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diff --git a/old/53004-0.txt b/old/53004-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b878e40..0000000 --- a/old/53004-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,23286 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. -3 of 3, by W. E. Gladstone - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 3 of 3 - -Author: W. E. Gladstone - -Release Date: September 7, 2016 [EBook #53004] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES ON HOMER, HOMERIC AGE, VOL 3 *** - - - - -Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - STUDIES ON HOMER - AND - THE HOMERIC AGE. - - BY THE - RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, D.C.L. - M. P. FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - VOL. III. - - Plenius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore.--HORACE. - - OXFORD: - AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. - M.DCCC.LVIII. - - [_The right of Translation is reserved._] - - - - - STUDIES ON HOMER - AND - THE HOMERIC AGE. - - I. AGORÈ: - POLITIES OF THE HOMERIC AGE. - - II. ILIOS: - TROJANS AND GREEKS COMPARED. - - III. THALASSA: - THE OUTER GEOGRAPHY. - - IV. AOIDOS: - SOME POINTS OF THE POETRY OF HOMER. - - BY THE - RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, D.C.L. - M.P. FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. - - Plenius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore.--HORACE. - - OXFORD: - AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. - M.DCCC.LVIII. - - [_The right of Translation is reserved._] - - - - -ADVERTISEMENT. - - -Since the Sections which relate to Ethnology passed through the Press, -the First Volume of Mr. Rawlinson’s Herodotus has appeared. Earlier -possession of this important Publication would have emboldened me -to proceed a step further in the attempt to specify the probable or -possible form of the original Ethnic relation between the Pelasgians -and the Hellenes of the Greek Peninsula, but designating the latter -as pure Arian, and the former as Arian, with a residue or mixture of -Turanian elements. - -It has also been since the ‘Olympus’ was printed, that I have become -acquainted with Welcker’s recent and unfinished ‘_Griechische -Götterlehre_,’ (Göttingen, 1857.) I could have wished to refer to it -at various points, and especially to avail myself of the clearer view, -which the learned Author has given, of the position of Κρόνος. - -Founding himself in part on the exclusive appropriation by Homer of the -term Κρονίδης to Jupiter, he enables us to see how Jupiter may have -inherited the sole use of the title as being ‘the Ancient of days;’ -and how Κρόνος was a formation in the Mythology wholly secondary and -posterior to his reputed son. (Welcker, sectt. 27, 8. pp. 140-7.) - -Another recent book, M. Alfred Maury’s _Histoire des Religions de la -Grèce Antique_, undertakes the useful task of unfolding largely the -relations of the Greek religion to the East. But the division of it -which deals with Homer specifically is neither complete nor accurate, -and affords a new illustration of the proposition which I chiefly -desire to establish, namely, that Homer ought to be treated as a -separate and independent centre of study. - - 11, CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, LONDON, - March 15, 1858. - - - - -THE CONTENTS. - - - I. AGORÈ: - OR - THE POLITIES OF THE HOMERIC AGE. - - Political ideas of later Greece Page 1 - Their strong development in Heroic Greece 2 - Germ of the Law of Nations 4 - Grote’s account of the Heroic Polities 5 - Their peculiar features, Publicity and Persuasion 6 - Functions of the king in the Heroic Polities 8 - Nature of the Pelopid Empire 9 - Degrees in Kingship and in Lordship 10 - Four forms of Sovereignty 12 - First tokens of change in the Heroic Polities 12 - Shown by analysis of the Catalogue 14 - Extended signs in the Odyssey 17 - Altered sense of Βασιλεὺς or King 18 - New name of Queen 20 - Disorganization caused by the War 21 - Arrival of a new race at manhood 22 - Increased weight of the nobles 24 - Altered idea of the kingly office 25 - The first instance of a bad King 27 - Further change in the time of Hesiod 28 - Veneration long adhering to the name 31 - Five distinctive notes of Βασιλῆες in the Iliad 32 - The nine Greek Βασιλῆες of the Iliad 35 - The case of Meges 36 - Of Phœnix 37 - Of Patroclus and Eurypylus 38 - Conditions of Kingship in the Iliad 39 - The personal beauty of the Kings 40 - Custom of resignation in old age 40 - Force of the term αἴζηος 41 - Gymnastic superiority of the Kings 44 - Their pursuit of Music and Song 45 - Ulysses as artificer and husbandman 46 - The Kings as Gentlemen 47 - Achilles in particular 48 - Tenderness and tears of the Greek chiefs 49 - Right of hereditary succession 50 - Right of primogeniture 52 - The Homeric King (1) as Priest 55 - (2) as Judge 56 - (3) as General 57 - (4) as Proprietor: the τέμενος 58 - His revenues, from four sources in all 59 - Burdens upon them 61 - The political position of Agamemnon 62 - The governing motives of the War 64 - Position of Agamemnon in the army 66 - His personal character 67 - The relation of sovereign and subject a free one 67 - The personal attendants of the King 69 - The Aristocracy or chief proprietors 69 - The Trades and Professions 70 - The Slaves of the Homeric age 72 - The θῆτες or hired servants 74 - Supply of military service 75 - Whether there was a peasant-proprietary 77 - Political Economy of the Homeric age 78 - The precious metals not a measure of value 81 - Oxen in some degree a measure of value 82 - Relative scarcity of certain metals 84 - Mode of government of the Army 85 - Its military composition 88 - Chief descriptions of fighting men 91 - The Battle and the Ambuscade 92 - The Βουλὴ or Council of the Greeks 94 - It subsisted in peace and in war 97 - Opposition in the Βουλὴ 98 - Agamemnon’s proposals of Return 99 - The influence of Speech in the Heroic age 102 - It was a subject of regular training 103 - Varied descriptions of oratory in Homer 104 - Achilles the paramount Orator 105 - The orations of the poems 106 - The power of repartee 108 - The power of sarcasm 109 - The faculty of debate in Homer 111 - The discussion of the Ninth Iliad 111 - Function of the Assembly in the Heroic age 114 - The formal use of majorities unknown 116 - The great decisions of the War taken there 117 - It was not summoned exclusively by Agamemnon 118 - Opposition in the Agorè by the chiefs 119 - Opposition by Thersites 120 - Grote’s judgment on the case of Thersites 123 - How that case bears witness to the popular principle 126 - As does the Agorè on the Shield 126 - Mode of addressing the Assembly 129 - Its decisions in the Seventh and Ninth Iliads 129 - Division in the Drunken Assembly 130 - Appeal of Telemachus to the Ithacan Assembly 132 - Phæacian Assembly of the Eighth Odyssey 134 - Ithacan Assembly of the Twenty-fourth 136 - Councils or Assemblies of Olympus 137 - Judicial functions of the Assembly 139 - Assembly the central point of the Polity 140 - The common soul or Τὶς in Homer 141 - Imperfect organization of Heroic Polities 143 - - II. ILIOS. - THE TROJANS COMPARED AND CONTRASTED WITH THE GREEKS. - Relationship of Troy and Greece twofold 145 - Greek names of deities found also in Troas 147 - Include nearly all the greater deities 150 - Worship of Vulcan in Troas 151 - Worship of Juno and Gaia in Troas 153 - Worship of Mercury in Troas 154 - Worship of Scamander 155 - Different view of Rivers in Troas 158 - Essential character of Trojan River-worship 160 - Trojan impersonations from Nature rare 162 - Poverty of Mythology among the Trojans 165 - Their jejune doctrine of a Future State 166 - Redundance of life in the Greek system 168 - Worship from hills 169 - The nations compared as to external development of religion.-- - 1. Temples 170 - 2. As to endowments in land, or τεμένεα 172 - 3. As to Groves’ ἄλσεα 173 - 4. As to Statues of the Gods 174 - 5. As to Seers or Diviners 177 - 6. As to the Priesthood: Priesthood in Greece 179 - Priesthood in later Greece 183 - Priesthood among the Trojans 184 - Comparative observance of sacrifice 187 - The Trojans more given to religious observances 189 - Homer’s different modes of handling for Greece and Troy 190 - Moral superiority of his Greeks on the whole 192 - Homer’s account of the abduction of Helen 193 - The Greek estimate of Paris 197 - Its relation to prevailing views of Marriage 200 - And to Greek views of Homicide 202 - The Trojan estimate of Paris 205 - Public opinion less developed in Troy 206 - The Trojans more sensual and false 207 - Trojan ideas and usages of Marriage 210 - The family of Priam 211 - Stricter ideas among the Greeks 215 - Trojan Polity less highly organized 216 - Rule of Succession in Troy 217 - Succession to the throne of Priam 219 - Paris, most probably, was his eldest son 221 - Position of Priam and his dynasty in Troas 223 - Meaning of Τροίη and of Ἴλιος 224 - Evidence from the Trojan Catalogue 225 - Extent of his sovereignty and supremacy 228 - Polity of Ilios: the Βασιλεύς 232 - The Assembly 232 - The greater weight of Age in Troy 234 - The absence of a Βουλὴ in Troy 236 - The greater weight of oratory in Greece 239 - Trojans less gifted with self-command 242 - And with intelligence generally 244 - Difference in the pursuits of high-born youth 245 - Difference as to αἰδὼς 246 - Summary of differences 247 - - III. THALASSA. - THE OUTER GEOGRAPHY OF THE ODYSSEY. - Why it deserves investigation 249 - Principal heads of the inquiry 251 - The two Spheres of Inner and Outer Geography 252 - Limits of the Inner Geography 255 - The intermediate or doubtful zone 257 - The Sphere of the Outer Geography 260 - The two Keys of the Outer Geography 261 - The traditional interpretations valueless 262 - Manifest dislocations of actual nature 263 - Postulates for examining the Outer Geography 264 - The Winds of Homer 265 - Special notices of Eurus and Notus 267 - Of Zephyr and Boreas 268 - Points of the Compass for the two last 270 - For the two first 272 - Scheme of the four Winds 273 - Signification of Eurus 273 - Homeric distances and rates of speed 275 - Particulars of evidence on speed 277 - The northward sea-route to the Euxine 280 - Evidence from Il. xiii. 1-6 281 - From Od. vii. 319-26 282 - From Od. v. 44-57 283 - From Od. xxiv. 11-13 285 - Amalgamated reports of the Ocean-mouth 287 - Open-sea passage to the Ocean-mouth 289 - Homeward passage by the Straits, why preferred 290 - Three maritime routes to the Ocean-mouth 291 - Its two possible originals in nature 292 - Straits of Yenikalè as Ocean-mouth 294 - Summary of facts from Phœnician reports 295 - Two sets of reports are blended into one 296 - The site of Ææa; North-western hypothesis 298 - North-eastern hypothesis 300 - Argument from the Πλαγκταὶ 302 - From the Island Thrinacie 302 - Local notes of Ææa 303 - Site of Ogygia 304 - Argument from the flight of Mercury 305 - From the floatage of Ulysses 306 - From his homeward passage 308 - Site of Scylla relatively to the Dardanelles 309 - Why Ææa cannot lie North-westward 311 - Construction of Od. xii. 3, 4 312 - Construction of Od. v. 276, 7 315 - Genuineness of the passage questionable 316 - Its real meaning 317 - Homer’s indications of geographical misgivings 318 - Stages of the tour of Ulysses to Ææa (i-vi.) 320 - Ææa and the Euxine (vi-viii.) 325 - Remaining stages (viii-xi.) 327 - Directions and distances from Ææa onwards 329 - Tours of Menelaus and Ulysses compared 331 - The earth of Homer probably oval 334 - Points of contact with Oceanus 337 - The Caspian and Persian Gulf belong to Oceanus 338 - Contraction and compression of the Homeric East 340 - Outline of Homer’s terrestrial system 342 - Map of Earth according to Homer 343 - - EXCURSUS I. - _Parentage and Extraction of Minos._ - On the genuineness of Il. xiv. 317-27 344 - On the sense of the line Il. xiv. 321 346 - Collateral testimony to the extraction of Minos 347 - - EXCURSUS II. - _On the line Odyss. v. 277._ - Points of the question stated 349 - Senses of δεξιὸς and ἀριστερὸς 350 - Illustrated from Il. xiii 352 - On the force of the Homeric ἐπὶ 354 - Force of ἐπὶ with ἀριστερὰ 356 - Illustrated from Il. ii. 353. Od. xxi. 141 358 - From Il. i. 597. vii. 238. xii. 239, 249 359 - From Il. xxiii. 335-7 360 - From Il. ii. 526 362 - Application to Od. v. 277 364 - Another sense prevailed in later Greek 365 - - IV. AOIDOS. - SECT. I. - _On the Plot of the Iliad._ - The Theory of Grote on the structure of the poem 366 - Offer related in the Ninth Book and its rejection 369 - Restitution and gifts not the object of Achilles 371 - The offer was radically defective 373 - Apology needed in particular 375 - Consistency maintained in and after Il. ix 377 - Skilful adjustment of conflicting aims 379 - Glory given to Achilles 380 - Glory given to Greece 380 - Trojan inferiority mainly in the Chiefs 382 - But it pervades the poem 384 - In the Chiefs it is glaring 385 - Conflicting exigencies of the plan 387 - Greeks superior even without Achilles 388 - Harmony in relative prominence of the Chiefs 389 - Retributive justice in the two poems 392 - The sufferings of Achilles 394 - Double conquest over his will 395 - - SECT. II. - _The Sense of Beauty in Homer: human, animal, and inanimate._ - His sense of Beauty alike pure and strong 397 - Degeneracy of the popular idea had begun 398 - Illustrated by the series of Dardanid traditions, (1) Ganymede 398 - (2) Tithonus, (3) Anchises 400 - (4) Paris and Venus 401 - Homer’s sense of Beauty in the human form 402 - His treatment of the Beauty of Paris 402 - Beauty among the Greek chieftains 404 - Ascribed also to the nation 405 - Beauty of Nireus 406 - Of Nastes and of Euphorbus 407 - Beauty placed among the prime gifts of man 408 - Homer’s sense of Beauty in animals 409 - Especially in horses 410 - As to their movements 411 - As to their form and colour 413 - Homer’s sense of Beauty in inanimate nature 416 - The instance of Ithaca 417 - Germ of feeling for the picturesque in Homer 419 - Close relation of Order and Beauty 420 - Causes adverse to the development of the germ 421 - Beauty of material objects absorbed in their Life 423 - - SECT. III. - _Homer’s perception and use of Number._ - The traditional character of aptitudes 425 - Conceptions of Number not always definite in childhood 427 - Nor even in manhood 428 - No calculations in Homer 430 - Greek estimate of the discovery of Number 431 - Enumerative addition in Od. iv. 412, 451 432 - Highest numerals of the poems 432 - The three hundred and sixty fat hogs 434 - The Homeric ἑκατομβὴ 435 - The numerals expressive of value 436 - His silence as to the numbers of the armies 439 - Especially in the Greek Catalogue 440 - Case of the Trojan bivouac 442 - Case of the herds and flocks in Od. xiv. 443 - Hesiod’s age of the Nymphs 444 - Case of the cities of Crete 445 - No scheme of chronology in Homer 446 - Case of the three Decades of years 448 - Meaning of the γενεὴ of Homer 449 - Homer reckons time by generations 451 - Some difficulties of the Decades taken literally 452 - Uses of the proposed interpretation 455 - - SECT. IV. - _Homer’s Perceptions and Use of Colour._ - Modern perceptions of colour usually definite 457 - Signs of immature perception in Homer 458 - His chief adjectives of colour 459 - His quasi-adjectives of colour 460 - Applications of ξανθὸς, ἐρυθρὸς, πορφύρεος 460 - Of κύανος and κυάνεος 462 - Of φοίνιξ 465 - Of πόλιος 466 - The quasi-adjectives of colour; χλωρὸς 467 - The αἰθαλόεις of Homer 468 - The ῥοδόεις and ῥοδοδάκτυλος 469 - The ἰόεις, ἰοειδὴς, ἰοδνεφὴς 470 - The οἴνοψ and μιλτοπάρηος 472 - Αἴθων and its cognates; also ἀργὸς, αἴολος 473 - Γλαυκὸς, γλαυκῶπις, γλαυκιόων 474 - Χάροπος, σιγαλόεις, μαρμάρεος, ἠεροειδὴς 475 - Conflict of the colours assigned to the same object 475 - Great predominance of white and black 476 - Remarkable omissions to specify colour 477 - In the case of the horse among others 479 - In the case of human beauty, and of Iris 482 - In the case of the heavens 483 - Causes of this peculiar treatment of colour 483 - License of poetry in the matter of colour 484 - Illustrated from Shakespeare 485 - Homer’s contracted means of training in colour 487 - His system one of light and dark 488 - Colour in the later Greek language 491 - Greek philosophy of colour 493 - Nature of our advantage over Homer 495 - - _Note on κύανος and χαλκός._ - Meanings for κύανος heretofore suggested 496 - Probably a native blue carbonate of copper 497 - Χαλκὸς to be understood as hardened copper 499 - - SECT. V. - _Homer and some of his successors in Epic Poetry; particularly - Virgil and Tasso._ - Milton’s place among Epic poets 500 - Difficulty of comparing him with Homer 501 - The same as to Dante 501 - Æneid and Iliad; their resemblances and contrasts 502 - Contrast between form and spirit in the Æneid 503 - Catalogue in the Iliad and in the Æneid 504 - Character of Æneas in the Æneid 505 - Character of Æneas in the Iliad 507 - The fine character of Turnus 508 - The false position of Virgil before Augustus 509 - Difficulty of learning the poet from the poem 510 - His false position as to religion, liberty, and nationality 511 - Untruthfulness hence resulting 512 - Homer is misapprehended through Virgil 513 - In minor matters, e. g. Simois and Scamander 513 - Νεκυΐα of Homer and of Virgil 515 - Ethnological and genealogical dislocations 516 - Action of the Twelfth Æneid 520 - Unfaithful imitations of details 521 - Maltreatment of the Homeric characters 522 - And of the Homeric Mythology and Ethics 523 - Æneas and Dido in the Shades beneath 525 - The woman characters of Homer and Virgil 527 - Virgil’s insufficient care of minor proprieties 528 - And of the order of natural phenomena 529 - Use of exaggeration in Homer and in Virgil 530 - Contrast of principal aims respectively 531 - Character of the Bard; not found in Virgil 532 - Post-Homeric change in the idea of the Poet’s office 533 - Virgil’s poetical disadvantages 534 - Comparison of the Trojan War with the Crusades 535 - Rinaldo and Achilles 535 - Exaggerations of bulk in Homer and in Tasso 536 - Mr. Hallam’s judgment on the Jerusalem 537 - Tasso’s poetical disadvantages 538 - The man Achilles in relation to the Iliad 539 - Liberation of the Sepulchre in relation to the _Gerusalemme_ 540 - Intrusion of incongruous elements 542 - Relative prominence of Tancredi and Rinaldo 543 - The Woman-characters of Tasso 544 - The Armida of Tasso 545 - Her resemblances and inferiority to Dido 546 - Her passion ill-sustained 546 - Obtrusiveness of the amatory element 548 - The Affront of Gernando 549 - Difference in modes of describing personages 551 - Battles and Similes of Tasso 552 - Inferiority of the Return in the _Gerusalemme_ 553 - Tasso’s greatness except as compared with Homer 554 - - SECT. VI. - _Some principal Homeric Characters in Troy. - Hector: Helen: Paris._ - Homer’s character-drawing power 555 - Corruption of the later tradition 556 - Why specially destructive in his case 557 - Mure’s treatment of the Homeric characters 558 - The character of Hector set off with generalities 558 - It became the basis for that of Orlando 559 - The martial heroism of Hector second-rate 559 - His boastfulness his only moral fault 561 - Hectoring and Rodomontading 562 - Hector’s sense of the guilt and shame of Paris 563 - His responsibilities beyond his strength 565 - Brightness of his character as to the affections 567 - His piety, gentleness, and equity 568 - Inequality of his character as a whole 569 - Apparent reason for it 569 - Opposite views of the character of Helen 571 - Homer’s intention with respect to it 572 - Two adverse mentions of her only 574 - Homer’s epithets and simile for Helen 575 - The case of Bathsheba 576 - As to the free agency of Helen 577 - Picture of Helen in Il. iii. 572 - In Il. vi., Il. xxiv., Od. iv. 581 - The marriage with Deiphobus 583 - General estimate of the Homeric Helen 584 - The character of Paris 585 - His apathy, levity, and selfishness 586 - His place in the War 587 - Relation of his intellect to his morality 588 - - SECT. VII. - _The declension of the great Homeric Characters - in the later Tradition._ - Physical conditions of the Greek Theatre 590 - Absolute dependence on the popular taste 592 - General obliteration of the finer distinctions 593 - Mutilation of the Helen of Homer 593 - The Helen of Euripides 595 - Of Isocrates and of Virgil 597 - Characters of Achilles and Ulysses in Homer 598 - Mutilation of the Ulysses of Homer 601 - Of the Achilles of Homer 602 - The Achilles of Statius 604 - Homeric characters in Seneca 605 - New relative position of Trojans and Greeks 606 - Trojanism in England 608 - Imitations of Homeric characters by Tasso 609 - The Troilus and Cressida 610 - Shirley’s Ajax and Ulysses 612 - Racine’s Iphigénie 613 - Racine’s Andromaque 614 - CONCLUSION 615 - - - - -I. AGORÈ. - -THE POLITIES OF THE HOMERIC AGE. - - -It is complained, and perhaps not without foundation, that the study of -the ancient historians does not supply the youth of England with good -political models: that, if we adjust our sympathies and antipathies -according to the division of parties and classes offered to our view -in Rome, Athens, or Sparta, they will not be cast in an English mould, -but will come out in the cruder forms of oligarchic or democratic -prejudice. Now I do not wait to inquire how far these defects may -be supplied by the political philosophers, and in particular by the -admirable treatise of Aristotle. And it certainly is true, that in -general they present to us a state of political ideas and morals -greatly deranged: the choice lies between evil on this side in one -form, and on that side in another form: the characters, who can be -recommended as examples, are commonly in a minority or in exile. Nor -do I ask how far we ought to be content, having an admirable range, -so to speak, of anatomical models in our hands, to lay aside the idea -of attaching our sympathies to what we see. I would rather incite the -objector to examine and judge whether we may not find an admirable -school of polity, and see its fundamental ideas exhibited under the -truest and largest forms, in a quarter where perhaps it would be the -least expected, namely, in the writings of Homer. - -As respects religion, arts, and manners, the Greeks of the heroic age -may be compared with other societies in the infancy of man. But as -respects political science in its essential rudiments, and as respects -the application of those principles by way of art to the government of -mankind, we may say with almost literal truth that they are the fathers -of it; and Homer invites those who study him to come and view it in its -cradle, where the infant carries every lineament in miniature, that we -can reasonably desire to see developed in manhood. - -~_Strong development of political ideas._~ - -I cannot but deprecate the association established, perhaps -unintentionally, by Grote, where, throwing Homer as he does into -hotch-pot, so to speak, with the ‘legendary age,’ he expresses -himself in his Preface[1], as follows. ‘It must be confessed that -the sentimental attributes of the Greek mind--its religious and -poetical vein--here appear in disproportionate relief, as compared -with its more vigorous and masculine capacities--with those powers of -acting, organizing, judging, and speculating, which will be revealed -in the forthcoming volumes.’ If the sentimental attribute is to be -contra-distinguished from the powers, I will not say of speculating, -but of acting, organizing, and judging, then I know of nothing less -sentimental in the after-history of Greece than the characters of -Achilles and Ulysses, than the relations of the Greek chiefs to one -another and to their people, than the strength and simplicity which -laid in those early times the foundation-stones of the Greek national -character and institutions, and made them in the social order the -just counterparts of the material structures that are now ascribed -to the Pelasgians; simple indeed in their elements, but so durable -and massive in their combination, as to be the marvel of all time. -The influences derived from these sources were of such vitality and -depth, that they secured to an insignificant country a predominating -power for centuries, made one little point of the West an effective -bulwark against the East, and caused Greece to throw out, to the right -and left, so many branches each greater than the trunk. Even when the -sun of her glory had set, there was yet left behind an immortal spark -of the ancient vitality, which, enduring through all vicissitudes, -kindled into a blaze after two thousand years; and we of this day -have seen a Greek nation, founded anew by its own energies, become -a centre of desire and hope at least to Eastern Christendom. The -English are not ashamed to own their political forefathers in the -forests of the Northward European Continent; and the later statesmen -with the lawgivers of Greece were in their day glad, and with reason -glad, to trace the bold outline and solid rudiments of their own and -their country’s greatness in the poems of Homer. Nothing in those -poems offers itself, to me at least, as more remarkable, than the -deep carving of the political characters; and what is still more, the -intense political spirit which pervades them. I will venture one step -farther, and say that, of all the countries of the civilized world, -there is no one of which the inhabitants ought to find that spirit so -intelligible and accessible as the English: because it is a spirit, -that still largely lives and breathes in our own institutions, and, if -I mistake not, even in the peculiarities of those institutions. There -we find the great cardinal ideas, which lie at the very foundation of -all enlightened government: and then we find, too, the men formed under -the influence of such ideas; as one among ourselves, who has drunk into -their spirit, tells us; - -[1] Page xvii. - - Sagacious, men of iron, watchful, firm, - Against surprise and sudden panic proof. - -And again, - - The sombre aspect of majestic care, - Of solitary thought, unshared resolve[2]. - -[2] Merope; by Matthew Arnold, pp. 94, 135. - -It was surely a healthful sign of the working of freedom, that in -that early age, despite the prevalence of piracy, even that idea of -political justice and public right, which is the germ of the law of -nations, was not unknown to the Greeks. It would appear that war could -not be made without an appropriate cause, and that the offer of redress -made it the duty of the injured to come to terms. Hence the offer of -Paris in the Third Iliad is at once readily accepted: and hence, even -after the breach of the Pact, arises Agamemnon’s fear, at the moment -when he anticipates the death of Menelaus, that by that event the claim -to the restoration of Helen will be practically disposed of, and the -Greeks will have to return home without reparation for a wrong, of -which the _corpus_, as it were, will have disappeared[3]. - -[3] Il. iv. 160-82. - -Before proceeding to sketch the Greek institutions as they are -exhibited in Homer, I will give a sketch of the interesting account of -them which is supplied by Grote. I cite it more for contrast than for -concurrence; but it will assist materially in bringing out into clear -relief the points which are of the greatest moment. - -~_Grote’s account of the Heroic Polities._~ - -The Greek States of the historic ages, says Grote, always present -to us something in the nature of a constitution, as the condition -of popular respect towards the government, and of the sense of an -obligation to obey it[4]. The man who broke down this constitution, -however wisely he might exercise his ill gotten power, was branded by -the name of τύραννος, or despot, “as an object of mingled fear and -dislike.” But in the heroic age there is no system, still less any -responsibility[5]: obedience depends on personal reverence towards the -king or chief. Into those ‘great individual personalities, the race -or nation is absorbed[6].’ Publicity indeed, through the means of the -council and assembly, essentially pervades the whole system[7]; but it -is a publicity without consequences; for the people, when they have -heard, simply obey the orders of the king[8]. Either resistance or -criticism is generally exhibited as odious, and is never heard of at -all except from those who are at the least subaltern chiefs: though -the council and assembly would in practice come to be restraints -upon the king, they are not so exhibited in Homer[9], but are simple -_media_ for supplying him with information, and for promulgating his -resolves[10]. The people may listen and sympathize, but no more. In the -assembly of the Second Iliad, a ‘repulsive picture’ is presented to us -of ‘the degradation of the mass of the people before the chiefs[11].’ -For because the common soldiery, in conformity with the ‘unaccountable -fancy’ which Agamemnon had propounded, made ready to go home, Ulysses -belabours them with blows and covers them with scornful reproofs[12]; -and the unpopularity of a presumptuous critic, even when he is in -substance right, is shown, partly by the strokes that Ulysses inflicts -upon Thersites, but still more by the hideous deformities with which -Homer has loaded him. - -[4] Grote’s Hist. Greece, vol. ii. p. 83. - -[5] Ibid. p. 84. - -[6] Ibid. p. 102. - -[7] Ibid. p. 101. - -[8] Ibid. p. 86. - -[9] Ibid. pp. 90, 102. - -[10] Ibid. p. 92. - -[11] Ibid. p. 95. - -[12] Grote’s Hist. Greece, vol. ii. pp. 94, 96. - -It is, I think, in happy inconsistency with these representations, -that the historian proceeds to say, that by means of the Βουλὴ and -Ἀγορὴ we are enabled to trace the employment of public speaking, as the -standing engine of government and the proximate cause of obedience, -‘up to the social infancy of the nation[13].’ But if, in order to make -this sentence harmonize with what precedes and follows it, we are to -understand that the Homeric poems present to us no more than the dry -fact that public speaking was in use, and are to infer that it did not -acquire its practical meaning and power until a later date, then I must -include it in the general protest which I beg leave to record against -the greater part of the foregoing propositions, in their letter and in -their spirit, as being neither warranted in the way of inference from -Homer, nor in any manner consistent with the undeniable facts of the -poems. - -[13] Ibid. p. 105. - -~_Their use of Publicity and Persuasion._~ - -Personal reverence from the people to the sovereign, associated with -the duties he discharges, with the high attributes he does or should -possess, and with the divine favour, or with a reputed relationship to -the gods, attaching to him, constitutes the primitive form in which -the relation of the prince and the subject is very commonly cast in -the early stages of society elsewhere than among the Greeks. What is -sentimental, romantic, archaic, or patriarchal in the Homeric polities -is common to them with many other patriarchal or highland governments. -But that which is beyond every thing distinctive not of Greece only, -but of Homeric Greece, is, that along with an outline of sovereignty -and public institutions highly patriarchal, we find the full, constant, -and effective use, of two great instruments of government, since and -still so extensively in abeyance among mankind; namely, publicity -and persuasion. I name these two great features of the politics and -institutions of the heroic age, in order to concentrate upon them -the marked attention which I think they deserve. And I venture to -give to this paper the name of the Ἀγορὴ, because it was the Greek -Assembly of those days, which mainly imparted to the existing polities -their specific spirit as well as features. Amid undeveloped ideas, -rude methods, imperfect organization, and liability to the frequent -intrusion of the strong hand, there lies in them the essence of a -popular principle of government, which cannot, I believe, plead on its -behalf any other precedent so ancient and so venerable. - -As is the boy, so is the man. As is the seed, so is the plant. The dove -neither begets, nor yet grows into the eagle. How came it that the -prime philosophers of full-grown Greece gave to the science of Politics -the very highest place in the scale of human knowledge? That they, -kings in the region of abstract thought, for the first and perhaps the -only time in the history of the world, came to think they discerned in -the turbid eddies of state affairs the image of the noblest thing for -man, the noblest that speculation as well as action could provide for -him? Aristotle says that, of all sciences, Πολιτικὴ is ἡ κυριωτάτη καὶ -μάλιστα ἀρχιτεκτονική[14]; and that ethical science constitutes but -a branch of it, πολιτική τις οὖσα. Whence, I ask, did this Greek idea -come? It is not the Greece, but it is the Rome of history, which the -judgment and experience of the world has taken as its great teacher in -the mere business of law and political organization. For so lofty a -theory (a theory without doubt exaggerated) from so practical a person -as Aristotle, we must assume a corresponding elevation of source. I -cannot help believing that the source is to be found rather in the -infancy, than in the maturity, of Greek society. As I read Homer, the -real first foundations of political science were laid in the heroic -age, with a depth and breadth exceeding in their proportions any -fabric, however imposing, that the after-time of Greece was able to -rear upon them. That after-time was in truth infected with a spirit of -political exaggeration, from which the heroic age was free. - -[14] Ar. Eth. Nic. i. 2. - -We shall have to examine the political picture presented by the heroic -age with reference to the various classes into which society was -distinguished in its normal state of peace: to the organization of the -army in war, and its mixture of civil with military relations: to the -institutions which embodied the machinery of government, and to the -powers by which that machinery was kept in motion. - -~_Functions of the King._~ - -Let us begin with the King; who constituted at once the highest class -in society, and the centre of its institutions. - -The political regimen of Greece, at the period immediately preceding -the Trojan war, appears to have been that described by Thucydides, -when he says that the tyrannies, which had come in with the increase -of wealth, were preceded by hereditary monarchies with limited -prerogatives[15]: πρότερον δὲ ἦσαν ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς γέρασι πατρικαὶ -βασιλεῖαι. And again by Aristotle; βασιλεία ... ἡ περὶ τοὺς ἡρωικοὺς -χρόνους ... ἦν ἑκόντων μὲν, ἐπὶ τισὶ δὲ ὡρισμένοις· στρατηγὸς γὰρ ἦν -καὶ δικαστὴς ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ τῶν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς κύριος. The threefold -function of the King was to command the army, to administer justice -chiefly, though not exclusively, between man and man, and to conduct -the rites of religion[16]. - -[15] Thuc. i. 13. - -[16] Ar. Pol. III. xiv. xv. V. x. - -Independently of sovereignties purely local, we find in Homer traces -of a maritime Cretan empire, which had recently passed away: and we -find a subsisting Pelopid empire, which appears to have been the first -of its kind, at least on the Greek mainland. For the Pelopid sceptre -was not one taken over from the Perseids: it was obtained through -Mercury, that is, probably through contrivance, from Jupiter: and the -difference probably consisted in one or both of these two particulars. -It comprehended the whole range of continental Greece, πᾶν Ἄργος, to -which are added, either at once or in its progressive extension, the -πολλαὶ νῆσοι (Il. ii. 108) of the Minoan empire. Besides this, it -consisted of a double sovereignty: one, a suzerainty or supremacy over -a number of chiefs, each of whom conducted the ordinary government of -his own dominions; the other, a direct, though perhaps not always an -effective control, not only over an hereditary territory, but over -the unclaimed residue of minor settlements and principalities in the -country. This inference may, I think, be gathered from the fact that -we find the force of Agamemnon before Troy drawn exclusively from his -Mycenian dominions, while he had claims of tribute from towns in the -south-west of Peloponnesus, which lay at some distance from his centre -of power, and which apparently furnished no aid in the war of Troy. - -The Pheræ of Diocles lay on the way from Pylos to Sparta: and Pheræ -is one of the towns which Agamemnon promised to Achilles. It should, -however, be borne in mind that, as the family of names to which Pheræ -belonged was one so largely dispersed, we must not positively assume -the identity of the two towns. - -~_Degrees in Kingship and in Lordship._~ - -Kingship in Homer is susceptible of degree; it is one thing for the -local sovereignties, such as those of Nestor or Ulysses, and another -for the great supremacy of Agamemnon, which overrode them. Still the -Greek βασιλῆες in the Iliad constitute a class by themselves; a class -that comprises the greater leaders and warriors, who immediately -surround Agamemnon, the head of the army. - -Of by much the greater part even of chiefs and leaders of contingents, -it is plain from the poem that though they were lords (ἄνακτες) of a -certain tribe or territory, they were not βασιλῆες or kings. - -These chiefs and lords again divide themselves into two classes: one -is composed of those who had immediate local heads, such as Phœnix, -lord of the Dolopes, under Peleus at Phthia, probably Sthenelus under -Diomed, and perhaps also Meriones under Idomeneus: the other is the -class of chieftains, to which order the great majority belong, owning -no subordination to any prince except to Agamemnon. Among these, again, -there is probably a distinction between those sub-chiefs who owned him -as a local sovereign, and those who were only subject to him as the -head of the great Greek confederation. - -It is probable that the subordination of the sub-chief to his local -sovereign was a closer tie than that of the local sovereign to the head -of Greece. For, according to the evidence supplied by the promises of -Agamemnon to Achilles[17], tribute was payable by the lords of towns -to their immediate political superior: not a tribute in coined money, -which did not exist, nor one fixed in quantity; but a benevolence -(δωτίνη), which must have consisted in commodities. Metals, including -the precious metals, would, however, very commonly be the medium of -acquittance. Again, we find these sub-chiefs invested with dominion by -the local sovereign, residing at his court, holding a subaltern command -in his army. All these points are combined in the case of Phœnix. On -the other hand, as to positive duty or service, we know of none that -a sovereign like Nestor owed to Agamemnon, except it were to take a -part in enterprises of national concern under his guidance. But the -distinction of rank between them is clear. Evidently on account of -his relation to Agamemnon, Menelaus is βασιλεύτερος, higher in mere -kingship, or more a king, than the other chiefs: Agamemnon boasts[18] -that he is greatly the superior of Achilles, or of any one else in the -army; and in the Ninth Book Achilles seems to refer with stinging, nay, -rather with slaying irony, to this claim of greater kingliness for -the Pelopids, when he rejects the offer of the hand of any one among -Agamemnon’s daughters; No! let him choose another son-in-law, who may -be worthy of him, and who is more a king than I[19]; - -[17] Il. ix. 297. - -[18] Il. i. 186. - -[19] Il. ix. 392. - - ὅστις οἷ τ’ ἐπέοικε, καὶ ὃς βασιλεύτερός ἐστιν. - -But although one βασιλεὺς might thus be higher than another, the rank -of the whole body of Βασιλῆες is, on the whole, well and clearly marked -off, by the consistent language of the Iliad, from all inferior ranks: -and this combination may remind us in some degree of the British -peerage, which has its own internal distinctions of grade, but which -is founded essentially upon parity, and is sharply severed from all -the other orders of the community. We shall presently see how this -proposition is made good. - -It thus far appears, that we find substantially, though not very -determinately, distinguished, the following forms of larger and lesser -Greek sovereignty: - -I. That held by Agamemnon, as the head of Greece. - -II. The local kings, some of them considerable enough to have other -lords or princes (ἄνακτες) under them. - -III. The minor chiefs of contingents; who, though not kings, were -princes or lords (ἄνακτες), and governed separate states of their own: -such as Thoas for Ætolia, and Menestheus for Athens. - -IV. The petty and scattered chiefs, of whom we can hardly tell how far -any account is taken in the Catalogue, but who belonged, in some sense, -to Agamemnon, by belonging to no one else. - -~_First tokens of change in the Heroic Polities._~ - -There are signs, contained in the Iliad itself, that the primitive -monarchies, the nature and spirit of which will presently be examined, -were beginning to give way even at the time of the expedition to Troy. -The growth of the Pelopid empire was probably unfavourable to their -continuance. In any case, the notes of commencing change will be found -clear enough. - -Minos had ruled over all Crete as king; but Idomeneus, his grandson, -is nowhere mentioned as the king of that country, of which he appears -to have governed a part only. Among obvious tokens of this fact are -the following. The cities which furnish the Cretan contingent are all -contained in a limited portion of that island. Now, although general -words are employed (Il. ii. 649.) to signify that the force was not -drawn from these cities exclusively, yet Homer would probably have been -more particular, had other places made any considerable contribution, -than to omit the names of them all. Again, Crete, though so large and -rich, furnishes a smaller contingent than Pylos. And, once more, if it -had been united in itself, it is very doubtful whether any ruler of so -considerable a country would have been content that it should stand -only as a province of the empire of Agamemnon. In the many passages -of either poem which mention Idomeneus, he is never decorated with a -title implying, like that of Minos (Κρήτῃ ἐπίουρος), that he was ruler -of the whole island. Indeed, one passage at least appears to bear -pretty certain evidence to the contrary. For Ulysses, in his fabulous -but of course self-consistent narration to Minerva, shows us that even -the Cretan force in Troy was not thoroughly united in allegiance to a -single head. ‘The son of Idomeneus,’ he says, ‘endeavoured to deprive -me of my share of the spoil, because I did not obey his father in -Troas, but led a band of my own:’ - - οὕνεκ’ ἄρ’ οὐχ ᾧ πατρὶ χαριζόμενος θεράπευον - δήμῳ ἔνι Τρώων, ἀλλ’ ἄλλων ἦρχον ἑταίρων[20]. - -[20] Od. xiii. 265. - -So likewise in the youth of Nestor, two generations back, Augeias -appears as the sole king of the Epeans; but, in the Catalogue, his -grandson Polyxeinus only commands one out of the four Epean divisions -of ten ships each, without any sign of superiority: of the other -three, two are commanded by generals of the Actorid family, which -in the earlier legend appears as part of the court or following of -Augeias[21]. And wherever we find in the case of any considerable -Greek contingent the chief command divided among persons other than -brothers, we may probably infer that there had been a breaking up of -the old monarchical and patriarchal system. This point deserves more -particular inquiry. - -[21] Il. xi. 709, 39, 50. - -~_Shown by analysis of the Catalogue._~ - -In the Greek armament, there are twenty-nine contingents in all. - -Of these, twenty-three are under a single head; with or without -assistants who, where they appear, are described as having been -secondary. - - 1. Locrians with 40 ships. - 2. Eubœans 40 - 3. Athenians 50 - 4. Salaminians 12 - 5. Argives 80 - 6. Mycenians 100 - 7. Lacedæmonians 60 - 8. Pylians 90 - 9. Arcadians 60 - 10. Dulichians &c. 40 - 11. Cephallenians 12 - 12. Ætolians 40 - 13. Cretans 80 - 14. Rhodians 9 - 15. Symeans 3 - 16. Myrmidons 50 - 17. Phthians of Phylace 40 - 18. Phereans, &c. 11 - 19. Phthians of Methone &c. 7 - 20. Ormenians &c. 40 - 21. Argissans &c. 40 - 22. Cyphians &c. 22 - 23. Magnesians 40 - ----- - 966 ships. - -Under brothers united in command, there were four more contingents: - - 1. Of Aspledon and Orchomenus, with 30 ships. - 2. Of Phocians 40 - 3. Of Nisuros, Cos &c. 30 - 4. Of Tricce &c. 30 - ----- - 130 ships. - -In all these cases, comprising the whole armament except from two -states, the old form of government seems to have continued. The two -exceptions are: - - 1. Bœotians; with 50 ships, under five leaders. - 2. Elians; with 40 ships, under four leaders. - -It is quite clear that these two divisions were acephalous. As to the -Elians, because the Catalogue expressly divides the 40 ships into four -squadrons, and places one under each leader, two of these being of the -Actorid house, and a third descended from Augeias. As to the Bœotians, -the Catalogue indicates the equality of the leaders by placing the five -names in a series under the same category. - -An indirect but rather strong confirmation is afforded by the passage -in the Thirteenth Book[22], where five Greek races or divisions are -engaged in the endeavour to repel Hector from the rampart. They are, - -[22] Il. xiii. 685-700. - -1. Bœotians. - -2. Athenians (or Ionians), under Menestheus, seconded by Pheidas, -Stichios, and Bias. - -3. Locrians. - -4. Epeans (of Dulichium &c.) under Meges, son of Phyleus, with Amphion, -and Drakios. The addition of the patronymic to Meges seems in this -place to mark his position; which is distinctly defined as the chief -one in the Catalogue, by his being mentioned there alone. - -5. Phthians, under Medon and Podarces. These supplied two contingents, -numbered 17 and 19 respectively in the list just given; and they -constituted separate commands, though of the same race. - -It will be remarked that the Poet enumerates the commanders of the -Athenians, Epeans, and Phthians; but not of the Locrians and Bœotians. -Obviously, in the case of the Locrians, the reason is, that Oilean -Ajax, a king and chief of the first rank, and a person familiar to us -in every page, was their leader. Such a person he never mixes on equal -terms with secondary commanders, or puts to secondary duties; and -the text immediately proceeds to tell us he was with the Telamonian -Ajax[23]. But why does it not name the Bœotian leader? Probably, we -may conjecture, because that force had no one commander in chief, -but were an aggregation of independent bodies, whom ties of blood or -neighbourhood drew together in the armament and in action. - -[23] Il. xiii. 701-8. - -Having thus endeavoured to mark the partial and small beginnings of -disorganization in the ancient form of government, let us now observe -the character of the particular spots where they are found. These -districts by no means represent, in their physical characteristics, the -average character of Greece. In the first place, they are both on the -highway of the movement between North and South. In the second, they -both are open and fertile countries; a distinction which, in certain -local positions, at certain stages of society, not only does not favour -the attainment of political power, but almost precludes its possession. -The Elis of Homer is marked by two epithets having a direct reference -to fertility of soil; it is ἱππόβοτος, horse-feeding, and it is also -εὐρύχορος, wide-spaced or open. Again, the twenty-nine towns assigned -in the Catalogue to the Bœotians far exceed in number those which -are named for any other division of Greece. We have other parallel -indications; such as the wealth of Orchomenos[24]; and of Orestius -with the variegated girdle. He dwelt in Hyle, one of the twenty-nine, -amidst other Bœotians who held a district of extreme fertility[25], -μάλα πίονα δῆμον ἔχοντες. Now when we find signs like these in Homer, -that Elis and Bœotia had been first subjected to revolution, not in the -shape of mere change of dynasty, but in the decomposition, so to speak, -of their ancient forms of monarchy, we must again call to mind that -Thucydides[26], when he tells us that the best lands underwent the most -frequent social changes by the successions of new inhabitants, names -Bœotia, and ‘most of Peloponnesus’ as examples of the kind of district -to which his remark applied. - -[24] Il. ix. 381. - -[25] Il. v. 707-10. - -[26] Thuc. i. 2. - -Upon the whole, the organization of the armament for Troy shows us the -ancient monarchical system intact in by far the greater part of Greece. -But when we come to the Odyssey, we find increasing signs of serious -changes; which doubtless were then preparing the way, by the overthrow -of old dynasties, for the great Dorian invasion. And it is here worth -while to remark a great difference. The mere supervention of one race -upon another, the change from a Pelasgian to an Hellenic character, -does not appear to have entailed alterations nearly so substantial in -the character and stability of Hellenic government, as did the Trojan -expedition; which, by depriving societies of their natural heads, -and of the fighting men of the population, left an open field to the -operation of disorganizing causes. - -Strabo has a remarkable passage, though one in which he makes no -particular reference to Homer, on the subject of the invasions and -displacements of one race by another. These, he says[27], had indeed -been known before the Trojan war: but it was immediately upon the -close of the war, and then after that period, that they gained head: -μάλιστα μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὰ Τρωικὰ, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, τὰς ἐφόδους γένεσθαι -καὶ τὰς μεταναστάσεις συνέβη, τῶν τε βαρβάρων ἅμα καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὁρμῇ -τινὶ χρησαμένων πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων κατάκτησιν. Of this the Odyssey -affords some curious indications. - -[27] B. xii. 8, 4. p. 572. - -~_Extended signs in the Odyssey._~ - -Among many alleged and some real shades of difference between the -poems, we may note two of a considerable political significance: the -word _King_ in the Odyssey has acquired a more lax signification, and -the word _Queen_, quite unknown to the Iliad, has come into free use. - -~_Altered meaning of ‘King.’_~ - -It will be shown how strictly, in the Iliad, the term βασιλεὺς, with -its appropriate epithets, is limited to the very first persons of the -Greek armament. Now in the Odyssey there are but two States, with -the organization of which we have occasion to become in any degree -acquainted: one of them Scheria, the other Ithaca. Of the first we do -not see a great deal, and the force of the example is diminished by the -avowedly mythical or romantic character of the delineation: but the -fact is worthy of note, that in Scheria we find there are twelve kings -of the country, with Alcinous[28], the thirteenth, as their superior -and head. It is far more important and historically significant that, -in the limited and comparatively poor dominions of Ulysses, there are -now many kings. For Telemachus says[29], - -[28] Od. viii. 391. vi. 54. - -[29] Od. i. 394. - - ἀλλ’ ἤτοι βασιλῆες Ἀχαιῶν εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι - πολλοὶ ἐν ἀμφιάλῳ Ἰθάκῃ, νέοι ἠδὲ παλαιοί. - -His meaning must be to refer to the number of nobles who were now -collected, from Cephallonia and the other dominions of Ulysses, into -that island. The observation is made by him in reply to the Suitor -Antinous, who had complained of his bold language, and hoped he never -would be king in Ithaca[30]: - -[30] Ibid. 386. - - μὴ σέ γ’ ἐν ἀμφιάλῳ Ἰθάκῃ βασιλῆα Κρονίων - ποιήσειεν, ὅ τοι γενεῇ πατρώϊόν ἐστιν. - -It is, I think, clear, that in this place Antinous does not mean -merely, ‘I hope you will not become one of us,’ which might be said in -reference merely to the contingency of his assuming the controul of his -paternal estates, but that he refers to the sovereignty properly so -called: for Telemachus, after having said there are many βασιλῆες in -Ithaca, proceeds to say, ‘Let one of them be chosen’, or ‘one of these -may be chosen, to succeed Ulysses;’ - - τῶν κέν τις τόδ’ ἔχῃσιν, ἐπεὶ θάνε δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς. - -‘but let me,’ he continues, ‘be master of my own house and property.’ -Thus we have βασιλεὺς bearing two senses in the very same passage. -First, it means the noble, of whom there are many in the country, and -it is here evidently used in an improper sense; secondly, it means -the person who rules the whole of them, and it is here as evidently -employed in its original and proper signification. It seems very -doubtful, however, whether, even in the Odyssey, the relaxed sense -ever appears as a simple title in the singular number. The only signs -of it are these; Antinous is told that he is _like_ a king[31] in -appearance; and he is also expressly called βασιλεὺς in the strongly -and generally suspected νεκυΐα of the Twenty-fourth Book[32]. So -again, the kingly epithet Διοτρεφὴς is not used in the singular for -any one below the rank of a βασιλεὺς of the Iliad, except once, where, -in addressing Agelaus the Suitor, it is employed by Melanthius, the -goatherd, one of the subordinate adherents and parasites of that -party[33]. - -[31] Od. xvii. 416. - -[32] Od. xxiv. 179. - -[33] Od. xxii. 136. - -This relaxation in the sense of βασιλεὺς, definite and limited as is -its application in the Iliad, is no inconsiderable note of change. - -~_New name of Queen._~ - -Equally, or more remarkable, is the introduction in the Odyssey of the -words δέσποινα and βασίλεια, and the altered use of ἄνασσα. - -1. δέσποινα is applied, Od. iii. 403, to the wife of Pisistratus, son -of Nestor; to Arete, queen of the Phæacians, Od. vii. 53, 347; to -Penelope, Od. xiv. 9, 127, 451; xv. 374, 7; xvii. 83; xxiii. 2. - -2. ἄνασσα is applied in the Iliad, xiv. 326, to Ceres only; but in the -Odyssey, besides Minerva, in Od. iii. 380, Ulysses applies it twice -to Nausicaa, in Od. vi. 149, 175; apparently in some doubt whether -she is a divinity or a mortal. I would not however dwell strongly on -this distinction between the poems; for we seem to find substantially -the human use of the word ἄνασσα in the name of Agamemnon’s daughter, -Ἰφιάνασσα, which is used in Il. ix. 145. - -3. Βασίλεια is used many times in the Odyssey; and is applied to - - _a._ Nausicaa, Od. vi. 115. - _b._ Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus, Od. xi. 258; but only in the phrase - βασίλεια γυναικῶν, which seems to resemble δῖα γυναικῶν. - _c._ Arete, queen of the Phæacians, Od. xiii. 59. - _d._ Penelope, Od. xvi. 332, 7: and elsewhere. - -Now it cannot be said that the use of the word is forborne in the -Iliad from the want of fit persons to bear it; for Hecuba, as the wife -of Priam, and Helen, as the wife of Paris, possibly also Andromache, -(though this is much more doubtful[34],) were all of a rank to have -received it: nor can we account for its absence by their appearing only -as Trojans; for the title of βασιλεὺς is frequently applied to Priam, -and it is likewise assigned to Paris, though to no other member of the -Trojan royal family. - -[34] See inf. ‘Ilios.’ - -We have also two other cases in the Iliad of women who were queens of -some kind. One is that of Hypsipyle, who apparently exercised supreme -power[35] in Lemnos, but we are left to inference as to its character: -the other is the mother of Andromache[36], - -[35] Il. vii. 469. - -[36] Il. vi. 395-7. 425. - - ἣ βασίλευεν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ ὑληέσσῃ. - -She was what we term a Queen consort, for her husband Eetion was alive -at the time. In the Odyssey we are told that Chloris, whom Neleus -married, reigned at Pylos; ἡ δὲ Πύλου βασίλευε, Od. xi. 285. In this -place the word βασιλεύειν may perhaps imply the exercise of sovereign -power. Be this as it may, the introduction of the novel title of Queen -betokens political movement. - -There are other signs of advancing change in the character of kingship -discernible from the Odyssey, which will be more conveniently -considered hereafter. In the meantime, the two which are already before -us are, it will be observed, exactly in the direction we might expect -from the nature of the Trojan war, and from the tradition of Strabo. We -have before us an effort of the country amounting to a violent, and -also an unnaturally continued strain; a prolonged absence of its best -heads, its strongest arms, its most venerated authorities: wives and -young children, infants of necessity in many cases, remain at home. It -was usual no doubt for a ruler, on leaving his country, to appoint some -guardian to remain behind him, as we see from the case of Agamemnon, -(Od. iii. 267,) and from the language of Telemachus, (Od. xv. 89); -but no regent, deputy, or adviser, could be of much use in that stage -of society. Again, in every class of every community, there are boys -rapidly passing into manhood; they form unawares a new generation, -and the heat of their young blood, in the absence of vigorous and -established controul, stirs, pushes forward, and innovates. Once more, -as extreme youth, so old age likewise was ordinarily a disqualification -for war. And as we find Laertes and Peleus, and Menœtius, with Admetus, -besides probably other sovereigns whom Homer has not named to us, left -behind on this account, so there must have been many elderly men of the -class of nobles (ἀριστῆες, ἔξοχοι ἄνδρες) who obtained exemption from -actual service in the war. There is too every appearance that, in some -if not all the states of Greece, there had been those who escaped from -service on other grounds; perhaps either from belonging to the elder -race, which was more peculiarly akin to Troy, or from local jealousies, -or from the love of ease. For in Ithaca we find old men, contemporaries -and seniors of Ulysses, who had taken no part in the expedition; and -there are various towns mentioned in different parts of the poems, -which do not appear from the Catalogue to have made any contribution to -the force. Such were possibly the various places bearing the name of -Ephyre, and with higher likelihood the towns offered by Agamemnon to -be made over to Achilles[37]. - -[37] There is a _nexus_ of ideas attached to these towns that excites -suspicion. It would have been in keeping with the character of -Agamemnon to offer them to Achilles, on account of his having already -found he could not control them himself. No one of them appears in the -Catalogue. Nor do we hear of them in the Nineteenth Book, when the -gifts are accepted. It seems, however, just possible that the promise -by Menelaus of the hand of his daughter Hermione to Neoptolemus may -have been an acquittance of a residue of debt standing over from the -original offer of Agamemnon, out of which the seven towns appear to -have dropped by consent of all parties. - -~_Disorganization caused by the War._~ - -Again, as Cinyres[38] the ruler of Cyprus, and Echepolus[39] the son -of Anchises, obtained exemption by means of gifts to Agamemnon, so -may others, both rulers and private individuals, have done. But the -two main causes, which would probably operate to create perturbation -in connection with the absence of the army, were, without much doubt, -first, the arrival of a new race of youths at a crude and intemperate -manhood; and secondly, the unadjusted relations in some places of the -old Pelasgian and the new Hellenic settlers. Their differences, when -the pressure of the highest established authority had been removed, -would naturally in many places spring up afresh. In conformity with -the first of these causes, the Suitors as a body are called very -commonly νεοὶ ὑπερηνορέοντες[40], ‘the domineering youths.’ And the -circumstances under which Ulysses finds himself, when he has returned -to Ithaca, appear to connect themselves also with the latter of the -above-named causes. But, whatever the reasons, it is plain that his -position had become extremely precarious. Notwithstanding his wealth, -ability, and fame, he did not venture to appeal to the people till he -had utterly destroyed his dangerous enemies; and even then it was only -by his promptitude, strength of hand, and indomitable courage, that he -succeeded in quelling a most formidable sedition. - -[38] Il. xi. 20. - -[39] Il. xxiii. 296. - -[40] Od. ii. 324, 331, _et alibi_. The epithet is, I think, exactly -rendered by another word very difficult to translate into English, the -Italian _prepotenti_. - -Nothing, then, could be more natural, than that, in the absence of the -sovereigns, often combined with the infancy of their children, the -mother should become the depositary of an authority, from which, as we -see by other instances, her sex does not appear to have excluded her: -and that if, as is probable, the instances were many and simultaneous, -this systematic character given to female rule should have its formal -result on language in the creation of the word Queen, and its twin -phrase δέσποινα, or Mistress. The extension of the word ἄνασσα from -divinities to mortals might result from a subaltern operation of the -same causes. - -In the very same manner, the diminished force of authority at its -centre would increase the relative prominence of such among the nobles -as remained at home. On reaching to manhood, they would in some cases, -as in Ithaca, find themselves practically independent. The natural -result would be, that having, though on a small scale, that is to say, -so far probably as their own properties and neighbourhoods respectively -were concerned, much of the substance of sovereignty actually in -their hands, they should proceed to arrogate its name. Hence come the -βασιλῆες of Ithaca and the islands near it; some of them young men, -who had become adult since the departure of Ulysses, others of them -old, who, remaining behind him, had found their position effectively -changed, if not by the fact of his departure, yet by the prolongation -of his absence. - -The relaxed use, then, of the term βασιλεὺς in the Odyssey, and the -appearance of the term βασίλεια and of others in a similar category, -need not qualify the proposition above laid down with respect to the -βασιλεὺς of the Iliad. He, as we shall see from the facts of the poem, -stands in a different position, and presents to us a living picture of -the true heroic age[41]. - -[41] I need hardly express my dissent from the account given of the -βασιλεὺς and ἄναξ in the note on Grote’s History of Greece, vol. II. -p. 84. There is no race in Troas called βασιλεύτατον. Every -βασιλεὺς was an ἄναξ; but many an ἄναξ was not a βασιλεύς. It is true -that an ἄναξ might be ἄναξ either of freemen or of slaves; but so he -might of houses (Od. i. 397), of fishes (Il. xiii. 28), or of dogs (Od. -xvii. 318). - -~_Altered idea of the Kingly office._~ - -This change in the meaning of the word King was accompanied by -a corresponding change in the idea of the great office which it -betokened. It had descended from a more noble to a less noble type. I -do not mean by this that it had now first submitted to limitations. The -βασιλεὺς of the Greeks was always and essentially limited: and hence -probably it was, that the usurper of sole and indefinite power in the -state was so essentially and deeply odious to the Greeks, because it -was felt that he had plundered the people of a treasure, namely, free -government, which they and their early forefathers had possessed from -time immemorial. - -It is in the Odyssey that we are first startled by meeting not only -a wider diffusion and more lax use of the name of king, but together -with this change another one; namely, a lower conception of the kingly -office. The splendour of it in the Iliad is always associated with -duty. In the simile where Homer speaks of corrupt governors, that draw -down the vengeance of heaven on a land by crooked judgments, it is -worthy of remark, that he avoids the use of the word βασιλεύς[42]: - -[42] Il. xvi. 386. - - ὅτε δή ῥ’ ἄνδρεσσι κοτεσσάμενος χαλεπήνῃ, - οἳ βίῃ εἰν ἀγορῇ σκολίας κρίνωσι θέμιστας. - -The worst thing that is even hinted at as within the limits of -possibility, is slackness in the discharge of the office: it never -degenerates into an instrument of oppression to mankind. But in the -Odyssey, which evidently represents with fidelity the political -condition of Greece after the great shock of the Trojan war, we find -that kingship has come to be viewed by some mainly with reference to -the enjoyment of great possessions, which it implied or brought, and as -an object on that account of mere ambition. Not of what we should call -absolutely vicious ambition: it is not an absolute perversion, but it -is a clear declension in the idea, that I here seek to note - - ἦ φῂς τοῦτο κάκιστον ἐν ἀνθρώποισι τετύχθαι; - οὐ μὲν γάρ τι κακὸν βασιλευέμεν· αἶψά τέ οἱ δῶ - ἀφνειὸν πέλεται, καὶ τιμηέστερος αὐτός.[43] - -[43] Od. i. 391-3. - -This general view of the office as one to be held for the personal -enjoyment of the incumbent, is broadly distinguished from such a -case as that in the Iliad, where Agamemnon, offering seven cities -to Achilles[44], strives to tempt him individually by a particular -inducement, drawn from his own undoubtedly rather sordid mind; - -[44] Il. ix. 155. - - οἵ κέ ἑ δωτίνῃσι θεὸν ὣς τιμήσουσιν. - -The moral causes of this change are in a great degree traceable to the -circumstances of the war, and we seem to see how the conception above -expressed was engendered in the mind of Mentor, when he observes[45], -that it is now useless for a king to be wise and benevolent like -Ulysses, who was gentle like a father to his people, in order that, -like Ulysses, he may be forgotten: so that he may just as well be -lawless in character, and oppressive in action. The same ideas are -expressed by Minerva[46] in the very same words, at the second Olympian -meeting in the Odyssey. It would therefore thus appear, that this -particular step downwards in the character of the governments of the -heroic age was owing to the cessation, through prolonged absence, -of the influence of the legitimate sovereigns, and to consequent -encroachment upon their moderate powers. - -[45] Od. ii. 230-4. - -[46] Od. v. 8-12. - -~_Instance of a bad King._~ - -And it is surely well worthy of remark that we find in this very same -poem the first exemplification of the character of a bad and tyrannical -monarch, in the person of a certain king Echetus; of whom all we know -is, that he lived somewhere upon the coast of Epirus, and that he was -the pest of all mortals that he had to do with. With great propriety, -it is the lawless Suitors who are shown to be in some kind of relation -with him; for in the Eighteenth Odyssey they threaten[47] to send Irus, -who had annoyed them in his capacity of a beggar, to king Echetus, that -he might have his nose and ears cut off, and be otherwise mutilated. -The same threat is repeated in the Twenty-first Book against Ulysses -himself, and the line that conveys it reappears as one of the Homeric -_formulæ_[48]; - -[47] Od. xviii. 83-6 and 114. - -[48] Od. xxi. 308. - - εἰς Ἔχετον βασιλῆα, βροτῶν δηλήμονα πάντων. - -Probably this Echetus was a purchaser of slaves. It is little likely -that the Suitors would have taken the trouble of sending Irus away, -rather than dispose of him at home, except with the hope of a price; as -they suggest to Telemachus to ship off Theoclymenus and Ulysses (still -disguised) to the Sicels, among whom they will sell well[49]. - -[49] Od. xx. 382, 3. - -~_Kingship in the age of Hesiod._~ - -The kingship, of which the features were so boldly and fairly defined -in the Homeric age, soon passed away; and was hardly to be found -represented by any thing but its φθορὰ, the τυραννὶς or despotism, -which neither recognised limit nor rested upon reverence or upon usage, -but had force for its foundation, was essentially absolute, and could -not, according to the conditions of our nature, do otherwise than -rapidly and ordinarily degenerate into the positive vices, which have -made the name of tyrant ‘a curse and a hissing’ over the earth. In -Hesiod we find what Homer nowhere furnishes; an odious epithet attached -to the whole class of kings. The θεῖοι βασιλῆες of the heroic age have -disappeared: they are now sometimes the αἰδοῖοι still, but sometimes -the δωρόφαγοι, the gift-greedy, instead. They desire that litigation -should increase, for the sake of the profits that it brings them[50]; - -[50] Hesiod Ἔργ. i. 39. 258. cf. 262. - - μέγα κυδαίνων βασιλῆας - δωροφάγους, οἳ τήνδε δίκην ἐθέλουσι δικάσσαι. - -The people has now to expiate the wickedness of these corrupted kings; - - ὀφρ’ ἀποτίσῃ - δῆμος ἀτασθαλίας βασιλέων· - -A Shield of Achilles, manufactured after the fashion of the Hesiodic -age, would not have given us, for the pattern of a king, one who stood -smiling in his fields behind his reapers as they felled the corn[51]. -Yet while Hesiod makes it plain that he had seen kingship degraded -by abuse, he has also shown us, that his age retained the ideas both -that justice was its duty, and that persuasion was the grand basis of -its power. For, as he says in one of his few fine passages[52], at -the birth of a king, the Muses pour dew upon his tongue, that he may -have the gift of gentle speech, and may administer strict justice to -the people. He then, or the ancient writer who has interpolated him, -goes on to describe the work of royal oratory, in thoughts chiefly -borrowed from the poems of Homer. But the increase of wealth, and the -multiplication of its kinds through commerce, mocked the simple state -of the early kings, and tempted them into a rapacity, before which -the barriers of ancient custom gave way: and so, says Thucydides[53], -τὰ πολλὰ τυραννίδες ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καθίσταντο, τῶν προσόδων μειζόνων -γιγνομένων. The germ of this evil is just discernible in the Agamemnon -of the Iliad: and it is marked by the epithet of Achilles, who, -when angry, still knows how to strike at the weakest point of his -character, by calling him δημόβορος βασιλεὺς[54], a king who eat up, -or impoverished, those under his command. Whether the charge was in -any great degree deserved or not, we can hardly say. Helen certainly -gives to the Achæan king a better character[55]. But however that may -be, the reproach was altogether personal to the man. The reverence due -and paid to the office must have been immense, when Ulysses, alone, and -armed only with the sceptre of Agamemnon, could stem the torrent of -the flying soldiery, and turn them back upon the place of meeting. - -[51] Il. xviii. 556. - -[52] Hes. Theog. 80-97. - -[53] Thuc. i. 13. - -[54] Il. i. 231. - -[55] Il. iii. 179. - -~_Veneration long adhering to the name._~ - -Even in the Iliad, indeed, we scarcely find the strictly patriarchal -king. The constitution of the state has ceased to be modelled in any -degree on the pattern of the family. The different classes are united -together by relations which, though undefined and only nascent, are -yet purely political. Ulysses, in his character of king, had been -gentle _as_ a father[56]; but the idea which makes the king even -metaphorically the father of his people is nowhere, I think, to -be found in Homer: it was obsolete. Ethnical, local, and dynastic -changes, often brought about by war, had effaced the peculiar traits -of patriarchal kingship, with the exception of the old title of ἄναξ -ἀνδρῶν; and had substituted those heroic monarchies which retained, -in a larger development, so much of what was best in the still older -system. As even these monarchies had begun, before the Trojan war, to -be shaken here and there, and as the Odyssey exhibits to us the state -of things when apparently their final knell had sounded, so, in the age -of Hesiod, that iron age, when Commerce had fairly settled in Greece, -and had brought forth its eldest-born child Competition[57], they had -become a thing of the past. Yet they were still remembered, and still -understood. And it might well be that, long after society had outgrown -the forms of patriarchal life, men might nevertheless cling to its -associations; and so long as those associations were represented by old -hereditary sovereignties, holding either in full continuity, or by ties -and traditions not absolutely broken, much of the spirit of the ancient -system might continue to subsist; political freedom respecting the -tree, under the shadow of which it had itself grown up. - -[56] Od. ii. 47. - -[57] Hesiod. Ἔργ. 17-24. - -It should be easier for the English, than for the nations of most other -countries, to make this picture real to their own minds; for it is the -very picture before our own eyes in our own time and country, where -visible traces of the patriarchal mould still coexist in the national -institutions with political liberties of more recent fashion, because -they retain their hold upon the general affections. - -And, indeed, there is a sign, long posterior to the account given -by Hesiod of the heroic age, and distinct also from the apparently -favourable notice by Thucydides of the πατρικαὶ βασιλεῖαι, which might -lead to the supposition that the old name of king left a good character -behind it. It is the reverence which continued to attend that name, -notwithstanding the evil association, which events could not fail to -establish between it and the usurpations (τυραννίδες). For when the -office of the βασιλεὺς had either wholly disappeared, as in Athens, -or had undergone essential changes, as in Sparta, so that βασιλεία no -longer appears with the philosophical analysts as one of the regular -kinds of government, but μοναρχία is substituted, still the name -remained[58], and bore for long long ages the traces of its pristine -dignity, like many another venerable symbol, with which we are loath -to part, even after we have ceased either to respect the thing it -signifies, or perhaps even to understand its significance. - -[58] The title is stated to have been applied in Attica even to the -decennial archons. Tittmann, Griechische Staatsverfassungen, b. ii. p. -70. - -Such is a rude outline of the history of the office. Let us now -endeavour to trace the portrait of it which has been drawn in the Iliad -of Homer. - -~_Notes of Kingship in the Iliad._~ - -1. The class of βασιλῆες has the epithet θεῖοι, which is never used by -Homer except to place the subject of it in some special relation with -deity; as for (_a_) kings, (_b_) bards, (_c_) the two protagonists, -Achilles and Ulysses, (_d_) several of the heroes who predeceased the -war, (_e_) the herald in Il. iv. 192; who, like an ambassador in modern -times, personally represents the sovereign, and is therefore Διὸς -ἄγγελος ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν, Il. i. 334. - -2. This class is marked by the exclusive application to it of the -titular epithet Διοτρεφής; which, by the relations with Jupiter which -it expresses, denotes the divine origin of sovereign power. The word -Διογενὴς has a bearing similar to that of Διοτρεφὴς, but apparently -rather less exclusive. Although at first sight this may seem singular, -and we should perhaps expect the order of the two words to be reversed, -it is really in keeping; for the gods had many reputed sons of whom -they took no heed, and to be brought up under the care of Jupiter was -therefore a far higher ascription, than merely to be born or descended -from him. - -3. To the βασιλεὺς, and to no one else, is it said that Jupiter has -intrusted the sceptre, the symbol of authority, together with the -prerogatives of justice[59]. The sceptre or staff was the emblem of -regal power as a whole. Hence the account of the origin and successive -deliveries of the sceptre of Agamemnon[60]. Hence Ulysses obtained -the use of it in order to check the Greeks and bring them back to the -assembly, ii. 186. Hence we constantly hear of the sceptre as carried -by kings: hence the epithet σκηπτοῦχοι is applied to them exclusively -in Homer, and the sceptre is carried by no other persons, except by -judges, and by herald-serjeants, as their deputies. - -[59] Il. ii. 205. - -[60] Il. ii. 101. - -4. The βασιλῆες are in many places spoken of as a class or order by -themselves; and in this capacity they form the βουλὴ or council of -the army. Thus when Achilles describes the distribution of prizes by -Agamemnon to the principal persons of the army, he says[61], - -[61] Il. ix. 334. - - ἄλλα δ’ ἀριστήεσσι δίδου γέρα, καὶ βασιλεῦσιν. - -In this place the Poet seems manifestly to distinguish between the -class of kings and that of chiefs. - -When he has occasion to speak of the higher order of chiefs who usually -met in council, he calls them the γέροντες[62], or the βασιλῆες[63]: -but when he speaks of the leaders more at large, he calls them by -other names, as at the commencement of the Catalogue, they are ἀρχοὶ, -ἡγεμόνες, or κοίρανοι: and, again, ἀριστῆες[64]. In two places, indeed, -he applies the phrase last-named to the members of that select class -of chiefs who were also kings: but there the expression is ἀριστῆες -Παναχαιῶν[65], a phrase of which the effect is probably much the same -as βασιλῆες Ἀχαιῶν: the meaning seems to be those who were chief over -all orders of the Greeks, that is to say, chiefs even among chiefs. -Thus Agamemnon would have been properly the only βασιλεὺς Παναχαιῶν. - -[62] Il. ii. 53 _et alibi_. - -[63] Il. xix. 309. ii. 86. - -[64] Il. ii. 487, 493. xx. 303. - -[65] Il. ii. 404, and vii. 327. On the force of Παναχαιοὶ, see Achæis, -or Ethnology, p. 420. - -The same distinction is marked in the proceedings of Ulysses, when he -rallies the dispersed Assembly: for he addressed coaxingly, - - ὅντινα μὲν βασιλῆα καὶ ἔξοχον ἄνδρα κιχείη, - -whatever king _or_ leading man he chanced to overtake[66]. - -[66] Il. ii. 188. - -5. The rank of the Greek βασιλεῖς is marked in the Catalogue by this -trait; that no other person seems ever to be associated with them on an -equal footing in the command of the force, even where it was such as to -require subaltern commanders. Agamemnon, Menelaus, Nestor, Ulysses, the -two Ajaxes, Achilles, are each named alone. Idomeneus is named alone as -leader in opening the account of the Cretans, ii. 645, though, when he -is named again, Meriones also appears (650, 1), which arrangement seems -to point to him as only at most a quasi-colleague, and ὀπάων. Sthenelus -and Euryalus are named after Diomed (563-6), but it is expressly added, - - συμπάντων δ’ ἡγεῖτο βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Διομήδης. - -Thus his higher rank is not obscured. Again, we know that, in the case -of Achilles, there were five persons, each commanding ten of his fifty -ships (Il. xvi. 171), of whom no notice is taken in the Catalogue -(681-94), though it begins with a promise to enumerate all those who -were in command of the fleet (493), - - ἀρχοὺς αὖ νηῶν ἐρέω νῆάς τε προπάσας; - -and in the case of the Elians he names four leaders who had exactly the -same command, each over ten ships (618). It thus appears natural to -refer his silence about the five to the rank held by Achilles as a king. - -So much for the notes of this class in the Iliad. - -Though we are not bound to suppose, that Homer had so rigid a -definition of the class of kings before his mind as exists in the case -of the more modern forms of title, it is clear in very nearly every -individual case of a Greek chieftain of the Iliad, whether he was a -βασιλεὺς or not. - -~_The Nine Greek Kings of the Iliad._~ - -The class clearly comprehends: - - 1. Agamemnon, Il. i. 9, and in many places. - - 2. Menelaus } from Il. xix. 310, 311, where they remain - 3. Nestor } with Achilles, while the other - 4. Ulysses } βασιλῆες, ver. 309, are sent away. - 5. Idomeneus } Also for Ulysses, see xiv. 379; and - } various places in the Odyssey. - - 6. Achilles, Il. i. 331. xvi. 211. - - 7. Diomed, Il. xiv. 27, compared with 29 and 379. - - 8. Ajax Telamonius, Il. vii. 321 connected with 344. - - 9. Ajax, son of Oileus. - -Among the indications, by which the last-named chief is shown to have -been a βασιλεὺς, are those which follow. He is summoned by Agamemnon -(Il. ii. 404-6) among the γέροντες ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν: where all the -abovenamed persons appear (except Achilles), and no others. Now the -γέροντες or elders are summoned before in ver. 53 of the same book, -and are called in ver. 86 the σκηπτοῦχοι βασιλῆες. Another proof of -the rank of Oilean Ajax is the familiar manner in which his name is -associated on terms of equality, throughout the poem, with that of Ajax -Telamonius. - -But the part of the poem, which supplies the most pointed testimony as -a whole with respect to the composition of the class of kings, is the -Tenth Book. - -Here we begin with the meeting of Agamemnon and Menelaus (ver. 34). -Next, Menelaus goes to call the greater Ajax and Idomeneus (53), and -Agamemnon to call Nestor (54, 74). Nestor awakens Ulysses (137); and -then Diomed (157), whom he sends to call Oilean Ajax, together with -Meges (175). They then conjointly visit the φύλακες or watch, commanded -by Thrasymedes, Meriones, and others (ix. 80. x. 57-9). Nestor gives -the watch an exhortation to be on the alert, and then reenters within -the trench, followed by the Argeian kings (194, 5); - - τοὶ δ’ ἅμ’ ἕποντο - Ἀργείων βασιλῆες, ὅσοι κεκλήατο βουλήν. - -The force of the term βασιλῆες, as marking off a certain class, is -enhanced by the lines which follow, and which tell us that with them, -the kings τοῖς δ’ ἅμα, went Meriones and Thrasymedes by special -invitation (196, 7); - - αὐτοὶ γὰρ κάλεον συμμητιάασθαι. - -Now in this narrative it is not stated that each of the persons, who -had been called, joined the company which visited the watch: but all -who did join it are evidently βασιλῆες. But we are certain that Oilean -Ajax was among them, because he is mentioned in ver. 228 as one of -those in the Council, who were anxious to accompany Diomed on his -enterprise. - -Ajax Oileus therefore makes the ninth King on the Greek side in the -Iliad. - -These nine King-Chiefs, of course with the exception of Achilles, -appear in every Council, and appear either absolutely or almost alone. - -The line between them, and all the other chiefs, is on the whole -preserved with great precision. There are, however, a very few persons, -with regard to whom the question may possibly be raised whether they -passed it. - -~_Certain doubtful cases._~ - -1. Meges, son of Phyleus, and commander of the Dulichian Epeans, was -not in the first rank of warriors; for he was not one of the ten who, -including Menelaus, were ready to accept Hector’s challenge[67]. -Neither was he a member of the ordinary Council; but on one occasion, -that of the Night-council, he is summoned. Those who attended on this -occasion are also, as we have seen, called kings[68]. And we have seen -that the term has no appearance of having been loosely used: since, -after saying that the kings followed Nestor to the council, it adds, -that with them went Meriones and Antilochus[69]. - -[67] Il. vii. 167-70. - -[68] Il. x. 175, connected with 195. - -[69] Il. x. 196, 7. - -But when Diomed proceeds to ask for a companion on his expedition, six -persons are mentioned (227-32) as having been desirous to attend him. -They are the two Ajaxes, Meriones, Thrasymedes, Menelaus, and Ulysses. -Idomeneus and Nestor are of course excepted on account of age. It -seems plain, however, that Homer’s intention was to include the whole -company, with those exceptions only. He could not mean that one and one -only of the able-bodied warriors present hung back. Yet Meges is not -mentioned; the only one of the persons summoned, who is not accounted -for. I therefore infer that Homer did not mean to represent him as -having attended; and consequently he is in all likelihood not included -among the βασιλῆες by v. 195. - -2. Phœnix, the tutor and friend of Achilles, is caressingly called -by him Διοτρεφὴς[70] in the Ninth Book; but the petting and familiar -character of the speech, and of the whole relation between them, would -make it hazardous to build any thing upon this evidence. - -[70] Il. ix. 607. - -In the Ninth Book it may appear probable that he was among the elders -who took counsel with Agamemnon about the mission to Achilles, but it -is not positively stated; and, even if it were, his relation to that -great chieftain would account for his having appeared there on this -occasion only (Il. ix. 168). It is remarkable that, at this single -juncture, Homer tells us that Agamemnon collected not simply the -γέροντες, but the γέροντες ἀολλέες, as if there were persons present, -who did not belong to the ordinary Council (Il. ix. 89). - -Again, in the Nineteenth Book, we are told (v. 303) that the γέροντες -Ἀχαιῶν assembled in the encampment of Achilles, that they might urge -him to eat. He refused; and he sent away the ‘other kings;’ but there -remained behind the two Atreidæ, Ulysses, Nestor, and Idomeneus, ‘and -the old chariot-driving Phœnix.’ The others are mentioned without -epithet, probably because they had just been described as kings; and -Phœnix is in all likelihood described by these epithets, for the reason -that the term βασιλῆες would not include him (xix. 303-12). - -On the whole then, and taking into our view that Phœnix was as a lord, -or ἄναξ, subordinate to Peleus, and that he was a sub-commander in -the contingent of Achilles, we may be pretty sure that he was not a -βασιλεύς; if that word had, as has I think been sufficiently shown, a -determinate meaning. - -3. Though Patroclus was in the first rank of warriors he is nowhere -called βασιλεὺς or Διοτρεφής; but only Διογενὴς, which is a word -apparently used with rather more latitude. The subordinate position of -Menœtius, the father of Patroclus, makes it improbable that he should -stand as a king in the Iliad. He appears to have been lieutenant to -Achilles over the whole body of Myrmidons. - -4. Eurypylus son of Euæmon[71], commander of a contingent of forty -ships, and one of the ten acceptors of the challenge, is in one place -addressed as Διοτρεφής. It is doubtful whether he was meant to be -exhibited as a βασιλεὺς, or whether this is a lax use of the epithet; -if it is so, it forms the only exception (apart from ix. 607) to the -rule established by above thirty passages of the Iliad. - -[71] Il. ii. 736, 7. vii. 167. xi. 819. - -Upon the whole, then the evidence of the Iliad clearly tends to -show that the title βασιλεὺς was a definite one in the Greek army, -and that it was confined to nine persons; perhaps with some slight -indistinctness on the question, whether there was or was not a claim to -that rank on the part of one or two persons more. - -~_Conditions of Kingship in the Iliad._~ - -Upon viewing the composition of the class of kings, whether we include -in it or not such cases as those of Meges or Eurypylus, it seems to -rest upon the combined basis of - - 1. Real political sovereignty, as distinguished from subaltern - chiefship; - - 2. Marked personal vigour; and - - 3. _Either_, _a._ Considerable territorial possessions, as in the case - of Idomeneus and Oilean Ajax; - - _b._ Extraordinary abilities though with small dominions, - as in the case of Ulysses; or, at the least, - - _c._ Preeminent personal strength and valour, accepted in - like manner as a compensation for defective political - weight, as in the case of Telamonian Ajax. - -Although the condition of commanding considerable forces is, as we -see, by no means absolute, yet, on the other hand, every commander of -as large a force as fifty ships is a βασιλεὺς, except Menestheus only, -an exception which probably has a meaning. Agapenor indeed has sixty -ships; but then he is immediately dependent on Agamemnon. The Bœotians -too have fifty; but they are divided among five leaders. - -Among the bodily qualities of Homeric princes, we may first note -beauty. This attribute is not, I think, pointedly ascribed in the -poems to any person, except those of princely rank. It is needless to -collect all the instances in which it is thus assigned. Of some of -them, where the description is marked, and the persons insignificant, -like Euphorbus and Nireus[72], we may be the more persuaded, that Homer -was following an extant tradition. Of the Trojan royal family it is the -eminent and peculiar characteristic; and it remains to an observable -degree even in the case of the aged Priam[73]. Homer is careful[74] -to assert it of his prime heroes; Achilles surpasses even Nireus; -Ulysses possesses it abundantly, though in a less marked degree; it is -expressly asserted of Agamemnon; and of Ajax, who, in the Odyssey, is -almost brought into competition with Nireus for the second honours; the -terms of description are, however, distinguishable one from the other. - -[72] Il. xvii. 51. ii. 673. - -[73] Il. xxiv. 631. - -[74] Il. ii. 674. Od. xvi. 175. Il. iii. 224, 169, 226, and Od. xi. 469. - -Again, with respect to personal vigour as a condition of sovereignty, -it is observed by Grote[75] that ‘an old chief, such as Peleus and -Laertes, cannot retain his position.’ There appears to have been some -diversity of practice. Nestor, in very advanced age, and when unable to -fight, still occupies his throne. The passage quoted by Grote to uphold -his assertion with respect to Peleus falls short of the mark: for it -is simply an inquiry by the spirit of Achilles, whether his father -is still on the throne, or has been set aside on account of age, and -the question itself shows that, during the whole time of the life of -Achilles, Peleus, though old, had not been known to have resigned the -administration of the government. Indeed his retention of it appears -to be presumed in the beautiful speech of Priam to Achilles (Il. xxiv. -486-92). - -[75] Hist. vol. ii. p. 87. - -~_Custom of resignation in old age._~ - -At the same time, there is sufficient evidence supplied by Homer to -show, that it was the more usual custom for the sovereign, as he grew -old, either to associate his son with him in his cares, or to retire. -The practice of Troy, where we see Hector mainly exercising the -active duties of the government--for he feeds the troops[76], as well -as commands them--appears to have corresponded with that of Greece. -Achilles, in the Ninth Iliad, plainly implies that he himself was not, -as a general, the mere delegate of his father; since he invites Phœnix -to come and share his kingdom with him. - -[76] Il. xvii. 225. - -But the duties of counsel continued after those of action had been -devolved: for Priam presides in the Trojan ἀγορὴ, and appears upon the -walls, surrounded by the δημογέροντες, who were, apparently, still its -principal speakers and its guides. And Achilles[77], when in command -before Troy, still looked to Peleus to provide him with a wife. - -[77] Il. ix. 394. - -I find a clear proof of the general custom of retirement, probably -a gradual one, in the application to sovereigns of the term αἴζηοι. -This word is commonly construed in Homer as meaning youths: but the -real meaning of it is that which in humble life we convey by the term -able-bodied; that is to say, those who are neither in boyhood nor -old age, but in the entire vigour of manhood. The mistake as to the -sense of the term has created difficulties about its origin, and has -led Döderlein to derive it from αἴθω, with reference, I suppose, to -the heat of youth, instead of the more obvious derivation form α and -ζάω, expressing the height of vital power. A single passage will, I -think, suffice to show that the word αἴζηος has this meaning: which is -also represented in two places by the paraphrastic expression αἰζήιος -ἀνήρ[78]. In the Sixteenth Iliad, Apollo appears to Hector under the -form of Asius (716): - -[78] Il. xvii. 520. Od. xii. 83. - - ἀνέρι εἰσάμενος αἰζηῷ τε κρατερῷ τε. - -Now the Asius in question was full brother to Hecuba, the mother of -Hector and eighteen other children; and he cannot, therefore, be -supposed to have been a youth. The meaning of the Poet appears clearly -to be to prevent the supposition, which would otherwise have been a -natural one in regard to Hector’s uncle, that this Asius, in whose -likeness Apollo the unshorn appeared, was past the age of vigour and -manly beauty, which is designated by the word αἴζηος. - -~_Force of the term αἴζηος._~ - -There is not a single passage, where this word is used with any -indication of meaning youths as contra-distinguished from mature men. -But there is a particular passage which precisely illustrates the -meaning that has now been given to αἴζηος. In the Catalogue we are told -that Hercules carried off Astyoche[79]: - -[79] Il. ii. 660. - - πέρσας ἄστεα πολλὰ Διοτρεφέων αἰζηῶν. - -Pope renders this in words which, whatever be their intrinsic merit, -are, as a translation, at once diffuse and defective: - - ‘Where mighty towns in ruins spread the plain, - And saw their blooming warriors early slain.’ - -Cowper wholly omits the last half of the line, and says, - - ‘After full many a city laid in dust’.... - -Chapman, right as to the epithet, gives the erroneous meaning to the -substantive: - - ‘Where many towns of princely youths he levelled with the ground.’ - -Voss, accurate as usual, appears to carry the full meaning: - - ‘Viele Städt’ austilgend der gottbeseligten Männer.’ - -This line, in truth, affords an admirable touchstone for the meaning -of two important Homeric words. The vulgar meaning takes Διοτρεφέων -αἰζήων as simply illustrious youths. What could Homer mean by cities -of illustrious youths? Is it their sovereigns or their fighting -population? Were their sovereigns all youths? Were their fighting -population all illustrious? In no other place throughout the Iliad, -except one, where the rival reading ἀρηιθόων is evidently to be -adopted, does the Poet apply Διοτρεφὴς to a mass of men[80]. If, -then, the sovereigns be meant, it is plain that they could not all be -youths, and therefore αἴζηος does not mean a youth. But now let us -take Διοτρεφὴς in its strict sense as a royal title only; then let us -remember that thrones were only assumed on coming to manhood, as is -plain from the case of Telemachus, who, though his father, as it was -feared, was dead, was not in possession of the sovereign power. ‘May -Jupiter,’ says Antinous to him, ‘never make you the βασιλεὺς in Ithaca: -which is your right,’ or ‘which would fall to you by birth[81]:’ - -[80] Nor is it applied in the Odyssey to any bodies more numerous -than the thirteen ‘kings’ of Scheria, Od. v. 378; and to them in the -character of kings. - -[81] Od. i. 386. - - ὅ τοι γενεῇ πατρώϊόν ἐστιν. - -When Telemachus answers, by proposing that one of the nobles should -assume the sovereignty. Lastly, upon declining into old age, it -was, for the most part, either as to the more active cares, or else -entirely, relinquished. Then the sense of Il. ii. 660 will come out -with Homer’s usual accuracy and completeness. It will be that Hercules -sacked many cities of prince-warriors, or vigorous and warlike princes. - -Thus, then, it was requisite that the Homeric βασιλεὺς should be a -king, a _könig_, a man of whom we could say that actually, and not -conventionally alone, he _can_, both in mind and person. Such was the -theory and such the practice of the Homeric age. There is not a single -Greek sovereign, with the honourable exception of Nestor, who does -not lead his subjects into battle; not one who does not excel them -all in strength of hand, scarcely any who does not also give proofs -of superior intellect, where scope is allowed for it by the action of -the poem. Over and above the work of battle, the prince is likewise -peerless in the Games. Of the eight contests of the Twenty-third Book, -seven are conducted only by the princes of the armament. The single -exception is remarkable: it is the boxing match, which Homer calls -πυγμαχίη ἀλεγεινὴ[82], an epithet that he applies to no other of the -matches except the wrestling. - -[82] Il. xxiii. 653. - -But his low estimation of the boxing comes out in another form, the -value of the prizes. The first prize is an unbroken mule: the second, -a double-bowled cup, to which no epithet signifying value is attached. -But for the wrestlers (a contest less dangerous, and not therefore -requiring, on this score, greater inducement to be provided,) the first -prize was a tripod, worth twelve oxen; and the second, a woman slave, -worth four. What, then, was the relative value of an ox and a mule not -yet broken? Mules, like oxen, were employed simply for traction. They -were better, because more speedy in drawing the plough[83]; but, then, -oxen were also available for food, and we have no indication that the -former were of greater value. Without therefore resting too strictly on -the number twelve, we may say that the prize of wrestling was several -times more valuable than that of boxing. Again, the second prize of the -foot-race was a large and fat ox, equal, probably, to the first prize -of the boxing-match[84]. Epeus, who wins the boxing-match against the -prince Euryalus, third leader of the Argives, was evidently a person -of traditional fame, from the victory he obtains over an adversary of -high rank. But Homer has taken care to balance this by introducing -a confession from the mouth of Epeus himself, that he was good for -nothing in battle[85]; - -[83] Il. x. 352. - -[84] Il. xxiii. 750. - -[85] Il. xxiii. 670. - - ἦ οὐχ ἅλις, ὅττι μάχης ἐπιδεύομαι; - -an expression which, I think, the Poet has used, in all likelihood, -for the very purpose of shielding the superiority of his princes, by -showing that this gift of Epeus was a single, and as it were brutal, -accomplishment. - -~_Accomplishments of the Kings._~ - -As with the games, so with the more refined accomplishments. There -are but four cases in which we hear of the use of music and song from -Homer, except the instances of the professional bards. One of these is -the boy, who upon the Shield of Achilles plays and sings, in conducting -the youths and maidens as they pass from the vineyard with the grapes. -It is the bard, who plays to the dancers; but his dignity, and the -composure always assigned to him, probably would not allow of his -appearing in motion with such a body, and on this account the παὶς may -be substituted; of whose rank we know nothing. In the other cases, the -three persons mentioned are all princes: Paris is the first, who had -the lighter and external parts of the character of a gentleman, and -who was of the highest rank, yet to whom it may be observed only the -instrument is assigned, and not the song. The second is the sublime -Achilles, whose powerful nature, ranging like that of his Poet through -every chord of the human mind and heart, prompts him to beguile an -uneasy solitude by the Muse; and who is found in the Ninth Iliad[86] by -the Envoys, soothing his moody spirit with the lyre, and singing, to -strains of his own, the achievements of bygone heroes. Again, thirdly, -this lyre itself, like the iron globe of the Twenty-third Book, had -been among the spoils of King Eetion. - -[86] Il. ix. 186. - -But the royal and heroic character must with Homer, at least when -exhibited at its climax, be all comprehensive. As it soars to every -thing above, so, without stooping, must it be master of every thing -beneath it. Accordingly, the Poet has given it the last touch in the -accomplishments of Ulysses. As he proves himself a wood-cutter and -ship-builder in the island of Calypso, so he is no stranger to the -plough and the scythe; and he fairly challenges[87] Eurymachus the -Suitor to try which of them would soonest clear the meadow of its -grass, which drive the straightest furrow down a four-acre field. - -[87] Od. xviii. 366-75. - -So much for the corporeal accomplishments of the Greek kings and -princes; of their intellectual powers we shall have to treat in -considering the character of the governments of the heroic age. - -~_The Kings as Gentlemen._~ - -But these accomplishments, mental and bodily, are not vulgarly -heaped upon his characters by Homer, as if they were detailed in a -boarding-school catalogue. The Homeric king should have that which -incorporates and harmonizes them all: he should be emphatically a -gentleman, and that in a sense not far from the one familiar to the -Christian civilization of Europe. Nestor, Diomed, Menelaus, are in a -marked manner gentlemen. Agamemnon is less so; but here Homer shows his -usual discrimination, for in Agamemnon there is a sordid vein, which -most of all mars this peculiar tone of character. It is, however, in -the two superlative heroes of the poems, that we see the strongest -development of those habits of feeling and action, which belong to the -gentleman. It will be admitted that one of these traits is the love of -that which is straightforward, truthful, and above-board. According to -the vulgar conception of the character of Ulysses, he has no credit -for this quality. But whatever the Ulysses of Virgil or of Euripides -may be, the Ulysses of Homer, though full of circumspection, reserve, -and even stratagem in dealing with enemies and strangers, has nothing -about him of what is selfish, tricky, or faithless. And, accordingly, -it is into his mouth that Homer has put the few and simple words, -which rebuke the character of the informer and the tale-bearer, with -a severity greater perhaps even than, under the circumstances, was -necessary. When he is recognised by Euryclea, he strictly enjoins upon -her the silence, on which all their lives at the moment depended. Hurt -by the supposition that she could (in our homely phrase) be likely to -blab, she replies that she will hold herself in, hard as stone or as -iron. She adds, that she will point out to him which of the women in -the palace are faithful, and which are guilty. No, he replies; I will -observe them for myself; that is not your business[88]: - -[88] Od. xix. 500-2. - - μαῖα, τίη δὲ σὺ τὰς μυθήσεαι; οὐδέ τί σε χρή· - εὖ νυ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ φράσομαι καὶ εἴσομ’ ἑκάστην· - ἀλλ’ ἔχε σιγῇ μῦθον, ἐπίτρεψον δὲ θεοῖσιν. - -~_Achilles as a Gentleman._~ - -As Homer has thus sharply exhibited Ulysses in the character of a -gentleman with respect to truth[89], so he has made the same exhibition -for Achilles with respect to courtesy: protesting, as it were, in this -manner by anticipation against the degenerate conceptions of those -characters, which were to reproduce and render current through the -world Achilles as a brute, and Ulysses as a thorough knave. But let us -see the residue of the proof. - -[89] In Od. xxii. 417, he applies to Euryclea for the information, -which he had before declined. This is after the trial of the Bow: the -other was before it was proposed, and when the Chief probably reckoned -on having himself more time for observation than proved to be the case. - -In the first Iliad, when the wrath is in the first flush of its heat, -the heralds Talthybius and Eurybates are sent to his encampment, with -the appalling commission to bring away Briseis. On entering, they -remain awe-struck and silent. Though, in much later times, we know that - - The messenger of evil tidings - Hath but a losing office, - -he at once relieves them from their embarrassment, and bids them -personally welcome; - - χαίρετε, κήρυκες, Διὸς ἄγγελοι, ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν· - ἆσσον ἴτ’[90]· - -[90] Il. i. 334. - -And he desires Patroclus to bring forth the object of their quest. More -extraordinary self-command and considerateness than this, never has -been ascribed by any author to any character. - -Again, when in the Ninth Book he is surprised in his seclusion by the -envoys Phœnix, Ulysses, and Ajax, though he is prepared to reject every -offer, he hails them all personally, without waiting to be addressed -and with the utmost kindness[91], as of all the Greeks the dearest to -him even in his wrath; he of course proceeds to order an entertainment -for them. But the most refined of all his attentions is that shown -to Agamemnon in the Twenty-third Book. Inferior to Ajax, Diomed, and -Ulysses, Agamemnon could not enter into the principal games, to be -beaten by any abler competitor, without disparagement to his office: -while there would also have been a serious disparagement of another -kind in his contending with a secondary person. Accordingly, Achilles -at the close makes a nominal match for the use of the sling--of which -we never hear elsewhere in the poems--and, interposing after the -candidates are announced, but before the actual contest, he presents -the chief prize to Agamemnon, with this compliment; that there need be -no trial, as every one is aware already how much he excels all others -in the exercise. - -[91] Il. ix. 197. - -Yet these great chiefs, so strong and brave and wise, so proud and -stern, so equipped in arts, manners, and accomplishments, can upon -occasion weep like a woman or a child. Ulysses, in the island of -Calypso daily pours forth his ‘waterfloods’ as he strains his vision -over the sea; and he covers up his head in the halls of Alcinous, -while Demodocus is singing, that his tears may flow unobserved. And so -Achilles, fresh from his fierce vengeance on the corpse of Hector, -yet, when the Trojan king[92] has called up before his mind the image -of his father Peleus, at the thought now of his aged parent, and now -of his slaughtered friend, sheds tears as tender as those of Priam -for his son, and lets his griefs overflow in a deep compassion for -the aged suppliant before him. Nor is it only in sorrow that we may -remark a high susceptibility. The Greek chieftains in general are -acutely sensible of praise and of blame. Telemachus[93] is delighted -when Ægyptius commends him as a likely looking youth: and even Ulysses, -first among them all in self-command, is deeply stung by the remark of -the saucy Phæacian on his appearance, and replies upon the offender -with excellent sense, but with an extraordinary pungency[94]. A similar -temper is shown in all the answers of the chieftains to Agamemnon when -he goes the round of the army[95]. - -[92] Il. xxiv. 486. - -[93] Od. ii. 33, 5. - -[94] Od. viii. 159. and seqq. - -[95] Il. iv. 231 and seqq. - -~_Rights of Hereditary Succession._~ - -The hereditary character of the royal office is stamped upon almost -every page of the poems; as nearly all the chiefs, whose lineage we are -able to trace, have apparently succeeded their fathers in power. The -only exception in the order, of which we are informed, is one where, -probably on account of the infancy of the heir, the brother of the -deceased sovereign assumes his sceptre. In this way Thyestes, uncle to -Agamemnon, succeeded his father Atreus, and then, evidently without any -breach of regularity, transmitted it to Agamemnon. - -And such is probably the reason why, Orestes being a mere child[96], -a part of the dignity of Agamemnon is communicated to Menelaus. For -in the Iliad he has a qualified supremacy; receives jointly with -Agamemnon the present of Euneus; is more royal, higher in rank, than -the other chieftains: we are also told of him[97], μέγα πάντων Ἀργείων -ἤνασσε; and he came to the second meeting of γέροντες in the Second -Book αὐτόματος, without the formality of a summons. - -[96] Od. i. 40. - -[97] Il. x. 32. - -In a case like that of Thyestes, if we may judge from what actually -happened, the uncle would perhaps succeed instead of the minor, whose -hereditary right would in such case be postponed until the next turn. - -The case of Telemachus in the Odyssey is interesting in many ways, -as unfolding to us the relations of the family life of the period. -Among other points which it illustrates, is that of the succession -to sovereignty. It was admitted by the Suitors, that it descended to -him from his father[98]. Yet there evidently was some special, if not -formal act to be done, without which he could not be king. For Antinous -expresses his hope that Jupiter will never make Telemachus king of -Ithaca. Not because the throne was full, for, on the contrary, the -death of Ulysses was admitted or assumed to have occurred[99]; but -apparently because this act, whatever it was, had not been performed in -his case. - -[98] ὅ τοι γενεῇ πατρώϊόν ἐστιν, Od. i. 387. - -[99] Od. i. 396. ii. 182. - -Perhaps the expressions of Antinous imply that such a proceeding -was much more than formal, and that the accession of Telemachus to -the supreme dignity might be arrested by the dissent of the nobles. -The answer too of the young prince[100] (τῶν κέν τις τόδ’ ἔχῃσιν) -seems to be at least in harmony with the idea that a practice, -either approaching to election, or in some way involving a voluntary -action on the part of the subjects or of a portion of them, had to -be gone through. But the personal dignity of the son of Ulysses was -unquestioned. Even the Suitors pay a certain regard to it in the midst -of their insolence: and when the young prince goes into the place of -assembly[101], he takes his place upon his father’s seat, the elders -spontaneously making way for him to assume it. - -[100] Od. i. 396. - -[101] Od. ii. 82. - -~_Rights of primogeniture._~ - -It may, however, be said with truth, that Telemachus was an only son, -and that accordingly we cannot judge from his case whether it was the -right of the eldest to succeed. Whether the rights of primogeniture -were acknowledged among the Greeks of the heroic age, is a question of -much interest to our own. For, on the one hand, there is a disposition -to canvass and to dispute those rights. On the other hand, we live -in a state of society, to which they probably have contributed more -largely than any other specific cause, after the Christian religion, -to give its specific form. Homer has supplied us with but few cases -of brotherhood among his greater characters. We see, however, that -Agamemnon everywhere bears the character of the elder, and he appears -to have succeeded in that capacity to the throne of Atreus, while -Menelaus, the younger, takes his inheritance in virtue of his wife. -Tyro, in the Eleventh Odyssey, is said to have borne, on the banks of -the Enipeus, the twins Pelias and Neleus. In this passage the order -in which the children are named is most probably that of age[102]. -We find Pelias reigning in Iolcus, a part of the original country of -the Æolids: while Neleus emigrates, and, either by or before marrying -Chloris, becomes king of Pylos in the south of Greece[103]. Of the -two brothers Protesilaus and Podarces, the former, who is also the -elder, commands the force from Phylace. He was, however, braver, as -well as older. This statement of the merits, ages, and positions of -the two brothers raises a question applicable to other cases where two -brothers are joined without ostensible discrimination in command. Of -these there are four in the Catalogue. The first is that of Ascalaphus -and Ialmenus, whom their mother Astyoche bore clandestinely to Mars, -ὑπερώϊον εἰσαναβᾶσα. The expression seems to imply, that it was at a -single birth. But even by this supposition we do not get rid of the -idea of seniority in this case; nor can we suppose all the pairs to -have been twins. We naturally therefore ask, whether this conjunction -implied equality in command? We may probably venture to answer, -without much doubt, in the negative. On the one hand, there is nothing -unlikely in the supposition that the first named of two brothers was -the eldest, and had the chief command. While on the other hand it is -certain, that there is no case of two coequal commanders except it be -among these four, which are all cases of brothers; and which, under the -interpretation which seems the most natural one they can receive, would -bear fresh testimony to the prevalence of the custom of primogeniture. -Again, among the sons of Nestor, who are exhibited to us as surrounding -him in the Third Odyssey, we may perhaps find, from the offices -assigned to them at the solemn sacrifice and otherwise, decisive signs -of primogeniture. Pisistratus steps forward to greet Telemachus on -his arrival, and leads him to his seat[104], sleeps near him under -the portico, and accompanies him on his journey. But these functions -appertain to him because he was the bachelor (ἠΐθεος) of the family, -as we are appropriately told in reference to his taking a couch near -the guest, while the married persons always slept in some separate -and more private part of the palace[105]. Pisistratus, therefore, was -probably the youngest son. But it is also pretty clear that Thrasymedes -was the eldest. For in the sacrifice he strikes the fatal blow at the -ox: while Stratius and Echephron bring it up, Aretus holds the ewer -and basin, Perseus holds the lamb, Pisistratus cuts up the animal and -Nestor performs the religious rites of prayer and sacrifice[106]. - -[102] Od. xi. 254, 6. - -[103] Od. xi. 281. - -[104] Od. iii. 36. - -[105] Od. iii. 402. Il. vi. 242-50. - -[106] Od. iii. 439-46 and 454. - -And again, when Pisistratus brings up Telemachus and the disguised -Minerva, he places them, evidently as in the seat of honour, ‘beside -his brother Thrasymedes and his father.’ - -This is in perfect consonance with our finding Thrasymedes only, -together with Antilochus who fell, selected for service in the Trojan -war. - -Upon this question, again, an important collateral light is cast by -Homer’s mythological arrangements. They are, in fact, quite conclusive -on the subject of primogeniture among the Hellenes. The Olympian order -is founded upon it. It is as the eldest of the three Kronid brothers, -and by no other title, that Jupiter stands at the head of the Olympian -community. With respect to the lottery, he is but one of three. His -being the King of Air invests him with no right to command the King of -Sea. In the Fifteenth Book, as he is of nearly equal force, Neptune -declines to obey his orders until reminded by Iris of his seniority. -The Erinues, says the Messenger Goddess, attend upon the elder. That -is to say, his rights lie at the foundation of the moral order. Upon -this suggestion, the refractory deity at once succumbs[107]. And, -reciprocally, Jupiter in the Thirteenth Odyssey recognises the claim of -Neptune to respect as the _oldest_ and best (of course after himself) -of the gods[108].-- - -[107] Il. xv. 204-7. - -[108] Od. xiii. 141. - -Thus exalted and severed in rank, thus beautiful in person, thus -powerful in hand and mind, thus associated with the divine fountain of -all human honours, the Greek Βασιλεύς of the Iliad has other claims, -too, to be regarded as representing, more nearly perhaps than it has -ever been represented by any other class of monarchs, a benignant and -almost ideal kingship. The light of these great stars of heroic society -was no less mild than it was bright; and they might well have supplied -the basis of that idea of the royal character, which has given it so -extraordinary a hold over the mind of Shakspeare, and led him to adorn -it by such noble effusions of his muse. - -~_Function of the King as Priest._~ - -The Homeric King appears before us in the fourfold character of Priest, -Judge, General, and Proprietor. - -It has already been remarked, that no priest appears among the Greeks -of the Troic age; and, in conformity with this view, we find Agamemnon -in the Iliad, and Nestor in the Odyssey, charged with the actual -performance of the rite of sacrifice; nor is it apparently committed to -any other person than the head of the society, assisted by his κήρυκες, -officers who acted as heralds and as serjeants, or by his sons. - -But while this was the case in regard to what may be called state -sacrifices, which were also commonly banquets, we likewise learn, -as to those of a more private character, that they must have been -performed by the head of the household. To slay an animal for food -is in every case to sacrifice him (ἱερεύειν) whether in the camp, the -palace of Nestor, the unruly company of the Suitors, or the peaceful -cottage of Eumelus; and every animal ready for the knife was called an -ἱερήϊον[109]. - -[109] Od. xiv. 74. 94. - -~_As Judge and as General._~ - -The judicial office of the king is made known to us, first, by the -character of Minos. While on earth, he had direct communications from -Jupiter, which probably referred to the administration of justice; -and, in the Shades beneath, we find him actually exercising the office -of the judge. Nothing with which we become acquainted in Homer has -the semblance of criminal justice, except the fines for homicide; and -even these have no more than the semblance only. The punishment was -inflicted, like other fines, as an adjustment or compensation[110] -between man and man, and not in satisfaction of the offence against -public morality, peace, or order. - -[110] Il. xviii. 498. - -In the Second Iliad, the remonstrance of Ulysses with the commonalty -declares that it is the king, and to the king alone, to whom Jupiter -has committed the sceptre and the administration of justice, that by -these he may fulfil his regal office[111]: - -[111] Il. ii. 204. - - εἷς κοίρανος ἔστω, - εἷς βασιλεὺς, ᾧ ἔδωκε Κρόνου παῖς ἀγκυλομήτεω - σκῆπτρόν τ’ ἠδὲ θέμιστας, ἵνα σφίσιν ἐμβασιλεύῃ. - -Now the sceptre is properly the symbol of the judicial authority, as we -know from the oath of Achilles[112]: - -[112] Il. i. 237. - - νῦν αὖτέ μιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν - ἐν παλάμῃς φορέουσι δικασπόλοι, οἵτε θέμιστας - πρὸς Διὸς εἰρύαται. - -From the combined effect of the two passages it is clear that the -duties of the judicature, the determination of relative rights between -the members of the community, constituted, at least in great part, the -primary function of sovereignty. Still the larger conception of it, -which includes the deliberative office, is that presented to us in the -speech of Nestor to Agamemnon, on the occasion of the Council which -followed the Night-assembly[113]. - -[113] Il. ix. 98. - - καί τοι Ζεὺς ἐγγυάλιξεν - σκῆπτρόν τ’, ἠδὲ θέμιστας, ἵνα σφίσι βουλεύῃσθα. - -The judicial function might, however, even in the days of Homer, be -exercised by delegation. For in the Assembly graven on the Shield, -while the parties contend, and the people sympathize some with one -and some with the other, it is the γέροντες, or elders, who deliver -judgment[114]. Of these persons each holds the sceptre in his hands. -The passage, Il. i. 237, seems to speak of one sceptre held by many -persons: this scene on the Shield exhibits to us several sceptres. -In the simile of the crooked judgments, a plurality of judges[115] -are referred to. But as we never hear of an original and independent -authority, like that of Il. ii. 204, in the senators or nobles, it -seems most likely that they acted judicially by an actual or virtual -delegation from the king. - -[114] Il. xviii. 506. - -[115] Il. xvi. 386. - -The duty of the king to command his troops is inscribed on every page -of the Iliad; and the only limit to it seems to have been, that upon -the approach of old age it was delegated to the heir, or to more than -one of the family, even before the entire withdrawal of the sire from -public cares. The martial character of the sovereign was indeed -ideally distinguishable from his regal one; for Agamemnon was[116] - -[116] Il. iii. 179. - - ἀμφότερον, βασιλεύς τ’ ἀγαθὸς, κρατερός τ’ αἰχμητής. - -Still, martial excellence was expected of him. When Hippolochus -despatched his son Glaucus to Troy, he enjoined him always to be -valiant, and always to excel his comrades in arms[117]. - -[117] Il. vi. 207. - -Lastly, the king was a proprietor. Ulysses had very large landed -property, and as many herds and flocks, says Eumæus in a spirit of -loyal exaggeration, as any twenty chiefs alive[118]. And Homer, who -always reserves his best for the Lycians, has made Sarpedon declare, -in an incomparable speech, the virtual condition on which estates like -these were held. He desires Glaucus to recollect, why it is that they -are honoured in Lycia with precedence at banquets, and with greater -portions than the rest, why looked upon as deities, why endowed with -great estates of pasture and corn land by the banks of Xanthus; it is -that they may the more boldly face the burning battle, and be great -in the eyes and in the minds of their companions. So entirely is the -idea of dignity and privilege in the Homeric king founded upon the sure -ground of duty, of responsibility, and of toil[119]. - -[118] Od. xiv. 98. - -[119] Il. xii. 310-28. - -What Hippolochus taught, and Sarpedon stated, is in exact -correspondence with the practical part of the narrative of Glaucus in -the Sixth Book. When Bellerophon had fully approved himself in Lycia by -his prowess, the king of the country gave him his daughter in marriage, -together with one half of his kingdom; and the Lycians presented him -with a great and fertile demesne. - -~_As proprietor; the τέμενος._~ - -This estate is called τέμενος; a name never applied in Homer but to the -properties of deities and of rulers. He uses the word with reference to -the glebe-lands of - - Spercheius, Il. xxiii. 148. - Venus, Od. viii. 362. - Ceres, Il. ii. 696. - Jupiter, Il. viii. 48. - -And to the domains of - - Bellerophon, Il. vi. 194. - Æneas (promised by the Trojan community if he should slay - Achilles), Il. xx. 184. - Meleager, Il. ix. 574. - Sarpedon and Glaucus, Il. xii. 313. - The βασιλεὺς on the Shield, Il. xviii. 550. - Iphition (πολέων ἡγήτωρ λαῶν), Il. xx. 391. - Alcinous, Od. vi. 293. - Ulysses, Od. xi. 184, and xvii. 299. - -On the other hand, the merely rich man (Il. xi. 68) has an ἄρουρα, not -a τέμενος; and the farm of Laertes is called ἀγρὸς, not τέμενος. And -why? Because it was a private possession, acquired by him apparently -out of savings (Od. xxiv. 206); - - ὅν ῥά ποτ’ αὐτὸς - Λαέρτης κτεάτισσεν, ἐπεὶ μάλα πόλλ’ ἐμόγησεν. - -The word τέμενος is probably from τέμνω, or from the same root with -that verb, and signifies land which, having been cut off from the -original common stock, available for the uses of private persons, has -been set apart for one of the two great public purposes, of government -or of religion. - -~_Revenues and burdens on them._~ - -Besides their great estates, the kings appear to have had at least two -other sources of revenue. One of these was not without resemblance -in form to what we now call customs’-duties, and may have contained -their historical germ. In the Book of Genesis, where the sons of Jacob -go down to buy corn in Egypt, they carry with them a present for the -ruler; and doubtless the object of this practice was to conciliate the -protection to which, as foreigners, and perhaps as suspected persons, -avowedly seeking their own gain, they would not otherwise have had a -claim. ‘Take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry -down the man a present; a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and -myrrh, nuts, and almonds[120].’ In conformity with the practice thus -exemplified, when Euneus in the Seventh Iliad despatches his ships from -Lemnos to sell wine to the Greek army, in return for which they obtain -slaves, hides, and other commodities, he sends a separate supply, χίλια -μέτρα, as a present to the two sons of Atreus[121]. Agamemnon indeed -is, in the Ninth Book, slily twitted by Nestor with the largeness of -the stores of wine, that he had contrived to accumulate. - -[120] Gen. xliii. 11. - -[121] Il. vii. 467-75. - -So likewise we find that certain traders, sailing to Scheria, made a -present to Alcinous, as the sovereign, of the captive Eurymedusa. When -we compare this with the case of Euneus, the gift obviously appears to -have been a consideration for permission to trade[122]. - -[122] Od. vii. 8-11. - -The other source of revenue traceable in the Iliad was one sure to -lead to the extensive corruptions, which must already have prevailed -in the time of Hesiod. It consisted in fees upon the administration of -justice. In the suit described upon the shield, the matter at issue is -a fine for homicide. But quite apart, as it would seem, from this fine, -there lie in the midst, duly ‘paid into court,’ two talents of gold, to -be given at the close to him, of all the judges, who should deliver -the most upright, that is the most approved, judgment[123]: - -[123] Il. xviii. 508. - - τῷ δόμεν ὃς μετὰ τοῖσι δίκην ἰθύντατα εἴποι. - -However righteous the original intention of a payment in this form, it -is easy to estimate its practical tendencies, and curious to remark how -early in the course of time they were realized. - -On the other hand, the great possessions of the king were not given -him for his own use alone. Over and above the general obligation of -hospitality to strangers, it was his duty to entertain liberally the -principal persons among his subjects. Doubtless this provided the -excuse, which enabled the Suitors to feast upon the stores of Ulysses, -without the shame, in the very outset, of absolute rapine. And it would -appear from the Odyssey that Alitherses[124] and other friends of the -royal house, frequented the table there as well as its enemies, though -not perhaps so constantly. - -[124] Od. xvii. 68. - -In the Seventh Iliad, after his fight with Hector, Ajax[125] repairs, -not invited, but as if it were a matter of course, to share the -hospitality of Agamemnon. In the Ninth Book, Nestor urges Agamemnon to -give a feast to the elders, as a duty of his office: - -[125] Il. vii. 313. - - ἔοικέ τοι, οὔτοι ἀεικές[126], - -[126] Il. ix. 70. - -adding, - - πολέεσσι δ’ ἀνάσσεις[127], - -[127] Ibid. 73. - -and then to take their counsel. But perhaps the ordinary exercise of -this duty is best exhibited in the case of Alcinous, who is discovered -by Ulysses on his arrival entertaining his brother kings in his -palace[128]. - -[128] Od. vii. 49, 108. - -I have not here taken specific notice of the δώτιναι, or tributes, -which, as Agamemnon promised, Achilles was to receive, from the -seven cities, that it was proposed to place under his dominion. The -expression is[129], - -[129] Il. ix. 155. - - οἵ κέ ἑ δωτίνῃσι θεὸν ὣς τιμήσουσιν, - καί οἱ ὑπὸ σκήπτρῳ λιπαρὰς τελέουσι θέμιστας. - -The connection of the ideas in the two lines respectively would appear -to show, that the δώτιναι may be no more than the fees payable to the -sovereign on the administration of justice. - -Thus then the king might draw his ordinary revenues mainly from the -following sources: - -First and principally, the public τέμενος, or demesne land. - -Next, his own private acquisitions, such as the ἀγρὸς of Laertes. - -Thirdly, the fees on the administration of justice. - -Fourthly, the presents paid for licenses to trade. - -~_The position of Agamemnon._~ - -The position of Agamemnon, the greatest king of the heroic age, -constitutes in itself too considerable a feature of Greek polity at -that period to be dismissed without especial notice. - -He appears to have united in himself almost every advantage which could -tend to raise regal power to its _acmè_. He was of a house moving -onward in its as yet unbroken career of accumulating greatness: he was -the head of that house, supported in Lacedæmon by his affectionate -brother Menelaus; and the double title of the two was fortified -with twin supports, by their marriages with Clytemnestra and Helen -respectively. This family was at the head of the energetic race -which ruled, and deserved to rule, in the Greek peninsula; and which -apparently produced such large and full developments of personal -character, as the world has never seen, either before or since, at -so infantine a stage of civilization. There were various kings in the -army before Troy, but among them all the race of Pelopids was the most -kingly[130]. Agamemnon possessed the courage, strength, and skill of a -warrior, in a degree surpassed only by the very greatest heroes of his -nation; and (according to Homer) evidently exceeding that of Hector, -the chief Trojan warrior opposed to him. He must have been still in -the flower of his age; and though neither gifted with extraordinary -talents, nor with the most popular or attractive turn of character, yet -he possessed in a high degree the political spirit, the sense of public -responsibility, the faculty of identifying himself with the general -mind and will. Avarice and irresolution appear to have been the two -most faulty points in his composition. - -[130] Il. x. 239. - -His dominions were the largest which, up to that time, had been known -in that portion of the world: including Greece, from Mount Olympus to -the Malean Cape, reaching across to the islands on the coast of Asia -Minor, and even capable of being held to include the island of Cyprus. -Before Troy, his troops were πολὺ πλεῖστοι καὶ ἄριστοι (Il. ii. 577), -which must imply, as his ships were not greatly more numerous than -those of some other contingents, that they were of large size; and -he also supplied the Arcadians, who had none of their own, (v. 612.) -Lastly, he bore upon him the mellow brightness of the patriarchal age, -signified by the title ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν. - -Thucydides was not an antiquarian, or he would have left on his history -more marks of his researches in that department. But he seems to have -formed with care the opinions which he expresses on archaic Greece, in -the admirable introduction to his great work. Among them he says that, -as he conceives, the fear of Agamemnon operated more powerfully than -the oath given to Tyndareus[131], or than good will, in the formation -of the confederacy which undertook the war of Troy. - -[131] Thuc. i. 9. - -It seems clear from Homer, that the name and fame of Agamemnon were -known far beyond the limits of Greece, and that the reputation of -being connected with him was thought to be of value. For Menelaus, on -his return from Pharos to Egypt, erected there a funeral mound in his -honour[132], ἵν’ ἄσβεστον κλέος εἴη; which he would not have done in a -country, to whose inhabitants that monarch was unknown. And again, when -Ulysses is challenged by the Cyclops to declare, to what and to whom he -and his crew belong, he makes the reply, that they are the subjects of -Agamemnon, the son of Atreus[133]: - -[132] Od. iv. 584. - -[133] Od. ix. 263. - - λαοὶ δ’ Ἀτρείδεω Ἀγαμέμνονος εὐχόμεθ’ εἶναι, - τοῦ δὴ νῦν γε μέγιστον ὑπουράνιον κλέος ἐστίν. - -Ulysses evidently conceives the fame of the great monarch, thus -enhanced by success, to have been likely to supply any one who belonged -to him with a defence against the formidable monster, before whom he -stood. - -~_Governing motives of the War._~ - -The statements of Homer respecting the position of Agamemnon and the -motives of the war, fall short of, but are not wholly at variance -with, the opinion which has been expressed by Thucydides. Of the -oath to Tyndareus Homer knows nothing: but he tells us of the oath, -by which the Greek chieftains had bound themselves to prosecute the -expedition. Before setting out, they had a solemn ceremonial at Aulis; -they offered sacrifices, they made libations, they swore, they pledged -hands[134], they saw a portent, and had it interpreted by Calchas[135]. -But all this only shows that the Atreidæ were conscious how formidable -an enterprise they were about, and how they desired accordingly that -their companion kings should, after having once embarked, be as deeply -pledged as possible to go forward. It does not tell us what was the -original inducement to enter into the undertaking. Again, it does not -appear that the Greeks in general cared much about the abduction or -even the restoration of Helen. The only passage directly touching the -point is the one in which Agamemnon[136] expresses his opinion that, if -Menelaus should die of his wound, the army would probably return home. -It seems as if Agamemnon thought, that without doubt they would then be -in honour released from their engagement, and that they would at once -avail themselves of their freedom. The hope of booty, however, would do -much; and the members of a conquering race unite together with great -facility for purposes of war, through a mixture of old fellow-feeling -and the love of adventure, as well as through anticipation of spoil. -On the other hand, it was evidently no small matter to organize the -expedition: much time was consumed; a friendly embassy to Troy had been -tried without success; the ablest princes, Nestor and Ulysses, were -employed in obtaining cooperation. The general conclusion, I think, is, -that a combination of hope, sympathy, respect, and fear, but certainly -a very strong personal feeling, whatever its precise ingredients may -have been, towards the Pelopid house, must have operated largely in -the matter. And it is in this spirit that we should construe the -various declarations of Homer respecting those who came to the war, as -courting the Atreidæ, and as acting for their honour; namely these, - -[134] Il. ii. 303-7. 339-41. - -[135] Ibid. 308, 322. - -[136] Il. iv. 169-72. - - χάριν Ἀτρείδῃσι φέροντες. Od. v. 307. - Ἀγαμέμνονι ἦρα φέροντες. Il. xiv. 132. - τιμὴν ἀρνύμενοι Μενελάῳ σοί τε, κυνῶπα. Il. i. 159. - -Before Troy, Agamemnon is always regarded by others as responsible for -the expedition, and it is plain that he so regards himself. The use of -his sceptre by Ulysses in the great effort to stem the torrent of the -retiring multitude, is highly significant of the influence belonging -to his station; and when Ulysses argues with the leaders, he rests his -case on the importance of knowing the whole mind of Agamemnon, while he -strongly dwells on his royal authority, and on the higher authority of -heaven as its foundation. - -His position, however, did not place him above the influence of -jealousy and fear: for he was gratified when he saw Achilles and -Ulysses, the first of his chieftains, at variance[137]. And his weight -and authority depended for their efficacy on reason, and on the free -will of the Greeks. Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles by an act -of force; but he nowhere seeks to move the army, or the individuals -composing it, upon that principle; nor does the prolongation of -the service appear to have been placed beyond the judgment of the -particular chiefs and of the troops. Achilles not only declares that -he will go, but says he will advise others to go with him[138], and -asks Phœnix to remain in his tent for the purpose. The deference paid -to the Head is a deference according to measure; and the measure is -that of his greater responsibility, his heavier stake in the war[139]. -His functions in regard to the host are, to think for and advise it in -council, and to stimulate it by exhortation and example in the field. -If we may rely on Homer, it was essentially, so far as regarded the -relation between the general in chief and the rest of the body, a free -military organization. - -[137] Od. vii. 77. - -[138] Il. ix. 356-63, 417-20. - -[139] Il. iv. 415-8. - -~_Personal Character of Agamemnon._~ - -The Agamemnon of Homer does not appear to be intended by the Poet for -a man of genius. But on this very account, the dominance of political -ideas in his mind is more remarkable. On political grounds he is ready -to give up Chryseis[140]. On political grounds he quells his own -avarice, and slays Trojans instead of taking ransom for them[141]. He -deeply feels the responsibilities of his station, and care banishes -his sleep. The amiable trait in his character is his affection for -Menelaus, and in this, as in many other respects, he recalls the -Jupiter of Homer, whose selfishness is nowhere relieved, except by -paternal affection. - -[140] Il. i. 117. - -[141] Il. vi. 45-62. - -Further, Agamemnon, though without genius, is a practitioner in -finesse. In his love of this art, I fear, he resembles the tribe of -later politicians. He resembles them, too, in outwitting himself by -means of it: he is ‘hoist upon his own petard.’ This seems to be, in -part at least, the explanation of his unhappy device in the Second -Iliad, to prepare the people for an attack on Troy, by counselling them -to go home forthwith. The breakdown of his scheme is, as it were, the -first-fruits of retribution for his ἄτη in the First Book.---- - -As, upon the whole, there is no idea of selfishness involved in the -prerogatives of the Homeric king, so is it clear that, except as -against mere criminals, there is no general idea of coercion. The -Homeric king reigns with the free assent of his subjects--an assent -indeterminate, but real, and in both points alike resembling his -kingly power. The relation between ruler and ruled is founded in the -laws and condition of our nature. Born in a state of dependence, man, -when he attains to freedom and capacity for action, finds himself the -debtor both of his parents and of society at large; and is justly -liable to discharge his debt by rendering service in return. Of -this we have various indications in Homer, with respect to parents -in particular. Those who die young, like Simoeisius by the hand of -Ajax[142], die before they have repaid to their parents the cost, that -is the care, of their education (θρεπτρά). In a most remarkable and -characteristic passage. Phœnix describes how, when he was young, some -deity restrained his wrath against his father, and shows the infamy -that would attend the taking away of that life, in a country where -voluntary homicide, in general, was regarded more as a misfortune than -a crime[143]: - -[142] Il. iv. 473-9. - -[143] Il. ix. 459. - - ὅς ῥ’ ἐνὶ θυμῷ - δήμου θῆκε φάτιν, καὶ ὀνείδεα πόλλ’ ἀνθρώπων, - ὡς μὴ πατροφόνος μετ’ Ἀχαιοῖσιν καλεοίμην. - -The reciprocal obligations of father and son are beautifully shown by -Andromache in her lament over Hector, when she speaks of her child[144]: - -[144] Il. xxii. 485. Od. xxiv. 434. - - οὔτε σὺ τούτῳ - ἔσσεαι, Ἕκτορ, ὄνειαρ, ἐπεὶ θάνες, οὔτε σοὶ οὗτος. - -~_The relation of sovereign and subject free._~ - -As to the relation between the subject and the sovereign authority, -it seems everywhere to be taken for granted. In the Twenty-fourth -Odyssey, the object of those who march against Ulysses is not to put -down authority, but to avenge the deaths of their sons and brothers. -But there appears nowhere in Homer the idea that in this relation -could be involved a difference of interest, or even of opinion, between -class and class, between governors and governed. The king or chief -was uplifted to set a high example, to lead the common counsels to -common ends, to conduct the public and common intercourse with heaven, -to decide the strifes of individuals, to defend the borders of the -territory from invasion. That the community at home, or any regularly -subsisting class of it, could require repression or restraint from the -government, was an idea happily unknown to the Homeric times. - -Those classes, indeed, were few and simple. There was, first of all, -the king; and round him his family and his κήρυκες, the serjeants or -heralds, who were his immediate, and apparently his only immediate, -agents. They conveyed his orders; they assisted him in the Assembly, -in sacrifice, and in banquets. They appear to be the only executive -officers that are found in Homer. With these was the Bard, apparently -also an indispensable member of royal households. Both were recognised -among the established professions. - -Next to the kings and other sovereigns, we must place the chief -proprietors of the country. In the Odyssey, we find the members of the -aristocracy having their own estates and functions, and sustaining the -part of γέροντες, or leaders in the Assembly. The judicial office, -as we have seen from the Shield and otherwise, was in their hands, -probably by delegation. But it would appear, that the distinction -between them and the sovereign family was rather a broad one; since, -in almost every case, we seem to find the prince contracting a -marriage beyond his own borders. Laertes brings Anticlea[145] from -the neighbourhood of Parnassus; Theseus marries Ariadne from Crete; -Agamemnon and Menelaus, belonging to Mycenæ, are united to the -daughters of the king of Sparta; of the two daughters of Icarius, -Ulysses in Ithaca married Penelope, and Eumelus in Pheræ married -Iphthime (Od. iv. 797); one of the two, at least, and perhaps both, -must have married from a considerable distance; Menelaus sends his -beautiful daughter Hermione to be the wife of Neoptolemus in Thessaly: -and the only instance, even apparently in the opposite sense, seems -to be that of his son Megapenthes, who married a Spartan damsel, the -daughter of Alector. But then Megapenthes was not legitimate; he was -born of a slave-mother, and therefore he was not a prince[146]. All -these facts seem to show us that the royal houses formed a network -among themselves, spread over Greece, and keeping pretty distinct from -the aristocracy: a circumstance which may, in some degree, help to -explain the wonderful patience and constancy of Penelope. - -[145] Od. xi. 85. - -[146] Od. iv. 10-12. - -~_Other classes of the community._~ - -Next to the nobles, and in the third place, we may class what we should -now call trades and professions: observing, however, that, in Homer’s -time, both the useful arts and the fine arts had a social dignity, as -compared with that of wealth and station, which the former have long -ago lost, and which the later have not retained in as full manner as -perhaps might be desired, not for their own advantage merely, but to -secure due honour for labour, and the humanizing effect of this kind of -labour in particular for society at large. I draw the proof of their -estimation in the heroic age, first, from the manner in which they are -combined under the common designation of δημιοεργοὶ, and arranged -in a mixed order, the preference being only given by a more emphatic -description to the bard[147]: - -[147] Od. xvii. 383. - - τῶν, οἳ δημιοεργοὶ ἔασιν, - μάντιν, ἢ ἰητῆρα κακῶν, ἢ τέκτονα δούρων, - ἢ καὶ θέσπιν ἀοιδὸν, ὅ κεν τέρπῃσιν ἀείδων; - -Here I take τέκτονα δούρων to represent the entire class of artificers, -of whom many are named in Homer; in a poor country like Ithaca, -depending very much on the use of boats for fishing and for its -communications, the carpenters might naturally represent the whole. - -And next, from the manner in which these arts were practised by -princes, it seems plain that there was nothing in the pursuit of them -inconsistent with high rank. The physicians, or surgeons rather, of -the Greek army, Podaleirius and Machaon, were themselves princes and -commanders of a contingent: and even Paris, who was not the man to -demean himself by employments beneath his station, seems to have taken -the chief share in the erection of his own palace[148]: - -[148] Il. vi. 314. - - τά ῥ’ αὐτὸς ἔτευξε σὺν ἀνδράσιν, οἳ τότ’ ἄριστοι - ἦσαν ἐνὶ Τροίῃ ἐριβώλακι τέκτονες ἄνδρες. - -Again, the bard of Agamemnon was appointed quasi-guardian[149] to -Clytemnestra in her husband’s absence: and Phemius, the bard of -Ulysses[150], proceeded to the Assembly of the Twenty-fourth Odyssey -in order to prevent any tumult, together with Medon the herald, who -addressed the people accordingly. The heralds, or serjeants, are also -recognised as δημιοεργοί[151]. Again, Alitherses, being the μάντις or -seer of the island, and apparently the only one, takes part in the -debates both of the Second and of the Twenty-fourth Books. - -[149] Od. iii. 267. - -[150] Od. xvii. 263. xxiv. 439. - -[151] Od. xix. 135. - -The professions, then, thus far are five: - - 1. Seers. - 2. Surgeons. - 3. Artificers. - 4. Bards. - 5. Heralds. - -We may remark the absence of priests and merchants. Not that merchants -were unknown: we find them mentioned by Euryalus the Phæacian, as -πρηκτῆρες, but their business was esteemed sordid; it too much -resembled that of the kidnapper or swindler, and it is the reproach of -seeming to belong to this class that smartly stings Ulysses[152]. And -even the merchant Mentes, whose form was assumed by Pallas, belonged -to the Taphians, a tribe of pirates[153]. As yet, neither the order -of priests would seem to have been completely taken over from the -Pelasgians, nor the class of merchants formed in imitation of the -Phœnicians. - -[152] Od. viii. 161. - -[153] Od. i. 183. - -~_Slaves in the Homeric age._~ - -After the classes we have named, come the great mass of the population, -who till the ground and tend the live stock for themselves or their -employers, if free, and for their lords if slaves. The fisherman, too, -is distinctly noticed[154] in Ithaca. Mr. Grote classes with the free -husbandmen the artisans[155], and separates both of them from the -θῆτες, or hired labourers, and the slaves. It appears to me, however, -that we ought to distinguish the artisans from the mere husbandmen, as -having been in a higher station. On the other hand, I see no passage -in Homer which clearly gives to the husbandmen as a class a condition -superior to that of the hired servants, or even, perhaps, the slaves. -The evidence of the poems is not clear as to the existence or extent of -a peasant proprietary. We must beware of confounding those conceptions -of a slavery maintained wholesale for the purposes of commerce, which -our experience supplies, with its earliest form, in which the number -of slaves would seem to have been small, and their ranks to have -been recruited principally by war, with slight and casual aid from -kidnapping. In those times, the liability to captivity would seem to -have affected all men alike, independently of all distinctions whether -in rank or in blood. The sons of Priam were sold into slavery like any -one else: the only difference was, that, in proportion to the wealth of -the parents, there was a better chance of ransom. It would appear that -the slaves of Homer were properly, even when not indoor, yet domestic. -The women discharged the indoor and household offices: except that a -few men performed strictly personal services about their masters, as -δρηστῆρες and as carvers[156] (θεράποντε δαήμονε δαιτροσυνάων). But -the men-slaves were more largely employed out of doors in the care -of flocks and herds, fields and vineyards. Thus, the slaves were in -a different position apparently from the freemen, for they seem to -have been gathered as servants and attendants round the rich. It would -appear, however, from the case of Eumæus, who had a slave of his own, -Mesaulios[157], that they might hold property for themselves. Again, -not Eumæus only, but in the Twenty-fourth Odyssey Dolius and his six -sons, sit down to table together with Ulysses, and fondly clasp his -hands. They bear arms too; and this could not have been very strange, -for Homer describes the arming of the sons without remark, while he -calls both the father and Laertes, on account of their old age[158], -ἀναγκαῖοι πολεμισταί. The moral deterioration of slaves is noticed very -strongly by Eumæus himself[159], though not with reference to himself. -We have, however, no reason to suppose that their outward condition was -inferior to that of the free labouring population in any thing, except -that we must presume they did not take part in the assemblies or in -war. When Achilles[160] in the infernal regions compares the highest -condition there with the lowest on earth, he does not choose the slave, -but the labourer for hire (θητεύεμεν is his expression), as the type -of a depressed condition upon earth. The state of the hired servant -probably resembled that of the slave in being dependent upon others, -and fell beneath it in the point of security. This is the more likely, -because the point of the passage turns on the poverty of the employer, - -[154] Od. xxiv. - -[155] Hist. Greece ii. p. 84. - -[156] Od. xvi. 248, 253, also δαιτρὸς, Od. i. 141. There were likewise -in Scheria nine αἰσυμνῆται, who made arrangements for the dance. These -were public officers (δήμιοι) and may fairly be rendered ‘masters of -the ceremonies.’ (Od. viii. 258.) - -[157] Od. xiv. 449-52. - -[158] Od. xxiv. 498. - -[159] Od. xvii. 320-3. - -[160] Od. xi. 489-91. - - ἀνδρὶ παρ’ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βιοτὸς πολὺς εἴη, - -as constituting the misery of the servant. - -Indeed, if we consider the matter a little further, we shall perhaps -see the greater reason to think, that the expression θητεύεμεν has been -chosen otherwise than at random. What do we mean by a hired servant, at -a period in the movement of society when money did not exist? We can -only mean one who was paid by food, clothes, and lodging, like a slave, -but who was not, like a slave, permanently attached to his master or -his master’s estate. The difference between the two would thus lie in -the absence of the permanent tie: a difference much more against the -θὴς, than in his favour. - -The position, then, of the slaves was probably analogous to that of -domestic servants among ourselves, who practically forfeit the active -exercise of political privileges, but are in many respects better off -than the mass of those who depend on bodily labour. It doubtless grew -out of the state of things in which slaves were practically servants, -and servants of the rich, that masters, or ἄνακτες[161], were regarded -as constituting the wealthy class of the community. - -[161] Od. xiii. 223. - -~_Supply of military service._~ - -I stop for a moment to observe, that the view here taken of the -comparatively restricted numbers and sphere of the slaves in heroic -Greece may serve in some degree to answer the question, why do we not -hear of them in the army of the Iliad? As men of equal blood with the -Greeks themselves, they would perhaps be dangerous comrades in arms. -As persons established in charge of the property of the lord, there -would be a strong motive to leave them behind for its care. It is -very difficult to judge how far the state of heroic Greece bore any -resemblance to the feudal system of the later middle ages, and whether -it did not present a more substantial correspondence with the allodial -system of the earlier. We have before us a large number of independent -proprietors, each bound by usage probably to render personal service, -but we have nothing that resembles the obligation to bring so many -retainers into the field with reference to the size of the estate. -And accordingly, in the Iliad we do not find many merely personal -retainers. The menial services in the tent of Achilles are performed -by the women-captives, or by Patroclus in person. After Patroclus was -dead, his tent was attended only by Automedon, his charioteer, and by -one other warrior. Agamemnon had no other male attendants that we hear -of, except his two herald-serjeants, Talthybius and Eurybates, who -discharged a double function[162]: - -[162] Il. i. 321. - - τώ οἱ ἔσαν κήρυκε καὶ ὀτρηρὼ θεράποντε. - -We may infer from the poems, that each independent family -furnished one or more of its members, drawn by lot, to serve in the -expedition[163]. Such is the declaration of the pseudo-Myrmidon to -Priam: and again, in the Odyssey we find Ægyptius[164] of Ithaca had -sent one son to Troy, while he kept three at home. The inference -is strengthened[165] by the negative evidence of the Twenty-fourth -Odyssey. There[166] Dolius the slave appears with no less than six -sons: but no mention is made of any member of his family as having -attended Ulysses to Troy, although, if there had been such a person, -some reference to him here, in the presence of Ulysses just returned, -would have been most appropriate. Indeed, the six are introduced as -‘the sons’ of Dolius, which of itself almost excludes the idea of his -having sent any son to the war. - -[163] Il. xxiv. 396-400. - -[164] Od. ii. 17. - -[165] Ibid. 474. - -[166] Od. xxiv. 387. 497. - -Again, we see that the whole mass of the soldiery attended the -assemblies, and were there addressed by kings and chiefs in terms -which seemed to imply a brotherhood. They are ‘friends, Danaan heroes, -satellites of Mars[167],’ and it is hard to suppose such words could -be addressed to persons held in slavery, however mild, familiar, or -favourable. The employment of these terms may suggest a comparison -with our own modes of public address, according to which the word -‘Gentlemen’ would be commonly used, though the audience should be -composed in great part of the humbler class. But all these words are so -many proofs of that political freedom, pervading the community and the -spirit of its institutions as a whole, which exacts this kind of homage -from the great and wealthy on public occasions. - -[167] Il. ii. 110. - -It was a natural and healthful sign of the state of political society, -that slavery was held to be odious. But it was odious on account -of its effects on the mind, and not because it entailed cruelty or -oppression. There is not, I think, a single passage in the poems which -in any degree conveys the impression either of hardship endured, or of -resentment felt, by any slave of the period. - -~_As to a peasant proprietary._~ - -Neither, as has been said, is there any thing in Homer, which clearly -exhibits to us a peasant-proprietary; or entitles us positively -to assert that the land was cultivated to a great extent by small -proprietors, each acting independently for himself. On the one hand, as -has been remarked, we do not find large numbers of personal retainers -and servants about the great men: but, on the other hand, Homer does -not paint for us a single picture of the independent peasant. In the -similes, in the legends, on the Shield of Achilles, in Ithaca, we -hear much of large flocks and herds, of great proprietors, of their -harvest-fields and their vineyards, but nothing of the small freeman, -with property in land sufficient for his family, and no more. The rural -labour, which he shows us in action, is organized on a large scale. - -The question, what after all was the actual condition of the Greek -people in the age of the _Troica_, is thus left in great obscurity. -It is indeed at once the capital point, and the one of which history, -chronicle, and poem commonly take the least notice. Upon the whole -it would appear most reasonable, while abstaining from too confident -assertion, to suppose, - -1. That, as respected primogeniture and the disposition of landed -property, society was aristocratically organized. - -2. That this aristocratic organization, being founded on military -occupation, embraced a rather wide range of greater and of smaller -proprietors. - -3. That these proprietors, by superior wealth, energy, and influence, -led the remainder of the population. - -4. That there may have existed a peasant-proprietary class in -considerable numbers, neither excluded from political privilege nor -exempt from military service, but yet not combined, under ordinary -circumstances, by any community of interest or of hardship; led, not -unwillingly, by the dominant Achæan race; and by no means forming a -social element of such interest or attractiveness, in the view of -the Poet, as to claim a marked place or vivid delineation, which it -certainly has not received, on his canvass. - -5. That the cultivation of the greater estates was carried on by hired -labourers and by slaves, between which two classes, for that period, no -very broad line of distinction can be drawn. - -It is not within the scope of this work to enter largely upon the -‘political economy’ of the Homeric age. But, as being itself an -important feature of polity, it cannot be altogether overlooked; and -this appears to be the place for referring to it. - -~_Political Economy of the Homeric age._~ - -There has been, of late years, debate and research respecting the -name given to the important science, which treats of the creation and -distribution of wealth. The phrase ‘political economy,’ which has been -established by long usage, cannot be defended on its merits. The name -Chrematistic has been devised in its stead; an accurate, but perhaps -rather dry definition, which does not, like the names Πολιτικὴ and -Ἠθικὴ, and like the exceptionable title it is meant to displace, take -the human being, who is the real subject of the science, into view. -Homer has provided us beforehand with a word which, as it appears -to me, retrenches the phrase ‘economy’ precisely in the point where -retrenchment is required. The Ulysses of the Fourteenth Odyssey, in one -of his fabulous accounts of himself as a Cretan, states[168], - -[168] Od. xiv. 222. - - ἔργον δέ μοι οὐ φίλον ἔσκεν - οὐδ’ οἰκωφελίη, ἥτε τρέφει ἀγλαὰ τέκνα. - -And I believe that, were it not too late to change a name, ‘political -œcophely’ precisely expresses the idea of the science, which, having -its fountain-head in good housekeeping, treats, when it has reached its -expansion and maturity, of the ‘Wealth of Nations.’ - -It was not surprising, that the Greeks of the heroic age should have -a name for the business of growing wealthy; for it was one to which -Hellenes, as well as Pelasgians, appear to have taken kindly. Of this -we find various tokens. Though the spirit of acquisition had not -yet reached the point, at which it becomes injurious to the general -development of man, we appear to have in the distinguished house of -the Pelopids at least one isolated example of its excess. We have -the friendly testimony of Nestor, as well as the fierce invective of -Achilles[169], to show that in Agamemnon it constituted a weakness: and -he is distinguished in war from the other great chieftains[170], by -his habit of forthwith stripping those whom he had slain. But Ulysses -also, to whom we may be certain that Homer did not mean in this matter -to impute a fault, was, according to Eumæus[171], richer than any -twenty; and after making every allowance for friendly exaggeration, we -cannot doubt that Homer meant us to understand that, in the wealth of -those days, he was very opulent. The settlement from time to time of -Phœnicians in Greece, and the ready docility of the Hellenes in the -art of navigation, are signs to the same effect. The idea of wealth -again is deeply involved in the name of ὄλβος, which appears to mean -a god-given felicity: and μάκαρ is the epithet in common of the gods, -the rich man, and the happy man[172]. Not that the Greeks of those -times were, in a greater degree than ourselves, the slaves of wealth, -but that they spoke out in their simplicity, here, as also with other -matters, what we keep in the shade; and thus they made a greater show -of particular propensities, even while they had less of them in reality. - -[169] Il. ix. 70-73, 330-3. i. 121. - -[170] Il. xi. 100, 110. - -[171] Od. xiv. 96-104. - -[172] The gods, Il. i. 599 _et alibi_. The rich man, Il. xi. 68. Od. i. -217. The happy man, Od. vi. 158. xi. 482. Il. iii. 182. xxiv. 377. - -But, even more than from particular signs, I estimate the capacity -of the Homeric Greeks for acquisition from the state of facts in the -poems. Here we observe a remarkable temperance, and even a detestation -of excess, in all the enjoyments of the senses, combined with the -possession, not only of a rude abundance in meat, corn, and wine, -but with the principle of ornament, largely, though inartificially, -established in their greater houses and gardens; with considerable -stores of the precious as well as the useful metals, and of fine -raiment; and with the possession of somewhat rich works of art, both in -metal and embroidery. This picture seems to belong to a stage, although -a very early one, in a process of rapid advance to material wealth and -prosperity. The wealth and the simplicity of manners, taken together, -would seem to imply that they had not yet had time to be corrupted -by it, and consequently that, by their energy and prudence, they had -gathered it promptly and with ease. - -~_The precious metals not a measure of value._~ - -The commercial intercourse of the age, however, was still an -intercourse of barter. There can hardly be a stronger sign of the -rudeness of trading relations, than the Homeric use of the word χρεῖος. -It signifies both the obligation to pay a debt regularly contracted for -value received (Od. iii. 367), and the liability to sustain retaliation -after an act of rapine (Il. xi. 686, 8). The possession of the precious -metals was probably confined to a very few. Both these, and iron, which -apparently stood next to them in value, formed prizes at the Games; in -which, speaking generally, only kings and chiefs took part. A certain -approximation had been made towards the use of them as money, that -is, as the measure of value for other commodities. For, as they were -divided into fixed quantities, those quantities were in all likelihood -certified by some mark or stamp upon them. Nor do we ever find mere -unwrought gold and silver estimated or priced in any other commodity. -The arms of Glaucus are indeed ἑκατομβοῖα[173], and they are χρύσεα. -But this means gilded or adorned with gold; an object made of gold -would with Homer be παγχρύσεος. Such are the θύσανοι, the gold drops -or tassels of Minerva’s Ægis; each of which is worth an hundred oxen. -Thus gold, when manufactured, even if not when in mass, had its value -expressed in oxen[174]. - -[173] Il. vi. 236. - -[174] Il. ii. 448, 9. - -It is possible that gold and silver may, to a limited extent, have -been used as a standard, or as a medium of exchange. The payment of -the judge’s fee in the Eighteenth Iliad suggests, though it does not -absolutely require, this supposition. Like writing in the Homeric age, -like printing when it was executed from a mould among the Ancients, the -practice may have existed essentially, but in a form and on a scale -that deprived it of importance, by limiting its extent. - -~_Oxen in some degree a measure of value._~ - -The arms of Glaucus and Diomed, and the drops of Minerva’s Ægis, are, -as we have seen, valued or priced in oxen. The tripod, which was the -first prize for the wrestlers of the Twenty-third Book, was valued at -twelve oxen: the captive woman, who was the second, accomplished in -works of industry, was worth four[175]. - -[175] Il. xxiii. 702-5. - -But Laertes gave for Euryclea no less than twenty oxen, or rather the -value of twenty oxen (ἐεικοσάβοια δ’ ἔδωκεν, Od. i. 431). We need not -ascribe the difference in costliness to the superior merit of Euryclea; -but we may presume the explanation to be, that Laertes, in time of -peace, paid for Euryclea the high price of an importing market; whereas -the Greeks, in a state of war before Troy, had probably more captives -than they knew how to feed. They were, at any rate, in the country of -production: and the price was low accordingly. - -When we find it said that a woman slave was estimated at four oxen, we -are not enabled at once to judge from such a statement whether oxen -were a measure of value, or whether the meaning simply was, that a man, -who wanted such a slave, would give four oxen for her. But the case of -Euryclea clears up this point. For what Laertes gave was not the twenty -oxen, but something equal to them, something in return for which they -could ordinarily be had. Again, Lycaon brought Achilles the value of a -hundred oxen, a hundred oxen’s worth[176]. In this case, then, oxen are -used as a medium for the expression of value. - -[176] Il. xxi. 79. - -In a passage of the Odyssey, we find that the Suitors, when they try -to make terms with Ulysses in his wrath, promise as follows by the -mouth of Eurymachus[177]; - -[177] Od. xxii. 57-9. - - τιμὴν ἀμφὶς ἄγοντες ἐεικοσάβοιον ἕκαστος, - χαλκόν τε χρυσόν τ’ ἀποδώσομεν, εἰσόκε σὸν κῆρ - ἰανθῇ. - -This has been rendered as a double engagement to pay the oxen and the -metals. It seems to me, from the construction of the passage, as if it -would be more properly understood to be a declaration, that they would -each of them bring him a compensation of the value of twenty oxen in -gold, and in copper. If Eurymachus had meant to express the restoration -of the live stock of Ulysses, it is not likely that he would have -spoken of oxen only, especially in the goat-feeding and swine-feeding -Ithaca. - -There is another passage in the poems, which seems to carry a similar -testimony one point further. When Euneus sends ships with wine to the -Greek camp, the Greeks pay him for his wine, some with copper, some -with iron, some with hides, some with slaves, and some with oxen. -Slaves, as we have seen, would probably be redundant in the camp. The -same would be eminently the case with respect to hides; since they -would be redundantly supplied by the animals continually slaughtered -for the subsistence of the army. Even as to the metals, we need not -feel surprise at the passage; for they were acquired largely by spoil, -and not greatly needed by the force, since wear and tear scarcely -constitute an element in the question of supply for those times. But -it is certainly more startling that any of the Greeks should have sold -oxen to the crews of Euneus. Neither in that age nor in this would any -merchants carry away oxen from a vast and crowded camp, where they -would be certain to be in the highest demand. I therefore presume the -meaning to be as follows; that those particular Greeks, who happened to -have more oxen than they wanted at the moment, sold them to the people -of the ships; and that the people of the ships took these oxen, in -exchange for wine, not intending to carry them away, but to sell them -again, perhaps against hides or slaves on the spot, as the live cattle -would be certain to find a ready and advantageous market among other -Greeks of the army. - -Oxen therefore, in that age, seem to have come nearer, than any other -commodity, to the discharge of the functions now performed by the -precious metals: for they were both used to express value, and probably -purchased not for use only, but also with a view to re-sale. Thus the -Homeric evidence, with respect to them, is in conformity with the -testimony of Æschylus in the Agamemnon, who seems to represent the ox -as the first sign imprinted upon money[178]. - -[178] Agam. 37. - -The precious metals themselves were much employed for both personal -ornament and for art. This was, no doubt, their proper and established -application; and when they are stored, they are stored in common with -other metals not of the same class, and with a view, in all likelihood, -to manufacture. - -~_Relative scarcity of metals._~ - -It appears clear, from the Homeric poems, that silver was more rare -than gold. It is used, when used at all, in smaller quantities: and -it much more rarely appears in the accounts of stored-up wealth. A -like inference may be drawn, perhaps, from the books of Moses; and -it corresponds with the anticipations we should reasonably form from -the fact that gold is found in a native state, and, even when mixed -with other material, is more readily fitted for use. The extensive -employment of silver only arrives, when society is more advanced, and -when the use of money is more familiar and minute. Payments in the -precious metals on a somewhat large scale precede those for smaller -transactions. We are not however to infer, from the greater rarity of -silver, that it was more valuable than gold: the value depending, not -on the comparative quantities only, but upon the compound ratio of the -quantities as compared with the demand. It would however appear from a -passage in the account of the funeral games, that gold, if not silver, -was then much less esteemed than it now is. For, while a silver bowl -was the first prize of the foot-race, a large and fat ox (perhaps worth -three ordinary ones) was the second, and a half talent of gold was only -the third[179]. - -[179] Il. xxiii. 740-51. - -The position of iron, however, relatively to the other metals, was very -different in the heroic age from what it now is: and probably its great -rarity was due, like that of silver, to the difficulty of bringing the -metal into a state fit for use; which could more readily be effected -with copper, with tin, or with κύανος, in whatever sense it is to be -interpreted. Iron, however, would appear to have been more valuable -than these metals; greatly more valuable, in particular, than copper, -which is now worth from fifteen to twenty times as much as iron. A -mass of crude iron is produced at the funeral games as a prize; and -iron made into axe-heads forms another. No other metal, below the rank -of gold and silver, is ever similarly employed in an unmanufactured -state.-- - -Let us now turn to a brief view of the polity and organization of the -army. - -We perceive the organization of the Greek communities in a double form: -both as a community, properly so called, in time of peace, a picture -supplied by the Odyssey; and likewise as an army, according to the -delineations of the Iliad. - -~_Mode of government of the army._~ - -The differences are worth noting: but they do not seem to touch -fundamental principles. Agamemnon governed the army by the ordinary -political instruments, not by the rules of military discipline. -Aristotle[180] quotes from the Iliad of his own day and place, and as -proceeding from the mouth of Agamemnon, the words, - -[180] Pol. iii. 14. 5. - - πὰρ γὰρ ἐμοὶ θάνατος· - -and Grote founds upon this citation the remark, that ‘the Alexandrian -critics effaced many traces of the old manners.’ But was this really a -trace of the old manners? Is there a single passage now remaining of -the Iliad, a single thought, a single word, which at all corresponds -with the idea that Agamemnon had in his own hands, in the shape of -a defined prerogative, the power of capital punishment? Aristotle -certainly accepts the passage, and contrasts this military power of -Agamemnon with the restraints upon him in the peaceful sphere of the -ἀγορή; but I am by no means sure that English institutions do not -afford us the aid of far more powerful analogies for appreciating -the real political spirit of the Homeric poems, than any that even -Aristotle could draw in his own day from the orientalizing government -of Alexander. I do not, however, so much question the passage, as -the construction put upon it. The prerogatives of the Greek kings -were founded in general duty and feeling, not in law. When Ulysses -belaboured Thersites, it was not in the exercise of a determinate -right, but in obedience to the dictates of general prudence, which, -upon a high emergency, the general sense approved. Doubtless, if -Agamemnon had caught a runaway from the ranks, he might have slain him; -but is it supposed that Ulysses might not? What was the meaning of the -advice of Nestor, to put the poltroons in the middle of the ranks, -but that their comrades about them should spear them if they should -try to run? There is no criminal justice, in the proper sense of the -term, though there is civil justice, in either of the Homeric poems; -the wrongs of man to man are adjusted or requited by the latter form -of remedy, but the ideas on which the former rests were unknown: there -is no king’s peace, more than there is a king’s highway: the sanctions -of force are added upon occasion to the general authority of office by -those who bear it, according to the suggestions of their common sense. -Had it been otherwise, Ulysses would never have put the wretched women -in his household, who could not, like the Suitors their paramours, be -politically formidable, to a death, which fully entitled him to say -with the Agamemnon of the citation, πὰρ γὰρ ἐμοὶ θάνατος. The general -reverence for rank and station, the safeguard of publicity, and the -influence of persuasion, are the usual and sufficient instruments -for governing the army, even as they governed the civil societies of -Greece. In the Assembly of the army, the quarrel with Achilles takes -place: in the Assembly arises the tumultuary impulse to return home: -in the Assembly, that impulse having been checked, it is deliberately -resolved to see what they can do by fighting: in the Assembly it is -determined to ask a truce for burials, and to erect the rampart: in the -nocturnal Assembly that Council is appointed to sit, which sends the -abortive mission to Achilles. Every great measure affecting the whole -body is, as we shall find, adopted in the Assembly: and, finally, it -is here that Agamemnon explicitly confesses and laments his fault, and -that the reconciliation with Achilles is ratified. - -We may therefore take the polity, so to speak, of the Greek army into a -common view with that of the Ithacan ἀγορή; but first it will be well -to sketch its military organization. - -~_Its military composition._~ - -Next to the βασιλῆες came the ἔξοχοι ἄνδρες (Il. ii. 188), or ἀριστῆες, -of the Greek army. They are pretty clearly distinguished from the -kings in the speech of Achilles (ix. 334); when, after describing the -niggardliness of Agamemnon with respect to booty, he goes on to say, - - ἄλλα δ’ ἀριστήεσσι δίδου γέρα καὶ βασιλεῦσιν· - -which I understand to mean, he gave to these two classes prizes -different, i. e. proportioned to their respective stations. - -The language of the Catalogue pointedly marks the same distinction in -other words. At the beginning, the Poet invites the Muses to tell him -(ver. 487), - - οἵτινες ἡγεμόνες Δαναῶν καὶ κοίρανοι ἦσαν, - -and at the close he says (ver. 760), - - οὗτοι ἄρ’ ἡγεμόνες Δαναῶν καὶ κοίρανοι ἦσαν. - -These two verses appear to be in evident correspondence with each -other: and if so, we may the more confidently rely on the language -as carefully chosen to describe the two classes, first the kings -as κοίρανοι (cf. Il. ii. 204, 207), and, secondly, the ἀριστῆες as -ἡγεμόνες. - -This class, it is probable, consisted, - -First, of the leaders of the minor and less significant contingents. - -Secondly, of lieutenants, or those who are named in the Catalogue as -holding inferior commands under the great leaders (such as Meriones, -Sthenelus, and Euryalus). - -But, below the ἡγεμόνες of the Catalogue, there would appear to -have been several grades of minor officers, in command of smaller -subdivisions of the army. These would seem to have been described by a -general name, ἡγεμόνες. When Nestor (ii. 362) advises the distribution -of the army according to φῦλα and φρήτραι, it will, he says, have the -advantage of showing not only which of the soldiers, but which of -the officers were good, and which bad. Probably therefore there were -officers of each φῦλον, if not even, under these, of each φρήτρη. - -Of the Greeks nine are named in Il. xi. 301-3, who were slain by Hector -at once, before he went among the privates (πληθύς). Of these nine no -one is mentioned in any other part of the poem; and since at the same -time they are expressly declared to be ἡγεμόνες, we may safely look -upon them as examples of the class of minor or secondary officers. From -their names, which have a strong Hellenic colour[181], we may venture -at least to conjecture, that this class was chiefly Achæan, or of -Achæan rank, and that the Pelasgian blood of the army was principally -among the common soldiers. - -[181] Vid. Achæis or Ethnology, p. 574. - -The maritime order of the armament, which required a commander for each -vessel, necessarily involved the existence of a class of what we may -call subaltern officers. - -When Helen describes the chieftains to Priam from the tower, of whom -Idomeneus is one, she proceeds (Il. iii. 231); - - ἀμφὶ δέ μιν Κρητῶν ἀγοὶ ἠγερέθονται. - -Again, when Achilles went with fifty ships to Troy, he divided his 2500 -men under five ἡγεμόνες, whom he appointed to give the word of command -(σημαίνειν) under him. The force thus arranged formed five στίχες or -ranks, Il. xvi. 168-72: and here the private persons are expressly -called ἑταῖροι (ver. 170). Most probably these ἀγοὶ of the Cretans, -and these five Myrmidon leaders, are to be considered as belonging to -a class below the ἀριστῆες, yet above the subalterns. - -Lastly, we have to notice the privates, so to speak, of the Greek army, -who are called by the several names of λαὸς (Il. ii. 191. i. 54), δῆμος -(ii. 198), and πληθὺς (ii. 278). - -In their military character they are indeed a mass of atoms, -undistinguishable from one another, but yet distinguished by their -silence and order, which was founded probably on confidence in their -leaders. - -~_The descriptions of fighting men._~ - -No private or nameless[182] person of the Greek army, however, on any -occasion performs any feat, either great or small: these are always -achieved by the men of birth and station: and the three designations -we have mentioned, the only ones which are used to designate the whole -mass of the soldiery, represent them to us as a community bearing arms, -rather than as an army in any sense that is technical or professional. - -[182] Even the instance, in Il. xiii. 211, of a nameless person who had -simply been wounded is a rare, if not indeed the single, exception. - -All these were entitled to attend the ἀγορὴ, or Assembly, if they -pleased. And accordingly, on the first Assembly that Achilles attended -after renouncing his wrath, we find that, from the great interest -of the occasion, even those persons were present who did not usually -appear: namely, the pilots of the ships, and others who probably -had charge of them while ashore, together with those who managed -the provisioning of the force (ταμίαι), or, in our language, the -commissariat (Il. xix. 42-5). - -In their strictly military capacity they were, however, divided into - -1. ἱππῆες, who fought in chariots, commonly (Il. xxiii. 334-40) with -two horses. When there were three (xvi. 467-75), the outrunner was -called παρήορος. The chariot of Hector was drawn by four horses (viii. -185), but we have no such case among the Greeks. Two persons went in -each chariot; of whom the inferior (ἠνίοχος) drove, and the superior -(παρέβασκε) stood by him free to fight. But probably none of these -ἱππῆες were of the mere πληθὺς of the army, or common soldiery. - -2. ἀσπισταί, the heavy-armed, of the σταδίη ὑσμίνη. These use the -longer spear, the axe, the sword, or the stone. - -3. ἀκοντίσται, using the lighter spear (Il. xv. 709. xxiii. 622. Od. -xviii. 261). - -4. τοξόται (Il. ii. 720. iii. 79). - -Again, the men are distinguished by epithets according to merit; each -being ἔξοχος, μεσήεις, or χερειότερος (Il. xii. 269), or even κακός; -and with the last-named the precaution is taken to place them in the -midst of their comrades. - -The policy of Nestor, which recommended the muster of the whole army, -with a view to stronger mutual support among those who had peculiar -ties, was entirely in harmony with what we meet elsewhere in the -poems. For instance, in the defence of the rampart in the Thirteenth -Book, we find Bœotians, Athenians, and Locrians[183], who were -neighbours, all mentioned as fighting side by side. - -[183] Il. xiii. 685. - -All ranks apparently went to the Assemblies as freemen, and were -treated there by their superiors with respect. It was not those of -the common sort in general, but only such as were clamorous for the -tumultuary breaking up of the Assembly, that Ulysses went so far as -to hit (ἐλάσασκε) with the staff he bore, the supreme sceptre of -Agamemnon. In addressing them he used the word δαιμόνιε, the same -word which he employed to their superiors, the kings and chiefs (Il. -ii. 190, 200). When they heard a speech that they approved of, they -habitually and immediately shouted in applause[184], - -[184] Il. ii. 333. - - Ἀργεῖοι δὲ μέγ’ ἴαχον ... - μῦθον ἐπαινήσαντες Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο· - -and they commented freely among themselves on what occurred (Il. ii. -271 and elsewhere). - -The modes of warfare in the heroic age were very simple: the open -battle was a battle of main force, as regarded both the chieftains and -the men, relieved from time to time by a sprinkling of panics. But -besides the battle, there was another and a more distinguished mode of -fighting: that of the λόχος or ambuscade. And the different estimate of -the two, which reverses the popular view, is eminently illustrative of -the Greek character. - -~_The λόχος or ambuscade._~ - -In that epitome of human life, which Homer has presented to us on the -Shield of Achilles, martial operations are of course included. The -collective life of man is represented by two cities, one for peace -and the other for war. Two armies appear beneath the walls of the -latter; and one of these takes its post in an ambush[185]. Whenever -persons were to be appointed out of an army for this duty, the noblest -and bravest were chosen. Hence Achilles launches the double reproach -against Agamemnon, that he has never had spirit enough to arm either -with the soldiery at large for battle, or with the chiefs and prime -warriors for ambuscade[186]. And the reason why the ambuscade stood -thus high as the duty and the privilege of the best, is explained in -an admirable speech of Idomeneus. It is simply because it involves a -higher trial, through the patience it requires, of moral as opposed to -animal courage. - -[185] Il. xviii. 509, 13, 20. - -[186] Il. i. 226. - -The Cretan leader supposes the case to have occurred, when all the -flower of the army are picked for an ambush. ‘There,’ he says, ‘is the -true criterion of valour; - - ἔνθα μάλιστ’ ἀρετὴ διαείδεται ἀνδρῶν· - -and there it soon appears who is the hero, and who the coward; for -the flesh of the poltroon turns to one colour and another, nor can he -settle his mind so as to sit quiet, for his knees yield under him, and -he shifts from resting on one foot to resting on the other; his heart -is fluttering in his breast, and his teeth chatter, as he gives himself -up for lost: but the brave man, from the moment when he takes his place -in the ambush, neither changes colour, nor is over nervous; but only -prays that the time may soon come for him to mingle in the fearful -fight[187].’ Then he goes on to commend Meriones as one suited for such -a trial. - -[187] Il. xiii. 276-86. - -In exact conformity with what we should expect from these descriptions, -it appears that Ulysses was the warrior who was preeminent in the -λόχος, while Achilles towered so immeasurably above all others in the -field. When the Greeks were concealed in the cavity of the Horse, -and Helen came down from the city imitating the voices of their -wives, Menelaus and Diomed were on the point of either going forth, -or answering; but Ulysses restrained them. One Anticlos was still -unwilling to be silent; and Ulysses, resolutely gagging him with his -hand, ‘saved the lives of all the Achæans[188].’ In all this we again -see how the poems of Homer are, like the Shield, an epitome of life. -All the points of capital and paramount excellence, for which he could -find no place in the hero of the one poem, he has fully represented in -the hero of the other; and he has so exhausted, between the two, the -resources of our nature, and likewise its appliances as they were then -understood, that, had he produced yet a third Epic, not even he could -have furnished a third protagonist to form its centre, who should have -been worthy to count with Achilles and Ulysses among the undying ideals -of human greatness. - -[188] Od. iv. 277-88. - -We have now considered the Greek community of the heroic age, as it -was divided in time of peace into classes, and as in time of war it -resolved all its more potent and energetic elements into the form of a -military order. - -We have also examined the position and functions of the king; who -was at once a person, a class, and a great political institution. -It remains to consider two other political institutions of heroic -Greece, which not only, with the king, made up the whole machinery both -of civil and military administration for that period, but likewise -supplied the essential germ, at least, of that form of constitution, -on which the best governments of the continent of Europe have, two of -them within the last quarter of a century, been modelled, with such -deviations as experience has recommended, or the change of times has -required. I mean the form of government by a threefold legislative -body, having for one of its members, and for its head, a single person, -in whose hands the executive power of the state is lodged. This -form has been eminently favoured in Christendom, in Europe, and in -England; and it has even survived the passage of the Atlantic, and the -transition, in the United States of America, to institutions which are -not only republican, but highly democratic. - -~_The Greek Βουλὴ or Council._~ - -Of these two Greek institutions, we will examine first the βουλὴ, or -Council. - -It was the usage of the Greeks to consider, in a small preliminary -meeting of principal persons, which was called the βουλὴ, of the -measures to be taken in managing the Assembly, or ἀγορή. - -To the persons, who were summoned thither, the name of γέροντες appears -to have been officially applied. It had thus become dissociated from -the idea of age, its original signification: for Nestor was the only -old man among the Greek senators. Idomeneus, indeed, was near upon -old age: Ulysses was elderly (ὠμογέρων[189]), apparently not under -fifty. The majority would seem to have been rather under middle life; -so that γέρων was, when thus employed, a title, not a description. The -βουλὴ was composed of the men of greatest rank and weight; and no more -required an advanced age among the qualifications for it, than does the -presbyterate of the Christian Church, though it too signifies eldership. - -[189] Il. xxiii. 791. - -Before the great assembly of the Second Book, we are told, not -that Agamemnon thought it would be well, as it were for the nonce, -to consult the kings or seniors of the expedition; but, in language -which indicates a fixed practice, that the choice of the place for the -meeting was on this occasion by the ship of Nestor, whose great age -possibly either made nearness convenient, or entitled him to this mark -of honour: - - βουλὴ δὲ πρῶτον μεγαθύμων ἷζε γερόντων - Νεστορέῃ παρὰ νηῒ Πυλαιγενέος βασιλῆος. Il. ii. 53. - -These γέροντες were summoned[190] again by Agamemnon before the -sacrifice of the Second Book, which preceded the enumeration. On this -occasion they are not called a βουλή; probably because they were not -called for consultation. - -[190] Il. ii. 408-9. - -The Council meets again in the Ninth Book[191], by appointment of the -Assembly, and sends the mission to Achilles[192]. In the same night, -and perhaps under the same authority, the expedition of Ulysses and -Diomed is arranged. - -[191] Il. ix. 10. 89. - -[192] Il. x. 195. - -There is no βουλὴ indeed in the First Book, and none in the great -Assembly of the Nineteenth: but then both of these were summoned -by Achilles, not by Agamemnon, and neither of them were called for -properly deliberative purposes[193]. - -[193] Il. i. 54. xix. 41. - -Again, Ulysses, in urging the Greeks not to quit the assembly of the -Second Book prematurely, reminds them that they ought to know fully the -views of Agamemnon, and that they have not all had the advantage of -learning those views in the βουλή. - -In the Seventh Book, the Council held under the roof of Agamemnon -forms the plan for a pause to bury the dead, and erect the rampart. -Accordingly, when just afterwards a herald arrives with a proposal -from Troy, he finds the Greeks in their Assembly, doubtless an Assembly -held to sanction the project of the kings. That this amounted to an -institution of the Greeks, we may further judge from the familiar -manner, in which Nestor mentions it in the Odyssey to Telemachus, on -seeing him for the first time, (Od. iii. 127). ‘Ulysses and I,’ he -says, ‘never differed:’ οὔτε ποτ’ εἰν ἀγορῇ δίχ’ ἐβάζομεν, οὔτ’ ἐνὶ -βουλῇ[194]. - -[194] Il. vii. 344, 382. - -Among other causes, which might tend to promote the establishment of -the Greek βουλὴ or Council, we may perhaps reckon with propriety the -inability of the old to discharge the full duties of sovereignty in -the heroic age. Bodily force usually undergoes a certain amount of -decay, before the mind has passed out of its ripeness; and both kings -and subordinate lords, who had ceased to possess the strength that was -requisite for bearing the principal burdens of government, might still -make their experience available for the public good in the Council; -even as we find that in Troas the brothers of Priam, with others -advanced in life, were the principal advisers of the Assembly[195]. - -[195] Il. iii. 146-53. - -~_The βουλὴ in time of peace._~ - -I admit that we have no example to give of the use of the βουλὴ by -the Greeks during peace, so precise as those which the Iliad supplies -for time of war. But even in war we do not find it except before -Assemblies, which had deliberative business to transact. Now the only -deliberative Greek ἀγορὴ which we meet with in time of peace is that of -the Twenty-fourth Odyssey. The absence of a sovereign and a government -in Ithaca at that time, and the utter discord of the principal persons, -made a Council quite impossible, and left no measure open except a -direct appeal to the people. - -It appears however clear, that the action of the βουλὴ was not -confined to war. For we not only find the γέροντες on the Shield[196], -who sit in the ἀγορὴ, exercising exclusively the office of judges, -but they are also distinctly noticed as a class or order[197] in the -Ithacan Assembly, who had a place in it set apart for themselves. -Nor are we without a proof which, though conveyed in few words, is -complete, of the conjunction of the Council with the sovereign in acts -of government. For when Ulysses in his youth undertook the mission to -Messene, in the matter of the sheep that had been carried off from -Ithaca, he did it under the orders of Laertes, together with his -council[198]: - -[196] Il. xviii. 506. - -[197] Od. ii. 14. - -[198] Od. xxi. 21. - - πρὸ γὰρ ἧκε πατὴρ ἄλλοι τε γέροντες. - -And Nausicaa meets her father Alcinous, on his way to the βουλὴ of the -Phæacians. - -Upon the whole, the βουλὴ seems to have been a most important auxiliary -instrument of government; sometimes as preparing materials for the -more public deliberations of the Assembly, sometimes intrusted, as a -kind of executive committee, with its confidence; always as supplying -the Assemblies with an intellectual and authoritative element, in a -concentrated form, which might give steadiness to its tone, and advise -its course with a weight adequate to so important a function. - -~_Opposition in the βουλή._~ - -The individuals who composed this Council were of such a station -that, when they acted separately, King Agamemnon himself might have -to encounter resistance and reproof from them in various instances. -Accordingly, upon the occasion when Agamemnon made a survey of the -army, and when he thought fit to rebuke Ulysses for slackness, that -chieftain remonstrated with him something more than freely (ὑποδρὰ -ἰδὼν) both in voice and manner. So far from trusting to his authority, -Agamemnon made a soothing and even an apologetic reply[199]. Again, -when on the same occasion he reproved Diomed[200], Sthenelus defended -his immediate Chief in vainglorious terms. These the more refined -nature of Diomed himself induced him at once to disclaim, but they -do not appear to have been considered as involving any thing in the -nature of an offence against the station of Agamemnon. Again, though -Diomed on this occasion restrained his lieutenant, yet, when he meets -Agamemnon in the Assembly of the Ninth Book, he frankly tells him that -Jupiter, who has given him the honours of the sceptre, has not endowed -him with the superior power that springs from determined courage[201]; -and even the passionate invectives of Achilles in the First Book bear a -similar testimony, because they do not appear to have been treated as -constituting any infringement of his duty. - -[199] Il. iv. 329-63. - -[200] Ibid. 385-418. - -[201] Il. ix. 37. - -In the βουλὴ[202], Nestor takes the lead more than Agamemnon. As to -the Assembly, the whole plan in the Second Iliad is expressly founded -upon the supposition, that the army was accustomed to hear the chiefs -argue against, and even overthrow, the proposals of Agamemnon. His -advice that they should return home, which Grote[203] considers only an -unaccountable fancy and a childish freak, is however capable of being -regarded in this view, that, before renewing active operations without -Achilles, it was thought wise to test the feeling of the army, and -that it could not be more effectually tried than by a recommendation -from the commander-in-chief that they should re-embark for Greece. -The plan was over-refined; and it may even seem ridiculous, because it -failed, and simply kindled an ungovernable passion, which would not -listen to debate. But the proposal does not bear that character in the -Ninth Book, where the same suggestion is renewed, without the previous -knowledge of the chiefs, in the same words, and at a time when the -Greeks were in far worse condition. - -[202] Cf. Od. xi. 512. - -[203] Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. 95, 97. - -When Agamemnon made it in order to be overruled it took effect: when -he made it in good earnest, it failed. If then the Greeks could be -retained contrary to his wish in the Ninth Book, it might be misjudged, -but could hardly be absurd, to expect a similar result in the Second, -when they had less cause for discouragement. - -And why did it take effect? Simply because the Assembly, instead of -being the simple medium[204] through which the king acted, was the -arena on which either the will of the people might find a rude and -tumultuary vent, or, on the other hand, his royal companions in arms -could say, as Diomed says, ‘I will use my right and resist your foolish -project in debate; which you ought not to resent.’ - -[204] Grote ii. 104. - - Ἀτρείδη, σοὶ πρῶτα μαχήσομαι ἀφραδέοντι, - ἣ θέμις ἐστὶν, ἄναξ, ἀγορῇ· σὺ δὲ μή τι χολωθῇς. - -The proposal of Agamemnon had been heard in silence[205], the mode -by which the army indicated its disinclination or its doubt. But the -counter proposal of Diomed, to fight to the last, was hailed with -acclamation[206]; - -[205] Il. ix. 30. - -[206] Ibid. 50. - - οἱ δ’ ἄρα πάντες ἐπίαχον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν, - μῦθον ἀγασσάμενοι Διομήδεος ἱπποδάμοιο· - -so that the Assembly was then ripe for the plan of Nestor, which at -once received its approval[207]: - -[207] Il. ix. 79. - - ὣς ἔφαθ’· οἱ δ’ ἄρα τοῦ μάλα μὲν κλύον, ἠδ’ ἐπίθοντο. - -Subsequently, in the βουλὴ of the same Book, Nestor tells Agamemnon -that it is his duty to listen as well as to speak, and to adopt the -plans of others when they are good (100-2). At the same time, the aged -chieftain appears to submit himself to the judgment of Agamemnon in the -Council[208]. His expressions are perhaps matter more of compliment -than of business; and at any rate we do not find any like terms used in -the Assembly. - -[208] Ibid. 97. - -It was a happy characteristic of heroic Greece, that while she abounded -in true shame, she had no false shame. It was not thought that a king, -who had done wrong, compromised his dignity by atonement; but, on the -contrary, that he recovered it. So says Ulysses, in the Assembly of the -Nineteenth Iliad[209]; - -[209] Il. xix. 182. - - οὐ μὲν γάρ τι νεμεσσητὸν βασιλῆα - ἄνδρ’ ἀπαρέσσασθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ. - -This passage at once establishes in the most pointed manner both the -right to chide the head of the army, and the obligation incumbent on -him, as on others, where he had given offence to make amends. - -Thus then a large liberty of speech and judgment on the part of the -kings or chiefs, when they differed from Agamemnon, would appear -to be established beyond dispute, a liberty which in certain cases -resulted in his being summarily overruled. I cannot therefore here -subscribe even to the measured statement of Mure, who, admits the -liberty of remonstrance, but asserts also the sovereignty of the will -of Agamemnon. Much less to the very broad assertions of Grote, that the -resolutions of Agamemnon appear uniformly to prevail in the Council, -and that the nullity of positive function is still more striking in the -Agorè[210]. - -[210] Grote’s Hist. vol. ii. pp. 90, 2. - -To that institution it is now time for us to turn. - -~_Influence of Speech._~ - -The trait which is truly most worthy of note in the polities of -Homeric Greece, is also that which is so peculiar to them; namely, -the substantive weight and influence which belonged to speech as an -instrument of government; and of this power by much the most remarkable -development is in its less confined and more popular application to the -Assembly. - -This power of speech was essentially a power to be exercised over -numbers, and with the safeguards of publicity, by man among his -fellow-men. It was also essentially an instrument addressing itself to -reason and free will, and acknowledging their authority. No government -which sought its power in force, as opposed to reason, has at any -time used this form of deception. The world has seen absolutism deck -itself with the titles and mere forms of freedom, or seek shelter under -its naked abstractions: but from the exercise of free speech as an -instrument of state, it has always shrunk with an instinctive horror. - -One mode of proving the power of speech in the heroic age is, by -showing what place it occupied in the thoughts of men, as they are to -be gathered from their language. Another mode is, by pointing to its -connection, in practical examples, with this or that course of action, -adopted or shunned. A third is, by giving evidence of the earnestness -with which the art was prosecuted, and the depth and comprehensiveness -of the conceptions from which it derived its form. - -We shall presently trace the course of public affairs, as they were -managed by the Greeks of the heroic age in their public assemblies. -For the present, let us endeavour to collect the true sense of Homer -respecting oratory from his language concerning it, from the characters -with whom he has particularly connected it, and from the knowledge -which he may be found to have possessed of its resources. - -Although it is common to regard the Iliad as a poem having battle for -its theme, yet it is in truth not less a monument of policy than of -war; and in this respect it is even more broadly distinguished, than in -most others, from later epics. - -The adjectives in Homer are in very many cases the key to his inner -mind: and among them all there is none of which this is more true, than -the grand epithet κυδιάνειρα. He confines it strictly to two subjects, -battle and debate, the clash of swords and the wrestling of minds. Of -Achilles, he says in the First Book[211], (490) - -[211] He uses the epithet for battle in Il. iv. 225, 6. 124, 7. 113, 8. -448, 12. 325, 13. 270, 14. 155, and 24. 391. - - οὔτε ποτ’ εἰς ἀγορὴν πωλέσκετο κυδιάνειραν, - οὔτε ποτ’ ἐς πόλεμον. - -In every other passage where he employs the word, it is attached to the -substantive μάχη. Thus with him it was in two fields, that man was to -seek for glory; partly in the fight, and partly in the Assembly. - -The intellectual function was no less essential to the warrior-king of -Homer, than was the martial; and the culture of the art of persuasion -entered no less deeply into his early training. How, says Phœnix to -Achilles, shall I leave you, I, whom your father attached to you when -you were a mere child, without knowledge of the evenhanded battle, or -of the assemblies, in which men attain to fame, - - οὔπω εἰδόθ’ ὁμοιΐου πολέμοιο - οὐτ’ ἀγορέων, ἵνα τ’ ἄνδρες ἀριπρέπεες τελέθουσιν. - -So he sent me to teach you the arts both of speech and fight[212], - -[212] Il. ix. 438-43. - - μύθων τε ῥητῆρ’ ἔμεναι, πρηκτῆρά τε ἔργων. - -Even so Ulysses, in the under-world, relates to Achilles the greatness -of Neoptolemus in speech, not less than in battle, (Od. xi. 510-16.) - -Nay, the ἀγορὴ of little Ithaca, where there had been no Assembly for -twenty years, is with Homer the ἀγορὴ πολύφημος[213]. In a description, -if possible yet more striking than that of Phœnix, Homer places before -us the orator at his work. ‘His hearers behold him with delight; -he speaks with tempered modesty, yet with confidence in himself -(ἀσφαλέως); he stands preeminent among the assembled people, and while -he passes through the city, they gaze on him as on a god[214]. From a -passage like this we may form some idea, what a real power in human -society was the orator of the heroic age; and we may also learn how and -why it was, that the great Bard of that time has also placed himself in -the foremost rank of oratory for all time. - -[213] Od. ii. 150. - -[214] Od. viii. 170-3. - -It is in the very same spirit that Ulysses, in the same most -remarkable speech given in the Odyssey[215], sets forth the different -accomplishments by which human nature is adorned. The three great -gifts of the gods to man are, first, corporeal beauty, strength and -bearing, all included in the word φύη; secondly, judgment or good sense -(φρένες), and thirdly, the power of discourse, or ἀγορητύς. To one man, -the great gift last named is the compensation for the want of corporeal -excellence. To another is given beauty like that of the Immortals; -but then his comeliness is not crowned by eloquence: ἀλλ’ οὔ οἱ χάρις -ἀμφιπεριστέφεται ἐπέεσσιν. For χάρις in Od. xi. 367 we have μορφὴ ἐπέων. - -[215] Od. viii. 166-85. - -~_Varied descriptions of Oratory._~ - -In full conformity with this strongly developed idea, the Poet -places before us the descriptions of a variety of speakers. There is -Thersites[216], copious and offensive, to whom we must return. There -is Telemachus, full of the gracious diffidence of youth[217], but -commended by Nestor for a power and a tact of expression beyond his -years. There is Menelaus, who speaks with a laconic ease[218]. There -are the Trojan elders, or δημογέροντες, who from their experience and -age chiefly guide the Assembly, and whose volubility and shrill small -thread of voice[219] Homer compares to the chirping of grasshoppers. -Then we have Nestor the soft and silvery, whose tones of happy and -benevolent egotism flowed sweeter than a stream of honey[220]. In -the hands of an inferior artist, Phœnix must have reproduced him; -but an absorbing affection for Achilles is the key-note to all he -says; even the account in his speech of his own early adventures is -evidently meant as a warning on the effects of rage: this intense -earnestness completely prevents any thing like sameness, and thus the -two garrulities stand perfectly distinct from one another, because -they have (so to speak) different centres of gravity. Lastly, we have -Ulysses, who, wont to rise with his energies concentrated within him, -gives no promise of display: but when his deep voice issues from -his chest, and his mighty words drive like the flakes of snow in -winter[221], then indeed he soars away far above all competitors. - -[216] Il. ii. 212. - -[217] Od. iii. 23, 124. - -[218] Il. iii. 213. - -[219] Il. iii. 150. - -[220] Il. i. 248. - -[221] Il. iii. 216, 23. - -It is very unusual for Homer to indulge thus largely in careful and -detailed description. And even here he has left the one superlative, -as well as other considerable, orators, undescribed. The eloquence of -Achilles is left to describe itself; and to challenge comparison with -all the choicest patterns both of power and beauty in this kind, that -three thousand years since Homer, and all their ebbing and flowing -tides, have brought within the knowledge of man. Although he modestly -describes himself as beneath Ulysses in this accomplishment, yet in -truth no speeches come near to his. But Homer’s resources are not even -now exhausted. The decision of Diomed, the irresolution of Agamemnon, -the bluntness of Ajax, are all admirably marked in the series of -speeches allotted to each. Indeed Homer has put into the mouth of -Idomeneus, whom he nowhere describes as an orator at all, a speech -which is quite enough to establish his reputation in that capacity. -(Il. xiii. 275-94.) - -In reviewing the arrangements Homer has made, we shall find one feature -alike unequivocal and decisive. The two persons, to whom he has given -supremacy in oratory, are his two, his only two godlike heroes (θεῖοι), -the Achilles and the Ulysses, each of whom bears up, like the Atlas of -tradition, the weight of the epic to which he principally belongs. - -How could Homer have conceived thoughts like these, if government -in his eyes had rested upon either force or fraud? Moreover, when -he speaks of persuasion and of strength or valour, of the action of -the tongue and that of the hand, he clearly does not mean that these -elements are mixed in the ordinary conduct of a sovereign to his -subjects: he means the first for peace, the latter for war; the first -to be his sole instrument for governing his own people, the latter for -their enemies alone. - -If, again, we endeavour to estimate the importance of Speech in the -heroic age by the degree in which the faculty was actually cultivated, -we must take the achievements of the Poet as the best indicators of -the capacities of the age. The speeches which Homer has put into the -mouths of his leading orators should be tolerably fair representatives -of the best performances of the time. Nor is it possible that in any -age there should be in a few a capacity for making such speeches, -without a capacity in many for receiving, feeling, and comprehending -them. Poets of modern times have composed great works, in ages that -stopped their ears against them. ‘Paradise Lost’ does not represent the -time of Charles the Second, nor the ‘Excursion’ the first decades of -the present century. The case of the orator is entirely different. His -work, from its very inception, is inextricably mixed up with practice. -It is cast in the mould offered to him by the mind of his hearers. It -is an influence principally received from his audience (so to speak) -in vapour, which he pours back upon them in a flood. The sympathy -and concurrence of his time is with his own mind joint parent of his -work. He cannot follow nor frame ideals; his choice is, to be what his -age will have him, what it requires in order to be moved by him, or -else not to be at all. And as when we find the speeches in Homer, we -know that there must have been men who could speak them, so, from the -existence of units who could speak them, we know that there must have -been crowds who could feel them. - -~_The orations of the Poems._~ - -Now if we examine those orations, we shall, I think, find not only -that they contain specimens of transcendent eloquence which have never -been surpassed, but likewise that they evince the most comprehensive -knowledge, and the most varied and elastic use, of all the resources of -the art. If we seek a specimen of invective, let us take the speeches -of Achilles in the debate of the First Iliad. If it is the loftiest -tone of terrible declamation that we desire, I know not where (to -speak with moderation) we can find any thing that in grandeur can -surpass the passage (Il. xvi. 74-9) beginning, - - οὐ γὰρ Τυδειδέω Διομήδεος ἐν παλάμῃσιν - μαίνεται ἐγχείη, κ. τ. λ. - -But if it is solemnity that is sought, nothing can, I think, excel the -ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον. (Il. i. 233-44.) - -What more admirable example of comprehensive statement, which exhausts -the case, and absolutely shuts up the mouth of the adversary, than in -the speech of Ulysses to Euryalus, who has reproached him with looking -like a sharper? That speech consists of twenty lines: and I think any -one who attempts to give a really accurate summary of it will be apt to -find that his epitome, if it be at all complete, has become unawares -a paraphrase. Nor is Homer less successful in showing us, how he has -sounded the depths of pathos. For though the speeches of Priam to -Achilles in the Twenty-fourth Iliad are spoken privately, and from man -to man only, and are therefore not in the nature of oratory properly so -called, they are conclusive, _a fortiori_, as to his knowledge of the -instruments by which the human affections might be moved so much more -easily, when the speaker would be assisted at once by the friendliness -and by the electric sympathies of a multitude. - -~_Repartee and Sarcasm._~ - -All these are direct instruments of influence on the mind and actions -of man. But of assaults in flank Homer is quite as great a master. He -shows a peculiar genius for that which is properly called repartee; for -that form of speech, which flings back upon the opponent the stroke of -his own weapon, or on the supplicant the plea of his own prayer. There -was one Antimachus, a Trojan, who had grown wealthy, probably by the -bribes which he received from Paris in consideration of his always -opposing, in the Trojan Agorè, the restoration of Helen to the Greeks. -His sons are mastered by Agamemnon in the field. Aware that he had a -thirst for money, they cry, ‘Quarter, Agamemnon! we are the sons of -rich Antimachus: _he_ will pay well for our lives.’ ‘If,’ replies the -king, ‘you are the sons of that Antimachus, who, when Menelaus came -as envoy to Troy, advised to take and slay him, here and now shall ye -expiate your father’s infamy[222].’ Compare with this the yet sharper -turn of Ulysses on Leiodes in the Odyssey: ‘Spare me, Ulysses! I have -done no ill in your halls; I stopped what ill I could; I was but Augur -to the Suitors.’ Then follows the stern reply. ‘If thou dost avow that -thou art Augur to the Suitors, then often in prayer must thou have -augured my destruction, and desired my wife for thine own; wherefore -thou shalt not escape the painsome bed of death[223].’ - -[222] Il. xi. 122-42. - -[223] Od. xxii. 310-25. - -But the weapons of sarcasm, from the lightest to the weightiest, are -wielded by Homer with almost greater effect than any others. As a -sample of the former, I take the speech of Phœnix when he introduces, -by way of parable, the Legend of Meleager. ‘As long as Meleager fought, -all was well; but when rage took possession of him--which (I would just -observe) now and then bewilders other great minds also--then,’ and so -onward. - -But for the great master of this art, Homer has chosen Achilles. As -with his invectives he grinds to powder, so with the razor edge of -the most refined irony he cuts his way in a moment to the quick. When -Greece, in the person of the envoy-kings, is at his feet, and he has -spurned them away, he says, ‘No: I will go home: you can come and see -me depart--if you think it worth your while.’ - - ὄψεαι, ἢν ἐθέλῃσθα, καὶ αἴ κέν τοι τὰ μεμήλῃ. - -Of this passage, Il. ix. 356-64, the following translation may give a -very imperfect idea[224]: - -[224] The version of Voss is very accurate, but, I think, lifeless. The -version of Cowper is at this point not satisfactory: he weakens, by -exaggerating, the delicate expression μεμήλῃ: - - Look thou forth at early dawn, - And, if such spectacle _delight_ thee aught, - Thou shalt behold me cleaving with my prows, &c. - -The version of Pope simply omits the line! - - Tomorrow we the favouring gods implore: - Then shall you see our parting vessels crowned, - And hear with oars the Hellespont resound. - - - Of fight with Hector will I none; - Tomorrow, with the rising sun, - Each holy rite and office done, - I load and launch my Phthian fleet; - Come, if thou thinkest meet, - See, if thou carest for the sight, - My ships shall bound in the morning’s light, - My rowers row with eager might, - O’er Helle’s teeming main. - And, if Poseidon give his grace, - Then, with but three revolving days, - I see my home again; - My home of plenty, that I left - To fight with Troy; of sense bereft! - -The plenty of his house (ἔστι δέ μοι μάλα πολλὰ) is the finishing -stroke of reply on Agamemnon, who had thought that his resentment, -unsatisfied in feeling, could be appeased with gifts. - -In the same speech occurs the piercing sarcasm[225]: - -[225] Il. ix. 340. - - ἦ μοῦνοι φιλέουσ’ ἀλόχους μερόπων ἀνθρώπων - Ἀτρεῖδαι; - -The Greeks had come to Troy to recover the wife of Menelaus: and while -they were there, Agamemnon took for a concubine the intended wife of -Achilles. Was it, he asks, the privilege of the sons of Atreus alone -among mankind to love their wives? Agamemnon, too, being the chief -of the two; who had laid hold on Briseis, as he had meant to keep -Chryseis, in disparagement of his own marriage bed. Nor can the reader -of this passage fail, I think, to be struck with the wonderful manner -in which it combines a stately dignity, and an unimpeachable solidity -of argument, with the fierceness of its personal onslaught. - -~_The faculty of debate in Homer._~ - -~_The discussion of the Ninth Iliad._~ - -If the power of oratory is remarkable in Homer, so likewise is the -faculty of what in England is called debate. Here the orator is a -wrestler, holding his ground from moment to moment; adjusting his -poise, and delivering his force, in exact proportion to the varying -pressure of his antagonist. In Homer’s debates, every speech after -the first is commonly a reply. It belongs not only to the subject, -but to the speech that went before: it exhibits, given the question -and the aims of the speaker, the exact degree of ascent or descent, -of expansion or contraction, of relaxation or enhancement, which -the circumstances of the case, in the state up to which they were -brought by the preceding address, may require. In the Assembly of -the First Book, five, nay, six, successive speeches of Achilles and -Agamemnon[226] bring their great contention to its climax. But the -discussion with the Envoys deserves very particular notice. Ulysses -begins a skilled harangue to the offended hero with a most artful -and well-masked exaggeration of the martial fury of Hector. He takes -care only to present it as part of a general picture, which in other -parts is true enough; but he obviously relies upon it as a mode of -getting within the guard of Achilles. He next touches him upon the -point, to which Priam afterwards made a yet higher appeal; the tender -recollection of his father Peleus, who had warned him how much more -arduous was the acquisition of self-command, than that of daring. -He then recites the gifts of Agamemnon: and, encouraged perhaps by -the kind greeting that, with his companions, he had received, he -closes by urging that, however hateful Agamemnon may be, yet, in -pity for the other Greeks, both high and low, and in anticipation -of their gratitude, he ought to arm. I shall not attempt to analyse -the wonderful speech of Achilles which follows, and to which some -references have already been made. Suffice it to say, that it commences -with an intimation to Ulysses that it will, in the opinion of the -speaker, be best for all parties if he tells out his mind plainly: an -indirect and courteous reproof to Ulysses for having thought to act -upon him by tact and by the processes of a rhetorician. After this -follows such a combination of argument, declamation, invective, and -sarcasm as, within the same compass, I do not believe all the records -of the world can match. But the general result of the whole is the -announcement that he will return to Phthia the very next morning; -together with an absolute, unconditional rejection of all gifts and -proffers, until the outrage of Agamemnon is entirely wiped away[227]: - -[226] Il. i. 106-244. - -[227] Il. ix. 387. - - πρίν γ’ ἀπὸ πᾶσαν ἐμοὶ δόμεναι θυμαλγέα λώβην. - -When he has concluded, all his hearers, abashed by his masculine wrath, -are silent for a while. Then Phœnix, in the longest speech of the -poem, pours forth his unselfish and warm, but prolix and digressive -affection. This speech displays far less of rhetorical resource, -than that of Ulysses. Ulysses had conceded, as it were, the right of -Achilles to an unbounded resentment against Agamemnon (300): Phœnix, on -the contrary, by parable, menaces him with retribution from the Erinūs, -unless he shall subdue the mighty soul within him. But Achilles, -touched in his better nature, gives way a little to the more ethical -appeal, where he had been inflexible and invulnerable before the -intellectual and rhetorical address. He now bids Phœnix come himself, -and sleep in his encampment: there they can consider together, in the -morning, whether to go or to stay (618). Still he announces, that -nothing will induce him to quit the ships for the field (609). Next -comes blunt Ajax into the _palæstra_; deprecates the wasting of time; -is for taking back the answer, bad as it may be: Achilles has evidently -made up his mind; and cares not a rush for all or any of them. ‘What,’ -says the simple man-mountain, ‘the homicide of a brother or child is -atoned for by a fine, and yet here is all this to-do about a girl. Aye, -and a single girl; when we offer seven of the very best, and ever so -much besides.’ Having thus reached the _acmè_ of his arts, he now aims -at the friendly feeling of Achilles, and in a single word bids him be -placable to men whom he has admitted beneath his roof, and whom he owns -for as loyal friends as the whole army could find him. - -The leverage of this straightforward speech, which is only saved by -kindliness from falling into rudeness, again produces an initial -movement towards concession on the part of the great hero. He replies -in effect to Ajax, ‘You have spoken well: I like your way of going -to work: but my heart swells and boils with the shame inflicted on -me before the Greeks by Agamemnon. Tell them then’--there is now no -announcement of setting sail; nay, there is no longer any need for -debate in the morning whether to set sail or not--‘tell them that I -fight no more, till Hector, carrying slaughter and fire, shall reach -this camp, these ships. Keen as he may be, it will then be time enough -for ME to stay his onward path.’ - -Such is the remarkable course of this debate. But Ulysses, when they -return to Agamemnon--meaning probably to bring him and all the Greeks -fairly to bay--takes no notice of the partial relaxations of the iron -will of Achilles, but simply reports that he has threatened to set -sail. Then comes the turn of Diomed. ‘You were wrong to cringe to him. -Of himself, he is arrogant enough: you have made him worse. Let him -alone; he will come when he thinks proper, or when Providence wills it; -and no sooner. My advice is that we sleep and eat now, and fight at -dawn. I, at any rate, will be there, in the foremost of the battle.’ - -~_Function of the Assembly._~ - -We will now proceed to consider the nature and place of the ἀγορὴ or -Assembly, in the heroic age: and a view of the proceedings on several -occasions will further illustrate the great and diversified oratorical -resources of the Poet. - -A people cannot live in its corporate capacity without intermission, -and the king is the standing representative of the community. But yet -the ἀγορὴ, or Assembly, is the true centre of its life and its vital -motion, as the monarch is of its functional or administrative activity; -and the greatest ultimate power, which the king possesses, is that -of influence upon his subjects collected there, through the combined -medium of their reverence for his person, and of his own powers of -persuasion. In the case of the army before Troy, to the strength -of these ordinary motives is added, along with a certain spirit of -resentment for injury received in the person of Helen, the hope of -a rich booty on the capture of the city, and the principle of pure -military honour; never perhaps more powerfully drawn than in the Iliad, -nor with greater freedom from extravagances, by which it is sometimes -made to ride over the heads of duty and justice, its only lawful -superiors. - -First, it would appear to have belonged to the Assembly, not indeed to -distribute the spoil, but to consent to its distribution by the chief -commander, and his brother-leaders. To the former it is imputed in the -Ninth Book. But in the First Book Achilles says to him in the Assembly, -We the Greeks (Ἀχαιοὶ) will requite you three and four-fold, when Troy -is taken[228]. It is probable that he here means to speak of the chiefs -alone, (but only so far as the act of distribution is concerned,) -because Thersites uses the very same expression (ἅς τοι Ἀχαιοὶ πρωτίστῳ -δίδομεν[229]) in the Second Book. Therefore the division of booty was -probably made on the king’s proposal, with the aid of the chiefs, but -with the general knowledge and consent of the army, and in right of -that consent on their part. - -[228] Il. i. 127. - -[229] ii. 227. - -It must be remembered all along, that the state of political society, -which Homer represents to us, is that in which the different elements -of power wear their original and natural forms; neither much altered -as yet by the elaborate contrivances of man, nor driven into their -several extremes by the consequences of long strife, greedy appetite, -and furious passions, excited by the temptations which the accumulation -of property presents. - -In those simple times, when the functions of government were few, and -its acts, except perhaps the trial of private causes, far between, -there was no formal distribution of political rights, as if they could -be made the object of ambitious or contentious cupidity: but the grand -social power that moved the machine was in the determinations of the -ἀγορὴ, however informally declared. - -Grote has observed, that in the Homeric ἀγορὴ no division of -affirmative and negative voices ever takes place. It would require -a volume to discuss all that this remark involves and indicates. I -will however observe that the principle surely cannot be made good -from history or in philosophy, that numbers prevail by an inherent -right. Decision by majorities is as much an expedient, as lighting by -gas. In adopting it as a rule, we are not realizing perfection, but -bowing to imperfection. We follow it as best for us, not as best in -itself. The only _right_ to command, as Burke has said, resides in -wisdom and virtue. In their application to human affairs, these great -powers have commonly been qualified, on the one hand by tradition and -prepossession, on the other hand by force. Decision by majorities has -the great merit of avoiding, and that by a test perfectly definite, -the last resort to violence; and of making force itself the servant -instead of the master of authority. But our country still rejoices in -the belief, that she does not decide all things by majorities. The -first Greeks neither knew the use of this numerical dogma, nor the -abuse of it. They did not employ it as an instrument, and in that they -lost: but they did not worship it as an idol, and in that they greatly -gained. Votes were not polled in the Olympus of Homer; yet a minority -of influential gods carry the day in favour of the Greeks against the -majority, and against their Head. There surely could not be a grosser -error than to deny every power to be a real one, unless we are able -both to measure its results in a table of statistics, and to trace at -every step, with our weak and partial vision, the precise mode by which -it works towards its end. - -~_Great decisions all taken there._~ - -We have seen, in the first place, that all the great decisions of -the War were taken in the Assembly of the Greeks. And here the first -reflection that arises is, how deeply this method of political action -must have been engrained in their habits and ideas, when it could -survive the transition from peace to war, and, notwithstanding its -palpable inconveniences in a camp, form the practical rule of its -proceedings under the eye of the enemy. - -The force of this consideration is raised to the utmost height by the -case of the Night Assembly in the Ninth Book. The Trojans, no longer -confined to their walls, are lying beside a thousand watch-fires, just -outside the rampart. Some important measure is absolutely demanded on -the instant by the downcast condition of the less than half-beaten, -but still thoroughly discouraged army. Yet not even under these -circumstances would Agamemnon act individually, or with the kings -alone. He sends his heralds round the camp (Il. ix. 11), - - κλήδην εἰς ἀγορὴν κικλήσκειν ἄνδρα ἕκαστον, - μηδὲ βοᾶν· - -to summon an Assembly noiselessly, and man by man. Can there be a more -conclusive proof of the vigour, with which the popular principle -entered into the idea of the Homeric polities? If it be said that -such an operation could hardly be effected at night without stir, I -reply that if it be so, the argument for the power and vitality of the -Assembly is but strengthened: for Homer was evidently far more careful -to speak in harmony with the political tone of his country than to -measure out time by the hour and minute, or place by the yard, foot, -and inch; as valuing not the latter methods less, but the former more. - -The Greek army, in fact, is neither more nor less than, so to speak, -the State in uniform. As the soldier of those days was simply the -citizen armed, so the armament was the aggregate of armed citizens, -who, in all except their arms and the handling of them, continued to -be what they had been before. But when we find that in such great -emergencies political ideas did not give way to military expediency, we -cannot, I think, but conclude that those ideas rested on broad and deep -foundations. - -It further tends to show the free nature of the relation between the -Assembly and the Commander-in-chief, that it might be summoned by -others, as well as by him. We are told explicitly in the First Book, -that Achilles called it together, as he did again in the Nineteenth -for the Reconciliation. On the second of these occasions, it may -have been his purpose that the reparation should be as public as had -been the insult: at any rate there was a determination to make the -reconciliation final, absolute, and thorough. But, at the former -time, the act partook of the nature of a moral appeal from Agamemnon -to the army. It illustrated, in the first place, the principle of -publicity so prevalent in the Greek polities. That which Calchas had -to declare, he must declare not in a ‘hole and corner,’ but on his -responsibility, liable to challenge, subject to the δήμου φάτις if he -told less than the truth, as well as to the resentment of the sovereign -if he should venture on divulging it entire. But secondly, it shows -that Achilles held the Greeks at large entitled and bound to be parties -to the transaction. He meant that the Greeks should see his wrong. -Perhaps he hoped that they would intercept its infliction. This at -any rate is clear: he commenced the debate with measured reproofs of -Agamemnon[230]; but afterwards he rose, with a wider scope, to a more -intense and a bitterer strain[231]. - -[230] Il. i. 121-9. - -[231] Ibid. 149-71. - -When he found that the monarch was determined, and when he had -repressed the access of rage which tempted him to summary revenge, he -began to use language not now of mere invective against Agamemnon, but -of such invective as tended to set him at odds with the people. Then -further on, perhaps because they did not echo back his sentiments, -and become active parties to the terrible fray, he both taunts and -threatens them. For he begins[232], ‘Coward that thou art! Never -hast thou dared to arm with the people for the fight, or with the -leaders for the ambush.’ And then[233]. ‘Devourer of the people! over -what nobodies thou rulest! or surely this would be the last of your -misdeeds.’ Again, in the peroration[234], ‘By this mighty oath, every -man among you shall lament the absence of Achilles.’ - -[232] Ibid. 225. - -[233] Ibid. 231. - -[234] Ibid. 239. - -~_Opposition in the Agorè._~ - -It has often been asserted that the principle of popular opposition -in debate is only represented by Thersites. But let us proceed step -by step. It is at any rate clear enough that opposition by the -confederate kings is at once sufficiently represented in Achilles; and -that it is not represented by him alone, since in the Assembly of the -Ninth Book, Diomed both strongly reprehended Agamemnon, and proposes -a course diametrically the reverse of his; which course was forthwith -adopted by the acclamations of the army. - -~_The case of Thersites._~ - -Let us now pass on to Thersites. There is no more singular picture -in the Iliad, than that which he presents to us. It well deserves -examination in detail. - -Homer has evidently been at pains to concentrate upon this personage -all that could make him odious to the hearers of his song, while -nevertheless he puts into his mouth not only the cant of patriotism, -but also a case that would perhaps have been popular, had he not -averted the favour of the army by his insolent vulgarity. - -Upon its merits, too, it was a tolerable case, but not a good one; -for he was wrong in supposing Achilles placable; and again wrong in -advising that the Greeks, now without Achilles, should give way before -the Trojans, to whom they were still superior in war. - -He is in all things the reverse of the great human ideals of Homer. As, -in the pattern kings and heroes, moral, intellectual, and corporeal -excellences, each in the highest degree, must be combined, so Thersites -presents a corresponding complication of deformities to view. As to -the first, he is the most infamous person (αἴσχιστος) in the army; -and he relies for his influence, not on the sense and honour of the -soldiers, but on a vein of gross buffoonery; which he displays in the -only coarse allusion that is to be found in all the speeches of the -poems. As to the second head, his voluble speech is as void of order -as of decency[235]. As to the third, he is lame, bandy-legged[236], -hump-backed, round-shouldered, peak-headed, and lastly, (among the -καρηκομόωντες,) he is bald, or indeed worse, for on his head a hair is -planted here and there[237]. Lastly, hateful to all[238], he is most of -all hateful to, as well as spiteful against, the two paramount heroes -of the poems, Achilles and Ulysses: an observation inserted with equal -ingenuity and significance, because Homer, by inserting it, effectually -cuts off any favour which Thersites might otherwise have gained with -his hearers from seeming to take the side of the wronged Achilles. It -is also worthy of note, as indicating how Homer felt the strength of -that bond which unites together all great excellences of whatever kind. -Upon a slight and exterior view, the two great characters of Achilles -and Ulysses appear antagonistic, and we might expect to find their -likes and dislikes running in opposite directions. But as, in the Ninth -Book, Ulysses is declared by Achilles to be one of those whom he loves -best among the Greeks[239], so here they are united in carrying to the -highest degree a common antipathy to Thersites. - -[235] Il. ii. 213. - -[236] φολκός. See Buttmann, Liddell and Scott. Commonly rendered -‘squinting.’ - -[237] Il. ii. 214-19. - -[238] Ibid. 275, 220. - -[239] Il. ix. 198. - -While depriving the wretch of all qualities that could attract towards -him the slightest share of sympathy, Homer has taken care to leave -Thersites in full possession of every thing that was necessary for his -trade; an ample flow of speech (213), and no small power of vulgar -invective (215). - -Again, the quality of mere scurrility assigned to Thersites, and well -exemplified in his speech, stands alike distinguished in Homer from the -vein of fun, which he can open in the grave Ulysses of the Odyssey, -even while he is under terror of the Cyclops; and from that tremendous -and perhaps still unrivalled power of sarcasm, of which we have found -the climax in Achilles. - -In the short speech of Thersites, Homer has contrived to exhibit -striking examples of malice (vv. 226, 234), coarseness (232), vanity -(vv. 228, 231, 238), cowardice (236); while it is a tissue of -consummate impudence throughout. Of this we find the finest stroke at -the end of it, where he says[240], - -[240] In 237 he appears to follow what Achilles had said i. 170. - - ἀλλὰ μάλ’ οὐκ Ἀχιλῆϊ χόλος φρεσὶν, ἀλλὰ μεθήμων· - ἦ γὰρ ἂν, Ἀτρείδη, νῦν ὕστατα λωβήσαιο[241]. - -[241] Il. ii. 241, 2. - -For here the wretch apes Achilles, whom (for the sake of damaging -Agamemnon) he affects to patronize, and, over and above the pretension -to speak of his feelings as if he had been taken into his confidence on -the occasion, he actually closes with the very line which Achilles, at -the moment of high passion, had used in the Assembly of the First Book -(i. 232). - -If we consider the selection of topics each by themselves, with -reference to effect, the speech is not without a certain εὐστοχία: he -hits the avarice of Agamemnon hard (226); and his responsibility as -a ruler (234): while pretending to incite the courage of the Greeks -(235), he flatters their home-sickness and faint-heartedness by -counselling the return (236); and, in supporting Achilles, he plausibly -reckons on being found to have taken the popular side. But if we -regard it, as every speech should be regarded, with reference to some -paramount purpose, it is really senseless and inconsequent. Dwelling as -he does upon the wrong done to Achilles, and asserting the placability -of that chieftain, he ought to have ended with recommending an attempt -to compensate and appease him; instead of which he recommends the -Return, which had been just abandoned. But the real extravagance of -the speech comes out only in connection with his self-love; when, like -many better men, he wholly loses whatever sense of the ridiculous he -might possess. It is not only ‘the women whom we give you’ (227); ‘the -service which we render you’ (238), but it is also ‘the gold[242] that -some Trojan may bring to ransom his son, whom I, or else some other -Greek, may have led captive.’ I, Thersites, or some other Greek! The -only Greek, of whom we hear in the Iliad as having made and sold on -ransom captives during the war, is Achilles[243]; and it is with him -that Thersites thus couples himself. Upon this, Ulysses, perceiving -that he stands in opposition to the prevailing sentiment of the -Assembly, silences him by a judicious application of the sceptre to his -back and shoulders: yet not even Thersites does he silence by force, -until he has first rebuked him by reasoning[244]. - -[242] Il. ii. 229-31. - -[243] xxi. 40, 79. xxii. 44. - -[244] 246-56. - -Such are the facts of the case of Thersites. Are we to infer from it, -with Grote, that Homer has made him ugly and execrable because he was a -presumptuous critic, though his virulent reproaches were substantially -well founded, and that his fate, and the whole circumstances of this -Assembly, show ‘the degradation of the mass of the people before the -chiefs[245]?’ - -[245] Grote’s Hist. Greece, vol. ii. 95, 6. - -In rallying the Greeks, says the distinguished historian[246], Ulysses -flatters and soothes the chiefs, but drives the people with harsh -reprimand and blows. Now surely, as to the mere matter of fact, this is -not quite so. It is not the people, but those whom he caught carrying -the matter by shouts, instead of returning to hear reason in the -Assembly, that he struck with the sceptre[247]: - -[246] Ibid. pp. 96, 98. - -[247] Il. ii. 198. - - ὃν δ’ αὖ δήμου τ’ ἄνδρα ἴδοι, βοόωντά τ’ ἐφεύροι· - -and it may be observed, that he addresses all classes alike by the word -δαιμόνιε[248]; which, though a term of expostulation, is not one of -disrespect. - -[248] Ibid. 190, 200. - -If Thersites represented the principle of reasoning in the public -Assembly, we might well see in the treatment of him the degradation of -the people. But it is railing, and not reasoning, that he represents; -and Homer has separated widely between this individual and the mass -of the army, by informing us that in the general opinion Ulysses had -rendered a service, even greater than any of his former ones, by -putting down Thersites. ‘Ulysses has done a thousand good things in -council and in war: but this is the best of all, that he has stopped -the scoundrel in his ribaldry[249].’ - -[249] vv. 271-8. - -Thersites spoke not against Agamemnon only, but against the sense of -the whole army (212); and the ground of the proceeding of Ulysses is -not laid in the fact of his having resisted Agamemnon, or Agamemnon -with the whole body of the kings; but in the manner of his speech, and -in his having acted alone and against the general sentiment. Above -all, we must recollect the circumstances, under which Ulysses ventured -to chastise even this rancorous and foul-mouthed railer. It was at a -moment of crisis, nay, of agony. The rush from the Assembly to the -ships did not follow upon an orderly assent to a proposal, such as was -generally given; but it resulted from a tumultuous impulse, like that -of blasts tossing the sea, or sweeping down upon the cornfield (Il. -ii. 144-54). If therefore Ulysses employs the sceptre of Agamemnon to -smite those who were shouting in aid of this ruinous tumult (ii. 198), -we need not take this for a sample of what would be done in ordinary -circumstances, more than the fate of Wat Tyler for a type of British -freedom under the Plantagenets. Odious too as was Thersites, yet the -army, amidst a preponderating sentiment of approval, still appear to -have felt some regret at his mishap[250]; - -[250] Il. ii. 270. - - οἱ δὲ, καὶ ἀχνύμενοί περ, ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἡδὺ γέλασσαν· - -for the first words would suggest, that they knew how to value the -liberty of thought, which had been abused, disgraced, and consequently -restrained, in his person. Surely it would be most precipitate to -conclude, from a case like this, that the debates of the Assemblies -were formal, and that they had nothing to do but to listen to a sham -discussion, and to register or follow decrees which were substantially -those of Agamemnon only. - -I believe that the mistake involved in the judgment we have been -canvassing is a double one: a mistake of the relation of Agamemnon -to the other kings and chiefs; and a mistake of the relation of the -sovereigns generally to their subjects. Agamemnon was strong in -influence and authority, but he had, as we have already seen, nothing -like a despotic control over the other kings. The kings were strong -in personal ability, in high descent, in the sanction of Jupiter, in -possession, and in tradition: but all their strength, great as it was, -lay as a general rule in the direction of influence, and not in that of -violence. - -I do not think, however, that we ought to be contented with the merely -negative mode of treatment for the case of Thersites. I cannot but -conceive that, upon an impartial review, it may teach more, than is -drawn from it by merely saying that it does not prove the Assembly to -have been an illusion. We must assume that Homer’s picture, if not -historical, at least conformed to the laws of probability. Now, what is -the picture? That the buffoon of the army, wholly without influence, -capable of attracting no respect, when the mass of the people had -overcome their homeward impulse, had returned to the Assembly, and -were awaiting the proposition of the kings, first continues to rail -(ἐκολῴα) while every one else is silent, and then takes upon himself -the initiative in recommending the resumption of the project, which -they had that moment abandoned. If such conduct could be ascribed by -the Poet to a creature sharp-witted enough, and as careful as others of -his own back, does not the very fact presuppose that freedom of debate -was a thing in principle at least known and familiar? - -~_Agorè on the Shield in Il._ xviii.~ - -In the scene depicted on the Shield of Achilles, new evidence is -afforded us that the people took a real part in the conduct of public -affairs. The people are in Assembly. A suit is in progress. The matter -is one of homicide; and the guilty person declares that he has paid the -proper fine, while his antagonist avers that he has not received it. -Each presses for a judicial decision. The people sympathizing, some -with one, and some with the other, cheer them on. - - Λαοὶ δ’ ἀμφοτέροισιν ἐπήπυον, ἀμφὶς ἀρωγοί· - κήρυκες δ’ ἄρα λαὸν ἐρήτυον[251]. - -[251] Il. xviii. 502. - -I understand the latter words as declaring, not that the heralds -forbade and put a stop to the cheering of the people, but either that -they kept it within bounds, or rather that, when the proper time -came for the judges to speak, these, the heralds, procured silence. -According to the meaning of ἐρητύω in Il. ii. 211, - - ἄλλοι μέν ῥ’ ἕζοντο, ἐρήτυθεν δὲ καθ’ ἕδρας. - -Now of the cheering of the people I venture to say, not that it -raises a presumption of, but that it actually constitutes, their -interference. The rule of every tolerably regulated assembly, charged -with the conduct of important matters, is to permit no expressions of -approval or otherwise during the proceedings, except from the parties -immediately belonging to the body. The total exclusion of applause in -judicial cases belongs to a state of mind and manners different from -that of the heroic age. But the exclusion of all applause by mere -strangers to the business rests upon a truth common to every age; -namely, that such applause constitutes a share in the business, and -contributes to the decision. It will be remembered how the cries of the -Galleries became one of the grievous scandals of the first revolution -in France, and how largely they affected the determinations of the -National Assembly. The irregular use of such a power is a formidable -invasion of legislative or judicial freedom: the allowed possession of -the privilege amounts to participation in the office of the statesman -or the judge, and demonstrates the substantive position of the λαὸς, or -people, in the Assemblies of the heroic age. - -But apparently their function was not completed by merely encouraging -the litigant, with whom each man might chance to sympathize. For we are -told not only that the Judges, that is to say, the γέροντες, delivered -their opinions consecutively, but likewise that there lay in the sight -of all two golden talents, to be given to him who should pronounce the -fairest judgment (xviii. 508); - - τῷ δόμεν, ὃς μετὰ τοῖσι δίκην ἰθύντατα εἴποι. - -Thus it is plain that the judge who might do best was to get the -two talents: but who was to give them? Not the γέροντες or elders -themselves, surely; for among them the competition lay. There could -be but one way in which the disposal of this fee could be settled: -namely, by the general acclamation of the people, to be expressed, -after hearing the respective parties, in favour of him whose sentiments -they most approved. And those, to whom it may seem strange to speak of -vote by acclamation, should remember, that down to this day, in all -deliberative assemblies, an overpowering proportion of the votes are -votes by acclamation, or by the still less definite test of silence. -The small minority of instances, when a difference of opinion is -seriously pressed, are now settled by arithmetic; they would then have -been adjusted by some prudent appeal to the general will, proceeding -from a person of ability and weight. Indeed even now, in cases when -the numbers approximate to those of the Greek army, there can be -no _bonâ fide_ decision by arithmetic. The demand, however, that -dissension shall be the only allowed criterion of liberty, is one which -really worsens the condition of human nature beyond what the truth of -experience requires. - -~_Decisions in Assemblies of Il._ vii. _and_ ix.~ - -And finally, what shall we say to the direct evidence of Agamemnon -himself? Idæus[252], the Trojan herald, arrives with the offer to -restore the stolen property, but not Helen. He is received in dead -silence. After a pause, Diomed gives utterance to the general feeling. -‘Neither will we have the goods without Helen, nor yet Helen with the -goods. Troy is doomed.’ The Assembly shouts its approbation. Agamemnon -immediately addresses himself to the messenger; ‘Idæus, you hear the -sense of the Achæans, how they answer you; and I think with them.’ At -the least this is a declaration as express as words can make it, and -proceeding out of the mouth of the rival authority, to the effect that -the acclamation of the Assembly was, for all practical purposes, its -vote, and that it required only concurrence from the king, to invest it -with the fullest authority. In the Ninth Iliad, as we have seen, the -vote held good even without that concurrence[253]. - -[252] Il. vii. 381. - -[253] Sup. p. 100. - -We may now, I hope, proceed upon the ground that we are not to take -the ill success of a foulmouthed scoundrel, detested by the whole -army, as a sample of what would have happened to the people, or even -a part of them, when differing in judgment from their king. But what -shall we say to the argument, that no case is found where a person -of humble condition takes part in the debates of the Assemblies? No -doubt the conduct of debates was virtually in the hands of those whose -birth, wealth, station, and habits of life gave them capacity for -public affairs. Even in the nineteenth century, it very rarely happens -that a working man takes part in the proceedings of a county meeting: -but no one would on that account suppose that such an assembly can be -used as the mere tool of the class who conduct the debate, far less of -any individual prominent in that class. If we cannot conceive freedom -without perpetual discord, the faithful performance of the duty of -information and advice without coercion and oppression, it is a sign -either of our narrow-mindedness, or of our political degeneracy; but -a feeble eye does not impair the reality of the object on which it may -happen to be fixed. - -Still we may admit that among the numerous assemblies of the Iliad, -there is no instance where assent is given by one part of the Assembly, -and withheld by the other. There is, as we have seen, a clear and -strong case where the opinion of the commander-in-chief is rejected, -and that of an inferior commander adopted in its stead. This in my -opinion goes far to prove all that is necessary. We have from the -Odyssey, however, the means of going further still. - -Only, before leaving the Iliad, let us observe the terms in which the -Greek Assemblies are addressed by the kings: they are denominated -friends and heroes; names which at least appear to imply their title -to judge, or freely to concur, at least as much as such a title was -recognised in the ancient councils and assemblies of the Anglo-saxons. -Was this appearance a mockery? I do not say we should compare it with -the organized, secure and regular privileges of a few nations in modern -days. But it would be a far greater mistake to treat it as an idle -form, or as otherwise than a weighty reality. - -~_Division in the Drunken Assembly._~ - -From what is related in that poem to have occurred after the capture -of Troy, it becomes abundantly clear that the function of the Greek -Assembly was not confined to listening. The army met in what, for the -sake of distinction, we may call the Drunken Assembly[254]. Now, the -influence of wine upon its proceedings is amply sufficient to show that -its acts were the acts of the people: for Homer never allows his chiefs -to be moved from their self-possession by the power of liquor. - -[254] Od. iii. 139. - -There was a marked difference of opinion on that occasion: the people -took their sides; δίχα δέ σφισιν ἥνδανε βουλή (Od. iii. 150). One -half embarked; the residue staid behind with Agamemnon (155-7). The -moiety, which had sailed away, split again (162); and a portion of -them went back to Agamemnon. We see, indeed, throughout the Odyssey, -how freely the crews of Ulysses spoke or acted, when they thought fit, -in opposition to his views. If it be said, we must not argue from the -unruly speeches of men in great straits at sea, the answer is, first, -that their necessities might rather tend to induce their acquiescence -in a stricter discipline; and secondly, that their liberty, and even -license, are not out of keeping with the general tone of the relations -between freemen of different classes, as exhibited to us elsewhere in -the Homeric poems. - -It may, indeed, be said, that the divisions of the Greeks in the final -proceedings at Troy were divisions, not of the men, but of the chiefs. -This, however, upon the face of the text, is very doubtful. We see from -the tale of the Pseudo-Ulysses, in the Thirteenth Odyssey (265, 6), -that there were parties and separate action in the Greek contingents: -and it is probably to these that Nestor may allude, when he recommends -the Review in order that the responsibility of the officers may be -brought home to them individually. Now, in the case before us, the -first division is thus described. Menelaus exhorted all the Greeks -(πάντας Ἀχαιοὺς) to go home: Agamemnon disagreed (141, 3): while they -were contesting the point, the Assembly rose in two parties (vv. 149, -50); - - οἱ δ’ ἀνόρουσαν ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοὶ - ἠχῇ θεσπεσίῃ· δίχα δέ σφισιν ἥνδανε βουλή. - -There is no intimation here that the people in dividing simply -followed their chiefs. Nay, the tone of the description is such as -obliges us to understand that the movement was a popular one, and took -its rise from the debate: so that, even if the chiefs and their men -kept together respectively, as they may have done, still the chiefs -may probably have followed quite as much as they led. Again, when the -second separation takes place, it is thus described, ‘One portion -returned, under Ulysses, to Agamemnon. Prognosticating evil, I made -sail homewards with the whole body of my ships, which followed me. -Diomed did the same, and (ὦρσε δ’ ἑταίρους) invited his men (to do it). -And after us at last came Menelaus.’ (vv. 162-8). Now here instruction -is given us on three points: - -1. Diomed urged his men; therefore it was not a mere matter of course -that they should go. - -2. Nestor mentions especially that his division all kept together (σὺν -νηυσὶν ἀολλέσιν); therefore this did not always happen. - -3. It is very unlikely that the part, which is first named as having -returned with Ulysses, should have been confined to his own petty -contingent. - -Thus it is left in great doubt, whether the chiefs and men did -uniformly keep together: and the tenour of the narrative favours the -supposition, that the men at least contributed materially to any joint -conclusions. - -~_Ithacan Assembly of Od._ ii.~ - -As, in the first Assembly of the Iliad, Achilles acts his personal -quarrel in the public eye, and lodges a sort of tacit appeal against -Agamemnon, so, in that of the Odyssey, Telemachus does the like -with reference to the Suitors. It is there that he protests against -their continued consumption of his substance; that he rejects their -counter-proposal for the dismissal of his mother on their behalf, and -that he himself finally propounds the voyage to the mainland[255]. -There too we find a most distinct recognition by Mentor, his guardian, -of the powers and rights of the people; for he loudly complains of -their sitting silent, numerous as they are[256], instead of interposing -to rebuke the handful of Suitors that were the wrongdoers. But if, -according to the genius and usages of the heroic age, the people had -nothing to do but to listen and obey their betters, the expectation -that they should have risen to defend a minor against the associated -aristocracy of the country would have been absurd, and could not have -been expressed, as we find it expressed, by Mentor. - -[255] Od. ii. 212. - -[256] Od. ii. 239-41. - -It is true indeed, as has been observed by Tittmann[257], that this -Assembly makes no effective response to the appeal of Telemachus; and -that the Suitor Antinous is allowed to declare in it his own intention, -and that of his companions, to continue their lawless proceedings. -But what we see in the Odyssey is not the normal state of the heroic -polities: it is one of those polities disorganized by the absence -of its head, with a people, as the issue proves, deeply tainted by -disloyalty. Yet let us see what, even in this state of things, was -still the weight of the Agorè. First, when Telemachus desires to make -an initial protest against the acts of the Suitors, he calls it to his -aid. Secondly, though at the outset of the discussion no concession -is made to him, yet he gains ground as it proceeds. The speech of -Antinous, the first Suitor who addresses the Assembly (Od. ii. 85-128), -is in a tone of sheer defiance, and treats his attempt as a jest and as -an insult (v. 86). The next is that of Eurymachus; who, while deriding -the omens, yet makes an advance by appealing to Telemachus to take the -matter into his own hands, and induce his mother to marry one among -them (178-207). The third, that of Leiocritus, contains a further -slight approximation; for it conveys an assent to his proposed voyage, -and recommends that Mentor and Alitherses shall assist him in making -provision for it (242-56). Thus even here we see that progression, -which may always be noticed in the Homeric debates; and the influence -under which it was effected must surely have been an apprehension of -the Assembly, to which both Telemachus, and still more directly Mentor, -had appealed. - -[257] Griech. Staatsv. b. ii. p. 57. - -Thirdly, however, we perceive in this very account the signs of the -disordered and distracted state of the public mind. For, beyond a -sentiment of pity for Telemachus when he bursts into tears (v. 81), -they make no sign of approval or disapproval. We miss in Ithaca the -well-known cheers of the Iliad, the - - οἱ δ’ ἄρα πάντες ἐπίαχον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν. - -They are dismissed without having made a sign; just as it is in the -Assembly of the First Iliad (an exception in that poem); where the mind -of the masses, puzzled and bewildered, is not in a condition to enable -them to interfere by the distinct expression of their sympathies[258]. - -[258] Od. ii. 257. Il. i. 305. - -There are, however, two other instances of Assemblies in the Odyssey. - -~_Phæacian Assembly of Od._ viii.~ - -The first of these is the Assembly of the Phæacians in the Eighth Book; -which we may safely assume to be modelled generally according to the -prevailing manners. - -The petition[259] of Ulysses to Alcinous is, that he may be sent -onwards to his home. The king replies, that he will make arrangements -about it on the following day[260]. Accordingly, the Assembly of the -Phæacian people is called: Minerva herself, under the form of the -herald, takes the pains to summon the principal persons[261]. Alcinous -then proposes that a ship shall be got ready, with a crew of fifty-two -picked men[262]. For his part he will give to this crew, together with -the kings, an entertainment at the palace before they set out[263]. -This is all done without debate. Then comes the banquet, and the first -song of Demodocus. The company next return to the place of assembly, -for the games. It is here that Ulysses is taunted by Euryalus[264]. In -his reply he appeals to his character as a suppliant; but he is the -suppliant of the king and all the people, not of the king, nor even of -the king and his brother kings, alone[265]; - -[259] Od. vii. 151. - -[260] Od. vii. 189-94, 317. - -[261] Od. viii. 7-15. - -[262] The number deserves remark. Fifty, as we know from the Catalogue, -was a regular ship’s crew of rowers. What were the two? Probably a -commander, and a steersman. The dual is used in both the places where -the numbers are mentioned (κρινάσθων, ver. 36, κρινθέντε, 48, -βήτην, 49). There are other passages where the dual extends beyond the -number two, to three and four. See Nitzsch, in loc. But the use of it -here with so large a number is remarkable, and may be best explained -by supposing that it refers to the δύω, who were the principal men of -the crew, and that the fifty are not regarded as forming part of the -subject of the verb. If this be so, the passage shows us in a very -simple form the rudimentary nautical order of the Greek ships. - -[263] Od. viii. 38. - -[264] Od. viii. 158-64. - -[265] Od. viii. 157. - - ἧμαι, λισσόμενος βασιλῆά τε, πάντα τε δῆμον. - -We must therefore assume that Alcinous, in his proposal, felt that he -was acting according both to precedent and the general opinion. He does -not order any measure to be taken, but simply gives his opinion in the -Assembly about providing a passage, which is silently accepted (ver. -46). Yet I cannot but take it for a sign of the strong popular infusion -in the political ideas of the age, when we find that even so slight a -measure, as the dispatch of Ulysses, was thought fit to be proposed and -settled there. - -But we have weightier matter disposed of in the Twenty-fourth Odyssey, -which affords us an eighth and last example of the Greek Assembly, its -powers, and usages. - -The havock made of the Suitors by Ulysses is at last discovered after -the bodies have been disposed of; and upon the discovery, the chiefs -and people repair in a mass to the open space where Assemblies were -held, and which bears the same name with them[266]. Here the people are -addressed on the one side by Eupeithes, father of the leading Suitor -Antinous, on the other, by Medon the herald, and Alitherses, son of -Mastor the Seer. And here we are supplied with further proofs, that -the Assemblies were not wholly unaccustomed to act according to their -feelings and opinions. There is no sign of perplexity or confusion; but -there is difference of sentiment, and each party acts upon its own. -More than half the meeting loudly applaud Alitherses, and break up, -determined not to meddle in the affair[267]. The other party keep their -places, holding with Eupeithes; they then go to arm, and undertake the -expedition against Ulysses. Having lost their leader by a spear’s throw -of Laertes, for which Minerva had supplied him with strength, they fall -like sheep before the weapons of their great chief and his son. Yet, -though routed, they are not treated as criminals for their resistance; -but the poem closes by informing us that Minerva, in the form of -Mentor[268], negotiated a peace between the parties[269]. - -[266] Probably the strictly proper name of the Assembly, as -distinguished from the place of meeting, is ἄγυρις or πανήγυρις -(as Od. iii. 131), but the name common to the two prevails. - -[267] Od. xxiv. 463. - -[268] Od. xxiv. 546. - -[269] Besides all the particulars which have been cited, we have -incidental notices scattered about the poems, which tend exactly in the -same direction. For example, when Chryses prays for the restitution of -his daughter, his petition is addressed principally to the two Atridæ, -but it is likewise addressed to the whole body of Ἀχαιοὶ (Il. i. 15), -that is, either to the entire army, or at any rate to all the kings; -or, to all the members of the Achæan race. This we may compare with the -application of the prayer of Ulysses in Scheria to the king and people. - -~_Councils or Assemblies of Olympus._~ - -Since the Assemblies of Olympus grow out of the polytheistic form of -the Greek religion, we must treat them as part of its human element, -and as a reflection of the heroic life. There will therefore be an -analogy perceptible between the relation of Jupiter to the other -Immortals in the Olympian Assembly, and that of the Greek Sovereign -to all or some of those around him. But as the deities meet in the -capacity of rulers, we should seek this analogy rather in the relation -between Agamemnon and the kings, or between the local sovereign and his -elders (γέροντες), than between either of the two respective heads, -and the mass of those whom he ruled. This analogy is in substance -sustained by the poems. The sovereignty of Jupiter undoubtedly stands -more elevated, among the divinities of Olympus, than that of Agamemnon, -or any other of his kings, on earth. It includes more of the element -of force, and it approximates more nearly to a positive supremacy. -Accordingly, whatever indicates freedom in Olympus will tend _a -fortiori_ to show, that the idea of freedom in debate was, at least as -among the chiefs, familiar here below. Yet even in Olympus the other -chief deities could murmur, argue, and object. The power of Jupiter -is exhibited at its zenith in the Assembly of the Eighth Iliad, when -he violently threatens all that disobey, and challenges the whole pack -to try their strength with him. The vehemence with which he spoke -produced the same intimidatory effect upon the gods, as did the great -speech of Achilles upon the envoys: and the result upon the minds of -the hearers in the two cases respectively, is described in lines which, -with the exception of a single word, precisely correspond[270]. Still, -immediately after Jupiter has given the peremptory order not to assist -either party, Minerva answers, Well, we will not fight--which she never -had done--but we will advise; and this Jupiter at once and cheerfully -permits[271]. But there is more than this. Be the cause what it may, -the personal will of Jupiter, fulfilled as to Achilles[272], is not -fulfilled as to Troy. The Assembly of the Fourth Book is opened with a -proposal from him, that Troy shall stand[273]. From this he recedes, -and it is decided that the city shall be destroyed; while the only -reservation he makes is not at all on behalf of the Trojans, but simply -on behalf of his own freedom to destroy any other city he may mislike, -however dear it may chance to be to Juno. - -[270] Il. viii. 28, 9. ix. 430, 1. - -[271] Il. viii. 38-40. - -[272] Il. i. 5. - -[273] Il. iv. 17-19. - -The position of Agamemnon, of which Jupiter is in a great degree a -reflection, bears a near resemblance to that of a political leader -under free European, and, perhaps it may be said, especially under -British, institutions. Its essential elements are, that it is worked in -part by accommodation, and in part by influence. - -Besides its grand political function, the ἀγορὴ is, as we have seen, -in part a judicial body. But the great safeguard of publicity attends -the conduct of trials, as well as the discussion of political affairs. -The partialities of people who manifest their feelings by visible signs -is thus prevented, on the one hand, by the cultivation of habitual -self-respect, from passing into fury, and on the other hand, from -degenerating into baseness. - -It is perhaps worthy of notice, as assisting to indicate the -substantive and active nature of the popular interest in public -affairs, that where parties were formed in the Assemblies, those who -thought together sat together. Such appears to be the intimation of the -line in the Eighteenth Iliad (502), - - λαοὶ δ’ ἀμφοτέροισιν ἐπήπυον, ἀμφὶς ἀρωγοί. - -As the ἀμφὶς ἀρωγοὶ expresses their sentiments, ἀμφοτέρωθεν can hardly -signify any thing other than that they sat separately on each side -of the Assembly. A similar arrangement seems to be conveyed in the -Twenty-fourth Odyssey, where we find that the party of the Suitors -remained in a mass (τοὶ δ’ ἀθρόοι αὐτόθι μίμνον, v. 464.) I think this -circumstance by no means an unimportant one, as illustrative of the -capacity, in which the people attended at the Assemblies for either -political or judicial purposes. - -~_Judicial functions of the Assembly._~ - -The place of Assemblies is also the place of judicature. But the -supremacy of the political function is indicated by this, that the -word ἀγορὴ, which means the Assembly for debate, thus gives its own -designation to the place where both functions were conducted. At the -same time, we have in the word Themis a clear indication that the -original province of government was judicial. For that word in Homer -signifies the principles of law, though they were not yet reduced to -the fixed forms of after-times; but on the other hand Themis was also -a goddess, and she had in that capacity the office of summoning and of -dissolving Assemblies[274]. Thus the older function, as often happens, -came in time to be the weaker, and had to yield the precedence to its -more vigorous competitor. - -[274] Od. ii. 68, 9. - -But in Homer’s time, though they were distinguished, they were not yet -divided. On the Shield of Achilles, the work of Themis[275] is done in -full Assembly: and this probably signifies the custom of the time. But -in the Eleventh Iliad, Patroclus passes by the ships of Ulysses[276], - -[275] Il. xviii. 497. - -[276] Il. xi. 807. - - ἵνα σφ’ ἀγορή τε θέμις τε - ἤην. - -And, in the description of the Cyclopes, the line is yet more clearly -drawn; for it is said[277], - -[277] Od. ix. 112-15. - - τοῖσιν δ’ οὔτ’ ἀγοραὶ βουληφόροι, οὔτε θέμιστες. - -In that same place, too, the public solemnities of religion were -performed: and though in the Greek camp it was doubtless placed at the -centre of the line with a view to security, its position most aptly -symbolized also its moral centrality, as the very heart of the national -life. At the spot where the Assemblies were held were gathered into a -focus the religious, as well as the patriotic sentiments of the country. - -The fact is, that everywhere in Homer we find the signs of an intense -corporate or public life, subsisting and working side by side with -that of the individual. And of this corporate life the ἀγορὴ is the -proper organ. If a man is to be described as great, he is always great -in debate and on the field; if as insignificant and good for nothing, -then he is of no account either in battle or in council. The two grand -forms of common and public action are taken for the criteria of the -individual. - -When Homer wished to describe the Cyclopes as living in a state of -barbarism, he says, not that they have no kings, or no towns, or -no armies, or no country, but that they have no Assemblies, and no -administration of justice, which, as we have seen, was the primary -function of the Assemblies. And yet all, or nearly all the States had -Kings. The lesson to be learned is, that in heroic Greece the King, -venerable as was his title, was not the fountainhead of the common -life, but only its exponent. The source lay in the community, and the -community met in the Agorè. So deeply imbedded is this sentiment in -the mind of the Poet, that it seems as if he could not conceive an -assemblage of persons having any kind of common function, without their -having, so to speak, a common soul too in respect of it. - -~_The common Soul or Τὶς in Homer._~ - -Of this common soul the organ in Homer is the Τὶς or ‘Somebody;’ -by no means one of the least remarkable, though he has been one of -the least regarded, personages of the poems. The Τὶς of Homer is, I -apprehend, what in England we now call public opinion. We constantly -find occasions, when the Poet wants to tell us what was the prevailing -sentiment among the Greeks of the army. He might have done this -didactically, and described at length the importance of popular -opinion, and its bearings in each case. He has adopted a method more -poetical and less obtrusive. He proceeds dramatically, through the -medium of a person, and of a formula: - - ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν, ἰδὼν ἐς πλήσιον ἄλλον. - -It may, however, not seem worthy of remark, considering the amount of -common interest among the Greeks, that he should find an organ for it -in his Τίς. But when he brings the Greeks and Trojans together in the -Pact, though it is only for the purpose of a momentary action, still he -makes an integer _pro hâc vice_ of the two nations, and provides them -with a common Τὶς (Il. iii. 319): - - ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν Ἀχαιῶν τε Τρώων τε. - -We find another remarkable exemplification in the case of the Suitors -in the Odyssey. Dissolute and selfish youths as they are, and -competitors with one another for a prize which one only can enjoy, they -are nevertheless for the moment banded together in a common interest. -They too, therefore, have a collective sentiment, and a ready organ for -it in a Τὶς of the Odyssey (Od. ii. 324), who speaks for the body of -Suitors: - - ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε νέων ὑπερηνορεόντων. - -All these are, in my view, most striking proofs of the tenacious hold, -which the principle of a public or corporate life for all aggregations -of men had taken upon the mind of Homer, and upon Greece in the heroic -age. Nor can I help forming the opinion, that in all probability we may -discern in the Homeric Τὶς the primary ancestor of the famous Greek -Chorus. It is the function of the Chorus to give utterance to the -public sentiment, but in a sense apt, virtuous, and pious. Now this is -what the Homeric Τὶς usually does; but of course he does on behalf of -the community, what the Chorus does as belonging to the body of actors. - -It is then surely a great error, after all we have seen, to conclude -that, because the political ideas and practices of those times did not -wear the costumes now in fashion, they were without their own real -vitality, and powerful moral influence upon the minds and characters of -men. - -~_Imperfect organization of the Heroic Polities._~ - -But, on the other hand, in repelling these unsound and injurious -notions, we must beware of assuming too much of external resemblance -between the heroic age and the centuries either of modern Christendom -or even of historic Greece and Rome. All the determinate forms of -public right are the growth of long time, of dearbought experience, and -of proved necessity. Right and force are supplements to one another; -but the proportions, in which they are to be mingled, are subject to -no fixed rule. If the existence of rights, both popular and regal, -in the heroic age is certain, their indeterminateness is glaring and -conspicuous. But the shape they bore, notwithstanding the looseness -of its outline, was quite adequate to the needs of the time. We must -not, in connection with the heroic age, think of public life as a -profession, of a standing mass of public affairs, of legislation -eternally in arrear, of a complex machinery of government. There were -no regular regencies in Greece during the Trojan war. There was no -Assembly in Ithaca during the long absence of Ulysses[278], before -the one called by Telemachus, and reported in the Second Book of the -Odyssey. We have seen, however, in what way this lack of machinery -told upon the state of Greece by encouraging faction, and engendering -revolution. The strain of the Trojan expedition was too great for a -system so artless and inorganic. The state of Ithaca in the Odyssey -is politically a state almost of anarchy; though the symptoms of that -disease were milder by far then, than they could now be. The condition -of the island shows us what its polity had been, rather than what it -was. But for all ordinary occasions it had sufficed. For Assemblies -met only when they had something to do; and rarely indeed would such -junctures arrive. Infractions of social order and social rights, which -now more commonly take place by fraud, were then due almost wholly to -violence. And violence, from its nature, could hardly be the subject -of appeal to the Assembly: as a general rule, it required to be repaid -on the instant, and in the same coin. Judicial questions would not -often be of such commanding interest, as to divide a people into two -opinions; nor the parties to them wealthy enough to pay two talents -to the successful judge. Great controversies, affecting allegiance -and the succession, must of necessity in all ages be rare; and of a -disputed succession in Greece the poems can hardly be said to offer -us an instance. We find, however, in the last Book of the Odyssey, -that, according to the ideas of that period, when a question as to -the sovereignty did arise, the people needed no instructor as to the -first measure they were to take. They repaired, as if by a common and -instinctive impulse, to the Agorè; in which lay deposited their civil -rights and their old traditions, like the gems of the wealth of Greece -in the shrine of the Archer Apollo[279]. - -[278] Tittmann Griech. Staatsv. b. ii. p. 56. - -[279] Il. ix. 404. - - - - -II. ILIOS. - -THE TROJANS COMPARED AND CONTRASTED WITH THE GREEKS. - - -We have perhaps been accustomed to contemplate the Trojans too -exclusively, either as enemies of the Greeks, or else as constituting, -together with them, one homogeneous chapter of antiquity, which we -might be content to examine as a whole, without taking notice of -specific differences. Let us now endeavour to inquire what were the -relations, other than those of mere antagonism in the war, between the -two nations; what points they embraced, and what affinities or discords -they disclose. The direct signs of kindred between Troy and Greece have -already been considered; but the examination into points of contrast -and resemblance as respects religion, polity, and character, will -assist us in judging how far a key to those affinities and discords is -to be found in the different interfusion and proportion, in the two -cases, of ethnical elements which they possessed in common. - -We have seen in another place[280] that the Greeks, or Achæans, and the -Trojans, were akin by the Hellic element, which appears to establish -a connection chiefly as regarded the royal house, and other ruling -houses, of Troy. On the other hand it has seemed clear, from many -sources, that the main affinity between the bulk of the two nations -was Pelasgian. As respects the ethnological question, the supposition -most consonant to the evidence as a whole appears to me to be, that -in Troas we find Hellic families, possessed of dominion over a -Pelasgian people: in Greece we find Hellic tribes, placed in dominant -juxtaposition with Pelasgic tribes, of prior occupancy; constituting, -as is probable, whole classes of the community, and mingling with and -powerfully modifying the aggregate composition so as to produce a -mixed result; while in Troy, though the ruling houses are probably a -different order, and there may be found here and there the tokens of -this influence, yet the general face of society, and the substance of -manners and institutions, are Pelasgian. It will be recollected, that -even in Greece we trace two forms of Hellic diffusion. Sometimes the -descendants of the Helli appear as single families, like the Æolids; -sometimes as races, like the Achæans. The state of facts here supposed -as to Troy is in accordance with the former class of indications within -Greece itself. - -[280] Achæis, or Ethnology, sect. ix. p. 496. - -Upon the footing supplied by these assumptions, I shall treat the -comparison of the two countries as to religion, policy, social usages, -and moral ideas and practice. - -We have already been obliged, in considering the respective shares of -the Hellenic and Pelasgian factors in the compound Greek character, to -anticipate in some degree the conclusions with regard to the religion -of the Trojans in its general character, which I will now proceed more -fully to explain and illustrate. - -We have found three conspicuous deities, of worship apparently supreme -and universal: Jupiter, Minerva, and Apollo. After these comes Neptune, -of a more doubtful position when we pass out of the Hellenic and -Phœnician circles; and Latona with Diana, who, doubtless from the -vantage ground of early tradition, take rank alike with an Hellenic and -a Pelasgian people. We have also supposed Ceres to be of immemorial -standing as a deity of the Pelasgians; and Venus to have made great way -among them. - -~_Greek names of deities found also in Troas._~ - -Passing on from the consideration of Pelasgian religion at large, it -will now be requisite to show, with particular reference to Troy, how -far we find the names of the Greek divinities recognised there; nor -must we omit to consider, in what degree identity of name implies -identity of person and function. - -1. Jupiter had a τέμενος, or portion of consecrated land, on Mount -Gargarus; and there Onetor was his priest[281]. He is, with the -Trojans as with the Greeks, the first and greatest of the gods[282]. -He himself attests their abundant liberality in sacrifices offered -to himself[283]. The Greek Jupiter is Olympian; the Trojan Jupiter -is Jupiter of Ida. Except as to abode, there is no difference to be -discerned between the features of the two. - -[281] Il. viii. 47, 8. - -[282] Il. iii. 298. - -[283] Il. iv. 48. - -2. We have no direct indication, in the Iliad, of the worship of -Neptune by the Trojans. But the legend of his employment under Laomedon -must be taken to imply that his divinity was acknowledged in that -country: confirmed as it is by his sharing with Jupiter and Apollo the -destruction of the Greek rampart after the conclusion of the war[284]. - -[284] Il. xxi. 442 seqq. vii. 459. xii. 17. - -3. In the case of Juno, I have elsewhere noticed[285] the three -passages, which alone appear to establish a faint connection between -her and the Trojans. - -[285] Olympus, sect. iii. p. 197. - -4. Minerva had a temple on Pergamus; and was served there by a -priestess, Theano; who, as the wife of Antenor, was of the very -next rank to Priam and his house. The goddess is addressed, on the -occasion of the procession of the Sixth Book, in a strain which seems -to acknowledge her possession of supreme power[286]: the defender of -cities, excellent among goddesses, she is entreated to have pity on -Troy, to break the lance of Diomed, and to grant that he himself may -fall. - -[286] Il. vi. 298-300. 305-10. - -5. Apollo would appear to be the favourite among the great deities -of the country. He, like Minerva, has a temple in the citadel[287]. -Chryses is his priest at Chryse, and there too he has a temple. He is -the special protector of Cilla and of Tenedos[288]. With Minerva, he -is indicated as the recipient of supreme honour[289]. The Lycian name, -so prevalent in Troas, establishes a special connection with him. In -the Iliad, he seems to be the ordinary and immediate Providence to the -Trojan chiefs, as Minerva is to the Greek ones. At the same time, he -carries no sign of exclusive nationalism; he bears no hatred to the -Greeks; but, after the restitution and propitiation, he at once accepts -the prayer, and stays the pestilence[290]. - -[287] Il. v. 446. - -[288] Il i. 37-9. - -[289] Il. vii. 540. xiii. 827. - -[290] Il. i. 457. - -6. Latona must have been known among the Trojans; because Homer has -represented her as contending on the Trojan side in the war of the -gods, and as engaged in tending the wounded Æneas within the temple of -Apollo on Pergamus. - -7. The same reasons apply also to Diana: and we moreover find, that she -instructed the Trojan Scamandrius in the huntsman’s art[291]. - -[291] Il. v. 49. - -8. Venus is eminently Trojan. Her relation to this people is marked -by her favour towards Paris: her passion for Anchises: her sending a -personal ornament as a marriage gift to Andromache; her ministerial -charge over the body of Hector (Il. xxiii. 184-7); her being chosen -as the model to which Trojan beauties are compared, while Diana is -the favourite standard for the Greek woman. It is also marked by -her zealous, though feeble, partizanship in favour of Troy among -the Immortals: and by the biting taunts of Pallas, of Helen, and of -Diomed[292]. - -[292] Il. v. 421-5. 348-51. iii. 405-9. - -9. Vulcan is not only known, but has a _cult_ in Troy: for Dares is his -priest, and is a person of great wealth and consideration; one of whose -sons he delivers from death in battle, to comfort the old man in his -decline[293]. - -[293] Il. v. 9. and 20-4. - -10. Mars. Of this deity it would seem, that he has been given by -Homer to the Pelasgians, mainly because of his so strongly marked -Thracian character, and his want of recognition among the Hellenes, -who had a higher deity of war in Minerva. I have touched elsewhere -upon his equivocal position as between the two parties to the war. It -corresponds with that of the Thracians, who appear to form a point of -intersection, so to speak, for the Hellic and Pelasgian races. Those of -the plain of Adrianople are, like the Pelasgi, horse-breeders, dwelling -in a fertile country: the ruder portion are among the mountains to the -north and west. - -11. Mercury. One sign only of the ordinary agency of this deity in -Troas is exhibited; he gives abundant increase to the flocks of -Phorbas[294]. - -[294] Il. xiv. 490. - -12. Earth (Γαῖα) would appear to have been recognised as an object of -distinct worship in Troas: for when Menelaus proposes the Pact, he -invites the Trojans to sacrifice a black lamb to her, and a white one -to the Sun; while the Greeks will on their part offer up a lamb to -Jupiter. The proposal is at once accepted; and the heralds are sent by -Hector to the city for the lambs[295], which seems to be conclusive as -to the acknowledgment of these two deities in Troy. - -[295] Il. iii. 103. 116. - -13. The Sun. Besides that the passage last quoted for Earth is also -conclusive for the Sun, we have another token of his relation to Troy, -in the unwillingness with which he closes the day, when with his -setting is to end the glory of Hector and of his country[296]. - -[296] Il. xviii. 239. - -We have thus gone through the list of the greater Greek deities, -and have found them all acknowledged in Troas, with the following -exceptions: 1. of Ceres, whom we may however suspect, from her -Pelasgian character, to have been worshipped there under some name or -form; 2. of Aidoneus; and 3. of Persephone. These exceptions will be -further noticed. - -Again, among the thirteen who have been identified as objects of Trojan -worship, we find one, namely, Γαῖα, of whom we can hardly say that she -was worshipped in Greece; though she was invoked, as by Agamemnon in -the Nineteenth Book, and by Althea in the Ninth, to add a more solemn -sanction to oaths. - -14. Together with her, we may take notice of a fourteenth deity, -apparently of great consideration in Troy, namely, the River Scamander. -He bears a marked sign of ancient worship, in having a divine -appellation, Xanthus, as well as his terrestrial one, Scamander. He -had an ἀρήτηρ, by name Dolopion. To him, according to the speech -of Achilles, the Trojans sacrificed live horses. He enters into -the division of parties among the gods about the war, and fights -vigorously against Achilles, until he is at length put down by -Hephæstus, or Vulcan. As a purely local deity, however, he has of -course no place in the Greek mythology. - -15. Though we have no direct mention of the translation of Tithonus -by Ἠὼς, or Aurora, yet, as Homer gives Tithonus a place both in the -genealogy of the Dardanidæ, and likewise by the side of Aurora, we may -consider that, by thus recognising the translation, he also points out -Aurora as an acknowledged member of the supernatural order in Troas. - -Several among these names call for more particular notice: especially -those of Vulcan, Earth, and Scamander. - -~_Worship of Vulcan in Troas._~ - -The case of Vulcan, and his place in Troy, may serve to remind us of -a proposition somewhat general in its application; this namely, that, -in classifying the Trojan divinities, Homer need not have intended -to imply that the same name must in all cases carry exactly the same -attributes. We must here bear in mind, that probably all, certainly -almost all, of the properly Olympian gods, were Greek copies modified -from Oriental or from traditive originals. But as these conceptions -were propagated in different quarters, each country would probably add -or take away, or otherwise alter, in conformity with its own ruling -tendencies. Hence when we find a Vulcan in Greece, and a Vulcan in -Troas, it by no means follows, that each of them presented the same -features and attributes. If Homer believed them to be derived from a -common original in Egypt or elsewhere, that would be a good and valid -reason for his describing them by the same name, though the Trojan -Vulcan might not present all the Hellenic traits, nor _vice versâ_. -In some cases, such as those of Jupiter, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, and -Venus, there is such a correspondence of attributes entering into the -portraiture of the respective deities in the two countries, that their -identity, at least so far as the evidence goes, seems quite unimpaired -and unequivocal. But we have no means of showing from the poems, that -the Trojan Hephæstus corresponded with the Greek one. Indeed when we -find no mention of his being actually worshipped in Greece, and at the -same time learn that he had a priest in Troas, the presumption arises, -that different conceptions of him prevailed in the two countries. -Again, there is nowhere assigned to him as a Greek deity any such -exercise of power, as that by which he saves Idæus, a son of his priest -Dares, from imminent death on the field of battle. - -These general considerations, which tend to show that the identity -of name in a Trojan and a Greek deity may be compatible with much -of dissimilarity in the popular development of the functions, will -relieve us from difficulties, which we should otherwise have had to -meet, in accounting for the place of some of the Olympian divinities -in Trojan worship. We have found reason to suppose, that Vulcan may -have come into Greece through Phœnicia. But the Trojans appear to -have had very little connection with Phœnicia. The precious κειμήλιον -of Priam, the cup that he carried to Achilles, was not Phœnician but -Thracian[297]. The only token of intercourse mentioned is, that Paris -brought textile fabrics from Sidon[298]. Again, Vulcan was especially -worshipped in Lemnos, and had his terrestrial abode there. But this -goes more naturally to account for the works of metal in Thrace, than -for the position of Vulcan in Troas; higher as it was, apparently, -than in Greece. Again, it is worth notice, that the Vulcan of the -Romans was, like their Mars, one of the old gods of Etruria, a country -stamped with many Pelasgian characteristics. It may be, that we ought -to look back to Egypt for the origin of all these Vulcans. In the time -of Herodotus[299], the Egyptian priests claimed him as their own: and -Phtah, the principal deity of Memphis, was held by the later Greeks -to correspond with their Ἥφαιστος. Even the two names carry tokens of -relationship. From that fountain-head might be propagated diverging -copies of the deity: and, as far as we can judge, the Vulcan worshipped -in Troy was much more like the common ancestor, than the highly -idealized artificer of Olympus, upon whom the Poet has worked out all -his will[300]. - -[297] Il. xxiv. 234-5. - -[298] Il. vi. 289-92. - -[299] Herod. ii. 50. - -[300] Döllinger Heid. u. Jud. VI. iii. p. 411. - -~_Worship of Juno and Gaia in Troas._~ - -There is another of its points of contact with the Olympian system, in -which this list of Trojan deities is remarkable. While investigating -the Greek mythology, we have found reason to suppose that Juno, Ceres, -and Gaia are but three different forms of the same original tradition -of a divine _feminine_: of whom Ceres is the Pelasgian copy, Juno -the vivid and powerful Hellenic development, and Gaia the original -skeleton, retaining nothing of the old character, but having acquired -the function of gaol-keeper for perjurors when sent to the other -world[301]. In the retention however of all three within the circle of -religion, we see both the receptiveness and the universalism of the -Greek mythology. Now, in Troy, where there was less of imaginative -power, the case stands very differently. Of Ceres, who represents -the Pelasgian impression of the old earth-worshipping tradition, we -hear nothing in Troas. Probably she was not there, because Gaia, her -original, was still a real divinity for the Trojans. But how are we -to explain the fact that Gaia and Juno are both there? I venture to -suggest, that it is because these are different names, the foreign and -the domestic one, for the same thing. When Hector swears to Dolon, it -is by Jupiter, ‘the loud-thundering husband of Here:’ which almost -appears as if Juno held, in the Trojan oath, a place more or less -resembling the place occupied in the Greek oaths (where Juno does not -appear at all) by Gaia. - -[301] Rhea (ἔρα) shows us the fourth and cosmogonic side of the same -conception. - -Again, it is obvious that, if this relation exists between Gaia and -Juno, it explains the fact that we do not find both, so to speak, -thriving together. In Troas Gaia is worshipped, but Juno scarcely -appears. In Greece Juno is highly exalted, but Gaia has lost all body, -and has dwindled to a spectral phantasm. It is the want of imagination -in the Trojan mythology, which makes it a more faithful keeper of -traditions, stereotyped in the forms in which they were had from their -inventors. - -~_Worship of Mercury in Troas._~ - -Next, as to Mercury. I have already adverted to the fact that -Priam[302], notwithstanding his obligations to Mercury in the -Twenty-fourth Iliad, takes no notice of his divinity. I think that -a close examination of the narrative tends to show, that the Greek -Mercury was not worshipped in Troy; and leaves us to conclude that -Homer uses a merely poetical mode of speech in saying that this god -gave increase to the flocks of Phorbas[303]: even as when he makes -Priam call Iris an _Olympian_ messenger[304]. - -[302] Olympus, sect. iii. p. 234. - -[303] Il. xiv. 490. - -[304] Il. xxiv. 194. - -He appears before Priam and his companion Idæus, when they are on -their way to the Greek camp, in the semblance of a young and noble -Myrmidon. There were, we know[305], certain visible signs, by which -deities could in general be recognised or, at least, guessed as -such. Both Idæus, however, and Priam himself, saw nothing of this -character in Mercury, and simply took him for a Greek enemy[306]. -Mercury, after some genial conversation, conducts his chariot to -the quarters of Achilles, and then, before quitting him, announces -himself. Not, however, like Apollo to Hector (Il. xv. 256), and Minerva -to Ulysses (Od. xiii. 299), simply by giving his name: but he also -declares himself to be an Immortal, θεὸς ἄμβροτος (460). This unusual -circumstance raises a presumption, that he was not already known as a -divinity to Priam; and the presumption seems to become irrefragable, -when we find that Priam, though given to the observances of religion, -uses no act or expression of reverence or even recognition to his -benefactor, either on his first declaration and departure (460, 7), or -upon his second nocturnal appearance (682), followed by a second and -final flight to Olympus (694). - -[305] Olympus, sect. v. - -[306] Il. xxiv. 347, 355, 358-60. - -The case of Scamander will require particular notice: because it is -immediately connected with the question, whether the Trojans partook of -that tendency to a large imaginative development of religion, which so -eminently distinguishes the Grecian supernaturalism. - -We will therefore consider carefully the facts relating to this deity, -and such other kindred facts as Homer suggests. - -He speaks of Dolopion as follows[307]; - -[307] Il. v. 77. - - ὑπερθύμου Δολοπίονος, ὅς ῥα Σκαμάνδρου - ἀρητὴρ ἐτέτυκτο, θεὸς δ’ ὣς τίετο δήμῳ. - -This is entirely in keeping, as to particulars, with the Pelasgian -and Trojan institutions. The ἀρητὴρ of Homer is apparently always the -priest. Dolopion was a man in very high station and honour, like the -priests of Rome, and of early Ætolia[308]; but not like those of later -Greece. And he had been ‘made’ or ‘appointed’ priest; as Theano was -chosen to be priestess by the people. The priesthood of the Homeric age -never appears as a caste in these latitudes. The only approximation to -caste is in the gift of the μάντις, which, as we find from the Odyssey, -was hereditary in the family of Melampus[309]. Thus far, then, the -evidence respecting Scamander certainly would appear to belong to the -category of Homer’s historical statements. - -[308] Il. ix. 575. - -[309] Od. xv. 223 and seqq. - -Beyond this, everything assumes a figurative stamp. Scamander fights -as a deity with Achilles, and his waters are so powerful that they can -only be subdued by the immediate action of the god of fire. The hero, -too, is aided by the powerful blasts of Zephyr and of Notus, whom Juno -rouses up to scorch the Trojans[310]. As we can hardly doubt, that -the plague in the First Book represents some form of marsh-fever, so -here it appears likely that the Poet takes very skilful advantage of a -flood, caused by summer rains, which had annoyed the Greeks, and which -had been followed by the subsidence of the waters upon the return of -hot weather. - -[310] Il. xxi. 331 and seqq. - -Scamander is very great in the Iliad, but with a purely local -greatness. As a person, he speaks both to men and to gods. He addresses -Simois as his beloved brother; but it is entirely on the affair of the -deluge and the heat. Though he takes part in the war, the distinction -is not awarded to him of being a member of the smaller and select -Olympian community: he merely stands included by presumption in the -general category of Rivers[311]. - -[311] Il. xx. 7. - -~_Worship of Scamander._~ - -We have a description from the mouth of Achilles of certain sacrifices, -as belonging to the worship of Scamander[312]: - -[312] Il. xxi. 130-2. - - οὐδ’ ὑμῖν ποταμός περ ἐΰῤῥοος ἀργυροδίνης - ἀρκέσει, ᾧ δὴ δηθὰ πολέας ἱερεύετε ταύρους, - ζωοὺς δ’ ἐν δίνῃσι καθίετε μώνυχας ἵππους. - -This offering of live horses is peculiar, and unlike anything else -represented to us in the Homeric poems. Not only the youths, but even -the dogs, whom Achilles offers to the Shade of Patroclus, are slain -before they are cast into the fire. The same thing is not mentioned -with respect to the four horses, who are also among the victims; but -it is probably, even from the physical necessities of the case, to be -presumed. - -It may, perhaps, be argued, that this speech of Achilles partakes -of the nature of a sarcasm. The fine Trojan horses were reared and -pastured on the river banks; taunts often pass between the warriors of -the two sides: the δὴ δηθὰ may have had the force of _forsooth_. Some -doubt may attach to the evidence, which the passage gives, on this -ground; and also from the singularity of the practice that is imputed. -It is, on the whole, however, safest to assume that it is trustworthy. - -The case will then stand thus; that we have apparently one single case -in Troy of a pure local impersonation of a power belonging to external -nature. Now this might happen under peculiar circumstances, and yet a -very broad distinction might subsist between the religion of the two -nations as to imaginative development. - -Scamander was indeed a great power for the Trojans; it was the great -river of the country, the μέγας ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης. The child of the -great Hector was named by him Scamandrius, while Simoeisius[313] -was the son of a very insignificant person. Another Scamandrius was -a distinguished huntsman, taught by Diana, in a country where the -accomplishment was rare[314]. His floods, however useful in time of -war, would in time of peace do fearful damage. It is possibly the -true explanation of the last among the lines quoted from the speech -of Achilles, that he carried away, in sudden _spates_, many of the -horses that were pastured on his banks. The Trojans, then, may have had -strong motives for deifying Scamander, and particularly for providing -him with a priest, who might beseech him to keep down his waters. And -it will be remembered, from the case of Gaia, that the Trojan religion -was, without doubt, favourable to the idea of purely elemental deities: -what lacked was the vivid force of fancy, that revelled in profuse -multiplication. - -[313] Il. iv. 474, 488. - -[314] Il. v. 49. - -~_Different view of Rivers in Troas._~ - -For we cannot fail to perceive, that the idea of a river-god did not -enter into the Trojan as it did into the Greek life. Ulysses, when in -difficulty, at once invokes the aid of the Scherian river[315], at -whose mouth he lands. Now the Trojans are driven in masses into the -Scamander by the terrible pursuit of Achilles, and they hide and sculk, -or come forth and fight, about its banks and waters. Yet no one of -them invokes the River, although that River was a deity contending on -their side. So entirely was he without place in their consciousness as -a power able to help, even though he may have been publicly worshipped -in deprecation of a calamity, which he was known to be able to inflict. - -[315] Od. v. 445. - -With this remarkable silence we may compare, besides the prayer and -thanksgiving of Ulysses, the invocation of Achilles to Spercheius[316]. -On his leaving home, his father Peleus had dedicated his hair as an -offering to be made to the River on his return, and to be accompanied -by a hecatomb. This would have been a thank-offering; and as such, in -accordance with the prayer of Ulysses, it implies the power of the -River deity to confer benefits. Nor is that power rendered doubtful -by the fact, that in the particular case the prayer is not fulfilled, -and that the hair is therefore devoted to the remains of Patroclus. We -may remark, again, the sacrifice offered, apparently almost as matter -of course, by the Pylian army to Alpheus, on their merely reaching -his banks[317]. And, as a whole, the multitudinous impersonations of -natural objects in the Greek mythology are, both with Homer and in the -later writers, of a benign and genial character. This bright and sunny -aspect is in contrast with the formidable character of Scamander, and -of the worship offered to him. - -[316] Il. xxiii. 