib justly deemed essential1 a school to maintain a fixed standard1 throughout the changes of four centuries1 and against the caprice of many generations of fresh reciters and irresponsible poets4 ,the hypothesis of a school was really that which1 of the two1 best explained the facts1 and there is no more valid evidence for the first making and writing out of our ,iliad under ,pisistratus than for the existence of a ,homeric school4 ,the evidence for the ,iliad edited for ,pisistratus is examined in a ,note at the close of this chapter4 ,meanwhile ,mr4 ,leaf now revives ,wolf's old theory to account for the fact that somehow a single version 7of the ,homeric poems7 came to be accepted4 ,his present theory1 if admitted1 does account for the acceptation of a single version of the poems1 the first standard written version1 but fails to explain how the caprice of the different reciters 7as he says7 did not wander into every variety of anachronism in detail and in diction1 thus producing a chaos which no editor of about #edj ,a4,d4 could force into its present uniformity4 ,such an editor is now postulated by ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,if his editor's edition1 as being written1 was accepted by ,greece1 then we understand how a single version came to be accepted4 ,but we do not understand how the editor could possibly introduce a harmony which could only have characterised his materials1 as ,mr4 ,leaf has justly remarked1 if there was an ,homeric school to maintain a fixed standard4 ,but now such harmony in the picture of life as exists in the poems is left without any explanation4 ,we have now1 by the theory1 a crowd of rhapsodists1 many generations of uncontrolled wandering men1 who1 for several centuries1 ,rave1 recite1 and madden through the land1 with no written texts1 and with no fixed body to maintain a standard4 ,such men would certainly not adhere strictly to a stereotyped early tradition3 that we cannot expect from them4 ,again1 no editor of about #edj ,b4,c4 could possibly bring harmony of manners1 customs1 and diction into such of their recitals as he took down in writing4 ,let us think out the supposed editor's situation4 ,during three centuries nine generations of strollers have worked their will on one ancient short poem1 ,the ,wrath of ,achilles4 ,this is1 in itself1 an unexampled fact4 ,poets turn to new topics2 they do not1 as a rule1 for centuries embroider one single situation out of the myriads which heroic legend affords4 ,strolling reciters are the least careful of men1 each would recite in the language and grammar of his day1 and introduce the newly evolved words and idioms1 the new and fashionable manners1 costume1 and weapons of his time4 ,when war chariots became obsolete1 he would bring in cavalry2 when there was no ,over-,lord1 he would not trouble himself to maintain correctly the character and situation of ,agamemnon4 ,he would speak of coined money1 in cases of buying and selling2 his ,european geography would often be wrong2 he would not ignore the ,ionian cities of ,asia2 most weapons would be of iron1 not bronze1 in his lays4 ,ionian religious ideas could not possibly be excluded1 nor changes in customary law1 civil and criminal4 ,yet1 we think1 none of these things occurs in ,homer4 ,the editor of the theory had to correct all these anachronisms and discrepancies4 ,what a task in an uncritical age6 ,the editor's materials would be the lays known to such strollers as happened to be gathered1 in ,athens1 perhaps at the ,panathenaic festival4 ,the repertoire of each stroller would vary indefinitely from those of all the others4 ,one man knew this chant1 as modified or made by himself2 other men knew others1 equally unsatisfactory4 ,the editor must first have written down from recitation all the passages that he could collect4 ,then he was obliged to construct a narrative sequence containing a plot1 which he fashioned by a process of selection and rejection2 and then he had to combine passages1 alter them1 add as much as he thought fit1 remove anachronisms1 remove discrepancies1 accidentally bring in fresh discrepancies 7as always happens71 weave transitional passages1 look with an antiquarian eye after the too manifest modernisms in language and manners1 and so produce the blank space4 ,that1 in the sixth century ,b4,c41 any man undertook such a task1 and succeeded so well as to impose on ,aristotle and all the later ,greek critics1 appears to be a theory that could only occur to a modern man of letters1 who is thinking of the literary conditions of his own time4 ,the editor was doing1 and doing infinitely better1 what ,loennrot1 in the nineteenth century1 tried in vain to achieve for the ,finnish ,kalewala4 ,footnote3 ,see ,comparetti1 ,the ,kalewala4 ,centuries later than ,pisistratus1 in a critical age1 ,apollonius ,rhodius set about writing an epic of the ,homeric times4 ,we know how entirely he failed1 on all hands1 to restore the manner of ,homer4 ,the editor of #edj ,b4,c4 was a more scientific man4 ,can any one who sets before himself the nature of the editor's task believe in him and it8 ,to the master-less floating jellyfish of old poems and new1 ,mr4 ,leaf supposes that but small and unimportant additions were made after the end of the eighth century or thereabouts1 especially as the creative and imaginative forces of the ,ionian race turned to other forms of expression1 to lyrics and to philosophic poems4 ,but the able ,pisistratean editor1 after all1 we find1 introduced quantities of new matter into the poems--in the middle of the sixth century2 that kind of industry1 then1 did not cease towards the end of the eighth century1 as we have been told4 ,on the other hand1 as we shall learn1 the editor contributed to the ,iliad1 among other things1 ,nestor's descriptions of his youthful adventures1 for the purpose of flattering ,nestor's descendant1 the tyrant ,pisistratus of ,athens4 ,one hypothesis1 the theory of an ,homeric school--which would answer our question1 ,how was the harmony of the picture of life in remote ages preserved in poems composed in several succeeding ages1 and in totally altered conditions of life8--,mr4 ,leaf1 as we know1 rejects4 ,we might suggest1 again1 that there were written texts handed down from an early period1 and preserved in new copies from generation to generation4 ,mr4 ,leaf states his doubt that there were any such texts4 ,the poems were all this time handed down orally only by tradition among the singers 7sic71 who used to wander over ,greece reciting them at popular festivals4 ,writing was indeed known through the whole period of epic development 7some four centuries at least71 but it is in the highest degree unlikely that it was ever employed to form a standard text of the ,epic or ,,any part of it4 ,there can hardly have been any standard text2 at best there was a continuous tradition of those parts of the poems which were especially popular1 and the knowledge of which was a valuable asset to the professional reciter4 ,now we would not contend for the existence of any blank space text much before #fjj ,b4,c41 and ,i understand ,mr4 ,leaf not to deny1 now1 that there may have been texts of the ,,odyssey and ,iliad before1 say1 #fjj-edj ,b4,c4 ,if cities and reciters had any ancient texts1 then texts existed1 though not standard texts3 and by this means the harmony of thought1 character1 and detail in the poems might be preserved4 ,we do not think that it is in the highest degree unlikely that there were no texts4 ,is this one of the many points on which every savant must rely on his own sense of what is likely8 ,to this essential point1 the almost certain existence of written texts1 we return in our conclusion4 ,what we have to account for is not only the relative lack of anachronisms in poems supposed to have been made through a period of at least four hundred years1 but also the harmony of the ,,characters in subtle details4 ,some of the characters will be dealt with later2 meanwhile it is plain that ,mr4 ,leaf1 when he rejects both the idea of written texts prior to #fjj-edj ,b4,c41 and also the idea of a school charged with the duty of maintaining a fixed standard1 leaves a terrible task to his supposed editor of orally transmitted poems which1 he says--if unpreserved by text or school--must have ended by varying infinitely according to the caprice of their various reciters4 ,footnote3 ,companion to the ,iliad1 p4 #ba4 ,on that head there can be no doubt2 in the supposed circumstances no harmony1 no unus color1 could have survived in the poems till the days of the sixth century editor4 ,here1 then1 is another difficulty in the path of the theory that the ,iliad is the work of four centuries4 ,if it was1 we are not enabled to understand how it came to be what it is4 ,no editor could possibly tinker it into the whole which we possess2 none could steer clear of many absurd anachronisms4 ,these are found by critics1 but it is our hope to prove that they do not exist4 ,,note ,,the ,,legend ,,of ,,the ,,making ,,of ,,the ,,iliad ,,under ,,pisistratos ,it has been shown in the text that in #ahib ,mr4 ,leaf thought the story about the making of the ,iliad under ,pisistratus1 a legend without authority1 while he regarded the traditions concerning an ,homeric school as sufficient basis for an hypothesis1 which we are bound to make in order to explain the possibility of any theory4 ,in #aijj he entirely reversed his position1 the school was abandoned1 and the story of ,pisistratus was accepted4 ,one objection to accepting any of the various legends about the composing and writing out1 for the first time1 of the ,iliad1 in the sixth century1 the age of ,pisistratus1 was the silence of ,aristarchus on the subject4 ,he discussed the authenticity of lines in the ,iliad which1 according to the legend1 were interpolated for a political purpose by ,solon or ,pisistratus1 but1 as far as his comments have reached us in the scholia1 he never said a word about the tradition of ,athenian interpolation4 ,now ,aristarchus must1 at least1 have known the tradition of the political use of a disputed line1 for ,aristotle writes 7,rhetoric1 i4 #ae7 that the ,athenians1 early in the sixth century1 quoted ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #eeh1 to prove their right to ,salamis4 ,aristarchus also discussed ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #eec1 #eee1 to which the ,spartans appealed on the question of supreme command against ,persia 7,herodotus1 vii4 #aei74 ,again ,aristarchus said nothing1 or nothing that has reached us1 about ,athenian interpolation4 ,once more1 ,odyssey1 ,,ii4 #fca1 was said by ,hereas1 a ,megarian writer1 to have been interpolated by ,pisistratus 7,plutarch47 ,but the scholia that represent the teaching of ,aristarchus never make any reference to the alleged dealings of ,pisistratus with the ,iliad4 ,the silence of ,aristarchus1 however1 affords no safe ground of argument to believers or disbelievers in the original edition written out by order of ,pisistratus4 ,it can never be proved that the scholiasts did not omit what ,aristarchus said1 though we do not know why they should have done so2 and it can never be proved that ,aristarchus was ignorant of the traditions about ,pisistratus1 or that he thought them unworthy of notice4 ,all is matter of conjecture on these points4 ,mr4 ,leaf's conversion to belief in the story that our ,iliad was practically edited and first committed to writing under ,pisistratus appears to be due to the probability that ,aristarchus must have known the tradition4 ,but if he did1 there is no proof that he accepted it as historically authentic4 ,there is not1 in fact1 any proof even that ,aristarchus must have known the tradition4 ,he had probably read ,dieuchidas of ,megara1 for ,wilamowitz has shown that ,dieuchidas wrote in the fourth century4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xix4 ,but1 unluckily1 we do not know that ,dieuchidas stated that the ,iliad was made and first committed to writing in the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,no mortal knows what ,dieuchidas said3 and1 again1 what ,dieuchidas said is not evidence4 ,he wrote as a partisan in a historical dispute4 ,the story about ,pisistratus and his editor1 the practical maker of the ,iliad1 is interwoven with a legend about an early appeal1 in the beginning of the sixth century ,b4,c41 to ,homer as an historical authority4 ,the ,athenians and ,megarians1 contending for the possession of the island of ,salamis1 the home of the hero ,aias1 are said to have laid their differences before the ,spartans 7cir4 #fjj-ehj ,b4,c474 ,each party quoted ,homer as evidence4 ,aristotle1 who1 as we saw1 mentions the tale 7,rhetoric1 i4 #ae71 merely says that the ,athenians cited ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #eeh3 ,aias led and stationed his men where the phalanxes of the ,athenians were posted4 ,aristarchus condemned this line1 not 7as far as evidence goes7 because there was a tradition that the ,athenians had interpolated it to prove their point1 but because he thought it inconsistent with ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #bcj2 ,,iv4 #bea1 which1 if ,i may differ from so great a critic1 it is not2 these two passages deal1 not with the position of the camps1 but of the men in the field on a certain occasion4 ,but if ,aristarchus had thought the tradition of ,athenian interpolation of ,,ii4 #eeh worthy of notice1 he might have mentioned it in support of his opinion4 ,perhaps he did4 ,no reference to his notice has reached us4 ,however this may be1 ,mr4 ,leaf mainly bases his faith in the ,pisistratean editor 7apparently1 we shall see1 an ,asiatic ,greek1 residing in ,athens71 on a fragmentary passage of ,diogenes ,laertius 7third century ,a4,d471 concerned with the tale of ,homer's being cited about #fjj-ehj ,b4,c4 as an authority for the early ownership of ,salamis4 ,in this text ,diogenes quotes ,dieuchidas as saying something about ,pisistratus in relation to the ,homeric poems1 but what ,dieuchidas really said is unknown1 for a part has dropped out of the text4 ,the text of ,diogenes ,laertius runs thus 7,solon1 i4 #eg73 ,he 7,solon7 decreed that the ,homeric poems should be recited by rhapsodists ,greek text3 ex hypobolaes 7words of disputed sense71 so that where the first reciter left off thence should begin his successor4 ,it was rather ,solon1 then1 than ,pisistratus who brought ,homer to light 7,greek text3 ephotisen71 as ,diogenes says in the ,fifth ,book of his ,megarica4 ,and the lines were especially these3 ,they who held ,athens1 c4 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #edf-eeh71 the passage on which the ,athenians rested in their dispute with the ,megarians4 ,and what lines were especially these8 ,mr4 ,leaf fills up the gap in the sense1 after ,pisistratus thus1 for it was he 7,solon7 who interpolated lines in the ,catalogue1 and not ,pisistratus4 ,he says3 ,the natural sense of the passage as it stands 7in ,diogenes ,laertius7 is this3 ,it was not ,peisistratos1 as is generally supposed1 but ,solon who collected the scattered ,homer of his day1 for he it was who interpolated the lines in the ,catalogue of the ,ships4444 ,but ,diogenes neither says for himself nor quotes from ,dieuchidas anything about collecting the scattered ,homer of his day4 ,that ,pisistratus did so is ,mr4 ,leafs theory1 but there is not a hint about anybody collecting anything in the ,greek4 ,ritschl1 indeed1 conjecturally supplying the gap in the text of ,diogenes1 invented the words1 ,who collected the ,homeric poems1 and inserted some things to please the ,athenians4 ,but ,mr4 ,leaf rejects that conjecture as clearly wrong4 ,then why does he adopt1 as the natural sense of the passage1 it was not ,peisistratos but ,solon who collected the scattered ,homer of his day8 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xviii4 ,the testimony of ,dieuchidas1 as far as we can see in the state of the text1 refers1 as ,mr4 ,monro says1 to the interpolation that has just been mentioned1 and need not extend further back4 ,interpolation is a process that postulates a text in which the additional verses can be inserted1 whereas1 if ,i understand ,mr4 ,leaf1 the very first text1 in his opinion1 was that compiled by the editor for ,pisistratus4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #djj #daj1 especially pp4 #djh-dji4 ,mr4 ,leaf himself dismisses the story of the ,athenian appeal to ,homer for proof of their claim as a fiction4 ,if1 so1 it does not appear that ancient commentaries on a fiction are of any value as proof that ,pisistratus produced the earliest edition of the ,iliad4 ,footnote3 ,mr4 ,leaf adds that1 except in one disputed line 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #eeh7 ,aias is not1 in the ,iliad1 encamped next the ,athenians4 ,his proofs of this odd oversight of the fraudulent interpolator1 who should have altered the line1 are ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #cbg ff1 and ,,xii4 #fha ff4 ,in the former passage we find ,odysseus stationed next to the ,athenians4 ,but ,odysseus would have neighbours on either hand4 ,in the second passage we find the ,athenians stationed next to the ,boeotians and ,ionians1 but the ,athenians1 too1 had neighbours on either side4 ,the arrangement was1 on the ,achaean extreme left1 ,protesilaus's command 7he was dead71 and that of ,aias2 then the ,boeotians and ,ionians1 with the picked men of the ,athenians2 and then ,odysseus1 on the ,boeotolono-,athenian right2 or so the ,athenians would read the passage4 ,the texts must have seemed favourable to the fraudulent ,athenian interpolator denounced by the ,megarians1 or he would have altered them4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 however1 argues that line #eeh of ,book ,,ii4 cannot be original1 as is patent from the fact that ,aias in the rest of the ,iliad is not encamped next the ,athenians 7see ,,iv4 #cbg2 ,,xiii4 #fha74 ,the ,megarians do not seem to have seen it1 or they would have cited these passages4 ,but why argue at all about the ,megarian story if it be a fiction8 ,mr4 ,leaf takes the brief bald mention of ,aias in ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #eeh as a mocking cry from ,athens over the conquest of the island of the ,aiakidai4 ,but as1 in this same ,catalogue1 ,aias is styled by far the best of warriors after ,achilles 7,,ii4 #gfh71 while there is no more honourable mention made of ,diomede than that he had a loud war cry 7,,ii4 #efh71 or of ,menelaus but that he was also sonorous1 and while ,nestor1 the ancestor of ,pisistratus1 receives not even that amount of praise 7line #fja71 the mocking cry from ,athens appears a vain imagination4 ,the lines disputed by the ,megarians occur in the ,catalogue1 and1 as to the date and original purpose of the ,catalogue1 the most various opinions prevail4 ,in ,mr4 ,leaf's earlier edition of the ,iliad 7vol4 i4 p4 #cg71 he says that nothing convincing has been urged to show that the ,catalogue is of late origin4 ,we know1 from the story of ,solon and the ,megarians1 that the ,catalogue was considered a classical work--the ,domesday ,book of ,greece1 at a very early date--say #fjj-ehj ,b4,c4 ,it agrees with the poems in being pre-,dorian 7except in lines #fec-fgj74 ,there seems therefore to be no valid reason for doubting that it1 like the bulk of the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 was composed in ,achaean times1 and carried with the emigrants to the coast of ,asia ,minor4444 ,in his new edition 7vol4 ii4 p4 #hf71 ,mr4 ,leaf concludes that the ,catalogue originally formed an introduction to the whole ,cycle1 the compiling of the whole ,cycle being of uncertain date1 but very late indeed1 on any theory4 ,the author studiously preserves an ante-,dorian standpoint4 ,it is admitted that there can be little doubt that some of the material1 at least1 is old4 ,these opinions are very different from those expressed by ,mr4 ,leaf in #ahhf4 ,he cannot now give even an approximate date for the composition of the ,catalogue which1 we conceive1 must be the latest thing in ,homer1 if it was composed for that portion of the whole ,cycle which1 as worked up in a separate poem1 was called the ,kypria for the ,kypria is obviously a very late performance1 done as a prelude to the ,iliad4 ,i am unable to imagine how this mutilated passage of ,diogenes1 even if rightly restored1 proves that ,dieuchidas1 a writer of the fourth century ,b4,c41 alleged that ,pisistratus made a collection of scattered ,homeric poems--in fact1 made a standard text4 ,the ,pisistratean hypothesis was not so long ago unfashionable1 but in the last few years a clear reaction has set in1 says ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 i4 p4 ,,xix4 ,the reaction has not affected that celebrated scholar1 ,dr4 ,blass1 who1 with ,teutonic frankness1 calls the ,pisistratean edition an absurd legend4 ,footnote3 ,blass1 ,die ,interpolationen in der ,odyssee1 pp4 ,i1 #b4 ,halle1 #aijd4 ,meyer says that the ,alexandrians rejected the ,pisistratean story as a worthless fable1 differing here from ,mr4 ,leaf and ,wilamowitz2 and he spurns the legend1 saying that it is incredible that the whole ,greek world would allow the tyrants of ,athens to palm off a ,homer on them4 ,footnote3 ,meyer1 ,geschichte des ,alterthums1 ii4 #cij1 #cia4 #ahic4 ,mr4 ,t4 ,w4 ,allen1 an eminent textual scholar1 treats the ,pisistratean editor with no higher respect4 ,in an ,egyptian papyrus containing a fragment of ,julius ,africanus1 a ,christian chronologer1 ,mr4 ,allen finds him talking confidently of the ,pisistratidae4 ,they stitched together the rest of the epic1 but excised some magical formulae which ,julius ,africanus preserves4 ,mr4 ,allen remarks3 ,the statements about ,pisistratus belong to a well-established category1 that of ,homeric mythology4444 ,the anecdotes about ,pisistratus and the poet himself are on a par with ,dares1 who 'wrote the ,iliad before ,homer4' ,footnote3 ,classical ,review xviii4 #adh4 ,the editor of ,pisistratus is hardly in fashion1 though that is of no importance4 ,of importance is the want of evidence for the editor1 and1 as we have shown1 the impossible character of the task allotted to him by the theory4 ,as ,i suppose ,mr4 ,leaf to insinuate1 fashion has really nothing to do with the question4 ,people who disbelieve in written texts must1 and do1 oscillate between the theory of an ,homeric school and the ,wolfian theory that ,pisistratus1 or ,solon1 or somebody procured the making of the first written text at ,athens in the sixth century--a theory which fails to account for the harmony of the picture of life in the poems1 and1 as ,mr4 ,monro1 ,grote1 ,nutzhorn1 and many others argue1 lacks evidence4 ,as ,mr4 ,monro reasons1 and as ,blass states the case bluntly1 ,solon1 or ,pisistratus1 or whoever it was1 put a stop1 at least as far as ,athens was concerned1 to the mangling of ,homer by the rhapsodists or reciters1 each anxious to choose a pet passage1 and not going through the whole ,iliad in due sequence4 ,but the unity existed before the mangling4 ,that this has been so long and so stubbornly misunderstood is no credit to ,german scholarship3 blind uncritical credulity on one side1 limitless and arbitrary theorising on the other6 ,we are not solitary sceptics when we decline to accept the theory of ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,it is neither bottomed on evidence nor does it account for the facts in the case4 ,that is to say1 the evidence appeals to ,mr4 ,leaf as valid1 but is thought worse than inadequate by other great scholars1 such as ,monro and ,blass2 while the fact of the harmony of the picture of life1 preserved through four or five centuries1 appears to be left without explanation4 ,mr4 ,leaf holds that1 in order to organise recitations in due sequence1 the making of a text1 presenting1 for the first time1 a due sequence1 was necessary4 ,his opponents hold that the sequence already existed1 but was endangered by the desultory habits of the rhapsodists4 ,we must here judge each for himself2 there is no court of final appeal4 ,i confess to feeling some uncertainty about the correctness of my statement of ,mr4 ,leaf's opinions4 ,he and ,i both think an early ,attic recension probable1 or almost certain4 ,but 7see' ,conclusion7 ,i regard such recension as distinct from the traditional edition of ,pisistratus4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 ,i learn1 does not regard the edition as having made the ,iliad2 yet his descriptions of the processes and methods of his ,pisistratean editor correspond to my idea of the making of our ,iliad as it stands4 ,see1 for example1 ,mr4 ,leaf's ,introduction to ,iliad1 ,book ,,ii4 ,he will not even insist on the early ,attic as the first written text2 if it was not1 its general acceptance seems to remain a puzzle4 ,he discards the idea of one ,homeric school of paramount authority1 but presumes that1 as recitation was a profession1 there must have been schools4 ,we do not hear of them or know the nature of their teaching4 ,the ,beauvais school of jongleurs in ,lent 7fourteenth century ,a4,d47 seems to have been a holiday conference of strollers4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,loose ,,feudalism3 ,,the ,,over-,,lord ,,in ,,iliad1 ,,books ,i4 ,,and ,,ii4 ,we now try to show that the ,epics present an historical unity1 a complete and harmonious picture of an age1 in its political1 social1 legal1 and religious aspects2 in its customs1 and in its military equipment4 ,a long epic can only present an unity of historical ideas if it be the work of one age4 ,wandering minstrels1 living through a succession of incompatible ages1 civic1 commercial1 democratic1 could not preserve1 without flaw or failure1 the attitude1 in the first place1 of the poet of feudal princes towards an ,over-,lord who rules them by undisputed right divine1 but rules weakly1 violently1 unjustly1 being subject to gusts of arrogance1 and avarice1 and repentance4 ,late poets not living in feudal society1 and unfamiliar alike with its customary law1 its jealousy of the ,over-,lord1 its conservative respect for his consecrated function1 would inevitably miss the proper tone1 and fail in some of the many blank space of the feudal situation4 ,this is all the more certain1 if we accept ,mr4 ,leaf's theory that each poet-rhapsodist's repertoire varied from the repertoires of the rest4 ,there could be no unity of treatment in their handling of the character and position of the ,over-,lord and of the customary law that regulates his relations with his peers4 ,again1 no editor of #edj ,b4,c4 could construct an harmonious picture of the ,over-,lord in relation to the princes out of the fragmentary repertoires of strolling rhapsodists1 which now lay before him in written versions4 ,if the editor could do this1 he was a man of ,shakespearian genius1 and had minute knowledge of a dead society4 ,this becomes evident when1 in place of examining the ,iliad through microscopes1 looking out for discrepancies1 we study it in its large lines as a literary whole4 ,the question being1 ,is the ,iliad a literary whole or a mere literary mosaic8 we must ask ,what1 taking it provisionally as a literary whole1 are the qualities of the poet as a painter of what we may call feudal society8 ,choosing the part of the ,over-,lord ,agamemnon1 we must not forget that he is one of several analogous figures in the national poetry and romance of other feudal ages4 ,of that great analogous figure1 ,charlemagne1 and of his relations with his peers in the earlier and later ,french mediaeval epics we shall later speak4 ,another example is ,arthur1 in some romances the blameless king1 in others un roi faineant4 ,the parallel ,irish case is found in the ,irish saga of ,diarmaid and ,grainne4 ,we read ,mr4 ,o',grady's introduction on the position of ,eionn ,mac ,cumhail1 the legendary ,over-,lord of ,ireland1 the ,agamemnon of the ,celts4 ,fionn1 like many men in power1 is variable2 he is at times magnanimous1 at other times tyrannical and petty4 ,diarmaid1 ,oisin1 ,oscar1 and ,caoilte ,mac ,rohain are everywhere the ,greek3 kaloi kachotoi of the ,fenians2 of them we never hear anything bad4 ,footnote3 ,transactions of the ,ossianic ,society1 vol4 iii4 p4 #ci4 ,human nature eternally repeats itself in similar conditions of society1 ,french1 ,norse1 ,celtic1 and ,achaean4 ,we never hear anything bad of ,diomede1 ,odysseus1 or ,aias1 and the evil in ,achilles's resentment up to a certain point is legal1 and not beyond what the poet thinks natural and pardonable in his circumstances4 ,the poet's view of ,agamemnon is expressed in the speeches and conduct of the peers4 ,in ,book ,i4 we see the bullying truculence of ,agamemnon1 wreaked first on the priest of ,apollo1 ,chryses1 then in threats against the prophet ,chalcas1 then in menaces against any prince on whom he chooses to avenge his loss of fair ,chryseis1 and1 finally1 in the ,seizure of ,briseis from ,achilles4 ,this part of the ,first ,book of the ,iliad is confessedly original1 and there is no varying1 throughout the ,epic1 from the strong and delicate drawing of an historical situation1 and of a complex character4 ,agamemnon is truculent1 and eager to assert his authority1 but he is also possessed of a heavy sense of his responsibilities1 which often unmans him4 ,he has a legal right to a separate prize of honour 7geras7 after each capture of spoil4 ,considering the wrath of ,apollo for the wrong done in refusing his priest's offered ransom for his daughter1 ,agamemnon will give her back1 if that is better2 rather would ,i see my folks whole than perishing4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,i4 #aae-aag4 ,here we note points of feudal law and of kingly character4 ,the giving and taking of ransom exists as it did in the ,middle ,ages2 ransom is refused1 death is dealt1 as the war becomes more fierce towards its close4 ,agamemnon has sense enough to waive his right to the girlish prize1 for the sake of his people1 but is not so generous as to demand no compensation4 ,but there are no fresh spoils to apportion1 and the ,over-,lord threatens to take the prize of one of his peers1 even of ,achilles4 ,thereon ,achilles does what was frequently done in the feudal age of western ,europe1 he renounces his fealty1 and will return to ,phthia4 ,he adds insult1 thou dog-face6 ,the whole situation1 we shall show1 recurs again and again in the epics of feudal ,france1 the later epics of feudal discontent4 ,agamemnon replies that ,achilles may do as he pleases4 ,i have others by my side that shall do me honour1 and1 above all1 ,zeus1 ,lord of ,counsel 7,i4 #age74 ,he rules1 literally1 by divine right1 and we shall see that1 in the ,french feudal epics1 as in ,homer1 this claim of divine right is granted1 even in the case of an insolent and cowardly ,over-,lord4 ,achilles half draws his great sword1 one of the long1 ponderous cut-and-thrust bronze swords of which we have actual examples from ,mycenae and elsewhere4 ,he is restrained by ,athene1 visible only to him4 ,with words1 indeed1 she says1 revile him 4444 hereafter shall goodly gifts come to thee1 yea1 in threefold measure4444 ,gifts of atonement for surquedry1 like that of ,agamemnon1 are given and received in the ,french epics1 for example1 in the blank space4 ,the ,iliad throughout exhibits much interest in such gifts1 and in the customary law as to their acceptance1 and other ritual or etiquette of reconciliation4 ,this fact1 it will be shown1 accounts for a passage which critics reject1 and which is tedious to our taste1 as it probably was tedious to the age of the supposed late poets themselves4 7,book ,,xix474 ,but the taste of a feudal audience1 as of the audience of the ,saga men1 delighted in realistic descriptions of their own customs and customary law1 as in descriptions of costume and armour4 ,this is fortunate for students of customary law and costume1 but wearies hearers and readers who desire the action to advance4 ,passages of this kind would never be inserted by late poets1 who had neither the knowledge of1 nor any interest in1 the subjects4 ,to return to ,achilles1 he is now within his right2 the moral goddess assures him of that1 and he is allowed to give the reins to his tongue1 as he does in passages to which the mediaeval epics offer many parallels4 ,in the mediaeval epics1 as in ,homer1 there is no idea of recourse to a duel between the ,over-,lord and his peer4 ,achilles accuses ,agamemnon of drunkenness1 greed1 and poltroonery4 ,he does not return home1 but swears by the sceptre that ,agamemnon shall rue his outrecuidance when ,hector slays the host4 ,by the law of the age ,achilles remains within his right4 ,his violent words are not resented by the other peers4 ,they tacitly admit1 as ,athene admits1 that ,achilles has the right1 being so grievously injured1 to renounce his fealty1 till ,agamemnon makes apology and gives gifts of atonement4 ,such1 plainly1 is the unwritten feudal law1 which gives to the ,over-,lord the lion's share of booty1 the initiative in war and council1 and the right to command2 but limits him by the privilege of the peers to renounce their fealty under insufferable provocation4 ,in no ,book is ,agamemnon so direfully insulted as in the ,first1 which is admitted to be of the original kernel4 ,elsewhere the sympathy of the poet occasionally enables him to feel the elements of pathos in the position of the over-tasked ,king of ,men4 ,as concerns the apology and the gifts of atonement1 the poet has feudal customary law and usage clearly before his eyes4 ,he knows exactly what is due1 and the limits of the rights of ,over-,lord and prince1 matters about which the late ,ionian poets could only pick up information by a course of study in constitutional history--the last thing they were likely to attempt--unless we suppose that they all kept their eyes on the kernel1 and that steadily1 through centuries1 generations of strollers worked on the lines laid down in that brief poem4 ,thus the poet of ,book ,,ix4--one of the latest expansions1--thoroughly understands the legal and constitutional situation1 as between ,agamemnon and ,achilles4 ,or rather all the poets who collaborated in ,book ,,ix41 which had grown by a process of accretion1 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #cga4 understood the legal situation4 ,returning to the poet's conception of ,agamemnon1 we find in the character of ,agamemnon himself the key to the difficulties which critics discover in the ,second ,book4 ,the difficulty is that when ,zeus1 won over to the cause of ,achilles by ,thetis1 sends a false ,dream to ,agamemnon1 the ,dream tells the prince that he shall at once take ,troy1 and bids him summon the host to arms4 ,but ,agamemnon1 far from doing that1 summons the host to a peaceful assembly1 with the well-known results of demoralisation4 ,mr4 ,leaf explains the circumstances on his own theory of expansions compiled into a confused whole by a late editor4 ,he thinks that probably there were two varying versions even of this earliest ,book of the poem4 ,in one 7,a71 the story went on from the quarrel between ,agamemnon and ,achilles1 to the holding of a general assembly to consider the altered state of affairs4 ,this is the ,assembly of ,book ,h1 but debate1 in version ,a1 was opened by ,thersites1 not by ,agamemnon1 and ,thersites proposed instant flight6 ,that was probably the earlier version4 ,in the other early version 7,b71 after the quarrel between the chiefs1 the story did not1 as in ,a1 go on straight to the ,assembly1 but ,achilles appealed to his mother1 the fair sea-goddess1 as in our ,iliad1 and she obtained from ,zeus1 as in the actual ,iliad1 his promise to honour ,achilles by giving victory1 in his absence1 to the ,trojans4 ,the poet of version ,b1 in fact1 created the beautiful figure of ,thetis1 so essential to the development of the tenderness that underlies the ferocity of ,achilles4 ,the other and earliest poet1 who treated of the ,wrath of the author of version ,a1 neglected that opportunity with all that it involved1 and omitted the purpose of ,zeus1 which is mentioned in the fifth line of the ,epic4 ,the editor of #edj ,b4,c41 seeing good in both versions1 ,a and ,b1 combined his information1 and produced ,books ,i4 and ,,ii4 of the ,,iliad as they stand4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #dg4 ,mr4 ,leaf suggests that there is some ground for supposing that the oldest version of the ,wrath of ,achilles did not contain the promise of ,zeus to ,thetis2 it was a tale played exclusively on the earthly stage4 ,footnote3 ,ibid1 vol4 i4 p4 xxiii4 ,in that case the author of the oldest form 7,a7 must have been a poet very inferior indeed to the later author of ,b who took up and altered his work4 ,in his version1 ,book ,i4 does not end with the quarrel of the princes1 but ,achilles receives1 with all the courtesy of his character1 the unwelcome heralds of ,agamemnon1 and sends ,briseis with them to the ,over-,lord4 ,he then with tears appeals to his goddess-mother1 ,thetis of the ,sea1 who rose from the grey mere like a mist1 leaving the sea deeps where she dwelt beside her father1 the ancient one of the waters4 ,then sat she face to face with her son as he let the tears down fall1 and caressed him1 saying1 ,child1 wherefore weepest thou1 for what sorrow of heart8 ,hide it not1 tell it to me2 that ,i may know it as well as thou4 ,here the poet strikes the keynote of the character of ,achilles1 the deadly in war1 the fierce in council1 who weeps for his lost lady and his wounded honour1 and cries for help to his mother1 as little children cry4 ,such is the ,achilles of the ,iliad throughout and consistently1 but such he was not to the mind of ,mr4 ,leaf's probably elder poet1 the author of version ,a4 ,thetis1 in version ,b1 promises to persuade ,zeus to honour ,achilles by making ,agamemnon rue his absence1 and1 twelve days after the quarrel1 wins the god's consent4 ,in ,book ,,ii4 ,zeus reflects on his promise1 and sends a false ,dream to beguile ,agamemnon1 promising that now he shall take ,troy4 ,agamemnon1 while asleep1 is full of hope2 but when he wakens he dresses in mufti1 in a soft doublet1 a cloak1 and sandals2 takes his sword 7swords were then worn as part of civil costume71 and the ancestral sceptre1 which he wields in peaceful assemblies4 ,day dawns1 and he bids the heralds4444 ,a break here occurs1 according to the theory4 ,here 7,iliad1 ,book ,,ii41 line #ej7 the kernel ceases1 ,mr4 ,leaf says1 and the editor of #edj ,b4,c4 plays his pranks for a while4 ,the kernel 7or one of the two kernels71 we are to take up again at ,book ,,ii41 #ddc-dhc1 and thence skip to ,,xi4 #ef1 and now we have a narrative masterly in conception and smooth in execution1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #dg4 says ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,this kernel is kernel ,b1 probably the later kernel of the pair1 that in which ,achilles appeals to his lady mother1 who wins from ,zeus the promise to cause ,achaean defeat1 till ,achilles is duly honoured4 ,the whole ,epic turns on this promise of ,zeus1 as announced in the fifth1 sixth1 and seventh lines of the very first ,book4 ,if kernel ,a is the first kernel1 the poet left out the essence of the plot he had announced4 ,however1 let us first examine probable kernel ,b1 reading1 as advised1 ,book ,,ii4 #a-ej1 blank space2 ,,xi4 #ef ff4 ,we left ,agamemnon 7though the ,dream bade him summon the host to arms7 dressed in civil costume4 ,his ancestral sceptre in his hand1 he is going to hold a deliberative assembly of the unarmed host4 ,his attire proves that fact 7,greek3 prepodaes de ae stolae to epi ,boulaen exionti1 says the scholiast74 ,then if we skip1 as advised1 to ,,ii4 #ddc-dhc he bids the heralds call the host not to peaceful council1 for which his costume is appropriate1 but to war6 ,the host gathers1 and in their midst the lord ,agamemnon1--still in civil costume1 with his sceptre 7he has not changed his attire as far as we are told7--in face and eyes like ,zeus2 in waist like ,ares 7god of war72 in breast like ,poseidon1--yet1 for all that we are told1 entirely unarmed6 ,the host1 however1 were dressed in innumerable bronze1 war was sweeter to them than to depart in their ships to their dear native land1--so much did ,athene encourage them4 ,but nobody had been speaking of flight1 in ,,the ,,kernel ,b3 ,,that proposal was originally made by ,thersites1 in kernel ,a1 and was attributed to ,agamemnon in the part of ,book ,,ii4 where the editor blends ,a and ,b4 ,this part1 at present1 ,mr4 ,leaf throws aside as a very late piece of compilation4 ,turning next1 as directed1 to ,,xi4 #ef1 we find the ,trojans deploying in arms1 and the hosts encounter with fury--,agamemnon still1 for all that appears1 in the raiment of peace1 and with the sceptre of constitutional monarchy4 ,in he rushed1 first of all1 and slew ,bienor1 and many other gentlemen of ,troy1 not with his sceptre6 ,clearly all this is the reverse of a narrative masterly in conception and smooth in execution3 it is an impossible narrative4 ,mr4 ,leaf has attempted to disengage one of two forms of the old original poem from the parasitic later growths2 he has promised to show us a smooth and masterly narrative1 and the result is a narrative on which no ,achasan poet could have ventured4 ,in ,,ii4 #ej the heralds are bidden ,greek3 kurussein1 that is to summon the host--to what8 ,to a peaceful assembly1 as ,agamemnon's costume proves1 says the next line 7,,ii4 #ea71 but that is excised by ,mr4 ,leaf1 and we go on to ,,ii4 #ddc1 and the reunited passage now reads1 ,agamemnon bade the loud heralds 7,,ii4 #ej7 call the ,achaeans to battle 7,,ii4 #ddc71 and they came1 in harness1 but their leader--when did he exchange chiton1 cloak1 and sceptre for helmet1 shield1 and spear8 ,a host appears in arms2 a king who set out with sceptre and doublet is found with a spear1 in bronze armour3 and not another word is said about the ,dream of ,agamemnon4 ,it is perfectly obvious and certain that the two pieces of the broken kernel ,b do not fit together at all4 ,nor is this strange1 if the kernel was really broken and endured the insertion of matter enough to fill nine ,books 7,,il-,,xl74 ,if kernel ,b really contained ,book ,,ii41 line #ej1 as ,mr4 ,leaf avers1 if ,agamemnon1 as in that line 7#ej7 bade the clear-voiced heralds do4444 something--what he bade them do was1 necessarily1 as his peaceful costume proves1 to summon the peaceful assembly which he was to moderate with his sceptre4 ,at such an assembly1 or at a preliminary council of ,chiefs1 he would assuredly speak of his ,dream1 as he does in the part excised4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 if he will not have a peaceful assembly as part of kernel ,b1 must begin his excision at the middle of line #db1 in ,,ii41 where ,agamemnon wakens2 and must make him dress not in mufti but in armour1 and call the host of the ,achaeans to arm1 as the ,dream bade him do1 and as he does in ,,ii4 #ddc4 ,perhaps we should then excise ,,ii4 #de #b1 #de #c1 with the reference to the plan of retreat1 for ,,that is part of kernel ,a where there was no promise of ,zeus1 and no ,dream sent to ,agamemnon4 ,then from ,,ii4 #dhc1 the description of the glorious armed aspect of ,agamemnon1 ,mr4 ,leaf may pass to ,,xi4 #ef1 the account of the ,trojans under ,hector1 of the battle1 of the prowess of ,agamemnon1 inspired by the ,dream which he1 contrary to ,homeric and ,french epic custom1 has very wisely mentioned to nobody--that is1 in the part not excised4 ,this appears to be the only method by which ,mr4 ,leaf can restore the continuity of his kernel ,b4 ,though ,mr4 ,leaf has failed to fit ,book ,,xi4 to any point in ,book ,,ii41 of course it does not follow that ,book ,,xi4 cannot be a continuation of the original ,wrath of ,achilles 7version ,b74 ,if so1 we understand why ,agamemnon plucks up heart1 in ,book ,,xi41 and is the chief cause of a temporary ,trojan reverse4 ,he relies on the ,dream sent from ,zeus in the opening lines of ,book ,,ii41 the ,dream which was not in kernel ,a2 the ,dream which he communicated to nobody2 the ,dream conveying the promise that he should at once take ,troy4 ,this is perhaps a tenable theory1 though ,agamemnon had much reason to doubt whether the host would obey his command to arm1 but an alternative theory of why and wherefore ,agamemnon does great feats of valour1 in ,book ,,xi41 will later be propounded4 ,note that the events of ,books ,,xl4-,,xviii41 by ,mr4 ,leaf's theory1 all occur on the very day after ,thetis 7according to kernel ,b7' #gi obtains from ,zeus his promise to honour ,achilles by the discomfiture of the ,achaeans2 they have suffered nothing till that moment1 as far as we learn1 from the absence of ,achilles and his #bejj men3 allowing for casualties1 say #bjjj4 ,so far we have traced--from ,books ,i4 and ,,ii4 to ,book ,,xi4--the fortunes of kernel ,b1 of the supposed later of two versions of the opening of the ,iliad4 ,but there may have been a version 7,a7 probably earlier1 we have been told1 in which ,achilles did not appeal to his mother1 nor she to ,zeus1 and ,zeus did not promise victory to the ,trojans1 and sent no false ,dream of success to ,agamemnon4 ,what were the fortunes of that oldest of all old kernels8 ,in this version 7,a7 ,agamemnon1 having had no ,dream1 summoned a peaceful assembly to discuss the awkwardness caused by the mutiny of ,achilles4 ,the host met 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #hg-ii74 ,here we pass from line #ii to #bab-bdb3 ,thersites it is who opens the debate1 7in version ,a7 insults ,agamemnon1 and advises flight4 ,the army rushed off to launch the ships1 as in ,,ii4 #adb-baj1 and were brought back by ,odysseus1 who made a stirring speech1 and was well backed by ,agamemnon1 urging to battle4 ,version ,a appears to us to have been a version that no heroic audience would endure4 ,a low person like ,thersites opens a debate in an assembly called by the ,over-,lord2 this could not possibly pass unchallenged among listeners living in the feudal age4 ,when a prince called an assembly1 he himself opened the debate1 as ,achilles does in ,book ,i4 #ed-fg4 ,that a lewd fellow1 the buffoon and grumbler of the host1 of the people1 nameless and silent throughout the ,epic1 should rush in and open debate in an assembly convoked by the ,over-,lord1 would have been regarded by feudal hearers1 or by any hearers with feudal traditions1 as an intolerable poetical license4 ,thersites would have been at once pulled down and beaten2 the host would not have rushed to the ships on his motion4 ,any feudal audience would know better than to endure such an impossibility2 they would have asked1 ,how could ,thersites speak--without the sceptre8 ,as the poem stands1 and ought to stand1 nobody less than the ,over-,lord1 acting within his right1 7,greek3 ae themis esti ,,ii4 #gc71 could suggest the flight of the host1 and be obeyed4 ,it is the absolute demoralisation of the host1 in consequence of the strange test of their ,lord1 ,agamemnon1 making a feigned proposal to fly1 and it is their confused1 bewildered return to the assembly under the persuasions of ,odysseus1 urged by ,athene1 that alone1 in the poem1 give ,thersites his unique opportunity to harangue4 ,when the ,over-,lord had called an assembly the first word1 of course1 was for to speak1 as he does in the poem as it stands4 ,that ,thersifes should rise in the arrogance bred by the recent disorderly and demoralised proceedings is one thing2 that he should open the debate when excitement was eager to hear ,agamemnon1 and before demoralisation set in1 is quite another4 ,we never hear again of ,thersites1 or of any one of the commonalty1 daring to open his mouth in an assembly4 ,thersites sees his one chance1 the chance of a life time1 and takes it2 because ,agamemnon1 by means of the test--a proposal to flee homewards--which succeeded1 it is said1 in the case of ,cortes1--has reduced the host1 already discontented1 to a mob4 ,before ,agamemnon thus displayed his ineptitude1 as he often does later1 ,thersites had no chance4 ,all this appears sufficiently obvious1 if we put ourselves at the point of view of the original listeners4 ,thersites merely continues1 in full assembly1 the mutinous babble which he has been pouring out to his neighbours during the confused rush to launch the ships and during the return produced by the influence of ,odysseus4 ,the poet says so himself 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #bab74 ,the rest sat down 444 only ,thersites still chattered on4 ,no original poet could manage the situation in any other way4 ,we have now examined ,mr4 ,leaf's two supposed earliest versions of the beginning of the ,iliad4 ,his presumed earlier version 7,a71 with no ,thetis1 no promise of ,zeus1 and no ,dream1 and with ,thersites opening debate1 is jejune1 unpoetical1 and omits the gentler and most winning aspect of the character of ,achilles1 while it could not possibly have been accepted by a feudal audience for the reasons already given4 ,his presumed later version 7,b71 with ,thetis1 ,zeus1 and the false ,dream1 cannot be1 or certainly has not been1 brought by ,mr4 ,leaf into congruous connection with ,book ,,xi41 and it results in the fighting of the unarmed ,agamemnon1 which no poet could have been so careless as to invent4 ,agamemnon could not go into battle without helmet1 shield1 and spears 7the other armour we need not dwell upon here71 and ,thersites could not have opened a debate when the ,over-,lord had called the ,assembly1 nor could he have moved the chiefs to prepare for flight1 unless1 as in the actual ,iliad1 they had already been demoralised by the result of the feigned proposal of flight by ,agamemnon1 and its effect upon the host4 ,probably every reader who understands heroic society1 temper1 and manners will1 so far1 agree with us4 ,our own opinion is that the difficulties in the poem are caused partly by the poet's conception of the violent1 wavering1 excitable1 and unstable character of ,agamemnon2 partly by some accident1 now indiscoverable1 save by conjecture1 which has happened to the text4 ,the story in the actual ,iliad is that ,zeus1 planning disaster for the ,achaeans1 in accordance with his promise to ,thetis1 sends a false ,dream1 to tell ,agamemnon that he will take ,troy instantly4 ,he is bidden by the ,dream to summon the host to arms4 ,agamemnon1 still asleep1 has in his mind things not to be fulfilled3 ,him seemeth that he shall take ,priam's town that very day 7,,ii4 #cf1 #cg74 ,then he awoke 7,,ii4 #da71 and1 obviously1 was no longer so sanguine1 once awake6 ,being a man crushed by his responsibility1 and1 as commander-in-chief1 extremely timid1 though personally brave1 he disobeys the ,dream1 dresses in civil costume1 and summons the host to a peaceful assembly1 not to war1 as the ,dream bade him do4 ,probably he thought that the host was disaffected1 and wanted to argue with them1 in place of commanding4 ,here it is that the difficulty comes in1 and our perplexity is increased by our ignorance of the regular procedure in ,homeric times4 ,was the host not in arms and fighting every day1 when there was no truce8 ,there seems to have been no armistice after the mutiny of ,achilles1 for we are told that1 in the period between his mutiny and the day of the ,dream of ,agamemnon1 ,achilles was neither going to the ,assembly1 nor into battle1 but wasted his heart1 abiding there1 longing for war and the slogan 7,i4 #dhi1 #dib74 ,thus it seems that war went on1 and that assemblies were being held1 in the absence of ,achilles4 ,it appears1 however1 that the fighting was mere skirmishing and raiding1 no general onslaught was attempted2 and from ,book ,,ii4 #gc1 #hc it seems to have been a matter of doubt1 with ,agamemnon and ,nestor1 whether the army would venture a pitched battle4 ,it also appears1 from the passage cited 7,i4 #dhi1 #dib7 that assemblies were being regularly held2 we are told that ,achilles did not attend them4 ,yet1 when we come to the assembly 7,,ii4 #hf-ajj7 it seems to have been a special and exciting affair1 to judge by the brilliant picture of the crowds1 the confusion1 and the cries4 ,nothing of the sort is indicated in the meeting of the assembly in ,i4 #ed-e #h4 ,why is there so much excitement at the assembly of ,book ,,ii48 ,partly because it was summoned at dawn1 whereas the usual thing was for the host to meet in arms before fighting on the plain or going on raids2 assemblies were held when the day's work was over4 ,the host1 therefore1 when summoned to an assembly at dawn1 expects to hear of something out of the common--as the mutiny of ,achilles suggests--and is excited4 ,we must ask1 then1 why does ,agamemnon1 after the ,dream has told him merely to summon the host to arm--a thing of daily routine--call a deliberative morning assembly1 a thing clearly not of routine8 ,if ,agamemnon is really full of confidence1 inspired by the ,dream1 why does he determine1 not to do what is customary1 call the men to arms1 but as ,jeanne d',arc said to the ,dauphin1 to hold such long and weary councils8 ,mr4 ,jevons speaks of ,agamemnon's confidence in the delusive dream as at variance with his proceedings1 and would excise ,,ii4 #ce-da1 the only lines which represent ,agamemnon as confidently believing in the ,dream4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 vii4 pp4 #cjf1 #cjg4 ,but the poet never once says that ,agamemnon1 awake1 did believe confidently in the ,dream6 ,agamemnon dwelt with hope while asleep2 when he wakened--he went and called a peaceful morning assembly1 though the ,dream bade him call to arms4 ,he did not dare to risk his authority4 ,this was exactly in keeping with his character4 ,the poet should have said1 ,when he woke1 the ,dream appeared to him rather poor security for success 7saying so in poetic language1 of course71 and then there would be no difficulty in the summoning of an assembly at dawn4 ,but either the poet expected us to understand the difference between the hopes of ,agamemnon sleeping1 and the doubts of ,agamemnon waking to chill realities--an experience common to all of us who dream--or some explanatory lines have been dropped out--one or two would have cleared up the matter4 ,if ,i am right1 the poet has not been understood4 ,people have not observed that ,agamemnon hopes while asleep1 and doubts1 and acts on his doubt1 when awake4 ,thus ,mr4 ,leaf writes3 ,elated by the dream1 as we are led to suppose1 ,agamemnon summons the army--to lead them into battle8 ,nothing of the sort2 he calls them to assembly4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #df4 ,but we ought not to have been led to suppose that the waking ,agamemnon was so elated as the sleeping ,agamemnon4 ,he was disillusioned on waking2 his conduct proves it2 he did not know what to think about the ,dream2 he did not know how the host would take the ,dream2 he doubted whether they would fight at his command1 so he called an assembly4 ,mr4 ,jevons very justly cites a parallel case4 ,grote has remarked that in ,book ,,vii4 of ,herodotus1 ,the dream sent by the ,gods to frighten ,xerxes when about to recede from his project1 has a marked parallel in the ,iliad4 ,thus ,xerxes1 after the defection of ,artabanus1 was despondent1 like ,agamemnon after the mutiny of ,achilles1 and was about to recede from his project4 ,to both a delusive dream is sent urging them to proceed4 ,xerxes calls an assembly1 however1 and says that he will not proceed4 ,why8 ,because1 says ,herodotus1 when day came1 he thought nothing of his dream4 ,agamemnon1 once awake1 thought doubtfully of his dream2 he called a ,privy ,council1 told the princes about his dream--of which ,nestor had a very dubious opinion--and said that he would try the temper of the army by proposing instant flight3 the chiefs should restrain the men if they were eager to run away4 ,now the epic prose narrative of ,herodotus is here clearly based on ,iliad1 ,,ii41 which ,herodotus must have understood as ,i do4 ,but in ,homer there is no line to say--and one line or two would have been enough--that ,agamemnon1 when awake1 doubted1 like ,xerxes1 though ,agamemnon1 when asleep1 had been confident4 ,the necessary line1 for all that we know1 still existed in the text used by ,herodotus4 ,homer may lose a line as well as ,dieuchidas of ,megara1 or rather ,diogenes ,laertius4 ,juvenal lost a whole passage1 re-discovered by ,mr4 ,winstedt in a ,bodleian manuscript4 ,if ,homer expected modern critics to note the delicate distinction between ,agamemnon asleep and ,agamemnon awake1 or to understand ,agamemnon's character1 he expected too much4 ,footnote3 ,cf4 ,jevons1 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 vii4 pp4 #cjf1 #cjg4 ,the poet then treats the situation on these lines3 ,agamemnon1 awake and free from illusion1 does not obey the dream1 does not call the army to war2 he takes a middle course4 ,in the whole passage the poet's main motive1 as ,mr4 ,monro remarks with obvious truth1 is to let his audience become acquainted with the temper and spirit of the army as it was affected by the long siege 444 and by the events of the ,first ,book4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #bfa4 ,the poet could not obtain his object if ,agamemnon merely gave the summons to battle2 and he thinks ,agamemnon precisely the kind of waverer who will call1 first the ,privy ,council of the ,chiefs1 and then an assembly4 ,herein the homesick host will display its humours1 as it does with a vengeance4 ,agamemnon next tells his ,dream to the chiefs 7if he had a dream of this kind he would most certainly tell it71 and adds 7as has been already stated7 that he will first test the spirit of the army by a feigned proposal of return to ,greece1 while the chiefs are to restrain them if they rush to launch the ships4 ,nestor hints that there is not much good in attending to dreams2 however1 this is the dream of the ,over-,lord1 who is the favoured of ,zeus4 ,agamemnon next1 addressing the assembly1 says that posterity will think it a shameful thing that the ,achaeans raised the siege of a town with a population much smaller than their own army2 but allies from many cities help the ,trojans1 and are too strong for him1 whether posterity understands that or not4 ,let us flee with our ships6 ,on this the host break up1 in a splendid passage of poetry1 and rush to launch the ships1 the passion of nostalgie carrying away even the chiefs1 it appears--a thing most natural in the circumstances4 ,but ,athene finds ,odysseus in grief3 neither laid he any hand upon his ship1 as the others did1 and she encouraged him to stop the flight4 ,this he does1 taking the sceptre of ,agamemnon from his unnerved hand4 ,he goes about reminding the princes have we not heard ,agamemnon's real intention in council8 7,,ii4 #ahh-aig71 and rating the common sort4 ,the assembly meets again in great confusion2 ,thersites seizes the chance to be insolent1 and is beaten by ,odysseus4 ,the host then arms for battle4 ,the poet has thus shown ,agamemnon in the colours which he wears consistently all through the ,iliad4 ,he has1 as usual1 contrasted with him ,odysseus1 the type of a wise and resolute man4 ,this contrast the poet maintains without fail throughout4 ,he has shown us the temper of the weary1 home-sick army1 and he has persuaded us that he knows how subtle1 dangerous1 and contagious a thing is military panic4 ,thus1 at least1 ,i venture to read the passage1 which1 thus read1 is perfectly intelligible4 ,agamemnon is no personal coward1 but the burden of the safety of the host overcomes him later1 and he keeps suggesting flight in the ships1 as we shall see4 ,suppose1 then1 we read on from ,,ii4 #dj thus3 ,the ,dream left him thinking of things not to be1 even that on this day he shall take the town of ,priam4444 ,but he awoke from sleep with the divine voice ringing in his ears4 7,then it seemed him that some dreams are true and some false1 for all do not come through the ,gate of ,horn47 ,so he arose and sat up and did on his soft tunic1 and his great cloak1 and grasped his ancestral sceptre 444 and bade the clear-voiced heralds summon the ,achaeans of the long locks to the deliberative assembly4 ,he then1 as in ,,ii4 #ec-ge told his ,dream to the preliminary council1 and proposed that he should try the temper of the host by proposing flight--which1 if it began1 the chiefs were to restrain--before giving orders to arm4 ,the test of the temper of the host acted as it might be expected to act2 all rushed to launch the ships1 and the princes were swept away in the tide of flight1 ,agamemnon himself merely looking on helpless4 ,the panic was contagious2 only ,odysseus escaped its influence1 and redeemed the honour of the ,achaeans1 as he did again on a later day4 ,the passage certainly has its difficulties4 ,but ,erhardt expresses the proper state of the case1 after giving his analysis4 ,the hearer's imagination is so captured1 first by the dream1 then by the brawling assembly1 by the rush to the ships1 by the intervention of ,odysseus1 by the punishment of ,thersites--all these living pictures follow each other so fleetly before the eyes that we have scarcely time to make objections4 ,footnote3 ,die ,enstehung der ,homerische ,gedichte1 p4 #bi44 ,the poet aimed at no more and no less effect than he has produced1 and no more should be required by any one1 except by that anachronism--the analytical reader4 ,he has time to make objections3 the poet's audience had none2 and he must be criticised from their point of view4 ,homer did not sing for analytical readers1 for the modern professor2 he could not possibly conceive that ,time would bring such a being into existence4 ,to return to the character of ,agamemnon4 ,in moments of encouragement ,agamemnon is a valiant fighter1 few better spearmen1 yet he attains not to the first ,three1 ,achilles1 ,aias1 ,diomede4 ,but ,agamemnon is unstable as water2 again and again1 as in ,book ,,ii41 the lives and honour of the ,achaeans are saved in the ,over-,lord's despite by one or other of the peers4 ,the whole ,iliad1 with consistent uniformity1 pursues the scheme of character and conduct laid down in the two first ,books4 ,it is guided at once by feudal allegiance and feudal jealousy1 like the ,chansons de ,geste and the early sagas or romances of ,ireland4 ,a measure of respect for ,agamemnon1 even of sympathy1 is preserved2 he is not degraded as the kings and princes are often degraded on the ,attic stage1 and even in the ,cyclic poems4 ,would wandering ,ionian reciters at fairs have maintained this uniformity8 ,would the tyrant ,pisistratus have made his literary man take this view8 ,,chapter ,v ,,agamemnon ,,in ,,the ,,later ,,iliad ,in the ,third ,book1 ,agamemnon receives the compliments due to his supremacy1 aspect1 and valour from the lips of ,helen and ,priam4 ,there are other warriors taller by a head1 and ,odysseus was shorter than he by a head1 so ,agamemnon was a man of middle stature4 ,he is beautiful and royal of aspect2 a good king and a mighty spearman1 says ,helen4 ,the interrupted duel between ,menelaus and ,paris follows1 and then the treacherous wounding of ,menelaus by ,pandarus4 ,one of ,agamemnon's most sympathetic characteristics is his intense love of his brother1 for whose sake he has made the war4 ,he shudders on seeing the arrow wound1 but consoles ,menelaus by the certainty that ,troy will fall1 for the ,trojans have broken the solemn oath of truce4 ,zeus doth fulfil at last1 and men make dear amends4 ,but with characteristic inconsistency he discourages ,menelaus by a picture of many a proud ,trojan leaping on his tomb1 while the host will return home-an idea constantly present to ,agamemnon's mind4 ,he is always the first to propose flight1 though he will return with shame to ,mycenae4 ,menelaus is of much better cheer3 ,be of good courage1 blank space ,,all ,,the ,,host ,,of ,,the misprint--a thing which ,agamemnon does habitually1 though he is not a personal poltroon4 ,as ,menelaus has only a slight flesh wound after all1 and as the ,trojans are doomed men1 ,agamemnon is now eager for glorious battle4 ,he encourages the princes1 but1 of all men1 rebukes ,odysseus as last at a fray and first at a feast3 such is his insolence1 for which men detest him4 ,this is highly characteristic in ,agamemnon1 who has just been redeemed from ruin by ,odysseus4 ,rebuked by ,odysseus1 he takes back his word as usual1 and goes on to chide ,diomede as better at making speeches than at fighting6 ,but ,diomede made no answer1 having respect to the chiding of the revered ,king4 ,he even rebukes the son of ,capaneus for answering ,agamemnon haughtily4 ,diomede1 however1 does not forget2 he bides his time4 ,he now does the great deeds of his day of valour 7,book ,v474 ,agamemnon meanwhile encourages the host4 ,during ,books ,v41 ,,vi4 ,agamemnon's business is to bid the rest keep fighting4 ,when ,hector1 in ,book ,,vii41 challenges any ,achaean1 nobody volunteers except ,menelaus1 who has a strong sense of honour4 ,agamemnon restrains him1 and lots are cast3 the host pray that the lot may fall on ,aias1 ,diomede1 or ,agamemnon 7,,vii4 #agi-ahj74 ,thus the ,over-,lord is acknowledged to be a man of his hands1 especially good at hurling the spear1 as we see again in ,book ,,xxiii4 ,a truce is proposed for the burial of the dead1 and ,paris offers to give up the wealth that he brought to ,troy1 and more1 if the ,achaeans will go home1 but ,helen he will not give up4 ,we expect ,agamemnon to answer as becomes him4 ,but no6 ,all are silent1 till ,diomede rises4 ,they will not return1 he says1 even if ,helen be restored1 for even a fool knows that ,troy is doomed1 because of the broken oath4 ,the rest shout acquiescence1 and ,agamemnon refuses the compromise4 ,apparently he would not have disdained it1 but for ,diomede's reply4 ,on the following day the ,trojans have the better in the battle1 and ,agamemnon has no heart to stand1 nor have some of his peers4 ,but ,diomede has more courage1 and finally ,agamemnon begins to call to the host to fight1 but breaks down1 weeps1 and prays to ,zeus that we ourselves at least flee and escape2 he is not an encouraging commander-in-chief6 ,zeus1 in pity1 sends a favourable omen2 ,aias fights well2 night falls1 and the ,trojans camp on the open plain4 ,agamemnon1 in floods of tears1 calls an assembly1 and proposes to return to ,argos with dishonour4 ,let us flee with our ships to our dear native land1 for now shall we never take wide-wayed ,troy1 ,all are silent1 till ,diomede rises and reminds ,agamemnon that thou saidst ,i was no man of war1 but a coward4 7,in ,book ,v42 we are now in ,book ,,ix47 ,zeus gave thee the honour of the sceptre above all men1 but valour he gave thee not4444 ,go thy way2 thy way is before thee1 and thy ships stand beside the sea4 ,but all the other flowing-haired ,achaeans will tarry here until we waste ,troy4 ,nestor advises ,agamemnon to set an advanced guard1 which that martialist had never thought of doing1 and to discuss matters over supper4 ,a force of #gjj men1 under ,meriones and the son of ,nestor1 was posted between the foss and the wall round the camp2 the council met1 and ,nestor advised ,agamemnon to approach ,achilles with gentle words and gifts of atonement4 ,agamemnon1 full of repentance1 acknowledges his folly and offers enormous atonement4 ,heralds and three ambassadors are sent2 and how ,achilles received them1 with perfect courtesy1 but with absolute distrust of ,agamemnon and refusal of his gifts1 sending the message that he will fight only when fire comes to his own ships1 we know4 ,achilles is now entirely in the wrong1 and the ,over-,lord is once more within his right4 ,he has done all1 or more than all1 that customary law demands4 ,in ,book ,,ix4 ,phoenix states the case plainly4 ,if ,agamemnon brought thee not gifts1 and promised thee more hereafter1 444 then were ,i not he that should bid thee cast aside thine anger1 and save the ,argives4444 7,,ix4 #eae-eag74 ,the case so stands that1 if ,achilles later relents and fights1 the gifts of atonement will no longer be due to him1 and he will not be held in like honour 7,,ix4 #fjd74 ,the poet knows intimately1 and1 like his audience1 is keenly interested in the details of the customary law4 ,we cannot easily suppose this frame of mind and this knowledge in a late poet addressing a late ,ionian audience4 ,the ambassadors return to ,agamemnon2 their evil tidings are received in despairing silence4 ,but ,diomede bids ,agamemnon take heart and fight next day1 with his host arrayed before the ships 7,,ix4 #gjh74 ,this appears to counsel defensive war2 but1 in fact1 and for reasons1 when it comes to fighting they do battle in the open4 ,the next ,book 7,x47 is almost universally thought a late interpolation2 an opinion elsewhere discussed 7see blank space74 ,let us1 then1 say with ,mr4 ,leaf that the ,book begins with exaggerated despondency and ends with hasty exultation1 in consequence of a brilliant camisade1 wherein ,odysseus and ,diomede massacre a ,thracian contingent4 ,our point is that the poet carefully 7see ,the ,doloneia7 continues the study of ,agamemnon in despondency1 and later1 by his hasty exultation1 preludes to the valour which the ,over-,lord displays in ,book ,,xi4 ,the poet knows that something in the way of personal valour is due to ,agamemnon's position2 he fights brilliantly1 receives a flesh wound1 retires1 and is soon proposing a general flight in his accustomed way4 ,when the ,trojans1 in ,book ,,xiv41 are attacking the ships1 ,agamemnon remarks that he fears the disaffection of his whole army 7,,xiv4 #di1 #ea71 and1 as for the coming defeat1 that he knew it1 even when ,zeus helped the ,greeks4 ,they are all to perish far from ,argos4 ,let them drag the ships to the sea1 moor them with stones1 and fly1 ,for there is no shame in fleeing from ruin1 even in the night4 ,better doth he fare who flees from trouble than he that is overtaken4 ,it is now the turn of ,odysseus again to save the honour of the army4 ,be silent1 lest some other of the ,achaeans hear this word1 that no man should so much as suffer to pass through his mouth4444 ,and now ,i wholly scorn thy thoughts1 such a word hast thou uttered4 ,on this ,agamemnon instantly repents4 ,right sharply hast thou touched my heart with thy stern reproof3 he has not even the courage of his nervousness4 ,the combat is now in the hands of ,aias and ,patroclus1 who is slain4 ,agamemnon1 who is wounded1 does not reappear till ,book ,,xix41 when ,achilles1 anxious to fight and avenge ,patroclus at once1 without formalities of reconciliation1 professes his desire to let bygones be bygones4 ,agamemnon excuses his insolence to ,achilles as an inspiration of ,ate3 a predestined fault--,not ,i am the cause1 but ,zeus and ,destiny4 ,odysseus1 to clinch the reunion and fulfil customary law1 advises ,agamemnon to bring out the gifts of atonement 7the gifts prepared in ,book ,,ix471 after which the right thing is for him to give a feast of reconciliation1 that ,achilles may have nothing lacking of his right4 ,footnote3 ,book ,,xix4 #agi1 #ahj4 ,the case is one which has been provided for by customary law in every detail4 ,mr4 ,leaf argues that all this part must be late1 because of the allusion to the gifts offered in ,book ,,ix4 ,but we reply1 with ,mr4 ,monro1 that the ,ninth ,book is almost necessary to any ,achilleis4 ,the question is1 would a late editor or poet know all the details of customary law in such a case as a quarrel between ,over-,lord and peer8 would a feudal audience have been satisfied with a poem which did not wind the quarrel up in accordance with usage8 and would a late poet1 in a society no longer feudal1 know how to wind it up8 ,would he find any demand on the part of his audience for a long series of statements1 which to a modern seem to interrupt the story8 ,to ourselves it appears that a feudal audience desired the customary details2 to such an audience they were most interesting4 ,this is a taste which1 as has been said1 we find in all early poetry and in the sagas2 hence the long runs of the ,celtic sagas1 minutely repeated descriptions of customary things4 ,the ,icelandic saga-men never weary1 though modern readers do1 of legal details4 ,for these reasons we reckon the passages in ,book ,,xix4 about the reconciliation as original1 and think they can be nothing else4 ,it is quite natural that1 in a feudal society of men who were sticklers for custom1 the hearers should insist on having all things done duly and in order--the giving of the gifts and the feast of reconciliation--though the passionate ,achilles himself desires to fight at once4 ,odysseus insists that what we may call the regular routine shall be gone through4 ,it is tedious to the modern reader1 but it is surely much more probable that a feudal poet thus gratified his peculiar audience 7he looked for no other7 than that a late poet1 with a different kind of audience1 thrust the ,reconciliation in as an after-thought4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #cag4 ,the right thing must be done1 ,odysseus assures ,achilles1 for ,i was born first1 and know more things4 ,it is not the right thing to fight at once1 unfed1 and before the solemn sacrifice by the ,over-,lord1 the prayer1 the ,oath of ,agamemnon1 and the reception of the gifts by ,achilles2 only after these formalities1 and after the army has fed1 can the host go forth4 ,i know more than you do2 you are a younger man1 says ,odysseus1 speaking in accordance with feudal character1 at the risk of wearying later unforeseen generations4 ,this is not criticism inspired by mere literary feeling1 for literary feeling is on the side of ,achilles1 and wishes the story to hurry to his revenge4 ,but ours is blank space criticism2 we must think of the poet in relation to his audience and of their demands1 which we can estimate by similar demands1 vouched for by the supply1 in the early national poetry of other peoples and in the ,icelandic sagas4 ,we hear no more of ,agamemnon till1 in ,book ,,xxiii1 #ce-ch1 after the slaying of ,hector1 ,achilles was brought to noble ,agamemnon 7for that1 as ,odysseus said1 was the regular procedure7 by the ,achaean chiefs1 hardly persuading him thereto1 for his heart was wroth for his comrade4 ,here they feast1 ,achilles still full of grief and resentment4 ,he merely goes through the set forms1 much against his will4 ,it does appear to us that the later the poet the less he would have known or cared about the forms4 ,an early society is always much interested in forms and in funerals and funeral games1 so the poet indulges their taste with the last rites of ,patroclus4 ,the last view of ,agamemnon is given when1 at the end of the games1 ,achilles courteously presents him with the flowered lebes1 the prize for hurling the spear1 without asking him to compete1 since his superior skill is notorious4 ,this act of courtesy is the real reconciliation2 previously ,achilles had but gone reluctantly through the set forms in such cases provided4 ,even when ,agamemnon offered the gifts of atonement1 ,achilles said1 ,give them1 as is customary1 or keep them1 as you please 7,,xix4 #adf1 #adh74 ,achilles1 young and passionate1 cares nothing for the feudal procedure4 ,this rapid survey seems to justify the conclusion that the poet presents an uniform and historically correct picture of the ,over-,lord and of his relations with his peers1 a picture which no late editor could have pieced together out of the widely varying repertoires of late strolling reciters4 ,such reciters would gladly have forgotten1 and such an editor would gladly have cut the business of the reconciliation4 ,they would also1 in a democratic spirit1 have degraded the ,over-,lord into the tyrant1 but throughout1 however low ,agamemnon may fall1 the poet is guided by the knowledge that his right to rule is jure divino1 that he has qualities1 that his responsibilities are crushing1 ,i1 whom among all men ,zeus hath planted for ever among labours1 while my breath abides within me1 and my limbs move1 says the ,over-,lord 7,x4 ,sg1 go4sic74 ,in short1 the poet's conception of the ,over-,lord is throughout harmonious1 is a contemporary conception entertained by a singer who lives among peers that own1 and are jealous of1 and obey an ,over-,lord4 ,the character and situation of ,agamemnon are a poetic work of one age1 one moment of culture4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,archaeology ,,of ,,the ,,iliad4 ,,burial ,,and ,,cremation ,in archaeological discoveries we find the most convincing proofs that the ,iliad1 on the whole1 is the production of a single age1 not the patchwork of several changeful centuries4 ,this may seem an audacious statement1 as archaeology has been interpreted of late in such a manner as to demand precisely the opposite verdict4 ,but if we can show1 as we think we can1 that many recent interpretations of the archaeological evidence are not valid1 because they are not consistent1 our contention1 though unexpected1 will be possible4 ,it is that the combined testimony of archaeology and of the ,epic proves the ,iliad to represent1 as regards customs1 weapons1 and armour1 a definite moment of evolution2 a period between the age recorded in the art of the ,mycenaean shaft graves and the age of early iron swords and the ,dipylon period4 ,before the discoveries of the material remains of the ,mycenzean times1 the evidence of archaeology was seldom appropriately invoked in discussions of the ,homeric question4 ,but in the thirty years since ,schliemann explored the buried relics of the ,mycenzean ,acropolis1 his ,grave of ,agamemnon1 a series of excavations has laid bare the interments1 the works of art1 and the weapons and ornaments of years long prior to the revolution commonly associated with the ,dorian ,invasion of about #aajj-ajjj ,b4,c4 ,the objects of all sorts which have been found in many sites of ,greece and the isles1 especially of ,cyprus and ,crete1 in some respects tally closely with ,homeric descriptions1 in others vary from them widely4 ,nothing can be less surprising1 if the heroes whose legendary feats inspired the poet lived centuries before his time1 as ,charlemagne and his ,paladins lived some three centuries before the composition of the earliest extant ,chansons de ,geste on their adventures4 ,there was1 in such a case1 time for much change in the details of life1 art1 weapons and implements4 ,taking the relics in the graves of the ,mycenaean ,acropolis as a starting-point1 some things would endure into the age of the poet1 some would be modified1 some would disappear4 ,we cannot tell how long previous to his own date the poet supposes the ,achaean heroes to have existed4 ,he frequently ascribes to them feats of strength which no man of such as now are could perform4 ,this gives no definite period for the interval2 he might be speaking of the great grandfathers of his own generation4 ,but when he regards the heroes as closely connected by descent of one or two generations with the gods1 and as in frequent and familiar intercourse with gods and goddesses1 we must suppose that he did not think their period recent4 ,the singers of the ,chansons de ,geste knew that angels' visits were few and far between at the period1 say1 of the ,norman ,conquest2 but they allowed angels to appear in epics dealing with the earlier time1 almost as freely as gods intervene in ,homer4 ,in short1 the ,homeric poet undeniably treats the age of his heroes as having already1 in the phrase of ,thucydides1 won its way to the mythical1 and therefore as indefinitely remote4 ,it is impossible here to discuss in detail the complex problems of ,mycenaean chronology4 ,if we place the ,mycenaean bloom-time from the seventeenth or sixteenth to the twelfth century ,b4,c41 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #cbb4 it is plain that there is space to spare1 between the poet's age and that of his heroes1 for the rise of changes in war1 weapons1 and costume4 ,indeed1 there are traces enough of change even in the objects and art discovered in the bloom-time1 as represented by the ,mycenaean acropolis itself and by other ,mycenaean sites4 ,the art of the fragment of a silver vase in a grave1 on which a siege is represented1 is not the art1 the costumes are not the costumes1 of the inlaid bronze dagger-blade4 ,the men shown on the vase and the lion-hunters on the dagger both have their hair close cropped1 but on the vase they are naked1 on the dagger they wear short drawers4 ,on the ,vaphio cups1 found in a tholos chamber-tomb near ,amyclae1 the men are long-haired ,achaeans1 with heavy1 pendent locks1 like the man on a pyxis from ,knossos1 published by ,mr4 ,evans2 they are of another period than the close-cropped men of the vase and dagger4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xvi4 p4 #ajb4 ,two of the men on the silver vase are covered either with shields of a shape and size elsewhere unknown in ,mycenaean art1 or with cloaks of an unexampled form4 ,the masonry of the city wall1 shown on the vase in the ,mycenaean grave1 is not the ordinary masonry of ,mycenae itself4 ,on the vase the wall is isodomic1 built of cut stones in regular layers4 ,most of the ,mycenaean walls1 on the other hand1 are of ,cyclopean style1 in large irregular blocks4 ,art1 good and very bad1 exists in many various stages in ,mycenaean relics4 ,the drawing of a god1 with a typical ,mycenaean shield in the form of a figure #h1 on a painted sarcophagus from ,milato in ,crete1 is more crude and savage than many productions of the ,australian aboriginals1 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xvi4 p4 #agd1 fig4 #ej4 ,grosse4 ,les ,debuts de l',art1 pp4 #abd-agf4 the thing is on the level of ,red ,indian work4 ,meanwhile at ,vaphio1 ,enkomi1 ,knossos1 and elsewhere the art is often excellent4 ,in one essential point the poet describes a custom without parallel among the discovered relics of the ,mycenaean age--namely1 the disposal of the bodies of the dead4 ,they are neither buried with their arms1 in stately tholos tombs nor in shaft graves1 as at ,mycenae3 whether they be princes or simple oarsmen1 they are cremated4 ,a pyre of wood is built2 on this the warrior's body is laid1 the pyre is lighted1 the body is reduced to ashes1 the ashes are placed in a vessel or box of gold1 wrapped round with precious cloths 7no arms are buried1 as a general rule71 and a mound1 howe1 barrow1 or tumulus is raised over all4 ,usually a stele or pillar crowns the edifice4 ,this method is almost uniform1 and1 as far as cremation and the cairn go1 is universal in the ,iliad and ,odyssey whenever a burial is described4 ,now this mode of interment must be the mode of a single age in ,greek civilisation4 ,it is confessedly not the method of the ,mycenaeans of the shaft grave1 or of the latter tholos or stone beehive-shaped grave2 again1 the ,mycenaeans did not burn the dead2 they buried4 ,once more1 the ,homeric method is not that of the ,dipylon period 7say #ijj-gej ,b4,c47 represented by the tombs outside the ,dipylon gate of ,athens4 ,the people of that age now buried1 now burned1 their dead1 and did not build cairns over them4 ,thus the ,homeric custom comes between the shaft graves and the latter tholos graves1 on the one hand1 and the ,dipylon custom of burning or burying1 with sunk or rock-hewn graves1 on the other4 ,the ,homeric poets describe the method of their own period4 ,they assuredly do not adhere to an older epic tradition of shaft graves or tholos graves1 though these must have been described in lays of the period when such methods of disposal of the dead were in vogue4 ,the altar above the shaft-graves in ,mycenae proves the cult of ancestors in ,mycenae2 of this cult in the ,iliad there is no trace1 or only a dim trace of survival in the slaughter of animals at the funeral4 ,the ,homeric way of thinking about the state of the dead1 weak1 shadowy things beyond the river ,oceanus1 did not permit them to be worshipped as potent beings4 ,only in a passage1 possibly interpolated1 of the ,odyssey1 do we hear that ,castor and ,polydeuces1 brothers of ,helen1 and sons of ,tyndareus1 through the favour of ,zeus have immortality1 and receive divine honours4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,xi4 #bih-cjd4 ,these facts are so familiar that we are apt to overlook the strangeness of them in the history of religious evolution4 ,the cult of ancestral spirits begins in the lowest barbarism1 just above the level of the ,australian tribes1 who1 among the ,dieri1 show some traces of the practice1 at least1 of ghost feeding4 ,footnote3 ,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of ,south-,eastern ,australia1 p4 #ddh4 ,there are also traces of propitiation in ,western ,australia 7,,ms4 of ,mrs4 ,bates74 ,sometimes1 as in many ,african tribes1 ancestor worship is almost the whole of practical cult4 ,usually it accompanies polytheism1 existing beside it on a lower plane4 ,it was prevalent in the ,mycenae of the shaft graves2 in ,attica it was uninterrupted2 it is conspicuous in ,greece from the ninth century onwards4 ,but it is unknown to or ignored by the ,homeric poets1 though it can hardly have died out of folk custom4 ,consequently1 the poems are of one age1 an age of cremation and of burial in barrows1 with no ghost worship4 ,apparently some revolution as regards burial occurred between the age of the graves of the ,mycenaean acropolis and the age of ,homer4 ,that age1 coming with its form of burning and its absence of the cult of the dead1 between two epochs of inhumation1 ancestor worship1 and absence of cairns1 is as certainly and definitely an age apart1 a peculiar period1 as any epoch can be4 ,cremation1 with cairn burial of the ashes1 is1 then1 the only form of burial mentioned by ,homer1 and1 as far as the poet tells us1 the period was not one in which iron was used for swords and spears4 ,at ,assarlik 7,asia ,minor7 and in ,thera early graves1 prove the use of cremation1 but also1 unlike ,homer1 of iron weapons4 ,footnote3 ,paton1 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 viii4 #fd;ff4 ,for other references1 cf4 ,poulsen1 ,die ,dipylongraeben1 p4 #b1 ,notes4 ,leipzig #aije4 ,in these graves the ashes are inurned4 ,there are examples of the same usage in ,salamis1 without iron4 ,in ,crete1 in graves of the period of geometrical ornament 7,dipylon71 burning is more common than inhumation4 ,cremation is attested in a tholos or beehive-shaped grave in ,argos1 where the vases were late ,mycenaean4 ,below this stratum was an older shaft grave1 as is usual in tholos interments2 it had been plundered8 ,footnote3 ,poulsen1 p4#b4 ,the cause of the marked change from ,mycenaean inhumation to ,homeric cremation is matter of conjecture4 ,it has been suggested that burning was introduced during the migrations after the ,dorian invasion4 ,men could carry the ashes of their friends to the place where they finally settled4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,homerische ,epos1 p4#hc ,the question may1 perhaps1 be elucidated by excavation1 especially in ,asia ,minor1 on the sites of the earliest ,greek colonies4 ,at ,colophon are many cairns unexplored by science4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway1 as is well known1 attributes the introduction of cremation to a conquering northern people1 the ,achaeans1 his ,celts4 ,it is certain that cremation and urn burial of the ashes prevailed in ,britain during the ,age of ,bronze1 and co-existed with inhumation in the great cemetery of ,hallstatt1 surviving into the ,age of ,iron4 ,footnote3 ,cf4 ,guide to ,antiquities of ,early ,iron ,age1 ,british ,museum1 #aije1 by ,mr4 ,reginald ,a4 ,smith1 under direction of ,mr4 ,charles ,h4 ,read1 for a brief account of ,hallstatt culture4 ,others suppose a change in ,achaean ideas about the soul2 it was no longer believed to haunt the grave and grave goods and be capable of haunting the living1 but to be wholly set free by burning1 and to depart for ever to the ,house of ,hades1 powerless and incapable of hauntings4 ,it is never easy to decide as to whether a given mode of burial is the result of a definite opinion about the condition of the dead1 or whether the explanation offered by those who practise the method is an afterthought4 ,in ,tasmania among the lowest savages1 now extinct1 were found monuments over cremated human remains1 accompanied with characters crudely marked1 similar to those which the aborigines tattooed on their forearms4 ,in one such grave was a spear1 for the dead man to fight with when he is asleep1 as a native explained4 ,some ,tasmanian tribes burned the dead and carried the ashes about in amulets2 others buried in hollow trees2 others simply inhumed4 ,some placed the dead in a hollow tree1 and cremated the body after lapse of time4 ,some tied the dead up tightly 7a common practice with inhumation71 and then burned him4 ,some buried the dead in an erect 'posture4 ,the common explanation of burning was that it prevented the dead from returning1 thus it has always been usual to burn the bodies of vampires4 ,did a race so backward hit on an idea unknown to the ,mycenaean ,greeks8 ,footnote3 ,ling ,roth41 ,the ,tasmanians1 pp4 #abh-acd4 ,reports of ,early ,discoverers4 ,if the usual explanation be correct--burning prevents the return of the dead--how did the ,homeric ,greeks come to substitute burning for the worship and feeding of the dead1 which had certainly prevailed8 ,how did the ancient method return1 overlapping and blent with the method of cremation1 as in the early ,dipylon interments8 ,we can only say that the ,homeric custom is definite and isolated1 and that but slight variations occur in the methods of ,homeric burial4 7#a7;,in ,iliad1 ,,vi1 #d ,i #f ff1 ,andromache ,,says that ,achilles slew her father1 yet he despoiled him not1 for his soul had shame of that2 but he burnt him in his inlaid armour1 and raised a barrow over him4 ,we are not told that the armour was interred with the ashes of ,eetion4 ,this is a peculiar case4 ,we always hear in the that the dead are burned1 and the ashes of princes are placed in a vessel of gold within an artificial hillock2 but we do not hear1 except in this passage1 that they are burned in their armour1 or that it is burned1 or that it is buried with the ashes of the dead4 ,the invariable practice is for the victor1 if he can1 to despoil the body of the fallen foe2 but ,achilles for some reason spared that indignity in the case of ,eetion4 ,footnote3 ,german examples of burning the amis of the cremated dead and then burying them are given by ,mr4 ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i4 pp4 #dih1 #dii4 7#b7 ,,iliad1 ,,vii4 #he4 ,hector1 in his challenge to a single combat1 makes the conditions that the victor shall keep the arms and armour of the vanquished1 but shall restore his body to his friends4 ,the ,trojans will burn him1 if he falls2 if the ,achaean falls1 the others will do something expressed by the word ,greek3 tarchuchosi probably a word surviving from an age of embalment4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,homerische ,epos1 pp4 #ee1 #ef4 ,it has come to mean1 generally1 to do the funeral rites4 ,the hero is to have a barrow or artificial howe or hillock built over him1 beside wide ,hellespont1 a memorial of him1 and of ,hector's valour4 ,on the ,river ,helmsdale1 near ,kildonan1 on the left bank1 there is such a hillock which has never1 it is believed1 been excavated4 ,it preserves the memory of its occupant1 an early ,celtic saint2 whether he was cremated or not it is impossible to say4 ,but his memory is not lost1 and the howe1 cairn1 or hillock1 in ,homer is desired by the heroes as a ,,memorial4 ,on the terms proposed by ,hector the arms of the dead could not be either burned or buried with him4 7#c7 ,iliad1 ,,ix4 #edf4 ,phoenix says that the ,calydonian boar brought many to the mournful pyre4 ,all were cremated4 7#d7 ,iliad1 ,,xxii #ej-ee4 ,andromache in her dirge 7the regret of the ,french mediaeval epics7 says that ,hector lies unburied by the ships and naked1 but she will burn raiment of his1 delicate and fair1 the work of women 444 to thee no profit1 since thou wilt never lie therein1 yet this shall be honour to thee from the men and women of ,troy4 ,her meaning is not very clear1 but she seems to imply that if ,hector's body were in ,troy it would be clad in garments before cremation4 ,helbig appears to think that to clothe the dead in garments was an ,ionian1 not an ancient epic custom4 ,but in ,homer the dead always wear at least one garment1 the ,greek3 pharos1 a large mantle1 either white or purple1 such as ,agamemnon wears in peace 7,iliad1 ,,ii #dc71 except when1 like ,eetion and ,elpenor in the ,odyssey1 they are burned in their armour4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #fi ff41 the shadow of the dead unburned ,patroclus appears to ,achilles in his sleep asking for his dues of fire4 ,the whole passage1 with the account of the funeral of ,patroclus1 must be read carefully1 and compared with the funeral rites of ,hector at the end of ,book ,,xxiv4 ,helbig1 in an essay of great erudition1 though perhaps rather fantastic in its generalisations1 has contrasted the burials of the two heroes4 ,patroclus is buried1 he says1 in a true portion of the old ,aeolic epic 7,sir ,richard ,jebb thought the whole passage ,ionic71 though even into this the late ,ionian bearbeiter 7a spectral figure71 has introduced his ,ionian notions4 ,but the ,twenty-fourth ,book itself is late and ,ionian1 ,helbig says1 not genuine early ,aeolian epic poetry4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,zu den ,homerischen ,bestattungsgebrauechen4 ,aus den ,sitzungsberichten der philos4 philol4 und histor4 ,classe der ,kgl4 bayer4 ,academie der ,wissenschaften4 #aijj4 ,heft4 ii4 pp4 #aii-bii4 ,the burial of ,patroclus1 then1 save for ,ionian late interpolations1 easily detected by ,helbig1 is1 he assures us1 genuine kernel1 ,footnote3 #b ,op4 laud41 p4 #bjh4 while ,hector's burial is partly ,ionian1 and describes the destiny of the dead heroes otherwise than as in the old ,aeolic epos4 ,here ,helbig uses that one of his two alternate theories according to which the late ,ionian poets do not cling to old epic tradition1 but bring in details of the life of their own date4 ,by ,helbig's other alternate theory1 the late poets cling to the model set in old epic tradition in their pictures of details of life4 ,disintegrationists differ3 far from thinking that the late ,ionian poet who buried ,hector varied from the ,a,eolic minstrel who buried ,patroclus 7in ,book ,,xxiii471 ,mr4 ,leaf says that ,hector's burial is almost an abstract of that of ,patroclus4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 ,,xxii ,note to #gia4 ,he adds that ,helbig's attempts to distinguish the older ,a,eolic from the newer and more sceptical ',ionic' faith seem to me visionary4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fai4 ,note #b ,visionary1 indeed1 they do seem1 but they are examples of the efforts made to prove that the ,iliad bears marks of composition continued through several centuries4 ,we must remember that1 according to ,helbig1 the ,ionians1 colonists in a new country1 had no use for ghosts4 ,a fresh colony does not produce ghosts4 ,there is hardly an ,english or ,scottish castle without its spook 7spuck74 ,on the other hand1 you look in vain for such a thing in the ,united ,states--spiritualism apart4 ,footnote3 ,op4 laud41 p4 #bjd4 ,this is a hasty generalisation6 ,helbig will1 if he looks1 find ghosts enough in the literature of ,north ,america while still colonial1 and in ,australia1 a still more newly settled country1 sixty years ago ,fisher's ghost gave evidence of ,fisher's murder1 evidence which1 as in another ,australian case1 served the ends of justice4 ,footnote3 ,see1 in ,the ,valet's ,tragedy 7,a4 ,l473 ,fisher's ,ghost4 ,more recent ,australian ghosts are familiar to psychical research4 ,this colonial theory is one of ,helbig's too venturous generalisations4 ,he studies the ghost1 or rather dream-apparition1 of ,patroclus after examining the funeral of ,hector2 but we shall begin with ,patroclus4 ,achilles 7,,xxiii4 #d-af7 first hails his friend even in the ,house of ,hades 7so he believes that spirits are in ,hades71 and says that he has brought ,hector raw for dogs to devour1 and twelve ,trojans of good family to slaughter before thy pyre4 ,that night1 when ,achilles is asleep 7,,xxiii4 #fe7 the spirit 7,greek3 psyche7 of ,patroclus appears to him1 says that he is forgotten1 and begs to be burned at once1 that he may pass the gates of ,hades1 for the other spirits drive him off and will not let him associate with them beyond the ,river1 and he wanders vaguely along the wide-gated dwelling of ,hades4 ,give me thy hand1 for never more again shall ,i come back from ,hades1 when ye have given me my due of fire4 ,patroclus1 being newly discarnate1 does not yet know that a spirit cannot take a living man's hand1 though1 in fact1 tactile hallucinations are not uncommon in the presence of phantasms of the dead4 ,lay not my bones apart from thine 444 let one coffer 7,greek3 soros7 hide our bones4 ,greek3 ,soros1 like larnax1 is a coffin 7,sarg71 or what the ,americans call a casket1 in the opinion of ,helbig3 ,footnote3 ,,op4 laud41 p4#bag4 it is an oblong receptacle of the bones and dust4 ,hector was buried in a larnax2 ,,so will ,achilles and ,patroclus be when ,achilles falls1 but the dust of ,patroclus is kept1 meanwhile1 in a golden covered cup 7phialae7 in the quarters of ,achilles2 it is not laid in howe after his cremation 7,,xxiii4 #bdc74 ,achilles tries to embrace ,patroclus1 but fails1 like ,odysseus with the shade of his mother in ,hades1 in the ,,odyssey4 ,he exclaims that there remaineth then even in the ,house of ,hades a spirit and phantom of the dead1 albeit the life 7or the wits7 be not anywise therein1 for all night hath the spirit of hapless ,patroclus stood over me4444 ,in this speech ,helbig detects the hand of the late ,ionian poet4 ,what goes before is part of the genuine old ,epic1 the kernel1 done at a time when men believed that spooks could take part in the affairs of the upper world4 ,achilles therefore 7in his dream71 thought that he could embrace his friend4 ,it was the sceptical ,ionian1 in a fresh and spookless colony1 who knew that he could not2 he thinks the ghost a mere dream1 and introduces his scepticism in ,,xxiii4 #ii-ajg4 ,he brought in the ruling ideas of his own period4 ,the ghost1 says the ,ionian bearbeiter1 is intangible1 though in the genuine old epic the ghost himself thought otherwise--he being new to the situation and without experience4 ,this is the first sample of the critical ,ionian spirit1 later so remarkable in philosophy and natural science1 says ,helbig4 ,footnote3 ,op4 laud41 pp4 #bcc1bcd4 ,we need not discuss this acute critical theory4 ,the natural interpretation of the words of ,achilles is obvious2 as ,mr4 ,leaf remarks1 the words are the cry of sudden personal conviction in a matter which has hitherto been lazily accepted as an orthodox dogma4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fbj4 ,already1 as we have seen1 ,achilles has made promises to ,patroclus in the ,house of ,hades1 now he exclaims there really is something in the doctrine of a feeble future life4 ,it is vain to try to discriminate between an old epic belief in able-bodied ghosts and an ,ionian belief in mere futile shades1 in the ,homeric poems4 ,everywhere the dead are too feeble to be worth worshipping after they are burned2 but1 as ,mr4 ,leaf says with obvious truth1 and with modern instances1 men are never so inconsistent as in their beliefs about the other world4 ,we ourselves hold various beliefs simultaneously4 ,the natives of ,australia and of ,tasmania practise1 or did practise1 every conceivable way of disposing of the dead--burying1 burning1 exposure in trees1 carrying about the bodies or parts of them1 eating the bodies1 and so forth4 ,if each such practice corresponded1 as archaeologists believe1 to a different opinion about the soul1 then all beliefs were held together at once1 and this1 in fact1 is the case4 ,there is not now one and now another hard and fast orthodoxy of belief about the dead1 though now we find ancestor worship prominent and now in the shade4 ,after gifts of hair and the setting up of jars full of oil and honey1 ,achilles has the body laid on the top of the pyre in the centre4 ,bodies of sheep and oxen1 two dogs and four horses1 are strewed around3 why1 we know not1 for the dead is not supposed to need food3 the rite may be a survival1 for there were sacrifices at the burials of the ,mycenaean shaft graves4 ,achilles slays also the twelve ,trojans1 because of mine anger at thy slaying1 he says 7,,xxiii4 #bc74 ,this was his reason1 as far as he consciously had any reason1 not that his friend might have twelve thralls in ,hades4 ,after the pyre is alit ,achilles drenches it all night with wine1 and1 when the flame dies down1 the dead hero's bones are collected and placed in the covered cup of gold4 ,the circle of the barrow is then marked out1 stones are set up round it 7we see them round ,highland tumuli71 and earth is heaped up2 no more is done2 the tomb is empty2 the covered cup holding the ashes is in the hut of ,achilles4 ,we must note another trait4 ,after the body of ,patroclus was recovered1 it was washed1 anointed1 laid on a bier1 and covered from head to foot ,greek3 heano liti1 translated by ,helbig1 with a linen sheet 7cf4 ,,xxiii4 #bed74 ,the golden cup with the ashes is next wrapped ,greek3 heano liti2 here ,mr4 ,myers renders the words with a linen veil4 ,scottish cremation burials of the ,bronze ,age retain traces of linen wrappings of the urn4 ,footnote3 ,proceedings of the ,scottish society of ,antiquaries1 #aije1 p4 #eeb4 ,for other cases1 cf4 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 ,,xxiv4 #gif4 ,note4 ,over all a white ,greek3 pharos 7mantle7 was spread4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xxiv4 #bca1 twelve ,greek3 pharea with chitons1 single cloaks1 and other articles of dress1 are taken to ,achilles by ,priam as part of the ransom of ,hector's body4 ,such is the death-garb of ,patroclus2 but ,helbig1 looking for ,ionian innovations in ,book ,,xxiv41 finds that the death-garb of ,hector is not the same as that of ,patroclus in ,book ,,xxiii4 ,one difference is that when the squires of ,achilles took the ransom of ,hector from the waggon of ,priam1 they left in it two ,greek3 pharea and a well-spun chiton4 ,the women washed and anointed ,hector's body2 they clad him in the chiton1 and threw one ,greek3 pharos over it2 we are not told what they did with the other4 ,perhaps1 as ,mr4 ,leaf says1 it was used as a cover for the bier1 perhaps it was not1 but was laid under the body 7,helbig74 ,all we know is that ,hector's body was restored to ,priam in a chiton and a ,greek3 pharos1 which do not seem to have been removed before he was burned2 while ,patroclus had no chiton in death1 but a ,greek3 pharos and1 apparently1 a linen sheet4 ,to the ordinary reader this does not seem1 in the circumstances1 a strong mark of different ages and different burial customs4 ,priam did not bring any linen sheet--or whatever ,greek3 heanos lis may be--in the waggon as part of ,hector's ransom2 and it neither became ,achilles to give nor ,priam to receive any of ,achilles's stuff as death-garb for ,hector4 ,the squires1 therefore1 gave back to ,priam1 to clothe his dead son1 part of what he had brought2 nothing can be more natural1 and there1 we may say1 is an end on't4 ,they did what they could in the circumstances4 ,but ,helbig has observed that1 in a ,cean inscription of the fifth century ,b4,c41 there is a sumptuary law1 forbidding a corpse to wear more than three white garments1 a sheet under him1 a chiton1 and a mantle cast over him4 ,footnote3 op4 laud41 p4 #bji4 ,he supposes that ,hector wore the chiton1 and had one ,greek3 pharos over him and the other under him1 though ,homer does not say that4 ,the ,laws of ,solon also confined the dead man to three articles of dress4 ,footnote3 ,plutarch1 ,solon1 #ba4 ,in doing so ,solon sanctioned an old custom1 and that ,ionian custom1 described by the author of ,book ,,xxiv41 bewrays him1 says ,helbig1 for a late ,ionian bearbeiter1 deserting true epic usages and inserting those of his own day4 ,but in some ,attic ,dipylon vases1 in the pictures of funerals1 we see no garments or sheets over the corpses4 ,penelope also wove a ,greek3 charos against the burial of old ,laertes1 but surely she ought to have woven for him2 on ,helbig's showing ,hector had two1 ,patroclus had only one2 ,patroclus is in the old epic1 ,hector and ,laertes are in the ,ionian epics2 therefore1 ,laertes should have had two ,greek3 charea but we only hear of one4 ,penelope had to finish the ,greek3 charos and show it2 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,xxiv4 #adg4 now if she wanted to delay her marriage1 she should have begun the second ,greek3 charos just as necessary as the first1 if ,hector1 with a pair of ,greek3 charea represents ,ionian usage4 ,but ,penelope never thought of what1 had she read ,helbig1 she would have seen to be so obvious4 ,she thought of no funeral garments for the old man but one shroud ,greek3 speiron 7,odyssey1 ,,ii4 #ajb2 ,,xix4 #adg72 yet1 being1 by the theory1 a character of late ,ionian1 not of genuine old ,a,eolic epic1 she should have known better4 ,it is manifest that if even the acuteness and vast erudition of ,helbig can only find such invisible differences as these between the manners of the genuine old epic and the late ,ionian innovations1 there is really no difference1 beyond such trifles as diversify custom in any age4 ,hector1 when burned and when his ashes have been placed in the casket1 is laid in a ,greek3 kapetos1 a ditch or trench 7,iliad1 ,,xv4 #cef2 ,,xviii4 #efd72 but here 7,,xxiv4 #gig7 ,greek3 kapetos is a chamber covered with great stones1 within the howe1 the casket being swathed with purple robes1 and this was the end4 ,the ghost of ,hector would not revisit the sun1 as ghosts do freely in the ,cyclic poems1 a proof that the ,cyclics are later than the ,homeric poems4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 op4 laud41 pp4 #bdj1 #bda4 ,if the burning of the weapons of ,eetion and ,elpenor are traces of another than the old ,a,eolic epic faith1 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #bec4 they are also traces of another than the late ,ionic epic faith1 for no weapons are burned with ,hector4 ,in the ,odyssey the weapons of ,achilles are not burned2 in the ,iliad the armour of ,patroclus is not burned4 ,no victims of any kind are burned with ,hector3 possibly the poet was not anxious to repeat what he had just described 7his last book is already a very long book72 possibly the ,trojans did not slay victims at the burning4 ,the howes or barrows built over the ,homeric dead were hillocks high enough to be good points of outlook for scouts1 as in the case of the barrow of ,a,esyetes 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #gic7 and the steep mound1 the howe of lithe ,myrine 7,,ii4 #had74 ,we do not know that women were usually buried in howe1 but ,myrine was a warrior maiden of the ,amazons4 ,we know1 then1 minutely what the ,homeric mode of burial was1 with such variations as have been noted4 ,we have burning and howe even in the case of an obscure oarsman like ,elpenor4 ,it is not probable1 however1 that every peaceful mechanic had a howe all to himself2 he may have had a small family cairn2 he may not have had an expensive cremation4 ,the interesting fact is that no barrow burial precisely of the ,homeric kind has ever been discovered in ,greek sites4 ,the old ,mycenaeans buried either in shaft graves or in a stately tholos2 and in rock chambers1 later1 in the town cemetery3 they did not burn the bodies4 ,the people of the ,dipylon period sometimes cremated1 sometimes inhumed1 but they built no barrow over the dead4 ,footnote3 ,annal4 de l',inst41 #ahgb1 pp4 #ace1 #adg1 #afg4 ,plausen1 ut supra4 ,the ,dipylon was a period of early iron swords1 made on the lines of not the best type of bronze sword4 ,now1 in ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion1 our ,homeric accounts of burial are all late2 the oldest parts of the poems tell us nothing4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fai4 ,note #b4 ,while ,mr4 ,leaf says that the oldest parts of the poems tell us nothing of burial1 he accepts ,,xxii4 #cdb1 #cdc as of the oldest part4 ,these lines describe cremation1 and ,mr4 ,leaf does not think them borrowed from the later ,,vii4 #gi1 #hj1 but that ,,vii4 #gi1 #hj are perhaps borrowed from ,,xxii4 #cdb1 #cdc4 ,it follows that the oldest parts of the poems do tell us of cremation4 ,we shall show1 however1 that ,mr4 ,leaf's kernel alludes to cremation4 ,what is late8 ,in this case it is not the ,dipylon period1 say #ijj-gej ,b4,c4 ,it is not any later period2 one or two late barrow burials do not answer to the ,homeric descriptions4 ,the late parts of the poems1 therefore1 dealing with burials1 in ,books ,,vi41 ,,vii41 ,,xix41 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv41 and the ,odyssey1 are of an age not in the ,mycenaean prime1 not in the ,dipylon period1 not in any later period1 say the seventh or sixth centuries ,b4,c41 and1 necessarily1 not of any subsequent period4 ,yet nobody dreams of saying that the poets describe a purely fanciful form of interment4 ,they speak of what they know in daily life4 ,if it be argued that the late poets preserve1 by sheer force of epic tradition1 a form of burial unknown in their own age1 we ask1 ,why did epic tradition not preserve the burial methods of the ,mycenaean prime1 the shaft grave1 or the tholos1 without cremation8 ,mr4 ,leaf's own conclusion is that the people of ,mycenae were spirit worshippers1 practising inhumation1 and partial mummification2 the second fact is dubious4 ,in the post-,mycenaean ',dipylon' period1 we find cremation and sepulture practised side by side4 ,in the interval1 therefore1 two beliefs have come into conflict4 ,footnote3 ,all conceivable beliefs1 we have said1 about the dead are apt to coexist4 ,for every conceivable and some rather inconceivable contemporary ,australian modes of dealing with the dead1 see ,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of ,south-,east ,australia2 ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,northern ,tribes of ,central ,australia4 ,it seems that the ,homeric poems mark this intermediate point4444 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fbb4 ,in that case the ,homeric poems are of one age1 or1 at least1 all of them save the original kernel are of one age1 namely1 a period subsequent to the ,mycenaean prime1 but considerably prior to the ,dipylon period1 which exhibits a mixture of custom2 cremation and inhumation coexisting1 without barrows or howes4 ,we welcome this conclusion1 and note that 7whatever may be the case with the oldest parts of the poems which say nothing about funerals7 the latest expansions must be of about #aajj-ajjj ,b4,c4 7874 ,the poem is so early that it is prior to hero worship and ancestor worship2 or it might be more judicious to say that the poem is of an age that did not1 officially1 practise ancestor worship1 whatever may have occurred in folk-custom4 ,the ,homeric age is one which had outgrown ancestor and hero worship1 and had not1 like the age of the ,cyclics1 relapsed into it4 ,enfin1 unless we agree with ,helbig as to essential variations of custom1 the poems are the work of one age1 and that a brief age1 and an age of peculiar customs1 cremation and barrow burial2 and of a religion that stood1 without spirit worship1 between the ,mycenzean period and the ninth century4 ,that seems as certain as anything in prehistoric times can be1 unless we are to say1 that after the age of shaft graves and spirit worship came an age of cremation and of no spirit worship2 and that late poets consciously and conscientiously preserved the tradition of this period into their own ages of hero worship and inhumation1 though they did not preserve the tradition of the shaft-grave period4 ,we cannot accept this theory of adherence to stereotyped poetical descriptions1 nor can any one consistently adopt it in this case4 ,the reason is obvious4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 with many other critics1 distinguishes several successive periods of expansion4 ,in the first stratum we have the remains of the original kernel4 ,among these remains is ,the ,slaying of ,hector 7,,xxii4 #a-djd71 with but slight additions4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 xi4 ,in the ,slaying of ,hector that hero indicates cremation as the mode of burial4 ,give them my body back again1 that the ,trojans and ,trojans' wives grant me my due of fire after my death4 ,perhaps this allusion to cremation1 in the original kernel in the ,slaying of ,hector1 may be dismissed as a late borrowing from ,book ,,vii4 #gi1 #hj1 where ,hector makes conditions that the fallen hero shall be restored to his friends when he challenges the ,achaeans to a duel4 ,but whoever knows the curious economy by way of repetition that marks early national epics has a right to regard the allusion to cremation 7,,xxii1 #cdb1cdc7 as an example of this practice4 ,compare ,la ,chancun de ,williame1 lines #ajda-ajeh with lines #aadj-aacd4 ,in both the dinner of a knight who has been long deprived of food is described in passages containing many identical lines4 ,the poet1 having found his formula1 uses it whenever occasion serves4 ,there are several other examples in the same epic4 ,footnote3 ,romania1 xxxiv4 ,,pp4 #bde1 #bdf4 ,repetitions in ,homer need not indicate late additions2 the artifice is part of the epic as it is of the ballad manner4 ,if we are right1 cremation is the mode of burial even in the original kernel4 ,hector1 moreover1 in the kernel 7,,xxii4 #bef-bei7 makes1 before his final fight with ,achilles1 the same proposal as he makes in his challenge to a duel 7,,vii4 #he et seqq474 ,the victor shall give back the body of the vanquished to his friends1 but how the friends are to bury it ,hector does not say--in this place4 ,when dying1 he does say 7,,xxii4 #cdb1 #cdc74 ,in the kernel and all periods of expansion1 funeral rites are described1 and in all the method is cremation1 with a howe or a barrow4 ,thus the method of cremation had come in as early as the kernel1 ,the ,slaying of ,hector1 and as early as the first expansions1 and it lasted till the period of the latest expansions1 such as ,books ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv4 ,but what is the approximate date of the various expansions of the original poem8 ,on that point ,mr4 ,leaf gives his opinion4 ,the ,making of the ,arms of ,achilles 7,books ,,xviii41 ,,xix4 #a-ci7 is1 with the ,funeral of ,patroclus 7,,xxiii4 #a-bef71 in the second set of expansions1 and is thus two removes later than the original kernel4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 xii4 ,now this is the period--the ,making of the ,shield for ,achilles is1 at least1 in touch with the period--of the eminently free and naturalistic treatment which we find in the best ,mycenaean work1 in the dagger blades1 in the siege fragment1 and notably in the ,vaphio cups1 7which show long-haired men1 not men close-cropped1 as in the daggers and siege fragment74 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p1 #fjf4 ,the poet of the age of the second expansions1 then1' is at least in touch with the work of the shaft grave and ages4 ,he need not be contemporary with that epoch1 but may well have had in his mind the work of artists older than himself4 ,it is vaguely possible that he may have seen an ancient shield of the ,mycenaean prime1 and may be inspired by that4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 pp4 #fjf1 #fjg4 ,moreover1 and still more remarkable1 the ordinary ,homeric form of cremation and howe-burial is even older than the period which1 if not contemporary with1 is clearly reminiscent of1 the art of the shaft graves4 ,for1 in the period of the first expansions 7,,vii4 #a-c ,i #b71 the form of burial is cremation1 with a barrow or tumulus4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 xi4 and pp4 #fjf1 #fjg4 ,thus ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion might lead us to the conclusion that the usual ,homeric form of burial occurs in a period ,,prior to an age in which the poet is apparently reminiscent of the work of two early epochs--the epoch of shaft graves and that of ,,tholos graves4 ,if this be so1 cremation and urn burial in cairns may be nearly as old as the ,mycenaean shaft graves1 or as old as the ,,tholos graves1 and they endure into the age of the latest expansions4 ,we must not press1 however1 opinions founded on the apparent technical resemblance of the free style and coloured metal work on the shield of ,achilles1 to the coloured metal work and free design on the daggers of the ,mycenaean shaft graves4 ,it is enough for us to note that the passages concerning burial1 from the kernel itself1 and also from the earliest to the latest expansions1 are all perfectly harmonious1 and of a single age--unless we are convinced by ,helbig's objections4 ,that age must have been brief1 indeed1 for1 before it arrives1 the period of tholos graves1 as at ,vaphio1 must expire1 on one hand1 while the blending of cremation with inhumation1 in the ,dipylon age1 must have been evolved after the cremation age passed1 on the other4 ,that brief intervening age1 however1 was the age of the ,,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,this conclusion can only be avoided by alleging that late poets1 however recent and revolutionary1 carefully copied the oldest epic model of burial1 while they innovated in almost every other point1 so we are told4 ,we can go no further till we find an unrifled cairn burial answering to ,homeric descriptions4 ,we have1 indeed1 in ,thessaly1 a large tumulus which contained a silver urn with burned remains4 ,but the accompanying pottery dated it in the second century ,b4,c4 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age ,of ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #dia2 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xx4 pp4 #bj-be4 ,it is possible enough that all tumuli of the ,homeric period have been robbed by grave plunderers in the course of the ages1 as the ,vikings are said to have robbed the cairns of ,sutherlandshire1 in which they were not likely to find a rich reward for their labours4 ,a conspicuous howe invites robbery--the heroes of the ,saga1 like ,grettir1 occasionally rob a howe--and the fact is unlucky for the ,homeric archaeologist4 ,we have now tried to show that1 as regards 7#a7 to the absence from ,homer of new religious and ritual ideas1 or of very old ideas revived in ,ionia1 7#b7 as concerns the clear conception of a loose form of feudalism1 with an ,over-,lord1 and 7#c7 in the matter of burial1 the ,iliad and ,odyssey are self-consistent1 and bear the impress of a single and peculiar moment of culture4 ,the fact1 if accepted1 is incompatible with the theory that the poets both introduced the peculiar conditions of their own later ages and also1 on other occasions1 consciously and consistently archaised4 ,not only is such archaising inconsistent with the art of an uncritical age1 but a careful archaiser1 with all the resources of ,alexandrian criticism at his command1 could not archaise successfully4 ,we refer to ,quintus ,smyrnaeus1 author of the ,post ,homerica1 in fourteen books4 ,quintus does his best2 but we never observe in him that naif delight in describing weapons and works of art1 and details of law and custom which are so conspicuous in ,homer and in other early poets4 ,he does give us ,penthesilea's great sword1 with a hilt of ivory and silver2 but of what metal was the blade8 ,we are not told1 and the reader of ,quintus will observe that1 though he knows ,greek3 chalkos1 bronze1 as a synonym for weapons1 he scarcely ever1 if ever1 says that a sword or spear or arrow-head was of bronze--a point on which ,homer constantly insists4 ,when he names the military metal ,quintus usually speaks of iron4 ,he has no interest in the constitutional and legal sides of heroic life1 so attractive to ,homer4 ,yet ,quintus consciously archaises1 in a critical age1 with ,homer as his model4 ,any one who believes that in an uncritical age rhapsodists archaised1 with such success as the presumed late poets of the ,,iliad must have done1 may try his hand in our critical age1 at a ballad in the style of the ,border ballads4 ,if he succeeds in producing nothing that will at once mark his work as modern1 he will be more successful than any poet who has made the experiment1 and more successful than the most ingenious modern forgers of gems1 jewels1 and terra-cottas4 ,they seldom deceive experts1 and1 when they do1 other experts detect the deceit4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,homeric ,,armour ,tested by their ideas1 their picture of political society1 and their descriptions of burial rites1 the presumed authors of the alleged expansions of the ,iliad all lived in one and the same period of culture4 ,but1 according to the prevalent critical theory1 we read in the ,iliad not only large expansions of many dates1 but also briefer interpolations inserted by the strolling reciters or rhapsodists4 ,until the final literary redaction had come1 says ,mr4 ,leaf--that is about #edj ,b4,c4--we cannot feel sure that any details1 even of the oldest work1 were secure from the touch of the latest poet4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 ix4 ,here we are far from ,mr4 ,leaf's own opinion that the whole scenery of the poems1 the details of armour1 palaces1 dress1 decoration 444 had become stereotyped1 and formed a foundation which the ,epic poet dared not intentionally sap4444 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 xv4 ,we now find ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 ix4 that the latest poet saps as much as he pleases down to the middle of the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,moreover1 in the middle of the sixth century ,b4,c41 the supposed editor employed by ,hsistratus made constant additions of transitional passages1 and added many speeches by ,nestor1 an ancestor of ,pisistratus4 ,did these very late interlopers1 down to the sixth century1 introduce modern details into the picture of life8 did they blur the unus color8 ,we hope to prove that1 if they did so at all1 it was but slightly4 ,that the poems1 however1 with a ,mycenaean or sub-,mycenaean basis of actual custom and usage1 contain numerous contaminations from the usage of centuries as late as the seventh1 is the view of ,mr4 ,leaf1 and ,reichel and his followers4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,waffen4 ,von ,wolfgang ,reichel4 ,wien1 #aija4 ,reichel's hypothesis is that the heroes of the original poet had no defensive armour except the great ,mycenaean shields2 that the ponderous