144. - -[317] Il. xi. 728. - -There is, perhaps, enough of resemblance between the Scamander of the -Trojan mythology, and the Spercheus or Alpheus of the Greek, to suggest -the question, whether the deification of this river may possibly have -been due to the Hellic influences, which resided in the royal houses -of the country. There are not wanting signs, that the family of Priam -was closely connected with the river and its banks. The name given -to Hector’s child is one such token; and we know that the mares of -Erichthonius were fed upon the marshes near Scamander[318]. It is also -worth observation that the Priest of Scamander was called Dolopion, -while Dolops was the name of a son of Lampus, a Trojan of the highest -rank, brother to Priam, and one of the δημογέροντες of Troy[319]. - -[318] Il. xx. 221. - -[319] Il. iii. 147-9. xv. 525-7. - -But though there may be a special relation between the worship -of Scamander, and the influence of the royal family, I think the -explanation is chiefly to be sought in the specific differences which -separate it from River-worship, as generally conceived in the Olympian -system. - -There is another aspect of River-worship in Greece, with which it -seems to have more affinity. There is the terrible adjuration of Styx, -which implies its vindictive agency[320]. This river is represented on -earth by a branch from itself, called Titaresius, near the Perrhæbian -Dodona[321]. The Rivers are expressly invoked, in this character, by -Agamemnon in the adjuration of the Pact: and are associated with the -deities that punish perjury after death. Moreover, it is curious that, -when Agamemnon makes an adjuration before Greeks alone, he omits the -appeal to the Rivers, whom he had named when he was acting for the two -peoples jointly[322]. This seems to show that the invocation of Rivers, -or of some class of Rivers, in a retributive capacity, was familiar, -and may have been peculiar, to the Trojans. - -[320] Il. xiv. 271. xv. 37. - -[321] Il. 2. 751-5. - -[322] Compare Il. iii. 276. xix. 258. - -~_True aspect of Trojan River-worship._~ - -In effect, then, the grand distinction seems to be this. The worship of -Scamander in Troas belonged to the elemental system and earth-worship, -which the Greeks, for the purposes of their Olympus, had refined away -into a poetical vivifying Power, replete with more bland influences: -retaining it, more or less, for the purpose of adjuration, in the -darker and sterner sense. Accordingly, while Scamander, who is also -called Xanthus, has, as a god, a mark of antiquity in the double -name[323], he shows none of the Greek anthropophuistic ingredients. -Even for speech and action, he does not take the human form; but he is, -simply and strictly, the element alive. - -[323] Il. xx. 74. - -The species of deification, implied in earth-worship, scarcely lifted -the objects of it in any degree out of the sphere of purely material -conceptions. Thus, while Scamander, from his superior power, is no -more than Nature put in action, all the other Rivers of Troas exhibit -to us Nature purely passive, a blind instrument in the hand of deity. -The total silence and inaction of Simois[324], after the appeal of -Scamander, makes his impersonality more conspicuous, than if he had -not been addressed. Again, when the Greeks have quitted the country, -Apollo takes up the streams of the eight rivers that descend from Ida, -including great Scamander, like so many firemen’s hose, and turns them -upon the rampart to destroy it. We have no example in Homer of this -mechanical mode of handling Greek rivers. - -[324] Il. xxi. 308. - -The distinction of treatment seems to be due to a difference in the -mythology of the two countries as its probable source. And I find an -analogous method of proceeding with reference to the Winds. In the -Iliad they are deities, addressed in prayer, and capable of receiving -offerings. In the Odyssey they are mere senseless instruments of -nature, under the control of Æolus. But then in the Iliad Homer deals -with them for a Greek purpose (for I do not except the impersonation -of Boreas, Il. xx. 203, where the Dardanid family is concerned): it is -Achilles who prays to them: it is the Greek war-horse that they beget. -In the Odyssey he introduces them amidst a system of foreign, that is -to say, of Phœnician traditions. - -Turning now to other objects, let us next see whether further inquiry -will confirm the suggestions, which I have founded on the cases of Gaia -and of Scamander. - -At the head of Scamander are two fountains, and hard by them are the -cisterns, which the women of the city frequent for washing clothes. -Thus the spot is one of great notoriety; yet there is not a word -of any deity connected with these fountains. This is in remarkable -contrast with what we meet in Homer’s Greek topography. Ulysses[325], -immediately on being aware that he has been disembarked in Ithaca, -prays to the Nymphs of the grotto, which was dedicated to them. There -they had their bowls and vases, and their distaffs of stone, with which -they spun yarn of sea-purple[326]. And the harbour, in which he was -landed, was the harbour of Phorcys, the old man of the sea[327]. So -again at the fountain, where the people of the town drew water, there -was an altar of the Nymphs that presided over it, upon which all the -passers-by habitually made offerings[328]. Nor could this be wonderful, -as all groves, all fountains, all meadows, and probably all mountains, -had their proper indwelling Nymphs according to the Greek mythology; -while the Rivers were impersonated as deities, and the sea too teemed -at every point with preternatural life. - -[325] Od. xiii. 356. - -[326] Od. xiii. 103. - -[327] Ibid. 96. - -[328] Od. xvii. 208-11. - -~_Trojan impersonations from Nature rare._~ - -Homer has named many, besides Scamander, of the rivers of Mount -Ida; but to none, not even to Simois, nor again to Ida or Gargarus -themselves, does he assign any of these local inhabitants. - -There are, however, three curious cases of Nymphs assigned by him -to Troas. The νύμφη νηῒς, called Abarbaree, bears two sons to -Bucolion[329], a spurious child of Laomedon; and another nymph of -the same class bears Satnius to Enops[330]. A third similar case is -recorded in the Twentieth Book[331]. These would appear to be simple -cases of spurious births, and to have no proper connection with -mythology. For the mother of Satnius is called ἀμύμων; a name never -applied by Homer to the Immortals. If, however, the Nymphs be deities, -they mark another difference between Greece and Troy: for Homer never -attributes lusts to the Nymphs of the Greek Olympus. - -[329] Il. vi. 21. - -[330] Il. xiv. 444. - -[331] Il. xx. 384. - -Amidst the whole detail of the Iliad, in one instance only have we -Trojan Nymphs conceived after the Greek fashion: it is when those of -the mountains, according to the speech of Andromache, planted elms -round about the fresh-made tomb of her father Eetion. - -As a general rule, no Trojan refers in speech either to any legend, -or to any intermediate order, of supernatural beings. Destiny, named -by Hecuba, is, as we have seen, a metaphysical idea, rather than a -person[332]. - -[332] Il. xxii. 435. xxiv. 209. - -The very name of Olympus itself is a symbol of nationality; and around -it are grouped the forms, which either the popular belief, or the -imagination of the Poet, incorporated into the company of objects -for worship. They form a body wonderfully brilliant and diversified. -They pervade the Greek mind in such a way, as to appear alike in its -didactic, and its most deeply pathetic moods. The speech of Phœnix -gives us the Parable of Ἄτη and the Λιταί: then the episode of -Meleager, which is founded on the wrath of Diana: but into this legend -itself, inserted into the speech, is again interpolated the separate -legend of Apollo and Alcyone[333]. The speech of Agamemnon, in the -Nineteenth Book, affords us another example[334]. The case is the same -in the most pathetic strains. Achilles, in the interview with Priam, -exhorts him to take food by the example of Niobe, and appends her -tale[335]: Penelope, praying to Diana in the extremity of her grief, -recites the tale of the daughters of Pandareus[336]. Even the Suitor -Antinous points his address to Ulysses with the semi-divine legend of -the Centaurs and Lapithæ[337]. Everywhere, and from all the receptacles -of thought, mythology overflows. But in Troy the case is quite -different. There the human mind never seems to resort to it, either -for food or in sport. We find deities, priests, prophets, ceremonial, -all apparently in abundance: in all of these, except the first, the -Greeks are much poorer; but each of them, in and for himself, is in -contact with an entire supernatural world, the creation of luxuriant -and energetic fancy, which ranges alike over the spheres of sense and -of metaphysics. Andromache, virtuous and sincere as Penelope, has no -such mental wealth; her thoughts, and those of Hecuba and Priam, both -ordinarily and also on the death of Hector, are limited to topics the -most obvious and primitive, with which society, however undeveloped, is -familiar. From this limitation, and from the nature of those legends -respecting deities, of which the scene is laid in Troas, it seems -reasonable to believe that the mythological dress is of purely Hellenic -origin. - -[333] Il. ix. 559. - -[334] Il. xix. 90-133. - -[335] Il. xxiv. 602-17. - -[336] Od. xx. 66. - -[337] Od. xxi. 295-304. - -The dedication to Jupiter of the lofty and beautiful chestnut-tree[338] -near Troy, is in correspondence with the oak of Dodona, and indicates -quite a different train of thought from those which conceived the -Greek Olympus. It is probably both a fragment of nature-worship in -its Oriental form, and likewise a portion of the external and ritual -development, in which the religion of Troy was evidently prolific -enough. And in this case the negative evidence of Homer is especially -strong; because the great number of the particular spots on the plain -of Troy, which he has had occasion to commemorate, constitute a much -more minute topography there, than he has given us on any other scene, -not even excepting Ithaca: so that he could hardly have avoided showing -us, had it been the fact, that the religion of Troy entered largely -into what Mr. Grote has so well called ‘the religious and personal -interpretation of nature.’ - -[338] Il. v. 697, and vii. 60. - -Next as to those divine persons of the second order, who are so -abundantly presented to us by Homer in relations with the Greeks. Iris -visits the Trojans thrice. First, she repairs to their Assembly in the -form of Polites. Secondly, she appears to Helen, as her sister-in-law -Laodice. She delivers her message to Priam in the Twenty-fourth Book -without disguise; perhaps because it was necessary[339] that he should -have the assistance of a deity seen and heard, in order to embolden -him for a seemingly desperate enterprise. But there is nothing in his -account of the interview, which requires us to suppose that the person -Iris was known to Priam. The expression he uses is[340] - -[339] Il. xxiv. 220. - -[340] Il. xxiv. 223, 194. - - αὐτὸς γὰρ ἄκουσα θεοῦ καὶ ἐσέδρακον ἄντην. - -And again, he calls her an Olympian messenger[341] from Jupiter. -Another passage carries the argument a point further, by showing us -that the appearance of this benignant deity was alarming, doubtless -because it was strange, to him. When she arrives, she addresses him -very softly τυτθὸν φθεγξαμένη (170): but he is seized with dread; - -[341] Sup. p. 155. - - τὸν δὲ τρόμος ἔλλαβε γυῖα· - -an emotion, which I do not remember to have found recorded on any -apparition of a divinity to a Greek hero. - -~_Poverty of Trojan Mythology._~ - -Thus far then it would appear probable, that in the Trojan mythology -the list of major deities was more contracted than in Greece, and that -the minor deities were almost unknown. But perhaps the most marked -difference between the two systems is in the copious development on the -Greek side of the doctrine of a future state, compared with the jejune -and shadowy character of that belief among the Trojans. - -~_Jejune doctrine of a Future State._~ - -In the narrative of the sack of Hypoplacian Thebes, and again in her -first lament over Hector, Andromache does indeed speak of her husband, -father, and brothers, respectively, as having entered the dwellings of -Aides[342]. But these references are slight, and it may almost be said -perfunctory. Not another word is said either in the Twenty-second Book, -or in the whole of the Twenty-fourth, about the shade of Hector. - -[342] Il. vi. 422. xxii. 482. - -When Pope closed his Iliad with the line - - And peaceful slept the mighty Hector’s shade, - -it probably did not occur to him, that he was not merely altering -the poetry of Homer, but falsifying also his picture of the Trojan -religion; which had indeed its funeral rites, but so described as to -leave us no means of concluding, that they were in any degree directed -to procuring the comfort and tranquillity of the dead. The silence -observed about the spirit of Hector is remarkable from the contrast -with the case of Patroclus. Both are mourned for passionately, by -those who love them best: but the shade of Patroclus is the great -figure in the mourning of Achilles, while Hector’s existence after -death is but once owned, faintly and in the abstract. Nor, as we -see from the Odyssey, was this homage to the shade of Patroclus a -thing occasional or accidental. We there meet the souls of all the -great departed of the War, in the under-world. That region, opened -to Ulysses, had formerly been opened to Hercules. Even the dissolute -Suitors cannot be dismissed from life, without our being called to -accompany their spirits past the Leucadian rock to the place of their -destination. The warriors slain in battle with the Cicones are thrice -invoked by the survivors[343]. Nay Elpenor himself, most insignificant -of men, is duly brought before us in his last home[344]. - -[343] Od. ix. 65. - -[344] Od. xi. 51. - -We are, however, enabled to open another chapter of evidence, that -bears upon this interesting subject. It is obtained through the medium -of the oaths of the two nations respectively. - -Displacing the elemental powers from their ordinary religion, the -Greeks made them gaolers, as it were, of the under-world, and gave -them this for their proper business. Hence they are paraded freely in -the Greek oaths[345]. Agamemnon before the Pact invokes, with Jupiter, -the Sun, the Rivers, the Earth, the infernal gods. In the Nineteenth -book, the same; omitting however the Rivers, and naming, instead of -simply describing, the Erinües[346]. In the Fourteenth Iliad, Juno -apparently swears by Styx, Earth, Sea, and the infernal gods[347]. In -the Fifteenth, by Earth, Heaven, Styx, the head of Jupiter, and their -marriage bed[348]. Calypso swears, for the satisfaction of Ulysses, -and according to his fashion as the _imponens_, by Earth, Heaven, and -Styx[349]. Thus the Greeks made an effective use of these earthy and -material divinities, in connection with their large development of the -Future State, by installing them as the official punishers of perjury. -Now the Trojans appear, from what we have seen, to have worshipped this -class of deities; but as super-terranean, not as sub-terranean gods. -Had they not been _thus_ worshipped at the least, Agamemnon could not -have included them in the Invocation of the Pact, where he had to act -and speak for both nations[350]. And while we see they sacrificed lambs -to Earth and Sun, still we have a curious proof that these deities were -not worshipped in Troy as avengers of perjury. For when in the Tenth -Book Hector swears to Dolon, he invokes no divinity, except Jupiter -the loud-thundering husband of Juno. There may, as we have seen here, -be a faint reference to the earthy character of the Trojan Juno; but -there is no well-developed system, which uses a particular order of -powers for the punishment of perjurors in a future state. We can hardly -doubt that this was primarily because the doctrine of the Future State -was wanting in deep and practical roots, so far as we can see, among -the Trojans. A materializing religion seems essentially hostile to the -full development of such a doctrine. And it is not a little curious to -find that in this same country, where the oath was less solemn than -in Greece, and the life after death less a subject of practical and -energetic belief, perjury and breach of faith should have been, as we -shall find they were, so much more lightly regarded. - -[345] Il. iii. 276. - -[346] Il. xix. 258. - -[347] Il. xiv. 271-4, 278, 9. - -[348] Il. xv. 36-40. - -[349] Od. v. 184. - -[350] Il. iii 264-75. - -For the sake of realizing to ourselves the contrast between the -religious system of Troy, as we thus at least by glimpses seem -to perceive it, and the wonderful imaginative richness of the -preternatural system of the Greeks as exhibited in Homer, it may be -well to point briefly to a few cases, which are the more illustrative, -because they are the accessories, and not the main pillars of the -system. Take, then, the personifications of all the forms of Terror in -the train of Mars: the transport, by Sleep and Death, of the body of -Sarpedon to his home; the tears of blood wept by Jupiter; the agitation -of the sea in sympathy with Neptune’s warlike parade; the dread of -Aidoneus lest the crust of earth should give way under the tramp of -the gods in battle; the mourning garb of Thetis for the friend of her -son’s youth; the long train of Nymphs, rising from the depths of the -sea to accompany her, when she mounts to visit the sorrowing Achilles; -the redundant imagery of the nether world; the inimitable tact with -which he preserves the identity of his great chieftains when visited -below, but presents each under a deep tint of sadness. All this makes -us feel not only that war, policy, and poetry, are indissolubly blended -in the great mind of Homer, and of his race, but that the harmonious -association of all these with the Olympian religion was the work of a -vivifying imagination, which was a peculiar and splendid part of their -inheritance. - -~_Worship from the hills._~ - -There is a more marked trace in the Trojan worship, than is to be found -among the Greeks, of the practice of the Persian; who paid homage to -the Deity, - - To loftiest heights ascending, from their tops, - With myrtle-wreathed tiara on his brow[351]. - -[351] Wordsworth’s Excursion, b. iv. - -For Hector offered to Jupiter sometimes (which may be referred to a -different cause) on the highest ground of the city, sometimes on the -tops of Ida[352]: - -[352] Il. xxii. 171. - - Ἴδης ἐν κορυφῇσι πολυπτύχου, ἀλλότε δ’ αὖτε - ἐν πόλει ἀκροτάτῃ. - -At all events we may say, that the only sign remaining in Greece of -this principle of worship, was one common to it with Troy, and seen in -the epithet ὑψίζυγος applied to Jupiter, as well as in the association -between the seats of the gods, and the highest mountains. - -On the other hand, the religion of the Trojans appears to have abounded -more in positive observance and hierarchical development, than that of -the Greeks. - -This subject may be considered with reference to the several subjects -of - - 1. Temples. - 2. Endowments (τεμένεα). - 3. Groves. - 4. Statues. - 5. Seers or Prophets. - 6. The Priesthood. - -~_Troy and Greece as to Temples._~ - -It has been debated, whether the Greeks of the Homeric age had yet -begun to erect temples to the gods. - -The only case of a temple, distinctly and expressly mentioned as -existing in Greece, is in the passage of the Catalogue respecting the -Athenians, on which there hangs a slight shade of doubt. But another -passage, though it does not contain the word, seems to be conclusive as -to the thing. It is that where Achilles mentions treasures, which lie -within the stony threshold of Apollo at Pytho[353]: - -[353] Il. ix. 404. Ld. Aberdeen’s Essay, p. 86. - - οὐδ’ ὅσα λάϊνος οὐδὸς ἀφήτορος ἐντὸς ἐέργει, - Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος, Πυθοῖ ἔνι πετρήεσσῃ. - -Though there may have been treasuries which were not temples, they -could hardly have been treasuries of the gods: for in what sense could -treasures be placed under their special protection, unless by being -deposited in places which were peculiarly theirs? - -In the Odyssey, Eurylochus promises to build a temple to the Sun, -on getting safe to Ithaca[354]; and Nausithous[355], the father of -Alcinous, built temples of the gods in Scheria. Now Scheria was not -Greece; yet it was more akin to Greece than to Troy. - -[354] Od. xii. 345. - -[355] Od. vi. 10; vii. 56. - -It is, on the other hand, observable that, though under these -circumstances we can hardly deny that temples existed among the Greeks, -yet we have no case in Homer of a temple actually erected to a purely -Hellic deity. - -Our clear instances are, in fact, confined to the temples of Minerva at -Troy and Athens, and the temples of Apollo at Troy, Chryse[356], and -Pytho: and when we see old Nestor performing solemn sacrifice in the -open air at Pylos, himself, too, a reputed grandchild of Neptune, we -cannot suppose that it was usual with the Hellenes to worship Hellenic -gods in temples. It is possible, though I would not presume to say -more, that Apollo and Minerva may have been the only deities to whom it -was usual in that age to erect temples, whether in Greece or Troy. - -[356] Il. i. 39. - -I must not, however, presume to dismiss this subject without noticing -the line, Od. vi. 266; - - ἔνθα δέ τέ σφ’ ἀγορὴ, καλὸν Ποσιδήϊον ἄμφις. - -This verse is often interpreted as ‘the place of assembly round about -the beautiful temple of Neptune.’ So Eustathius[357]: so one of the -scholiasts: the other interprets it to mean a τέμενος only. Nitzsch, -Terpstra[358] and Crusius take it for a temple. The word Ποσιδήϊον -without a substantive is a form found nowhere else in Homer: so that -we have only the aid of reason to interpret it. Now, this ἀγορὴ was the -place of the public assemblies for business. It is surely improbable, -that there could have been a roofed temple in the midst of it, which -would interrupt both sight and hearing. On the other hand, we know -that before Troy the altars were in the ἀγορὴ of the camp[359]: and -this would cause no inconvenience. It would seem then, that Ποσιδήϊον -means not a covered temple, but a consecrated spot, in all likelihood -inclosed, on which an altar stood. - -[357] In loc. - -[358] Terpstra, c. iii. 4. - -[359] Il. xi. 807, 8. - -I would not, however, argue absolutely upon the word νηὸν, in cases -where it is found without a word signifying to construct, or other -signs marking it as a building. For its resemblance to νήϊον raises -the question, whether it may not originally have meant the consecrated -land which passed under the name of τέμενος. If so, it may have had -this sense in a passage like that of the Catalogue; where the epithet -joined to it (ἑῷ ἐνὶ πίονι νηῷ) is one more suitable to the idea of a -piece of ground, than of a temple; though applicable by Homeric usage -to the latter too, and though sufficiently supported by μάλα πίονος ἐξ -ἀδύτοιο. (Il. v. 512.) - -2. The derivation of τέμενος is supposed, by some philologists, to be -the same with that of _templum_. And if so, there is a marked analogy -between this association and that of νηόν with νήϊον. Each would seem -to indicate the customs of a race, which had both dedicated lands and -a priesthood, before it began to raise sacred edifices. - -~_As to endowments in land._~ - -As respects the endowment in land, which was sometimes consecrated to -the gods, and was called τέμενος, I presume we must conclude that, -wherever such an endowment was found, there must have been a priesthood -supported by it. For it is difficult to conceive what other purpose -could have been contemplated, at such a time, by such an appropriation -of land. And again we may assume that, where the τέμενος or glebe -existed, there would be if not a temple yet at least an altar, -something which localized the worship in the particular spot. - -It is indeed much more easy to suppose a temple without a priesthood, -than a glebe. And here it is again remarkable, that we meet with no -example in Homer of a glebe set apart for an exclusively Hellic god. - -The cases of glebes, with which he supplies us, are these: - -1. Of Ceres, a Pelasgian deity, in Thessaly, Il. ii. 696; - -2. Of Jupiter, on Mount Gargarus in Troas, together with an altar, Il. -viii. 48; - -3. Of Venus, a Pelasgian deity, at Paphos in Cyprus, with an altar, Od. -viii. 362; - -4. Of Spercheius in Thessaly, with an altar, Il. xxiii. 148. As -respects this case, we have indeed found, that the imaginative -deification of Nature appears to have been Hellenic, and not Pelasgian. -Still, with the case of Scamander before us, and considering that we -find the τέμενος attached to Spercheius in an eminently Pelasgian -district, while there is no example of such an inheritance for the -deities among the Hellic tribes, it seems most rational to consider the -appropriation of it as belonging to the Pelasgian period, and as having -simply lived over into the Hellenic age. - -3. The ἄλσος of Homer appears to be quite different from the τέμενος: -and to mean rather what we should call a site for religious worship, as -distinguished from an endowment which, as such, would produce the means -of subsistence. Such places were required by the spirit of Hellenic -religion, as much as by the Pelasgian worship, and we find them -accordingly disseminated as follows: we have - -1. In Scheria, the ἄλσος of Minerva, Od. vi. 291, 321. - -2. At Ismarus, the ἄλσος of Apollo, in which dwelt Maron the priest, -Od. ix. 200. - -3. In Ithaca, the ἄλσος of the Nymphs, with an altar, beside the -fountain, where all passers-by offered sacrifice, Od. xvii. 205-11. - -4. In Ithaca again, the ἄλσος of Apollo, where public sacrifice was -performed in the city on his feast-day, Od. xx. 277, 8. - -5. In Bœotia, Onchestus is called the ἄγλαον ἄλσος of Neptune, Il. ii. -506. - -6. The ἄλσεα of Persephone are on the beach beyond Oceanus, and are -composed of poplars and willows, Od. x. 509. - -7. In the great Assembly of gods before the Theomachy, all the Nymphs -are summoned, who inhabit ἄλσεα as well as fountains and meadows, Il. -xx. 8. But here the meaning includes any grove, dedicated or not. And -again, - -8. The attendants of Circe are such as inhabit ἄλσεα, groves, or -fountains, or rivers, Od. x. 350. - -Thus the ἄλσος, when used in the religious sense, means a grove or -clump of trees, sometimes with turf, or with a fountain; set apart -as a place for worship, and inhabited by a deity or his ministers, -yet quite distinct from a property capable of supporting them. These -clumps appear to be so appropriated more commonly by Hellenic, than by -Pelasgian practice. - -~_As to statues of the gods._~ - -4. We will take next the case of statues of the gods. - -In the opinion of Mure, the metaphor which represents human affairs -as resting in the lap of the gods (θεῶν ἐν γούνασι), gives conclusive -evidence that the custom of making statues of the deities prevailed -among the Greeks. I do not however see why this particular figure -should bear upon the question, more than any of the other very numerous -representations which treat them as endowed with various members of the -body. If this evidence be receivable at all, it is overwhelming. But -it is open to some doubt, whether, because gods are mentally conceived -according to the laws of anthropomorphism, we may therefore assume that -they were also materially represented under the human form. - -We have, I believe, no more than one single piece of direct evidence on -the subject, and it is this; that, when the Trojan matrons carry their -supplication to the temple of Minerva, together with the offering of a -robe, they deposit it on her knees (Il. vi. 303), Ἀθηναίης ἐπὶ γούνασιν -ἠϋκόμοιο. This appears to be quite conclusive as to the existence of a -statue of Minerva at Troy: but it leaves the question entirely open, -whether it was an Hellenic, as well as a Pelasgian, practice thus to -represent the gods. - -It is quite plain, I think, that the practice was not one congenial -or familiar to the mind of Homer. Had it been so, he surely must have -made large poetic use of it. Whereas on the contrary it is by inference -alone, though certainly by unavoidable inference, from language which -he uses without that intention, that we become assured even of their -existence in his time. He speaks, indeed, more than once of placing -ἀγάλματα in temples, or of suspending them in honour of the gods[360]: -but our title to construe this of statues appears to be wholly -conjectural. - -[360] Od. iii. 438. xii. 347. - -It would seem inexplicable that a poet, who enlarges with so much -power, not only on the Shield of Agamemnon and the Arms of Achilles, -but on the ideal Ægis of Minerva, the chariot of Juno, the bow -of Apollo, and the metallic handmaids of Vulcan, should entirely -avoid description of the statues of the Olympian gods, if they were -habitually before his eyes. - -I have argued elsewhere that we see in Homer the Hellenic, not the -Pelasgian, mind. And if it be so, then I think we are justified -in associating with his Hellenism, as one among many signs, this -remarkable silence. The ritual and external development of Pelasgian -religion would delight in statues as visible signs: the Hellenic -idealism would not improbably eschew them. Hence we may treat this -practice of the period as belonging to Pelasgian peculiarities. - -If this be so, then I think we may pass on to the conclusion, that the -original tendency to produce visible forms of the Divinity was not -owing to, and formed no part of, the efforts of the human imagination, -so largely developed in Homer, to idealize religion, and to beautify -the world by its imagery. But, on the contrary, so far as we can judge -from Homer, it first prevailed among a race inclined to material and -earthy conceptions in theology, and from them it spread to others of -higher intelligence. It was a crutch for the lameness of man, and not -a wing for his upward aspirations. - -And indeed, as it appears to me, this proposition is sustained even -by the past experience and present state of Christendom. When faith -was strongest, images were unknown to the faithful. Nor is it art, -which produces them: it is merely a kind of corporal and mechanical -imitation. No considerable work of art is at this moment, I believe, in -any Christian country, an object of religious worship. The sentiment -which craves for material representations of such objects in order -to worship them, appears also commonly to exact that they should be -somewhat materialized. The higher office of art, in connection with -devout affection, seems to be that it should point our veneration -onwards, not arrest it. It holds out the finger which we are to follow, -not the hand which we are to kiss. - -~_As to Seers or Diviners._~ - -The order of Seers or Diviners was common to Greeks, Trojans, and -probably we may add, from its being known among the Cyclopes, to all -contemporary races. It is singular that we should find here, and not -among the priesthood, the traces of caste, or the hereditary descent -of the gift. In all other points, this function stands apart from -hierarchical developments. For the μάντις, except as to his gift, -is like other men. Melampus engages to carry off oxen. Polypheides -migrates upon a quarrel with his father. Cleitus is the lover of -Aurora. Theoclymenus has committed homicide[361]. Teiresias is called -ἄναξ, a lord or prince[362]. We do not know that Calchas fought as -well as prophesied, but it may have been so, since Helenus, the son -of Priam, and Eunomus, the Mysian leader, were seers or augurs not -less than warriors. But the most instructive specimen of this order -among the Greeks is the Suitor Leiodes[363], who was also θυοσκόος, -or inspector of sacrifices, to the body of Suitors. Now Ulysses had, -in consideration of a ransom, spared Maron the priest of Apollo at -Ismarus[364]. But, far from recognising in the professional character -of Leiodes a title to immunity, he answers the plea with characteristic -and deadly repartee. And this, notwithstanding that Leiodes was, as -we learn, distinguished from the rest of the Suitors by the general -decency of his conduct. - -[361] Od. xv. 224 _et seqq._ - -[362] Od. xi. 150. - -[363] Od. xxii. 310-29. xxi. 144. - -[364] Od. ix. 197-201. - -The θυοσκόος apparently inspected sacrifices, but did not offer them; -for this character is clearly distinguished in the Iliad[365] from -that of the priest. Indeed, the word θύειν in Homer appears properly -to apply to those minor offices of sacrifice, which did not involve -the putting to death of victims; as in Il. ix. 219, where, it may be -observed, the function is not performed by the principal person, but -is deputed by Achilles to Patroclus. The inspection of slain animals -would probably stand in the same category, among divine offices, as the -interpretation of other signs and portents. - -[365] Il. xxiv. 221. - -The members of this class are, upon the whole, as broadly distinguished -from the priests in Homer, as are the prophets of the Old Testament -from the Levitical priesthood. - -They were called by the general name of μάντις, or by other names, -some of them more limited: such as θεόπροπος, ὑποφήτης, οἰωνόπολος, -ὀνειρόπολος. They sometimes interpreted from signs and omens; -sometimes, as in Il. vi. 86, and vii. 44, without them. - -The diffusion of the gift among the royal house of Troy, where -Polydamas had it as well as Helenus, and possibly also Hector, is less -marked than the great case of the family of Melampus. The augur was -in all respects a citizen, while possessed of a peculiar endowment: -and the ὑποφῆται[366] mentioned in the invocation of Achilles, whether -they were the royal house, or persons dispersed through the community, -evidently formed a more conspicuous object among the Helli than we find -in any Pelasgian race. Again; in Greece we find the oracles of Delphi -and Delos, as well as of Dodona; but there is no similar organ for the -delivery of the divine will reported to us in Troy. - -[366] Il. xvi. 235. - -~_As to the Priesthood._~ - -We come now to the last and most important point connected with the -outward development of the religious system, that of the priesthood: -and here I shall endeavour to describe distinctly the evidence with -regard to both nations. First, let us consider the case of priesthood -as it respects the Greeks. - -We have at least one instance before us in the Iliad, where a combined -religious action of Greeks and Trojans is presented to us. In the -Third Book, Priam comes from Troy to an open space between the armies, -and meets Agamemnon and Ulysses. The honour of actually offering -the sacrifice is allotted to the Greeks. No priest appears; and the -function is performed by the King, Agamemnon. It is therefore natural -to suppose that the Greeks have with them in Troas no sacrificing -priest. On every occasion, the Greek Sovereign offers sacrifice for -himself and for the army. So also do the soldiery[367] at large for -themselves; - -[367] Il. ii. 400. - - ἄλλος δ’ ἄλλῳ ἔρεζε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων. - -There was an altar[368] for the very purpose in the part of the -camp appropriated for Assemblies; a fact which, though it does not -demonstrate, accords with the union of the regal and sacerdotal -functions. Nor can we account for the absence of priests from the -camp, on the same principle as for that of bards; since poems -were a luxury, but sacrifices a necessity. And we find Calchas -representing the class of religious functionaries that the Greek nation -did acknowledge; namely, the Seers, who interpreted the divine will, -without any fixed ministry belonging to any particular place, although -the gift was generally derived from Apollo, as one among his peculiar -attributes. - -[368] Il. xi. 807, 8. - -In the remarkable passage, which enumerates for us the principal -trades and professions of Greece in the heroic age[369], we find -mentioned the prophet, the physician, the artificer, the divinely -prompted bard; but not the priest. Yet, had such an order existed, it -could not well, on account of its importance, have been omitted. For in -truth this enumeration is, as we have before seen, nearly exhaustive, -as applied to an age when there was no professional soldier, when the -husbandman, fisherman, or herd, could not be called a δημιοεργὸς, -for he had no relation to the public, and when commerce was confined -to foreigners like the Phœnicians, or pirates like the Taphians, and -formed no part of the business of the settled communities of Greece. - -[369] Od. xvii. 384-6. - -On the other hand, in the Legend of Phœnix concerning Meleager, we -have a notice of priests as having existed at that time in Ætolia. The -embassy, which was sent to conciliate Meleager, consisted of elders and -of the best, or most distinguished, among the priests; - - τὸν δὲ λίσσοντο γέροντες - Αἰτωλῶν, πέμπον δὲ θεῶν ἱερῆας ἀρίστους. Il. ix. 574. - -Now, the word Αἰτωλὸς, I apprehend, indicates an Hellenic race, for -Tydeus is Αἰτώλιος; and it is worth notice, that in this passage the -elders are called Ætolian, but not the priests. - -Again, this event took place during the reign of Œneus, two generations -before the Trojan war[370]. At that time the Hellenic influence was -quite recent in Middle and in Southern Greece. The family of Sisyphus -had indeed arrived there at least two generations before, but it -disappeared, and it had never risen to great power. It was the date -of Augeias, of Neleus, and of Pelops; all of them, apparently, the -first of their respective families in Peloponnesus. So again the name -Portheus, assigned to the father of Œneus, probably marks him as the -first Hellenic occupant of the country. - -[370] Il. ix. 535. - -Plato observes, that new settlers might naturally remain for a time -without religious institutions[371] of their own. - -[371] Legg. vi. 7. - -The Hellenes, then, had recently come into Ætolia at the time, and -even on this ground were less likely to have had priests of their own -institution. But it is not to be supposed that, finding a hierarchy -among the Pelasgian tribes, devoted to the worship of such deities -(Minerva and Apollo for example) as they themselves acknowledged, they -would extirpate such a body. The most probable supposition is, that -it would continue in all cases for a time. The person of Chryses, -the priest of Apollo, was respected, at least for the moment, even -by Agamemnon[372] in his displeasure. Fearless of his threats, the -injured priest immediately appealed to his god for aid. We cannot doubt -that interests thus defended would be generally left intact. Still, -as priests were, in the language of political economy, unproductive -labourers, and as they seem to have held their offices not by descent -but by election, we can easily perceive a road, other than that of -violence, to the extinction of the order among a people that set no -store by its services. - -[372] Il. i. 28. - -There is yet another place, in which the name is mentioned among the -Greeks. It is in the Assembly of the First Iliad, held while the plague -is raging. Achilles says, ‘Let us inquire of some prophet, or priest, -or interpreter of dreams (for dreams too are from Jupiter), who will -tell us, why Apollo is so much exasperated[373].’ But the allusion here -seems plainly to be to Chryses, who had himself visited the camp, and -had appeared with the insignia of his priestly office in a previous -Assembly of the Greeks[374]. Being now in possession of the whole open -country, they of course had it in their power to consult either him or -any other Trojan priest not within the walls. We cannot, therefore, -argue from this passage, that priesthood was a recognised Hellenic -institution at the period. - -[373] Il. i. 62. - -[374] Il. i. 15. - -In the Odyssey, we find Menelaus engaged in the solemn rites of a great -nuptial feast; and Nestor in like manner offering sacrifice to Neptune, -his titular ancestor, in the presence of thousands of the people. In -neither of these cases is there any reference to a priest: and on the -following day Nestor with his sons offers a new sacrifice, of which the -fullest details are given. - -Again, had there been priests among the Homeric Greeks, it is hardly -possible but that we must have had some glimpse of them in Ithaca, -where the order of the community and the whole course of Greek life are -so clearly laid open. - -An important piece of negative evidence to the same effect is afforded -by the great invocation of Achilles in the Sixteenth Iliad. It will be -remembered, that we there find the rude highland tribe of the Helli in -possession of the country where Dodona was seated, together with the -worship of the Pelasgian Jupiter; and themselves apparently exercising -the ministry of the god. Now that ministry was not priesthood, but -interpretation; for they are ὑποφῆται, not ἱερῆες[375]. - -[375] Il. xvi. 235. - -It therefore appears clear, that the Hellenic tribes of Homer’s day did -not acknowledge a professional priesthood of their own; that there was -no priest in the Greek armament before Troy; that the priest was not -a constituent part of ordinary Greek communities: and that, if he was -any where to be found in the Homeric times, it was as a relic, and in -connection with the old Pelasgian establishments of the country. - -At a later period, when wealth and splendour had increased, and when -the increased demand for them extended also to religious rites, the -priesthood became a regular institution of Greece. It is reckoned by -Aristotle, in the Politics, among the necessary elements of a State; -while he seems also to regard it as the natural employment of those, -who are disqualified by age from the performance of more active duties -to the public, either in war or in council. The priest was, even in -Homer’s time, a distinctly privileged person. Like other people, he -married and had children: but his burdens were not of the heaviest. He -would live well on sacrifices, and the proceeds of glebe-land: and it -is curious, that Maron the priest had the very best wine of which we -hear in the poems[376]. The priest formed no part of the teaching power -of the community, either in this or in later ages. Döllinger makes the -observation[377], that Plutarch points out as the sources of religious -instruction three classes of men, among whom the priests are not even -included. They are (1) the poets, (2) the lawgivers, and (3) the -philosophers: to whom Dio Chrysostom adds the painters and sculptors. -So that Isocrates may well observe, that the priesthood is anybody’s -affair. Plato[378] in the Νόμοι requires his priests, and their parents -too, to be free from blemish and from crime: but carefully appoints -a separate class of ἐξηγηταὶ, to superintend and interpret the laws -of religion; as well as stewards, who are to have charge of the -consecrated property. - -[376] Od. ix. 205. - -[377] Döllinger, Heid. u. Jud. iv. 1. - -[378] Plat. Legg. vi. 7. (ii. 759.) - -The priest of the heroic age would however appear to have slightly -shared in the office of the μάντις, although the μάντις had no special -concern with the offering of sacrifice. The inspection of victims would -fall to priests, almost of course, in a greater or a less degree; and -there is some evidence before us, that they were entitled to interpret -the divine will. It is furnished by the speech of Achilles[379], which -appears to imply some professional capacity of this kind: and, for -Troy at least, by the declaration[380] of Priam, who mentions priests -among the persons, that might have been employed to report to him a -communication from heaven. - -[379] Il. i. 62. - -[380] Il. xxiv. 22. - -We have now seen the case of priesthood among the Greeks. With the -Trojans it is quite otherwise. We are introduced, at the very beginning -of the Iliad, to Chryses[381] the priest (ἱερεὺς) of Apollo. In the -fifth Iliad we have a Trojan[382], Dares, who is priest of Vulcan; and -we have also Dolopion, who, as ἀρητὴρ[383] of the Scamander, filled -an office apparently equivalent. Chryses the priest is also called an -ἀρητήρ[384]; and though, on the other hand, it was the duty of Leiodes -in the Odyssey to offer[385] prayer on behalf of the Suitors, yet -he is never termed ἀρητήρ. In the Sixth Iliad appears Theano, wife -of Antenor, and priestess of Minerva[386]. And in the Sixteenth, we -have Onetor[387], priest of Idæan Jupiter. Again, while Eumæus in the -Odyssey does not recognise the priest among the Greek professions, but -substitutes the prophet, Priam, on the contrary, in the Twenty-fourth -Iliad, says he would not have obeyed the injunction to go to the -Greek camp if conveyed to him by any mortal, of such as are in these -professions[388], - -[381] Il. i. 23. - -[382] Il. v. 9. - -[383] Ibid. 76. - -[384] Il. i. 11. - -[385] Od. xxii. 322. - -[386] Il. vi. 298. - -[387] Il. xvi. 604. - -[388] Il. xxiv. 221. - - ἢ οἳ μάντιές εἰσι, θυοσκόοι, ἢ ἱερῆες, - -where it might be questioned, whether μάντις and θυοσκόος are different -persons, or whether he speaks of the μάντις θυοσκόος; but in either -case it is equally clear that he names the priest, ἱερεὺς, apart from -either. The speech of Mentes, in Od. i. 202, probably suffices to draw -the line between the μάντις and the θυοσκόος. - -It further appears that among the allies of Troy, as well as in the -country, the priest was known; for in the Ninth Odyssey we find -Maron, son of Euanthes the priest of Apollo at Ismarus[389], among -the Cicones. The city they inhabited was sacked by Ulysses on his way -from Troy, and on this account we must infer that, as they were allies -of Troy (Il. ii. 846), so likewise they belonged to the family of -Pelasgian tribes. - -[389] Od. ix. 196-9. - -To these priests, personally engaged in the service of the deities, a -personal veneration, and an exemption from military service, appear to -have attached, which were not enjoyed by the μάντιες. This is plainly -developed in the case of Chryses. The offence is not that of carrying -off a captive, for there could be no guilt in the act, as such matters -were then considered, but rather honour: it is the insult offered to -Apollo in the person of his servant, by subjecting his daughter to the -common lot of women of all ranks, including the highest, that draws -down a frightful vengeance on the army. So, again, the priest never -fought; Dolopion, Dares, and Onetor, all become known to us through -their having sons in the army, whose parentage is mentioned. And as -to the priest Maron, Ulysses says he was spared from a feeling of awe -towards the god, in whose wooded grove, or portion, he resided[390]: - -[390] Ibid. 199-201. - - οὕνεκά μιν σὺν παιδὶ περισχόμεθ’ ἠδὲ γυναικὶ - ἁζόμενοι· ᾤκει γὰρ ἐν ἄλσεϊ δενδρήεντι - Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος. - -But it does not appear that the μάντις, though he was endowed with a -particular gift, bore, in respect of it, such a character, as would -suffice to separate him from ordinary civil duties, and to make him, -like the priest, a clearly privileged person. - -Upon the other hand, we should not omit to notice that we are told -in the case of Theano, though she was of high birth and the wife of -Antenor, that she was made priestess by the Trojan people. The same -fact is probably indicated in the case of Dolopion, who, we are told, -had been made or appointed ἀρητὴρ to Scamander (ἀρητὴρ ἐτέτυκτο Il. v. -77). And the appearance of the sons of priests in the field appears to -show, that there was nothing like hereditary succession in the order; -which was replenished, we may probably conclude, by selections having -the authority or the assent of the public voice. Thus the body was -popularly constituted, and was in thorough harmony with the national -character. It does not, on that account, constitute a less important -element in the community, but rather the reverse. - -Now, whatever might be the other moral and social consequences of -having in the community an order of men set apart to maintain the -solemn worship of the gods, it must evidently have exercised a very -powerful influence in the maintenance of abundance and punctuality in -ritual observances. There can be no doubt, that the priest lived by -the altar which he served, and lived the better in proportion as it -was better supplied. Besides animals, cakes of flour too, and wine, -were necessary for the due performance of his office[391]; and in the -case of Maron this wine was so good, that the priest kept it secret -from his servants, and that it has drawn forth the Poet’s most genial -praise[392]: - -[391] Il. i. 458, 462. - -[392] Od. ix. 205. - - ἡδὺν, ἀκηράσιον, θεῖον ποτόν· - -He was rich too; for he had men and women servants in his house. So -was Dares, the priest of Vulcan[393]. So probably was Dolopion, priest -of Scamander; at any rate his station was a high one; as we see from -the kind of respect paid to him (θεὸς δ’ ὡς τίετο δήμῳ); and we have -another sign in both these cases of the station of the parents, from -the position of the sons in the army, which is not among the common -soldiery (πληθὺς), but among the notables. The sons of Dares fight in -a chariot; and the name of Hypsenor, son of Dolopion, by its etymology -indicates high birth. - -[393] Il. v. 9, 78. - -~_Comparative observance of Sacrifice._~ - -In point of fact the Homeric poems exhibit to us, together with the -existence and influence of a priestly order, a very marked distinction -in respect to sacrifice between the Trojans and the Greeks: a state of -things in entire conformity with what we might thus expect. - -In no single instance do we hear of a Trojan chief, who had been -niggardly in his banquets to the gods. Hector[394] is expressly -praised for his liberality in this respect by Jupiter, and Æneas -by Neptune[395]. The commendation, however, extends to the whole -community. In the Olympian Assembly of the Fourth Book, Jupiter says -that, of all the cities inhabited by men, Troy is to him the dearest; -for there his altar never lacked the sacrifice, the libation and the -savoury reek, which are the portion of the gods[396]: - -[394] Il. xxii. 170. xxiv. 168. - -[395] Il. xx. 298. - -[396] Il. iv. 48. - - οὐ γάρ μοί ποτε βωμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐΐσης, - λοιβῆς τε κνίσης τε· τὸ γὰρ λάχομεν γέρας ἡμεῖς. - -But the Greeks, thus destitute of priests, often fail, as we might -expect, in the regularity of their religious rites. Ulysses[397], -indeed, is in this, as in all the points of excellence, unimpeachable. -But his was not the rule of all. Œneus, two generations before the -_Troica_, while sacrificing to the other deities, either forgot or did -not think fit (ἢ λάθετ’ ἢ οὐκ ἐνόησεν) to sacrifice to Diana[398]; -hence the devastations of the Calydonian boar. Nor is his the only case -in point. - -[397] Od. i. 61. - -[398] Il. ix. 523. - -The account given by Nestor to Telemachus in the Third Odyssey is -somewhat obscure in this particular. He says that, after the Greeks -embarked, the deity dispersed them; and that then Jupiter ordained the -misfortunes of their return, since they were not all intelligent and -righteous[399]. It appears to be here intimated, that the Greeks in -the first flush of victory forgot the influence of heaven; and that an -omission of the proper sacrifices was the cause of the first dispersion. - -[399] Od. iii. 131. - -After they collect again in Troas, the Atreid brothers differ, as -Menelaus proposes to start again, and Agamemnon to remain, and offer -sacrifices in order to appease Minerva; but, as Nestor adds, the -deities are not so soon appeased. Agamemnon, therefore, seems to have -been too late with his celebration; and Menelaus, again, to have -omitted it altogether. - -The party who side with Menelaus offer sacrifices on their arrival at -Tenedos, seemingly to repair the former error: but Jupiter is incensed, -and causes them to fall out anew among themselves. A portion of them -return once more to Agamemnon[400]. - -[400] Ibid. 164. - -Menelaus finds his way to Lesbos, and then sails as far as Malea. Here -he encounters a storm, and with part of his ships he gets to Egypt: -where he is again detained by the deities, because he did not offer up -the proper hecatombs[401]. Such remissness is the more remarkable, -because Menelaus certainly appears to be one of the most virtuous -characters in the Greek host. - -[401] Ibid. 135. - -The course, however, of the siege itself affords a very marked -instance, in which the whole body of the Greeks was guilty of omitting -the regular sacrifices proper to be used in the inauguration of a great -undertaking. In the hasty construction of the trench and rampart, they -apparently forgot the hecatombs[402]. Neptune immediately points out -the error in the Olympian Court; and uses it in aid of his displeasure -at a work, which he thinks will eclipse the wall of Troy, executed -for Laomedon by himself in conjunction with Apollo. Jupiter forthwith -agrees[403], that after the siege he shall destroy it. And the Poet, -returning to the subject at the commencement of the Twelfth Book, -observes that the work could not last, because it was constructed -without enlisting in its favour the good will of the Immortals[404]. -This omission of the Greeks is the more characteristic and remarkable, -because the moment when they erected the rampart was a moment of -apprehension, almost of distress. - -[402] Il. vii. 450. - -[403] Ibid. 459. - -[404] Il. xii. 3, 9. - -Thus, then, it appears that, as a nation, the Trojans were much -more given to religious observances of a positive kind, than the -Greeks. They were, like the Athenians[405] at a later epoch, -δεισιδαιμονέστεροι. And, again, as between one Greek and another, -there is no doubt that the good are generally, though not invariably, -scrupulous in this respect, and the bad commonly careless. Thus much -is implied particularly in Od. iii. 131, as well as conclusively shown -in the general order of the Odyssey. But, as between the two nations, -we cannot conceive that the Poet had any corresponding intention. -Although a more scrupulous formality in religion marks the Trojans -than the Greeks, and although in itself, and _cæteris paribus_, this -may be the appropriate sign of piety, yet it is a sign only; as a sign -it may be made a substitute, and, as a substitute, it becomes the -characteristic of Ægisthus and Autolycus, no less than it is of Eumæus -and Ulysses. As between the two nations, the difference is evidently -associated with other differences in national character and morality. -We must look therefore for broader grounds, upon which to form an -estimate of the comparative virtue of the two nations, than either the -populousness of Olympus on the one side, or the array of priests and -temples on the other. - -[405] Acts xvii. 22. - -Nowhere do the signs of historic aim in Homer seem to me more evident, -than in his very distinct delineations of national character on -the Greek and the Trojan part respectively. But this is a general -proposition; and it must be understood with a certain reservation as to -details. - -~_Two modes of handling for Greece and Troy._~ - -It does not appear to me that Homer has studied the more minute points -of consistency in motive and action among the Trojans of the poem, in -the same degree as among the Greeks. He has (so to speak) manœuvred -them as subsidiary figures, with a view to enhancing and setting -off those in whom he has intended and caused the principal interest -to centre; not so as to destroy or diminish effects of individual -character, but so as to give to the collective or joint action on the -Trojan side a subordinate and ministerial function in the machinery -of the poem. As Homer sung to Greeks, and Greeks were his judges and -patrons as well as his theme, nay rather as his heart and soul were -Greek, so on the Greek side the chain of events is closely knit; if -its direction changes, there is an adequate cause, as in the vehemence -of Achilles, or the vacillation of Agamemnon. But he did not sing to -Trojans; and so, among the Trojans of the Iliad, there are as it were -stitches dropped in the web, and the connection is much less carefully -elaborated. Thus they acquiesce in the breach of covenant after the -single combat of the Third Book, although the evident wish among -them, independent of obligation, was for its fulfilment[406]. Then -in the Fourth Book, after the treachery of Pandarus, the Trojans not -only do not resent it, but they recommence the fight while the Greek -chiefs are tending the wounded Menelaus[407]; which conduct exhibits, -if the phrase may be permitted, an extravagance of disregard to the -obligations of truth and honour. Hector, in the Sixth Book, quits the -battle field upon an errand, to which it is hardly possible to assign -a poetical sufficiency of cause, unless we refer it to the readiness -which he not unfrequently shows to keep himself out of the fight. -Again, there is something awkward and out of keeping in his manner of -dealing with the Fabian recommendations of Polydamas when the crisis -approaches. Some of these he accepts, and some he rejects, without -adequate reason for the difference, except that he is preparing himself -as an illustrious victim for Achilles, and that he must act foolishly -in order that the superior hero, and with him the poem itself, may not -be baulked of their purpose. - -[406] Il. iii. 451-4. - -[407] Il. iv. 220. - -Thus, again, Homer has given us a pretty clear idea even of the -respective ages of the Greek chiefs. It can hardly be doubted that -Nestor stands first, Idomeneus second, Ulysses third: while Diomed -and Antilochus are the youngest; Ajax and Achilles probably the next. -But as to Paris, Helenus, Æneas, Sarpedon, Polydamas, we find no -conclusion as to their respective ages derivable from the poem. - -Yet though Homer may use a greater degree of liberty in one case, -and a lesser in another, as to the mode of setting his jewels, he -always adheres to the general laws of truth and nature as they address -themselves to his poetical purpose. Thus there may be reason to doubt, -whether he observed the same rigid topographical accuracy in dealing -with the plain of Troy, as he has evinced in the Greek Catalogue: but -he has used materials, all of which the region supplied; and he has -arranged them clearly, as a poetic whole, before the mental eye of -those with whom he had to do. Even so we may be prepared to find that -he deals with the moral as with the material Troas, allowing himself -somewhat more of license, burdening himself with somewhat less of -care. And then we need not be surprised at secondary or inferential -inconsistencies in the action, as respects the Trojan people, because -it has not been worth his while to work the delineation of them, in -its details, up to his highest standard; yet we may rely upon his -general representations, and we are probably on secure ground in -contemplating all the main features of Trojan life and character as -not less deliberately drawn, than those of the Greeks. For, in truth, -it was requisite, in order to give full effect among his countrymen to -the Greek portrait, that they should be able, at least up to a certain -point, to compare it with the Trojan. - -~_Moral superiority of his Greeks._~ - -Regarding the subject from this point of view, I should say that Homer -has, upon the whole, assigned to the Greeks a moral superiority over -the Trojans, not less real, though less broad and more chequered, than -that which he has given them in the spheres of intellectual and of -military excellence. But, in all cases alike, he has pursued the same -method of casting the balance. He eschews the vulgar and commonplace -expedient of a formal award: he decides this and every other question -through the medium of action. The first thing, therefore, to be done -is, to inquire into the morality of his contemporaries, as it is -exhibited through the main action of the poems. - -It is admitted on all hands that, in the ethical picture of the -Odyssey, the distinctions of right and wrong are broad, clear, and -conspicuous. But the case of the Iliad is not so simple. The conduct -of Paris, which leads to the war, is so flagrant and vile, and the -conduct of the Greeks in demanding the restoration of Helen before they -resort to force, so just and reasonable, that it is not unnaturally -made matter of surprise that any war could ever have arisen upon such a -subject, except the war of a wronged and justly incensed people against -mere ruffians, traitors, and pirates. The Trojans appear at first sight -simply as assertors of a wrong the most gross and aggravated, even in -its original form; their iniquity is further darkened by obstinacy, and -their cause is the cause of enmity to every law, human and divine. Yet -the Greeks do not assume to themselves, in connection with the cause of -the war, to stand upon a different level of morality: and the amiable -affections, with the sense of humanity, if not the principles of honour -and justice, are exhibited in the detail of the Iliad as prevailing -among the Trojans, little less than among the Greeks. - -Now, let us first endeavour to clear away some misapprehensions that -simply darken the case: and after this let us inquire what exhibition -Homer has really given us of the moral sense of the Greeks and the -Trojans respectively, in connection with the crime of Paris. - -In the first place, something is due to the falsification by later -poets of the Homeric tradition: and to the reflex affiliation upon -Homer of those traits which, through the influence first of the Cyclic -poets, probably exaggerating the case in order to conceal their -relative want of strength, and then of the tragedians and Virgil, -have come to be taken for granted as genuine parts of the original -portraiture. - -According to the Argument of the Κύπρια Ἔπη, as it has been handed down -to us, Paris, having been received in hospitality by Menelaus, was left -by him under the friendly care of his wife, on his setting out for -Crete. He then corrupted Helen; and induced her, after being corrupted, -to elope with him, and with the greater part of the moveable goods of -Menelaus. - -Upon this tale our ideas have been formed, and, this being so, we -marvel why Homer does not make the Greeks feel more indignation at a -proceeding which simply combined treachery, robbery, and adultery. As -he prizes so highly the rights of guests, and pitches their gratitude -accordingly, we cannot understand how he should be so insensible to the -grossest imaginable breach of their obligations. - -~_Homer’s account of the abduction._~ - -Homer is here made responsible for that which, in part, he does not -tell us, and which is positively, as well as inferentially, at variance -with what he does tell us. He tells us absolutely, that Helen was not -inveigled into leaving Sparta, but carried off by force: and that the -crime of adultery was committed after, and not before, her abduction. - -This difference alters the character of the deed of Paris, in a -manner by no means so insignificant according to the heroic standard -of morality, as according to ours. As it seems plain from Homer’s -expression, ἁρπάξας[408], that Paris carried off Helen in the first -instance by an act of violence, so also it is probable that, when -the first adultery was committed in the island of Cranae, he was her -ravisher much more than her corrupter. Her offence appears to have -consisted mainly in the mere acceptance, at what precise date we know -not, of the relation thus brought into existence between them, and in -compliances that with the lapse of time naturally followed, such as -the visit to the Trojan horse. It would have been, however, under all -the circumstances, an act of superhuman rather than of human virtue, -if she had refused, through the long years of her residence abroad, to -recognise Paris as a husband: and accordingly the light, in which she -is presented to us by the Poet, is that of a sufferer infinitely more -than of an offender[409]. - -[408] Il. iii. 444. - -[409] See inf. Aoidos, sect. vi. - -When we regard Helen from this point of view, we perceive that Homer’s -narrative is at least in perfect keeping with itself. The Greeks have -made war to avenge the wrongs of Helen not less than those of Menelaus: -nay, Menelaus himself, the keenest of them all, is keen on her behalf -even more than on his own[410]. He regards her as a person stolen from -him: and the Greeks regard Paris only as the robber. - -[410] Il. ii. 589. - -We have no reason to suppose the Cyprian Epic to be a trustworthy -supplement to the narrative of Homer. We have seen some important -points of discrepancy from the Iliad. And there are others. For -instance, this poem makes Pollux immortal and Castor only mortal, while -Homer acquaints us in the Iliad with the interment of both, and in the -Odyssey with their restoration on equal terms to an alternate life. It -gives Agamemnon four daughters, the Iliad but three. It brings Briseis -from Pedasus, the Iliad brings her from Lyrnessus. And there is other -matter in the plot, that does not appear to correspond at all with the -modes of Homeric conception[411]. Had Homer told us the same story as -the Cyprian Epic, he would perhaps have made his countrymen express all -the indignation we could desire. - -[411] Düntzer, pp. 9-16. Fragm. iv. xi. xv. - -And now let us consider what is the view taken of the abduction in the -Iliad by the various persons whose sentiments are made known to us: -and how far that view can be accounted for by the general tone of the -age, or by what was peculiar to the character and institutions of each -people respectively. - -Helen herself nowhere utters a word of attachment or of respect to -Paris. Even of his passions she appears to have been the reluctant, -rather than the willing instrument. She thinks alike meanly of his -understanding[412] and of his courage[413]: and he shares[414] in the -rebukes which she everywhere heaps upon herself; though, with the -delicacy and high refinement of her irresolute but gentle character, -she never reproaches him in the presence of his parents, by whom he -continued to be loved. - -[412] Il. vi. 352. - -[413] Il. iii. 428-36, and vi. 351. - -[414] Il. vi. 356. - -To the Trojan people he was unequivocally hateful[415]. They would have -pointed him out to Agamemnon, if they could: for they detested him like -black Death. It was by a mixture of bribery and the daring assertion -of authority, that he checked those movements in the Assembly, which -had it for their object to enforce the restoration of Helen to -Menelaus[416]. Of all his countrymen, Hector appears to have been most -alive to his guilt, and is alone in reproaching him with it[417]. It is -under the influence of a sharp rebuke from Hector, that he proposes to -undertake a single combat with Menelaus[418]. - -[415] Il. iii. 453. - -[416] Il. vii. 354-64, and xi. 123. - -[417] Il. iii. 46-53. - -[418] Ibid. 68-75. - -~_The Greek estimate of Paris._~ - -The only persons on the Greek side, who utter any strong sentiment -in respect to Paris, are Diomed and Menelaus. This is singular; for -when we consider what was the cause of war, we might have expected, -perhaps, that recurrence to it would be popular and constant among the -Greeks. Nor is this all that may excite surprise. Diomed is unmeasured -in vituperating Paris, but it is for his cowardice and effeminacy. -The only word, which comes at all near the subject of his crime, is -παρθενοπῖπα: and by mocking him as a dangler after virgins, the brave -son of Tydeus shows how small a place the original treachery of Paris -occupied in his mind. - -Menelaus, indeed, has a keen sense of the specific nature and malignity -of the outrage. He beseeches Jupiter to strengthen his hand against the -man who has done such deadly wrong, not to him only, but to all the -laws which unite mankind: - - ὄφρα τις ἐρρίγῃσι καὶ ὀψιγόνων ἀνθρώπων - ξεινοδόκον κακὰ ῥέξαι, ὅ κεν φιλότητα παράσχῃ[419]. - -[419] Ibid. 351-4. - -But then Homer has already, in the Catalogue, introduced Menelaus to -us as distinguished from the rest of his countrymen, by his greater -keenness to revenge the wrongs and groans of Helen[420]. Accordingly, -the injured husband returns on other occasions to the topic: calls the -Trojans κακαὶ κύνες, and invokes upon them the anger of Ζεὺς ξείνιος, -the Jupiter of hospitality[421]; - -[420] Il. ii. 588-90. - -[421] Il. xiii. 620-7. - - οἵ μευ κουριδίην ἄλοχον καὶ κτῄματα πολλὰ - μὰψ οἴχεσθ’ ἀνάγοντες, ἐπεὶ φιλέεσθε παρ’ αὐτῇ. - -Thus it is plain, that Menelaus resents not only a privation and an -act of piracy, but a base and black breach of faith. It is quite -plain, on the other hand, that in this respect he stands alone among -his countrymen. They, regarding the matter more crudely, and from a -distance, appear to see in it little beyond a violent abduction, which -it is perfectly right, for those who can, to resent and retrieve, but -which implies no extraordinary and damning guilt in the perpetrator. - -Hence probably that singular appearance of apathy on the part of the -Greeks, which might at first sight seem to entail on them a moral -reproach, in some degree allied to that which justly attaches itself -to the Trojan community. It is not possible, indeed, to take a full -measure of their state of mind in regard to the crime of Paris, -without condemning the views and propensities to which it was due. -But the causes were various: and the blame they may deserve is both -very different from that which must fall upon the Trojans, and is -also different in a mode, which may help to illustrate some main -distinctions in the two national characters. - -I speak here, as everywhere, of the adjustment of acts and motives -in the poem as poetical facts, that is to say, as placed relatively -to one another with care and accuracy in order to certain effects; -and as liable to be tried under the law of effect, just as, in a -simple history, all particulars alleged are liable to be tried under -the law of fact. The assumption of truth or fable in the poem does -not materially widen or narrow the field of poetical discussion. The -critic looks for consistency as between motive and action, causes and -effects, in the voyage to Lilliput or Laputa, as well as in Thucydides -or Clarendon. The difference is that, in the one case, our discussion -terminates with the genius of the inventor; in the other we are -verifying the life and condition of mankind. - -If then we admit the abduction, and inquire for what probable cause it -is that the wrong, being so obvious and gross, was not more prominent -in the mind of the people who had endured it, a part at least of the -answer is this. We do not require to go back three thousand years in -the history of the world in order to learn how often it happens that, -when a conflict has arisen between nations, the original causes of -quarrel tend irresistibly to become absorbed and lost in its incidents. -As long as honour and security are held to depend more on strength than -on right, relative strength must often prevail over relative right -in the decision of questions, where the arbitrement of battle has -been invoked. Both the willingness of the Trojans to restore, and the -willingness of the Greeks to accept the atonement, may be expedients of -the Poet to give a certain moral harmony to his work; of which it is -a marked feature that it artfully divides our sympathies throughout, -so far at least as is needed for the interest of the poem. On the one -side, the ambition and rapacity of Agamemnon may have induced him not -only not to seek, but even to decline or discourage accommodation; -which, we may observe, he never promotes in the Iliad. Having got a -fair cause of war, he may have been bent on making the most of it, -and confident, as Thucydides believes he was, in his power to turn it -to account. While, on the other hand, Troy was not so far from or so -strange to Greece, as to be exempt from the fear of appearing afraid; -and, until it had become too late, she may have thought her safety -would be compromised by the surrender of Helen. - -Here may be reasons why restitution was neither given on the one side, -nor steadily kept in view on the other: especially as it was of course -included in the idea of the capture of the city. But it is not clear -that this was enough to account for the apathy of the Greeks in general -with respect to the crime of Paris, which we might have expected to -find a favourite and familiar topic with his enemies at large, instead -of being confined, as it is, to the immediate sufferer by the wrong. - -~_Its relation to prevailing views of marriage._~ - -Now, the answer to this question must after all be sought partly in -the prevalent ideas of the heroic age; and partly in those which were -peculiar more or less to the Greek people. - -According to Christian morality, the abduction and appropriation of a -married woman is not simply a crime when committed, but it is a crime -that is aggravated by every day, during which her relation with her -seducer or ravisher is continued. This was not so in the heroic age. - -We have examples in the poems of what Homer considers to be a continued -course of crime. Such is the conduct of the Suitors in the Odyssey, -who for years together waste the substance of Ulysses, woo his wife, -oppress his son, and cohabit with the servants. This was habitual -crime, crime voluntarily and deliberately persevered in, when it might -at any time have been renounced. - -This vicious course of the Suitors is never called by Homer an ἄτη; it -is described by the names of ἀτασθαλίαι and ὑπερβασίη[422]. So likewise -the series of enormities committed by Ægisthus, the corruption of -Clytemnestra, the murder of her husband, the expulsion of Orestes and -prolonged usurpation of the throne; these are never called by the name -of ἄτη; but ἄτη, and not one of the severer names quoted above, is the -appellation always given by Homer to the crime of Paris. - -[422] Od. xxi. 146. xxiii. 67. xiii. 193. xxii. 64. See Olympus, sect. -ii. p. 162. - -The ἄτη of a man is a crime so far partaking of the nature of error, -that it is done under the influence of passion or weakness; perhaps -excluding premeditation, perhaps such that its consequences follow -spontaneously in its train, without a new act of will to draw them, -so that the act, when once committed, is practically irretrievable. -Something, according to Homer, was evidently wanting in the crime of -Paris, to sink it to the lower depths of blackness. Perhaps we may find -it partly in the nature of marriage, as it was viewed by his age. - -Having taken Helen to Troy, he made her his wife, and his wife she -continued until the end of the siege. We should of course say he did -not make her his wife, for she was the wife of another man. But the -distinction between marriage _de facto_ and marriage _de jure_, clear -to us in the light of Divine Revelation, was less clear to the age of -Homer. Helen was to Paris the mistress of his household; the possessor -of his affections, such as they were; the sole sharer, apparently, -of his dignities and of his bed. To the mind of that period there -was nothing dishonourable in the connection itself, apart from its -origin; while, to our mind, every day of its continuance was a fresh -accumulation of its guilt. The higher wrong of wounded and defrauded -affections was personal to Menelaus. In the aspect it presented to the -general understanding, the act of Paris, once committed, and sealed by -the establishment of the _de facto_ conjugal relation, remained an act -of plunder and nothing else. - -~_And to Greek views of homicide._~ - -To comprehend these notions, so widely differing from our own, we may -seek their further illustration by a reference to the established view -of homicide. He, who had taken the life of a fellow creature, was -bound to make atonement by the payment of a fine. If he offered that -atonement, it was not only the custom, but the duty, of the relations -of the slain man to accept it. So much so, that the blunt mind of -Ajax takes this ground as the simplest and surest for argument with -Achilles, whom he urges not to refuse reparation offered by Agamemnon, -in consideration that reparation (ποίνη) covers the slaughter of a -brother or a son. Beforehand, the Greek would have scorned to accept a -price for life. But, the deed being done, it came into the category of -exchangeable values. Even so the abstraction of Helen, once committed, -assumed for the common mind the character of an act of plunder, -differing from the case of homicide, inasmuch as the thing taken could -be given back, but not differing from it as to the essence of its moral -nature, however aggravated might have been the circumstances with which -it was originally attended. - -Now, wherever the moral judgment against plunder has been greatly -relaxed, that of fraud in connection with it is sure to undergo a -similar process; because, in the same degree in which acts of plunder -are acquitted as lawful acquisition, fraud is sure to come into -credit by assuming the character of stratagem. We may, I think, find -an example of this rule in the Thirteenth Odyssey; where, with an -entire freedom from any consciousness of wrong, Ulysses feigns to have -slaughtered Orsilochus at night by ambush, in consequence of a quarrel -that had previously occurred about booty[423]. - -[423] Od. xiii. 258 et seqq. - -Here then we reach the point, at which we must take into view the -peculiar ideas and tendencies of the Greek mind in the heroic age, -as they bear necessarily upon its appreciation of an act like that -of Paris. The Greeks, of whom we may fairly take Diomed as the type, -detest and despise him for affectation, irresolution, and poltroonery: -these are the ideas uppermost in their mind: we are not to doubt that, -besides seeking reparation for Menelaus, they condemned morally the -act which made it needful; what we have to account for is, that they -did not condemn it in such a manner as to make this moral judgment the -ruling idea in their minds with regard to him. - -We have seen that, according to Homer, instead of Helen’s having been -originally the willing partner of the guilt of Paris, he was, under her -husband’s roof, her kidnapper and not her corrupter. Her offence seems -to have consisted in this, that she gave a half-willing assent to the -consequences of the abduction. Though never escaping from the sense of -shame, always retaining along with a wounded conscience her original -refinement of character, and apparently fluctuating from time to time -in an alternate strength and weakness of homeward longings[424], the -specific form of her offence, according to the ideas of the age, was -rather the preterite one of unresisting acquiescence, than the fact -of continuing to recognise Paris as a husband during the lifetime of -Menelaus. It was the having changed her husband, not the living with a -man who was not her husband; and hence we find that she was most kindly -treated in Troy by that member of the royal house, namely Hector, who -was himself of the highest moral tone. - -[424] See Il. iii. 139. Od. iv. 259-61. - -The offence of Paris, though also (except as to the mere restitution -of plundered goods) a preterite offence, was more complex. He violated -the laws of hospitality, as we find distinctly charged upon him by -Menelaus[425]. He assumed the power of a husband over another man’s -wife. This he gained by violence. Now, paradoxical as it may appear, -yet perhaps this very ingredient of violence, which we look upon as -even aggravating the case, and which in the view of the Greeks was the -proper cause of the war, (for their anxiety was to avenge the forced -journey and the groans of Helen,) may nevertheless have been also the -very ingredient, which morally redeemed the character of the proceeding -in the eyes of Greece. This it might do by lifting it out of the -region of mere shame and baseness, into that class of manful wrongs, -which they habitually regarded as matters to be redressed indeed by -the strong hand, but never as merely infamous. Hence, when we find the -Greeks full of disgust and of contempt towards Paris, it is only for -the effeminacy and poltroonery of character which he showed in the war. -His original crime was probably palliated to them by its seeming to -involve something of manhood and of the spirit of adventure. So that we -may thus have to seek the key to the inadequate sense among the Greeks -of the guilt of Paris in that which, as we have seen, was the capital -weakness of their morality; namely, its light estimation of crimes of -violence, and its tendency to recognise their enterprise and daring as -an actual set-off against whatever moral wrong they might involve. - -[425] Il. iii. 354. - -The chance legend of Hercules and Iphitus, in the Odyssey, affords the -most valuable and pointed illustration of the great moral question[426] -between Paris and Menelaus, which lies at the very foundation of the -great structure of the Iliad. For in that case also, we seem to find -an instance of abominable crime, which notwithstanding did not destroy -the character of its perpetrator, nor prevent his attaining to Olympus; -apparently for no other reason, than that it was a crime such as had -probably required for its commission the exercise of masculine strength -and daring. - -[426] Vid. Od. xxi. 22-30. - -There remained, however, even according to contemporary ideas, quite -enough of guilt on the part of Paris. The abduction and corruption of -a prince’s wife, combined with his personal cowardice, his constant -levity and vacillation, and his reckless indifference to his country’s -danger and affliction, amply suffice to warrant and account for Homer’s -having represented him as a personage hated, hateful, and contemptible. -But while the foregoing considerations may explain the feelings and -language of the Greeks, otherwise inexplicable, there still remains -enough of what at first sight is puzzling in the conduct, if not in the -sentiments, of the Trojans. - -~_The Trojan estimate of Paris._~ - -We ask ourselves, how could the Trojans endure, or how could Homer -rationally represent them as enduring, to see the glorious wealth and -state of Priam, with their own lives, families, and fortunes, put upon -the die, rather than surrender Helen, or support Paris in withholding -her? The people hate him: the wise Antenor opens in public assembly the -proposal to restore Helen to the Greeks: Hector, the prince of greatest -influence, almost the actual governor of Troy, knew his brother’s -guilt, and reproached him with it[427]. How is it that, of all these -elements and materials, none ever become effective? - -[427] Il. iii. 46-57. - -We must, I think, seek the answer to the questions partly in the -difference of the moral tone, and the moral code, among Greeks and -Trojans; partly in the difference of their political institutions. - -We shall find it probable that, although the ostensible privileges -of the people were not less, yet the same spirit of freedom did not -pervade Trojan institutions; that their kings were followed with a more -servile reverence by the people; that authority was of more avail, -apart from rational persuasion; that amidst equally strong sentiments -of connection in the family and the tribe, there was much less of moral -firmness and decision than among the Greeks, and perhaps also a far -less close adherence to the great laws of conjugal union, which had -been violated by the act of Paris. Indeed it would appear from the -allusion of Hector to a tunic of stone[428], that Paris was probably by -law subject to stoning for the crime of adultery: a curious remnant, if -the interpretation be a correct one, of the stern traits of pristine -justice and severity, still remembered amidst a prevalent dissolution -of the stricter moral ties. - -[428] Il. iii. 57. - -Although it results from our previous inquiries that the plebeian -_substratum_, so to speak, of society, was perhaps nearly the same in -both countries, yet the opinions of the masses would not then have the -same substantiveness of character, nor so much independence of origin, -as in times of Christianity, and of a more elaborate development of -freedom and its main conditions. Then, much more than now, the first -propelling power in the formation of public opinion would be from the -high places of society: and in the higher sphere of the community, if -not in the lower, Greece and Troy were, while ethnically allied, yet -materially different as to moral tone. It is remarkable, that there is -no Τὶς in Troy. - -~_The Trojans more sensual and false._~ - -If we may trust the general effect of Homer’s representations, we -shall conclude that the Trojans were more given to the vices of -sensuality and falsehood, the Greeks, on the other hand, more inclined -to crimes of violence: in fact, the latter bear the characteristics of -a more masculine, and the former of a feebler, people. In the words -of Mure, the contrast shadows forth ‘certain fundamental features of -distinction, which have always been more or less observable, between -the European and Asiatic races[429].’ - -[429] Greek Lit. vol. i. p. 339. - -On looking back to the previous history of Troy, we find that Laomedon -defrauded Neptune and Apollo of their stipulated hire: and Anchises -surreptitiously obtained a breed of horses from the sires belonging to -Laomedon, who was his relative[430]. The conditions of the bargain, -under which Paris fought with Menelaus, are shamelessly and grossly -violated. Pandarus, in the interval of truce, treacherously aims at -and wounds Menelaus with an arrow; but no Trojan disapproves the deed. -Euphorbus comes behind the disarmed Patroclus, and wounds him in the -back; and even princely Hector, seeing him in this condition, then only -comes up and dispatches him. That these were not isolated acts, we may -judge from the circumstance that Menelaus, ever mild and fair in his -sentiments, when he accepts the challenge of Paris, requires that Priam -shall be sent for to conclude the arrangement, because his sons--and -he makes no exceptions--are saucy and faithless, ὑπερφίαλοι καὶ -ἄπιστοι[431]. This must, I think, be taken as characteristic of Troy; -though he mildly proceeds to take off the edge of his reproach by a -γνώμη about youth and age. But the most scandalous of all the Trojan -proceedings seems to have been the effort made, though unsuccessfully, -to have Menelaus put to death, when he came on a peaceful mission to -demand the restoration of his wife[432]. - -[430] Il. v. 269. - -[431] Il. iii. 105. - -[432] Il. xi. 139. - -Nothing of this admiration for fraud apart from force appears either in -the conduct of the Greeks during the war, or in their prior history: -and the passage respecting Autolycus, which, more than any other, -appears to give countenance to knavery, takes his case out of the -category of ordinary human action by placing it in immediate relation -to a deity; so that it illustrates, not the national character as it -was, but rather the form to which the growing corruptions of religion -tended to bring it. Yet, while Homer gives to the Trojans alone the -character of faithlessness, he everywhere, as we must see, vindicates -the intellectual superiority of the Greeks in the stratagems of the -war. And if, as I think is the case, I have succeeded in proving above -that the doctrine of a future state was less lively and operative among -the Trojans than among the Greeks, it is certainly instructive to view -that deficiency in connection with the national want of all regard -for truth. This difference teaches us, that the imprecations against -perjurers, and the prospects of future punishment, were probably no -contemptible auxiliaries in overcoming the temptations to present -falseness, with which human life is everywhere beset. - -As respects sensuality, the chief points of distinction are, that we -find a particular relation to this subject running down the royal line -of Troy; and that, whereas in Greece we are told occasionally of some -beautiful woman who is seduced or ravished by a deity, in Troas we -find the princes of the line are those to whose names the legends are -attached. The inference is, that in the former case a veil was thrown -over such subjects, but that in the latter no sense of shame required -them to be kept secret. The cases that come before us are those of -Tithonus, who is said to become the husband of Aurora; of Anchises, for -whom Venus conceives a passion; and of Paris, on whom the same deity -confers the evil gift of desire[433], and to whom she promises the most -beautiful of women, the wife of Menelaus. All these are stories, which -seem to have tended to the fame of the parties concerned on earth, and -by no means to their discredit with the Immortals. And again, if, as -some may take to be the case, we are to interpret the three νύμφαι[434] -of Troas as local deities, how remarkable is the fact that Homer should -thus describe them as tainted with passions, which nowhere appear among -the corresponding order within the Greek circle! There, male deities -alone are licentious. Juno, Minerva, Diana, and Persephone, whom alone -we can call properly Greek goddesses of the period, have no such impure -connection with mortals, as the goddesses both of the Trojan and of the -Phœnician traditions. - -[433] Il. xxiv. 30. - -[434] Sup. p. 162. - -We hear indeed of Orion[435], who was also the choice of Aurora: but we -cannot tell whether he belonged more to the Trojan than to the Greek -branch of the common stem. To the Greek race he cannot have been alien, -as he is among Greek company in the Eleventh Odyssey: but then he is -not there as an object of honour; he appears in a state of modified -suffering, engaged in an endless chase[436]. We also find Iasion, -probably in Crete, who is reported to have been loved by Ceres[437]: -but he was immediately consumed for it by the thunderbolt of Jupiter. -And so the detention of Ulysses by the beautiful and immortal Calypso -is not in Homer a glory, but a calamity; and it allays none of the -passionate longings of that hero for his wife and home. - -[435] Od. v. 121. - -[436] Od. xi. 572. - -[437] Od. v. 128. - -The marked contrast, which these groups of incidents present, is -perhaps somewhat heightened by the enthusiastic observation of the -Trojan Elders on the Wall in the Third Iliad[438]. Though susceptible -of a good sense, yet, when the old age of the persons is taken into -view, the passage seems to be in harmony with the Trojan character at -large, rather than the Greek: and perhaps it may bear some analogy -to the licentious glances of the Suitors[439]. If so, it is very -significant that Homer should assign to the most venerable elders -of Troy, what in Greece he does not think of imputing except to -libertines, who are about to fall within the sweep of the divine -vengeance. - -[438] Il. iii. 154-60. - -[439] Od. xviii. 160-212. - -The difference between the races in this respect seems to have been -deeply rooted, for there is evidently some corresponding difference -between their views and usages in respect to marriage. - -~_Trojan ideas and usages of marriage._~ - -The character of Priam, which has been so happily conceived by -Mure[440], undoubtedly bears on its very surface the fault of over -indulgence, along with the virtues of gentleness and great warmth -and keenness of the affections. But it may be doubted, whether the -poems warrant our treating him as individually dissolute. His life -was a domestic life: but the family was one constructed according to -Oriental manners. According to those manners, polygamy and wholesale -concubinage were in some sense the privilege, in another view almost -the duty, of his station; confined, as these abuses must necessarily be -from their nature (and as they even now are in Turkey), to the highest -ranks wherever they prevail. The household of Priam, notwithstanding -his diversified relations to women, is as regularly organized as that -of Ulysses: and when he speaks of his vast family, constituted as it -was, he makes it known to Achilles, in a moment of agonizing sorrow, -and evidently by way of lodging a claim for sympathy[441], though -the effect upon modern ears may be somewhat ludicrous. ‘I had,’ he -says, ‘fifty sons: nineteen from a single womb: the rest from various -mothers in my palace.’ He might have added that he had also twelve -daughters[442], whom he probably does not need to mention on the -occasion, as in this department he was not a bereaved parent. - -[440] Lit. Greece, vol. i. p. 341 and _seqq._ - -[441] Il. xxiv. 493-7. - -[442] Il. vi. 248. - -Hecuba, the mother of the nineteen, was evidently possessed of rights -and a position peculiar to herself. The very passage last quoted -distinguishes her from the γυναῖκες, and throughout the poem she moves -alone[443]. - -[443] See particularly vi. 87 and seqq. 364 and seqq. - -~_The family of Priam._~ - -Of the children of Priam we meet with a great number in various places -of the poem. - -There are, I think, five expressly mentioned as children of Hecuba. - - Hector, Il. vi. 87. - Helenus, ibid. - Laodice, vi. 252. - Deiphobus, Il. xxii. 333. - Paris, (because Hecuba was ἑκυρὴ to Helen,) Il. xxiv. - -Next, we have two children of Laothoe, daughter of Altes, lord of the -Lelegians of Pedasus. - - Lycaon, Il. xxi. 84. - Polydorus, ibid. 91. - -Next Gorgythion, son of Kastianeira, who came from Aisume, (Il. viii. -302). - -Then we have, without mention of the mother, - - Agathon } - Pammon } Il. xxiv. - Antiphonos } 249-51. - Hippothoos } - Dios } - Cassandra, xxiv. 699. - Mestor, xxiv. 257. - Troilos, Il. xxiv. 257. - Echemmon[444], v. 159. - Chromios[444], ibid. - Antiphos, iv. 490. xi. 101. - Cebriones, viii. 318. - Polites, ii. 791. - -[444] Possibly one of these is νόθος, illegitimate: for they are -together in the same chariot, as Antiphus and Isus were. One of the -two would be the charioteer; who was commonly, though not always, an -inferior. - -And, lastly, illegitimate (νόθοι), - - Isos, Il. xi. 101. - Doryclos, xi. 489. - Democoon, iv. 499. - Medesicaste, xiii. 173. - -The most important conclusion derivable from the comparison of the -names thus collected is, that the children of Priam, and consequently -their mothers, fell into three ranks: - -1. The children of Hecuba. - -2. The children of his other wives. - -3. The children of concubines, or of chance attachments, who were, -νόθοι, bastards. - -The name νόθος with Homer, at least among the Greeks, ordinarily marks -inferiority of condition. The mothers of the four νόθοι are never -named. This may, however, be due to accident. At any rate Lycaon -appears to have the full rank of a prince: he was once ransomed with -the value of a hundred oxen, and, when again taken, he promises thrice -as much; again, in describing himself as the half-brother of Hector, -he avows nothing like spurious birth. The reference to him by Priam -explains his position more clearly, and places it beyond doubt that -Laothoe was recognised as a wife, for she brought Priam a large -dowry[445]; and if her sons be dead, says the aged king, ‘it will be -an affliction to me and to their mother.’ The language used in another -passage about Polydorus is also conclusive[446]. He is described as the -youngest and dearest of the sons of Priam, which evidently implies his -being in the fullest sense a member of the family. Again, in the palace -of Priam there were separate apartments, not for the nineteen only, but -for the fifty. Thus they seem to have included all the three classes. -So that it is probable enough that the state of illegitimacy did not -draw the same clear line as to rank in Troy, which it drew in Greece. - -[445] Il. xxii. 51, 3. - -[446] Il. xx. 407. xxi. 79, 95. - -Laothoe, mother of Lycaon and Polydorus, was a woman of princely rank: -and when Lycaon says that Priam had many more besides her[447], - -[447] Il. xxi. 88. - - τοῦ δ’ ἔχε θυγατέρα Πρίαμος, πολλὰς δὲ καὶ ἄλλας, - -he probably means many more of the same condition, wives and other -well-born women, who formed part of his family. - -So that Homer, in all likelihood, means to describe to us the threefold -order, - -1. Hecuba, as the principal queen. - -2. Other wives, inferior but distinctly acknowledged. - -3. Either concubines recognised as in a position wholly subordinate, or -women who were in no permanent relation of any kind with Priam. - -Beyond the case of Priam, we have slender means of ascertaining the -usages and ideas of marriage among the Trojans. We have Andromache, -wife of Hector; Helen, a sort of wife to Paris; Theano, wife to -Antenor, and priestess of Minerva; who also took charge of and brought -up his illegitimate son Pedæus[448]. The manner in which this is -mentioned, as a favour to her husband, certainly shows that the mark -of bastardy was not wholly overlooked, even in Troy. But, besides this -Pedæus, we meet in different places of the Iliad no less than ten -other sons of Antenor, all, I think, within the fighting age. This is -not demonstrative, but it raises a presumption that some of them were -probably the sons of other wives than Theano; who is twice described as -Theano of the blooming cheeks, and can hardly therefore be supposed to -have reached a very advanced period of life[449]. - -[448] Il. v. 71. - -[449] Il. vii. 298. xi. 224. - -But it is clear from the important case of Priam, even if it stands -alone, that among the Trojans no shame attaches to the plurality of -wives, or to having many illegitimate children, the birth of various -mothers. It is possible that the manners of Troy, with regard to -polygamy, were at this time the same (unless as to the reason given,) -with those which Tacitus ascribes to the Germans of his own day: -_Singulis uxoribus contenti sunt; exceptis admodum paucis, qui, non -libidine, sed ob nobilitatem, plurimis nuptiis ambiuntur_[450]. We -must add to this, that Paris, in detaining as his wife the spouse of -another man still living, does an act of which we have no example, -to which we find no approximation, in the Greek manners of the time. -Its significance is increased, when we find that after his death she -is given to Deiphobus: for this further union alters the individual -trait into one which is national. Her Greek longings, as well as her -remorse for the surrender of her honour to Paris, afford the strongest -presumption that the arrangement could hardly have been adopted -to meet her own inclination; and that it must have been made for -her without her choice, as a matter of supposed family or political -convenience. - -[450] Tac. Germ. c. 18. - -We seem therefore to be justified in concluding that, as singleness -did not enter essentially into the Trojan idea of marriage, so neither -did the bond with them either possess or even approximate to the -character of indissolubility. The difference is very remarkable between -the horror which attaches to the first crime of Ægisthus in Greece, -the corruption of Clytemnestra, though it was analogous to the act of -Paris, and the indifference of the Trojans to the offence committed -by their own prince. We have no means indeed of knowing directly how -Ægisthus was regarded by the Greeks around him, during the period -which preceded the return and murder of Agamemnon. But we find that -Jupiter, in the Olympian Court, distinctly describes his adultery as a -substantive part of his sin[451]; - -[451] Od. i. 35. - - ὡς καὶ νῦν Αἴγισθος ὑπέρμορον Ἀτρείδαο - γῆμ’ ἄλοχον μνηστὴν, τὸν δ’ ἔκτανε νοστήσαντα. - -And I think we may rest assured, that Jupiter never would give -utterance on Olympus to any rule of matrimonial morality, higher than -that which was observed among the Greeks on earth. - -So again, it was a specific part of the offence of the Suitors in -the Odyssey, that they sought to wed Penelope while her husband was -alive[452]; that is to say, before his death was ascertained, though it -was really not extravagant to presume that it had occurred. - -[452] Od. xxii. 37. - -~_Stricter ideas among the Greeks._~ - -From both these instances, and more especially from the last, we must, -I think, reasonably conclude that the moral code of Greece was far -more adverse to the act of Paris, considered as an offence against -matrimonial laws, than the corresponding rule in Troy. - -In connection with this topic, we may notice, how Homer has overspread -the Dardanid family, at the epoch of the war as well as in former -times, with redundance of personal beauty. Of Paris we are prepared -to hear it as a matter of course; but Hector has also the εἶδος -ἀγητόν[453]; and, even in his old age, the ὄψις ἀγαθὴ of Priam was -admired by Achilles[454]. Deiphobus again is called θεοείκελος and -θεοειδὴς[455], and on two of Priam’s daughters severally does Homer -bestow the praise of being each the most beautiful[456] among them -all. With this was apparently connected, in many of them, effeminacy, -as well as insolence and falseness of character; for we must suppose -a groundwork of truth in the wrathful invective of their father, who -describes his remaining sons as (Il. xxiv. 261.) - -[453] Il. xxii. 370. - -[454] Il. xxiv. 632. - -[455] Il. xii. 94. and Od. iv. 276. See also the case of Euphorbus, Il. -xvii. 51. - -[456] The sense of ἄριστος in Homer, though emphatic, is not absolute. - - ψευσταί τ’ ὀρχησταί τε, χοροιτυπίῃσιν ἄριστοι, - ἀρνῶν ἠδ’ ἐρίφων ἐπιδήμιοι ἁρπακτῆρες. - -An invective, which completely corresponds with the Greek belief -concerning their general character in the Third Book[457]. The great -Greek heroes are also beautiful; but their mere beauty, particularly in -the Iliad, is for the most part kept carefully in the shade. - -[457] Il. iii. 106. - -~_Trojan polity less highly organized._~ - -We will turn now to the political institutions of Troy. Less advanced -towards organization, and of a less firm tone than in Greece, they will -help to explain how it could happen that a people should bear prolonged -calamity and constant defeat, and could pass on to final ruin, for the -wicked and wanton wrong of an individual prince. - -It has been noticed, that the idea of hereditary succession was -definite, as well as familiar, in Greece. In Troy it appears to have -been less so. And this is certainly what we might expect from the -recognition in any form, however qualified, of polygamy. It tends to -confound the position of any one wife, although supposed supreme, with -that of others; and in confounding the order of succession, as among -the issue of different wives, it altogether breaks up the simplicity of -the rule of primogeniture. - -And again, if, as we shall presently see, the Trojan race had a less -developed capacity for political organization, they would be less -likely to establish a clear rule and practice of succession, which is -a primary element of political order in well-governed countries. - -The evidence as to the Asiatic rule of inheritance is, I admit, -indirect and scanty: nor do I attempt to place what I have now to offer -in a rank higher than that of probable conjecture. - -1. Sarpedon was clearly leader of the Lycians, with some kind of -precedence over Glaucus. - -The general tenour of the poem clearly gives this impression. He speaks -and acts as the person principally responsible[458]. But by birth he -was inferior to Glaucus; for he was the grandson of Bellerophon only -in the female line through Laodamia, while Glaucus stood alone in the -male line through Hippolochus. I do not venture to rely much on the -mere order of the names; and therefore I do not press the fact, which -indeed is not needed for the argument, that it makes Laodamia junior -to Hippolochus. It will be said that Sarpedon was in chief command, -because he was of superior merit. But among the Greeks we have no -instance in which superior merit gives preeminence as against birth. -And the reputation of divine origin clearly could not put aside the -prior right of succession. - -[458] See Il. v. 482. - -Again, both Sarpedon and Glaucus are both expressly called -βασιλῆες[459], kings. Now, they were first cousins, and they belonged -to the same kingdom. Hippolochus was perhaps still alive[460]; for -he gave Glaucus a parting charge, and his death is not mentioned. In -Greece we find the heir apparent called king, namely, Achilles: but -the title is never given to more than one person standing in the line -of succession. A possible explanation, I think, is, that the Lycian -kingdom had been divided[461]: but if this be not so, then the use of -the term seems to prove that in Asia all the children of the common -ancestor stood, or might stand, upon the same footing by birth: and as -if it was left to other causes, instead of to a definite and single -rule, to determine who should succeed to the throne. - -[459] Il. xii. 319. - -[460] Il. vi. 207. - -[461] Il. vi. 193. - -2. In a former part of this work[462], I have stated reasons for -supposing that Æneas represented the elder branch of the house of -Dardanus. But, whether he did so or not, it is sufficiently clear from -the Iliad that he was not without pretensions to the succession. The -dignity of his father Anchises is marked by his remaining at Dardania, -and not appearing in the court of Priam. Æneas habitually abstains -from attending the meetings or assemblies for consultation, in which -Priam, where they are civil, and Hector, where they are military, -takes the lead. Achilles taunts him expressly with looking forward to -the succession after the death of Priam, and with the anticipation of -public lands which he was to get from the Trojans forthwith, if he -could but slay the great Greek warrior. The particular succession, to -which the taunt refers, is marked out; it is the dominion, not over the -mere Dardanians, but over the Τρῶες ἱππόδαμοι[463]. In following down -the genealogy, Æneas does not adhere to either of the two lines (from -Ilus and Assaracus respectively) throughout, as senior, and therefore -supreme; but, after putting the line of Ilus first in the earlier part -of the chain, he places his own birth from Anchises before that of -Hector from Priam. - -[462] On the ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν, see Achæis, sect. ix. - -[463] xx. 180. - -Apart from the question _which_ was the older line, the effect of all -these particulars, taken together, is to show an indeterminateness -in the rule of succession, of which we have no indication among the -Greeks. Even the incidental notice of the right of Priam to give it -to Æneas, if he pleased, is as much without example in anything Homer -tells us of the Greek manners, as the corresponding power conferred by -the Parliament on the Crown in the Tudor period was at variance with -the general analogies of English history and institutions. - -~_Succession to the Throne of Priam._~ - -3. The third case before us is one in the family of Priam itself. It -appears extremely doubtful whether we can, upon the authority of the -poems, confidently mark out one of his sons as having been the eldest, -or as standing on that account in the line of succession to the throne -of Priam. The evidence, so far as it goes, seems rather to point to -Paris; while the question lies between him and Hector. - -Theocritus[464] indeed calls Hector the eldest of the twenty children -of Hecuba. But this is an opinion, not an authority; and the number -named shows it to be unlikely that he was thinking of historic -accuracy, for Homer says, Hecuba had nineteen sons, while she had also -several daughters[465]. - -[464] Idyll. xv. 139. - -[465] Il. xxiv. 496. vi. 252. - -There can be no doubt whatever, that Hector was the most conspicuous -person, the most considerable champion of the city. He was charged -exclusively with the direction of the war, and with the regulation of -the supplies necessary to feed the force of Trojans and of allies. -Polydamas, who so often takes a different view of affairs, and -Sarpedon, when having a complaint to make, alike apply to him. Æneas -is the only person who appears upon the field in the same rank with -him, and he stands in a position wholly distinct from the family of -Priam. As among the members of that family, there can be no doubt of -the preeminence of Hector. He was, indeed, in actual exercise of the -heaviest part of the duties of sovereignty. Æneas, in the genealogy, -finishes the line of Assaracus with himself; and, to all appearance, -as not less a matter of course, the line of Ilus with Hector[466]. -Again, the name Astuanax, conferred by the people on his son, appears -to show that the crown was to come to him. But all this in no degree -answers the question, whether Hector held his position as probable -king-designate by birth, or whether it was rather due to his personal -qualities, and his great and unshared responsibilities and exertions. -There are several circumstances, which may lead us to incline towards -the latter alternative. - -[466] Il. xx. 240. - -(1.) When his parents and widow bewail his loss, it is the loss of -their great defender and chief glory[467], not of one who by death had -vacated the place of known successor to the sovereignty. - -[467] Il. xxii. 56, 433, 507. xxiv. 29. - -(2.) Had Hector been by birth assured of the seat of Priam, his right -would have been sufficient cause for giving to his son at once the -name of Astuanax. But this we are told the people did for the express -reason, that Hector was the only real bulwark of Troy. It seems -unlikely that in such a case his character as heir by birth would have -been wholly passed by. The name, therefore, appears to suggest, that it -was by proving himself the bulwark of the throne that Hector had become -as it were the presumptive heir to it[468]. - -[468] Il. vi. 402, and xxii. 506. - -When Hector takes his child in his arms, he prays, on the infant’s -behalf, that he may become, like himself[469], - -[469] Il. vi. 477. - - ἀριπρεπέα Τρώεσσιν, - ὧδε βίην τ’ ἀγαθὸν, καὶ Ἰλίου ἶφι ἀνάσσειν· - -that is, that he may become distinguished and valiant, and may mightily -rule over the Trojans. This seems to point to succession by virtue of -personal qualities rather than of birth. - -~_Paris most probably the eldest-born._~ - -There are also signs that Paris, and not Hector, may have been the -eldest son of Priam, and may have had that feebler inchoate title to -succession, which, in the day of necessity, his brother’s superior -courage and character was to set aside. - -This supposition accords better with the fact of his having had -influence sufficient to cause the refusal of the original demand for -the restitution of Helen, peacefully made by the Greek embassy; and the -endurance of so much evil by his country on his behalf. - -It explains the fact of his having had a palace to himself on Pergamus; -a distinction which he shared with Hector only[470], for the married -sons as well as daughters of Priam in general slept in apartments -within the palace of their father[471]. And also it accords with his -original expedition, which was evidently an affair of great pains and -cost; and with his being plainly next in military rank to Hector among -the sons of Priam. - -[470] Il. vi. 313, 317, 370. - -[471] Ibid. 242-50. - -Further, it would explain the fact, otherwise very difficult to deal -with, that alone among the children of Priam, Paris or Alexander is -honoured with the significant title of βασιλεύς. Helenus is called -ἄναξ, and Hector ποίμην λαῶν, but neither expression is of the same -rank, or has a similar effect. This exclusive application of the term -βασιλεὺς is a very strong piece of evidence, if, as I believe to be -the case, it is nowhere else applied in the Iliad to a person thus -selected, without indicating either the possession, or the hereditary -expectancy of a throne. - -And indeed, even if we could show that Homer had applied the name -βασιλεὺς to two brothers in one family, the result would be the -same, as far as the main argument is concerned, for there is no such -pronounced mark of equality found among brothers in any of the royal -families of Greece. - -Again; in considering the law of succession among the Greeks, we have -found four cases in the Catalogue, where contingents were placed under -the command of two leaders seemingly co-ordinate; they are in every -instance brothers, and the four dual commands occur in a total of -twenty-nine. Or let us state the case in another form, so as to include -the cases of Bœotia and Elis. Among sixteen Trojan contingents, there -are but six where the chief authority is plainly in a single hand; out -of twenty-nine Greek contingents, there are twenty-three, and, of the -remaining six, four are the cases of brothers. This fact is material, -as tending to show a looser and less effective military organization in -the ranks of the Trojans and their allies, than in those of the Greeks; -a circumstance which does not prove, but which harmonizes with, the -hypothesis that they were wanting also in a defined order of succession -to the seat of political power. - -There are other reasons, immediately connected with Hector, for -supposing that Homer intended to represent Paris as older than his -brother[472]. Paris had been in manhood for at least twenty years, -according to the letter of the poem, which must at least represent a -long period of time. But Hector has one child only, a babe in arms, -which is in itself a presumption of his being less advanced in life. -Again, we must suppose his age probably to be not very different from -that of Andromache. But it is quite plain that she was a young mother; -since after the slaughter of Eetion, her father, Achilles shortly -took a ransom for her mother, who thereupon went back to the house of -her own father, Andromache’s maternal grandfather, and subsequently -died there[473]. If then the grandfather of Andromache was alive when -Thebe was taken, and Hector’s age was in due proportion to her own, -he must in all likelihood have been younger than Paris. Again, it may -be noticed that the term ἥβη is nowhere ascribed to Paris, but it is -assigned to Hector at his death[474]. Notwithstanding its complimentary -use for Ulysses in Od. viii. 135, that word has a certain leaning to -early life. But we have a stronger, and indeed I think a conclusive -argument in the speech of Andromache after his death[475]; - -[472] Il. xxiv. 765. - -[473] Il. vi. 426-8. - -[474] Il. xxii. 363. - -[475] Il. xxiv. 725. - - ἆνερ, ἀπ’ αἰῶνος νέος ὤλεο. - -Thus he is distinctly called young. And we may consider it almost -certain, under these circumstances, that Paris was the first-born son -of Priam[476], but that his right of succession oozed away like water -from a man’s hand. - -[476] Possibly Horace meant to convey this opinion in the words _Quid -Paris? ut salvus regnet, vivatque beatus, Cogi posse negat_. Epist. I. -ii. 10. - -The relations of race between the Trojans and the Greeks have already -been examined, in connection with the great Homeric title of ἄναξ -ἀνδρῶν[477]; under some difficulties, which resolve themselves into -this, that Homer, on almost every subject so luminous a guide, is in -all likelihood here, as it were, retained on the side of silence; and -that we have no information, except such as he accidentally lets fall. -But he was under no such preoccupation with regard to the institutions -of Troy; so that, while he had no occasion for the same amount of -detail as he has given us with reference to the Greeks, or the same -minute accuracy as he has there observed, enough appears to supply a -tolerably clear and consistent outline. - -[477] Achæis, sect. ix. p. 492. - -We have been accustomed too negligently to treat the Homeric term Troy, -as if it designated only or properly a single city. But in Homer it -much more commonly means a country, with the city sometimes called Troy -for its capital, and containing many other cities beside it. The proper -name, however, of the city in the poems is Ἴλιος, not Τροίη. Ilios -is used above an hundred and twenty times in the Iliad and Odyssey, -and always strictly means the city. The word Τροίη is used nearly -ninety times, and in the great majority of cases it means the country. -Often it has the epithets εὐρεῖα, ἐρίβωλος, ἐριβώλαξ, which speak for -themselves. But more commonly it is without an epithet; and then too it -very generally means the country. When the Greeks speak, for example, -of the voyage Τροίηνδε, this is the natural sense, rather than to -suppose it means a city not on the sea shore, and into which, till the -end of the siege, they did not find their way at all[478]. - -[478] One only of the epithets of the word Ilios seems to point out -that it may too mean the district. It is εὔπωλος, used Il. v. 551, and -in four other places. - -~_Priam and his dynasty in Troas._~ - -According to the genealogical tree in the Twentieth Iliad, Dardanus -built Dardania among the mountains: his son Erichthonius became -wealthy by possessions in the plain; and Tros, the son of Erichthonius, -was the real founder of the Trojan state and name[479]. - -[479] Il. xx. 230. - - Τρῶα δ’ Ἐριχθόνιος τέκετο Τρώεσσιν ἄνακτα. - -Thus the name of Troes at that time covered the whole race. But the -town of Ilios must, from its name, have been built not earlier than -the time of Ilus, the son of Tros. And now the dynasty separates into -two lines, as Assaracus, the brother of Ilus, continues to reign in -Dardania. Thus the local existence of the Dardanian name is prolonged; -for it is plain that the Dardanian throne was associated, at least in -dignity, with a rival, and not a subordinate, sovereignty. Still it -does not extend beyond the hills. It was over these that Æneas fled -from Achilles[480]. But even the Dardanians did not wholly cease to be -known by the appellation of Trojans; for not only does Homer frequently -use the dominant name Troes for the entire force opposed to the Greeks, -which is naming the whole from the principal part, but he also uses the -word Troes to signify all that part of the force, which was under the -house of Dardanus in either branch; and he distinguishes this portion -from the rest of the force described under the name ἐπίκουροι, at the -opening of the Trojan Catalogue: - -[480] Ibid. 189. - - ἔνθα τότε Τρῶές τε διέκριθεν, ἠδ’ ἐπίκουροι[481]. - -[481] Il. ii. 815. So likewise Il. vi. 111. xiii. 755. xvii. 14. xviii. -229. - -This line is followed by an account of the whole force opposed to the -Greeks, in sixteen divisions. Of these the eleven last bear each their -own national name, beginning with the Pelasgians of Larissa, and ending -with the Lycians; and they are under leaders, whom the whole course -of the poem marks as not being Trojan, but independent. These eleven -evidently were the ἐπίκουροι of ver. 815. - -The five first contingents are introduced and commanded as follows: - -1. Troes under Hector[482]: - -[482] Ver. 816. - - Τρωσὶ μὲν ἡγεμόνευε μέγας κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ. - -2. Dardanians, under Æneas, with two of the (ten) sons of Antenor, -Archelochus and Acamas, for his colleagues[483]: - -[483] Ver. 819. - - Δαρδανίων αὖτ’ ἦρχεν ἐῢς παῖς Ἀγχίσαο. - -3. Trojans of Zelea, at the extreme spur of Ida, under Pandarus[484]: - -[484] Ver. 824-6. - - οἳ δὲ Ζέλειαν ἔναιον ὑπαὶ πόδα νείατον Ἴδης - Τρῶες. - -4. People of Adresteia and other towns, under Adrestus and Amphius, -sons of Merops of Percote[485]: - -[485] Ver. 828. - - οἳ δ’ Ἀδρήστειάν τ’ εἶχον, κ. τ. λ. - -5. People of Percote and other towns, under Asius: - - οἳ δ’ ἄρα Περκώτην, κ. τ. λ. - -And then begins the enumeration of the Allies, each under their -respective national names. - -It seems evident, that these five first-named contingents comprise the -whole of the subjects of the race of Dardanus. First come the Trojans -of the capital and its district, under Hector. Then, taking precedence -on account of dignity, the Dardanian division of Æneas. In the third -contingent the Poet returns to the name Troes, which, I think, plainly -enough overrides the fourth and fifth, just as in the Greek Catalogue -the name Pelasgic Argos[486] introduces and comprehends a number of -contingents that follow, besides that of Achilles. - -[486] ii. 681. - -There are several reasons, which tend plainly to this conclusion. -The sense of διέκριθεν (815) and the reference to the diversity of -tongues spoken (804) almost require the division of the force between -Troes and allies; it is also the most natural division. The fourth -and fifth contingents are not indeed expressly called Troes, but this -name, already given to the third, may include them. We must, I think, -conclude that it does so, when we find clear proof that they were -not independent national divisions: for the troops of Percote were -in the fifth, but the sons of Percosian Merops command the fourth, a -fact inexplicable if these were the forces of independent States, but -natural enough if they were all under the supremacy of Priam and his -house. - -In the great battle of the Twelfth Iliad, the Trojans are πένταχα -κοσμηθέντες (xii. 87). Sarpedon commands the allies with Glaucus -and Asteropæus (v. 101), thus accounting for eleven of the sixteen -divisions in the Catalogue. Æneas, with two sons of Antenor, commands -the Dardanians, thus disposing of a twelfth. Again, Hector, with -Polydamas and Cebriones, commands the πλεῖστοι καὶ ἄριστοι, evidently -the division standing first in the Catalogue. This makes the number -thirteen. The three remaining contingents of the Catalogue are - - 1. Zelean Troes, under Pandarus, (since slain,) Il. ii. 824-7. - - 2. Adresteans &c. under Adrestus and Amphius, (828-34,) both slain, - Il. v. 612. vi. 63. - - 3. Percotians &c. under Asius (835-9). - -These three remaining divisions of the Catalogue evidently reappear -in the second and third of the five Divisions of the Twelfth Book. -The Second is under Paris, with Alcathous, son-in-law of Antenor, and -Agenor, one of his sons. In the command of the Third, Helenus and -Deiphobus, two sons of Priam, are associated with, and even placed -before, Asius. The position given in these divisions to the family of -Priam appears to prove, that the troops forming them were among his -proper subjects. - -Again, the territorial juxtaposition of these districts, between -Phrygia, which lay behind the mountains of Ida, on the one side, and -the sea of Marmora with the Ægæan on the other, perfectly agrees with -the description in the Twenty-fourth Iliad[487] of the range of country -within which Priam had the preeminence in wealth, and in the vigour and -influence of his sons. Strabo quotes this passage as direct evidence -that Priam reigned over the country it describes, which is rather more -than it actually states; and he says that Troas certainly reached to -Adresteia and to Cyzicus. - -[487] Il. xxiv. 543-5. - -Again, we have various signs in different passages of a political -connection between the towns we have named and the race of Priam. -Melanippus, his nephew, was employed before the war at Percote[488]. -Democoon[489], his illegitimate son, tended horses at Abydus; -doubtless, says Strabo[490], the horses of his father. - -[488] Il. xv. 548. - -[489] Il. iv. 99. - -[490] P. 585. - -The partial inclusion of the Dardanians within the name of Troes is -further shown by the verse[491], - -[491] Il. xiii. 463. - - Αἰνεία, Τρώων βουληφόρε· - -and by the appeal of Helenus to Æneas and Hector jointly, as the -persons chiefly responsible for the safety of the Troes and Lycians: -the name Lycians being taken here, as in some other places[492], to -denote most probably a race akin to and locally interspersed with the -Trojans. - -[492] See Il. iv. 197, 207. xv. 485. - -But the Dardanians have more commonly their proper designation -separately given them. It never includes the Troes. And we never find -the two appellations, Troes and Dardans, covering the entire force. -Whenever the Dardans are named with the Troes, there is also another -word, either ἐπίκουροι, or Λύκιοι. - -The word Troes, it is right to add, is sometimes confined strictly to -the inhabitants of the city: but the occasions are rare, and perhaps -always with contextual indications that such is the sense. - -Another sign that Priam exercised a direct sovereignty over the -territory which yielded the five contingents may perhaps be found in -the fact, that we do not find any of his nephews in command of them. -They were led by their local officers, while the brothers of Priam -constituted a part of the community of Troy, and chiefly influenced the -Assembly: and their sons, though apparently more considerable persons -than most of those local officers in general, simply appear as acting -under Hector without special command. The brothers of Priam are Lampus, -Clytius, and Hiketaon. His nephews and other relatives are Dolops the -son of Lampus; Melanippus the son of Hiketaon; Polydamas, Hyperenor, -and Euphorbus, the sons of Panthous and his wife Phrontis. - -Had the senior members of the family held local sovereignties, we -should have found their sons in local commands. But we find only two -sons of Antenor in command, as either colleagues or lieutenants of -Æneas, over the Dardans, whom we have no reason to suppose they had -any share in ruling. - -Strabo, indeed, contends, that there are nine separate δυναστεῖαι -immediately connected with Troy[493], besides the ἐπίκουροι. Of these -states one he thinks was Lelegian, and was ruled over by Altes, -father of Laothoe, one of Priam’s wives. Another by Munes, husband of -Briseis. Another, Thebe, by Eetion, father of Andromache. Others he -considers to be represented by Anchises and Pandarus: but this does -not well agree with the structure of the Catalogue. He refers also -to Lyrnessus and Pedasus; which are nowhere mentioned by Homer as -furnishing contingents, but they had apparently been destroyed, as well -as taken, by Achilles. He places several of the dynasties in cities -thus destroyed: and they all, according to him, lay beyond the limits -marked out in the Twenty-fourth Iliad. - -[493] Strabo xiii. 7. p. 584. - -This assemblage of facts appears to point to a very great diversity of -relations subsisting between Priam, with his capital, and the states, -cities, and races, of which we hear as arrayed on his side in the war. -There are first the cities of Troas, or Troja proper, furnishing the -five, or if we except Dardania four out of the five, first contingents -of the Catalogue. Over these Priam was sovereign. - -There are next the cities, so far as they can be traced, under the -δυναστεῖαι mentioned by Strabo, such as Thebe, and the cities of Altes -and Munes. These were probably in the same sort of relation to the -sceptre of Priam, as the Greek states in general to that of Agamemnon. - -Thirdly, there are the independent nations. Of these eleven named -in the Catalogue; others are added as newly arrived in the Tenth -Book[494], and further additions were subsequently made, such as the -force under Memnon, and the Keteians under Eurypylus[495]. Nothing -perhaps tends so much, as the powerful assistance lent to Priam by -numerous and distant allies, to show how justly in substance Horace has -described the Trojan war as the conflict between the Eastern and the -Western world. The two confederacies, which then came into collision, -between them absorbed the whole known world of Homer; and foreshadowed -the great conflicts of later epochs. - -[494] Il. x. 428-30. - -[495] Od. xi. 519-22. - -~_Political institutions of Troy._~ - -We may now proceed to consider the political institutions of the -kingdom of Priam, which has thus loosely been defined. - -The Βασιλεὺς of the Trojans is less clearly marked, than he is among -the Greeks: for (as we shall find) they had no Βουλὴ, and therefore we -have not the same opportunities of seeing the members of the highest -class collected for separate action in the conduct of the war. Still, -however, the name is distinctly given to the following persons on the -Trojan side, and to no others. - - 1. Priam, Il. v. 464, xxiv. 630. - 2. Paris, iv. 96. - 3. Rhesus, x. 435. - 4. Sarpedon, xii. 319. xvi. 660. - 5. Glaucus, xii. 319. - -Among the Trojans, as among the Greeks, it was the custom for the -kings, as they descended into the vale of years, to devolve the more -active duties of kingship on their children, and to retain, perhaps -only for a time, those of a sedentary character. Hence Hector at least -shares with Priam the management of Assemblies, as it is he[496] who -dissolves that of the Second Book, and calls the military one of the -Eighth. Hence, too, he speaks of himself as the person responsible for -the burdens entailed by the war upon the Trojans. ‘I did not,’ he says -to the allies, ‘bring you from your cities to multiply our numbers, -but that you might defend for me the wives and children of Trojans; -with this object in view, I exhaust the people for your pay and -provisions[497].’ Hence we have Æneas leading the Dardanians, while his -father Anchises nowhere appears, and, as it must be presumed, remains -in his capital. Hence, while ten or twelve sons of Antenor bear arms -for Troy, and two of them are the colleagues of Æneas in the command of -the Dardanian contingent, their father appears among the δημογέροντες, -who were chief speakers in the Assembly within the city. We do not know -that Antenor was a king; more probably he held a lordship subordinate -to Priam, in a relation somewhat more strict than that between -Agamemnon and the Greek chieftains, and rather resembling that between -Peleus and Menœtius; but the same custom of partial retirement seems to -have prevailed in the case of subaltern rulers, as indeed it would be -dictated by the same reasons of prudence and necessity. - -[496] Il. ii. 808. viii. 489. - -[497] Il. xvii. 223-6. - -The βασιλήϊς τιμὴ of Troy was not, any more than those of Greece, an -absolute despotism. In Troy, as in Greece, the public affairs were -discussed and settled in the Assemblies, though with differences, which -will be noticed, from the Greek manner of procedure. It was in the -Assembly that Iris, disguised as Polites, addressed Priam and Hector to -advise a review of the army[498]. And it was again in an Assembly that -Antenor proposed, and that Paris refused, to give up Helen: whereupon -Priam proposed the mission of Idæus to ask for a truce with a view to -the burial of the dead, and the people assented to the proposal[499]; - -[498] Il. ii. 795. - -[499] Il. vii. 379. - - οἱ δ’ ἄρα τοῦ μάλα μὲν κλύον ἠδ’ ἐπίθοντο. - -It was in the Assembly, too, that those earlier proposals had been -made, of which the same personage procured the defeat by corruption. - -Lastly, in the Eighth Book, Hector[500], as we have seen, holds a -military ἀγορὴ of the army by the banks of the Scamander. At this he -invites them to bivouac outside the Greek rampart, and they accept -his proposal by acclamation. This Assembly on the field of battle is -an argument _a fortiori_ to show, that ordinary affairs were referred -among the Trojans to such meetings. We have, indeed, no detail of any -Trojan Assembly except these three. But we have references to them, -which give a similar view of their nature and functions. Idæus, on his -return, announces to the Assembly that the truce is granted[501]. It -is plain that the restoration of Helen was debated before, as well as -during the war, in the Assembly of the people; because Agamemnon slays -the two sons of Antimachus on the special ground that the father had -there proposed that Menelaus, if not Ulysses, should be murdered[502], -when they came as Envoys to Troy, for the purpose of demanding her -restoration. This Antimachus was bribed by Paris, as the Poet tells us, -to oppose the measure[503]. Again, Polydamas, in one of his speeches, -charges Hector with having used him roughly, when he had ventured -to differ from him in the Assemblies, upon the ground that he ought -not, as a stranger to the Trojan δῆμος, to promote dissension among -them[504]. - -[500] Il. viii. 489, 542. - -[501] Il. vii. 414-7. - -[502] Il. xi. 138. - -[503] Ibid. 123. - -[504] Il. xii. 211-14. - -Trojan institutions do not, then, present to our view a greater -elevation of the royal office. On the contrary, it is remarkable, that -the title of δημογέρων, which Homer applies to the chief speakers of -the Trojan Assembly, not being kings, is also used by him to describe -Ilus the founder of the city[505]. It is, however, possible, perhaps -even likely, that this title may be applied to Ilus as a younger son, -if his brother Assaracus was the eldest and the heir[506]. - -[505] Il. xi. 37. - -[506] Il. xx. 232. - -But although it thus appears that monarchy was limited in Troy, as it -was in Greece, and that public affairs were conducted in the assemblies -of the people, the method and organization of these Assemblies was -different in the two cases. - -1. The guiding element in the Trojan government seems to have been age -combined with rank; while among the Greeks, wisdom and valour were -qualifications, not less available than age and rank. - -2. The Greeks had the institution of a βουλὴ, which preceded and -prepared matter for their Assemblies. The Trojans had not. - -3. The Greeks, as we have seen, employed oratory as a main instrument -of government; the Trojans did not. - -4. The aged members of the Trojan royal family rendered their aid to -the state, not as counsellors of Priam in private meetings, but only in -the Assembly of the people. - -A few words on each of these heads. - -~_The greater weight of Age in Troy._~ - -1. The old men who appear on the wall with Priam, in the Third Book, -are really old, and not merely titular or official γέροντες; they -are[507], - -[507] Il. iii. 150. - - γήραϊ δὴ πολέμοιο πεπαυμένοι. - -There are no less than seven of them, besides Priam. Three are his -brothers, Lampus, Clytius, Hiketaon; the others probably relatives, -we know not in what precise degree: Panthous, Thymœtes, Ucalegon, -Antenor. They are called collectively the Τρώων ἡγήτορες, as well as -the ἀγορηταὶ ἐσθλοί; and they were manifestly habitual speakers in the -Assembly. - -There is nothing in the Greek life of the Homeric poems that comes near -this aggregation of aged men. Now we have no evidence, that their being -thus collected was in any degree owing to the war. Theano, wife of -Antenor, was priestess of Minerva in Troy; which makes it most probable -that he resided there habitually, and not only on account of the war. - -The only group at all approaching this is, where we see Menœtius and -Phœnix at the Court of Peleus; but we cannot say whether this was a -permanent arrangement. Phœnix, as we know, was lord of the Dolopians, -and if so, could not have been a standing assistant at the court of -Peleus; we do not know that the Trojan elders held any such local -position apart from Troy, even in any single case; and on the other -hand, we have no knowledge whether Phœnix and Menœtius, even when at -the court of Peleus, took any share in the government of his immediate -dominions. The name γέροντες, as usually employed among the Greeks to -describe a class, had no necessary relation to age whatever. - -Of the respect paid to age in Greece, we have abundant evidence; but we -find nothing like this gathering together of a body of old men to be -the ordinary guides of popular deliberation in the Assemblies. - -It is true that we hear by implication of both Hector and Polydamas, -who were not old, as taking part in affairs: but all the indications -in the Iliad go to show that Hector’s share in the government of Troy, -though not limited to the mere conduct of the forces in the field, -yet arose out of his military office, and probably touched only such -matters as were connected with the management of the war. Polydamas -evidently was treated as more or less an interloper. - -But even if it were otherwise, and if the middle-aged men of high -station and ability took a prominent part in affairs, the existence of -this grey-headed company, with apparently the principal statesmanship -of Troy in their hands, forms a marked difference from Greek manners. -For in Greece at peace we have nothing akin to it; while in Greece at -war upon the plain of Troy, we see the young Diomed as well as the old -Nestor, and the rather young Achilles and Ajax, as well as the elderly -Idomeneus, associated with the middle-aged men in the government of the -army and its operations. - -~_The absence of a Βουλὴ in Troy._~ - -First then, I think it plain that the Trojans had no βουλὴ, for the -following reasons: - -1. That although we often hear of deliberations and decisions taken on -the part of the Trojans, and we have instances enough of their holding -assemblies of the people, yet we never find mention of a βουλὴ, or -Council, in connection with them. - -2. In the Second Book, Homer describes the Trojan ἀγορὴ thus (Il. ii. -788, 9): - - οἱ δ’ ἀγορὰς ἀγόρευον ἐπὶ Πριάμοιο θύρῃσιν - πάντες ὁμηγερέες, ἠμὲν νέοι ἠδὲ γέροντες. - -This latter line is only to be accounted for by the supposition, that -Homer meant to describe a difference between the usages of the Trojans, -and those of the Greeks; whose γέροντες were recognised as members of -the βουλὴ, even when in the Assemblies. - -Of the separate place of the Greek γέροντες in the Assemblies, we have -conclusive proof from the Shield of Achilles (xviii. 