shield made the use of chariots imperatively necessary2 that1 after the ,mycenaean age1 a small buckler and a corslet superseded the unwieldy shield2 that chariots were no longer used2 that1 by the seventh century ,b4,c41 a warrior could not be thought of without a breastplate2 and that new poets thrust corslets and greaves into songs both new and old4 ,how the new poets could conceive of warriors as always in chariots1 whereas in practice they knew no war chariots1 and yet could not conceive of them without corslets which the original poet never saw1 is ,reichel's secret4 ,the new poets had in the old lays a plain example to follow4 ,they did follow it as to chariots and shields2 as to corslets and greaves they reversed it4 ,such is the ,reichelian theory4 ,,the ,,shield ,as regards armour1 controversy is waged over the shield1 corslet1 and bronze greaves4 ,in ,homer the shield is of leather1 plated with bronze1 and of bronze is the corslet4 ,no shields of bronze plating and no bronze corslets have been found in ,mycenaean excavations4 ,we have to ask1 do the ,homeric descriptions of shields tally with the representations of shields in works of art1 discovered in the graves of ,mycenae1 ,spata in ,attica1 ,vaphio in ,sparta1 and elsewhere8 ,if the descriptions in ,homer vary from these relics1 to what extent do they vary8 and do the differences arise from the fact that the poet describes consistently what he sees in his own age1 or are the variations caused by late rhapsodists in the ,iron ,age1 who keep the great obsolete shields and bronze weapons1 yet introduce the other military gear of their day1 say #hjj-fjj ,b4,c4--gear unknown to the early singers8 ,it may be best to inquire1 first1 what does the poet1 or what do the poets1 say about shields8 and1 next1 to examine the evidence of representations of shields in ,mycenaean art2 always remembering that the poet does not pretend to live1 and beyond all doubt does not live1 in the ,mycenaean prime1 and that the testimony of the tombs is liable to be altered by fresh discoveries4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #chh1 the shield 7aspis7 is spoken of as covering a man about 7,greek3 amphibrotae71 while1 in the heat of battle1 the baldric 7telamon71 or belt of the shield1 shall be wet with sweat4 ,the shield1 then1 is not an ,ionian buckler worn on the left arm1 but is suspended by a belt1 and covers a man1 or most of him1 just as ,mycenaean shields are suspended by belts shown in works of art1 and cover the body and legs4 ,this 7,,ii4 #chh7 is a general description applying to the shields of all men who fight from chariots4 ,their great shield answers to the great mediaeval shield of the knights of the twelfth century1 the double targe1 worn suspended from the neck by a belt4 ,such a shield covers a mounted knight's body from mouth to stirrup in an ivory chessman of the eleventh to twelfth century ,a4,d41 ,footnote3 ,catalogue of ,scottish ,national ,antiquities1 p4 #cge4 so also in the ,bayeux tapestry1 ,footnote3 ,gautier1 ,chanson de ,roland4 ,seventh edition1 pp4 #cic1 #cid4 and on seals4 ,dismounted men have the same shield 7p4 #acb74 ,the shield of ,menelaus 7,,iii4 #cdh7 is equal in all directions1 which we might conceive to mean1 mathematically circular1 as the words do mean that4 ,a shield is said to have circles1 and a spear which grazes a shield--a shield which was ,greek3 panton eesae1 every way equal--rends both circles1 the outer circle of bronze1 and the inner circle of leather 7,iliad1 ,,xx4 #bgc-bha74 ,but the passage is not unjustly believed to be late2 and we cannot rely on it as proof that ,homer knew circular shields among others4 ,the epithet ,greek3 eukuklykos1 of good circle1 is commonly given to the shields1 but does not mean that the shield was circular1 we are told1 but merely that it was made of circular plates4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egc4 ,as for the shield of ,menelaus1 and other shields described in the same words1 every way equal1 the epithet is not now allowed to mean circular4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 annotating ,iliad1 ,i4 #cjf1 says that this sense is intolerably mathematical and prosaic1 and translates ,greek3 panton eesae as well balanced on every side4 ,helbig renders the epithets in the natural sense1 as circular4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,homerische ,epos1 p4 #cae2 cf41 on the other hand1 p4 #cag1 ,note ,i4 ,to the rendering circular it is objected that a circular shield of1 say1 four feet and a half in diameter1 would be intolerably heavy and superfluously wide1 while the shields represented in ,mycenaean art are not circles1 but rather resemble a figure of eight1 in some cases1 or a section of a cylinder1 in others1 or1 again1 a door 7,fig4 #e1 p4 #acj74 ,what ,homer really meant by such epithets as equal every way1 very circular1 of a good circle1 cannot be ascertained1 since ,homeric epithets of the shield1 which were previously rendered circular1 of good circle1 and so on1 are now translated in quite other senses1 in order that ,homeric descriptions may be made to tally with ,mycenaean representations of shields1 which are never circular as represented in works of art4 ,in this position of affairs we are unable to determine the shape1 or shapes1 of the shields known to ,homer4 ,a scholar's rendering of ,homer's epithets applied to the shield is obliged to vary with the variations of his theory about the shield4 ,thus1 in #ahhc1 ,mr4 ,leaf wrote1 ,the poet often calls the shield by names which seem to imply that it was round1 and yet indicates that it was large enough to cover the whole body of a man4444 ,in descriptions the round shape is always implied4 ,the words which indicated that the shield 7or one shield7 really looked like a tower1 and really reached from neck to ankles 7in two or three cases71 were received by the poet from the earlier ,achaean lays4 ,but to ,homer the warriors appeared as using the later small round shield4 ,his belief in the heroic strength of the men of old time made it quite natural to speak of them as bearing a shield which at once combined the later circular shape and the old heroic expanse4444 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 iv4 pp4 #bhc-bhe4 ,here the ,homeric words which naturally mean circular or round are accepted as meaning round or circular4 ,homer1 it is supposed1 in practice only knows the round shields of the later age1 #gjj ,b4,c41 so he calls shields round1 but1 obedient to tradition1 he conceives of them as very large4 ,but1 after the appearance of ,reichel's speculations1 the ,homeric words for round and circular have been explained as meaning something else1 and ,mr4 ,leaf1 in place of maintaining that ,homer knew no shields but round shields1 now writes 7#aijj71 ,the small circular shield of later times444is equally unknown to ,homer1 with a very few curious exceptions1 which ,reichel discovered--erroneously1 as we shall later try to show4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ege4 ,thus does science fluctuate6 ,now ,homer knows in practice none but light round bucklers1 dating from about #gjj ,b4,c42 again1 he does not know them at all1 though they were habitually used in the period at which the later parts of his ,epic were composed4 ,we shall have to ask1 how did small round bucklers come to be unknown to late poets who saw them constantly8 ,some scholars1 then1 believe that the old original poet always described ,mycenaean shields1 which are of various shapes1 but never circular in ,mycenaean art4 ,if there are any circular shields in the poems1 these1 they say1 must have been introduced by poets accustomed1 in a much later age1 to seeing circular bucklers4 ,therefore ,homeric words1 hitherto understood as meaning circular1 must now mean something else--even if the reasoning seems circular4 ,other scholars believe that the poet in real life saw various types of shields in use1 and that some of them were survivals of the ,mycenaean shields1 semi-cylindrical1 or shaped like figures of #h1 or like a door2 others were circular2 and these scholars presume that ,homer meant circular when he said circular4 ,neither school will convert the other1 and we cannot decide between them4 ,we do not pretend to be certain as to whether the original poet saw shields of various types1 including the round shape1 in use1 though that is possible1 or whether he saw only the ,mycenaean types4 ,as regards size1 ,homer certainly describes1 in several cases1 shields very much larger than most which we know for certain to have been common after1 say1 #gjj ,b4,c4 ,he speaks of shields reaching from neck to ankles1 and covering the body of a man about4 ,whether he was also familiar with smaller shields of various types is uncertain2 he does not explicitly say that any small bucklers were used by the chiefs1 nor does he explicitly say that all shields were of the largest type4 ,it is possible that at the time when the ,epic was composed various types of shield were being tried1 while the vast ancient shield was far from obsolete4 ,to return to the size of the shield4 ,in a feigned tale of ,odysseus 7,odyssey1 ,,xiv4 #dgd-dgg71 men in a wintry ambush place their shields over their shoulders1 as they lie on the ground1 to be a protection against snow4 ,but any sort of shield1 large or small1 would protect the shoulders of men in a recumbent position4 ,quite a large shield may seem to be indicated in ,iliad1 ,,xiii4 #djj-dje1 where ,idomeneus curls up his whole person behind his shield2 he was hidden by it4 ,yet1 as any one can see by experiment1 a man who crouched low would be protected entirely by a ,highland targe of less than thirty inches in diameter1 so nothing about the size of the shield is ascertained in this passage4 ,on a black-figured vase in the ,british ,museum 7,b1 #cbe7 the entire body of a crouching warrior is defended by a large ,boeotian buckler1 oval1 and with echancrures in the sides4 ,the same remark applies to ,zadsic1 ,,xxii4 #bgc-bge4 ,hector watches the spear of ,achilles as it flies2 he crouches1 and the spear flies over him4 ,robert takes this as an old ,mycenaean dodge--to duck down to the bottom of the shield4 ,footnote3 ,studien zur ,ilias1 p4 #ba4 ,the avoidance by ducking can be managed with no shield1 or with a common ,highland targe1 which would cover a man in a crouching posture1 as when ,glenbucket's targe was peppered by bullets at ,clifton 7#gdf71 and ,cluny shouted ,what the devil is this8 the assailants firing unexpectedly from a ditch4 ,a few moments of experiment1 we repeat1 prove that a round targe can protect a man in ,hector's attitude1 and that the ,homeric texts here throw no light on the size of the shield4 ,the shield of ,hector was of black bull's-hide1 and as large and long as any represented in ,mycenaean art1 so that1 as he walked1 the rim knocked against his neck and ankles4 ,the shape is not mentioned4 ,despite its size1 he walked under it from the plain and field of battle into ,troy 7,iliad1 ,,vi4 #aaf-aah74 ,this must be remembered1 as ,reichel ,footnote3 ,reichel1 #ch1 #ci4 ,father ,browne 7,handbook1 p4 #bcj7 writes1 ,in ,odyssey1 ,,xiv #dge1 ,odysseus says he slept within the shield4 ,he says under arms 7,odyssey1 ,,xiv4 #dgd1 but cf4 ,,xiv4 #dgi74 maintains that a man could not walk under shield1 or only for a short way2 wherefore the war chariot was invented1 he says1 to carry the fighting man from point to point 7,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egc74 ,mr4 ,leaf elaborates these points3 ,why did not the ,homeric heroes ride8 ,because no man could carry such a shield on horseback4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egc4 ,we reply that men could and did carry such shields on horseback1 as we know on the evidence of works of art and poetry of the eleventh to twelfth centuries ,a4,d4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway has explained the introduction of chariots as the result of horses too small to carry a heavy and heavily-armed man as a cavalier4 ,the shield 7,greek3 aspis71 we are told by followers of ,reichel1 was only worn by princes who could afford to keep chariots1 charioteers1 and squires of the body to arm and disarm them4 ,but this can scarcely be true1 for all the comrades of ,diomede had the shield 7,greek3 aspis1 ,iliad1 ,x4 #aeb71 and the whole host of ,pandarus of ,troy1 a noted bowman1 were shield-bearers 7,greek3 aspistaon laon1 ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #ij71 and some of them held their shields 7,greek3 sakae7 in front of ,pandarus when he took a treacherous shot at ,menelaus 7,,iv4 #aac74 ,the whole host could not have chariots and squires1 we may presume1 so the chariot was not indispensable to the ecuyer or shield-bearing man4 ,the objections to this conjecture of ,reichel are conspicuous1 as we now prove4 ,no ,mycenaean work of art shows us a shielded man in a chariot2 the men with the monstrous shields are always depicted on foot4 ,the only modern peoples who1 to our knowledge1 used a leather shield of the ,mycenaean size and even of a ,mycenaean shape had no horses and chariots1 as we shall show4 ,the ancient ,eastern peoples1 such as the ,khita and ,egyptians1 who fought from chariots1 carried small shields of various forms1 as in the well-known picture of a battle between the ,khita1 armed with spears1 and the bowmen of ,rameses ,,ii1 who kill horse and man with arrows from their chariots1 and carry no spears2 while the ,khita1 who have no bows1 merely spears1 are shot down as they advance4 ,footnote3 ,maspero1 ,hist4 ,ancienne1 ii4 p4 #bbe44 ,egyptians and ,khita1 who fight from chariots1 use small bucklers1 whence it follows that war chariots were not invented1 or1 at least1 were not retained in use1 for the purpose of giving mobility to men wearing gigantic shields1 under which they could not hurry from point to point4 ,war chariots did not cease to be used in ,egypt1 when men used small shields4 ,moreover1 ,homeric warriors can make marches under shield1 while there is no mention of chariots to carry them to the point where they are to lie in ambush 7,odyssey1 ,,xiv4 #dgj-eaj74 ,if the shield was so heavy as to render a chariot necessary1 would ,homer make ,hector trudge a considerable distance under shield1 while ,achilles1 under shield1 sprints thrice round the whole circumference of ,troy8 ,helbig notices several other cases of long runs under shield4 ,either ,reichel is wrong1 when he said that the huge shield made the use of the war chariot necessary1 or the poet is late2 he is a man who never saw a large shield like ,hector's1 and1 though he speaks of such shields1 he thinks that men could walk and run under them4 ,when men did walk or run under shield1 or ride1 if they ever rode1 they would hang it over the left side1 like the lion-hunters on the famous inlaid dagger of ,mycenae1 ,footnote3 ,for the chariots1 cf4 ,reichel1 ,homerische ,waffen1 #abj;ff4 ,wien1 #aija4 or the warrior on the chessman referred to above 7p4 #aaa74 ,aias1 again1 the big1 brave1 stupid ,porthos of the ,iliad1 has the largest shield of all1 like a tower 7this shield cannot have been circular71 and is recognised by his shield4 ,but he never enters a chariot1 and1 like ,odysseus1 has none of his own1 because both men come from rugged islands1 unfit for chariot driving4 ,odysseus has plenty of shields in his house in ,ithaca1 as we learn from the account of the battle with the ,wooers in the ,odyssey2 yet1 in ,ithaca1 as at ,troy1 he kept no chariot4 ,here1 then1 we have nations who fight from chariots1 yet use small shields1 and heroes who wear enormous shields1 yet never own a chariot4 ,clearly1 the great shield cannot have been the cause of the use of the war chariot1 as in the theory of ,reichel4 ,aias and his shield we meet in ,iliad1 ,,vii4 #bjf-bbj4 ,he clothed himself upon his flesh in all his armour 7,greek3 teuchea71 to quote ,mr4 ,leaf's translation2 but the poet only describes his shield3 his towerlike shield of bronze1 with sevenfold ox-hide1 that ,tychius wrought him cunningly2 ,tychius1 the best of curriers1 that had his home in ,hyle1 who made for him his glancing shield of sevenfold hides of stalwart bulls1 and overlaid the seven with bronze4 ,the shield known to ,homer then is1 in this case1 so tall as to resemble a tower1 and has bronze plating over bull's hide4 ,by tradition from an age of leather shields the ,currier is still the shield-maker1 though now the shield has metal plating4 ,it is fairly clear that ,greek tradition regarded the shield of ,aias as of the kind which covered the body from chin to ankles1 and resembled a bellying sail1 or an umbrella unfurled1 and drawn in at the sides in the middle1 so as to offer the semblance of two bellies1 or of one1 pinched in at or near the centre4 ,this is probable1 because the coins of ,salamis1 where ,aias was worshipped as a local hero of great influence1 display this shield as the badge of the ,a,eginetan dynasty1 claiming descent from ,aias4 ,the shield is bossed1 or bellied out1 with two half-moons cut in the centre1 representing the waist1 or pinched--in part1 of the ancient ,mycenaean shield2 the same device occurs on a ,mycenaean ring from ,a,egina in the ,british ,museum4 ,footnote3 ,evans1 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 xiii4 #bac-baf4 ,in a duel with ,aias the spear of ,hector pierced the bronze and six layers of hide on his shield1 but stuck in the seventh4 ,the spear of ,aias went through the circular 7or every way balanced7 huge shield of ,hector1 and through his corslet and chiton1 but ,hector had doubled himself up laterally 7,greek3 eklinthae1 ,,vii4 #bed71 and was not wounded4 ,the next stroke of ,aias pierced his shield1 and wounded his neck2 ,hector replied with a boulder that lighted on the centre of the shield of ,aias1 on the boss1 whether that means a mere ornament or knob1 or whether it was the genuine boss--which is disputed4 ,aias broke in the shield of ,hector with another stone2 and the gentle and joyous passage of arms was stopped4 ,the shield of ,agamemnon was of the kind that cover all the body of a man1 and was every way equal1 or circular4 ,it was plated with twelve circles of bronze1 and had twenty ,greek3 omphaloi1 or ornamental knobs of tin1 and the centre was of black cyanus 7,,xi4 #ca-cd74 ,there was also a head of the ,gorgon1 with ,fear and ,panic4 ,the description is not intelligible1 and ,i do not discuss it4 ,a man could be stabbed in the middle of the belly1 under his shield 7,,xi4 #dbd-dbe71 not an easy thing to do1 if shields covered the whole body to the feet2 but1 when a hero was leaping from his chariot 7as in this case71 no doubt a spear could be pushed up under the shield4 ,the ancient ,irish romances tell of a gae bulg1 a spear held in the warrior's toes1 and jerked up under the shield of his enemy6 ,shields could be held up on high1 in an attack on a wall garrisoned by archers 7,,xii4 #aci71 the great ,norman shield1 also1 could be thus lifted4 ,the ,locrians1 light armed infantry1 had no shields1 nor bronze helmets1 nor spears1 but slings and bows 7,,xiii4 #gad74 ,mr4 ,leaf suspects that this is a piece of false archaism1 but we do not think that early poets in an uncritical age are ever archaeologists1 good or bad4 ,the poet is aware that some men have larger1 some smaller shields1 just as some have longer and some shorter spears 7,,xiv4 #cgj-cgg72 but this does not prove that the shields were of different types4 ,a tall man might inherit the shield of a short father1 or versa4 ,a man in turning to fly might trip on the rim of his shield1 which proves how large it was3 it reached to his feet4 ,this accident of tripping occurred to ,periphetes of ,mycenae1 but it might have happened to ,hector1 whose shield reached from neck to ankles4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xv4 #fde-fdf4 ,achilles must have been a large man1 for he knew nobody whose armour would fit him when he lost his own 7though his armour fitted ,patroclus71 he could1 however1 make shift with the tower-like shield of ,aias1 he said4 ,illustration #a3 ,,the ,,vase ,,of ,,aristonothos ,the evidence of the ,iliad1 then1 is mainly to the effect that the heroes carried huge shields1 suspended by belts1 covering the body and legs4 ,if ,homer means1 by the epithets already cited1 of good circle and every way equal1 that some shields of these vast dimensions were circular1 we have one example in early ,greek art which corroborates his description4 ,this is the vase of ,aristonothos1 signed by that painter1 and supposed to be of the seventh century 7,fig4 #a74 ,on one side1 the companions of ,odysseus are boring out the eye of the ,cyclops2 on the other1 a galley is being rowed to the attack of a ship4 ,on the raised deck of the galley stand three warriors1 helmeted and bearing spears4 ,the artist has represented their shields as covering their right sides1 probably for the purpose of showing their devices or blazons4 ,their shields are small round bucklers4 ,on the ship are three warriors whose shields1 though circular1 cover ,,the ,,body from ,,chin ,,to ,,ankles1 as in ,homer4 ,one shield bears a bull's head2 the next has three crosses2 the third blazon is a crab4 ,footnote3 ,mon4 dell4 ,inst41 is4 pl4 #d4 ,such personal armorial bearings are never mentioned by ,homer4 ,it is not usually safe to argue1 from his silence1 that he is ignorant of anything4 ,he never mentions seals or signet rings1 yet they cannot but have been familiar to his time4 ,odysseus does not seal the chest with the ,phaeacian presents2 he ties it up with a cunning knot2 there are no rings named among the things wrought by ,hephaestus1 nor among the offerings of the ,wooers of ,penelope4 ,footnote3 ,helbig citing ,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #dde-ddh2 ,iliad1 ,,xviii4 #dja2 ,odyssey1 xviii4 #bib-cja4 ,but1 if we are to admit that ,homer knew not rings and seals1 which lasted to the latest ,mycenaean times1 through the ,dipylon age1 to the very late ,a,eginetan treasure 7#hjj ,b4,c47 in the ,british ,museum1 and appear again in the earliest dawn of the classical age and in a ,cyclic poem1 it is plain that all the expansionists lived in one1 and that a most peculiar ringless age4 ,this view suits our argument to a wish1 but it is not credible that rings and seals and engraved stones1 so very common in ,mycenaean and later times1 should have vanished wholly in the ,homeric time4 ,the poet never mentions them1 just as ,shakespeare never mentions a thing so familiar to him as tobacco4 ,how often are finger rings mentioned in the whole mass of ,attic tragic poetry8 ,we remember no example1 and instances are certainly rare3 ,liddell and ,scott give none4 ,yet the tragedians were1 of course1 familiar with rings and seals4 ,manifestly1 we cannot say that ,homer knew no seals1 because he mentions none2 but armorial blazons on shields could be ignored by no poet of war1 if they existed4 ,meanwhile1 the shields of the warriors on the vase1 being circular and covering body and legs1 answer most closely to ,homer's descriptions4 ,helbig is reduced to suggest1 first1 that these shields are worn by men aboard ship1 as if warriors had one sort of shield when aboard ship and another when fighting on land1 and as if the men in the other vessel were not equally engaged in a sea fight4 ,no evidence in favour of such difference of practice1 by sea and land1 is offered4 ,again1 ,helbig does not trust the artist1 in this case1 though the artist is usually trusted to draw what he sees2 and why should he give the men in the other ship or boat small bucklers1 genuine1 while bedecking the warriors in the adverse vessel with large1 purely imaginary shields8 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,das ,homerische ,epos1 ii4 pp4 #cac-cad4 ,it is not in the least probable1 as ,helbig suggests1 that the artist is shirking the trouble of drawing the figure4 ,reichel supposes that round bucklers were novelties when the vase was painted 7seventh century71 and that the artist did not understand how to depict them4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,waffen1 p4 #dg4 ,but he depicted them very well as regards the men in the galley1 save that1 for obvious aesthetic reasons1 he chose to assume that the men in the galley were left-handed and wore their shields on their right arms1 his desire being to display the blazons of both parties4 ,footnote3 ,see the same arrangement in a ,dipylon vase4 ,baumeister1 ,denkmaler1 iii4 p4 #aide4 ,we thus see1 if the artist may be trusted1 that shields1 which both reached to the feet and were circular1 existed in his time 7the seventh century71 so that possibly they may have existed in ,homer's time and survived into the age of small bucklers4 ,tyrtaeus 7late seventh century71 as ,helbig remarks1 speaks of a wide shield1 covering thighs1 shins1 breast1 and shoulders4 ,footnote3 ,tyrtaeus1 xi4 #bc2 ,helbig1 ,das ,homerische ,epos1 ii4 p4 #cae1 ,note #b4 ,nothing can be more like the large shields of the vase of ,aristonothos4 ,thus the huge circular shield seems to have been a practicable shield in actual use4 ,if so1 when ,homer spoke of large circular shields he may have meant large circular shields4 ,on the ,dodwell pyxis of #fej to #fbj ,b4,c41 a man wears an oval shield1 covering him from the base of the neck to the ankles4 ,he wears it on his left arm4 ,footnote3 ,walters1 ,ancient ,pottery1 p4 #caf4 ,of shields certainly small and light1 worn by the chiefs1 there is not a notice in the ,iliad1 unless there be a hint to that effect in the accounts of heroes running1 walking considerable distances1 and stepping lightly under shields1 supposed1 by the critics1 to be of crushing weight4 ,in such passages the poet may be carried away by his own verve1 or the heroes of ancient times may be deemed capable of exertions beyond those of the poet's contemporaries1 as he often tells us that1 in fact1 the old heroes were4 ,a poet is not a scientific military writer2 and in the epic poetry of all other early races very gross exaggeration is permitted1 as in the blank space the old ,celtic romances1 and1 of course1 the huge epics of ,india4 ,in ,homer the skill of the poet makes things impossible convincing1 ,aristotle says2 and it is a critical error to insist on taking ,homer absolutely and always au pied de la lettre4 ,he seems1 undeniably1 to have large body-covering shields present to his mind as in common use4 ,small shields of the ,greek historic period are unknown to ,homer1 ,mr4 ,leaf says1 with a very few curious exceptions1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ege4 detected by ,reichel in ,book ,x4 #ae ,footnote3 ,ibid1 vol4 i4 p4 #efi1 fig4 #b41 where ,diomede's men sleep with their heads resting on their shields1 whereas a big-bellied ,mycenaean shield rises1 he says1 too high for a pillow4 ,but some ,mycenzean shields were perfectly flat2 while1 again1 nothing could be more comfortable1 as a head-rest1 than the hollow between the upper and lower bulges of the ,mycenzean huge shield4 ,the ,zulu wooden head-rest is of the same character4 ,thus this passage in ,book ,x4 does not prove that small circular shields were known to ,homer1 nor does ,x4 #e #ac4 #ebf-ecj1 an obscure text in which it is uncertain whether ,diomede and ,odysseus ride or drive the horses of ,rhesus4 ,they could ride1 as every one must see1 even though equipped with great body-covering shields4 ,true1 the shielded hero could neither put his shield at his back nor in front of him when he rode2 but he could hang it sidewise1 when it would cover his left side1 as in the early ,middle ,ages 7#ajfj-aafj ,a4,d474 ,the taking of the shield from a man's shoulders 7,,xi4 #cgd7 does not prove the shield to be small2 the shield hung by the belt 7telamon7 from the shoulder4 ,footnote3 ,on the other side1 see ,reichel1 ,homerische ,waffen1 pp4 #dj-dd4 ,wien1 #aija4 ,we have replied to his arguments above4 ,so far we have the results that ,homer seems most familiar with vast body-covering shields2 that such shields were suspended by a baldric1 not worn on the left arm2 that they were made of layers of hide1 plated with bronze1 and that such a shield as ,aias wore must have been tall1 doubtless oblong1 like a tower1 possibly it was semi-cylindrical4 ,whether the epithets denoting roundness refer to circular shields or to the double targe1 g-shaped1 of ,mycenaean times is uncertain4 ,we thus come to a puzzle of unusual magnitude4 ,if ,homer does not know small circular shields1 but refers always to huge shields1 whereas1 from the eighth century ,b4,c4 onwards1 such shields were not in use 7disregarding ,tyrtaeus1 and the vase of ,aristonothos on which they appear conspicuously1 and the ,dodwell pyxis71 where are we8 ,either we have a harmonious picture of war from a very ancient date of large shields1 or late poets did not introduce the light round buckler of their own period4 ,meanwhile they are accused of introducing the bronze corslets and other defensive armour of their own period4 ,defensive armour was unknown1 we are told1 in the ,mycenaean prime1 which1 if true1 does not affect the question4 ,homer did not live in or describe the ,mycenaean prime1 with its stone arrow-tips4 ,why did the late poets act so inconsistently8 ,why were they ignorant of small circular shields1 which they saw every day8 ,or why1 if they knew them1 did they not introduce them in the poems1 which1 we are told1 they were filling with non-,mycenaean greaves and corslets8 ,this is one of the dilemmas which constantly arise to confront the advocates of the theory that the ,iliad is a patchwork of many generations4 ,late poets1 if really late1 certainly in every-day life knew small parrying bucklers worn on the left arm1 and huge body-covering shields perhaps they rarely saw in use4 ,they also knew1 and the original poet1 we are told1 did not know bronze corslets and greaves4 ,the theory of critics is that late poets introduced the bronze corslets and greaves with which they were familiar into the poems1 but scrupulously abstained from alluding to the equally familiar small shields4 ,why are they so recklessly anachronistic and up-to-date with the corslets and greaves1 and so staunchly but inconsistently conservative about keeping the huge shields8 ,mr4 ,leaf explains thus3 ,the groundwork of the ,epos is ,mycenaean1 in the arrangement of the house1 in the prevalence of copper 7as compared with iron71 and1 as ,reichel has shown1 in armour4 ,yet in many points the poems are certainly later than the prime1 at least1 of the ,mycenaean age--which we are the last to deny4 ,is it that the poets are deliberately trying to present the conditions of an age anterior to their own8 or are they depicting the circumstances by which they are surrounded--circumstances which slowly change during the period of the development of the ,epos8 ,cauer decides for the latter alternative1 the only one which is really conceivable ,footnote3 ,then how is the alleged archaeology of the poet of ,book ,x4 conceivable8 in an age whose views are in many ways so naive as the poems themselves prove them to have been4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 ix4 pp4 #dfc1 #dfd4 ,here we entirely side with ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,no poet1 no painter1 no sculptor1 in a naif1 uncritical age1 ever represents in art anything but what he sees daily in costume1 customs1 weapons1 armour1 and ways of life4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 however1 on the other hand1 occasionally chides pieces of deliberate archaeological pedantry in the poets1 in spite of his opinion that they are always depicting the circumstances by which they are surrounded4 ,but as huge man-covering shields are not among the circumstances by which the supposed late poets were surrounded1 why do they depict them8 ,here ,mr4 ,leaf corrects himself1 and his argument departs from the statement that only one theory is conceivable1 namely1 that the poets depict their own surroundings1 and we are introduced to a new proposition4 ,or rather we must recognise everywhere a compromise between two opposing principles3 the singer1 on the one hand1 has to be conservatively tenacious of the old material which serves as the substance of his song2 on the other hand1 he has to be vivid and actual in the contributions which he himself makes to the common stock4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 ix4 pp4 #dfc1 #dfd4 ,the conduct of such singers is so weirdly inconsistent as not to be easily credible4 ,but probably they went further1 for it is possible that the allusions to the corslet may have been introduced in the course of successive modernisation such as the oldest parts of the ,iliad seem in many cases to have passed through4 ,but1 in fact1 ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #bcd is the only mention of a corslet in any of the oldest strata1 so far as we can distinguish them1 and here ,reichel translates thorex 'shield4' ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egh4 ,mr4 ,leaf's statement we understand to mean that1 when the singer or reciter was delivering an ,,ancient lay he did not introduce any of the military gear--light round bucklers1 greaves1 and corslets--with which his audience were familiar4 ,but when the singer delivers a new lay1 which he himself has added to the kernel1 then he is vivid and actual1 and speaks of greaves and corslets1 though he still cleaves in his new lay to the obsolete chariot1 the enormous shield1 and1 in an age of iron1 to weapons of bronze4 ,he is a sadly inconsistent new poet6 ,meanwhile1 sixteen allusions to the corslet can be cut out1 as probably some or all these are additions to the text made at a time when it seemed absurd to think of a man in full armour without a corslet4 ,footnote3 ,ibid1 vol4 i4 p4 #egg4 ,thus the reciters1 after all1 did not spare the old material in the matter of corslets4 ,the late singers have thus been conservatively tenacious in clinging to chariots1 weapons of bronze1 and obsolete enormous shields1 while they have also been vivid and actual and up to date in the way of introducing everywhere bronze corslets1 greaves1 and other armour unknown1 by the theory1 in the old material which is the substance of their song4 ,by the way1 they have not even spared the shield of the old material1 for it was of leather or wood 7we have no trace of metal plating on the old ,mycenaean shields71 and the singer1 while retaining the size of it1 has added a plating of bronze1 which we have every reason to suppose that ,mycenaean shields of the prime did not present to the stone-headed arrow4 ,this theory of singers1 who are at once conservatively tenacious of the old and impudently radical in pushing in the new1 appears to us to be logically untenable4 ,we have1 in ,chapter ,i1 observed the same inconsistency in ,helbig1 and shall have occasion to remark again on its presence in the work of that great archaeologist4 ,the inconsistency is inseparable from theories of expansion through several centuries4 ,many a method1 says ,mr4 ,leaf1 has been proposed which1 up to a certain point1 seemed irresistible1 but there has always been a residuum which returned to plague the inventor4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 ,x4 ,this is very true1 and our explanation is that no method which starts from the hypothesis that the poems are the product of several centuries will work4 ,the residuum is the element which cannot be fitted into any such hypothesis4 ,but try the hypothesis that the poems are the product of a single age1 and all is harmonious4 ,there is no baffling residuum4 ,the poet describes the details of a definite age1 not that of the ,mycenaean bloom1 not that of #ijj-fjj ,a4,d4 ,we cannot1 then1 suppose that many generations of irresponsible reciters at fairs and public festivals conservatively adhered to the huge size of the shield1 while altering its material2 and also that the same men1 for the sake of being actual and up to date1 dragged bronze corslets and greaves not only into new lays1 but into passages of lays by old poets who had never heard of such things4 ,consequently1 the poetic descriptions of arms and armour must be explained on some other theory4 ,if the poet1 again1 as others suppose--,mr4 ,ridgeway for one--knew such bronze-covered circular shields as are common in central and western ,europe of the ,bronze ,age1 why did he sometimes represent them as extending from neck to ankles1 whereas the known bronze circular shields are not of more than #b feet #b inches to #b feet #f inches in diameter8 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i pp4 #dec1 #dga4 ,such a shield1 without the wood or leather1 weighed #e lbs4 #b ozs41 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 #dfb4 and a strong man might walk or run under it4 ,homer's shields would be twice as heavy1 at least1 though1 even then1 not too heavy for a ,hector1 or an ,aias1 or ,achilles4 ,i do not see that the round bronze shields of ,limerick1 ,yetholm1 ,beith1 ,lincolnshire1 and ,tarquinii1 cited by ,mr4 ,ridgeway1 answer to ,homer's descriptions of huge shields4 ,they are too small4 ,but it is perfectly possible1 or rather highly probable1 that in the poet's day shields of various sizes and patterns coexisted4 ,,archaeology ,,of ,,the ,,shields ,turning to archaeological evidence1 we find no remains in the graves of the ,mycenaean prime of the bronze which covered the ox-hides of ,homeric shields1 though we do find gold ornaments supposed to have been attached to shields4 ,there is no evidence that the ,mycenaean shield was plated with bronze4 ,but if we judge from their shape1 as represented in works of ,mycenaean art1 some of the ,mycenaean shields were not of wood1 but of hide4 ,in works of art1 such as engraved rings and a bronze dagger 7,fig4 #b7 with pictures inlaid in other metals1 the shield1 covering the whole body1 is of the form of a bellying sail1 or a huge umbrella up1 and pinched at both sides near the centre3 or is like a door1 or a section of a cylinder2 only one sort of shield resembles a big-bellied figure of #h4 ,ivory models of shields indicate the same figure4 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 ,schliemann's ,excavations1 p4 #aib4 ,a gold necklet found at ,enkomi1 in ,cyprus1 consists of a line of models of this ,mycenaean shield4 ,footnote3 ,excavations in ,cyprus1 pl4 vii4 fig4 #fjd4 ,a4 ,s4 ,murray1 #aijj4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,,dagger ,,with ,,lion-,,hunters ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,there also exists a set of small ,mycenaean relics called ,palladia1 found at ,mycenae1 ,spata and in the earliest strata of the ,acropolis at ,athens4 ,they resemble two circles joined together so as to intersect one another slightly1 or a long oval pinched in at the middle4 ,they vary in size from six inches to half an inch1 and are of ivory1 glazed ware1 or glass4 ,several such shields are engraved on ,mycenaean gems2 one1 in gold1 is attached to a silver vase4 ,the ornamentation shown on them occurs1 too1 on ,mycenaean shields in works of art2 in short1 these little objects are representations in miniature of the big double-bellied ,mycenaean shield4 ,mr4 ,ernest ,gardner concludes that these objects are the schematised reductions of an armed human figure1 only the shield which covered the whole body is left4 ,they are talismans symbolising an armed divinity1 ,pallas or another4 ,a ,dipylon vase 7,fig4 #c7 shows a man with a shield1 possibly evolved out of this kind1 much scooped out at the waist1 and reaching from neck to knees4 ,the shield covers his side1 not his back or front4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xiii4 pp4 #ba-bd4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4 ,one may guess that the original pinch at the waist of the ,mycenaean shield was evolved later into the two deep scoops to enable the warrior to use his arms more freely1 while the shield1 hanging from his neck by a belt1 covered the front of his body4 ,fig4 #d shows shields of #ajfj-aafj ,a4,d4 equally designed to cover body and legs4 ,men wore shields1 if we believe the artists of ,mycenae1 when lion-hunting1 a sport in which speed of foot is desirable2 so they cannot have been very weighty4 ,the shield then was hung over one side1 and running was not so very difficult as if it hung over back or front 7cf4 ,fig4 #e74 ,the shields sometimes reach only from the shoulders to the calf of the leg4 ,footnote3 ,reichel1 p4 #c1 fig4 #e1 ,grave ,,iii4 at ,mycenae4 ,the wearer of the largest kind could only be got at by a sword-stab over the rim into the throat ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #b1 fig4 #b4 7,fig4 #e74 ,some shields of this shape were quite small1 if an engraved rock-crystal is evidence2 here the shield is not half so high as an adjacent goat1 but it may be a mere decoration to fill the field of the gem4 ,footnote3 ,reichel1 p4 #c1 fig4 #g4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4 ,,rings3 ,,swords ,,and ,,shields ,other shields1 covering the body from neck to feet1 were sections of cylinders2 several of these are represented on engraved ,mycenaean ring stones or on the gold2 the wearer was protected in front and flank ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #d1 fig ,,ii1 #ab2 p4 ,i1 fig ,i4 7,fig4 #e74 ,in a maze of buildings outside the precincts of the graves of ,mycenae1 ,dr4 ,schliemann found fragments of vases much less ancient than the contents of the sepulchres4 ,there was a large amphora1 the ,warrior ,vase 7,fig4 #f74 ,the men wear apparently a close-fitting coat of mail over a chiton1 which reaches with its fringes half down the thigh4 ,the shield is circular1 with a half-moon cut out at the bottom4 ,the art is infantile4 ,other warriors carry long oval shields reaching1 at least1 from neck to shin4 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 ,schliemann's ,excavations1 pp4 #bgi-bhe4 ,they wear round leather caps1 their enemies have helmets4 ,on a ,mycenaean painted stele1 apparently of the same relatively late period1 the costume is similar1 and the shield--oval--reaches from neck to knee4 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 vol4 i4 p4 #cad4 ,the ,homeric shields do not answer to the smaller of these late and ugly representations1 while1 in their bronze plating1 ,homeric shields seem to differ from the leather shields of the ,mycenaean prime4 ,finally1 at ,enkomi1 near ,salamis1 in ,cyprus1 an ivory carving 7in the ,british ,museum7 shows a fighting man whose perfectly circular shield reaches from neck to knee2 this is one of several figures in which ,mr4 ,arthur ,evans finds a most valuable illustration of the typical ,homeric armour4 ,footnote3 ,journal of the ,anthropological ,institute1 vol4 xxx4 pp4 #bji-bad1 figs4 #e1 #f1 #i4 ,the shield1 however1 is not so huge as those of ,aias1 ,hector1 and ,periphetes4 ,i can only conclude that ,homer describes intermediate types of shield1 as large as the ,mycenaean but plated with bronze1 for a reason to be given later4 ,this kind of shield1 the kind known to ,homer1 was not the invention of late poets living in an age of circular bucklers1 worn on the left arm1 and these supposed late poets never introduce into the epics such bucklers4 ,what manner of military needs prompted the invention of the great ,mycenaean shields which1 by ,homer's time1 were differentiated by the addition of metal plating8 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4 ,,fragments ,,of ,,warrior ,,vase ,the process of evolution of the huge ,mycenaean shields1 and of the ,homeric shields covering the body from chin to ankles1 can easily be traced4 ,the nature of the attack expected may be inferred from the nature of the defence employed4 ,body-covering shields were1 obviously1 at first1 defences against showers of arrows tipped with stone4 ,in the earlier ,mycenaean times the arrow-head of obsidian alone appears1 as in ,mycenaean ,grave ,,iv4 ,in the upper strata of ,mycenae and in the later tombs the arrow-head is usually of bronze4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #bjf4 ,no man going into battle naked1 without body armour1 like the ,mycenaeans 7if they had none71 could protect himself with a small shield1 or even with a round buckler of twenty-six inches in diameter1 against the rain of shafts4 ,in a fight1 on the other hand1 where man singled out man1 and spears were the missiles1 and when the warriors had body armour1 or even when they had not1 a small shield sufficed2 as we see among the spear-throwing ,zulus and the spear-throwing aborigines of ,australia 7unacquainted with bows and arrows71 who mainly use shields scarcely broader than a bat4 ,on the other hand1 the archers of the ,algonquins in their wars with the ,iroquois1 about #afaj1 used clubs and tomahawks but no spears1 no missiles but arrows1 and their leather shield was precisely the ,greek3 amphibrotae aspis of ,homer1 covering the whole of a man4 ,it is curious to see1 in contemporary drawings 7#afbj71 ,mycenaean shields on ,red ,indian shoulders6 ,in ,champlain's sketches of fights between ,french and ,algonquins against ,iroquois 7#afaj-afbj71 we see the ,algonquins outside the ,iroquois stockade1 which is defended by archers1 sheltering under huge shields shaped like the ,mycenaean tower shield1 though less cylindrical2 in fact1 more like the shield of the fallen hunter depicted on the dagger of ,mycenae4 ,these ,algonquin shields partially cover the sides as well as the front of the warrior1 who stoops behind them1 resting the lower rim of the shield on the ground4 ,the shields are oblong and rounded at the top1 much like that of ,achilles ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii p4 #fje in ,mr4 ,leaf's restoration8 ,the sides curve inward4 ,another shield1 oval in shape and flat1 appears to have been suspended from the neck1 and covers an ,iroquois brave from chin to feet4 ,the ,red ,indian shields1 like those of ,mycenae1 were made of leather2 usually of buffalo hide1 ,footnote3 ,les ,voyages de ,sr4 de ,champlain1 ,paris1 #afbj1 f4 #bb3 rondache de cuir bouili1 qui est d'un animal1 comme le boufle4 good against stone-tipped arrows4 ,the braves are naked1 like the unshielded archers on the ,mycenaean silver vase fragment representing a siege 7,fig4 #g74 ,the description of the ,algonquin shields by ,champlain1 when compared with his drawings1 suggests that we cannot always take artistic representations as exact4 ,in his designs only a few ,algonquins and one ,iroquois carry the huge shields2 the unshielded men are stark naked1 as on the ,mycenaean silver vase4 ,but in his text ,champlain says that the ,iroquois1 like the ,algonquins1 carried arrow-proof shields and a sort of armour woven of cotton thread--,homer's ,greek3 linothoraex 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #bei1 #hej74 ,these facts appear in only one of ,champlain's drawings ,footnote3 ,dix's ,champlain1 p4 #aac4 ,appleton1 ,new ,york1 #aijc4 ,laverdiere's ,champlain1 vol4 iv41 plate opposite p4 #he 7#ahgj74 7,fig4 #h74 ,these ,iroquois and ,algonquin shields are the armour of men exposed1 not to spears1 but to a hail of flint-tipped arrows4 ,as spears came in for missiles in ,greek warfare1 arrows did not wholly go out1 but the noble warriors preferred spear and sword4 ,footnote3 ,cf4 ,archilochus1 #c4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway erroneously says that no ,achaean warrior employs the bow for war4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 i4 #cja4 ,teucer1 frequently1 and ,meriones use the bow2 like ,pandarus and ,paris1 on the ,trojan side1 they resort to bow or spear1 as occasion serves4 ,odysseus1 in ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 is armed with the bow and arrows of ,meriones when acting as a spy2 in the ,odyssey his skill as an archer is notorious1 but he would not pretend to equal famous bowmen of an older generation1 such as ,heracles and ,eurytus of ,o,echalia1 whose bow he possessed but did not take to ,troy4 ,philoctetes is his master in archery4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #bai-bbb4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g4 ,,fragment ,,of ,,siege ,,vase ,the bow1 however1 was little esteemed by ,greek warriors who desired to come to handstrokes1 just as it was despised1 to their frequent ruin1 by the ,scots in the old wars with ,england4 ,dupplin1 ,falkirk1 ,halidon ,hill and many another field proved the error4 ,there was much need in ,homeric warfare for protection against heavy showers of arrows4 ,mr4 ,monro is hardly correct when he says that1 in ,homer1 we do not hear of ,,bodies of archers1 of arrows darkening the air1 as in descriptions of oriental warfare4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 #cje4 ,these precise phrases are not used by ,homer2 but1 nevertheless1 arrows are flying thick in his battle pieces4 ,the effects are not often noticed1 because1 in ,homer1 helmet1 shield1 corslet1 zoster1 and greaves1 as a rule prevent the shafts from harming the well-born1 well-armed chiefs2 the nameless host1 however1 fall frequently4 ,when ,hector came forward for a parley 7,iliad1 ,,iii4 #gi71 the ,achaens kept shooting at him with arrows1 which he took unconcernedly4 ,teucer shoots nine men in ,iliad1 ,,viii4 #big-cjd4 ,in ,,xi4 #he the shafts 7,greek3 belea7 showered and the common soldiers fell--misprint being arrows as well as thrown spears4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #dfe2 ,,xvi4 #ffh1 #fgh4 ,agamemnon and ,achilles are as likely1 they say1 to be hit by arrow as by spear 7,,xi4 #aia2 ,,xxi4 #ac74 ,machaon is wounded by an arrow4 ,patroclus meets ,eurypylus limping1 with an arrow in his thigh--archer unknown4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #hji1 #haj4 ,meriones1 though an ,achaean paladin1 sends a bronze-headed arrow through the body of ,harpalion 7,,xiii4 #fej74 ,the light-armed ,locrians are all bowmen and slingers 7,,xiii4 #gaf74 ,acamas taunts the ,argives as bowmen 7,,xiv4 #dgi74 ,the war-cry rose on both sides1 and the arrows leaped from the bowstrings 7,,xv4 #cac74 ,manifestly the arrows are always on the wing1 hence the need for the huge ,homeric and ,mycenaean shields4 ,therefore1 as the ,achaeans in ,homer wore but flimsy corslets 7this we are going to prove71 the great body-covering shield of the ,mycenaean prime did not go out of vogue in ,homer's time1 when bronze had superseded stone arrow-heads1 but was strengthened by bronze plating over the leather4 ,in a later age the bow was more and more neglected in ,greek warfare1 and consequently large shields went out1 after the close of the ,mycenaean age1 and round parrying bucklers came into use4 ,the ,greeks appear never to have been great archers1 for some vases show even the old heroes employing the primary release1 the arrow nock is held between the thumb and forefinger--an ineffectual release4 ,footnote3 ,c4 ,j4 ,longman1 ,archery4 ,badminton ,series4 ,the archers in early ,greek art often stoop or kneel1 unlike the erect archers of old ,england2 the bow is usually small--a child's weapon2 the string is often drawn only to the breast1 as by ,pandarus in the ,iliad 7,,iv4 i #bc74 ,by #gcj ,b4,c4 the release with three fingers1 our western release1 had become known4 ,footnote3 ,leaf ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ehe4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4--;,,algonquin ,,corslet4 ,from ,laverdiere1 ,oeuvres de ,champlain1 vol4 iv4 fol4 #d4 ,quebec1 #ahgj4 ,the course of evolution seems to be3 7#a7 the ,mycenaean prime of much archery1 no body armour 7872 huge leather man-covering shields are used1 like those of the ,algonquins2 7#b7 the same shields strengthened with metal1 light body armour-thin corslets--and archery is frequent1 but somewhat despised 7the ,homeric age72 7#c7 the parrying shield of the latest ,mycenaean age 7infantry with body armour72 7#d7 the ,ionian hoplites1 with body armour and small circular bucklers4 ,it appears1 then1 that the monstrous ,mycenaean shield is a survival of an age when bows and arrows played the same great part as they did in the wars of the ,algonquins and ,iroquois4 ,the celebrated picture of a siege on a silver vase1 of which fragments were found in ,grave ,,iv41 shows archers skirmishing2 there is an archer in the lion hunt on the dagger blade2 thirty-five obsidian arrow-heads were discovered in ,grave ,,iv41 while in the upper strata of ,mycenae and in the later tombs the arrow-head is usually of bronze1 though instances of obsidian still occur4 ,in #ahie ,dr4 ,tsountas found twenty arrow-heads of bronze1 ten in each bundle1 in a ,mycenaean chamber tomb4 ,messrs4 ,tsountas and ,manatt say1 ,in the ,acropolis graves at ,mycenae444 the spear-heads were but few444 arrow-heads1 on the contrary1 are comparatively abundant4 ,they infer that picked men used shield and spear2 the rank and file doubtless fought simply with bow and sling4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 zog4 sic4 ,the great ,mycenaean shield was obviously evolved as a defence against arrows and sling-stones flying too freely to be parried with a small buckler4 ,what other purpose could it have served8 ,but other defensive armour was needed1 and was evolved1 by ,homer's men1 as also1 we shall see1 by the ,algonquins and ,iroquois4 ,the ,algonquins and ,iroquois thus prove that men who thought their huge shields very efficient1 yet felt the desirableness of the protection afforded by corslets1 for they wore1 in addition to their shields1 such corslets as they were able to manufacture1 made of cotton1 and corresponding to the ,homeric ,greek3 linothoraex4 ,footnote3 ,in the interior of some shields1 perhaps of all1 were two ,greek3 kanones 7,,viii #aic2 ,,xiii4 #djg74 ,these have been understood as meaning a brace through which the left arm went1 and another brace which the left hand grasped4 ,herodotus says that the ,carians first used shield grips1 and that previously shields were suspended by belts from the neck and left shoulder 7,herodotus1 i4 #aga74 ,it would be interesting to know how he learned these facts-perhaps from ,homer2 but certainly the ,homeric shield is often described as suspended by a belt4 ,mr4 ,leaf used to explain the ,greek3 kanones 7,,xiii4 #djg7 as serving to attach the two ends of the baldrick to the shield 7,hellenic ,society's ,journal1 iv4 #bia71 as does ,mr4 ,ridgeway4 ,but now he thinks that they were two pieces of wood1 crossing each other1 and making the framework on which the leather of the shield was stretched4 ,the hero could grasp the cross-bar1 at the centre of gravity1 in his left hand1 rest the lower rim of the shield on the ground1 and crouch behind it 7,,xi4 #eic2 ,,xiii #aeg74 ,in neither passage cited is anything said about resting the lower rim on the ground1 and in the second passage the warrior is actually advancing4 ,in this attitude1 however-grounding the lower rim of the great body-covering shield1 and crouching behind it--we see ,algonquin warriors of about #afaj in ,champlain's drawings of ,red ,indian warfare4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 indeed1 when reviewing ,reichel1 says that the use of the ,mycenaean shield is inconsistent with that of the metal breastplate2 'the shield' covers the wearer in a way which makes a breastplate an useless encumbrance2 or rather1 it is ignorance of the breastplate which alone can explain the use of such frightfully cumbrous gear as the huge shield4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 ix4 p4 #ee4 #ahie4 ,but the ,algonquins and ,iroquois wore such breastplates as they could manufacture1 though they also used shields of great size1 suspended1 in ,mycenaean fashion1 from the neck and shoulder by a telamon or belt4 ,the knights of the eleventh century ,a4,d41 in addition to very large shields1 wore ponderous hauberks or byrnies1 as we shall prove presently4 ,as this combination of great shield with corslet was common and natural1 we cannot agree with ,mr4 ,leaf when he says1 it follows that the ,homeric warriors wore no metal breastplate1 and that all the passages where the ,greek3 thoraes is mentioned are either later interpolations or refer to some other sort of armour1 which1 ex hypothesi1 would itself be superfluous1 given the body-covering shield4 ,shields never make corslets superfluous when men can manufacture corslets4 ,the facts speak for themselves3 the largest shields are not exclusive1 so to speak1 of corslets2 the ,homeric warriors used both1 just as did ,red ,indians and the mediaeval chivalry of ,europe4 ,the use of the aspis in ,homer1 therefore1 throws no suspicion on the concomitant use of the corslet4 ,the really surprising fact would be if late poets1 who knew only small round bucklers1 never introduced them into the poems1 but always spoke of enormous shields1 while they at the same time did introduce corslets1 unknown to the early poems which they continued4 ,clearly ,reichel's theory is ill inspired and inconsistent4 ,this becomes plain as soon as we trace the evolution of shields and corslets in ages when the bow played a great part in war4 ,the ,homeric bronze-plated shield and bronze corslet are defences of a given moment in military evolution2 they are improvements on the large leather shield of ,mycenaean art1 but1 as the arrows still fly in clouds1 the time for the small parrying buckler has not yet come4 ,by the age of the ,dipylon vases with human figures1 the shield had been developed into forms unknown to ,homer4 ,in ,fig4 #c 7p4 #aca7 we see one warrior with a fantastic shield1 slim at the waist1 with horns1 as it were1 above and below2 the greater part of the shield is expended uselessly1 covering nothing in particular4 ,in form this targe seems to be a burlesque parody of the figure of a ,mycenaean shield4 ,the next man has a short oblong shield1 rather broad for its length--perhaps a reduction of the ,mycenaean door-shaped shield4 ,the third warrior has a round buckler4 ,all these shields are manifestly post-,homeric2 the first type is the most common in the ,dipylon art2 the third survived in the eighth-century buckler4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4-;,,gold ,,corslet ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,breastplate ,no practicable breastplates1 hauberks1 corslets1 or any things of the kind have so far been discovered in graves of the ,mycenaean prime4 ,a corpse in ,grave ,v4 at ,mycenae had1 however1 a golden breastplate1 with oval bosses representing the nipples and with prettily interlaced spirals all over the remainder of the gold 7,fig4 #i74 ,another corpse had a plain gold breastplate with the nipples indicated4 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 ,schliemann's ,excavations1 pp4 #bed-beg1 fig4 #bef4 ,these decorative corslets of gold were probably funereal symbols of practicable breastplates of bronze1 but no such pieces of armour are worn by the fighting-men on the gems and other works of art of ,mycenae1 and none are found in ,mycenaean graves4 ,but does this prove anything8 ,leg-guards1 broad metal bands clasping the leg below the knee1 are found in the ,mycenaean shaft graves1 but are never represented in ,mycenaean art4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ege4 ,meanwhile1 bronze corslets are very frequently mentioned in the rarely alluded to1 says ,mr4 ,leaf1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egf4 but this must be a slip of the pen4 ,connected with the breastplate or thorex 7,greek3 thoraex7 is the verb ,greek3 thoraesso1 thoraessethai1 which means to arm1 or equip in general4 ,the ,achaeans are constantly styled in the ,,iliad and in the ,,odyssey chalkochitones1 with bronze chitons4 epics have therefore boldly argued that by bronze chitons the poet pleasantly alludes to shields4 ,but as the ,mycenaeans seem scarcely to have worn any ,,chitons in battle1 as far as we are aware from their art1 and are not known to have had any bronze shields1 the argument evaporates1 as ,mr4 ,ridgeway has pointed out4 ,nothing can be less like a chiton or smock1 loose or tight1 than either the double-bellied huge shield1 the tower-shaped cylindrical shield1 or the flat1 doorlike shield1 covering body and legs in ,mycenaean art4 ,the bronze chiton1 says ,helbig1 is only a poetic phrase for the corslet4 ,reichel and ,mr4 ,leaf1 however1 think that bronze chitoned is probably a picturesque expression444 and refers to the bronze-covered shield4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 i4 #egh4 ,the breastplate covered the upper part of the chiton1 and so might be called a bronze chiton1 above all1 if it had been evolved1 as corselets usually have been1 out of a real chiton1 interwoven with small plates or rings of bronze4 ,the process of evolution might be from a padded linen chiton 7,greek3 linothooraes7 worn by ,teucer1 and on the ,trojan side by ,amphius 7as by nervous ,protestants during ,oates's ,popish ,plot71 to a leathern chiton1 strengthened by rings1 or studs1 or scales of bronze1 and thence to plates4 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i4 pp4 #cji1 #caj4 ,here1 in this armoured chiton1 would be an object that a poet might readily call a chiton of bronze4 ,but that1 if he lived in the ,mycenaean age1 when1 so far as art shows1 ,,chitons were not worn at all1 or very little1 and scarcely ever in battle1 and when we know nothing of bronze-plating on shields1 the poet should constantly call a monstrous double-bellied leather shield1 or any other ,mycemean type of shield1 a bronze chiton1 seems almost