497, 503): - - λαοὶ δ’ εἰν ἀγορῇ ἔσαν ἄθροοι· - -and afterwards, - - οἱ δὲ γέροντες - εἵατ’ ἐπὶ ξεστοῖσι λίθοις, ἱερῷ ἐνὶ κύκλῳ. - -And again, where the Ithacan γέροντες make way for Telemachus, as he -passes to the chair of his father. - -But in Troy the γέροντες (such is probably the meaning of Il. ii. 789.) -have no separate function: the young and the old meet together: while -in Greece, besides distinct places in the Assembly, the γέροντες had an -exclusive function in the βουλὴ, at which they met separately from the -young. - -3. It would appear that the ἀγορὴ was with the Trojans not occasional, -as with the Greeks, for great questions, but habitual. And this agrees -with the description in Il. ii. 788. For when Jupiter sends Iris to -Troy, she finds the people in Assembly, but apparently for no special -purpose, as she immediately, in the likeness of Polites, begins to -address Priam, and we do not hear of any other business. So, when -Idæus came back from the Greeks, he found the Trojan Assembly still -sitting. All this looks as if the entire business of administering the -government rested with that body only. - -I draw a similar inference from the remarkable expression in Il. ii. -788, ἀγορὰς ἀγόρευον. This seems to express that there was a standing, -probably a daily, assembly of the Trojans, not formally summoned, and -open to all comers, which acted as the governing body for the state. -The line would then mean, not simply ‘the Trojans were holding an -assembly,’ but ‘the Trojans were holding their assembly as usual.’ - -The names βουλευτὴς and ἀγορητὴς appear to have been merely -descriptive, and not titular. Both are applied to the Trojan elders. - -And so βουλαὶ, βουλεύειν, βουληφόροι, are constantly used without any, -so to speak, official meaning. In Il. x. 147, the expression βουλὰς -βουλεύειν can hardly mean ‘to attend the βουλὴ,’ for the singular -number would be the proper term for the βουλὴ specially convoked: and -I interpret it as meaning, to attend at or to hold the usual council. -This is among the Greeks. Among the Trojans, in Il. x. 415-17, Dolon -says, - - Ἕκτωρ μὲν μετὰ τοῖσιν, ὅσοι βουληφόροι εἰσὶν, - βουλὰς βουλεύει θείου παρὰ σήματι Ἴλου, - νόσφιν ἀπὸ φλοίσβου. - -Now the word βουληφόρος is applied, Il. xii. 414, to Sarpedon, as well -as in xiii. 463 and elsewhere to Æneas. Neither were among the γέροντες -βουλευταί. But further, it is applied, Od. ix. 112, to the ἀγορὴ itself: - - τοῖσιν δ’ οὔτ’ ἀγοραὶ βουληφόροι, οὔτε θέμιστες - -And therefore the word, though it means councillor in a general sense, -does not mean officially member of a βουλὴ, as opposed to an ἀγορὴ or -Assembly. - -The phrase βουλὰς βουλεύει, in the passage Il. x. 415-17, does not -oppose, but supports what has now been said. It is quite plain that -this of Hector’s was a small military meeting, or council of war, -just as in viii. 489 he held an ἀγορὴ, or assembly of the army, both -Trojans and allies; it was not a meeting of a βουλὴ of Troy, because -it was held in the field, far from the city, and without any of the -Elders, who were the great ἀγορηταὶ and βουλευταὶ of Troy; for Hector -had already arranged (Il. viii. 517-19) that the old men should remain -in the city, to defend the walls from any night attack: most of all -however because, as we hear of no βουλὴ before the military Assembly -in the Eighth Book, so we hear of no Assembly following the meeting -for deliberation in the Tenth. Generals in modern times hold councils -of war: but no parallel can be drawn between them, and Councils for -dispatching the affairs of a State. - -As we never have occasion to become acquainted with Trojan politics in -peace, we can only argue the case as to the nonexistence of a council -from the state of war. But in Greece, it will be remembered, both war -and peace present their cases of the use of this institution, as one -regularly established, and apparently invested with both a deliberative -and an executive character. - -~_The greater weight of oratory in Greece._~ - -It is next to be inquired, whether the Trojans, like the Greeks, -employed eloquence, detailed argument as furnishing, and the other -parts of oratory, a main instrument of government. - -I think it is plain, that the decisions of their Assemblies were -governed rather by simple authority; by the ἀναποδεικταὶ φάσεις, the -simple declarations, of persons of weight. - -The report of the re-assembled ἀγορὴ of the Greeks in the Second -Book begins with the 211th line, and ends with the 398th: occupying -188 lines. But the Trojan ἀγορὴ of the same Book is despatched in -twenty-one lines (788-808). - -A more remarkable example is afforded by the second Trojan Assembly -(Il. vii. 345-379). For this ἀγορὴ is described as δεινὴ, τετρηχυῖα; -and well it might be, in circumstances so arduous. The Elders in the -Third Book were of opinion that, beautiful as Helen was, it was better -to restore her, than to continue the sufferings and dangers of the -war. Accordingly, Antenor urged in this Assembly that she should be -restored, together with the plundered property. He referred also to the -recent breach of a sworn covenant on the Trojan side, and said no good -could come of it. This he effects in a speech of six lines; the first -of which is the mere vocative address to the Assembly, and the last is -marked as surplusage with the _obelos_ (348-53). - -Paris, the person mainly concerned, replies. He does not address -himself to the Assembly at all, but to Antenor: and he disposes of the -subject of debate in eight lines (357-64). Four of them are given to -the announcement of his intentions, and four to abuse of Antenor. - -It was impossible to conceive a subject more likely to cause debate; -and excitement we see there was, but after the speech of Paris, nothing -more was said about Helen, either for or against the restoration. Priam -then arose, and in a speech of eleven lines (368-78) laid down another -plan of proceeding, namely, by a message to the Greeks for a truce with -a view to funeral obsequies, which was at once accepted. - -~_Oratory of greater weight in Greece._~ - -Nowhere, in short, among the Trojans have we any example, I do not -say of multiplied or lengthened speeches, but of real reasoning and -deliberation in the conduct of business: though Glaucus tells his story -at great length to Diomed on the field of battle (Il. vi. 145-211), -and Æneas to Achilles (Il. xx. 199-258) nearly equals him. Indeed, it -may almost be said, the Trojans are long speakers when in battle, and -short when in debate: the Greeks copious in debate, but very succinct -in battle. - -Again, we may observe the different descriptions which the Poet -has given of the elocution of Nestor, and of that of the Trojan -δημογέροντες in their respective ἀγοραί. To Nestor (Il. i. 248, 9) -he seems to assign a soft continuous flow indefinitely prolonged. -Theirs he describes as resembling the ὄπα λειριόεσσαν of grasshoppers -(Il. iii. 151, 2), a clear trill or thread of voice, not only without -any particular idea of length attached to it, but apparently meant -to recall a sharp intermittent chirp. Yet there is an odd proof that -to Priam at least, as one of these old men, there was attached, by -the younger ones, the imputation of favouring either too many or else -too long orations. For, in the ἀγορὴ of the Second Book, Iris in the -character of Polites, though there is no account of what had preceded -her arrival, objurgates Priam as both then encouraging what may be -called indiscriminate speaking, and as having formally, before the war, -been addicted to the same practice[508]; - -[508] Il. ii. 796. - - ὦ γέρον, αἰεί τοι μῦθοι φίλοι ἄκριτοί εἰσιν, - ὥς ποτ’ ἐπ’ εἰρήνης. - -Upon the whole, I think it must have been Homer’s intention, while -representing both Trojans and Greeks as carrying on public affairs in -their public Assemblies, to draw a very marked distinction between them -in regard to the use of that powerful engine of oratory, which played -so conspicuous a part in the former, as well as in the later stages of -the Greek history. - -And it is important, that nowhere does a sentiment escape the lips of -a Trojan chieftain, which indicates a consciousness of the political -value of oratory. Ulysses, in a state of peace, describes before the -Phæacians beauty and eloquence as the noblest gifts of the gods to -man[509]: and employs ἔπεα and νόος, eloquence and intelligence, as -convertible terms. Polydamas, when rebuking Hector in the Thirteenth -Iliad, delivers a passage in many respects strikingly analogous. He -speaks, however, of νόος and βουλὴ, mind and counsel[510]; he does not -drop a word relating to public speech or to eloquence as instruments of -government, though he describes the mental quality and the habit which -he names as of priceless value for the benefit of States. - -[509] Od. viii. 170, 5, 7. - -[510] Il. xiii. 726-34. - -The phrases applied to the Trojan elders appear to indicate, that they -derived their political character from taking a prominent part in the -Assembly, and from that alone. For the word δημογέρων indicates an -elder acting in and among the δῆμος, or people. And this name the Poet -uses but twice: once in Il. iii. 149, where he enumerates the eight -persons, who bore that character in Troy; and once with reference to -Ilus (Il. ii. 372). Homer nowhere employs this term for any of the -Greeks. - -The want of the βουλὴ shows us, that there was no balance of forces -in the Trojan polity, less security against precipitate action, more -liability to high-handed insolence and oppression of the people, and, -on the other hand, unless the danger had been neutralized by mildness -or lethargy of character, likewise in all likelihood to revolutionary -change. - -~_Trojans less gifted with self-command._~ - -Again, on the Trojan side we do not find the silence and -self-possession of the Greeks. After the enumeration in the Third Book, -at its opening, we find that the Trojans marched with din and buzz: - - Τρῶες μὲν κλαγγῇ τ’ ἐνοπῇ τ’ ἴσαν, ὄρνιθες ὥς· - -but as to the Greeks, we are told that they marched in profound -silence: and the Poet skilfully heightens the contrast by mentioning -that they breathed forth what they did not articulate, and that they -were steeled with firm resolution to stand by one another[511]: - -[511] Il. iii. 2, 8. - - οἱ δ’ ἄρ’ ἴσαν σιγῇ μένεα πνείοντες Ἀχαιοὶ, - ἐν θυμῷ μεμαῶτες ἀλεξέμεν ἀλλήλοισιν. - -We are finally told that each leader indeed gave the word to his men, -while all beside were mute[512]: - -[512] Il. iv. 429. - - οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι ἀκὴν ἴσαν, οὐδέ κε φαίης - τόσσον λαὸν ἕπεσθαι ἔχοντ’ ἐν στήθεσιν αὐδὴν, - σιγῇ δειδιότες σημάντορας· - -but from the Trojans there arose a sound, like that of sheep bleating -for their lambs[513]: - -[513] Ibid. 436. - - ὣς Τρώων ἀλαλητὸς ἀνὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν ὀρώρει. - -And, again, we find the relation of the burning of the dead given with -the usual consistency of the Poet. The men of the two armies met: and -on both sides they shed tears as they lifted their lifeless comrades on -the wagons: but, he adds, there was silence among the Trojans, - - οὐδ’ εἴα κλαίειν Πρίαμος μέγας· - -and it was because the king had felt that there would be indecency in a -noisy show of sorrow: while the Greeks needed not the injunction (Il. -vii. 426-32), from their spontaneous self-command. - -When the Poet speaks of the Trojan Assembly in the Seventh Book as -δεινὴ τετρηχυῖα, he evidently means to describe an excitement tending -to disorder: and one contrasted in a remarkable manner with the -discipline of the Greeks, who were summoned to meet silently in the -night, that they might not, in gathering, arouse the enemy outside the -ramparts. Even in their respective modes of expressing approbation, -Homer makes a shade of difference. When the Greeks applaud, it is -ἐπίαχον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν, or what we call loud or vehement cheering: but -when the Trojans, it is ἐπὶ δὲ Τρῶες κελάδησαν, which signifies a more -miscellaneous and tumultuous noise. - -In short, it would appear to be the intention of Homer to represent -the Greeks as possessed of a higher intelligence throughout. In the -Odyssey, we find that Ulysses made his way into Troy disguised as -a beggar, communicated with Helen, duly informed himself (κατὰ δὲ -φρόνιν ἤγαγε πολλήν[514]), and contrived to despatch certain of the -Trojans before he departed. In the Iliad we are supplied with abundant -instances of the superior management of the Greeks, and likewise of -their auxiliary gods, in comparison with those of the Trojans. Juno -outwits Venus in obtaining from her the cestus, and then proceeds -to outwit Jupiter in the use of it. Minerva, on observing that the -Greeks are losing, (Il. vii. 17) betakes herself to Troy, where Apollo -proposes just what she wants, namely, a cessation of the general -engagement, with a view to a personal encounter between Hector and some -chosen chieftain: she immediately adopts the plan; and he causes it to -be executed through Helenus. It both stops the general havoc among the -Greeks, and redounds greatly to the honour of their champion Ajax. At -the end of the day, however, Nestor suggests to the Greek chiefs, on -account of their heavy losses (Il. vii. 328), that they should, on the -occasion of raising a mound over their dead, likewise dig and fortify -a trench, which might serve to defend the ships and camp. In the mean -time the Trojans are made to meet; and they send to propose the very -measure, namely, an armistice for funeral rites, which the Greeks -desire, in order, under cover of it, to fortify themselves (Il. vii. -368-97). And this accordingly Agamemnon is enabled to grant as a sort -of favour to the Trojans (Il. vii. 408): - -[514] Od. iv. 258. - - ἀμφὶ δὲ νεκροῖσιν κατακαιέμεν οὔτι μεγαίρω. - -This superior intelligence is probably meant to be figured by the -exchange of arms between Glaucus and Diomed. And, again, when Hector -attempts anything in the nature of a stratagem, as the mission of -Dolon by night, it is only that he may fall into the hands of Diomed -and Ulysses. But there does not appear to be in any of these cases -a violation of oath, compact, or any absolute rule of equity by the -Greeks. - -Of all these traits, however, it may be said, that they are of no -value as evidence, if taken by themselves. They are means which would -obviously occur to the Poet, zealous for his own nation. It is their -accordance with other indications, apparently undesigned, which -warrants our relying upon them as real testimonies, available for an -historic purpose. - -~_Difference in pursuits of high-born youth._~ - -Although, on the whole, we seem to have the signs of greater wealth -among the Trojans than the Greeks, yet in certain points also their -usages were more primitive and simple. Thus we find the youths of the -house of Nestor immediately about his person; and Patroclus, as well -as Achilles, was apparently brought up at the court of Peleus. Again, -the youthful Nestor travels into Thessaly for a campaign: Ulysses -goes to hunt at the Court of his grandfather Autolycus. The Ithacan -Suitors employ themselves in manly games. But we frequently come upon -passages where we are incidentally informed, that the princes of the -house of Dardanus were occupied in rustic employments. Thus Melanippus, -son of Hiketaon, and cousin of Hector, who was residing in Priam’s -palace, and treated as one of his children, had before the war tended -oxen in Percote[515]. Æneas, the only son and heir of Anchises, had -been similarly occupied among or near the hills, at the time when he -had a narrow escape from capture by Achilles[516]. Lycaon, son of -Priam, was cutting the branches of the wild fig for the fellies of -chariot-wheels when Achilles took him for the second time: on the first -occasion, he had been at work in a vineyard[517]. Antiphos and Isos, -sons of Priam, had been captured by Achilles whilst they were acting -as shepherds[518]. Anchises was acting as a herdsman, when he formed -his connection with Venus[519]. The name of Boucolion, an illegitimate -son of Laomedon, seems to indicate that he was bred for the like -occupation[520]. - -[515] Il. xv. 546-51. - -[516] Il. xx. 188. - -[517] Il. xxi. 37. 77. - -[518] Il. xi. 105. - -[519] Il. ii. 821. v. 313. - -[520] Il. vi. 25. - -From the force, variety, and extreme delicacy of his uses of the -word, it is evident that Homer set very great store by the sentiment -which is generally expressed through the word αἰδώς, and which ranges -through all the varieties of shame, honour, modesty, and reverence. -Though a minute, it is a remarkable circumstance, that he confines -the application of this term to the Greeks; except, I think, in one -passage, where he bestows it upon his particular favourites the -Lycians[521], and a single other one, where Æneas[522] employs it under -the immediate inspiration of Apollo, with another sense, in an appeal -to Hector and his brother chiefs, not to the soldiery at large. - -[521] Il. xvi. 422. - -[522] Il. xvii. 336. - -With the Greeks it supplies the staple of military exhortation[523] -from the chiefs to the army; Αἰδὼς, Ἀργεῖοι. - -[523] Il. v. 787. viii. 228. _et alibi_. - -But quite a different form of speech is uniformly addressed to the -Trojans proper: it is - - ἀνέρες ἔστε, φίλοι, μνήσασθε δὲ θουρίδος ἀλκῆς, - -which is below the other, and appeals to a less peculiar and refined -frame of intelligence and of sentiment. - -~_Summary of differences._~ - -Whatever may be thought of the degree of detail into which (guided as -I think by the text) I have ventured to carry this discussion, and of -the particularity of some of the inferences that have been drawn, I -venture to hope few will quit the subject without the conviction that -Homer has worked with the purpose and precision which are his wont, in -the diversities which mark the general outline of his Greeks and his -Trojans, and of the institutions of each respectively; and that he has -not altogether withheld from his national portraits the care, which he -is admitted to have applied to his individual characters on both sides -with such extraordinary success. If we look to the institutions of the -two countries, although the comparison is diversified, we must upon -the whole concede to the Greeks, that they had laid more firmly than -their adversaries those great corner stones of human society, which are -named in their language, θέμις, ὅρκος, and γάμος. In the polity of Troy -we find more scope for impulse, less for deliberation and persuasion; -more weight given to those elements of authority which do not depend -on our free will and intelligence, less to those which do; less of -organization and of diversity, less firmness and tenacity of tissue, in -the structure of the community. We are told of no φῦλα and no φρῆτραι, -no intermediate ranks of officers in the army; no order of nobles or -proprietors, such as that which furnished the Suitors of Ithaca. There -are, in short, fewer secondary eminences; it is a state of things, more -resembling the dead level of the present Oriental communities subject -to a despotic throne, though such was not the throne of Priam. Among -the people themselves, there is more of religious observance and -apparatus, but not more of morality: less tendency indeed to crimes -of violence and turbulence, but also less of truth, of honour, above -all of personal self-mastery and self-command. The Greeks never would -have produced the Paris of the Iliad; for on behalf of no such dastard -would they have been induced to bleed. But if they had engendered -such a creature, they would not have paid the penalty: for man in -the Trojan type would not have had the energy to recover it from the -warrior-statesmen of the Achæan race, and under no circumstances could -the really extravagant sentiment put by Virgil into the mouth of -Diomed[524] have been fulfilled: - -[524] Æn. xi. 286. - - ultro Inachias venisset ad urbes - Dardanus, et versis lugeret Græcia fatis. - - - - -III. THALASSA. - -THE OUTER GEOGRAPHY OF THE ODYSSEY. - - -The legendary Geography of the Odyssey may in one sense be compared -with that of Ariosto, and that of Bojardo. I should be the first, -indeed, to admit that a disquisition, having for its object to -establish the delimitation of the Geography of either of those poets, -and to fix its relation to the actual surface of the earth, was but -labour thrown away. For two thousand years, however, perhaps for more, -the Geography of the Odyssey has been a subject of interest and of -controversy. In entering upon that field I ask myself, why the case of -Homer is in this respect so different from that of the great Italian -romancers? It is not only that, great as they were, we are dealing with -one before whom their greatness dwindles into comparative littleness. -Nor is it only, though it seems to be in part, because the adventures -of Ulysses are, or appear to be, much more strictly bound up with -place, than those of Orlando, Rinaldo, or Ruggiero. The difference, I -think, mainly lies in this, that an intense earnestness accompanies -Homer every where, even through his wild and noble romance. Cooped up -as he was within a narrow and local circle--for such it was, though -it was for so many centuries the centre of the whole greatness of the -world--here is his effort to pass the horizon ‘by strength of thought;’ -to pierce the mist; to shape the dim, confused, and conflicting -reports he could pick up, according to the best of his knowledge and -belief, into land and sea; to people its habitable spots with the -scanty material he could command, every where enlarged, made good, and -adorned out of the wealth of his vigorous imagination; and to form, -by effort of the brain, for the first time as far as we know in the -history of our race, an idea of a certain configuration for the surface -of the Earth. - -Hence, perhaps, may have flowed the potency of the charm, which has -attended the subject of Homer’s Outer Geography. The subject has, -however, in my belief, its utility too. It is rarely otherwise than -well worth while to trace even the erroneous thoughts of powerful -minds. But, moreover, in the present instance, I apprehend we can -learn, through the Outer Geography of Homer, important and interesting -matter of history, which is not to be learned from any other source. -For the Poet has embedded into his imaginative scheme a multitude of -real geographical and physical traditions; and by means of these, upon -comparing them with their proper originals, we can judge with tolerable -accuracy what were the limits of human enterprise on the face of earth -in the heroic age. - -The question before us is, what map of the earth did Homer shape in -his own mind, that he might adjust to it the voyages and tours of his -heroes Menelaus and Ulysses, particularly the latter? And in order to a -legitimate inquiry the first step to be taken is negative. Do not let -us engage in the vain attempt to construct the Geography of the Odyssey -upon the basis of the actual distribution of the earth’s surface. Such -a process can lead to no satisfactory result. Whatever materials Homer -may have obtained to assist him, we must consider as so many atoms; -I speak of course, as to all that lay beyond the narrow sphere of his -Greek knowledge and experience. He had no adequate means of placing -the different parts of the accounts which reached him in their true -geographical relations to one another. The outer world was for him -broken up into fragments, and these fragments were rearranged at his -pleasure, with the aid of such lights only, as his limited physical -knowledge could afford him. - -~_Principal heads of the inquiry._~ - -Assuming for the present that the Phœnicianism of the Outer Geography -has been on the whole sufficiently proved, I proceed to a more exact -examination of the subject itself; and I propose to inquire into the -following questions. - -1. Has Homer two modes of dealing with the subject of locality, -considered at large? if so, can it be shown that he applies them to two -distinct geographical regions; one the circumscribed central tract of -land and sea within which he lived, the other a wider and larger zone, -which lay beyond it in all directions; and can a line be drawn with -reasonable confidence and precision between these geographical regions -accordingly? - -2. If it be established that Homer has a system of Outer Geography, -severed by a sufficiently-defined barrier from his Inner Geography, -then are there any, and if so what, keys, or leading ideas of local -arrangement for the former scheme, which, themselves derived from the -evidence of his text, should be used for the adjustment of its details? - -3. Under the system thus ascertained, what was the route of Menelaus, -and more especially of Ulysses, as these presented themselves to the -mind of Homer? - -I set out from the proposition, which, as I conceive, rests upon -universal consent, that within a certain sphere the poems may be -considered as a record of experimental geography; and one sometimes -carried down into detail with so much of accuracy, that it embraces -even the miniature of that branch of knowledge, to which we usually -give the name of topography. - -By way of example for the former, I should say that when Homer -describes the Bœotian towns, when he measures the distance over the -Ægean, nay, when he makes Ulysses represent that he floated in ten -days from some point near Crete to the Thesprotian coast, he is a -geographer. Again, in his variously estimated account of the interior -of Ithaca, he is a topographer. He is the same on the whole, though -probably with greater license, when he is dealing with the Plain of -Troy. - -~_The two spheres of Geography._~ - -In speaking of the experimental geography of Homer, of course I do -not intend to imply that he had, even within his narrow sphere, the -means that later science has afforded of establishing situations and -distances with absolute precision. He could only proceed by the far -ruder testimony of the senses, trained in the school of experience. -Neither do I mean that the experience was in every case his own, though -to a great extent his geographical information was probably original, -and acquired by him principally in the exercise of his profession as an -itinerating Bard. But by the experimental and real geography of Homer, -I mean these two things; first, that the Poet believed himself to be -describing _pro tanto_ points upon the earth’s surface as they actually -were; secondly, that his means of information were for practical -purposes adequate. The evidence of the passage containing the simile of -the Thought (Il. xv. 580) would suffice, were there none other, to show -that he was himself a traveller; he also lived among a people already -accustomed to travel, and familiar with the navigation of a certain -portion of the earth’s surface. In a former part of this work I have -given several instances to illustrate the disposition of the early -Greeks with respect to travel[525]. A people of habits like theirs was -well qualified to supply a practical system of geography for the whole -sphere with which it was habitually conversant. - -[525] Achæis, or Ethnology; sect. vii. p. 336. - -But the boldness and maturity of navigation may be measured pretty -nearly by the length of its voyages. The geographical particulars of -the Wanderings, however dislocated and distorted, show us that the -people who had supplied them had acquired a considerable acquaintance -with all the waters within, and probably also, nay, I should be -disposed to say certainly, some that were without, the Straits of -Gibraltar. But in all the poems of Homer we find the traces of Greek -knowledge and resort become fainter and fainter, as we pass beyond -certain points. On the Greek Peninsula, to the south of the Ambracian -gulf on the west and of Mount Olympus on the east, we have the signs -of a constant intercourse to and fro. The same tokens extend to the -islands immediately surrounding it, and reaching at least as far as -Crete. Indeed, apart from particular signs, we may say that, without -familiar and frequent intercourse among the members that composed it, -the empire of Agamemnon could not have subsisted. - -But, at certain distances, the mode of geographical handling becomes -faint, mistrustful, and indistinct. Distances are misstated, or cease -to be stated at all. The names of countries are massed together in such -a way as to show that the Poet had no idea of a particular mode of -juxtaposition for them. Topographical or local features, of a character -such as to identify a description with some particular place or -region as its prototype in nature, are erroneously transposed to some -situation which, from general indications, we can see must be upon a -different and perhaps distant part of the surface of the globe. Again, -by ceasing to define distances and directions, he shows from time to -time that he has lost confidence in his own collocation, that he is -not willing to challenge a comparison with actual nature, and that, -from want of accurate knowledge, he feels he must seek some degree of -shelter in generalities. - -It is obvious that, under the circumstances as they have thus far been -delineated, the geography of the poems, with a centre fixed for it -somewhere in Greece, say at Olympus or Mycenæ, might be first of all -divided into three zones, ranging around that centre. The first and -innermost would be that of the familiar knowledge and experience of -his countrymen. The second would be that of their rare and occasional -resort. The third would be a region wholly unknown to them, and with -respect to which they were wholly dependent on foreign, that is on -Phœnician, report; much as a Roman, five hundred years ago, would -practically depend upon the reports of Venetians and Genoese mariners -for all or nearly all his ultra-marine knowledge. - -Now, though we may not be able to mark positively at every point of the -compass the particular spot at which we step from the first zone to the -second, and from the second to the third, yet there is enough of the -second zone discernible to make it serve for an effectual delimitation -between the first and the third; between the region of experience and -that of marvel; of foreign, arbitrary, unchecked, and semifabulous -report. Just as we are unable to fix the moment at which night passes -into dawn, and dawn into day; but yet the dawn of morning, and the -twilight of evening are themselves the lines which broadly separate -between the day and the night, lying respectively at the extremities of -each. So with the poems of Homer, it may be a question whether a given -place, say Phœnicia, is in the first or the second zone; or whether -some other, such as Scheria, or as the Bosphorus, is in the second or -the third; but it will never be difficult to affirm of any important -place named in the poems _either_ that it is not in the zone of common -experience, or else that it is not in the zone of foreign fable. - -~_Limits of the Inner Geography._~ - -Let me now endeavour to draw the lines, which thus far have been laid -down only in principle. - -1. And first it seems plain, that the experimental knowledge of Homer -extended over the whole of the continental territory embraced within -the Greek Catalogue, including, along with the continent, those islands -which he has classed with his mainland, and not in his separate insular -group[526]. - -[526] Il. ii. 645-80. - -2. It may be slightly doubtful whether he had a similar knowledge of -the islands forming the base of the Ægean. There is a peculiarity in -the Cretan description (Il. ii. 645-52), namely, that after enumerating -certain cities he closes with general words (649), - - ἄλλοι θ’, οἳ Κρήτην ἑκατόμπολιν ἀμφενέμοντο. - -Still he uses characteristic epithets: and in another place (Od. xiv. -257), he defines (of course by time) the distance from Crete to Egypt. -So again in Rhodes (656), Camirus has the characteristic epithet of -ἀργινόεις. On the whole we may place this division within the first -zone of Homeric geography. - -3. Homer would appear to have had an accurate knowledge of the -positions of the islands of Lemnos, Samothrace, Imbros, Lesbos, Samos, -and Chios[527]. These we may consider, without further detail, as -answering practically for the whole Ægean sea. - -[527] Il. xiv. 225-30. xiii. 10-16, 33. xiv. 281. xxiv. 78, 753, 434. -Od. iii. 169-72. - -4. Homer knew the positions of Emathia and Pieria, relatively to one -another and to Greece; and the general course of the southern ranges of -the Thracian mountains[528]. The Trojan Catalogue appears to show that -he also knew the coast-line westward from the Dardanelles, as far as -to the river Axius. There we may consider that his Pieria begins, with -Greece upon its southern and western border. - -[528] Il. xiv. 225-30. Od. v. 50. - -5. It would appear that Homer had a pretty full knowledge of the -southern coast-line of the Propontis. He seems to place the Thracians -of the Trojan Catalogue on the northern side of that sea, but his -language is quite general with respect to this part of it. On the south -side, however, and in the whole north-western corner of Asia Minor, -we appear to find him at home[529]. Thus much we may safely conclude -from the detail of the Trojan Catalogue; from the particular account -of the Idæan rivers in the Twelfth Iliad[530]; from the latter part -of the journey of Juno in the Fourteenth[531]; and from the speech of -Achilles in the Twenty-fourth[532], which fixes the position of Phrygia -relatively to Troy. - -[529] Forbiger thinks he knew the southern coast of the Black sea to a -certain extent. Handbuch der Alten Geographie, sect. 4. p. 10. - -[530] Il. xii. 17-24. - -[531] Il. xiv. 280-4. - -[532] Il. xxiv. 543-6. - -6. From the point of Lectum to the southward, Homer shows a knowledge -of the coast-line as far as Lycia in the south-western quarter of Asia -Minor. But here we must close his inner sphere. The Solyman mountains -supply the only local notice in the poems which can be said to belong -to the interior country, and of these his conceptions are evidently as -far as possible from geographical. In the Sixth Iliad[533] he appears -to conceive of the Solyman people as bordering upon Lycia. Although -the name has suggested to some a connection with Jerusalem, we ought -to consider it as representing that for which it stands in geography, -a part of the grand inland mass of Asiatic mountains. But from the -proximity of the Solymi to Lycia, Homer would appear to have moved them -greatly westward. Again, when Neptune in the Fifth Odyssey sees Ulysses -from the Solyman mountains on his way from Ogygia, we must suppose -that Homer conceived them to command some point of a neighbouring and -continuous line of sea, which would allow of such a prospect. He would -hardly have made Neptune see Ulysses from Lycia, or from a point across -the mountains of Thrace, or from one on the other side of the actual -Mount Taurus. - -[533] Il. vi. 184. - -We have now, I think, made the circuit of the whole zone, and it is a -small one, of the real or experimental geography of Homer. - -~_The intermediate or doubtful Zone._~ - -Let us take next the intermediate zone, which marks the extreme and -infrequent points of Greek resort. - -Beginning in the west and north-west, we have found Sicania (now Upper -Calabria), Epirus, and the country of the Thesprotians[534], marking -the points of this intermediate region. To the northward, we may -fix it at Emathia. In the north-east, it seems to be bounded by the -northern shore of the Sea of Marmora. The Thracians of Homer inhabit a -country which he calls ἐριβώλαξ, Il. xx. 485, and which the Hellespont -enclosed (ἐέργει), that is to say, washes on two sides at least. The -Hellespont, as in this place it is termed ἀγάῤῥοος, signifies to the -Eastern part of its waters in particular; and the name probably -includes the Propontis (which he might well suppose to have a strong -current throughout, like the Straits of Gallipoli), together with the -northern Ægean between Chalcidice and the Thracian Chersonese. He has -described these Thracians in very vague terms[535], and without any -local circumstance, in the Catalogue: but the form of the coast-line -apparently implied in the word ἐέργει, and the epithet of fertility, -appear to indicate the plain of Adrianople and the Maritz. But this -inclosure on two sides terminates when the northern shore begins to -trend directly to the eastward: and the Πλαγκταὶ, or Bosphorus, which -no man but Jason ever succeeded in passing, are to be considered as in -the zone of a semifabulous or exterior chorography. - -[534] Achæis, or Ethnology, sect. iv. p. 235. - -[535] Il. ii. 844, 5. - -When we pass into the south-east, we find that Cyprus, Phœnicia, and -Egypt may perhaps most properly be placed in the doubtful zone. We have -seen that Cyprus was known as a stage on the passage to the East, and -as within the possible military reach of Agamemnon. But its lord did -not join in the war: and Homer has no details about the island, beyond -the specification of Paphos as the seat of the residence, and of the -principal worship, of Venus. - -We have no instance of any visit paid by Greeks to Phœnicia under -ordinary circumstances. The tour of Menelaus is, like that of Ulysses, -outside the sphere of ordinary life. He describes himself in it to -Telemachus as πολλὰ παθὼν καὶ πόλλ’ ἐπαληθεὶς[536], which may be -compared with Od. i. 4. respecting Ulysses. We hear of the Taphians -there; for it was at Sidon that they kidnapped the nurse of Eumæus. -Piracy in those times probably reached somewhat further than trade. -These same Taphians appear to be of doubtful Hellenism. On the one -hand, Mentes their leader was a ξεῖνος to Ulysses[537]. But (1) we thus -find them in Phœnicia[538], which is not a place of usual Greek resort. -(2) They sail to Temese in foreign parts, ἐπ’ ἀλλοθρόους ἀνθρώπους (Od. -i. 183), which we do not find elsewhere said of Greeks. The case of -the pseudo-Ulysses cannot stand as a precedent for the rest of Greece, -nor even for the rest of Crete[539]. (3) The father of Mentes had -given Ulysses poison for his arrows, which Ilus, the Hellene, had from -motives of religion refused him. This at once supplies a particular -reason for the xenial bond between them, and suggests that this Taphian -prince may have been, though a ξεῖνος, yet of a different religion and -race. (4) The absence of the Taphians from the war, especially as a -tribe so much given to navigation, further strengthens the presumption -that they were not properly Greeks. - -[536] Od. iv. 83. - -[537] Od. i. 105. - -[538] Sup. Ethnology, sect. iv. - -[539] Ibid. - -Phœnicia, then, hangs doubtfully on the outer verge of the Greek -world, and belongs to the intermediate zone. Yet more decidedly is -this the case with Egypt. For Ulysses means something unusual, when -he describes the voyage as one lasting for five days across the open -sea, even with the very best wind all the way, from Crete; and it is -elsewhere described as at a distance formidably great. Such is the idea -apparently intended by the statement, that the very birds do but make -the journey once a year over so vast a sea[540]. No ordinary Greek ever -goes to Egypt: and when the pseudo-Ulysses planned his voyage thither, -it was under a sinister impulse from Jupiter, who meant him ill[541]: - -[540] Od. iii. 320-2. - -[541] Od. xiv. 243. - - αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ δειλῷ κακὰ μήδετο μητίετα Ζεύς. - -Again, the Poet appears to have entirely misconceived the distance -of Pharos from the coast. He places it at a day’s sail from Αἴγυπτος, -meaning probably by that name the Nile. Vain attempts have been made to -get rid by explanation of this geographical error. Nitzsch[542] says -truly, that for the geography of this passage Homer was dependent on -the gossip of sailors, and compares it with that of Ogygia, Scheria, -and the rest. When Menelaus went to Egypt, it was involuntarily, as we -are assured by Nestor[543]; - -[542] On Od. iv. 354. - -[543] Od. iii. 299. - - ἀτὰρ τὰς πέντε νέας κυανοπρῳρείους - Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπέλασσε φέρων ἄνεμός τε καὶ ὕδωρ. - -Beyond the circumscriptions which have thus been drawn, lie the -countries of the Outer Geography. Outwards their limit in the mind of -Homer was either the great River Ocean, or else the land immediately -bordering upon it. Their inner line, that is, the line nearest to the -known Greek or Homeric world, may be defined by a number of points -specified in the poems. We have, for example, the Lotophagi and Libya -in the south; the land of the Cyclops on the west; (I pass by Sicily, -because it can, I think, be shown, that Homer transplanted it into -another quarter;) Scheria to the north-west, the Abii, Glactophagi, -and Hippemolgi, to the north. Then come the Strait of the Πλαγκταὶ, or -Bosphorus, pretty accurately conceived as to its site; next towards -the east, the Amazons and the Solymi with their mountains; in the -south-east the Ἐρεμβοὶ, and then the widely spread Αἰθίοπες. All the -places and people visited by Ulysses after the Lotophagi, that have not -been named, must be conceived to lie yet further outwards. - -I have now explained the grounds on which I assume the existence -of two great zones, the one of a real, the other of an imaginative, -fluctuating, and semi-fabulous Geography in Homer; and of a third zone, -drawn as a somewhat indeterminate border-ground between them. - -~_Sphere of the Outer Geography._~ - -I come now to consider what are the keys or leading ideas of local -arrangement which we can first obtain from the particulars of the Outer -Geography of Homer, and which we may then apply to the solution of such -questions of detail as it presents. - -It is plain that we have real need of some such keys. To ascertain the -general direction of the movements of the Wanderings of Ulysses, and -the general idea entertained by the Poet of the distribution of land -and sea, is an essential preliminary to the solution of such questions -as, Where were the Sirens? or, Where were the Læstrygones? According to -the statement I have recently given, many of the points, that Ulysses -in the Wanderings visited by sea, would appear to have been so fixed by -Homer, as to imply his belief that the chieftain sailed over what we -know to be the European continent. - -The two propositions, which I have already ventured to state as being -the keys to the Outer Geography of the Odyssey, are in the following -terms[544]: - -[544] See Ethnology, sect. iv. p. 304. - -1. That Homer placed to the northward of Thrace, Epirus, and the -Italian peninsula, an expanse, not of land, but of sea, communicating -with the Euxine; or, to express myself in other words, that he greatly -extended the Euxine westwards, perhaps also shortening it towards -the East; and that he made it communicate, by the gulfs of Genoa and -Venice, with the southern Mediterranean. - -2. That he compounded into one two sets of Phœnician traditions -respecting the Ocean-mouth, and fixed the site of it in the North-East. - -In the first place, I assume that it would be a waste of time to enter -upon an elaborate confutation of the traditional identifications, which -the pardonable ambition of after-times has devised for the various -points of the wanderings. According to those expository figments, -we must believe that the land of the Cyclops is an island, that it -is the same island which reappears at a later date as Thrinacie, -that Æolia is Stromboli in sight of that island of the Cyclops, -(though it took Ulysses nine days of fair wind to sail from it to -within sight of Ithaca,) and that Ulysses could sail straight across -the sea from Æolia to Ithaca. We must look for the Læstrygones and -their perpetual day in the latitudes of the Mediterranean. We must -either place the ocean northward, (but wholly without any prototype -in nature,) and the under-world on the west coast of Italy, where -there is no stream whatever, and seek, too, for fogs and darkness in -the choicest atmospheres of the world; or else we must remove the -Ocean-mouth to a distance about four times as far from the island -of Circe, as that island is from Greece, whereas the poem evidently -presumes their comparative proximity. But in truth, it is useless to go -on accumulating single objections, for it is not upon these that the -confutation principally depends. The confutation of these pardonable -but idle traditions rests on broader grounds. The grounds are such as -really these, that in no one particular do these Italian fables--for -such I must call them, notwithstanding the partial countenance they -receive from the chaotic and seemingly adulterated parts of the -Theogony of Hesiod[545]--satisfy the letter of the text of Homer; that -in the attempt to give it a geographical character, they misconceive -its spirit; and that they oblige us to override and nullify not only -the facts of actual geography, for that we might do without violating -any law of reason and likelihood under the conditions of the case, but -also the positive indications which Homer has given us from phenomena -that lay within his knowledge and experience. In fact, they would -oblige us to condemn Homer as geographically unworthy of trust, within -the sphere of the every day life and resort of the Greeks, as well as -in regions, which he and his countrymen never visited. - -[545] Hes. Theog. 1011-15. - -And the result of all the violence thus done to Homer would be, that we -should have sacrificed at once his language and his imagination, in the -attempt to struggle with contradictions to the actual geography which -defy every attempt at reconciliation. - -At the outset, according to my view, both admissions must be made, and -principles must be laid down, as cardinal and essential to the conduct -of the inquiry we have now in hand. - -~_Dislocation of actual nature._~ - -It must, I think, be admitted, - -1. That Homer has dislocated or transplanted the traditions he -had received. For example, he has either carried the Bosphorus -westwards[546], or else the Straits of Messina eastwards. - -[546] Müller’s Orchomenos, p. 274. - -2. That therefore as we are on this occasion inquiring not into the -geographical information Homer can give us, but into the errors he -had embraced, we must not be surprised if we fail to arrive at any -conclusions, either wholly self-consistent or demonstratively clear. We -must exact from his text, with something less than geographical rigour, -even the conditions of inward harmony. - -It may then reasonably be asked, if this be so, how are we to find any -clue to his meaning. - -My answer is, by laying down rules which will enable us to -discriminate between his primary and his secondary statements; between -the results of his knowledge, and the fruits of his fancy. - -By his knowledge I mean, what he had seen, what he had travelled over, -what was familiarly and habitually known to his countrymen, so as to -give him ample opportunities of refreshing recollection, of enlarging -knowledge, and of correcting error. - -By the fruits of his fancy I mean, the forms he has thought fit to -give to statements of geography lying outside the world of his own -experience, and that of the Greeks in general. These statements, -gathered here and there as time and opportunity might serve, he could -hardly have moulded into a correct and consistent scheme. Emancipating -himself wholly from obligations which it was impossible for him to -fulfil, he has treated them simply as the creatures of his poetic -purpose, and has analysed, shifted, and recombined them into a world of -his own, in the creation and adjustment of which, the principal factor -has of necessity been his own will. - -~_Postulates for the inquiry._~ - -I therefore lay down the following postulates: - -1. That, Homer having an Inner or known and an Outer or imagined world, -between which a line may be drawn with tolerable certainty, the voyage -of Ulysses, from the Lotophagi to Scheria inclusive, lies in the Outer -world. - -2. That we may not only implicitly accept the geographical statements -of Homer, when they lie within his own horizon or the Inner world, but -may fearlessly argue from them. - -3. That arguments so drawn are available and paramount, as far as -they go, for governing the construction of passages relating to the -geography of the Outer world. - -4. That we have no title to argue, when we find a point in the Outer -world described in such a manner as to correspond with some spot now -known, that Homer gave to that tract or region in his own mind, the -site which we may now know it to occupy, but that he is quite as likely -to have placed it elsewhere. - -5. That arguments grounded on the physical knowledge of the Poet are -to be trusted. I would name by way of example, (subject only to a -certain latitude for inexactness,) such arguments as are drawn from the -directions of winds, and from other patent and cardinal facts of common -experience, for example, the distances which may be traversed within -given times. - -6. So likewise are the indications, which harmonize with known or -reasonably presumed historical and ethnological views, to be trusted as -good evidence on questions relating to his geographical meaning. - -In order, however, to be in a condition to make use of indications -supplied by the Winds, we must consider what the Winds of Homer are. - -~_The Winds of Homer._~ - -The Winds of Homer are only four in number, and the manner of their -physical arrangement is rude. It by no means corresponds with our own, -but varies from it greatly, just as his points of the compass varied -from ours. And though he names only four winds, yet I apprehend we must -consider that upon the whole he uses them with such latitude, as to -express under the name of some one of them every gale that blew. - -As to some of these winds, Homer has provided us with an abundance of -trustworthy _data_ for their point of origin: and through them the -evidence as to the rest may be enlarged. - -Homer’s governing points, from which to measure arcs of the horizon -were, as is evident, the sunrise and the sunset. This is clearly shown -by his expressions, such as πρὸς ἠῶ τ’ ἠέλιόν τε, for the east, and -then in opposition to this, ποτὶ ζόφον ἠερόεντα[547] for the west. -Again, when Ulysses urges upon his companions that he has lost all -means of forming a judgment of their position, his mode of expression -is this, that he does not know where is dusk or where is dawn; where -the joy-giving sun rises, or where he sinks[548]. We must therefore -dismiss from our minds the four cardinal points to which we are -accustomed. They were not cardinal points for Homer. We must also -remember not only (1) that Homer had only two[549], but also (2) that -his two did not correspond with any of our four, and (3) that from the -variation of sunrise and sunset with the seasons of the year a certain -amount of vagueness was of necessity introduced into his conceptions of -the point of origin for each of the different winds. - -[547] Il. xii. 239, 40. - -[548] Od. x. 190-2. - -[549] Wood (Genius of Homer, p. 23,) says, ‘only four,’ meaning only -four winds. But it is pretty clear that Homer’s four winds were not at -anything like ninety degrees from one another. There is in Homer no -word meaning strictly either south, or north. _Daksha_, however, from -whence is derived δεξιὸς, means _southerly_ as well as _on the right_: -but probably S. E. rather than S. Pott, Etymolog. Forschungen, II. 186, -7. - -We should not, however, exaggerate this vagueness. It had its cause in -the variations of the ecliptic, and, like its cause, it was limited. -I suppose, however, that the eye guesses rudely at the deviations of -the ecliptic, and that we must take N.W. and S.E. for the two cardinal -points of Homer. - -Homer’s west then ranged to the north of west, and Homer’s east to -the south of east. But although this must be borne in mind when we -translate his winds into our language, yet of course the winds -themselves were arranged, not technically so as each to cover a certain -arc on the horizon, but with reference to the directions in which they -were found by experience commonly to blow. And in associating each wind -with a particular point of the horizon, we must bear in mind that such -a point is to be regarded as its centre, and that the same name would -be given to a wind within a number of points on either side of it. - -As to the respective prevalence of the different winds, the criterion -is certainly a rude one, still it is a criterion, which is provided -for us by the comparative frequency of the occasions on which they are -mentioned. Eurus is mentioned in the poems seven times, Notus fifteen; -Boreas twenty-seven, subject to a small deduction for cases where he is -simply a person; and Zephyr twenty-six. The latter pair are the leading -Winds of the poem: not necessarily that they indicated the prevailing -currents of air, but that they represented such currents of air as -usually prevailed with force sufficient to make them good poetical -agents. - -We may also learn, from the epithets given to the winds, the -impressions which they respectively made upon the mind of Homer. - -Eurus never has a character attached to it. Notus seldom has any -epithet; but still it is mentioned, by the comrade of Ulysses in Od. -xii. 289, as one of the most formidable winds. This may probably -have been on account of its direction relatively to the place of the -speaker; because from that point it blew right upon Scylla[550]. Again, -as Zephyr and Notus are nowhere else associated by the Poet, the -presumption arises on that ground also that here Notus is put in for a -special and local reason. It is called ἀργέστης, and is so essentially -allied with the idea of moisture, that νότιος stands simply for wet -(νότιος ἱδρὼς, Il. xi. 810). - -[550] Od. xii. 427. - -The characteristic epithets of Boreas are μέγας, ὀπώρινος, and -αἰθρηγένης. The first of these indicates that he blew hard: and we know -the same thing from the facts, that Achilles desired him to contribute -towards rapidly consuming the pyre of Patroclus, and that he is often -used for a storm[551]. - -[551] Il. xxiii. 194. - -But, of all the winds, the Zephyr evidently was the most prominent in -the view of Homer. It is μέγας (Od. xiv. 458), λαβρὸς ἐπαιγίζων (Il. -ii. 148), κελαδεινὸς (Il. xxiii. 208), δυσαὴς (Il. xxiii. 200, and Od. -xii. 289), κεκληγὼς (Od. xii. 408); and it alone of the winds roars, -ζεφύροιο ἰώη (Il. iv. 276). In Od. xii. 289, it is mentioned with -Notus: they are the winds most apt to destroy ships even despite or -without the gods. For Notus, as I have said, this character seems to -be local: but the Zephyr is here called δυσαὴς, and the sense of the -passage is in accordance with his general reputation. He, with Boreas, -is invoked for the pyre of Patroclus: and these two are the only winds -which are ever employed singly to make foul weather. Homer’s other -modes of creating a tempest by the agency of the winds are (1) to make -a combination of all or several of them, (2) to cover the matter in a -generality by speaking of the ὀλοοὶ ἄνεμοι without distinction. - -There is, however, in Homer a faint trace of the milder character, -which was afterwards more fully recognised in Zephyr, when he had moved -down from the north, and become a simple west wind. In the description -of the Elysian plain, we find that it is never vexed with tempest or -with rain, but that the happy spirits dwelling there are incessantly -refreshed with the Zephyrs which spring from Ocean[552]. But even here -the breezes are λιγυπνείοντες: and this word means what is called -blowing _fresh_. And the conception of the wind here is rather as a -sea-wind, and therefore not a cold one, than as being soft and gentle. - -[552] Od. iv. 565-9. - -Of these four Winds, Homer has made, on various occasions, two couples. -He repeatedly associates Boreas and Zephyr in the same work[553]: - -[553] Il. ix. 4. - - ὡς δ’ ἄνεμοι δύο πόντον ὀρίνετον ἰχθυόεντα, - Βορέης καὶ Ζέφυρος, τώτε Θρῄκηθεν ἄητον. - -And again, for the purposes of Achilles, the two come together over the -sea, and quickly fall to, that the pyre may be consumed; even as the -prayer of the hero had been addressed to them in common[554]. - -[554] Il. xxiii. 194, 212. - -In the same way, Eurus and Notus are associated together as exciting -the Icarian Sea. This passage is curiously illustrative of Homer’s -distinctions between the winds. He has two successive similes, both -describing the agitation of the same Assembly[555]. In the first it is -compared to the Icarian Sea lashed by Eurus, and by Notus charging from -the clouds. In the second, to a corn-field, on which Zephyr powerfully -sweeps down[556]. - -[555] Il. ii. 144-6, 147-9. - -[556] The arrangement of these similes tells powerfully against the -ingenious argument of Mr. Wood concerning the birthplace of Homer. -Genius of Homer, pp. 7-33. - -From a just consideration of these passages, it becomes clear that the -four winds of Homer were not at equidistant points of the compass, -but that each two of them were capable of association, while neither -member of one pair is ever described, except in a single passage, -which I will presently notice, as cooperating with one of the other. -Of course I do not refer to those cases, where the Poet raises all the -four winds at once, simply to create a hurricane; no bad conjecture, I -will add, for those times, in anticipation of the modern discovery that -hurricanes are eddies, and that it is their circular motion which makes -them seem to blow almost simultaneously in all directions[557]. - -[557] See General Reid’s Law of Storms and Variable Winds. London. 1849. - -Let us now inquire what can be done towards ascertaining more -particularly the leading points of these winds, of which we have -surveyed the general descriptions. - -~_Points of origin for Zephyr and Boreas._~ - -I begin with the more prevailing pair, Zephyr and Boreas. - -There can, I think, be no hesitation in deriving Ζέφυρος from ζόφος. -It may be well to remind the reader that ζόφος is the same word in -substance with κνέφας and νέφος[558]. - -[558] Buttmann. Lexil. voc. κέλαινος. - -Thus the north-west is his cradle. But he is so closely associated -with Thrace and with Boreas, the former being his residence, and -the latter[559] his companion, that though he may mean any wind -from west up to north, we must consider him as usually leaning from -the north-west towards the north, while he properly belongs to the -north-west rather than any other given point of the compass. - -[559] Il. xxiii. 214. - -The position of Boreas is the best defined of all the winds of Homer. -He cannot come from any point to the west of due north: for all that -space is appropriated to Zephyr. He is equally well defined on the -other side. For he blows from Thrace, both generally, as in Il. ix. -5, and particularly on the Plain of Troy[560]. I hold to be of no -authority, as fixing the direction of this wind, the Boreas which -carries the pseudo-Ulysses from Crete to Egypt[561]: for there Homer -is already beyond the Inner World, and he only knows the position of -Egypt from Phœnician report. But we have other trustworthy indications -from within the sphere of Greek nautical knowledge, in his carrying -Hercules from Ilium to Cos[562], in his preventing a voyage from Crete -to Ilium[563], and in the fate of Ulysses, who, in rounding Malea, -is carried off by Boreas to the westward of Cythera[564]. All these -operations can be performed only by a wind blowing from the quarter -between east and north-east. - -[560] Il. xxiii. 214, as above. - -[561] Od. xiv. 253. - -[562] Il. xiv. 255. xv. 26. - -[563] Od. xix. 200. - -[564] Od. ix. 81. - -Putting together these indications, I think we must conclude that the -Boreas of Homer is a wind to the east of north. But it seems plain that -he does not embrace nearly the whole quadrant from north to east. For, -like and even more than Zephyr on the other side of the pole, he has a -leaning towards the polar side, and, in the absence of more particular -marks, Homer should be taken to mean by him a N.N.E. wind, that is, a -wind ranging principally or wholly from N. to N.E. - -I take the line Il. ix. 5, which many have treated as a difficulty, for -a sound and valuable geographical indication. Boreas and Zephyr blow -from Thrace. To a Greek, say at Mycenæ, Thrace, which reaches from the -Adriatic to the Euxine, covers more than ninety degrees of the horizon. -It is from within those ninety degrees that every Boreas, and probably -every Zephyr, of Homer can be shown to blow. These are facts which -we may hold in deposit, ready for service in the explanation of the -movements of the Outer Geography. - -And along with them we must keep in mind the Homeric affinity and -sympathy established between Boreas and Zephyr. It is so considerable, -and they are especially in such local proximity, that practically -we should not go far wrong were we to say Homer divides the whole -circumference of his horizon into three nearly equal arcs of 120 -degrees, more or less. The first of these, beginning from due west, -is given to Zephyr and to Boreas. The next, reaching to within 30° of -the South Pole, to Eurus: and the third, embracing the residue of the -circle, to Notus. - -~_Points of the Compass for Notus and Eurus._~ - -Notus is the great southern wind, Eurus being comparatively of little -account. Now, one of the chief _data_ applicable to determining the -direction of these winds is the passage Il. ii. 144-6. Here they are -described as disturbing the Icarian Sea, which was within the sphere of -Greek navigation. Now the position of that sea, on the coast of Asia -Minor to the south of Samos, shows, - -1. That both these winds in Homer have a decidedly southern character. - -2. That one, of course Eurus, must come from the east, and the other, -Notus, in that place, from the west of south. Because the conflict of -the two winds presumes a considerable space between the points from -which they blow, while the position of the Icarian Sea requires both -to be southern. But in the Fifth Odyssey, too, Notus is treated as the -proper antagonist of Boreas. His centre therefore lies a little to the -westward of due south; but Eurus does not approach the South Pole, -and every wind from about S.S.E. to W. will probably fall within the -Homeric description of Notus. - -The associations of Notus and Eurus are frequent[565]. On one -occasion, however, Notus is combined with Zephyr, though there is no -corresponding case of junction between Eurus and Boreas. Notus and -Zephyr are sent from the sea by Juno to blast the Trojan army with -heat. Boreas would of course be a cold wind: and Eurus would be cold on -the plain of Troy, from passing over the chain of Ida: though in Greece -he melts the snow that Zephyr has brought. Differences of season, as -well as of situation, may have to do with these varieties of operation. - -[565] Il. ii. 144-6. xvi. 765. Od. v. 330. xii. 326. - -Though less strong than Zephyr and Boreas, Notus is a stronger wind -than Eurus. And though generally the counterpart of Boreas, his power -of cooperating with Zephyr shows that he must reach over the quadrant -from the South pole to West, whereas we have no Boreas coming down from -the North pole as far as East. - -As the opposite of Zephyr, Eurus blows principally from the -south-eastern quarter; and hence is in frequent cooperation with Notus, -but never with any other wind. He must, however, be understood to cover -the whole space from the rigidly northern Boreas down to Notus, or -from about N.E. to within 30° of the South pole. Boreas is inflexibly -confined by all the evidence of the poems to a very narrow space: and -Eurus, his neighbour eastward, does not much frequent those points of -the compass that lie nearest to him. - - [Illustration: winds and directions] - -The accompanying sketch expresses what I believe to be in the main -Homer’s arrangement of the Winds. At the same time, I do not know that -we have any practical example of any wind in Homer which blows from -within forty-five degrees on either side of due East, or from within -about the same number of degrees on either side of due West. Perhaps it -was from their local infrequency, that he does not appear to have put -such winds in requisition[566]. - -[566] Friedreich has discussed the winds of Homer (Realien der Il. und -Od. §. 3). His results are to me unsatisfactory: but the fault seems -to lie in his basis. For (1) he fixes the four Winds of Homer as the -four cardinal points: and (2) he finds _data_ for ascertaining the -Winds in the Passages of the Outer Geography, instead of determining -those Passages themselves by the Winds, after these latter have been -ascertained from evidence belonging to the sphere of Homer’s own -experience. - -The name Eurus is further attached to the point of sunrise by the root -ἔως, to which it is traced[567]. The tracts of Aides are with Homer -σμερδάλεα εὐρώεντα (Il. xx. 65). May not this εὐρωεὶς come from the -same source? The Cimmerian darkness of Homer is close to the mouth -of Ocean, and _near_ that chamber of the Sun, which is at Ææa[568]. -Viewing dawn as the middle point between night and day, Homer possibly -connected it with each. It seems further possible, that he connected -the Eastern with the Western darkness: both because this would bring -his two regions of the future world into relations with each other, and -because he makes the Sun disport himself with his oxen on the same spot -in Thrinacie after his setting in the evening, and before his rising in -the morning: a passage, which for its full explanation might require -the supposition, that Homer believed the earth to be cylindrical in -form, and thus the extremes of East and West to meet[569]. There will -shortly be occasion to revert to this subject, in further considering -what were the constituent parts of Homer’s East. - -[567] Liddell and Scott _in voc._ - -[568] Od. xi. 13-16. xii. 1-4. - -[569] See Friedreich, Realien, §. 9. p. 19. - -_Homeric distances and rates of speed._ - -I shall trust mainly then to winds, thus ascertained from Homer’s Inner -world, as the means of indicating the directions of the movements -described in his Outer one. But besides directions, we have distances -to consider. And here too we have some evidence, supplied by his -experimental knowledge, to guide us. - -By combining the inner-world _data_ of distance with those of -direction, we shall obtain the essential conditions of decision for the -outer-world problems. Conditions both essential and sufficient, when we -can lay hold upon them; but we shall still have to contend with this -difficulty, that in one or two remarkable cases the Poet takes refuge -in language wholly vague, and leaves us no guide for our conjectures, -except the rule of making the unascertained conform in spirit to what -has been made reasonably certain. - -The distances of which I now speak are sea-distances. It is a somewhat -remarkable fact, that Homer scarcely gives us land-distances at all. -Telemachus and Pisistratus drive in two days from Pylus to Sparta: but -it is not the wont of the Poet to describe places, which communicate -over land, by the number of days occupied in travelling between them. -This circumstance is illustrative of a trait, which assumes great -importance in Homer’s Outer Geography, namely, the miniature scale of -his conceptions as to all land-spaces; a trait, I may add, to which we -shall have occasion to revert. - -The sea-distances of Homer are performed in no less than six different -modes. - - 1. By ordinary sailing. - 2. By ordinary rowing. - 3. By rafts, Od. v. 251. - 4. By drifting on a timber, Od. xiv. 310-15. - 5. By floating and swimming, Od. v. 374, 5, 388, 399. - -Sixthly, and lastly, the ships of the Phæacians perform their voyages -by an inward instinct, and with a rapidity described as marvellous. - -~_Evidence as to rates of motion._~ - -The language of the poems nowhere takes cognizance of any difference in -speed as between sailing and rowing. For example, when Achilles speaks -of the time of his voyage to Phthia as dependent upon εὐπλοίη, which -the favour of Neptune could give, he evidently means a good sea and -the absence of tempest, and does not at all bargain for a wind from -a particular quarter, which was not a matter lying within Neptune’s -especial province. Nor does there seem to be, on general grounds, any -cause for assuming a difference between the average speeds of rowing -and of sailing, when we consider, in favour of the first, that the -crew rowed almost to a man, with little cargo to carry; and, to the -prejudice of the second, that the science and art of building quick -sailers could not then have been understood. I therefore take rowing -and sailing as equal in celerity. So that we have in reality no more -than five different cases to consider. - -But, again, I think there is no reason why we should assume a -difference in speed between drifting on a piece of timber, and making -way by floating and swimming only. In practicability there may be a -considerable difference: but that is not the point before us. - -The four methods now remaining seem to require the assumption of -different speeds respectively. - -Now Homer has supplied us with the times necessary for performing known -distances in two cases; and has also given us a third case, which may -be used for checking one of the other instances. - -A case of known distance is that from the mouth of the Straits -of Gallipoli to Phthia. This, according to Achilles in the Ninth -Iliad[570], would, with favourable weather, be performed so as to -arrive on the third day. It may amount to a little more than three -degrees, and may be taken at two hundred and twenty miles. The time is -three days and two nights. So that, for ordinary sailing or rowing, a -day and a night may be taken at about ninety miles, of course without -any pretension to minute accuracy. - -[570] Il. ix. 362. - -Secondly. With a good passage, a ship sailing from Crete to Egypt -arrives on the fifth day (Od. xiv. 257). But we cannot consider Homer’s -opinion of the distance between Crete and Egypt as entitled to the -full weight of his experimental knowledge. Again, it is to be borne in -mind, that here the north wind, which carries the ship, was a prime one -(ἀκραὴς καλὸς, 253). Lastly, much might depend on the part of Crete, -from which we suppose the vessel to have sailed. - -As respects the last-named question, we must, from the habits of -ancient navigation, suppose the eastern extremity of the island to have -been the point of departure; because no sailor would have committed -himself to Boreas on the open sea, as long as he could make way under -cover of a shore lying to windward. - -The distance between the eastern point of Crete and the western mouth -of the Nile is about three hundred and fifty miles; the time five days -and four nights. This would give a somewhat less rate of progress _per -diem_ than the last case; but then it is likely that Homer took the -distance to be greater in that almost unknown sea (see Od. iii. 320.) -than it really is; so that we have cause to view the two computations -as in substance accordant. And even if they had clashed, the former -would still be entitled to our acceptance. - -What, however, does appear to be the case is, that Homer mistook the -course from Crete to Egypt. It is really S. W.: he has defined it by -the wind Boreas, which never blows from a point westward, or at the -very uttermost never from one materially westward, of N. So that the -course must have been about S. Now, as Homer knew the position of -Crete, this would show that he brought Egypt too much to the westward, -by shortening the eastern recess or arm of the Mediterranean; an error -in exact conformity, I conceive, with all his operations in imagining -the geography of the east. But this by the way. - -The third test of sea-distances is supplied by the pretended passage -of Ulysses, on a mast, from a point just out of sight of Crete[571] to -Thesprotia[572]. He arrives on the tenth night. The distance exceeds, -by about one half, the voyage from Troas to Phthia. The time is nearly -four times as long. But then some allowance may be made for delay on -the score of the irregular winds (ὀλοοὶ ἄνεμοι) which prevailed. We may -therefore justly calculate the rate of a floating or drift-passage at -about one half that of a sailing passage, or two miles an hour instead -of four. And here our direct evidence closes. - -[571] Od. xiv. 301. - -[572] Ibid. 310-15. - -At an intermediate point between these, we may place the mode of -passage by raft, which brought Ulysses from Ogygia. For merchant ships -were built broad in the beam; and the raft was as broad as a merchant -ship[573]. Thus constructed, and with its flat bottom, it must have -been very greatly slower than an ordinary sailing vessel, and I venture -to put it by conjecture as low as two and a half miles an hour. - -[573] Od. v. 249-51. - -Lastly, we have to consider the rates of the Scherian ships. About -these the only thing that is clear is, that Homer meant to represent -them as far exceeding all known speed of the kind. They went, says -Alcinous, to Eubœa, or as the verse may be rendered, to Eubœa and back, -in a day[574]: they are like a chariot with four horses scouring the -plain; the hawk, swiftest of birds, could not keep up with them[575]. -We cannot, I think, pretend to appreciate with great precision Homer’s -meaning in this point; but it is plain that, as he had a map of some -kind in his head, he must have had some meaning with respect to the -distance performed by the ship from Scheria, though probably a vague -one. I think we may venture to take it at three times the speed of the -ordinary sailing vessel, or at about twelve miles an hour. - -[574] Od. vii. 325. - -[575] Od. xiii. 81, 86. - -Thus, taking drift-speed for our unit, we have the following scale -approximately established: - -1. Drift = 2 miles per hour = 48 miles per day of 24 hours. - -2. Raft = 1¼ drift = 2½ miles per hour = 60 miles per day of 24 hours. - -3. Sailing or rowing ship = 2 drift = 4 miles per hour = 96 miles per -day of 24 hours. - -4. Hawk-ship of Scheria = 3 sailing ship = 6 drift = 12 miles per hour -= 288 miles per day of 24 hours.-- - -Let us next proceed to consider, whether there are any cardinal ideas -of particular places or arrangements in the Outer Geography of Homer, -which govern its general structure. For such ideas may, together -with the _data_ that we have now drawn from the circle of his Inner -or Experimental Geography, assist us in the examination of what -undoubtedly at first sight appear to be almost chaotic details. - -~_Northward sea-route to the Euxine._~ - -Setting out from this point, my first business is to show, that Homer -believed in a sea-route from the Mediterranean to the Euxine, other -than that of the Straits of Gallipoli and the Bosphorus. This route -was formed in his mind, as I shall endeavour to prove, by cutting off -the land from east to west, a little to the north of the Peninsula -of Greece, all the way from the Adriatic to the Euxine. Thus we -practically substitute an expanse of sea for the mass of the European -continent; and we must not conceive of any definite boundary to this -θάλασσα, other than the mysterious one which may finally separate -it from Ocean. Or, in other words, we must give to the Black Sea -an indefinite extension to the west and north-west, perhaps also -shortening it in the direction of the East. This is the one master -variation from nature in Homer’s ideal geography[576]; and, when his -belief on this subject has been sufficiently proved, almost every thing -else will fall into its place with comparative ease. - -[576] On this hypothesis is founded the Homeric _Erdkarte_ of Forbiger, -Handbuch der Alt. Geogr. I. 4. - -I will endeavour to illustrate and sustain this hypothesis from -the positive evidence, either direct or inferential, of the poems: -and I hope to show that it stands upon grounds independent of the -negative argument, that it is absolutely necessary in order to supply -a key to the Wanderings. At the same time, I hold that that negative -argument, if made good, would suffice: for, though we do no violence -to probability in imputing to the geography of the Odyssey any amount -of variance, however great, from actual nature, yet we should sorely -offend against reason, if we supposed that Homer had constructed a -route so elaborate and detailed, without laying it out before his own -mental vision, and presenting it to that of his hearers, after the -fashion of something like a map. This was alike demanded by the realism -(so to speak) of the time, and needful for the complete comprehension -and easy enjoyment of the romance. - -The indications on this subject, apart from the evidence of the -Wanderings themselves, are as follows: - -1. When, in the Thirteenth Iliad[577], Jupiter turns away his eyes -from the battle by the Ships, he turns them towards the north-east: in -the direction, that is, in which, according to the hypothesis above -stated, there was for Homer not, as we now know to be the case, a -wide expanse of land capable of containing a countless multitude of -tribes, but, after a certain interval, a vast and unexplored sea. Now -the Poet tells us, not that Jupiter looked over an indefinite mass of -continent, or the ἀπείρονα γαῖαν; but that he looked over the country -of the Thracians, the Mysians, the Hippemolgi, the Glactophagi, and -the Abii. Moreover, he indicates, by giving characteristic epithets to -each of these nations, that they lay more or less within the sphere -of contact with Greek intercourse and experience, and therefore at no -great distance to the northward: for not only are the Thracians riders -of horses, but the Mysians are fighters hand to hand, the Hippemolgi -are formidable or venerable, and the Abii are the most righteous of -men. The Glactophagi are defined by their name as feeders upon milk. -This limited and characteristic enumeration is in conformity, at the -very least, with the hypothesis, that Homer imagined in that direction -no continuous succession of land and of inhabitants, but a sea -circumscribing the country of Thrace to the north. - -[577] Il. xiii. 1. - -2. A more marked indication is, I think, yielded by the passage of the -Odyssey, in which Alcinous says to Ulysses, ‘We will convey you to your -home, even though it should be more distant than Eubœa, the furthest -point that has been visited by our people; of whom some saw it, when -they carried Rhadamanthus thither, in the matter of Tityus, son of the -Earth[578].’ - -[578] Od. vii. 19-26. - -It appears to me evident, that Homer means in this place to suppose a -maritime route between Scheria and Eubœa, to the North of Thrace. He is -not, we must remember, experimentally informed as to the position of -Scheria itself, and probably he conceived it to lie quite outside the -sphere of Greece, at a considerable distance to the northward. Though -he brings Ulysses from thence to Ithaca in a day, this is effected -by the privileged and miraculous rapidity of passage, which was the -distinguishing gift of the Phæacians, as the kin of the Immortals. -They are indeed in contact, according to the poem, with the habitable -world, but they are strictly upon the outer line of it. They are of -the race of Neptune: related to the Cyclops and the Giants: their -ordinary life and their maritime routes could not, without doing -utter violence to the conceptions of the Poet, be brought within the -sphere of ordinary Greek experience. We cannot, therefore, be intended -to suppose them to have carried the ancient Rhadamanthus past every -known town, port, and point in Greece; past Ithaca, Dulichium, the -Cephallenes, Pylus, and the rest. Nor would Eubœa, thus approached, -be to Ulysses, who had himself visited Aulis on his way to Troy, a -good type of remoteness: nor does it answer that description for the -Phæacians themselves, if we consider it according to geographic prose; -for though the way to it is long, it is not so distant in a direct line -as other parts of Greece, Crete for example; and any people who had -made a voyage to Eubœa by sea, round the peninsula, would know very -well that the proper way to it was by land. We must, in short, presume -such a position for the Scheria of Homer, as to imply a communication -by sea between it and Eubœa, other than that through the known waters -of Greece. - -But if we suppose a maritime passage from the Adriatic round Thrace -to exist, then we keep the Phæacians entirely in their own element, -as borderers between the world of Greek experience, and the world of -fable. They still, when they carry Rhadamanthus, as in all other cases, -hang upon the skirt, as it were, of actual humanity. And, thus viewed, -Eubœa might fairly stand for a type of extreme remoteness. - -3. Another passage of Homer, when understood according to its -geographical bearings, appears to me, of itself, nearly conclusive upon -this question. - -When Mercury is ordered to carry the message of the gods from Olympus -to Calypso[579], his proceedings are carefully described. He equipped -himself with his foot-wings (Od. v. 44), took in hand his wand (47), -and got upon the wing (49). The next step in the narrative is, - -[579] Od. v. 43-58. - - Πιερίην δ’ ἐπιβὰς, ἐξ αἰθέρος ἔμπεσε πόντῳ· (50.) - -He then bounded along the wave (51), reached the remote island (55), -landed on the beach (56), and finally arrived at the cave (57). I think -no one can read this description, which extends over sixteen verses, -without feeling that it is meant to convey to us, that Mercury moved -with great rapidity in a right line, the shortest by which he could -reach his destination. But now, if this be so, then, as Pieria lies to -the northward of Olympus, we have only to ask how does he pursue his -further route? From Pieria he sweeps down upon the sea, and rides upon -the waves (54) all the way to Ogygia. It is hopeless to fit this even -by a moderate deviation either way to any existing sea: we have only, -therefore, to conclude, in conformity with the other indications, that -Homer believed in a θάλασσα to the northward of Pieria. We cannot take -refuge in the plea, that Homer did not know where Pieria lay. First, -because it was on the Olympian border of Thessaly, and as Homer knew -that region well, he must have known that Pieria lay to the north of -it. Secondly, it was probably within the circle of Greek traditions; -since it is sometimes read for Πηρείῃ in Il. ii. 766, and at any -rate they seem to be in all likelihood different forms of the same -word. Thirdly, a complete proof is given by the route of Juno in the -Fourteenth Iliad. She passes, in accordance with the actual geography, -from Olympus to Pieria, from Pieria (apparently verging eastwards) to -Emathia, and so by the Thracian mountains, evidently of Chalcidice, to -Lemnos[580]. - -[580] Il. xiv. 225-30. - -4. There is another passage which may be cited in direct corroboration -of these views[581]. The spirits of the Suitors passed (1) the stream -of Ocean, and (2) the Leucadian rock; and also passed (3) the gates of -the Sun, and (4) the people of Dream Land. - -[581] Od. xxiv. 11. - -~_Northward route to the Euxine._~ - -Now it may be observed, that to pass the Leucadian rock is not the way -from Ithaca to the Straits of Gibraltar: the course would lie round -either the north or the south point of Cephallonia. Neither is it the -way to the Bosphorus and Black Sea; which must be sought by steering -first in a southerly direction. But it is the way to Ocean, and the -nether Shades, if I am correct in my belief that Homer believed the -route to lie along the Adriatic, and round the north of Thrace. Nor -am I aware of any other view of his geography, on which this passage -can be explained. The evidence, which it affords, is at first sight -conclusive in support of the proposition, that Homer’s route to the -Ocean-mouth lay up the Adriatic. But there are two grounds, on which a -scruple may be felt about its reception. First, it stands in the second -Νεκυΐα, the only considerable portion of either poem which appears, -to me at least, open to the suspicion that it may have been seriously -tampered with. Secondly, the order of the passage is singular, as it -runs thus: they passed, or they went towards, the channels of Ocean, -and the Leucadian rock, and the gates of the Sun: while, according to -Homer’s geography, the Leucadian rock would come first, the gates of -the Sun second, and Ocean-mouth would be the last of the three points. - -But in answer to the first, the suspicions affecting this passage are -too vague and indeterminate to warrant our rejecting its evidence, -where it is in harmony with the general testimony of Homer. Even if -these lines were interpolated, they would be remarkable as embodying an -ancient, probably a very ancient opinion, as to Homer’s geographical -view on the point at issue. - -As regards the second, we may cite the parallel case of Menelaus in -his narrative of his own tour. After Cyprus and Phœnicia, he describes -his visits in the following order: (1) Egypt, (2) Ethiopians, (3) -Sidonians, (4) Erembi, (5) Libya. It is evident that this cannot be -intended to be understood as the order in which the several places were -actually visited[582]. - -[582] Od. iv. 83-5. - -We have thus, I hope, secured for Ulysses, without drawing upon the -Wanderings for testimony, what seamen call a good or wide berth; room -enough for the disposition of his marvels, and the mystery of the -distances between them. In this northern division of the θάλασσα we -may imagine Homer to have placed, without any impropriety, or any -violence done to his experience of his own latitude, both the double -day of the Læstrygones, and the fogs of the Cimmerians. Into it he -might well drive Ulysses by the force of the south wind[583], and from -it bring him back by the strength of Zephyr or of Boreas[584]. Lastly, -by means of this θάλασσα, we can avoid placing Circe and the Sunrise -to the west of Homer’s own country; and we are not obliged to find his -representation of the Πλαγκταὶ involving him in the hopeless absurdity -of contradiction to his own experimental knowledge of the general -direction of Jason’s course with the ship Argo. - -[583] Od. xii. 325, 427. - -[584] Od. v. 485. x. 25. xii. 407. - -~_Amalgamated reports of the Ocean-mouth._~ - -I now pass on to the second of the two propositions, on which it -appears to me that a reasonable interpretation of the Outer Geography -is to be founded. - -It is this: that the Poet has compounded into one two sets of Phœnician -traditions respecting the Ocean-mouth, one of them originally -proceeding from, or belonging to, the West, and the other to the -North-east: and that he has chosen the north-eastern site as the ground -on which to fix the scene of his amalgamated representation. - -The argument, which has recently been adduced for another purpose from -the Twenty-fourth Odyssey, is available to show that the Ocean-mouth -of Homer is towards the north: but it does not suffice to decide the -question between North-east and North-west, nor does it decide whether -Homer simply transplanted the Straits of Gibraltar, or whether he mixed -together the accounts of it and of some other strait, and welded them -into one. - -This question we must examine from the evidence concerning the -Ocean-mouth supplied by the Wanderings themselves. - -Ulysses and his companions, when they enter the great River Ocean, -enter it at a point far north, by the city and country of the -Cimmerians, who are enveloped in cloud and vapour[585]: and they -are carried up or against the stream (παρὰ ῥόον), by the breath of -Boreas[586], to the mouth of the _Inferno_. Returning from thence, they -come down the stream (κατὰ ῥόον Od. xi. 639) back to the sea (θάλασσα); -and they there find themselves at the isle of Circe, where is the -dwelling of Ἠὼς, and where is also the couch, from which the sun rises -in the morning. - -[585] Od. xi. 13, 21. - -[586] Od. X. 507. - -In this account it is not difficult to trace certain outlines of -truth. The ideas of Homer respecting the gates of Ocean would be drawn -from reports which may have related _primâ facie_ to any one of several -geographical points; to the Straits of Gibraltar, to the Bosphorus, to -the Straits of Yenikalè leading into the Sea of Azof, or to all the -three. At one and all of these there appears to be a continual stream -flowing inwards in the direction of the Mediterranean or θάλασσα. One -and all, as sea-straits, present the character of a vast marine river. -In exact accordance with these physical facts, Homer makes the ship -of Ulysses, entering the great River Ocean, sail up the stream. We -may observe in passing, that he describes his θάλασσα as εὐρύπορος, -in evident contrast with the Ocean, which is marked, therefore, by a -contraction of shores. - -Further, Homer had conceived the existence of what we may call -ultra-terrene parts, both westwards and eastwards. On the one hand, -Menelaus, after death, is to be carried to the Elysian plain, where -Zephyrs continually blow, springing fresh from the bed of western -Ocean. On the other hand, the groves of Persephone are on the beach of -Ocean, but in the furthest East. - -Still it does not at all follow from this, that he had in his mind -the idea of a double egress from the Mediterranean, or, the θάλασσα -at large, to the Ocean. On the contrary, we never hear of any mode of -access to it except one; and his placing the point where Ulysses enters -it amidst mist and cloud, and his calling in the aid of Boreas to carry -the ship to the groves of Persephone and mouth of the Shades (which -he probably intended to be the exact counterpart in position of the -Elysian plain), lead to the belief that his egress from sea to Ocean -was in the north, and that the further route to the Shades lay, for -the most part, in a southerly direction. - -~_Open-sea Passage to Ocean-mouth._~ - -The reader of the Odyssey will observe, that Ulysses encounters on his -passage tempests indeed, but yet nothing in the nature of a dangerous -maritime passage, before he has entered the Ocean-river, and then, -completing his excursion to the nether world, has returned to the -island of Circe[587]. Therefore we may say with certainty, that the -mouth of Oceanus is, according to the ideas of Homer, accessible by the -broad and open sea. Thus we have attained a first condition for the -determination of its site. - -[587] Od. xii. 3. - -But, before he sets out a second time from Ææa, Circe, now his friend, -directs him as to his onward and homeward course. First, he was to -reach the island of the Sirens[588]. After passing beyond this, the -deity no longer lays before him a single and continuous route[589]: -but indicates to him two alternatives, each involving a most dangerous -passage. The first is described in the lines Od. xii. 59-72, beginning -ἔνθεν μὲν γάρ. The second, which she recommends in vv. 73-110, begins -with οἱ δὲ δύω σκόπελοι: where the δὲ is the _apodosis_ to the μὲν of -v. 59. Now, it must be remembered, that physically there was nothing -to prevent his returning by the way he came, and thus avoiding both of -these passages. Why then does Homer expose him to such extraordinary -danger, leaving him no option but either total destruction, or the -certain loss, at the least, of six men of his crew[590]? - -[588] Ibid. 39, 167. - -[589] Ibid. 56. - -[590] Ibid. 109, 10. - -The voyage of Ulysses might have been given us by the Poet as the -execution of a divine plan, comprehensively premeditated as a whole: -but it is not so: it is shown us as simply prolonged from time to time -by some error of his own or of his companions, or by the spite of -Neptune, or by the vengeance which the Sun demanded and obtained[591]. -At Ææa he has nothing to do, but to take the best way home. Tiresias -had indeed prophesied that he would come to Thrinacie[592], but nowhere -intimates that he was to be divinely compelled to do this, or that he -would take that route for any other reason than according to his own -best judgment. Why then does he not return, as he had come, by the open -sea, instead of tempting either of the two passages of peril? - -[591] Od. i. 75. xii. 373 _et seqq._ - -[592] Od. xi. 104-7. - -The answer I believe to be this. He was subject to the resentment of -Neptune, who operates by storm in the open sea. Otium divos rogat in -_patenti_ prensus Ægæo. As in the heroic age, every wound, generally -speaking, is death, so storm either invariably or commonly means -foundering or shipwreck. Thus then Ulysses might prudently keep to -landlocked waters and narrow seas, even with a crisis of great danger -before him, rather than face the angry Sea-god on the long passages -over the open main, by which he had come to the land of the Cyclops, -and so onwards to Ææa. - -Rationalized, and reduced to its simplest form, this seems to imply -that the routes pointed out to him by Circe, and perhaps especially -that which he was to prefer, were short cuts either to his home, or at -least back into the Inner or Greek world. And in conformity with this -supposition, the whole prediction of Circe appears to presume that a -passage of moderate length would bring him back within the known world; -for it never speaks of the breadth of any unknown sea to be crossed, -which to the navigators of that day was always its most formidable -feature. - -In the mental view of Homer, then, the passage of Scylla could not lie -much beyond the horizon of his own Greek world and of geography proper. -This was the more eligible of the two routes. The other was that of -the Πλαγκταὶ, or Bosphorus. It was rejected as involving certain -destruction: for only Jason had safely passed it by the aid of Juno, -and Pallas was not now at hand to succour Ulysses; since he was outside -that Greek world, to which her action has been restricted, generally -speaking, and in all likelihood for poetical reasons, in the Odyssey. -Now, since both these passages are spoken of as apparently lying near -the island of the Sirens, which is itself separated, as far as we can -judge, by no long interval from Ææa and Circe, the next inferences -we have to draw are two of very great importance. The first is, that -although the one strait of Homer physically corresponds with the -Straits of Messina, while by the other he plainly means the Bosphorus, -yet he conceived of these as within no great distance of one another. -The second inference is that, according to the belief of Homer, the -waters beyond the Bosphorus were accessible by some channel other than -that of the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmora: for otherwise Ulysses could -not have placed himself on the farther side of those terrible narrows, -except by navigating one of them. - -~_Three maritime routes to Ocean-mouth._~ - -There were therefore three maritime routes by which Homer conceived -that mouth of Ocean, which Ulysses entered, to be approachable: - -1. The route by which the hero actually arrived there: - -2. The route of Scylla and Charybdis, by which he returned from it: - -3. The route of the Bosphorus, by which Jason had passed, and which -Ulysses might, according to the description of Circe, have attempted. - -But now, what in the view of Homer was this mouth of Ocean? that is, -on what geographical basis rested the reports or descriptions which he -adopted for the groundwork of his picture? We cannot but admire, as we -pass along, the manner in which the Phœnicians guarded the treasures of -their distant markets: no way lay to them except through a choice of -terrors; terror in the boundless expanse of devouring waters; terror -in shipwreck by the Πλαγκταὶ, which none but Jason (so says Circe, the -Phœnician witness) had escaped; terror in certain loss of men by the -voracious maw of Scylla. What, however, was this Ocean-mouth that lay -beyond them? - -My answer is, that there are two mouths of Ocean, either of which -might tolerably correspond with the Homeric picture, if tried only by -its relation to the intermediate points that are represented by these -dangerous passages. - -Firstly, the Straits of Gibraltar, leading to the Atlantic. - -Secondly, the Straits of Kertch or Yenikalè, leading to the Sea of Azof. - -~_Straits of Gibraltar as Ocean-mouth._~ - -1. As regards the Straits of Gibraltar, they correspond with the -Homeric description in respect of their great distance from Ithaca: of -their current ever setting inwards to the Mediterranean: of their being -accessible, without previously leaving the wide or open sea for any -narrow passage: of their being, we may confidently believe, within the -maritime experience of the Phœnicians. Further, on the route to them -there lies an island triangular in form, which was already described -by the name Thrinacie[593]. Again, it would appear that there were -other islands between Thrinacie and this Ocean-mouth. For both Circe -and the Sirens inhabit islands. Even the nearest of the Balearic isles, -namely, Ibiza, is from the Straits of Gibraltar about as far as Crete -from Egypt, which we know to have been estimated by the Poet at five -days’ sail. It seems, however, not unlikely that Homer, having received -a notice of the Balearic isles in the Phœnician reports concerning the -Pillars of Atlas, carried them over, together with Atlas himself, into -the eastern situation, where he blends two sets of traditions into one. -He may therefore have been supplied from this source with materials for -his island of Circe and island of the Sirens. - -[593] Od. xii. 127. - -Lastly, although the misty Cimmerians are close by the Ocean-mouth, -while the atmosphere of Gibraltar is warm and sunny, yet even the -fogs may find their prototype in St. George’s Channel[594], or in the -Straits of Dover, and it may also be said that, in the hazy distance of -a Phœnician captain’s tale, they might from Homer’s point of view seem -to stand nearly together. But still this is a difficulty. There are -other more serious impediments, which make it absolutely impossible for -us to say that the Homeric mouth of Ocean corresponds with the Straits -of Gibraltar. This one especially: that he has, by a multitude of ties, -fastened down his mouth of Ocean to an eastern rather than a western -site; for there, at least hard by, is the dwelling of Aurora; there is -the morning couch of the Sun; there is Circe, sister of Æetes, to whose -country Jason sailed through the Bosphorus; and these both have had the -Sun for their father, and Perse, daughter of Ocean, without doubt an -eastern and not a western personage, for their mother[595]. The site -of Ææa will, however, together with that of Ogygia, receive presently -a fuller consideration. - -[594] Quart. Rev. vol. 102. p. 324. - -[595] Od. x. 135-9, and xii. 1-4. - -~_Straits of Yenikalè as Ocean-mouth._~ - -Let us turn then to the other alternative in the inquiry. - -2. As the Straits of Gibraltar offer a resemblance to the Homeric -picture, by their lying beyond the Straits of Messina, so do the -Straits of Yenikalè, by their lying beyond the Bosphorus. The perpetual -current inwards[596] is another feature of correspondence, such as may -apply to both the cases, and such as probably assisted the process at -which I shall presently glance. The whole group of Oriental conditions, -attaching to Homer’s Ocean-mouth, appear to be exactly realized in the -straits of Yenikalè. - -[596] Danby Seymour’s Black Sea and Sea of Azof, ch. xvii. - -The Cimmerian country of Homer is represented down to the present day -by the Crimea, one of the most ancient passages from Asia into Europe, -and probably known to the Phœnicians, who could well enough pass the -Bosphorus themselves, while making it a bugbear to others. The cloud, -in which these Cimmerians are wrapped, finds its counterpart in the -notoriously frequent winter fogs of the Euxine. The peninsula, lying -on the very Straits themselves, is in exact correspondence with the -passage (Od. xi. 13), - - ἡ δ’ εἰς πείραθ’ ἵκανε βαθυρρόου Ὠκεανοῖο· - ἔνθα δὲ Κιμμερίων ἀνδρῶν δῆμός τε πόλις τε. - -The only point of the description which is less faithfully represented -at this point than at the other, is the epithet βαθύρροος. This agrees -better with the deep water of Gibraltar, than with the (now at least) -shallow current of Yenikalè[597]. - -[597] Ibid. The _minimum_ appears to be fourteen feet: but it seems to -have been much deeper in old times. - -Nor is it unnatural, that near the Cimmerian darkness he should place -the home of Aurora and the Eastern Sun: for it is out of darkness that -dawn and day must ever rise; and we have occasion to notice, in various -forms, the association in Homer’s mind of ideas belonging to darkness -with the East. Again, there is a combination of a northerly with an -easterly direction in the conditions of the Homeric description, which -is exactly met by the position of these Straits relatively to Greece. - -But if we say, that these Straits form the single prototype of the -Homeric description, we are again met by hopeless contradictions. -For there does not lie any triangular island close by the Bosphorus, -which might answer to Thrinacie: and there is no free maritime passage -whatever, other than the Bosphorus, by which the Ocean-mouth, that is, -the mouth of the _Palus Mæotis_, can be attained by a person who has -Troy for his point of departure. - -These facts appear to direct us plainly towards one satisfactory, and -as it seems inevitable, conclusion. It is exhibited in the sentences -that immediately follow. - -First, it seems at once clear that Homer either knew, or else dimly -figured to himself by Phœnician report, certain geographical facts, -including those which follow:-- - -1. That there was an island, whose figure was defined by a word -signifying three promontories, and which was accessible by a passage on -the western side of Greece. - -2. That near this island, there lay on one side the jaw of a dangerous -narrow. - -3. That either on the other side of it or in some other neighbouring -quarter lay the open sea, and a route along it, by which the further -side of the island might be reached, without traversing the narrow. - -4. That at a point beyond both these openings (I say nothing for the -present of the points of the compass) there lay a great stream such -as he called Ὠκεανὸς, flowing always inwards to the θάλασσα, which he -supposed to be fed by it (Il. xxi. 196). - -5. That there was likewise a passage, which Homer called the Πλαγκταὶ, -accessible from the eastern side of Greece; and through which Jason, -and as he believed Jason alone, had sailed. - -6. That at a point beyond this passage too, there lay an expanse of -sea, θάλασσα, and again a great stream, such as he called Ὠκεανὸς, -flowing always inwards to the θάλασσα. - -Now we have seen that he gives us in the poem one mouth, and one -mouth only, of Ὠκεανὸς, which corresponds with every one of these -propositions taken singly: it is, according to him, beyond Thrinacie, -beyond the Straits of Scylla and Charybdis, attainable by an open sea -passage, and beyond the Πλαγκταὶ or Bosphorus. - -It seems to follow almost mathematically, that he believed in an open -sea route, which must have lain to the north, and which established a -communication, independent of the Bosphorus, between the Mediterranean -and the Euxine. - -~_He blends two sets of reports into one._~ - -It also hereby appears that he had received from the Phœnicians -two sets of reports, one relating to western, and the other to -north-eastern navigation, but both involving a description of a great -inward flowing stream as an ultimate point, agreeably to his idea of -the River Ocean. These two ulterior points, obtained respectively -from each set of reports, Homer, led by the similarity of features, -has blended into one. We can even now take his untrue representation -to pieces, and can see where and how it separates into two, each of -them geographically true. In his one mouth of Ocean he has combined -the conditions, that in nature belong to two separate geographical -points. Both the north-eastern report and the western report he -has amalgamated, by carrying the remote point of the former round, -so to speak, in order to meet the latter: and having thus made his -Ocean-mouth northern, as well as eastern, he consistently calls in -Boreas to take the ship of Ulysses to the mouth of the Shades below, so -as to fix that point in the east, because it was the counterpart to his -Elysian fields which lay in the west. The two sets of Phœnician reports -are in this way oddly brought to integrate one another. The Ocean mouth -in the Euxine gets the benefit of the open sea route; and the Ocean -mouth at Gibraltar has credit for being placed in a northern latitude -and eastern longitude; each report thus throwing its own separate -attributes into the common stock. - -The effect of thus forcing Yenikalè and Gibraltar to meet, naturally -enough brings the Faro of Messina and the Bosphorus near to one -another: and hence Circe, in the Twelfth Book, names them to Ulysses as -alternative routes, both apparently lying in the same region. - -But again I say, that in order to comprehend the Outer or imaginary -geography of the Odyssey, we must entirely dismiss from our minds the -map of Europe as it is. We must treat as having been a real map to -Homer only the little sphere which was embraced within the resort of -ordinary Greek navigation. Beyond that narrow range, we must consider -him as distributing land and sea in the manner he best could, by -the aid of reports, necessarily in that age most indistinct, and in -all likelihood exaggerated, and even wilfully darkened to boot, by -trading craft. Sometimes therefore he puts a people upon poetical -_terra firma_ at points, where it fortunately but accidentally turns -out that nature has provided an antitype for the imagery of the Poem. -Sometimes he lodges them where there is none; _ubi nîl nisi pontus et -aer_. But though details are to be thus disposed of, still the one -master variation from actual nature is this; the sea extended from -the Mediterranean to the Euxine, behind, i. e. to the north of, the -Bosphorus and of Thrace. This gives us that open passage into the -Euxine, by which Homer supposed Ulysses to have reached the maritime -region, that Jason had sought and found through the Bosphorus. - -In sum; it is too plain to require much of the detailed proof which I -have tried to give, that Homer believed in a great expanse of waters -lying somewhere to the north. The probability is, that from some -Phœnician source he had heard rumours of the great German Ocean. It -need not to us appear strange that his mind did not readily conceive -an extent of land like that of the continent of Europe, when we notice -that his experience made him conversant partly with islands, partly -with countries in minute subdivisions, and of small breadth from sea -to sea. This great imaginary mass of waters he included within the -θάλασσα, to which everything belonged as far as the point where the -great River Oceanus was reached. - -I think then that we have now found the two keys to the Outer Geography, - -1. In the sea-route north of Thrace; - -2. In the amalgamation of the western with the north-eastern report of -the Ocean-mouth. - -From the site of the Ocean-mouth of Homer, we may most naturally -proceed to examine the site of Ææa; which, as being within one day’s -sail, is a kind of porter’s lodge to it[598], and is a point of the -utmost importance in the system. Hitherto I have proceeded only by -assertion, so far as the site of the Homeric Ææa is conceived. But to -defend the second main proposition or key to the system, in the face of -counter-theories, it will be necessary to examine, with as much care as -may be, all the Homeric evidence that bears either upon this question, -or upon the kindred one of the site of Ogygia. - -[598] Od. xii. 10-13. - -We have then to inquire, subject to the rules which have been laid -down, first, whether Ææa, the island of Circe, is to be placed, its -northward direction being generally admitted, in the north-west or in -the north-east? - -Secondly, as dependent very much upon the prior question, and as -entering at the same time largely into the proof of it, what is the -site of Ogygia, the island of Calypso? - -~_North-western hypothesis for the site of Ææa._~ - -Now I think that the arguments, which have been used for the -north-western theory, have been principally founded, - -1. Upon precipitate inferences, drawn from some one or more of Homer’s -outer-world statements, and then illegitimately used in order to govern -the rest of them; - -2. Upon the course of the later tradition, which was led, probably by -the course of colonization, to identify and appropriate the particulars -of the Outer Geography rather in the West than in the East. For Sicily -and Italy became at an early period familiar to the Greeks; but it was -long before they grew to be well acquainted with the more dangerous, -remote, and isolated navigation of the Black Sea[599]. Perhaps, -indeed, the main reason for placing the tour of Ulysses all along in -the West has been no better than this; that Homer has given us an -account of an island apparently corresponding in form with Sicily; -which it may very well do, and yet the conception of the site may be -totally erroneous. Again, with respect to traditional authority, I -apprehend it may be asserted, that the Fragment of Mimnermus[600], -which carries Jason to the East, to the chamber of the Sun, and to the -city of Æetes, as to one and the same point, expresses an universal -tradition, so far as the voyage of the Argonauts is concerned. And I -would also observe, that the current local appropriations about the -coast of Italy seem to be given up on all hands as geographically -worthless: the only question is, not so much that of removal, as -into which of two quarters they shall be transplanted. On the other -hand, the principal arguments for the north-eastern hypothesis are, -as I conceive, founded upon legitimate inferences, drawn from the -inner-world or experimental statements of Homer, and then applied, by a -law essentially sound, to determine the cardinal problems of his Outer -Geography. - -[599] Müller’s Orchomenos, p. 269. - -[600] Mimn. Fragm. x. quoted in Strabo, i. p. 67. - -~_North-eastern hypothesis._~ - -For example, much will depend upon the answer to the question, whether -we are to carry the Straits of Messina, or rather the fable of Scylla -and Charybdis, taken to represent them, eastwards, or whether we are in -preference to move the Bosphorus westwards. - -I answer without hesitation, that it is much more reasonable to -construe Homer as shifting essentially the site of Scylla and -Charybdis, than the site of the Bosphorus; and for the following -reasons. - -We have not the slightest reason to suppose that either Sicily or the -Scylla passage came within the experimental knowledge of Homer and the -Greeks of his time, either as to the island and the Strait themselves, -or as to the direction in which they lay. - -We find indeed that a continuance of winds, which ranged between E. -and S. W. detained Ulysses in Thrinacie or Trinacria. It has from this -been, as I think by much too hastily, inferred that Thrinacie lay to -the north-west of Ithaca[601]. Even if it did so, we should still -miss the true bearing of Sicily, which is west, with all inclination -to the south, and not north-west, from Ithaca. But the assumption is -in fact unwarranted. The wind, which principally held Ulysses fast in -Thrinacie, was, as is evident from the passage, Notus, a southerly -wind. Eurus plays a secondary part there[602]. Besides this, the wind, -which Ulysses needed, may have been needed to bring him not to Ithaca, -but to some point on his way to Ithaca, from whence his bearings would -be known; to some point at which, from the Outer, it would have been -practicable for him to re-enter the Inner or Greek world. The needful -conditions would be satisfied if, for instance, Thrinacie lay either -north-west or north-east from the Dardanelles; and then Ulysses would -want either Zephyr or else Boreas to get there. And the opposite theory -proceeds upon the entirely arbitrary, nay, untrue, assumption, that the -way back through the Narrows was, like the way by which Ulysses had -come to Ææa, an open-sea route, and not one in which the course would -have to be governed by fixed points of land lying along the course. - -[601] Müller’s Orchomenos, p. 272. Nitzsch, Od. xii. 361. - -[602] Od. xii. 325, 6. - -There is then no middle term between Thrinacie and any fixed point of -the Inner Homeric world, from which we can by direct inference argue as -to its site. And the winds, which detain Ulysses in Thrinacie, go far -of themselves to show that this island is not on the site of Sicily. - -The case is far otherwise in regard to the Bosphorus, or Πλαγκταὶ, of -the Odyssey. For here we know, - -1. That Homer was familiar with the Dardanelles, a stage on the way to -it, and not very far from it: - -2. That he makes Jason pass the Bosphorus: - -3. That he also makes Jason settle at Lemnos, and become sovereign of -the island, evidently in connection with his route from Thessaly to the -East. - -But Thessaly, and Lemnos too, are places of the inner world: with -Lemnos the Poet appears to have been accurately acquainted; and the -line between that island and the home of Jason determines absolutely -so much as this; that the general direction of his voyage was known by -Homer, at least up to this point, to have lain to the north-eastward -through the Straits of Gallipoli. - -I hold therefore that the passage of the Πλαγκταὶ is fixed immovably, -by known-world evidence, as to its general direction: that to -transplant it to the west, is to break up the foundations of Homer’s -experimental knowledge, which is always to be trusted: whereas to move -his Thrinacie eastward is merely to suppose that he gave the site which -was poetically most convenient to a tradition which, as it came to him, -had no site at all, no positive local or geographical determination. - -~_Character and site of Thrinacie._~ - -Again, I take the island Thrinacie by itself; and I contend that, -although the report on which this delineation was founded may probably -have had its origin in Sicily, yet the Thrinacie of Homer is associated -rather with the East than with the West. - -For, though he has given us no geographical means for directly -determining the site, he has supplied us with other means that belong, -not to Phœnician rumour or fireside tale, but to his own knowledge and -experience. Since nothing can be more certain, than that the leading -local association of the Sun, for Homer as for all mankind, is with the -east. It is true that he is in the west just as often as in the east; -but we certainly hold Napoleon to belong more to Corsica than to Saint -Helena; and so the mind connects the Sun with the place of his daily -birth, and not with that of his daily death. Now, without entering upon -any other question for the present, I only observe, that in Thrinacie -are the oxen with which the Sun disports himself when not engaged in -his daily labours; that is, as he himself supplies the explanation, -both before they begin, and after they are ended[603]. In deference, -then, to those associations, founded on actual nature, which for the -present purpose are strictly facts, I cannot hesitate to maintain, that -the island of Thrinacie is upon the whole, relatively to Greece, an -eastern island. - -[603] Od. xii. 380. - -A like inference may be drawn from the names Lampetie (λάμπειν) and -Phaethusa (φάος), which he has given to the Nymphs of the Sun. Had the -island been in his intention western, he would have called them by -names of a different etymology. - -And as the Scylla passage, which is on its coast, is near the Πλαγκταὶ, -I think we shall pretty closely conform to the views of Homer, if -we make Thrinacie form the western side of the Bosphorus, and if we -separate it by an imaginary or poetical Scylla from the main land of -Turkey in Europe. - -Again, it is admitted that Αἰήτης has his name from Αἰαίη. From the -personal relations of Æetes, as well as from those of his daughter -Circe, we may therefore argue respecting the site of Ææa, provided we -can attach them to any known and fixed point of the system of Homeric -ideas. - -Now their parentage furnishes a point of this kind, on both the -father’s and the mother’s side. Their father is the Sun: a divinity -not, like the Apollo or Minerva[604], de-localized, but one having his -daily sojourn (out of work-hours) in the east. The mother is Perse: and -enough, I think, has been shown with respect to the import of this name -for the Achæan mind[605], to make it pretty certain that, when Homer -gives a residence to the children of Perse, he intends it to be in the -east. - -[604] See Olympus, sect. iii. p. 82. - -[605] See Achæis, or Ethnology, sect. x; and Olympus, sect. iv. p. 220, -on Persephone. - -It is now time to bring more directly into the discussion a point much -contested--the situation of the island of Calypso. The usual modes of -solution, which place the original of this picture on the Bruttian -coast or in Malta[606], are inadmissible in spirit as well as in the -letter. For very great remoteness is the most essential point in the -description, and to bring it near would wholly change its character. It -requires eighteen days of favourable wind[607] to come by raft within -sight of Scheria from Ogygia: while even the distance from Crete to -Egypt, a greater one than from the Bruttian coast to Greece, might -be performed, as Homer thinks, in five[608]. It is the midpoint, or -ὄμφαλος[609], of a vast expanse of sea: and Mercury, passing thither -from Olympus, mentions the route as one which traverses a mighty space -of water, without habitations of men between[610]. Again, the name -of Calypso (καλύπτειν) places it wholly beyond the circle of Greek -maritime experience: as does her relation to Atlas, who holds the -pillars, that is, stands at the extremity, of earth and sea. The first -and cardinal point to be fixed therefore is its decided, if not extreme -remoteness. - -[606] Schönemann de Geogr. Hom. p. 20. Nitzsch on Od. v. 50, n. - -[607] Od. v. 268-75. - -[608] Od. xiv. 257. - -[609] Od. i. 50. - -[610] Od. v. 100-2. - -Next, if it is thus remote, we find by a process of exhaustion that it -must be in the north. As far as we know, Homer recognised the African -coast by placing the Lotophagi upon it, and the Ethiopians inland from -the East all the way to the extreme West. In that direction there is no -more θάλασσα, or sea. And again, as Nitzsch truly remarks, Scheria is -on the proper homeward line of the voyage of Ulysses[611]. Consequently -he cannot pass, nor can he even approach, Ithaca while on his way to -Scheria: I add, he must come to it down the Adriatic on his way to -Ithaca. - -[611] Nitzsch on Od. v. 276-8. - -~_Site of Ogygia to the East of North._~ - -Now we are provided with an important argument, drawn, like some -preceding ones, from what we may fairly call Homer’s experience, and -tending to fix the site of Ogygia in the north or north-east. It is -derived from the route taken by Mercury, when he carries the message -of the Immortals to Calypso, which in another point of view we have -already had to examine[612]: - -[612] Od. v. 50. - - Πιερίην δ’ ἐπιβὰς, ἐξ αἰθέρος ἔμπεσε πόντῳ. - -We are obliged to suppose, as has been observed, that Mercury, who -does not march, but flies like a bird wont to hunt for fish[613], must -move in a direct line towards his object. But Pieria is a district -stretching along the shore of Macedonia; it begins in the south, to -the eastward of Olympus, and then extends due north of it. Its limits -are variously defined[614]; but the only question about it could be, -whether it verges, not to the westward, but to the eastward of North. -Again, from the route of Juno in the Fourteenth Iliad[615], no question -can arise, except what would tend to give Pieria an eastward turn. - -[613] Ibid. 51-3. - -[614] Cramer’s Greece, i. 204. - -[615] Il. xiv. 226. - -A line drawn from Olympus over the centre of Pieria would carry Mercury -to the North. It might, consistently with the condition of crossing -Pieria, diverge a little either to the east or the west of due North, -but only a little. Consequently the island of Calypso may be affirmed -to be, according to the intention of Homer, in the North, and not very -far from due North. - -This conclusion is confirmed by two other arguments; which are both -of the class which I have described as legitimate, because they are -founded on Homer’s physical knowledge of the direction of the winds. - -After the storm has destroyed the ship of Ulysses to the south of -Thrinacie, Notus, a wind of decidedly southerly character, carries him -back again to Scylla, Od. xii. 426: and again, when he has passed it, -he proceeds thus[616]: - -[616] Od. xii. 447. - - ἔνθεν δ’ ἐννῆμαρ φερόμην, δεκάτῃ δέ με νυκτὶ - νῆσον ἐς Ὠγυγίην πέλασαν θεοί. - -Now there is no mention between these two passages either of any change -of wind, or of any particular wind. Consequently it seems rational to -assume that Homer meant us to understand a continuance of the wind just -named, namely Notus. Even independently of this collocation, we should -be thrown back upon the general rule of the Wanderings, which is that -southerly winds blow Ulysses away from home, while northerly ones bring -him back again. - -Consequently, the natural construction to put upon the passage is, that -it was a south wind, whether a little east or west of south matters -not much, which continued to blow, and which drifted Ulysses away -from Ithaca to the island of Calypso. This is in entire accordance -with the passage which describes him as windbound by Eurus and Notus -at Thrinacie; since the way from home is presumably the exact reverse -of the way towards it. But it will be said, this implies that he -made westing on his way to Ogygia from Ææa. I answer, that this is -probably so: for Circe is described as immediately connected with the -east, while Calypso is far, as Mercury complains, from all land and -habitation: so that apparently her island is, in the intention of -Homer, materially to the westward, as well as greatly to the northward, -of Ææa. But the main direction taken from Scylla is northward; and, -since Scylla is near the Πλαγκταὶ, and the Πλαγκταὶ are the Bosphorus -of actual nature, it must be taken from a point near the Bosphorus, -along the imaginary expanse of an enlarged and westward-reaching Euxine. - -According to this argument, then, Ogygia might lie upon a line drawn -from Mount Olympus in a direction not very wide either way of St. -Petersburgh. - -Nor are we wholly without means of measuring the distance. He floats -(from Scylla) for nine days, and arrives on the tenth. Now this is just -what happened to the pseudo-Ulysses[617], who in the same space of time -drifted from a point near Crete to the country of the Thesprotians. We -may therefore fix Ogygia as (in the intention of the Poet), at about -the same distance from Scylla, which we measure from the south of -Epirus to a point near, yet not in sight of, Crete. But this in passing. - -[617] Od. xiv. 310-15. 301-4. - -The corresponding argument is derived from the homeward passage of -Ulysses, and stands as follows: - -For seventeen days Ulysses pursues his raft-voyage from Ogygia to -Scheria; and the raft threatens to founder on the eighteenth. He then -floats, by the aid of the girdle he had received from Ino. Up to this -point there is no positive indication of the wind; the argument from -the relation between his course and the stars I will consider shortly. -But after he has put on the girdle, and when Neptune withdraws his -persecution, since he is now approaching the horizon of the Inner -world again, Minerva’s agency revives, and she sends a north wind or a -north-north-east wind, Boreas, to bring him to Scheria. - -Now there is no reason for our supposing that Homer meant to represent -Ulysses as changing his general direction at this particular point. The -orders of Circe with respect to the stars all indicate a single right -line from Ogygia to Scheria, and neither the wind nor his course alter, -until he has seen the island on the far horizon. The natural inference -therefore is, that Boreas, the N. or N. N. E. wind, which at last -drifted him in, was the wind which had brought him all the way from the -island of Calypso, over an unbroken and unincumbered expanse of sea. - -We appear to have seen, thus far, that Ogygia is greatly to the -northward, and probably somewhat to the westward, of the Strait of -Scylla. We shall obtain further light upon the site of that island, if -we can more precisely define the position of Scylla with regard to -what lay southward, as well as with respect to what lay northward, from -it. - -Our _data_ are as follows: - -1. Thrinacie appears to be close to Scylla, for it is reached αὐτίκα -(xii. 261). - -2. The comrades of Ulysses, when they arrive at the island, and when -he attempts to dissuade them from landing, reply by asking what is to -become of them if they set sail at night, and are then caught by a -squall of Eurus or of Zephyr (284-93). - -3. The ship is windbound in Thrinacie for a month by Eurus and Notus; -which may be taken in Homer as the winds that cover the whole horizon -from a point north of east to the western quarter[618]. - -[618] See sup. p. 274. - -4. When they finally set sail, we are not told with what wind it was: -but, after they have got out of sight of the island, the sky darkens, -and mischief follows[619]; - -[619] Od. xii. 403-8. - - αἶψα γὰρ ἦλθεν - κεκληγὼς Ζέφυρος, μεγάλῃ σὺν λαίλαπι θύων· - -and the ship goes to pieces in the tempest. At length Zephyr ceases, -and Notus blows Ulysses back upon Scylla. - -5. If it was the intention of Homer to place Thrinacie by the -Bosphorus, then the next point which Ulysses had to make was the -Dardanelles. - -~_Scylla and the Dardanelles._~ - -The question therefore is, what conclusion can we draw from the -evidence now before us as to the position of Scylla relatively to the -Dardanelles? I think a pretty clear one. - -We have at least two of those statements, which may be called -experimental, now before us. Homer knew the position of the mouth of -the Dardanelles. He knew the nature of the wind Notus. And there is a -third piece of evidence not unimportant, which we may here properly -bring into view. We have seen that, in Il. ii. 845, Homer confines -or contains his Thracians (ἔντος ἐέργει) by the Hellespont: and the -Hellespont with him means all the waters from the Sea of Marmora to the -northern Ægæan inclusive. Now by this he intends only a part of the -Thracians, those, say, of the plain of Adrianople. It is presumable -therefore that he believed the configuration of the coast at the two -extremities of the Dardanelles to be something like at least two of the -sides of a square, running N. and W. respectively: for unless it formed -a portion of some marked figure, it would not answer his description of -including a certain district, and the words would become applicable to -the whole of Thrace alike. Therefore it appears that Homer thought the -northern coast of the Sea of Marmora trended, from its western point, -more rapidly to the north, than is really the case. - -The most decisive evidence, however, is that which had been previously -named. - -When the storm came, which shattered the ship, Ulysses was on the true -course from Thrinacie to the Dardanelles. But if we know the point for -which he was making in a right line from point _x_, and if we also -know the wind which carried him back to point _x_, then the line on -which point _x_ itself lies is also known. In other words, as Notus, -or say the S.S.W. wind, carried him back upon Scylla, Scylla lies to -the N.N.E. of the inner mouth of the Dardanelles: and the unnamed wind -which takes him back to Scylla is Notus, which we are entitled to -consider as blowing (even as Boreas, its counterpart, blows from due N. -to the eastward) from any point between the limit of Eurus on the East -of South, and 45 or even 90 degrees beyond South to the westward. - -Ææa, then, is in the East; with somewhat of an inclination, as measured -from Greece, towards the north. Ulysses has much westing to make, in -order to get to Scheria. Part of this is made on his passages between -Ææa and Ogygia in the farther north. The rest in the course of his -long seventeen days’ voyage from the north, which is propelled, as it -would appear, by Boreas, and therefore includes also a slight westerly -inclination. - -All these arguments converge towards the same conclusions, and all of -them are mainly founded, not on Homer’s outer-world representations, -but upon indications drawn from his knowledge of nature, or else from -his experimental or otherwise familiar acquaintance with the Inner -world: that is, they are built not on the figures of his fancy, but on -the facts of his own and his countrymen’s every-day experience. - -And now let us consider the adverse construction put upon the text of -the Odyssey; particularly with regard to the island of Ææa. - -~_Why Ææa cannot lie North-westward._~ - -It is quite plain, from the accounts given of the route both ways, that -the Ocean-mouth is meant by Homer to be near the island of Ææa; that -is, within a day’s sail[620] of that island. How is this reconcilable -with the doctrine, which places the island in the far north-west? In -the north-east we have an Ocean-mouth, the situation of which the Poet, -guided up to a certain point by his inner-world knowledge, has not very -inaccurately conceived. In the north-west there is no Ocean-mouth. The -Straits of Gibraltar, though they lie rather to the south of west from -Ithaca, must be carried far into the north for the purpose; in what -form, or with what accompaniments, it is hard to conceive. To attempt -such a transposition would involve the complete abandonment of all -actual geography, and would after all leave us involved in hopeless -confusion in the effort to construct any tolerable scheme from the text -of Homer. - -[620] Od. xi. 11. - -~_Construction of_ Od. xii. 3, 4.~ - -At the mere transportation, indeed, we need not scruple overmuch, if -we could justify the proceeding by other clear indications of Homer’s -intention. But there is no such justification. It is hardly possible -to exaggerate the violence done to the text of Od. xii. 3, 4, by the -interpretation which Nitzsch (following, as I admit, Eustathius), puts -upon it. The ship, leaving the stream of Ocean, reaches the sea and the -island[621]: - -[621] Od. xii. 3. - - νῆσόν τ’ Αἰαίην, ὅθι τ’ Ἠοῦς ἠριγενείης - οἰκία καὶ χοροί εἰσι, καὶ ἀντολαὶ Ἠελίοιο. - -The ἀντολαὶ, the rising, or rising-point of the sun, does not, he says, -mean the east, but only the first appearance of the sun on their return -from darkness, which is a kind of dawning on them. And the dwelling of -the early-born Dawn, and the place (such appears to be the meaning of -χόροι) of the Dances of her kindred or attendant Nymphs--who in later -mythology became the virgin train of Hours, that now delight us in the -frescoes of Guido and Guercino--not only do not mean anything eastern, -but apparently in this place are conceived to have no meaning whatever, -and to be an idle, indeed a most inconvenient and bewildering, -pleonasm. And thus the magic poetry of this passage and all the curious -traditions it involves, are destroyed, in order to make room--for what? -For the hypothesis that Homer places the dwelling of Morning and the -chamber of the rising Sun far to the westward of the country that he -himself inhabited[622]! - -[622] In the well known case of a noble description in the Antiquary, -Walter Scott has made the sun set on the east coast of Great Britain: -but _this_ was unawares and not on purpose. Had he recited instead of -writing, the error could not have escaped correction. - -There is, I confess, something almost of _naïveté_ in the confession -of Nitzsch, that ‘it sounds rather strange to interpret ἀνατολαὶ -without any reference to sunrise, since it is the customary counterpart -to δύσις, the sunset.’ But fortunately there is no Homeric evidence -against it: as indeed there cannot well be, since the word occurs in -no other passage. With respect to Ἠὼς, Nitzsch contends that it means -not dawn, but light: and he quotes the passages which say, ‘your glory -shall reach as far as Ἠὼς,’ and ‘horses, the best to be found beneath -the Sun and Ἠώς.’ Certainly it is most allowable, (though I by no means -think the sense of dawn inadmissible in these two passages,) especially -as day goes nowhere except preceded by dawn, to generalize the word -Ἠὼς so as to make it equivalent to light. But the fatal flaw in the -interpretation is this, that when Ἠὼς is thus used, it is invariably -apart from any circumstances which can give a local colour to its -meaning. But wherever there is any thing local implied, as is admitted -to be in the case before us, the ἠὼς uniformly means the east, though -with a certain indefiniteness perhaps as to northward and southward -inclination. For instance, when Homer speaks of omen-birds flying -eastwards, he describes them as flying πρὸς ἠώ τ’ ἠέλιόν τε, and the -opposite movement as ποτὶ ζόφον, which here evidently means north-west, -although it too may signify darkness in general. The whole aim of the -passage (Od. xii. 1-5) is, to fix locality; and it is in the teeth of -all Homeric usage to deprive ἠὼς in such a passage of local force, -while it confessedly can have no local meaning but an eastern one. - -To me, I confess, it appears that Homer has nowhere done more, -and rarely so much, in a single passage, as in this, with a view -of declaring his intention. The island Ææa, irrespective of all -geographical argument, is, as we have seen, directly bound and fastened -to an eastern site by four separate cords. First, as the rising point -of the Sun. Secondly, as the residence of Dawn. Thirdly, because -Circe, its mistress, has the Sun, the most eastern of all mythological -conceptions except the Dawn, for her father. Fourthly, because she has -also Perse, whose name indicates a trans-Phœnician origin, for her -mother. And further, I am convinced we cannot alter the place of Ææa -without uprooting the whole Phœnician scheme of the Outer Geography. - -The scope and range thus given to the adventures of Ulysses confines -them without doubt to the northern semi-circle, but allows them to -reach, within that semi-circle, to its eastern and to its western -extremities, as they are imagined by the Poet. Æolus and the -Læstrygonians are evidently placed by him in the north-west. The -hypothesis, which has here been maintained for Ææa and Calypso, -supplies an effectual counterpart, and properly fills up the eastern -corner. But, independently of all other objections, the north-western -hypothesis for these islands jumbles them, if I may so speak, in one -heap with the others, and leaves the eastern quarter towards the North -wholly unoccupied. And yet that East was, for a Greek, the source and -the scene of the richest legendary and mythological representations. -Such an incongruous view of the question would not, I think, be at all -in keeping with Homer’s ordinary modes of conceiving, handling, and -presenting his materials. - -~_Construction of_ Od. v. 276, 7.