unthinkable4 ,a leather cloak would be a better term for such shields1 if cloaks were in fashion4 ,according to ,mr4 ,myres 7#ahii7 the stock line in the ,iliad1 about piercing a ,greek3 poludaidalos thoraex or corslet1 was inserted to satisfy the practical criticisms of a corslet-wearing age1 the age of the later poets1 the ,age of ,iron4 ,but why did not such practical critics object to the constant presence in the poems of bronze weapons1 in their age out of date1 if they objected to the absence from the poems of the corslets with which they were familiar8 ,mr4 ,myres supposes that the line about the ,greek3 poludaidalos corslet was already old1 but had merely meant many-glittering body clothing--garments set with the golden discs and other ornaments found in ,mycemean graves4 ,the bronze corslet1 he says1 would not be many glittering1 but would reflect a single star of light4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies4 #ahii ,now1 first1 even if the star were a single star1 it would be as many glittering when the warrior was in rapid and changeful motion as the star that danced when ,beatrix was born4 ,secondly1 if the contemporary corslets of the ,iron ,age were ,,not many glittering1 practical corslet-wearing critics would ask the poet1 why do you call corslets 'many glittering'8 ,thirdly1 ,greek3 poludaidalos may surely be translated a thing of much art1 and ,greek corslets were incised with ornamental designs4 ,thus ,messrs4 ,hogarth and ,bosanquet report a very remarkable ',mycemean' bronze breastplate from ,crete1 which shows four female draped figures1 the two central ones holding a wreath over a bird1 below which is a sacred tree4 ,the two outer figures are apparently dancing4 ,it is probably a ritual scene1 and may help to elucidate the nature of early ,a,egean cults4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xx4 p4 #cbb4 #ahii4 ,here1 ,greek3 poludaidalos--if that word means artistically wrought4 ,helbig thinks the ,epics silent about the gold spangles on dresses4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 p4 #ga4 ,mr4 ,myres applauds ,reichel's theory that blank space first meant a man's chest4 ,if thorex means a man's breast1 then ,,thorex in a secondary sense1 one thinks1 would mean breastplate1 as waist of a woman means1 first1 her waist2 next1 her blouse 7,american74 ,but ,mr4 ,myres and ,reichel say that the secondary sense of ,,thorex is not breastplate but body clothing1 as if a man were all breast1 or wore only a breast covering1 whereas ,mycenaean art shows men wearing nothing on their breasts1 merely drawers or loin-cloths1 which could not be called ,,thorex1 as they cover the antipodes of the breast4 ,the verb ,greek3 thoraesestai1 the theory runs on1 merely meant to put on body clothing1 which ,mycenaeans in works of art1 if correctly represented1 do not usually put on2 they fought naked or in bathing drawers4 ,surely we might as well argue that a waistcoat might come to mean body clothing in general1 as that a word for the male breast became1 first1 a synonym for the covering of the male buttocks and for apparel in general1 and1 next1 for a bronze breastplate4 ,these arguments appear rather unconvincing1 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xx4 pp4 #adi1 #aej4 nor does ,mycenaean art instruct us that men went into battle dressed in body clothing which was thickly set with many glittering gold ornaments1 and was called a many-glittering thorex4 ,further1 if we follow ,reichel and ,mr4 ,leaf1 the ,mycenaeans wore chitons and called them chitons4 ,they also used bronze-plated shields1 though of this we have no evidence4 ,taking the bronze-plated 787 shield to stand poetically for the chiton1 the poet spoke of the bronze-chitoned ,achaeans ,but1 if we follow ,mr4 ,myres1 the ,mycenaeans also applied the word thorex to body clothing at large1 in place of the word chiton2 and when a warrior was transfixed by a spear1 they said that his many-glittering1 gold-studded thorex1 that is1 his body clothing in general1 was pierced4 ,it does seem simpler to hold that chiton meant chiton2 that thorex meant1 first1 breast1 then breastplate1 whether of linen1 or plaited leather1 or bronze1 and that to pierce a man through his ,greek3 poludaidalos thoraex meant to pierce him through his handsome corslet4 ,no mortal ever dreamt that this was so till ,reichel tried to make out that the original poet describes no armour except the large ,mycenaean shield and the mitre1 and that all corslets in the poems were of much later introduction4 ,possibly they were1 but they had plenty of time wherein to be evolved long before the eighth century1 ,reichel's date for corslets4 ,the argument is that a man with a large shield needs no body armour1 or uses the shield because he has no body armour4 ,but the possession and use of a large shield did not in the ,middle ,ages1 or among the ,iroquois and ,algonquins1 make men dispense with corslets1 even when the shield was worn1 as in ,homer1 slung round the neck by a telamon 7guige in ,old ,french71 belt1 or baldric4 ,we turn to a ,french ,chanson de ,geste--,la ,chancun de ,willem--of the twelfth century ,a4,d41 to judge by the handwriting4 ,one of the heroes1 ,girard1 having failed to rescue ,vivien in battle1 throws down his weapons and armour1 blaming each piece for having failed him4 ,down goes the heavy lance2 down goes the ponderous shield1 suspended by a telamon3 ,ohitarge grant cume peises al col6 down goes the plated byrnie1 ,ohi grant broine cum me vas apesant ,footnote3 ,la ,chancun de ,willame1 lines #gaf-gbf4 ,the mediaeval warrior has a heavy byrnie as well as a great shield suspended from his neck4 ,it will be remarked also that the ,algonquins and ,iroquois of the beginning of the seventeenth century1 as described by ,champlain1 give us the whole line of ,mycenaean evolution of armour up to a certain point4 ,not only had they arrow-proof1 body-covering shields of buffalo hide1 but1 when ,champlain used his arquebus against the ,iroquois in battle1 they were struck amazed that two of their number should have been killed so promptly1 seeing that they wore a sort of armour1 woven of cotton thread1 and carried arrow-proof shields4 ,we have already alluded to this passage1 but must add that ,parkman1 describing from ,french archives a battle of ,illinois against ,iroquois in #afhj1 speaks of corslets of tough twigs interwoven with cordage4 ,footnote3 ,discovery of the ,great ,,iv1 misprint #ahfi4 ,golden1 in his ,five ,nations1 writes of the ,red ,indians as wearing a kind of cuirass made of pieces of wood joined together4 ,footnote3 ,dix1 ,champlion misprint ,to the kindness of ,mr4 ,hill ,tout ,i also owe a description of the armour of the ,indian tribes of north-west ,america1 from a work of his own4 ,he says3 ,for protective purposes in warfare they employed shields and coat-armour4 ,the shields varied in form and material from tribe to tribe4 ,among the ,interior ,salish they were commonly made of wood1 which was afterwards covered with hide4 ,sometimes they consisted of several thicknesses of hide only4 ,the hides most commonly used were those of the elk1 buffalo1 or bear4 ,after the advent of the ,hudson's ,bay ,co4 some of the ,indians used to beat out the large copper kettles they obtained from the traders and make polished circular shields of these4 ,in some centres long rectangular shields1 made from a single or double hide1 were employed4 ,these were often from #d to #e feet in length and from #c to #d feet in width--large enough to cover the whole body4 ,among the ,dene tribes 7,sikanis7 the shield was generally made of closely-woven wicker-work1 and was of an ovaloid form 7exact size not given74 ,the coat armour was everywhere used1 and varied in form and style in almost every centre4 ,there were two ways in which this was most commonly made4 ,one of these was the slatted cuirass or corslet1 which was formed of a series of narrow slats of wood set side by side vertically and fastened in place by interfacings of raw hide4 ,it went all round the body1 being hung from the shoulders with straps4 ,the other was a kind of shirt of double or treble elk hide1 fastened at the side with thongs4 ,another kind of armour1 less common than that just described1 was the long elk-hide tunic1 which reached to and even below the knees and was sleeved to the elbow4 ,mr4 ,hill ,tout's minute description1 with the other facts cited1 leaves no doubt that even in an early stage1 as in later stages of culture1 the use of the great shield does not exclude the use of such body armour as the means of the warriors enable them to construct4 ,to take another instance1 ,pausanias describes the corslets of the neolithic ,sarmatae1 which he saw dedicated in the temple of ,asclepius at ,athens4 ,corslets these bowmen and users of the lasso possessed1 though they did not use the metals4 ,they fashioned very elegant corslets out of horses' hoofs1 cutting them into scales like those of a pine cone1 and sewing them on to cloth4 ,footnote3 ,pausanias1 i4 #baa4 misprint #f4 ,certain small1 thin1 perforated discs of stone found in ,scotland have been ingeniously explained as plates to be strung together on a garment of cloth1 a neolithic chiton4 ,however this may be1 since ,iroquois and ,algonquins and ,dene had some sort of woven1 or plaited1 or wooden1 or buff corslet1 in addition to their great shields1 we may suppose that the ,achaeans would not be less inventive4 ,they would pass from the ,greek3 linothoraex 7answering to the cotton corslet of the ,iroquois7 to a sort of jack or jaseran with rings1 scales1 or plates1 and thence to bronze-plate corslets1 represented only by the golden breastplates of the ,mycenaean grave4 ,even if the ,mycenaeans did not evolve the corslet1 there is no reason why1 in the ,homeric times1 it should not have been evolved4 ,for linen corslets1 such as ,homer mentions1 in actual use and represented in works of art we consult ,mr4 ,leaf on ,the ,armour of ,homeric ,heroes4' ,he finds ,memnon in a white corslet1 on a black-figured vase in the ,british ,museum4 ,there is another white corsleted ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 iv4 pp4 #hb1 #hc1 #he4 ,memnon figured in the ,vases ,peints of the ,duc de ,luynes 7plate xii474 ,mr4 ,leaf suggests that the white colour represents a corslet not of metal but of linen1 and cites ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #ebi1 #e #cj4 ,xenophon mentions linen corslets as being worn by the ,chalybes 7,anabasis1 iv4 #ae74 ,two linen corslets1 sent from ,egypt to ,sparta by ,king ,amasis1 are recorded by ,herodotus 7ii4 #ahb2 iii4 #dg74 ,the corslets were of linen1 embroidered in cotton and gold4 ,such a piece of armour or attire might easily develop into the ,greek3 streptos chitoon of ,iliad1 ,v4 #aac1 in which ,aristarchus appears to have recognised chain or scale armour2 but we find no such object represented in ,mycenaean art1 which1 of course1 does not depict ,homeric armour or costume1 and it seems probable that the bronze corslets mentioned by ,homer were plate armour4 ,the linen corslet lasted into the early sixth century ,b4,c4 ,in the poem called ,stasiotica1 ,alcaeus 7,no4 #e7 speaks of his helmets1 bronze greaves and corslets of linen 7,choorakes te neoi linoo7 as a defence against arrows4 ,meanwhile a bronze chiton or corslet would turn spent arrows and spent spears1 and be very useful to a warrior whose shield left him exposed to shafts shot or spears thrown from a distance4 ,again1 such a bronze chiton might stop a spear of which the impetus was spent in penetrating the shield4 ,but ,homeric corslets did not1 as a rule1 avail to keep out a spear driven by the hand at close quarters1 or powerfully thrown from a short distance4 ,even the later ,greek corslets do not look as if they could resist a heavy spear wielded by a strong hand4 ,i proceed to show that the ,homeric corslet did not avail against a spear at close quarters1 but could turn an arrow point 7once71 and could sometimes turn a spear which had perforated a shield4 ,so far1 and not further1 the ,homeric corslet was serviceable4 ,but if a warrior's breast or back was not covered by the shield1 and received a thrust at close quarters1 the corslet was pierced more easily than the pad of paper which was said to have been used as secret armour in a duel by the ,master of ,sinclair 7#agjh74 ,footnote3 ,proceedings in ,court ,marshal held upon ,john1 ,master of ,sinclair4 ,sir ,walter ,scott4 ,roxburghe ,club4 7,date of event1 #agjh47 ,it is desirable to prove this feebleness of the corslet1 because the poet often says that a man was smitten with the spear in breast or back when unprotected by the shield1 without mentioning the corslet1 whence it is argued by the critics that corslets were not worn when the original lays were fashioned1 and that they have only been sporadically introduced1 in an after age when the corslet was universal1 by modernising later rhapsodists aiming at the up-to-date4 ,a weak point is the argument that ,homer says back or breast was pierced1 without mentioning the corslet1 whence it follows that he knew no corslets4 ,quintus ,smyrnaeus does the same thing4 ,of course1 ,quintus knew all about corslets1 yet 7,book ,i4 #bdh1 #bef1 #beg7 he makes his heroes drive spear or sword through breast or belly without mentioning the resistance of the corslet1 even when 7,i4 #add1 #eid7 he has assured us that the victim was wearing a corslet4 ,these facts are not due to inconsistent interpolation of corslets into the work of this post-,christian poet ,quintus4 ,footnote3 ,i find a similar omission in the ,chanson de ,roland4 ,corslets1 in ,homer1 are flimsy2 that of ,lycaon1 worn by ,paris1 is pierced by a spear which has also perforated his shield1 though the spear came only from the weak hand of ,menelaus 7,iliad1 ,,iii4 #ceg1 #ceh74 ,the arrow of ,pandarus whistles through the corslet of ,menelaus 7,,iv4 #acf74 ,the same archer pierces with an arrow the corslet of ,diomede 7,v4 #ii1 #ajj74 ,the corslet of ,diomede1 however1 avails to stop a spear which has traversed his shield 7,v4 #bha74 ,the spear of ,idomeneus pierces the corslet of ,othryoneus1 and the spear of ,antilochus perforates the corslet of a charioteer 7,,xiii4 #cga1 #cig74 ,a few lines later ,diomede's spear reaches the midriff of ,hypsenor4 ,no corslet is here mentioned1 but neither is the shield mentioned 7this constantly occurs71 and we cannot argue that ,hypsenor wore no corslet1 unless we are also to contend that he wore no shield1 or a small shield4 ,idomeneus drives his spear through the bronze chiton of ,alcathoeus 7,,xiii4 #dci1 #ddj74 ,mr4 ,leaf reckons these lines probably an interpolation to turn the linen chiton1 the rending of which is the sign of triumph1 into a bronze corslet4 ,but we ask why1 if an editor or rhapsodist went through the ,iliad introducing corslets1 he so often left them out1 where the critics detect their absence because they are not mentioned8 ,the spear of ,idomeneus pierces another feeble corslet over the victim's belly 7,,xiii4 #ejf-ejh74 ,it is quite a surprise when a corslet does for once avail to turn an arrow 7,,xiii4 #ehf-ehg74 ,but ,aias drives his spear through the corslet of ,phorcys1 into his belly 7,,xvii #caa-cab74 ,thus the corslet scarcely ever1 by itself1 protects a hero2 it never protects him against an unspent spear2 even when his shield stands between his corslet and the spear both are sometimes perforated4 ,yet occasionally the corslet saves a man when the spear has gone through the shield4 ,the poet1 therefore1 sometimes gives us a man pierced in a part which the corslet covers1 without mentioning the flimsy article that could not keep out a spear4 ,reichel himself came to see1 before his regretted death1 that he could not explain away the thorex or corslet1 on his original lines1 as a mere general name for a piece of armour2 and he inclined to think that jacks1 with metal plates sewn on1 did exist before the ,ionian corslet4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,waffen1 pp4 #ic-id4 #aija4 ,the gold breastplates of the ,mycenaean graves pointed in this direction4 ,but his general argument is that corslets were interpolated into the old lays by poets of a corslet-wearing age2 and ,mr4 ,leaf holds that corslets may have filtered in1 during the course of successive modernisation1 such as the oldest parts of the ,iliad seem in many cases to have passed through1 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 i4 p4 #egh4 though the new poets were1 for all that1 conservatively tenacious of the old material4 ,we have already pointed out the difficulty4 ,the poets who did not introduce the new small bucklers with which they were familiar1 did stuff the ,iliad full of corslets unknown1 by the theory1 to the original poet1 but familiar to rhapsodists living centuries later4 ,why1 if they were bent on modernising1 did they not modernise the shields8 and how1 if they modernised unconsciously1 as all uncritical poets do1 did the shield fail to be unconsciously brought up to date8 ,it seems probable that ,homer lived at a period when both huge shield and rather feeble corslet were in vogue4 ,we shall now examine some of the passages in which ,mr4 ,leaf1 mainly following ,reichel1 raises difficulties about corslets4 ,we do not know their mechanism2 they were composed of ,greek3 guala1 presumed to be a backplate and a breastplate4 ,the word gualon appears to mean a hollow1 or the converse1 something convex4 ,we cannot understand the mechanism 7see a young man putting on a corslet1 on an amphora by ,euthymides4 ,walter1 vol4 ii4 p4 #agf72 but1 if late poets1 familiar with such corslets1 did not understand how they worked1 they were very dull men4 ,when their descriptions puzzle us1 that is more probably because we are not at the point of view than because poets interpolated mentions of pieces of armour which they did not understand1 and therefore cannot have been familiar with1 and1 in that case1 would not introduce4 ,mr4 ,leaf starts with a passage in the ,iliad 7,,iii4 #ceg-cfj7--;it recurs in another case3 ,through the bright shield went the ponderous spear1 and through the inwrought 7very artfully wrought71 ,greek3 poludaidalou breastplate it pressed on1 and straight beside his flank it rent the tunic1 but he swerved and escaped black death4 ,mr4 ,leaf says1 ,it is obvious that1 after a spear has passed through a breastplate1 there is no longer any possibility for the wearer to bend aside and so to avoid the point4444 ,but ,i suppose that the wearer1 by a motion very natural1 doubled up sideways1 so to speak1 and so the spear merely grazed his flesh4 ,that is what ,i suppose the poet to intend4 ,the more he knew of corslets1 the less would he mention an impossible circumstance in connection with a corslet4 ,again1 in many cases the late poets1 by the theory--though it is they who bring the corslets in--leave the corslets out6 ,a man without shield1 helmet1 and spear calls himself naked4 ,why did not these late poets1 it is asked1 make him take off his corslet1 if he had one1 as well as his shield8 ,the case occurs in ,,xxii4 #aaa-aac1abd-abe4 ,hector thinks of laying aside helmet1 spear1 and shield1 and of parleying with ,achilles4 ,but then he will slay me naked1 that is1 unarmed4 ,he still had his corslet1 the critics say1 so how could he be naked8 or1 if he had no corslet1 this is a passage uncontaminated by the late poets of the corslet age4 ,now certainly ,hector was wearing a corslet1 which he had taken from ,patroclus3 that is the essence of the story4 ,he would1 however1 be naked or unprotected if he laid aside helmet1 spear1 and shield1 because ,achilles could hit him in the head or neck 7as he did71 or lightly drive the spear through the corslet1 which1 we have proved1 was no sound defence against a spear at close quarters1 though useful against chance arrows1 and occasionally against spears spent by traversing the shield4 ,we next learn that no corslet occurs in the ,odyssey1 or in ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 called very late3 ,mr4 ,leaf suggests that it is of the seventh century ,b4,c4 ,but if the ,odyssey and ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 are really very late1 their authors and interpolators were perfectly familiar with ,ionian corslets4 ,why did they leave corslets out1 while their predecessors and contemporaries were introducing them all up and down the ,iliad8 ,in fact1 in ,book ,x1 no prince is regularly equipped2 they have been called up to deliberate in the dead of night1 and when two go as spies they wear casual borrowed gear4 ,it is more important that no corslet is mentioned in ,nestor's arms in his tent4 ,but are we to explain this1 and the absence of mention of corslets in the ,odyssey 7where there is little about regular fighting71 on the ground that the author of ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 and all the many authors and editors of the ,odyssey happened to be profound archaeologists1 and1 unlike their contemporaries1 the later poets and interpolators of the ,iliad1 had formed the theory that corslets were not known at the time of the siege of ,troy and therefore must not be mentioned8 ,this is quite incredible4 ,no hypothesis can be more improbable4 ,we cannot imagine late ,ionian rhapsodists listening to the ,iliad1 and saying1 ,these poets of the ,iliad are all wrong3 at the date of the ,mycenaean prime1 as every educated man knows1 corslets were not yet in fashion4 ,so we must have no corslets in the ,odyssey8 ,a modern critic1 who thinks this possible1 is bringing the practice of archaising poets of the late nineteenth century into the minds of rhapsodists of the eighth century before ,christ4 ,artists of the middle of the sixteenth century always depict ,jeanne d',arc in the armour and costume of their own time1 wholly unlike those of #adcj4 ,this is the regular rule4 ,late rhapsodists would not delve in the archaeology of the ,mycenaean prime4 ,indeed1 one does not see how they could discover1 in ,asia1 that corslets were not worn1 five centuries earlier1 on the other side of the sea4 ,we are told that ,aias and some other heroes are never spoken of as wearing corslets4 ,but ,aias certainly did put on a set of pieces of armour1 and did not trust to his shield alone1 tower-like as it was4 ,the description runs thus3 ,the ,achaeans have disarmed1 before the duel of ,aias and ,hector4 ,aias draws the lucky lot2 he is to 'meet ,hector1 and bids the others pray to ,zeus while ,i clothe me in my armour of battle4 ,while they prayed1 ,aias arrayed himself in flashing bronze4 ,and when he had now clothed upon his flesh all his pieces of armour 7,greek3 panta teuchae7 he went forth to fight4 ,if ,aias wore only a shield1 as on ,mr4 ,leaf's hypothesis1 he could sling it on before the ,achaeans could breathe a pater noster4 ,his sword he would not have taken off2 swords were always worn4 ,what1 then1 are all his pieces of armour8 7,,vii4 #aic1 #bjf74 ,carl ,robert cites passages in which the ,greek3 teuchea1 taken from the shoulders1 include corslets1 and are late and ,ionian1 with other passages which are ,mycenaean1 with no corslet involved4 ,he adds about twenty more passages in which ,greek3 teuchea include corslets4 ,among these references two are from the ,doloneia 7,x4 #bed1 #bgb71 where ,reichel finds no mention of corslets4 ,how ,robert can tell ,greek3 teuchea1 which mean corslets1 from ,greek3 teuchea1 which exclude corslets1 is not obvious4 ,but1 at all events1 he does see corslets1 as in ,,vii4 #abb1 where ,reichel sees none1 ,footnote3 ,robert1 ,studien zur ,ilias1 pp4 #bj-ba4 and he is obviously right4 ,it is a strong point with ,mr4 ,leaf that we never hear of the corslet in the case of ,aias4444 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #egf4 ,robert1 however1 like ourselves1 detects the corslet among al the ,greek3 teuchea which ,aias puts on for his duel with ,hector 7,iliad1 ,,vii4 #aic1 #bjf-bjg74 ,in the same ,book 7,,vii4 #aja-ajc1 #abb7 the same difficulty occurs4 ,menelaus offers to fight ,hector1 and says1 ,i will put on my harness ,greek3 thooraxomai1 and does put on his fair pieces of armour ,greek3 teuchea kala1 ,agamemnon forbids him to fight1 and his friends joyfully take his pieces of armour ,greek3 teuchea from his shoulders 7,iliad1 ,,vii4 #bjf-bjg74 ,they take off pieces of armour1 in the plural1 and a shield cannot be spoken of in the plural2 while the sword would not be taken off--it was worn even in peaceful costume4 ,idomeneus is never named as wearing a corslet1 but he remarks that he has plenty of corslets 7,,xiii4 #bfd72 and in this and many cases opponents of corslets prove their case by cutting out the lines which disprove it4 ,anything may be demonstrated if we may excise whatever passage does not suit our hypothesis4 ,it is impossible to argue against this logical device1 especially when the critic1 not satisfied with a clean cut1 supposes that some late enthusiast for corslets altered the prayer of ,thetis to ,hephaestus for the very purpose of dragging in a corslet4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,note to ,iliad1 xviii4 #dfj1 #dfa4 ,if there is no objection to a line except that a corslet occurs in it1 where is the logic in excising the line because one happens to think that corslets are later than the oldest parts of the ,iliad8 ,another plan is to maintain that if the poet does not in any case mention a corslet1 there was no corslet4 ,thus in ,v4 #ii1 an arrow strikes ,diomede hard by the right shoulder1 the plate of the corslet4 ,thirteen lines later 7,v4 #aab1 #aac7 ,sthenelus drew the swift shaft right through out of ,diomede's shoulder1 and the blood darted up through the pliant chiton4 ,we do not know what the word here translated pliant ,greek3 streptos means1 and ,aristarchus seems to have thought it was a coat of mail1 chain1 or scale armour4 ,if so1 here is the corslet1 but in this case1 if a corslet or jack with intertwisted small plates or scales or rings of bronze be meant1 gualon cannot mean a large plate1 as it does4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway says1 ,it seems certain that ,greek3 streptos chitoon means1 as ,aristarchus held1 a shirt of mail4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i4 p1 #cjf4 ,mr4 ,leaf says just the reverse4 ,as usual1 we come to a deadlock2 a clash of learned opinion4 ,but any one can see that1 in the space of thirteen lines1 no poet or interpolator who wrote ,v4 i #ab1 i #ac could forget that ,diomede was said to be wearing a corslet in ,v4 #ii2 and even if the poet could forget1 which is out of the question1 the editor of #edj ,b4,c4 was simply defrauding his employer1 ,piaistratus1 if he did not bring a remedy for the stupid fault of the poet4 ,when this or that hero is not specifically said to be wearing a corslet1 it is usually because the poet has no occasion to mention it1 though1 as we have seen1 a man is occasionally smitten1 in the midriff1 say1 without any remark on the flimsy piece of mail4 ,that corslets are usually taken for granted as present by the poet1 even when they are not explicitly named1 seems certain4 ,he constantly represents the heroes as stripping the pieces of mail ,greek3 teuchea1 when they have time and opportunity1 from fallen foes4 ,if only the shield is taken1 if there is nothing else in the way of bronze body armour to take1 why have we the plural1 ,greek3 teuchea8 ,the corslet1 as well as the shield1 must be intended4 ,the stripping is usually from the shoulders1 and it is from his shoulders that ,hector hopes to strip the corslet of ,diomede 7,iliad1 ,,viii4 #aie7 in a passage1 to be sure1 which the critics think interpolated4 ,however this may be1 the stripping of the 7same ,greek characters71 cannot be the mere seizure of the shield1 but must refer to other pieces of armour3 all the pieces of armour4 ,so other pieces of defensive armour besides the shield are throughout taken for granted4 ,if they were not there they could not be stripped4 ,it is the chitons that ,agamemnon does something to1 in the case of two fallen foes 7,iliad1 ,,xi4 #ajj71 and ,aristarchus thought that these chitons were corslets4 ,but the passage is obscure4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #cgc1 when ,diomede strips helmet from head1 shield from shoulder1 corslet from breast of ,agastrophus1 ,reichel was for excising the corslet1 because it was not mentioned when the hero was struck on the hip joint4 ,i do not see that an inefficient corslet would protect the hip joint4 ,to do that1 in our eighteenth century cavalry armour1 was the business of a zoster1 as may be seen in a portrait of the ,chevalier de ,st4 ,george in youth4 ,it is a thick ribbed zoster that protects the hip joints of the king4 ,finally1 ,mr4 ,evans observes that the western invaders of ,egypt1 under ,rameses ,,iii1 are armed1 on the monuments1 with cuirasses formed of a succession of plates1 horizontal1 or rising in a double curve1 while the ,enkomi ivories1 already referred to1 corroborate the existence of corslet1 zoster1 and zoma as articles of defensive armour4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,anthropological ,institute1 xxx4 p4 #bac4 ,recent discoveries1 says ,mr4 ,evans1 thus supply a double corroboration of the ,homeric tradition which carries back the use of the round shield and the cuirass or ,greek3 thoraex to the earlier epic period444 ,with such a representation before us1 a series of ,homeric passages on which ,dr4 ,reichel444 has exhausted his powers of destructive criticism1 becomes readily intelligible4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #bad4 ,homer1 then1 describes armour later than that of the ,mycenaean prime1 when1 as far as works of art show1 only a huge leathern shield was carried1 though the gold breastplates of the corpses in the grave suggest that corslets existed4 ,homer's men1 on the other hand1 have1 at least in certain cases quoted above1 large bronze-plated shields and bronze cuirasses of no great resisting power1 perhaps in various stages of evolution1 from the byrnie with scales or small plates of bronze to the breastplate and backplate1 though the plates for breast and back certainly appear to be usually worn4 ,it seems that some critics cannot divest themselves of the idea that the original poet of the kernel was contemporary with them who slept in the shaft graves of ,mycenae1 covered with golden ornaments1 and that for body armour he only knew their monstrous shields4 ,mr4 ,leaf writes3 ,the armour of ,homeric heroes corresponds closely to that of the ,mykenaean age as we learn it from the monuments4 ,the heroes wore no breastplate2 their only defensive armour was the enormous ,mykenaean shield4444 ,this is only true if we excise all the passages which contradict the statement1 and go on with ,mr4 ,leaf to say1 by the seventh century ,b4,c41 or thereabouts1 the idea of a panoply without a breastplate had become absurd4 ,by that time the epic poems had almost ceased to grow2 but they still admitted a few minor episodes in which the round shield 7where 787 and corslet played a part1 as well as the interpolation of a certain number of lines and couplets in which the new armament was mechanically introduced into narratives which originally knew nothing of it4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #efh4 ,on the other hand1 ,mr4 ,leaf says that the small circular shield of later times is unknown to ,homer1 with a very few curious exceptions1 in which the shields are not said to be small or circular4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p1 #ege4 ,surely this is rather arbitrary dealing6 ,we start from our theory that the original poet described the armour of the monuments though they are of the prime1 while he professedly lived long after the prime--lived in an age when there must have been changes in military equipment4 ,we then cut out1 as of the seventh century1 whatever passages do not suit our theory4 ,anybody can prove anything by this method4 ,we might say that the siege scene on the ,mycenaean silver vase represents the ,mycenaean prime1 and that1 as there is but one jersey among eight men otherwise stark naked1 we must cut out seven-eighths of the chitons in the ,iliad1 these having been interpolated by late poets who did not run about with nothing on4 ,we might call the whole poem late1 because the authors know nothing of the ,mycenaean bathing-drawers so common on the monuments4 ,the argument compels ,mr4 ,leaf to assume that a shield can be called ,greek3 teuchea in the plural1 so1 in ,iliad1 ,,vii4 #abb1 when the squires of ,menelaus take the ,greek3 teuchea from his shoulders1 we are assured that the shield 7aspis7 was for the chiefs alone 7we have seen that all the host of ,pandarus wore shields71 for those who could keep a chariot to carry them1 and squires to assist them in taking off this ponderous defence 7see ,,vii #abb74 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ehc4 ,we do see ,,vii4 #abb1 and find that not a single shield1 but pieces of gear in the plural number were taken off ,menelaus4 ,the feeblest warrior without any assistance could stoop his head and put it through the belt of his shield1 as an angler takes off his fishing creel1 and there he was1 totally disarmed4 ,no squire was needed to disarm him1 any more than to disarm ,girard in the ,chancun de ,willame4 ,nobody explains why a shield is spoken of as a number of things1 in the plural1 and that constantly1 and in lines where1 if the poet means a shield1 prosody permits him to say a shield1 ,greek3 therapontes ap oopoon aspid elonto4 ,it really does appear that ,reichel's logic1 his power of visualising simple things and processes1 and his knowledge of the evolution of defensive armour everywhere1 were not equal to his industry and classical erudition4 ,homer seems to describe what he saw3 shields1 often of great size1 made of leather1 plated with bronze1 and suspended by belts2 and1 for body armour1 feeble bronze corslets and zosters4 ,there is nothing inconsistent in all this3 there was no more reason why an ,homeric warrior should not wear a corslet as well as a shield than there was reason why a mediaeval knight who carried a targe should not also wear a hauberk1 or why an ,iroquois with a shield should not also wear his cotton or wicker-work armour4 ,defensive gear kept pace with offensive weapons4 ,a big leather shield could keep out stone-tipped arrows2 but as bronze-tipped arrows came in and also heavy bronze-pointed spears1 defensive armour was necessarily strengthened2 the shield was plated with bronze1 and1 if it did not exist before1 the bronze corslet was developed4 ,to keep out stone-tipped arrows was the business of the ,mycenaean wooden or leather shield4 ,bronze arrow-heads1 so common in the ,iliad1 are never found1 says ,schuchardt1 speaking of ,schliemann's ,mycenaean excavations4 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 p4 #bcg4 ,there was thus1 as far as arrows went1 no reason why ,mycenaean shields should be plated with bronze4 ,if the piece of wood in ,grave ,v4 was a shield1 as seems probable1 what has become of its bronze plates1 if it had any8 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 p4 #bfi ,gold ornaments1 which could only belong to shields1 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #bcg4 were found1 but bronze shield plates never4 ,the inference is certain4 ,the ,mycenaean shields of the prime were originally wooden or leather defences against stone-headed arrows4 ,homer's shields are bronze-plated shields to keep out bronze-headed or even1 perhaps1 iron-pointed arrows of primitive construction 7,,iv4 #abc74 ,homer describes armour based on ,mycenaean lines but developed and advanced as the means of attack improved4 ,where everything is so natural it seems fantastic to explain the circumstances by the theory that poets in a late age sometimes did and sometimes did not interpolate the military gear of four centuries posterior to the things known by the original singer4 ,these rhapsodists1 we reiterate1 are now said to be anxiously conservative of ,mycenaean detail and even to be deeply learned archaeologists4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fbi4 ,at other times they are said to introduce recklessly part of the military gear of their own age1 the corslets1 while sternly excluding the bucklers4 ,all depends on what the theory of very late developments of the ,epic may happen to demand at this or that moment4 ,again1 ,mr4 ,leaf informs us that the first rhapsodies were born in the bronze age1 in the day of the ponderous ,mycenaean shield2 the last in the iron age1 when men armed themselves with breastplate and light round buckler4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 x4 ,we cannot guess how he found these things out1 for corslets are as common in one rhapsody as in another when circumstances call for the mention of corslets1 and are entirely unnamed in the ,odyssey 7save that the ,achaeans are bronze-chitoned71 while the ,odyssey is alleged to be much later than the ,iliad4 ,as for the iron age1 no rhapsodist introduces so much as one iron spear point4 ,it is argued that he speaks of bronze in deference to tradition4 ,then why does he scout tradition in the matter of greaves and corslets1 while he sometimes actually goes behind tradition to find ,mycenaean things unknown to the original poets8 ,these theories appear too strangely inconsistent2 really these theories cannot possibly be accepted4 ,the late poets1 of the theory1 are in the iron age1 and are1 of course1 familiar with iron weapons2 yet1 in conservative deference to tradition1 they keep them absolutely out of their rhapsodies4 ,they are equally familiar with bronze corslets1 so1 reckless this time of tradition1 they thrust them even into rhapsodies which are centuries older than their own day4 ,they are no less familiar with small bucklers1 yet they say nothing about them and cling to the traditional body-covering shield4 ,the source of the inconsistent theories which we have been examining is easily discovered4 ,the scholars who hold these opinions see that several things in the ,homeric picture of life are based on ,mycenaean facts2 for example1 the size of the shields and their suspension by baldrics4 ,but the scholars also do steadfastly believe1 following the ,wolfian tradition1 that there could be no long epic in the early period4 ,therefore the greater part1 much the greater part of the ,iliad1 must necessarily1 they say1 be the work of continuators through several centuries4 ,critics are fortified in this belief by the discovery of inconsistencies in the ,epic1 which1 they assume1 can only be explained as the result of a compilation of the patchwork of ages4 ,but as1 on this theory1 many men in many lands and ages made the ,epic1 their contributions cannot but be marked by the inevitable changes in manners1 customs1 beliefs1 implements1 laws1 weapons1 and so on1 which could not but arise in the long process of time4 ,yet traces of change in law1 religion1 manners1 and customs are scarcely1 if at all1 to be detected2 whence it logically follows that a dozen generations of irresponsible minstrels and vagrant reciters were learned1 conscientious1 and staunchly conservative of the archaic tone4 ,their erudite conservatism1 for example1 induced them1 in deference to the traditions of the bronze age1 to describe all weapons as of bronze1 though many of the poets were living in an age of weapons of iron4 ,it also prompted them to describe all shields as made on the far-away old ,mycenaean model1 though they were themselves used to small circular bucklers1 with a bracer and a grip1 worn on the left arm4 ,but at this point the learning and conservatism of the late poets deserted them1 and into their new lays1 also into the old lays1 they eagerly introduced many unwarrantable corslets and greaves--things of the ninth to seventh centuries4 ,we shall find ,helbig stating1 on the same page1 that in the matter of usages the epic poets shunned1 as far as possible1 all that was recent1 and also that for fear of puzzling their military audiences they did the reverse3 they probably kept account of the arms and armour of their own day4 ,footnote3 ,la ,question ,mycenienne1 p4 #ej4 ,cf4 ,note ,i4 ,now the late poets1 on this showing1 must have puzzled warriors who used iron weapons by always speaking of bronze weapons4 ,they pleased the critical warriors1 on the other hand1 by introducing the corslets and greaves which every military man of their late age possessed4 ,but1 again1 the poets startled an audience which used light bucklers1 worn on the left arm1 by talking of enormous targes1 slung round the neck4 ,all these inconsistencies of theory follow from the assumption that the ,iliad must be a hotch-potch of many ages4 ,if we assume that1 on the whole1 it is the work of one age1 we see that the poet describes the usages which obtained in his own day4 ,the dead are cremated1 not1 as in the ,mycenaean prime1 inhumed4 ,the shield has been strengthened to meet bronze1 not stone-tipped1 arrows by bronze plates4 ,corslets and greaves have been elaborated4 ,bronze1 however1 is still the metal for swords and spears1 and even occasionally for tools and implements1 though these are often of iron4 ,in short1 we have in ,homer a picture of a transitional age of culture2 we have not a medley of old and new1 of obsolete and modern4 ,the poets do not describe inhumation1 as they should do1 if they are conservative archaeologists4 ,in that case1 though they burn1 they would have made their heroes bury their dead1 as they did at ,mycenas4 ,they do not introduce iron swords and spears1 as they must do1 if1 being late poets1 they keep in touch with the armament of their time4 ,if they speak of huge shields only because they are conservative archaeologists1 then1 on the other hand1 they speak of corslets and greaves because they are also reckless innovators4 ,they cannot be both at once4 ,they are depicting a single age1 a single moment in culture4 ,that age is certainly sundered from the ,mycenaean prime by the century or two in which changing ideas led to the superseding of burial by burning1 or it is sundered from the ,mycenaean prime by a foreign conquest1 a revolution1 and the years in which the foreign conquerors acquired the language of their subjects4 ,in either alternative1 and one or other must be actual1 there was time enough for many changes in the culture of the ,mycenaean prime to be evolved4 ,these changes1 we say1 are represented by the descriptions of culture in the ,iliad4 ,that hypothesis explains1 simply and readily1 all the facts4 ,the other hypothesis1 that the ,iliad was begun near the ,mycenaean prime and was continued throughout four or five centuries1 cannot1 first1 explain how the ,iliad was composed1 and1 next1 it wanders among apparent contradictories and through a maze of inconsistencies4 ,,the ,,zoster1 ,,zoma1 ,,and ,,mitre ,we are far from contending that it is always possible to understand ,homer's descriptions of defensive armour4 ,but as we have never seen the actual objects1 perhaps the poet's phrases were clear enough to his audience and are only difficult to us4 ,i do not1 for example1 profess to be sure of what happened when ,pandarus shot at ,menelaus4 ,the arrow lighted where the golden buckles of the zoster were clasped1 and the doubled breastplate met them4 ,so the bitter arrow alighted upon the firm zoster2 through the wrought zoster it sped1 and through the curiously wrought breastplate it pressed on1 and through the mitre he wore to shield his flesh1 a barrier against darts2 and this best shielded him1 yet it passed on even through this1 and grazed the hero's flesh 7,iliad1 ,,iv4 ,i #cb seq474 ,menelaus next says that the glistering zoster in front stayed the dart1 and the zoma beneath1 and the mitre that the coppersmiths fashioned 7,,iv4 #ahe-ahg74 ,then the surgeon1 ,machaon1 loosed the glistering zoster and the zoma1 and the mitre beneath that the coppersmiths fashioned 7,,iv4 #bae1 #baf74 ,reading as a mere student of poetry ,i take this to mean that the corslet was of two pieces1 fastening in the middle of the back and the middle of the front of a man 7though ,mr4 ,monro thinks that the plates met and the zoster was buckled at the side72 that the zoster1 a mailed belt1 buckled just above the place where the plates of the corslet met2 that the arrow went through the meeting-place of the belt buckles1 through the place where the plates of the corslet met1 and then through the mitre1 a piece of bronze armour worn under the corslet1 though the nature of this mitre and of the zoma ,i do not know4 ,was the mitre a separate article or a continuation of the breastplate1 lower down1 struck by a dropping arrow8 ,in #ahhc ,mr4 ,leaf wrote3 ,i take it that the zoma means the waist of the cuirass which is covered by the zoster1 and has the upper edge of the mitre or plated apron beneath it fastened round the warrior's body4 444 ,this view is strongly supported by all the archaic vase paintings ,i have been able to find4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic studies1 vol4 iv4 pp4 #gd1ge4 ,we see a corslet with a projecting rim2 that rim is called zoma and holds the zoster4 ,the hips and upper part of the thighs were protected either by a belt of leather1 sometimes plated1 called the mitre1 or else only by the lower part of the chiton1 and this corresponds exactly with ,homeric description4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 pp4 #gf1 #gg4 ,at this time1 in days before ,reichel1 ,mr4 ,leaf believed in bronze corslets1 whether of plates or plated jacks2 he also believed1 we have seen1 that the huge shields1 as of ,aias1 were survivals in poetry2 that ,homer saw small round bucklers in use1 and supposed that the old warriors were muscular enough to wear circular shields as great as those in the vase of ,aristonothos1 already described4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 iv p4 #bhe4 ,on the corslet1 as we have seen1 ,mr4 ,leaf now writes as a disciple of ,reichel4 ,but as to the mitre1 he rejects ,helbig's and ,mr4 ,ridgeway's opinion that it was a band of metal a foot wide in front and very narrow behind4 ,such things have been found in ,euboea and in ,italy4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway mentions examples from ,bologna1 ,corneto1 ,este1 ,hallstatt1 and ,hungary4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 p4 #ca ,i4 ,the zoster is now1 in ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion1 a girdle holding up the waist-cloth 7zoma71 so characteristic of ,mycenaean dress6 ,reichel's arguments against corslets militate just as strongly against the presence of such a mitre1 which is1 in fact1 just the lower half of a corslet4444 ,the conclusion is that the metallic mitre is just as much an intruder into the armament of the ,epos as the corslet4 ,the process of evolution was1 ,mr4 ,leaf suggests1 first1 the abandonment of the huge shield1 with the introduction of small round bucklers in its place4 ,then1 second1 a man naturally felt very unprotected1 and put on the metallic mitre of ,helbig 7which covered a foot of him in front and three inches behind74 ,only as technical skill improved could the final stage1 that of the elaborate cuirass1 be attained4 ,this appears to us an improbable sequence of processes4 ,while arrows were flying thick1 as they do fly in the ,iliad1 men would not reject body-covering shields for small bucklers while they were still wholly destitute of body armour4 ,nor would men arm only their stomachs when1 if they had skill enough to make a metallic mitre1 they could not have been so unskilled as to be unable to make corslets of some more or less serviceable type4 ,probably they began with huge shields1 added the linothorex 7like the ,iroquois cotton thorex71 and next1 as a rule1 superseded that with the bronze thorex1 while retaining the huge shield1 because the bronze thorex was so inadequate to its purpose of defence4 ,then1 when archery ceased to be of so much importance as coming to the shock with heavy spears1 and as the bronze thorex really could sometimes keep out an arrow1 they reduced the size of their shields1 and retained surface enough for parrying spears and meeting point and edge of the sword4 ,that appears to be a natural set of sequences1 but ,i cannot pretend to guess how the corslet fastened or what the mitre and zoster really were1 beyond being guards of the stomach and lower part of the trunk4 ,,helmets1 ,,greaves1 ,,spears ,no helmets of metal1 such as ,homer mentions1 have been found in ,mycenaean graves4 ,a quantity of boars' teeth1 sixty in all1 were discovered in ,grave ,v4 and may have adorned and strengthened leather caps1 now mouldered into dust4 ,an ivory head from ,mycenae shows a conical cap set with what may be boars' tusks1 with a band of the same round the chin1 and an earpiece which was perhaps of bronze8 ,spata and the graves of the lower town of ,mycenae and the ,enkomi ivories show similar headgear4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 pp4 #aif1 #aig4 ,this kind of cap set with boars' tusks is described in ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 in the account of the hasty arraying of two spies in the night of terror after the defeat and retreat to the ships4 ,the ,trojan spy1 ,dolon1 also wears a leather cap4 ,the three spies put on no corslets1 as far as we can affirm1 their object being to remain inconspicuous and unburdened with glittering bronze greaves and corslets4 ,the ,trojan camp was brilliantly lit up with fires1 and there may have been a moon1 so the less bronze the better4 ,in these circumstances alone the heroes of the ,iliad are unequipped1 certainly1 with bronze helmets1 corslets1 and bronze greaves4 ,dislocated ,footnote3 ,evans1 ,journal of the ,anthropological ,institute1 xxx4 pp4 #bji-bae4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,x4 #bee-bfe4 ,the author of ,book ,x4 is now regarded as a precise archaeologist1 who knew that corslets and bronze helmets were not used in ,agamemnon's time1 but that leather caps with boars' tusks were in fashion2 while again1 as we shall see1 he is said to know nothing about heroic costume 7cf4 ,the ,doloneia74 ,as a fact1 he has to describe an incident which occurs nowhere else in ,homer1 though it may often have occurred in practice--a hurried council during a demoralised night1 and the hasty arraying of two spies1 who wish to be lightfooted and inconspicuous4 ,the author's evidence as to the leather cap and its garnishing of boars' tusks testifies to a survival of such gear in an age of bronze battle-helmets1 not to his own minute antiquarian research4 ,,greaves ,bronze greaves are not found1 so far1 in ,mycenaean tombs in ,greece1 and ,reichel argued that the original ,homer knew none4 ,the greaves1 ,greek3 kunmides were gaiters of stuff or leather2 the one mention of bronze greaves is stuff and nonsense interpolated 7,,vii4 #da74 ,but why did men who were interpolating bronze corslets freely introduce bronze so seldom1 if at all1 as the material of greaves8 ,bronze greaves1 however1 have been found in a ,cypro-,mycenaean grave at ,enkomi 7,tomb ,,xv471 accompanied by an early type of bronze dagger1 while bronze greaves adorned with ,mycenaean ornament are discovered in the ,balkan peninsula at ,glassinavc4 ,footnote3 ,evans1 ,journal of the ,anthropological ,institute1 pp4 #bad1 #bae1 figs4 #aj1 #aa4 ,thus all ,homer's description of arms is here corroborated by archaeology1 and cannot be cut out by what ,mr4 ,evans calls the ,procrustean method of ,dr4 ,reichel4 ,a curious feature about the spear may be noticed4 ,in ,book ,x4 while the men of ,diomede slept1 their spears were driven into the ground erect on the spikes of the butts 7,x4 #aec74 ,aristotle mentions that this was still the usage of the ,illyrians in his day4 ,footnote3 ,poctica1 #be4 ,though the word for the spike in the butt 7sauroter7 does not elsewhere occur in the ,iliad1 the practice of sticking the spears erect in the ground during a truce is mentioned in ,,iii4 #ace3 ,they lean upon their shields 7clearly large high shields71 and the tall spears are planted by their sides4 ,no butt-spikes have been found in graves of the ,mycenaean prime4 ,the sauroter was still used1 or still existed1 in the days of ,herodotus4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #bje2 ,ridgeway1 vol4 i4 pp4 #cjf1 #cjg4 ,on the whole1 ,homer does not offer a medley of the military gear of four centuries--that view we hope to have shown to be a mass of inconsistencies--but describes a state of military equipment in advance of that of the most famous ,mycenaean graves1 but other than that of the late warrior vase4 ,he is also very familiar with some uses of iron1 of which1 as we shall see1 scarcely any has been found in ,mycenaean graves of the central period1 save in the shape of rings4 ,homer never mentions rings of any metal4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,bronze ,,and ,,iron ,taking the ,iliad and ,odyssey just as they have reached us they give1 with the exception of one line1 an entirely harmonious account of the contemporary uses of bronze and iron4 ,bronze is employed in the making of weapons and armour 7with cups1 ornaments1 c472 iron is employed 7and bronze is also used7 in the making of tools and implements1 such as knives1 axes1 adzes1 axles of a chariot 7that of ,hera2 mortals use an axle tree of oak71 and the various implements of agricultural and pastoral life4 ,meanwhile1 iron is a substance perfectly familiar to the poets2 it is far indeed from being a priceless rarity 7it is impossible to trace ,homeric stages of advance in knowledge of iron71 and it yields epithets indicating strength1 permanence1 and stubborn endurance4 ,these epithets are more frequent in the ,odyssey and the later ,books of the ,iliad than in the earlier ,books of the ,iliad2 but1 as articles made of iron1 the ,odyssey happens to mention only one set of axes1 which is spoken of ten times--axes and adzes as a class--and iron bonds1 where iron probably means strong1 not to be broken4 ,footnote3 ,in these circumstances1 it is curious that ,mr4 ,monro should have written thus3 ,in ,homer1 as is well known1 iron is rarely mentioned in comparison with bronze1 but the proportion is greater in the ,odyssey 7#be iron1 #hj bronze7 than in the ,iliad 7#bc iron1 #bgi bronze74--,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #cci4 ,these statistics obviously do not prove that1 at the date of the composition of the ,odyssey1 the use of iron was becoming more common1 or that the use of bronze was becoming more rare1 than when the ,iliad was put together4 ,bronze is1 in the poems1 the military metal3 the ,iliad is a military poem1 while the ,odyssey is an epic of peace2 consequently the ,iliad is much more copious in references to bronze than the ,odyssey has any occasion to be4 ,wives are far more frequently mentioned in the ,odyssey than in the ,iliad1 but nobody will argue that therefore marriage had recently come more into vogue4 ,again1 the method of counting up references to iron in the ,odyssey is quite misleading1 when we remember that ten out of the twenty references are only one reference to one and the same set of iron tools-axes4 ,mr4 ,monro also proposed to leave six references to iron in the ,iliad out of the reckoning1 as all of them are in lines which can be omitted without detriment to the sense4 ,most of the six are in a recurrent epic formula descriptive of a wealthy man1 who possesses iron1 as well as bronze1 gold1 and women4 ,the existence of the formula proves familiarity with iron1 and to excise it merely because it contradicts a theory is purely arbitrary4--,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #cci44 ,the statement of facts given here is much akin to ,helbig's account of the uses of bronze and iron in ,homer4 ,footnote3 ,helbig1 ,das ,homerischi ,epos1 pp4 #ccj1 #cca4 #ahhg4 ,helbig writes3 ,it is notable that in the ,epic there is much more frequent mention of iron implements than of iron weapons of war4 ,he then gives examples1 which we produce later1 and especially remarks on what ,achilles says when he offers a mass of iron as a prize in the funeral games of ,patroclus4 ,the iron1 says ,achilles1 will serve for the purposes of the ploughman and shepherd1 a surprising speech from the son of ,peleus1 from whom we rather expect an allusion to the military uses of the metal4 ,of course1 if iron weapons were not in vogue while iron was the metal for tools and implements1 the words of ,achilles are appropriate and intelligible4 ,the facts being as we and ,helbig agree in stating them1 we suppose that the ,homeric poets sing of the usages of their own time4 ,it is an age when iron1 though quite familiar1 is not yet employed for armour1 or for swords or spears1 which must be of excellent temper1 without great weight in proportion to their length and size4 ,iron is only employed in ,homer for some knives1 which are never said to be used in battle 7not even for dealing the final stab1 like the mediaeval poniard1 the misericorde71 for axes1 which have a short cutting edge1 and may be thick and weighty behind the edge1 and for the rough implements of the shepherd and ploughman1 such as tips of ploughshares1 of goads1 and so forth4 ,as far as archaeological excavations and discoveries enlighten us1 these relative uses of bronze and iron did not exist in the ages of ,mycenaean culture which are represented in the tholos of ,vaphio and the graves1 earlier and later1 of ,mycenae4 ,even in the later ,mycenaean graves iron is found only in the form of finger rings 7iron rings were common in late ,greece74 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 pp4 #gb1 #adf1 #afe4 ,iron was scarce in the ,cypro-,mycenaean graves of ,enkomi4 ,a small knife with a carved handle had left traces of an iron blade4 ,a couple of lumps of iron1 one of them apparently the head of a club1 were found in ,schliemann's ,burned ,city at ,hissarlik2 for the rest1 swords1 spear-heads1 knives1 and axes are all of bronze in the age called ,mycenaean4 ,but we do not know whether iron implements may not yet be found in the sepulchres of ,thetes1 and other poor and landless men4 ,the latest discoveries in ,minoan graves in ,crete exhibit tools of bronze4 ,iron1 we repeat1 is in the poems a perfectly familiar metal4 ,ownership of bronze1 gold1 and iron1 which requires much labour 7in the smithying or smelting71 appears regularly in the recurrent epic formula for describing a man of wealth4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,vi4 #dh2 ,,ix4 #cfe-cff2 ,x4 #cgi2 ,,xi4 #acc2 ,odyssey1 ,,xiv4 #cbd2 ,,xxi4 #aj4 ,iron1 bronze1 slaves1 and hides are bartered for sea-borne wine at the siege of ,troy8 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,vii4 #dgb-dge4 ,athene1 disguised as ,mentes1 is carrying a cargo of iron to ,temesa 7,tamasus in ,cyprus871 to barter for copper4 ,the poets are certainly not describing an age in which only a man of wealth might indulge in the rare and extravagant luxury of an iron ring3 iron was a common commodity1 like cattle1 hides1 slaves1 bronze1 and other such matters4 ,common as it was1 ,homer never once mentions its use for defensive armour1 or for swords and spears4 ,only in two cases does ,homer describe any weapon as of iron4 ,there is to be sure the iron1 the knife with which ,antilochus fears ,achilles will cut his own throat4 ,footnote3 ,iliad ,,xviii4 #cd4 ,but no knife is ever used as a weapon of war3 knives are employed in cutting the throats of victims 7see ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #bga and ,,xxiii4 #cj72 the knife is said to be of iron1 in this last passage2 also ,patroclus uses the knife to cut the arrow-head out of the flesh of a wounded friend4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #hdd4 ,it is the knife of ,achilles that is called the iron1 and on the iron perish the cattle in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #cj4 ,mr4 ,leaf says that by the usual use1 the metal 7iron7 is confined to tools of small size4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 xxiii4 #cj1 ,note4 ,this is incorrect2 the ,odyssey speaks of great axes habitually made of iron4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,ix4 #cia4 ,but we do find a knife of bronze1 that of ,agamemnon1 used in sacrificing victims2 at least so ,i infer from ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #bga-bib4 ,the only two specimens of weapons named by ,homer as of iron are one arrow-head1 used by ,pandarus1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #abc4 and one mace1 borne1 before ,nestor's time1 by ,areithoeus4 ,to fight with an iron mace was an amiable and apparently unique eccentricity of ,areithbus1 and caused his death4 ,on account of his peculiar practice he was named ,the ,mace man4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,vii4 #ada4 ,the case is mentioned by ,nestor as curious and unusual4 ,mr4 ,leaf gets rid of this solitary iron casse tete in a pleasant way4 ,since he wrote his ,companion to the ,iliad1 #aijb1 he has become converted1 as we saw1 to the theory1 demolished by ,mr4 ,monro1 ,nutzhorn1 and ,grote1 and denounced by ,blass1 that the origin of our ,homer is a text edited by some literary retainer of ,pisistratus of ,athens 7about #efj-edj ,b4,c474 ,the editor arranged current lays1 altered freely1 and wrote in as much as he pleased4 ,probably he wrote this passage in which ,nestor describes the man of the iron mace1 