~ - -But I am aware that, up to this time, we have left out of view a -passage, of which I freely admit that the prevailing, and in so far -the most obvious, interpretation is against me. Ulysses sails over -the sea from Ogygia, governing the rudder of his raft with art, and -watching the stars, especially the Great Bear; which at that period, I -believe, was nearer the Pole, and was a more conspicuous and splendid -astronomical object, than it now is. It was with respect to this -constellation that he had received a particular order from Calypso[623]: - -[623] Od. v. 276. - - τὴν γὰρ δή μιν ἄνωγε Καλυψὼ, δῖα θεάων, - ποντοπορευέμεναι ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα. - -Or, according to the common construction of the words, he was to keep -that constellation on the left during his voyage. But if his course lay -in the direction of a right line drawn from St. Petersburgh to Corfu, -it appears that Arctus, when visible to him, would be visible on the -right, and not on the left. - -I could not, however, accommodate myself to this passage at such a -cost as that of oversetting an interpretation of the general scheme, -which is so deeply rooted both in the letter and spirit of the poem, -as is the eastern, and likewise somewhat north-eastern, hypothesis -for Ææa, together with a northern site for Ogygia. These two, it may -be observed, stand together. It is plain, from the times occupied by -the several stages between Ææa and Ogygia, and from the language used -where no precise time is stated, that the Poet conceived the distance -between them to be limited, though very considerable. And indeed the -north-western hypothesis for Ææa would do nothing for the passage I -have quoted, unless we also carry Ogygia into the north-west, in order -that Ulysses, on his way home from it, may have Arctus on his left. -Inasmuch, however, as the admission of the received sense for the lines -would involve us in a new series of the most complicated and hopeless -contradictions, we must look for relief in some other direction. - -~_On the genuineness of the passage._~ - -I desire to eschew, as a general rule, the dangerous and seductive -practice of questioning the genuineness of the text because it seems to -stand in conflict with a favoured interpretation. I may however state, -without unduly relying on them, one or two particulars which, drawn -from the poem itself, may show that these two lines are not unjustly -open to the suspicion of interpolation. - -1. The two lines are wholly void of any necessary connection with what -precedes and follows them, and the text is complete without them. -We should not break up the passage generally by removing them. This -argument, however, is one purely negative. - -2. These lines tell us, that Calypso had bid Ulysses keep Arctus on his -left. Now Homer has given us a speech of Calypso[624] on the subject of -this voyage, in which she promises to send, from behind him, a breeze -which shall carry him home. But there is in this speech no order to -him whatever about observing the stars; and the promise of the wind in -some degree, though not perhaps quite conclusively, tends to show that -no such injunction was needed. For it is plain that, if the wind blew -fair across the open sea, he did not depend at all upon the helm, and -noticing the stars would be of no assistance to him. I rely, however, -more upon this, that there is here a sort of patchwork, very unlike -Homer’s usual method, in the mode in which the injunction is recorded. -Clearly, if Calypso gave a direction respecting the stars, the proper -place for it was in the speech where she delivered to Ulysses what may -be called his general instruction for the voyage. And I am not sure -whether another instance can be found in the whole of the poems, where -an omission of something relevant and material in one of the speeches -is supplied by a recital in the subsequent narrative. It is wholly -contrary to the manner of Homer, who so uniformly throws into speech -and the dramatic form whatever is susceptible of being thus handled. - -[624] Od. v. 160-70. - -3. The expression ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς is found nowhere else in Homer, -though the phrase ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ occurs many times. - -4. There is no other passage in the Wanderings, or elsewhere in the -poems, which describes the conduct of navigation by means of the -stars. In the Iliad we have the mention of a star in connection with -sea-travelling; but it is simply as a portent, (ναύτῃσι τέρας, Il. iv. -76). On this, however, if it stood alone, I should place no commanding -stress: and it should also be observed that the objection is one which, -if admitted, would displace eight lines. - -So much for the genuineness of the passage. - -As respects the grammatical meaning of the phrase, I have endeavoured -to discuss it at large in a separate paper; and to show that its real -sense is in fact the reverse of that which is ordinarily assumed. It -means, I believe, a star looking _towards_ the left, and therefore a -star looking _from_ and situated _on_ the right hand in the sky. - -In no case, however, can I admit it to be the true meaning of Homer, -that Ulysses is to follow a south-westward course from Ogygia to -Scheria; because this is at variance with all the trustworthy, I must -add with the consentient, indications of Homer’s intention in the whole -arrangement of the tour, as well as in the particular description of -Circe’s island. It is also in contradiction to those indications, drawn -from his inner or experimental geography, which determine at certain -points the bearings applicable to the Outer or Phœnician sphere. - -Before proceeding to draw up in propositions the whole outline of the -interpretation which I venture to give to the route of Ulysses, I would -call attention to the means, which the Poet has adopted to signify to -us his own doubt and incertitude respecting its actual bearings at -several important points. - -By means of the wind Boreas he indicates to us the direction, not -however the distance, of the Lotophagi. After leaving them, he tells -us nothing either of distance or direction between their country and -that of the Cyclopes. From this point he provides us with certain aids -until we reach Æolia. When in Æolia, Ulysses is to the north-west of -Ithaca: for the Zephyr given by Æolus, he says, would have carried -him home. From this isle, six days of rowing take him to Læstrygonia. -Another passage of indefinite length next carries him to Ææa; and, -arriving here, he is entirely out of his bearings; he cannot tell where -is east or west[625], the point of dusk or the point of dawn, until he -has been duly instructed by Circe: but he sees an unbounded sea (πόντος -ἀπείριτος) on every side of him. - -[625] Od. x. 190. - -~_Homer’s geographical misgivings._~ - -This expression of ignorance, put into the mouth of Ulysses, probably -conveys the true sense of the Poet; who, more or less puzzled -with even his own method of harmonizing the Phœnician reports, and -suspecting that it might not bear the test of application to actual -nature, shielded himself by anticipation, through giving us to -understand that he did not mean to submit Circe’s isle to the strict -rules of geographical measurement. - -And indeed it was no wonder that he felt some diffidence, when we -recollect that he had to concentrate in a single point facts or -traditions that embraced east, north, and west. Eastern his site must -be to allow of the rising of the sun, and the accompanying legends: -he may have had misgivings, lest his Thrinacie, and also other -traditions of which he had to work up the materials, should in reality -lie westward from Greece: lastly, an appreciable northern element -was involved in the general direction of the navigation through the -Bosphorus, which in fact supplies a kind of meeting-point for the two -former. The remedy is, thus to hang the island of Circe in a vague and -shadowy distance, which gives the nearest practicable approach to an -exemption from the laws imposed by any determinate configuration of the -earth. - -Nor are these the only cases, in which Homer has afforded us tokens -of his own want of clear knowledge and confidence in regard to the -scenes through which he has carried his hero. On the contrary, he has -indicated the haziness of his views, and the insecurity of the ground -he trod, by forbearing in several other instances to fix with precision -the particular winds which favoured or opposed the voyage of Ulysses, -or to particularize the distances he travelled. - -~_Homeward route of Ulysses._~ - -We are now at liberty to approach the last portion of our subject. We -have, I trust, fixed the distinction of the Inner and Outer Geography; -ascertained the keys of the outer system, and fixed its governing -points. It remains to inquire what, according to the data ascertained, -did the Poet intend to be the route of Ulysses over the face of his -ideal map; and then, finally, to show its relation to that of Menelaus, -and to Homer’s general conception of the configuration and distribution -of the surface of the earth. - -I. His first halting-place, after quitting Troy, is with the Cicones, -in Thrace. This visit was paid with scarcely a deviation from his -homeward route: and therefore it does not belong to the Outer -Geography. The Cicones of the Odyssey were probably placed near the -northernmost point of the Ægæan sea (Od. ix. 39). - -II. From the country of the Cicones, he sails southward, under a -heavy north-north-east gale (Od. ix. 67), which lasts for three days. -He has then fair weather, till he gets to Cape Malea. But, as he is -rounding Cape Malea, the north-north-easter returns, and drives him -down the west coast of Cythera (now Cerigo), and so out to sea (79-81). -After nine days’ sail, with ὀλοοὶ ἄνεμοι, he reaches the land of the -Lotophagi (82-4). Now, as it took five days of the best possible wind -to sail from Crete to Egypt (Od. xiv. 253), we may perhaps assume that, -in the ten days of veering gales, about an equal distance was made -in the general direction of south-south-east indicated for us by the -Boreas of v. 82. This will place the Lotophagi on the Syrtis Major, now -the Gulf of Sidra. Here the region of the marvel-world begins: and the -mention of the ὀλοοὶ ἄνεμοι, in lieu of the pure Boreas, may be taken -as fair notice from the Poet, that he had no precise knowledge on what -portion of the coast of Africa Ulysses was to set his foot. - -The Lotophagi are full of Egyptian resemblances: and it appears that, -as Egypt and Phœnicia were for Homer the two greatest border-lands -between the real and the imagined worlds, therefore Ulysses makes his -first step into the Outer world through a quasi-Egyptian people, and -his last step out of it among a quasi-Phœnician people. - -III. The voyage from the land of the Lotophagi to the next stage, the -country of the Cyclopes, is without the smallest indication either -of distance or direction (103-5). But as, within the Outer sphere, -northern winds are always homeward, and southern ones carry Ulysses -outward, we may assume that Homer here intended some southern wind; -though, as he breaks at this juncture the last link with the known -world, he could not venture to state any thing like the precise point -of the compass. - -Shall we place the Cyclopes of Homer on any point of _terra firma_, or -must we imagine a country for them? - -Tradition has answered this question by commonly placing them in -Sicily. But a vague tradition, as we have seen, is of little authority -in regard to Homeric questions; and in this instance, I think, it may -be shown to be in error, for the following reasons: - -1. The country of the Cyclopes is not an island: it is mainland (γαίη -Κυκλώπων, 106), with an island near to it, 105. By the expression γαίη, -Homer sometimes means a great island such as Crete: but we have no -authority for supposing he would apply it to Sicily. - -2. It can hardly be doubted that the little which Homer probably did -know of Sicily is represented to us by his Thrinacie. And all this -consists in two points: the first, that it was an island (Od. xii. -127): the second, that it was triangular, and derived its name from -its form. But his Thrinacie he has given to the oxen of the Sun: and -therefore he certainly does not mean it to be the land of the Cyclopes, -or he would have given it the same name on both occasions. Indeed, on -the contrary, he has actually given another name to the land of the -Cyclopes: it is the εὐρύχορος Ὑπέρεια of Od. vi. 4. I may add, that -the epithet εὐρύχορος is not generally applicable to Sicily, which is -channelled all through with hill and dale, and which nowhere, unless -perhaps between Syracuse and Catania, seems to present any great -breadth of plain. - -3. Besides this, Ulysses traverses very long distances[626], in order -to reach Ææa from Hypereia: but Thrinacie, on the other hand, is very -near Ææa, so that he has not retraced his distance, and therefore -cannot be in Sicily. - -[626] See Od. x. 28 and 80. - -Where then were situated these Cyclopes, to whose country Ulysses came -after quitting the Lotophagi? It is plain that they were not within the -Greek maritime world, or Homer would, we may be sure, have indicated -their position by the time of the voyage, or by the quarter from which -the wind blew to take him there. - -I submit that Homer meant to place the Cyclopes in Iapygia, the heel of -Italy; a region nearly corresponding, on the west of the Ionian sea, -with the position of Scheria on the east. This hypothesis is consistent -with the whole evidence in the case, and might well stand on that -ground only. But it is, I think, also sustained by a separate argument -from the migration of the Phæacians[627]. - -[627] Od. vi. 4. - -The Phæacians, descended like the Cyclopes from Neptune, were recent -inhabitants of Scheria; they formerly dwelt near the Cyclopes in -Hypereia, and were dislodged from thence by the violence of their -brutal neighbours. They removed under Nausithous, and settled in -Scheria. - -They were flying from a race who had no ships with which to follow -them. If Hypereia in which they lived was Iapygia, any place in the -situation of Scheria, or near it, would be a natural place of refuge -for them. But if they had been in Sicily, Homer in all likelihood would -not have carried them beyond the neighbouring coast of Italy, which -would have afforded them the security they desired. - -IV. From Iapygia or Hypereia, the country of the Cyclopes, Ulysses -proceeds to pay his double visit to Æolia. We are not assisted in -the first instance (Od. ix. 565. x. 1.) by any indication of wind or -distance. It is not unfair to presume that Stromboli, with its active -volcano, was the prototype of this gusty island. But, like other -places, it is not on the site of its prototype. For Æolus gives Ulysses -a Zephyr or north-west wind, which would have carried him home, had it -not been for the folly of his comrades (Od. x. 25, 46). The Æolia of -Homer then must conform to these two conditions: - -1. It must lie north-west of Ithaca. - -2. There must be a continuous open sea between them; and one -uninterrupted by land, so that one and the same wind may carry a ship -all the way. - -To meet these conditions, we have only to move Æolia northward. For the -northern part of Italy has no existence in the Outer Geography. It is -swept away, along with the great mass of the European continent, and -the θάλασσα covers all. - -After the opening of the bag (x. 48, 54) the ship is driven back by a -θύελλα upon Æolia. But here we have had another valuable indication. -They had enjoyed the Zephyr nine full days, and they were in sight of -home on the tenth (v. 28, 9), when the folly was committed. Therefore -Æolia is between nine and ten days’ sail to the north-west of Ithaca: -or, with an allowance of fifty miles for the distance to the horizon, -there will be about one thousand miles between them. - -V. The fifth stage is Læstrygonia: and it is reached after seven days’ -rowing (x. 80). There is no indication of direction in the voyage: but -we have a sure proof that the prototype of this place was far north; -namely, that there is here perpetual day; - - ποιμένα ποιμὴν - ἠπύει εἰσελάων, ὁ δέ τ’ ἐξελάων ὑπακούει. - -It cannot, I think, be doubted that Homer obtained information of a -region displaying this natural peculiarity from Phœnician mariners, -who had penetrated into the German Ocean to the northward of the -British Isles. His retentive mind has, then, made an early record of -this, along with so many other singular reports, out of which a large -proportion have been verified. - -There is another proof that we are here nearly, or rather quite, at -the furthest bound of distance ever reached by Ulysses. For the united -distances (1) from within sight of Ithaca to Æolia, and (2) from Æolia -to Læstrygonia, make seventeen days, the same number occupied in a much -slower craft on the voyage from Ogygia to Scheria. - -It will be found, under the rules of calculation which have been -adopted, that we may place Læstrygonia at near seventeen hundred miles -from Iapygia. If we are to suppose that by the name Artacie, given to -the fountain in Læstrygonia, he means an allusion to a place of that -name in the Euxine, I take this as a new sign of his dim and confused -extension of that sea to the westward. - -The name Læstrygonia appears to belong to a city, not to a country. -It is τηλέπυλος, and it is also Λάμου αἰπὺ πτολίεθρον. Homer avoids -calling it either a land (γαίη) or an island (νῆσος). By the former -term he sometimes designates large islands as well as portions of a -continent. The epithet αἰπὺ points to a steep and rocky site: but -his forbearing to fix it as continent or island seems to show, that -he was himself in doubt upon the point. The trait of perpetual day, -however, speaks most explicitly for the _bona fides_ of the tradition -on which the Poet proceeds, and for the latitude from whence it came: -and it seems far from improbable that Iceland may have been the dimly -perceived original of Læstrygonia; of which the site in the Odyssey is -near the actual site of Denmark. - -VI. The sixth stage is Ææa. This could only be reached by a long -passage from Læstrygonia. The Poet has not ventured to define its -extent or direction. But he leaves himself an ample margin by the -declaration from the mouth of Ulysses, that he knew nothing on his -arrival of the latitude or longitude (Od. x. 190-2): and he is content -with planting it immovably near the point of sunrise, though with a -great vagueness of conception (Od. x. 135-9; xii. 1-4). - -There is indeed something near a verbal contradiction between the -declaration of Ulysses in Od. x., that he, being then at Ææa, did not -know where to look for sunrise or for sunset, and his narrative in -xii. 3, 4, where he so directly associates the island with the land of -sunrise. But he had remained there a full year in friendly company with -Circe (x. 466-9), and he was instructed by her as to his movements, -so that we may, I presume, fairly consider that during that time he -learned what on his first arrival was strange to him. - -The course from Læstrygonia to Ææa is _primâ facie_ conjectural: but -it is not really so, for Læstrygonia is fixed by the times and winds -from Hypereia; and Ææa is practically determined by its local relations -to Ocean-mouth, Thrinacie, and the Bosphorus. - -The Euxine does not abound in islands, such as we might appropriate to -Circe and the Sirens: for it is little likely that a rock like the Isle -of Serpents, which on a recent occasion acquired a momentary notoriety, -should have been noticed particularly in the navigation of the heroic -age. It is much more likely, that Homer brought his islands for the -Euxine from among the materials provided by his western traditions. We -may however reasonably presume that Homer meant to place Ææa at the -east end of the Euxine, not far perhaps from the Colchis of Æetes: and -in that neighbourhood I shall venture to deposit three islands, vaguely -corresponding with the Baleares, which may have been transplanted -into this vicinity together with the other traditions of the western -Ocean-mouth. - -(1) From hence, under the directions of Circe, they sail for one day -with a toward breeze, to the Ocean-mouth, hard by that abode of the -Cimmerians, which is wrapt in perpetual mist and night (Od. xi. 1-19). -Circe promised them the aid of Boreas, when Ulysses, alarmed at the -unusual journey he was to make, asked who would guide him. I therefore -infer that Boreas was to blow not before, but after, they had entered -the Ocean-mouth, and was to carry them up the stream. Before reaching -it, we may assume that, as usual on his way outwards, he was sailing -with a wind from some southern quarter. - -(2) In the Ocean-river, they haul their vessel high and dry, and -proceed by land up the stream to the mouth of the Shades or under-world -(Od. xi. 20-2). - -(3) From the mouth of the Shades they return to their ship, and in it -down (κατὰ) the Ocean stream, and to the Ææan island. They go first by -rowing, and then by a favourable breeze, of which the direction is not -mentioned (Od. xi. 638-40; xii. 1-3: also xxiii. 322-5.) - -VII. Σειρήνων νῆσος. This island is reached with an ἴκμενος οὖρος; the -quarter is not named, nor is the distance, but from the terms of the -passages it would appear to have been very short. (Od. xii. 149-54, -165-7; also 39, and xxiii. 326.) - -VIII. Avoiding the Πλαγκταὶ, the hero passes between Scylla and -Charybdis, to Thrinacie, the island of the Sun. The strait is reached -forthwith, αὐτίκα (Od. xii. 201), after leaving the island, and -Thrinacie is reached forthwith in like manner (αὐτίκα v. 261) after -leaving the strait (Od. xi. 106, 7; xii. 262; xxiii. 327-9. The last -passage appears to place the Πλαγκταὶ and the Scylla passage close -together, as it says that he came to them both, though he passed only -through Scylla). - -In Thrinacie he is detained by Notus, blowing for a month, and by -the total absence of any wind but Notus and Eurus. The common point -of these winds is, that they are chiefly in the southern hemisphere. -Also it would seem from this part of the Fourth Book that Boreas was -evidently the wind that Ulysses required to help him forward on his way -home, rather than Zephyrus: for it was the latter wind that caught them -when they were already on their passage, and brought the hurricane in -which the ship went to pieces (Od. xii. 408). - -Accordingly, as the Bosphorus is geographically fixed, I place -Thrinacie beside it, and Scylla beside Thrinacie. - -It will be observed that, after allowance is made for too much northing -in the north coast of the Propontis, the mouth of Scylla will be at -the point, from which a N. N. E. wind would have brought Ulysses to the -Dardanelles, and would thus have placed him, by the shortest cut, at -the very gate of the Ægæan, and of the known route to his home. - -The Crimea has so much the character of an island, and its -south-eastern face appears to be both in scenery and climate so -delightful, while again its proximity to the Ocean-mouth of the Odyssey -is so suitable, that we might be tempted to consider it as representing -the abode of the Sirens. But it is too large for one of Homer’s νῆσοι. -Probably, too, the isle of Sirens should lie on the direct route from -Ææa to the Straits. - -IX. When out of sight of the island (403), the ship encounters a -violent Ζέφυρος, and founders. Ulysses mounts on a couple of spars -(424). In one night Notus drifts him upon the passage of Scylla and -Charybdis, which he traverses in safety (427-30, 442-6), and then -drifting on, apparently with the same wind, he reaches, on the tenth -day, the island of Calypso, Ὠγυγίη νῆσος (xii. 447, 8; xxiii. 333), -which is the ὄμφαλος or central point of the θάλασσα (Od. i. 50): that -is to say which, as nearly due north from Greece, not only is conceived -to be alike removed from the supposed eastern and western Ocean, but -also if not equidistant, yet very distant, at all points from main land. - -X. The next stage to Ogygia is Scheria, Σχερίη (Od. vi. 8), or the γαίη -Φαιήκων (Od. v. 345). Leaving Ogygia on his raft (v. 263 and seqq.), -he keeps Arctos set on his right, and looking towards his left hand, -till on the eighteenth day (v. 278), he arrives in sight of Scheria. -Neptune, coming up from among the Ethiopians, discerns him afar, from -the Solyman mountains (282). The storm rises, and the raft is tossed in -a hurricane of all the winds (293 and 331, 2). At length it founders -(370): Minerva sends a brisk Boreas, and the hero drifts to Scheria, -arriving on the third day (382-98). Homer gives to Scheria the name -of ἤπειρος (Od. v. 348, 50); and it does not appear clear that he -considered it as an island. At the same time, the term ἤπειρος may mean -the shore: and the word γαίη may be used, like Κρήτη τις γαί’ ἐστιν, for -an island, if it be presumed to be of extraordinary size. - -XI. Ἰθάκη. The living ship of the Phæacians leaves somewhat early -in the day, after the proper rites; the goods having been stowed at -daybreak (Od. xiii. 18, and seqq.) No wind is named: but, with a speed -more rapid than that of a hawk, the vessel, propelled by oars, reaches -Ithaca before the next dawn. Od. xiii. 78, 86, 93-5. - -~_Directions and distances from Ææa._~ - -We have however still to consider the directions and distances of the -tour, from Ææa onwards, on the way home. - -Homer plainly intends to describe very short passages, first to the -island of the Sirens, next from that island to Scylla, and then from -Scylla to the landing on the coast of Thrinacie. They are not defined: -but they by no means correspond with the very considerable eastward -stretch of the Euxine from the Bosphorus. - -It has already been observed that Homer shortens the eastern recess of -the Mediterranean, and brings Egypt nearly to the southward of Crete: -and that this is part of a system of compression which abbreviates -all the distances of his Outer geography eastward from Lycia. We have -now come to another example of the working of this idea in his mind: -placing Ææa and the Sirens so near the Bosphorus, he plainly curtails -the eastward Euxine, like the eastward Mediterranean. - -Ten days floatage northwards from Scylla would give us a distance of -nearly five hundred miles in that direction, up to the point where we -should fix the island of Calypso. - -But from Ogygia to within sight of Scheria, Ulysses occupies eighteen -days in sailing by raft: which will give us for the whole distance -at sixty miles _per diem_, with an allowance of fifty miles, as the -distance from which Ithaca had become visible, about eleven hundred and -thirty miles. We have also to consider the further question, how far -Scheria is to be placed from Ithaca. We must reckon the time occupied -by the hawk-like ship at not less than sixteen hours; and we cannot -reckon the distance below one hundred and eighty or ninety miles. -Thus Ogygia ought to be reckoned at fully thirteen hundred miles from -Ithaca. Læstrygonia is, as we have found, nearly seventeen hundred from -Ithaca. And the site of Ogygia will be upon the point which is both -at the distance of five hundred miles from the Homeric or transposed -Scylla, and of eleven hundred and thirty miles from the Homeric -Scheria. This point will, I think, lie a little to the west of the real -site of Kieff. - -The actual distance from Ithaca to the middle point of Corfu may be -about eighty miles. Corfu is said to resemble in its natural features -the Scheria of Homer. But if this be admitted, we must remove the site -of the island in the direction of Dalmatia to more than double its real -distance from Ithaca, so as to satisfy the conditions of the Phæacian -voyage. It will then be near the point where we may, consistently with -all the representations of Homer, cut off the Greek peninsula, and -substitute for the northward land the great spaces of his sea. - -The island of Calypso, thus determined, will satisfy in a great degree -the conditions of the ὄμφαλος θαλάσσης. It may be nearly equidistant -from Ææa and the Cimmerian country in the south-east, from Scylla in -the south, and from the possible extension of the Cimmerian country -to the north. Towards Æolia and Læstrygonia on the west the distances -will indeed be greater; but as among very great distances Homer may -naturally fail to maintain the close measurements of small ones. - -~_Tours of Menelaus and Ulysses compared._~ - -Thus, then, we have brought Ulysses home; and now let us proceed to -examine the undeveloped, but still rather curious, relation between the -tours of the two chieftains, Ulysses and Menelaus. - -The readers of Dante will recollect with what complex precision, as -a poetical Architect, he has actually, for the purposes of his work, -built an Universe of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Every line of his -poem has a determinate relation to a certain point in space, fixed in -his own mind; but whether every such point be fixed or not in nature -is no more material, than if it were simply one to be determined by -axes of coordinates. Intricate as the fabric is, this great brother -of Homer in his art never for a moment lets drop the thread of his -labyrinth, but holds it steadily from the beginning of the first canto -to the end of the hundredth. Homer, composing for a younger world, had -to deal with all ideas whatsoever in simpler forms; but, I think, it is -discernible that in his way he, too, made a systematic distribution of -the Outer Earth, as he had rather vaguely conceived it in his teeming -imagination. - -We are apt to forget, from the comparatively summary manner in which -the subject is dismissed by the Poet, that the voyages and travels of -Menelaus occupy a time almost as long as those of Ulysses. He has but -recently returned, says Nestor to Telemachus, in the last year of his -father’s wanderings[628]: and Menelaus himself states, that he came -home only in the eighth year after the capture of Troy[629]. And as in -point of time, so likewise they are geographically in correspondence. -To Menelaus Homer has given, in outline, the southern world from east -to west, and to Ulysses, in detail, the northern world from west to -east. It is true that he made Ulysses begin his Wanderings, properly -so called, with the Lotophagi in Africa: but this is because it was -necessary to throw him at Malea, by some wide and irrecoverable -deviation, off his route to Ithaca. So Menelaus loses his course at -the very same critical point, the Malean Promontory[630]. Then the two -strike off to the opposite ends of the diameter: Menelaus to Crete, -for Cyprus, Phœnicia, and Egypt, in the south-east; Ulysses to Africa, -for the Cyclopes, Æolia, and Læstrygonia, in the north-west. Again, -Menelaus visits Libya to the westward, where, it will be remembered, he -is to find his home after death in the Elysian fields. The counterpart -of this is in the eastward movement of Ulysses along a northern zone -to the isle of Circe, and in his visit to the Shades. Again, it is -Phœnicia, which in the south-east forms a kind of boundary line between -the known and the unknown world. Accordingly Homer has given us an -idealized Phœnicia on the north-western line. Perhaps only partial, -but still perfectly real, resemblances of character establish a -poetical relation between the Φοίνικες and the Φαίηκες. Other parts -of the Phæacian character might seem to have been borrowed from the -Egyptians. No one, I think, can doubt that Homer had the Phœnicians -to some extent in his mind, when he invented the Phæacians. But he has -given us another etymological sign of the connection. The Φοίνικες -stand in evident connection with Συρίη[631]. Who but they could give -that name to the island where Eumæus was born? an island with which -we see them to have been in relations by a double token; the first, a -Phœnician slave carried thither by the Taphians; and the second, Eumæus -as a boy carried off thence by the Phœnicians, who had paid it a visit -with a cargo of fine goods. The island of Ψυρίη, lying north-west from -Chios, probably owed its title to the same source: if not also Σκῦρος, -corrupted from Συρός. Surely then, like Φαίηκες from Φοίνικες, so Homer -made Σχερίη from Συρίη. It being always remembered that Scheria is for -Homer, like Phœnicia, a maritime land. It is nowhere called an island; -from which we know, that Homer either believed it to be attached to the -continent, or to form, like Crete[632], a continent of itself. - -[628] Od. iii. 318. - -[629] Od. iv. 82. - -[630] Od. iii. 286-90. - -[631] Od. xv. 402. Much difficulty has been raised about this Συρίη: -see Wood on Homer, pp. 9-16; but surely without need. We have -no occasion to translate καθύπερθε into _trans_, πέρην, or -_beyond_. The Συρίη νῆσος, or Syros, has the same bearing in respect -to Delos, as Ψυρίη in respect to Chios, which is called καθύπερθε -Χίοιο, Od. iii. 170. It may perhaps mean _to windward_, and this would -correspond with the idea of Ζέφυρος as the prevailing wind -of the Ægæan. Another difficulty is made about the phrase ὅθι τροπαὶ -ἠελίοιο, which is interpreted as describing the position relatively -to Delos. I know not why this should constitute a difficulty at all, -if Syros is to the west and north of Delos. But there would be no -difficulty, even if Delos were west of Syros: for the words ὅθι τροπαὶ -ἠελίοιο may apply grammatically to either of the two islands as viewed -from the other. - -[632] Od. xix. 172. - -The Erembi of Menelaus are generally understood to be the Arabians. -The Æthiopes, whom he also visits, extend from the extreme east to -the furthest west of the surface of the earth; and they possibly may -have a counterpart in the Cimmerians of the north. In the same zone -with the Æthiopes, on the borders of Ocean to the south, a passage of -the Iliad places the ἄνδρες Πυγμαῖοι[633]. Herodotus supports Homer -in this, as in most other particulars. And the researches of the most -recent travellers sustain the assertion of these two old ethnologists -of Greece, that there are dwarfed races in the interior of Africa, -accessible from Egypt. - -[633] Il. iii. 2-6. - -Thus, then, it would appear in general that the voyage and travels of -Menelaus, together with those of Ulysses, including in the former his -final passage to Elysium, cover the entire surface of the earth, such -as Homer had conceived it. This, however, can only be taken generally, -and tells us little of what Homer thought concerning the actual form -of the earth’s surface, while it leaves untouched various questions -regarding its distribution in detail. With some of these let us now -endeavour to deal. - -And first, what was Homer’s belief concerning the form of the earth? - -~_Earth of Homer probably oval._~ - -The passage of the poems which bears most directly upon the solution of -this question is that which describes the Shield of Achilles. We here -learn that, in finishing his work, Vulcan gave it the great River Ocean -for a border[634]. From this it follows conclusively, that the form of -the Shield was that which Homer also conceived to be nearest to the -form of the surface of the Earth. - -[634] Il. xviii. 607. - -The question then arises, what was the form of the Shields treated of -by Homer? And it is one not easy to answer. Homer compares the light of -this very Shield of Achilles in a subsequent passage to that of the -moon[635]: but he does not say the full moon, and the moon in certain -stages might suggest the oval, although when full it would require the -circular shape. The epithets which he uses do not solve the question: -for some of them appear to agree better with the one supposition, and -some with the other. The ἄσπις ἀμφιβρότη, for instance, in Il. xi. -32, suggests a shape adapted in a great degree to that of the human -form. The ποδηνεκὴς of Il. xv. 646 appears absolutely to require it. -No circular shield, which reached down to the feet, could have been -carried on the arm. But, on the other hand, Homer calls the shield -εὔκυκλος[636] and παντόσε ἴση, which certainly at first sight favour -the idea of a circular form. Shall we then suppose that both forms -prevailed? And if so, which of the two shall we assign to the Shield of -Achilles? - -[635] Il. xix. 374. - -[638] Plut. Lacon. Instit. (Opp. vi. 898.) ed. Reiske; Potter’s Greek. -Antiq. B. iii. ch. iv. - -[636] Il. v. 433. - -It appears that in the military system of historic Greece the round -shield chiefly prevailed; but for the time of Homer I cannot help -leaning to the supposition that the Shield was oval. For I do not know -any explicit testimony, with respect to its primitive form, that can -weigh against the lines of Tyrtæus[637]; - -[637] Tyrt. ii. 24. Also Anthol. Græc. - - μήρους τε, κνήμας τε κάτω, καὶ στέρνα, καὶ ὤμους - ἀσπίδος εὐρείης γαστρὶ καλυψάμενος. - -Another strong testimony to the same effect is borne by the ancient -custom of bearing the dead warrior upon his shield, whence came the -old formula of the Spartan mothers, ἢ τὰν, ἢ ἐπὶ τάν; Bring it, or be -brought upon it[638]. - -With respect to the Homeric epithets, it is impossible to reconcile -those which favour the oblong form with the rival sense: but the -παντόσε ἴση might apply to any regular figure, and the εὔκυκλος is -hardly strained if we understand it of an oval pretty regularly formed. - -To a certain extent, the natural form of the hides of animals affords -an indication; they were worn as cloaks coming down to the heels, -and they would properly cut into the oblong form[639]. Again, in the -expression σάκος σακέϊ προθελύμνῳ[640], I understand the epithet to -mean that the shields were rested on the ground in front of the bearers -of them. The meaning common to it, in the three places where Homer uses -it, seems to be ‘from the ground,’ or ‘from the base.’ - -[639] Il. x. 24, 178. - -[640] Il. xiii. 130. ix. 537. x. 15. - -It would not be satisfactory to assume that the two forms prevailed, -but that they had, though different, been confounded by Homer; and on -the whole we shall perhaps do best to consider the σάκος as an oval. - -It follows that such was, in Homer’s estimation, the form of the world. -And this interpretation agrees with the other Homeric indications on -the subject. - -We must, I think, take Homer to have supposed something like an equal -extension of the earth northward and southward from Greece. But, -whether we judge from the Tours of the Odyssey or from the general -indications of the poems, we have, I think, no sign of an extension -correspondingly great either eastward or westward. The flights of -migratory birds, and the prevailing winds, are both evidently from -the poles or from the quarters near them. The only great positive -developments of distance in the Odyssey are those towards Læstrygonia -and Ogygia, both of which lie in the north; the latter, as an ὄμφαλος, -with a sea stretching far beyond it. All appearances, too, go to show -that the Eastern Ocean was in Homer’s view at no great distance; and I -apprehend we should consider the Western one as being on his map about -equally remote from Greece. Now the oval figure will give us what we -thus appear to want, namely a shorter diameter of the earth from east -to west, than the diameter from north to south. Some other particulars -of evidence will appear as we proceed. - -~_Points of contact with Oceanus._~ - -In conformity with his declaration, that the Ocean-River surrounds the -earth, he as it were realizes his belief in it, by giving us instances -of actual contact with it at very many points of the compass. Thus the -Pigmies in the South are visited by the cranes, on their way to the -Ocean in the South[641]. The gods feast with the Ethiopians by the -Ocean, and this must be in the S. E., as Neptune takes the Solyman -mountains (which are in immediate association with Lycia, a point of -the inner world) on his way back to the _Thalassa_[642]. Ulysses visits -Ocean, as we have seen, in the East. The Great Bear escapes dipping -into its waters in the North[643]. Menelaus is destined to the Elysian -plain beside the Ocean, at the point from which Zephyr blows, therefore -between West and North[644]. - -[641] Il. iii. 5. - -[642] Il. xxiii. 205. i. 423. Od. v. 282, 3. - -[643] Od. v. 275. Il. xviii. 489. - -[644] Od. iv. 561-9. - -~_The Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf._~ - -This noble conception of a great circumfluent River was doubtless -founded upon reports of two classes which had reached Homer. One -class would be reports of streams flowing from some great outer water -into the _Thalassa_, and seeming to feed it. The other class might be -formed by reports of waters outside the _Thalassa_, and not known to -communicate with it, which Homer would at once very naturally reckon -as portions of his great world-embracing Stream. With the former -class we have already dealt largely in discussing the Ocean-mouth. -To the latter one, Phœnician sailors might contribute reports of the -Atlantic and German Oceans. And particularly in the east, I think, we -cannot doubt that, along with the rumours and traditions of Arabians, -Ethiopians, Persians, and Cimmerians, Homer cannot but have received -other vague rumours of waters as well as lands; of waters exterior -to his _Thalassa_ (which included the Mediterranean and the Euxine), -waters of which two would clearly be the Caspian Sea, and the Persian -Gulf. On these two I wish to fix attention; and indeed the only other -water he was likely to have heard of would probably be the Red Sea. -Now it will be observed upon any map, 1. that the Caspian lies north -and south; 2. that a line prolonged from N. to S. down the Caspian -will strike the Persian Gulf. In conjunction with this, let the reader -observe the course of Ulysses. Quitting the Euxine at the Ocean-mouth, -or Straits of Yenikalè, he turns round to the right by the Sea of Azof, -enlarged so as to join the Caspian. In the interval between them there -is still a low salt valley, which may in Homer’s time have been a -water-way[645]. He is thus in a condition to proceed southward towards -the dwelling of Persephone, which I have already shown some cause for -placing in the east and to the south. Now the provision of wind, which -Homer has made for his hero, is precisely that which this hypothesis -requires[646]: - -[645] Voyages de Pallas, vol. i. p. 320, Paris 1805. - -[646] Od. x. 507. - - τὴν δέ κέ τοι πνοιὴ Βορέαο φέρῃσιν. - -In other words, from Homer’s use of Boreas in this place it appears -that he meant to describe the course of his Ocean-stream at this -quarter as from south to north, or thereabouts; and this is the line -actually formed by the junction of the Persian gulf and the Caspian, -which I submit that we may accordingly with propriety consider as -genuine fragments of geography, incorporated into his fabulous -conception of the Ocean-stream. - -It is indeed true that the vague accounts, which had probably reached -Homer of these two waters, must be supposed not to have included the -indispensable element of a current. The same remark, however, will -apply to whatever he may have heard of the German or Atlantic Oceans. -But in dealing with these shadowy distances, his inference would be -amply warranted, without the means of complete identification, if he -had heard of any waters in positions agreeing with that of his ideal -Ocean, capable of communicating easily with its mouth, and, above all, -independent of the _Thalassa_. - -One word before we finally quit the subject of the enchanted River; in -order to complete the chain of connection between the Persephone of -Homer and the waters of the Persian gulf, in the character of a part of -Ocean, at that point upon the beach, which so well balances the Elysian -plain in the west. - -I have already endeavoured to make use of the names Perseus, Perse, -and Persephone, as evidences which attach the Persians to the eastern -extremity of Homer’s ideal world, and which connect the Greek race -with a Persian origin. But here we have a geographical trait, which -deserves further consideration. The groves of Persephone are on the -shore of Ocean, in the east, and to the south of the sunrise. What is -the meaning of these groves? We are compelled, by unvarying analogies -of signification, to understand them as both the symbols and the sites -of a certain organized worship, which was paid to Persephone. But if -paid, then paid by whom? Certainly not by the nations of the dead: for -the place, where these groves were, was not within the kingdom of the -goddess, but it was on the shore of Ocean. Ulysses, too, was to haul up -his ship there, and only then to enter into the abode of king Aidoneus. -It therefore seems to follow, that the Poet meant us to understand this -as a place where Persephone was habitually worshipped by a portion of -the human race, which could only be his Persians or his Ethiopians. I -do not say that the two were sharply severed in his mind; but here the -race to which he chiefly points appears to be the Persian race[647]. - -[647] Od. x. 508-12. - -There are even etymological signs, independent of Homer, which deepen -the association between the East and the Under-world. Some writers -have compared the name Cimmeria with the Arabic word _kahm_, black, -and _ra_, the mark of the oblique case in Persian: Mæotis with the -Hebrew Maweth, meaning death: and have treated the ancient Tartarus as -equivalent to the modern Tartary, and as formed by the reduplication of -Tar, in Tarik, the Persic word for darkness[648]. - -[648] Welsford on Engl. Language, pp. 75, 76, 88. Bleek’s Persian -Vocabulary, (Grammar, p. 170.) - -~_Contraction of the Homeric East._~ - -Next let me wind up what relates to the contraction and compression of -the Homeric East. - -Homer’s experience did not supply him with any example of a great -expanse of land: but the detail and configuration of the countries, -with which he was acquainted, was minute. This probably was the reason -why he so readily assumed the existence of that sea to the northward -of Thrace, in which he has placed the adventures of Ulysses. To that -sea, as we perceive from the terms of days which he has assigned to -the passages of Ulysses, he attached his ideas and his epithets for -vastness; epithets, which he never bestowed on regions of land; and -ideas, which were sure, indeed, to form a prominent feature in the -Phœnician reports, that must have supplied him with material. Acting on -the same principle, it would appear that he greatly shortens the range -of Asia Minor eastwards. Through the medium of the Solymi (Il. vi. -184, 204) he appears to bring the Solyman mountains close upon Lycia. -A chain now bearing that name skirts the right bank of the Indus: but -it is probable that Homer identified, or rather confounded, them with -the great chain of the Caucasus between the Euxine and the Caspian, -and with the Taurus joining it, and bordering upon Lycia: for, on the -one hand, we cannot but connect them with the Solymi, the warlike -neighbours of the Lycians: and on the other, since Neptune, from these -mountains, sees Ulysses making his homeward voyage from Ogygia, it -follows that they must have been conceived by Homer to command a clear -view of the Euxine, and of its westward extension. Thus he at once -brings Egypt nearer to Crete (helping us to explain the Boreas of Od. -xiv. 253), and Phœnicia nearer to Lycia: and it is in all likelihood -immediately behind Phœnicia that he imagined to lie the country of the -Persians and the ἄλσεα Περσεφονείης (Od. x. 507), on the shore of that -eastern portion of Oceanus, for which the reports both of the Caspian -and of the Red Sea, probably, as we have seen, have formed parts of his -materials. Thus we find much and varied evidence converging to support -the hypothesis, that Homer greatly compressed his East, and brought -Persia within moderate distance of the Mediterranean. - -In the obscure perspectives of Grecian legend, we seem to find various -points of contact between Egypt, Phœnicia, and Persia; and each of -these points of contact favours the idea that Persia and Phœnicia were -closely associated in Homer’s mind. - -Proteus, a Phœnician sea-god, is placed only at a short distance from -the Egyptian coast. Helios, strongly associated with Egypt through his -oxen, is associated with Phœnicia and with the remoter east by his -relationship to Circe, and by his residence, the ἀντολαὶ Ἠελίοιο. And -again, from the family of Danaus, a reputed Egyptian, descends Perseus, -in whose name we find a note of relationship between the Persians and -the Greeks. Lycia, too, is near the Solymi, and the Solyman hills are -really Persian. Here is a new ray of light cast on Homer’s passion for -the Lycians of the War[649]. - -[649] See Achæis, sect. iii. - -A few words more will suffice to complete a probable view of the -terrestrial system of Homer. - -The Ocean surrounds the earth. On its south-eastern beach are -the groves of Persephone, and the descent to the Shades: on its -north-western, the Elysian plain. The whole southern range between is -occupied by the Αἰθίοπες, who stretch from the rising to the setting -sun[650]. The natural counterpart in the cold north to their sun-burnt -swarthy faces is to be found in the Cimmerians, Homer’s Children of -the Mist[651]. Accordingly, they are placed by the Ocean mouth, hard -by the island of Circe and the Dawn; nearly in contact, therefore, -with the Ethiopians of the extreme east. Two hypotheses seem to be -suggested by Homer’s treatment of the north. Perhaps Homer imagined -that the Cimmerians occupied the northern portion of the earth -from east to west, as the Ethiopians occupied the southern: a very -appropriate conjecture for the disposal of the country from the Crimea -to the Cwmri. On the other hand, it seems plain that Homer must have -received from his Phœnician informants two reports, both ascribed to -the North, yet apparently contradictory: the one of countries without -day, the other of countries without night. The true solution, could -he have known it, was by time; each being true of the same place, but -at different seasons of the year. Not aware of the facts, Homer has -adopted another method. While preserving the northern locality for both -traditions, he has planted the one in the north-west, at the craggy -city of Lamus; and the other in the north-east, together with his -Cimmerians. - -[650] Od. i. 24. - -[651] Od. xi. 15. - -~_Outline of his terrestrial system._~ - -On the foundation of the conclusions and inferences at which we have -thus arrived, I have endeavoured to construct a map of the Homeric -World. The materials of this map are of necessity very different. -First, there is the inner or Greek world of geography proper, of which -the surface is coloured in red. - -Next, there are certain forms of sea and land, genuine, but wholly or -partially misplaced, which may be recognised by their general likeness -to their originals in Nature. - -Thirdly, there is the great mass of fabulous and imaginative -skiagraphy, which, for the sake of distinction, is drawn in smooth -instead of indented outline. - -The Map represents, without any very important variation, the Homeric -World drawn according to the foregoing argument. To facilitate -verification, or the detection of error, I have made it carry, as far -as possible, its own evidences, in the inscriptions and references upon -it. - - [Illustration: - MAP - of the - Outer Geography of the Odyssey - AND OF THE - Form of the Earth - ACCORDING TO HOMER.] - - - - -EXCURSUS I. - -ON THE PARENTAGE AND EXTRACTION OF MINOS. - - -In former portions of this work, I have argued from the name and -the Phœnician extraction of Minos, both to illustrate the dependent -position of the Pelasgian race in the Greek countries[652], and -also to demonstrate the Phœnician origin of the Outer Geography -of the Odyssey[653]. But I have too summarily disposed of the -important question, whether Minos was of Phœnician origin, and of -the construction of the verse Il. xiv. 321. This verse is capable -grammatically of being so construed as to contain an assertion of it; -but upon further consideration I am not prepared to maintain that it -ought to be so interpreted. - -[652] Achæis or Ethnology, sect. iii. - -[653] Ibid. sect. iv. - -~_Genuineness of Il._ xiv. 317-27.~ - -The Alexandrian critics summarily condemned the whole passage (Il. -xiv. 317-27), in which Jupiter details to Juno his various affairs -with goddesses and women. ‘This enumeration,’ says the Scholiast (A) -on verse 327, ‘is inopportune, for it rather repels Juno than attracts -her: and Jupiter, when greedy, through the influence of the Cestus, for -the satisfaction of his passion, makes a long harangue.’ Heyne follows -up the censure with a yet more sweeping condemnation. _Sanè absurdiora, -quam hos decem versus, vix unquam ullus commentus est rhapsodus_[654]. -And yet he adds a consideration, which might have served to -arrest judgment until after further hearing. For he says, that the -commentators upon them ought to have taken notice that the description -belongs to a period, when the relations of man and wife were not such, -as to prevent the open introduction and parading of concubines; and -that Juno might be flattered and allured by a declaration, proceeding -from Jupiter, of the superiority of her charms to those of so many -beautiful persons. - -[654] Obss. _in loc._ - -Heyne’s reason appears to me so good, as even to outweigh his -authority: but there are other grounds also, on which I decline to bow -to the proposed excision. The objections taken seem to me invalid on -the following grounds; - -1. For the reason stated by Heyne. - -2. Because, in the whole character of the Homeric Juno, and in the -whole of this proceeding, it is the political spirit, and not the -animal tendency, that predominates. Of this Homer has given us distinct -warning, where he tells us that Juno just before had looked on Jupiter -from afar, and that he was disgusting to her; (v. 158) στυγερὸς δέ -οἱ ἔπλετο θυμῷ. It is therefore futile to argue about her, as if she -had been under the paramount sway either of animal desire, or even of -the feminine love of admiration, when she was really and exclusively -governed by another master-passion. - -3. As she has artfully persuaded Jupiter, that he has an obstacle -to overcome in diverting her from her intention of travelling to a -distance, it is not at all unnatural that Jupiter should use what he -thinks, and what, as Heyne has shown, he may justly think, to be proper -and special means of persuasion. - -4. The passage is carefully and skilfully composed; and it ends with a -climax, so as to give the greatest force to the compliment of which it -is susceptible. - -5. All the representations in it harmonize with the manner of handling -the same personages elsewhere in Homer. - -6. The passage has that strong vein of nationality, which is so -eminently characteristic of Homer. No intrigues are mentioned, except -such as issued in the birth of children of recognised Hellenic fame. -The gross animalism of Jupiter, displayed in the Speech, is in the -strictest keeping with the entire context; for it is the basis of the -transaction, and gives Juno the opportunity she so adroitly turns to -account. - -7. Those, who reject the passage as spurious, because the action -ought not at this point to be loaded with a speech, do not, I think, -bear in mind that a deviation of this kind from the strict poetical -order is really in keeping with Homer’s practice on other occasions, -particularly in the disquisitions of Nestor and of Phœnix. Such -a deviation appears to be accounted for by his historic aims. To -comprehend him in a case of this kind, we must set out from his point -of departure, according to which, verse was not a mere exercise for -pleasure, but was to be the one great vehicle of all knowledge: and a -potent instrument in constructing a nationality. Thus, then, what the -first aim rejected, the second might in given cases accept and even -require. Now in this short passage there is a great deal of important -historical information conveyed to us. - -We may therefore with considerable confidence employ such evidence as -the speech may be found to afford. - -Let us, then, observe the forms of expression as they run in series, - - οὐδ’ ὁπότ’ ἠρασάμην Ἰξιονίης ἀλόχοιο[655]. - οὐδ’ ὅτε περ Δανάης καλλισφύρου Ἀκρισιώνης[656]. - οὐδ’ ὅτε Φοίνικος κούρης τηλεκλείτοιο[657]. - -[655] Ver. 317. - -[656] Ver. 319. - -[657] Ver. 321. - -~_Sense of Il._ xiv. 321.~ - -Taken grammatically, I presume the last verse may mean, (1) The -daughter of the distinguished Phœnix: or (2) The daughter of a -distinguished Phœnician: or (3) A distinguished Phœnician damsel. - -_a._ Against the first it may be urged, that we have no other account -from Homer, or from any early tradition, of this Phœnix, here described -as famous. - -_b._ Against the second and third, that Homer nowhere directly declares -the foreign origin of any great Greek personage. - -_c._ Also, that in each of the previous cases, Homer has used the -proper name of a person nearly connected in order to indicate and -identity the woman, whom therefore it is not likely that he would in -this single case denote only by her nation, or the nation of her father. - -_d._ Against the third, that, in the only other passage where he has -to speak of a Phœnician woman, he uses a feminine form, Φοίνισσα: -ἔσκε δὲ πατρὸς ἐμοῖο γυνὴ Φοίνισσ’ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ (Od. xv. 417). But Φοίνιξ -is grammatically capable of the feminine, as is shown by Herod. i. -193[658]. - -[658] See Jelf’s Gr. Gramm. 103. - -_e._ Also that Homer, in the few instances where he uses the word -τηλεκλειτὸς, confines it to men. He, however, gives the epithet -ἐρικυδὴς to Latona. - -The arguments from the structure of the passage, and from the uniform -reticence of Homer respecting the foreign origin of Greek personages, -convince me that it is not on the whole warrantable to interpret Φοίνιξ -in this place in any other manner, than as the name of the father of -Minos. - -The name Φοίνιξ, however, taken in connection with the period to -which it applies--nearly three generations before the _Troica_--still -continues to supply of itself no trifling presumption of the Phœnician -origin of Minos. - -It cannot, I suppose, be doubted that the original meaning of Φοίνιξ, -when first used as a proper name in Greece, probably was ‘of Phœnician -birth, or origin.’ But, if we are to judge by the testimony of Homer, -the time, when Minos lived, was but very shortly after the first -Phœnician arrivals in Greece; and his grandfather Phœnix, living four -and a half generations before the _Troica_, was in all likelihood -contemporary with, or anterior to, Cadmus. At a period when the -intercourse of the two countries was in its infancy, we may, I think, -with some degree of confidence construe this proper name as indicating -the country of origin. - -~_Collateral evidence._~ - -The other marks connected with Minos and his history give such support -to this presumption as to bring the supposition up to reasonable -certainty. Such are, - -1. The connection with Dædalus. - -2. The tradition of the nautical power of Minos. - -3. The characteristic epithet ὀλοόφρων; as also its relation to the -other Homeric personages with whose name it is joined. - -4. The fact that Minos brought a more advanced form of laws and polity -among a people of lower social organization; the proof thus given that -he belonged to a superior race: the probability that, if this race -had been Hellenic, Homer would have distinctly marked the connection -of so distinguished a person with the Hellenic stem: and the apparent -certainty that, if not Hellenic, it could only be Phœnician. - -The positive Homeric grounds for believing Minos to be Phœnician are -much stronger, than any that sustain the same belief in the case of -Cadmus: and the negative objection, that Homer does not call him by -the name of the country from which he sprang, is in fact an indication -of the Poet’s uniform practice of drawing the curtain over history or -legend, at the point where a longer perspective would have the effect -of exhibiting any Greek hero as derived from a foreign source, and thus -of confuting that claim to autochthonism which, though it is not much -his way to proclaim such matters in the abstract, yet appears to have -operated with Homer as a practical principle of considerable weight. - - - - -EXCURSUS II. - -ON THE LINE ODYSS. V. 277. - - -I have the less scruple in making the verse Od. v. 277 the subject of -a particular inquiry, because the chief elements of the discussion -are important with reference to the laws of Homeric Greek, as well as -with regard to that adjustment of the Outer Geography, which I have -supported by a detailed application to every part of the narrative of -the Odyssey, and which I at once admit is in irreconcilable conflict -with the popular construction of the account of the voyage from Ogygia -to Scheria, as far as it depends upon this particular verse. - -The passage is[659] (the τὴν referring to Ἄρκτον in v. 273) - -[659] Od. v. 276, 7. - - τὴν γὰρ δή μιν ἄνωγε Καλυψὼ, δῖα θεάων, - ποντοπορευέμεναι ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα. - -The points upon which the signification of the last line must depend, -seem to be as follows: - -1. The meaning of the important Homeric word ἀριστερός. - -2. The form of the phrase ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς, which is an ἅπαξ λεγόμενον -in Homer. - -3. The force of the preposition ἐπὶ, particularly with the accusative. - -The second of these points may be speedily dismissed. For (1) the only -question that can arise upon it would be, whether (assuming for the -moment the sense of ἀριστερὸς) ‘the left of his hand’ means the left of -the line described by the onward movement of his body, or the left of -the direction in which his hand, that is, his right or steering hand, -points while upon the helm; which would be the exact reverse of the -former. But, though the latter interpretation would be grammatically -accurate, it is too minute and subtle, as respects the sense, to agree -with Homer’s methods of expression. And (2) some of the Scholiasts -report another reading, νηὸς, instead of χειρὸς, which would present no -point of doubt or suspicion under this head. - -We have then two questions to consider; of which the first is the -general use and treatment by Homer of the word ἀριστερός. - -~_Senses of δεξιὸς and ἀριστερός._~ - -It appears to me well worth consideration whether the δεξιὸς and -ἀριστερὸς of Homer ought not, besides the senses of right and left, to -be acknowledged capable of the senses of east and west respectively. - -The word ἀριστερὸς takes the sense of _left_ by way of derivation and -second intention only. - -The word σκαιὸς is that, which etymologically and primarily expresses -the function of the left hand. The use of this as the principal hand -is abnormal, and places the body as it were _askew_ (compare σκάζω, -_scævus_, _schief_)[660]. In Homer the only word used singly, i. e. -without a substantive, to express the left hand is σκαιός. At the same -time, we cannot draw positive conclusions from this fact, because -ἀριστερὸς could not stand in the hexameter to represent a feminine noun -singular, on account of the laws of metre, which in this point are -inflexible. - -[660] Liddell and Scott. - -Σκαιῇ means the left hand in Il. i. 501. xvi. 734. xxi. 490. This -adjective is but once used in Homer except for the hand: viz., in Od. -iii. 295 we have σκαιὸν ῥίον for ‘the foreland on the left.’ But Σκαιαὶ -πύλαι may have meant originally the left hand gates of Troy. - -The application of δεξιὸς to the right hand (from which we may -consider δεξιτερὸς as an adaptation for metrical purposes), is to be -sufficiently accounted for, because it was the hand by which greetings -were exchanged, and engagements contracted[661]. But it is not so with -ἀριστερός: and while we contemplate the subject in regard only to the -uses of the member, the word σκαιὸς remains perfectly unexceptionable, -and even highly expressive and convenient, in its function of -expressing the left hand. - -[661] Il. ii. 341. x. 542. - -It appears that the Greek augurs, in estimating the signification of -omens, were accustomed to stand with their faces northwards; or rather, -I presume, with their faces set towards a point midway between sunset -and sunrise. The most common descriptions of omen in the time of Homer -appear to have been (1) the flight of birds, and (2) the apparition -of thunder and lightning. The test of a good moving omen was, that it -should proceed from the west, and move to the east; and of a bad moving -omen, that it should proceed from the east, and move to the west. -Possibly we may trace in this conception the cosmogonical arrangement, -which planted in the West the Elysian plain, and in the East the -dismal and semi-penal domain of Aidoneus and Persephone. Possibly -the brightness of the sun, which caused the East to be regarded as -the fountain of light, may be the foundation of it: together, on the -other hand, with that close visible association between the West and -darkness, which the sunset of each day brought before the eyes of men; -so that to lie πρὸς ζόφον meant to lie towards the West, and was the -regular opposite of lying towards the sun[662]. - -[662] Od. ix. 25, 6. - -Whatever may have been the basis of the doctrine of the augurs, there -grew up an established association (1) between the west and what was -ill-omened or evil, and through this (2) between what was ill-omened -or evil and the left side of a man. The west was unlucky, because the -science of augury made it so. The left hand was unlucky, because in -the inspection of omens it was western. One half of the objects in -the world, and of the actions of the human body, thus lay, from their -position relatively to omens, under an incubus of ill-fortune. It was -retrieved from this threatening condition, by an euphemism; by the -application of a word not merely innocent[663], but preeminently good. -Everything covered by the blight of evil omen was to be, not only not -harmful, but ἀριστερὸς, better than the best. Consequently it would -appear that the word ἀριστερὸς probably meant westerly, before it could -mean on the left hand: because not the left hand only, but everything -westerly, was within the range of the evil to which it was intended to -apply a remedy. - -[663] Compare the use of the word εὐώνυμος. - -In a passage like Il. vii. 238, the meaning of δεξιὸς and ἀριστερὸς -is, plainly, right and left. But what is it in the speech of Hector, -where he tells Polydamas that he cares not for omens[664], - -[664] Il. xii. 238-40. - - εἴτ’ ἐπὶ δεξί’ ἴωσι πρὸς Ἠῶ τ’ Ἠέλιόν τε, - εἴτ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ τοίγε ποτὶ ζόφον ἠερόεντα. - -In the first place, it is a more appropriate, because more direct, -method of description with respect to birds of omen to say, they fly -eastward or westward, than that they fly to the right or the left -hand: since the sense of right and left has no determinate standard -of reference, but requires the aid of an assumption that the person -is actually looking to the north, so that the words may thus become -equivalent to east and west. But in this case, which is one of warriors -on the battle-field, would there not be something rather incongruous -in interpolating the suggestion of their turning northwards as they -spoke, in order to give the proper meaning to these two words? We must -surely conceive of Hector standing on the battle-field with his face -towards the enemy, if we are to take his posture into view at all. If -he stood thus, he would look, as far as we can judge, to the west of -north. Now the ζόφος was the north-west with Homer, and not the west: -and, conversely, the Ἠὼς inclined to the south of east. In this way he -would nearly have his face to the former, and his back to the latter; -and if so the meaning of right and left would be not only farfetched, -but wholly improper, while the meaning of east and west would be no -less correct than natural. - -I must add, that there are other places in Homer where difficulty -arises, if we are only permitted to construe δεξιὸς and ἀριστερὸς by -right and left. I will even venture to say, that there are passages in -the Thirteenth Book which render the topography of the battle that it -describes, not only obscure, but even contradictory, if ἀριστερὸς in -them means _left_; and which become perfectly harmonious if we allowed -to understand it as signifying _west_. - -~_Illustrated from Il._ xiii.~ - -These are respectively Il. xiii. 675 and 765. - -In order to apprehend the case, it will be necessary to follow closely -the movement of the battle through most of the Book. - -1. Il. xiii. 126-9: The Ajaxes are opposed to Hector, νηυσὶν ἐν -μέσσῃσιν, 312, 16. - -2. The centre being thus provided for, Idomeneus proceeds to the left, -στρατοῦ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ (326), which is the station of Deiphobus; and -makes havock in this quarter. - -3. Deiphobus, instead of fighting Idomeneus, thinks it prudent to fetch -Æneas, who is standing aloof, 458 and seqq. - -4. Summoned by Deiphobus, Æneas comes with him, attended also by Paris -and Agenor, 490. - -5. They conjointly carry on the fight at that point, with indifferent -success (495-673), but no decisive issue. - -6. Hector, in the centre, remains ignorant that the Trojans were being -worsted νηῶν ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ by the Greeks, 675. - -7. By the advice of Polydamas he goes in search of other chiefs to -consider what is to be done; of Paris among the rest, whom he finds, -μάχης ἐπ’ ἀριστερά (765). With them he returns to the centre, 753, 802, -809. - -Now the following propositions are, I think, sound: - -1. When Homer thus speaks of ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ in Il. xiii. 326, 675, and -765, respectively, he evidently means to describe in all of them the -same side of the battle-field. Where Idomeneus is, in 329, thither he -brings Æneas in 469, who is attended at the time by Paris, 490; and -there Paris evidently remains until summoned to the centre in 765. - -2. If Homer speaks with reference to any particular combatant, of his -being on the left or the right of the battle, he ought to mean the -Greek left or right if the person be Greek, and the Trojan left or -right if the person be Trojan. - -3. This is actually the rule by which he proceeds elsewhere. For in -the Fifth Book, when Mars is in the field on the Trojan side, he says, -Minerva found him μάχης ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, Il. v. 355. What is the point -thus described, and how came he there? The answer is supplied by an -earlier part of the same Book. In v. 35, Minerva led him out of the -battle. In v. 36, she placed him by the shore of the Scamander; that -is to say, on the Trojan left, and in a position to which, he being a -Trojan combatant, the Poet gives the name of μάχης ἐπ’ ἀριστερά. - -Now ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ is commonly interpreted ‘on the left.’ But if it means -on the left in Il. xiii., then the passages are contradictory: because -this would place Paris on both wings, whereas he obviously is described -as on the same wing of the battle throughout. - -But if we construe ἀριστερὸς as meaning the west in all the three -passages, then we have the same meaning at once made available for all -the three places, so that the account becomes self-consistent again; -and if the meaning be ‘on the west,’ then we may understand that -Idomeneus most naturally betakes himself to the west, because that -was the quarter of the Myrmidons, where the Greek line was deprived -of support. If, however, it be said, that the Greek left is meant -throughout, then the expression in v. 765 is both contrary to what -would seem reasonable, and at variance with Homer’s own precedent in -the Fifth Book. - -Thus there is considerable reason to suppose that, in Homer, ἀριστερὸς -may sometimes mean ‘west.’ So that _if_ ἐπὶ in Od. v. 277 really means -‘upon,’ the phrase will signify, that Ulysses was to have Arctus on the -west side of him, which would place Ogygia in the required position to -the east of north. - -~_The force of ἐπὶ in Homer._~ - -The point remaining for discussion is at once the most difficult and -the most important. What _is_ the true force of the Homeric ἐπί? - -I find the senses of this preposition clearly and comprehensively -treated in Jelf’s Greek Grammar, where the leading points of its -various significations are laid down as follows[665]: - -[665] Jelf’s Gr. Gr. Nos. 633-5. - -1. Its original force is _upon_, or _on_. - -2. It is applied to place, time, or causation. Of these three, when -treating of a geographical question, we need only consider the first -with any minuteness. - -3. Ἐπὶ, when used locally, means with the genitive (_a_) _on_ or _at_, -and (_b_) motion _towards_ a place or thing. With the dative (_a_) _on_ -or _at_, and (_b_) _by_ or _near_. With the accusative (_a_) _towards_, -and (_b_) ‘extension in space over an object, as well with verbs of -rest as of motion.’ Of this sense examples are quoted in πλεῖν ἐπὶ -οἴνοπα πόντον for verbs of motion, and ἐπ’ ἐννέα κεῖτο πέλεθρα for -verbs of rest. Both are from Homer, in Il. vii. 83, and Od. xi. 577. - -The Homeric ἐπὶ δεξιὰ and ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ are also quoted as examples of -this last-named sense. But in Od. v. 277, if the meaning be _on_ the -left, it is plainly quite beyond these definitions: for so far from -being an object extended over space, the star is, as it appears on the -left, a luminous point, and nothing more. It was an extension over -space, such as the eye has from a window over a prospect; but then -that space is the space which lies over-against the star; so that if -the space be on the left, the star must be looking towards the left -indeed, but for that very reason set on the right. The difference here -is most important in connection with the sense of the preposition. If -ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ means _on_ the left, it is only on a single point of the -left; if it means towards or over-against the right, it means towards -or over-against the whole right. Now, the former of these senses is, I -contend, utterly out of keeping with the whole Homeric use of ἐπὶ as -a preposition governing the accusative: while the latter is quite in -keeping with it. - -~_Force of ἐπὶ with ἀριστερά._~ - -The idea of motion, physical or metaphysical, in some one or other of -its modifications, appears to inhere essentially in the Homeric use -of ἐπὶ with the accusative. In the great majority of instances, it is -used with a verb of motion, which places the matter beyond all doubt. -In almost all other instances, either the motion of a body, or some -covering of space where there is no motion, are obviously involved. -Thus the Zephyr (κελάδει[666]) whistles ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον. A hero, or -a bevy of maidens, may shout ἐπὶ μακρόν[667]. The rim of a basket is -covered with a plating of gold, χρυσῷ δ’ ἐπὶ χείλεα κεκράαντο: that -is, the gold is drawn over it[668]. Achilles looks[669] ἐπὶ οἴνοπα -πόντον. The sun appears to mortals ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν[670]. Here we -should apparently understand ‘spread,’ or some equivalent word. We have -‘animals as many as are born’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν[671]. Or, again, we have ‘may -his glory be’ (spread) ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν[672]. Again: ἐπὶ δηρὸν δέ -μοι αἰὼν ἔσσεται is, ‘I shall live long[673].’ And Achilles seated -himself θῖν’ ἐφ’ ἁλὸς πολιῆς[674]. A dragon with a purple back is[675] -ἐπὶ νῶτα δάφοινος. The shoulders of Thersites, compressed against his -chest, are, ἐπὶ στῆθος συνοχωκότε[676]. The horses of Admetus stand -even with the rod across their backs[677], σταφύλῃ ἐπὶ νῶτον ἐΐσας. I -have not confined these examples to merely local cases, because a more -varied illustration, I think, here enlarges our means of judgment. -In every case, it appears, we may assert that extension, whether in -time or space, is implied; and the proper word to construe ἐπὶ (except -with certain verbs of motion, as, ‘he fell on,’ and the like) will be -over, along, across, or over-against. Further, we have in Il. vi. 400, -according to one reading, the preposition ἐπὶ combined with the verb -ἔχειν, and governing the accusative. Andromache appears, - -[666] Od. ii. 421. - -[667] Od. vi. 117. Il. v. 101. - -[668] Od. iv. 132. - -[669] Il. i. 350. - -[670] Od. iii. 3. - -[671] Od. iv. 417. - -[672] Od. vii. 332. - -[673] Il. ix. 415. - -[674] Il. i. 350. - -[675] Il. ii. 308. - -[676] Ibid. 318. - -[677] Ibid. 765. - - παῖδ’ ἐπὶ κόλπον ἔχουσ’ ἀταλάφρονα. - -The recent editions read κόλπῳ: I suppose because the accusative cannot -properly give the meaning _upon_ her breast. But we do not require that -meaning. The sense seems to be, that Andromache was holding her infant -_against_ her breast; that is, the infant was held to it by her hands -from the opposite side. The idea of an infant _on_ her breast is quite -unsuited to a figure declared to be in motion. But the sense may also -be, stretched over or across her breast. Thus we always have extension -involved in ἐπὶ with the accusative, whether in range of view or sound, -steps of a gradual process, actual motion, pressure towards a point -which is initial motion, or extension over space. But the Homeric use -of ἐπὶ with the accusative will nowhere, I think, be found applicable -to the inactive, motionless position of a luminous point simply as -perceived in space. And if so, it cannot be allowable to construe ἐπ’ -ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχων, having (Arctus) _on_ his left hand. - -The nearest parallel that I have found to the phrase in Od. v. 277, is -the direction given by Idomeneus to Meriones, who had asked him (Il. -xiii. 307) at what point he would like to enter the line of battle. -Idomeneus, after giving his reasons, concludes with this injunction: - - νῶϊν δ’ ὧδ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστέρ’ ἔχε στρατοῦ. - -In the Odyssey, the order is to keep Arctus ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρός. Here -it is to keep Idomeneus (and Meriones himself, who preceded him), ἐπ’ -ἀριστερὰ στρατοῦ. The parallel is not complete, because in the latter -case the object of the verb moves; in the former it does not move. -Let us, however, consider the meaning of the latter passage, which is -indisputable. It is ‘hold or keep us,’ not on the left, but ‘towards, -looking and moving towards, the left of the army.’ Probably then they -were coming from its right. Therefore, if for the moment we waive the -question of motion, the order of Calypso was to keep Arctus looking -towards the left of the ship: and accordingly Arctus was to look from -its right. - -We must, I apprehend, seek the key to the general meaning of this -phrase from considering that idea of motion involved in the ordinary -manifestation of omens, which appears to be the basis of the -phrase itself. Now, it seems to be the essential and very peculiar -characteristic of this phrase in Homer, and of the sister phrases -ἐπιδέξια (whether written in one word or in two) and ἐνδέξια, that they -very commonly imply a position different from that which they seem -at first sight to suggest. For that which goes towards the left is -naturally understood to go from the right, and _vice versâ_. - -‘To’ and not ‘on’ is the essential characteristic of the Homeric ἐπὶ -with the accusative. Accordingly, where ἐπὶ is so used with the words -δεξιὰ or ἀριστερὰ, we may often understand an original position of the -person or thing intended, generally opposite to the point or quarter -expressed. In such a case as εὗρεν ... μάχης ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ we should -join ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ with the subject of εὗρεν, and not with its object. -Not A found B on the left, but A (coming) towards the left found B -(there). Again, in Il. xiii. 675, νηῶν ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ should, I submit, -be construed _towards_ the left, or in the direction of the left. - -Now, while there is not a single passage in Homer that refuses to bear -a construction founded on these principles, an examination of a variety -of passages will, I believe, supply us with instances to show, that -there is no other consistent mode of rendering the phrases ἀστράπτειν -ἐπιδέξια; ἐέργειν ἐπ’ ἀριστερά; οἰνοχόειν, αἰτεῖν, δεικνύναι, ἐνδέξια; -ἀριστερὸς ὄρνις, δεξιὸν ἐρώδιον, and others. - -And although in some of these phrases the idea of motion is actually -included, while the motion of omens was the original groundwork of them -all, yet, as frequently happens, the effect remains when the cause has -disappeared. A bird called δεξιὸς is one moving ἐπὶ δεξιά; and this, -according to the law of omens, is _usually_ a bird from the left moving -towards the right. And thus, by analogy, a star ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ is a star -on the right not moving but looking towards the left. Once more, when -we recollect that ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ habitually or very frequently means on -the right as well as moving towards the left, it is not difficult to -conceive so easy and simple a modification of this sense as brings it -to being on the right, while also looking, instead of moving, towards -the left. Lightning, which had appeared on the right, would I apprehend -be ἀστραπὴ ἐπ’ ἀριστερά: Ἀρκτὸς ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ would be ‘Arctus on the -right;’ and the introduction of the word ἔχειν cannot surely reverse -the signification. - -In later Greek, the expressions ἐνδέξια and ἐπιδέξια, with ἐπαριστερὰ, -which seems to be the counterpart of both, the preposition ἐπὶ -sometimes being divided from and sometimes united with its case, appear -to be equivalent to our English phrases ‘on the right,’ and ‘on the -left.’ But not so in Homer. - -~_Illustrated from Il._ ii. 353. _Od._ xxi. 141.~ - -Let us now examine various places of the poems, where ἐνδέξια and -ἐπὶ δεξιὰ (single or combined) cannot mean on the right, but may be -rendered either (1) from the left, or (2) towards the right. Thus we -have, Il. ii. 353, - - ἀστράπτων ἐπιδέξι’, ἐναίσιμα σήματα φαίνων. - -This means lightning on and from the left, so that the lightning -passes, or seems to pass, towards the right. The analogy of this -case to that of the star is very close; because it is rarely that -lightning gives the semblance of motion: and this expression precisely -exemplifies the observation, that these phrases often really imply a -position of the subject exactly opposite to that which at first sight -would be supposed. - -Again, when Antinous bids the Suitors rise in turn for the trial of the -bow, he says, Od. xxi. 141, - - ὄρνυσθ’ ἑξείης ἐπιδέξια, πάντες ἑταῖροι· - -and he goes to explain himself beyond dispute, by referring to the -order observed by the cupbearer at the feast; - - ἀρξάμενοι τοῦ χώρου, ὅθεν τέ περ οἰνοχοεύει. (142) - -His meaning evidently is, Rise up, beginning on or from the left. - -~_From Il._ i. 597. vii. 238. xii. 239, 249.~ - -The practice of the cupbearer is stated with respect to Vulcan, Il. i. -597: - - αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖς ἄλλοισι θεοῖς ἐνδέξια πᾶσιν - ᾠνοχόει. - -So the κήρυξ (Il. vii. 183) goes round ἐνδέξια with the lots for the -chieftains to draw. The beggar[678] in making his round follows the -supreme law of luck, and goes ἐνδέξια. And as this meaning seems to be -established, we must give the same sense, in Il. ix. 236, to ἐνδέξια -σήματα φαίνων ἀστράπτει, as to the ἐνδέξια in Il. ii. 353, namely, that -Jupiter displayed celestial signs on the left. - -[678] Od. xvii. 365. - -Again, Hector boasts of his proficiency in moving his shield so as to -cover his person, Il. vii. 238, - - οἶδ’ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ, οἶδ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ νωμῆσαι βῶν. - -We should translate this probably without much thought ‘to the right -and to the left.’ But when we consider what sense is required by the -idea to be conveyed, it is evident that ἐπὶ δεξιὰ means, from the left -side of his person towards the right, and ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ from the right -side of his person towards the left. That is to say, the first position -before and during the motion, in each case, is at the side opposite to -that indicated by the adjectives respectively. - -Again, in a well known passage (Il. xii. 239.) Hector tells Polydamas -that he cares not for omens, be they good or bad; - - εἴτ’ ἐπὶ δεξί’ ἴωσι πρὸς Ἠῶ τ’ Ἠέλιόν τε, - εἴτ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ τοίγε, ποτὶ ζόφον ἠερόεντα. - -Apart from the question, whether the sense of right and left is -suitable to this passage at all, and assuming it to be so, the meaning -is _from the left_ for ἐπὶ δεξιὰ and _from the right_ for ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, -on their way in each case to the opposite quarter. - -Again, the portent which had drawn forth the observation of Hector was, -(Il. xii. 219,) - - αἰετὸς ὑψιπέτης, ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ λαὸν ἐέργων, - -namely, an eagle appearing on the right and then moving towards the -left. Now ἐέργω is not properly a verb of motion; and yet we see that -ἐέργειν ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ means to close the army in from the right; that is -to say, the eagle, which does the act ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, is itself on the -right. - -There were in fact three things, which originally might, and commonly -would, be included in each of these phrases. For example, in ἐπ’ -ἀριστερὰ, - - 1. Appearance at a particular point on the right; - 2. Motion from that point towards the left; - 3. Rest at another point on the left. - -Of these the second named indicates the first and principal intention -of the word; but when it passes to a second intention or derivative -sense, it may include either the first point, or the third, or both. -In the later Greek it appears rather to indicate the point of rest; -but in the Homeric phrases of the corresponding word δεξιὸς, οἰνοχοεῖν -ἐνδέξια, δεικνύναι ἐνδέξια, αἰτεῖν ἐνδέξια, ἀστραπτεῖν ἐπὶ δεξιὰ, -ἐέργειν ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, the starting-point, and not the resting-point, -is the one brought into view. It is the commencement of the motion, in -every one of these cases, which is indicated by the phrase, and not its -close. - -Being engaged upon this subject, I shall not scruple to examine one -or two remaining passages, which may assist in its more thorough -elucidation. - -~_From Il._ xxiii. 335-7.~ - -I therefore ask particular attention to the passage in the Twenty-third -Book of the Iliad, where Nestor instructs his son concerning his -management in the chariot-race. On either side of a dry trunk upon the -plain, there lay two white stones (xxiii. 329). They formed the goal, -round which the chariots were to be driven, the charioteer keeping them -on his left hand. The pith of the advice of Nestor is, that his son -is to make a short and close turn round them, so as to have a chance -of winning, in spite of the slowness of his team. The directions are -(335-7): - - αὐτὸς δὲ κλινθῆναι ἐϋπλέκτῳ ἐνὶ δίφρῳ - ἦκ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ τοῖϊν· ἀτὰρ τὸν δεξιὸν ἵππον - κένσαι ὁμοκλήσας, εἶξαί τέ οἱ ἡνία χερσίν. - -It is clear from the last line and a half that the goal was to be on -his left hand. But what is the meaning of κλινθῆναι ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ τοῖϊν? -Nothing can be more scientific than the precept. The horses are to make -a sharp turn: the impetus in the driver’s body might throw him forward -if he were not prepared: he is to do what every rider in a circus now -does, to lean inwards; and that is expressed by leaning ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, -of the goal--for τοῖϊν must, I apprehend, be understood to agree with -the dual λᾶε (329), and not the plural ἵππους (334); particularly -because the word ἵππος is repeated immediately after it. The meaning -then is, that he is desired to lean to the left of the goal, while all -the time he keeps on its right. We should under the same circumstances -say, ‘Lean gently towards the right side of the goal, as you are about -to turn round it.’ He, meaning the same thing, says, ‘Lean towards the -left; that is, lean _from the right_, or while keeping on the right, -of the object named. Now this I take to be exactly the sense of Od. -v. 277. Ulysses was bid to sail, having the Great Bear placed on his -right, but looking from his right, and towards his left, as every star -looks towards the quarter opposite to that in which it is itself seen. -He is to have the star _e dextrâ_, because from that point it looks _ad -sinistram_. It looks across him towards his left, just as Antilochus -was to lean in the direction across the goal towards its left. - -The whole of this interpretation without doubt depends upon the word -τοῖϊν; and I do not presume to say that it is necessarily, under -grammatical rules, to be understood of the goal, and not of the horses. -But it is the more natural construction: and Homer often reverts merely -by this demonstrative pronoun, without further indication, to a subject -which he has only named some time back[679]. - -[679] So τήν δε, Il. i. 127, and particularly τὴν in Il. i. 389, -meaning Chryseis, who has not been named since v. 372. - -But if grammar leave that question in any degree open, I apprehend -that physical considerations must decide it. It is impossible for the -driver to lean to the left of his horses as they are rounding the goal. -To the left of his chariot he may lean, as he stands upon it: but to -their left he cannot, for they are considerably in advance of him; -and in order to make the turn at all, they must, at each point of the -curve, which is a curve to the left, be much further along the curve, -and consequently much further to the left, than he can possibly be. It -would be a parallel case, if there were two riders round a circus, one -following the other, and the rider of the after horse were told to lean -to the right of the fore horse. Therefore the word τοῖϊν can, I submit, -only refer to the two stones, which form the goal. - -~_From Il._ ii. 526.~ - -A line in the Greek Catalogue will enable us to carry the question -still further. In Il. ii. 517, after the two Bœotian contingents, come -the Phocians: and the Poet says, ver. 526, - - Βοιωτῶν δ’ ἔμπλην ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ θωρήσσοντο. - -I see that this is translated even by Voss ‘on the left.’ Now is not -this contrary to all likelihood? Was not all propitious movement with -Homer from left to right? Has not this been proved by the cases of the -Immortals, the Omens, the Cupbearer, the Beggar, and the Herald? Is it -likely, or is it even conceivable, that Homer should depart from this -principle in his order of the army? Surely the meaning is this: Having -fixed for himself geographically the order of his contingents, he has -likewise to state their order of array upon the field; and accordingly -by this line he informs us, that the Phocians, who were the second -of the races he mentions, stood ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ of the Bœotians: he of -course means us to understand that the Abantes, the third race, were -ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ of the Locrians, and so on through the whole: or in other -words, that he informs us he does not forget to follow, amidst the -multitudinous detail of the Catalogue, the established, the religious, -and the propitious order of enumeration, namely, the order which begins -from the left, and moves towards the right. - -Thus we must in this place translate ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ ‘towards, that is, -looking towards the left of the Bœotians;’ or ‘looking to the Bœotians -on their left,’ i. e. of the Phocians; the Phocians being, whichever -construction we adopt, on the right, actually on the right, not the -left of the Bœotians. The real force of the expression probably is -this: that the Bœotians, having taken their ground, the Phocians came -up and took theirs next to them on their right. - -~_Application to Od._ v. 277.~ - -Now this case is precisely in point for Od. v. 277: because θωρήσσεσθαι -is not properly a verb of motion: and in all likelihood it may be -relied on independently of further details from Homer, because it -brings the matter to an easy test, through the certainty which we may -well entertain, that Homer would have the order of his army begin from -left to right, like every other duly and auspiciously constituted order. - -There is, however, another interpretation proposed as follows: they, -the Phocians, took ground next (ἔμπλην) to the Bœotians on the left, i. -e. of the army; the two together, as it were, forming its left wing. To -this construction there seem to be conclusive objections: - -1. Why should Homer tell us that the Bœotians and Phocians together -constituted a division of the army, when he tells us nothing similar -respecting any of the twenty-six contingents that remain? Neither of -these races were particularly distinguished either politically or in -arms. - -2. It appears clear that the Bœotians and Phocians did not together -form a division of the army: for, in the Thirteenth Book, the Bœotians -fight in company with the Athenians or Ionians, the Locrians, Phthians, -and Epeans, but not with the Phocians. Il. xiii. 685, 6. - -3. Neither did the Bœotians belong to the left wing of the army at all: -for they are found defending the centre of the ships against Hector -and the Trojans, with the two Ajaxes in their front. Il. xiii. 314-16, -674-84, 685, 700; 701, 2; 719, 20. - -4. There is nowhere the smallest sign, that the Greek army was divided -into wings and centre at all. - -5. The order of the Catalogue is a geographical order, and not that -of a military arrangement. Therefore it was requisite for Homer to -tell us how the troops were arranged in the Review. This he has -effected by telling us that the Phocians, the second of his tribes, -drew up on the right of the Bœotians: which we have only to consider -tacitly repeated all through, and the order is thus both complete and -propitious. But, according to the other construction, the Poet begins -with an arrangement by wings, of which we hear nowhere else: and then -he forthwith forgets and abandons it. - -6. I do not think ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ can be construed to the left of the -army. The army has nowhere been named. The phrases ἐπὶ δεξιὰ and ἐπ’ -ἀριστερὰ require us to have a subject clearly in view. It is frequently -named, as in ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ μάχης. When it is connected with omens, it -means to the west, and ἐπιδέξια the reverse. Again, οἰνοχοεῖν ἐπιδέξια -is to begin pouring wine from the left, and towards the right end of -the rank whom the cupbearer may be serving. The ‘army’ has not been -mentioned since the reassembling in v. 207. - -These objections appear to me fatal to the construction now under our -view. They do not indeed touch the question whether ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ should -be interpreted on the left, or (on the right and) towards the left. -That must, I think, be decided by the general principles of augury duly -applied to order and enumeration. - -On the whole, then, I contend that it is wrong to construe Od. v. -277, ‘to sail with Arctus _on_ his left hand.’ It would be much more -nearly right, and would, in fact, convey the meaning, though not in -a grammatical manner, if we construed it ‘to sail with Arctus on -his right hand.’ But the manner of construing it, grammatically and -accurately, as I submit, is this: ‘to sail with Arctus looking towards -the left (of his hand, or his left hand);’ that is to say, looking -_from his right_. And generally, that the proper mode of construing ἐπ’ -ἀριστερὰ and ἐπὶ δεξιὰ in Homer is, _towards_ the left, _towards_ the -right; or, conversely, _from_ the right, _from_ the left. - -This meaning is in exact accordance with the North-eastern, and is -entirely opposed to the North-western, hypothesis. And I venture to -believe that, itself established by sufficient evidence from other -passages in the poems, it enables us to give a meaning substantially, -though perhaps not minutely self-consistent, though of course one not -based upon the true configuration of the earth’s surface as it is now -ascertained, to every passage in Homer which relates to the Outer -Geography of the Odyssey. - -Both ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ and ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς are used repeatedly in the -Hymn to Mercury[680]. One of the passages resembles in its form that -of the eagle, Il. xii. 219. It is this: - -[680] Hymn. Merc. 153. Cf. 418, 424, 499. - - κεῖτο, χέλυν ἐρατὴν ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἐέργων. - -And probably the basis of the idea is the same. The really correct -Greek expression for ‘on the left hand’ I take to be χειρὸς ἐξ -ἀριστερᾶς, which is used by Euripides[681]. - -[681] Hecuba 1127. - -~_Sense altered in later Greek._~ - -But in the later Greek the idea of the point of arrival prevailed over -that of the point of departure: and, conventionally at least, the -ἐπιδέξια, with its equivalent ἐνδέξια, came to mean simply ‘on the -right,’ and ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ, ‘on the left.’ It is worth notice, that we -have a like ambiguous use in English of the word _towards_. Sometimes -towards the left means being on the left: sometimes it means moving -from the right in the direction of the left: and a room ‘towards the -south’ means one with its windows on the north, looking out over -the south, like as the star Arctus looks out towards the left of -Ulysses[682]. - -[682] I have observed that δεξιὸς ὄρνις means a bird flying from the -left towards the right, and ἀριστερὸς ὄρνις, the reverse. Here however -the force of the epithet is derived from immediate connection with the -motion implied, and with the doctrine of omens: δεξιὸς ὦμος would of -course be the right shoulder, and δεξιή, as we have seen, may stand -alone to signify the right hand. And so in general with these words, -when used as epithets, apart from a preposition implying motion, and -from any relation to omens. - - - - -IV. AOIDOS. - - -SECT. I. - -_On the Plot of the Iliad._ - -~_Theory of Grote on the Iliad._~ - -Although the hope has already been expressed at the commencement of -this work, that for England at least, the main questions as to the -Homeric poems have well nigh been settled in the affirmative sense; -yet I must not pass by without notice the recently propounded theory -of Grote. I refer to it, partly on account of the general authority of -his work; for this authority may give a currency greater than is really -due to a portion of it, which, as lying outside the domain of history -proper, has perhaps been less maturely considered than his conclusions -in general. But it is partly also because I do not know that it has yet -been treated of elsewhere; and most of all because the discussion takes -a positive form; for the answer to his argument, which perhaps may be -found to render itself into a gratuitous hypothesis, depends entirely -upon a comprehensive view of the general structure of the poem, and the -reciprocal relation and adaptation of its parts. - -Grote believes, that the poem called the Iliad is divisible into two -great portions: one of them he conceives to be an Achilleis, or a poem -having for its subject the wrath of Achilles, which comprises the First -Book, the Eighth, and all from the Eleventh to the Twenty-second Books -inclusive; that the Books from the Second to the Seventh inclusive, -with the Ninth and Tenth, and the two last Books, are portions of what -may be called an Ilias, or general description of the War of Troy, -which have been introduced into the original Achilleis, most probably -by another hand; or, if by the original Poet, yet to the destruction, -or great detriment, of the poetic unity of his work. - -In support of this doctrine he urges, - -1. That the Books from the Second to the Seventh inclusive in no -way contribute to the main action, and are ‘brought out in a spirit -altogether indifferent to Achilles and his anger[683].’ - -[683] Grote’s Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 258 n. - -2. That the Ninth Book, containing a full accomplishment of the wishes -of Achilles in the First, by ‘atonement and restitution[684],’ is -really the termination of the whole poem, and renders the continuance -of his Wrath absurd: therefore, and also from the language of -particular passages, it is plain that ‘the Books from the Eleventh -downwards are composed by a Poet, who has no knowledge of that Ninth -Book, (or, as I presume he would add, who takes no cognizance of -it[685].’) - -[684] Ibid. p. 241 n. - -[685] Ibid. p. 244 n. - -3. The Jupiter of the Fourth Book is inconsistent with the Jupiter of -the First and Eighth. - -4. The abject prostration of Agamemnon in the Ninth Book is -inconsistent with his spirit and gallantry in the Eleventh. - -5. The junction of these Books to the First Book is bad; as the Dream -of Agamemnon ‘produces no effect,’ and the Greeks are victorious, not -defeated[686]. - -[686] Ibid. p. 247. - -6. For the latter of these reasons, the construction of the wall and -fosse round the camp landwards is out of place. - -7. The tenth Book, though it refers sufficiently to what precedes, has -no bearing on what follows in the poem. - -Grote has argued conclusively against the supposition that we owe the -continuous Iliad[687] to the labours of Pisistratus, and shows that it -must have been known in its continuity long before. He places the poems -between 850 and 776 B. C.[688]; admits the splendour of much of the -poetry which he thus tears from its context[689]; yet he apparently is -not startled by the supposition, that the man, or the men, capable of -composing poetry of the superlative kind that makes up his Achilleis, -should be so blind to the primary exigencies of such a work for its -effect as a whole, that he or they could also be capable of thus -spoiling its unity by adding eight books, which do not belong to the -subject, to fifteen others in which it was already completely handled -and disposed of. And though our historian leans to the belief of a -plurality of authors for the Iliad, he does not absolutely reject the -supposition that it may be the work of one[690]. - -[687] Grote’s History of Greece, vol. ii. p. 210. - -[688] Ibid. p. 178. - -[689] Ibid. p. 260, 236, 267. - -[690] Ibid. p. 269. - -~_Offer of Il._ ix. _and its rejection_.~ - -As to the Ninth Book[691], he refers it more decisively to a separate -hand; and he makes no difficulty about presuming that the Homerids -could furnish men capable of composing (for example) the wonderful -speech of Achilles from the 307th to the 429th line. Happy Homerids! -and _felix prole virûm_, happy land that could produce them! - -[691] Ibid. - -It appears to me that these are wild suppositions. Against no -supposition can there be stronger presumptions than against those -which, by dissevering the prime parts of the poem, produce a -multiplication of Homers; and however Grote may himself think that -enlargements such as he describes, do not imply of necessity at least -a double authorship, few indeed, I apprehend, will be found, while -admitting his criticisms on the poem, to contend that it can still be -the production of a single mind. Still less can I think that any one -would now be satisfied with the sequence of Books proposed, or with the -mutilated proportions, any more than with the reduced dimensions, of -the work as a whole. - -I will say not that the propounder of such a theory, but that such -a propounder of any theory, is well entitled to have the question -discussed, whether those proportions are indeed mutilated by the -change, or whether they are, on the contrary, restored. Let me observe, -however, at the outset, that it is the general argument with which -only I shall be careful to deal. I do not admit the discrepancies[692] -alleged; but neither is it requisite to examine each case in detail, -since Grote concedes, that his own theory does not relieve him from -conflict with particular passages of the poem. - -[692] Note, pp. 240-4. - -As respects the Ninth Book, this theory seems to proceed on a -misconception of the nature of the offence taken by Achilles; as -respects the others, upon a similar misconception of the measure which -the Poet intends us to take of his hero’s greatness, and of the modes -by which he means us to arrive at our estimate. - -It takes time to sound the depths of Homer. Possibly, or even probably, -many may share the idea that what Achilles resents is the mere loss of -a captive woman, and that restitution would at once undo the wrong. But -they misconceive the act, and the man also, to whom the wrong was done. -The soul of Achilles is stirred from its depths by an outrage, which -seems to him to comprehend all vices within itself. He is wounded in -an attachment that had become a tender one; for he gives to Briseis the -name of wife (ἄλοχον θυμάρεα), and avows his care and protection of her -in that character. A proud and sensitive warrior, he is[693] insulted -in the face of the army; and to the Greeks, whose governing sentiment -was αἴδως, or honour, insult was the deadliest of all inflictions. -Further, he is defrauded by the withdrawal of that which, by the public -authority, presiding over the distribution of spoil, he had been taught -to call his own; and he keenly feels the combination of deceit with -insolence[694]. Justice is outraged in his person, when he alone among -the warriors is to have no share of the booty. In this he rightly sees -an ingratitude of threefold blackness; it is done by the man, for whose -sake[695] he had come to Troy without an interest of his own; it is -done to the man, whose hand, almost unaided, had earned the spoil which -the Greeks divided[696]: lastly, it is done to him, on whose valour the -fortunes of their host with the hopes of their enterprise principally -depended, and whose mere presence on the field of itself drives and -holds aloof the principal champions of Troy[697]. And, lastly, while -the whole army is responsible by acquiescence and is so declared by -him, (ἐπεί μ’ ἀφέλεσθέ γε δόντες, Il. i. 299,) the insult and wrong -proceed from one, whose avarice and irresolution made him in the eyes -of Achilles at once hateful and contemptible[698]. - -[693] ὕβρις, Il. i. 203, 214. ἐφυβρίζων, Il. ix. 368, also 646-8. - -[694] Il. ix. 370-6: when he returns again and again to the word: -ἐξαπατήσειν, 371; ἀπάτησε, 375; ἐξαπάφοιτο, 376. - -[695] Il. i. 152. - -[696] Ibid. 165-8. - -[697] Il. v. 789. - -[698] Il. i. 225-8. - -Such is the deadly wrong, that lights up the wrath of Achilles. And, -as he broods over his injuries, according to the law of an honourable -but therefore susceptible, and likewise a fierce and haughty nature, -the flame waxes hotter and hotter, and requires more and more to quench -it. Thus there is a terrible progression and expansion in his revenge: -and by degrees he arrives at a height of fierce vindictiveness, that -minutely calculates the modes in which the suffering of its object -can be carried to a _maximum_, yet so as to leave his own renown -untouched, and open the widest field for the exercise of his valour. -It is not vice, nor is it virtue, which Homer is describing in his -Achilles; it is that strange and wayward mixture of regard for right -and justice with self-love on the one side, and wrath on the other, -which are so common among us men of meaner scale. The difference is, -that in Achilles all the parts of the compound are at once deepened to -a superhuman intensity, and raised to a scale of magnificence which -almost transcends our powers of vision. We must, indeed, no more look -for a didactic and pedantic consistency in the movement of his mind, -than in shocks from an earthquake, or bursts of flame from a volcano. -But a real consistency there is; and doubtless it could be measured by -the rules of every day, if only every day produced an Achilles. - -Let us now follow his course with close attention. - -~_Restitution not the object of Achilles._~ - -It can hardly fail to draw remark, that the spirit of Achilles never -from the first moment fastens on mere restitution, or on restitution -at all, as its object. With his knowledge of his own might, which was -enough to prompt him, had he not been restrained from heaven, to assail -and slay Agamemnon on the spot, he nevertheless does not so much as -entertain the thought of fighting to keep Briseis. His thought is far -other than this: ‘I will not lift a finger against one of you for the -girl, since you choose to take from me what you gave (298, 9). I will -not hold what you think fit to grudge.’ While he adds, that they shall -not touch an article of what is properly his own[699]. Not that he -cares for mere possession or dispossession. Were that his thought, he -would have lifted up the invincible arm for the retention of Briseis. -But his thought is this, ‘One outrage you have done to justice and -to me, and, encouraged as well as commanded by great deities, I bear -it; but not even under their promises and injunctions will I endure -that you shall sin again.’ The loss he had suffered now became quite -a subordinate image in his mind; punishment of the offenders, and -not restitution, was ever before his view. His first threat is that -of withdrawal (Il. i. 169): which, he conceives, will put a stop to -Agamemnon’s rapacious accumulations. Next (233) he swears the mighty -oath that every Greek shall rue the day of his wrong, and look in vain -to Agamemnon for protection against the sword of Hector. Again, in his -prayer to Thetis, he intreats that she will induce Jupiter to drive the -Greeks in rout and slaughter back upon the ships and the sea. He never -dreams of the mere reparation of his wrong: when he refers to Briseis -in the great oration of the Ninth Book, it is for the purpose of a -slaying sarcasm against the Atreidæ; his soul utterly refuses to treat -the affair in the manner of an action at law for damages; he looks for -nothing less than the prostration of the Grecian host and its being -brought to the very door of utter and final ruin, with the compound -view of avenging wrong, glorifying justice, enhancing the sufferings -of his foe, and magnifying the occasion and achievements of his own -might, to be put forth when the proper time shall come. - -[699] The ἄλλα, v. 300, must mean what he had not acquired by gift of -the army; since in Il. 9. 335, as well as in i. 167, 356, he apparently -speaks of Briseis as the only prize he had received. - -~_The offer radically defective._~ - -The hero withdraws, and remains aloof. The Greeks, after a panic -and a recovery, determine to carry on the war without him. But the -hostile deities, less under restraint than the friendly ones, give -active encouragement to the Trojan chiefs and army in the fight. They -are discerned by the Greeks, who accordingly recede[700]. Finding -that, instead of driving the Trojans to the city, on the contrary, -even before the single fight of Hector and Ajax, they themselves had -suffered loss, they supply their camp with the defences, which it -had never needed while the name of Achilles and his prowess kept the -enemy either within their walls, or in the immediate vicinity of the -city. This happens in the Seventh Book, and it is the first note of -the consequences of the Wrath. In the Eighth, they are more decidedly -worsted under a divine influence, and are driven back upon their -works, while the Trojans bivouac on the place of battle. The army had -suffered no heavy loss: yet the infirm will of Agamemnon gives way: -and, portending greater evils, he a second time counsels flight[701]. -The advice is warmly repudiated by Diomed and the other chiefs. Still -the course of their affairs is now by undeniable signs altered for the -worse. Hereupon, Nestor advises an attempt to conciliate Achilles by -offers of restitution and of gifts, with close union and incorporation -into the family of Agamemnon. Now it is most important that we should -observe, that gifts and kind words were the beginning and the end -of this mission. There was no confession of wrong authorized by -Agamemnon, or made by the Envoys, to Achilles. The woes of the Greeks -are described: Achilles is exhorted to lay aside his Wrath: he is -told of all the fine things he will receive upon his compliance: but -not one word in the speech of Ulysses conveys the admission at length -gained from Agamemnon in the Nineteenth Book, that he has offended. -Therefore Achilles is not appeased: but, I must add, neither is justice -satisfied, nor right re-established. - -[700] Il. v. 605, 702. - -[701] Il. ix. 26. - -~_Apology needed also._~ - -Presents and promises were not what Achilles wanted. On the contrary, -to his inflamed and inexorable spirit, being less than and different -from the thing he sought, the very offer of them was matter of new -exasperation. The very offer of them thus made seemed, and in some -degree rightly seemed, to imply that they who tendered it must take him -for a man, whose mind was cast in the same sordid mould as that of the -king, who had given the offence. Gifts indeed Achilles must have, and -abundance of them, when he is at last to be appeased: but it is not in -order to swell an inventory of possessions: it is that the memory of -them may dwell in his mind, and stand upon the record of his life, like -the golden ornaments that he wore upon his manly person, namely, to -exhibit and to make felt his glory. - -I do not indeed presume to say we have evidence to show that Achilles -would have relented at the period of the mission, if a frank confession -of wrong, and apology for insult, had been made together with the -proffer of the gifts. On the contrary, with his higher sentiments there -mingled a towering passion of a vindictive order. It was as it were -the corruption or abuse, not the basis, of the mood of the estranged -Achilles: but it was there, and there, like everything Achillean, -in colossal proportions. Still I think it has not been sufficiently -observed that, as matter of fact, the proceeding of the Ninth Book was -radically defective, because it treated the affair as (so to call -it) one of mere merchandize, to be disposed of like the balance of an -account. - -When Achilles finds that the desire to avenge the death of Patroclus -has become paramount within him, and in consequence renounces the -Wrath[702], it is true that he does not stipulate for an apology. But -neither does he stipulate for the gifts. Both however are given, and -the apology comes first in the faltering speech of Agamemnon[703], who -distinguishes between two kinds of atonement; - -[702] Il. xix. 67. - -[703] Ibid. 134-8. - - ἂψ ἐθέλω ἀρέσαι, δόμεναί τ’ ἀπερείσι’ ἄποινα. - -Were there any doubt about the reality of this distinction, it might -be removed by evidence which the Odyssey supplies. Eurualus, who -appears to have been one of the secondary kings in Scheria, had not yet -atoned for his insult to Ulysses, when Alcinous recommended that all -the twelve, who belonged to that order, should make a present to the -departing stranger. But from Eurualus, he observes, something more is -requisite; he must offer an apology as well as a gift[704]; - -[704] Od. viii. 390-415. - - Εὐρύαλος δέ ἑ αὐτὸν ἀρεσσάσθω ἐπέεσσιν - καὶ δώρῳ· ἐπεὶ οὔτι ἔπος κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπεν. - -And this is done accordingly, in the amplest and frankest manner. - -All this should be borne in mind, when we estimate the consistency of -the Poet through the medium of the conduct of Achilles. - -It was not a moment’s light apprehension, suffered by Agamemnon and the -army, that could avail to obliterate his resentment. They had scarcely -tasted of the cup of bitterness; he required that they should drain it -to the dregs. He will not hear of the return of Briseis: τῇ παριαύων -τερπέσθω[705]. With a mixture of close argument, terrible denunciation, -and withering sarcasm, he overpowers and silences the Envoys. Only -Phœnix can address him, and that after a long pause and in tears. - -[705] Il. ix. 336. - -Yet the mighty spirit of Achilles sways to and fro in the tempest of -its own emotions. Again he has threatened to depart: bidding them, with -a bitterness that mounts far away into the region of the sublime, come -the next day and see, if they think such a sight can be worth their -seeing, his fleet speeding homeward across the broad Hellespont; or -north Ægean. But this course of action would have balked his appetite -for glory; which, as he knew[706], he could only buy, and that with -his life, at Troy. Perhaps, too, he was softened by the respect of the -Envoys, who were personally agreeable to him; perhaps grimly pleased -with the awe that his Titanic passion had inspired; perhaps affected -with a sympathetic feeling of regard by the straightforward bluntness -of Ajax. At any rate it is plain that there followed upon the speech -of the Telamoniad chief[707] a greater sign of yielding, than any -which the paternal exhortations of Phœnix, or those most artfully -drawn pictures by Ulysses[708] of the rage and fury of Hector, had -sufficed to produce. In answer to Ulysses, to the bottom of whose -astuteness his clear eye had pierced, he says, ‘I shall go[709].’ In -answer to Phœnix[710], ‘To-morrow we will decide, whether to go or -stay.’ In answer to Ajax, he makes a more sensible advance. He now so -far relents as to tell them, he will bethink himself of battle; yet it -shall only be when the hand of Hector, dealing death to Greeks, and -flame to their vessels, shall have reached the tents and ships of the -Myrmidons. Then it will be time enough: for then, at _his_ encampment -and by _his_ dark ship, he trows that he will stay the course of -Hector, however keen for fight[711]. - -[706] Il. i. 352-4. - -[707] Il. ix. 624-42. Sup. Agorè, p. 111. - -[708] Ibid. 237-43, and 304-6. - -[709] Ibid. 357. - -[710] Ibid. 617. - -[711] Il. ix. 649-55. - -~_Consistency maintained in and after Il._ ix.~ - -Thus far, then, we surely have no pretext for saying that Homer has -departed from the purpose of his poem, of which the man Achilles is the -centre and animating principle, and his Wrath with its terrible effects -the theme. These effects are now developed up to a certain point: not -such a point as really to endanger the army, or excite strong sympathy -or apprehension on its behalf, but yet such a point as entirely to tame -the irresolute egotism of Agamemnon, and drive his but half-masculine -character into efforts again to lay hold upon the prop, which he had so -rashly and lightly, as well as selfishly and unjustly, put away. - -If we were to consider Achilles as engaged in a mere personal quarrel, -we must condemn him, without any qualification whatever, for not -accepting the reparation now tendered by Agamemnon. But if we bear in -mind that the wrong done was a public wrong, that no confession of this -wrong was made, that the other kings and leaders, and the whole army, -became in some degree parties to it by their acquiescence, and that he -was thus as much or more the vindicator of great public rights than -the mere avenger of a personal offence, it is not so clear that the -conduct of Achilles after the mission of the Ninth Book is incapable -in principle of justification, according to the moral code of Greece. -It must, however, undoubtedly remain amenable to severe censure on the -score of excess: a culpability, for the penal notice of which Homer has -made abundant provision in the sequel of the poem. - -But this question is by the way: the main issue raised is as to the -poetical consistency and effect of the structure, which Homer has -chosen for his work. Upon this there is surely little room for doubt. - -From the Ninth Book we commence afresh: Achilles in his moody -seclusion, the Greeks in a manful determination to do their best; even -Agamemnon is now roused to feel what he has brought upon the army, -thrown back from his moral irresolution as a chief upon his personal -courage as a soldier, and resolved to appear in the field, that he too -may earn his laurels there. - -And these intentions are gallantly fulfilled. The night foray of Diomed -and Ulysses stands well, as one of the minor but safe measures, by -which a skilful generalship often makes its first efforts to raise the -spirits of a downcast army. Agamemnon then appears, and shows himself -to be a warrior of a high, nay of the highest order of strength and -valour. The other kings exert themselves with their wonted chivalry. -But the decree of Jove, working through the accidents of war, drives -three of the four great champions from the field, and leaves only -Ajax; who, invincible wherever he is found, yet cannot be everywhere, -nor, single handed, govern the result of battle along the whole extent -of the line. And now come the great exertions and successes of the -Trojans, especially Sarpedon and his Lycian contingent, Hector playing -rather a conventional than a real part. Now it goes hard indeed with -the Greeks; the fire touches the ships; Patroclus must go forth and -die; and the Wrath is at an end, for it is drowned in the bitterness of -the tears of Achilles. - -With reference, then, to the main purpose of the poem, it proceeds -regularly to its climax, and there is no limb of the Iliad separable -from the body without destroying the symmetrical, masculine, and broad -development of its general plan. I speak now of the principal fabric -of the poem. Few who are not prepared to pull that in pieces will, I -apprehend, accede to the proposal to shear it of the two last Books, -which therefore hardly require a separate defence. - -~_Skilful adjustment of conflicting aims._~ - -To me it appears well worthy of remark, with what extraordinary skill -Homer has contrived to adjust his poem to the several aims which he had -to keep in view. The grand one doubtless was the glory of his country -in the person of Achilles[712]. Still he was bound not to sacrifice -poetically the martial fame of the rest of Greece even to the first -among them, whatever calamities he might make the army suffer on his -account. To avoid this sacrifice, he was obliged to uphold the military -character and power of the Greeks in their struggle with the Trojans, -even when deprived of the prowess of their great champion Achilles. -And yet he could not degrade Hector and the Trojans, or he would have -reached the lame conclusion of adorning his own country’s heroes with -a poor and unworthy triumph. Thus his course was to be steered among a -variety of difficulties, all pressing upon him from opposite quarters. - -[712] On the character of Achilles, I recommend reference to Colonel -Mure, Lit. Greece, i. 273-91, and 304-14. In no part of his treatment -of the poems has that excellent Homerist (if I may presume to say so) -done better service. See likewise Professor Wilson’s Essays, Critique -iv: and the Prælections of the Rev. J. Keble, i. 90-104. This refined -work, which criticizes the poems in the spirit of a Bard, set an early -example, at least to England, of elevating the tone of Homeric study. - -We see at once how steadily he kept in view his pole-star; how he -handled the events and characters of his poem so as to give the most -powerful, or rather it may be said the most overpowering, impression -of the greatness of his hero, which is lifted higher and higher by -the whole movement of the work as it proceeds. Let us now examine -whether, in giving full scope to his main purpose, he has been obliged -to sacrifice others which were also important, nay, if the highest -excellence was his aim, even indispensable. - -The paramount glory of Achilles is established by this: first, that in -the Ninth Book the whole army, as it were, lies at his feet, and is -spurned from thence: secondly, that when he finally comes forth, it -is not in deference to those who have insulted him, but it is under -the burning impulses of his own heart. Let us now proceed to inquire -whether the Poet has or has not satisfied two other great demands. Has -he, as a Greek, done all that was required to glorify Greece, and is -Achilles its crown only, or is he its substitute? Has he, as a man, -vindicated the principles of the moral order, and of that retributive -justice which, even in this world, visibly maintains at least a partial -balance between human action and its consequences to the agent? - -~_Glory given to Greece._~ - -We should look in vain, I think, for a finer and subtler exercise of -poetic art, than in the mode in which Homer has contrived to convey to -us, both the general, and in particular the military inferiority of -the Trojans, as compared with the Greeks. Hardly any reader can be so -superficial in his observation of the poem, as not to rise from it with -this inferiority sufficiently impressed upon his mind. Yet there is -not a passage or a word throughout, in which it is asserted. And why? -Because every direct assertion that the Trojans were less valiant or -less strong than their antagonists, would have been so much detracted -from the glory of overcoming them. It was essential to the work of the -Poet, that he should represent the contest as an arduous one. He might -have done this in the coarse method, for which his theurgy would have -afforded the materials: that is, by converting his Trojans into mere -puppets, whose arm, at every turn of the narrative, merely represented -the impelling force of some deity or other, and, independently of -such extraneous aid, was powerless. But this would have destroyed the -full-flushed humanity of Homer’s poem. - -As it is, he has availed himself of the divine element to make up by -its assistance for the comparative weakness of the Trojan chiefs: but -it is only a subdued and occasional assistance, so that there is no -glaring difference in point of free agency between the two parties. Nor -can it be without a purpose, that the two deities, who appear in the -field on behalf of the Trojans, namely, Venus and Mars, are sent off it -both wounded, the one whining, and the other howling, by the prowess -of Diomed. If the Greeks are to suffer by the gods, he takes care that -it shall not be by those gods who are the mere national partisans of -Troy, but by a higher agency; by the decree of Jupiter, now temporarily -indeed, but effectively, set against them. - -It is by an indefinitely great number of strokes and touches each -indefinitely small, that Homer has gained his object. The Trojan -successes are always effected with the concurrence of supernatural -power; the Greeks not unfrequently without, and sometimes even against -it[713]. - -[713] Il. xvi. 780. - -He as it were sets up the Trojans, so to speak, by generalities; but -he gives to the Greeks, with certain occasional exceptions, the whole -detail of solid achievement. Sometimes he allows a panic of doubt and -fear to seize their host, but he takes care to make the sentiment only -flit like a momentary shade over the sun. Thus, when the assembled -chieftains of the Greek army hesitate to accept the challenge of -Hector[714], - -[714] Il. vii. 93. - - αἴδεσθεν μὲν ἀνήνασθαι, δεῖσαν δ’ ὑποδέχθαι. - -But after a short interval, and a proper appeal, nine champions appear, -each and all burning to meet Hector in single combat. Sometimes he -contrives to direct his praises to martial appearance and exterior, -but carefully avoids the real touches of heroic character; as when -he bestows on Paris the noble simile of the στάτος ἵππος. Generally -he pays off, as it were, the Trojans with high-sounding words, and -reserves nearly all the true qualities of heroes, as well as their -exploits, for the Achæans. With them are the sagacity, consistency, -firmness, promptitude, enterprise, power of adapting means to ends, -comprehensiveness of view, as well as main strength of hand. But by -the expedients I have mentioned, the Trojans are raised to, and kept -at and no more than at, the level necessary to make them worthy and -creditable antagonists. One other engine for the purpose has been -employed by him, namely, the real valour and manhood of the Lycian -kings and forces[715], with whom he had evidently a strong and peculiar -sympathy; whose chief, Sarpedon, is really a better man in war than -Hector, though much less pretentious; and who, under this prince, -achieve the only real, great, and independent success that is to be -found on that side throughout the whole course of the poems, namely, -the first forcing of the Greek entrenchments[716]. - -[715] Since the first portion of this work went to press, I have found -from the recent and still unfinished work of Welcher, _Griechische -Götterlehre_, i. 2. n., that philological evidence appears to have been -recently obtained of a close relationship between the Lycians and the -Greeks. - -[716] Il. xii. 397-9. - -The Trojan inferiority indeed lies very much more palpably in the -chiefs, than in the common soldiers. Between the bulk of the army on -the one side and on the other, Homer represents no great--at least no -glaring difference. Sometimes the fight is carried on upon terms purely -equal[717], as during the forenoon of the day in the Eleventh Book: -where there is superiority, it is assigned to the Greeks[718] or to -the Trojans[719], according as the exigencies of the poem may require. -Still he contrives some note of difference so as to draw a line between -the merit of the respective successes; thus, when the Trojans turn the -Greeks to flight, there is commonly an intimation, in more or less -general terms, of a divine agency stimulating them. Hostile weapons -are indeed often turned aside on behalf of Greeks: but only in one -instance, I think, do the Greeks derive decided advantage from a panic -divinely inspired: it is when, in the Sixteenth Book, Jupiter instils -into Hector the spirit of fear[720]. - -[717] Il. xi. 67-83. - -[718] Ibid. 90. - -[719] Il. viii. 336. xvi. 569. xvii. 596. - -[720] Il. xvi. 656. - -This absence of broad contrast between the two soldieries is in entire -accordance with what we have seen reason to presume as to their -composition; namely, that the rank and file on both sides was in all -likelihood composed from kindred and Pelasgian races. - -Yet a strong jealousy on behalf of his country is ever the predominant -sentiment in the Poet’s mind; and accordingly he insinuates, with -much art, suggestions which keep even the Trojan soldiery somewhat -below the Greeks; while to the chieftains of the Greek army, though -his laudatory epithets are nearly as high on the one side as on the -other, he assigns in action an enormous superiority, both military -and intellectual. Accordingly, when we come to cast up the results -of the actual encounters, we are astounded at the littleness, the -almost nothingness, of the Trojan achievements, and at the large havock -wrought by their opponents, even during the period when Achilles was in -estrangement[721]. - -[721] This would be best shown by a list of the considerable personages -slain on the two sides respectively. - -As regards the armies at large, observe the similes used in the Fourth -Book[722]. The Greeks move in silence and discipline, like the swelling -waves when the tempest is just beginning to gather: the Trojans, like -innumerable sheep, who stand bleating in the fold while they are being -milked[723]. In the Fifth Book, while it is mentioned, as if casually, -that Apollo, Mars, and Eris, were stirring and keeping up the Trojans, -it is subjoined, without ostensible reference to this intimation, but -plainly in artful contrast with it, that the Greeks found sufficient -incentives in the exhortations of the two Ajaxes, of Ulysses, and -of Diomed[724]. Again, when Hector returns, after his battle with -Ajax[725], to his comrades, we are told that they rejoiced in finding -him restored to them in safety, contrary to their expectation, -ἀέλπτοντες σόον εἶναι. On the other hand, it is added, the Greeks led -Ajax to Agamemnon, exulting in his victory over Hector (κεχαρηότα -νίκῃ). The Greeks feel no thankfulness, because they had, we are -evidently to understand, felt no fear. And the chief rejoices in his -victory, which it really was. It was, indeed, ended as a drawn battle, -though Ajax had had the best of it at every stage; but not so much for -the honour of Hector, as for the purposes of the poem, since Hector -had to meet Achilles in the field, and he would have been degraded by -encountering an antagonist that anybody else had palpably worsted. To -state the paradox as Homer had to confront it, the problem was to make -Ajax conqueror, without letting Hector be conquered. - -[722] Ver. 421-38. - -[723] Ver. 517-20. - -[724] Il. v. 517-21. - -[725] Il. vii. 307-12. - -~_Inferiority glaring in the Chiefs._~ - -When we look to the case of the chieftains as a whole, the contrast is -glaring. No first rate, or even second rate, Greek chieftain is ever -killed in fair field: Tlepolemus, slain by Sarpedon, comes the nearest -to that rank, but is not in it. Patroclus is only slain after being -disarmed by Apollo: and here it seems to me as if for once the Poet had -a little overshot his mark; for the artifice is gross, and covers the -pretended exploit of Hector with indelible disgrace. In fact, Hector -never once achieves a considerable success in the field: though only -Achilles, the first Greek warrior, is allowed completely to overcome -him[726], yet he is decidedly inferior in fight to both Diomed and -Ajax, who jointly occupy the two next places, but as between whom Homer -has not decisively marked the claim to precedence. In general terms, -he gives it to Ajax more emphatically[727], but he details more and -greater acts of prowess in favour of Diomed. - -[726] Compare Il. ii. 768, with Il. v. 414. - -[727] Il. xi. 185-209. - -Even with Agamemnon Hector is admonished, on the part of Jupiter, -not to contend: and he follows the advice. Of the Trojan chiefs who -really fight, a large proportion are slain; Glaucus, Æneas, Deiphobus, -and Polydamas are the most considerable who survive. No eminent -Trojan in fact is ever allowed to display real heroism, except under -circumstances where the issue is quite hopeless: accordingly Homer has -never surrounded Hector with true heroic grandeur, in deed as well -as word, until his final battle against Achilles, when he is at last -brought to bay, and when his doom is certain. All the considerable -injuries inflicted upon great Greek chieftains are from causes not -implying personal prowess in their rivals: from the arrows of Pandarus -or of Paris, or by the chance hit of some insignificant, or at the -least secondary, but desperate Trojan, such as Socus, or such as Coon, -struck even as he is himself receiving or about to receive his own -death-blow[728]. But for these ignoble wounds, which were inflicted -on many chiefs, including three prime heroes, Agamemnon, Diomed, and -Ulysses, the Greeks, according to the agency of the poem as it stands, -never would have been driven back upon their ships at all. - -[728] Il. xi. 252, 437. - -~_Conflicting exigencies of the plan._~ - -Now Homer’s difficulty in this matter was not simply that which has -been heretofore pointed out, or which has been commonly supposed. His -aim, says Heyne[729], in representing the disasters of the Greeks is, -_ut per eas Achillis virtus insigniatur, quippe quâ destituti Achivi -succumbunt, eâdem redditâ vincunt_. But this is surely a misstatement -of the case. Homer has not represented the Greeks _plus_ Achilles as -superior to the Trojans, and the Greeks _minus_ Achilles as inferior -to them. This was what a vulgar artist, whose mind could only hold -one idea at a time, would have done; nay, what it was difficult to -avoid doing, for it was vital to Homer’s purpose that the vengeance of -Achilles should be completely satiated: it was not to be thought of -that this transcendent character, this ideal hero, should be balked by -man of woman born; the whole web of the Poet’s thought would have been -rent across, had there been failure in such a point. What was needful -in this view could only be accomplished by the extremest calamities of -the Greeks. These calamities he had to bring about, and yet to give to -the Greeks a real superiority of military virtue. We have seen already -how he effected the latter: how did he manage the former? Partly by -giving Achilles, in right of his mother Thetis, such an interest in -the courts of heaven, as to throw a preponderating divine agency for -the time on the side of the Trojans; partly by a skilful use of the -chances of war, in assigning to Troy a superiority in the comparatively -ignoble skill (as it was then used) of the bow. Thus he causes the -Greeks to be worsted, notwithstanding their superiority: by their being -worsted, he satisfies the exigencies of his plot; by exhibiting their -superiority, he fulfils the conditions of his own office as a national -poet. To speak of the ingenuity of Homer may sound strange, for we are -accustomed to associate his name with ideas of greater nobleness; but -still his ingenuity, in this adjustment of conflicting demands upon -him, appears to be such as has never been surpassed. - -[729] Exc. ii. ad Il. xxiv. s. iv. vol. viii. p. 801. See, however, -also p. 802. - -~_Greeks superior even without Achilles._~ - -And here I, for one, cannot but admire the way in which Homer has -made purposes, which others would have found conflicting, to serve -as reciprocal auxiliaries. The Embassy of the Ninth Book certainly -glorifies Achilles: but let us ask, does it not help also to glorify -Greece? Let us consider what had happened. The withdrawal of Achilles -was at once felt as a great blow; and it acted on the whole tone of -the army. This appears in various ways. We read it in the home-sick -impulses of the Second Assembly (b. ii.); in the advice of Nestor to -take measures for securing the responsibility of officers and men -(ii. 360-8); in the slackness of various chiefs during the Circuit -of Agamemnon (b. iv.); in its being recorded to the honour of that -leader (iv. 223) that he did not flinch from his duty; lastly, in the -momentary reluctance of the Greek heroes to encounter Hector (vii. -93). All this is thoroughly natural. Having leant upon a prop, they -were not at once aware of their remaining and intrinsic strength. They, -like all persons who have not learned the habit of self-reliance, -required to learn it with pain. Hence, after the very first touch -of comparative weakness in the field, they conceive the idea of the -rampart. They had not really been worsted: but their enemies had -learned to face them; their position was now no longer what it had used -to be, when Hector did not venture out in front of the Dardanian Gate. -But the building of the rampart produced, as was natural, an increased -weakness. Besides this, Jupiter, seeing that the tendency of events -was not to give a sufficiently rapid and decisive triumph to Achilles, -now inhibited those deities, who were friendly to Greece, from taking -part, while he himself (viii. 75) alarmed and abashed the Greeks -with his thunder. They thus feel themselves thrown one full stage -further into weakness. What more natural, than that they should turn -to Achilles, and try his disposition towards them? This is effected -in the Ninth Book. They then become acquainted practically, for the -first time, with the fierceness of the seven times heated furnace of -the Wrath. This experience teaches them, that they must do or die. So -at last, the bridge behind them being broken, Greece is put upon her -mettle. The gallant Diomed becomes the spokesman at once of chivalry -and of common sense. ‘You should not have asked him. By asking, you -have emboldened and hardened him. Let him alone. Rely upon yourselves. -Refresh yourselves with sleep and a good meal, and then, order out the -troops, and have at them: I for my part will be found in the van[730].’ -Then it is that the Greeks understand their position, and, casting -off hope from Achilles, place it in themselves. Hence that great -development of valorous energies in the Eleventh Book, which proves -that in equal fight, even though Achilles were absent, Troy had not a -hope: so that the expedient of chance-wounds, disabling all the prime -warriors but Ajax, is absolutely necessary in order to bring about the -required amount of disaster. It appears to me, I confess, that this is -a masterly adjustment, alike true in nature, and high in art. - -[730] Il. ix. 697-709. - -But first, after the great repulse, comes the pilot-balloon, the -tentative effort, of the Doloneia. - -Next to the skill and power with which the Poet has discriminated the -characters of his greater Greek heroes, I am tempted to admire the -circumspection and precision, with which he has assigned their relative -degrees of prominence in the action. To those who complain of the -Doloneia for want of a purpose, I would reply that, in the first place, -besides its merits as an operation with reference to the circumstances -of the moment, (for it feeds the army, as it were, with milk, when they -were not yet ready for strong meat,) it remarkably varies the tenour of -the action, which without it would have fallen into something of sleepy -sameness, by substituting stratagem for force, and night-adventure for -the conflicts of the day. Let those who doubt this strike out the Tenth -Book, and then consider how the course of the military transactions of -the poem would stand without it: how much more justly the first moiety -of the military action of the poem would stand liable to the imputation -of monotony, which even now is of necessity the besetting danger of -the whole poem. But more; I contend that the Doloneia constitutes, -in the main, the ἀριστεῖα of Ulysses. His distinguished part in the -Second Book is political only, and has no concern with his military -qualifications. His ordinary military exploits elsewhere are secondary, -and also scattered. To assign to him a great share in the field -operations would have been a much less fine preparation, than the Iliad -now affords, for his appearance in the Odyssey; and it would also have -hazarded sameness as between his achievements and the other ἀριστεῖα -of the great chiefs. Besides, there was little room in the field, as -the martial art was then understood, for his distinctive qualities, -self-reliance, presence of mind, fertility in resource. But military -distinction, even in the time of Homer, lay in two great departments, -one known as the fight (μάχη), the other as ambush (λόχος). The latter -was of fully equal, nay, on account of its sharper trial of moral -courage[731], it was even of still greater honour. To this class the -night adventure essentially belonged. Here Ulysses is thoroughly at -home. In the Doloneia, Diomed is merely the sword in the hand of -Ulysses; who directs the operation, and overrules his brave companion -when he thinks fit, as, for example, in the matter of the slaughter -of Dolon. In what other way could Homer have given us an equally -characteristic illustration of the military qualities of Ulysses? - -[731] See Il. i. 226-8. xviii. 509-13. and especially xiii. 275-86: and -Sup. Agorè, p. 92. - -~_Harmony in relative prominence of the Chiefs._~ - -Now this view of the Doloneia fills up, I think, what must otherwise -be admitted to be a gap in the poem. It being thus filled up, let us -observe the accuracy with which shares in the action of the poem are -assigned to the respective chiefs. Nestor has his own place apart as -universal counsellor. Ulysses also, who, as the great twin conception -to Achilles, must never be allowed to appear in a light of inferiority -to any one, is so managed as not to eclipse the might of Ajax or the -bravery of Diomed; and yet he has all his attributes kept entire for -the great part he had to play in the Odyssey, and is never beaten, -never baffled, never excelled. Then Ajax, Diomed, Agamemnon, Menelaus, -even elderly Idomeneus, have each the stage made clear for them at -different times, and with scope proportioned to their several claims -upon us. The very intervals between their several appearances are -made as wide as possible: for Diomed is in the Fifth and Eleventh -Books, Ajax in the Seventh, Agamemnon in the Eleventh, Idomeneus in -the Thirteenth[732], Menelaus in the Seventeenth. Ajax excels in sheer -might, Diomed in pure gallantry of soul, and what is called _dash_; -Agamemnon’s dignity as a warrior is most skilfully maintained, yet -without his being brought into rivalry with those two still greater -heroes, by Hector’s being counselled to avoid him. Menelaus, secondary -in mere force, though with a spirit no less brave than gentle, is -carried well through by the care taken that he shall only meet with -appropriate adversaries, and the same pains are employed on behalf of -Idomeneus. For Patroclus, as the friend and second self of Achilles, -Homer’s fertile invention has secured a kind of distinction, which -does not displace that of others, and which, notwithstanding, is -eclipsed by none of them. He turns the Trojan host; he slays the great -Sarpedon; he is himself slain only by foul play. I cannot vindicate -the clumsy intervention of Apollo, and the meanness of the part -played by Hector in this cardinal passage of his career; still I find -it curious and instructive to observe in all this a new instance of -the intense care, with which the Poet watches over the character -especially of his Achilles. He exalts him, by exalting first those -secondary eminences, far above which he keeps him towering. Therefore -he would have Patroclus slain indeed, but not defeated, by Hector; and -to this capital object he appears to have made, perhaps unavoidably, -considerable sacrifices. - -[732] He bears the chief part from 206. to 488. - -Upon the whole, then, it would seem that Homer had to maintain a -complex regard to a variety of objects. First of all there was the -relation to observe between Achilles and all the other personages of -his poem on both sides of the quarrel. Then in distributing his minor -Alps, the other prime or distinguished Greek warriors, about this -great Alp, he had to keep in mind and provide for their relations to -one another, as well as to him. Lastly, he had to carry Hector and the -Trojans so high, that to overcome their chief should be his crowning -exploit, and yet so low, that they should not stand inconveniently -between the Greeks and the view of such national heroes as Ulysses, -Diomed, Ajax, and Agamemnon. Like Jupiter on Ida[733], from none of -these objects has he ever removed his bright and watchful eye; for all -of them he has made a provision alike deliberate and skilful. - -[733] Il. xvi. 644. - -It only remains to consider the outline of the plot in reference to -the Providential Government of the world, and the administration of -retributive justice; a subject which has been ably handled by Mr. -Granville Penn[734]. - -[734] In his ‘Examination of the Primary Argument of the Iliad.’ -Dedicated to Lord Grenville. 1821. - -I am not able to admit that broad distinction, which is frequently -drawn between the provision made for satisfying this great poetical and -moral purpose in the Iliad and in the Odyssey respectively. In each I -find it not only remarkable, but even elaborate. In each poem, Homer -exhibits, above all things else, one chosen human character with the -amplest development. But diversity is the key-note of the development -in the Odyssey, grandeur or magnitude in the Iliad. The hurricane-like -forces, that abound in the character of Achilles, entail a greater -amount of aberration from the path of wisdom. But there is not wanting -a proportionate retributive provision. Ulysses, after a long course -of severe discipline patiently endured, has awarded to him a peaceful -old age, and a calm death, in his Ithaca barren but beloved, with -his people prospering around him. Achilles, on the other hand, is so -loaded with gorgeous gifts that, wonderful as is their harmony in all -points but one, that one is the centre. He has not the same unfailing -and central solidity of moral equipoise. In himself gallant, just, -generous, refined, still indignity can drive him into an extremity of -pride and fierceness, which call for stern correction. Hence it comes -about that, while the adversity of Ulysses is the way to peace, the -transcendent glory of Achilles is attended by a series of devouring -agonies; the rival excitements of fierce pain and fiercer pleasure -accompany him along a path, which soon and suddenly descends into the -night of dismal death. Alike in the one case and in the other, the -balance of the moral order is preserved; and that Erinūs, who, in so -many particular passages of the poems, makes miniature appearances in -order to vindicate the eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended -them, likewise presides in full development over the general action of -each of these extraordinary poems. - -~_Retributive justice in the two poems._~ - -Retributive justice, inseparably interwoven with human destiny (for -thus much the Erinūs signified) tracks and dogs Achilles at every -stage. Take him, for instance, as the Ninth Book shows him, at the very -summit of his pride. It is in no light or joyous mood, that he repels -the Envoys. Who among readers does not seem to _see_ his spirit writhe, -when he describes the hot and bursting resentment in his breast, the -stinging recollection of the outrages he has undergone[735]. Even by -the irrepressible curiosity, which compels him to mount upon his ship -for view, and to send out Patroclus to learn the course of the battle, -Homer has shown us how false was any semblance of peace, that he could -even now enjoy in his giddy elevation. - -[735] Il. ix. 646-8. - -The rampart is pierced, the ships are reached, the firebrand is hurled, -and the first Greek ship burns. Achilles must not depart from his word: -but his restlessness now conceives an expedient, the sending forth of -Patroclus to the fight. At the same time, he takes every precaution -that sagacity can suggest: he clothes his friend in his own armour, -exhorts the Myrmidons to support him, above all enjoins him to confine -himself to defensive warfare, and not to follow the Trojans, when -repulsed, to the city. What then happens to him? That which often -befalls ourselves: that when we have turned our back upon wisdom, -wisdom turns her back upon us. Achilles insisted upon the disaster -of his countrymen. When it came, it constrained him to send out his -friend: and the calamity he had himself invoked was death to the man -that he loved better than his own soul. - -And why did Patroclus die? It was not that Achilles imprudently exposed -him to risks beyond his strength. He was abundantly able to encounter -Hector. Hector had no care, so long as the battle was by the ships, -to encounter this chief. And Achilles had enjoined him to fight by -the ships only, lest, if he attempted the city, a deity should take -part against him[736]. Patroclus disobeyed, and perished accordingly. -As Achilles had refused to follow the laws of wisdom for himself, so, -when he carefully obeyed them, they were not to avail him for the -saving of his friend. Heaven fought against Patroclus; Jupiter, after -deliberation, tempted him from the ships, by causing Hector to fly -towards the city; and the counsel of Achilles was now baffled as he -had baffled the counsels of others, the dart was launched that was to -pierce his soul to the quick. - -[736] Il. xvi. 93. - -~_Double conquest over Achilles._~ - -Thus his proud will was doomed to suffer. The suffering is followed by -the reconciliation, and by the climax of his glory and revenge in the -death of Hector. How in these Books we see him moving in might almost -preternatural, with the whole world as it were, and all its forces, -in subjection to his arm! But he has only passed from one excess of -feeling into another: from a vindictive excess of feeling against -the Greeks, to another vindictive excess of feeling against Hector. -The mutilation and dishonour of the body of his slain antagonist now -become a second idol, stirring the great deep of his passions, and -bewildering his mind. Thus, in paying off his old debt to the eternal -laws, he has already contracted a new one. Again, then, his proud -will must be taught to bow. Hence, as Mr. Penn has well shown, the -necessity of the Twenty-fourth Book with its beautiful machinery[737]. -Achilles must surrender the darling object of his desire, the wreaking -of his vengeance on an inanimate corpse. On this occasion, as before, -he is subdued: and both times it is through the medium of his tender -affections. But in both cases his evil gratification is cut short: and -the authority of the providential order is reestablished. The Greeks -pursue their righteous war: the respect which nature enjoins is duly -paid to the remains of Hector, and the poem closes with the verse which -assures us that this obligation was duly and peacefully discharged. - -[737] See the ‘Primary Argument of the Iliad,’ pp. 241-73. - -With these views, I find in the plot of the Iliad enough of beauty, -order, and structure, not merely to sustain the supposition of its own -unity, but to bear an independent testimony, should it be still needed, -to the existence of a personal and individual Homer as its author. - - -SECT. II. - -_The sense of Beauty in Homer; human, animal, and inanimate._ - -The idea of Beauty, especially as it is connected with its most -signal known manifestation in the human form, and again the φθορὰ, or -corruption of that idea, have each their separate course and history -in the religion and manners, as well as in the arts, of Greece. By the -idea of Beauty, I mean here the conception of it in the human mind as -a pure and wonderful essence, nearly akin to the Divine; derived from -heaven, and both continually and spontaneously tending to revert to its -source. By the corruption of that idea, I mean the conception of it -either mainly or wholly with reference to animal enjoyment; sometimes -within, and sometimes beyond, the laws of Nature. - -In the works of Homer, we find the first of these conceptions -exceedingly prominent and powerful. It approaches almost to a worship: -and yet is scarcely at all tainted with the second, scarcely presents -the smallest deflection from the very loftiest type. In Homer, that -is to say, in the Homeric descriptions of human characters and life, -we never find Beauty and Vice pleasurably associated: he seems to -have felt in the sanctuary of his mind as much at least as this, if -not more; that a derogation from purity involved of itself a descent -from the highest to a lower form of beauty: and therefore he never -associates his highest descriptions of beauty with vice: differing -in this not only from so many heathen, but even from many Christian -authors. - -~_The Dardanid traditions._~ - -But yet it is most remarkable that, even in Homer’s time, the level -of popular tradition on the subject of beauty had begun to descend, -and though he had escaped the taint, yet it had touched his age. -Let us, for example, take that most striking series of traditions -in the Dardanian royal family, which are recorded in the poems of -Homer. That family appears to have had personal beauty for an almost -entailed inheritance. Not only Hector, Deiphobus, Æneas, as well as -Paris, possessed it, but Priam, even in his old age and affliction, -was divinely beautiful as he entered the apartment of Achilles; and, -as they sat at meat, and he admired Achilles, Achilles returned his -admiration[738]. - -[738] Il. xxiv. 483, 631. Sup. Ilios, p. 216. - -The line of traditions in this family, to which I now refer, affords -the best illustration of the idea of beauty as ever striving, by -an inner law, to rise to a heavenly life. There are four of these -traditions: and as we pass from the older to the more recent, at -each step that we make, we lose some grain of the first ethereal -purity. The earliest of them all is the translation, since coarsely -and without ground called the rape, of Ganymede: consistently indeed -so called, according to the idea of the fable which has prevailed in -later ages, but most absurdly, if it be applied to the tradition in -the shape in which it stands with Homer. With him the tale of Ganymede -is the most simple and perfect assertion of the principle that beauty, -heavenly in its origin, is heavenly also in its destiny; and that -the heaven-born and heaven-bound should contract no taint upon its -intermediate passage. There were three sons, says Homer, born to Tros; -Ilus was one, Assaracus another: and the third was Ganymede, a match -for gods. Ganymede, the most beauteous of men, whom, for his beauty, -and seemingly before he had come to maturity for succession, the gods -snatched up and made the cupbearer of Jupiter, that he might dwell for -ever among the Immortals[739]: - -[739] Il. xx. 233-5. - - ὃς δὴ κάλλιστος γένετο θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων· - τὸν καὶ ἀνηρείψαντο θεοὶ Διὶ οἰνοχοεύειν - κάλλεος εἵνεκα οἷο, ἵν’ ἀθανάτοισι μετείη. - -The idea of sanctity, indeed, is not to be discovered here; its traces -can only be found among the inspired records; the resemblance to the -deity does not reach beyond the flesh and mind; yet the sum of the tale -is full of interest. The other sons grew up, and became kings; he, -that he might not linger, might not suffer, might not contract taint -or undergo decay on earth, was taken up to that sphere, which is the -proper home of all things beautiful and good. - -The thought is somewhat related to that of the following remarkable -lines by Emerson: - - Perchance not he, but nature ailed; - The world, and not the infant, failed. - It was not ripe yet to sustain - A genius of so fine a strain, - Who gazed upon the sun and moon - As if he came unto his own: - And pregnant with his grander thought, - Brought the old order into doubt. - _His beauty once their beauty tried; - They could not feed him, and he died,_ - And wandered backward, as in scorn, - To wait an Æon to be born. - -Far as the tradition of Ganymede, according to Homer, is below that -of Enoch, it is set by a yet wider distance above the later version -of the same tale. Thus, in Euripides, we find him the Διὸς λέκτρων -τρύφημα φίλον (Iph. Aul. 1037): and what is more sad is to find, that -this utterly debased and depressed idea prevailed over the original and -pure one, even to its extinction, and was adopted and propagated by the -highest and the lowest poets of the Italian romance[740]. - -[740] For example, we might quote the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto; and -the very vulgar poet, Forteguerra, in the Ricciardetto, vi. 23: - - Il nettar beve, e Ganimede il mesce, - Che tanto a Giuno sua spiace e rincresce. - - -Next in order to the tradition of Ganymede comes that of Tithonus, -who, on account of his beauty, was carried up, not by the gods at -large, to be as one of them, but by Aurora to become her husband, in -which capacity he remained in the upper regions[741]. This is a step -downwards; but the next is a stride. In the third tradition, so far as -is known from the authentic works of Homer, Æneas is the son of Venus -and Anchises, but without their standing in the relation of husband and -wife. The particulars of the narrative are supplied in the early Hymn, -which perhaps was the more readily ascribed to Homer, because it was -believed to embody a primitive form of the tradition. Jupiter inspired -Venus with a passion for Anchises, and, after having arrayed herself in -fine vestments and golden ornaments, she presented herself to him as he -was playing the lyre in solitude on Ida; when the connection was formed -that gave birth to Æneas[742]. - -[741] Il. xi. 1. Od. v. 1. - -[742] Hymn. ad Ven. 45-80. - -The next fall is the greatest of all: according to the later tradition, -Venus, to obtain a favourable judgment from Paris (of the next -generation to Anchises), promised him a wife of splendid beauty and -divine extraction, whom he was to obtain by treachery and robbery, as -well as adultery; and filled him with what Homer pronounces an evil -passion[743]. - -[743] Il. xxiv. 30. - -The Poet, indeed, tells us nothing of this promise, which appears to -imply powers far greater than any that the Homeric Aphrodite possessed. -But he mentions the contest, informs us that Venus was the winner, -makes Paris boast of her partiality, and introduces her as mentioning -her own favours to Helen[744]. - -[744] Il. iii. 64, 440, 415. - -Such was the downward course of all in the nature of man that belonged -to the moral sphere, apart from the cherishing power of Divine -Revelation; for the chronological order of these legends is also that -of their descent, step by step, from innocence to vice. - -Homer, as we have already seen, represents a very early and chaste -condition of human thought. We have now to observe how strong and -genuine, as well as pure, was his appetite for beauty. - -Since here, as elsewhere, it is not the Poet’s usage to declare himself -by express statements and elaborate descriptions, we must resort in the -usual manner to secondary evidence; which, however, converging from -many different and opposite quarters upon a single point, is perhaps -more conclusive than mere statement, because it shows that we are not -dealing with a simple opinion, but with a sentiment, a passion, and a -habit, which penetrated through the Poet’s whole nature. - -I shall notice Homer’s sense of beauty with reference, first and -chiefly, to the human countenance and form; next, with respect to -animals; and thirdly, with respect to inanimate objects and to -combinations of them. - -As regards the first and chief branch of this inquiry, we must notice -to what persons, and in what degrees, Homer assigns beauty, from whom -he withholds it; and how far he considers it to give a title to special -notice, in cases where no other claim to such a distinction can be made -good. - -We may then observe that Homer does not commonly assign personal -beauty to any human person, who is morally odious. In any questionable -instance where he does so assign it, he seems to follow an historical -tradition, or to be constrained by his subject. He has covered -Thersites with every sort of deformity; and in the description of the -persons and of the twelve dissolute women among the fifty domestic -servants of Ulysses, there is barely a word that implies beauty[745]. - -[745] Od. xxii. 424-73. - -Melantho indeed, the most conspicuous offender, is called in the -Eighteenth Odyssey[746] καλλιπάρῃος. But it seems probable, that he -followed a local tradition concerning her; for, if she had been simply -a creation of his own, he certainly would not have represented her as -the daughter of the old and faithful Dolius[747], who, with his six -sons, bore arms for Ulysses. - -[746] Od. xviii. 321-5. - -[747] Od. xxiv. 496. - -~_Treatment of the beauty of Paris._~ - -So also the beauty of Paris was an inseparable incident of the Trojan -tale. Yet it is remarkable how little it is brought into relief. Where -he is called beautiful, it is by way of sarcasm and reproach[748], - -[748] Il. iii. 39. - - Δύσπαρι, εἶδος ἄριστε. - -The only passage, in which his beautiful appearance is described at -all, is from the mouth of Venus[749], to whom Homer never intrusts -anything, to be either said or done, that he wishes us to regard with -favour. - -[749] Ibid. 391. - -Compelled, however, to set off the imposing exterior of this prince, -if only for the purpose of heightening the contrast with his cowardice -in action, he introduces him flourishing his pair of spears at the -commencement of the Third Iliad; and what is more, when he again goes -forth in his newly burnished arms at the close of the Sixth, bestows -upon him one of the very noblest of his similes, that of the stall-kept -horse, high fed and sleek in coat, who having broken away from his -manger rushes neighing over the plain[750]. - -[750] Il. iii. 18. and vi. 506. - -It was necessary, in order to make up the true portrait of Paris, that -his exterior should be thus splendid, and his movements imposing; and -it was also a part of the subtle plan, by which Homer made use of words -and appearances to bring up the Trojan chieftains and people to some -kind of level with the Greek. Yet there is something singular in the -fact that Homer, who does not, I think, repeat his similes in any other -remarkable case, reproduces the whole of this splendid passage in the -Fifteenth Iliad for Hector[751]. There is here, we may rely upon it, -some peculiar meaning. Possibly he grudged the exclusive appropriation -of so splendid a passage to so despicable a person. There is also -another singularity in his mode of proceeding. The simile is given to -Hector without addition, and the poem proceeds - -[751] Il. xv. 263. - - ὣς Ἕκτωρ λαιψηρὰ πόδας καὶ γούνατ’ ἐνώμα. - -But where he applies it to Paris, immediately after the conclusion of -the noble passage he subjoins (Il. vi. 512.), - - ὣς υἱὸς Πριάμοιο Πάρις κατὰ Περγάμου ἄκρης - τεύχεσι παμφαίνων, ὥστ’ ἠλέκτωρ, ἐβεβήκει. - -What is the meaning of ἠλέκτωρ? It is commonly taken as equivalent to -ἠλέκτωρ Ὑπερίων, which means the Sun. I cannot but believe that Homer -means by it to signify the cock, called in Greek ἀλέκτωρ. The ἠλέκτωρ -Ὑπερίων, is used as a simile for Achilles; and it would be much against -the manner of Homer to use the same simile for a Trojan, and that -Trojan Paris. Whereas by the strut of the cock he may mean to reduce -and modify the effect of the noble figure of the stall-horse. - -~_Beauty of the Greek chiefs and nation._~ - -Achilles, who is not only the bravest but by far the most powerful man -of the host, is also by far the most beautiful; and the very strongest -terms are used to describe the impression which his appearance produced -on Priam amidst the profoundest sorrow[752]; - -[752] Il. xxiv. 629. - - θαύμαζ’ Ἀχιλῆα, - ὅσσος ἔην, οἷός τε· θεοῖσι γὰρ ἄντα ἐῴκει. - -It may be doubted, whether any other Poet would have ventured to -combine the highest and most delicate beauty, with a strength and size -approaching the superhuman. It was requisite for Achilles, as the -ideal man, not only to want no great human gift, but also to have in -unmatched degrees whatever gifts he possessed. The beauty of Achilles -is the true counterpart to the ugliness and deformity of Thersites. - -It appertains to the character of Ulysses, who comes next to Achilles, -that he too should not be wanting in any thing that pertains to the -excellence of human nature; while completeness and manifoldness is -the specific character of his endowments, as unparalleled splendour -is of those possessed by Achilles. Ulysses[753], therefore, is also -beautiful. Again, the office and function of Agamemnon require him -to be an object capable of attracting admiration and reverence. He, -accordingly, is of remarkable beauty, but of the kind of beauty that -has in it most of dignity[754]; - -[753] Od. xiii. 430-3. - -[754] Il. iii. 169. - - καλὸν δ’ οὕτω ἐγὼν οὔπω ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσιν, - οὐδ’ οὕτω γεραρόν. - -Homer never absolutely withholds beauty from any of his Greek heroes, -yet he does not always expressly state that they possessed it. This -endowment is, for instance, never given to Diomed, but it is ascribed -to Ajax in the Eleventh Odyssey[755]; - -[755] Od. xi. 469. - - ὃς ἄριστος ἔην εἶδός τε, δέμας τε, - τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, μετ’ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα. - -It is probably because Diomed equals Ajax in chivalry, and very far -excels him in mental gifts, that Homer has thrown weight into the scale -of Ajax by assigning to him expressly, while he is silent about Diomed, -the gift of a beautiful person. - -As with individuals, so does Homer deal with masses. It may be observed -that he has a lower class of epithets for the Trojans than the Greeks, -and never allows them the benefit of the same national designations. -Individual beauty in men is confined on both sides to the higher ranks; -but no Trojan, however beautiful, is ever honoured with the title -of ξανθός. Again, while he never gives to the Trojans as a body any -epithet which describes them as possessed of beauty, he has assigned -several expressions of this order to the Greek race. Such are the -epithets καρηκομόωντες and ἑλίκωπες, and the phrase εἶδος ἀγητοὶ, (Il. -v. 787. viii. 228.) - -~_Beauty of Nireus and others._~ - -We have yet to examine how far Homer makes beauty a title to -distinguished notice on behalf of those who have no other claim. The -passage in the Catalogue, where Nireus is named[756], is highly curious -with reference to this part of the subject. It is as follows: - -[756] Il. ii. 671-5. - - Νιρεὺς αὖ Σύμηθεν ἄγε τρεῖς νῆας ἐΐσας, - Νιρεὺς, Ἀγλαΐης υἱὸς Χαρόποιό τ’ ἄνακτος, - Νιρεὺς, ὃς κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθεν - τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, μετ’ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα· - ἀλλ’ ἀλαπαδνὸς ἔην, παῦρος δέ οἱ εἵπετο λαός. - -These five lines form the largest of the merely personal descriptions -contained in the Catalogue. Yet they are given to a man, of whom we are -frankly told that he was a poor creature, and that he had but a small -following. Even this does not show the whole strength of the case. - -1. His ships were only three: no other commander, having so few, is -named at all. The next smallest number is seven: these were the vessels -of Philoctetes, and they seem to be named on account of his peculiar -history and great merit. - -2. This is the only instance, in which the contingent supplied by a -single and wholly insignificant place is named by itself. - -3. This is also one among very few cases of an ordinary birth, where -the mother (Aglaïe) is named as well as the father (Charopos): the -others are usually cases of reputed descent from deities or heroes. - -4. The names given to both parents are taken from their personal -beauty. They thus enhance the title of the son; and, as we cannot well -suppose them connected with history, they were probably invented by the -Poet for that purpose. - -5. The repetition of the name of Nireus thrice, and in each case at -the beginning of the verse, the most prominent and emphatic part of it -according to the genius of the Greek hexameter, is plainly intentional. - -6. All this care is taken in the most ingenious manner to mark a man, -who did nothing to enable Homer to name him in any other part of the -Iliad. - -One and one only key is to be found, which will lay open the cause of -these singular provisions: it is Homer’s intense love of beauty, which -made it in his eyes of itself a title to celebrity. So he determined, -apparently, that the paragon of form should be immortal; and he has -given effect to his determination, for no reader of the Iliad can pass -by the place without remembering Nireus. - -In a less marked manner, he has given a kindred emphasis to the case -of Nastes, who wore golden ornaments, and therefore was presumably of -strikingly handsome person. With his brother Amphimachus he commanded -the Carians, and his name is mentioned thrice (but that of his brother -twice only), together with the fact that he wore gold like a girl[757]. - -[757] Il. ii. 867. - -There is something, as it appears to me, most tender and refined, in -this mode used by Homer of fastening attention through repetition of -the word, which he wishes gently but firmly to stamp upon the memory. -We have another instance of it in Il. xxii. 127, - - ἅτε παρθένος ἠΐθεός τε, - παρθένος ἠΐθεός τ’ ὀαρίζετον ἀλλήλοιϊν. - -There is yet another passage which affords a striking proof of what -may be called the worship of beauty in Homer. In the Seventeenth -Iliad, Euphorbus, the son of Panthoos, falls by the hand of Menelaus. -Homer gives him great credit for charioteering, the use of the spear, -and other accomplishments; but he performs no other feat in the poem -than that of wounding in the back the disarmed, and astounded, and -heaven-deserted Patroclus. At best, we must call him a very secondary -personage. Though his personal comeliness was not defaced like that -of Paris by cowardice or vice, still he was of the same race that in -Italy has taken its name from Zerbino. Yet Homer adorns his death with -a notice, perhaps more conspicuous than any which he has attached to -the death of any warriors of the Iliad, with the exceptions of Hector, -Sarpedon, and Patroclus. Ten of the most beautiful lines of the poem -are bestowed in lamenting him, chiefly by an unsurpassed simile, which -compares the youth to a tender olive shoot, the victim, when its -blossoms are overcharged with moisture, of a sudden hurricane. The Poet -was moved to this tenderness by the remembrance of his beauty, of his -hair, like the hair of the Graces, in its tresses bound with golden and -silver clasps[758]. - -[758] Il. xvii. 50-60. Compare the sympathizing account of the death of -the _young_ bridegroom Iphidamas (Il. xi. 241-3). - -~_Beauty placed among the prime gifts._~ - -Although it is true that Homer eschews with respect to beauty, as well -as in other matters, the didactic mode of conveying his impressions, -yet he has placed them distinctly on record in the answer of Ulysses to -Euryalus. Speaking not at all of women, but of men, he places the gift -of personal beauty among the prime endowments that can be received from -the providence of the gods, in a rank to which only two other gifts are -admitted, namely, the power of thought (νόος or φρένες), and the power -of speech (ἀγορητύς). In the idea of personal beauty, conveyed under -the names εἶδος, μορφὴ, and χάρις, evidently included vigour and power, -for it is to his supposed incapacity for athletic exercises[759], that -the discourse has reference. Nor can it be said, that this full and -large appreciation by Homer of the value of bodily excellence, was -simply a worldly or a pagan, as opposed to a Christian, view. - -[759] Od. viii. 167-77. - -It is not true, on the one hand, that when we cease to entertain -sufficiently elevated views of the destiny and prerogatives of the -soul, our standard for the body rises either in proportion or at all. -Nor is it true, on the other, that when we think highly of the soul, -we ought in consequence to think meanly of the body, which is both its -tabernacle and its helpmate. In truth, a somewhat sickly cast seems -to have come over our tone of thought now for some generations back, -the product, perhaps, in part of careless or emasculated teaching -in the highest matters, and due also in part to the overcrowding of -the several functions of our life. But Homer distinctly realized to -himself what we know faintly or scarce at all, though nothing is more -emphatically or conspicuously taught by our religion, namely, that the -body is part and parcel of the integer denominated man. - -But the quality of measure ran in rare proportion through all the -conceptions of the Poet. Stature was a great element of beauty in the -view of the ancients for women as well as for men: and their admiration -of tallness, even in women, is hardly restrained by a limit. But -Homer, who frequently touches the point, has provided a limit. Among -the Læstrygonians, the women are of enormous size. Two of the crew of -Ulysses, sent forward to make inquiries, are introduced to the queen. -They find her ‘as big as a mountain,’ and are disgusted at her[760]: - -[760] Od. x. 112. - - τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα - εὗρον ὅσην τ’ ὄρεος κορυφὴν, κατὰ δ’ ἔστυγον αὐτήν. - -The large humanity of Homer is also manifested, among other signs, by -his sympathy with high qualities in the animal creation. There is no -passage of deeper pathos in all his works, not Andromache with her -child, not Priam before Achilles, than that which recounts the death -of the dog Argus[761]. The words too are so calm and still, they seem -to grow faint and fainter, each foot of the verse falls as if it were -counting out the last respirations, and, in effect, we witness that -last slight and scarcely fluttering breath, with which life is yielded -up: - -[761] Od. xvii. 327. - - Ἄργον δ’ αὖ κατὰ Μοῖρ’ ἔλαβεν μέλανος θανάτοιο, - αὐτίκ’ ἰδόντ’ Ὀδυσῆα, ἐεικοστῷ ἐνιαυτῷ. - -We may also trace the same sympathy in minor forms. As, for -instance, where he says Telemachus went to the Ithacan assembly not -unattended[762]: - -[762] Od. ii. 10. - - βῆ ῥ’ ἴμεν εἰς ἀγορὴν, παλάμῃ δ’ ἔχε χάλκεον ἔγχος, - οὐκ οἶος. - -We are certainly prepared to hear that some adviser, either divine or -at the least human, some friend or faithful servant, was by his side: -but no--it is simply that some dogs went with him: - - ἅμα τῷγε κύνες πόδας ἀργοὶ ἕποντο. - -There is no sign, however, that Homer attached the peculiar idea of -beauty to the race of dogs in any remarkable degree. Indeed, it is only -in certain breeds that the dog can be called by comparison a beautiful -animal. What he always commends is their swiftness; and Homer’s ideas -of beauty were nowhere more lively than in regard to motion. But we see -the Poet’s feeling for form much more characteristically displayed in -the case to which we shall now proceed. - -~_Beauty in animals, especially horses._~ - -Among other inferences which the poems raise in respect to Homer -himself, it can hardly be doubted that he was a great lover of horses, -and felt their beauty, partially in colour, much more in form, and in -movement most of all. - -This was quite in keeping with the habits of his country and his race. -Both the Trojans and the Greeks appear not only to have employed horses -in such uses as war, journeys, races, and agricultural labour, but to -have given attention to developing the breeds and points of the animal. -In his Catalogue, Homer, at the close, invokes the Muse to inform him -which were the best of the horses, as well as of the heroes, on the -Greek side. He constantly uses epithets both for Trojans and Greeks -connected with their successful care and training of the animal: -εὔιππος, εὔπωλος, ταχύπωλος, ἱππόδαμος. - -He not only treasures the traditions connected with the animal, but -treats them as a part of history. Accordingly, when Diomed desires -Sthenelus to make sure of the horses of Æneas he carefully proceeds to -state, that it is because their sires were of the race that Jupiter -gave to Tros. To them Anchises, without the knowledge of their owner -Laomedon, brought his own mares, and so obtained a progeny of six: -of whom he kept four himself, and gave two to his son Æneas (Il. v. -265-73) that he might take them to Troy. - -Nay he goes back further yet: where, except in Homer, should we find a -tradition like that of the mares of Erichthonius, fetched from a time -five generations before his subject? Their children had Boreas for -their sire. Three thousand mothers ranged over the plains of the Troad, -and made their lord the wealthiest of men. So light was their footstep, -that if they skimmed the sea it touched the tips only of the curling -foam; and if they raced over the cornfield, the ripe ears sustained -their tread without one being broken[763]. - -[763] Il. xx. 220-9. - -~_As to movement, form, and colour._~ - -In other places Homer describes with no less of sympathetic emotion the -vivid and fiery movements of the animal. The most remarkable of all is -the noble simile of the stall-kept horse, whom every reader seems to -see as with proud head and flowing mane, when he feels his liberty, he -scours the boundless pastures. - -That adaptation, or effort at adaptation, of sound to sense, which with -poets in general (always excepting especially Dante and Shakespeare,) -is a sign that they have applied their whole force to careful -elaboration, is with Homer only a proof of a fuller and deeper flow -of his sympathies: wherever we find it, we may be sure that his whole -heart is in the passage. In this very simile how admirable is the -transition from the fine stationary verse that describes the charger’s -customary bathe, - - εἰωθὼς λούεσθαι ἐϋρρεῖος ποταμοῖο, - -to his rapid and easy bounding over the plain, when every dactyl marks -a spring[764]; - -[764] Il. vi. 511. - - ῥίμφα ἑ γοῦνα φέρει μετά τ’ ἤθεα καὶ νόμον ἵππων. - -For this adaptation of metre to sense in connection with the movement -of horses, we may take another example. To describe Agamemnon dealing -destruction among the routed Trojans on foot, we have a line and a half -of somewhat accelerated but by no means very rapid movement[765]; - -[765] Il. xi. 158. - - ὣς ἄρ’ ὑπ’ Ἀτρείδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονι πῖπτε κάρηνα - Τρώων φευγόντων. - -But when he comes to the Trojan horses in their flight, we have two -lines, dactylic to the utmost extent that the metre will allow, except -in one half-foot; - - πολλοὶ δ’ ἐριαύχενες ἵπποι - κείν’ ὄχεα κροτάλιζον ἀνὰ πτολέμοιο γεφύρας, - ἡνιόχους ποθέοντες ἀμύμονας. - -Then, coming back to the dead charioteers, he visibly slackens again; - - οἱ δ’ ἐπὶ γαίῃ - κείατο, γύπεσσιν πολὺ φίλτεροι ἢ ἀλόχοισιν. - -To exhibit numerically the relative distribution of times in these -members of the sentence, we have these three very different proportions; - - In the first, 13 long syllables to 8 short. - - In the second, 16 long syllables to 22 short. - - In the third, 11 long syllables to 10 short. - -He has imparted much of the same glowing movement to the speech, -which in the Nineteenth Iliad is assigned to the Immortal horses of -Achilles; though the subject includes a reference to the death of their -master[766]. In nearly every line, throughout the passage, that relates -to their own motion, the number of dactyls is at the maximum, and in -the ten lines there are eighty-six short syllables to sixty long ones; -a proportion, which I doubt our finding elsewhere in Homer, except it -be among the similes, to which Homer seems in many cases to give a -peculiarly elastic prosodial movement. - -[766] Il. xix. 408-17. - -Rhesus, king of the Thracians, who arrives at Troy after the -commencement of the Wrath, becomes sufficiently distinguished for the -central point of interest in the Doloneia, by virtue chiefly of his -horses. They are the most beautiful, says Dolon, and the largest that -I have ever seen[767]; - -[767] Il. x. 437. - - λευκότεροι χιόνος, θείειν δ’ ἀνέμοισιν ὁμοῖοι. - -The justice of this panegyric is corroborated by the emphatic -expression of Nestor, who pronounces them, - - αἰνῶς ἀκτίνεσσιν ἐοικότες ἠελίοιο· - -and their unparalleled excellence forms the subject of the speech of -the old king, on the return of Ulysses and Diomed to the camp[768]. - -[768] Il. x. 544-53. - -It is not only, however, in elaborate pictures that Homer shows his -feeling for horses, but also, and not less markedly, in minor touches. -Does he not speak with the manifest feeling of a skilled admirer of the -animal, when he describes the pair driven by Eumelus, rapid as birds, -the same in shade of colour, the same in years, the same to a hair’s -breadth in height across their backs[769]? - -[769] Il. ii. 764. - - ποδώκεας, ὄρνιθας ὣς, - ὄτριχας, οἰέτεας, σταφύλῃ ἐπὶ νῶτον ἐΐσας. - -Again, we are met by the same feeling which, in a bolder flight, made -the horses of Rhesus weep, when Pandarus falls headlong from the -chariot of Æneas, and his arms rattle over him in death. The horses, -instead of plunging or starting off, with a finer feeling tremble by -the corpse[770]; - -[770] Il. v. 295. - - παρέτρεσσαν δέ οἱ ἵπποι - ὠκύποδες. - -We may trace the same disposition, under a lighter and more amusing -form, in what had already passed between Æneas and Pandarus. Pandarus -had excused himself for not having brought a chariot and horses to -Troy, on account of his fears about finding forage for them where -such crowds were to be gathered into a small space; at the same time -describing, rather boastfully, his father Lycaon’s eleven carriages -with a pair for each. (Il. v. 192-203.) Æneas replies by inviting him -into his chariot when he will see what Trojan horses are like. Then, he -continues, do you fight, and I will drive; or, as you may choose, do -you drive, and I will fight. Pandarus immediately replies, that Æneas -had better by all means be the driver of his own horses. - -Then again, Homer will have the utmost care taken of them; and, so to -speak, he looks to it himself. When he describes them as unemployed, he -specifies their food; those of Achilles during the Wrath stand[771], - -[771] Il. ii. 776. - - λωτὸν ἐρεπτόμενοι ἐλεόθρεπτόν τε σέλινον. - -But those of Lycaon, which had remained at home, were[772] - -[772] Il. v. 196. - - κρῖ λευκὸν ἐρεπτόμενοι καὶ ὀλύρας. - -To each he gives the appropriate provender: to the former, in an -encampment, what the grassy marsh by its side afforded: to the latter, -in a king’s palace, the grain, or hard food, of their proper home. - -And so in the night-adventure of the Tenth Book, when Ulysses drags -away the bodies of those Thracians whom Diomed has slain, it is to make -a clear path for the horses of Rhesus which were to be carried off, -that they may not take fright from treading on corpses[773]; - -[773] Il. x. 489-93. - - νεκροῖς ἀμβαίνοντες· ἀήθεσσον γὰρ ἔτ’ αὐτῶν. - -Throughout the chariot-race, in the Twenty-third Book, we find them -uppermost in the Poet’s mind, though the drivers, being his prime -heroes, are not wholly forgotten. - -Even as to colour, of which Homer’s perceptions appear to have been -so vague, it may be remarked, that he employs it somewhat more freely -with reference to horses, than to other objects having definite form or -powers of locomotion. - -But his liveliest conceptions of them are with respect to motion, -form, and feelings: and I suppose there is no poem like the Iliad for -characteristic touches in respect to any of the three. - -~_Beauty in inanimate nature._~ - -It has been much debated whether the ancients generally, and whether -Homer in particular, had any distinct idea of beauty in landscape. - -It may be admitted, even in respect to Homer, that his similes, to -which one would naturally look for proof, less commonly refer to the -eye than to other faculties. They commonly turn upon sound, motion, -force, or multitude: rarely, in comparison, upon colour, or even upon -form; still more rarely upon colour or form in such combinations as to -constitute what we call the picturesque. - -It seems to me, that we may draw the best materials of a demonstration -in this case from comparing his descriptions of the form of scenery -by means of the outlines of countries, with his use of other epithets -which he employs to denote beauty. - -The country of Lacedæmon was mountainous, and it is hence termed by -Homer in the Odyssey and in the Catalogue, κοιλή. (Il. ii. 581, Od. iv. -1.) - -But it is also termed by him ἐρατεινὴ (Il. iii. 239), and this, it may -be observed, in a speech of Helen’s; to whom, while she was at Troy, -the image of it in memory could hardly, perhaps, be agreeable from any -moral association. We are, therefore, led to refer it to the physical -conformation or beauty of the district. - -Next, we have pretty clear proof that in Homer’s mind the epithet -ἐρατεινὴ was one proper to describe beauty in the strictest sense. For -he says of Helen, with regard to her daughter Hermione[774]: - -[774] Od. iv. 13. - - ἐγείνατο παῖδ’ ἐρατεινὴν, - Ἑρμιόνην, ἣ εἶδος ἔχε χρυσῆς Ἀφροδίτης. - -‘She had a lovely (ἐρατεινὴν) daughter, endowed with the beauty of -golden Aphrodite.’ And I observe but few passages in Homer, perhaps -only one (Od. xxiii. 300), when ἐρατεινὸς does not naturally and -properly bear this sense. A sense etymologically analogous to our own -use of the word _lovely_, which we employ to indicate not only beauty, -but a high degree of it. - -It therefore appears to be clear that Homer called Lacedæmon ἐρατεινὴ, -because it was shaped in mountain and valley, and because countries -so formed present a beautiful appearance to the eye, as compared with -countries of other forms less marked. It is applied to Emathia (Il. -xiv. 225) and to Scheria (Od. vii. 79), both mountainous; to the city -Ilios, (Il. v. 210), which stood on ground high and partially abrupt -near the roots of Ida; and I do not find it in any place of the poems -associated with flat lands. - -The other instance which I shall cite seems to present the argument in -a complete form, within the compass of a single line. - -When describing Ithaca in the Odyssey, Telemachus says it is[775], - -[775] Od. iv. 606. - - αἰγίβοτος, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος ἱπποβότοιο. - -Here we may assume that by αἰγίβοτος, goat-feeding, he means -mountainous, and even sharp and rocky; moreover consequently, in -comparison, barren, so that it could not be agreeable in the sense of -being profitable. On the other hand, the horse is an animal ill-suited -to range among rocks; and by ἱππόβοτος Homer always means a district or -country sufficiently open and plain to be suitable for feeding horses -in numbers. Now, in saying that Arran is more ἐπήρατος than southern -Lancashire, we should leave no doubt upon the mind of any reader as -to the meaning; which must surely be that it offers more beauty to the -eye. Just such a comparison does Homer make of the scenery of Ithaca as -it was with what it would have been, if the island had been flat. - -I ought however to notice the very forced interpretation of Damm, which -is this: _μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος, sc. ἐμοὶ, nam est patria mea; et ad μᾶλλον -subintelligit τοῦ σοῦ Ἄργεος φίλη μοι ἔστι_. - -Homer was better versed in the art of wedding words to thought, than -such an interpretation supposes. For, according to it, the thought -of Homer was this; ‘Though you rule over broad and open Argos, my -mountainous Ithaca is dearer to me, _because it is my country_.’ So -that he has left out the point of the sentence, without the faintest -trace to guide his reader. The idea of the sentence, which is prolonged -through many verses, turns entirely on the difference between an -open and a steep rocky country as such, and not in the least on -native attachments. And Telemachus, who is lauding the richness and -fertility of Argos, and apologizing for the barrenness of Ithaca, -not ungracefully, in passing, throws in, by way of compensation, the -element of beauty, as one possessed by Ithaca, and as one which it must -miss if it were flat. - -Indeed, we here trace the usual refinement of Homer in this, that -Telemachus does not say, True, your Argos is rich, but my Ithaca is -picturesque: but, after commending the fertility of broad Argos, he -says, ‘In Ithaca we have no broad runs[776], and nothing like a meadow: -it will feed nothing but goats, yet it is more picturesque than if -_it_, a little speck of that kind, were flat and open.’ - -[776] He uses the phrase δρόμοι εὐρέες. It is curious to find the word -_runs_, so recently re-established as the classical word for the large -open spaces of pasturage in the regions of Australasia. - -The word ἐπήρατος is less frequently used in Homer than ἐρατεινός; -but we have it in six places besides this. There is only one of them -where it is capable of meaning dear, in connection with the idea of -country[777]. In another it means enjoyable or splendid, being applied -to the banquet[778]. In the other places it is applied to a town on the -Shield, a cavern in Ithaca (twice), and the garments put upon Venus in -Cyprus; and in those four places it can only mean fair or beautiful. - -[777] Il. xxii. 121. - -[778] Il. ix. 228. - -We are not, then, justified in limiting Homer’s sense of natural beauty -to what was associated with utility[779]. On the contrary, it appears -plainly to extend to beauty proper, and even to that kind of beauty in -nature which we of the present day most love. - -[779] See Mr. Cope’s Essay on the Picturesque among the Greeks; -Cambridge Essays, 1856. p. 126. - -I have dealt thus far with the most doubtful part of the question, and -have ventured to dissent from Mr. Ruskin, whose authority I admit, and -of whose superior insight, as well as of his extraordinary powers of -expression, I am fully conscious. - -~_Germ of feeling for the picturesque._~ - -Mr. Ruskin thinks[780] that ‘Homer has no trace of feeling for what we -call the picturesque’; that Telemachus apologizes for the scenery of -Ithaca; and that rocks are never loved but as caves. I think that the -expressions I have produced from the text show that these propositions -cannot be sustained. At the same time I admit that the feeling with -Homer is one in the bud only: as, indeed, until within a very few -generations, it has lain undeveloped among ourselves. Homer may have -been the father of this sentiment for his nation, as he was of so much -besides. But the plant did not grow up kindly among those who followed -him. - -[780] Ruskin’s Modern Painters, part iv. chap. xiii. pp. 189-92. - -I assent entirely, on the other hand, to what Mr. Ruskin has said -respecting his sense of orderly beauty in common nature. The garden -of Alcinous is truly Dutch in its quadrangular conceptions; but it is -plain that the Poet means us to regard it as truly beautiful[781]. -Symmetry, serenity, regularity, adopted from the forms of living beauty -which were before him, enter largely into Homer’s conceptions of one -form, at least, of inanimate beauty. - -[781] Od. vii. 112-32. - -The scenery of the cave of Calypso[782] is less restrained in its cast, -than is the garden in Scheria; but even here Homer introduces four -fountains, which compose a regular figure, and are evidently meant -to supply an element of form which was required by the fashionable -standard. - -[782] Od. v. 63-75. - -Another element of landscape, as we understand it, is, that the natural -objects which it represents should be in rather extensive combination; -and our established traditions would also require that the view of them -should be modified by the rendering of the atmosphere, especially with -reference to the scale of distances. - -It is very difficult to find instances of extended landscape in Homer. -But I think that we have at least one, in the famed simile, where he -compares the Trojan watchfires on the plain to the calm night, which -by the light of moon and stars exhibits a breadth of prospect to the -rejoicing shepherd’s eye. Here are certainly tranquillity and order; -but with them we seem also to have both extent and atmosphere; to which -even bold and even broken outline must be added by those who, like -myself, are not prepared to surrender to the destroying ὄβελος the -line[783] - -[783] Il. viii. 557. - - ἔκ τ’ ἔφανεν πᾶσαι σκοπιαὶ, καὶ πρώονες ἄκροι. - -Upon the whole, considering Homer’s early date, and the very late -development among the moderns of a taste for scenery of the picturesque -and romantic order, I do not know that we are entitled even at first -sight to challenge him as inferior to any modern of analogous date -in this province. Yet we may fairly pronounce that he is inferior to -himself; that is to say, he appears to have a sense of beauty, in the -region of inanimate nature, certainly less keen in proportion than -that, with which he looked upon the animated creation. - -What is deficient in him with respect to landscape may however, in all -likelihood, be more justly referred to positive than to negative causes. - -~_Causes adverse to a more developed feeling._~ - -It may be questioned whether the disposition to appreciate still -nature, especially in large and elaborated combinations, may not in -part depend upon conditions that were not to be found in the age of -Homer. I should say, if the expression may be allowed, that we of this -generation take landscape medicinally. Human life grows with the course -of ages; and, especially in our age, it has grown to be excited and -hurried. But nature has a reacting tendency towards repose; and, even -in the case of the grosser stimulants, it seems to be their soothing -power which most helps to recommend them. Besides the fact, however, -that we have wants which the Greeks had not, this subject may be -regarded in a broader view. - -The mind of Homer and the mind of his age were not addicted even to -contemplation, far less to introspection. Of ideas properly subjective -there are very few indeed to be found in the poems. We have one such -furnished by the passage where he equates thought to a wing, in a -simile for the swift ships of the Phæacians, - - ὡσεὶ πτέρον ἠὲ νόημα. - -And another, the most remarkable that he supplies, when in more detail -he uses the motion of a thought for an illustration of the rapid flight -of Juno[784]. - -[784] Il. xv. 80. - -Even when it became speculative, the Greek mind did not give a -subjective turn to its speculations. It was probably Christianity -which, by the stimulus it applied to the general conscience, first gave -mankind the introspective habit on a large scale; and mixed causes -may often render the tendency excessive and morbid. But the tendency -of the heroic age, standing at its maximum in Homer, was to pour life -outward, nay almost to force it into every thing. The fountain from -within overflowed; and its surplus went to make inanimate nature -breathe. The profuse and easy fertility of Homer in simile surely of -itself demonstrates a wonderful observation and appreciation of nature; -but, as has been remarked, these similes are very rarely indeed _still_ -similes. They delight in sound, in multitude, above all in motion. -The automatic chairs of Vulcan, the living theatre of the Shield of -Achilles, that oldest mirror of our world, the bounding armour of the -same hero, what are all these but the proofs of that redundant energy -of life, whose first resistless impulse it was to carry the vital fire -of Prometheus into every object that it encountered, and which, not yet -having felt the palsying touch of exhaustion, lay under no necessity of -curative provisions for repose? Therefore, while admitting the defect -of Homer with respect to colour, and admitting also that landscape (if -we are to understand by it the elaborate combination of natural objects -reaching over considerable distances) is a great addition to the -enjoyment and wealth of mankind, I think the capital explanation of the -question raised is to be found, not in the want of any space, or of any -faculty, in the mind of Homer, but in the fact that the space and the -faculties were all occupied with more active and vivifying functions; -that the beautiful forms in nature, which we see as beautiful forms -only, were to him the hem of the garments, as it were, of that life -with which all nature teemed. Accordingly, the general rule of the -poems is, that where we should be passive, he is active; that which we -think it much to contemplate with satisfaction, he is ever at work, -with a bolder energy and a keener pleasure, to vivify. We deal with -external nature, as it were unrifled; he saw in it only the residue -which remained to it, after it had at every point thrown off its cream -in supernatural formations. His uplifting and vitalizing process is -everywhere at work. Animate nature is raised even to divinity; and -inanimate nature is borne upward into life. - -If, then, Homer sees less in the mere sensible forms of natural objects -than we do, it probably is in a great degree because the genius of his -people and his own genius had taught him to invest them with a soul, -which drew up into itself the best of their attractions. Mr. Ruskin -most justly tells us, with reference to the sea, that he cuts off -from the material object the sense of something living, and fashions -it into a great abstract image of a sea-power[785]. Yet it is not, I -think, quite true, that the Poet leaves in the watery mass no element -of life. On the contrary, I should say the key to his whole treatment -of external nature is to be found in this one proposition: wheresoever -we look for figure, he looks for life. His waves (as well as his fire) -when they are stirred[786], shout, in the very word (ἰάχειν) that -he gives to the Assembly of Achæans: when they break in foam, they -put on the plume of the warrior’s helmet[787] (κορύσσεσθαι): when -their lord drives over them, they open wide for joy[788]: and when he -strides upon the field of battle, they, too, boil upon the shore, in an -irrepressible sympathy with his effort and emotion[789]. - -[785] Modern Painters, part iv. ch. xiii. p. 174. - -[786] Il. xxiii. 216. i. 482. - -[787] Il. iv. 424. - -[788] Γηθοσύνῃ δὲ θάλασσα διΐστατο, Il. xiii. 29. - -[789] Il. xiv. 392. - - -SECT. III. - -_Homer’s perceptions and use of Number._ - -While the faculties of Homer were in many respects both intense and -refined in their action, beyond all ordinary, perhaps we might say -beyond all modern, examples, there were other points in which they -bear the marks of having been less developed than is now common even -among the mass of many civilized nations. In the power of abstraction -and distinct introspective contemplation, it is not improbable that he -was inferior to the generality of educated men in the present day. In -some other lower faculties, he is probably excelled by the majority -of the population of this country, nay even by many of the children -in its schools. I venture to specify, as examples of the last-named -proposition, the faculties of number, and of colour. It may be true of -one or both of these, that a certain indistinctness in the perception -of them is incidental everywhere to the early stages of society. But -yet it is surprising to find it where, as with Homer, it accompanies a -remarkable quickness and maturity not only of great mental powers, but -of certain other perceptions more akin to number and colour, such as -those of motion, of sound, and of form. But let us proceed to examine, -in the first place, the former of these two subjects. - -It may be observed at the outset, that probably none of us are aware -to how great an extent our aptitudes with respect to these matters are -traditionary, and dependent therefore not upon ourselves, but upon -the acquisitions made by the human race before our birth, and upon -the degree in which those acquisitions have circulated, and have been -as it were filtered through and through the community, so as to take -their place among the elementary ideas, impressions, and habits of -the population. For such parts of human knowledge, as have attained -to this position, are usually gained by each successive generation -through the medium of that insensible training, which begins from the -very earliest infancy, and which precedes by a great interval all the -systematic, and even all the conscious, processes of education. Nor am -I for one prepared by any means to deny that there may be an actual -‘traducianism’ in the case: on the contrary, in full consistency with -the teaching of experience, we may believe that the acquired aptitudes -of one generation may become, in a greater or a less degree, the -inherited and inborn aptitudes of another. - -We must, therefore, reckon upon finding a set of marked differences in -the relative degrees of advancement among different human faculties in -different stages of society, which shall be simply referable to the -source now pointed out, and distinct altogether from such variations -as are referable to other causes. It is not difficult to admit this to -be true in general: but the question, whether in the case before us -it applies to number and colour, can of course only be decided by an -examination of the Homeric text. - -Yet, before we enter upon this examination, let us endeavour to throw -some further light upon the general aspect of the proposition, which -has just been laid down. - -Of all visible things, colour is to our English eye the most striking. -Of all ideas, as conceived by the English mind, number appears to be -the most rigidly definite, so that we adopt it as a standard for -reducing all other things to definiteness; as when we say that this -field or this house is five, ten, or twenty times as large as that. -Our merchants, and even our schoolchildren, are good calculators. So -that there is a sense of something strikingly paradoxical, to us in -particular, when we speak of Homer as having had only indeterminate -ideas of these subjects. - -~_Conceptions of Number not always definite._~ - -There are however two practical instances, which may be cited to -illustrate the position, that number is not a thing to be as matter -of course definitely conceived in the mind. One of these is the case -of very young children. To them the very lowest numbers are soon -intelligible, but all beyond the lowest are not so, and only present -a vague sense of multitude, that cannot be severed into its component -parts. The distinctive mark of a clear arithmetical conception is, that -the mind at one and the same time embraces the two ideas, first of the -aggregate, secondly of each one of the units which make it up. This -double operation of the brain becomes more arduous, as we ascend higher -in the scale. I have heard a child, put to count beads or something of -the sort, reckon them thus: ‘One, two, three, four, a hundred.’ The -first words express his ideas, the last one his despair. Up to four, -his mind could contain the joint ideas of unity and of severalty, but -not beyond; so he then passed to an expression wholly general, and -meant to express a sense like that of the word multitude. - -But though the transition from number definitely conceived to number -without bounds is like launching into a sea, yet the conception of -multitude itself is in one sense susceptible of degree. We may have -the idea of a limited, or of an unbounded, multitude. The essential -distinction of the first is, that it might possibly be counted; -the notion of the second is, that it is wholly beyond the power of -numeration to overtake. Probably even the child, to whom the word -‘hundred’ expressed an indefinite idea, would have been faintly -sensible of a difference in degree between ‘hundred’ and ‘million,’ -and would have known that the latter expressed something larger -than the former. The circumscribing outline of the idea apprehended -is loose, but still there is such an outline. The clearness of the -double conception is indeed effaced; the whole only, and not the whole -together with each part, is contemplated by the mind; but still there -is a certain clouded sense of a real difference in magnitude, as -between one such whole and another. - -And this leads me to the second of the two illustrations, to which -reference has been made. That loss of definiteness in the conception of -number, which the child in our day suffers before he has counted over -his fingers, the grown man suffers also, though at a point commonly -much higher in the scale. What point that may be, depends very much -upon the particular habits and aptitudes of the individual. A student -in a library of a thousand volumes, an officer before his regiment of a -thousand men upon parade, may have a pretty clear idea of the units as -well as of the totals; but when we come to a thousand times a thousand, -or a thousand times a million, all view of the units, for most men, -probably for every man, is lost: the million for the grown man is in -a great degree like the hundred for the child. The numerical term has -now become essentially a symbol; not only as every word is by its -essence a symbol in reference to the idea it immediately denotes; but, -in a further sense, it is a symbol of a symbol, for that idea which -it denotes, is itself symbolical: it is a conventional representation -of a certain vast number of units, far too great to be individually -contemplated and apprehended. As we rise higher still from millions, -say for example, into the class of billions, the vagueness increases. -The million is now become a sort of new unit, and the relation of two -millions to one million, is thus pretty clearly apprehended as being -double; but this too becomes obscured as we mount, and even (for -example) the relation of quantity between ten billions of wheat-corns, -and an hundred billions of the same, is far less determinately conveyed -to the mind, than the relation between ten wheat-corns and one. At this -high level, the nouns of number approximate to the indefinite character -of the class of algebraic symbols called known quantities. - -In proportion as our conception of numbers is definite, the idea of -them, instead of being suited for an address to the imagination, -remains unsuited for poetic handling, and thrives within the sphere -of the understanding only. But when we pass beyond the scale of -determinate into that of practically indeterminate amounts, then the -use of numbers becomes highly poetical. I would quote, as a very noble -example of this use of number, a verse in the Revelations of St. John. -‘And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the -throne, and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten -thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands[790].’ As a -proof of the power of this fine passage, I would observe, that the -descent from ten thousand times ten thousand to thousands of thousands, -though it is in fact numerically very great, has none of the chilling -effect of anticlimax, because these numbers are not arithmetically -conceived, and the last member of the sentence is simply, so to speak, -the trail of light which the former draws behind it. - -[790] Rev. v. 11. - -Now we must keep clearly before our minds the idea, that this poetical -and figurative use of number among the Greeks at least preceded what -I may call its calculative use. We shall find in Homer nothing that -can strictly be called calculation. He repeatedly gives us what may -be termed the factors of a sum in multiplication; but he never even -partially combines them, even as they are combined for example in -Cowper’s ballad, - - John Gilpin’s spouse said to her dear, - Though wedded we have been - These _twice ten_ tedious years, yet we - No holiday have seen. - -Reference has been made to the convenience which we find in using -number as a measure of quantity, and as a means of comparing things -of every species in their own kind. But we never meet with this use -of it in Homer. He has not even the words necessary to enable him to -say, ‘This house is five times as large as that.’ If he had the idea -to express, he would say, Five houses, each as large as that, would -hardly be equal to this. The word τρὶς may be called an adverb of -multiplication; but it is never used for these comparisons. Indeed, -Damm observes, that in a large majority of instances it signifies an -indefinite number, not a precise one. Τετράκις is found only once, and -in a sense wholly indeterminate: the passage is[791] τρισμάκαρες Δαναοὶ -καὶ τετράκις. Πεντάκις does not even exist. Ajax lifts a stone, not -‘twice as large as a mortal of to-day could raise’, but so large that -it would require two such mortals to raise it. All Homer’s numerical -expressions are in the most elementary forms; such forms, as are -without composition, and refuse all further analysis. - -[791] Od. v. 306. - -~_Greek estimate of the discovery of Number._~ - -His use of number appears to have been confined to simple addition: and -it is probable that all the higher numbers which we find in the poems, -were figurative and most vaguely conceived. If we are able to make -good the proof of these propositions from the Homeric text, we shall -then be well able to understand the manner in which Numeration, or -the science of number, is spoken of by the Greeks of the historic age -as a marvellous invention. It appears in Æschylus, as among the very -greatest of the discoveries of Prometheus[792]: - -[792] Æsch. Prom. V. 468. see also Soph. Naupl. Fragm. v. - - καὶ μὴν ἀριθμὸν, ἔξοχον σοφισμάτων, - ἐξεῦρον αὐτοῖς· - -he goes on to add, - - γραμμάτων τε συνθέσεις. - -So that the use of numbers by rule was to the Greek mind as much a -discovery as the letters of the alphabet, and is even described here -as a greater one: much as in later times men have viewed the use of -logarithms, or of the method of fluxions or the calculus. In full -conformity with this are the superlative terms, in which Plato speaks -of number. Number, in fact, seems to be exhibited in great part of the -Greek philosophy, as if it had actually been the guide of the human -mind in its progress towards realizing all the great and cardinal ideas -of order, measure, proportion, and relation. - -Up to what point human intelligence, in the time of Homer, was able to -push the process of simple addition, we do not precisely know. It is -not, however, hastily to be assumed that, in any one of his faculties, -Homer was behind his age; and it is safer to believe that the poems, -even in these points, represent it advantageously. Now, in one place -at least, we have a primitive account of a process of addition. The -passage is in the Fourth Odyssey, where Menelaus relates, how Proteus -counted upon his fingers the number of his seals[793]. That it was -a certain particular number is obvious, because when four of them -had been killed by Eidothee, their skins were put upon Menelaus and -his three comrades, and the four Greeks were then counted into the -herd, so that the word ἀριθμὸς here evidently means a definite total. -This addition by Proteus, however, was not addition in the proper -arithmetical sense, and would be more properly called enumeration: it -was probably effected simply by adding each unit singly, in succession, -to the others, with the aid of the fingers, (proved through the word -πεμπάσσεται,) but not by the aid of any scale or combination of units, -either decimal or quinal. In the word δεκὰς we have, indeed, the first -step towards a decimal scale; but we have not even that in the case -of the number five, there being no πεντὰς or πεμπτάς. The meaning of -πεμπάσσεται evidently is, not that he arranged the numeration in fives, -but that, by means of the fingers of one hand, employed upon those of -the other, he assisted the process of simple enumeration. - -[793] Od. iv. 412, 451. - -~_Highest numerals of the poems._~ - -Homer’s highest numeral is μύριοι. He describes the Myrmidons as being -μύριοι[794], though, if we assume a mean strength of about eighty-five -for their crews, the force would but little have exceeded four -thousand: and at the _maximum_ of one hundred and twenty for each ship, -it would only come to six thousand. Again, Homer uses the expression -μύρια ᾔδη, to denote a person of instructed and accomplished mind[795]. - -[794] Il. xxiii. 29. - -[795] Od. ii. 16. - -Next to the μύρια, the highest numerals employed in the poems are -those contained in the passage where the Poet says that the howl of -Mars, on being wounded by Diomed, was as loud as the shout of an army -of nine thousand or ten thousand men[796]: - -[796] Il. v. 860. - - ὅσσον τ’ ἐννεάχιλοι ἐπίαχον ἢ δεκάχιλοι - ἀνέρες ἐν πολέμῳ. - -But it is clear that the expressions are purely poetical and -figurative. For he never comes near the use of such high numbers -elsewhere; and yet it obviously lay in his path to use these, and -higher numbers still, when he was describing the strength of the Greek -and Trojan armies. - -The highest Homeric number, after those which have been named, is -found in the three thousand horses of Erichthonius. This we must also -consider poetical, because it is so far beyond the ordinary range -of the poems, and in some degree likewise because of the obvious -unlikelihood of his having possessed that particular number of -mares[797]. - -[797] Il. xxi. 251. - -Only thrice, besides the instances already quoted, does Homer use the -fourth power of numbers; it is in the case of the single thousand. A -thousand measures of wine were sent by Euneos as a present to Agamemnon -and Menelaus. A thousand watch-fires were kindled by the Trojans on the -plain. Iphidamas, having given an hundred oxen in order to obtain his -wife, then promised a thousand goats and sheep out of his countless -herds[798]. In all these three cases, it is more than doubtful whether -the word thousand is not roughly and loosely used as a round number. -The combination of the thousand sheep and goats with the hundred oxen, -immediately awakens the recollection that even the Homeric hecatomb, -though meaning etymologically an hundred oxen, practically meant -nothing of the kind, but only what we should call a lot or batch of -oxen. Again, it is so obviously improbable that the Trojans should -in an hurried bivouac have lighted just a thousand fires, and placed -just fifty men by each, that we may take this passage as plainly -figurative, and as conveying no more than a very rude approximation, of -such a kind as would be inadmissible where the practice of calculation -is familiar. It is then most likely, that in the remaining one of -the three passages, the Poet means only to convey that a large and -liberal present of wine was sent by Euneus, as the consideration for -his being allowed to trade with the army. There is certainly more of -approximation to a definite use of the single thousand, than of the -three, the nine, or the ten: but this difference in definiteness is -in reality a main point in the evidence. Most of all does this become -palpable, when we consider how strange is in itself the omission to -state the numbers of the combatants on either side of this great -struggle: an omission so strange, of what would be to ourselves a fact -of such elementary and primary interest, that we can hardly account for -it otherwise than by the admission, that to the Greeks of the Homeric -age the totals of the armies, even if the Poet himself could have -reckoned them, would have been unintelligible. - -[798] Il. vii. 571. viii. 562. xi. 244. - -Among all the numbers found in Homer, the highest which he appears to -use with a clearly determinate meaning, is that of the three hundred -and sixty fat hogs under the care of Eumæus in Ithaca[799]; - -[799] Od. xiv. 20. - - οἱ δὲ τριηκόσιοί τε καὶ ἑξήκοντα πέλοντο. - -The reason for considering this number as having a pretty definite sense -in the Poet’s mind (quite a different matter, let it be borne in mind, -from the question whether the circumstance is meant to be taken as -historical) is, that it stands in evident association with the number -of days, as it was probably then reckoned, in the year. It seems plain -that he meant to describe the whole circle of the year, where he says, -that for each of the days and nights which Jupiter has given, or, in -his own words[800], - -[800] Od. xiv. 93. - - ὅσσαι γὰρ νύκτες τε καὶ ἡμέραι ἐκ Διός εἰσιν, - -the greedy Suitors are not contented with the slaughter of one animal, -or even of two. Eumæus then gives an account of the wealth of Ulysses -in live stock, both within the isle and on the mainland, from whence -the animals were supplied: and adds, that from the Ithacan store a -goatherd took down daily a fat goat, while he himself as often sent -down a fat hog. I have dwelt thus particularly on the detail of this -case, because it may fairly be inferred from the correspondence between -the number of the hogs and the days of the year, that for once, at all -events, the Poet intended to speak, though somewhat at random, yet in -a degree arithmetically, and that of so high a number as 360. - -There are other cases of lower numbers in different parts of the poems, -where it may be argued, with varying measures of probability, that -Homer had a similar intention. - -~_The ἑκατομβὴ and numerals of value._~ - -The word ἑκατομβὴ, without doubt, affords a striking proof of vagueness -in the ideas of the heroic age with respect to number: and this -vagueness extends, yet apparently in varying degrees, to the adjective -ἑκατομβοῖος. I have elsewhere[801] referred to adjectives of this -formation as indicative of the fact, that for those generations of -mankind oxen may be said to have constituted a measure of value; and -this fact certainly involves an aim at numerical exactitude. It seems, -indeed, on general grounds far from improbable, that the business of -exchange may have been the original guide of our race into the art, and -thus into the science, of arithmetic. - -[801] Agorè, p. 82. - -In the description of the Shield of Minerva, which had an hundred -golden drops or tassels, we are told that each of them was ἑκατομβοῖος, -or worth an hundred oxen. This use of the word must be regarded as -strongly charged with figure. Minerva was arming to mingle among men -upon the plain of Troy[802], and it is not likely, therefore, that -the Poet would represent her in dimensions utterly inordinate. He -judiciously reserves this license of exaggeration without bounds for -scenes where he is beyond the sphere of relations properly human, as -for example, the Theomachy and the Under-world. Now we may venture -to take the Homeric value of an ox before Troy at half an ounce of -gold. In the prizes of the wrestling match, where a tripod was worth -twelve oxen, a highly skilled woman (πολλὰ δ’ ἐπίστατο ἔργα) was worth -four[803]. Two ounces of gold would be a low price for such a person in -almost any age. According to this computation, each drop on the Ægis of -Minerva would weigh fifty ounces: the whole would weigh above 300 lbs. -_avoirdupois_, and if we were to assume the purely ornamental fringe -in a work of this kind to weigh one tenth part of the whole, the Ægis -itself would weigh nearly a ton and a half. _Primâ facie_, this is -susceptible of explanation in either of two ways: the one, that the -numbers are used poetically and not arithmetically; the other, that of -sheer intentional exaggeration in bulk. The rules of the Poet, as they -are elsewhere applied, oblige us to reject the latter solution, and -consequently throw us back upon the former. - -[802] Il. ii. 450. - -[803] Il. xxiii. 703, 5. - -~_The numerals of value._~ - -Again, we are told that, when Diomed obtained the exchange of arms from -Glaucus, he gave a suit of copper, and obtained in return a suit of -gilt[804]; - -[804] Il. vi. 236. - - χρύσεα χαλκείων, ἑκατόμβοι’ ἐννεαβοίων. - -Here there seems to be a mixture of the metaphorical and the -arithmetical use. For, on the one hand, it is singular that he should -have chosen numbers which require the aid of a fraction to express -their relation to one another. He could certainly not have meant to say -that the values of the two suits were precisely as 100:9, or as 11⅑:1. -And yet, on the one hand, he could scarcely use the term ἐννεαβοῖα, -except with reference to the known and usual value of a suit of armour, -while the ἑκατομβοῖα, from its use in other places, must be suspected -of having no more than a merely indeterminate force. - -With this fractional relation of 100:9, may be compared the arrangement -at the feast in Pylos, where each division of five hundred persons -was supplied with nine oxen. These numbers, however, are probably -less vague than in some other cases: for the provision stated, though -large, is not beyond what a rude plenty might suggest on a great public -occasion. - -Again, Lycaon, when captured for the second time by Achilles, reminds -that hero of what he had fetched or been worth to him on the former -occasion[805]: ἑκατόμβοιον δέ τοι ἦλφον. Here we have a decisive proof -of the figurative use of number. Had the young prince been ransomed -by Priam, a great price, no doubt, would have been given. But Achilles -sold him into Lemnos, ἄνευθεν ἄγων πατρός τε φίλων τε: and to the -Lemnians he could hardly have value but as a labourer, although indeed -it chanced that he was afterwards redeemed, by a ξεῖνος of Priam[806], -at a high price. We cannot, then, suppose that he had brought any such -return as would be represented by a full hundred of oxen. - -[805] Il. xxi. 79. - -[806] Il. xxi. 42. - -The evidence thus far, I think, tends powerfully to support the -hypothesis, that there is an amount of vagueness in Homer’s general -use of numbers, unless indeed as to very low ones, which cannot be -explained otherwise than as metaphorical or purely poetical: and that -his mind never had before it any of those processes, simple as they are -to all who are familiar with them, of multiplication, subtraction, or -division. - -I admit it to be possible, that his manner of treating number may have -been owing to his determination to be intelligible, and to the state of -the faculties of his hearers, as much as, or even more than, his own. -But to me the supposition of the infant condition even of his faculties -with respect to number, though at first sight startling, approves -itself on reflection as one thoroughly in conformity with analogy and -nature. Indeed the experience of life may convince us that to this -hour we should be mistaken, if we supposed arithmetical conceptions -to be uniform in different minds; that the relations of number are -faintly and imperfectly apprehended, except by either practised or else -peculiarly gifted persons; and that, in short, there is nothing more -mysterious than arithmetic to those who do not understand it. As one -illustration of this opinion, I will cite the difficulty which most -educated persons, when studying history, certainly feel in mastering -its chronology; while to those who are apt at figures it is not only -acquired with ease, but it even serves as the _nexus_ and support of -the whole chain of events. - -There were several occasions, upon which it would have been most -natural and appropriate for Homer to use the faculty of multiplication; -yet on no one of these has he used it. He constantly supplies us with -the materials of a sum, but never once performs the process. - -~_Silence as to the numbers of the armies._~ - -The first example in the Iliad is supplied by that passage of the -unhappy speech of Agamemnon to the Assembly in the Second Book, which -causes the fever-fit of home-sickness. He compares the strength of -the Greek army with that of the Trojans; and he only effects the -purpose by this feeble but elaborate contrivance. ‘Should the Greeks -and Trojans agree to be numbered respectively, and should the Trojans -properly so called be placed one by one, but the Greeks in tens, and -every Trojan made cupbearer to a Greek ten, many of our tens would be -without a cupbearer[807].’ In the first place, the fact that he calls -this ascertaining of comparative force numbering ἀριθμηθημέναι is -remarkable; for it would not have shown the numbers of either army; nor -even the difference, by which the Greeks exceeded a tenfold ratio to -the Trojans; but simply, by leaving an unexhausted residue, the fact -that they were more, whether by much or by little, than ten times as -many as the besieged. Secondly, it seems plain that, if Homer had known -what was meant by multiplication, he would have used the process in -this instance, in lieu of the elaborate (yet poetical) circumlocution -which he has adopted; and would have said the Greeks were ten times, -or fifteen times, or twenty times, as many as the inhabitants of Troy. - -[807] Il. ii. 123-8. - -After this, Ulysses reminds the Assembly of the apparition of the -dragon they had seen at Aulis. The phrase χθιζά τε καὶ πρώιζα, which he -employs, may grammatically either belong to the epoch of the gathering -at Aulis, or to the time of the plague, which had carried off a part of -the force a fortnight or three weeks before. In whichever connection of -the two we place it, it affords an instance of extreme indefiniteness -in the use of two adverbs which are at once expressive of time and -of number; for on one supposition he must use them to express whole -years, and on the other they must mean near a fortnight, and therefore -a certain number of days. - -The next case is remarkable. It is that of the Catalogue. - -The resolution, which introduces it, was not a resolution to number the -host; but simply to make a careful division and distribution of the men -under their leaders, with a view to a more effective responsibility, -both of officers and men[808]. But when the Poet comes to enumerate the -divisions, it is evidently a great object with him to make known the -relative forces, and thus the relative prominence and power, of the -different States of Greece. Yet nothing can be more imperfect than the -manner in which the enumerating portion of his task is executed. In the -first place, we trace again the old habit of the loose and figurative -use of numbers. For Homer could hardly mean us to take literally all -the numbers of ships, which he has stated in the Catalogue: since, -in every case where they come up to or exceed twenty, they run in -complete decades without odd numbers; subject to the single exception -of the twenty-two ships of Gouneus. Podalirius and Machaon have thirty, -the Phocians forty, Achilles fifty, Menelaus sixty, Diomed eighty, -Nestor ninety, Agamemnon an hundred: the only full multiple of ten -omitted being the utterly intractable ἑβδομήκοντα. But again, he gives -us no effectual clue to the numbers of the crews. Each of the fifty -ships of the Bœotians had one hundred and twenty men, and each of the -seven ships of Philoctetes had fifty[809]. Thus he supplies us with the -two factors of the sum, which would find the number of men, in each -of these two cases; but in neither case does he perform the sum; and -such is the uniform practice throughout the poems. For the Greek force -generally, he has not even given us the factors. It has indeed been -conjectured, that fifty may have been the smallest ship’s company, and -one hundred and twenty the largest: but this is mere conjecture; and -even if it be well founded, still we do not know whether the generality -of the ships were about the mean, or nearer one or the other of the -extremes. Again, it would appear probable from the Odyssey, that these -numbers, of fifty and one hundred and twenty, are exclusive at least -of pilots and commanders, if not also of the stewards[810] and the -minor officers[811]; for the number mentioned by Alcinous[812] is -fifty-two; and although he says that all were to sit down to row, the -texts when compared cannot but suggest, that the number fifty was an -usual complement of oars, and that the two were the captain and pilot -respectively[813]. - -[808] Il. ii. 362-8. - -[809] Il. ii. 509, 719. - -[810] Il. xix. 44. - -[811] Il. ii. 362, 5. - -[812] Od. viii. 35. - -[813] Sup. Agorè, p. 135. - -Plainly, there must have been very great inequalities in the crews -of the Greek armament; or Homer could not have said, after giving -Agamemnon an hundred ships, that he had by far the largest force of all -the chiefs[814]; - -[814] Il. ii. 577. - - ἅμα τῷγε πολὺ πλεῖστοι καὶ ἄριστοι - λαοὶ ἕποντ’. - -For Diomed and Idomeneus have each eighty ships, and Nestor has ninety, -so that their numbers would come very near Agamemnon’s, unless their -ships were smaller. But to sum up this discussion. It is evident that, -if only we suppose the Greeks of Homer’s time to have had a definite -and well developed sense of number, the mention by Homer of the amount -of force in the Trojan expedition would have been a fact of the highest -national interest and importance. Yet he has left us nothing, which can -be said even definitely to approximate to a record of it, though the -enumeration of the Catalogue appears almost to force the subject upon -him. The fair inferences seem to be, that he did not understand the -calculative use of numbers at all, or beyond some very limited range; -and that, even within that range, he for the most part employed them -poetically and ornamentally; they were decorative and effective, like -epithets to his song, but they were not statistical; as expressions of -force they were no more than (as it were) tentative, and that but very -rudely. - -I am further confirmed in the belief of Homer’s indeterminate -conception of number, from the strange result to which the contrary -opinion would lead. He tells us of the Trojan bivouac[815]; - -[815] Il. viii. 562. - - χίλι’ ἄρ’ ἐν πεδίῳ πυρὰ καίετο· πὰρ δὲ ἑκάστῳ - εἵατο πεντήκοντα. - -In this case he has given us again the factors of a sum in -multiplication, though not the product. Did he mean them to be taken -literally? If he did, then it is indeed strange that, although he says -nothing whatever on the subject of number in the Trojan Catalogue, -yet he has here supplied us with all the particulars necessary for -estimating the Trojan force, while as to the Greek army, we remain -unable to say whether it amounted to fifty thousand, or to half, or -to twice or thrice that number. But it is quite plain from the total -absence of specified numbers in the Trojan Catalogue, that he had no -desire, as indeed he had no occasion, to give an accurate account of -the Trojan force. On the other hand it appears, from the details of -the Greek Catalogue, that he did wish to describe the amount of the -force on that side, as far as he could conceive or convey it. If all -this be so, then nothing can show more clearly than the thousand Trojan -watch-fires, with their fifty men at each, Homer’s figurative manner of -employing numerical aggregations. If however we admit the figurative -use, we at once find everything harmonious. He describes the Trojans by -the method of bold enhancement, at a juncture of the poem where it is -his purpose to make them terrible to the Greek imagination. - -The instance of Proteus in the Odyssey has already been referred to: -but one more marked is afforded by the description that Eumæus gives of -the herds and flocks of Ulysses. This, again, is one of the instances -where the spirit and gist of the passage almost required that a total -should be stated. For the object is to give a telling account. The -wealth of this prince, says the Poet, was boundless; none of the -heroes, whether of Ithaca or of the fertile continent, had so much; no, -nor had any twenty of them. Then he mentions how many herds of cattle, -goats, and swine, and flocks of sheep there were, but gives no numbers -of any of the herds, nor any total: though, shortly before, the poem -had mentioned the three hundred and sixty fat hogs under the care of -Eumæus, and had also given us the sows in the usual manner, stating -that there were twelve sties with fifty in each; but not specifying -anywhere the total of six hundred which these figures yield when -multiplied together[816]. - -[816] Od. xiv. 13-20. - -Again, then the result of all these passages, as well as of more -which might be quoted, is, I think, to show that Homer’s conceptions -of number, and his use of number, especially when beyond a very low -limit, were so indeterminate, that they may not improperly be called -figurative. - -~_Hesiod’s age of the Nymphs._~ - -In support and in illustration of this belief with respect to Homer, -I would once more refer to the curious fragment ascribed to Hesiod -respecting the age of the Nymphs with beauteous locks, which begins, - - ἐννέα τοι ζώει γενεὰς λακέρυζα κορώνη - ἀνδρῶν ἡβώντων. - -In the Etymol. Magn. 13. 36, the reading is γερώντων; and Ausonius, -following this authority in his Eighteenth Idyll, makes the γενεὴ no -less than 96 years. But the sense of γενεὴ is fixed by Homer’s account -of Nestor, and otherwise, in such a way as greatly to favour the -reading ἡβώντων. The word therefore means the term between birth and -the prime of life, which may well be taken at thirty years. Then comes -a table as follows. - - The age of the daw = 9 ages of men. - - The age of the stag = 4 of daws = 36 of men. - - The age of the crow = 3 of stags = twelve of daws = 108 of men. - - The age of the palm = 9 of crows = 27 of stags = 108 of daws = 972 of - men. - - The age of the Nymph = 10 of palms = 90 of crows = 270 of stags = - 1080 of daws = 9720 of men. - -And if the γενεὴ be 30 years, the age of the Nymphs = 30 × 9720 = -291,600 years. But the point most remarkable for us is, that while -Hesiod, if Hesiod it be, supplies us with the whole of the first -factors after the γενεὴ, for this long sum, he does not actually -perform one single multiplication; nor does he even define the γενεὴ, -which is the first and most vital element of all. - -He has thus given us at once a very pretty poetical invention for -expressing approximately the age of Nymphs, who are Jove-born indeed, -yet are not immortal, and a remarkable proof of the indefiniteness of -numerical conceptions, and of total unacquaintance with the rules of -arithmetic[817]. - -[817] I subjoin the rest of this curious fragment; - - ἔλαφος δέ τε τετρακόρωνος· - τρεῖς δ’ ἐλάφους ὁ κόραξ γηράσκεται· αὐτὰρ ὁ φοίνιξ - ἐννέα τοὺς κόρακας· δέκαδ’ ἡμεῖς τοὺς φοίνικας - νύμφαι ἐϋπλόκαμοι, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο. - -It is noticed by Pliny, (Nat. Hist. vii. 48.) who terms it fabulous; -but it is with more propriety, I think, to be called poetical. - -One consequence of the proposition I have advanced with respect to -Homer is, to destroy altogether a supposed discrepancy between the -Iliad and the Odyssey, which has often been paraded as a reason, among -others, for assigning them to different authors. It is truly alleged -that, in the Catalogue[818], Crete is called ἑκατόμπολις; and that in -the Nineteenth Odyssey[819] we are told of it, - -[818] Il. ii. 649. - -[819] Od. xix. 173. - - ἐν δ’ ἄνθρωποι - πολλοὶ, ἀπειρέσιοι, καὶ ἐννήκοντα πόληες. - -Each of these words appears to be interpreted as strictly, as it -would be if caught by an auditor in the accounts of some delinquent -Joint-Stock Company; and thus, forsooth, a diversity of authors for -the two poems is to be made good. Now it is not a little odd, if both -these poets looked at the subject with the eye of statisticians, that -while each found a different number of cities in Crete, yet each found -an even, and more or less a round number. But why is ἑκατόμπολις to -be more strictly interpreted than ἑκατομβή? And again, if we are to -construe ἐννήκοντα statistically, what are we to do with the very -word that precedes it, namely, ἀπειρέσιοι? The simple fact of the -juxtaposition of that word with the ἐννήκοντα πόληες should surely have -sufficed to show, that the whole manner of speech was (what we now -call) poetical. So regarding it, I venture even to say that the effect -of a comparison with the epithet in the Catalogue is to establish, not -a discrepancy in point of fact, but rather a similarity in the measure -of figurative conception and expression: so that in consequence, as far -as it is worth any thing, it rather tends to prove the identity, than -the diversity, of authorship between the two poems. - -A second consequence, which must be drawn from the foregoing -conclusions, is this; that we shall do wrong to search the poems of -Homer for any scheme of chronology. The minute enumerations of the -Mosaic books have perhaps given the tone to our ordinary historical -inquiries: but, at least with respect to Homer, it must appear an -erroneous course to use his numerical statements as literal, when -they are applied to time, after we have had so much evidence of their -generally ornamental and figurative character. - -When Homer has occasion to define distance, he does not attempt to -do it by a fixed measure, but by reference always to human or other -action: it is as far as a man can throw a spear, (δουρὸς ἐρώη); or as -far as a man’s cry can be heard (ὅσον τε γέγωνε βόησας); or as far, -when we come to larger spaces, as we can sail within a certain time; if -I make a good passage, says Achilles[820], I may get to Phthia on the -third day: and again, we hear of the distance that a ship can perform -within the day[821]. The horses of the gods in Homer clear, at each -bound, a space as large as the eye can cover along the surface of the -sea. As he comes to speak of points more remote and less known, he -becomes greatly more vague, and says of Egypt, that even the birds do -not get back from it within the year[822]: without doubt drawing his -idea from those birds which periodically migrate. - -[820] Il. ix. 362. - -[821] ὅσσον τε πανημερίη νηῦς ἤνυσε, Od. iv. 356. - -[822] Od. iii. 322. With this compare the Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 1; -where, be it observed, Shakespeare is treating his subject as one of -Dreamland. - - _Ant._ Who’s the next heir of Naples? - - _Seb._ Claribel. - - _Ant._ She that is queen of Tunis: she, that dwells - Ten leagues beyond man’s life; she that from Naples - Can have no note, unless the sun were post, - (The man i’ th’ moon ’s too slow,) till new-born chins - Be rough and razorable. - - -~_No scheme of Chronology in Homer._~ - -As with spaces, so with times. The year indeed by its revolution forms -itself into a natural whole, and is thus in a manner self-defined. So -the waxing and waning moon defines the month. But even with these -well marked terms Homer deals loosely; for the birth of infants is -promised to take place after the revolution of a year from the time of -conception[823]. - -[823] Od. xi. 248. - -~_Case of the three decades of years._~ - -I do not remember that he ever mentions a very high number of days or -of years, but his use of both days and years, when it does not embrace -terms defined by custom, has the marks of being highly poetical. Take -for instance the principal and almost only statements of the poem, that -can claim to be called chronological. They are those which represent -the period of the siege as a decade of years, preceded by a decade -of preparation, and followed by a third decade for the vicissitudes -of the Return. Here are three terms of years, all found in a Poet, -who does not elsewhere deal in terms of years at all. Of history, -or what purports to be such, Homer has given us a great deal, and -he has placed it in the exactest and clearest order. But in no one -instance, out of all his prior history, does he found himself on any -numerical definitions of time. Moreover, these three terms of years -are all exactly equal, which heightens the unlikelihood of their being -historical. Lastly, the three terms are just of the number of years -required to make up what was, according to all appearances, the Homeric -term of a γενεὴ, or generation of men. - -The passage, on which the proof of this last assertion must principally -be founded, is that in the First Book[824], which describes the age of -Nestor; - -[824] Il. i. 250-2. - - τῷ δ’ ἤδη δύο μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων - ἐφθίαθ’, οἵ οἱ πρόσθεν ἅμα τράφεν ἠδ’ ἐγένοντο - ἐν Πύλῳ ἠγαθέῃ, μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν. - -I take the word γενεὴ to mean here, ‘the term of thirty years,’ but -with the necessary qualification of ‘_or_ thereabouts;’ and for the -following reasons: - -Nestor is represented in the Iliad as the oldest of the Greek -chieftains of the first order. Yet Ulysses[825] was elderly, ὠμογέρων. -Idomeneus, again, was older than Ulysses, as is plain from the -more marked manner in which his advance in years is described. He -is μεσαιπόλιος[826], and not fully ablebodied, as appears from his -somewhat limited share in military operations; but Nestor is evidently -older than Idomeneus, as he always addresses the whole body with the -authority that belongs to the most extended experience, and as he -never takes an active part, either in battle or in the games. We must, -accordingly, suppose Nestor to be represented as at this time an old -man of seventy, or from that to seventy-five. - -[825] Il. xxiii. 791. - -[826] Il. xiii. 361. - -Now the passage implies that he was in the third γενεὴ, and in the -midst, i. e. not at either extremity, of it: the words are μετὰ -τριτάτοισιν. No lower number than thirty years will place Nestor fairly -among, or in the midst of, the third generation from his birth. If, for -example, we take five and twenty years as the term, he would have been -not so much among the third as on the eve of arriving within the fourth -generation. But neither can we assign to γενεὴ any meaning, which shall -make it sensibly exceed thirty years. For as we may say with confidence -that the Nestor of the Iliad is over seventy, so, on the other hand, -we may fairly compute that he is under eighty; inasmuch as, though -he takes no part in exertions actually athletic, he spares himself -nothing else. He is found by Agamemnon, when the commander in chief -goes his rounds, on the field and at the head of his division: he is -wakeful for the night council, and he goes about awaking others[827]. -Retaining so large a share of bodily activity, he is still not -represented as possessed of strength in such a degree as to border upon -the marvellous; he is simply, in regard to corporal qualities, what -would now be called a remarkably fine old gentleman. But if instead of -thirty we were to take forty years, then, in order to have well entered -into the third term he must have been already much beyond eighty, -indeed, probably beyond ninety, in the Iliad, and above an hundred in -the Odyssey; an age, which, as he retains in that poem all his mental -powers, we may be quite sure Homer did not mean to assign to him. If, -then, γενεὴ meant any term of years, it must, in all likelihood, have -been somewhere about thirty years. - -[827] Il. x. 157. - -Homer has been careful, in the case of Nestor, to mark, by an -appropriate change of expressions, the difference between his age in -the two poems respectively. In the Iliad he is exercising the kingly -office _among_ the third generation since his birth. In the Odyssey he -is said to have exhausted the three terms[828]; - -[828] Od. iii. 245. The meaning may be that he had _reigned_ for above -two generations: but in the Iliad no more is implied than that he had -_lived_ well into a third. - - τρὶς γὰρ δή μίν φασιν ἀνάξασθαι γενε’ ἀνδρῶν. - -That lucidity and accuracy in Homer’s expressions, to which we are so -often beholden, may stand us yet further in good stead. Two γενεαὶ -had passed, not of men at large, but of _the_ men οἵ οἱ πρόσθεν ἅμα -τράφεν ἠδ’ ἐγένοντο, of those who were bred and born with him, of his -contemporaries. Now this proves that by γενεὴ Homer does not mean the -full duration of human life, but that average interval between the -successions of men, which general experience places at about thirty -years. For if Homer had meant by γενεὴ the whole time required for -the dying out of a generation, Nestor could not have outlived two -generations of contemporaries. In this sense, his contemporaries were -manifestly not two generations, but one, or little more. But if the -Poet meant the usual interval at which child succeeds to, or rather -follows upon, father, the expression is clear; for the meaning is, that -he had seen two of these terms of years, or successions, pass over -those who were born at the same time with himself. And in fact this -sense of the term γενεὴ is much closer to its etymology than any other. -We may, then, on the whole, pretty safely assume it to be a term of -years, having the number thirty, so to speak, for its pivot. And thus -the three decades of the war become yet more inadmissible as historical -expressions, because they are under the strongest suspicion of being -poetically employed in order to make up the γενεὴ, so far at least as -they and it can be considered to approximate to an actual number at all. - -In full conformity with this reasoning, it has been shown by Mure, -that the events of the third decade, with their times, instead of ten -years only, make up eight years and seven months[829]: and he proceeds -in the same direction with the foregoing argument so far, at least, as -to observe, that the decades and their arrangement are conceived ‘in a -mixed spirit of hyperbole and method,’ which commonly marks the genius -of heroic romance[830]. - -[829] Lit. Greece, i. 460. ii. 139. - -[830] Ibid. ii. 138. - -That, however, which enables me with great confidence at once to urge -Homer’s historical authority, and yet to decline recognising him as a -chronologist at all, is the fact, that he nowhere founds his history at -all in chronology, or in the numbering of events by years, more than -he numbers distances by miles, but that he arranges the succession -of occurrences by the γενεαὶ or succession of human generations. On -these generations we must look as the real time-keeping organism of his -works: and the time with its elastic periods, although indeterminate in -its details, is kept by him most accurately and effectually as a whole; -so that his generations, which are dispersedly recorded in various -parts of the poems, always tally when they meet. This is not the place -for the proof of the assertion: I only refer to it, because it may help -to dispel the illusion apt to possess the mind with respect to Homer’s -decades. We, with our definite numerical ideas, may naturally consider -that if an author of our own day had said a war lasted in preparation, -action, and return, each ten years, and if it was afterwards found -perhaps to have lasted (say) only for ten years altogether or little -more, such an author would have proved himself unworthy of belief: he -would have broken faith with us. But Homer does not break faith with -us in using numbers poetically; they belong to his pictorial and not -to his historical apparatus, and in connection with this pictorial -apparatus it is that he constantly employs them. I doubt if there is -any exception to be made to the broad assertion, that, unless in the -single case of the war, with the preceding and following decades, -Homer never applies number to narrative. And yet the poems are full of -independent narratives. Of all these, very few indeed are left unfixed -in date; and in every case the date, when found, is found, of course -with a certain margin, by means of the order of generations. - -~_Difficulties of the literal interpretation._~ - -Now this view of Homer’s mode of chronology will serve, I think, to -explain some difficulties that have heretofore led to much of needless -perplexity. If I am right, it will follow that we must not adopt -these decades as a guide to determine arithmetically the order of -events, because Homer has never conceived them arithmetically, but -has conceived them rather as we conceive millions or billions. Hence -they are more justly to be viewed as a drapery thrown loosely over -his action, than as a rigid framework into which it must at all costs -be made to fit. Let us apply this to various cases; and among them -to those of Telemachus and Neoptolemus respectively. Ulysses left -Telemachus a mere child, νέον γεγαῶτ’ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ[831]. He comes back and -finds him not a full man, for if he had been a full man, he would have -been guilty of a rooted cowardice beyond excuse, which there is no sign -that Homer meant to impute to him; but yet he was approaching manhood. -Still he is contemptuously called νέος παῖς[832] by Antinous. Upon the -whole, the case of Telemachus would perhaps, according to the analogy -of the poems, best fall in with an absence of not more than fifteen -years, though it does not absolutely exclude nineteen. Here there may -be a slight, yet there is not a glaring, discrepancy. But in another -case, that of the number of the days for which Telemachus was absent, -Mure has shown how little Homer cares to follow the lapse of time, in -a case where it does not essentially touch the general order of the -poem, with the precision that he observes in everything that he treats -historically[833]. I cannot treat this as a difficulty with respect to -the question of authorship, or admit it to be one: it is his childlike -and indeterminate but poetical habit of handling numbers for effect, -just as a painter handles colour. On the other hand, in the case of -Argus, on whom dark death laid hold[834], - -[831] Od. xii. 112, 144. - -[832] Od. iv. 665. - -[833] Mure, Hist. Lit. Greece, vol. i. p. 437. - -[834] Od. xvii. 327. - - αὐτίκ’ ἰδόντ’ Ὀδυσῆα ἐεικοστῷ ἐνιαυτῷ, - -he precisely coincides with his own decades. Yet I believe he does -this not from any sense of the necessity of such coincidence, but -because in that incomparable passage he had the extreme old age of a -dog to represent, and to this the expression of the twentieth year -was suited. When, however, we come to the case of Neoptolemus, we -find this to be one extremely difficult of adjustment for any critic, -who would insist upon a merely numerical precision in Homer. We must -indeed dismiss from our minds the tales about the concealment of a -beardless Achilles at Scyros, under a female disguise; from which he -was extracted by the art of Ulysses. Of these stories Homer knows -nothing; though it seems probable that the grace and beauty of the -great warrior, as he stands in Homer, may have been connected with, -or may have suggested, them. But what the Poet does represent is, -that Achilles went to Troy when without experience in war, that he -was put under a certain tutelage of Phœnix his original teacher, and -now one of his lieutenants, that Patroclus as his senior was desired -by Peleus to give him good advice, and that he is called νήπιος[835]. -Yet his son Neoptolemus succeeds him in command before the close of -the war, and attains to very high distinction. It is yet more needful -to be observed, that his distinction is in council, as well as in -the field[836]. The age of Achilles is, indeed, presumably somewhat -raised by the fact, that Phœnix seems to represent himself as a good -deal younger than Peleus, who, he says, treated him as a father might -have done[837]. And again, Achilles is never represented as a young -man in the Iliad, while Diomed is so represented. Still there is a -decided incompatibility in the statements as to Achilles and his son, -if we suppose that Homer carried in his mind the effect of his three -decades, as determining precisely the growth of Neoptolemus in years -and strength; for Neoptolemus is more advanced at the end of the war, -than his illustrious father had been at its beginning. Mure has been -at the pains[838] to arrange all these matters which depend on the -decades chronologically, without, I think, removing the impression that -mere chronology is considerably strained by them, and that if strictly -judged, the narrative is, to all appearance, chargeable with some few -years of maladjustment. It seems to me more near the truth to consider -the three decades, together making up a γενεὴ, as a distribution of -time which the Poet adopted for its symmetry and grandeur, since it -represented the war as absorbing an age or generation of men: but not -to hold him bound to adjust the relations of all the events he narrates -with reference to a minute regularity of progression, which he seems -not to have taken into account, and which his hearers were probably -quite incapable of appreciating. If we wish to test his historical -credit, we may try him by his own scheme of chronology, namely, his -genealogies. His legends embrace some seven generations. The same -characters are produced and reproduced in many of them; but they are -nowhere presented in such a way as to be inconsistent with their order -of succession according to the ordinary laws of human nature. - -[835] Il. ix. 438. and xi. 783. - -[836] Od. xi. 510-12. - -[837] Il. ix. 481. - -[838] Lit. Greece, ii. 141. - -~_Uses of the proposed interpretation._~ - -The application of these considerations to the poems will assist in -explaining difficulties, which it has been thought worth while by -learned men to raise. - -For instance; while we take the three decades of years historically, -we are perplexed by such questions as, How it came about that the -Greeks[839] never had been mustered till nine years had passed. -Secondly, how it was that the Trojans had never until then seen them -in such force[840]; whereas we know that multitudes of the Greek army -had died[841]; and there is no sign that any such communication with -their native country took place during the course of the war, as might -have sufficed to replenish their ranks. Thirdly, why the Trojans had -remained so closely shut within the walls, and yet at the same time -the Greeks had so seldom come near them, that Priam should not have -learnt to know Agamemnon and his compeers by sight during so long a -period; and this although Achilles may probably have been absent, for -considerable intervals, on his predatory expeditions. Fourthly, how it -came about that the great number of allies speaking various tongues, -who had gathered round Priam to assist him, should, like the Greek -army, not have been marshalled at an earlier time. - -[839] Il. ii. 360. - -[840] Il. ii. 799. - -[841] Il. i. 52. ii. 302. - -But if we suppose the term of ten years to be in the main a figurative -expression for conveying the idea of effort lengthened in duration, as -well as extraordinary in intensity, difficulties like these, which at -the worst are perhaps not very serious, either wholly vanish, or are -reduced to insignificant proportions. We are then at liberty to suppose -that, without at all departing from the general truth of history, Homer -felt himself authorized to compress, to expand, or to group the events -of the war, in such a manner as he thought best for the concentration -of interest, and for the production of adequate poetical and national -effect. - - -SECT. IV. - -_Homer’s Perceptions and Use of Colour._ - -The subject of the Homeric numbers has been discussed at considerable -length, on account of its connection with important questions of -history. That of colours may, even on its own merits, deserve a -careful examination. This inquiry will resemble, however, the former -discussion in the appearance of paradox, which the argument may seem -to present. Next to the idea of number, there is none perhaps more -definite to the modern mind generally, as well as in particular to -the English mind, than that of colour. That our own country has some -special aptitude in this respect, we may judge from the comparatively -advantageous position, which the British painters have always held -as colourists among other contemporary schools. Nothing seems more -readily understood and retained by very young children among us, than -the distinctions between the principal colours. In regard to one point, -the case of numbers is here reversed. There the idea becomes indefinite -as we ascend in the scale, here it is as we descend. Colour becomes -doubtful as it becomes faint, more and more clear as it is accumulated -and heightened. But the facility with which we discriminate colour in -all its marked forms, is probably the result of traditional aptitude, -since we seem to find, as we go far backward in human history, that the -faculty is less and less mature. - -I am conscious that the subject, which is now before us, in reality -deserves a scientific investigation, which I am not capable of -affording to it: and also that we are, as yet, far from being able -to render the language of the ancients for colour into our own with -the confidence, which we can feel in almost every other department of -interpretation. My endeavours will be limited, firstly, to a collection -of ‘_realien_,’ or facts of the poems, in the case of Colour: and, -secondly, to pointing out what appears to be the basis of the ideas and -perceptions of Homer respecting it, and the relation of that basis to -the ideas of the later Greeks. - -Among the signs of the immaturity which I have mentioned, the following -are found in the poems of Homer: - -I. The paucity of his colours. - -II. The use of the same word to denote not only different hues or tints -of the same colour, but colours which, according to us, are essentially -different. - -III. The description of the same object under epithets of colour -fundamentally disagreeing one from the other. - -IV. The vast predominance of the most crude and elemental forms of -colour, black and white, over every other, and the decided tendency to -treat other colours as simply intermediate modes between these extremes. - -V. The slight use of colour in Homer, as compared with other elements -of beauty, for the purpose of poetic effect, and its absence in certain -cases where we might confidently expect to find it. - -Each of these topics will deserve a distinct notice. - -~_Homeric adjectives of Colour._~ - -I. First, then, with respect to the paucity of his colours. We find, I -think, scarcely more than the following words which can with certainty -be described as adjectives of colour properly so called: - - 1. λευκός. - 2. μέλας. - 3. ξανθός. - 4. ἐρυθρός. - 5. πορφύρεος. - 6. κυάνεος. - 7. φοίνιξ. - 8. πόλιος. - -There are other words which are taken from objects that have colour, -and to most of which I shall hereafter refer: but which can hardly, in -consistency with the whole evidence from the text of Homer, be classed -as adjectives of definite colour. - -Now we must at once be struck with the poverty of the list which -has just been given, upon comparing it with our own list of primary -colours, which has been determined for us by Nature, and which is as -follows: - - 1. Red. - 2. Orange. - 3. Yellow. - 4. Green. - 5. Blue. - 6. Indigo. - 7. Violet. - -To these we are to add-- - - 8. White, the compound of all colours; - 9. Black, the negative or absence of them all. - -Out of these nine, three at least stand unrepresented. For πόλιος -can mean none of them: and φοίνιξ can do no more than double either -πορφύρεος, or ξανθὸς, or ἐρυθρός. The most favourable presumptions -would perhaps arrange the Homeric list as follows: - - 1. λευκὸς, white. - 2. μέλας, black. - 3. ξανθὸς, yellow. - 4. ἐρυθρὸς, red. - 5. πορφύρεος, violet. - 6. κυάνεος, indigo. - -And thus orange, green, and blue would remain without any corresponding -terms. But, in truth, when we examine further into Homer’s mode of -employing his adjectives of colour in detail, we shall perceive that he -is by no means so rich as this classification would allow. - -The other words which will presently be considered, but which have -very slight claims indeed to be treated as adjectives of definite -colour, are as follows: - - 1. χλωρός. - 2. αἰθαλόεις. - 3. ῥοδόεις. - 4. ἰόεις. - 5. οἴνοψ. - 6. μιλτοπάρηος. - 7. αἴθων. - 8. ἀργός. - 9. αἴολος. - 10. γλαυκός. - 11. χάροπος. - 12. σιγαλόεις. - 13. μαρμάρεος. - -Along with each of these adjectives, which are the chief though not -quite the only ones of their class in Homer, I shall take the cognate -words, such as verbs or compounds, which may belong to them. - -~_Applications of them._~ - -II. Let us now review the particular applications which Homer has -made of these words respectively. Among them, however, it will not be -necessary to include λευκὸς and μέλας, because those epithets indicate -ideas which have at all times been used, to a considerable extent, by -way of approximation only. - -1. ξανθὸς is applied by Homer to the following objects: - -_a._ horses, ἵππων ξανθὰ κάρηνα, Il. ix. 407. - -_b._ hair of men, ξανθὸς Μενέλαος, _passim_: Achilles, Il. i. 197. - -_c._ hair of women, ξανθὴ Ἀγαμήδη, Il. xi. 739; Δημήτηρ, Il. v. 500. - -2. ἐρυθρὸς is evidently the same word with the Latin _ruber_, and with -our own ‘ruddy,’ as well as probably the German _roth_. - -It is used by Homer for - - _a._ Copper in Il. ix. 365. - _b._ Nectar, Il. xix. 38. - _c._ Wine, Od. v. 93. - _d._ Blood: in ἐρυθαίνω, Il. x. 484. - -3. πορφύρεος again is the Latin _purpura_, and our ‘purple,’ as well as -our ‘porphyry.’ In the uses of this word we shall find for the first -time a startling amount of obvious discrepancy: and it will require to -be considered in the proper place, whether this discrepancy is to be -referred to a bold exercise of the Poet’s art, or to an undeveloped -knowledge and a consequently defective standard of colour. - -The word πορφύρεος is employed as follows for objects of sense: - -_a._ Blood, Il. xvii. 361. - -_b._ Dark cloud, ibid. 551. - -_c._ Wave of a river when disturbed, Il. xxi. 326. - -_d._ Wave of the sea, Il. i. 482; and the disturbed sea, Il. xvi. 391. - -_e._ The ball with which the Phæacian dancers played, Od. viii. 373. - -_f._ Garments, as Il. viii. 221; Od. iv. 115. - -_g._ Carpets, as Od. xxi. 151; Il. xxiv. 645. - -_h._ The rainbow, Il. xvii. 547. - -_i._ Metaphorically it is applied to Death, Il. v. 83: and, as it would -appear, to bloody death only. - -Further, the verb πορφύρω is applied - - _a._ to the sea darkening, Il. xiv. 16. - _b._ to the mind brooding, Il. xx. 551. - -Again, the compound ἁλιπόρφυρος is applied - - _a._ to wool, Od. vi. 53. - _b._ to garments woven of it, Od. xiii. 108. - -In this epithet we have the additional idea of the sea introduced; and -it literally means ‘sea-purple.’ But I postpone any remark with respect -to Homer’s particular intention in the use of the word, until we come -to the epithets derived from ἴον, a violet. - -Three forms of colour at least seem to be comprehended under this group -of words; - -1. The redness of blood. - -2. The purple proper, as of the sea in Il. i. 482. To this also -probably belongs the rainbow, of whose seven colours three may be -said to belong to the family of blue: and which is termed blue by -Shakespeare. - -3. The grey and leaden colour of a dark cloud when about to burst in -storm, and of a river when disturbed. - -We shall hereafter see reason to suppose that the word may also and -often mean what is tawny or brown. - -~_Of κύανος and κυάνεος._~ - -4. The word κυάνεος is very important in this inquiry; and -unfortunately it is not less obscure. - -It at once throws us back on the prior question, what was κύανος? But -this question remains almost wholly undetermined[842]; so that we must -follow, as well as we can, the Homeric applications of the word itself, -together with its adjective and its compounds. These are very numerous. -First we have the substantive κύανος introduced in three places: in -each of which it evidently belongs to a combination of colours as well -as of substances. - -[842] See note at the end of the Section. - -_a._ Once it is κύανος simply. The interior wall of the hall of -Alcinous is covered with sheets of copper[843]; and round the top is a -θριγκὸς or fringe of κύανος. Od. vii. 87. - -[843] Ibid. - -_b._ Twice it is μέλας κύανος. On the breast-plate of Agamemnon there -are twenty stripes or layers of tin, twelve of gold, and ten μέλανος -κυάνοιο. Il. xi. 24, Also; - -_c._ Upon his shield there were ten rounds of copper; and then, -apparently on the face of the shield within these, twenty white bosses -(ὄμφαλοι λευκοὶ) made of tin, if such be the meaning of κασσίτερος: in -the centre of all, there was one boss μέλανος κυάνοιο. Il. xi. 35. - -Passing now to κυάνεος, we come next to three passages where it may -be questioned whether they describe colour only, or substance only, or -both. - -_d._ Upon the breastplate of Agamemnon, which has ten layers of black -κύανος, there are on either side three κυάνεοι δράκοντες (Il. xi. 26). -These are compared to the rainbow, which, as we have already seen, is -described elsewhere as πορφυρεή. - -_e._ On the silver-plated belt of Agamemnon there is a κυάνεος δράκων. -Il. xi. 38, 9. - -_f._ Around the golden vineyard on the shield of Achilles, with its -silver stakes, there is a fence of κασσίτερος and a trench (κάπετος) -described as κυανέη. Il. xviii. 564. - -The other applications at once appear to have reference to colour only. - -_g._ To the eyebrows of Jupiter and Juno. Il. i. 528. xv. 102. xvii. -209. - -_h._ To a dark cloud of vapour; but not to a storm-cloud. Il. xxiii. -188. v. 345. xx. 418. - -_i._ To the hair of Hector, Il. xxii. 402; and to the beard of Ulysses, -when he is restored to beauty by Minerva. Od. xvi. 176. With this we -may compare the hyacinthine hair of Ulysses in Od. vi. 231. - -_j._ To the serried masses of the Greeks: πυκιναὶ κίνυντο φάλαγγες -κυάνεαι. Il. iv. 281. Now this epithet must have been derived from -their arms, and these would probably be composed in the main of two -elements, not easy to combine in a common idea of colour; firstly, -copper, which is ruddy; and secondly, the hides of oxen upon the -shields and elsewhere. Homer never (except in Il. xiii. 703, and Od. -xiii. 32) describes these animals by any epithet of colour. In those -two passages they are βόε οἴνοπε. This epithet will be considered -presently. In the meantime, we may assume it as probable, that a dark -colour would predominate, and that accordingly we should so understand -κυάνεαι: but the leaning towards _blue_, which so often characterizes -the epithet, thus entirely escapes. The word is also applied to the -Trojan host, in Il. xvi. 66. - -_k._ Thetis puts on mourning garments for Patroclus, when about to -appear to Achilles, Il. xxiv. 93. - - κάλυμμ’ ἕλε δῖα θεάων - κυάνεον· τοῦ δ’ οὔτι μελάντερον ἔπλετο ἔσθος. - -Here Homer is careful to inform us that the κάλυμμα, or hood and -mantle, was the blackest garment possible; and, since in Il. iv. 287 we -find that he was acquainted with pitch, we need not scruple to assume -that here he speaks literally, and either means a real black, which, -nevertheless, he also calls κυάνεον, or sees no difference between the -genuine black and the colour of κύανος. - -_l._ When the wave of Charybdis retires, the shore appears ψάμμῳ -κυανέῃ. Now the colour of sea-sand, when it has just been left by the -wave, is a dull but also rather a light brown. - -We take now the compounds. - -1. κυανοχαίτης is applied - -_a._ To Neptune, e. g. Il. xv. 174. - -_b._ To a mare, Il. xx. 224. - -2. κυανῶπις is applied to Amphitrite, or the sea, beating on rocks, Od. -xii. 60. - -3. κυανόπεζα is used for the foot of a beautiful table (Il. xi. 628). -Here possibly substance may be designated rather than colour. Metal at -the foot would give steadiness to a table. - -4. We have κυανόπρωρος and κυανοπρώρειος for the prow of a ship. -Evidently it is the coloured prow: for otherwise the prow would be of -the same hue with the rest of the ship. (Il. xv. 693, _et alibi_.) So -the prows of ships are called μιλτοπάρηοι, in Il. ii. 637, and Od. ix. -125. Now μίλτος was red earth or ochre; and yet it seems that Homer -uses μιλτοπάρηος as equivalent to κυανόπρωρος. For the first epithet is -applied in the Catalogue to the ships led by Ulysses; and the second in -Od. x. 127 to the vessel in which he sailed. - -The uses of this group of words thus appear to exhibit a degree of -indefiniteness, hardly reconcilable with the supposition that Homer -possessed accurate ideas of colour. There is no one colour that can -cover them all. The hood of Thetis is closely akin to black; the prow -of a ship to at least a dull red; the sand is of russet or a lightish -brown; the cloud a leaden grey; the hair and eyebrows are of a deep -but not a dull colour; the cornice in the hall of Alcinous must have -been in relief and contrast as compared with the copper wall, and -sufficiently light or clear to strike the eye at a distance, in an -interior lighted at night only from the ground. With perhaps this -exception, the word ‘dark’ will cover all the uses of κυάνεος: but dark -derives its force from a relation to light, and not to colour. - -~_Of φοίνιξ, πόλιος._~ - -5. Φοίνιξ in Homer is clearly a word descriptive of colour: but it as -clearly partakes of the indefinite character attaching to the other -words of the class. - -_a._ The blood drawn by Pandarus from Menelaus is compared to the -colour φοίνιξ, used for staining ivory. In this simile, the sense leans -to red, especially as the hue of ivory is so near to that of flesh -(Il. iv. 141). It is mentioned in other places, probably with the same -sense, as an ornamental dye. - -_b._ In Il. xxiii. 454, we learn that one of the horses of Diomed was -φοίνιξ, with a round white mark on his forehead. Whether we render this -bay or chestnut, it is materially different from the red colour of -blood. - -_c._ Φοίνιος is used for blood, Od. xviii. 96. - -_d._ As is φοινὸς in Il. xvi. 159. - -_e._ And φοινικόεις in Il. xxiii. 716. This word is also applied to a -cloak, Il. x. 133. - -_f._ A dragon or serpent, borne by an eagle, is φοινήεις, apparently -because dappled or streaked with his own blood, Il. xii. 200-6, 218-21. - -_g._ Ships are φοινικοπάρηοι, Od. xi. 123, and xxiii. 272: this word is -apparently synonymous with μιλτοπάρηοι. - -_h._ The serpent is δάφοινος ἐπὶ νῶτα, Il. ii. 308. And we have the -δάφοινον δέρμα λέοντος, Il. x. 23. - -On the whole, we trace here not less than three senses: that in which -φοίνιξ is applied to the horse, which appears to be the equivalent -of ξανθὸς, the more prevailing word: next, that of the tawny and -dull-coloured lion’s hide: then that of the brighter but yet deep -colour of blood, which is freely called πορφύρεος. So that φοίνιξ -merely renders other words, and does not at all assist to make up -deficiencies in the Homeric vocabulary for the expression of colour. - -Considered as an epithet of colour, the word δάφοινος, meaning -blood-red, is inappropriate to the dragon or serpent, and further -serves to illustrate that vagueness, of which the signs multiply as we -proceed. - -6. πόλιος is applied in Homer as follows: - -_a._ To human hair in connection with old age, Il. xxii. 74 _et alibi_. - -_b._ To the sea, Il. i. 350 _et passim_. It remains to inquire, whether -this refers to the sea, or to the foam upon it. - -_c._ To iron, Il. ix. 366. xx. 261. Od. xxi. 3, 81. xxiv. 167. - -_d._ To the hide of a wolf, which Dolon put on for his nocturnal -expedition, Il. x. 334. The meaning of the word here appears to be not -‘gray’ but ‘white.’ It is Homer’s evident intention to exhibit Dolon as -a sort of simpleton[844] (x. 316, 17); and accordingly he takes a white -covering, which makes him visible to the eye by night, so that Ulysses -saw him (φράσατο, 339). - -[844] The celebrated Hunter noticed that Homer had made Dolon an -only son with five sisters, as a proof of the Poet’s sagacity in -observation: having himself found, that youths under such circumstances -are generally more or less effeminate. I owe this information to one of -the most distinguished living members of the profession, which Hunter -himself adorned. It was also a favourite remark, I believe, with Mr. -Rogers. - -The last, then, of these four uses is _white_. The first clearly -inclines to the same idea. The second might bear either of two senses. -But iron cannot be brought nearer to white, even if we assume it to -be always polished, than a bluish grey; which, in truth, is somewhat -distant from white. It will, moreover, be seen, that Homer also -describes iron as αἴθων, and as ἰόεις. - -~_The quasi-adjectives of colour._~ - -I now come to the class of words, in dealing with which it will be -shown that they have not in general even the pretensions of those that -have preceded to be treated as adjectives of definite colour. - -7. χλωρὸς is used in Homer, - -_a._ Chiefly in a metaphorical sense, as directly descriptive of fear. - -_b._ For the paleness of the face derived from fear, as in χλωροὶ ὑπαὶ -δείους, Il. x. 376 and xv. 4. This use discloses to us the basis of the -last-named metaphor. - -_c._ For twigs, apparently when fresh-pulled by Eumæus to make a bed -for Ulysses, who was an unexpected guest; Od. xvi. 47. - -_d._ For honey, Il. xi. 630: where it must mean either pale, or fresh. - -_e._ For the olive-wood club of the Cyclops in Od. ix. 320, 379. Here, -for the first time, we find the word applied to an object that might -perhaps be called green. But still there are two observations to be -made. First, even the leaf of the olive is rather grey than green: -and this is the bark, not the leaf, which is yet more grey, and yet -less green. Secondly, the governing idea is not the greenness, but the -newness: for Ulysses says that he heated it in the ashes until it was -about to take fire, χλωρός περ ἐών; although freshly cut, and still -seething with the sap. - -_f._ The derivative χλωρηῒς is applied to the nightingale in Od. xix. -518, as a lover of the woods: and here the idea of greenness seems to -be rather less faintly indicated. - -Upon the whole, then, χλωρὸς indicates rather the absence than the -presence of definite colour, although it is derived from χλοὴ, meaning -young herbage. If regarded as an epithet of colour, it involves at -once an hopeless contradiction between the colour of honey on the one -side, and greenness on the other. Again, the more we assume it to mean -green, the more startling it becomes that it could have taken paleness, -as is manifestly the case, for its governing idea. Next to paleness, -it serves chiefly for freshness, i. e. as opposed to what is stale or -withered: a singular combination with the former sense. The idea of -green we scarcely find, unless once, connected with this word in the -poems of Homer: and yet it is a remarkable fact that there is no other -word in the poems that can even be supposed to represent a colour, -which, not the rainbow only, but every day nature, presents so largely -to the eye. - -8. I take next the word αἰθαλόεις. The Homeric sense of this word seems -somewhat to resemble that of κυάνεος; although there is the difference -between them, that the derivation here is from αἰθάλη, soot. - -This epithet is applied by Homer, in sufficient conformity, as is -contended, with the idea of soot, - -_a._ To the interior of the palace of Ulysses, Od. xxii. 239, and to -that of Priam, Il. ii. 415. In the latter case the word will, as it -appears from the context, bear to be construed with reference to the -state of a house blackened by a conflagration. - -_b._ To the dark ash κόνις αἰθαλόεσσα, which Achilles poured over his -head, Il. xviii. 23, and which, in ver. 25, is called μέλαινα τέφρη: -this material Laertes also used for the same purpose in Od. xxiv. 315. -Yet the propriety of the second of these two applications depends, -first, upon the rather hardy supposition, that both Achilles and -Laertes had by them, at the moment of their sorrow, the remains of a -wood-fire; and, secondly, upon the assumption that the word κόνις may -mean fire-ashes as well as dust in general. But we may doubt both of -these assumptions; while, if κόνις means ‘dust,’ and αἰθαλόεις ‘sooty,’ -it becomes plain that this epithet is used, like others, with very -great latitude. - -9. It may be admitted that, at a first view, the words ῥοδόεις and -ῥοδοδάκτυλος would appear to be in the strictest sense epithets of -colour. But it still would seem that they add nothing to Homer’s -defective means of expressing it: and not only so, but, in fact, scanty -as is their use, it is so little congruous, that we are driven to -suppose he must have employed these words in a sense not only elastic, -but altogether indeterminate and purely figurative. - -Ῥοδοδάκτυλος, or rosy-fingered, has become, through Homer’s example and -authority, a classical epithet for the morning. It is, however, more -open to criticism than is usually the case with the Homeric epithets. -There is nothing strange in personifying Morn, in order to embellish -her with an epithet belonging to personal beauty; but redness, applied -to the fingers, and not merely to their tips, is more than equivocal in -this respect, since that colour is only even admissible in the interior -of the hand, which is the part not seen, and therefore presumably the -part not intended in ῥοδοδάκτυλος. - -There are certain very fugitive tints of the sky, which approach to the -hue of the rose: but if Homer had the colour of that flower definitely -in his view, it is most singular that he should never use it, either -for the human form or otherwise, except on this and one other occasion -only. - -The nature of that other occasion is yet more strange. Hector’s corpse -is anointed, in Il. xxiii. 186, with rosy oil, ῥοδόεντι ἐλαίῳ. It does -not appear allowable to follow Damm in rendering this as oil _made -from_ roses: for we have no such thing as ἔλαιον in Homer, except from -the olive-tree. It therefore applies to the hue of olive oil: and no -conceivable use of an epithet could be more conclusive to show an -extreme vagueness in the Poet’s ideas of colour, as well as probably in -those of his age. - -10. The violet, no less than the rose, has supplied Homer with -epithets, which he has used in such a manner as to deprive them of all -specific force as vehicles for the expression of a peculiar colour. - -There is certainly a great temptation, when we find in Homer the -ἰοειδέα πόντον, to give him credit for the full meaning of this very -beautiful epithet, which he uses thrice for the sea (Il. ix. 298, Od. -v. 55, xi. 106), and never in any other connection. But when we examine -his employment of cognate words, it is obvious that he can mean little -more by the epithet, than to convey a rather vague idea of darkness. - -For he uses ἰόεις as an epithet for iron (Il. xxiii. 850): and -ἰοδνεφὴς, first for the wool (Od. iv. 135) with which Helen is -spinning. Here we might be tempted to presume a purple dye. Yet it -would be a somewhat strained supposition: for what title have we to say -that dyeing was in use among the Greeks of the Homeric age? Do we hear -of any dye except that of the φοίνιξ, a name which tends to indicate -a foreign character? And does not the introduction of the Mæonian -or Carian woman in the simile of Il. iv. 141, to stain the ivory--a -most simple example of the art, or scarcely an example at all--afford -a strong presumption, that the art was foreign to Greece? Such is -apparently the true inference: but, if it be the true one, then we at -once lose the specific force of purple for all the mantles, carpets, -and the like, in the poems; and we are only entitled to presume them to -have been woven of a dark wool. - -This construction is supported by the second and only other passage, -in which Homer has used the word ἰοδνεφής. For here (Od. ix. 426) he -speaks of the living sheep of Polyphemus as - - καλοί τε μεγάλοι τε, ἰοδνεφὲς εἶρος ἔχοντες. - -This passage appears evidently to apply to what we term black sheep, -which are more strictly of a dark brown. So viewed, it affords another -most striking token of the indeterminateness of Homeric colours, that -the name of the violet can be employed with such a signification. And -it also seems to carry forward the proof that the πορφύρεαι χλαῖναι, -the ῥήγεα, and all other woven objects with that epithet annexed, were -in reality either black or brown. - -11. Homer employs the word οἴνοψ with evident relation to colour; but -it is for two objects only, viz. - - _a._ For oxen, in Il. xiii. 703, and Od. xiii. 32. - - _b._ For the sea, without reference to any peculiar state of it, in - Il. i. 350, _et alibi_. - -There is no small difficulty in combining these two uses by reference -to the idea of a common colour. The sea is blue, grey, or green. Oxen -are black, bay, or brown. I do not refer to their lighter colours, -which are excluded by the nature of the epithet. It is remarkable that, -among colours properly so called, Homer has none whatever, derived from -the name of an object, that are light, unless it be in the case of -the rose. The violet, the unknown κύανος, the φοίνιξ, the αἰθαλὴ, the -ἁλιπόρφυρος, the πορφύρη, whatever else they may be, are all dark. And -to this class οἴνοψ evidently belongs. - -Wine is mentioned by Homer in nearly one hundred and forty places: -in the majority of them it has an epithet: but only ten times is it -described by an epithet of colour. Of these two are used for it, -ἐρυθρὸς and μέλας; so that he plainly conceived of it as dark, but -probably without a determinate hue. He more frequently calls it αἴθοψ: -but this word, which fluctuates between the ideas of flame and smoke, -either means tawny, or else refers to light, and not to colour, and -bears the sense of sparkling. - -Thus then οἴνοψ, like so many other words that we have gone through, -vaguely indicates a dark hue, but cannot be referred to any one of the -known principal colours. - -12. The word μιλτοπάρηος has already been disposed of in connection -with κυάνεος and φοίνιξ. - -13. αἴθων is applied in Homer - - _a._ to horses, as in Il. ii. 839; viii. 185. - - _b._ to iron, as in Od. i. 184. - - _c._ to a lion, as in Il. x. 23. - - _d._ to copper utensils, as in Il. ix. 123; xxiv. 233. - - _e._ to a bull, Il. xvi. 488; and to oxen, Od. xviii. 371. - - _f._ to an eagle, Il. xv. 690. - -With this word we may take its compound αἴθοψ. It is used - - _a._ for wine, as we have seen. - - _b._ for copper, Il. iv. 495 _et alibi_. - - _c._ for smoke, Od. x. 152. - -We have also the Αἰθίοπες, men of the tawny or swarthy countenance, -beneath the Southern sun. - -In what manner are we to find a common thread upon which to hang the -colours of iron, copper, horses, lions, bulls, eagles, wine, swarthy -men, and smoke? We must here again adopt the vague word ‘dark,’ a word -of light and not of colour, for the purpose. But as the idea of αἴθω -includes flame struggling with smoke, so there may be a flash of light -upon the dark object. Ψολόεις, sooty or smutty, belongs to the same -group with αἰθαλόεις and αἴθων, and need not, therefore, be separately -discussed. - -All the remainder of the words noted for examination are to be dealt -with in two groups, each referable to a single idea: the first that of -motion, and the second that of light. - -14, 15. Among adjectives of motion, which have sometimes been -improperly treated as adjectives of colour, are ἄργος and αἴολος. -The former acquires an affinity to _white_, because it may signify -an object which, from being rapidly moved, assumes in the light the -appearance of whiteness[845], and along with it may be placed its -derivatives ἀργεννὸς, ἀργεστὴς, ἀργὴς, ἀργινόεις, ἀργιόδους, ἀργίπους, -and ἀργικέραυνος. The latter, as in αἴολος ὄφις, αἴολος ἵππος, -κορυθαίολος, πόδας αἴολος, seems to mean whatever from the same cause -appears to shift its hues. - -[845] See Achæis, or Ethnology, p. 383. - -16. Of those adjectives of light in Homer, which have also been taken -for adjectives of colour, the most important is γλαυκός. Its uses, -however, are only as follows: - -_a._ γλαυκὴ θάλασσα, Il. xvi. 34. - -_b._ Γλαυκῶπις, the standing epithet, and even a proper name, of -Minerva, Il. viii. 406. - -_c._ γλαυκιόων; applied to the eye of a lion, when, reaching the height -of his wrath, he makes his rush at the hunters, Il. xx. 172. - -The last of these passages seems effectually to fix the sense of the -term. The word γλαυκιόων describes a progression. The lion does not -enhance the colour of his eye as he waxes angry. If, for example, -γλαυκὸς can be taken as blue, it certainly does not become more blue: -on the contrary, rage, when kindling fire in the eye, rather subdues -its peculiar tint by flooding it with a vivid light. So the word -seems clearly to refer to the brightening flash of the eye under the -influence of passion. Of light and its movement, as also of sound, -and of beautiful form, Homer’s conceptions are even more distinct -and lively, than those of colour are, if not dull, yet at least -indeterminate. - -Γλαυκὸς is derived from γλαύσσω; and has for its root λάω, to see. The -meaning of bright or flashing will suit the sea, as well as the epithet -blue. And it suits Minerva far better. ‘Blue-eyed’ would be for her but -a tame epithet. The luminous eye, on the contrary, entirely accords -with her character, and belongs to a marked trait of those primitive -traditions, which she appears to represent[846]. - -[846] See Olympus, sect. ii. p. 53. Welcker (_Griechische Götterlehre_, -vi. 63, p. 300) treats the name Ἀθήνη as immediately akin to αἰθὴρ and -the idea of light. - -17. Χάροπος is applied to the lion in Od. xi. 611; and it is the -proper name of the father of Nireus in the Catalogue, while his mother -is Ἀγλαΐη. From this latter use we see that χάροπος is not in Homer -an epithet of colour; since he never describes the face by means of -colour. Its etymology refers us to gladsomeness; and this is much more -connected, in the Poet’s mind, with light than with colour. - -18, 19. Besides these we have - - σιγαλόεις, glossy, like σίαλος, or fat; and μαρμάρεος, applied - - _a._ to a web, Il. iii. 126. - - _b._ to the Ægis, Il. xvii. 594. - - _c._ to the sea, Il. xiv. 273. - - _d._ to the rim of the Shield, Il. xviii. 480. - -We have also the μαρμαρυγαὶ ποδῶν (Od. viii. 265), or twinkling of the -feet in the dance: and the verb μαρμαίρω is applied to the eyes of -Venus (Il. iii. 397), to arms (Il. xii. 195 _et alibi_), and to the -golden palace of Neptune (Il. xiii. 22). The marble, from which the -words are derived, was white: but that signification would not suit any -of the uses of the words, except the web of Helen. The sense, that will -suit them, is one derived from the idea of light, that of glittering or -sparkling. - -Lastly: ἠεροειδὴς (Il. v. 770; Od. xiii. 103) is so evidently an -atmospheric epithet only, that it requires no detailed discussion. It -is worthy of note, as it indicates the idea of atmospheric transparency. - -~_Conflict of colours in the same object._~ - -III. We might have attained to some nearly similar results, by taking -the names of substantives in Homer, and considering the differences in -the epithets of colour by which he describes them. - -Thus, for example, iron is violet, grey, and αἴθων or tawny. There is -a certain opposition between the first and second: a very marked one -between the second and third. When considered as names of colour, they -cannot be reconciled, but they may perhaps be made in some degree to -harmonize by introducing the element of light. Iron is dark or tawny if -in the shade: while under light it may appear grey. - -Again, the dragon, or serpent, which is δάφοινος in Il. ii. 308, is -also κυάνεος in Il. xi. 26; and is compared to the rainbow, which is -πορφυρέη in Il. xvii. Δάφοινος, being applied to the lion’s hide in -Il. x. 23, is essentially of a dull colour, but the rainbow is as -essentially bright. Here, again, the only mode of harmonizing is by -the supposition that Homer really regulates the use of those epithets -according to light; and thus the same object may be dull and bright in -different positions. - -Again, κέραυνος is in composition white (ἀργικέραυνος): but it is also -ψολοεὶς, smutty. In truth it is neither: but its near connection both -with light and with darkness will admit of its being referred to either. - -~_Great predominance of white and black._~ - -IV. I have next to notice the vast predominance in Homer of the two -simple opposites, white and black, which may be called, perhaps, the -elemental forms of colour: white being the compound of the seven -prismatic colours in their natural proportions, and black the absence, -or simple negative, of them all. - -The adjective μέλας, or ‘black,’ is used, in its different degrees, -cases, and numbers, about one hundred and seventy times. Besides this, -we have the verb μελαίνω, and several compounds from the adjective. It -also forms a very frequent element in proper names. - -The word λευκὸς, or ‘white,’ is used nearly sixty times: its compound -λευκώλενος forty more, but almost all of these as the stock-epithet -of Juno, which should not be taken into the account. We have also -λευκαίνω, λεύκασπις, and some proper names. But this by no means -exhausts Homer’s means of expressing whiteness. For that purpose he -also uses μαρμάρεος, σιγαλόεις, perhaps πόλιος, and an extensive group -of words having ἀργὸς for its centre. In all, whiteness, or something -intended for it, may perhaps be thus expressed one hundred times or -more. - -Now assuming for the moment that adjectives of colour, in the prismatic -sense of the word, are found in Homer, still it is remarkable how -rarely they are found, in comparison with whiteness and blackness. - -For example: except as a proper name, and as the stock-epithet of -Menelaus, ξανθὸς is, I think, hardly found ten times in Homer. -Ἰόεις, and its cognate words, come but six times: ῥοδόεις is an ἅπαξ -λεγόμενον: μίλτος is only introduced in its compound twice; yet it -is probably the best _red_ in Homer: ἐρυθρὸς and ἐρυθαίνω come but -thirteen times: πορφύρεος and the kindred words are found in all -twenty-three times; but it has, I think, been shown that this word was -wanting, with Homer, in the ingredient of specific colour, and only -implied what was dark, whether brown, crimson, purple, or even black. - -~_Omissions to specify colour._~ - -V. It remains to complete this circle of evidence, by adducing cases -where Homer’s omission to name colour, or to describe by means of it, -is deserving of remark. - -1. Homer’s similes are so rich in the use of all sensible imagery, -that we might have expected to find colour a frequent and prominent -ingredient in them. But it is not so. They turn chiefly, I think, upon -the following ideas: - - 1. Motion. - 2. Force. - 3. Form. - 4. Sound. - 5. Symmetry. - 6. Number. - 7. Light and Darkness. - 8. Very rarely, upon Colour. - -In the greater part of them colour is not even mentioned. I have seen -the similes of the poems reckoned at two hundred: and I have found it -difficult to note more than three which turn upon colour, even when it -is vaguely conceived. - -The first is the blood of Menelaus, compared to a crimson dye, on the -cheek-piece of a horse, Il. iv. 141. - -The second, the meditations of Nestor, likened to the darkening of the -sea before a storm, Il. xiv. 16-22. - -Thirdly, the cloud in which Minerva is wrapped is compared to the -rainbow, Il. xvii. 547-52. - -Of these the second is very indefinite: the idea of the first, as we -have seen, was inaccurately and loosely conceived: and the third is one -of the most striking proofs of the want of a close discrimination of -colours in Homer. - -Yet here again we may find life and beauty in the passage, if only -we construe it of a cloud illuminated by the rays falling on it. -Indeed, generally the element of light brings us back to Homer’s usual -definiteness, when his use of colour makes him obscure. - -2. Again, in the numerous and very exact epithets by which the Poet has -described the form and appearance of different countries, we scarcely -find any epithet of colour. Out of about sixty of these epithets in the -Greek Catalogue, there are but three that refer to colour, and these -all mention whiteness only (ἀργινόεις, Il. ii. 647, 656, and λευκός, -ibid. 735). - -~_In the case of the horse._~ - -3. It is most singular that, though Homer so loved the horse that he -is never weary of using him with his whole heart for the purposes of -poetry, yet in all his animated and beautiful descriptions of this -animal, colour should be so little prominent. It is said, indeed, that -Homer tells us the horses of Eumelus corresponded in colour (ὅτριχες -Il. ii. 765); but what the colour was we know not; and the question may -also be raised, whether the epithet employed does not more properly -indicate similarity in the fineness of their coat. Perhaps the only -cases, where colour is distinctly assigned to horses, are the following -two: - -First, that of the horses of Rhesus. There the colour is the negative -one of whiteness, which seems, with its counterpart blackness, to have -been so much more present to the mind of Homer than any intermediate -colour. These horses were (Il. x. 437) λευκότεροι χιόνος. And -afterwards Nestor in a noble line declares them like, not to anything -having colour, but to the rays of the sun (Il. x. 547). Thus reappears -the old identification in Homer’s mind of light and colour. There is, -however, another reason to which it may be suspected that we owe the -mention of colour in this instance: namely, that the whiteness is -intended to make them visible in the gloom, and thus to assist the -capture by night. - -The second case is, that of the horse of Diomed in the chariot-race. -Here Idomeneus mentions the bay or chestnut colour (Il. xxiii. 454) -with the white mark, but then it is the only means of identifying the -master, which is essential to his purpose in the speech. Apart from -these special reasons, Homer speaks indeed twice of the ξανθὰ κάρηνα -of horses; this, however, is of horses in the abstract. Nestor (Il. xi. -680) mentions a set of one hundred and fifty mares all with colour, -that is to say, ξανθαί: a new proof of the lax use of the word, as they -would hardly be all alike. - -Among the four horses of Hector (Il. viii. 185), the two of the Atreidæ -(Il. xxiii. 295), and the three of Achilles (xvi. 475) we find only the -name Xanthus which is clearly referable to colour: and this is in truth -the only colour which, besides white, he ever gives to his horses. For -it is more probable that by the name Βάλιος he meant to refer to the -effect of light from rapidity of motion: while Αἴθη in Il. xxiii. 