for the tales of ,nestor's youthful exploits1 all of which bear the mark of late work1 are introduced with no special applicability to the context1 but rather with the intention of glorifying the ancestor of ,pisistratus4 ,footnote3 ,iliad 7#aijj71 ,,vii4 #adi1 ,note4 ,if ,pisistratus was pleased with the ancestral portrait1 nobody has a right to interfere1 but we need hardly linger over this hypothesis 7cf4 pp4 #bha-bhh74 ,iron axes are offered as prizes by ,achilles1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #hej4 and we have the iron axes of ,odysseus1 who shot an arrow through the apertures in the blades1 at the close of the ,odyssey4 ,but all these axes1 as we shall show1 were not weapons1 but peaceful implements4 ,as a matter of certain fact the swords and spears of ,homer's warriors are invariably said by the poet to be of bronze1 not of iron1 in cases where the metal of the weapons is specified4 ,except for an arrow-head 7to which we shall return7 and the one iron mace1 noted as an eccentricity1 no weapon in ,homer is ever said to be of iron4 ,the richest men use swords of bronze4 ,not one chooses to indulge in a sword said to be of iron4 ,the god1 ,hephaestus1 makes a bronze sword for ,achilles1 whose own bronze sword was lent to ,patroclus1 and lost by him to ,hector4 ,footnote3 ,iliad ,,xvi4 #acf2 ,,xix4 #cgb-cgc4 ,this bronze sword1 at least1 ,achilles uses1 after receiving the divine armour of the god4 ,the sword of ,paris is of bronze1 as is the sword of ,odysseus in the ,odyssey4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #ccd-cce ,bronze is the sword which he brought from ,troy1 and bronze is the sword presented to him by ,euryalus in ,phaeacia1 and bronze is the spear with which he fought under the walls of ,ilios4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,x4 #afb1 #bfa-bfb ,there are other examples of bronze swords1 while spears are invariably said to be of bronze1 when the metal of the spear is specified4 ,here we are on the ground of solid certainty3 we see that the ,homeric warrior has regularly spear and sword of bronze4 ,if any man used a spear or sword of iron1 ,homer never once mentions the fact4 ,if the poets1 in an age of iron weapons1 always spoke of bronze1 out of deference to tradition1 they must have puzzled their iron-using military patrons4 ,thus1 as regards weapons1 the ,homeric heroes are in the age of bronze1 like them who slept in the tombs of the ,mycenaean age4 ,when ,homer speaks of the use of cutting instruments of iron1 he is always concerned1 except in the two cases given1 not with blank space but with implements1 which really were of iron4 ,the wheelwright fells a tree with the iron1 that is1 with an axe2 ,antilochus fears that ,achilles will cut his own throat with the iron1 that is1 with his knife1 a thing never used in battle2 the cattle struggle when slain with the iron1 that is1 the butcher's knife2 and ,odysseus shoots through the iron1 that is1 through the holes in the blade of the iron axes4 ,footnote3 ,for this peculiar kind of ,mycenaean axe with holes in the blade1 see the design of a bronze example from ,vaphio in ,tsountas and ,manatt1 ,the ,mycenaean ,age1 p4 #bjg1 fig4 #id4 ,thus ,homer never says that this or that was done with the iron in the case of any but one weapon of war4 ,pandarus drew the bow-string to his breast and to the bow4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,w4 #abc4 ,whoever wrote that line was writing in an age1 we may think1 when arrow-heads were commonly of iron2 but in ,homer1 when the metal of the arrow-head is mentioned1 except1 in this one case1 it is always bronze4 ,the iron arrow-tip of ,pandarus was of an early type1 the shaft did not run into the socket of the arrow-head2 the tang of the arrow-head1 on the other hand1 entered the shaft1 and was whipped on with sinew4 ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #aea4 ,pretty primitive this method1 still the iron is an advance on the uniform bronze of ,homer4 ,the line about ,pandarus and the iron arrow-head may really be early enough1 for the arrow-head is of a primitive kind--socketless--and primitive is the attitude of the archer3 he drew the arrow to his breast4 ,on the ,mycenaean silver bowl1 representing a siege1 the archers draw to the breast1 in the primitive style1 as does the archer on the bronze dagger with a representation of a lion hunt4 ,the ,assyrians and ,khita drew to the ear1 as the monuments prove1 and so does the ,cypro-,mycenaean archer of the ivory draught-box from ,enkomi4 ,footnote3 ,evans1 ,journal of the ,anthropological ,institute1 vol4 xxx4 p4 #baj4 ,in these circumstances we cannot deny that the poet may have known iron arrow-heads4 ,we now take the case of axes4 ,we never hear from ,homer of the use of an iron axe in battle1 and warlike use of an axe only occurs twice4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xv4 #gaa1 in a battle at and on the ships1 they were fighting with sharp axes and battle-axes 7,greek text3 axinai7 and with great swords1 and spears armed at butt and tip4 ,at and on the ships1 men would set hand to whatever tool of cutting edge was accessible4 ,seiler thinks that only the ,trojans used the battle-axe2 perhaps for damaging the ships3 he follows the scholiast4 ,greek text3 ,axinae1 however1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xiii4 #faa4 may perhaps be rendered battle-axe1 as a ,trojan1 ,peisandros1 fights with an ,greek text3 ,axinae1 and this is the only place in the ,iliad1 except ,,xv4 #gaa1 where the thing is said to be used as a weapon4 ,but it is not an iron axe2 it is of fine bronze4 ,only one bronze battle-axe1 according to ,dr4 ,joseph ,anderson1 is known to have been found in ,scotland1 though there are many bronze heads of axes which were tools4 ,axes 7,greek text3 pelekeis7 were implements1 tools of the carpenter1 woodcutter1 shipwright1 and so on2 they were not weapons of war of the ,achaeans4 ,as implements they are1 with very rare exceptions1 of iron4 ,the wheelwright fells trees with the gleaming iron1 iron being a synonym for axe and for knife4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iv4 #dhe ,in ,iliad1 ,,xiii4 #cia1 the shipwrights cut timber with axes4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #aad1 woodcutters' axes are employed in tree-felling1 but the results are said to be produced ,greek text3 tanaaekei chalcho1 by the long-edged bronze1 where the word ,greek text3 tanaaekaes is borrowed from the usual epithet of swords2 the long edge is quite inappropriate to a woodcutter's axe4 ,on ,calypso's isle ,calypso gives to ,odysseus a bronze axe for his raft-making4 ,butcher's work is done with an axe4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xvii4 #ebj2 ,odyssey1 ,,iii4 #ddb-ddi4 ,the axes offered by ,achilles as a prize for archers and the axes through which ,odysseus shot are implements of iron4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #hej2 ,odyssey1 ,,xxi4 #c1 #ha1 #ig4 ,in the ,odyssey1 when the poet describes the process of tempering iron1 we read1 as when a smith dips a great axe or an adze in chill water1 for thus men temper iron4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,ix4 #cia-cic4 ,he is not using iron to make a sword or spear1 but a tool-adze or axe4 ,the poet is perfectly consistent4 ,there are also examples both of bronze axes and1 apparently1 of bronze knives4 ,thus1 though the woodcutter's or carpenter's axe is of bronze in two passages cited1 iron is the usual material of the axe or adze4 ,again we saw1 when ,achilles gives a mass of iron as a prize in the games1 he does not mean the armourer to fashion it into sword or spear1 but says that it will serve the shepherd or ploughman for domestic implements1 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad 7#aijb71 ,,xxiii4 line #cj1 ,note4 so that the men need not1 on an upland farm1 go to the city for iron implements4 ,in commenting upon this ,mr4 ,leaf is scarcely at the proper point of view4 ,he says1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #hce1 ,note4 the idea of a state of things when the ploughman and shepherd forge their own tools from a lump of raw iron has a suspicious appearance of a deliberate attempt to represent from the inner consciousness an archaic state of civilisation4 ,in ,homeric times the ,greek3 chalceus is already specialised as a worker in metals4444 ,however1 ,homer does not say that the ploughman and shepherd forge their own tools4 ,a ,homeric chief1 far from a town1 would have his own smithy1 just as the laird of ,runraurie 7now ,urrard7 had his smithy at the time of the battle of ,killicrankie 7#afhi74 ,mackay's forces left their impedimenta at the laird's smithy1 says an eye-witness4 ,footnote3 ,napier's ,life ,of ,dundee1 iii4 p4 #gbd4 ,the idea of a late ,homeric poet trying to reconstruct from his fancy a prehistoric state of civilisation is out of the question4 ,even historical novelists of the eighteenth century ,a4,d4 scarcely attempted such an effort4 ,this was the regular state of things in the ,highlands during the eighteenth century1 when many chiefs1 and most of the clans1 lived far from any town4 ,but these rural smiths did not make sword-blades1 which ,prince ,charles1 as late as #agej1 bought on the ,continent4 ,the ,andrea ,ferrara-marked broadsword blades of the clans were of foreign manufacture4 ,the ,highland smiths did such rough iron work as was needed for rural purposes4 ,perhaps the ,homeric chief may have sometimes been a craftsman like the heroes of the ,sagas1 great sword-smiths4 ,odysseus himself1 notably an excellent carpenter1 may have been as good a sword-smith1 but every hero was not so accomplished4 ,in searching with microscopes for ,homeric discrepancies and interpolations1 critics are apt to forget the ways of old rural society4 ,the ,homeric poems1 whether composed in one age or throughout five centuries1 are thus entirely uniform in allotting bronze as the material for all sorts of warlike gear1 down to the solitary battle-axe mentioned2 and iron as the usual metal for heavy tools1 knives1 carpenters' axes1 adzes1 and agricultural implements1 with the rare exceptions which we have cited in the case of bronze knives and axes4 ,either this distinction--iron for tools and implements2 bronze for armour1 swords1 and spears--prevailed throughout the period of the ,homeric poets or poet2 or the poets invented such a stage of culture2 or poets1 some centuries later1 deliberately kept bronze for weapons only1 while introducing iron for implements4 ,in that case they were showing archaeological conscientiousness in following the presumed earlier poets of the bronze age1 the age of the ,mycenaean graves4 ,now early poets are never studious archaeologists4 ,examining the blank space certainly based on old lays and legends which survive in the ,edda1 we find that the poets of the ,nibelungenlied introduce chivalrous and ,christian manners4 ,they do not archaeologise4 ,the poets of the ,french ,chansons de ,geste 7eleventh to thirteenth centuries7 bring their own weapons1 and even armorial bearings1 into the 'remote age of ,charlemagne1 which they know from legends and cantilenes4 ,again1 the later remanieurs of the earliest ,chansons de ,geste modernise the details of these poems4 ,but1 per impossibile1 and for the sake of argument1 suppose that the later interpolators and continuators of the ,homeric lays were antiquarian precisians1 or1 on the other hand1 deliberately attempted to reproduce from their inner consciousness an archaic state of civilisation4 ,suppose that1 though they lived in an age of iron weapons1 they knew1 as ,hesiod knew1 that the old heroes had warlike gear of bronze1 and ploughed with bronze1 and there was no black iron4 ,footnote3 ,hesiod1 ,works and ,days1 pp4 #bej1 #bea4 ,in that case1 why did the later interpolating poets introduce iron as the special material of tools and implements1 knives and axes1 in an age when they knew that there was no iron8 ,savants such as1 by this theory1 the later poets of the full-blown age of iron were1 they must have known that the knives and axes of the old heroes were made of bronze4 ,in old votive offerings in temples and in any ,mycenaean graves which might be opened1 the learned poets of #hjj-fjj ,b4,c4 saw with their eyes knives and axes of bronze4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 i4 #dac-daf4 ,the knife of ,agamemnon 7,greek3 machaira71 which hangs from his girdle1 beside his sword1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #bga2 ,,xix4 #beb4 corresponds to the knives found in ,grave ,,iv4 at ,mycenae2 the handles of these dirks have a ring for suspension4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #bjd4 ,but these knives1 in ,mycenaean graves1 are of bronze1 and of bronze are the axes in the ,mycenaean deposits and the dagger of ,enkomi4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 pp4 #ade1 #bjg1 #bjh1 #bef4 ,evans1 ,journal of the ,anthropological ,institute1 vol xxx4 p1 #bad4 ,why1 then1 did the late poetic interpolators1 who knew that the spears and swords of the old warriors were of bronze1 and who describe them as of bronze1 not know that their knives and axes were also of bronze8 ,why did they describe the old knives and axes as of iron1 while ,hesiod knew1 and could have told them--did tell them1 in fact--that they were of bronze8 ,clearly the theory that ,homeric poets were archaeological precisians is impossible4 ,they describe arms as of bronze1 tools usually as of iron1 because they see them to be such in practice4 ,the poems1 in fact1 depict a very extraordinary condition of affairs1 such as no poets could invent and adhere to with uniformity4 ,we are accustomed in archaeology to seeing the bronze sword pass by a gradual transition into the iron sword2 but1 in ,homer1 people with abundance of iron never1 in any one specified case1 use iron sword blades or spears4 ,the greatest chiefs1 men said to be rich in gold and iron1 always use swords and spears of bronze in ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,the usual process of transition from bronze to iron swords1 in a prehistoric ,european age1 is traced by ,mr4 ,ridgeway at ,hallstatt1 in the heart of the ,austrian ,alps1 where a thousand old graves have been explored4 ,the swords pass from bronze to iron with bronze hilts1 and1 finally1 are wholly of iron4 ,weapons of bronze are fitted with iron edges4 ,axes of iron were much more common than axes of bronze4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 i4 #dac-daf4 ,the axes were fashioned in the old shapes of the age of bronze1 were not of the bipennis ,mycenaean model--the double axe--nor of the shape of the letter ,d1 very thick1 with two round apertures in the blade1 like the bronze axe of ,vaphio4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 #agf4 ,probably the axes through which ,odysseus shot an arrow were of this kind1 as ,mr4 ,monro1 and1 much earlier1 ,mr4 ,butcher and ,i have argued4 ,footnote3 ,ibid4 7#aija71 vol4 ii4 ,book ,,xix4 line #egb4 ,note4 ,butcher and ,lang1 ,odyssey1 ,appendix 7#ahia74 ,at ,hallstatt there was the normal evolution from bronze swords and axes to iron swords and axes4 ,why1 then1 had ,homer's men in his time not made this step1 seeing that they were familiar with the use of iron8 ,why do they use bronze for swords and spears1 iron for tools8 ,the obvious answer is that they could temper bronze for military purposes much better than they could temper iron4 ,now ,mr4 ,ridgeway quotes ,polybius 7ii4 #cj2 ii4 #cc7 for the truly execrable quality of the iron of the ,celtic invaders of ,italy as late as #bbe ,b4,c4 ,their swords were as bad as1 or worse than1 ,british bayonets2 they always doubled up4 ,their long iron swords were easily bent1 and could only give one downward stroke with any effect2 but after this the edges got so turned and the blades so bent that1 unless they had time to straighten them with the foot against the ground1 they could not deliver a second blow4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i4 #djh4 ,if the heroes in ,homer's time possessed iron as badly tempered as that of the ,celts of #bbe ,b4,c41 they had every reason to prefer1 as they did1 excellent bronze for all their military weapons1 while reserving iron for pacific purposes4 ,a woodcutter's axe might have any amount of weight and thickness of iron behind the edge2 not so a sword blade or a spear point4 ,footnote3 ,monsieur ,salomon ,reinach suggests to me that the story of ,polybius may be a myth4 ,swords and spear-heads in graves are often found doubled up2 possibly they are thus made dead1 like the owner1 and their spirits are thus set free to be of use to his spirit4 ,finding doubled up iron swords in ,celtic graves1 the ,romans1 ,m4 ,beinach suggests1 may have explained their useless condition by the theory that they doubled up in battle1 leaving their owners easy victims1 and this myth was accepted as fact by ,polybius4 ,but he was not addicted to myth1 nor very remote from the events which he chronicles4 ,again1 though bronze grave-weapons in our ,museum are often doubled up1 the myth is not told of the warriors of the age of bronze4 ,we later give examples of the doubling up1 in battle1 of ,scandinavian iron swords as late as #ajjj ,a4,d4 ,in the ,iliad we hear of swords breaking at the hilt in dealing a stroke at shield or helmet1 a thing most incident to bronze swords1 especially of the early type1 with a thin bronze tang inserted in a hilt of wood1 ivory1 or amber1 or with a slight shelf of the bronze hilt riveted with three nails on to the bronze blade4 ,lycaon struck ,peneleos on the socket of his helmet crest1 and his sword brake at the hilt4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xvi4 #cci4 ,the sword of ,menelaus broke into three or four pieces when he smote the helmet ridge of ,paris4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #cdi1 #chj4 ,iron of the ,celtic sort described by ,polybius would have bent1 not broken4 ,there is no doubt on that head3 if ,polybius is not romancing1 the ,celtic sword of #bbe ,b4,c4 doubled up at every stroke1 like a piece of hoop iron4 ,but ,mr4 ,leaf tells us that1 by primitive modes of smelting1 iron is made hard and brittle1 like cast iron4 ,if so1 it would be even less trustworthy for a sword than bronze4 ,footnote3 ,iliad 7#aijj71 ,book ,,vi1 line #dh1 ,note4 ,perhaps the ,celts of #bbe ,b4,c4 did not smelt iron by primitive methods1 but discovered some process for making it not hard and brittle1 but flabby4 ,the swords of the ,mycenaean graves1 we know1 were all of bronze1 and1 in three intaglios on rings from the graves1 the point1 not the edge1 is used1 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 p4 #aii4 once against a lion1 once over the rim of a shield which covers the whole body of an enemy1 and once at too close quarters to permit the use of the edge4 ,it does not follow from these three cases 7as critics argue7 that no bronze sword could be used for a swashing blow1 and there are just half as many thrusts as strokes with the bronze sword in the ,iliad4 ,footnote3 ,twenty-four cuts to eleven lunges1 in the ,iliad4 ,as the poet constantly dwells on the long edge of the bronze swords and makes heroes use both point and edge1 how can we argue that ,homeric swords were of iron and ill fitted to give point8 ,the ,highlanders at ,clifton 7#agdf7 were obliged1 contrary to their common practice1 to use the point against ,cumberland's dragoons4 ,they1 like the ,achaeans1 had heavy cut and thrust swords1 but theirs were of steel4 ,if the ,achaeans had thoroughly excellent bronze1 and had iron as bad as that of the ,celts a thousand years later1 their preference for bronze over iron for weapons is explained4 ,in ,homer the fighters do not very often come to sword strokes2 they fight mainly with the spear1 except in pursuit1 now and then4 ,but when they do strike1 they cleave heads and cut off arms4 ,they could not do this with bronze rapiers1 such as those with which men give point over the rim of the shield on two ,mycenaean gems4 ,but ,mr4 ,myres writes1 ,from the shaft graves 7of ,mycenae7 onwards there are two types of swords in the ,mycenaean world--one an exaggerated dagger riveted into the front end of the hilt1 the other with a flat flanged tang running the whole length of the hilt1 and covered on either face by ornamental grip plates riveted on4 ,this sword1 though still of bronze1 can deal a very effective cut2 and1 as the ,mycenaeans had no armour for body or head1 787 the danger of breaking or bending the sword on a cuirass or helmet did not arise4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 xvi4 #gb4 ,the danger did exist in ,homer's time1 as we have seen4 ,but a bronze sword1 published by ,tsountas and ,manatt 7,mycenaean ,age1 p4 #aii1 fig4 #hh71 is emphatically meant to give both point and edge1 having a solid handle--a continuation of the blade--and a very broad blade1 coming to a very fine point4 ,even in ,grave ,v4 at ,mycenae1 we have a sword blade so massive at the top that it was certainly capable of a swashing blow4 ,footnote3 ,schuchardt1 ,schliemann's ,excavations1 p4 #bfe1 fig4 #bfi4 ,the sword of the charioteer on the stele of ,grave ,v4 is equally good for cut and thrust4 ,a pleasanter cut and thrust bronze sword than the one found at ,ialysus no gentleman could wish to handle4 ,footnote3 ,furtwaengler und ,loeschke1 ,myk4 ,va4 ,taf4 ,d4 ,homer1 in any case1 says that his heroes used bronze swords1 well adapted to strike4 ,if his age had really good bronze1 and iron as bad as that of the ,celts of ,polybius1 a thousand years later1 their preference of bronze over iron for weapons needs no explanation4 ,if their iron was not so bad as that of the ,celts1 their military conservatism might retain bronze for weapons1 while in civil life they often used iron for implements4 ,the uniform evidence of the ,homeric poems can only be explained on the supposition that men had plenty of iron2 but1 while they used it for implements1 did not yet1 with a natural conservatism1 trust life and victory to iron spears and swords4 ,unluckily1 we cannot test the temper of the earliest known iron swords found in ,greece1 for rust hath consumed them1 and ,i know not that the temper of the ,mycenaean bronze swords has been tested against helmets of bronze4 ,i can thus give no evidence from experiment4 ,there is just one line in ,homer which disregards the distinction--iron for implements1 bronze for weapons2 it is in ,odyssey1 ,,xvi4 #bid2 ,,xix4 #ac4 ,telemachus is told to remove the warlike harness of ,odysseus from the hall1 lest the wooers use it in the coming fray4 ,he is to explain the removal by saying that it has been done1 ,lest you fall to strife in your cups1 and harm each other1 and shame the feast1 and this wooing2 for iron of himself draweth a man to him4 ,the proverb is manifestly of an age when iron was almost universally used for weapons1 and thus was1 as in ,thucydides1 synonymous with all warlike gear2 but throughout the poems no single article of warlike gear is of iron except one eccentric mace and one arrow-head of primitive type4 ,the line in the ,odyssey must therefore be a very late addition2 it may be removed without injuring the sense of the passage in which it occurs4 ,footnote3 ,this fact1 in itself1 is of course no proof of interpolation4 ,cf4 ,helbig1 op4 cit41 p4 #cca4 ,he thinks the line very late4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the line be as old as the oldest parts of the poem1 the author for once forgets his usual antiquarian precision4 ,we are thus led to the conclusion that either there was in early ,greece an age when weapons were all of bronze while implements were often of iron1 or that the poet1 or crowd of poets1 invented that state of things4 ,now early poets never invent in this way2 singing to an audience of warriors1 critical on such a point1 they speak of what the warriors know to be actual1 except when1 in a recognised form of decorative exaggeration1 they introduce ,masts of the beaten gold ,and sails of taffetie4 ,our theory is1 then1 that in the age when the ,homeric poems were composed1 iron1 though well known1 was on its probation4 ,men of the sword preferred bronze for all their military purposes1 just as fifteenth-century soldiers found the long-bow and cross-bow much more effective than guns1 or as the ,duke of ,wellington forbade the arming of all our men with rifles in place of muskets 444 for reasons not devoid of plausibility4 ,sir ,john ,evans supposes that1 in the seventh century1 the ,carian and ,ionian invaders of ,egypt were still using offensive arms of bronze1 not of iron4 ,footnote3 ,ancient ,bronze ,implements1 p4 #h 7#ahha71 citing ,herodotus1 ii4 c4 #aab4 ,sir ,john is not sure that ,achaean spear-heads were not of copper1 for they twice double up against a shield4 ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #cdh2 ,,vii4 #bei2 ,evans1 p4 #ac4 ,sir ,john remarks that for a considerable time after the ,homeric period1 bronze remained in use for offensive weapons1 especially for spears1 lances1 and arrows4 ,hesiod1 quite unlike his contemporaries1 the later poets of ,iliad and ,odyssey1 gives to ,heracles an iron helmet and sword4 ,footnote3 ,scutum ,herculis1 pp4 #abb-ach4 ,hesiod knew better1 but was not a consistent archaiser4 ,sir ,john thinks that as early as #ejj or even #fjj ,b4,c4 iron and steel were in common use for weapons in ,greece1 but not yet had they altogether superseded bronze battle-axes and spears4 ,footnote3 ,evans1 p4 #ah4 ,by ,sir ,john's showing1 iron for offensive weapons superseded bronze very slowly indeed in ,greece2 and1 if my argument be correct1 it had not done so when the ,homeric poems were composed4 ,iron merely served for utensils1 and the poems reflect that stage of transition which no poet could dream of inventing4 ,these pages had been written before my attention was directed to ,m4 ,berard's book1 ,les ,pheniciens et l',odyssee 7,paris1 #aijb74 ,m4 ,berard has anticipated and rather outrun my ideas4 ,i might almost say1 he remarks1 that iron is the popular metal1 native and rustic444 the shepherd and ploughman can extract and work it without going to the town4 ,the chief's smith could work iron1 if he had iron to work1 and this iron ,achilles gave as a prize4 ,with rustic methods of working it iron is always impure2 it has 'straws' in it1 and is brittle4 ,it may be the metal for peace and for implements4 ,in our fields we see the reaper sit down and repair his sickle4 ,in war is needed a metal less hard1 perhaps1 but more tough and not so easily broken4 ,you cannot sit down in the field of battle1 as in a field of barley1 to beat your sword straight4444 ,footnote3 ,berard1 i4 #dce4 ,so the ,celts found1 if we believe ,polybius4 ,on the other hand1 iron swords did supersede bronze swords in the long run4 ,apparently they had not done so in the age of the poet1 but iron had certainly ceased to be a precious metal2 knives and woodcutters' axes are never made of a metal that is precious and rare4 ,i am thus led1 on a general view1 to suppose that the poems took shape when iron was very well known1 but was not yet1 as in the ,dipylon period in ,crete1 commonly used by sword-smiths4 ,the ideas here stated are not unlike those of ,paul ,cauer4 ,footnote3 ,grundfrager des ,homerkritik1 pp4 #ahc-ahg4 ,leipsic1 #ahie4 ,i do not1 however1 find the mentions of iron useful as a test of early and late lays1 which it is his theory that they are4 ,thus he says3-- 7#a7 ,iron is often mentioned as part of a man's personal property1 while we are not told how he means to use it4 ,it is named with bronze1 gold1 and girls4 ,the poet has no definite picture before his eyes2 he is vague about iron4 ,but1 we reply1 his picture of iron in these passages is neither more nor less definite than his mental picture of the other commodities4 ,he calls iron hard to smithy1 grey1 dark-hued2 he knows1 in fact1 all about it4 ,he does not tell us what the owner is going to do with the gold and the bronze and the girls1 any more than he tells us what is to be done with the iron4 ,such information was rather in the nature of a luxury than a necessity4 ,every hearer knew the uses of all four commodities4 ,this does not seem to have occurred to ,cauer4 7#b7 ,iron is spoken of as an emblem of hard things1 as1 to take a modern example1 in ,mr4 ,swinburne's armed and iron maidenhood --said of ,atalanta4 ,hearts are iron1 strength is iron1 flesh is not iron1 an iron noise goes up to the heaven of bronze4 ,it may not follow1 ,cauer thinks1 from these phrases that iron was used in any way4 ,men are supposed to marvel at its strange properties2 it was new and rare4 ,i see no ground for this inference4 7#c7 ,we have the iron gates of ,tartarus1 and the iron bonds in which ,odysseus was possibly lying2 it does not follow that chains or gates were made of iron any more than that gates were of chrysoprase in the days of ,st4 ,john4 7#d7 ,next1 we have mention of implements1 not weapons1 of iron--a remarkable trait of culture4 ,greek ploughs and axes were made of iron before spears and swords were of iron4 7#e7 ,we have mention of iron weapons1 namely1 the unique iron mace of ,areithous and the solitary iron arrow-head of ,pandarus1 and what ,cauer calls the iron swords 7more probably knives7 of ,achilles and others4 ,it is objected to the iron of ,achilles that ,antilochus fears he will cut his throat with it on hearing of the death of ,patroclus1 while there is no other mention of suicide in the ,iliad4 ,it does not follow that suicide was unheard of2 indeed1 ,achilles may be thinking of suicide presently1 in ,,xiii4 #ih1 when he says to his mother3 ,let me die at once1 since it was not my lot to succour my comrade4 7#f7 ,we have the iron-making spoken of in ,book ,,ix4 #cic of the ,odyssey4 ,it does not appear to us that the use of iron as an epithet bespeaks an age when iron was a mysterious thing1 known mainly by reputation1 a costly possession4 ,the epithets iron strength1 and so on1 may as readily be used in our own age or any other4 ,if iron were at first a precious metal1 it is odd that ,homeric men first used it1 as ,cauer sees that they did1 to make points to ploughshares and tools of agriculture and handiwork4 ,then people took to working iron for weapons4 ,just so1 but we cannot divide the ,iliad into earlier and later portions in proportion to the various mentions of iron in various ,books4 ,these statistics are of no value for separatist purposes4 ,it is impossible to believe that men when they spoke of iron strength1 iron hearts1 grey iron1 iron hard to smithy1 did so because iron was1 first1 an almost unknown legendary mineral1 next1 a precious metal1 then the metal of drudgery1 and finally the metal of weapons4 ,the real point of interest is1 as ,cauer sees1 that domestic preceded military uses of iron among the ,achaeans4 ,he seems1 however1 to think that the confinement of the use of bronze to weapons is a matter of traditional style4 ,footnote3 ,nur die ,sprache der ,dichter hielt an dem ,gebrauch der ,bronze fest1 die in den ,jahrhunderten1 waehrend deren der ,epische ,stil erwachsen war1 allein geherrscht hatte4 ,but1 in the early days of the waxing epics1 tools as well as weapons were1 as in ,homer they occasionally are1 of bronze4 ,why1 then1 do the supposed late continuators represent tools1 not weapons1 as of iron8 ,why do they not cleave to the traditional term--bronze--in the case of tools1 as the same men do in the case of weapons8 ,helbig offers an apparently untenable explanation of this fact4 ,he has proposed an interpretation of the uses of bronze and iron in the poems entirely different from that which ,i offer4 ,footnote3 ,sur la ,question ,mycenienne4 #ahif4 ,unfortunately1 one can scarcely criticise his theory without entering again into the whole question of the construction of the ,epics4 ,he thinks that the origin of the poems dates from the ,mycenaean period1 and that the later continuators of the poems retained the traditions of that remote age4 ,thus they thrice call ,mycenae golden1 though1 in the changed economic conditions of their own period1 ,mycenae could no longer be golden2 and ,i presume that1 if possible1 the city would have issued a papyrus currency without a metallic basis4 ,however this may be1 in the description of customs the epic poets did their best to avoid everything modern4 ,here we have again that unprecedented phenomenon--early poets who are archaeologically precise4 ,we have first to suppose that the kernel of the ,iliad originated in the ,mycenaean age1 the age of bronze4 ,we are next to believe that this kernel was expanded into the actual ,epic in later and changed times1 but that the later poets adhered in their descriptions to the ,mycenaean standard1 avoiding everything modern4 ,that poets of an uncritical period1 when treating of the themes of ancient legend or song1 carefully avoid everything modern is an opinion not warranted by the usage of the authors of the ,chansons de ,geste1 of ,beowulf1 and of the ,nibelungenlied4 ,these poets1 we must repeat1 invariably introduce in their chants concerning ancient days the customs1 costume1 armour1 religion1 and weapons of their own time4 ,dr4 ,helbig supposes that the late ,greek poets1 however1 who added to the ,iliad1 carefully avoided doing what other poets of uncritical ages have always done4 ,footnote3 ,la ,question ,mycenienne1 p4 #ej4 ,this is his position in his text 7p4 #ej74 ,in his note #a to page #ej1 however1 he occupies the precisely contrary position4 ,the epic poems were chanted1 as a rule1 in the houses of more or less warlike chiefs4 ,it is1 then1 a priori probable that the later poets took into account the contemporary military state of things4 ,their audience would have been much perturbed 7bien cheques7 if they had heard the poet mention nothing but arms and forms of attack and defence to which they were unaccustomed4 ,if so1 when iron weapons came in the poets would substitute iron for bronze1 in lays new and old1 but they never do4 ,however1 this is ,helbig's opinion in his note4 ,but in his text he says that the poets1 carefully avoiding the contemporary1 the modern1 make the heroes fight1 not on horseback1 but from chariots4 ,their listeners1 according to his note1 must have been bien cheques1 for there came a time when they were not accustomed to war chariots4 ,thus the poets who1 in ,dr4 ,helbig's text1 avoid as far as possible all that is modern1 in his note1 on the same page1 take account of the contemporary state of things1 and are as modern as possible where weapons are concerned4 ,their audience would be sadly put out 7bien cheques7 if they heard talk only of arms 444 to which they were unaccustomed2 talk of large suspended shields1 of uncorsleted heroes1 and of bronze weapons4 ,they had to endure it1 whether they liked it or not1 teste ,reichel4 ,dr4 ,helbig seems to speak correctly in his note2 in his text his contradictory opinion appears to be wrong4 ,experience teaches us that the poets of an uncritical age--,shakespeare1 for example--introduce the weapons of their own period into works dealing with remote ages4 ,hamlet uses the ,elizabethan rapier4 ,in his argument on bronze and iron1 unluckily1 ,dr4 ,helbig deserts the judicious opinions of his note for the opposite theory of his text4 ,his late poets1 in the age of iron1 always say that the weapons of the heroes are made of bronze4 ,footnote3 ,op4 laud41 p4 #ea4 ,they thus1 as far as possible avoid what is modern4 ,but1 of course1 warriors of the age of iron1 when they heard the poet talk only of weapons of bronze1 aurient ete bien choques 7as ,dr4 ,helbig truly says in his note71 on hearing of nothing but armes auxquels ils n'etaient pas habitues1--arms always of bronze4 ,though ,dr4 ,helbig in his text is of the opposite opinion1 ,i must agree entirely with the view which he states so clearly in his note4 ,it follows that if a poet speaks invariably of weapons of bronze1 he is living in an age when weapons are made of no other material4 ,in his text1 however1 ,dr4 ,helbig maintains that the poets of later ages as far as possible avoid everything modern1 and1 therefore1 mention none but bronze weapons4 ,but1 as he has pointed out1 they do mention iron tools and implements4 ,why do they desert the traditional bronze8 ,because it occasionally happened that a poet1 when thinking of an entirely new subject1 wholly emancipated himself from traditional forms1 ,footnote3 ,op4 laud41 pp4 #ea1 #eb ,the examples given in proof are the offer by ,achilles of a lump of iron as the prize for archery--the iron1 as we saw1 being destined for the manufacture of pastoral and agricultural implements1 in which ,dr4 ,helbig includes the lances of shepherds and ploughmen1 though the poet never says that they were of iron4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #hbf1 #hce2 ,odyssey1 ,,xiv4 #eca2 ,,xiii4 #bbe4 ,there are also the axes through which ,odysseus shoots his arrow4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,xix4 #ehg2 ,,xxi4 #c1 ,x1 #ig1 #aad1 #abg1 #ach2 ,,xxiv4 #afh1 #agg2 cf4 ,,xxi4 #fa4 ,the poet here treated an entirely new subject1 in the development of which he had perfect liberty4 ,so he speaks freely of iron4 ,but1 we exclaim1 tools and implements1 axes and knives1 are not a perfectly new subject6 ,they were extremely familiar to the age of bronze1 the ,mycenaean age4 ,examples of bronze tools1 arrow-heads1 and implements are discovered in excavations on ,mycenaean sites4 ,there was nothing new about bronze tools and implements4 ,men had bronze tips to their ploughshares1 bronze knives1 bronze axes1 bronze arrow-heads before they used iron4 ,perhaps we are to understand that feats of archery1 non-military contests in bowmanship1 are un sujet a fait nouveau3 a theme so very modern that a poet1 in singing of it1 could let himself go1 and dare to speak of iron implements4 ,but where was the novelty8 ,all peoples who use the bow in war practise archery in time of peace4 ,the poet1 moreover1 speaks of bronze tools1 axes and knives1 in other parts of the ,iliad2 neither tools nor bronze tools constitute un sujet tout a fait nouveau4 ,there was nothing new in shooting with a bow and nothing new in the existence of axes4 ,bows and axes were as familiar to the age of stone and to the age of bronze as to the age of iron4 ,dr4 ,helbig's explanation1 therefore1 explains nothing1 and1 unless a better explanation is offered1 we return to the theory1 rejected by ,dr4 ,helbig1 that implements and tools were often1 not always1 of iron1 while weapons were of bronze in the age of the poet4 ,dr4 ,helbig rejects this opinion4 ,he writes3 ,we cannot in any way admit that1 at a period when the socks of the plough1 the lance points of shepherds 7which the poet never describes as of iron71 and axe-heads were of iron1 warriors still used weapons of bronze4 ,footnote3 op4 laud41 p4 #ec4 ,but it is logically possible to admit that this was the real state of affairs1 while it is logically impossible to admit that bows and tools were new subjects2 and that late poets1 when they sang of military gear1 tenaient compte de l'armement contemporain1 carefully avoiding the peril of bewildering their hearers by speaking of antiquated arms1 and1 at the same time1 spoke of nothing but antiquated arms--weapons of bronze--and of war chariots1 to fighting men who did not use war chariots and did use weapons of iron4 ,these logical contradictions beset all arguments in which it is maintained that the late poets are anxious archaisers1 and at the same time are eagerly introducing the armour and equipment of their own age4 ,the critics are in the same quandary as to iron and bronze as traps them in the case of large shields1 small bucklers1 greaves1 and corslets4 ,they are obliged to assign contradictory attitudes to their late poets4 ,it does not seem possible to admit that a poet1 who often describes axes as of iron in various passages1 does so in his account of a peaceful contest in bowmanship1 because contests in bowmanship are ,,un sujet ,,tout a ,,fait ,,nouveau2 and so he feels at liberty to describe axes as of iron1 while he adheres to bronze as the metal for weapons4 ,he1 or one of the ,odyssean poets1 had already asserted 7,odyssey1 ,,ix4 #cia7 that iron was the metal for adzes and axes4 ,dr4 ,helbig's argument ,footnote3 ,la ,question ,mycenienne1 p4 #ed4 does not explain the facts4 ,the bow of ,eurytus and the uses to which ,odysseus is to put it have been in the poet's mind all through the conduct of his plot1 and there is nothing to suggest that the exploit of bowmanship is a very new lay1 tacked on to the ,odyssey4 ,after writing this chapter1 ,i observed that my opinion had been anticipated by ,s4 ,h4 ,naber4 ,footnote3 ,quaestiones ,homericae1 p4 #fj4 ,amsterdam4 ,van der ,post1 #ahig4 ,quod ,herodoti diserto testimonio novimus1 ,homeri restate ferruminatio nondum inventa erat necdum bene noverant mortales1 uti opinor1 acuere ferrum4 ,hinc pauperes homines ubi possunt1 ferro utuntur2 sed in plerisque rebus turn domi turn militiae imprimis coguntur uti aere4444 ,the theory of ,mr4 ,ridgeway as to the relative uses of iron and bronze is not1 by myself1 very easily to be understood4 ,the ,homeric warrior 444 has regularly1 as we have seen1 spear and sword of iron4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #cja4 ,as no spear or sword of iron is ever mentioned in the ,iliad or ,odyssey1 as both weapons are always of bronze when the metal is specified1 ,i have not seen that they are regularly1 or ever1 of iron4 ,in proof1 ,mr4 ,ridgeway cites the axes and knives already mentioned--which are not spears or swords1 and are sometimes of bronze4 ,he also quotes the line in the ,odyssey1 ,iron of itself doth attract a man4 ,but if this line is genuine and original1 it does not apply to the state of things in the ,iliad1 while it contradicts the whole ,odyssey1 in which swords and spears are ,,always of bronze when their metal is mentioned4 ,if the line reveals the true state of things1 then throughout the ,odyssey1 if not throughout the ,iliad1 the poets when they invariably speak of bronze swords and spears invariably say what they do not mean4 ,if they do this1 how are we to know when they mean what they say1 and of what value can their evidence on points of culture be reckoned8 ,they may always be retaining traditional terms as to usages and customs in an age when these are obsolete4 ,if the ,achaeans were1 as in ,mr4 ,ridgeway's theory1 a northern people--,celts--who conquered with iron weapons a ,pelasgian bronze-using ,mycenaean people1 it is not credible to me that ,achaean or ,pelasgian poets habitually used the traditional ,pelasgian term for the metal of weapons1 namely1 bronze1 in songs chanted before victors who had won their triumph with iron4 ,the traditional phrase of a conquered bronze-using race could not thus survive and flourish in the poetry of an outlandish iron-using race of conquerors4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway cites the ,odyssey1 wherein we are told that ,euryalus1 the ,phaeacian1 presented to ,odysseus a bronze sword1 though1 as we have seen 7,mr4 ,ridgeway has seen71 the usual material for all such weapons is iron4 ,but the ,phoeacians both belonged to the older race and lived in a remote island1 and therefore swords of bronze may well have continued in use in such out-of-the-world places long after iron swords were in use everywhere else in ,greece4 ,the man who could not afford iron had to be satisfied with bronze4 ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 p4 #cje4 ,here the poet is allowed to mean what he says4 ,the ,phaeacian sword is really of bronze1 with silver studs1 probably on the hilt 7,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #dja-djg71 which was of ivory4 ,the out-of-the-world islanders could afford ivory1 not iron4 ,but when the same poet tells us that the sword which ,odysseus brought from ,troy was a great silver-studded bronze sword 7,odyssey1 ,x4 #bfa1 #bfb71 then ,mr4 ,ridgeway does not allow the poet to mean what he says4 ,the poet is now using an epic formula older than the age of iron swords4 ,that ,mr4 ,ridgeway adopts ,helbig's theory--the poet says bronze1 by a survival of the diction of the bronze age1 when he means iron--,i infer from the following passage3 ,chalkos is the name for the older metal1 of which cutting weapons were made1 and it thus lingered in many phrases of the ,epic dialect2 'to smite with the chalkos' was equivalent to our phrase 'to smite with the steel4' ,footnote3 ,early ,age of ,greece1 i4 #bie4 ,but we certainly do smite with the steel1 while the question is1 ,,did ,homer's men smite with the iron8 ,homer says not2 he does not merely use an epic phrase to smite with the ,,chalkos1 but he carefully describes swords1 spears1 and usually arrow-heads as being of bronze 7,,chalkos71 while axes1 adzes1 and knives are frequently described by him as of iron4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway has an illustrative argument with some one1 who says3 ,the dress and weapons of the ,saxons given in the lay of ,beowulf fitted exactly the bronze weapons in ,england1 for they had shields1 and spears1 and battle-axes1 and swords4 ,if you pointed out to him that the ,saxon poem spoke of these weapons as made of iron1 he would say1 ,i admit that it is a difficulty1 but the resemblances are so many that the discrepancies may be jettisoned4 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 i4 #hc1 #hd4 ,now1 if the supposed controversialist were a ,homeric critic1 he would not admit any difficulty4 ,he would say1 ,yes2 in ,beowulf the weapons are said to be of iron1 but that is the work of the ,christian remanieur1 or bearbeiter1 who introduced all the ,christian morality into the old heathen lay1 and who also1 not to puzzle his iron-using audience1 changed the bronze into iron weapons4 ,we may prove anything if we argue1 now that the poets retain the tradition of obsolete things1 now that they modernise as much as they please4 ,into this method of reasoning1 after duly considering it1 ,i am unable to come with enthusiasm1 being wedded to the belief that the poets say what they mean4 ,were it otherwise1 did they not mean what they say1 their evidence would be of no value2 they might be dealing throughout in terms for things which were unrepresented in their own age4 ,to prove this possible1 it would be necessary to adduce convincing and sufficient examples of early national poets who habitually use the terminology of an age long prior to their own in descriptions of objects1 customs1 and usages4 ,meanwhile1 it is obvious that my whole argument has no archaeological support4 ,we may find ,mycenaean corslets and greaves1 but they are not in cremation burials4 ,no ,homeric cairn with ,homeric contents has ever been discovered2 and if we did find examples of ,homeric cairns1 it appears1 from the poems1 that they would very seldom contain the arms of the dead4 ,nowhere1 again1 do we find graves containing bronze swords and iron axes and adzes4 ,i know nothing nearer in discoveries to my supposed age of bronze weapons and iron tools than a grave of the early iron and geometrical ornament age of ,crete--a tholos tomb1 with a bronze spear-head and a set of iron tools1 among others a double axe and a pick of iron4 ,but these were in company with iron swords8 ,to myself the crowning mystery is1 what has become of the ,homeric tumuli with their contents8 ,one can but say that only within the last thirty years have we found1 or1 finding1 have recognised ,mycenaean burial records4 ,as to the badness of the iron of the ,north for military purposes1 and the probable badness of all early iron weapons1 we have testimony two thousand years later than ,homer and some twelve hundred years later than ,polybius4 ,in the ,eyrbyggja ,saga 7,morris and ,maguusson1 chap1 xxiv47 we read that ,steinthor was girt with a sword that was cunningly wrought2 the hilts were white with silver1 and the grip wrapped round with the same1 but the strings thereof were gilded4 ,this was a splendid sword1 described with the ,homeric delight in such things2 but the battle-cry arises1 and then the fair-wrought sword bit not when it smote armour1 and ,steinthor must straighten it under his foot4 ,messrs4 ,morris and ,maguusson add in a note3 ,this is a very common experience in ,scandinavian weapons1 and for the first time heard of at the battle of ,aquae ,sextiae between ,marius and the ,teutons4 ,footnote3 ,the reference is erroneous4 ,in the ,north weapon-smiths who knew how to forge tempered or steel-laminated weapons were1 if not unknown1 at least very rare4 ,when such skill was unknown or rare in ,homer's time1 nothing was more natural than that bronze should hold its own1 as the metal for swords and spears1 after iron was commonly used for axes and ploughshares4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,homeric ,,house ,if the ,homeric poems be1 as we maintain1 the work of a peculiar age1 the ,homeric house will also1 in all likelihood1 be peculiar4 ,it will not be the ,hellenic house of classical times4 ,manifestly the dwelling of a military-prince in the heroic age would be evolved to meet his needs1 which were not the needs of later ,hellenic citizens4 ,in time of peace the later ,greeks are weaponless men1 not surrounded by and entertaining throngs of armed retainers1 like the ,homeric chief4 ,the women of later ,greece1 moreover1 are in the background of life1 dwelling in the women's chambers1 behind those of the men1 in seclusion4 ,the ,homeric women also1 at least in the house of ,odysseus1 have their separate chambers1 which the men seem not to enter except on invitation1 though the ladies freely honour by their presence the hall of the warriors4 ,the circumstances1 however1 were peculiar--,penelope being unprotected in the absence of her lord4 ,the whole domestic situation in the ,homeric poems--the free equality of the women1 the military conditions1 the life of the chiefs and retainers--closely resembles1 allowing for differences of climate1 that of the rich landowners of early ,iceland as described in the sagas4 ,there can be no doubt that the house of the ,icelandic chief was analogous to the house of the ,homeric prince4 ,societies remarkably similar in mode of life were accommodated in dwellings similarly arranged4 ,though the ,icelanders owned no ,over-,lord1 and1 indeed1 left their native ,scandinavia to escape the sway of ,harold ,fairhair1 yet each wealthy and powerful chief lived in the manner of a ,homeric king4 ,his lands and thralls1 horses and cattle1 occupied his attention when he did not chance to be on ,viking adventure--bearing bane to alien men4 ,he always carried sword and spear1 and often had occasion to use them4 ,he entertained many guests1 and needed a large hall and ample sleeping accommodation for strangers and servants4 ,his women were as free and as much respected as the ladies in ,homer2 and for a husband to slap a wife was to run the risk of her deadly feud4 ,thus1 far away in the frosts of the north1 the life of the chief was like that of the ,homeric prince1 and their houses were alike4 ,it is our intention to use this parallel in the discussion of the ,homeric house4 ,all ,icelandic chiefs' houses in the tenth and eleventh centuries were not precisely uniform in structure and accommodation1 and saga writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 living more comfortably than their forefathers1 sometimes confuse matters by introducing the arrangements of their own into the tale of past times4 ,but1 in any case1 one ,icelandic house of the tenth or eleventh century might differ from another in certain details4 ,it is not safe1 therefore1 to argue that difference of detail in ,homer's accounts of various houses means that the varying descriptions were composed in different ages4 ,in the ,odyssey the plot demands that the poet must enter into domestic details much more freely than he ever has occasion to do in the ,iliad4 ,he may mention upper chambers freely1 for example2 it will not follow that in the ,iliad upper chambers do not exist because they are only mentioned twice in that ,epic4 ,it is even more important to note that in the house of ,odysseus we have an unparalleled domestic situation4 ,the lady of the house is beset by more than a hundred wooers--sorning on her1 in the old ,scots legal phrase--making it impossible for her to inhabit her own hall1 and desirable to keep the women as much as possible apart from the men4 ,thus the ,homeric house of which we know most1 that of ,odysseus1 is a house in a most abnormal condition4 ,for the sake of brevity we omit the old theory that the ,homeric house was practically that of historical ,greece1 with the men's hall approached by a door from the courtyard2 while a door at the upper end of the men's hall yields direct access to the quarters where the women dwelt apart1 at the rear of the men's hall4 ,that opinion has not survived the essay by ,mr4 ,j4 ,l4 ,myres on the ,plan of the ,homeric ,house4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 ,,xx1 #abh-aej4 ,quite apart from arguments that rest on the ground plans of palaces at ,mycenae and ,tiryns1 ,mr4 ,myres has proved1 by an exact reading of the poet's words1 that the descriptions in the ,odyssey cannot be made intelligible on the theory that the poet has in his mind a house of the ,hellenic pattern4 ,but in his essay he hardly touches on any ,homeric house except that of ,odysseus1 in which the circumstances were unusual4 ,a later critic1 ,ferdinand ,noack1 has demonstrated that we must take other ,homeric houses into consideration4 ,footnote3 ,homerische ,palaeste4 ,teubner4 ,leipzig1 #aijc4 ,the prae-,mycenaean house is1 according to ,mr4 ,myres1 on the whole of the same plan as the ,hellenic house of historic days2 between these comes the ,mycenaean and ,homeric house2 so that the ,mycenaean house stands out as an intrusive phenomenon1 of comparatively late arrival and short of duration444 ,footnote3 ,myres1 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 xx4 p4 #adi4 ,noack goes further2 he draws a line between the ,mycenaean houses on one hand and the houses described by ,homer on the other2 while he thinks that the late ,homeric house1 that of the closing ,books of the ,odyssey1 is widely sundered from the ,homeric house of the ,iliad and from the houses of ,menelaus and ,alcinous in earlier ,books of the ,odyssey4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #gc4 ,in this case the ,iliadic and earlier ,odyssean houses are those of a single definite age1 neither ,mycenaean of the prime1 nor ,hellenic--a fact which entirely suits our argument4 ,but it is not so certain1 that the house of ,odysseus is severed from the other ,homeric houses by the later addition of an upper storey1 as ,noack supposes1 and of women's quarters1 and of separate sleeping chambers for the heads of the family4 ,the ,iliad1 save in two passages1 and earlier ,books of the ,odyssey may not mention upper storeys because they have no occasion1 or only rare occasion1 to do so2 and some houses may have had upper sleeping chambers while others of the same period had not1 as we shall prove from the ,icelandic parallel4 ,mr4 ,myres's idea of the ,homeric house1 or1 at least1 of the house of ,odysseus1 is that the women had a meguron1 or common hall1 apart from that of the men1 with other chambers4 ,these did not lie to the direct rear of the men's hall1 nor were they entered by a door that opened in the back wall of the men's hall4 ,penelope has a chamber1 in which she sleeps and does woman's work1 upstairs2 her connubial chamber1 unoccupied during her lord's absence1 is certainly on the ground floor4 ,the women's rooms are severed from the men's hall by a courtyard2 in the courtyard are chambers4 ,telemachus has his ,greek3 ,thalamos1 or chamber1 in the men's courtyard4 ,all this appears plain from the poet's words2 and ,mr4 ,myres corroborates1 by the ground plans of the palaces of ,tiryns and ,mycenae1 a point on which ,mr4 ,monro had doubts1 as regards ,tiryns1 while he accepted it for ,mycenae4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 ii4 #dig2 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 xx4 #acf4 ,noack ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #ci4 does not1 however1 agree4 ,there appears to be no doubt that in the centre of the great halls of ,tiryns and of ,mycenae1 as of the houses in ,homer1 was the hearth1 with two tall pillars on each side1 supporting a louvre higher than the rest of the roof1 and permitting some1 at least1 of the smoke of the fire to escape4 ,beside the fire were the seats of the master and mistress of the house1 of the minstrel1 and of honoured guests4 ,the place of honour was not on a dais at the inmost end of the hall1 like the high table in college halls4 ,mr4 ,myres holds that in the ,homeric house the ,greek3 prodomos1 or forehouse1 was a chamber1 and was not identical with the ,greek3 aethousa1 or portico1 though he admits that the two words are used indifferently to describe the sleeping place of a guest4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 xx4 #add1 #aee4 ,this was the case at ,tiryns2 and in the house of the father of ,phoenix1 in the ,iliad1 the prodomos1 or forehouse1 and the aethousa1 or portico1 are certainly separate things 7,iliad1 ,,ix4 #dgc74 ,noack does not accept the ,tiryns evidence for the ,homeric house4 ,on ,mr4 ,myres's showing1 the women in the house of ,odysseus had distinct and separate quarters into which no man goes uninvited4 ,odysseus when at home has1 with his wife1 a separate bedroom2 and in his absence ,penelope sleeps upstairs1 where there are several chambers for various purposes4 ,granting that all this is so1 how do the pictures of the house given in the final part of the ,odyssey compare with those in the ,blank space and with the accounts of the dwellings of ,menelaus and ,alcinous in the ,odyssey8 ,noack argues that the house of ,odysseus is unlike the other ,homeric houses1 because in these1 he reasons1 the women have no separate quarters1 and the lord and lady of the house sleep in the great hall1 and have no other bedroom1 while there are no upper chambers in the houses of the ,iliad1 except in two passages dismissed as late4 ,if all this be so1 then the ,homeric period1 as regards houses and domestic life1 belongs to an age apart1 not truly ,mycenaean1 and still less later ,hellenic4 ,it must be remembered that ,noack regards the ,odyssey as a composite and in parts very late mosaic 7a view on which ,i have said what ,i think in ,homer and the ,epic74 ,according to this theory 7,kirchhoff is the exponent of a popular form thereof7 the first ,book of the ,odyssey belongs to the latest stratum1 and is the copy of the general worker-up1 whether he was the editor employed by ,pisistratus or a laborious amateur4 ,this theory is opposed by ,sittl1 who makes his point by cutting out1 as interpolations1 whatever passages do not suit his ideas1 and do suit ,kirchhoff's--this is the regular method of ,homeric criticism4 ,the whole cruise of ,telemachus 7,book ,,iv47 is also regarded as a late addition3 on this point ,english scholars hitherto have been of the opposite opinion4 ,footnote3 ,cf4 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 #cac-cag4 ,the method of all parties is to regard repetitions of phrases as examples of borrowing1 except1 of course1 in the case of the earliest poet from whom the others pilfer1 and in other cases of prae-,homeric surviving epic formulae4 ,critics then dispute as to which recurrent passage is the earlier1 deciding1 of course1 as may happen to suit their own general theory4 ,in our opinion these passages are traditional formulae1 as in our own old ballads and in the ,chansons de ,geste1 and ,noack also takes this view every now and then4 ,they may well be older1 in many cases1 than ,iliad and ,odyssey2 or the poet1 having found his own formula1 economically used it wherever similar circumstances occurred4 ,such passages1 so considered1 are no tests of earlier composition in one place1 of later composition in another4 ,we now look into ,noack's theory of the ,homeric house4 ,where do the lord and lady sleep8 ,not1 he says1 as ,odysseus and ,penelope do 7when ,odysseus is at home71 in a separate chamber 7thalamos7 on the ground floor1 nor1 like ,gunnar and ,halgerda 7,njal's ,saga71 in an upper chamber4 ,they sleep mucho domou2 that is1 not in a separate recess in the house1 but in a recess of the great hall or megaron4 ,thus1 in the hall of ,alcinous1 the whole space runs from the threshold to the muchos1 the innermost part 7,odyssey1 ,,vii4 #hg-if74 ,in the hall of ,odysseus1 the ,wooers retreat to the muchos1 the innermost part of the hall 7,odyssey1 ,,xxii4 #bgj74 ,the muchos1 in ,homer1 never denotes a separate chamber4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #de4 ,cf4 ,monro1 ,note to ,odyssey1 ,,xxii4 #bgj4 ,in ,odyssey1 ,,xi4 #cgc1 ,alcinous says it is not yet time to sleep ev megaro1 in the hall4 ,alcinous and ,arete1 his wife1 sleep in the recess of the lofty domos1 that is1 in the recess of the hall1 not of the house 7,odyssey1 ,,vii4 #cdf74 ,the same words are used of ,helen and ,menelaus 7,odyssey1 ,,iv4 #cjd74 ,but when ,menelaus goes forth next morning1 he goes ek thalamoio1 out of his chamber 7,odyssey1 ,,iv4 #caj74 ,but this1 says ,noack1 is a mere borrowing of ,odyssey1 ,,ii #b-e1 where the same words are used of ,telemachus1 leaving his chamber1 which undeniably was a separate chamber in the court3 ,eurycleia lighted him thither at night 7,odyssey1 ,i4 #dbh74 ,in ,odyssey1 ,,iv4 #aba1 ,helen enters the hall from her fragrant1 lofty chamber1 so she had a chamber1 not in the hall4 ,but1 says ,noack1 this verse is not original4 ,the late poet of ,odyssey1 ,,iv4 has cribbed it from the early poet who composed ,odyssey1 ,,xix4 #ec4 ,in that passage ,penelope comes from her chamber1 like ,artemis or golden ,aphrodite4 ,penelope had a chamber--being a lone lorn woman1 who could not sleep in a hall where the ,wooers sat up late drinking--and the latest poet transfers this chamber to ,helen4 ,but however late and larcenous he may have been1 the poet of ,,iv4 #aba certainly did not crib the words of the poet of ,,xix4 #ec1 for he says1 ,helen came out of her fragrant1 high-roofed chamber4 ,the hall was not precisely fragrant6 ,however1 ,noack supposes that the late poet of ,book ,,iv4 let ,helen have a chamber apart1 to lead up to the striking scene of her entry to the hall where her guests are sitting4 ,may ,helen not even have a boudoir8 ,in ,odyssey1 ,,iv4 #bfc1 ,helen speaks remorsefully of having abandoned her chamber1 and husband1 and child1 with ,paris2 but the late poet says this1 according to ,noack1 because he finds that he is in for a chamber1 so to speak1 at all events1 as a result of his having previously cribbed the word chamber from ,odyssey1 ,,xix4 #ec4 ,otherwise1 we presume ,helen would have said that she regretted having left the recess of the lofty hall where she really did sleep4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 pp4 #dg-dh ,the merit of this method of arguing may be left to the judgment of the reader1 who will remark that wedded pairs are not described as leaving the hall when they go to bed2 they sleep in a recess of the lofty house1 the innermost part4 ,is this the same as the recess of the hall or is it an innermost part of the house8 ,who can be certain8 ,the bridal chamber1 built so cunningly1 with the trunk of a tree for the support of the bed1 by ,odysseus 7odyssey1 ,,xxiii4 #agg-bjd71 is1 according to ,noack1 an exception1 a solitary freak of ,odysseus4 ,but we may reply that the thalamos1 the separate chamber1 is no freak2 the freak1 by knowledge of which ,odysseus proves his identity1 is the use of the tree in the construction of the bed4 blank space was highly original4 ,that separate chambers are needed for grown-up children1 ,,because the parents sleep in the hall1 is no strong argument4 ,if the parents had a separate chamber1 the young people1 unless they slept in the hall1 would still need their own4 ,the girls1 of course1 could not sleep in the hall2 and1 in the absence of both ,penelope and ,odysseus from the hall1 ever since ,telemachus was a baby1 ,telemachus could have slept there4 ,but it will be replied that the ,wooers did not beset the hall1 and ,penelope did not retire to a separate chamber1 till ,telemachus was a big boy of sixteen4 ,noack argues that he had a separate chamber1 though the hall was free1 tradition4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #di4 ,where does ,noack think that1 in a normal ,homeric house1 the girls of the family slept8 ,they could not sleep in the hall1 and on the two occasions when the ,iliad has to mention the chambers of the young ladies they are upper chambers1 as is natural4 ,but as ,noack wants to prove the house of ,odysseus1 with its upper chambers1 to be a late peculiar house1 he1 of course1 expunges the two mentions of girls' upper chambers in the ,odyssey4 ,the process is simple and easy4 ,we find 7,iliad1 ,,xvii4 #cf7 that a son1 wedding in his father's and mother's life-time1 has a thalamos built for him1 and a muchos in the ,,thalamos1 where he leaves his wife when he goes to war4 ,this dwelling of grown-up married children1 as in the case of the sons of ,priam1 has a thalamos1 or doma1 and a courtyard--is a house1 in fact 7,iliad1 ,,vi4 #c #af74 ,here we seem to distinguish the bed-chamber from the doma1 which is the hall4 ,noack objects that when ,odysseus fumigates his house1 after slaying the ,wooers1 he thus treats the megaron1 ,,and the doma1 ,,and the courtyard4 ,therefore1 ,noack argues1 the megaron1 or hall1 is one thing2 the doma is another4 ,mr4 ,monro writes1 doma usually means megaron1 and he supposes a slip from another reading1 thalamon for megaron1 which is not satisfactory4 ,but if doma here be not equivalent to megaron1 what room can it possibly be8 ,who was killed in another place8 what place therefore needed purification except the hall and courtyard8 ,no other places needed purifying2 there is therefore clearly a defect in the lines which cannot be used in the argument4 ,noack1 in any case1 maintains that ,paris has but one place to live in by day and to sleep in by night--his ,greek3 talamos4 ,there he sleeps1 eats1 and polishes his weapons and armour4 ,there ,hector finds him looking to his gear2 ,helen and the maids are all there 7,iliad1 ,,vi4 #cba-cbc74 ,is this quite certain8 ,are ,helen and the maids in the ,greek3 talamos1 where ,paris is polishing his corslet and looking to his bow1 or in an adjacent room8 ,if not in another room1 why1 when ,hector is in the room talking to ,paris1 does ,helen ask him to come in8 7,iliad1 ,,vi4 #ced74 ,he is in1 is there another room whence she can hear him8 ,the minuteness of these inquiries is tedious6 ,in ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #abe1 ,iris finds ,helen in the hall weaving4 ,she summons her to come to ,priam on the gate4 ,helen dresses in outdoor costume1 and goes forth from the chamber1 ,greek3 talamos 7,,iii4 #ada-adb74 ,are hall and chamber the same room1 or did not ,helen dress in the chamber8 ,in the same ,book 7,,iii4 #agd7 she repents having left the ,greek3 talamos of ,menelaus1 not his hall3 the passage is not a repetition in words of her speech in the ,odyssey4 ,the gods1 of course1 are lodged like men4 ,when we find that ,zeus has really a separate sleeping chamber1 built by ,hephaestus1 as ,odysseus has 7,iliad1 ,,xiv4 #aff-afg71 we are told that this is a late interpolation4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 who has a high opinion of this scene1 the ,beguiling of ,zeus1 places it in the second expansions2 he finds no late ,odyssean elements in the language4 ,in ,iliad1 ,i4 #fjh-faa1 ,zeus departed to his couch2 he seems not to have stayed and slept in the hall4 ,here a quaint problem occurs4 ,of all late things in the ,odyssey the latest is said to be the song of ,demodocus about the loves of ,ares and ,aphrodite in the house of ,hephaestus4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #bff-cjj4 ,we shall show that this opinion is far from certainly correct4 ,hephaestus sets a snare round the bed in his ,greek3 talamos and catches the guilty lovers4 ,now1 was his ,greek3 talamos or bedroom1 also his dining-room8 ,if so1 the author of the song1 though so late1 knows what ,noack knows1 and what the poets who assign sleeping chambers to wedded folks do not know1 namely1 that neither married gods nor married men have separate bedrooms4 ,this is plain1 for he makes ,hephaestus stand at the front door of his house1 and shout to the gods to come and see the sinful lovers4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 ,,vi4 #cjd-cje ,they all come and look on from the front door 7,odyssey1 ,,vii4 #cbe71 which leads into the ,greek3 megaron1 the hall4 ,if the lovers are in bed in the hall1 then hall and bedroom are all one1 and the terribly late poet who made this lay knows it1 though the late poets of the ,odyssey and ,iliad do not4 ,it would appear that the author of the lay is not late1 as we shall prove in another case4 ,noack1 then1 will not allow man or god to have a separate wedding chamber1 nor women1 before the late parts of the ,odyssey1 to have separate quarters1 except in the house of ,odysseus4 ,women's chambers do not exist in the ,homeric house4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #ej4 ,if so1 how remote is the true ,homeric house from the house of historical ,greece6 ,as for upper chambers1 those of the daughter of the house 7,iliad1 ,,ii4 #ead2 ,,xvi4 #ahd71 both passages are late1 as we saw 7,noack1 p4blank space74 ,in the ,odyssey ,penelope both sleeps and works at the shroud in an upper chamber4 ,but the whole arrangement of upper chambers as women's apartments is as late1 says ,noack1 as the time of the poets and redactors 7whoever they may have been7 of the ,odyssey1 ,,xxi41 ,,xxii41 ,,xxiii4 ,footnote3 ,noack1 p4 #fh4 ,at the earliest these ,books are said to be of the eighth century ,b4,c4 ,here the late poets have their innings at last1 and do modernise the ,homeric house4 ,to prove the absence of upper rooms in the ,iliad we have to abolish ,,ii4 #ead1 where ,astyoche meets her divine lover in her upper chamber1 and ,,xvi4 #ahd1 where ,polymele celebrates her amour with ,hermes in the upper chambers4 ,the places where these two passages occur1 ,catalogue 7,book ,,ii47 and the ,catalogue of the ,myrmidons 7,book ,,xvi47 are1 indeed1 both called late1 but the author of the latter knows the early law of bride-price1 which is supposed to be unknown to the authors of late passages in the ,odyssey 7,,xvi4 #aij74 ,stated briefly1 such are the ideas of ,noack4 ,they leave us1 at least1 with permission to hold that the whole of the ,epics1 except ,books ,,xxi41 ,,xxii41 and ,,xxiii4 of the ,odyssey1 bear1 as regards the house1 the marks of a distinct peculiar age1 coming between the period of ,mycenae and ,tiryns on one hand and the eighth century ,b4,c4 on the other4 ,this is the point for which we have contended1 and this suits our argument very well1 though we are sorry to see that ,odyssey1 ,books ,,xxi41 ,,xxii41 and ,,xxiii41 are no older than the eighth century ,b4,c4 ,but we have not been quite convinced that ,helen had not her separate chamber1 that ,zeus had not his separate chamber1 and that the upper chambers of the daughters of the house in the ,iliad are late4 ,where1 if not in upper chambers1 did the young princesses repose8 ,again1 the marked separation of the women in the house of ,odysseus may be the result of ,penelope's care in unusual circumstances1 though she certainly would not build a separate hall for them4 ,there are over a hundred handsome young scoundrels in her house all day long and deep into the night2 she would1 vainly1 do her best to keep her girls apart4 ,it stands to reason that young girls of princely families would have bedrooms in the house1 not in the courtyard-bedrooms out of the way of enterprising young men4 ,what safer place could be found for them than in upper chambers1 as in the ,iliad8 ,but1 if their lovers were gods1 we know that none can see a god coming or going against his will4 ,the arrangements of houses may and do vary in different cases in the same age4 ,as examples we turn to the parallel afforded by the ,icelandic sagas and their pictures of houses of the eleventh century ,b4,c4 ,the present author long ago pointed out the parallel of the houses in the sagas and in ,homer4 ,footnote3 ,the ,house4 ,butcher and ,lang4 ,translation of the ,odyssey4 ,he took his facts from ,dasent's translation of the ,njal ,saga 7#ahfa1 vol4 i4 pp4 xcviii41 ciii41 with diagrams74 ,as far as he is aware1 no critic looked into the matter till ,mr4 ,monro 7#aija71 being apparently unacquainted with ,dasent's researches1 found similar lore in works by ,dr4 ,valtyr ,gudmundsson ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #dia-die2 cf4 ,gudmundsson1 ,der ,islandske ,bottg i ,fristats ,tiden1 #ahid2 cf4 ,dasent1 ,oxford ,essays1 #aheh4 ,the roof of the hall is supported by four rows of columns1 the two inner rows are taller1 and between them is the hearth1 with seats of honour for the chief guests and the lord4 ,the fire was in a kind of trench down the hall2 and in very cold weather1 we learn from ,dasent1 long fires could be lit through the extent of the hall4 ,the chief had a raised seat2 the guests sat on benches4 ,the high seats were at the centre2 not till later times on the dais1 as in a college hall4 ,the tables were relatively small1 and1 as in ,homer1 could be removed after a meal4 ,the part of the hall with the dais in later days was partitioned off as a stofa or parlour4 ,in early times cooking was done in the hall4 ,dr4 ,gudmundsson1 if ,i understand him1 varies from ,dasent in some respects4 ,i quote an abstract of his statement4 ,about the year #ajjj houses generally consisted of1 at least1 four rooms2 often a fifth was added1 the so-called bath-room4 ,the oldest form for houses was that of one long line or row of separate rooms united by wooden or clay corridors or partitions1 and each covered with a roof4 ,later1 this was considered unpractical1 and they began building some of the houses or rooms behind the others1 which facilitated the access from one to another1 and diminished the number of outer doors and corridors4 ,towards the latter part of the tenth century the skaal was used as common sleeping-room for the whole family1 including servants and serfs2 it was fitted up in the same way as the hall4 ,like this1 it was divided in three naves by rows of wooden pillars2 the middle floor was lower than that of the two side naves4 ,in these were placed the so-called saet or bed-places1 not running the whole length of the blank space from gable to gable1 but sideways1 filling about a third part4 ,each saet was enclosed by broad1 strong planks joined into the pillars1 but not nailed on1 so they might easily be taken out4 ,these planks1 called ,,sattestokke1 could also be turned sideways and used as benches during the day2 they were often beautifully carved1 and consequently highly valued4 ,when settling abroad the people took away with them these planks1 and put them up in their new home as a symbol of domestic happiness4 ,the saet was occupied by the servants of the farm as sleeping-rooms2 generally it was screened by hangings and low panels1 which partitioned it off like huge separate boxes1 used as beds4 ,all beds were filled with hay or straw2 servants and serfs slept on this without any bedclothes1 sometimes a sleeping-bag was used1 or they covered themselves with deerskins or a mantle4 ,the family had bed-clothes1 but only in very wealthy houses were they also provided for the servants4 ,moveable beds were extremely rare1 but are sometimes mentioned4 ,generally two people slept in each bed4 ,in the further end of the skaal1 facing the door1 opened out one or several small bedrooms1 destined for the husband with wife and children1 besides other members of the family1 including guests of a higher standing4 ,these small dormitories were separated by partitions of planks into bedrooms with one or several beds1 and shut away from the outer ,,skaal either by a sliding-door in the wall or by an ordinary door shutting with a hasp4 ,sometimes only a hanging covered the opening4 ,in some farms were found underground passages1 leading from the master's bedside to an outside house1 or even as far as a wood or another sheltered place in the neighbourhood1 to enable the inhabitants to save themselves during a night attack4 ,for the same reason each man had his arms suspended over his bed4 ,ildhus or fire-house was the kitchen1 often used besides as a sleeping-room when the farms were very small4 ,this was quite abolished after the year #ajjj4 ,buret was the provision house4 ,the bathroom was heated from a stone oven2 the stones were heated red-hot and cold water thrown upon them1 which developed a quantity of vapour4 ,as the heat and the steam mounted1 the people--men and women--crawled up to a shelf under the roof and remained there as in a ,turkish bath4 ,in large and wealthy houses there was also a women's room1 with a fireplace built low down in the middle1 as in the hall1 where the women used to sit with their handiwork all day4 ,the men were allowed to come in and talk to them1 also beggar-women and other vagabonds1 who brought them the news from other places4 ,towards evening and for meals all assembled together in the hall4 ,on this showing1 people did not sleep in cabins partitioned off the dining-hall1 but in the skaale2 and two similar and similarly situated rooms1 one the common dining-hall1 the other the common sleeping-hall1 have been confused by writers on the sagas4 ,footnote3 ,gudmundsson1 p1 #ad1 ,note ,i4 ,can there be a similar confusion in the uses of megaron1 doma1 and domos8 ,in the ,eyrbyggja ,saga we have descriptions of the fire-hall1 skali or eldhus4 ,the fire-hall was the common sleeping-room in ,icelandic homesteads4 ,guests and strangers slept there2 not in the portico1 as in ,homer4 ,here were the lock-beds4 ,there were butteries2 one of these was reached by a ladder4 ,the walls were panelled4 ,footnote3 ,the ,ere ,dwellers1 p4 #ade4 ,thorgunna had a berth1 apparently partitioned off1 in the hall4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 #acg-adj4 ,as in ,homer the hall was entered from the courtyard1 in which were separate rooms for stores and other purposes4 ,in the courtyard also1 in the houses of ,gunnar of ,lithend and ,gisli at ,hawkdale1 and doubtless in other cases1 were the dyngfur1 or ladies' chambers1 their bowers 7,thalamos1 like that of ,telemachus in the courtyard71 where they sat spinning and gossiping4 ,the dyngja was originally called bur1 our bower2 the ballads say in bower and hall4 ,in the ballad of ,,margaret1 her parents are said to put her in the way of deadly sin by building her a bower1 apparently separate from the main building2 she would have been safer in an upper chamber1 though1 even there1 not safe--at least1 if a god wooed her6 ,it does not appear that all houses had these chambers for ladies apart from the main building4 ,you did not enter the main hall in ,iceland from the court directly in front1 but by the man's door at the west side1 whence you walked through the porch or outer hall 7prodomos1 aithonsa71 in the centre of which1 to the right1 were the doors of the hall4 ,the women entered by the women's door1 at the eastern extremity4 ,guests did not sleep1 as in ,homer1 in the prodomos1 or the portico--the climate did not permit it--but in one or other hall4 ,the hall was wainscotted2 the walls were hung with shields and weapons1 like the hall of ,odysseus4 ,the heads of the family usually slept in the aisles1 in chambers entered through the wainscot of the hall4 ,such a chamber might be called muchos2 it was private from the hall though under the same roof4 ,it appears not improbable that some ,homeric halls had sleeping places of this kind2 such a muchos in ,iceland seems to have had windows4 ,footnote3 ,story of ,burnt ,njal1 i4 #bdb4 ,gunnar himself1 however1 slept with his wife1 ,halegerda1 in an upper chamber2 his mother1 who lived with him1 also had a room upstairs4 ,in ,njal's house1 too1 there was an upper chamber1 wherein the foes of ,njal threw fire4 ,footnote3,ibid41 ii4 #agc4 ,but ,njal and ,bergthora1 his wife1 when all hope was ended1 went into their own bride-chamber in the separate aisle of the hall and gave over their souls into ,god's hand4 ,under a hide they lay2 and when men raised up the hide1 after the fire had done its work1 they were unburnt under it4 ,all praised ,god for that1 and thought it was a ,,great token4 ,in this house was a weaving room for the women4 ,footnote3,ibid1 ii4 #aie4 ,it thus appears that ,icelandic houses of the heroic age1 as regards structural arrangements1 were practically identical with the house of ,odysseus1 allowing for a separate sleeping-hall1 while the differences between that and other ,homeric houses may be no more than the differences between various ,icelandic dwellings4 ,the parents might sleep in bedchambers off the hall or in upper chambers4 ,ladies might have bowers in the courtyard or might have none4 ,the ,greek3 laurae--each passage outside the hall--yielded sleeping rooms for servants2 and there were store-rooms behind the passage at the top end of the hall1 as well as separate chambers for stores in the courtyard4 ,mr4 ,leaf judiciously reconstructs the ,homeric house in its public rooms1 of which we hear most1 while he leaves the residential portion with details and limits probably very variable4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 pp4 #ehf-ehi1 with diagram based on the palace of ,tiryns4 ,given variability1 which is natural and to be expected1 and given the absence of detail about the residential portion of other houses than that of ,odysseus in the poems1 it does not seem to us that this house is conspicuously late1 still less that it is the house of historical ,greece4 ,manifestly1 in all respects it more resembles the houses of ,njal and ,gunnar of ,lithend in the heroic age of ,iceland4 ,in the house1 as in the uses of iron and bronze1 the weapons1 armour1 relations of the sexes1 customary laws1 and everything else1 ,homer gives us an harmonious picture of a single and peculiar age4 ,we find no stronger mark of change than in the ,odyssean house1 if that be changed1 which we show reason to doubt4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,notes ,,of ,,change ,,in ,,the ,,odyssey ,if the ,homeric descriptions of details of life contain anachronisms1 points of detail inserted in later progressive ages1 these must be peculiarly conspicuous in the ,odyssey4 ,longinus regarded it as the work of ,homer's advanced life1 the sunset of his genius1 and nobody denies that it assumes the existence of the ,iliad and is posterior to that epic4 ,in the ,odyssey1 then1 we are to look1 if anywhere1 for indications of a changed society4 ,that the language of the ,odyssey1 and of four ,books of the ,iliad 7,,ix41 ,x41 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv471 exhibits signs of change is a critical commonplace1 but the language is matter for a separate discussion2 we are here concerned with the ideas1 manners1 customary laws1 weapons1 implements1 and so forth of the ,epics4 ,taking as a text ,mr4 ,monro's essay1 ,the ,relation of the ,odyssey to the ,iliad1 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #cbd1 seqq4 we examine the notes of difference which he finds between the twin ,epics4 ,as to the passages in which he discovers borrowing or close imitation of passages in the ,iliad by the poet of the ,odyssey1 we shall not dwell on the matter1 because we know so little about the laws regulating the repetition of epic formulae4 ,it is tempting1 indeed1 to criticise ,mr4 ,monro's list of twenty-four ,odyssean borrowings1 and we might arrive at some curious results4 ,for example1 we could show that the ,klothes1 the spinning women who spae the fate of each new-born child1 are not later1 but1 as less abstract1 are if anything earlier than the simple ,aisa of the ,iliad4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,vii4 #aig2 ,iliad1 xx4 #abg4 ,but our proof would require an excursion into the beliefs of savage and barbaric peoples who have their ,klothes1 spae-women attending each birth1 but who are not known to have developed the idea of ,aisa or ,fate4 ,we might also urge that to send a spear through the back of a stag is not1 as ,mr4 ,monro thought1 an improbable feat1 and that a man wounded to death as ,leiocritus was wounded1 would not1 as ,mr4 ,monro argued1 fall backwards4 ,he supposes that the poet of the ,odyssey borrowed the forward fall from a passage in the ,iliad1 where the fall is in keeping4 ,but1 to make good our proof1 it might be necessary to spear a human being in the same way as ,leiocritus was speared4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #bci1 #bcj4 ,the repetitions of the ,epic1 at all events1 are not the result of the weakness of a poet who had to steal his expressions like a schoolboy4 ,they have some other cause than the indolence or inefficiency of a cento--making undergraduate4 ,indeed1 a poet who used the many terms in the ,odyssey which do not occur in the ,iliad was not constrained to borrow from any predecessor4 ,it is needless to dwell on the ,odyssean novelties in vocabulary1 which were naturally employed by a poet who had to sing of peace1 not of war1 and whose epic1 as ,aristotle says1 is ethical1 not military4 ,the poet's rich vocabulary is appropriate to his novel subject1 that is all4 ,coming to ,religion 7,i7 we find ,mr4 ,leaf assigning to his original ,achilleis--the kernel--the very same religious ideas as ,mr4 ,monro takes to be marks of lateness and of advance when he finds them in the ,odyssey6 ,in the original oldest part of the ,iliad1 says ,mr4 ,leaf1 the gods show themselves just so much as to let us know what are the powers which control mankind from heaven4444 ,their interference is such as becomes the rulers of the world1 not partisans in the battle4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 pp4 xii41 xiii4 ,it is the later poets of the ,iliad1 in ,mr4 ,leaf's view1 who introduce the meddlesome1 undignified1 and extremely unsportsmanlike gods4 ,the original early poet of the ,iliad had the nobler religious conceptions4 ,in that case--the ,odyssey being later than the original kernel of the ,iliad--the ,odyssey ought to give us gods as undignified and unworthy as those exhibited by the later continuators of the ,iliad4 ,but the reverse is the case4 ,the gods behave fairly well in ,book ,,xxiv4 of the ,iliad1 which1 we are to believe1 is the latest1 or nearly the latest1 portion4 ,they are all wroth with the abominable behaviour of ,achilles to dead ,hector 7,,xxiv4 #acd74 ,they console and protect ,priam4 ,as for the ,odyssey1 ,mr4 ,monro finds that in this late ,epic the gods are just what ,mr4 ,leaf proclaims them to have been in his old original kernel4 ,there is now an ,olympian concert that carries on something like a moral government of the world4 ,it is very different in the ,iliad4444 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 ii4 #cce4 ,but it was not very different2 it was just the same1 in ,mr4 ,leaf's genuine old original germ of the ,iliad4 ,in fact1 the gods are very much like you and me4 ,when their ichor is up1 they misbehave as we do when our blood is up1 during the fury of war4 ,when ,hector is dead and when the war is over1 the gods give play to their higher nature1 as men do4 ,there is no difference of religious conception to sever the ,odyssey from the later but not from the original parts of the ,iliad4 ,it is all an affair of the circumstances in each case4 ,the ,odyssey is calmer1 more reflective1 more religious than the ,iliad1 being a poem of peace4 ,the ,iliad1 a poem of war1 is more mythological than the ,odyssey3 the gods in the ,iliad are excited1 like the men1 by the great war and behave accordingly4 ,that neither gods nor men show any real sense of the moral weakness of ,agamemnon or ,achilles1 or of the moral superiority of ,hector1 is an unacceptable statement4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ccf4 ,even ,achilles and ,agamemnon are judged by men and by the poet according to their own standard of ethics and of customary law4 ,there is really no doubt on this point4 ,too much 7#b7 is made of the supposed different views of ,olympus--a mountain in ,thessaly in the ,iliad2 a snowless1 windless1 supra-mundane place in ,odyssey1 ,v4 #da-dg4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 ii4 #cif4 ,of the ,odyssean passage ,mr4 ,merry justly says1 the actual description is not irreconcilable with the general ,homeric picture of ,olympus4 ,it is an idealised mountain1 and conceptions of it vary1 with the variations which are essential to and inseparable from all mythological ideas4 ,as ,mr4 ,leaf says1 ,footnote3 ,note to ,iliad1 ,v4 #gej4 heaven1 ouranos and ,olympus1 if not identical1 are at least closely connected4 ,in ,v4 #gec1 the poet regarded the summit of ,olympus as a half-way stage between heaven and earth1 thus departing from the oldest ,homeric tradition1 which made the earthly mountain ,olympus1 and not any aerial region1 the dwelling of the gods4 ,but precisely the same confusion of mythical ideas occurs among a people so backward as the ,australian south-eastern tribes1 whose ,all ,father is now seated on a hill-top and now above the sky4 ,in ,,iliad1 ,,viii4 #be1 #bf1 the poet is again said to have entirely lost the real ,epic conception of ,olympus as a mountain in ,thessaly1 and to follow the later conception1 which removed it from earth to heaven4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #ahd1 from heaven means from the summit of ,olympus1 which1 though ,homer does not identify it with oupavos1 still1 as a mountain1 reached into heaven 7,leaf74 ,the poet of ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #ahd1 says plainly that ,zeus descended from heaven to ,mount ,ida4 ,in fact1 all that is said of ,olympus1 of heaven1 of the home of the gods1 is poetical1 is mythical1 and so is necessarily subject to the variations of conception inseparable from mythology4 ,this is certain if there be any certainty in mythological science1 and here no hard and fast line can be drawn between ,,odyssey and ,iliad4 7#c7 ,the next point of difference is that1 we hear no more of ,iris as the messenger of ,zeus2 in the ,odyssey1 the agent of the will of ,zeus is now ,hermes1 as in the ,twenty-fourth ,book of the ,iliad1 a late ,odyssean ,book4 ,but what does that matter1 seeing that ,,iliad1 ,book ,,viii1 is declared to be one of the latest additions2 yet in ,book ,,viii4 ,iris1 not ,hermes1 is the messenger 7,,viii4 #dji-dbe74 ,if in late times ,hermes1 not ,iris1 is the messenger1 why1 in a very late ,book 7,,viii47 is ,iris the messenger1 not ,hermes8 ,iliad1 ,book ,,xxiii41 is also a late ,odyssean ,book1 but here ,iris goes on her messages 7,,xxiii4 #aii7 moved merely by the prayers of ,achilles4 ,in the late ,odyssean ,book 7,,xxiv47 of the ,iliad1 ,iris runs on messages from ,zeus both to ,priam and to ,achilles4 ,if ,iris1 in ,odyssean times1 had resigned office and been succeeded by ,hermes1 why did ,achilles pray1 not to ,hermes1 but to ,iris8 ,there is nothing in the argument about ,hermes and ,iris4 ,there is nothing in the facts but the variability of mythical and poetical conceptions4 ,moreover1 the conception of ,iris as the messenger certainly existed through the age of the ,odyssey1 and later4 ,in the ,odyssey the beggar man is called ,irus1 a male ,iris1 because he carries messages2 and ,iris does her usual duty as messenger in the ,homeric ,hymns1 as well as in the so-called late ,odyssean ,books of the ,iliad4 ,the poet of the ,odyssey knew all about ,iris2 there had arisen no change of belief2 he merely employed ,hermes as messenger1 not of the one god1 but of the divine ,assembly4 7#d7 ,another difference is that in the ,iliad the wife of ,hephaestus is one of the ,graces2 in the ,odyssey she is ,aphrodite4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ccf4 ,this is one of the inconsistencies which are the essence of mythology4 ,mr4 ,leaf points out that when ,hephaestus is about exercising his craft1 in making arms for ,achilles1 ,charis is made wife of ,hephaestus by a more transparent allegory than we find elsewhere in ,homer1 whereas1 when ,aphrodite appears in a comic song by ,demodocus 7,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #bff-cff71 that passage is later and un-,homeric4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bdf4 ,of this we do not accept the doctrine that the lay is un-,homeric4 ,the difference comes to no more than that2 the accustomed discrepancy of mythology1 of story-telling about the gods4 ,but as to the lay of ,demodocus being un-,homeric and late1 the poet at least knows the regular ,homeric practice of the bride-price1 and its return by the bride's father to the husband of an adulterous wife 7,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #cah1 #cai74 ,the poet of this lay1 which ,mr4 ,merry defends as ,homeric1 was intimately familiar with ,homeric customary law4 ,now1 according to ,paul ,cauer1 as we shall see1 other ,odyssean poets were living in an age of changed law1 later than that of the author of the lay of ,demodocus4 ,all these so-called differences between ,iliad and ,odyssey do not point to the fact that the ,odyssey belongs to a late and changed period of culture1 of belief and customs4 ,there is nothing in the evidence to prove that contention4 ,there 7#e7 are two references to local oracles in the ,odyssey1 that of ,dodona 7,,xiv4 #cbg2 ,,xix4 #bif7 and that of ,pytho 7,,viii4 #hj74 ,this is the old name of ,delphi4 ,pytho occurs in ,iliad1 ,,ix4 #djd1 as a very rich temple of ,apollo--the oracle is not named1 but the oracle brought in the treasures4 ,achilles 7,,xvi4 #bcc7 prays to ,pelasgian ,zeus of ,dodona1 whose priests were thickly tabued1 but says nothing of the oracle of ,dodona4 ,neither when in leaguer round ,troy1 nor when wandering in fairy lands forlorn1 had the ,achaeans or ,odysseus much to do with the local oracles of ,greece2 perhaps not1 in ,homer's time1 so important as they were later1 and little indeed is said about them in either ,epic4 7#f7 ,the geographical knowledge shown in the ,odyssey goes beyond that of the ,iliad 444 especially in regard to ,egypt and ,sicily4 ,but a poet of a widely wandering hero of ,western ,greece has naturally more occasion than the poet of a fixed army in ,asia to show geographical knowledge4 ,egyptian ,thebes is named1 in ,,iliad1 ,,ix41 as a city very rich1 especially in chariots2 while in the ,,odyssey the poet has occasion to show more knowledge of the way to ,egypt and of ,viking descents from ,crete on the coast 7,odyssey1 ,,iii4 #cjj2 ,,iv4 #cea2 ,,xiv4 #beg2 ,,xvii4 #dbf74 ,archaeology shows that the ,mycenaean age was in close commercial relation with ,egypt1 and that the ,mycenaean civilisation extended to most ,mediterranean lands and islands1 and to ,italy and ,sicily4 ,footnote3 ,ridgeway1 ,early ,age of ,greece1 i4 #fi4 ,there is nothing suspicious1 as late1 in the mention of ,sicily by ,odysseus in ,ithaca 7,odyssey1 ,,xx4 #chc2 ,,xxiv4 #cjg74 ,in the same way1 if the poet of a western poem does not dilate on the ,troad and the people of ,asia ,minor as the poet of the ,,iliad does1 that is simply because the scene of the ,,iliad is in ,asia and the scene of the ,odyssey is in the west1 when it is not in ,no ,man's land4 ,from the same cause the poet of sea-faring has more occasion to speak of the ,phoenicians1 great sea-farers1 than the poet of the ,trojan leaguer4 7#g7 ,we know so little about land tenure in ,homeric times--and1 indeed1 early land tenure is a subject so complex and obscure that it is not easy to prove advance towards separate property in the ,odyssey--beyond what was the rule in the time of the ,,iliad4 ,in the ,making of the ,arms 7,,xviii4 #eda-edi7 we find many men ploughing a field1 and this may have been a common field4 ,but in what sense8 ,many ploughs were at work at once on a ,scottish runrig field1 and each farmer had his own strip on several common fields1 but each farmer held by rent1 or by rent and services1 from the laird4 ,these common fields were not common property4 ,in ,,xii4 #dbb we have a common field1 and men measuring a strip and quarrelling about the marking-stones1 across the baulk1 but it does not follow that they are owners2 they may be tenants4 ,such quarrels were common in ,scotland when the runrig system of common fields1 each man with his strip1 prevailed4 ,footnote3 ,grey ,graham1 ,social ,life in ,scotland in the ,eighteenth ,century1 i4 #aeg4 ,a man had a ,greek3 klaeros or lot 7,,iliad1 ,,xv4 #ddh71 but what was a lot8 ,at first1 probably1 a share in land periodically shifted- partage noir of the ,russian peasants4 ,kings and men who deserve public gratitude receive a ,greek3 temenos a piece of public land1 as ,bellerophon did from the ,lycians 7,,vi4 #aid74 ,in the case of ,melager such an estate is offered to him1 but by whom8 ,not by the people at large1 but by the ,greek3 gerontes 7,,ix4 #egd74 ,who are the ,greek3 gerontes8 ,they are not ordinary men of the people2 they are1 in fact1 the gentry4 ,in an age so advanced from tribal conditions as is the ,homeric time--far advanced beyond ancient tribal ,scotland or ,ireland--we conceive that1 as in these countries during the tribal period1 the ,greek3 gerontes 7in ,celtic1 the ,flaith7 held in ,,possession1 if not in accordance with the letter of the law1 as property1 much more land than a single lot4 ,the ,irish tribal freeman had a right to a lot1 redistributed by rotation4 ,wealth consisted of cattle2 and a bogire1 a man of many kine1 let them out to tenants4 ,such a rich man1 a flatha1 would1 in accordance with human nature1 use his influence with kineless dependents to acquire in possession several lots1 avoid the partition1 and keep the lots in possession though not legally in property4 ,such men were the ,irish flaith1 gentry under the ,,ri1 or king1 his ,greek3 gerontes1 each with his ciniod1 or near kinsmen1 to back his cause4 ,flaith seems clearly to mean land-owners1 or squires1 says ,sir ,james ,ramsay4 ,footnote3 ,foundations of ,england1 i4 #af1 ,note #d4 ,if land1 contrary to the tribal ideal1 came into private hands in early ,ireland1 we can hardly suppose that1 in the more advanced and settled ,homeric society1 no man but the king held land equivalent in extent to a number of lots4 ,the ,greek3 gerontes1 the gentry1 the chariot-owning warriors1 of whom there are hundreds not of kingly rank in ,homer 7as in ,ireland there were many flaith to one ,ri7 probably1 in an informal but tight grip1 held considerable lands4 ,when we note their position in the ,iliad1 high above the nameless host1 can we imagine that they did not hold more land than the simple1 perhaps periodically shifting1 lot8 ,there were lotless men 7,odyssey1 ,,xl #dij71 lotless freemen1 and what had become of their lots8 ,had they not fallen into the hands of the ,greek3 gerontes or the flaith8 ,mr4 ,ridgeway in a very able essay ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vi4 #cai-cci4 holds different opinions4 ,he points out that among a man's possessions1 in the ,iliad1 we hear only of personal property and live stock4 ,it is in one passage only in the ,odyssey 7,,xiv4 #baa7 that we meet with men holding several lots of land2 but they1 we remark1 occur in ,cretean isle1 as we know1 of very advanced civilisation from of old4 ,mr4 ,ridgeway also asks whether the lotless men may not be outsiders1 such as are attached to certain villages of ,central and ,southern ,india2 ,footnote3 ,maine1 ,village ,communities1 ,p4 #abg4 or they may answer to the ,fuidhir1 or broken men1 of early ,ireland1 fugitives from one to another tribe4 ,they would be settled on the waste lands of a community4 ,if so1 they would not be lotless2 they would have new lots4 ,footnote3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vi4 #cbb1 #cbc4 ,laertes1 though a king1 is supposed to have won his farm by his own labours from the waste 7,odyssey1 ,,xxiv4 #bjg74 ,mr4 ,monro says1 the land having thus been won from the wastes 7the ,greek3 gae aklaeros te kai aktitos of ,h41 ,ven4 #abc71 was a ,greek3 temenos or separate possession of ,laertes4 ,the passage is in the rejected conclusion of the ,odyssey2 and if any man might go and squat in the waste1 any man might have a lot1 or better than one lot4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #hcb-hce1 ,achilles says that his offered prize of iron will be useful to a man whose rich fields are very remote from any town1 ,teucer and ,meriones compete for the prize3 probably they had such rich remote fields1 not each a mere lot in a common field4 ,these remote fields they are supposed to hold in perpetuity1 apart from the temenos1 which1 in ,mr4 ,ridgeway's opinion1 reverted1 on the death of each holder1 to the community1 save where kingship was hereditary4 ,now1 if ,greek3 klaeros had come to mean a lot of land1 as we say a building lot1 obviously men like ,teucer and ,meriones had many lots1 rich fields1 which at death might sometimes pass to their heirs4 ,thus there was separate landed property in the ,iliad2 but the passage is denounced1 though not by ,mr4 ,ridgeway1 as late4 ,the absence of enclosures 7,greek3 herkos arouraes7 proves nothing about absence of several property in land4 ,in ,scotland the laird's lands were unenclosed till deep in the eighteenth century4 ,my own case for land in private possession1 in ,homeric times1 rests mainly on human nature in such an advanced society4 ,such possession as ,i plead for is in accordance with human nature1 in a society so distinguished by degrees of wealth as is the ,homeric4 ,unless we are able to suppose that all the gentry of the ,iliad held no rich fields remote from towns1 each having but one rotatory lot apiece1 there is no difference in ,iliadic and ,odyssean land tenure1 though we get clearer lights on it in the ,odyssey4 ,the position of the man of several lots may have been indefensible1 if the ideal of tribal law were ever made real1 but wealth in growing societies universally tends to override such law4 ,mr4 ,keller ,footnote3 ,homeric ,society1 p4 #aib4 #aijb4 justly warns us against the attempt to apply universally certain fixed rules of property development4 ,the passages in ,homer upon which opinions diverge most are isolated ones1 occurring in similes and fragmentary descriptions4 ,under such conditions the formulation of theories or the attempt rigorously to classify can be little more than an intellectual exercise4 ,we have not the materials for a scientific knowledge of ,homeric real property2 and1 with all our materials in ,irish law books1 how hard it is for us to understand the early state of such affairs in ,ireland6 ,but does any one seriously suppose that the knightly class of the ,iliad1 the chariot-driving gentlemen1 held no more land--legally or by permitted custom--than the two ,homeric swains who vituperate each other across a baulk about the right to a few feet of a strip of a runrig field8 ,whosoever can believe that may also believe that the practice of adding lot to lot began in the period between the finished composition of the ,iliad 7or of the parts of it which allude to land tenure7 and the beginning of the ,odyssey 7or of the parts of it which refer to land tenure74 ,the inference is that1 though the fact is not explicitly stated in the ,iliad1 there were men who held more lots than one in ,iliadic times as well as in the ,odyssean times1 when1 in a solitary passage of the ,odyssey1 we do hear of such men in ,crete4 ,but whosoever has pored over early ,european land tenures knows how dim our knowledge is1 and will not rush to employ his lore in discriminating between the date of the ,iliad and the date of the ,odyssey4 ,not much proof of change in institutions between ,iliadic and ,odyssean times can be extracted from two passages about the ethna1 or bride-price of ,penelope4 ,the rule in both ,iliad and ,odyssey is that the wooer gives a bride-price to the father of the bride1 ethna4 ,this was the rule known even to that painfully late and un-,homeric poet who made the ,song of ,demodocus about the loves of ,ares and ,aphrodite4 ,in that song the injured husband1 ,hephaestus1 claims back the bride-price which he had paid to the father of his wife1 ,zeus4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #cah4 ,this is the accepted custom throughout the ,odyssey 7,,vi4 #aei2 ,,xvi4 #gg2 ,,xx4 #cce2 ,,xxi4 #afb2 ,,xv4 #ag1 c474 ,so far there is no change of manners1 no introduction of the later practice1 a dowry given with the bride1 in place of a bride-price given to the father by the bridegroom4 ,but ,penelope was neither maid1 wife1 nor widow2 her husband's fate1 alive or dead1 was uncertain1 and her son was so anxious to get her out of the house that he says he offered gifts with her 7,,xx4 #cdb74 ,in the same way1 to buy back the goodwill of ,achilles1 ,agamemnon offers to give him his daughter without bride-price1 and to add great gifts 7,iliad1 ,,ix4 l#dg7--the term for the gifts is ,greek3 mailia4 ,people1 of course1 could make their own bargain2 take as much for their daughter as they could get1 or let the gifts go from husband to bride1 and then return to the husband's home with her 7as in ,germany in the time of ,tacitus1 ,germania1 #ah71 or do that1 and throw in more gifts4 ,but in ,odyssey1 ,,ii4 #ec1 ,telemachus says that the ,wooers shrink from going to the house of ,penelope's father1 ,icarius1 who would endow 787 his daughter 7,greek3 eednoosaito7 ,and again 7,odyssey1 ,i4 #bgg2 ,,ii4 #aif71 her father's folk will furnish a bridal feast1 and array the ,greek3 heedna1 many1 such as should accompany a dear daughter4 ,some critics think that the gifts here are dowry1 a later institution than bride-price2 others1 that the father of the dear daughter merely chose to be generous1 and returned the bride-price1 or its equivalent1 in whole or part4 ,footnote3 ,merry1 ,odyssey1 vol4 i4 p4 #ej4 ,note to ,book ,i #bgg4 ,if the former view be correct1 these passages in ,odyssey1 ,i41 ,,ii4 are later than the exceedingly late song of ,demodocus4 ,if the latter theory be correct the father is merely showing goodwill1 and doing as the ,germans did when they were in a stage of culture much earlier than the ,homeric4 ,the position of ,penelope is very unstable and legally perplexing4 ,has her father her marriage8 has her son her marriage8 is she not perhaps still a married woman with a living husband8 ,telemachus would give much to have her off his hands1 but he refuses to send her to her father's house1 where the old man might be ready enough to return the bride-price to her new husband1 and get rid of her with honour4 ,for if ,telemachus sends his mother away against her will he will have to pay a heavy fine to her father1 and to thole his mother's curse1 and lose his character among men 7odyssey1 ,,ii4 #acj-ach74 ,the ,icelanders of the saga period gave dowries with their daughters4 ,but when ,njal wanted ,hildigunna for his foster-son1 ,hauskuld1 he offered to give ,greek3 hedna4 ,i will lay down as much money as will seem fitting to thy niece and thyself1 he says to ,flosi1 if thou wilt think of making this match4 ,footnote3 ,story of ,burnt ,njal1 ii4 p4 #ha4 ,circumstances alter cases1 and we must be hard pressed to discover signs of change of manners in the ,odyssey as compared with the ,iliad if we have to rely on a solitary mention of men of many lots in ,crete1 and on the perplexed proposals for the second marriage of ,penelope4 ,footnote3 ,for the alleged alteration of old customs see ,cauer1 ,grundfragen der ,homerkritik1 pp4 #aic-aid4 ,we must not be told that the many other supposed signs of change1 ,iris1 ,olympus1 and the rest1 have cumulative weight4 ,if we have disposed of each individual supposed note of change in beliefs and manners in its turn1 then these proofs have1 in each case1 no individual weight and1 cumulatively1 are not more ponderous than a feather4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,linguistic ,,proofs ,,of ,,various ,,dates ,the great strength of the theory that the poems are the work of several ages is the existence in them of various strata of languages1 earlier and later4 ,not to speak of differences of vocabulary1 ,mr4 ,monro and ,mr4 ,leaf1 with many scholars1 detect two strata of earlier and later grammar in ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,in the ,iliad four or five ,books are infected by the later grammar1 while the ,odyssey in general seems to be contaminated4 ,mr4 ,leafs words are3 ,when we regard the ,epos in large masses1 we see that we can roughly arrange the inconsistent elements towards one end or the other of a line of development both linguistic and historical4 ,the main division1 that of ,iliad and ,odyssey1 shows a distinct advance along this line2 and the distinction is still more marked if we group with the ,odyssey four ,books of the ,iliad whose ,odyssean physiognomy is well marked4 ,taking as our main guide the dissection of the plot as shown in its episodes1 we find that marks of lateness1 though nowhere entirely absent1 group themselves most numerously in the later additions 444 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 ,x4 ,we are here concerned with linguistic examples of lateness4 ,the four ,books whose ,odyssean physiognomy and language seem well marked1 are ,,ix41 ,x41 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv4 ,here ,mr4 ,leaf1 ,mr4 ,monro1 and many authorities are agreed4 ,but to these four ,odyssean ,books of the ,iliad ,mr4 ,leaf adds ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #ffd-ggb3 probably a later addition1 says ,mr4 ,monro4 ,it is notably ,odyssean in character1 says ,mr4 ,leaf2 and the author is ignorant of the geography of the ,western ,peloponnesus4 ,no doubt the author was an ,asiatic ,greek4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 pp4 #dfe-dff4 ,note on ,book ,,xi4 #gef4 ,the value of this discovery is elsewhere discussed 7see ,the ,interpolations of ,nestor74 ,the ,odyssean notes in this passage of a hundred lines 7,iliad1 ,,xi4 #fgj-gfb7 are the occurrence of a purely ,odyssean word 7#fgg71 an ,attic form of an epic word1 and a forbidden trochaic caesura in the fourth foot2 an ,odyssean word for carving meat1 applied in a non-,odyssean sense 7#fhh71 a verb for insulting1 not elsewhere found in the ,iliad 7though the noun is in the ,iliad7 7#fie71 an ,odyssean epithet of the sun1 four times in the ,odyssey 7#gce74 ,it is also possible that there is an allusion to a four-horse chariot 7#fii74 ,these are the proofs of ,odyssean lateness4 ,the real difficulty about ,odyssean words and grammar in the ,iliad is that1 if they were in vigorous poetic existence down to the time of ,pisistratus 7as the ,odysseanism of the ,asiatic editor proves that they were71 and if every rhapsodist could add to and alter the materials at the disposal of the ,pisistratean editor at will1 we are not told how the fashionable ,odysseanisms were kept1 on the whole1 out of twenty ,books of the ,iliad4 ,this is a point on which we cannot insist too strongly1 as an argument against the theory that1 till the middle of the sixth century ,b4,c41 the ,iliad scarcely survived save in the memory of strolling rhapsodists4 ,if that were so1 all the ,books of the ,iliad would1 in the course of recitation of old and composition of new passages1 be equally contaminated with late ,odyssean linguistic style4 ,it could not be otherwise2 all the ,books would be equally modified in passing through the lips of modern reciters and composers4 ,therefore1 if twenty out of twenty-four ,books are pure1 or pure in the main1 from ,odysseanisms1 while four are deeply stained with them1 the twenty must not only be earlier than the four1 but must have been specially preserved1 and kept uncontaminated1 in some manner inconsistent with the theory that all alike scarcely existed save in the memory or invention of late strolling reciters4 ,how the twenty ,books relatively pure in grammatical forms1 in syntax1 and in vocabulary1 could be kept thus clean without the aid of written texts1 ,i am unable to imagine4 ,if left merely to human memory and at the mercy of reciters and new poets1 they would have become stained with the defining article--and1 indeed1 an employment of the article which startles grammarians1 appears even in the eleventh line of the ,first ,book of the ,iliad8 ,footnote 7exact placing uncertain73 ,cf4 ,monro and ,leaf1 on ,iliad1 ,i4 #aa-ab4 ,left merely to human memory and the human voice1 the twenty more or less innocent ,books would have abounded1 like the ,odyssey1 in ,greek3 amphi with the dative meaning about1 and with ,greek3 ex in consequence of1 and the extension of the use of ,greek3 ei clauses as final and objective clauses1 and similar marks of lateness1 so interesting to grammarians4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 ii4 pp4 #cca-ccc4 ,but the twenty ,books are almost1 or quite1 inoffensive in these respects4 ,now1 even in ages of writing1 it has been found difficult or impossible to keep linguistic novelties and novelties of metre out of old epics4 ,we later refer 7,archaeology of the ,epic7 to the ,chancun de ,willame1 of which an unknown benefactor printed two hundred copies in #aijc4 ,mr4 ,raymond ,weeks1 in ,romania1 describes ,willame as taking a place beside the ,chanson de ,roland in the earliest rank of ,chansons de ,geste4 ,if the text can be entirely restored1 the poem will appear as the most primitive of ,french epics of the eleventh and twelfth centuries4 ,but it has passed from copy to copy in the course of generations4 ,the methods of versification change1 and1 after line #bfdg1 there are traces of change in the language4 ,the word co1 followed by a vowel1 hitherto frequent1 never again reappears4 ,the vowel i1 of li1 nominative masculine of the article 7li ,reis1 the king71 never occurs in the text after line #bfdg4 ,up to that point it is elided or not at pleasure4444 ,there is a progressive tendency towards hiatus4 ,after line #aihj the system of assonance changes4 ,an and en have been kept distinct hitherto2 this ceases to be the case4 ,footnote3 ,romania1 xxxiv4 pp4 #bdj-bdf4 ,the poem is also notable1 like the ,iliad1 for textual repetition of passages1 but that is common to all early poetry1 which many ,homeric critics appear not to understand4 ,in this example we see how apt novelties in grammar and metre are to steal into even written copies of epics1 composed in and handed down through uncritical ages2 and we are confirmed in the opinion that the relatively pure and orthodox grammar and metre of the twenty ,books must have been preserved by written texts carefully 'executed4 ,the other four ,books1 if equally old1 were less fortunate4 ,their grammar and metre1 we learn1 belong to a later stratum of language4 ,these opinions of grammarians are not compatible with the hypothesis that all of the ,iliad1 even the earliest parts1 are loaded with interpolations1 forced in at different places and in any age from #ajjj ,b4,c4 to #edj ,b4,c42 for if that theory were true1 the whole of the ,iliad would equally be infected with the later ,odyssean grammar4 ,according to ,mr4 ,monro and ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 it is not4 ,but suppose1 on the other hand1 that the later ,odyssean grammar abounds all through the whole ,iliad1 then that grammar is not more ,odyssean than it is ,iliadic4 ,the alleged distinction of early ,iliadic grammar1 late ,odyssean grammar1 in that case vanishes4 ,mr4 ,leaf is more keen than ,mr4 ,monro and ,sir ,richard ,jebb in detecting late grammar in the ,iliad beyond the bounds of ,books ,,ix41 ,x41 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv4 ,but he does not carry these discoveries so far as to make the late grammar no less ,iliadic than ,odyssean4 ,in ,book ,,viii4 of the ,iliad1 which he thinks was only made for the purpose of introducing ,book ,,ix41 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ccb4 #aijj4 we ought to find the late ,odyssean grammar just as much as we do in ,book ,,ix41 for it is of the very same date1 and probably by one or more of the same authors as ,book ,,ix4 ,but we do not find the ,odyssean grammar in ,book ,,viii4 ,mr4 ,leaf says1 ,the peculiar character of ,book ,,viii4 is easily understood1 when we recognise the fact that ,book ,,viii4 is intended to serve only as a means for the introduction of ,book ,,ix4444 which is late and ,odyssean4 ,then ,book ,,viii41 intended to introduce ,book ,,ix41 must be at least as late as ,book ,,ix4 and might be expected to be at least as ,odyssean1 indeed one would think it could not be otherwise4 ,yet it is not so4 ,mr4 ,leaf's theory has thus to face the difficulty that while the whole ,iliad1 by his view1 for more than four centuries1 was stuffed with late interpolations1 in the course of oral recital through all ,greek lands1 and was crammed with original copy by a sycophant of ,pisistratus about #edj ,b4,c41 the late grammar concentrated itself in only some four ,books4 ,till some reasonable answer is given to this question--how did twenty ,books of the ,iliad preserve so creditably the ancient grammar through centuries of change1 and of recitation by rhapsodists who used the ,odyssean grammar1 which infected the four other ,books1 and the whole of the ,odyssey8--it seems hardly worth while to discuss this linguistic test4 ,any scholar who looks at these pages knows all about the proofs of grammar of a late date in the ,odyssey and the four contaminated ,books of the ,iliad4 ,but it may be well to give a few specimens1 for the enlightenment of less learned readers of ,homer4 ,the use of ,greek3 amfi1 with the dative1 meaning about1 when thinking or speaking about ,odysseus or anything else1 is peculiar to the ,odyssey4 ,but how has it not crept into the four ,odyssean contaminated ,books of the ,iliad8 ,greek3 peri1 with the genitive1 follows verbs meaning to speak or know about a person1 but only in the ,odyssey4 ,what preposition follows such verbs in the ,iliad8 ,here1 again1 we ask3 how did the contaminated ,books of the ,iliad escape the stain of ,greek3 peri1 with the genitive1 after verbs meaning to speak or know8 ,what phrase do they use in the ,iliad for speaking or asking about anybody8 ,footnote 7exact placing uncertain73 ,monro1 ,homeric ,grammar4 ,see ,index1 under ,iliad1 p4 #cci4 ,greek3 meta1 with the genitive1 meaning among or with1 comes twice in the ,odyssey 7,x4 #cbj2 ,,xvi4 #adj7 and thrice in the ,iliad 7,,xiii4 #gjj2 ,,xxi4 #deh2 ,,xxiv4 #djj72 but all these passages in the ,iliad are disposed of as late parts of the poem4 ,greek3 epi1 with the accusative1 meaning towards a person1 comes often in the ,iliad2 once in the ,odyssey4 ,but it comes four times in ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 which almost every critic scouts as very late indeed4 ,if so1 why does the late ,odyssey not deal in this grammatical usage so common in the late ,book ,x4 of the ,iliad8 ,greek3 epi1 with the accusative1 meaning extent 7without motion71 is chiefly found in the ,odyssey1 and in the ,iliad1 ,,ix41 ,x41 ,,xxiv4 ,on consulting grammarians one thinks that there is not much in this4 ,greek3 proti with the dative1 meaning in addition to1 occurs only once 7,odyssey1 ,x4 #fh74 ,if it occurs only once1 there is little to be learned from the circumstance4 ,greek3 ana with the genitive1 is only in ,odyssey1 only thrice1 always of going on board a ship4 ,there are not many ship-farings in the ,iliad4 ,odysseus and his men are not described as going on board their ship1 in so many words1 in ,iliad1 ,book ,i4 ,the usage occurs in the poem where the incidents of seafaring occur frequently1 as is to be expected8 ,it is not worth while to persevere with these tithes of mint and cummin4 ,if ,neglect of ,position be commoner--like ,hiatus in the ,bucolic ,diaeresis--in the ,odyssey and in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv41 why do the failings not beset ,iliad1 ,,ix41 ,x41 these being such extremely late books8 ,as to the later use of the ,article in the ,odyssey and the ,odyssean ,books of the ,iliad1 it appears to us that ,book ,i4 of the ,iliad uses the article as it is used in ,book ,x42 but on this topic we must refer to a special treatise on the language of ,iliad1 ,book ,x41 which is promised4 ,turning to the vocabulary3 words expressive of civilisation are bound to be more frequent1 as they are1 in the ,odyssey1 a poem of peaceful life1 than in a poem about an army in action1 like the ,iliad4 ,out of all this no clue to the distance of years dividing the two poems can be found4 ,as to words concerning religion1 the same holds good4 ,the ,odyssey is more frequently religious 7see the case of ,eumaeus7 than the ,iliad4 ,in morals the term ,greek3 dikaios is more used in the ,odyssey1 also ,greek3 atemistos 7just and lawless74 ,but that is partly because the ,odyssey has to contrast civilised 7just7 with wild outlandish people--,cyclopes and ,laestrygons1 who are lawless4 ,the ,iliad has no occasion to touch on savages2 but1 as the ,greek3 hybris of the ,wooers is a standing topic in the ,odyssey 7an ethical poem1 says ,aristotle71 the word ,greek3 hybris is of frequent occurrence in the ,odyssey1 in just the same sense as it bears in ,iliad1 ,i #bad--the insolence of ,agamemnon4 ,yet when ,achilles has occasion to speak of ,agamemnon's insolence in ,iliad1 ,book ,,ix41 he does not use the word ,greek3 hybris1 though ,book ,,ix4 is so very late and ,odyssean4 ,it would be easy to go through the words for moral ideas in the ,odyssey1 and to show that they occur in the numerous moral situations which do not arise1 or arise much less frequently1 in the ,iliad4 ,there is not difference enough in the moral standard of the two poems to justify us in assuming that centuries of ethical progress had intervened between their dates of composition4 ,if the ,iliad1 again1 were really1 like the ,odyssey1 a thing of growth through several centuries1 which overlapped the centuries in which the ,odyssey grew1 the moral ideas of the ,iliad and ,odyssey would necessarily be much the same1 would be indistinguishable4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 it would be easy to show that the moral standard of the ,iliad is higher1 in many places1 than the moral standard of the ,odyssey2 and that1 therefore1 by the critical hypothesis1 the ,iliad is the later poem of the twain4 ,for example1 the behaviour of ,achilles is most obnoxious to the moralist in ,iliad1 ,book ,,ix41 where he refuses gifts of conciliation4 ,but by the critical hypothesis this is not the fault of the ,iliad1 for ,book ,,ix4 is declared to be late1 and of the same date as late parts of the ,odyssey4 ,achilles is not less open to moral reproach in his abominable cruelty and impiety1 as shown in his sacrifice of prisoners of war and his treatment of dead ,hector1 in ,iliad1 ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv4 ,but these ,books also are said to be as late as the ,odyssey4 ,the solitary realistic or naturalistic passage in ,homer1 with which a lover of modern problem novels feels happy and at home1 is the story of ,phoenix1 about his seduction of his father's mistress at the request of his mother4 ,what a charming situation6 ,but that occurs in an ,odyssean ,book of the ,iliad1 ,book ,,ix42 and thus ,odyssean seems lower1 not more advanced1 than ,iliadic taste in morals4 ,to be sure1 the poet disapproves of all these immoralities4 ,in the ,odyssey the hero1 to the delight of ,athene1 lies often and freely and with glee4 ,the ,achilles of the ,iliad hates a liar like the gates of ,hades2 but he says so in an ,odyssean ,book 7,book ,,ix471 so there were obviously different standards in ,odyssean ethics4 ,as to the ,odyssey being the work of a milder age1 consider the hanging of ,penelope's maids and the abominable torture of ,melanthius4 ,there is no torturing in the blank space for the ,iliad happens not to deal with treacherous thralls4 ,enfin1 there is no appreciable moral advance in the ,,odyssey on the moral standard of the ,,iliad4 ,it is rather the other way4 ,odysseus1 in the ,,odyssey1 tries to procure poison for his arrow-heads4 ,the person to whom he applies is too moral to oblige him4 ,we never learn that a hero of the ,iliad would use poisoned arrows4 ,the poet himself obviously disapproves2 in both poems the poet is always on the side of morality and of the highest ethical standard of his age4 ,the standard in both ,epics is the same2 in both some heroes fall short of the standard4 ,to return to linguistic tests1 it is hard indeed to discover what ,mr4 ,leaf's opinion of the value of linguistic tests of lateness really is4 ,it is on such fundamental discrepancies--as he has found in ,books ,,ix41 ,,xvi4--that we can depend1 ,,and ,,on ,,these ,,alone1 when we come to dissect the ,,iliad 444 ,some critics have attempted to base their analysis on evidences from language1 but ,i do not think they are sufficient to bear the super-structure which has been raised on them4 ,footnote3 ,companion1 p4 #be4 ,he goes on1 still placing a low value on linguistic tests alone1 to say3 ,it is on the broad grounds of the construction and motives of the poem1 ,,and ,,not ,,on ,,any ,,merely linguistic ,,considerations1 that a decision must be sought4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 x4 ,but he contradicts these comfortable words when he comes to the latest expansions1 such as ,books ,,xxiii41 ,,xxiv4 ,the latest expansions are thoroughly in the spirit of those which precede1 them ,,on ,,account ,,of linguistic ,,evidence1 which definitely classes them with the ,,odyssey rather than the rest of the ,,iliad4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 xiv4 ,now as ,mr4 ,leaf has told us that we must depend on fundamental discrepancies1 on these alone1 when we want to dissect the ,,iliad2 as he has told us that linguistic tests alone are not sufficient to bear the superstructure1 c41 how can we lop off two ,books only on account of linguistic evidence8 ,it would appear that on this point1 as on others1 ,mr4 ,leaf has entirely changed his mind4 ,but1 even in the ,companion 7p4 #chh71 he had amputated ,book ,,xxiv4 for no fundamental discrepancy1 but because of its close kinship to the ,,odyssey1 as in the whole language of the ,book4 ,here1 as in many other passages1 if we are to account for discrepancies by the theory of multiplex authorship1 we must decide that ,mr4 ,leaf's books are the work of several critics1 not of one critic only4 ,but there is excellent evidence to prove that here we would be mistaken4 ,confessedly and regretfully no grammarian1 ,i remain unable1 in face of what seem contradictory assertions about the value of linguistic tests1 to ascertain what they are really worth1 and what1 if anything1 they really prove4 ,mr4 ,monro allows much for the long insensible influence of ,attic recitation upon the ,homeric text2 444 many ,attic peculiarities may be noted 7so much so that ,aristarchus thought ,homer must have been an ,athenian674 ,the poems suffered a gradual and unsystematic because generally unconscious process of modernising1 the chief agents in which were the rhapsodists 7reciters in a later democratic age71 who wandered over all parts of ,greece1 and were likely to be influenced by all the chief forms of literature4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,homeric ,grammar1 pp #cid-cif4 #ahia ,then1 wherefore insist so much on tests of language8 ,mr4 ,monro was not only a great grammarian2 he had a keen appreciation of poetry4 ,thus he was conspicuously uneasy in his hypothesis1 based on words and grammar1 that the two last ,books of the ,iliad are by a late hand4 ,after quoting ,shelley's remark that1 in these two ,books1 ,homer truly begins to be himself1 ,mr4 ,monro writes1 in face of such testimony can we say that the ,book in which the climax is reached1 in which the last discords of the ,iliad are dissolved in chivalrous pity and regret1 is not the work of the original poet1 but of some ,homerid or rhapsodist8 ,mr4 ,monro1 with a struggle1 finally voted for grammar1 and other indications of lateness1 against ,shelley and against his own sense of poetry4 ,in a letter to me of ,may #aije1 ,mr4 ,monro sketched a theory that ,book ,,ix4 7without which he said that he deemed an ,achilleis hardly possible7 might be a remanie representative of an earlier lay to the same general effect4 ,some ,greek ,shakespeare1 then1 treated an older poem on the theme of ,book ,,ix4 as ,shakespeare treated old plays1 namely1 as a canvas to work over with a master's hand4 ,probably ,mr4 ,monro would not have gone so far in the case of ,book ,,xxiv41 ,the ,repentance of ,achilles4 ,he thought it in too keen contrast with the brutality of ,book ,,xxii4 7obviously forgetting that in ,book ,,xxiv4 ,achilles is infinitely more brutal than in ,book ,,xxii471 and thought it inconsistent with the refusal of ,achilles to grant burial at the prayer of the dying ,hector1 and with his criminal treatment of the dead body of his chivalrous enemy4 ,but in ,book ,,xxiv4 his ferocity is increased4 ,mr4 ,leaf shares ,mr4 ,monro's view2 but ,mr4 ,leaf thinks that a ,greek audience forgave ,achilles1 because he was doing the will of heaven1 and fighting the great fight of ,hellenism against barbarism4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4-ii4 p4 #dbi4 #aijb4 ,but the ,achzeans were not ,puritans of the sixteenth century6 ,moreover1 the ,trojans are as ,hellenic as the ,achzeans4 ,they converse1 clearly1 in the same language4 ,they worship the same gods4 ,the ,achzeans cannot regard them 7unless on account of the breach of truce1 by no ,trojan1 but an ally7 as the ,covenanters regarded malignants1 their name for loyal cavaliers1 whom they also styled ,amalekites1 and treated as ,samuel treated ,agag4 ,the ,achaeans to whom ,homer sang had none of this sanguinary ,pharisaism4 ,others must decide on the exact value and import of ,odyssean grammar as a test of lateness1 and must estimate the probable amount of time required for the development of such linguistic differences as they find in the ,odyssey and ,iliad4 ,in undertaking this task they may compare the literary language of ,america as it was before #ahfj and as it is now4 ,the language of ,english literature has also been greatly modified in the last forty years1 but our times are actively progressive in many directions2 linguistic variations might arise more slowly in the ,greece of the ,epics4 ,we have already shown1 in the more appropriate instance of the ,chancun de ,willame1 that considerable varieties in diction and metre occur in a single ,,ms4 of that poem1 a ,,ms4 written probably within less than a century of the date of the poem's composition4 ,we can also trace1 in remaniements of the ,chanson ,,de ,,roland1 comparatively rapid and quite revolutionary variations from the oldest--the ,oxford--manuscript4 ,rhyme is substituted for assonance2 the process entails frequent modernisations1 and yet the basis of thirteenth-century texts continues to be the version of the eleventh century4 ,it may be worth the while of scholars to consider these parallels carefully1 as regards the language and prosody of the ,odyssean ,books of the ,iliad1 and to ask themselves whether the processes of alteration in the course of transmission1 which we know to have occurred in the history of the ,old ,french1 may not also have affected the ,,iliad1 though why the effect is mainly confined to four ,books remains a puzzle4 ,it is enough for us to have shown that if ,odyssean varies from ,iliadic language1 in all other respects the two poems bear the marks of the same age4 ,meanwhile1 a ,homeric scholar so eminent as ,mr4 ,t4 ,w4 ,allen1 says that the linguistic attack upon their age 7that of the ,homeric poems7 may be said to have at last definitely failed1 and archaeology has erected an apparently indestructible buttress for their defence4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 ,may #aijf1 p4 #aid4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,doloneia ,,iliad1 ,,book ,x4 ,of all ,books in the blank space ,book ,x41 called the ,doloneia1 is most generally scouted and rejected4 ,the ,book1 in fact1 could be omitted1 and only a minutely analytic reader would perceive the lacuna4 ,he would remark that in ,iliad1 ,,ix4 #fe-hd1 certain military preparations are made which1 if we suppress ,book ,x41 lead up to nothing1 and that in ,iliad1 ,,xiv4 #i-aa1 we find ,nestor with the shield of his son1 ,thrasymedes1 while ,thrasymedes has his father's shield1 a fact not explained1 though the poet certainly meant something by it4 ,the explanation in both cases is found in ,book ,x41 which may also be thought to explain why the ,achaeans1 so disconsolate in ,book ,,ix41 and why ,agamemnon1 so demoralised1 so gaily assume the offensive in ,book ,,xi4 ,some ancient critics1 ,scholiast ,t and ,eustathius1 attributed the ,,doloneia to ,homer1 but supposed it to have been a separate composition of his added to the ,iliad by ,pisistratus4 ,this merely proves that they did not find any necessity for the existence of the ,,doloneia4 ,mr4 ,allen1 who thinks that it always held its present place1 says1 the ,,doloneia is persistently written down4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 ,may #aijf1 p4 #aid ,to understand the problem of the ,,doloneia1 we must make a summary of its contents4 ,in ,book ,,ix4 #fe-hd1 at the end of the disastrous fighting of ,book ,,viii1 the ,achaeans1 by ,nestor's advice1 station an advanced guard of the young men between the fosse and wall2 #gjj youths are posted there1 under ,meriones1 the squire of ,idomeneus1 and ,thrasymedes1 the son of ,nestor4 ,all this is preparation for ,book ,x41 as ,mr4 ,leaf remarks1 ,footnote3 ,companion1 p4 #agd4 though in any case an advanced guard was needed4 ,their business is to remain awake1 under arms1 in case the ,trojans1 who are encamped on the plain1 attempt a night attack4 ,at their station the young men will be under arms till dawn2 they light fires and cook their provisions2 the ,trojans also surround their own watchfires4 ,the ,achaean chiefs then hold council1 and ,agamemnon sends the embassy to ,achilles4 ,the envoys bring back his bitter answer2 and all men go to sleep in their huts1 deeply discouraged1 as even ,odysseus avowed4 ,here the ,tenth ,book begins1 and it is manifest that the poet is thoroughly well acquainted with the ,ninth ,book4 ,without the arrangements made in the ,ninth ,book1 and without the despairing situation of that ,book1 his lay is impossible4 ,it will be seen that critics suppose him1 alternately1 to have quite failed to realise the conditions of life of the heroes of whom he sang 7that is1 if certain lines are genuine71 and also to be a peculiarly learned archaeologist and a valuable authority on weapons4 ,he is addicted to introducing fanciful touches of heroic simplicity1 says ,mr4 ,leaf1 and is altogether a puzzling personage to the critics4 ,the ,book opens with the picture of ,agamemnon1 sleepless from anxiety1 while the other chiefs1 save ,menelaus1 are sleeping4 ,he hears the music of the joyous ,trojan pipes and flutes and sees the reflected glow of their camp-fires1 we must suppose1 for he could not see the fires themselves through the new wall of his own camp1 as critics very wisely remark4 ,he tears out his hair before ,zeus2 no one else does so1 in the ,iliad1 but no one else is ,agamemnon1 alone and in despair4 ,he rises to consult ,nestor1 throwing a lion's skin over his chiton1 and grasping a spear4 ,much noise is made about the furs1 such as this lion's pelt1 which the heroes1 in ,book ,x41 throw about their shoulders when suddenly aroused4 ,that sportsmen like the heroes should keep the pelts of animals slain by them for use as coverlets1 and should throw on one of the pelts when aroused in a hurry1 is a marvellous thing to the critics4 ,they know that fleeces were used for coverlets of beds 7,,ix4 #ffa71 and pelts of wild animals1 slain by ,anchises1 cover his bed in the ,hymn to ,aphrodite4 ,but the facts do not enlighten critics4 ,yet no facts could be more natural4 ,a scientific critic1 moreover1 never reflects that the poet is dealing with an unexampled situation--heroes wakened and called into the cold air in a night of dread1 but not called to battle4 ,thus ,reichel says3 ,the poet knows so little about true heroic costume that he drapes the princes in skins of lions and panthers1 like giants4444 ,but about a corslet he never thinks4 ,footnote3 ,reichel1 p4#gj4 ,the simple explanation is that the poet has not hitherto had to tell us about men who are called up1 not to fight1 on a night that must have been chilly4 ,in war they do not wear skins1 though ,paris1 in archer's equipment1 wears a pard's skin 7,,iii4 #ag74 ,naturally1 the men throw over themselves their fur coverlets2 but ,nestor1 a chilly veteran1 prefers a chiton and a wide1 double-folded1 fleecy purple cloak4 ,the cloak lay ready to his hand1 for such cloaks were used as blankets 7,,xxiv4 #fdf2 ,odyssey1 ,,iii4 #cdi1 #cea2 ,,iv4 #bii2 ,,ii4 #ahi74 ,we hear more of such bed-coverings in the ,odyssey than in the merely because in the ,,odyssey we have more references to beds and to people in bed4 ,that a sportsman may have 7as many folk have now7 a fur coverlet1 and may throw it over him as a kind of dressing-gown or bed-gown1 is a simple circumstance which bewilders the critical mind and perplexed ,reichel4 ,if the poet knew so little as ,reichel supposed his omission of corslets is explained4 ,living in an age of corslets 7seventh century71 he1 being a literary man1 knew nothing about corslets1 or1 as he is also an acute archaeologist1 he knew too much2 he knew that they were not worn in the ,mycenaean prime1 so he did not introduce them4 ,the science of this remarkable ignoramus1 in this view1 accounts for his being aware that pelts of animals were in vogue as coverlets1 just as fur dressing-gowns were worn in the sixteenth century1 and he introduces them precisely as he leaves corslets out1 because he knows that pelts of fur were in use1 and that1 in the ,mycenaean prime1 corslets were not worn4 ,in speaking to ,nestor1 ,agamemnon awakens sympathy3 ,me1 of all the ,achaeans1 ,zeus has set in toil and labour ceaselessly4 ,they are almost the very words of ,charlemagne in the ,chanson de ,roland3 ,deus1 ,dist li ,reis1 si peneuse est ma vie4 ,the author of the ,doloneia consistently conforms to the character of ,agamemnon as drawn in the rest of the ,iliad4 ,he is over-anxious2 he is demoralising in his fits of gloom1 but all the burden of the host hangs on him--sipeneuse est ma via4 ,to turn to higher things4 ,menelaus1 too1 was awake1 anxious about the ,argives1 who risked their lives in his cause alone4 ,he got up1 put on a pard's skin and a bronze helmet 7here the poet forgets1 what he ought to have known1 that no bronze helmets have been found in the ,mycenaean graves74 ,menelaus takes a spear1 and goes to look for ,agamemnon1 whom he finds arming himself beside his ship4 ,he discovers that ,agamemnon means to get ,nestor to go and speak to the advanced guard1 as his son is their commander1 and they will obey ,nestor4 ,agamemnon's pride has fallen very low6 ,he tells ,menelaus to waken the other chief with all possible formal courtesy1 for1 brutally rude when in high heart1 at present ,agamemnon cowers to everybody4 ,he himself finds ,nestor in bed1 his shield1 two spears1 and helmet beside him1 also his glittering zoster4 ,his corslet is not named2 perhaps the poet knew that the zoster1 or broad metallic belt1 had been evolved1 but that the corslet had not been invented2 or perhaps he knows so little about the costume of the heroes that he is unaware of the existence of corslets4 ,nestor asks ,agamemnon what he wants2 and ,agamemnon says that his is a toilsome life1 that he cannot sleep1 that his knees tremble1 and that he wants ,nestor to come and visit the outposts4 ,there is really nothing absurd in this4 ,napoleon often visited his outposts in the night before ,waterloo1 and ,cromwell rode along his lines all through the night before ,dunbar1 biting his lips till the blood dropped on his linen bands4 ,in all three cases hostile armies were arrayed within striking distance of each other1 and the generals were careworn4 ,nestor admits that it is an anxious night1 and rather blames ,menelaus for not rousing the other chiefs2 but ,agamemnon explains and defends his brother4 ,nestor then puts on the comfortable cloak already described1 and picks up a spear1 blank space in ,,his ,,quarters4 ,as for ,odysseus1 he merely throws a shield over his shoulders4 ,the company of ,diomede are sleeping with their heads on their shields4 ,thence ,reichel 7see ,the ,shield7 infers that the late poet of ,book ,x4 gave them small ,ionian round bucklers2 but it has been shown that no such inference is legitimate4 ,their spears were erect by their sides1 fixed in the ground by the sauroter1 or butt-spike1 used by the men of the late warrior vase found at ,mycenae4 ,to arrange the spears thus1 we have seen1 was a point of drill that1 in ,aristotle's time1 survived among the ,illyrians4 ,footnote3 ,poetics1 ,,xxv4 ,the practice is also alluded to in ,iliad1 ,,iii #ace4 ,during a truce the tall spears are planted by their sides4 ,the poet1 whether ignorant or learned1 knew that point of war1 later obsolete in ,greece1 but still extant in ,illyria4 ,nestor aroused ,diomede1 whose night apparel was the pelt of a lion2 he took his spear1 and they came to the outposts1 where the men were awake1 and kept a keen watch on all movements among the ,trojans4 ,nestor praised them1 and the princes1 taking ,nestor's son1 ,thrasymedes1 and ,meriones with them1 went out into the open in view of the ,trojan camp1 sat down1 and held a consultation4 ,nestor asked if any one would volunteer to go as a spy among the ,trojans and pick up intelligence4 ,his reward will be a black ewe with her lamb at her foot1 from their chiefs--nothing like her for value--and he will be remembered in songs at feasts1 or will be admitted to feasts and wine parties of the chiefs4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,note on ,x4 #bae4 ,the proposal is very odd2 what do the princes want with black ewes1 while at feasts they always have honoured places8 ,can ,nestor be thinking of sending out any brave swift-footed young member of the outpost party1 to whom the reward would be appropriate8 ,after silence1 ,diomede volunteers to go1 with a comrade1 though this kind of work is very seldom undertaken in any army of any age by a chief1 and by his remark about admission to wine parties it is clear that ,nestor was not thinking of a princely spy4 ,many others volunteer1 but ,agamemnon bids ,diomede choose his own companion1 with a very broad hint not to take ,menelaus4 ,,his death1 ,agamemnon knows1 would mean the disgraceful return of the host to ,greece2 besides he is1 throughout the ,,iliad1 deeply attached to his brother4 ,the poet of ,book ,x41 however late1 knows the ,,iliad well1 for he keeps up the uniform treatment of the character of the ,over-,lord4 ,as he knows the ,,iliad well1 how can he be ignorant of the conditions of life of the heroes8 ,how can he dream of introducing a note of heroic simplicity 7,mr4 ,leaf's phrase71 when he must be as well aware as we are of the way in which the heroes lived8 ,we cannot explain the black ewes1 if meant as a princely reward1 but we do not know everything about ,homeric life4 ,diomede chooses ,odysseus1 whom ,pallas ,athene loveth2 she was also the patroness of ,diomede himself1 in ,books ,v41 ,,vi4 ,as they are unarmed--all of the chiefs hastily aroused were unarmed1 save for a spear there or a sword here--,thrasymedes gives to ,diomede his two-edged sword1 his shield1 and a helm of bull's hide1 without horns or crest1 that is called a skull-cap 7knap-skull71 and keeps the heads of strong young men4 ,all the advanced guard were young men1 as we saw in ,book ,,ix4 #gg4 ,obviously1 ,thrasymedes must then send back to camp1 though we are not told it1 for another shield1 sword1 and helmet1 as he is to lie all night under arms4 ,we shall hear of the shield later4 ,meriones1 who is an archer 7,,xiii4 #fej71 lends to ,odysseus his bow and quiver and a sword4 ,he also gives him a helm made of leather2 and with many a thong it was stiffly wrought within1 while without the white teeth of a boar of flashing tusks were arrayed1 thick set on either side well and cunningly444 4 ,here ,reichel perceives that the ignorant poet is describing a piece of ancient headgear represented in ,mycenaean art1 while the boars' teeth were found by ,schliemann1 to the number of sixty1 in ,grave ,,iv4 at ,mycenae4 ,each of them had the reverse side cut perfectly flat1 and with the borings to attach them to some other object4 ,they were in a veritable funereal armoury4 ,the manner of setting the tusks on the cap is shown on an ivory head of a warrior from ,mycenae4 ,footnote3 ,tsountas and ,manatt1 #aif-aig4 ,reichel recognises that the poet's description in ,book ,x4 is excellent1 ebenso klar als eingehend4 ,he publishes another ivory head from ,spata1 with the same helmet set with boars' tusks4 ,footnote3 ,reichel1 pp4 #ajb-ajd ,mr4 ,leaf decides that this description by the poet1 wholly ignorant of heroic costume1 as ,reichel thinks him1 must be another instance of the archaic and archaeologising tendency so notable in ,book ,x4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fbi4 ,at the same time1 according to ,reichel and ,mr4 ,leaf1 the poet of ,book ,x4 introduces the small round ,ionian buckler1 thus showing his utter ignorance of the great ,mycenaean shield4 ,the ignorance was most unusual and quite inexcusable1 for any one who reads the rest of the ,iliad 7which the poet of ,book ,x4 knew well7 is aware that the ,homeric shields were huge1 often covering body and legs4 ,this fact the poet of ,book ,x4 did not know1 in ,reichel's opinion4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #ege ,how are we to understand this poet8 ,he is such an erudite archaeologist that1 in the seventh century1 he knows and carefully describes a helmet of the ,mycenaean prime4 ,did he excavate it8 and had the leather interior lasted with the felt cap through seven centuries8 ,or did he see a sample in an old temple of the ,mycenaean prime1 or in a museum of his own period8 ,or had he heard of it in a lost ,mycenaean poem8 ,yet1 careful as he was1 so pedantic that he must have puzzled his seventh-century audience1 who never saw such caps1 the poet knew nothing of the shields and costumes of the heroes1 though he might have found out all that is known about them in the then existing ,iliadic lays with which he was perfectly familiar--see his portrait of ,agamemnon4 ,he was well aware that corslets were1 in ,homeric poetry1 anachronisms1 for he gave ,nestor none2 yet he fully believed1 in his ignorance1 that small ,ionian bucklers loveth2 7which need the aid of corslets badly7 were the only wear among the heroes6 ,criticism has1 as we often observe1 no right to throw the first stone at the inconsistencies of ,homer4 ,as we cannot possibly believe that one poet knew so much which his contemporaries did not know 7and how1 in the seventh century1 could he know it871 and that he also knew so little1 knew nothing in fact1 we take our own view4 ,the poet of ,book ,x4 sings of a fresh topic1 a confused night of dread2 of young men wearing the headgear which1 he says1 young men do wear2 of pelts of fur such as suddenly wakened men1 roused1 but not roused for battle1 would be likely to throw over their bodies against the chill air4 ,he describes things of his own day2 things with which he is familiar4 ,he is said to take quite a peculiar delight in the minute description of dress and weapons4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbc4 ,we do not observe that he does describe weapons or shields minutely2 but ,homer always loves to describe weapons and costume--scores of examples prove it--and here he happens to be describing such costume as he nowhere else has occasion to mention4 ,by an accident of archaeological discovery1 we find that there were such caps set with boars' tusks as he introduces4 ,they had survived1 for young men on night duty1 into the poet's age4 ,we really cannot believe that a poet of the seventh century had made excavations in ,mycenaean graves4 ,if he did and put the results into his lay1 his audience--not wearing boars' tusks--would have asked1 ,what nonsense is the man talking8 ,erhardt1 remarking on the furs which the heroes throw over their shoulders when aroused1 says that this kind of wrap is very late4 ,it was ,peisander who1 in the second half of the seventh century1 clothed ,herakles in a lion's skin4 ,peisander brought this costume into poetry1 and the author of the ,doloneia knew no better than to follow ,peisander4 ,footnote3 ,die ,enstehung der ,homerischen ,gedichte1 pp4 #afc-afd4 ,the poet of the ,doloneia was thus much better acquainted with ,peisander than with the ,homeric lays1 which could have taught him that a hero would never wear a fur coverlet when aroused--not to fight--from slumber4 ,yet he knew about leathern caps set with boars' tusks4 ,he must have been an erudite excavator1 but1 in literature1 a reader only of recent minor poetry4 ,having procured arms1 without corslets 7with corslets1 according to ,carl ,robert7--whether1 if they had none1 because the poet knew that corslets were anachronisms1 or because spies usually go as lightly burdened as possible--,odysseus and ,diomede approach the ,trojan camp4 ,the hour is the darkest hour before dawn4 ,they hear1 but do not see1 a heron sent by ,athene as an omen1 and pray to the goddess1 with promise of sacrifice4 ,in the ,trojan camp ,hector has called a council1 and asked for a volunteer spy to seek intelligence among the ,achaeans4 ,he offers no black ewes as a reward1 but the best horses of the enemy4 ,this allures ,dolon1 son of a rich ,trojan1 an only son among five sisters1 a poltroon1 a weak lad1 ugly1 but swift of foot1 and an enthusiastic lover of horses4 ,he asks for the steeds of ,achilles1 which ,hector swears to give him2 and to be lightly clad he takes merely spear and bow and a cap of ferret skin1 with the pelt of a wolf for covering4 ,odysseus sees him approach2 he and ,diomede lie down among the dead till ,dolon passes1 then they chase him towards the ,achaean camp and catch him4 ,he offers ransom1 which before these last days of the war was often accepted4 ,odysseus replies evasively1 and asks for information4 ,dolon1 thinking that the bitterness of death is past1 explains that only the ,trojans have watch-fires2 the allies1 more careless1 have none4 ,at the extreme flank of the host sleep the newly arrived ,thracians1 under their king1 ,rhesus1 who has golden armour1 and the fairest horses that ever ,i beheld 7the ruling passion for horses is strong in ,dolon71 and the greatest1 whiter than snow1 and for speed like the winds4 ,having learned all that he needs to know1 ,diomede ruthlessly slays ,dolon4 ,odysseus thanks ,athene1 and hides the poor spoils of the dead1 marking the place4 ,they then creep into the dark camp of the sleeping ,thracians1 and as ,diomede slays them ,odysseus drags each body aside1 to leave a clear path for the horses1 that they may not plunge and tremble when they are led forth1 for they were not yet used to dead men4 ,no line in ,homer shows more intimate knowledge and realisation of horses and of war4 ,odysseus drives the horses of ,rhesus out of the camp with the bow of ,meriones2 he has forgotten to take the whip from the chariot4 ,diomede1 having slain ,king ,rhesus asleep1 thinks whether he shall lift out the chariot 7war chariots were very light7 or drag it by the pole2 but ,athene warns him to be going4 ,he springs upon the steeds1 and they make for their camp4 ,it is not clearly indicated whether they ride or drive 7,x41 #e ,i #c1 #ebg-ebh1 #eda72 but1 suppose that they ride1 are we to conclude that the fact proves lateness8 ,the heroes always drive in ,homer1 but it is inconceivable that they could not ride in cases of necessity1 as here1 if ,diomede has thought it wiser not to bring out the chariot and harness the horses4 ,riding is mentioned in ,iliad1 ,,xv4 #fgi1 in a simile2 again1 in a simile1 ,odyssey1 ,v4 #cg ,i4 ,it is not the custom for heroes to ride2 the chariot is used in war and in travelling1 but1 when there are horses and no chariot1 men could not be so imbecile as not to mount the horses1 nor could the poet be so pedantic as not to make them do so4 ,the shields would cause no difficulty2 they would be slung sideways1 like the shields of knights in the early ,middle ,ages4 ,the pair1 picking up ,dolon's spoils as they pass1 hurry back to the chiefs1 where ,nestor welcomes them4 ,the others laugh and are encouraged 7to encourage them and his audience is the aim of the poet72 while the pair go to ,diomede's quarters1 wash off the blood and sweat from their limbs in the sea1 and then enter the polished baths1 common in the ,odyssey1 unnamed in the ,iliad4 ,but on no other occasion in the ,iliad are we admitted to view this part of heroic toilette4 ,nowhere else1 in fact1 do we accompany a hero to his quarters and his tub after the day's work is over4 ,achilles1 however1 refuses to wash1 after fighting1 in his grief for ,patroclus1 though plenty of water was being heated for the purpose1 and it is to be presumed that a bath was ready for the water 7,iliad1 ,,xxiii4 #dj74 ,see1 too1 for ,hector's bath1 ,,xxii4 #ddd4 ,the two heroes then refresh themselves2 breakfast1 in fact1 and drink1 as is natural4 ,by this time the dawn must have been in the sky1 and in ,book ,,xi4 men are stirring with the dawn4 ,such is the story of ,book ,x4 ,the reader may decide as to whether it is ,very late2 barely ,homeric1 or a late and deliberate piece of burlesque1 ,footnote3 ,henry1 ,classical ,review4 ,march #aijf4 or whether it is very ,homeric1 though the whole set of situations--a night of terror1 an anxious chief1 a nocturnal adventure--are unexampled in the poem4 ,the poet's audience of warriors must have been familiar with such situations1 and must have appreciated the humorous1 ruthless treatment of ,dolon1 the spoiled only brother of five sisters4 ,mr4 ,monro admitted that ,dolon is ,shakespearian1 but added1 too ,shakespearian for ,homer4 ,one may as well say that ,agincourt1 in ,henry ,v41 is too ,homeric for ,shakespeare4 ,mr4 ,monro argued that the ,tenth ,book comes in awkwardly after the ,ninth4 ,nitzsche thinks just the reverse4 ,the patriotic warrior audience would delight in the ,doloneia after the anguish of ,book ,,ix42 would laugh with ,odysseus at the close of his adventure1 and rejoice with the other ,achaeans 7,x4 #eje74 ,the introductory part of the ,book is cumbrous1 says ,mr4 ,monro4 ,to us it is1 if we wish to get straight to the adventure1 just as the customary delays in ,book ,,xix41 before ,achilles is allowed to fight1 are tedious to us4 ,but the poet's audience did not necessarily share our tastes1 and might take pleasure 7as ,i do7 in the curious details of the opening of ,book ,x4 ,the poet was thinking of his audience1 not of modern professors4 ,we hear no more of ,rhesus and his ,thracians4 ,of ,rhesus there was no more to hear1 and his people probably went home1 like ,glenbuckie's ,stewarts after the mysterious death of their chief in ,amprior's house of ,leny before ,prestonpans 7#agde74 ,glenbuckie was mysteriously pistolled in the night4 ,the style and tone is unlike that of the ,iliad 444 ,it is rather akin to comedy of a rough farcical kind4 ,but it was time for comic relief4 ,if the story of ,dolon be comic1 it is comic with the practical humour of the sagas4 ,in an isolated nocturnal adventure and massacre we cannot expect the style of an heroic battle under the sunlight4 ,is the poet not to be allowed to be various1 and is the scene of the ,porter in ,macbeth1 in style and tone1 like the rest of the drama8 7,macbeth1 ,act ii4 sc4 #c74 ,here1 of course1 ,shakespeare indulges infinitely more in comedy of a rough practical kind than does the author of the ,doloneia4 ,the humour and the cruelty do not exceed what is exhibited in many of the gabes1 or insulting boasts of heroes over dead foes in other parts of the ,iliad2 such as the taunting comparison of a warrior falling from his chariot to a diver after oysters1 or as one of the ,argives hath caught the spear in his flesh1 and leaning thereon for a staff1 methinks that he will go down within the house of ,hades 7,,xiv4 #dee-deg74 ,the ,iliad1 like the sagas1 is rich in this extremely practical humour4 ,mr4 ,leaf says that the ,book must have been composed before the ,iliad had reached its present form1 for it cannot have been meant to follow on ,book ,,ix4 ,it is rather another case of a parallel rival to that ,book1 coupled with it only in the final literary redaction1 which ,mr4 ,leaf dates in the middle of the sixth century4 ,the ,book must have been composed before the ,iliad had reached its present form1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbd4 ,it is not easy to understand this decision2 for1 as ,mr4 ,leaf had previously written1 about ,book ,,ix4 #fj-fh1 the posting of the watch is at least not necessary to the story1 and it has a suspicious air of being merely a preparation for the next ,book1 which is much later1 and which turns entirely upon a visit to the sentinels4 ,footnote3 ,companion1 p4#agd4 ,now a military audience would not have pardoned the poet of ,book ,,ix4 if1 in the circumstances of defeat1 with a confident enemy encamped within striking distance1 he had not made the ,achaeans throw forth their outposts4 ,the thing was inevitable and is not suspicious2 but the poet purposely makes the advanced guard consist of young men under ,nestor's son and ,meriones4 ,he needs them for ,book ,x4 ,therefore the poet of ,book ,,ix4 is the poet of ,book ,x4 preparing his effect in advance2 or the poet of ,book ,x4 is a man who cleverly takes advantage of ,book ,,ix41 or he composed his poem of a night of terror and adventure1 in the air1 and the editor of #edj ,b4,c41 having heard it recited and copied it out1 went back to ,book ,,ix4 and inserted the advanced guard1 under ,thrasymedes and ,meriones1 to lead up to ,book ,x4 ,on ,mr4 ,leafs present theory1 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4#dbd4 ,book ,x41 we presume1 was meant1 not to follow ,book ,,ix41 but to follow the end of ,book ,,vii1 being an alternative to ,book ,,viii4 7composed1 he says1 to lead up to ,book ,,ix47 and ,book ,,ix4 ,but ,book ,,vii4 closes with the ,achaean refusal of the compromise offered by ,paris--the restoration of the property but not of the wife of ,menelaus4 ,the ,trojans and ,achaeans feast all night2 the ,trojans feast in the city4 ,there is therefore no place here for ,book ,x4 after ,book ,,vii1 and the ,achaeans cannot roam about all night1 as they are feasting2 nor can ,agamemnon be in the state of anxiety exhibited by him in ,book ,x4 ,book ,x4 could not exist without ,book ,,ix41 and must have been meant to follow on it4 ,mr4 ,leaf sees that1 in his preface to ,book ,,ix41 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #cga4 ,the placing of sentinels 7in ,book ,,ix4 #hj1 #hd7 is needed as an introduction to ,book ,x4 but has nothing to do with this ,book 7,,ix474 ,but1 we have said1 it was inevitable1 given the new situation in ,book ,,ix4 7an ,achaean repulse1 and the enemy camped in front71 that an advanced guard must be placed1 even if there proved to be no need of their services4 ,we presume that ,mr4 ,leaf's literary editor1 finding that ,book ,x4 existed and that the advanced guard was a necessity of its action1 went back to ,book ,,ix4 and introduced an advanced guard of young men1 with its captains1 ,thrasymedes and ,meriones4 ,even after this the editor had much to do1 if ,book ,,ix4 originally exhibited ,agamemnon as not in terror and despair1 as it now does4 ,we need not throw the burden of all this work on the editor4 ,as ,mr4 ,leaf elsewhere writes1 in a different mind1 the ,tenth ,book is obviously adapted to its present place in the ,iliad1 for it assumes a moment when ,achilles is absent from the field1 and when the ,greeks are in deep dejection from a recent defeat4 ,these conditions are exactly fulfilled by the situation at the end of ,book ,,ix4 ,footnote3 ,companion1 p4 #aij4 ,this is certainly the case4 ,the ,tenth ,book could not exist without the ,ninth2 yet ,mr4 ,leaf's new opinion is that it cannot have been meant to follow on ,book ,,ix4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbd4 ,he was better inspired when he held the precisely opposite opinion4 ,dr4 ,adolf ,kiene ,footnote3 ,die ,epen des ,homer1 ,zweiter ,theil1 pp4 #ij-id4 ,hanover1 #ahhd4 accepts ,book ,,xi4 as originally composed to fill its present place in the ,iliad4 ,he points out the despondency of the chiefs after receiving the reply of ,achilles1 and supposes that even ,diomede 7,,ix4 #gjh7 only urges ,agamemnon to array before the ships thy folk and horsemen1 for defensive battle4 ,but1 encouraged by the success of the night adventure1 ,agamemnon next day assumes the offensive4 ,to consider thus is perhaps to consider too curiously4 ,but it is clear that the ,achaeans have been much encouraged by the events of ,book ,x41 especially ,agamemnon1 whose character1 as ,kiene observes1 is very subtly and consistently treated1 and lies near the poet's heart4 ,this is the point which we keep urging4 ,agamemnon's care for ,menelaus is strictly preserved in ,book ,x4 ,nitzsche 7,i #hig7 writes1 ,between ,book ,,ix4 and ,book ,,xi there is a gap2 that gap the ,doloneia fills3 it must have been composed to be part of the ,,iliad4 ,but he thinks that the ,doloneia has taken the place of an earlier lay which filled the gap4 ,footnote3 ,die ,echtheit der ,doloneia1 p4 #cb4 ,programme des ,k4 ,k4 ,staats ,gymnasium zu ,marburg1 #ahgg4 ,that the ,book is never referred to later in the ,iliad1 even if it be true1 is no great argument against its authenticity4 ,for when later references are made to ,book ,,ix41 they are dismissed as clever late interpolations4 ,if the horses of ,rhesus took part1 as they do not1 in the sports at the funeral of ,patroclus1 the passage would be called a clever interpolation3 in fact1 ,diomede had better horses1 divine horses to run4 ,however1 it is certainly remarkable that the interpolation was not made by one of the interpolators of critical theory4 ,meanwhile there is1 we think1 a reference to ,book ,x4 in ,book ,,xiv4 ,footnote3 ,this was pointed out to me by ,mr4 ,shewan1 to whose great knowledge of ,homer ,i am here much indebted4 ,in ,iliad1 ,,xiv4 #i-aa1 we read that ,nestor1 in his quarters with the wounded ,machaon1 on the day following the night of ,dolon's death1 hears the cry of battle and goes out to see what is happening4 ,he took the well-wrought shield of his son1 horse-taming ,thrasymedes1 which was lying in the hut1 all glistening with bronze1 but the son had the shield of his father4 ,why had ,thrasymedes the shield of his father8 ,at about #c ,a4,m4 before dawn the shield of ,nestor was lying beside him in his own bedroom 7,book ,x4 #gf71 and at the same moment his son ,thrasymedes was on outpost duty1 and had his own shield with him 7,book ,,ix4 #ha74 ,when1 then1 did father and son exchange shields1 and why8 ,mr4 ,leaf says1 ,it is useless to inquire why father and son had thus changed shields1 as the scholiasts of course do4 ,the scholiasts merely babble4 ,homer1 of course1 meant something by this exchange of shields1 which occurred late in the night of ,book ,,ix4 or very early in the following day1 that of ,books ,,xi-,,xvi4 ,let us follow again the sequence of events4 ,on the night before the day when ,nestor had ,thrasymedes' shield and ,thrasymedes had ,nestor's1 ,thrasymedes was sent out1 with shield and all1 in command of one of the seven companies of an advanced guard1 posted between fosse and wall1 in case of a camisade by the ,trojans1 who were encamped on the plain 7,,ix4 #ha74 ,with him in command were ,meriones and five other young men less notable4 ,they had supplies with them and whatever was needed3 they cooked supper in bivouac4 ,in the ,doloneia the wakeful princes1 after inspecting the advanced guard1 go forward within view of the ,trojan ranks and consult4 ,with them they take ,nestor's son1 ,thrasymedes1 and ,meriones 7,x4 #aif74 ,the two young men1 being on active service1 are armed2 the princes are not4 ,diomede1 having been suddenly roused out of sleep1 with no intention to fight1 merely threw on his dressing-gown1 a lion's skin4 ,nestor wore a thick1 double1 purple dressing-gown4 ,odysseus had cast his shield about his shoulders4 ,it was decided that ,odysseus and ,diomede should enter the ,trojan camp and prove a jeopardy4 ,diomede had no weapon but his spear2 so ,thrasymedes1 who is armed as we saw1 lends him his bull's-hide cap1 that keeps the heads of stalwart youths1 his sword 7for that of ,diomede was left at the ships71 and his shield4 ,diomede and ,odysseus successfully achieve their adventure and return to the chiefs1 where they talk with ,nestor2 and then they go to ,diomede's hut and drink4 ,the outposts remain1 of course1 at their stations4 ,meanwhile1 ,thrasymedes1 having lent his shield to ,diomede1 has none of his own4 ,naturally1 as he was to pass the night under arms1 he would send to his father's quarters for the old man's shield1 a sword1 and a helmet4 ,he would remain at his post 7his men had provisions7 till the general reveillez at dawn1 and would then breakfast at his post and go into the fray4 ,nestor1 therefore1 missing his shield1 would send round to ,diomede's quarters for the shield of ,thrasymedes1 which had been lent overnight to ,diomede1 would take it into the fight1 and would bring it back to his own hut when he carried the wounded ,machaon thither out of the battle4 ,when he arms to go out and seek for information1 he picks up the shield of ,thrasymedes4 ,nothing can be more obvious2 the poet1 being a man of imagination1 not a professor1 sees it all1 and casually mentions that the son had the father's and the father had the son's shield4 ,his audience1 men of the sword1 see the case as clearly as the poet does3 only we moderns and the scholiasts1 almost as modern as ourselves1 are puzzled4 ,it may also be argued1 though we lay no stress on it1 that in ,book ,,xi4 #cab1 when ,agamemnon has been wounded1 we find ,odysseus and ,diomede alone together1 without their contingents1 because they have not separated since they breakfasted together1 after returning from the adventure of ,book ,x41 and thus they have come rather late to the field4 ,they find the ,achaeans demoralised by the wounding of ,agamemnon1 and they make a stand4 ,what ails us1 asks ,odysseus1 that we forget our impetuous valour8 ,the passage appears to take up the companionship of ,odysseus and ,diomede1 who were left breakfasting together at the end of ,book ,x4 and are not mentioned till we meet them again in this scene of ,book ,,xi41 as if they had just come on the field4 ,as to the linguistic tests of lateness there are exceptionally numerous traces of later formation1 says ,mr4 ,monro2 while ,fick1 tout contraire1 writes1 clumsy ,ionisms are not common1 and1 as a rule1 occur in these parts which on older grounds show themselves to be late interpolations4 ,the cases of agreement 7between ,fick and ,mr4 ,monro71 are few1 and the passages thus condemned are not more numerous in the ,doloneia than in any average book4 ,footnote3 ,jevons1 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vii4 p4 #cjb4 ,the six examples of a post-,homeric use of the article do not seem so very post-,homeric to an ordinary intelligence--parallels occur in ,book ,i4--and ,perfects in ,greek3 ka from derivative verbs do not destroy the impression of antiquity and unity which is left by the treatment of character2 by the celebrated cap with boars' tusks1 which no human being could archaeologically reconstruct in the seventh century2 and by the ,homeric vigour in such touches as the horses unused to dead men4 ,as the ,iliad certainly passed through centuries in which its language could not but be affected by linguistic changes1 as it could not escape from remaniements1 consciously or unconsciously introduced by reciters and copyists1 the linguistic objections are not strongly felt by us4 ,an unphilological reader of ,homer notes that ,duntzer thinks the ,doloneia older than the oldest portion of the ,odyssey1 while ,gemoll thinks that the author of the ,doloneia4 was familiar with the ,odyssey4 ,footnote3 ,duntzer1 ,homer4 ,abhanglungen1 p4 #cbd4 ,gemoll1 ,hermes1 xv4 #eeg ff4 ,meanwhile1 one thing seems plain to us3 when the author of ,book ,,ix4 posted the guards under ,thrasymedes1 he was deliberately leading up to ,book ,x42 while the casual remark in ,book ,,xiv4 about the exchange of shields between father and son1 ,nestor and ,thrasymedes1 glances back at ,book ,x4 and possibly refers to some lost and more explicit statement4 ,it is not always remembered that1 if things could drop into the interpolations1 things could also drop out of the ,,iliad1 causing lacunae1 during the dark backward of its early existence4 ,if the ,doloneia be barely ,homeric1 as ,father ,browne holds1 this opinion was not shared by the listeners or readers of the sixth century4 ,the vase painters often illustrate the ,doloneia2 but it does not follow that the story was fresh because it was popular1 as ,mr4 ,leaf suggests1 and was treated as public property in a different way 7namely1 in a comic way7 from the consecrated early legends 7,iliad1 ,,ii #dbd1 #dbe74 ,the sixth century vase painters illustrated many passages in ,homer1 not the ,doloneia alone4 ,the comic way was the ruthless humour of two strong warriors capturing one weak coward4 ,much later1 wild caricature was applied in vase painting to the most romantic scenes in the ,odyssey1 which were consecrated enough4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,interpolations ,,of ,,nestor ,that several of the passages in which ,nestor speaks are very late interpolations1 meant to glorify ,pisistratus1 himself of ,nestor's line1 is a critical opinion to which we have more than once alluded4 ,the first example is in ,iliad1 ,,ii4 #ecj-efh4 ,this passage is meant at once to present ,nestor as the leading counsellor of the ,greek army1 and to introduce the coming ,catalogue4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 #gj4 ,now the ,catalogue originally formed an introduction to the whole ,cycle4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 #hg4 ,but1 to repeat an earlier observation1 surely the whole ,cycle was much later than the period of ,pisistratus and his sons2 that is1 the compilation of the ,homeric and ,cyclic poems into one body of verse1 named ,the ,cycle1 is believed to have been much later4 ,it is objected that ,nestor's advice in this passage1 ,separate thy warriors by tribes and clans 7,greek3 phyla1 phraetras71 is out of place in the last year of the war2 but this suggestion for military reorganisation may be admitted as a mere piece of poetical perspective1 like ,helen's description of the ,achaean chiefs in ,book ,,iii1 or ,nestor may wish to return to an obsolete system of clan regiments4 ,the ,athenians had tribes and clans1 political institutions1 and ,nestor's advice is noted as a touch of late ,attic influence2 but about the nature and origin of these social divisions we know so little that it is vain to argue about them4 ,the advice of ,nestor is an appeal to the clan spirit--a very serviceable military spirit1 as the ,highlanders have often proved--but we have no information as to whether it existed in ,achaean times4 ,nestor speaks as the aged ,lochiel spoke to ,claverhouse before ,killiecrankie4 ,did the ,athenian army of the sixth century fight in clan regiments8 ,the device seems to belong to an earlier civilisation1 whether it survived in sixth century ,athens or not4 ,it is1 of course1 notorious that tribes and clans are most flourishing among the most backward people1 though they were welded into the constitution of ,athens4 ,the passage1 therefore1 cannot with any certainty be dismissed as very late1 for the words for tribe and clan could not be novel ,athenian inventions1 the institutions designated being of prehistoric origin4 ,nestor shows his tactics again in ,,iv4 #cjc-cji1 offers his inopportune tactical lucubrations1 doubtless under ,athenian 7,pisistratean7 influence4 ,the poet is here denied a sense of humour4 ,that a veteran military ,polonius should talk as inopportunely about tactics as ,dugald ,dalgetty does about the sconce of ,drumsnab is an essential part of the humour of the character of ,nestor4 ,this is what ,nestor's critics do not see2 the inopportune nature of his tactical remarks is the point of them1 just as in the case of the laird of ,drumthwacket1 that should be4 ,scott knew little of ,homer1 but coincided in the ,nestorian humour by mere congruity of genius4 ,the ,pisistratidze must have been humourless if they did not see that the poet smiled as he composed ,nestor's speeches1 glorifying old deeds of his own and old ways of fighting4 ,he arrays his ,pylians with chariots in front1 footmen in the rear4 ,in the blank space the princely heroes dismounted to fight1 the chariots following close behind them4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,,xi4 #dh-ef4 ,in the same way during the ,hundred ,years' ,war the ,english knights dismounted and defeated the ,french chivalry till1 under ,jeanne d',arc and ,la ,hire1 the ,french learned the lesson1 and imitated the ,english practice4 ,on the other hand1 ,egyptian wall-paintings show the ,egyptian chariotry advancing in neat lines and serried squadrons4 ,according to ,nestor these had of old been the ,achaean tactics1 and he preferred the old way4 ,nestor's advice in ,book ,,iv4 is not to dismount or break the line of chariots2 these1 he says1 were the old tactics3 ,even so is the far better way2 thus1 moreover1 did men of old time lay low cities and walls4 ,there was to be no rushing of individuals from the ranks1 no dismounting4 ,nestor's were not the tactics of the heroes--they usually dismount and do single valiances2 but ,nestor1 commanding his local contingent1 recommends the methods of the old school1 ,greek3 hoi pretoroi4 ,what can be more natural and characteristic8 ,the poet's meaning seems quite clear4 ,he is not flattering ,pisistratus1 but1 with quiet humour1 offers the portrait of a vain1 worthy veteran4 ,it is difficult to see how this point can be missed2 it never was missed before ,nestor's speeches seemed serviceable to the ,pisistratean theory of the composition of the ,,iliad4 ,in his first edition ,mr4 ,leaf regarded the interpolations as intended to glorify ,nestor without reference to ,pisistratus1 whom ,mr4 ,leaf did not then recognise as the master of a sycophantic editor4 ,the passages are really meant to display the old man's habit of glorifying himself and past times4 ,pisistratus could not feel flattered by passages intended to exhibit his ancestor as a conceited and inopportune old babbler4 ,i ventured in #ahif to suggest that the interpolator was trying to please ,pisistratus1 but this was said in a spirit of mockery4 ,of all the characters in ,homer that of ,nestor is most familiar to the unlearned world1 merely because ,nestor's is a character part1 very broadly drawn4 ,the third interpolation of flattery to ,pisistratus in the person of ,nestor is found in ,,vii4 #abe-afj4 ,the ,achaean chiefs are loath to accept the challenge of ,hector to single combat4 ,only ,menelaus rises and arms himself1 moved by the strong sense of honour which distinguishes a warrior notoriously deficient in bodily strength4 ,agamemnon refuses to let him fight2 the other peers make no movement1 and ,nestor rebukes them4 ,it is entirely in nature that he should fall back on his memory of a similar situation in his youth2 when the ,arcadian champion1 ,ereuthalion1 challenged any prince of the ,pylians1 and when no man plucked up heart to meet him except ,nestor himself4 ,had there never been any ,pisistratus1 any poet who created the part of a worthy and wordy veteran must have made ,nestor speak just as he does speak4 ,ereuthalion was the tallest and strongest of men that ,i have slain6 and ,nestor1 being what he is1 offers copious and interesting details about the armour of ,ereuthalion and about its former owners4 ,the passage is like those in which the ,icelandic sagamen dwelt lovingly on the history of a good sword1 or the ,maoris on the old possessors of an ancient jade patu4 ,an objection is now taken to ,nestor's geography3 he is said not to know the towns and burns of his own country4 ,he speaks of the swift stream ,keladon1 the streams of ,iardanus1 and the walls of ,pheia4 ,pheia is no doubt the same as ,pheai ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,note on ,odyssey1 ,,xv4 #big4 7,odyssey1 ,,xv4 #big71 but that was a maritime town not near ,arkadia4 ,there is nothing known of a ,keladon or ,iardanus anywhere near it4 ,now ,didymus 7,schol4 ,a7 is said to have read ,greek3 ,phaeraes for ,greek3 ,pheias1 following ,pherekydes4 ,footnote3 ,leaf1 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 #cjh4 ,m4 ,victor ,berard1 who has made an elaborate study of ,elian topography1 says that ,pheia is a cape1 not a town1 and adopts the reading ,phera1 the ,greek3 ,pherae of the journey of ,telemachus1 in the ,odyssey4 ,he thinks that the ,greek3 ,pherae of ,nestor is the ,aliphera of ,polybius1 and believes that the topography of ,nestor and of the journey of ,telemachus is correct4 ,the ,keladon is now the river or burn of ,saint ,isidore2 the ,iardanus is at the foot of ,mount ,kaiapha4 ,keladon has obviously the same sense as the ,gaelic ,altgarbh1 the rough and brawling stream4 ,iardanus is also a stream in ,crete1 and ,mr4 ,leaf thinks it ,semitic--,yarden1 from yarad to flow2 but the ,semites did not give the ,yar to the ,yarrow nor to the ,australian ,yarra ,yarra4 ,the country1 says ,m4 ,berard1 is a network of rivers1 burns1 and rivulets2 and we cannot have any certainty1 we may add1 as the same river and burn names recur in many parts of the same country2 ,footnote3 ,berard1 ,les ,pheniciens et ,l',odyssee1 #ajh-aac1 #aijb many of them1 in ,england1 are plainly prae-,celtic4 ,while the correct geography may1 on this showing1 be that of ,homer1 we cannot give up ,homer's claim to ,nestor's speech4 ,as to ,nestor's tale about the armour of ,ereuthalion1 it is manifest that the first owner of the armour of ,ereuthalion1 namely ,are'ithous1 the ,maceman1 so called because he had the singularity of fighting with an iron casse-tete1 as ,nestor explains 7,,vii4 #ach-adj71 was a famous character in legendary history4 ,he appears as ,prince ,areithous1 the ,maceman1 father 7or grand-father87 of an ,areithous slain by ,hector 7,,vii4 #h-aj74 ,in ,greece1 it was not unusual for the grandson to bear the grandfather's name1 and1 if the ,maceman was grand-father of ,hector's victim1 there is no chronological difficulty4 ,the chronological difficulty1 in any case1 if ,hector's victim is the son of the ,maceman1 is not at all beyond a poetic narrator's possibility of error in genealogy4 ,if ,nestor's speech is a late interpolation1 if its late author borrowed his vivid account of the ,maceman and his casse-tete from the mere word maceman in ,,vii4 #i1 he must be credited with a lively poetic imagination4 ,few or none of these reminiscences of ,nestor are really inapplicable to the context4 ,here the context demands encouragement for heroes who shun a challenge4 ,nestor mentions an applicable and apposite instance of similar want of courage1 and1 as his character demands1 he is the hero of his own story4 ,his brag1 or gabe1 about he was the tallest and strongest of all the men ,i ever slew1 is deliciously in keeping1 and reminds us of the college don who said of the ,czar1 he is the nicest emperor ,i ever met4 ,the poet is sketching an innocent vanity2 he is not flattering ,pisistratus4 ,the next case is the long narrative of ,nestor to the hurried ,patroclus1 who has been sent by ,achilles to bring news of the wounded ,machaon 7,,xi4 #fjd-gjb74 ,nestor on this occasion has useful advice to give1 namely1 that ,achilles1 if he will not fight1 should send his men1 under ,patroclus1 to turn the tide of ,trojan victory4 ,but the poet wishes to provide an interval of time and of yet more dire disaster before the return of ,patroclus to ,achilles4 ,by an obvious literary artifice he makes ,nestor detain the reluctant ,patroclus with a long story of his own early feats of arms4 ,it is a story of a hot-trod1 so called in ,border law2 the ,eleians had driven a creagh of cattle from the ,pylians1 who pursued1 and ,nestor killed the ,eleian leader1 ,itymoneus4 ,the speech is an ,achaean parallel to the ,border ballad of ,jamie ,telfer of the ,fair ,dodhead1 in editing which ,scott has been accused of making a singular and most obvious and puzzling blunder in the topography of his own sheriffdom of the ,forest4 ,on ,scott's showing the scene of the raid is in upper ,ettrickdale1 not1 as critics aver1 in upper ,teviotdale2 thus the narrative of the ballad would be impossible4 ,footnote3 ,in fact both sites on the two ,dodburns are impossible2 the fault lay with the ballad-maker1 not with ,scott4 ,the ,pisistratean editor is accused of a similar error4 ,no doubt he was an ,asiatic ,greek1 completely ignorant of the ,peloponnesus4 ,footnote3 ,iliad4 ,note to ,,xi4 #gef1 and to the ,catalogue1 ,,ii4 #fae-fag4 ,it is something to know that ,pisistratus employed an editor1 or that his editor employed a collaborator who was an ,asiatic ,greek6 ,meanwhile1 nothing is less secure than arguments based on the ,catalogue4 ,we have already shown how ,mr4 ,leaf's opinions as to the date and historical merits of the ,catalogue have widely varied1 while ,m4 ,berard appears to have vindicated the topography of ,nestor4 ,of the ,catalogue ,mr4 ,allen writes1 ,as a table1 according to regions1 of ,agamemnon's forces it bears every mark of venerable antiquity1 showing a state of things which never recurred in later history1 and which no one had any interest to invent1 or even the means for inventing4 ,he makes a vigorous defence of the ,catalogue1 as regards the dominion of ,achilles1 against ,mr4 ,leaf4 ,footnote3 ,classical ,review1 ,may #aijf1 pp4 x#id-bja4 ,into the details we need not go1 but it is not questions of ,homeric topography1 obscure as they are1 that can shake our faith in the humorous portrait of old ,nestor1 or make us suppose that the sympathetic mockery of the poet is the sycophantic adulation of the editor to his statesman employer1 ,pisistratus4 ,if any question may be left to literary discrimination it is the authentic originality of the portrayal of ,nestor4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,comparative ,,study ,,of ,,early ,,epics ,though comparison is the method of ,science1 the comparative study of the national poetry of warlike aristocracies1 its conditions of growth and decadence1 has been much neglected by ,homeric critics4 ,sir ,richard ,jebb touched on the theme1 and1 after devoting four pages to a sketch of ,sanskrit1 ,finnish1 ,persian1 and early ,teutonic heroic poetry and ,,saga1 decided that in our country1 as in others1 we fail to find any true parallel to the case of the ,homeric poems4 ,these poems must be studied in themselves1 without looking for aid1 in this sense1 to the comparative method4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #ace4 ,part of this conclusion seems to us rather hasty4 ,in a brief manual ,sir ,richard had not space for a thorough comparative study of old heroic poetry at large4 ,his quoted sources are3 for ,india1 ,lassen2 for ,france1 ,mr4 ,saintsbury's ,short ,history of ,,french ,,literature 7sixteen pages on this topic71 and a work unknown to me1 by ,m4 ,paul2 for ,iceland he only quoted ,,the ,encyclopedia ,,britannica 7,mr4 ,edmund ,gosse72 for ,germany1 ,lachmann and ,bartsch2 for the ,finnish ,kalewala1 the ,,encyclopedia ,,britannica 7,mr4 ,sime and ,mr4 ,keltie72 and for ,england1 a ,,primer ,,of ,,english ,,literature by ,mr4 ,stopford ,brooke4 ,these sources appear less than adequate1 and ,celtic heroic romance is entirely omitted4 ,a much deeper and wider comparative criticism of early heroic national poetry is needed1 before any one has a right to say that the study cannot aid our critical examination of the ,homeric problem4 ,many peoples have passed through a stage of culture closely analogous to that of ,achaean society as described in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,every society of this kind has had its ruling military class1 its ancient legends1 and its minstrels who on these legends have based their songs4 ,the similarity of human nature under similar conditions makes it certain that comparison will discover useful parallels between the poetry of societies separated in time and space but practically identical in culture4 ,it is not much to the credit of modern criticism that a topic so rich and interesting has been1 at least in ,england1 almost entirely neglected by ,homeric scholars4 ,meanwhile1 it is perfectly correct to say1 as ,sir ,richard observes1 that we fail to find any true parallel to the case of the ,homeric poems1 for we nowhere find the legends of an heroic age handled by a very great poet--the greatest of all poets--except in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the critics refuse to believe that1 in the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 we possess the heroic ,achaean legends handled by one great poet4 ,they find a composite by many hands1 good and bad1 and of many ages1 they say2 sometimes the whole composition and part of the poems are ascribed to a late litterateur4 ,now to that supposed state of things we do find several true parallels1 in ,germany1 in ,finland1 in ,ireland4 ,but the results of work by these many hands in many ages are anything but a true parallel to the results which lie before us in the ,iliad and ,,odyssey4 ,where the processes of composite authorship throughout many ,,ages certainly occur1 as in ,germany and ,ireland1 there we find no true parallel to the ,homeric poems4 ,it follows that1 in all probability1 no such processes as the critics postulate produced the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 for where the processes existed1 beyond doubt they failed egregiously to produce the results4 ,sir ,richard's argument would have been logical if many efforts by many hands1 in many ages1 in ,england1 ,finland1 ,ireland1 ,iceland1 and ,germany did actually produce true parallels to the ,achaean epics4 ,they did not1 and why not8 ,simply because these other races had no ,homer4 ,all the other necessary conditions were present1 the legendary material1 the heroic society1 the ,court minstrels1 all--except the great poet4 ,in all the countries mentioned1 except ,finland1 there existed military aristocracies with their courts1 castles1 and minstrels1 while the minstrels had rich material in legendary history and in myth1 and ,maerchen1 and old songs4 ,but none of the minstrels was adequate to the production of an ,english1 ,german1 or ,irish ,,iliad or ,,odyssey1 or even of a true artistic equivalent in ,france4 ,we have tried to show that the critics1 rejecting a ,homer1 have been unable to advance any adequate hypothesis to account for the existence of the ,,iliad and ,,odyssey4 ,now we see that1 where such conditions of production as they postulate existed but where there was no great epic genius1 they can find no true parallels to the ,epics4 ,their logic thus breaks down at both ends4 ,it may be replied that in non-,greek lands one condition found in ,greek society failed3 the succession of a reading age to an age of heroic listeners4 ,but this is not so4 ,in ,france and ,germany an age of readers duly began1 but they did not mainly read copies of the old heroic poems4 ,they turned to lyric poetry1 as in ,greece1 and they recast the heroic songs into modern and popular forms in verse and prose1 when they took any notice of the old heroic poems at all4 ,one merit of the ,greek epics is a picture of a certain phase of early civilisation1 and that picture is a naturally harmonious whole1 with unity of impression1 says ,sir ,richard ,jebb4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #cg4 ,certainly we can find no true parallel1 on an ,homeric scale1 to this harmonious picture in the epics of ,germany and ,england or in the early literature of ,ireland4 ,sir ,richard1 for ,england1 omits notice of ,beowulf2 but we know that ,beowulf1 a long heroic poem1 is a mass of anachronisms--a heathen legend in a ,christian setting4 ,the hero1 that great heathen champion1 has his epic filled full of ,christian allusions and ,christian morals1 because the clerical redactor1 in ,christian ,england1 could not but intrude these things into old pagan legends evolved by the continental ancestors of our race4 ,he had no painful anxiety1 like the supposed ,ionic continuators of the ,achaean poems 7when they are not said to have done precisely the reverse71 to preserve harmony of ancient ideas4 ,such archaeological anxieties are purely modern4 ,if we take the ,nibelungenlied1 ,footnote3 ,see chapter on the ,nibelungenlied in ,homer ,,and the ,epic1 pp4 #chb-djd4 we find that it is a thing of many rehandlings1 even in existing manuscripts4 ,for example1 the ,greeks clung to the hexameter in ,homer4 ,not so did the ,germans adhere to old metres4 ,the poem that1 in the oldest ,,ms41 is written in assonances1 in later ,,mss4 is reduced to regular rhymes and is retouched in many essential respects4 ,the matter of the ,nibelungenlied is of heathen origin4 ,we see the real state of heathen affairs in the ,icelandic versions of the same tale1 for the ,icelanders were peculiar in preserving ancient lays2 and1 when these were woven into a prose saga1 the archaic and heathen features were retained4 ,had the post-,christian prose author of the ,volsunga been a great poet1 we might find in his work a true parallel to the ,iliad4 ,but1 though he preserves the harmony of his picture of pre-,christian princely life 7save in the savage beginnings of his story71 he is not a poet2 so the true parallel to the ,greek epic fails1 noble as is the saga in many passages4 ,in the ,german ,nibelungenlied all is modernised2 the characters are ,christian1 the manners are chivalrous1 and ,maerchen older than ,homer are forced into a wandering mediaeval chronicle-poem4 ,the ,germans1 in short1 had no early poet of genius1 and therefore could not produce a true parallel to ,,iliad or ,odyssey4 ,the mediaeval poets1 of course1 never dreamed of archaeological anxiety1 as the supposed ,ionian continuators are sometimes said to have done1 any more than did the ,french and late ,welsh handlers of the ancient ,celtic ,arthurian materials4 ,the late ,german bearbeiter of the ,nibelungenlied has no idea of unity of plot--enfin1 ,germany1 having excellent and ancient legendary material for an epic1 but producing no parallel to ,,iliad and ,odyssey1 only proves how absolutely essential a ,homer was to the ,greek epics4 ,if any inference could properly be drawn from the ,edda 7the ,icelandic collection of heroic lays71 says ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 it would be that short separate poems on cognate subjects can long exist as a collection without coalescing into such an artistic whole as the ,iliad or the ,odyssey4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #cc4 ,it is our own argument that ,sir ,richard states4 ,short separate poems on cognate subjects can certainly co-exist for long anywhere1 but they cannot automatically and they cannot by aid of an editor become a long epic4 ,nobody can stitch and vamp them into a poem like the ,,iliad or ,odyssey4 ,to produce a poem like either of these a great poetic genius must arise1 and fuse the ancient materials1 as ,hephaestus fused copper and tin1 and then cast the mass into a mould of his own making4 ,a small poet may reduce the legends and lays into a very inartistic whole1 a very inharmonious whole1 as in the ,nibelungenlied1 but a controlling poet1 not a mere redactor or editor1 is needed to perform even that feat4 ,where a man who is not a poet undertakes to produce the coalescence1 as ,dr4 ,loennrot 7#ahce-ahdi7 did in the case of the peasant1 not courtly1 lays of ,finland1 he fails to prove that mere combining and editing can form an artistic whole out of originally distinct songs1 even though concerned with closely related themes1 says ,sir ,richard ,jebb4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #acd-ace4 ,this is perfectly true2 much as ,loennrot botched and vamped the ,finnish lays he made no epic out of them4 ,but1 as it is true1 how did the late ,athenian drudge of ,pisistratus succeed where ,loennrot failed8 ,in the dovetailing of the ,,odyssey we see the work of one mind1 says ,sir ,richard4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #abi4 ,this mind cannot have been the property of any one but a great poet1 obviously1 as the ,odyssey is confessedly an artistic whole4 ,consequently the disintegrators of the ,odyssey1 when they are logical1 are reduced to averring that the poem is an exceedingly inartistic whole1 a whole not artistic at all4 ,while ,mr4 ,leaf calls it a model of skilful construction1 ,wilamowitz ,mollendorff denounces it as the work of a slenderly-gifted botcher1 of about #fej ,b4,c41 a century previous to ,mr4 ,leaf's ,athenian editor4 ,thus we come1 after all1 to a crisis in which mere literary appreciation is the only test of the truth about a work of literature4 ,the ,odyssey is an admirable piece of artistic composition1 or it is the very reverse4 ,blass1 ,mr4 ,leaf1 ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 and the opinion of the ages declare that the composition is excellent4 ,a crowd of ,german critics and ,father ,browne1 ,s4,j41 hold that the composition is feeble4 ,the criterion is the literary taste of each party to the dispute4 ,kirchhoff and ,wilamowitz ,moellendorff see a late bad patchwork1 where ,mr4 ,leaf1 ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 ,blass1 ,wolf1 and the verdict of all mankind see a masterpiece of excellent construction4 ,the world has judged3 the ,odyssey is a marvel of construction3 therefore is not the work of a late botcher of disparate materials1 but of a great early poet4 ,yet ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 while recognising the ,odyssey as an artistic whole and an harmonious picture1 and recognising ,loennrot's failure to prove that mere combining and editing can form an artistic whole out of originally distinct songs1 even though concerned with closely related themes1 thinks that ,kirchhoff has made the essence of his theory of late combination of distinct strata of poetical material from different sources and periods1 in the ,odyssey1 in the highest degree probable4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #aca4 ,it is1 of course1 possible that ,mr4 ,leaf1 who has not edited the ,odyssey1 may now1 in deference to his belief in the ,pisistratean editor1 have changed his opinion of the merits of the poem4 ,if the ,odyssey1 like the ,iliad1 was1 till about #edj ,b4,c41 a chaos of lays of all ages1 variously known in various repertoires of the rhapsodists1 and patched up by the ,pisistratean editor1 then of two things one--either ,mr4 ,leaf abides by his enthusiastic belief in the excellency of the composition1 or he does not4 ,if he does still believe that the composition of the ,odyssey is a masterpiece1 then the ,pisistratean editor was a great master of construction4 ,if he now1 on the other hand1 agrees with ,wilamowitz ,moellendorff that the ,odyssey is cobbler's work1 then his literary opinions are unstable4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,homer ,,and ,,the ,,french ,,mediaeval ,,epics ,sir ,richard ,jebb remarks1 with truth1 that before any definite solution of the ,homeric problem could derive scientific support from such analogies 7with epics of other peoples71 it would be necessary to show that the particular conditions under which the ,homeric poems appear in early ,greece had been reproduced with sufficient closeness elsewhere4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 pp4 #aca1 #acb4 ,now we can show that the particular conditions under which the ,homeric poems confessedly arose were reproduced with sufficient closeness elsewhere1 except that no really great poet was elsewhere present4 ,this occurred among the ,germanic aristocracy1 the ,franks of ,france1 in the eleventh1 twelfth1 and early thirteenth centuries of our era4 ,the closeness of the whole parallel1 allowing for the admitted absence in ,france of a very great and truly artistic poet1 is astonishing4 ,we have first1 in ,france1 answering to the ,achaean aristocracy1 the ,frankish noblesse of warriors dwelling in princely courts and strong castles1 dominating an older population1 owing a practically doubtful fealty to an ,over-,lord1 the ,king1 passing their days in the chace1 in private war1 or in revolt against the ,over-,lord1 and1 for all literary entertainment1 depending on the recitations of epic poems by jongleurs1 who in some cases are of gentle birth1 and are the authors of the poems which they recite4 ,this national poetry1 says ,m4 ,gaston ,paris1 was born and mainly developed among the warlike class1 princes1 lords1 and their courts4444 ,at first1 no doubt1 some of these men of the sword themselves composed and chanted lays 7like ,achilles71 but soon there arose a special class of poets 444 ,they went from court to court1 from castle 444 ,later1 when the townsfolk began to be interested in their chants1 they sank a degree1 and took their stand in public open places 444 ,footnote3 ,literature ,francaise au ,moyen ,age1 pp4 #cf1 #cg4 #ahih4 ,in the ,iliad we hear of no minstrels in camp3 in the ,odyssey a prince has a minstrel among his retainers--,demodocus1 at the court of ,phaeacia2 ,phemius1 in the house of ,odysseus4 ,in ,ionia1 when princes had passed away1 rhapsodists recited for gain in marketplaces and at fairs4 ,the parallel with ,france is so far complete4 ,the ,french national epics1 like those of the ,achaeans1 deal mainly with legends of a long past legendary age4 ,to the ,french authors the greatness and the fortunes of the ,emperor ,charles and other heroic heads of great ,houses provide a theme4 ,the topics of song are his wars1 and the prowess and the quarrels of his peers with the ,emperor and among themselves4 ,these are seen magnified through a mist of legend2 ,saracens are substituted for ,gascon foes1 and the great ,charles1 so nobly venerable a figure in the oldest ,french epic 7the ,chanson de ,roland1 circ4 #ajej-ajgj in its earliest extant form71 is more degraded1 in the later epics1 than ,agamemnon himself4 ,the machinery of the gods in ,homer is replaced by the machinery of angels1 but the machinery of dreams is in vogue1 as in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,the sources are traditional and legendary4 ,we know that brief early lays of ,charles and other heroes had existed1 and they may have been familiar to the ,french epic poets1 but they were not merely patched into the epics4 ,the form of verse is not ballad-like1 but a series of laisses of decasyllabic lines1 each laisse presenting one assonance1 not rhyme4 ,as time went on1 rhyme and ,alexandrine lines were introduced1 and the old epics were expanded1 altered1 condensed1 remanies1 with progressive changes in taste1 metre1 language1 manners1 and ways of life4 ,finally1 an age of ,cyclic poems began2 authors took new characters1 whom they attached by false genealogies to the older heroes1 and they chanted the adventures of the sons of the former heroes1 like the ,cyclic poet who sang of the son of ,odysseus by ,circe4 ,all these conditions are undeniably true parallels to the conditions under which the ,homeric poems appeared4 ,the only obvious point of difference vanishes if we admit1 with ,sir ,richard ,jebb and ,m4 ,salomon ,reinach1 the possibility of the existence of written texts in the ,greece of the early iron age4 ,we do not mean texts prepared for a reading public4 ,in ,france such a public1 demanding texts for reading1 did not arise till the decadence of the epic4 ,the oldest ,french texts of their epics are small volumes1 each page containing some thirty lines in one column4 ,such volumes were carried about by the jongleurs1 who chanted their own or other men's verses4 ,they were not in the hands of readers4 ,footnote3 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 i4 pp4 #bbf-bbh4 #ahgh4 ,an example of an author-reciter1 ,jendeus de ,brie 7he was the maker of the first version of the ,bataille ,loquifer1 twelfth century7 is instructive4 ,of ,jendeus de ,brie it is said that he wrote the poem1 kept it very carefully1 taught it to no man1 made much gain out of it in ,sicily where he sojourned1 and left it to his son when he died4 ,similar statements are made in ,renaus de ,montauban 7the existing late version is of the thirteenth century7 about ,huon de ,villeneuve1 who would not part with his poem for horses or furs1 or for any price1 and about other poets4 ,footnote3 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 i4 p4 #bae1 ,note ,i4 ,these early jongleurs were men of position and distinction2 their theme was the gestes of princes2 they were not under the ban with which the ,church pursued vulgar strollers1 men like the ,greek rhapsodists4 ,pindar's story that ,homer wrote the ,cypria ,footnote3 ,pindari ,opera1 vol4 iii4 p4 #fed4 ,boeckh4 and gave the copy1 as the dowry of his daughter1 to ,stasinus who married her1 could only have arisen in ,greece in circumstances exactly like those of ,jendeus de ,brie4 ,jendeus lived on his poem by reciting it1 and left it to his son when he died4 ,the story of ,homer and ,stasinus could only have been invented in an age when the possession of the solitary text of a poem was a source of maintenance to the poet4 ,this condition of things could not exist1 either when there were no written texts or when such texts were multiplied to serve the wants of a reading public4 ,again1 a poet in the fortunate position of ,jendeus would not teach his ,epic in a school of reciters unless he were extremely well paid4 ,in later years1 after his death1 his poem came1 through copies good or bad1 into circulation4 ,late1 in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries1 we hear of a school of jongleurs at ,beauvais4 ,in ,lent they might not ply their profession1 so they gathered at ,beauvais1 where they could learn cantilenae1 new lays4 ,footnote3 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #agd1 #age4 ,but by that time the epic was decadent and dying8 ,the audiences of the jongleurs1 too1 were no longer1 by that time1 what they had been4 ,the rich and great1 now1 had library copies of the epics2 not small jongleurs' copies1 but folios1 richly illuminated and bound1 with two or three columns of matter on each page4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 i4 p4 #bbh4 ,see1 too1 photographs of an illuminated1 double-columned library copy in ,la ,chancun de ,willame41 ,london1 #aijc4 ,the age of recitations from a text in princely halls was ending or ended2 the age of a reading public was begun4 ,the earlier condition of the jongleur who was his own poet1 and carefully guarded his copyright in spite of all temptations to permit the copying of his ,,ms41 is regarded by ,sir ,richard ,jebb as quite a possible feature of early ,greece4 ,he thinks that there was no wide circulation of writings by numerous copies for a reading public before the end of the fifth century ,b4,c4 ,as ,greek mercenaries could write1 and write well1 in the seventh to sixth centuries1 ,i incline to think that there may then1 and earlier1 have been a reading public4 ,however1 long before that a man might commit his poems to writing4 ,wolf allows that some men did1 as early at least as #ggf ,b4,c4 ,the verses might never be read by anybody except himself 7the author7 or those to whom he privately bequeathed them 7as ,jendeus de ,brie bequeathed his poem to his son71 but his end would have been gained4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 p4 #aac4 ,recent discoveries as to the very early date of linear non-,phoenician writing in ,crete of course increase the probability of this opinion1 which is corroborated by the story of the ,cypria1 given as a dowry with the author's daughter4 ,thus the particular conditions under which the ,homeric poems appeared been reproduced with sufficient closeness in every respect1 with surprising closeness1 in the ,france of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries4 ,the social conditions are the same2 the legendary materials are of identical character2 the method of publication by recitation is identical2 the cyclic decadence occurs in both cases1 the monomanie cyclique4 ,in the ,greece of ,homer we have the four necessary conditions of the epic1 as found by ,m4 ,leon ,gautier in mediaeval ,france4 ,we have3-- 7#a7 ,an uncritical age confusing history by legend4 7#b7 ,we have a national milieu with religious uniformity4 7#c7 ,we have poems dealing with-- ,old unhappy far-off things ,and battles long ago4 7#d7 ,we have representative heroes1 the ,over-,lord1 and his peers or paladins4 ,footnote3 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 i4 pp4 #f-i ,it may be added that in ,greece1 as in ,france1 some poets adapt into the adventures of their heroes world-old ,maerchen1 as in the ,odyssey1 and in the cycle of the parents of ,charles4 ,in the ,french1 as in the ,greek epics1 we have such early traits of poetry as the textual repetition of speeches1 and the recurring epithets1 swift-footed ,achilles1 ,charles of the white beard1 blameless heroes 7however blamable74 ,ladies1 however old1 are always of the clear face4 ,thus the technical manners of the ,french and ,greek epics are closely parallel2 they only differ in the exquisite art of ,homer1 to which no approach is made by the ,french poets4 ,the ,french authors of epic1 even more than ,homer1 abound in episodes much more distracting than those of the ,iliad4 ,of blood and wounds1 of course1 both the ,french and the ,greek are profuse3 they were writing for men of the sword1 not for modern critics4 ,indeed1 the battle pieces of ,france almost translate those of ,homer4 ,the ,achaean does on his goodly corslet2 the ,french knight sur ses espalles son halberc li colad4 ,the ,achaean1 with his great sword1 shears off an arm at the shoulder4 ,the ,french knight-- ,trenchad le braz1 ,parmi leschine sun grant espee li passe4 ,the huge shield of ,aias becomes cele grant targe duble in ,france1 and the warriors boast over their slain in ,france1 as in the ,iliad4 ,in ,france1 as in ,greece1 a favourite epic theme was ,the ,wrath of a hero1 of ,achilles1 of ,roland1 of ,ganelon1 of ,odysseus and ,achilles wrangling at a feast to the joy of ,agamemnon1 glad that the bravest of his peers were at strife4 ,footnote3 ,odyssey1 ,,viii4 #ge-gs sic4 ,of all the many parallels between the ,greek and ,french epics1 the most extraordinary is the coincidence between ,charles with his peers and ,agamemnon with his princes4 ,the same historical conditions occurred1 at an interval of more than two thousand years4 ,agamemnon is the ,bretwalda1 the ,over-,lord1 as ,mr4 ,freeman used to say1 of the ,achaeans3 he is the suzerain4 ,charles in the ,french epics holds the same position1 but the ,french poets regard him in different lights4 ,in the earliest epic1 the ,chanson de ,roland1 a divinity doth hedge the famous ,emperor1 whom ,jeanne d',arc styled ,st4 ,charlemagne4 ,he was1 in fact1 a man of thirty-seven at the date of the disaster of ,roncesvaux1 where ,roland fell 7#ggh ,a4,d474 ,but in the tradition that has reached the poet of the chanson he is a white-bearded warrior1 as vigorous as he is venerable4 ,as he rules by advice of his council1 he bids them deliberate on the proposals of the ,paynim ,king1 ,marsile--to accept or refuse them4 ,roland1 the counterpart of ,achilles in all respects 7,oliver is his ,patroclus71 is for refusing3 ,ganelon appears to have the rest with him when he speaks in favour of peace and return to ,france out of ,spain4 ,so1 in the ,iliad 7,,ii471 the ,achaeans lend a ready ear to ,agamemnon when he proposes the abandonment of the siege of ,troy4 ,each host1 ,french and ,achaean1 is heartily homesick4 ,ganelon's advice prevailing1 it is necessary to send an envoy to the ,saracen court4 ,it is a dangerous mission2 other envoys have been sent and been murdered4 ,the ,peers1 however1 volunteer1 beginning with the aged ,naismes1 the ,nestor of the ,franks4 ,his offer is not accepted1 nor are those of ,oliver1 ,roland1 and ,turpin4 ,roland then proposes that ,ganelon shall be sent2 and hence arises the ,wrath of ,ganelon1 which was the ruin of ,roland and the peers who stood by him4 ,the warriors attack each other in speeches of ,homeric fury4 ,charles preserves his dignity1 and ,ganelon departs on his mission4 ,he deliberately sells himself1 and seals the fate of the peers whom he detests3 the surprise of the rearguard under ,roland1 the deadly battle1 and the revenge of ,charles make up the rest of the poem4 ,not even in victory is ,charles allowed repose2 the trumpet again summons him to war4 ,he is of those whom ,heaven has called to endless combat-- ,their whole lives long to be winding ,skeins of grievous wars1 till every soul of them perish1 in the words of ,diomede4 ,such is the picture of the imperial ,charles in one of the oldest of the ,french epics4 ,the heart of the poet is with the aged1 but unbroken and truly imperial1 figure of ,st4 ,charlemagne--wise1 just1 and brave1 a true shepherd of the people1 regarded as the conqueror of all the known kingdoms of the world4 ,he is1 among his fierce paladins1 like the conscience of a knight among his warring members4 ,the greatness of ,charlemagne has entered even into his name2 but as time went on and the feudal princes began the long struggle against the ,french king1 the poets gratified their patrons by degrading the character of the ,emperor4 ,they created a second type of ,charles1 and it is the second type that on the whole most resembles the ,agamemnon of the ,iliad4 ,we ask why the widely ruling lord of golden ,mycenae is so skilfully and persistently represented as respectable1 indeed1 by reason of his office1 but detestable1 on the whole1 in character8 ,the answer is that just as the second type of ,charles is the result of feudal jealousies of the king1 so the character of ,agamemnon reflects the princely hatreds of what we may call the feudal age of ,greece4 ,the masterly portrait of ,agamemnon could only have been designed to win the sympathies of feudal listeners1 princes with an ,over-,lord whom they cannot repudiate1 for whose office they have a traditional reverence1 but whose power they submit to with no good will1 and whose person and character some of them can barely tolerate4 blank space an historical unity4 ,the poem deals with what may be called a feudal society1 and the attitudes of the ,achaean ,bretwalda and of his peers are1 from beginning to end of the ,iliad and in every ,book of it1 those of the peers and king in the later ,chansons de ,geste4 ,returning to the decadent ,charles of the ,french epics1 we lay no stress on the story of his incest with his sister1 ,gilain1 whence sprang ,roland4 ,the ,house of ,thyestes1 whence ,agamemnon sprang1 is marked by even blacker legends4 ,the scandal is mythical1 like the same scandal about the ,king ,arthur1 who in romance is so much inferior to his knights1 a reflection of feudal jealousies and hatreds4 ,in places the reproaches hurled by the peers at ,charles read like paraphrases of those which the ,achaean princes cast at ,agamemnon4 ,even ,naismes1 the ,nestor of the ,french epics1 cries3 ,it is for you that we have left our lands and fiefs1 our fair wives and our children 444 ,but1 by the ,apostle to whom they pray in ,rome1 were it not that we should be guilty before ,god we would go back to sweet ,france1 and thin would be your host4 ,footnote3 ,chevalerie ,ogier1 #aeaj-aebi4 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 iii4 pp4 #aef-aeg4 ,in the lines quoted we seem to hear the voice of the angered ,achilles3 ,we came not hither in our own quarrel1 thou shameless one1 but to please thee6 ,but now go ,i back to ,phthia with my ships--the better part4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,i4 #aeh-afi4 ,agamemnon answers that ,zeus is on his side1 just as even the angry ,naismes admits that duty to ,god demands obedience to ,charles4 ,there cannot be parallels more close and true than these1 between poems born at a distance from each other of more than two thousand years1 but born in similar historical conditions4 ,in ,guide ,bourgogne1 a poem of the twelfth century1 ,ogier cries1 ,they say that ,charlemagne is the conqueror of kingdoms3 they lie1 it is ,roland who conquers them with ,oliver1 ,naismes of the long beard1 and myself4 ,as to ,charles1 he eats4 ,compare ,achilles to ,agamemnon1 ,thou1 heavy with wine1 with dog's eyes and heart of deer1 never hast thou dared to arm thee for war with the host 444 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 ,i4 #bbg1 #bbh4 ,gui de ,bourgogne1 pp4 #cg-da4 ,it is ,achilles or ,roland who stakes his life in war and captures cities2 it is ,agamemnon or ,charles who camps by the wine4 ,charles1 in the ,chanson de ,saisnes1 abases himself before ,herapois1 even more abjectly than ,agamemnon in his offer of atonement to ,achilles4 ,footnote3 ,epopees ,francaises1 ,leon ,gautier1 vol4 iii4 p4 #aeh4 ,charles is as arrogant as ,agamemnon3 he strikes ,roland with his glove1 for an uncommanded victory1 and then he loses heart and weeps as copiously as the penitent ,agamemnon often does when he rues his arrogance4 ,footnote3 ,entree en ,espagne4 ,the poet of the ,iliad is a great and sober artist4 ,he does not make ,agamemnon endure the lowest disgraces which the latest ,french epic poets heap on ,charles4 ,but we see how close is the parallel between ,agamemnon and the ,charles of the decadent type4 ,both characters are reflections of feudal jealousy of the ,over-,lord2 both reflect real antique historical conditions1 and these were the conditions of the ,achaeans in ,europe1 not of the ,ionians in ,asia4 ,the treatment of ,agamemnon's character is harmonious throughout4 ,it is not as if in the original poem ,agamemnon were revered like ,st4 ,charlemagne in the ,chanson de ,roland1 and in the later parts of the ,iliad were reduced to the contemptible estate of the ,charles of the decadent ,chanson de ,geste4 ,in the ,iliad ,agamemnon's character is consistently presented from beginning to end1 presented1 ,i think1 as it could only be by a great poet of the feudal ,achaean society in ,europe4 ,the ,ionians--democratic to the core1 says ,mr4 ,leaf--would either have taken no interest in the figure of the ,over-,lord1 or would have utterly degraded him below the level of the ,charles of the latest ,chansons4 ,or the late rhapsodists1 in their irresponsible lays1 would have presented a wavering and worthless portrait4 ,the conditions under which the ,chansons arose were truly parallel to the conditions under which the ,homeric poems arose1 and the poems1 ,french and ,achaean1 are also true parallels1 except in genius4 ,the ,french have no ,homer3 cared vate sacro4 ,it follows that a ,homer was necessary to the evolution of the ,greek epics4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be replied to this argument that our ,iliad is only a very late remaniement1 like the fourteenth century ,chansons de ,geste1 of something much earlier and nobler4 ,but in ,france1 in the age of remaniement1 even the versification had changed from assonance to rhyme1 from the decasyllabic line to the ,alexandrine in the decadence1 while a plentiful lack of seriousness and a love of purely fanciful adventures in fairyland take the place of the austere spirit of war4 ,ladies in a coming on humour abound1 and ,charles is involved with his ,paladins in gauloiseries of a ,rabelaisian cast4 ,the ,french language has become a new thing through and through1 and manners and weapons are of a new sort2 but the high seriousness of the ,iliad is maintained throughout1 except in the burlesque battle of the gods3 the versification is the stately hexameter1 linguistic alterations are present1 extant1 but inconspicuous4 ,that the armour and weapons are uniform in character throughout we have tried to prove1 while the state of society and of religion is certainly throughout harmonious4 ,our parallel1 then1 between the ,french and the ,greek national epics appears as perfect as such a thing can be1 surprisingly perfect1 while the great point of difference in degree of art is accounted for by the existence of an ,achaean poet of supreme genius4 ,not such1 certainly1 were the composers of the ,cyclic poems1 men contemporary with the supposed later poets of the ,iliad4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,conclusion ,the conclusion at which we arrive is that the ,iliad1 as a whole1 is the work of one age4 ,that it has reached us without interpolations and lacunae and remaniements perhaps no person of ordinary sense will allege4 ,but that the mass of the ,epic is of one age appears to be a natural inference from the breakdown of the hypotheses which attempt to explain it as a late mosaic4 ,we have also endeavoured to prove1 quite apart from the failure of theories of expansion and compilation1 that the ,iliad presents an historical unity1 unity of character1 unity of customary law1 and unity in its archaeology4 ,if we are right1 we must have an opinion as to how the ,epic was preserved4 ,if we had evidence for an ,homeric school1 we might imagine that the ,epic was composed by dint of memory1 and preserved1 like the ,sanskrit ,hymns of the ,rig ,veda1 and the ,hymns of the ,maoris1 the ,zunis1 and other peoples in the lower or middle stage of barbarism1 by the exertions and teaching of schools4 ,but religious hymns and mythical hymns--the care of a priesthood--are one thing2 a great secular epic is another4 ,priests will not devote themselves from age to age to its conservation4 ,it cannot be conserved1 with its unity of tone and character1 and1 on the whole1 even of language1 by generations of paid strollers1 who recite new lays of their own1 as well as any old lays that they may remember1 which they alter at pleasure4 ,we are thus driven back to the theory of early written texts1 not intended to meet the wants of a reading public1 but for the use of the poet himself and of those to whom he may bequeath his work4 ,that this has been a method in which orally published epics were composed and preserved in a non-reading age we have proved in our chapter on the ,french ,chansons de ,geste4 ,unhappily1 the argument that what was done in mediaeval ,france might be done in sub-,mycenaean ,greece1 is based on probabilities1 and these are differently estimated by critics of different schools4 ,all seems to depend on each individual's sense of what is likely4 ,in that case science has nothing to make in the matter4 ,nitzsche thought that writing might go back to the time of ,homer4 ,mr4 ,monro thought it probable enough that writing1 even if known at the time of ,homer1 was not used for literary purposes4 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 p4 xxxv4 ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 as we saw1 took a much more favourable view of the probability of early written texts4 ,m4 ,salomon ,reinach1 arguing from the linear written clay tablets of ,knossos and from a ,knossian cup with writing on it in ink1 thinks that there may have existed whole ,minoan libraries--manuscripts executed on perishable materials1 palm leaves1 papyrus1 or parchment4 ,footnote3 ,l',anthropologie1 vol4 xv1 pp4 #bib1 #bic4 ,mr4 ,leaf1 while admitting that writing was known in some form through the whole period of epic development1 holds that it is in the highest degree unlikely that it was ever employed to form a standard text of the ,epic or any portion of it4444 ,at best there was a continuous tradition of those portions of the poems which were especially popular 444 ,footnote3 ,iliad1 vol4 i4 pp4 xvi41 xvii4 ,father ,browne dates the employment of writing for the preservation of the ,epic from the sixth century onwards4 ,footnote3 ,handbook of ,homeric ,study1 p4 #acd4 ,he also says that it is difficult to suppose that the ,mycenaeans1 who were certainly in contact with this form of writing 7the ,cretan linear71 should not have used it much more freely than our direct evidence warrants us in asserting4 ,he then mentions the ,knossian cup with writing inscribed on it apparently in pen and ink 444 ,the conclusion is that ordinary writing was in use1 but that the materials1 probably palm leaves1 have disappeared4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 pp4 #beh1 #bei4 ,why it should be unlikely that a people confessedly familiar with writing used it for the preservation of literature1 when we know that even the ,red ,indians preserve their songs by means of pictographs1 while ,west ,african tribes use incised characters1 is certainly not obvious4 ,many sorts of prae-,phoenician writing were current during the ,mycenaean age in ,asia1 ,egypt1 ,assyria1 and in ,cyprus4 ,as these other peoples used writing of their own sort for literary purposes1 it is not easy to see why the ,cretans1 for example1 should not have done the same thing4 ,indeed1 ,father ,browne supposes that the ,mycenaeans used ordinary writing1 and used it freely4 ,nevertheless1 the ,epic was not written1 he says1 till the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,cauer1 indeed1 remarks that the ,finnish epic existed unwritten till ,lbnnrot1 its ,pisistratus1 first collected it from oral recitation4 ,footnote3 ,grundfragen der ,homerkritik1 p4 #id4 ,but there is not1 and never was1 any ,finnish epic4 ,there were cosmogonic songs1 as among the ,maoris and ,zunis--songs of the beginnings of things2 there were magical songs1 songs of weddings1 a song based on the same popular tale that underlies the legend of the ,argonauts4 ,there were songs of the ,culture ,hero1 songs of burial and feast1 and of labour4 ,loennrot collected these1 and tried by interpolations to make an epic out of them2 but the point1 as ,comparetti has proved1 is that he failed4 ,there is no ,finnish epic1 only a mass of ,volkslieder4 ,cauer's other argument1 that the ,german popular tales1 ,grimm's tales1 were unwritten till #ahab1 is as remote from the point at issue4 ,nothing can be less like an epic than a volume of ,maerchen4 ,as usual we are driven back upon a literary judgment4 ,is the ,iliad a patchwork of metrical ,maerchen or is it an epic nobly constructed8 ,if it is the former1 writing was not needed2 if it is the latter1 in the absence of ,homeric guilds or colleges1 only writing can account for its preservation4 ,it is impossible to argue against a critic's subjective sense of what is likely4 ,possibly that sense is born of the feeling that the ,cretan linear script1 for example1 or the ,cyprian syllabary1 looks very odd and outlandish4 ,the critic's imagination boggles at the idea of an epic written in such scripts4 ,in that case his is not the scientific imagination2 he is checked merely by the unfamiliar4 ,or his sense of unlikelihood may be a subconscious survival of ,wolf's opinion1 formed by him at a time when the existence of the many scripts of the old world was unknown4 ,our own sense of probability leads us to the conclusion that1 in an age when people could write1 people wrote down the ,epic4 ,if they applied their art to literature1 then the preservation of the ,epic is explained4 ,written first in a prae-,phoenician script1 it continued to be written in the ,greek adaptation of the ,phoenician alphabet4 ,there was not yet1 probably1 a reading public1 but there were a few clerkly men4 ,that the ,cretans1 at least1 could write long before the age of ,homer1 ,mr4 ,arthur ,evans has demonstrated by his discoveries4 ,prom my remote undergraduate days ,i was of the opinion which he has proved to be correct1 starting1 like him1 from what ,i knew about savage pictographs4 ,footnote3 ,cretan ,pictographs and ,prae-,phoenician ,script4 ,london1 #aije4 ,annual of ,british ,school of ,athens1 #aijj-aija1 p4 #aj4 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 #ahig1 pp4 #cbg-cie4 ,m4 ,reinach and ,mr4 ,evans have pointed out that in this matter tradition joins hands with discovery4 ,diodorus ,siculus1 speaking of the ,cretan ,zeus and probably on ,cretan authority1 says3 ,as to those who hold that the ,syrians invented letters1 from whom the ,phoenicians received them and handed them on to the ,greeks1 444 and that for this reason the ,greeks call letters ',phoenician1' some reply that the ,phoenicians did not blank space letters1 but merely modified 7transposed #c7 the forms of the letters1 and that most men use this form of script1 and thus letters came to be styled ',phoenician4' ,footnote3 ,diodorus ,siculus1 v4 #gd4 ,l',anthropologie1 vol4 xi4 pp4 #dig-ejb4 ,in fact1 the alphabet is a collection of signs of palaeolithic antiquity and of vast diffusion4 ,footnote3 ,origins of the ,alphabet4 ,a4 ,l4 ,fortnightly ,review1 #aijd1 pp4 #fcd-fde ,thus the use of writing for the conservation of the ,epic cannot seem to me to be unlikely1 but rather probable2 and here one must leave the question1 as the subjective element plays so great a part in every man's sense of what is likely or unlikely4 ,that writing cannot have been used for this literary purpose1 that the thing is impossible1 nobody will now assert4 ,my supposition is1 then1 that the text of the ,epic existed in ,a,egean script till ,greece adapted to her own tongue the ,phoenician letters1 which ,i think she did not later than the ninth to eighth centuries2 at the beginning of the ninth century1 says ,professor ,bury4 ,footnote3 ,history of ,greece1 vol4 i4 p4 #gh4 #aijb4 ,this may seem an audaciously early date1 but when we find vases of the eighth to seventh centuries bearing inscriptions1 we may infer that a knowledge of reading and writing was reasonably common4 ,when such a humble class of hirelings or slaves as the pot-painters can sign their work1 expecting their signatures to be read1 reading and writing must be very common accomplishments among the more fortunate classes4 ,if ,mr4 ,gardner is right in dating a number of incised inscriptions on early pottery at ,naucratis before the middle of the seventh century1 we reach the same conclusion4 ,in fact1 if these inscriptions be of a century earlier than the ,abu ,simbel inscriptions1 of date #eij ,b4,c41 we reach #fij ,b4,c4 ,wherefore1 as writing does not become common in a moment1 it must have existed in the eighth century ,b4,c4 ,we are not dealing here with a special learned class1 but with ordinary persons who could write4 ,footnote3 ,the ,early ,ionic ,alphabet3 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 vii4 pp4 #bbj-bci4 ,roberts1 ,introduction to ,greek ,epigraphy1 pp4 #ca1 #aea1 #aei1 #afd1 #afe-afg ,interesting for our purpose is the verse incised on a ,dipylon vase1 found at ,athens in #ahhj4 ,it is of an ordinary cream-jug shape1 with a neck1 a handle1 a spout1 and a round belly4 ,on the neck1 within a zigzag geometrical pattern1 is a doe1 feeding1 and a tall water-fowl4 ,on the shoulder is scratched with a point1 in very antique ,attic characters running from right to left1 ,greek3 os nun orchaeston panton hatalotata pais ei1 tou tode4 ,this is the jug of him who is the most delicately sportive of all dancers of our time4 ,the jug is attributed to the eighth century4 ,footnote3 ,walters1 ,history of ,ancient ,pottery1 vol4 ii4 p1 #bdc2 ,kretschmer1 ,griechischen ,vasen inschriften1 p4 #aaj1 #ahid1 of the seventh century4 ,h4 von ,rohden1 ,denkmaler1 iii4 pp4 #aide1 #aidf3 ,probably dating from the seventh century4 ,roberts1 op4 cit41 vol4 i4 p4 #gd1 at least as far back as the seventh century1 p4 #ge4 ,taking the vase1 with ,mr4 ,walters1 as of the eighth century1 ,i do not suppose that the amateur who gave it to a dancer and scratched the hexameter was of a later generation than the jug itself4 ,the vase may have cost him sixpence3 he would give his friend a new vase2 it is improbable that old jugs were sold at curiosity shops in these days1 and given by amateurs to artists4 ,the inscription proves that1 in the eighth to seventh centuries1 at a time of very archaic characters 7the ,alpha is lying down on its side1 the aspirate is an oblong with closed ends and a stroke across the middle1 and the ,iota is curved at each end71 people could write with ease1 and would put verse into writing4 ,the general accomplishment of reading is taken for granted4 ,reading is also taken for granted by the ,gortyn 7,cretan7 inscription of twelve columns long1 boustro-phedon 7running alternately from left to right1 and from right to left74 ,in this inscribed code of laws1 incised on stone1 money is not mentioned in the more ancient part1 but fines and prices are calculated in chalders and bolls 7,greek3 lebaetes and ,greek3 tripodes71 as in ,scotland when coin was scarce indeed4 ,whether the law contemplated the value of the vessels themselves1 or1 as in ,scotland1 of their contents in grain1 ,i know not4 ,the later inscriptions deal with coined money4 ,if coin came in about #fej ,b4,c41 the older parts of the inscription may easily be of #gjj ,b4,c4 ,the ,gortyn inscription implies the power of writing out a long code of laws1 and it implies that persons about to go to law could read the public inscription1 as we can read a proclamation posted up on a wall1 or could have it read to them4 ,footnote3 ,roberts1 vol4 i4 pp4 #eb-ee4 ,the alphabets inscribed on vases of the seventh century 7,abecedaria71 with the archaic ,greek forms of every one of the twenty-two ,phoenician letters arranged precisely in the received ,semitic order1 were1 one supposes1 gifts for boys and girls who were learning to read1 just like our ,english alphabets on gingerbread4 ,footnote3 ,for ,abecedaria1 cf4 ,roberts1 vol4 i4 pp4 #af-ba4 ,among inscriptions on tombstones of the end of the seventh century1 there is the epitaph of a daughter of a potter4 ,footnote3 ,roberts1 vol4 i4 p4 #gf4 ,these writings testify to the general knowledge of reading1 just as much as our epitaphs testify to the same state of education4 ,the ,athenian potter's daughter of the seventh century ,b4,c4 had her epitaph1 but the grave-stones of highlanders1 chiefs or commoners1 were usually uninscribed till about the end of the eighteenth century1 in deference to custom1 itself arising from the illiteracy of the highlanders in times past4 ,footnote3 ,ramsay1 ,scotland and ,scotsmen1 ii4 p4 #dbf4 #ahhh4 ,i find no difficulty1 therefore1 in supposing that there were some ,greek readers and writers in the eighth century1 and that primary education was common in the seventh4 ,in these circumstances my sense of the probable is not revolted by the idea of a written epic1 in blank space characters1 even in the eighth century1 but the notion that there was no such thing till the middle of the sixth century seems highly improbable4 ,all the conditions were present which make for the composition and preservation of literary works in written texts4 ,that there were many early written copies of ,homer in the eighth century ,i am not inclined to believe4 ,the ,greeks were early a people who could read1 but were not a reading people4 ,setting newspapers aside1 there is no such thing as a reading people4 ,the ,greeks preferred to listen to recitations1 but my hypothesis is that the rhapsodists who recited had texts1 like the jongleurs' books of their epics in ,france1 and that they occasionally1 for definite purposes1 interpolated matter into their texts4 ,there were also texts1 known in later times as city texts 7,greek3 ai kata poleis71 which ,aristarchus knew1 but he did not adopt the various readings4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p1 #dce4 ,athens had a text in ,solon's time1 if he entered the decree that the whole ,epic should be recited in due order1 every five years1 at the ,panathenaic festival4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 #cie4 ,this implies the possession of a complete text4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 #djc4 ,cauer remarks that the possibility of interpolation began only after the fixing of the text by ,pisistratus4 ,footnote3 ,grundfragen1 p4 #bje4 ,but surely if every poet and reciter could thrust any new lines which he chose to make into any old lays which he happened to know1 that was interpolation1 whether he had a book of the words or had none4 ,such interpolations would fill the orally recited lays which the supposed ,pisistratean editor must have written down from recitation before he began his colossal task of making the ,iliad out of them4 ,if1 on the other hand1 reciters had books of the words1 they could interpolate at pleasure into them1 and such books may have been among the materials used in the construction of a text for the ,athenian book market4 ,but if our theory be right1 there must always have been a few copies of better texts than those of the late reciters' books1 and the effort of the editors for the book market would be to keep the parts in which most manuscripts were agreed4 ,but how did ,athens1 or any other city1 come to possess a text8 ,one can only conjecture2 but my conjecture is that there had always been texts--copied out in successive generations--in the hands of the curious2 for example1 in the hands of the ,cyclic poets1 who knew our ,iliad as the late ,french ,cyclic poets knew the earlier ,chansons de ,geste4 ,they certainly knew it1 for they avoided interference with it2 they worked at epics which led up to it1 as in the ,cypria2 they borrowed motifs from hints and references in the ,iliad1 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #cej1 #cea4 and they carried on the story from the death of ,hector1 in the ,a,ethiopis of ,arctinus of ,miletus4 ,this epic ended with the death of ,achilles1 when ,the ,little ,iliad produced the tale to the bringing in of the wooden horse4 ,arctinus goes on with his ,sack of ,ilios1 others wrote of ,the ,return of the ,heroes1 and the ,telegonia is a sequel to the ,odyssey4 ,the authors of these poems knew the ,iliad1 then1 as a whole1 and how could they have known it thus if it only existed in the casual repertoire of strolling reciters8 ,the ,cyclic poets more probably had texts of ,homer1 and themselves wrote their own poems--how it paid1 whether they recited them and collected rewards or not1 is1 of course1 unknown4 ,the ,cyclic poems1 to quote ,sir ,richard ,jebb1 help to fix the lowest limit for the age of the ,homeric poems4 ,footnote3 ,homer1 pp4 #aea1 #aed4 ,the earliest ,cyclic poems1 dating from about #ggf ,b4,c41 presuppose the ,iliad1 being planned to introduce or continue it4444 ,it would appear1 then1 that the ,iliad must have existed in something like its present compass as early as #hjj ,b4,c42 indeed a considerably earlier date will seem probable1 if due time is allowed for the poem to have grown into such fame as would incite the effort to continue it and to prelude to it4 ,sir ,richard then takes the point on which we have already insisted1 namely1 that the ,cyclic poets of the eighth century ,b4,c4 live in an age of ideas1 religions1 ritual1 and so forth which are absent from the ,iliad ,footnote3 ,homer1 pp4 #aed1 #aee4 ,thus the ,iliad existed with its characteristics that are prior to #hjj ,b4,c41 and in its present compass1 and was renowned before #hjj ,b4,c4 ,as it could not possibly have thus existed in the repertoire of irresponsible strolling minstrels and reciters1 and as there is no evidence for a college1 school1 or guild which preserved the ,epic by a system of mnemonic teaching1 while no one can deny at least the possibility of written texts1 we are driven to the hypothesis that written texts there were1 whence descended1 for example1 the text of ,athens4 ,we can scarcely suppose1 however1 that such texts were perfect in all respects1 for we know how1 several centuries later1 in a reading age1 papyrus fragments of the ,iliad display unwarrantable interpolation4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #dbb-dbf4 ,but ,plato's frequent quotations1 of course made at an earlier date1 show that whatever interpolated texts of ,homer were then current1 the copy from which ,plato quoted was not one of them4 ,footnote3 ,ibid41 p4 #dbi ,plato had something much better4 ,when a reading public for ,homer arose--and1 from the evidences of the widespread early knowledge of reading1 such a small public may have come into existence sooner than is commonly supposed--,athens was the centre of the book trade4 ,to ,athens must be due the prae-,alexandrian ,vulgate1 or prevalent text1 practically the same as our own4 ,some person or persons must have made that text--not by taking down from recitation all the lays which they could collect1 as ,herd1 ,scott1 ,mrs4 ,brown1 and others collected much of the ,border ,minstrelsy1 and not by then tacking the lays into a newly-composed whole4 ,they must have done their best with such texts as were accessible to them1 and among these were probably the copies used by reciters and rhapsodists1 answering to the ,,ms4 books of the mediaeval jongleurs4 ,mr4 ,jevons has justly and acutely remarked that we do not know1 and there is no external evidence of any description which leads us to suppose1 that the ,iliad was ever expanded 7,j4 ,h4 ,s1 vii4 #bia-cjh74 ,that it was expanded is a mere hypothesis based on the idea that if there was an ,iliad at all in the ninth century1 its length must have been such as was compatible with the conditions of an oral delivery1--a poem or poems short enough to be recited at a single sitting4 ,but we have proved1 with ,mr4 ,jevons and ,blass1 and by the analogy of the ,chansons that1 given a court audience 7and a court audience is granted71 there were no such narrow limits imposed on the length of a poem orally recited from night to night4 ,the length of the ,iliad yields1 therefore1 no argument for expansions throughout several centuries4 ,that theory1 suggested by the notion that the original poem ,,must have been short1 is next supposed to be warranted by the inconsistencies and discrepancies4 ,but we argue that these are only visible1 as a rule1 to the analytical reader1 for whom the poet certainly was not composing2 that they occur in all long works of fictitious narrative2 that the discrepancies often are not discrepancies2 and1 finally1 that they are not nearly so glaring as the inconsistencies in the theories of each separatist critic4 ,a theory1 in such matter as this1 is itself an explanatory myth1 or the plot of a story which the critic invents to account for the facts in the case4 ,these critical plots1 we have shown1 do not account for the facts of the case1 for the critics do not excel in constructing plots4 ,they wander into unperceived self-contradictions which they would not pardon in the poet4 ,these contradictions are visible to the analytical reader1 who concludes that a very early poet may have been1 though ,homer seldom is1 as inconsistent as a modern critic4 ,meanwhile1 though we have no external evidence that the ,iliad was ever expanded--that it was expanded is an explanatory myth of the critics--we do know1 on good evidence1 says ,mr4 ,jevons1 that the ,iliad was rhapsodised4 ,the rhapsodists were men1 as a rule1 of one day recitations1 though at a prolonged festival at ,athens there was time for the whole ,iliad to be recited4 ,they chose for recitation such incidents as could be readily detached1 were interesting in themselves1 and did not take too long to recite4 ,mr4 ,jevons suggests that the many brief poems collected in the ,homeric hymns are invocations which the rhapsodists preluded to their recitals4 ,the practice seems to have been for the rhapsodist first to pay his reverence to the god1 to begin from the god1 at whose festival the recitation was being given 7the short proems collected in the ,hymns pay this reverence71 and then proceed with his rhapsody--with his selected passage from the ,iliad1 ,beginning with thee 7the god of the festival71 ,i will go on to another lay1 that is1 to his selection from the ,epic4 ,another conclusion of the proem often is1 ,i will be mindful both of thee and of another lay1 meaning1 says ,mr4 ,jevons1 that the local deity will figure in the recitation from ,homer which the rhapsodist is about to deliver4 ,these explanations1 at all events1 yield good sense4 ,the invocation of ,athene 7,hymns1 ,,xi41 ,,xxviii47 would serve as the proem of invocation to the recital of ,iliad1 ,v41 ,,vi4 #a-caa1 the day of valour of ,diomede1 spurred on by the wanton rebuke of ,agamemnon1 and aided by ,athene4 ,the invocation of ,hephaestus 7,hymn ,,xx471 would prelude to a recital of the ,making of the ,awns of ,achilles1 and so on4 ,but the rhapsodist may be reciting at a festival of ,dionysus1 about whom there is practically nothing said in the ,iliad2 for it is a proof of the antiquity of the ,iliad that1 when it was composed1 ,dionysus had not been raised to the ,olympian peerage1 being still a folk-god only4 ,the rhapsodist1 at a feast of ,dionysus in later times1 has to introduce the god into his recitation4 ,the god is not in his text1 but he adds him4 ,footnote3,ibid41 ,,vi4 #acj-ada ,why should any mortal have made this interpolation8 ,mr4 ,jevons's theory supplies the answer4 ,the rhapsodist added the passages to suit the ,dionysus feast1 at which he was reciting4 ,the same explanation is offered for the long story of the ,birth of blank space which ,agamemnon tells in his speech of apology and reconciliation4 ,footnote3,ibid41 ,,xix4 #acf4 ,there is an invocation to ,heracles 7,hymns1 ,,xv471 and the author may have added this speech to his rhapsody of the ,reconciliation1 recited at a feast of ,heracles4 ,perhaps the remark of ,mr4 ,leaf offers the real explanation of the presence of this long story in the speech of ,agamemnon3 ,many speakers with a bad case take refuge in telling stories4 ,agamemnon shows1 says ,mr4 ,leaf1 the peevish nervousness of a man who feels that he has been in the wrong1 and who follows a frank speaker like ,achilles1 only eager for ,agamemnon to give the word to form and charge4 ,so ,agamemnon takes refuge in a long story1 throwing the blame of his conduct on ,destiny4 ,we do not need1 then1 the theory of a rhapsodist's interpolation1 but it is quite plausible in itself4 ,local heroes1 as well as gods1 had their feasts in post-,homeric times1 and a reciter at a feast of ,a,eneas1 or of his mother1 ,aphrodite1 may have foisted in the very futile discourse of ,achilles and ,a,eneas1 ,footnote3,ibid41 ,,xx4 #bac-bej4 with its reference to ,erichthonius1 an ,athenian hero4 ,in other cases the rhapsodist rounded off his selected passage by a few lines1 as in ,iliad1 ,,xiii4 #fef-fei1 where a hero is brought to follow his son's dead body to the grave1 though the father had been killed in ,v4 #egf4 ,it is really such a slip as is often made by authors who write1 says ,mr4 ,leaf2 and1 in ,esmond1 ,thackeray makes similar errors4 ,the passage in ,,xvi4 #fi-hj1 about which so much is said1 as if it contradicted ,book ,,ix4 7,the ,embassy to ,achilles71 is also1 ,mr4 ,jevons thinks1 to be explained as inserted by a rhapsodist wishing to make his extract complete in itself4 ,another example--the confusion in the beginning of ,book ,,ii4--we have already discussed 7see ,chapter ,,iv471 and do not think that any explanation is needed1 when we understand that ,agamemnon1 once wide-awake1 had no confidence in his dream4 ,however1 ,mr4 ,jevons thinks that rhapsodists1 anxious to recite straight on from the dream to the battle1 added ,,ii4 #ce-da1 the only lines which represent ,agamemnon as believing confidently in his dream4 ,we have argued that he only believed till he awoke1 and then1 as always1 wavered4 ,thus1 in our way of looking at these things1 interpolations by rhapsodists are not often needed as explanations of difficulties4 ,still1 granted that the rhapsodists1 like the jongleurs1 had texts1 and that these were studied by the makers of the ,vulgate1 interpolations and errors might creep in by this way4 ,as to changes in language1 a poetical dialect444 is liable to be gradually modified by the influence of the ever-changing colloquial speech4 ,and1 in the early times1 when writing was little used1 this influence would be especially operative4 ,footnote3 ,monro1 ,odyssey1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dfa4 ,to conclude1 the hypothesis of a school of mnemonic teaching of the ,iliad would account for the preservation of so long a poem in an age destitute of writing1 when memory would be well cultivated4 ,there may have been such schools4 ,we only lack evidence for their existence4 ,but against the hypothesis of the existence of early texts1 there is nothing except the feeling of some critics that it is not likely4 ,they are dangerous guides1 the feelings4 ,in any case the opinion that the ,iliad was a whole1 centuries before ,pisistratus1 is the hypothesis which is by far the least fertile in difficulties1 and1 consequently1 in inconsistent solutions of the problems which the theory of expansion first raises1 and then1 like an unskilled magician1 fails to lay4