409, -Αἴθων and Λάμπος (Il. viii. 485) may signify brightness or darkness -indeed, but neither of these is colour. - -Again, in the magnificent simile of the στάτος ἵππος there is no -colour. The three thousand horses of Erichthonius (Il. x. 221) have -no colour. The horses of Diomed (Il. v. 257) have none. Nor have the -heaven-born horses of Tros, nor those which Anchises bred from them -(Il. v. 265. _et seqq._). None of the teams for the race in Il. xxiii. -have colour. Lastly; Homer abounds in characteristic and set epithets -for horses, such as ὠκὺς, ὠκύπους, ποδώκης, μώνυξ, ἐριαύχην, ἀερσίπους, -ἐΰσκαρθμος, ὑψήχης, καλλίθριξ, ταχὺς, and others; but none of them are -taken from colour. - -Yet colour is in horses a thing so prominent that it seems, wherever -they are at all individualized, almost to force itself into the -description. Let us take two examples allied in their beauty, although -separated in birth by twenty-two hundred years. The first is from -Euripides, where the Chorus in _Iphigenia in Aulide_ describes the -Grecian host before embarcation[847]. - -[847] Eurip. Iph. in Aul. 213-22. - - ὁ δὲ διφρηλάτας βοᾶτ’ - Εὔμηλος Φερητιάδας, - ᾧ καλλίστους εἰδόμαν - χρυσοδαιδάλτους στομίοισι πώλους - κέντρῳ θεινομένους, τοὺς μὲν μέσ- - σους ζυγίους, λευκοστίκτῳ τριχὶ - βαλιοὺς, τοὺς δ’ ἐξὼ σειραφόρους, - ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων - πυῤῥότριχας, μονόχαλα δ’ ὑπὸ σφυρὰ - ποικιλοδέρμονας. - -The second, also eminently beautiful, is from Macaulay, where in the -‘Battle of the Lake Regillus’, after the deadly conflict of Mamilius -and Herminius, he describes what then happened to their steeds. - - Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning, - The _dark-grey_ charger fled; - He burst through ranks of fighting men, - He sprang o’er heaps of dead.... - - But like a graven image - _Black_ Auster kept his place, - And ever wistfully he looked - Into his master’s face. - -How characteristically the element of colour enters into these -admirable descriptions. - -4. It is not, however, the case of the horse alone, on which an -argument may be founded. Homer abounds with notices of other animals, -both domesticated and wild. We have oxen, dogs, goats, hogs, and sheep. -None of his stock epithets for them are drawn from colour; and we have -seen that by his wine-coloured oxen, and his violet-coloured sheep, he, -in all likelihood, means no more than dark or tawny. His epithets for -wild animals are of the same character when they occur, and similarly -depend on the scale of degrees between light and darkness, not upon -colour. Once he mentions a white goose (Od. xv. 161); but it is borne -on high in the talons of an eagle, and the object evidently is to -create a clear visual image. - -5. I would not lay overmuch stress on the fact, that Homer never refers -to colour in connection with the human frame, unless as regards the -hair, which is either ξανθὸς or κυάνεος: expressions which, as we -shall see, are apparent exceptions, and not real ones. The olive hue -of the Mediterranean latitudes makes colour a less prominent element -in human beauty for a Greek climate, than it is for ours. Still its -almost entire exclusion is an element in the case. One instance that -I have noticed, which introduces it, adds to the general mass of -testimony. When Minerva (Od. xvi. 175) restores the beauty of Ulysses, -the expression is ἂψ δὲ μελαγχροιὴς γένετο. Now this certainly does not -mean that his flesh became black again. It can only signify that he -resumed the olive tint, which was associated with personal vigour and -beauty. So that even the μέλας of Homer means dark, and is indefinite: -as might indeed be shown by many other instances. - -6. Lastly, it seems to deserve remark, that there is not one single -epithet of Iris taken from colour. She is once, and only once, -χρυσόπτερος (Il. viii. 398); but this is in virtue of her office, and -has no relation to the rainbow; as, indeed, gold with Homer always -belongs to light rather than to colour. All her other epithets, without -exception, are taken from motion only. She is swift (ὠκέα and τάχεια), -swift of foot (πόδας ὠκέα), swift as the wind (ποδήνεμος), storm-footed -(ἀελλόπους[848]), but from colour she derives no part whatever of her -Homeric costume. Now though the chain of traditions which identified -Iris with the rainbow was broken[849], yet the traces of it were not -wholly lost. For Homer treated the rainbow, physically, as a prophet -of storm (Il. xvii. 548): and again, we find that she was still -tempest-footed. This epithet can only be derived from her original -relation to the rainbow. It is therefore highly instructive, that none -of her traits of colour should have been preserved. - -[848] Il. xviii. 409. xxiv. 159. - -[849] See Olympus, sect. ii. p. 157. - -Lastly, let us take the case of the sky, or the heavens. Here Homer -had before him the most perfect example of blue. Yet he never once so -describes the sky. His οὐρανὸς is starry (Il. i. 317), or broad (Il. -iii. 364), or great (Il. i. 497), or iron (Od. xv. 328), or copper (Od. -iii. 2. Il. xvii. 425); but it is never blue. This is an important -piece of negative testimony. - -We have now before us a pretty large, though I by no means venture to -suppose it a complete, collection of the facts of the case. - -~_Causes of this peculiar treatment._~ - -I submit that they warrant the two following propositions: - -1. That Homer’s perceptions of the prismatic colours, or colours of the -rainbow, which depend on the decomposition of light by refraction, and -_a fortiori_ of their compounds, were, as a general rule, vague and -indeterminate. - -2. That we must therefore seek another basis for his system of colour. - -But a few words may be permitted on the cause which has led to his -treatment of the subject in a manner so different from that of the -moderns. - -Are we justified in referring it to his reputed blindness? - -Are we to suppose a defect in his organization, or in that of his -countrymen? - -Or are we to reject altogether the idea of defect, and to treat his -use of colour as one conceived in the spirit which, with even the most -perfect knowledge, would properly belong to his art? - -The mere tradition of Homer’s blindness is hardly relevant. The -presumption of it drawn from the poems, because they make Demodocus -blind, is inappreciably minute. The testimony of the Hymn to Apollo is -ancient[850]; but, as his blindness (if he really was blind) allowed -of the most vivid conceptions of light, it will not account for -defectiveness in his conceptions of colour. The vigorous apprehension -and accurate description of sensible objects in the poems demonstrate, -that we cannot seek in this hypothesis for an explanation of what may -be either singular, crude, or irregular. - -[850] Hymn. ad Apoll. v. 172. - -Neither can we resort to the supposition of anything, that is to be -properly called a defect in his organization; when we bear in mind -his intense feeling for form, and when we observe his effective and -powerful handling of the ideas of light and dark. - -~_License of Poetry as to colour._~ - -Our answer to the third question must also, I think, be in the -negative. It is true, indeed, that much of merely literal discrepancy -as to colour might be understood to appertain to the license of poetry. -There is high poetical effect in what may be called straining epithets -of colour. But it seems essential to that effect, - -(1.) That the straining should be the exception, and not the rule. - -(2.) That there should be a fixed standard of the colour itself, so -that the departures from it may be measured. Otherwise the result is -not license, but confusion. Shakespeare with high effect says[851], - -[851] Macbeth ii. 3. - - Here lay Duncan, - His silver skin laced with his golden blood. - -Here the idea is not that silver is of the same colour as skin, nor -gold as blood; but that the relation of colour between silver and gold -may be compared with that between skin and blood: the skin throws the -blood into relief, as a ground of silver would throw out a projection -of gold. In license of this kind we can always trace both a rule and an -aim. The rule is relaxed only for the particular occasion. The effect -produced is that of tenderness, dignity, and purity. Had Shakespeare -been describing the horrible carnage of a battlefield, he probably -would have spoken of black or foul gore instead of using a brightening -figure. - -Now this purpose is not traceable in Homer’s use of certain words, if -we are required to treat them as adjectives of colour. There is no -Poet, whose _rationale_ is commonly more accessible; but these cases, -upon such a principle, do not admit of a _rationale_ at all. - -Take for instance his use of the rainbow. It is (1) πορφυρέη, and (2) -like a δράκων, which is κυάνεος. Of these, the first may be construed -dark with a hue of crimson; the second, dark with a hue of deep blue or -indigo. Surely we have here, viewing it as a whole, a most inadequate -treatment of the colours of the rainbow. Shakespeare indeed says[852], - -[852] Troilus and Cressida, i. 3, _sub_ fin. - - His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends; - -and again, in the Tempest, Ceres addresses Iris thus[853]; - -[853] Tempest, iv. 1. The rainbow is mentioned as of many colours, in -Merry Wives of Windsor, iv. 5, Winter’s Tale, iv. 3, and King John, iv. -2. - - And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown - My bosky acres.... - -But (1) blue differs from πορφύρεος, which is essentially dark, and -is not blue. (2) Blue, taken largely, represents three of the seven -prismatic colours: i. e. indigo and purple along with itself. (3) In -the last quoted passage, Iris is also called ‘many-coloured messenger,’ -and with ‘saffron wings.’ How different an effect do these words -give, as they form a whole, from that of the simile in Il. xvii. In -what manner then are we to understand Homer? I answer, in the way -of metaphor; and with reference to light and dark, not to prismatic -colour. The δράκοντες on the buckler and belt are dark and terrible: -so is the storm of which Iris is the type, and it is in viewing the -rainbow as a type of what is awful, that we are to find the reason of -Homer’s simply treating it as dark, and not as a series and system of -colours. Perhaps we ought not to overlook the possibility that Homer -may also mean to compare the shifting hues of the serpent with the -varied appearance of the rainbow. - -Again, let us take his use of μελαγχροίης. Now the question is, did -Homer mean by this simply to express darkness, that is to say was -_dark_ his idea of μέλας, or did he, with the specific idea of black -in his mind, use the term which denoted it poetically for the olive -complexion of Ulysses? Surely the former: for the latter use of it -would have been bad. It would have been straining the figure in the -wrong direction. For blackness would be a fitting trope only where the -object was to describe something awful or repulsive. - -But beauty of form in Homer always leans to light hues and not to dark -ones, whence the Greeks are ξανθοὶ, and the Trojan Hector, though -beautiful, is κυάνεος only. Therefore it was not Homer’s object to give -an enhanced idea of darkness in the tints of Ulysses. And yet, if μέλας -for him meant specifically black, then μελαγχροίης was the height of -exaggeration in the wrong sense. But if by μέλας he only understood -dark, that was a fair description of the olive tint, as compared with -the withered and shrivelled skin of old age. - -We have other proofs from the poems that Homer conceived of μέλας as -dark, and not specifically as black. The former idea accords best with -his calling earth μέλας, when it is fresh behind the plough (Il. xviii. -548): and his calling blood μέλας, not stagnant gore, but blood fresh -as it comes spurting from the wound (Il. i. 303), - - αἶψά τοι αἷμα κελαινὸν ἐρωήσει περὶ δουρί· - -and again, the fresh blood of Venus herself: μελαίνετο δὲ χρόα καλόν -(Il. v. 354). It would be bad poetry to call the blood of Venus -_black_, for the same reasons which make it good poetry in Shakespeare -to call the blood of Duncan golden. So the μέλας πόντος of Il. xxiv. 79 -is evidently no more than dark; though in vii. 64 we may properly say -the sea blackens. - -So again with wine-coloured oxen, smutty thunder-bolts, violet-coloured -sheep, and many more, it is surely conclusive against taking them for -descriptions of prismatic colours or their compounds, that they would -be bad descriptions in their several kinds. - -~_Homer’s means of training in colour._~ - -We must then seek for the basis of Homer’s system with respect to -colour in something outside our own. And it may prepare us the more -readily to acknowledge such a basis elsewhere, if we bear in mind, -that many of the great elements and sources of colour for us presented -themselves differently to him. The olive hue of the skin kept down the -play of white and red. The hair tended much more uniformly, than with -us, to darkness. The sense of colour was less exercised by the culture -of flowers. The sun sooner changed the spring-greens of the earth into -brown. Glass, one of our instruments of instruction, did not exist. The -rainbow would much more rarely meet the view. The art of painting was -wholly, and that of dyeing was almost, unknown; and we may estimate -the importance of this element of the case by recollecting how much, -with the advance of chemistry, the taste of this country in colour has -improved within the last twenty years. The artificial colours, with -which the human eye was conversant, were chiefly the ill-defined, and -anything but full-bodied, tints of metals. The materials, therefore, -for a system of colour did not offer themselves to Homer’s vision as -they do to ours. Particular colours were indeed exhibited in rare -beauty, as the blue of the sea and of the sky. Yet these colours were, -so to speak, isolated fragments; and, not entering into a general -scheme, they were apparently not conceived with the precision necessary -to master them. It seems easy to comprehend that the eye may require a -familiarity with an ordered system of colours, as the condition of its -being able closely to appreciate any one among them. - -I conclude, then, that the organ of colour and its impressions were but -partially developed among the Greeks of the heroic age. - -In lieu of this, Homer seems to have had, firstly some crude -conceptions of colour derived from the elements; secondly and -principally, a system in lieu of colour, founded upon light and upon -darkness, its opposite or negative. We have seen that the μέλας of -Homer, which is applied to fine olive tints in the skin, and which -joins hands with κυάνεος and πορφύρεος, means dark, the absence of -light. On the other hand, the basis of whiteness is clearly indicated -to us in the etymology of λευκὸς, which is the same as that of λεύσσω -to see, and of λύκη light in λυκαβὰς the year, the walk or course of -light; as well as in the cognate words, which appear to have their -root in the Sanscrit _loch_, from whence _lochan_, an eye[854]. - -[854] Pritchard’s Celtic Nations, p. 219. - -~_His system one of light and dark._~ - -As a general proposition, then, I should say that the Homeric colours -are really the modes and forms of light[855], and of its opposite or -rather negative, darkness: partially affected perhaps by ideas drawn -from the metals, like the ruddiness of copper, or the sombre and dead -blue of κύανος, whatever the substance may have been; and here and -there with an inceptive effort, as it were, to get hold of other ideas -of colour. - -[855] Vid. Göthe, _Geschichte der Farbenlehre_, Works, vol. 53, p. 21. -(Stuttgart, 1833.) - -Under the application of this principle, I believe that all, or nearly -all, the Homeric words will fall into their places: and that we shall -find that the Poet used them, from his own standing-ground, with great -vigour and effect. We can now see why λευκὸς and μέλας with their -kindred words have such an immense predominance: though white and black -are the limiting ratios of colour, rather than colour itself. - -Of the transparent and opaque, or _chiaroscuro_, we cannot expect to -hear from Homer: yet, as has been observed, a rudiment of it may be -contained in the highly poetical ἠεροειδὲς of the cave or sea; and -again in the δνοφερὴ νὺξ (Od. xiii. 269), since νέφος is the basis of -the epithet. - -When we speak of colour proper, we speak of an effect which is produced -by the decomposition of light, and which, so long as the eye can -discharge its function, is complete, whatever the quantity, or the -incidence, of light upon the object said to have colour may happen to -be. - -When we speak of light, shade, and darkness, we refer to the quantity -of light, not decomposed, which falls upon that object, and to the mode -of its incidence. - -Of light, shadow, and darkness thus regarded, Homer had lively and -most poetical conceptions. This description of objects by light and its -absence tax his materials to the uttermost. His iron-grey, his ruddy, -his starry heaven, are so many modes of light. His wine-coloured oxen -and sea, his violet sheep, his things tawny, purple, sooty, and the -rest, give us in fact a rich vocabulary of words for describing what -is dark so far as it has colour, but what also varies between dull and -bright, according to the quantity of light playing upon it. Here (for -example) is the link between his αἴθοψ κάπνος and his αἴθοψ οἶνος. - -As these words all follow in the train, so to speak, of μέλας, even so -λευκὸς is attended by its own family, all falling under the meaning of -the English adjective _light_. On the one hand χλωρὸς and πόλιος; on -the other μαρμάρεος, ἀργὸς, and σιγαλόεις, all mean _light_; but the -first two are dull, and represent the twilight of colour, or debateable -ground between it and its negative, while the last three are bright and -glistering. - -Nothing can be more poetical than Homer’s ideas of dark and light. It -was a redundancy of life in these ideas, that made him associate light -with motion; as in those fine lines (Il. ii. 437), - - ὣς τῶν ἐρχομένων ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ θεσπεσίοιο - αἴγλη παμφανόωσα δι’ αἰθέρος οὐρανὸν ἷκεν. - -And, again, in the Arming of Achilles (Il. xix. 362), - - αἴγλη δ’ οὐρανὸν ἷκε, γέλασσε δὲ πᾶσα περὶ χθών. - -So, on the other hand, the idea of darkness went to animate -metaphysical conceptions, as in black fate, black death, black clouds -of death, black pains (Il. ii. 859, 834. xvi. 350. iv. 117). - -Naturalists tell us, that there exist kinds of creatures respecting -which it is known, that their organs are sensitive to light and -darkness, but with no perception whatever either of colour or of -form[856]. So far as respects form, Homer perceived keenly such forms -as were beautiful: but of mere geometrical form he may have had very -indistinct ideas, if we are to judge from his epithets for the form of -a shield. The parallel is nearer in the case of colour; for even his -perceptions were as yet undigested; as if they were novel, not aided by -tradition, acquired very much by himself, and fixed as yet neither by -custom nor nomenclature. - -[856] Wilson’s Five Gateways of Knowledge, p. 4. - -From the remains which have reached us of the colours of the ancients, -it has been found practicable to treat of them in precise detail[857]. -But, in examining the question from the works of Homer, we must bear -in mind, first, their very early date, and, secondly, the likelihood -that heroic Greece may probably have been far behind some countries of -the east in the use and in the idea of colour, which has always had a -privileged home there. - -[857] See, for instance, ‘Ancient and Modern Colours, by William -Linton.’ London 1852. - -~_Colour in the later Greek language._~ - -The tendency, however, to a mixture of the two questions of light and -colour appears to be traceable more or less in the popular language, -and likewise in the philosophy, of the later Greeks. - -In the classical period, the hues of the eye were divided, as μέλας the -darkest, χάροπος the intermediate, and γλαυκὸς the lightest. - -The word πράσινος, leek-green, appears to be quite adequate to the -expression of the colour. It is used by Aristotle; but I do not know -that it is found in the poets or writers of the best age. For the -classical Greek the idea of greenness is expressed by χλωρὸς, as -far as it is expressed at all. Now this word seems inadequate on two -grounds. First, its predominant idea is that of ‘fresh’ or ‘recent;’ -which is but accidentally, and not invariably, the property of those -objects in nature that are green. - -When we find the word χλωρὸς applied alike to objects of a green -colour, and to others that have no colour, (or else not in respect of -their colour,) but yet which are fresh or newly sprung, we are led to -conclude that it was for freshness, and not for greenness, that the -word was generally used. This idea is confirmed by two circumstances. -First, that when χλωρὸς does signify colour, as in the case of -paleness, (where it cannot mean what is fresh,) it signifies the most -indefinite and feeble colour, little more indeed than a negative. - -The meaning of χλωρὸν δεός is probably ashy-pale fear. In the green of -the olive we see the point of connection between this use of the term -on the one hand, and natural verdure on the other. So that the image of -the colour green, to the Greeks, was neither lively and bright on the -one hand, nor was it strong and deep on the other. - -The second circumstance is this: that the word χλωρὸς is applied by the -later Greeks to objects that have a colour, but a colour which is _not_ -green: and this by authors who had the full use of sight. Thus, in -Euripides, (Hecuba 124,) we have αἵματι χλωρῷ for blood freshly shed. -It seems plain that, when the epithet could be thus used, colour could -only be very carelessly and faintly conceived in the minds either of -those who used the expression, or of those to whom it was addressed. - -I shall not open the general subject of the treatment of colour by the -later Greeks, or by the Latin poets. But that it continued to be both -faint and indefinite down to a very late period, and in a degree which -would now be deemed very surprising, we may judge both from the general -tenour of the Æneid, and from the remarkable verse of Albinovanus, an -Augustan poet, which applied the epithet ‘purpureus’ to snow; - - Brachia purpureâ candidiora nive. - -Neither do I enter into the question, whether the shadows of white -may afford any ground for this epithet: because an answer, drawn from -the secrets as it were of science or art, could not avail for the -interpretation of the works of a poet, who must describe for the common -eye. - -So we may note the ‘cervix rosea’ of Horace[858], and of Virgil[859]. - -[858] Hor. Od. I. 13. 2. - -[859] Virg. Æn. i. 402. - -~_Greek philosophy of colour._~ - -Such examination as I have been able to make would lead me to suppose -whatever of this kind was crude or defective in the common ideas of -Greece was not without points of correspondence in its philosophy. - -The treatise Περὶ χρωμάτων, popularly ascribed to Aristotle, would -appear to belong to some other author. It, however, in conformity with -Greek ideas[860], bases the system of colour not, as we do, upon the -prismatic decomposition of light, but upon the four elements; of which -it declares air, water, and even earth when dry, to be white, fire -to be ξανθὸς or yellow; from the mixtures of these arise all other -colours, and σκότος, or black, is the absence of light. - -[860] Vid. Göthe, _Farbenlehre_, Works, vol. 53. p. 23. - -Dr. Prantl, a recent editor of this Treatise, has, in a learned Essay -of his own, gathered together the systems of the various Greek writers -upon colour; and especially that of Aristotle, from the testimony -afforded by his _Meteorologica_ and other works. It exhibits a curious -combination of the aim at scientific exactness, with the want of the -physical knowledge which is, in such matters, its necessary basis. Its -leading ideas appear to be as follows. - -If we pass by the mere metaphysical portion of the subject, the basis -of colour is laid theoretically in transparency and motion. With the -idea of whiteness are associated dryness and heat; and with blackness -their counterparts, wet and cold[861]. The air is white, fire the -highest form of white; water is black[862], earth the highest negation -of colour, and blackest of all. All other colours are treated as -intermediate between white and black[863]. An analogy prevails between -the intervals of the principal colours, and those of sound, taste -(χυμὸς), and other sensible objects. There are seven colours[864]: -namely, - -[861] Prantl’s Aristoteles über die Farben, pp. 101, 3. - -[862] Ibid. pp. 104, 6. - -[863] Ibid. p. 109. Ar. Metaph. I. 7. 1057 a. 23. - -[864] Ibid. p. 116. Ar. de Sens. 4. 442 a. 12. - - 1. μέλαν black. - 2. ξανθὸν gold. - 3. λευκὸν white. - 4. φοινικοῦν red. - 5. ἁλουργὸν violet. - 6. πράσινον green. - 7. κυανοῦν blue. - -The φαιὸν or grey is a mode of black (μέλαν τι); and the ξανθὸν is -ingeniously described as having the same relation to light, which -richness (λιπαρὸν) has to sweetness (γλυκύ). Red, φοινικοῦν or -πορφυροῦν, is light seen through black. This is the most positive -colour after ξανθόν; then comes green, and then (ἁλουργὸν) violet[865]. -He proceeds, ἔτι δὲ τὸ πλεῖον οὔκετι φαίνεται; meaning, I suppose, that -the κυανοῦν (the same thing is said by Prantl of ὄρφνιον, which he -translates brown) is so closely akin to the negative, or blackness, as -to be indistinguishable from it. Thus Aristotle appears to treat grey -as outside his scale altogether; he gives πορφυροῦν sometimes to red -and sometimes to blue[866]; and ὄρφνιον or brown is wholly omitted. -His order likewise varies: for, in different passages, ἁλουργὸν and -πράσινον change places. - -[865] Ibid. p. 118. Met. III. 4. 374 b. 31. - -[866] Comp. Met. I. 5. 342 b. 4. with III. 4. 374 a. 27. - -~_Nature of our advantage over Homer._~ - -This condition of the philosophy of colour, so many centuries after -Homer, and in the mind of such a man as Aristotle, may assist in -explaining to us the undeveloped state of Homer’s perceptions in this -particular department. - -There appears to be a remarkable contrast between such undigested -ideas, and the solidity, truth, and firmness of the remains of colour -that have come down to us from the ancients. The explanation, I -suppose, is, that those, who had to make practical use of colour, did -not wait for the construction of a philosophy, but added to their -apparatus from time to time all substances which, having come within -their knowledge, were found to produce results satisfactory and -improving to the eye. And even so Homer, though his organ was little -trained in the discrimination of colours, and though he founded himself -mainly upon mere modifications of light apart from its decomposition, -yet has made very bold and effective use of these limited materials. -His figures in no case jar, while they never fail to strike. Nor are -we to suppose that we see in this department an exception to that -comparative profusion of power which marked his endowments in general, -and that he bore, in the particular point, a crippled nature; but -rather we are to learn that the perceptions so easy and familiar to -us are the results of a slow traditionary growth in knowledge and in -the training of the human organ, which commenced long before we took -our place in the succession of mankind. We exemplify, even in this -apparently simple matter, the old proverbial saying: ‘The dwarf sees -further than the giant, for he is lifted on the giant’s shoulders.’ - - - _Note on the meaning of κύανος and χαλκός._ - - The first impression from the Homeric text is likely to be that - κύανος is a metal. For the substantive is mentioned but thrice in - Homer; and always in immediate connection with metals. - - 1. Il. xi. 24. Upon the buckler of Agamemnon there are, with twelve - οἶμοι, folds, rims, or plies, of gold, and twenty of tin, ten of - κύανος (μέλανος κυάνοιο). - - 2. Il. xi. 34. On the shield of the king, there were twenty white - bosses of tin, and, in the middle, one of κύανος (μέλανος κυάνοιο). - - 3. Od. vii. 86. The walls of the palace of Alcinous were coated with - χαλκὸς within, and round about them there was a cornice or fringe - (θριγκὸς) of κύανος. - - There is no doubt that, in later Greek at least, the word acquired - other significations: such as _lapis lazuli_, the blue cornflower, - the rockbird (also as being blue), and, lastly, a blue dye or - lacquer[867]. But, moreover, it seems impossible to identify the - κύανος of Homer with any metal in particular. - - [867] Liddell and Scott _in voc._ Millin, Minéralogie Homérique, p. - 149. - - Some have asserted the κύανος of Homer to be steel[868]. But to this - there seem to be conclusive objections. It appears very doubtful, - whether the Greeks were acquainted with the process of making steel - in masses by the immersion of iron in water. The English translation - of Beckmann’s History of Inventions ascribes the knowledge of the - process to Homer; but apparently in error[869]. There is no allusion - whatever to it: for it is not at all implied by the elementary - process of the manufacture of a tool in Od ix. 391-3. It was only - by fire that iron could be made malleable at all: and no doubt it - was known that by its immersion in water hardness was restored or - increased (τὸ γὰρ αὖτε σιδήρου γε κράτος ἐστίν). But we have no - trace either of the repetition of the process on the same piece of - metal, or of its application to unmanufactured iron, or of a new - denomination for iron when thus heated and cooled. On the contrary, - in this passage the metal when fully hardened is still declared to be - σίδηρος: and we have nowhere in Homer any trace of a relation between - κύανος and σίδηρος, except the merely negative one, that neither of - them is cast into the furnace for making the Shield of Achilles. - - [868] Friedreich, Realien, § 21. p. 86. - - [869] Vol. ii. p. 325. - - Again, the hardness of iron was such as apparently met all their - wishes, and almost of itself constituted a difficulty. Hence it is - used along with stones as a symbol of hardness; ἐπεὶ οὔ σφι λίθος - χρὼς ἠὲ σίδηρος[870]. Again, we do not find it worked up with other - metals; for example, on the buckler or shield of Agamemnon. As we - have seen, it is not used by Vulcan in making the shield of Achilles. - The god casts into the fire gold and silver, copper and tin; lead - being apparently excluded as too soft, and iron as too hard for - working in masses with the other metals. But the idea of hardness - is never associated with κύανος; and, if it had been hard like - steel, certainly it would not have been a suitable material for the - intricate forms of dragons. - - [870] Il. iv. 510. - - Again, the adjective κυάνεος means in colour what is blue and what - is deep; and by no means corresponds with the ordinary colour of - steel. All this, besides the strength of the negative evidence, seems - inconsistent with the idea that κύανος can have been steel. - - The Compiler of the Index to Eustathius makes κύανος (_in voc._) - simply a dark metal. But Millin argues that κύανος without an epithet - is tin, and that with the epithet μέλας it is lead. He observes that - Pliny[871] appears to call tin by the name of _plumbum_ simply, and - lead by the name of _plumbum nigrum_: so that the double use of - κύανος and κασσίτερος for tin would be like that of _plumbum_ and - _stannum_ for the same metal in Latin. This idea treats the substance - as taking its name from the colour: and is so far sustained by the - use of the German _blei_, which I presume is the same word as _blau_, - for lead. But it would be singular that Homer should thus have double - names for two metals, which of all classes of objects have perhaps - been most commonly designated by single ones. And this hypothesis - is not in accordance with the evident meaning of κυάνεος in Homer; - since the word indicates a dark and deep hue very far from that of - tin, which Homer describes as white. The after use of κύανος is - equally adverse to the interpretation suggested. - - [871] H. N. xxxiv. 16. s. 47. - - The most probable interpretation for this difficult word appears - to be that which is also in accordance with its subsequent use and - description as a colour. From Linton’s ‘Ancient and Modern Colours,’ - (p. 21,) it appears that there was a κύανος αὐτοφυὴς, which was a - _native_ blue carbonate of copper: and that, according to the express - testimony of Dioscorides, this was obtained by the ancients from - the copper-mines: κύανος δὲ γεννᾶται μὲν ἐν Κύπρῳ ἐκ τῶν χαλκουργῶν - μετάλλων, v. 106. This interpretation would account for our finding - κύανος in Homer: for the rarity of its use: for the dark colour and - the affinity to πορφύρεος. Such a substance would make a good relief - for the cornice in the palace of Alcinous, against the copper-plated - walls: and would stand well in the rest of the passages where it - appears to be placed in relief with other metals, Il. xviii. 564, - xi. 39, and even on the buckler of Agamemnon, xi. 24. For on this - buckler, though the serpents, called κυάνεοι, are evidently placed - in contrast with the οἶμοι, and though among the οἶμοι there are ten - of κύανος, yet, as they are combined with twelve of gold and twenty - of tin, the general effect would be one such as we need not suppose - Homer to have rejected. This blue carbonate is still found among - other copper-ores, but less in our deep mines, than in the shallow - ones worked by the ancients. I understand from a gentleman versed - in metallurgy, that in its purest form it is crystalline, rarely - massive or earthy, of a deep azure, brittle, easily powdered, and - thus readily converted to use as a pigment. - - I should therefore suppose that the κύανος is not a metal: that the - οἶμοι on the buckler mean lines or bands coloured in pigment: and - that the boss on the shield is probably a nodule of the substance - in its native state. We can thus understand why κύανος is not used - either with the gold, silver, χαλκὸς, and tin, in the forge of - Vulcan, or with the gold, silver, iron, and χαλκὸς of the chariot - of Juno[872]. We can also understand why, though κύανος is not used - in the forge, yet the trench round the vineyard on the shield of - Achilles is κυανεή[873]. This interpretation is also in conformity - with the Homeric employment of the adjective κυάνεος. - - [872] Il. xviii. 474. v. 722. - - [873] Ibid. 564. - - I understand that there is, in the _Museo Borbonico_ at Naples, a - spoon or ladle, with a boss on the end of the handle, which is formed - of this native blue carbonate of copper bored through for the purpose. - - Of the four significations given to χαλκὸς in Homer (copper, brass, - bronze, and iron[874]), I adhere to the first. It cannot be iron, - (1) because it is never mentioned as hard in the same way with it, - (2) because it is so much more common, (3) because these metals are - expressly distinguished one from the other, as in Il. v. 723. - - [874] Eustath. Il. i. p. 93. - - Neither can the χαλκὸς of Homer be bronze. Not, however, from - absolute want of hardness: for I learn from competent authority that - very good cutting instruments (not, of course, equal to steel) may be - made in a bronze composed of 87½ parts copper, and 12½ parts tin. But - for the following reasons: - - 1. Homer always speaks of it as a pure metal along with other pure - metals, even where Vulcan casts it into the furnace to be wrought; - Il. xviii. 474. - - 2. Again, because, although we must not argue too confidently from - Homer’s epithets of colour, yet in this case we may lay considerable - stress not only on his χαλκὸς ἐρυθρὸς (since the ἐρυθρὸς of Homer - leans to brightness), but upon the ἤνοψ and νώροψ, which mean bright - and gleaming. These epithets of light would not apply to bronze: nor - would Homer plate with bronze the walls of the palace of Alcinous. - Neither does it appear likely that he would give us a heaven of - bronze among the imposing imagery of battle, Il. xvii. 424. - - 3. It does not appear that Homer knew anything at all of the fusion - or alloying of metals. - - We have, then, to conclude that χαλκὸς was copper, hardened by some - method; as some think by the agency of water: or else, and more - probably, according to a very simple process, by cooling slowly in - the air. (See Millin, Minéralogie Homérique, pp. 126-32.) - - -SECT. V.[875] - -[875] The substance of this and the two following Sections formed two -Articles in the Quarterly Review, Nos. 201 and 203, for January and -July respectively, 1857. They are reprinted with the obliging approval -of Mr. Murray. - -_Homer and some of his Successors in Epic Poetry: in particular, Virgil -and Tasso._ - -~_Milton and Dante in relation to Homer._~ - -The great Epic poets of the world are members of a brotherhood still -extremely limited, and, as far as appears, not likely to be enlarged. -It may indeed well be disputed, with respect to some of the existing -claimants, whether they are or are not entitled to stand upon the -Golden Book. There will also be differences of opinion as to the -precedence among those, whose right to appear there is universally -confessed. Pretensions are sometimes advanced under the influence of -temporary or national partialities, which the silent action of the -civilized mind of the world after a time effectually puts down. Among -these there could be none more obviously untenable, than that set up on -behalf of Milton in the celebrated Epigram of Dryden, which seemed to -place him at the head of the poets of the world, and made him combine -all the great qualities of Homer and of Virgil. Somewhat similar ideas -were broached by Cowper in his Table Talk. The lines, as they are less -familiarly remembered, may be quoted here: - - Ages elapsed ere Homer’s lamp appeared, - And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard; - To carry Nature lengths unknown before, - To give a Milton birth, asked ages more. - -But this great master is also subject to undue depreciation, as well -as flattered by extravagant worship. I myself have been assured in a -company composed of Professors of a German University, who were ardent -admirers of Shakespeare, that within the sphere of their knowledge -Milton was only regarded as of equal rank with Klopstock. It is not, -I trust, either national vanity or religious prejudice, nor is it -the mere wonder inspired by the wide range of his attainments and -performances, which makes England claim that he should be numbered in -the first class of epic poets; in that class of which Homer is the -head, distinguished before all competitors by a clear and even a vast -superiority. - -It would be difficult to institute any satisfactory comparison between -Milton and Homer; so different, so wanting in points of contact, are -the characters partly of the men, and even much more of their works. -Perhaps the greatest and the most pervading merit of the Iliad is, its -fidelity and vividness as a mirror of man and of the visible sphere -in which he lived, with its infinitely varied imagery both actual and -ideal. But that which most excites our admiration in Milton is the -elasticity and force of genius, by which he has travelled beyond the -human sphere, and bodied forth to us new worlds in the unknown, peopled -with inhabitants who must be so immeasurably different from our own -race. Homer’s task was one, which admitted of and received what we may -call a perfect accomplishment; Milton’s was an undertaking beyond the -strength of man, incapable of anything more than faint adumbration, -and one of which, the more elevated the spectator’s point of view, the -more keenly he must find certain defects glare upon him. The poems of -Milton give us reason to think that his conceptions of character were -masculine and powerful; but the subject did not admit of their being -effectually tested. For his nearest approaches to perfection in his -art, we must look beyond his epics. - -A comparison between Milton and Dante would be somewhat more -practicable, but it would not accord with the composition of the group, -which I shall here attempt to present, and which has Homer for its -centre. On the other hand, Dante might, far better than Milton, be -compared with Homer; for while he is in the Purgatorio and Paradiso -far more heavenly than Milton, he is also throughout the _Divina -Commedia_ truly and profoundly human. He is incessantly conversant with -the nature and the life of man; and though for the most part he draws -us, as Flaxman has drawn him, in outline only, yet by the strength and -depth of his touch he has produced figures, for example, Francesca and -Ugolino, that have as largely become the common property of mankind, -if not as Achilles and Ulysses, yet as Lear and Hamlet. Still the -theological basis, and the extra-terrene theatre, of Dante’s poem -remove him to a great distance from Homer, from whom he seems to have -derived little, and with whom we may therefore feel assured he could -have been but little acquainted. - -The poets, whom it is most natural to compare with Homer, are those -who have supplied us in the greatest abundance with points of contact -between their own orbits and his, and who at the same time are such -manifest children of genius as to entitle them to the honour of being -worsted in such a conflict. These conditions I presume to be most -clearly fulfilled by Virgil and Tasso; and we may begin with the elder -of the pair. - -Perhaps Chapman has gone too far when he says ‘Virgil hath nothing of -his own, but only elocution; his invention, matter, and form, being -all Homer’s[876].’ Yet no small part of this sweeping proposition can -undoubtedly be made good. - -[876] Commentary on Il. ii. - -With an extraordinary amount of admitted imitation and of obvious -similarity on the surface, the Æneid stands, as to almost every -fundamental particular, in the strongest contrast with the Iliad. As -to metre, figures, names, places, persons and times, the two works, -where they do not actually concur, stand in as near relations one to -another, as seem to be attainable without absolute identity of subject; -yet it may be doubted whether any two great poems can be named, which -are so profoundly discordant upon almost every point that touches -their interior spirit; upon everything that relates to the truth of -our nature, to the laws of thought and action, and to veracity in the -management of the higher subjects, such as history, morality, polity, -and religion. - -~_Contrast between form and spirit in the Æneid._~ - -The immense powers of Virgil as a poet had been demonstrated before he -wrote the Æneid. He had shown their full splendour in the Georgics; -though the ἦθος, or (so to speak) the heart, even of that great -work was touched with paralysis by his Epicurean and self-centring -philosophy. The Æneid does not bear a fainter impression of his genius. -The wonderfully sustained beauty and majesty of its verse, the imposing -splendour of its most elaborate delineations, the power of the author -in unfolding, when he strives to do it, the resources of passion, and -even perhaps the skill which he has shown in the general construction -of his plot, cannot be too highly praised. But while its general nature -as an epic (for the epic poem is preeminently ethical) brought its -defects into fuller view, the particular object he proposed to himself -was fatal to the attainment of the very highest excellence. While -Homer sang for national glory, the poem of Virgil is toned throughout -to a spirit of courtierlike adulation. No muse, however vigorous, can -maintain an upright gait under so base a burden. - -~_Catalogue in the Iliad and in the Æneid._~ - -And yet, in regard to its external form, the Æneid is perhaps, as a -whole, the most majestic poem that the European mind has in any age -produced. We often hear of the lofty march of the Iliad; but though -its versification is always appropriate and therefore never mean, -it only rises into stateliness, or into a high-pitched sublimity, -when Homer has occasion to brace his energies for an effort. He is -invariably true to his own conception of the bard[877], as one who -should win and delight the soul of the hearer; and so, when he has -strung himself, like a bow, for some great passage of his action, -‘has brought the string to the breast, the iron to the wood,’ and -has hit his mark, straightway he unbends himself again. Thus he -ushers in with true grandeur the marshalling of the Greek army in the -Second Book, partly by the invocation of the Muses, and partly by an -assemblage of no less than six consecutive similes, which describe -respectively the flash of the Greek arms, the resounding tramp, the -swarming numbers, the settling down of the ranks as they form the -line, the busy marshalling by the commanders, the majesty of Agamemnon -preeminent among them[878]. Having done this, he sets himself about -the Catalogue, with no contempt indeed of poetical embellishment by -epithets, and with an occasional relief by short legends, but still -in the main as a matter of business, historical, geographical, and -topographical. And thus he proceeds, with perfect tranquillity, for -near three hundred lines, until his work is done. We then find that -he has given us, together with a most minute account of the forces, -a living map of the territories occupied by the Greek races of the -age. But Virgil, in his imitation of the Homeric Catalogue (upon -which there will be further occasion to comment hereafter, with -reference to other matters), has pursued a course quite different. -Waiving Homer’s gorgeous introduction, which pours from a single -point a broad stream of splendour over the whole, Virgil with vast, -and indeed rather painful, effort, carries us through his long-drawn -list at a laboriously-sustained elevation. To vary the wearisome -task, he uses every diversity of turn that language and grammar can -supply[879]. He passes from nominative to vocative, and from vocative -to nominative. Somebody was present, and then somebody was not absent. -Arms and accoutrements are got up as minutely, as if he had been a -careful master of costumes dressing a new drama for the stage. That -we may never be let down for a moment, he distributes here and there -the similes, which Homer accumulated at the opening, and introduces, -between the accounts of military contingents, legends of twenty or more -lines. Upon the whole, the level of his verse through the Catalogue, -instead of being, like Homer’s, decidedly lower, is even higher than is -usual with him. There is not in it, I think, a single verse approaching -to the _sermo pedestris_. His reader misses that tranquillizing relief -so agreeable in Homer, which varies as it were the play of the muscles, -and freshens the faculties for a return to higher efforts. Virgil seems -to treat us, as horses at a certain stage of their decline are treated -by experienced drivers, who keep them going from fear that, if they -once let them stop or slacken, they will be unable to get up their pace -again. He never unbends his bow. But a table-land may be as flat, and -even wearisome, as a plain; and the ornaments in the Æneid frequently -are not, and indeed could hardly be, more ornamental than the passages -which they purport to embellish. - -[877] Od. xvii. 385. - -[878] Il. ii. 455-83. - -[879] See also Lessing’s Laocoon, c. xviii. respecting the Shield in -the Æneid. - -The difference of the two Catalogues cannot be more clearly exhibited -than by comparing Homer’s description of the very first contingent, -that from Bœotia[880], with Virgil’s opening paragraph about Mezentius; -or Homer’s last and nearly simplest, on the Magnesians[881], with the -description of Camilla, (certainly a description of remarkable beauty,) -with which is closed the glittering procession of the Italian army in -the Æneid. - -[880] Il. ii. 494-510. Æn. vii. 647-54. - -[881] Il. ii. 756-9. Æn. vii. 803-17. - -The sustained stateliness of diction, metre, and rhythm in the Æneid -is a feat, and an astounding feat; but it is more like the performance -of a trained athlete, between trick and strength, than the grandeur -of free and simple Nature, such as it is seen in the ancient warrior, -in Diomed or Achilles; or in Homer, the ancient warrior’s only bard. -Different persons will, according to their temperaments, be apt to -treat this augustness of diction as a merit or a fault: all, however, -must acknowledge it to be a wonder. In this respect Virgil has been -followed with no ordinary power, but yet not equalled, by Tasso. And -the impression, created in this respect by the Æneid as it stands, must -be heightened when we remember that it is still an unfinished poem, -and that the author had at his decease by no means brought it, and the -later books of it in particular, up to what he considered the proper -standard. - -The immense and untold amount of imitation in Virgil has perhaps tended -to make us less than duly sensible of his vast original powers; and -the mean and feeble effects produced by the character, if we can call -it a character, of his Æneas, cheat us into an untrue supposition that -he could not have possessed a real power of this the highest kind of -delineation. - -~_Character of Æneas._~ - -It is perhaps hardly possible to exhaust the topics of censure which -may be justly used against the Æneas of Virgil. His moral deficiencies -are not (so to speak) hidden amidst the accomplishments of a manly -intellect, nor his intellectual mediocrity redeemed by any fresh and -genuine virtues. He is not, to our knowledge, a statesman; nay more, -he is not a warrior; for we feel that his battles and feats of war are -the poet’s, and not his: and when he appears in arms we are tempted -to ask, ‘Son of Venus, what business have you here?’ The violent -exaggerations, by which Virgil attempts to vamp up his hero’s martial -character, only produce the ψυχρὸν of Longinus; a cold reaction, -approaching to a shudder, through the reader’s mind. As, for instance, -when in the Shades below, the poet represents the Greek chieftains[882] -as trembling and flying at the sight of him, the nobleness of the -verses cannot excuse either the tasteless solecism of the thought, -or the profanation offered to the memory of Homer in the person of -his heroes, who indeed often made Æneas tremble, but never trembled -at him themselves. But Virgil goes further yet, when he makes Diomed -assert[883] that, having been engaged in single combat with Æneas, he -knows by experience how terrible a warrior he will prove; and that, had -there been two more such men, Troy would have conquered Greece, and -not Greece Troy. Now, Æneas never in the Iliad even once executes a -real feat of war; and as to the single combat between the two chiefs, -Diomed first knocked him down with a stone[884], and then, after he had -been carried off and apparently set to rights by his mother, he was -thrice saved from the deadly charge of the same warrior by the single -intervention of Apollo, who by divine force arrested the attack. In -passing, it may be observed that, since Virgil could, with impunity, as -it appears, so far as his popularity was concerned, thus mutilate and -falsify the author from whose wealth he so largely borrowed, either the -knowledge of Greek literature in its head and father, Homer, must have -been very low among even the educated Romans, or else their standard of -taste must have been seriously debased before they could accept such -compliments. - -[882] At Danaûm proceres, etc.--Æn. vi. 489. - -[883] Æn. xi. 282-7. - -[884] Il. v. 302-10. - -It is common to find fault with Æneas for his vile conduct to Dido, and -for the wretched excuse he offers in his own behalf, when he encounters -her offended spirit in the regions of Aidoneus and Persephone. But the -truth is, that this fairly exhibits and illustrates not only the total -unreality of this particular character, but, as will be further noticed -presently, the feeble and deteriorated conception of human nature at -large, which Virgil seems to have formed. Man has been treated by him -as, on the whole, but a shallow being: he had not sounded the depths of -the heart, nor measured either the strength of good or the strength of -evil that may abide in it. The Virgilian Æneas is a made up thing, far -fitter to stand among the νεκύων ἀμένηνα κάρηνα, than among men of true -flesh and blood. - - Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; - Thou hast no speculation in those eyes - Which thou dost glare with[885]. - -[885] Macbeth iii. 3. - -Nor can we draw an apology for the defects of this primary character -in Virgil from the Æneas of Homer. The Dardanian Prince is indeed -in the Iliad, as to everything essential, a taciturn and background -figure. He is placed very high in station and authority, and, as we -have seen[886], he may probably have been, by the dignity of lineal -descent, the head of the whole Trojan race. But Homer pays him off -with generalities; for, as no Poet is greater in the really creative -work of character, so none better understands how, where the purpose -of his poem requires it, to take a lay figure, and stuff him out with -straw. In what may be called the vital action of the Iliad, Æneas has -no considerable share, either martial or political. He is very far -indeed behind the noble Sarpedon in the first capacity, and Polydamas -in the second, as well as Hector in both. Still, if there is in the -Homeric Æneas nothing grand, nothing vigorous, nothing profound, -there is on the other hand nothing over-prominent or pretentious, and -therefore nothing mean, nothing inconsistent, nothing untrue. All the -Homeric characters, down to Thersites, are drawn each in its way with -a master’s hand; Æneas forms no exception: on the contrary, we have -to admire the skill with which, in a kind of middle distance, his -outline is filled up, and he is kept entirely clear of any confusion -with either those greater characters on the Trojan side, who have been -named, or with the effeminate Paris. This is the more worthy of note, -because, as the favourite child of Venus, he bore a qualified and dim -resemblance to her chief minion; as we may see by certain traits of his -very negative bearing in the field, and by Apollo’s putting him (if -the phrase may be allowed) to bed in Pergamus[887], when he had been -rescued from Diomed, just as Venus had done with Paris, after she had -saved him in the Third Book from Menelaus[888]. - -[886] Achæis, or Ethnology, sect. ix. p. 491. - -[887] Il. v. 445. - -[888] Il. iii. 382. - -Neither did Virgil fail in the delineation of his hero, or -‘protagonist,’ from simple want of power to portray human character. No -such want can be ascribed to the poet of the Fourth Book of the Æneid. -And if it be true that, amidst all the stormy wildness and intensity of -the passion of Dido, there is something not quite natural--something -that recalls the very remarkable imitation of it in the ‘Duchesse de -la Vallière’ of Madame de Genlis, and leaves us almost at a loss to -say which of the two has most the character of a copy, and which of -an original--what are we to say of the genuine and manly character of -Turnus? The whole of that sketch is as good and true as we can desire; -and the noble speech in particular, in which he rebukes the trim -cowardice of Drances, is a work of such extraordinary power and merit, -that it is fit (and this I take for the summit of all eulogies) even to -have been spoken by the Achilles of Homer. In vigorous reasoning, in -biting sarcasm, in chivalrous sentiment, and in indignant passion, it -presents a combination not easily to be matched; and it is, as a whole, -admirably adapted to the oratorical purpose, for which it is presumed -to have been delivered. But, indeed, from our first view of Turnus to -our last, we do not find in him a single trait feeble in itself, or -unworthy of the masculine idea and intention of the portrait, except -where, in the very last passage of his life, his free agency seems to -be taken, as it were by force, out of his hands. - -~_The false position of Virgil._~ - -The failure in the Æneas of Virgil cannot be compared with the case of -any modern romance, such as the Waverley or Old Mortality of Scott, -where the hero may be an insipid person. All the greater modern -inventors have been compelled to lay their foundations in the palpable -breadth of some historic event: it was the prouder distinction of the -Homeric epic, that it had a living centre; it hung upon a man; there -was enough of vital power in Homer for this end: his Achilles and his -Ulysses were each an Atlas, that sustained the world in which they -also moved. Virgil made his poem an Æneid, instead of following the -example of the Cyclic poets; he thus pledged himself to his readers, -that Æneas should be its centre, its pole, its inward light and life. -But he did not keep his word: he had drawn the bow of Homer without -Homer’s force. He marks perhaps the final transition from the old epic -of the first class to the new. After him we have the epics of fact, the -Pharsalia, the Thebaid, and so forth. But Æneas stands before us with -the pretensions of Achilles and Ulysses; and the failure is great in -proportion to the gigantic scale of the attempt. When, in the Italian -romance, the character of the ideal man, as shown in Orlando, again -became the basis of new epic poems, we again find in the protagonist -great weakness indeed, as compared with Achilles and Ulysses; but -strength and success as compared with the Æneas of Virgil. - -Upon the whole we are thrown back on the supposition that this crying -vice of the Æneid, the feebleness and untruth of the character of -Æneas, was due to the false position of Virgil, who was obliged to -discharge his functions as a poet in subjection to his dominant -obligations and liabilities as a courtly parasite of Augustus. As -the entire poem, so the character of its hero, was, before all other -things, an instrument for glorifying the Emperor of Rome. It at once -followed, that in all respects must that character be such as to avoid -suggesting a comparison disadvantageous to the person whose dignity, -for political ends, had already been elevated even into the unseen -world; nay, whose forestalled divinity was to be kept in a relation -of absolute and broad superiority to the image of his human ancestor. -Æneas is himself addressed in the action of the Æneid, as - - Dîs genite, et geniture deos. - -In order to arrive at the disastrous effects of this mental servitude, -take, first, the measure of the cold and unheroic character of -Augustus; then estimate the degree of relative superiority, which it -was essential to Virgil’s position that he should preserve for him -throughout; and thus we may come to some practical conception of the -straitness of the space within which Virgil had to develop his Æneas, -or, in other words, to run his match against Homer. All the faults, and -all the faultiness, of his poem may be really owing, in a degree none -can say how great, to this original falseness of position. - -On account of the personal principle on which the ancient epic was -constructed, failure in the character of the hero must almost of -necessity have entailed failure in the poem. Most of all would this -follow in a case where, as in the Æneid, the hero is never out of view, -and where the action does not, as in the Iliad, travel away from his -person, in order then to enhance the splendour and effectiveness of his -reappearance. Thus the falseness of Virgil’s position was not confined -to an individual character, but extended to his entire work. Living, -too, in an age less natural and more critical than that of Homer, he -provided against criticism, so far as regarded its merely technical -functions, more, and he studied nature less. He had to construct his -epic for a court, and a corrupt court, not for mankind at large; it -followed, that he could not take his stand upon those deep and broad -foundations in human nature itself, which gave Homer a position of -universal command. Hence as a general rule he does not sing from the -heart, nor to the heart. His touches of genuine nature are rare. Such -of them as occur have been carefully noted and applauded, for he is -always studious to set them off by choice and melodious diction. For my -own part, I find scarcely any among them so true as the simile of the -mother labouring with her maidens at night, which he owes to Homer[889]: - -[889] Hom. Il. xii. 433. - - Castum ut servare cubile - Conjugis, et possit parvos educere natos[890]. - -[890] Æn. viii. 407-13. - -~_As to religion, liberty, and nationality._~ - -With rare exceptions, the reader of Virgil finds himself utterly at a -loss to see at any point the soul of the poet reflected in his work. We -cannot tell, amidst the splendid phantasmagoria, where is his heart, -where lie his sympathies. In Homer a genial spirit, breathed from the -Poet himself, is translucent through the whole; in the Æneid we look in -vain almost for a single ray of it. Again, Virgil lived at a time when -the prevailing religion had lost whatever elements of real influence -that of Homer’s era either possessed in its own right, or inherited -from pristine tradition. It was undermined at once by philosophy and -by licentiousness; and it subsisted only as a machinery, a machinery, -too, already terribly discredited, for civil ends. Thus he lost one -great element of truth and nature, as well as of sublimity and pathos. -The extinction of liberty utterly deprived him of another. Homer saw -before him both a religion and a polity young, fresh, and vigorous; for -Virgil both were practically dead: and whatever this world has of true -greatness is so closely dependent upon them, that it was not his fault -if his poem felt and bears cogent witness to the loss. Even the sphere -of personal morality was not open to him; for what principle of truth -or righteousness could he worthily have glorified, without passing -severe condemnation on some capital act of the man, whom it was his -chief obligation to exalt? - -And once more. Homer sang to his own people of the glorious deeds of -their sires, to whom they were united by fond recollection, and by -near historic and local ties. This was at once a stimulus and a check; -it cheered his labour, and at the same time it absolutely required -him to study moral harmony and consistency. Virgil sang to Romans of -the deeds of those who were not Romans, and whom only a most hollow -fiction connected with his hearers, through the dim vista of a thousand -years, and under circumstances which made the pretence to historical -continuity little better than ridiculous. Or rather, he sang thus, not -to Romans, but to their Emperor; he had to bear in mind, not the great -fountains of emotion in the human heart, but his town-house on the -Esquiline, and his country-house on the road from Naples to Pozzuoli. -In dealing with Greeks, with Trojans, with Carthaginians, he again lost -Homer’s double advantage: he had nothing to give a healthy stimulus -to his imagination, and nothing to bring him or to keep him to the -standard of truth and nature. And here, perhaps, we hit upon some clue -to the superior character and attractions of Turnus. The Poet was now -for once upon true national ground: he was an Italian minstrel, singing -to Italians, whether truly or mythically is of less consequence, about -an Italian hero. Thus he had something like the proper materials to -work with; and the result is one worthy of his noble powers, though -it has the strange consequence of setting all the best sympathies of -his readers, and of implying that his own were already set, in direct -opposition to the ostensible purpose of his poem. - -It appears, however, as if this great and splendid Poet, being -thrown out of his true bearings in regard to all the deeper sources -of interest on which an epic writer must depend, such as religion, -patriotism, and liberty, became consequently reckless, alike in major -and in minor matters, as to all the inner harmonies of his work, and -contented himself with the most unwearied and fastidious labours in its -outward elaboration, where he could give scope to his extraordinary -powers of versification and of diction without fear of stumbling upon -anything unfit for the artificial atmosphere of the Roman court. The -consequence is, that a vein of untruthfulness runs throughout the whole -Æneid, as strong and as remarkable as is the genuineness of thought and -feeling in the Homeric poems. Homer walks in the open day, Virgil by -lamplight. Homer gives us figures that breathe and move, Virgil usually -treats us to waxwork. Homer has the full force and play of the drama, -Virgil is essentially operatic. From Virgil back to Homer is a greater -distance, than from Homer back to life. - -~_Homer is misapprehended through Virgil._~ - -But more. Virgil is at once the copyist of Homer, and, for the -generality of educated men, his interpreter[891]. In all modern Europe -taken together, Virgil has had ten who read him, and ten who remember -him, for one that Homer could show. Taking this in conjunction with the -great extent of the ground they occupy in common, we may find reason to -think that the traditional and public idea of Homer’s works, throughout -the entire sphere of the Western civilization, has been formed, to a -much greater degree than could at first be supposed, by the Virgilian -copies from him. This is only to say, in other words, that it has been -sadly impaired, not to say seriously falsified; for there is scarcely -a point of vital moment, in which Virgil follows Homer faithfully, or -represents him either fairly or completely. Now this traditional idea -is not only the stock idea that governs the indifferent public, but -it is likewise the idea with which the individual student starts, and -which governs him until he has reached such a point in his progress as -to discover the necessity, and be conscious moreover of the strength, -to throw it off. This, however, is a point that, from the nature of -human life and its pursuits, very few students indeed can reach at -all. Elsewhere we shall see, with what evil and untrue effect Virgil -has handled some of the Homeric characters. It is the same in every -minor trait; and it seems strange that so great a Poet should not have -had enough of reverence for another Poet, greater still and enshrined -in almost the worship of all ages, to have restrained him from such -constant and wanton, as well as wilful, mutilations of the Homeric -tradition. It would, however, appear that Virgil’s miscarriages are not -all due to carelessness, in the common sense of it. In many instances, -unless so far as they can be referred to the necessities that press -upon a courtier, it would seem as if they must be ascribable to torpor -in the faculties, or defect in the habit of mind, by which Homer should -have been appreciated. Nay, sometimes he appears to have been moved -simply by metrical convenience to alter the traditions of Homer. Let us -take first a minor instance to test this assertion. - -[891] In Dibdin’s ‘Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics,’ we find -nineteen editions of Virgil between 1469 and 1478. The _Princeps_ -of Homer was only printed in 1488. Panzer, according to Dibdin, -enumerates ninety editions of Virgil in the 15th century (ii. 540.). -Mr. Hallam says (Lit. Eur., i. 420.), ‘Ariosto has been _after Homer_ -the favourite poet of Europe.’ I presume this distinguished writer does -not mean to imply that Homer has been more read than any other poet. -Can his words mean that Homer has been more approved? It is worth while -to ask the question: for the judgments of Mr. Hallam are like those of -Minos, and reach into the future. - -Nothing can be more marked than the prominence of the Scamander as -compared with the Simois in Homer. The Simois is named by him only six -times, and none of the passages show it to have been a considerable -stream. In the Twenty-first Book[892], Scamander invites Simois to join -him in pouring forth the flood which was to bear away Achilles, but -his ‘brother’ neither replies, nor takes part in the action. It would -appear, indeed, from geographical considerations, which belong to the -topography of the Troad, that in the summer Simois was probably dry. -This entirely accords with the passage in which this river supplies -ἀμβροσίη[893], a figure, as may be presumed, of grass, for the horses -of Juno. At any rate, that passage is at variance with the idea of the -river as a tearing torrent. Again, Homer mentions[894] that many heroes -fell, he does not say in, but about, the stream: above all, he does not -say they fell into its waters, but in the dust of it, or near it: - -[892] Il. xxi. 307, et seqq. - -[893] Il. v. 777. - -[894] Il. xii. 22. - - καὶ Σιμόεις, ὅθι πολλὰ βοάγρια καὶ τρυφάλειαι - κάππεσον ἐν κονίῃσι. - -Again, Scamander is personified as the god Xanthus, and plays a great -part in the action: Simois is not personified at all. Scamander is -δῖος, διοτρεφὴς and much besides: Simois has no epithets. Simoeisius is -the son of Anthemion, a person of secondary account; but Scamandrius is -the name given by Hector to his boy. Simois, for all we know, may have -been either a dry bed, or little better than a rivulet; but armed men -are thrown into Scamander, and whirled by him to the sea. Lastly, the -plain where the Greek army was reviewed is λειμὼν Σκαμάνδριος, πέδιον -Σκαμάνδριον. Now a right conception of these rivers is not altogether -an insignificant affair, but is material to the clearness of our ideas -upon the military action of the poem. What then has Virgil done with -them? He has simply reversed the Homeric representation. Xanthus is -with him the unmarked river, Simois is the mighty torrent. Witness -these passages: - - Mitto ea, quæ muris bellando exhausta sub altis, - Quos Simois premat ille viros. (Æn. xi. 256.) - -Again: - - Victor apud rapidum Simoenta sub Ilio alto. (Æn. v. 261.) - -And most of all, the passage which he has directly carried off from -Homer, and corrupted it on his way (Æn. i. 104): - - Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis - Scuta virûm galeasque et fortia corpora volvit. - -And why all this? Plainly, I apprehend, because, while Scamander was -a word disqualified from entering into the Latin hexameter, Xanthus -also was somewhat less convenient than Simois for the march of his -resounding verse. Now this is a sample in small things of what Virgil -has done in nearly all things, both small and great. - -~_Νεκυΐα of Homer and Virgil._~ - -There are instances in which Virgil is popularly thought to profit -by the comparison with Homer, and where, notwithstanding, a full -consideration may lead to a reversal of the sentence. The νεκυΐα of -the Eleventh Odyssey, for example, is thought inferior to that of the -Sixth Æneid. To bring them fairly together, we should perhaps put out -of view the philosophical and prophetical part of the latter[895]; but -whether we do it or not is little material in the comparison. In either -way, the _Inferno_ of Virgil is, upon the whole, a stage procession of -stately and gorgeous figures; but it has no consistent or veracious -relation to any idea of the future or unseen state actually operative -among mankind. Yet there existed such an idea, at least in the times -of which Virgil was treating, if not at the period when he lived. It -was surely a subject of the deepest interest, and of the most solemn -pathos. What we are as men here depends very much on our conception -of what we are hereafter to be. There is nothing more touching in all -the history of the race of Adam, than its blind and painful feeling -after a future still invisible. There is no witness to the comparative -degradation of a race or age, so sure as its having ceased to yearn -towards any thing beyond the grave. Homer has shown us in the Eleventh -Odyssey[896], that, together with his keen sense of the present and -visible, he felt the full force of this mysterious drawing towards the -unseen. He is plainly as much in earnest here, as in any part of the -poems. Virgil, on the other hand, succeeds in investing his hell with -almost unequalled pomp, approximating at times to splendour. Homer -attempts nothing of the kind; but he produces a perfect and profound -impression of those regions, according to the idea in his own mind: -they are shadowy, gloomy, cold, above all, and in one word, dismal. -Virgil contrives to leave the reader convinced that _he_ is a very -great artist: Homer lets all such matters take care of themselves. -But while Virgil creates no impression at all on the mind as to the -World of Shades, no image of the timid, vague, and dim belief that -was entertained respecting it, Homer has set it all before us with a -truthfulness never equalled or approached. And yet Virgil abounds in -details and measurements which Homer avoids. Tartarus is twice as deep -as the distance from earth to sky[897], and the Hydra has fifty mouths. -Yet the details of the one give no impression of reality, while the -utter local vagueness and dreaminess of the other is far more definite -in its effect, because it is made to minister to the appropriate -ideas of sadness, sympathy, and awe. As to particular passages, the -appearance of Dido is full of grandeur; but her silence, the basis of -it, is borrowed from that of Ajax; while in the Odyssey the striding of -Achilles in silence over the meadow of asphodel, when he swells with -exultation upon hearing that his son excelled in council and in war, is -perhaps one of the most sublime pieces of human representation, which -Homer himself ever has produced. - -[895] Æn. vi. 724-893. - -[896] We cannot safely assume the second Νεκυΐα of Od. xxiv. to be free -from interpolations. - -[897] Homer has used this figure; but in an entirely different -connection, Il. viii. 13-16. - -~_Ethnological dislocations._~ - -Let us now give an instance of Virgil’s utter indifference to historic -truth and consistency. It is the more remarkable, because as he was -pretending to derive the Julian family from the stock of Æneas, there -would apparently have been some advantage in adhering strictly to the -Homeric distinctions as to races on both sides in the Trojan war. But -this appears to be entirely beneath his attention. For instance, he -calls the Homeric Greeks Pelasgi[898]. It may be said he was guided by -the Italian traditions, which connected the Greek and Pelasgian names -as early colonists of that country. But first, some regard should be -paid to Homer in matters which concern Troy; and it is rather violent -to call the Greeks Pelasgi, when the only Pelasgi named in the war by -the Poet are placed on the side of their enemies. Secondly, as it was -his purpose throughout to depress the Greeks, why should he thus thrust -them into view as one with an Italian race? Above all, why do this -in a case, where Homer had himself supplied a link between Italy and -Troy? Again, Virgil calls the Greek camp _Dorica_ castra[899]. But the -Dorians at the period of the Trojan war were utterly insignificant, and -are never once named by Homer in connection with the contest. Again, -Virgil calls Diomed, and the city of Arpi founded by him, Ætolian, and -makes him complain that he was not allowed to go back to Calydon[900], -simply because his father Tydeus, as a son of Œneus, had been of -Ætolian extraction; though he commanded the Argives, and had nothing -whatever to do with the Ætolians of Homer. Again, following a late and -purposeless tradition, he calls Ulysses Æolides[901], though Homer -has given the descent of Ulysses[902] without in any manner attaching -it to the line of the Æolids, a collection of families whose descent, -on account probably of their historical importance, he is more than -ordinarily careful to mark. - -[898] Æn. vi. 503. - -[899] Æn. ii. 27. vi. 88. - -[900] Æn. xi. 239-270. - -[901] Æn. vi. 529. - -[902] Od. xvi. 118. - -With cases of simple inaccuracy, to which I do not seek to attach undue -weight, we may connect the manner in which he confounds, on the other -side, the distinctions of the Trojan races, so accurately marked by -Homer. In the Twentieth Iliad, the genealogy of the reigning families -of Troy and of Dardania is given with great precision. The distinction -between Trojans and Dardanians is preserved through the Iliad, though -the Trojan name is sometimes, but rarely, used to include the whole -indigenous army, and sometimes it even signifies the entire force, -including the allies, which opposed the Greek army. We might here, -however, suppose that it would have been in the interest of Virgil’s -aim to maintain, or even sharpen, the distinction between the Dardanian -line, which was at most but indirectly worsted by the Greeks, and the -line of Ilus, which fatally both sinned and suffered in the conflict of -the _Troica_. But, on the contrary, he is still less discriminating in -the use of names here, than he has been for the Greeks. The companions -of Æneas are sometimes Teucri, Trojani, or Trojugenæ--sometimes -Æneadæ, sometimes Dardanidæ. In the first of these names he entirely -contravenes Homer, who produces a Teucer eminent among the Greeks, -but nowhere connects the name with Troy, while Virgil makes a Cretan -Teucer[903] the founder of the Trojan race. I grant that he here -founds himself upon what may be called a separate tradition, though -it is vague and slender, of a Teucrian race in Troas. In the two last -appellations, without any authority, he wholly alters the effect of -the Greek patronymic, and changes the mere family-name into a national -appellation. Then again they appear as the Pergamea gens[904]. But -Pergamus in Homer was simply the citadel of Troy, and is a correlative -to πύργος[905]: the English might almost as well be called the people -of the Tower. Not content yet, he will also have the Trojans to be -Phryges: - -[903] Æn. iii. 104. - -[904] Æn. vi. 63. - -[905] Scott and Liddell, in voc. - - Phrygibusque adsis pede, diva, secundo[906]; - -[906] Æn. x. 255. Cf. i. 618, Phrygius Simois; vii. 597, _et alibi_. - -though in Homer the Phrygians are a people both ethnologically and -politically separate[907] from the Trojan races. Again as to Æneas -himself. He is called Rhæteius heros[908]; but if Virgil chose thus -to designate his hero by reference to a single point of the Trojan -territory, it should have been one with which he was locally connected, -whereas the dominions of his family were not near the promontory -or upon the coast, but among the hills at the other extreme of the -country. Then again Æneas is Laomedontius heros[909]; but Laomedon was -of the branch of Ilus, while Æneas belonged to that of Assaracus; and -was moreover perjured, while the line of Assaracus was marked with no -such taint. So we have again-- - -[907] Il. iii. 184. - -[908] Il. xii. 436. - -[909] Il. viii. 18. - - Dardanus, Iliacæ primus pater urbis et auctor[910]; - -[910] Ibid. 134. Cf. vi. 650. - -but Dardanus founded Dardania, while Ilium did not exist until the time -of his great grandson Ilus. And here Virgil seems wholly to forget that -he had himself made Teucer the head of the race[911]. In describing the -migration of this hero from Crete to Troas, he says: - -[911] Æn. iii. 104. - - Nondum Ilium et arces - Pergameæ steterant; habitabant vallibus imis[912]. - -[912] Æn. iii. 109. - -Here he not only rejects Homer, who places Dardanus and the original -settlement among the mountains, but likewise represents what is in -itself improbable, since eminences, and not bottoms, were commonly -sought by the first colonists with a view to security. Choosing to -depart from Homer, he does not even agree with Apollodorus[913]. -Lastly, he is not less neglectful of the actual topography; for he -implies that Ilium is among the hills, while it was, according to -Homer’s express words and according to universal opinion, on the plain -as opposed to the hills. Again we have from Virgil the allusion-- - -[913] Apollod. III. xii. 1. - - quibus obstitit Ilium, et ingens - Gloria Dardaniæ[914]. - -[914] Æn. vi. 63. - -Here is another case of metre against history, and in all such -cases history must go (as is said) to the wall. _Ilium_ would not -satisfactorily admit the genitive case; there could therefore be no -glory of Ilium, and on this account Virgil liberally assigns vast -renown to Dardania, which was a place of no renown whatever. But he is -quite as ready, it must be admitted, to contradict himself as he is to -contradict Homer. In Æn. ii. 540, he gives it to be understood that the -city of Troy alone was the kingdom of Priam, and that the Greek camp -was beyond it, for he makes Priam say of his return from the camp, - - meque in mea regna remisit. - -But a very little further on he calls Priam (v. 556), - - tot quondam populis regnisque superbum - Regnatorem Asiæ. - -Each account is alike inaccurate: Priam had more than a city, but his -dominions were confined to a mere nook of Asia Minor. And again, before -quitting this part of the subject, let us observe how, in the case of -Anchises, he departs from Homer, even where it would have served the -purpose of his story to follow him closely. The Anchises of Homer is -an ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν; he does not appear at Troy among the δημογέροντες of -the city, or of Priam’s court, which would have made him a secondary -figure; he resides at Dardania as an independent sovereign, and it -seems not unlikely that in lineal dignity, at least, he was even before -Priam. But the Anchises of Virgil is resident in Troy[915]; and is -therefore, of course, to be taken for a subject of Priam. Here the -alteration very much lowers the rank of Æneas, and so far, therefore, -of Augustus. - -[915] Æn. ii. 634. - -The effect of all this is, without any real gain either moral or -poetical, entirely to bewilder the mind of the reader of the Æneid, in -regard to a subject of real interest both historical and ethnological, -with respect to which Homer has left on record a most careful and -clear representation. It must indeed be admitted, that the intervening -poets had set many examples of similar license; indeed they had made -irregularity a rule; but they had no such powerful reasons as Virgil -had for imitating, in some points at least, the precision of Homer, and -besides, he has perhaps exceeded them all in the multitude and variety -of his departures from it. On the other hand, some allowance, I admit, -should be made for the less flexible character of the Latin tongue, -which might have made the peculiar accuracy of Homer a real difficulty -to Virgil. - -I have thus minutely traced out this course of inconsistency and -contradiction in particular instances, because they are highly -illustrative of the character of Virgil’s work, if not of his mind. -After the political and courtly idea of the poem, he seems to have -abandoned all solicitude except for its form and sound, and to have -been totally indifferent as to presenting any veracious, or if that -word imply too much credulity, any self-consistent pattern, of manners, -places, events, or characters. - -Virgil must, materially at least, have saturated himself with the Iliad -before he planned the Æneid, for his borrowing is alike incessant -and diversified; and this it is which renders it so singular that he -should at once have exposed himself to the double charge of servilely -imitating and of gratuitously disfiguring his original. - -If we look to the action of the Twelfth Book of the Æneid, it is all -made up from Homer cut in pieces and recast. It begins with the idea of -the single combat, borrowed from the Third and Seventh Iliads. Then -come the pact and the breach of it by Juturna, under Juno’s influence, -which are borrowed from the treachery of Pandarus, prompted by Minerva, -under the same instigation. Next, the flight of Turnus before Æneas is -borrowed from that of Hector before Achilles. After this, Turnus is -disabled by a divine agency, like Patroclus before Hector; a downfall -brought about in the one case, as in the other, without peril and -without honour, so that here we have a copy even of one among the -few points where the Iliad was little worthy to be imitated. Lastly, -the thought of Pallas in the mind of Æneas (more highly wrought, -however, and very effective), plays the part of the recollection of -Patroclus[916] in the mind of Achilles. - -[916] Il. xxii. 331-47. - -~_Unfaithful imitations of detail._~ - -Both here and elsewhere, the imitations in detail are too numerous to -be noted. Some of them even descend to a character which, independently -of their minuteness, approaches the ludicrous. The very dung, in which -the Oilean Ajax loses his footing[917], in the Twenty-third Iliad, -is reproduced in the Fifth Æneid, that Nisus may flounder in it. But -even here we may note two characteristic differences. Homer trips up a -personage, whom he has no particular occasion to set off favourably. -Virgil chooses for the object of derision Nisus, on whom, in the -beautiful episode which soon after follows, he is about to concentrate -all the tenderest sympathies of his hearers. And again, Homer makes -Ajax slip where, as he says, the oxen had just been slain over -Patroclus: Virgil has no such probable cause to allege for the presence -of the obnoxious material[918], but says _cæsis forte juvencis_. Now -the Trojans had in fact left the tomb of Anchises, and had gone to a -chosen spot to celebrate the foot-races[919]; so that even his gore and -ordure are quite out of place. - -[917] Il. xxiii. 775-81. Æn. v. 333, 356. - -[918] Ibid. 329. - -[919] Ibid. 286-90. - -So again, of all the _formulæ_ in Homer, it is not very clear why -Virgil should have chosen to recall the rather commonplace line - - αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδήτυος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο - -in his own more ambitious and resounding verse, - - Postquam exemta fames, et amor compressus edendi[920]; - -[920] Æn. viii. 185. - -but it is still more singular that, instead of saying that hunger and -thirst were satisfied, he should leave out thirst altogether, and fill -up his hexameter by mentioning hunger twice over. - -Still it seems not a little strange, notwithstanding the power of the -disabling causes which have been enumerated, that, with so vast an -amount of material imitation, Virgil should not have acquired, even by -accident or by sheer force of use, some traits of nearer resemblance in -feeling, and in ethical handling, to his great original. - -His maltreatment of the Homeric characters is most conspicuous, -perhaps, in the instance of Helen. This case, indeed, deserves a -separate consideration of the causes which have reduced a beautiful, -touching, and remarkably original portrait to a gross and most common -caricature. But Ulysses, as the prince of policy, had perhaps a better -claim to be comprehended by a Roman at the court of Augustus. Yet -the Ulysses of Virgil simply represents the naked ideas of hardness, -cunning, and cruelty. He is never named but to be abused; and, though -the mention of him is not very frequent, it is easy to construct from -the poem a pretty large catalogue of vituperative epithets, unmitigated -by any single one of an opposite character. He is _durus_, _dirus_, -_sævus_, _pellax_, _fandi fictor_, _artifex_, _inventor scelerum_, and -_scelerum hortator_. Even physical circumstances, however, and those -too of the broadest notoriety, Virgil entirely overlooks. Nothing can -be more at variance with the effeminate character of the Homeric Paris, -his impotence in fight, and his distinction limited to the bow, which -was then the coward’s weapon, than to represent him as possessed of -vast physical force. Yet even on this Virgil has ventured. In the games -of the Fifth Book, when Æneas invites candidates for the pugilistic -encounter, the huge Dares immediately presents himself, and he is -described as the only person who could box with Paris[921]! - -[921] Æn. v. 370. - - Solus qui Paridem solitus contendere contra. - -Heyne urges by way of apology the authority of Hyginus, who was no -more than the contemporary of Virgil himself; and presumes that -Virgil followed authorities now lost: a sorry defence, because the -representation is inconsistent not merely with the facts, but with the -essential idea of the Paris of Homer, and therefore proves that Virgil -did not try or care to understand the character, or to be faithful to -his master. - -~_Maltreatment of Mythology and Ethics._~ - -But it is time to give some instances, which show an utter disregard of -either mythological or moral consistency. - -In the Eighth Æneid, Æneas and Anchises are much troubled in mind; and -so it appears they must have continued, - - Nî signum cœlo Cytherea dedisset aperto; - Namque improviso vibratus ab æthere fulgor - Cum sonitu venit[922]. - -[922] Æn. viii. 523. - -This idea of a _Cytherea tonans_ is as incongruous as it is novel. -To preserve the characteristic attributes of the several deities of -the Pagan mythology contributes to beauty, and was therefore at least -an obligation imposed by the poetic art; but Virgil is not content -with simply departing from it by taking the management of thunder -and lightning out of the hands of Jupiter and the highest deities; -he cannot be satisfied without giving it to Venus. With her Homeric -character, and with any consistent conception of her attributes, it is -utterly irreconcilable. - -But again, in the Second Æneid, Virgil makes Venus address to her son -the following majestic lines, when he was about to slay Helen amidst -the conflagration of Troy: - - Non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacænæ - Culpatusve Paris: Divûm inclementia, Divûm - Has evertit opes, sternitque a culmine Trojam[923]. - -[923] Æn. ii. 601. - -In which he plainly imitates the words of Priam, - - οὔτι μοι αἰτίη ἐσσὶ, θεοί νύ μοι αἴτιοί εἰσιν, - οἵ μοι ἐφώρμησαν πόλεμον πολύδακρυν Ἀχαιῶν[924]. - -[924] Il. iii. 164. - -Now, even with reference to the acquittal of Helen, the cases are -quite dissimilar. What Homer puts into the mouth of Priam, Virgil -stamps with the authority of a deity: what Priam says of the Homeric -Helen, who had been carried off by Paris, and whose general character -was very far from depraved, the Venus of Virgil says of a hardened -traitress as well as adulteress. Again, what Priam says relative to -himself, ‘_I_ do not blame thee,’ seems in the Æneid to resemble the -unlimited enunciation of an abstract proposition. But, above all, let -us notice how lamentably Virgil has mauled the sentiment by introducing -Paris into the passage, of whose moral guilt, if there be such a thing -as moral guilt upon earth, there could be no doubt, and whom Homer, -with true poetic justice, has taken care to punish by making him the -object of the general reprobation and hatred of his countrymen[925]. -In acquitting such an offender, and throwing the charge of his crimes -upon the Immortals, by the mouth, too, of one belonging to their -number, Virgil has given into the worst form of fatalism, that namely -which annihilates all moral sanctions and ideas as applicable to human -conduct. - -[925] Il. iii. 453, and elsewhere. - -And this he has done with no plea whatever which might have been -drawn, _valeat quantum_, from the exigencies of his poem. Paris was -not before the eye of Æneas: Venus was not dissuading her son from -taking vengeance upon Paris; he is forced into our sight; the allusion -is as irrelevant with reference to the purpose of the passage, as it -is blameworthy in an ethical point of view; and in all probability the -mention of him is introduced for no other reason than that it supplied -Virgil with a hemistich to fill up a gap in an extremely fine passage, -and to secure its prosodial equilibrium, to which the balance of moral -sanctions is sacrificed without remorse. - -As it is with the management of his gods, so with his conception -of human nature; Virgil seems to have lost the sight of its higher -prerogatives, and especially of the great and noble truth, that it -is susceptible of divine influences without the loss of its free -agency. The poems of Homer, notwithstanding their copious theurgy, are -throughout eminently and entirely human. Their human agency is adorned -and elevated (as well as unhappily lowered and darkened), it is even -modified and controlled, but never inwardly mutilated, curtailed or -superseded, by the interference of the Immortals. But, in regard to his -relations with the deities, Æneas is a mere puppet; and the gallant -spirit of Turnus on his last battlefield is, as it were, put down -within him by main force from heaven. - -~_Æneas and Dido in the Shades._~ - -Thus for example, Virgil is not ashamed to introduce to us Æneas in -the shades below apologizing to Dido for his black desertion of her by -saying, ‘he could not help it, the gods compelled him; and really he -never thought she would take it so much to heart.’ - - Invitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi; - Sed me jussa deûm ... - Imperiis egere suis; nec credere quivi - Hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem[926]. - -[926] Æn. vi. 460. - -Compare with this the extraordinary truth, beauty, and manfulness of -the speech, in which Ulysses takes his farewell of Calypso[927]. This -is its tenour: ‘Be not incensed; I know Penelope is less beautiful -than thou; yet is my desire, from day by day, towards my home; and -if I be wrecked upon my way, this too I will endure, even as I have -endured much before.’ In Virgil’s hands, the chief would probably -have shuffled off the responsibility from himself upon the shoulders -of the gods. Never shall we find one of Homer’s heroes doing this, -either beforehand, as by saying, ‘I do not wish to do it, but I am -ordered,’ or retrospectively. There is one exception; it is when -Agamemnon says that Ἄτη, the goddess of Mischief, with Jupiter, had -misled him[928], and that he was not himself to blame. But Agamemnon, -alone among the Greek heroes, had in his character a strong element -of what we call shabbiness; and what is more, he uses this plea only -after making reparation, and not, as Æneas does, in lieu of any. To -resume, however, the thread. Sometimes the Homeric heroes are pious, -sometimes disobedient; sometimes bold, and sometimes fearful; sometimes -they submit to overpowering force, sometimes they struggle even against -destiny; but they never appear before us shorn of the first attribute -of manhood, its free will. - -[927] Od. v. 215-24. - -[928] Il. xix. 86. When Achilles (270) as it were countersigns this, it -is evidently in his character of a high-bred gentleman; a character, of -which he gives so many proofs in the poem. - -It seems then that Virgil really did not care to form the habit, and -thus commonly failed in the power, of working the higher springs of -our nature. He puts the clay into the fire, but the pitcher does not -always come out such as he intended it; not even when, instead of -trusting, like Homer, to simple action as the vehicle of his meaning, -he uses the precautionary measure of describing it. - -Thus he prepares us to expect in Mezentius a monster of impiety, -cruelty, and brutality, from the account and the epithets by which -he is introduced to us[929]. In words scattered here and there, this -‘contemptor divûm’ is made to sustain his impious character. _Dextra -mihi deus_, he says; and again _nec divûm parcimus ulli_[930]. But -these are really mere black patches, set upon a character with which -they do not accord; they remain patches still, and not parts of it. -Practically, Mezentius proceeds in the poem only as an affectionate -father, and as a gallant warrior, should do; and there is no more of -real impiety in him, than there is of real piety in Æneas. Nay, here -again Virgil shows his contempt of consistency. For, when Mezentius -slays Orodes, who prophesied that his conqueror would meet with a -similar fate upon the field of battle, Mezentius replies in the most -decorous manner (copying the very language of Achilles to the dying -Hector[931]), - -[929] Æn. vii. 648; viii. 7, 482. - -[930] Æn. x. 773, 880. - -[931] Il. xxii. 365. - - Nunc morere. Ast de me divûm pater atque hominum rex - Viderit[932]. - -[932] Æn. x. 743. - -~_Woman characters of Homer and Virgil._~ - -Though Virgil is esteemed a woman-hater, he has availed himself of -the use of female characters to a degree only exceeded, so far as I -recollect, by the highly susceptible Tasso. His celestial machinery is -principally worked by Juno and by Venus: we miss altogether in him that -jovial might of the Homeric Jupiter, which is recalled in the historic -portraits of king Henry the Eighth of England. Of mortals we have, -besides the mute Lavinia, and minor or transitory personages, Dido, -Juturna, Amata, Camilla. All these play very marked parts in the poem; -indeed, they supply the mainsprings of the action; and the characters -of all are drawn with great spirit and success, while the Passion of -Dido will probably always be quoted as the most magnificent witness, -which the whole range of the poem affords, to the original power and -genius of its author. Yet even in these, his signal successes, it is -curious to notice the dissimilarity between Virgil and Homer. Homer, -too, has been eminently successful in his women. His greater studies of -Helen, Andromache, and Penelope are fully sustained by the truth and -force of all the less conspicuous delineations: Hecuba, Briseis, the -incomparable Nausicaa, the faithful Euryclea, the pert and heartless -Melantho. But how different are the works of the two poets! In all -Virgil’s women (as on the other hand his men are apt to be effeminate) -there is a tinge of the masculine. Many a woman would stab herself for -love like Dido; but none, not even in France, with her pomp, apparatus, -and self-consciousness. Their fates, too, are all of a violent -character. Amata, as well as Dido, commits suicide; Camilla is slain; -Juturna is immortal indeed, but is dismissed from earth with what for -her comes nearest to an image of death; with defeat, mortification, -shame. But on the contrary, the feminineness of Homer’s women has never -been surpassed. In Hecuba alone, at one single point in the story, -there is an apparent exception; yet it is no great violence done to -nature, if we find in her after Hector’s death the wild ferocity of -the dam deprived of her offspring, and if revenge then drives her for -a moment into the temper of a cannibal. Elsewhere beyond doubt, even -in Melantho, the feminine character is not wholly obliterated, but is -left at the point where in actual life licentiousness and vanity might -leave it. In Helen, Andromache, Nausicaa, it reaches a perfection which -has never been surpassed, unless by Shakespeare, in human song. There -is, however, something to be observed, which is more striking and -characteristic. The Virgilian delineations of women tell us absolutely -nothing, or next to nothing, of the social position of womankind either -at the epoch of Æneas or at any other; a matter which has stood so -differently in different ages and states of mankind, yet which has at -all times been one of the surest tests for distinguishing a true and -healthy from a hollow civilization. But the Homeric poems furnish a -picture of this interesting subject not a whit less complete than any -other picture they contain. The Woman of the heroic age of Greece -stands before us in that immortal verse no less clear, no less truly -drawn, no less carefully shaded, than the Warrior, the Statesman, and -the King. - -These are great matters: but Virgil is also as careless, as Homer is -careful, of minor proprieties. For instance, he describes the Italian -smiths engaged in preparing suits of armour upon the invasion of Æneas. -Some, he says, make breastplates of brass; and he continues, - - Aut leves ocreas lento ducunt argento[933]. - -[933] Æn. vii. 633. - -Here, we presume, his purpose was to represent the hammering process by -a heavy spondaic line--in evident imitation of Homer, who has done it -still more completely in the - - θώρηκας ῥήξειν δηΐων ἀμφὶ στήθεσσιν[934]. - -[934] Il. ii. 544. - -But Homer always gains his metrical objects without injuring the sense; -Virgil, on the contrary, has committed an error, by representing silver -(a most rare and valuable metal, especially in the Trojan times) -as used in large masses for making armour; and a grosser solecism, -by representing the greaves as made of far finer material than the -breastplates. Perhaps he was helped into this error by a careless -reminiscence, that Homer had in some way connected silver with the -greaves. This is not, however, in armour as generally used, but in the -case of some of the greatest chiefs, including Paris, whose dandyism, -we know, extended particularly to his arms. Nor are even his greaves -made of, or even plated with, silver, but only the clasps of them: - - κνημῖδας μὲν πρῶτα περὶ κνήμῃσιν ἔθηκεν - καλὰς, ἀργυρέοισιν ἐπισφυρίοις ἀραρυίας[935]. - -[935] Il. iii. 330. - -Virgil is careful enough as to geography, when he deals with countries -under the eye of his hearers. But he can scarcely be excused for -inverting the Homeric order of the mountains piled up by the giants. -Homer places Mount Pelion on Ossa, and Ossa on Olympus: - - Ὄσσαν ἐπ’ Οὐλύμπῳ μέμασαν θέμεν, αὐτὰρ ἐπ’ Ὄσσῃ - Πήλιον εἰνοσίφυλλον[936]. - -[936] Od. xi. 315. - -This description is in conformity with the proportionate heights of -the mountains, among which Olympus is the highest, Ossa the next, -Pelion the least. But Virgil makes Pelion the base, and Olympus the -_apex_: - - Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam - Scilicet, atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum[937]. - -[937] Georg. i. 281. - -It is not simply that Homer is here geographically accurate, and Virgil -the reverse. Homer has adopted the pyramidal structure, which satisfies -the eye, and lays a firm and obvious road, so to speak, to the skies. -Virgil does not. He subjoins to his description the verse, - - Ter pater extructos disjecit fulmine montes. - -But Jupiter might have spared himself the trouble: the mountains would -have tumbled of themselves. - -~_Confusion of natural Phenomena._~ - -Before parting from the subject, it may be well to give another example -of the indifference of Virgil to the association between poetry, and -the order of external nature as such. In the Fourth Æneid, he speaks of -Mercury as passing over Mount Atlas on his way to Carthage; from what -point I do not now inquire. The lines are these[938]; - -[938] Æn. iv. 248-51. - - Atlantis, cinctum assidue cui nubibus atris - Piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri; - Nix humeros infusa tegit: tum flumina mento - Præcipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba. - -His pine-bearing head, girt with clouds, is beaten by wind and rain. -So far so good. But while such is the temperature of the air at the -summit, it grows colder, not warmer, as we descend: for snow covers his -shoulders. This is the second image. Next, we mount again to his mouth, -which discharges rivers over his chin: and not even here have we done -with incongruity, for his beard, although thus watered from above, is -rough and stiff with ice. Now such a confusion, as is here exhibited, -of images which nature always exhibits in a fixed and very imposing -order, is, we may be assured, no mere casual error, but indicates a -rooted indifference about matters which the poets of nature study, not -only with accuracy, but with an accuracy which is the fruit of their -reverence and love. - -The Dolopes of Homer are a part of the Myrmidons, for they are the -subjects of Phœnix[939], and Phœnix commands the fifth division of -the Myrmidons: they are named by Virgil as a separate race[940]. The -Rhadamanthus of Homer appears to have been conceived by the Poet as a -mild and benevolent character, for he is placed in the Plains of the -Blest, while Minos administers severer justice in the under-world. But -the Rhadamanthus of Virgil is the judge of the infernal regions, and is -the image of rigour; while his Minos[941] has the very mild and also -secondary function of dealing, in the vestibule of the Shades, with the -cases of such persons as had been unjustly condemned on earth[942]. -Again, where Homer uses exaggeration to enhance effect, Virgil carries -it far into caricature. In the Iliad, Diomed[943] heaves a stone, of -a weight that ‘two men such as are nowadays (οἷοι νῦν βροτοί εἰσι) -could scarcely lift.’ He allows for a short interval since the Trojan -war, and says that two ordinary men of his day could scarcely lift -what warriors of extraordinary strength, by an extraordinary effort, -then raised and hurled. In another place, Ajax flings a stone, such as -even a man in the fullest vigour could now scarcely hold[944]. Again, -Hector discharges against the Greek rampart one which two strong men -could hardly raise with a lever; but then he is specially aided by -Jupiter[945]. Now in the Fifth Æneid, Æneas gives to Mnestheus, as a -prize, a breastplate which he himself had won, the spoil of Demoleos. -This Demoleos[946] was no hero, for he is never named by Homer; again, -the Demoleos of Virgil wore the breastplate when he chased the Trojans -flying in all directions (‘palantes,’ Æn. v. 265), so that it must -have been light to him: there was no time at all for human degeneracy, -since they are still his contemporaries that are on the stage; and yet -such was the weight of this breastplate, that two men together could -scarcely carry it on their shoulders. - -[939] Il. ix. 484, and xvi. 196. - -[940] Æn. ii. 7. - -[941] Æn. vi. 432. - -[942] Although it may be a deviation from the direct path, yet, having -noticed in so much detail the unfaithfulness of Virgil to his original, -I will also give an instance of the accuracy of Horace. In the Seventh -Ode of the First Book, he has occasion to refer to the places made -famous in Homeric song; and Athens with him is Palladis urbs; so Argos -(ἱππόβοτον) is _aptum equis_, Mycænæ (πολύχρυσος) _dites_, Larissa -(ἐριβώλαξ) _opima_. Lacedæmon is _patiens_, an epithet corresponding -with no particular word in Homer, but not contradicted by any; it had -acquired the character since his time. - -[943] Il. v. 303. See also Il. xx. 285. - -[944] Il. xii. 382. - -[945] Ibid. 445-50. - -[946] Homer names a Demoleon, son of Agenor; but he is slain fighting -for the Trojans. Il. xx. 395. - - ‘Vix illam famuli Phegeus Sagarisque ferebant - Multiplicem, connixi humeris[947].’ - -[947] Æn. vi. 233. - -Let it not be thought that the varied examples, which have here been -quoted, are either irrelevant or without serious significance. There -cannot, surely, be a more decided error than to treat accuracy in -matters of this kind as a matter of sheer indifference. It is not only -inseparable from the function of the primitive Poet as the historian -of his subject, but it appertains also to the perfection of his -poetic nature, that he should have a nice sense of proportion even in -figurative language. I have dwelt, however, upon minor points, not for -their own sake, but because the manner in which Virgil handles them -appears to throw no unimportant light upon the frame and temper of his -work at large, and of the later as compared with the earliest poetry. - -~_Contrast of principal aims._~ - -In diction, Virgil is ornate and Homer simple; in metre, Virgil is -uniform and sustained, Homer free and varied; in the faculty of -invention, for which the historical office of early poetry still -leaves ample room, Homer is inexhaustible, while, from the needless -accumulation of imitations in every sort and size, Virgil gives ground -to suspect that he was poor, at least by comparison. The first thought -of Homer was his subject, and the second his nation; the first thought -of Virgil was his Emperor and the court around the throne, the second -the elaboration of his verse. Characters, feelings, facts, were used by -Virgil for producing on the mind the effect of scenic representation; -the end of Homer, on the contrary, was to give adequate vent, -in and through these things poetically conceived and handled, to -his own yearnings, and to the sympathies of his hearers[948]. The -intercommunion of spirit between the poet and those to whom he sang, -was not in him a sordid quest of popularity; it was only an expression -of the truth that he founded both his composition and his hopes upon -the basis of a great effort to be the organ of the general heart of -mankind. All this we may discern in his notices, informal as they are, -of the profession of the minstrel: - -[948] The aim of the poet as such is finely, but somewhat too -exclusively, expressed in the Sonnet of Filicaja, _Dietro a questi -ancor io_. - - ἢ καὶ θέσπιν ἀοιδὸν, ὅ κεν τέρπῃσιν ἀείδων[949]· - -[949] Od. xvii. 385. - -in the names he assigns to them, where they were not historical -characters, Δημόδοκος, and Φήμιος Τερπιάδης; in the moral uprightness -with which he invests them; for, though it was the office of Phemius to -delight, his heart was never with the licentious and guilty band that -held the palace of Ulysses: - - ὅς ῥ’ ἤειδε μετὰ μνηστῆρσιν ἀνάγκῃ[950]. - -[950] Od. xxii. 331. - -And again, in the offices of guardianship which they exercised; for -Agamemnon, when he left his home for Troy, carefully enjoined upon the -bard of his palace the care of Clytemnestra; and his advice, with her -own right sense, for a time stood her in good stead[951]. Such was the -bard in the living description of Homer; such he was represented in -the Poet himself, never thrust into view, but ever understood, ever -perceived, through his works. On the other hand, the character of the -bard, as exhibited in Virgil, is what may be termed professional: the -fire and power of genius may be in him, but they must work only under -conventional forms, and for ends prescribed according to the spirit of -that lower and narrower utility which is, not logically perhaps, but -yet very effectively, denominated utilitarianism. A remarkably high -form of exterior art, with a radical inattention to substance, both -of facts and laws, has been the result in the case of Virgil. And it -is rather significant, that this great Poet has nowhere placed upon -his canvass the figure of the bard amidst the abodes of man; as if the -very type had perished from the earth in those degenerate days, and -the memory of him could not be recalled. An effete and corrupted age -could no longer conceive a mind like the mind of Homer; an Æolian harp -so finely strung, that it answers to the faintest movement of the air -by a proportionate vibration: with every stronger current its music -rises, along an almost immeasurable scale, which begins with the lowest -and softest whisper, and ends in the full swell of the organ. - -[951] Od. iii. 267. - -~_Change in the idea of the Poet’s office._~ - -By a false association of ideas, we have come to place accuracy and -genius in antagonism to one another. It is Homer who may best undeceive -us: except indeed that most complete solution which the mind gladly -perceives when, ascending to the Author of all being, it finds in Him -alone the source and the perfection, alike of Order and of Light; alike -of the most minute, and of the most gigantic operations. But among men -Homer best exemplifies this union. It is not indeed the precision of -dry facts, terminating upon itself: it is the precision of sympathies, -of sympathies with nature and with man, to which the minute and -scrupulous adjustments of Homer are to be referred; and this precision -is probably due by no means to conscious effort, but to the spontaneous -operations of the soul. In this view his far-famed, but not even yet -fully fathomed, accuracy is no deduction from his greatness, but is in -truth a proof of the near approach to perfection in the organization -of his faculties. The later poets have too often torn asunder, what in -him was harmoniously combined. They have conferred upon their art a -deadly gift, in claiming first an exemption _ad libitum_ from the laws, -not only of dry fact, but of Truth in its higher sense, of harmony and -self-consistency, and of all, except a merely external beauty, which -was meant to be the vehicle and not the substitute for all those great -and discarded qualities. In this work of laceration, Virgil has borne -no secondary share. - -Upon the whole, though it is doubtless natural that Virgil should -be compared with Homer, the mind is astonished at finding that he -should so often even have gained a preference. We may account for his -being chosen as Dante’s guide, by their being countrymen, and by the -almost universal ignorance of Greek when Dante wrote. It is far more -staggering to find Saint Augustine emphatically call him[952] _Poeta -magnus omniumque præclarissimus atque optimus_; for he was no stranger -to Greek influences, inasmuch as the philosophy of Plato had a very -high place in his estimation[953]. Nor can this be readily accounted -for, except by the advantage which Virgil had through writing in the -Latin tongue, and by the very great decay of poetical tastes and -perceptions. - -[952] De Civ. Dei, i. 3. - -[953] Ibid. viii. 4-11. - -Still let us not do wrong to the memory of him, who thrilled with an -immeasurable love, as he bore the sacred vessels of the Muses; and who -has received so unequivocally the seal of that approbation of mankind, -prolonged through ages, which comes near to an infallible award. It is -but fair to admit, that we must not measure the relative rank of Homer -and Virgil simply by the comparative merits of their epic works. Homer -lived in the genial and joyous youth of a poetic nation and a poetic -religion, and amid the influences of the soul of freedom: Virgil among -a people always matter-of-fact rather than poetical, in an age and a -court where the heart and its emotions were chilled, where liberty -was dead, where religion was a mockery, and the whole higher material -of his art had passed from freshness into the sear and yellow leaf. -Whether Virgil, if he had lived the life of Homer in Homer’s country -and Homer’s time, could have composed the Iliad and the Odyssey, may be -more than doubtful; but it is indisputably clear that Homer could not -have produced them, if it had been his misfortune to live at the date -and in the sphere of Virgil. - -I pass on now to make some attempt at comparison between the work of -Tasso and the Iliad of Homer. But although the relation between the -subjects appears to recommend the choice of Tasso for this purpose -rather than any other Italian poet, I have to confess, that as far as -the qualities of the men are concerned, both Bojardo and Ariosto are in -my estimation more Homeric than Tasso; as being nearer to nature in its -truest sense, as not conveying the same impression of perpetual effort -and elaboration, as exempt from the temptation to the conceits so -unhappily frequent in the _Gerusalemme_, and generally as working with -a freer and broader touch, and exhibiting a more vigorous and elastic -movement. - -~_The War of Troy and the Crusades._~ - -There is, however, a striking resemblance between the relation in -which the Trojan war stood to Greece, and that of the Crusades to -Western Europe. The political unity and collective existence of Greece -was greatly due to the first, that of Christendom to the second. -The combination of races and of chiefs, the arduous character and -extraordinary prolongation of the effort, the chivalry displayed, the -disorganizing effects upon the countries which supplied the invading -army, the representation in each of Europe against Asia, of Western -mankind meeting Eastern mankind in arms, and the proof of superior -prowess in the former, establish many broad and deep analogies between -the subjects of these poems. In both struggles, too, the object -purported to be the recovery of that which the East had unrighteously -acquired: and into both what is called sentiment far more largely -entered, than is common in the history of the wars which have laid -desolate our earth. - -~_Exaggeration as used by Homer and by Tasso._~ - -As Godfrey is Tasso’s version of Agamemnon, so the Rinaldo of Tasso -occupies a place in the Jerusalem, similar to that of Achilles in the -Iliad. Now the whole character of Achilles, mental and corporeal, which -ranks at least among the most wonderful of all the works of Homer, is -colossal and vast, but is not unduly exaggerated. Although the son of -Peleus evidently was of great bodily size, yet Homer never calls him by -the epithets μέγας and πελώριος, but reserves them for Ajax, because -they suggest a predominance of the animal over the incorporeal element, -which, in the case of Achilles, the Poet utterly eschews. The character -of Rinaldo as a warrior (and in no other respect does he present any -salient point) is, as will be shown, exaggerated unduly, but yet does -not leave the impression of the vast or colossal, because the excess -beyond common nature is not in harmony with the rest of the delineation. - -Thus the strength of Achilles is the very highest; none can use his -spear. But Rinaldo, in the assault of the Tower, does the work of a -battering-ram. He takes up and carries a beam, of which we are told, - - Nè così alte mai, nè così grosse - Spiega l’ antenne sue ligura nave[954]. - -[954] Gerus. xix. 36. - -With this he breaks the bars, and beats down the gates; and the stanza -proceeds: - - Non l’ ariète di far più si vanti, - Non la bombarda, fulmine di morte[955]. - -[955] Ibid. 37. - -No such excess of muscular power as this is ascribed to Achilles; -and yet a much more lively impression of grandeur in his martial -character is left upon the mind of the reader; the fact being that mere -exaggeration freezes, while the adjusted representation of greatness -warms. - -The largest size assigned by Homer to any even of his mythological -personages who are in relations with man, and this only in the Shades -below, is in the case of Otus and Ephialtes. At nine years old, when -they were put to death, they were nine cubits broad, nine fathoms -(fifty-four feet) high[956]. These were they, who piled the mountains -up to heaven. They are among the few figures absolutely gigantic, -which appear in Homer; but they hover only in the distance through the -mists of the Under-world, and in describing even them he has adhered -strictly to the limits of what may be termed the gigantesque. Further -on, he describes Tityus as reaching over nine acres; but he nowhere -presents any such person to us in active motion, or in any relation -with man on earth. In Il. xxi. however, occurs a passage which it is -more easy to impugn; for Mars, who had marched about among the Trojans -and the Greeks in battle without driving either friends or foes from -their propriety by his bulk, and had fought with Diomed in the plain -of Troy on terms favourable to that hero, when overthrown by Minerva -in the battle of the gods, covers seven acres (407). Although Homer -has skilfully avoided localizing the conflict, this may be thought to -wear the aspect of a poetical incongruity; because in the Mars of the -Theomachy we cannot wholly forget the Mars of the plain. As a general -rule, however, Homer does not employ vast size, except in cases where -it can suggest no comparison with objects of ordinary dimensions, and -where, accordingly, it in no way jars with our customary standard. - -[956] Od. xi. 311. - -But if there be incongruity in the dimensions of the prostrate Mars of -Homer, what shall we say to Tasso, who, carefully setting out in detail -that his infernal assembly is held within the four walls of the palace -of Pluto, describes the sub-terranean monarch, when he sits in actual -council, as exceeding in mass, and that immeasurably, any mountain -whatever? - - Nè tanto scoglio in mar, nè rupe alpestra, - Nè pur Calpe s’ innalza, o ’l magno Atlante, - Ch’ anzi lui non paresse un picciol colle[957]. - -[957] Gerus. iv. 6. - -Thus, where Homer is in excess, Tasso multiplies upon him by a -thousandfold. This is not grandeur, but extravagance; nor is it -vastness, but indistinctness, of which an impression is left upon the -mind. The passage is followed by a description of the countenance and -gorge of Pluto, which all readers must remember, but which all readers -must likewise wish they could forget. In general it is curious to -compare the very sparing use which Homer has made of mere bulk as a -poetical engine, with the boundless redundance of it, not only even to -nausea in such writers as Fortiguerra, who vulgarize everything they -touch, but even in a patriarch of Italian romance like Bojardo. - -It would not, however, repay the trouble to be entailed by the perusal, -were I to draw out in detail a comparison between the diction, taste, -figures, and all other incidents of poetic handling, in Tasso, and -those of Homer. It is better to direct attention to what more easily -admits of being brought into juxtaposition--that is, the general -structure and movement of the poems, and the manner in which the -greater laws of the poetic art are applied to the respective subjects. - -Mr. Hallam adopts an opinion of Voltaire, that in the choice of his -subject Tasso has been superior to Homer; and adds, that ‘in the -variety of occurrences, in the change of scenes and images, and of -the trains of sentiment connected with them in the reader’s mind, we -cannot place the Iliad on a level with the Jerusalem;’ that, by unity -of subject and place, the poem of Tasso has a coherence and singleness -not to be found in the Æneid; and that, while we expect the victory of -the Christians, ‘we acknowledge the probability and adequacy of the -events that delay it[958].’ - -[958] Hallam’s Literature of Europe, ii. 268. - -Of the Italians themselves, some place the work of Tasso at the very -head of all Epic compositions: others maintain, that it was surpassed -by the Orlando Furioso. Tiraboschi, while declining to weigh the poems -against each other generally, yet compares the poets, and gives the -higher place to Ariosto[959]. Neither the agitated, struggling, and -dependent life of Tasso, nor the character of the time in which he -lived, were favourable to the attainment of the very summit of poetic -excellence. The freshness of the morning of Christian civilization in -Italy had worn away. The romantic poetry, which seemed so congenial -to that country, and which had attained to such high perfection, had -now run its course: it was rather an effort against nature, than a -movement in the line of it, when Tasso wrought upon a subject which -required him to bridle his country’s freer Muse, and train her to -historic grandeur and severity. He has left us the undoubted work of a -great mind, adorned with abundant and, in some respects, extraordinary -beauties; yet many would own themselves not to have experienced from -the Jerusalem that peculiar sort of satisfaction, which any work of -simple tenour, if nearly approaching perfection in its kind, even -though that kind be somewhat below the epic, never fails to impart to -the mass of its readers. - -[959] Lett. Ital., vol. vii. - -Granting it to be true, that the Siege of Jerusalem is a nobler subject -than the Wrath of Achilles, together with all that it includes of the -siege of Troy, yet neither is the Siege of Jerusalem, with the high -elements it comprehends, really the staple of the subject matter of -Tasso, nor is the Siege of Troy the real subject of the poem of Homer. -Tasso had evidently studied with attention the Iliad as well as the -Æneid; and he has taken largely from, or worked largely after, both, -but a great deal more, as far as I have seen, from the former than the -latter. In which selection, doubtless, he chose well. The copy of a -copy is pretty sure to be a vulgar work. Without noticing at present -anything except what governs the main action, it may be observed, that -the Wrath of Achilles is reproduced in the Offence, given and taken, of -Rinaldo: and the relation of the one to Godfrey is evidently suggested -by that of the other to Agamemnon. - -~_Achilles the subject of the Iliad._~ - -It is needful here to return to a topic, which I have already more -lightly touched. We may reckon it among the chief distinctions of -Homer, that he has been able to make of the individual man the broad -basis of the most heroical among epic songs. The weak thread of the -Æneid is really sustained by something that lies behind the figure of -Æneas, namely, by its hanging on the splendid fortunes of Rome; the -Odyssey is toned more nearly to the colour of a domestic painting; but -in the Iliad, the man Achilles is the power whose action propels, and -whose inaction stops, the world-wide conflict before Troy. The Poet has -accomplished this great feat by dint of powers, that have given to the -character of his hero on the one hand dimensions absolutely colossal, -and, on the other, the finest lines that miniature itself could require. - -For efforts of such a range as this, after-poets had not the necessary -strength. They had not such command over the high-born material, of -which man is formed, as to make their mode of treating it in one single -figure the main stake, on which the fortune of their entire works was -to depend. Men like Tasso sought and found a basis, less elevated -indeed and splendid, but equally solid, and far more accessible, in the -great events of history, or in the multitude of associations, alike -noble and familiar, which belonged to them. These, which with Homer -had been organically, and not mechanically alone, grouped about the -one great Humanity of his poem, now became the central stem of the -epic; and the properly and strictly personal element, which had been -primary, became no more than accessory. But events are made for man, -and not man for events; and we can scarcely doubt that the transition -from the older epic, which gathered all its interests around the human -soul as a centre, to the newer, which exhibits the human soul itself -in a subordinate relation to external history or fortune, has been a -transition downwards. It may be said, that Achilles is not the subject -of the Iliad, in the same sense as Ulysses of the Odyssey. It is at -any rate true that the action of the Odyssey is more directly related -to the hero, than that of the Iliad. And so precise is the working -of Homer’s intellect in all that appertains to poetical consistency, -that a distinction of shade, just proportioned to this difference, is -perhaps perceptible in the very _exordia_ of the two poems, μῆνιν ἄειδε -Θεὰ, and ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον. The one seems to propose -the Wrath of the Man: the other the Man himself. But substantially -the proposition is questionable: Achilles is in effect, as truly as -Ulysses, the life and strength, the chief glory and beauty, of his own -poem. - -It might perhaps be doubted, whether even the Liberation of Jerusalem -was a finer subject for Christendom, than the siege of Troy for the -Greek race. For it is a mistake to suppose that because the Redemption -of mankind infinitely transcends all other transactions, the poetry -which is composed about it will therefore be excellent in proportion. -But at any rate this is not the question. Homer’s subject is, indeed, -the Titanic passion of Achilles, and to this subject every Book of the -Iliad, some of them positively and some negatively, but every one of -them effectively, contributes; but is the Liberation of Jerusalem the -true subject of the poem of Tasso? - -~_Subject of the Gerusalemme more doubtful._~ - -The three first Cantos, with the ninth, the eleventh, and the -nineteenth, are the only ones, which are in strictness occupied with -the proper theme of the Jerusalem. The fifth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, -and large portions at the least of the other eleven, are taken from -the Siege, and are given to the truancy, or erratic and separate -adventures, of those who ought to have carried it on; mainly of the two -principal Christian warriors, Rinaldo and Tancredi. In short, near a -moiety of the work is occupied, not with the Liberation of Jerusalem at -all, but with the events which draw away the champions pledged to it, -upon errands of a character the most incongruous with the grand design. - -Will it be answered, that in the same manner Achilles disappears -from the eye of the spectator during one moiety of the Iliad? The -apparent parallel is wholly false. For the subject of the Iliad is -the passion of Achilles; and the whole movement of the poem in his -absence bears directly upon the enhancement and elevation of that -subject. It exhibits to us the successive efforts of the Greeks, and -of their most redoubted chieftains, one by one, to make up for the -seclusion of Achilles from the fighting host. It was impossible for -Homer more effectually to magnify his hero, than by recounting fully -these exploits and their failure. In showing the perils and calamities -brought about by his absence, they deeply impress us with the grandeur -and efficacy of his presence, and prepare us for the reappearance of -something more than man: of something which, but for a most skilful -preparatory mechanism, we should probably have repelled as an unnatural -exaggeration. But the love-born vagaries of the warriors of Tasso are -mere impediments to the conquest of Jerusalem, and have no effect -whatever in enhancing the poetical greatness of the achievement which -was to crown the work, while they seriously deduct from the power and -effectiveness, already in the case of Rinaldo but moderate, of the -characters assigned to the warriors themselves. - -It may therefore be true, as Mr. Hallam has said, that the events -in Tasso spring naturally one from another; but so may a series of -successive turnings off the line of a road we have been travelling, -when taken singly, produce no serious, and even no sensible, deviation; -yet their effect, when taken together, may be wholly to change our -direction, and prevent us from making any way at all towards our point. -Without doubt, each incident of an epic poem ought to follow naturally -in the train of that which directly precedes it; but it is far more -important that it should bear a legitimate relation to the central -design, and should magnify, not detract from, the grandeur of that on -which the whole fabric principally depends. - -But there are surely many other objections to the mode, which Tasso -has adopted, of impeding and retarding the accomplishment of his main -action. Considering the nature of his theme, and the solemnity of the -sanctions under which the Crusades were undertaken, although we have -no right to ask that passion and infirmity should be banished from the -camp, yet the wholesale entanglement of the very first warriors in -love affairs, their rushing in a mass, with few exceptions besides -greyheads of the camp, upon the track of Armida, their compelling -Godfrey to allow the interests of this treacherous beauty to interrupt -the august purpose of their undertaking, and then the very large -proportion of the poem occupied in unravelling the web thus tangled, -form, to my view at least, a bad poetical mixture of the intrusive with -the Christian elements of the design. - -Nor let it here be said, that even so our great Achilles stays the -progress of the Greeks towards triumph for the love of a weak woman. -We need not dwell on such distinctions as that Briseis was a noble and -worthy, but Armida an unworthy object of attachment; that Achilles was -but one, while Tasso touches all, who by age were capable, with the -same phrensy. It is not even this worthy attachment alone, that acts -upon Achilles: that is not the main stress of the tempest which so -rends the strong heaving oak when he cries, - - ἀλλά μοι οἰδάνεται κραδίη χόλῳ, ὁππότ’ ἐκείνων - μνήσομαι, ὥς μ’ ἀσύφηλον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔρεξεν - Ἀτρείδης, ὡσεί τιν’ ἀτίμητον μετανάστην[960]. - -[960] Il. ix. 646. - -In Achilles, baffled love is surmounted by the image of agonizing -pride, pierced through and through; and high over this again towers -his hatred of the meanness of Agamemnon, and his sense of Justice, -stung to the very inmost quick. Even supposing the question to be open, -whether Homer has mixed his ingredients in due or in undue proportions, -at all events there is no essential conflict among them. But such a -conflict becomes visible and glaring, when a scope is assigned to the -impulses and sway of personal passion upon an army devoted to God and -to the highest aim, such as it is quite impossible to exemplify, nay to -suppose, in any army that has ever been banded together for any even of -the meaner ends of earthly policy. - -Again, although Tasso’s poem is eminently Christian in its general -intention, who does not feel that, instead of gathering our main -sympathies and interest by means of his accessory circumstances round -his principal subject, he has too effectually severed them from it, -and has left it so bare and naked, that his liberation of Jerusalem -is after all very like a common capture and sack; very like what, -_mutatis mutandis_, the capture of it by the Saracens must have been? -We leave him with our minds full of Tancredi and Clorinda, of Rinaldo -and Armida, of Gildippe and Odoardo; but the associations, which these -names suggest, connect themselves with any subject, rather than with -the liberation of the Holy Sepulchre; and the respected Godfrey, with -his plans, has, at most points of the poem, little more share in our -thoughts than the Jupiter of the Iliad, as he feasts remotely grand on -Olympus, or sits on Ida for the convenience of a nearer view. - -~_Relative places of Rinaldo and Tancredi._~ - -Besides these objections of irrelevant interpolation, incongruous -mixture, and divided interests, it may be observed that the relative -prominence of the heroes of Tasso is not clearly pronounced. No one -can doubt as to the question, who is the first, and by far the first, -figure of the Iliad. Achilles ever haunts us, either in recollection -or by sight; at any rate, he stands among and above his brother -chieftains, as Saul out-topped by head and shoulders the people of -Israel. But it is not easy to say who is the hero or protagonist of -the Jerusalem. Although the interest which he attracts is inferior, -yet the virtues, intellect, and moral force of Godfrey stand high -and clear beyond those of all the other more prominent personages: -he bears himself so meekly in his high office, and yet so perfectly -and so exclusively exhibits the political spirit, that by mere moral -and official greatness he stands, in any general view of the poem, an -inconvenient neighbour and a dangerous rival to the two other figures, -for one of whom the title of hero must have been designed. Taking, -next, the yet more serious question between Tancredi and Rinaldo, which -of this pair is intended to command the chief interest? Apparently, -in Tasso’s intention, it is Rinaldo; because without him the main -action stops, with him it proceeds. And yet the poet has assigned to -Tancredi the deadly single combat with, and the triumph so powerfully -described over, Argante, the only really great and terrible champion on -the Mahometan side. How would the Iliad stand, if Diomed had killed -Hector, and had left to Achilles only Æneas or Sarpedon? - -Tasso here seems himself to have felt an incongruity, and to have -sought to compensate Rinaldo in quantity for the (comparatively) -deficient quality of his conquests. In the final assault he slays a -multitude of the enemy like sheep[961]; when, as the poet says, in a -manner surely far beneath his theme, the taste of victory had excited -in him the appetite of carnage[962]. - -[961] Gerus. xx. 55. - -[962] Ibid. 54. - -Nor is it only in the distribution of military glory, that Rinaldo -appears to have suffered for the advantage of Tancred. On one occasion -indeed, immediately after the death of Gernando, Tasso has degraded -Tancred for the advantage of Rinaldo. For the poet makes this warrior -plead, that the offence of Rinaldo should be considered according to -the quality of him who committed it, and that there can be no such -thing as true justice without respect of persons: - - Or ti sovvegna - Saggio signor, chi sia Rinaldo, e quale; - ... non dee chi regna - Nel castigo con tutti esser uguale. - Vario è l’ istesso error ne’ gradi vari; - E sol l’ egualità giusta è co’ pari[963]. - -[963] Gerus. v. 36. - -It was acting on an opinion of this kind, in the case of the Master of -Stair after the Massacre of Glencoe, that left uneffaced a deep stain -on the memory of William III. and of Scotland. Doubtless there have -been periods when, even in Christian countries, such sentiments have -been professed as well as practised; but can there have been any period -when the utterance of them from the mouth of a knight, who is exhibited -to us as a pattern, would not have caused a revulsion in the minds of -ordinary hearers or readers? - -~_The Woman-characters of Tasso._~ - -The Jerusalem is greatly overstocked with interesting couples; so much -so, that at times we almost seem to be reading a Pastoral poem. Taken -singly, the details of these love-stories are worked up with infinite -art and beauty, and are the most effective and successful portions of -the whole Epic; but the aggregate is so much too large, that it chills -the general tone, as well as weakens the broader effects. The excess -of quantity is, indeed, gross and glaring. Tasso has followed the -Christian Romancers in employing largely the idea of the woman-warrior, -practically unknown to Homer, introduced with great spirit but no very -elevated moral effect in Virgil, carried by Bojardo and Ariosto to its -perfection; and, without doubt, a conception far more suitable to the -standard of those great poets of fancy, than to the lofty level of the -Epic or the higher drama, which deal with the greatest powers and the -deepest problems of our nature. Still, as to the manner of employing -it, we need not deny that high praise must be accorded to the Clorinda -of Tasso. It is indeed easy to criticize the religious incidents of her -death, and not easy to understand what business she has after death -in a tree of the enchanted wood; or why, when that wood becomes the -prey of the carpenters, she is so unceremoniously overlooked in her -uncomfortable abode. But as to the main exhibition of the character, -she follows Bradamante without degeneracy: pure, upright, chivalrous, -thoroughly martial, and yet not grossly masculine. She falls to -the lot of Tancred. But besides the Sofronia, the Erminia, and the -Gildippe, in the second degree of prominence, there is projected on -the picture another person yet more conspicuous than even Clorinda, -namely, Armida; so different that they can hardly be compared, and yet -inconveniently jarring from the similarity of their relations to the -great heroes of the poem. Both, too, are lovely; both figure in the -camp. Notwithstanding, however, the profusion of charms, which Tasso -has called into existence to set off the person and the powers of -Armida, nothing can be more unsatisfactory than her character itself, -except its place in the poem, and her particular relation to Rinaldo. -When every one else is ravished by her overpowering attractions, he -remains insensible: and yet afterwards, with no poetical justification -for the change, he becomes desperately enamoured of her. Here we see -that feebleness in the conception and exhibition of character, which -depresses the flight of Tasso, which excludes him from a place in the -class, quite as open to poets as to philosophers, the class of the -greatest masters of thought and of human nature. - -~_The Armida of Tasso._~ - -We become acquainted with Armida, the beautiful enchantress, first in -the guise of a forlorn damsel, who implores succour from the Christian -heroes; and this is perhaps the most successful portion of the _rôle_ -assigned to her. Then she appears as the Circe of her own gardens: -then she is a Dido without an Æneas, for the escape of Rinaldo from -the disgraceful servitude into which she had inveigled him bears no -resemblance to the fond and deep passion of the Carthaginian queen, -which grew out of an honourable hospitality afforded to the Trojans in -distress. With a disagreeable amount of likeness in detail, the copy -still misses the original, and loses all that force and majesty of -intense passion to which here, and here alone, Virgil has been enabled -to ascend. Then instead of that tragic end of Dido, in which, though -with an attitude somewhat theatrical, softness and fierceness are so -wonderfully blended, so that she does not forfeit sympathy even in -her keenest longings for revenge, Armida has recourse to an expedient -which is wholly debased and vulgar. She simply offers herself for -sale, promising to be the prize of any warrior of the Egyptian camp, -who shall execute her vengeance on Rinaldo for the offence of having -escaped out of her toils. - -Nor have we yet done with the doublings of her tortuous path. She sees -Rinaldo pass her in the battle; and, not without infinite doubting, -shoots an arrow at him. It is perhaps difficult to define in language -what it is, that constitutes the difference between the mental -struggles of genuine passion, and mere incongruous vacillation. We see -the former in Dido; and one sign of it is a certain progression. Where -the law of nature is followed, perpetual fluctuation is not allowed; -by degrees, though they may be slow and many, the mind is worked up to -a strong resolve, where it abides: its agitation and seeming reflux is -but the receding wave of the advancing tide; and when once a strong -purpose is full-formed after struggle in a truly powerful nature, -whether of man or woman, it must not be changed. Now this is what we -miss in Armida. She is ever playing at backwards and forwards. Thrice -she draws the bow, thrice she relaxes it: at last she discharges the -arrow, but with it a wish that it may miss: - - Lo stral volò; ma con lo strale un voto - Subito uscì, che vada il colpo a voto[964]. - -[964] Gerus. xx. 63. - -Not unnaturally, this unsatisfactory passage leads us to one of the -worst of all the provoking conceits that disfigure from time to time -the beautiful pages of this poem: - - Tanto poteva in lei, benchè perdente, - (Or che potria vittorioso?) amore[965]. - -[965] Ib. 64. - -Yet, after all this, revenge again gets the upper hand, and her eye -follows the arrow with avidity, hoping it may strike. She then repeats -the shot again and again, and while doing it is again herself shot in -return by love: - - E mentre ella saetta, Amor lei piaga[966]. - -[966] Ib. 65. - -Again the same alternation is reiterated; but her champions fail. She -flies. She resumes the part of Dido; apostrophizes her own weapons in a -speech of near thirty lines, entreating them to despatch her. Rinaldo -then arrests her arm; and yet once more, in stanzas replete with beauty -of diction, we have the same unsatisfactory and indecisive mixture of -ill-assorted emotions, without the strength either of harmony or of -contrast, founded on no natural law, connected by no moral or mental -tie, ordered to no end or consummation. However, he vows himself her -adorer, and she gives herself up to his disposal: - - Ecco l’ ancella tua; d’ essa a tuo senno - Dispon, gli disse; e le fia legge il cenno[967]. - -[967] Ib. 136. - -And so we leave them. But unhappily we cannot, in leaving them, forget -that she is a Mahometan and a sorceress; that her frauds have been the -great scandal of the army, and the main obstacle to the completion of -its design; that she has never throughout the whole poem exhibited a -single quality containing in it the elements of just moral attraction; -and that this triumph of mere corporeal form, without one solitary -note of inward loveliness, is achieved over the greatest of the -warriors of Christ, when engaged, under the immediate and special -direction of the Almighty, in the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre from -infidel dominion. With all these circumstances before us, it must -be admitted that a more lame and unsatisfactory contribution to the -climax of a great Christian poem could hardly have been contrived. -Nor is the impression much amended by the dedication of the eight -last stanzas of the work to the completion of the victory by Godfrey. -A reader may, on the contrary, well feel perturbed by the sharpness -of the transition, and by the air of unconsciousness with which, in -gathering up the threads of the action, Tasso has brought into close -neighbourhood matters so heterogeneous, that they form a kind of moral -chaos. And the observation applies to the close of the poem, which may -well have accompanied it throughout its course; that the sympathies of -the reader are not evoked and managed with due, or with any, reference -to the greatness and nobleness of the objects, but, on the contrary, -are allured into the wrong quarter. Homer has carefully contrived, in -the case of Paris, that even his extraordinary personal attractions -shall do nothing to give him a hold upon our favour, while he has -given his warmest sympathies to the beauty of the innocent, though -comparatively insignificant, Euphorbus[968]. How tame and flat, on -the contrary, has Tasso made the stainless Erminia, whom indeed he -altogether forgets before the poem closes; and what efforts of art has -he not used to gather admiring interest around the character and fate -of the heartless, even when enamoured, Armida. Nay, more, with some -brilliant exceptions, especially that noble one of the first view of -Jerusalem, how cold and slack, how uninteresting to the reader, is the -movement of the main action of the poem, compared with that of the -love-stories which invade and engross so inordinate a portion of the -ground. We seem to feel that, after all, the Siege of Jerusalem is not -the principal business in hand; it is the task which must somehow or -other be got through, but it is not the life and pulse, the light and -joy of the poem. As the Siege of Troy was the instrument of Homer, to -enable him to develop his Achilles, so the much higher subject of the -Crusade is the tool of Tasso to enable him to exhibit his workmanship, -chiefly in connection with love-stories, upon very inferior persons -and performances. The relative values of the setting and the jewel are -totally different in the two cases. - -[968] Il. xvii. 51. - -~_The affront of Gernando._~ - -Besides the first great hindrance to the prosecution of the siege -in the seductive power of Armida when she appears in the camp, -there is a second, namely, the slaughter of Gernando by Rinaldo, -upon a personal affront. It has here been objected to the first, -that the effect assigned to it is out of proportion to all example -and to all likelihood, though it may be suitable to the passionate -susceptibilities of Tasso’s individual mind; and that this -disproportion jars peculiarly from the more than usual elevation of the -subject. Is the second obstacle more happily conceived? - -Rinaldo, in the Fifth Canto, unlike his companions, has proved -impregnable to the assaults of Armida’s mingled beauty and art: - - Ma perch’ a lui colpi d’ amor più lenti - Non hanno il petto oltra la scorza inciso, - Nè molto impaziente è di rivale, - Nè la donzella di seguir gli cale[969]. - -[969] Gerus. v. 12. - -He rather aspires to succeed to the fallen Dudone in the immediate -command of the forces. Yet even with respect to this, his ambition -purports to be under the guidance of high principle: - - I gradi primi - Più meritar che conseguir desio[970]. - -[970] Ibid. 151. - -Presently the Norwegian Prince Gernando, moved by jealousy, insults -him; on which Rinaldo there and then gives him the lie, and slays him. - -It is hardly possible to measure the inferiority of this combination, -as respects poetic art and effect, to the scene of the First Book of -the Iliad, with which it must naturally be compared: where Achilles -is stung, and stung at once in every fibre of his deep, proud, and -impassioned nature, by the mingled meanness and tyranny of Agamemnon. -The affront in Homer is so contrived that it shall contain all -the highest elements of provocation: avarice, tyranny, injustice, -ingratitude, on the one side are made to exacerbate the wounds -inflicted by public degradation, and by the sudden loss of a beloved -object, on the other. But the insult of Gernando to Rinaldo is an -every-day insult of the streets: yet an American duellist could not -have been more summary in his proceedings, than is the great Christian -champion. The brutal provocation instantly breaks down both the piety -and the moral firmness of Rinaldo. It is not so with Achilles. In him -there is a conscious force of self-command, which absolutely, though -not relatively to his passion, is even beyond that of other men; and -though unequal, indeed, yet is all but not unequal to controlling that -tempestuous flood of wrath. Nothing can be grander than the picture of -this his first great mental convulsion. We must quote the lines: - - ὣς φάτο· Πηλείωνι δ’ ἄχος γένετ’, ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ - στήθεσσιν λασίοισι διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν, - ἢ ὅγε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ - τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὁ δ’ Ἀτρείδην ἐναρίζοι, - ἠὲ χόλον παύσειεν, ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν[971]. - -[971] Il. i. 188. - -Then, while the strong current eddies to and fro within him, and while -his fingers, playing instinctively on the handle of his sword, cause -its blade to be seen, comes the warning vision of Pallas to him, and to -him alone. This admonition restores the disturbed balance of his mind; -and, his inward wound assuaged with the promise of a future revenge, to -be wrought out for him by the self-condemning hands of the inflicters -and abettors of the wrong, he moodily foregoes the reckoning of blood. - -Such is the solid, the Cyclopian structure of the fabric, into which -Homer has built his characters. Had the hero of Tasso indeed been -endowed with a sublimity of passion beyond or like that of Achilles, we -might not have been entitled to call him strictly to account for the -slaughter of Gernando. But the truth is, that he is a somewhat jejune -and feeble character; and his offence in this instance is not from -the excess of the impelling, but from the defect, or rather the utter -absence, of the restraining power. - -Gioberti, in a posthumous work[972], remarks that the heroes of -Paganism are more effective than those of Christianity, because the -standard by which they are measured is lower, the idea imperfect -instead of perfect. There is, I believe, much both of truth and of -depth in this observation. It is no more than justice that Tasso should -have the benefit of it, which is not inconsiderable. - -[972] _La Riforma Cattolica_, lately published at Turin, with an -excellent preface by Massari. - -~_Differing modes of describing personages._~ - -Such, however, as his heroes are, he takes the precaution to describe -them in outline at a very early stage indeed of his proceedings, -namely, in the stanzas 8-10 of the First Canto. He here places before -us Godfrey, Baldwin, Tancred, Boemondo, and Rinaldo; and he resumes -from time to time the business of describing them. Bojardo and -Ariosto avoid this; but it is probably because they were dealing with -characters of well-known type, already familiar to their audience. -Homer, who drew so much more powerfully, had more to describe than -any of them. And yet it may be said he never describes characters at -all, with the very slight exceptions of Nestor, in a few words, and -Thersites with somewhat more detail: the latter, it is evident, because -he wanted to concentrate contempt and disgust upon his qualities, for -exhibiting which in action he could not afford to such a wretch any -extended space: the former, perhaps because he has thought it better -for effect to abstain from marking him through the poem by distinctive -epithets, and could produce a certain roundness of figure, highly -suitable to the personage, in this way with more convenience. But, in -general, Homer’s characters are described by their actions only, with -the aid of choice and characteristic epithets, and here and there of -some small but pointed allusion, not from themselves nor from the Poet, -but in the speeches of others. Thus he grapples with the full scale of -the demands of the dramatic art. Others could not follow him. We must -not blame Tasso for a proceeding quite necessary by way of clue to his -poem; rather, indeed, we should praise the ingenious manner in which he -has effected his purpose, by a survey which the Almighty takes of the -Christian camp; a proceeding alike conducive to the religious character -of his poem, not always so well cared for, and to the supply of the -first necessities of his readers. - -In the details of his battles, Tasso is a great and skilful describer. -Perhaps in this point alone, out of so many, he may be termed superior -to Homer. At least we may be disposed to think he has nothing so -unsatisfactory under this head as the death of Patroclus. It may -be another question how far he is indebted for instruction in this -department to his great countrymen, especially Ariosto, and also -whether he has anywhere equalled the magnificent account of that -terrible contest with Rodomonte, which, in the Furioso, sums up -Ruggiero’s triumphs. - -As nearly all the greater situations and combinations of the -Gerusalemme, and its general framework, have been suggested by the -ancients, so the minor imitations are too numerous for notice. Many -of Tasso’s similes are extremely beautiful and finished; and he has -followed Homer in employing them to relieve the narrative of battle; -but he has not observed the same judicious parsimony in other parts of -his poem; he has apparently not perceived, certainly not followed, the -general rules of Homer in the distribution of this ornament, and the -result has been that they produce a somewhat cloying effect. - -Like Virgil, he has been betrayed into imitating Homer in certain -cases, where the whole reason of the case was changed: as, for -instance, in the Invocation before the Catalogue, and in the wish -expressed for multiplied organs of speech. To Homer, a reciting poet, -the Catalogue was a great effort of memory, and it therefore justified -the special application to the Muse: to Tasso it must have been one of -the easier parts of his performance. As respects the second point, what -can be more reasonable in the case of an unwritten composition? what -less so, when the poet works with pen and ink? Nor is the case much -mended by supposing that Tasso had in mind his recitations, unless the -recitation had been, not the accident, but the rule, so that the poem -would itself, in the ordinary course of thought, be conceived of as -associated with the act of reciting. - -Tasso seems, however, to have fallen into a more serious error in -introducing a Second Catalogue into his poem. The first may be defended -by the same reasoning, which so amply warrants that of Homer. But what -interest could Christendom or Italy feel in the detailed muster-roll of -the Egyptian army? - -~_The Return of Rinaldo._~ - -If in the Jerusalem the Wrath is beneath the standard of the Iliad, -so is the Return. On the side of Rinaldo, indeed, it is most just and -right, that he should be extricated from the entanglements of the -seductive Armida: but, on the side of Godfrey, there is the same sorry -management of all the moral elements of the case. In Homer, Achilles -was justly and most deeply offended: on every principle known to the -creed of Paganism, or to Greek life and experience, he justly resented -the offence: the utmost that can be imputed to him is a decided excess -in the indulgence of a thoroughly righteous feeling: and this was -terribly expiated by the bloody death of that friend, who was to him -as a second self. But the gross offence of Agamemnon is dealt with -according to the most righteous rules; and he is compelled by word -and gift to appease the man whom he had robbed, insulted, and striven -to degrade. While he is brought both to restitution and to apology, -how different is the arrangement of Tasso’s poem! Rinaldo was wronged -by Gernando: but Godfrey had done no more than his duty: he was the -minister of public justice, of lawful authority, and of military -discipline: in respect to him, and likewise in respect to the army, -Rinaldo was the offender, Godfrey and public right were only the -sufferers; yet Godfrey and public right give way under the pressure of -adversity, and the offender comes back in a kind of triumph. - -If it has been found possible in the case of Virgil to institute a more -minute comparison with Homer, this cannot be attempted in the case -of Tasso, for his work hardly admits of juxta-positions in detail. -We have already noticed the abundant stock of real analogies between -the subject of the Trojan expedition, and that of the Crusades. -Tasso himself, in his anxiety to follow Homer, even added to them, by -feigning a centralization of the Christian enterprise, which I fear did -not really exist. But to imitate is one thing, to be like is another; -and it still remains hard really to compare the poems, far harder the -poets. In order to see this clearly, let us ascend a height, and view -the scene which lies before us. How vast a deluge of time and of events -has swept away the very world in which Homer lived, and the worlds that -succeeded his: the place of nativity is changed, the great gulf of time -is stretched between, the language is another, the religion new, all -the chains of association have been taken to pieces and re-forged, all -the old chords of feeling are now mute, and others that give forth a -different music are strung in their stead. And there is also, it must -be confessed, a great and sharp descent from the stature of Homer, as a -creative poet, to that of Tasso. Yet he too is a classic of Italy, and -a classic of the world; and if for a moment we feel it a disparagement -to his country that she suffers in this one comparison, let her soothe -her ruffled recollection by the consciousness, that though Tasso has -not become a rival to Homer, yet he shares this failure with every epic -writer of every land. On the other hand, no modern poet, dealing with -similar subject-matter, has been equal to Tasso. None has erected, -upon similar foundations to his, a fabric so lofty and so durable, so -rich in beauty and in grace: so well entitled, if not to vie with the -very greatest achievement of the ages that went before him, at least -to challenge or to win the admiration of those generations that have -succeeded. But his defeat is, after all, his greatest victory. To lose -the match against Homer is a higher prize than to win it from his other -competitors. Few indeed are the sons of genius, and elect among the -elect, who can be brought into comparison with that sire and king of -verse; and Tasso, we are persuaded, would bear against none a grudge -for thus far, in his own words, limiting his honours: - - e ciò fia sommo onore; - Questi già con Gernando in gara venne[973]. - -[973] Ger. v. 20. - - -SECTION VI. - -_Some principal Homeric characters in Troy._ - -_Hector: Helen: Paris._ - -To one only among the countless millions of human beings has it been -given to draw characters, by the strength of his own individual hand, -in lines of such force and vigour, that they have become, from his -day to our own, the common inheritance of civilized man. That one is -Homer. Ever since his time, besides finding his way into the usually -impenetrable East, he has provided literary capital and available stock -in trade for reciters and hearers, for authors and readers of all times -and of all places within the limits of the Western world; - - Adjice Mæoniden, a quo, ceu fonte perenni, - Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis. - -Like the sun, which furnishes with its light the close courts and -alleys of London, while himself unseen by their inhabitants, Homer has -supplied with the illumination of his ideas millions of minds that were -never brought into direct contact with his works, and even millions -more, that have hardly been aware of his existence. As the full flow of -his genius has opened itself out into ten thousand irrigating channels -by successive subdivision, there can be no cause for wonder, if some -of them have not preserved the pellucid clearness of the stream. Like -blood from the great artery of the heart of man, as it returns through -innumerable veins, it is gradually darkened in its flow. The very -universality of the tradition has multiplied the causes of corruption. -That which, as to documents, is a guarantee, because their errors -correct one another, as to ideas is a new source of danger, because -every thing depends upon constant reference to the finer touches of -an original, which has escaped from view. And this universality is his -alone. An Englishman may pardonably think that his great rival in the -portraiture of character is Shakespeare--a Briton may even go further, -and challenge, on behalf of Sir Walter Scott, a place in this princely -choir, second to no other person but these. Yet the fame of Hamlet, -Othello, Lady Macbeth, or Falstaff, and much more that of Varney, or -Ravenswood, or Caleb Balderston, or Meg Merrilies, has not yet come, -and may never come, to be a world-wide fame. On the other hand, that -distinction has long been inalienably secured to every character of the -first class, who appears in the Homeric poems. He has conferred upon -them a deathless inheritance. - -But, through waywardness and infirmity, mankind corrupts that with -which it sympathizes, and undermines what it obeys. The same law of -waste and decomposition, which from day to day corrodes the works of -nature, operates also in divers manners and degrees upon the creations -of mind. As the portraitures of individual character, to be found in -the works of the great masters of the imaginative faculty, are among -the very highest of these creations, so, because they are the greatest, -they are the most difficult to render into other forms, and to -transfuse through new media. Among the ancient sculptures it is easier -to find a good Faun than a good Venus, while again those works, which -embody the very highest ideals, are not only rare, but are in most -instances unique. In like manner the Punch and the Harlequin, the broad -characters of primitive spectacle and farce, readily become national, -and are transmitted, spontaneously as it were, through ages without -substantial change; but the finer and nobler representations of man, -requiring greater effort, and a different order of mind to comprehend, -as well as to project them, rapidly degenerate in the very points on -which their peculiar excellence depends. - -Other causes, besides mental impotence in the recipient, contribute -towards this result. One main agent is, the inability or the -disinclination of mankind to go back to originals. For the mass, a -modernizing process is commonly in demand, is readily furnished, -and is itself again and again varied from age to age. It is always -easier to derive from what is itself derivative, than to go up to -the fountain-head. Into the business of every profession, including -(now more than ever) that of letters, necessity drives her adamantine -clamps: and the βάναυσον and the φορτικὸν, or slang and the clap-trap, -maintain a too successful struggle to depress its higher and more -genial aims. - -~_Causes of injury to Homeric characters._~ - -It is not difficult to point out reasons why the characters of Homer -should have been peculiarly exposed to injury from the lapse of time. -Most of all from two causes; because they were of such extraordinary -and refined merit, and because of the form in which they were conveyed. -Not only did they bear the stamp that the highest genius alone could -affix, but nothing less than care, sympathy, and manly effort, could -enable men to comprehend them. For they were not exhibited in the set -forms of descriptive passages, which might be learnt by rote, but they -were wrought out in the fine, as well as deep and strong lines of life -and action; and none of them could be defined in terms, until they had -first been profoundly felt within. We were to become acquainted with -them as friends, by living with them through their varied fortunes; not -as strangers, by some letter of introduction, that sets forth their -birth, parentage, calling, and qualifications. For earnest and hearty -attention they provided the richest possible reward; by the careless -they were to be enjoyed indeed, but scarcely to be apprehended. To -the eyes of such men there is little or nothing to discriminate, as -between Agamemnon, Ajax, Diomed, Menelaus, and Patroclus; and if Nestor -is a good deal older, Ulysses a good deal more cunning, and Achilles -even more valiant than the rest, a single touch disposes of these -differences, and enables us to reduce all the eight nearly to a common -type. A prior examination of particular instances will best prepare -us for weighing the force of those other causes, besides the weakness -of human nature, and the excellence of the works in the general sense -of the words, that contributed to depress and deface the Homeric -characters. - -In the present Section, then, I propose to invite attention to a few -Homeric characters, as they stand in the poems, which, as far as I am -able to judge, stand in need as yet of further elucidation. - -Perhaps there is no one particular in which Colonel Mure has rendered -such important service to the modern Homeridæ, as in his account of -the Homeric characters. In general, I shall best discharge my duty by -simply referring the reader to his pages. I venture, however, to think, -that while the paramount subject of the great Grecian characters is -incomparably handled by him throughout, some exception may be taken to -his representation of a part of the Trojan personages; of Hector, for -example, and more particularly (if she may be placed in this class) of -Helen. At least, I presume to regard some of them as fairly capable of -being presented in another light, and I shall proceed at once to make -the attempt with Hector. - -~_Relation of Orlando to Hector._~ - -I. ‘In the character of this hero,’ says Mure, ‘good and evil -are so curiously blended that it is hard to say which element -predominates[974].’ Is there not a different view of the composition of -qualities, which Mure has thus placed in equipoise? - -[974] Character of Hector, Lit. Greece, vol. i. p. 347. - -It is indeed eminently true, as in the same place he proceeds to -observe, that in order to maintain what may be called the conventional -balance, or stage-equality, which was necessary in order to give -interest to his poem, Homer has magnified the prowess of Hector, in -general terms, as of the highest transcendental order: but that in -actual achievement he is greatly surpassed by the leading Greek heroes. -Indeed, in many places of the Iliad it even seems questionable, whether -Hector is a hero at all. - -How successful Homer’s art has been in thus paying off the Trojan -champion with generalities, while he nevertheless reserved the true -palm of military virtue to his own countrymen, we may, perhaps, best -judge from considering the effect which the picture has had upon the -poets of Italy, and upon European opinion at large, in more recent -times. With the former, the name of Hector seems to be the prime type -of the heroic character. Thus Tasso celebrates-- - - ‘Il buon Foresto, dell’ Italia Ettorre[975].’ - -[975] Ger. xvii. 69. - -And further. Beyond the Alps, Orlando was the prime warrior or -protagonist, as well as the finest character, of the mediæval romance, -until it was modified by Ariosto, whose courtly object it was to -elevate Ruggiero above him. But with the poets who followed Ariosto, -Ruggiero seems to have been put by as an interpolation, and Orlando -to have resumed his paramount place. Now the character of Orlando -is plainly modelled upon the traditional idea of Hector, with the -Christian element attached to and pervading it. That Hector was thus -chosen, in preference to Achilles or any Greek hero, may be owing, -among other causes, to these. First, that the Roman poets, Virgil -especially, had taught Italians to look to Troy as the cradle of their -grandeur. Secondly, that the character of Hector, from the large -infusion into it of moral and of passive ingredients, was better fitted -for coalescing with the Christian ideas. And thirdly, that, as the -part assigned to Italian patriotism in the middle ages was commonly -defensive, in this point also Hector offered a more appropriate model. -There is more, however, to observe; for it may be thought that, among -the Trojans, Æneas would have offered a better groundwork for Italian -poets. But here we may remark how the genuine and masculine birth -outlives the spurious. The natural Hector of Homer thrust aside the -pale and sickly automaton of the Æneid, even in Italy, its adopted -country. The latter was so artificial and effete, that it would not -even bear copying: the former had a foundation in truth, upon which the -structure of exaggeration could be reared. Thus Hector became, after -two thousand years, the central power of a new and splendid literature. - -But when we turn back to the verse of Homer, and put together the -evidence in the case piece by piece, surprise is excited by the -contrast between the pretensions of Hector, having its basis in general -descriptions and in the later tradition, on the one side, and on the -other the actual performances, in the Iliad itself, of the Trojan -champion. First, there is Achilles, his known superior; of whom, as -a warrior, he comes within no measurable distance. But besides this, -he suffers virtual defeat at the hands, once of Diomed, and twice -of Ajax; glaringly as to the former, and not doubtfully as to the -latter: for though the first battle is interrupted, and is taken for -a drawn one, yet Ajax has had the best of it at every point, and, -while the Trojans are too happy upon the mere escape of his opponent -without bodily harm, Homer carries him to the tent of Agamemnon -rejoicing in his victory (κεχαρηότα νίκῃ[976]). It is yet more worthy -of note, that Hector is never permitted in actual fight to overcome -any one considerable Greek. In the case of Patroclus, the Poet has -even laid this fact much too barely open; for he makes Hector little, -if anything, more than the mere executioner of death upon an unarmed -man. Menelaus, who stood in what we may call the third rank of Grecian -heroes, is indeed, on one occasion, withdrawn from conflict with him, -as being too greatly inferior to risk the fight; but the conflict for -the body of Patroclus[977] is so contrived as to show even this prince -holding the field with success in despite of the Trojan chief; and, -during the absence of Achilles and Patroclus from the contest, no less -than nine other Greek warriors offer themselves to meet him in single -combat[978]. - -[976] Il. vii. 312. - -[977] Ibid. 109. - -[978] Ibid. 161. - -The greatest exploit of Hector, in the whole Iliad, is the bursting -open of the gates of the Greek rampart[979]. But if we compare this -with the feat of Sarpedon, who had just before opened a breach by -tearing down the battlement[980], we must give a decided preference to -the Lycian hero; for he performs his achievement in the teeth of Ajax -and Teucer, who are on the spot; while there is not a single Greek -commander present when Hector breaks through the gates. The comparative -feebleness of Hector’s military character is, however, most pointedly -shown in the Eleventh Book, when Jupiter determines to give effect -to the decision that honour shall be done to him[981]. In the first -place, he receives a friendly warning to keep out of the way as long -as Agamemnon remains on the field. He accordingly enters the battle -only when Agamemnon has retired; but he is forthwith driven out of it -by Diomed[982]. When he again returns to it, the Greeks under Machaon -baffle all his efforts, until that very secondary chieftain has been -disabled by an arrow from the bow of Paris[983]. And according to all -human appearances, the Trojans must have been defeated and shut up in -the city by the Greeks even without Achilles, such was the superiority -of Achæan arms, had not Homer called in the inferior agency of -stones and arrows to wound three of the four chief remaining Grecian -warriors, namely Diomed, Agamemnon, and Ulysses; besides Eurypylus and -Machaon[984]. - -[979] Il. xii. 445-71. - -[980] Ib. 392-407. - -[981] Il. xi. 186-90. - -[982] Il. xi. 349-67. - -[983] Ib. 502-7. - -[984] Ib. 660. - -The only occasion when Hector comes out as a really great and gallant -warrior is that one when he is certain to be, and is accordingly, -worsted by the overpowering might and divine arms of Achilles. For -here Homer could safely give him ample scope without endangering or -obscuring the fame of that hero, to whom, with art never surpassed, -he has given an immeasurable, but yet not a forced or unnatural, -preeminence. - -~_Hector second-rate as a hero._~ - -The place of Hector, then, as a fighting hero, is certainly no more -than second-rate; but so far, I venture to think, is Homer from having -almost equally weighted in his character the scales of good and evil -respectively, that, with the exception of his boastfulness, it is hard -to fasten on him so much as a single fault. This boastfulness, and the -disproportion between pretension and performance, is not altogether -confined to him, but extends in some measure to the other Trojan -warriors, except Sarpedon; for example, to Polydamas, Æneas, and Paris. -Some of the best Greeks too, particularly Diomed, are touched with -it[985]. And perhaps, in our more elaborated and artificial condition -of society, we are not quite fair judges how far this practice, which -may seem to stand in sharp contrast with the prevailing modesty of -the Homeric heroes, may have been with them not a substitute for, -but a kind of embellishment and auxiliary to, their strength of soul -and hand. With us it is justly suspected of implying a tendency to -fall short in performance: with them it may have appertained to that -straightforwardness in the expression of inward emotions, which made -them (for example) weep so freely whenever the chord of sorrow was -touched within them. - -[985] Il. vi. 127. - -So conspicuous is this quality, says Mure, that the name of the Trojan -chief is to this day synonymous in our own tongue with ‘bluster’ or -‘swagger[986].’ But it is remarkable that the very same thing has -happened in the case of the word ‘rodomontade,’ which is derived from -Rodomonte, the most powerful, next to Ruggiero, of all the heroes of -the Furioso. This circumstance seems to make probable, what, without -it, would be only possible, namely, that we misconstrue the phrases; -and that, according to the true meaning, a rodomontader is a man -passing himself off for a Rodomonte: and one who hectors is a man -falsely pretending to be a Hector. - -[986] Mure, i. 352. - -Another very high authority, Lord Grenville, intimately acquainted with -the poems of Homer, supplies a marked example of the blinding force -of literary traditions. For in his ‘Nugæ Metricæ[987],’ he says: ‘A -hectoring fellow is ... strangely distorted in its use to express a -meaning almost the opposite of its original.’ And he adds in a note: -‘The Hector of Homer unites, we know, - -[987] p. 85. - - The mildest manners with the bravest mind.’ - -The disposition of the Trojan chief to brag is, however, the more -offensive, because it vents itself so much in the first person -singular; because in the case of Patroclus it seems to be associated -with an act at least unmanly; and because upon many occasions Hector -shows even more than a prudential regard to his personal safety. - -What is more strange is, that his ordinary strain of boasting is -chequered with passages of more genuine modesty and humility than are -to be found in the speech of any other chieftain on either side. As for -example, when he acknowledges his marked inferiority to Achilles; - - οἶδα δ’ ὅτι σὺ μὲν ἐσθλὸς, ἐγὼ δὲ σέθεν πολὺ χείρων[988]. - -[988] Il. xx. 434. - -But above all, in the incomparable verse of his prayer over his infant -son; - - καὶ ποτέ τις εἴπῃ, πατρός γ’ ὅδε πολλὸν ἀμείνων[989]. - -[989] Il. vi. 479. - -~_Hector’s moral character._~ - -Homer is of all poets the most free from any thing that can be called -trick; but perhaps it may be that the same necessity of his position, -which obliged him to magnify Trojan prowess in words, while it falls so -short in deeds, has found its way from the narrative into the dramatic -part of the poem. If so, then in Hector’s boasts we may recognise Homer -working out his own general purpose rather than conforming with perfect -fidelity to tradition, or finishing an ideally perfect portrait with -the power and exactitude, which he has applied to his greater Grecian -heroes. Yet, be the cause what it may that has led Homer to exhibit in -Hector the disagreeable gift of a bragging disposition, Mure appears to -show less than his usual precision when he ascribes to Hector in one -place a partial[990], and in another a total, indifference to the moral -guilt of his brother Paris. - -[990] Vol. i. pp. 349, 60. - -Whatever may be the reason, the fact undoubtedly is, that neither on -the Trojan, nor even on the Greek side, do we find displayed such a -sense of the shameful crime of Paris as we might have anticipated -from a first view of the manners and feelings of the age. As far as -regards the Poet himself, we may read his indignant sense of it in -the portraiture he has been careful to give of Paris himself, and of -his ill fame among his countrymen; but, undoubtedly, although his act -is everywhere described as the cause of war, it is nowhere spoken of, -among those who had suffered by it, with the passion and indignation -which we might suppose it would have aroused. Of all the Greeks, -only Menelaus alludes to it as an act of guilt. Various causes may -be assigned for this with more or less confidence. A probable one -is, as we have seen[991], that the act partook of the character of -an abduction or rape, in which enterprise and force gild or hide the -ugly features of crime. An unpopular form of criminality might then, -as now, come off the more easily from being covered by another which -is popular. It also without doubt appears, that another reason may be -the length of time which, in any view of the case, must have elapsed -since the act had taken place. But perhaps the solution of the question -is to be mainly found in this consideration, common to modern with -ancient times, that the causes of war are apt to be swallowed up in -its circumstances. In entering upon the arbitrement of the sword, men -do not choose a fixed position, but they embark upon a stream, always -powerful and often ungovernable. When once the armament was on the -shores of the Hellespont, there would be on both sides the motive of -military honour, and, besides this, with the Trojans, the defence of -their families and homes, with the Greeks the hope of plunder and of -license. Hence, even after the Greeks are weakened and discouraged by -the secession of Achilles, it is not from them, but from the Trojans, -that a proposal proceeds for deciding the case of Helen by single -combat. Hence, upon the shameful escape of Paris from fulfilling this -engagement, after his defeat by Menelaus, we find little expression of -indignation on one side, and no confession of wrong on the other. But -the criticism of Mure seems to amount to this; that it was a capital -fault on the part of Hector, not to have his mind constantly full of a -question, which was rarely thought of at all by any one on either side, -except Paris and Menelaus, the persons most directly interested. - -[991] See sup. Ilios, pp. 196-205. - -It is plain, however, that Homer has represented Hector as keenly -feeling and resenting, not only his brother’s cowardice, but his -sensuality. Twice does he address him as mad with lust, and as a -deceiver of women[992]: out of his five speeches addressed to Paris, -only one is not reproachful; and in the only one which extends beyond -a few lines he barbs his reproaches on the score of cowardice by fully -setting forth his guilt, both morally and as towards his country, in -that, being a coward, he was also a ravisher[993]. The charge, however, -also takes a more specific form. We see that Hector was greatly -delighted, ἐχάρη μέγα when his rebuke[994] had stirred up Paris to -offer to stake the whole issue on a single combat with Menelaus. But -it is said, why, when the battle had been lost, did not Hector enforce -the terms of the bargain? The answer seems to be this. We stand here -at a juncture in the poem, where its theurgy supersedes its human -mechanism. It is presumable that this very thing was about to be done, -when the order of events was interrupted by the counsel of the gods. -Agamemnon had at the close of the Third Book in due course demanded -Helen. Jupiter immediately apprehended the consequences; he saw that if -faith were kept, Achilles would neither be avenged nor glorified; and -he accordingly invited the assembly on Olympus to determine, whether -Helen should be rendered back or not. When this had been settled in -the negative, the question was how to prevent it; and it was done, on -the suggestion of Juno, by causing Pandarus to renew the war without -the privity of Hector. This shows pretty clearly that the restoration -of Helen was about to take place, had not the gods interfered; and -therefore amply suffices to relieve Hector from reproach, who, it may -be observed, takes no part until, when the armies have been long in -conflict, he has been stung by the reproaches of Sarpedon (v. 493). -If censure be due to the arrangement, it must be lodged against the -Poet, and not against one of his personages, who simply does not appear -because there is no part for him to play. - -[992] Il. iii. 39 and xiii. 769. - -[993] Il. iii. 46-51. - -[994] Ib. 76. - -~_His responsibilities beyond his strength._~ - -Let us now proceed to a somewhat more general view of the character of -Hector. - -He occupies in the Homeric tradition a place altogether peculiar, -as, at the time of the poem, the sole eminently warlike member of an -unwarlike family; as the general of a divided and incongruous army; and -as singly responsible in chief for the safety of his country, while he -has not been invested with the dignity and power of king. As to the -first of these points, we have the direct testimony of Homer: - - οἶος γὰρ ἐρύετο Ἴλιον Ἕκτωρ[995]. - -[995] Il. vi. 403. - -Of his brothers, Deiphobus alone is represented as in any degree -deserving or sharing his confidence. Of his relatives, Polydamas -appears to have been a rival in the council, Æneas in the succession to -political supremacy: and these were the two most considerable persons -of the class. It has, I conceive, been shown to be probable, that -Paris was his senior[996]; and that he held his place in Troy by merit -against age. His uneasy relations with his allies might be inferred -from their constituting the great bulk of his force, even were they -not more distinctly betokened by the reproach of Sarpedon, and by the -speech in which he himself enters on the subject. Together with his -power over the army, he had the virtual charge of the safety of the -state, and we see signs of his influence there; but yet he did not -direct the policy of Troy: for the only important measure, which is -recorded as having been taken by the Trojans, namely the rejection of -the proposals of Antenor to give back Helen to the Greeks, was taken in -his absence and without his knowledge. Thus we see in Hector’s case, -abundantly accumulated, the elements of a false position. And, in a -word, in order to estimate his character aright, we must keep in full -view that inferiority of the Trojans, subjects not less than princes, -as respects political genius and organization, to which the Iliad, when -carefully examined, bears ample testimony. - -[996] Ilios, pp. 219-23. - -Under the weight of public charge, as Agamemnon in the Greek camp, so, -and yet more, Hector on the Trojan side, appears to reel; so, and yet -more; for, in Hector’s case, political power is crippled by his not -being in actual possession of the supreme station, while responsibility -is edged and enhanced by his being not only the head to devise, but -also the right hand to execute. In neither of the two, however, do we -find strong will, definiteness, and constancy of purpose, or unfailing -courage. But Agamemnon has the advantage of both wiser counsels around -him, and stronger arms than his own near his side. Hector has little -aid. Sarpedon alone of the Trojan commanders (for Æneas really does -nothing) can be called a warrior of note; and his inferiority to -Patroclus, notwithstanding his thorough gallantry, is decorated rather -than hidden by the stage machinery of divine consultations on the -subject of his death. But as Sarpedon in the field plays a part much -inferior to the corresponding one of Diomed or Ajax, so Polydamas, -the Nestor of the Trojans, is not equal to his kindly and genial -counterpart. Four times he gives his counsel in the field. Twice he -prefaces it with personal imputations (xii. 211, and xiii. 726); and -when, in the Twelfth Book (211), he recommends the abandonment of the -assault on the ships in deference to an omen, feeling and judgment are -alike on the side of Hector’s reply, who overturns his augury by the -known (though, as they proved, deceitful) counsels of Jupiter, and -emphatically pleads against doubtful signs the indubitable dictates of -patriotism. - -~_His bright side in the affections._~ - -The prophetic gift, for whatever reason, is assigned pretty largely -by Homer to the Trojans. Without entering into the case of Cassandra, -it attaches to Helenus, and also (xii. 238) apparently to Polydamas, -who undertakes to interpret a sign. Hector himself had the weight of -prescience on his breast, for he tells Andromache[997] that he well -knows the day of ruin is at hand; and, when he is at the point of -death, he prognosticates the coming fate of Achilles. The concentrated -strain of his duties and his previsions is too much for the strength -of a character which, from the intellectual or dramatic point of view, -is impulsive, fluctuating, and unequal, and which must therefore -undoubtedly be set down as so far secondary. But when we pass from -intellect to moral tone, from διάνοια to ἦθος, we certainly find -in Hector one among the most touching, the most human, of all the -delineations of masculine character in the Iliad. In him alone has -Homer presented to us that most commanding and most moving combination, -of a woman’s gentleness and deep affection with warlike and heroic -strength. If the hand of Hector was far weaker than that of the son -of Peleus, the tempestuous griefs of Achilles do not open to us a -character nearly so attractive as the depth of the gentle affections -of Hector, and the mildness warmed into such brilliancy by his martial -fame. ‘Thy love to me was wonderful; passing the love of women[998].’ -The constancy and tenacity of the attachments of Ulysses come out in -his relations to Penelope and Telemachus: but, dwelling harmoniously -in a character of far broader scope and more varied sensibilities, the -peculiar element of a tenderness matching that of woman is the only one -they do not contain. Hector is neither a warrior nor a statesman after -the primary, that is the Achæan, type: but for a model of intensity and -softness in the love of a father and a husband, it is to him that we -must repair, in the incomparable scene by the Scæan gate; incomparable, -unless we may compare it with that other scene, so near at hand, where -the sight of young Polydorus slain, piercing him to the heart, raised -him in his last hour to the heights of heroism; and where the interest -and sympathy, that he has attracted all along, are absorbed into -admiration of the real sublimity of that closing hour, when he resolved -to be for ever famous at least in his too certain death. - -[997] Il. vi. 447. - -[998] 2 Samuel i. 26. - -Probably a main reason why Hector has become the groundwork of the -modern Orlando is, that no one of the Homeric heroes exhibits a -combination of qualities supplying so appropriate a basis for the -character of a Christian hero; a tone so sensibly approximating to -that of the gospel. Partly because of those acts of piety towards the -Immortals, which can hardly receive in the case of Hector any but a -favourable construction, and which drew down the all but unanimous -compassion of the Olympian assembly on his remains; but partly also, -and yet more, in that mild, just, and tender estimate of character, -which not only secured his constant gentleness of demeanour towards -Helen, but made him her protector against the acrimony of others, and -rendered him considerate and kind even to Paris[999], so soon as he saw -him disposed at length to be personally active in the mortal struggle -he had brought upon his country. There is, perhaps, no virtue more -especially Christian, than the temper which thus equitably and gently -makes allowances for human weakness, particularly if it be weakness by -the effects of which we ourselves have suffered. - -[999] Il. vi. 521. - -The employment, however, of Hector for the purposes of Christian poetry -has certainly had the effect of perverting for us the true Homeric -tradition. But, in order to understand this, we must throw aside the -Hector of our proverbs or our plays, travel back to the Iliad, and set -out anew from the starting-point of its great author. We must there -be content to take him not as a pure effort of imagination aimed at -the production of an ideal man, but as a part of the poem of Homer, -subordinated like every other part of it to its main purpose, as well -as to the general laws of historical consistency. In modelling the -several heroes, he made the exigencies of his Hector yield to the -exigencies of his Achilles, who could have no real competitor. Nor, -with the fine characteristic sense he has everywhere shown of the -national differences between Greek and Trojan, could he build up his -Hector on the same foundations with his Greek heroes, or give him that -strength and tenacity of tissue which belongs to the European and -Achæan character. He could not equip him with either the dauntless -chivalry in battle, or the profound unswerving sagacity in council, -which were reserved for the kings of his own race, and for those most -nearly allied to them. He has imparted to the character of the chief -Trojan hero, no less than to that of the Trojan people at large, a -decided Asiatic tinge, which modifies their community of colour with -the properly European races. In such characters, instinct and sentiment -take oftentimes the place of inquiry and reflection, and impulse -does the work of conviction: the ideas of right, order, consistency, -moral dignity and self-respect, are less clearly, less symmetrically, -conceived. Though in particular cases, such as that of Hector, the -deficiency may be made up by a liberal and full development of the most -affectionate emotions, we feel, in comparing it with the Greeks, that -we are dealing with a more contracted type of manhood: as if morally, -no less than locally, we had gone back with Homer one full stage -nearer to the cradle of our race, and had arrested and fixed the human -character at the very point where it is neither child nor man. - -~_Inequality of his character._~ - -The character of Hector, as it has been here interpreted, does not give -that satisfaction to the mind, which thorough clearness and oneness -would impart. His intellectual qualities and his affections are not -on the same scale; his martial character jars even with itself. Yet -perhaps in these very circumstances we may upon consideration find -but fresh reason to admire the skill of Homer, and that rarely erring -instinct which forbade him to forget his whole in running after his -details. - -His first object seems to have been to give the fullest and boldest -prominence to the colossal shape, moral as well as physical, of -Achilles, and therefore to tone down whatever could diminish its -effect. And here the point of danger evidently lay in Agamemnon; -the chief of the army was too likely to be the chief of the poem. -Accordingly he has broken the unity of that character, and has -chequered it with weakness in various forms. But this was not all: he -had to keep the Greeks before the Trojans, as well as Achilles before -the Greeks; not only that he might consult his popularity, but that he -might indulge the genial vein of his poesy, and follow the impulses -of his patriotism, in maintaining high above all question their -intellectual and martial superiority. Had this, however, been all, -his task would have been easy; he would then have had only to depress -their opponents in all the properties that attract admiration. But if -he had simply done this, if he had cut off the interest and sympathies -of his readers from the Trojans by general disparagement, he would have -deprived Greek valour of its choicest crown. It is a noble necessity of -war that, even in the interest of countrymen, we cannot do injustice to -adversaries, without feeling the offence recoil on our own heads. - -Thus it was impossible for Homer to make his Trojan hero at once great -and consistent; and if he has made Hector unequal, it was to avoid -making him mean. By chequering his martial daring with boastfulness, -and with occasional weakness of purpose, he has effectually provided -against any interference, from this quarter, to the prejudice of those -chieftains whose praises he was to sing in the courts and throngs of -Greece. Thus he has left the field quite clear for expatiating on their -military virtues; and if, for sufficient reasons, he has departed from -his rule in the case of Agamemnon, who receives his compensation in -superiority of rank and power, all his other Greek characters, bearing -forward parts in the poem, are constructed in faultless conformity to -the idea, or modification of an idea, which he had selected for the -basis of each. There is not a flaw in the picture of Achilles, Diomed, -Ajax, Nestor, Menelaus, or Ulysses. Not that all these are of a type -equally elevated, or alike wonderful; but that there is no one thing -in any of them which does not manifestly conform to its type, and no -one thing consequently which jars with any other. Having thus given to -his countrymen a clear and marked ascendancy in what then at least were -the only great and governing elements of human society, the strong -mind, and the strong hand, he does his best for the Trojans with what -remained, that is to say, with the softer affections of domestic life, -adding only so much of the martial element as was needful to make them -no discreditable adversaries for his countrymen. Thus, consistently -with all his poetic objects, he has been enabled to present us, to say -nothing of the highly respectable character of Hecuba, with the three -unsurpassed pictures of Priam, of Andromache, and perhaps even most, of -Hector. - -~_The character of Helen._~ - -II. Let us now pass on to a production never surpassed by the mind or -hand of man. - -The character of Argeian Helen occupies a large place in Grecian -history, and is of extreme importance to the entire structure of -the Iliad. On behalf of the first of these propositions, we call as -witnesses her temple at Sparta, and the Encomium of Isocrates. As to -the second, the reason is expressed in some of Homer’s noblest oratory: - - τί δὲ δεῖ πολεμιζέμεναι Τρώεσσιν - Ἀργείους; τί δὲ λαὸν ἀνήγαγεν ἐνθάδ’ ἀγείρας - Ἀτρείδης; ἢ οὐχ Ἑλένης ἕνεκ’ ἠϋκόμοιο[1000]; - -[1000] Il. ix. 337. - -Was she a vicious woman and a seductress, or was she more nearly a -victim and a penitent? Do the laws of poetical verisimilitude and -beauty, as they were understood by Homer, allow us to suppose that he -intended to represent his countrymen, of whom he has presented to us -so lofty a conception, as agitating the world, forsaking home, pouring -forth their blood, and throwing their country into certain confusion, -for the sake of a vile and worthless character? Certainly there were -periods, when in the Greek mind the worship of beauty was so thoroughly -dissociated from all which beauty ought to typify, that an Iliad so -constructed might have been approved. But these were periods long after -Homer’s flesh had mouldered in the grave. - -The present inquiry has nothing to do with the opinion that Helen -was, or that she was not, an historical personage. For my own part, I -know of no reason except discrepancies of mere traditional chronology -for disbelieving her existence. These seem to arise entirely from -the practice of putting on a par with Homer tales of very inferior -authority to his. But even apart from this, considering what, under -ordinary circumstances, the chronology of pre-historic times is likely -to be, and how many more chances there are for the preservation of -great events in outline, than for a careful adjustment of their -relative times, I cannot but think that difficulties arising from -other legends as to Helen, and bearing simply upon time, form a very -insufficient reason for the wholesale rejection of belief in her -existence. Even if, however, she never existed at all, it still is not -one whit the less reasonably to be presumed, that Homer in fictions -concerning her would be governed here and elsewhere by all the laws, -including the moral laws, of his art. - -Neither is it now the question, whether Helen was the model of an -heroic character. That is probably inconsistent, for the earliest -times of Greece, with her adulterous relation to Paris and afterwards -to Deiphobus. But there is a vast space between a faultless and a -worthless woman. The idea of Helen represented by the later tradition, -from the Greek tragedians downwards, is strictly the latter idea: and -this representation has naturally occupied the popular mind, which is -deprived of the power of access to the remote Homeric picture. Now -it seems to be plain that, if this representation be substantially -true, it is a great reproach to the bard of the Iliad as a bard, and -stamps him as one, who has done his best to poison morality at its -fountain-head. For there can be no question, that he has made his Helen -highly attractive, and that he intends her to possess our sympathies. -Is it then true, or is it false? Let us proceed to examine the evidence. - -In the Iliad we meet more than once with the line, - - τίσασθαι δ’ Ἑλένης ὁρμήματά τε στοναχάς τε[1001]· - -[1001] Il. ii. 356, 590. - -and expositors, in order to avoid ascribing to Helen any personal -wrongs, or the representation of her as rather a sufferer than an -offender, have resorted to a forced construction of the passage, and -have interpreted the words as referring to the expedition undertaken, -and the griefs suffered, _on account of_ Helen[1002]. - -[1002] See Heyne on Il. ii. 356. G. C. Crusius (Hanover. 1845, on do.) -Chapman translates in the same sense; but Voss refers the outsetting -and the groans to Helen herself; so too the Scholiasts. - -~_Homer’s intention with respect to it._~ - -Unless this forced construction be the one intended by Homer, the -popular conception of her must at once explode. According to the direct -and natural construction, the Greeks made war to avenge the wrong she -had suffered, and the groans which that wrong had drawn from her. -And it is to be observed that this line[1003] is put into the mouth -of Menelaus, whom it is very natural to represent as most eager to -avenge the wrongs of his wife, but somewhat far-fetched to represent -as thinking of revenge for the trouble of the expedition he had so -keenly promoted. The line, in fact, unless justifiably strained by -these expositors, is conclusive in support of the belief that the only -evil which can justly be imputed to the Homeric Helen simply amounts -to this, that she was not a woman of perfect virtue backed by absolute -and indomitable heroism. Pope has rather rudely approximated towards -rectifying the prevalent impression in a note[1004], where he observes -that in all she says of herself ‘there is scarce a word that is not big -with repentance and good nature.’ - -[1003] Il. ii. 590. - -[1004] On Pope’s Il. iii. 165. - -Before examining the direct evidence with respect to the Homeric Helen, -let us advert to some which is indirect. And in the first place it may -be observed, that Menelaus never expresses the slightest resentment -against her, or appears to have considered her as having in any manner -injured him. Next, Priam, whose character is evidently intended to -attract a good deal of our sympathy and respect, treated her as a -daughter: - - ἑκυρὸς δὲ, πατὴρ ὣς, ἤπιος αἰεί[1005]. - -[1005] Il. xxiv. 770. - -Nor was this a mere figure; for in the Third Book he addresses her as -φίλον τέκος[1006], and makes her sit down by his side. In conformity -with this picture, her sister-in-law Laodice addresses her as νύμφα -φίλη[1007]. Priam goes on to acquit her of all responsibility in his -eyes with regard to the war: - -[1006] Il. iii. 162. - -[1007] Ibid. 130. - - οὔτι μοι αἰτίη ἐσσὶ, θεοί νύ μοι αἴτιοί εἰσιν. - -And that this was not meant to cover Paris, we may learn from the many -passages, which show us how the general sentiment of Troy detested him. -Had Helen been of the character which is commonly imputed to her, such -an absolution as this would probably not have been ascribed to Priam; -while most certainly it would not have been recorded to the honour of -Hector that he always restrained those, who were disposed to taunt her -on account of the woes she had brought upon Troy[1008]. - -[1008] Il. xxiv. 768-72. - -She describes herself indeed as the object of general horror in Troy -(πάντες δέ με πεφρίκασιν[1009]). But these words do no more than -state the impression, at a moment of agony, on her own humbled and -self-mistrusting mind: while, even had they given a faithful picture of -the manner in which she was regarded by the Trojans, still they might -well be explained with reference to the woes of which she had been at -least the occasion, and the sentiment they describe might as naturally -have been felt, even had she been the lawfully obtained wife of Paris. - -[1009] Ibid. 775. - -There are two other passages, which may seem at first sight to betoken -a state of mind adverse to her among the Greeks. But the explanation -of them is simply this, that the cause of woe is naturally enough -denounced on account of the misfortunes it has entailed, irrespective -of the question whether or in what degree it may be a guilty -cause[1010]. Thus Achilles calls Helen ῥιγεδάνη, ‘that horrible Helen;’ -but it is only when her abduction has produced to him the bitter and -harrowing affliction of the death of Patroclus. When he mentions her -in the magnificent speech of the Ninth Book to the envoys, she is -Ἑλένη ἠΰκομος, ‘the fair-haired Helen.’ Now, if she had been vile, the -course of his argument must have constrained him then to state it. For -he was reasoning thus: May I not resent the loss of Briseis, who was -dear to me (θυμαρής[1011]), when the sons of Atreus have made their -loss of Helen the cause of the war? Had Helen been worthless, it would -have added greatly to the stringency of his argument to have drawn the -contrast in that particular, between the woman whom Agamemnon had taken -away, and the woman that he was seeking, by means of the convulsive -struggle of a nation, to recover. - -[1010] Il. xvi. - -[1011] Il. ix. 336. - -The other passage is in Od. xxiii., where Penelope, after the -recognition of her husband, speaks of Helen in these words:-- - - τὴν δ’ ἤτοι ῥέξαι θεὸς ὤρορεν ἔργον ἀεικές[1012]. - -[1012] Od. xxiii. 222. - -But even in this only passage where the act of Helen is so described, -several points are to be observed. First, it is referred to a -preternatural influence, which is not the manner of this Poet in cases -at least of deep and deliberate crime; secondly, no epithet of infamy -is applied to her; thirdly, we must observe the drift of the speaker. -Penelope is excusing herself to Ulysses, for her own extreme caution -and reserve in admitting his identity. Therefore she is naturally led -to enhance the dreadful nature of the occurrence where a wife gives -herself over into the power of any man, other than one known to be -her husband; and this, whether the act be voluntary or involuntary. -Accordingly she refers to the act of Helen rather than to the agent, -and treats it as horrible; but avoids charging it as wilful. - -~_Homer’s Epithets for Helen._~ - -On the other hand, we may observe that the general tenour of the -epithets bestowed upon Helen leans on the whole towards the laudatory -sense. - -She is - - εὐπατέρεια, the high-born; Il. vi. 292; Od. xxii. 227; most probably - agreeing in sense with the next phrase. - - Διὸς ἐκγεγαυῖα, the child of Jupiter; Il. iii. 199; _et alibi_. - - κούρη Διὸς, the daughter of Jupiter; Il. iii. 426. - - δῖα γυναικῶν, the excellent, or flower of women; Il. iii. 171, 228; - and Od. iv. 305; xv. 106. - - καλλιπάρῃος, of the beautiful cheeks; Od. xv. 123. - - καλλίκομος; Od. xv. 58; ἠΰκομος; Il. iii. 329, _et alibi_, the - fair-haired. - - λευκώλενος, the white-armed; Il. iii. 121; Od. xxii. 227. - - τανύπεπλος, the well-rounded; Il. iii. 228; _et alibi_. - - And lastly, Ἀργείη, the Argive; Il. ii. 161; and in no less than - twelve other places. - -No one of these appellations carries the smallest taint or censure. -The epithet δῖα in all probability applies to her personal beauty and -majesty, as we find it used of Paris and of Clytemnestra. It would -appear, however, that the use of the term Argive or Argeian, in many -passages where it is not required for mere description, has a special -force. For Homer never exhibits that which is simply Greek in any other -than an honourable light; and in calling Helen Argeian, he certainly -expresses something of general sympathy towards her. No other person, -except only Juno, is called Argeian. Plainly the effect of his epithets -for her as a whole is quite out of harmony with the ideas, which the -later tradition has attached to her name. A yet more marked indication -in her favour, than any of them taken singly will supply, may be -derived from his likening her, in the palace of Menelaus, to Diana: - - ἤλυθεν, Ἀρτέμιδι χρυσηλακάτῳ εἰκυῖα[1013]. - -[1013] Od. iv. 122. - -He certainly would not have associated by this comparison one, of whom -he meant us to think ill, with the chaste and even severe majesty of -his ever-pure Diana (Ἄρτεμις ἁγνή). - -So much with regard to the designations applied to Helen in the Iliad -and Odyssey. Next, with regard to her demeanour. It is admitted to be, -so far as the matter of chastity is concerned, without any fault other -than the inevitable one of her position. Besides other qualities that -will be noticed presently, she appears in the light of a refined and -feeling, a blameless and even matronly person; a character, which, as -we shall see, her abduction by Paris from Menelaus did not disentitle -her to bear. - -We must beware of applying unconditionally, to women placed under -conditions widely different, ideas so specifically Christian as those -that belong to the absolute sanctity of the marriage tie. We must -rather look for the moral aspect of the case in the opinions of the -period, and in the particular circumstances which attended the rupture -of the bond in the given instance, than assume it from the naked fact -that there was a rupture. - -~_The case of Bathsheba._~ - -It may seem not unfair to compare the case of Helen with the somewhat -similar case of Bathsheba among the Jews. If on the one hand we are -bound to bear in mind the inferior station of the latter personage, on -the other it is to be remembered that the Greeks were further removed -from the light of Divine Revelation. Now we are not accustomed to look -upon the character of Bathsheba as infamous, though she lived with King -David as one among his wives, while Uriah, her former husband, who -had been robbed of her, was sent to certain death on her account; and -this, so far as we are informed, without awakening in her any peculiar -emotions of sympathy, sorrow, reluctance, or remorse. And this, as I -take it, mainly for two reasons--first, that we have no signs of any -passion, and in particular of any antecedent passion, for the offending -king on her part; secondly, that she does not appear to have been -otherwise than passively a party to the abduction. - -It is in the capacity of wife, and only wife, to Paris that Helen -appears to us in the Iliad: where she herself speaks of Menelaus as her -πρότερος πόσις[1014]. - -[1014] Il. iii. 429 cf. 163. See Ilios, pp. 200, 203. - -Now the presumed reasons for not regarding the character of Bathsheba -as infamous apply with nearly equal force to Helen. Indeed the -character of Helen in one point stands higher in Homer than that of -Bathsheba in the Old Testament, because she lived with Paris as a -recognised and only wife, and because of her gentleness, and especially -of her repentance. Of these as to Bathsheba, we know nothing; but such -pleas as tell for her tell in the main also for Helen. We have no -indication, either in the Iliad or in the Odyssey, of her having at -any time felt either passion or affection towards the worthless Paris. -Above all, as it will be attempted to prove, the language of the poems -not only does not sustain the idea that she willingly left the house of -her husband Menelaus, but it shows something which closely approaches -to the direct contrary. - -But there is no method of measuring so accurately the view and -intention of Homer as to the impression we were meant to receive of -Helen, as by comparing the language he applies to her with the widely -different terms in which he describes the conduct of Clytemnestra, in -conjunction with Ægisthus, during the absence of Agamemnon: - - τὴν δ’ ἐθέλων ἐθέλουσαν ἀνήγαγεν ὅνδε δόμονδε[1015]. - -[1015] Od. iii. 272. - -In speaking of her own abduction, Helen indeed uses the word -ἤγαγε[1016]. And again in her sharp expostulation with Aphrodite, -she says, ‘What, will you take me (ἄξεις) to some other Phrygian or -Mæonian city, where you may have a favourite[1017]?’ Now this by no -means implies her having acted freely; the word ἄγειν is that commonly -applied to the carrying off captives from a conquered city, as φέρειν -is to the removal of inanimate objects. Undoubtedly in one of her -passages of self-reproach she says[1018]: - -[1016] Od. iv. 262; Il. xxiv. 764. - -[1017] Il. iii. 400-2. - -[1018] Ibid. 174. - - υἱέϊ σῷ ἑπόμην, θάλαμον γνωτούς τε λιποῦσα. - -But, in the first place, it is neither here nor anywhere else said that -her flight was voluntary; and on the other hand, without doubt, it is -not to be pretended that she had resisted with the spirit of a martyr. -The real question is as to the first and fatal act of quitting her -husband, whether it was premeditated, and whether it was of her free -choice. Now both branches of this question appear to be conclusively -decided by the word ἁρπάξας in the following passage[1019], spoken by -Paris: - -[1019] Ibid. 442-4. - - οὐ γὰρ πώποτέ μ’ ὧδέ γ’ Ἔρως φρένας ἀμφεκάλυψεν, - οὐδ’ ὅτε σε πρῶτον Λακεδαίμονος ἐξ ἐρατεινῆς - ἔπλεον ἁρπάξας ἐν ποντοπόροισι νέεσσιν. - -And the rest of the passage corroborates the evidence, by showing that -she was free from any act of guilt at the time when the voyage was -commenced. The representation of Menelaus himself, in the Thirteenth -Iliad, accords with the speech of Paris. He charges that Prince and his -abettors not with having corrupted his wife, but with having carried -her off, - - οἵ μευ κουριδίην ἄλοχον καὶ κτήματα πολλὰ - μὰψ οἴχεσθ’ ἀνάγοντες, ἐπεὶ φιλέεσθε παρ’ αὐτῇ[1020]. - -[1020] Il. xiii. 626. - -Again, in the only place where Helen refers jointly to her own share -and to that of Paris in the matter[1021], she distinguishes their -respective parts, saying to Hector, ‘You have had to toil on account of -me, shameless that I am, and Ἀλεξάνδρου ἑνεκ’ ἄτης, on account of the -sin of Paris.’ - -[1021] Il. vi. 355. - -~_Picture of Helen in Il._ iii.~ - -Let us now follow the character of Helen, as it is exhibited in life -and motion before us by the Poet. In the Third Book, when Paris is -about to encounter Menelaus, Iris, in the form of her sister-in-law -Laodice, announces the fact to Helen, and lets her know that her own -fate is suspended on the issue, which will decide whether she is to -be the wife of Paris or of Menelaus. Laodice finds her busied in -embroidery, which is to represent the War of Greeks and Trojans. The -expression, νύμφα φίλη, with which the disguised goddess addresses her, -is a sign that she was held in respect, and that when she speaks[1022] -in the last Book of the taunts and skits of which she was the object, -we must understand her to use the natural exaggeration of impassioned -grief. At the call of the seeming Laodice, moved apparently by -tenderness towards her former husband[1023], Helen goes forth, clad in -a robe of simple white[1024]. On her reaching the walls Priam calls -her to his side, that she may tell him the name of a kingly warrior, -who proves to be Agamemnon. In doing this, he gently acquits her of -all responsibility for the war. She answers in a speech of uncommon -grace, ‘that she dreads while she reveres and loves him: would that -she had miserably died rather than leave her family, her nuptial bed, -her infant, and her friends. But this could not be; so that she ever -pined away in tears.’ She designates herself here and elsewhere[1025] -as κύων, and also as κύνωπις, brazen-faced or shameless; but yet she -appears at all times to have retained the fond recollection of her home -and friends[1026], and to have lived in grave and sorrowful retirement. -Everywhere she seems not only not to avoid, but to search for, the -opportunity of bitter self-accusation. Thus, when she has pointed out -the Greek chieftains whom she knew personally, she proceeds, ‘but I do -not see my brothers, Castor and Polydeuces: perhaps they came not from -Greece; perhaps, though here, yet on account of my infamy and reproach, -they will not appear in fight[1027].’ - -[1022] Il. xxiv. 768. - -[1023] Il. iii. 139. - -[1024] See Damm on ἀργεννός. - -[1025] Il. vi. 344, 356; Od. iv. 145. - -[1026] Od. iv. 184, 254. - -[1027] Il. iii. 236-42. Cf. Il. iii. 404. and xxiv. - -Paris, after his defeat, is removed by Aphrodite from the field: -Menelaus remains as victor. But Helen still tarries upon the wall, -evidently hoping that the hour of her restoration had now at last -arrived. The goddess Venus then appears to her, disguised in the -form of an aged servant; and endeavours to attract her by a glowing -description of Paris, in his beauty and his splendid garments. By -this address Helen was alarmed[1028]: and her alarm almost became -stupefaction, when she perceived the features of the deity. But a -strong reaction followed: so that she made a bitter and stinging -reply. Gentle on all other occasions, she is here sharp and sarcastic. -She[1029] reproaches Venus with having come to prevent Menelaus from -taking her home in right of his victory; then bids her assume to -herself the odious character she sought to force on one who had too -long borne it, and utterly refuses to go. Venus hereupon intimidates -her, by a threat of making her hateful alike to Greek and Trojan, and -so bringing her to miserable destruction. She then obeys, covering -her face in shame and indignation; and when placed by the goddess in -front of Paris in their chamber, she sharply reproaches him; but the -real delicacy of her character is maintained in this, that she does it -ὄσσε πάλιν κλίνασα, with averted and downcast eyes. In what follows, -she is but the reluctant instrument of a passion, which Homer seems to -have described in this place, contrary to his wont, with the distinct -purpose of raising indignation to the highest pitch, and covering Paris -with a contempt and shame proportioned to the crime he had committed, -and to the miseries of which by crime he had been the cause. - -[1028] The expression is θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ὄρινεν. The verb is used -by Homer most commonly to denote apprehension (as in Il. iv. 208. xv. -7. xvi. 280, 509. xviii. 223); though it also sometimes signifies other -kinds of excitement, such as anger or surprise. - -[1029] 383-98. - -Upon the whole, this delineation of Helen in the Third Book may well -be taken as one of the most masterly parts of the Iliad. The extreme -fineness and delicacy of its shading mark it as an immortal work of -genius, and the gentleness of Helen towards Priam, with her severity to -herself, and her sternness both to the corrupter, and to the goddess -that aided and inspired him, form a moral picture of the most striking -truth and beauty. Indeed, if the question be asked, where does Paganism -come nearest to the penitential tone and the profound self-abasement -that belong to Christianity, we might find it difficult to point out an -instance of approximation so striking as is, here and elsewhere, the -Helen of Homer. - -~_In Il._ vi. _Il._ xxiv. _Od._ iv.~ - -In three other places of the poems, Helen is put prominently forward. - -In the Sixth Book, before Hector repairs to the field, he goes to -the palace of Paris to summon him forth. He finds the effeminate -prince handling uselessly his arms, while Helen is superintending the -beautiful works of her women[1030]. By and by it appears that, sensible -of the shame of her husband’s cowardice, though without interest in his -fame, she has been persuading him to go forth and fight; and she takes -the opportunity of Hector’s presence to offer him a chair that he may -rest from his fatigues; to revile herself as, next to her husband, the -cause of them; and, while grieving that she had outlived her infancy, -to lament also that, if she was to live at all, she had not been united -to one less impervious to the sentiment of honour. - -[1030] Il. vi. 321-5. - -Again, Homer has thought her not unworthy of the third place, with -Andromache and Hecuba, as mourners over the mighty Hector, in the -deeply touching description of the return of his remains to Troy[1031]. -The tenour of this speech is kept in the exactest harmony with what has -gone before. - -[1031] Il. xxiv. 760-75. - -We now bid adieu to the Helen of Homer in her sorrow and shame among -the Trojans. But the Poet presents her to us again in prosperity and -domestic peace, as the Queen of Menelaus; who, though not the heir -of the high throne of Agamemnon, yet held a station in Greece, after -the Return, of highly elevated influence. This is a picture, which -it would not have been in accordance with the usual course of Homer -to set before us, had his mind attached to Helen the character given -to her by the later tradition; for where does he represent to us the -wicked in prosperity, without bringing down on them subsequently the -vengeance of heaven? But on the Helen of the Odyssey he has left no -note of sorrow, except the most moving and appropriate of all, namely -this, that the gods gave her no child after Hermione, the daughter of -her early youth[1032]. - -[1032] Od. iv. 13. - -From her stately chamber she comes forth into the hall, after the -feast. She is attended by three maidens, who bear respectively the -first her seat, the second its covering, the third her work-basket and -distaff. She remarks on the likeness of Telemachus to Ulysses, and -humbly recollects to confess, that she herself has been the cause of -the sufferings of the Greeks. The allusions then made to Ulysses cause -her, with the rest, to weep tenderly; and when her husband with his -friends resumes the banquet, she infuses into their wine the soothing -drug, supposed to have been opium, which she had obtained from Egypt, -to make them forgetful of their sorrows. Then she begins to tell tales -in honour of Ulysses: and how, when in his beggar’s dress he escaped -scatheless from Troy, and left many of the Trojans slaughtered behind -him, she alone, amidst the wailings of the women, was full of joy, for -her heart had been yearning towards her home. - -There is indeed a trait that deserves notice in the speech of Menelaus, -which has been lately mentioned. Helen came down to detect, if -possible, the Greeks concealed within the Horse: therefore, to act -in the interest of the Trojans. Now if, on the one hand, she looked -back on her country and her first husband with many yearnings, yet -it was not to be wondered at that as a woman, nowhere pretending -to the character of a heroine, she should be so far pliable to the -wishes or subject to the compulsion of the Trojans--especially when we -remember her love and reverence for their head, and for Hector, who -had but lately died in their defence--as to make this effort to defeat -the stratagem of the besiegers. But Menelaus, in referring to the -incident, carefully spares Helen’s feelings by another of those strokes -of exceeding tact and refinement for which Homer’s writings are so -remarkable, both generally, and as to the chivalrous character of this -hero in particular. ‘Thither,’ he says, that is to the Horse, ‘thou -camest; and no doubt,’ he adds, ‘it was the influence of some celestial -being, favourable to Troy, that prompted thee;’ thus preventing by -anticipation the sting that his words might carry: - - ἦλθες ἔπειτα σὺ κεῖσε· κελευσέμεναι δέ σ’ ἔμελλεν - δαίμων, ὃς Τρώεσσιν ἐβούλετο κῦδος ὀρέξαι[1033]. - -[1033] Od. iv. 274. - -~_Her marriage to Deiphobus._~ - -Tradition has assigned Deiphobus to Helen, as a husband after the -death of Paris. This tradition is supported, though not expressly, -yet sufficiently, by the Odyssey; for, says Menelaus, when the Greeks -had constructed the Horse, and when Helen was brought down to detect -those who were within it, by imitating the voices of their wives -respectively, it is added, - - καί τοι Δηΐφοβος θεοείκελος ἕσπετ’ ἰούσῃ[1034]. - -[1034] Od. iv. 276. - -And by the further passage in Od. vii. 517, which represents Ulysses as -repairing straight from the Horse to the house of Deiphobus, in company -with Menelaus. - -Presuming therefore that this tale was well founded, it may be -remarked, that the selection of Deiphobus, as the person who should -take Helen to wife, was probably founded on his superior merit[1035]. -It was under his image, that Minerva came upon the field to inveigle -Hector into facing Achilles: and Hector then described him as the one -whom he loved by far the best amidst his full brothers, the children of -Priam and of Hecuba. This therefore thoroughly accords with the idea, -that Helen was held in respect. Nor let it be thought strange, that -she was not permitted to remain single. The idea of single life for -women, outside their fathers’ home, seems to have been wholly unknown -among the Greeks of Homer. When marriageable, they married; when their -country was overcome, they became, as of course, the appendages of the -couch of the captor. Penelope herself never dreamt of urging that, when -once the return of Ulysses was out of the question, she could have -any other option than to make choice among the Suitors whose wife she -would become. Telemachus contemplates her immediate restoration to her -father’s home when he, her son, should assume the full prerogatives of -manhood. - -[1035] Lycophron, 168; Schol. on Il. xxiv. 251. In the Troades of -Euripides she is introduced, saying that Deiphobus took her by force, -against the will of the Phrygians (Trojans), 954-5. - -The whole Homeric evidence, then, appears to show that, from the -moment of her removal, neither the usages of society, nor the ideas of -religion or the moral code, could allow Helen to remain in the single -state. But it may be said this seems to prove too much on her behalf; -namely, that both the abduction and the subsequent life were against -her will. It is, however, entirely in keeping with the testimony of the -poems, to suppose that her whole offence lay in having permitted at -the first, perhaps half unconsciously, the attentions of a flatterer, -who became at once a paramour and a tyrant to his victim. In order to -comprehend the heroic age, it is indispensable that we should recollect -that the responsibilities of women were contracted in proportion to her -strength; and that the heroism of endurance, in which she has since -excelled, is a Christian product. - -That element of weakness and lightness in a character otherwise -beautiful, which the incident of the Horse betrays, was probably at -once the source and the measure of her offending in reference to the -cause of war. It was a mind of relaxed fibre, and vacillated under -pressure. Less than this we cannot suppose, and there is no occasion -to suppose more. The respect felt, within certain limits, for women in -the heroic age, and so powerfully proved by the Odyssey, may perhaps -be adverse to the supposition that Paris carried her away without -some degree of previous encouragement. I confine myself to ‘perhaps,’ -because it is nowhere indicated in the poems, and we can at most have -only a presumption to this effect. On the other hand, it seems certain -that what she expiated in life-long sadness was, at any rate, no more -than the first step in the ways of folly, the thoughtless error of -short-sighted vanity, which the state of manners did not permit her -subsequently to redeem. Repent she might: but to return was beyond her -power. - -On the whole, it may be said with confidence that the Helen of the -Homeric poems has been conceived, by an author himself of peculiar -delicacy, with great truth of nature, and with no intention to deprive -her of a share in the sympathies of his hearers; that he has made her -a woman, not cast in the mould of martyrs, nor elevated in moral ideas -to a capacity of comprehension and of endurance above her age, but yet -endowed with much tenderness of feeling, with the highest grace and -refinement, and with a deep and peculiar sense of shame for having -done wrong. Probably her appreciation of virtue and of honour, though -beneath that of the highest matronly characters, may have been in no -way inferior to that of society at large in her own time, and superior -to the standard of many following epochs; nay superior also to that -which has prevailed, at least locally, even at some periods of the -Christian era: as, for example, when Ariosto wrote the remarkable -passage-- - - Perche si de’ punir donna o biasmare - Che con uno, o più d’ uno, abbia commesso - Quel, che l’ uom fa con quante n’ ha appetito - E lodato ne va, non che impunito[1036]? - -[1036] Orl. Fur. iv. 66. - -~_General estimate of the Homeric Helen._~ - -The degradation of Helen by the later tradition will be treated of -hereafter. Meantime it will be seen how much on this subject I have -the misfortune to differ from Mure, who has been usually so great a -benefactor to the students of Homer. With him ‘Helen is the female -counterpart of Paris[1037].’ Paris and Helen are respectively ‘the -man of fashion and the woman of pleasure of the heroic age.’ ‘Both -are unprincipled votaries of sensual enjoyment; both self-willed and -petulant, but not devoid of amiable and generous feeling.’ He finds -indeed in her a ‘tenderness of heart and kindly disposition;’ and -says that ‘traces of better principle seem also to lurk under the -general levity of her habits.’ This petulance, this general levity, -I do not find; but rather the notes of a fatal fall, continually and -deeply felt under the general grace and beauty of her character. What -Mure calls her ‘petulant argument with her patron goddess,’ we take -to be the noble and indignant reaction of a soul under the yoke of -conscious slavery, and still quick to the throb of virtue. Indeed I -derive some comfort from the closing words of his criticism, in which, -after expressing his pity and condemnation, he says that still ‘we are -constrained to love and admire.’ In the whole circle of the classical -literature, as far as it is known to us, there is, I repeat, nothing -that approaches so nearly to what Christian theology would term a sense -of sin, as the humble demeanour, and the self-denouncing, self-stabbing -language of the Argeian Helen. - -[1037] Book ii. ch. viii. sect. 20. - -~_The character of Paris._~ - -III. The character of Paris is as worthy, as any other in the poems, of -the powerful hand and just judgment of Homer. It is neither on the one -hand slightly, nor on the other too elaborately, drawn; the touches are -just such and so many, as his poetic purpose seemed on the one hand to -demand, and on the other to admit. Paris is not indeed the gentleman, -but he is the fine gentleman, and the pattern voluptuary, of the heroic -ages; and all his successors in these capacities may well be wished joy -of their illustrious prototype. The redeeming, or at least relieving -point in his character, is one which would condemn any personage -of higher intellectual or moral pretensions; it is a total want of -earnestness, the unbroken sway of levity and of indifference to all -serious and manly considerations. He completely fulfils the idea of the -_poco-curante_, except as to the display of his personal beauty, the -enjoyment of luxury, and the resort to sensuality as the best refuge -from pain and care. He is not a monster, for he is neither savage nor -revengeful; but still further is he from being one of Homer’s heroes, -for he has neither honour, courage, eloquence, thought, nor prudence. -That he bears the reproaches of Hector without irritation, is due to -that same moral apathy, and that narrowness of intelligence, which -makes him insensible to those of his wife. No man can seriously resent -what he does not really feel. He is wholly destitute even of the -delicacy and refinement which soften many of the features of vice; and -the sensuality he shows in the Third Book[1038] partakes largely of the -brutal character which marks the lusts of Jupiter. No wise, no generous -word, ever passes from his lips. On one subject only he is determined -enough; it is, that he will not give up the woman whom he well knows to -be without attachment to him[1039], and whom he keeps not as the object -of his affections, but merely as the instrument of his pleasures. One -solicitude only he cherishes; it is to decorate his person, to exhibit -his beauty, to brighten with care the arms that he would fain parade, -but has not the courage to employ against the warriors of Greece. - -[1038] Il. iii. 437-48. - -[1039] Ibid. 428. - -There are other greater achievements in the Iliad, but none finer, -or more deserving our commendation, than the manner in which Homer -has handled the difficult character of Paris. It was quite necessary -to raise him to a certain point of importance; had he been simply -contemptible, his place in the early stages of the Trojan tale, and -the prolongation of the War on his account, would have involved a -too violent departure from the laws of poetical credibility. This -importance Homer, whether from imagination or from history, has -supplied; in part by his very high position. Even if I were wrong in -the opinion that the Poet meant to represent him as the eldest son, or -the eldest living son, of Priam, it would still at least be plain that -he is more eminent and conspicuous than any other member of the royal -house after Hector; while he is so much less worthy than Deiphobus, -for example, that no one, I think, could doubt that his distinction is -due to his being senior to that respectable prince and warrior, and -to the rest of his brothers. Further, the Poet has raised him to the -very highest elevation in two particulars; one the gift of archery, -the other the endowment of corporeal grace and beauty. But neither of -these involves one particle of courage, or of any other virtue; for the -archer of Homer’s time was not like the British bowman, who stood with -his comrades in the line, and discharged the function in war which has -since fallen to musketry; he was a mere sharpshooter, always having the -most deliberate opportunity of aim at the enemy, and always himself out -of danger. No archer is ever hit in the Iliad; but Pandarus, so skilled -in the bow, is slain, and Paris is disgraced, when they respectively -venture to assume the spear. Again, the Poet has contrived that the -accomplishments of Paris, though in themselves unsurpassed, shall -attract towards him no share, great or small, of our regard. This -prince really does more, than even Hector does, to stay the torrent of -the Grecian war; for in the Eleventh Book, from behind a pillar, he -wounds Diomed, who had fought with the Immortals, Eurypylus, who had -also been one of the nine accepters of Hector’s challenge, and Machaon, -one of the two surgeons. Thus Homer[1040] has been able to make him -most useful in battle, most lovely to the eye, and yet alike detestable -and detested. - -[1040] Il. xi. 368-79, 581-4, 505-7. - -This aim he attains, not by that tame method of description which he so -much eschews, but by the turn he gives to narrative, and by the colour -he imparts to it in one or a few words. - -Paris, though effeminate and apathetic, is not gentle, either to his -wife or his enemies; and, when he has wounded Diomed, he wishes the -shot had been a fatal one. The reply of Diomed cuts deeper than any -arrow when he addresses him as, - - Bowman! ribald! well-frizzled girl-hunter[1041]! - -[1041] Il. xi. 385. - -Again, the Poet tells us, as if by accident, that when, after the -battle with Menelaus, he could not be found, it was not because the -Trojans were unwilling to give him up, for they hated him with the -hatred, which they felt to dark Death[1042]. And again we learn, how -he uses bribery to keep his ground in the Assembly; how he refuses to -recognise even his own military inferiority, but lamely accounts for -the success of Menelaus by saying that all men have their turn[1043]; -and how he causes shame to his own countrymen and exultation to the -Greeks, when they contrast the pretensions of his splendid appearance -with his miserable performances in the field[1044]. - -[1042] Il. iii. 454. - -[1043] Il. vi. 339. - -[1044] Il. iii. 43, 51. - -Homer, full as he is of the harmonies of nature, differs in this as in -so many points from most among later writers, that he does not set at -nought the due proportion between the moral and the intellectual man, -nor combine high gifts of mind with a mean and bad heart. He never -varies from this rule; and he has been careful to pay it a marked -observance in the case of Paris. No set of speeches in the Iliad are -marked by greater poverty of ideas. If he cleans his arms and builds -his house, which are honourable employments, they are employments -immediately connected with the ostentation to which he was so much -given. More than this, the Poet informs us, through the medium of -Helen, that he was but ill supplied with sense, and that he was too old -to mend: - - τούτῳ δ’ οὔτ’ ἂρ νῦν φρένες ἔμπεδοι, οὔτ ἄρ’ ὀπίσσω - ἔσσονται[1045]. - -[1045] Il. vi. 372. - -The immediate transition, in the Third Book, from the field of battle, -where he was disgraced, to the bed of luxury, is admirably suited to -impress upon the mind, by the strong contrast, the real character of -Paris. Nor let it be thought, that Homer has gratuitously forced upon -us the scene between him and his reluctant wife. It was just that he -should mark as a bad man him who had sinned grossly, selfishly, and -fatally, alike against Greece and his own family and country. This -impression would not have been consistent and thorough in all its -parts, if we had been even allowed to suppose that, as a refined, -affectionate, and tender husband, he made such amends to Helen as the -case permitted for the wrong done her in his hot and heady youth. Such -a supposition might excusably have been entertained, and it would have -been supported by the very feebleness of the character of Paris and -by his part in the war, had Homer been silent upon the subject. He, -therefore, though with cautious hand, lifts the veil so far as to show -us that in our variously compounded nature animal desire can use up -and absorb the strength which ought to nerve our higher faculties, and -that, as none are more cruel than the timid, so none are more brutal -than the effeminate. - -One hold, and one only, Paris seems to retain on human affection in -any sort or form. The paternal instinct of Priam makes him shudder and -retire, when he is told that Paris is about to meet Menelaus in single -combat. This trait would have been of extraordinary and universal -beauty, had the object of the affection been even moderately worthy: -it is a remarkable proof of the debasement of Paris, and of the strong -sense which Homer gives us of that debasement, that the tender father -seems in a measure tainted by the very warmth and strength of his love. - - -SECT. VII. - -_The declension of the great Homeric Characters in the later -Tradition[1046]._ - -[1046] See note p. 500. sup. - -~_Physical conditions of the Greek Theatre._~ - -One legitimate mode of measuring the true greatness of Homer is, by -observing what has become of the materials and instruments he worked -with, upon their passing into other hands. Acting on this principle, -let us now pass on to consider the murderous maltreatment, which the -most remarkable of all the Homeric characters have had to endure in -the later tradition; partly, as I have already observed, from general, -and partly from special causes. On the more general influence of this -kind I have already touched. Among the special causes, we should place -the declension in the fundamental ideas of morals and of politics -between the time of Homer and the historic age. With this we may -reckon one which, though it may appear to be technical, must, in all -likelihood, have been most important, namely, the physical necessities -imposed by the fixed conditions of dramatic representation among the -Greeks[1047]. Their theatres were constructed on a scale, which may be -called colossal as compared with ours. Both polity and religion entered -into the institution of the stage. The intense nationality of their -life required a similar character in their plays, and likewise in the -places where they were to be represented. Not therefore a particular -company of auditors, but rather the whole public of the city, where the -representation took place, was to be accommodated. In consequence, the -dimensions of the buildings exceeded the usual powers of the human eye -and ear; so that the figure was heightened by buskins, the countenance -thrown into bolder and coarser outline by masks, and the voice endowed -with a great increase of power by acoustic contrivances within the -masks, as well as aided by the construction of the buildings. All this -was the more strictly requisite, because the plays were acted in the -open air. - -[1047] Schlegel, Lect. iii. vol. i. p. 81; Donaldson, Greek Theatre, -sect. ii. - -Now this general exaggeration of feature beyond the standard of -nature had an irresistible tendency to affect the mode in which -characters were modelled for representation; to cause them to be laid -out morally as well as physically in strong outline, in masses large -and comparatively coarse. The fine and careful finishing of Homer -required that those, who were to recite him, should retain an entire -and unfettered command over the measure in which the bodily organs were -to be employed. The τύνη δ’ ὠμοΐιν of Achilles to Patroclus might bear -to be spoken in a voice of thunder, and would absolutely require the -bard to use considerable exertion of the lungs; but the scenes of Helen -with Priam in the Third Book, of Hector with Andromache in the Sixth, -of Priam with Achilles in the Twenty-fourth, would admit of no such -treatment; and as these passages could not themselves be rendered, so -neither could anything bearing a true analogy to Homer be given, unless -the actor had enjoyed full liberty to contract as well as expand his -own volume of sound, or unless he had enjoyed both easy access, on any -terms he pleased, to the ears of his audience, and the full benefit of -that most important assistance, which the eye renders to the ear by -observing the play of countenance that accompanies delivery. King Lear, -King John, or Othello, could not have been represented more truly and -adequately in a Greek theatre, than the Achilles, or than the Helen, -of Homer. Those who have ever happened to discuss with a deaf person -a critical subject, requiring circumspect and tender handling, will -know how much the necessity for constant tension of the voice restrains -freedom in the expression of thought, and mars its perfectness. The -Greek actors lay under a somewhat similar necessity, and to their -necessities of course the diction of the tragedians was, whether -consciously or unconsciously, adapted. - -Let it, however, be borne in mind, that when we criticize the -conceptions of the Homeric characters by the later Greek writers, -it need not be with the supposition that we have eyes to discern in -Homer what they did not see. Their reproductions must be taken to -represent not so much the free dictates of the mind and judgment of -the later poets, as the conditions of representation to which they -were compelled to conform, and the popular sentiments and opinions -which, in the character of popular writers, they could not but take -for their standard. The invention of printing has given a liberty and -independence to thought, at least in conjunction with poetry and the -drama, such as it could not possess while the poet, in Athens for -example, could sing in no other way but one, namely, to the nation -collected in a mass. The poet of modern times may write for a minority -of the public, nay, for a mere handful of admirers, which is destined, -yet only in after-years, to grow like the mustard-seed of the parable. -But the Athenian dramatist was compelled to be the poet of the majority -at the moment, and to be carried on the stream of its sympathies, -however adverse its direction might be to that in which, if at liberty -to choose, he would himself have moved. - -~_Obliteration of the finer distinctions._~ - -Accordingly, when we come to survey the literary history of those great -characters which the Poet gave as a perpetual possession to the world, -we find, naturally enough, that the flood of the more recent traditions -has long ago come in upon the Homeric narrative, like the inundation -brought by Neptune and Apollo over the wall and trench of the Greeks. -Like every other deluge, in sweeping away the softer materials, which -give the more refined lines to the picture, it leaves the comparatively -hard and sharp ones harder and sharper than ever. Thus it is with the -Homeric characters, transplanted into the later tradition. The broader -distinctions of his personages one from another have been not only -retained, but exaggerated: all the finer ones have disappeared. No -one, deriving his ideas from Homer only, could confound Diomed with -Ajax, or either with Agamemnon, or any of the three with Menelaus, or -any of the four with Achilles; but when we come down to the age of -the tragedians, what remains to mark them, except only for Agamemnon -his office, and for Achilles his superiority in physical strength? In -the Homeric poems, the strong and towering intellectual qualities even -outweigh the great physical and animal forces of his chief hero: by -the usual predominance in man of what is gross over what is fine, the -principal and higher parts of his character are afterwards suppressed, -and it becomes comparatively vulgarized. In the Ulysses of Homer, -again, the intellectual element predominates in such a manner, that not -even the most superficial reader can fail to perceive it. He and Helen -stand out in the Iliad from among others with whom they might have -been confounded; the first by virtue of his self-mastery and sagacity, -the second, not only by her beauty and her fall, but by the singularly -tender and ethereal shading of her character. The later tradition, -laying rude hands upon the subtler distinctions thus established, has -degraded these two great characters, the one into little better than a -stage rogue, the other into little more than a stage voluptuary, who -adds to the guilt of that character the further and coarse enormities -of faithlessness, and even of bloodthirstiness. - -Even so soon as in the time of the Cyclical writers the character of -Helen had begun to be altered. In Homer she is the victim of Paris, -carried off from her home and country, and only then yielding to his -lust. In the Κύπρια ἔπη, as we have that poem reported by Proclus, she -begins by receiving his gifts, that is to say, his bribes; she is an -adulteress under her husband’s roof; and she joins in plundering him, -in order to escape with her paramour. - -It is in Euripides that we find the largest and most diversified -reproduction of the old Homeric characters, and to him, therefore, -among the three tragedians, we should give our chief attention. When we -consider them as a whole, according to his representation of them, we -find that their entire primitive and patriarchal colouring has gone. -The manners are not those of any age in particular; least of all are -they the manners of a very early age. And, as the entire company has -lost its distinctive type, so have the members of it when taken singly. -In the Troades, for example, Menelaus is simply the injured and -exasperated husband; Helen is the faithless wife; and she is kept up to -a certain standard of dramatic importance in the eye of the world only -by another departure from the Homeric picture, for she is armed with -an enormous power of argument and sophistry. By a similar appendage of -ingenious disquisition, the essentially plain and matronly qualities of -Hecuba have been overlaid and hidden. Achilles, in the Iphigenia, is -a gallant and a generous warrior; but we have neither the grandeur of -his tempestuous emotions as in Homer, nor, on the other hand, any of -that peculiar refinement with which they are in so admirable a manner -both blended and set in contrast. Agamemnon has lost, in Euripides, -his vacillation and misgivings, and is the average and, so to speak, -rounded king and warrior, instead of the mixed and particoloured, but -in no sense common-place, character that Homer has made him. Though -Andromache is a passionately fond mother, she has nothing whatever -that identifies her as the original Andromache. Indeed, of the Homeric -women, it may be said that in Euripides they have ceased to be womanly; -they have in general nothing of that adjective character (if the phrase -may be allowed), that ever leaning and clinging attitude, to which -support from without is a moral necessity, and which so profoundly -marks them all in Homer. Again, Iphigenia, Cassandra, Polyxena, who are -either scarcely or not at all Homeric, have now become grand heroines, -with unbounded stage-effect; but there is no stage-effect at all in -Homer’s Helen, or in his Andromache. Andromache, for example, is not -elaborately drawn. She is rather a product of Homer’s character and -feeling, than of his art. She is simply what Tennyson in his ‘Isabel’ -calls ‘the stately flower of perfect wifehood.’ In her simplicity, -the true idea of her might easily have been preserved by the later -literature, had the conception of woman as such remained morally the -same. But the Andromache of Homer was doomed to deteriorate, on account -of her purity, as his Achilles, his Ulysses, his Helen degenerated, -because the flights of such high genius could not be sustained, and -weaker wings drooped down to a lower level. As Hecuba was the aged -matron of the Iliad, and Helen its mixed type of woman, so Andromache -was the young mother and the wife. Her one only thought lay in her -husband and her child; but in the Troades, wordy and diffuse, she -discusses, in a most business-like manner, the question whether she -shall or shall not transfer her affections to the new lord, whose -property she has become. She ends, indeed, by deciding the question -rightly; but it is one that the Homeric Andromache never could have -entertained. - -Three, however, among the Homeric characters, have been mangled by -the later tradition much more cruelly than any others; they are those -prime efforts of his mighty genius, Helen, Achilles, and Ulysses. -The first, most probably, on account of the wonderful delicacy with -which in Homer it is moulded: the others on account of their singular -comprehensiveness and breadth of scope. Each of these three cases well -deserves particular consideration. - -~_Mutilation of the Helen of Homer._~ - -In the case of Helen, the extreme tenderness of the colouring, that -Homer has employed, multiplied infinitely the chances against its -preservation. Among all the women of antiquity, she is by nature the -most feminine, the finest in grain, though, as in many other instances, -a certain slightness of texture is essentially connected with this -fineness. Her natural softness is very greatly deepened by the double -effect of her affliction and her repentance. A quiet and settled -sadness broods over her whole image, and comes out not only when she -weeps by the body of Hector, or when her husband’s presence reminds her -of her offence, but even under the genial smiles and soothing words -of old Priam on the wall. Vehement and agonizing passion draws deep -strong lines, which, even in copies, may be easily caught and easily -preserved; it is quite different with the profound though low-toned -suffering, of which the passive influence, the penetrating tint, -circulates as it were in every vein, and issues into view at every pore. - -~_Helen of Euripides, Isocrates, Virgil._~ - -Let us now consider how the character of Helen reappears in Euripides, -in Isocrates, and in Virgil. - -In the Agamemnon, Æschylus had designated her under the form of a -pun, as ἑλέναυς ἑλεπτόλις; and these phrases, as they stand, cannot -be said in any manner to force us beyond the limits of the Homeric -tradition. But in the Hecuba she is cursed outright by the Chorus, -and represented by Hecuba herself as having been the great agent, -instead of the passive occasion and the suffering instrument, in the -calamitous fall of Troy[1048]. In the Troades she is the shame of the -country, the slayer of Priam, the willing fugitive from Sparta[1049]. -Andromache denounces her in the fiercest manner, and gives her for her -ancestors not Jupiter, but Death, Slaughter, Vengeance, Jealousy, and -all the evils upon earth[1050]. Menelaus is furiously enraged, calls on -his attendants to drag her in by her blood-guilty hair, will not give -her the name of wife, will send her to Lacedæmon[1051], there herself -to die as a satisfaction to those whose death she has guiltily brought -about. When she asks whether she may be heard in defence of herself, he -answers summarily, no: - -[1048] Hecuba, 429, 924-31. - -[1049] Troades, 132, 377. - -[1050] Ver. 770. - -[1051] Ver. 855-78. - - οὐκ ἐς λόγους ἐλήλυθ’, ἀλλά σε κτενῶν[1052]. - -[1052] Ver. 900. - -She then delivers a sophistical speech[1053], and pleads, that she -could not be guilty in yielding to a passion which even Jupiter -could not resist, while she retaliates abuse on Menelaus for leaving -her exposed to temptation. _Quantum mutata!_ As respects Deiphobus, -however, she declares that she only yielded to force, and that she was -often detected, after the death of Paris, in endeavours to escape over -the wall to the Greeks. - -[1053] Ver. 909-60. - -We have moreover an example, in the Helen painted by Euripides, of -the rude manner in which characters not understood, and taken to be -inconsistent by an age which had failed to understand them, were torn -in pieces, and how the several fragments started anew, each for itself, -on the stream of tradition. In Homer we have the touching contrast -between the chastity of Helen’s mind, and the unlawful condition in -which she lived. The latter, taken separately, was presumed to imply -an unchaste soul; the former a lawful condition. Instead therefore of -the one narrative, we have two; a shade or counterfeit of Helen plays -the part of the adulteress with Paris, while the true and living Helen -remains concealed in Egypt, keeping pure her husband’s bed, so that, -though her name has become infamous, her body may remain untainted. -This latter tradition is chiefly valuable, because it marks the mode of -transition from the Homeric to the spurious representations, and the -consciousness of the early poets, that they were not preserving the -image drawn by Homer. No scheme, however, constructed of such flimsy -materials, could live; and, naturally enough, the character of Helen -the wife was forgotten, that of Helen the voluptuary was preserved. - -From the vituperation and disgrace of Helen in most of the plays -of Euripides, we pass to the elaborate panegyric handed down to us -in the Ἐγκώμιον of Isocrates. The falsehood eulogistic is not less -unsatisfying than the falsehood damnatory. For now, with the lapse -of time, we find a further depression of the moral standard. We have -here, in its most absolute form, the deification of beauty[1054]; ὃ -σεμνότατον, καὶ τιμιώτατον, καὶ θειότατον τῶν ὄντων ἔστιν[1055]. But it -is totally disjoined from purity. He does not warrant and support his -eulogy upon Helen, by recurring to the true Homeric representation of -her; but he boldly declares the high value of sensual enjoyment[1056], -commends the ambition of Paris to acquire an unrivalled possession and -thereby a close affinity with the gods, and sees in the war only a -proof of the immense and just estimation in which both parties held so -great a treasure[1057], without the smallest scruple as to the means by -which it was to be acquired or held. From this picture we may pass on -to the Helen of Virgil, which represents the destructive process in its -last stage of exaggeration, and leaves nothing more for the spirit of -havoc to devise. - -[1054] I do not remember to have seen the principles of Isocrates -rigorously applied in modern literature, excepting in the Adrienne de -la Cardonnaye of M. Eugène Sue’s _Le Juif Errant_. - -[1055] Hel. Enc. 61. - -[1056] Ibid. 47. - -[1057] Ibid. 54. - -In Æn. i. 650, Helen is declared to have _sought_ Troy and unlawful -nuptials, instead of having been carried off from home against her -will. In Æn. vi. 513, she is represented as having made use of the -religious orgies on the fatal night, to invite the Greeks into Troy; -and, after first carefully removing all weapons for defence, she is -said to have opened the apartment of her sleeping husband Deiphobus -to Menelaus, in the hope that, by becoming accessory to a treacherous -murder, she might disarm the resentment of one whom she had so deeply -wronged. But even this passage has probably done less towards occupying -the modern mind with the falsified idea of Helen, than one of most -extraordinary scenic grandeur in the second Æneid; where Æneas relates -how he saw her, the common curse of her own country and of Troy, -crouching beside the altar of Vesta, amidst the lurid flames of the -final conflagration, in order to escape the wrath of Menelaus. - - Illa sibi infestos eversa ob Pergama Teucros - Et pœnas Danaûm et deserti conjugis iras - Præmetuens, Trojæ et patriæ communis Erynnis, - Abdiderat sese, atque aris invisa sedebat. - - ÆN. ii. 571-4. - -And then, in language, the glowing magnificence of which serves to hide -the very paltry character of the sentiment, Æneas proceeds to announce -that he was about to slay the woman who, according to himself, had -lived for ten years as a friend among his friends; when, at the right -moment, his mother Venus appeared, and reminded him that on the whole -he might do rather better to think about saving, if possible, his own -father, wife, and boy. - -Thus, in the Helen of Virgil, we have splendid personal beauty combined -with an accumulation of the most profoundly odious moral features. -She is lost in sensuality, a traitress alike to Greece and to Troy, -willing to make miserable victims of others in the hope of purchasing -her own immunity: all her deep remorse and sorrow, all her tenderness -and modesty, are blotted out from her character, and the void places in -the picture are filled by the detestation, with which both Greeks and -Trojans regarded, as indeed they might well regard, such a monster. But -let us pass on. - -~_Achilles and Ulysses._~ - -Among the many proofs of the vast scope of Homer’s mind, one of the -most remarkable is to be found in the twin characters of his prime -heroes or protagonists. It seems as if he had taken a survey of human -nature in its utmost breadth and depth, and, finding that he had not -the means to establish a perfect equilibrium between its highest powers -when all in full development, had determined to represent them, with -reference to the two great functions of intellect and passion, in two -immortal figures. In each of the two, each of these elements has been -represented with an extraordinary power, yet so, that the sovereignty -should rest in Achilles as to the one, and in Ulysses as to the other. -But the depth of emotion in Ulysses is greater than in any other male -character of the poems, except Achilles; only it is withdrawn from view -because so much under the mastery of his wisdom. And in like manner -on the other hand, a far greater power, directed to the purpose of -self-command and self-repression, is shown us in Achilles than in any -other character except Ulysses; but this also is under partial eclipse, -because the injustice, ingratitude, scorn, and meanness which Agamemnon -concentrates in the robbery of a beloved object from him, appeal so -irresistibly to the passionate side of his nature as to bring it out in -overpowering proportions. - -These being the leading ideas of the two characters, Homer has equipped -each of them with the apparatus of a full-furnished man; and in -apportioning to each his share of other qualities and accomplishments, -he has made such a distribution as on the whole would give the best -balance and the most satisfactory general result. Thus it is plain that -the character of Achilles, covering as it did volcanic passions, was -in danger of degenerating into phrensy. Homer has, therefore, assigned -to him a peculiar refinement. His leisure is beguiled with song, -consecrated to the achievements of ancient heroes; he has the finest -tact, and is by far the greatest gentleman, of all the warriors of the -poems; even personal ornaments to set off his transcendent beauty[1058] -are not beneath his notice, a trait which would have been misplaced in -Ulysses, ludicrous in Ajax, and which is in Paris contemptible, but -which has its advantage in Achilles, because it is a simple accessory -subordinate to greater matters, and because, so far as it goes, it -is a weight placed in the scale opposite to that which threatens to -preponderate, and to mar by the strong vein of violence the general -harmony of the character. - -[1058] Il. ii. 875. - -In the same way, as Ulysses is distinguished by a never-failing -presence of mind, forethought, and mastery over emotion, so the danger -for him lies on the side of an undue predominance of the calculating -element, which threatens to reduce him from the heroic standard to -the low level of a vulgar utilitarianism. Here, as before, Homer has -been ready with his remedies. He exhibits to us this great prince and -statesman as bearing also a character of patriarchal simplicity, and -makes him, the profoundest and most astute man of the world, represent -the very childhood of the human race in his readiness to ply the -sickle or to drive the plough[1059]. Above all--and this is the prime -safeguard of his character--he makes Ulysses a model for Greece of -steady unvarying brightness in the domestic affections. The emotion of -Hector in the Sixth Iliad, and of Priam in the Twenty-fourth, are not -capable of comparison with those of Ulysses, because theirs constitute -the central points of the characters, and likewise are the products -of great junctures of danger and affliction respectively, while his -exhibit and indeed compose a settled and standing bent of his soul. -He alone, of all the chieftains who were beneath the walls of Troy, -is full of the near recollection of his son, his Telemachus[1060]; -his desire and ambition never pass indeed beyond barren Ithaca, and -his daily thought through long years of wandering and detention is -to return there[1061], to see the very smoke curling upward from its -chimneys, so that the charms of a goddess are a pain to him, because -they keep him from Penelope[1062]. - -[1059] Od. xviii. 366-75. - -[1060] Il. ii. 260. - -[1061] Od. i. 58. - -[1062] Od. v. 215-20. - -Such was the care with which, in each of these great and wonderful -characters, Homer provided against an exclusive predominance of their -leading trait. But in vain. Achilles too, more slowly however than -his rival, passed, with later authors, into the wild beast; Ulysses -descended at a leap into the mere shopman of politics and war; and it -is singular to see how, when once the basis of the character had been -vulgarized, and the key to its movements lost, it came to be drawn in -attitudes the most opposed to even the broadest and most undeniable of -the Homeric traits. - -~_Mutilation of the Ulysses of Homer._~ - -There is nothing in the political character of Ulysses more remarkable, -than his power of setting himself in sole action against a multitude; -whether we take him in the government of his refractory crew during -his wanderings; or in the body of the Horse, when a sound would have -ruined the enterprize of the Greeks, so that he had to lay his strong -hand over the jaws of the babbler Anticlus[1063]; or in the stern -preliminaries to his final revenge upon the Suitors; or in his war with -his rebellious subjects; or, above all, in the desperate crisis of the -Second Iliad, when by his fearless courage, decision, and activity he -saves the Greek army from total and shameful failure. And yet, much as -the Mahometans[1064] were railed at by the poets of Italy, indeed of -England, in the character of image-worshippers, so Ulysses is held up -to scorn in Euripides as a mere waiter upon popular favour. Thus in the -Hecuba he is - -[1063] Od. iv. 285-8. - -[1064] In proof of the establishment of this curious usage in our -literature, (which attracted the notice of Selden,) see Mawmet, -Maumetry in Richardson’s Dictionary, with the illustrative passages. - - ὁ ποικιλόφρων, - κόπις, ἡδύλογος, δημοχαρίστης. - -Now, when the most glaring and characteristic facts of the narrative -of Homer can be thus boldly traversed, there is scarcely room for -astonishment at any other kind of misrepresentation. As when Hecuba -laments, in the Troades[1065], that her lot is to be the captive of the -base, faithless, malignant, all-stinging maker of mischief. Such is the -standing type of Ulysses in the after-tradition. Whenever anything bad, -cruel, and above all mean, is to be done, he is the ever-ready, and -indeed thoroughly Satanic, instrument. - -[1065] Tro. 285-9, 1216. - -The Second Epistle of the First Book of Horace is full of interest with -reference to this subject, because in it he gives us the result of his -recent re-perusal of the Homeric poems at Præneste. And, accordingly, -we find here a great improvement upon the Ulysses of the Greek drama. -He seems to have struck Horace at this time more forcibly, or more -favourably, than any other Homeric character; for, after describing in -strong terms what was amiss both within and without the walls of Troy, -he makes this transition[1066]; - -[1066] Hor. Ep. I. ii. 18. - - Rursus, quid virtus et quid sapientia possit, - Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulyssen. - -He considers this hero as the conqueror of Troy, and notices his -self-restraint and indomitable courage in adversity. Such was the -advantage of an impression fresh from the Homeric text, instead of -those drawn from the muddy source of the current traditions. It does -not diminish but enhances the compliment, when the acute but Epicurean -writer goes on to intimate, in more than half-earnest, that these -virtues of Ulysses were too high for imitation, and that he himself was -content rather to emulate the suitors of Penelope, and the easy life of -the youths about Alcinous[1067]. - -[1067] Hor. Epist. I. ii. 1-31. - -But if some small instalment of justice was thus done by Horace to -the Homeric Ulysses, Virgil withdrew the boon, and was careful to -reproduce, without mitigation or relief, the worst features of the -worst form of the character. With him it is Ulysses who is chosen to -play the slayer of Palamedes and the betrayer of Sinon[1068], and to -lead the party which, conducted by Helen, was to massacre Deiphobus in -his chamber[1069]. On account of his fierce cruelty, even the ‘ground -is cursed for his sake;’ poor Ithaca is loaded with imprecations by -Æneas as he passes near it. Once he is called _infelix_, the greatest -compliment that he anywhere receives; but his name in few cases escapes -the affix of some abusive epithet, drawn alike from inhumanity or from -cunning, it seems to matter little from which[1070]. - -[1068] Æn. ii. 90. et seqq. - -[1069] Æn. vi. 628. - -[1070] Æn. iii. 272. sup. p. 522. - -~_Of the Achilles of Homer._~ - -The character of Achilles was more fortunate, in the handling it -experienced from the Greek drama, than that of Ulysses. In the -Iphigenia of Euripides, the hero of the Iliad appears as a faithful -lover, and as a gallant and chivalrous warrior. At the same time, it -has lost altogether the breadth of touch and largeness of scope, with -which it is drawn in Homer. We miss entirely that unfathomable power -of intellect, of passion, and also of bodily force, all combined in -one figure, which carry the Achilles of Homer beyond every other human -example in the quality of sheer grandeur, and make it touch the limits -of the superhuman. There is nothing said or done by the Achilles of -Euripides, nothing reported of him or assigned to him, no impression -borne into a reader’s mind concerning him, which would not have been -perfectly suitable to other warriors; for example, to the Diomed of -Homer. He falls back into a class, and becomes a simple member of it, -instead of being a creation paramount and alone; alone, like Olympus -amidst the mountains of Greece; alone for ever in his sublimity, amidst -the famous memories of other heroes, no less truly than he was alone in -his solitary encampment during the continuance of the Wrath. - -With Pindar Achilles appears in a different dress. He is here conceived -without mind, as a youth marvellous in strength, hardihood, and -swiftness of foot, growing up into a mighty warrior[1071]. The Achilles -of Pindar is but as a pebble broken away from the mountain-mass of -Homer. - -[1071] Pind. Nem. iii. 43-64. - -Catullus, in his beautiful poem on the Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, -had a rare opportunity of setting forth the glories of Achilles. And -he is in fact made the main subject of the nuptial song, properly so -called; yet nothing of him is really celebrated by the poet[1072], -except his valour and his swiftness; all the rest is simple -amplification and embellishment. It seems by this time to have been -wholly forgotten, that the Homeric Achilles had a soul. - -[1072] Epithal. Pel. and Thet. 339-372. - -The discernment of Horace did not here enable him, as it had enabled -him before, to escape from the popular delusions, - - Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis Achillem, - Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, - Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis[1073]. - -[1073] Hor. A. P. 120. It will be remembered that the ruthless Bentley -struck out even the _honoratum_ of the text, and, with an audacity -surpassing his great ingenuity, put in _Homereum_. - -The character is exhibited here in a light at once feeble and -misleading, for its cardinal point is made to be the supremacy of -force over right. Now in Homer it is a sense that right has been -deeply violated, which serves for the very groundwork out of which his -exasperation rises. He does not view the question as one of _meum_ and -_tuum_ only, or even mainly. His eye is first upon the gross wrong -done, and only then upon himself as the subject of it. He resists -Agamemnon’s claim[1074] for a compensation at the very first, when it -is urged, not against him, but against the Greeks at large[1075]; and -he bursts out into indignant vituperation of the greedy king before -Agamemnon has threatened to take Briseis, and when he has only insisted -that, if the Greeks do not compensate him, he will then help himself to -the prize _either_ of Achilles or of Ajax or of Ulysses. In truth he -is the assertor of the supremacy of law over will, much more than of -force over law; and there is the greatest difference between pushing a -sound and true principle even to gross excess, and proceeding from the -outset upon a false one. The former, not the latter, is the case of the -Achilles of the Iliad. - -[1074] Il. i. 122. - -[1075] Ib. 149. - -~_The Achilles of Statius._~ - -The poet Statius observed, with sagacity enough, that the Achilles of -Homer was but a _torso_; that the Iliad had only allowed him to be -exhibited in one light, as it were, and at a single juncture of his -career. So he resolved to profit by the ungotten mine, and to found -a poem on the whole Achilles, child and man, in his rising, at his -zenith, and in his setting blaze; - - Nos ire per omnem - (Sic amor est) heroa velis ... - ... sed totâ juvenem deducere Trojâ[1076]. - -[1076] Stat. Achill. i. - -We are therefore perhaps entitled to expect from him a fuller and more -comprehensive grasp of the character than was usual, even although the -narrative is broken off. The five books which remain of this work do -not bring him so far as to the plains of Troy; but we leave him on the -voyage from Scyros to Troas. They are chiefly occupied, therefore, with -his residence there in the disguise of a maiden, and with the incidents -of his sojourn. - -Now the story of Achilles at Scyros, and of his connexion with -Deidamia, harmonizes with one side of his character as it is drawn in -Homer. It is evident that his personal beauty was not less graceful -than manful; and he alone of the Greek chieftains is related to have -worn ornaments of gold. Therefore that in the days of his boyhood -he should wear the dress of maidens, and pass for one of them, is -at any rate in accordance with a particular point of the Homeric -tradition, though little adequate to its lofty tone as a whole. But -this particular point is just what Statius contrives wholly to let -drop. He shows us Achilles like the sham Anne Page, in the Merry Wives -of Windsor[1077], ‘as a great lubberly boy,’ neither careful nor able -to give any grace to the movement of his limbs. For, in the dance, he -would break the heart of any rightminded master of the ceremonies: - -[1077] Act v. sc. 5. - - Nec servare vices, nec jungere brachia, curat: - Tunc molles gressus, tunc aspernatur amictus - Plus solito, rumpitque choros, et plurima turbat. - -Nor does this writer appear at all to have apprehended the main -ideas of the Homeric character. In the Iliad, the education which -Achilles receives is the ordinary education of men of his rank, and -his transcendent powers in after-life are due to a just, yet no more -than a just, development of his extraordinary original gifts. But in -Statius he is represented as having owed everything to the peculiar -training of Chiron; whose semiferine life he shared, so that his diet -in childhood consisted of the raw entrails of lions, and the marrow of -half-dead she-wolves! His mind, indeed, was not overlooked amidst these -brutalities, for he exhausts a long catalogue of acquirements; but -Statius, as might be expected, completely drops out of his political -education what is its one grand element in Homer, namely, the art of -government over man by speech. Instead of this, Chiron the Centaur -merely teaches him those abstract rules of right, by which he had -himself been wont to govern Centaurs[1078]. - -[1078] Achilleis, v. 163. - -To the same age with the _Achilleis_ of Statius belongs the _Troades_ -of Seneca. However this play may be criticized, as a study, like the -others of the same author, for the closet only, and however it may -betray the choice of Euripides for a model, it seems to be by some -degrees better, in the conception and use of some famous Homeric -characters, than any production since the time of Æschylus. The -delineation of Andromache, if it has not ceased to be theatrical, is -full at least of intense affection, all still centring in Hector. -Ulysses, though reviled by that matron in her passionate grief, at -least does the humane action of allowing her a little time to weep -before the sentence of Calchas is executed upon Astyanax, and shows -something too of the intellect of his antitype[1079]. Helen is -exhibited not as vicious, but as wanting in firmness of character. She -is driven by solicitation into the offence of alluring Polyxena to her -immolation, under the name of a bridal with Neoptolemus; commences the -performance of this false part with self-reproach, and then, challenged -by Andromache, quits it and avows the truth[1080]. - -[1079] Seneca, Troades, 765. Ibid. 609 _et seqq._ - -[1080] Act iv. - -But here we find a new form of departure from the ancient and genuine -tradition. The principal motive, assigned by Seneca to the Greeks -for putting Astyanax to death, is a terrified recollection of his -father Hector, and a dread lest, upon attaining to manhood, he should -avenge his own country against Greece. Again, Andromache, as it were, -intimidates Ulysses, by invoking the shade of her husband: - - Rumpe fatorum moras; - Molire terras, Hector, ut Ulyssen domes! - Vel umbra satis es[1081]. - -[1081] Ibid. 685. - -A strange inversion of the relations drawn by Homer. - -During all the time, however, in which we moved among the Greeks and -among the earlier Romans, the corrupting process acted only upon each -of the Homeric creations by itself, and there was no cause at work, -which went to alter and pervert wholesale their collective relations to -one another. - -~_New relative position of Trojans and Greeks._~ - -But from the period when the Æneid appeared, or at least so soon as -it became the normal poem of the Roman literature, a new cause was -in operation which, without mitigating in any degree the previous -depraving agencies, introduced a new set of them, and began to disturb -the positions of the two grand sets of characters, Greek and Trojan, -relatively to one another. - -Virgil had sought to give to the Cæsars the advantage of a hold upon -royal antiquity by fabulous descent. He had before him the choice -between Greece and Troy, which alike and alone enjoyed a world-wide -honour. He could not hesitate which to select. The Greek histories were -too near and too well known. Besides, the Greek dynasties generally -had dwindled before they disappeared. The splendour of the Pelopids -in particular had been quenched in calamity and crime, and no other -of the Homeric lines had attained to greatness in political influence -or historic fame. But the family of Priam had fallen gloriously in -fighting for hearth and altar: it had disappeared from history in its -full renown, ‘_Magna_ mei sub terras ibat imago.’ Virgil chose too the -house which was most ancient, and which traced link by link, as that of -Agamemnon did not, a known and a named lineage up to Jupiter. - -From this cause, both in the Æneid itself and afterwards, the Trojan -characters were set upon stilts, and the Greeks were left to take their -chance. Besides the loss of equilibrium, and the allowed predominance -of coarser elements, which we have to lament in the Greek handling of -them, we now see them pass, with the Romans, even into insignificance. -The Diomed of Arpi is a person wholly unmarked; and he, like all the -rest of his countrymen, is treated by Virgil simply as an instrument -for obtaining enhanced effect, in the interest that he endeavours to -concentrate on his Trojan characters; whereas the key to all Homer’s -dispositions in the Iliad is to be found in the recollection, that he -dealt with everything Trojan in the manner which was recommended and -required by his Greek nationality. From this time forward, we find the -palm both of valour and of wisdom clean carried over from the Greek -to the Trojan side: the heroes of Homer remain, like unhewn boulders -on the plain, crude, gross, and reciprocally almost indistinguishable -masses of cunning or ferocity. - -Virgil gave the tone in this respect, not only to the literature of -ancient Rome, but to that of Christian Italy. For this reason, we may -presume, among others, Orlando, the prime hero of the Italian romance, -is, as I have before observed, modelled upon Hector. He is in many -respects a very grand conception. Pulci, in describing his death, rises -even to the sublime when he says there is - - ‘Un Dio, ed una Fede, ed uno Orlando.’ - -Which we may render in prose ‘One God, one way to God, one true type -of manhood.’ Still it is remarkable that in Bojardo, as well as in -Ariosto, the purer traces of the Homeric arrangement thus far at -least remain, that Orlando, although he is the type of the Christian -chivalry, yet, as he resembles Hector in piety and virtue, so likewise -retains his likeness in this respect, that he is not the most -formidable or valiant warrior of the poems. In Ariosto particularly, -he is made inferior to Mandricardo, to Rodomonte, and most of all, but -this for personal and prudential reasons, to Ruggiero. These three -perhaps may be considered as being respectively the Ajax, the Diomed, -and the Achilles of the _Orlando Furioso_. - -And now the fancy for derivation from a Trojan stock, of which Virgil -had set the fashion, was fully developed. Ariosto, at great length and -in the most formal manner, establishes this lineage for his patrons, -the family of Este. Others followed him. The humour passed even beyond -the limits of Italy, into these then remote isles. A Trojan origin -was ascribed to the English nation, and the authority of Homer, as to -characters and history, was openly renounced by Dryden. - - ‘My faithful scene from true records shall tell - How Trojan valour did the Greek excel: - Your great forefathers shall their fame regain, - And Homer’s angry ghost repine in vain[1082].’ - -[1082] Prologue to Dryden’s Troilus and Cressida; and again in the -Epilogue spoken by Thersites: - - ‘You British fools, of the old Trojan stock.’ - - -In Oxford, at the revival of classical letters, the name of _Trojans_ -was assumed by those who were adverse to the new Greek studies, and -who, having nothing but a name to rely on, doubtless chose the best -they could. - -~_The Imitations by Tasso._~ - -Throughout the ‘Jerusalem’ of Tasso, we find imitations which are -invested with greater interest than the remote copies commonly -in circulation, because, from the large infusion of many leading -arrangements, copied from Homer, into the plot of the poem, we may -conclude with reason that they were in all likelihood drawn immediately -from the original. Some of these personages, too, are in so far closely -imitated from Homer, that Tasso has spent little or nothing of his own -upon them, but has simply equipped them with as much of the Homeric -idea as he thought available. - -The most successful among them is Godfrey, modelled, but also perhaps -improved, upon Agamemnon, who is by no means in my view one of the -greater characters of the Iliad, though he has been incautiously called -by Mitford ‘ambitious, active, brave, generous, and humane[1083].’ -Agamemnon has indeed that primary and fundamental qualification for -his office, the political spirit, so to term it, and the sense of -responsibility, which are so well developed in Godfrey; but it is -doubtful whether he is entitled to be called either thoroughly brave, -or at all generous or humane. Agamemnon’s character is admirably -adapted to its place and purpose in the Iliad; in any more general -view, Godfrey’s both stands higher in the moral sphere, and perhaps -forms by itself a better poetic whole. - -[1083] Hist. Greece, ch. i. sect. iv. - -While the action of Achilles in the Iliad is apparently assigned to -Rinaldo, there is room to doubt whether Tasso meant the person or -character of his hero to carry corresponding marks of resemblance. -In what may be called a by-place of his poem, he has made a passing -attempt to reproduce both Achilles and Ulysses under the names of -Argante and Alete, who appear as envoys from the Sultan of Egypt to the -Frankish camp. For the benefit of the former, Tasso has translated the -two lines that describe Achilles in Horace, and has added a spice of -the Virgilian Mezentius: - - Impaziente, inesorabil, fero, - Nell’ arme infaticabil ed invitto, - D’ ogni Dio sprezzatore, e chi ripone - Nella spada sua legge e sua ragione[1084]. - -[1084] Gerus. ii. 59. - -Accordingly, Argante proves to be the prime warrior on the Pagan side, -and his character, described in these lines, is consistently carried -through. - -It is perhaps not to be regretted, that Tasso has left on record no -other mark that Achilles was in his mind; for it is only the most -debased edition of Achilles to whom Argante bears the slightest -resemblance. The same is the case with Alete. Of humble origin, he -rises to high honours by his powers of invention and of speech, and by -the pliability of his character. Prompt in fiction, adroit in laying -snares, a master of the disguised calumnies ‘_che sono accuse, e pajon -lodi_[1085],’ he evidently recalls the caricatures, which for two -thousand years had circulated under the name of the Homeric Ulysses. -Thus Tasso’s acquaintance with the text, whatever it may have been, -did not avail to open his eyes, darkened by corrupt tradition, or to -bring him nearer to the truth as regarded those sovereign creations of -the genius of Homer. So sure it is, both in this and in other matters, -that when long-established falsehoods have had habitual and undisturbed -possession of the public mind, they form an atmosphere which we inhale -long before consciousness begins. Hence the spurious colours with which -we have thus been surreptitiously imbued, long survive the power, -or even the act, of recurrence to the original standards. For that -recurrence rarely takes place with such a concentration of the mind as -is necessary in order to the double process, first, of disentangling -itself from the snares of a false conception, and secondly, of building -up for itself, and this too from the very ground, a true one. - -[1085] Gerus. ii. 58. - -~_Shakespeare and Chaucer._~ - -In the Troilus and Cressida, of which Shakespeare had at least a share, -we see, perhaps, one of the lowest and latest pictures of mere mediæval -Homerism. The sun of the ancient criticism had set; that of the modern -had not risen. It must be admitted that, in this play, although it -shows the clear handiwork of Shakespeare in some splendid passages, -and much of beautiful and of characteristic diction, we scarcely -find one single living trait of the father of all bards preserved. -Our incomparable dramatist, by no fault of his own, came in at the -very end of that depraved lineage of copyists, for which progressive -degeneracy is the necessary law. As is said[1086], he followed Lydgate; -Lydgate drew from a Guido of Messina, who in the thirteenth century -founded himself on Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius. - -[1086] Stevens on Troilus and Cressida. - -Before his time Chaucer, we may presume, had drawn from the same -sources. Yet his poem of ‘Troilus and Cressida’ bears a token of the -familiarity of the English mind with free institutions under the -Plantagenets. The fidelity with which traditions are preserved, and -also the facility with which they are revived, no doubt often depends -more upon moral sympathies, than upon any cause operating simply -through the intellect of man. Though dealing with un-Homeric persons, -or events, or both, and copying again from copies probably very -corrupt, yet Chaucer, as an Englishman accustomed to English ideas of -government, brings out with much more freshness and freedom the notion -of public deliberation in Troy, (nay, even the very word parliament is -not wanting,) than do the poets of the literary age of Greece. - - For which delibered was by Parliment - For Antenor to yielden out Cresside, - And it pronounced by the President - Though that Hector may full oft praid; - And finally, what wight that it withsaid - It was for nought, it must ben, and should, - For substaunce of the parliment it would[1087]. - -[1087] Chaucer’s Troilus and Cressida, book iv. - -But let us return to the so-called Shakespeare. - -Thersites is converted into the modern fool. Diomed struts upon his -toes, while in Homer his modesty among the Greeks is the peculiar -ornament of his valour. Ajax, whom Homer has made lumpish and -goodnatured, is full of haughty follies, the coxcomb of warriors; while -the mere bulk which, combined with bravery and bluntness, formed his -peculiar note, is made the distinctive characteristic of Achilles. It -is still more grievous to find the relation of this hero to Patroclus -degraded by foul insinuations, entirely foreign to the Iliad, to its -author, and even to its age. Agamemnon is a mere stage king; and -it can be no wonder that Nestor’s character, which requires a fine -appreciation from its gently rounded construction, should have become -thoroughly commonplace and vapid. The same lot befalls Ulysses, who is -made to play quite a secondary part. Paris, without any mending of his -moral qualities, is allowed to present a much more respectable figure: -the Helen of Homer reproaches his cowardice; but here he says, ‘I -would fain have armed to-day, but my Nell would not have it so[1088].’ -She appears as the mere adulteress; and those, who remember how she -is treated in Homer, will be able to measure the declension that time -and unskilled hands had wrought, when they read the speech of Diomed -describing her as follows: - -[1088] Act iii. sc. 1. - - She’s bitter to her country: hear me, Paris! - For every false drop in her bawdy veins - A Grecian’s life hath sunk: for every scruple - Of her contaminated carrion weight - A Trojan hath been slain: since she could speak - She hath not given so many good words breath - As, for her, Greeks and Trojans suffered death[1089]. - -[1089] Act iv. sc. 1. - -The palm of pure heroism is now become so entirely Hector’s property, -that Achilles only slays him by means of the swords of his Myrmidons, -not by his own proper might; and that, too, does not happen -until, wearied and disarmed, he applies to Achilles to forego his -vantage[1090]: so that Ajax says with very great propriety indeed, - -[1090] Troilus and Cressida, v. 9. - - Great Hector was as good a man as he[1091]. - -[1091] Ibid. v. 10. - -Shirley’s ‘Contention of Ajax and Ulysses,’ independently of other -merits, deserves notice for a partial return towards just conception -of the Homeric characters. Yet even here the claim of Ajax to the arms -of Achilles is founded principally on the impeachment of Ulysses as a -coward; and the reply of that chieftain rests much too exclusively on -setting up his political merits and achievements, as if he were strong -in no other title. - -The description of Ajax may deserve to be quoted: - - And now I look on Ajax Telamon, - I may compare him to some spacious building; - His body holds vast rooms of entertainment, - And lower parts maintain the offices; - Only the garret, his exalted head, - Useless for wise receipt, is fill’d with lumber. - -Dryden followed Shakespeare in the portion of this field which he had -selected; and cast afresh the subject of Troilus and Cressida. He -departed alike from Shakespeare and from Chaucer by making Cressida -prove innocent, a supposition, says Scott, no more endurable in the -preceding age, than one ‘which should have exhibited Helen chaste, or -Hector a coward.’ All the incongruities of Shakespeare’s play are here -reproduced, including the mixture of the modern element of love with -the Greek and Trojan chivalry; Ajax and Achilles are depressed to one -and the same low level. - - Ajax and Achilles! two mudwalls of fool, - That differ only in degrees of thickness[1092], - -[1092] Dryden’s Troil. and Cress., act ii. sc. 3. - -says Thersites; and Ulysses answers in a similar strain. Troilus fairly -slays Diomed in single combat, and is then himself slain by Achilles in -the crowd. Hector is dispatched, behind the scenes, under the swords of -a multitude of men[1093]. - -[1093] Act v. sc. 2. - -~_Racine’s Andromaque and Iphigénie._~ - -A short time before this play of Dryden’s, Racine had taken the -characters of the Trojan war in hand. His ‘Andromaque’ and ‘Iphigénie,’ -however, afford us no new lights, and might very well have been -conceived by a person who had never read a line of Homer, though in -various passages there are imitations which must have filtered from -the Homeric text. He was content in general to copy the traditions as -given by Euripides; and it may provoke a smile to read an apology of -one of his editors, Boisjermain, for the manner in which Ulysses is -handled in the ‘Iphigénie.’ Appearing, near the outset of the piece, as -a personage of very high importance, he notwithstanding plays in the -plot a part wholly insignificant, instead of assuming, as he does in -Euripides, the important function of urging the slaughter of Iphigenia -for the honour and benefit of Greece. Speaking of the critics who -blame this arrangement, the editor says, they have failed to observe -that Racine has adopted the jealousy and intrigues of Hermione as the -prime movers against Iphigenia, and that these produce the same result -as might otherwise (forsooth) have been brought about by the reasonings -of Ulysses. The work of literary profanation could hardly be carried -further: it was not to be thus capriciously bandied about from pillar -to post, that Homer constructed his deathless masterpieces. In the -‘Andromaque,’ much as it is praised, we miss, still more egregiously -than in the ‘Iphigénie,’ all the simplicity and grandeur of the Greek -heroic age, and find ourselves environed by the infinite littleness of -merely passionate personal intrigues, which have self only for their -pole and centre. Nothing can be more unsatisfactory than to see these -archaic Grecian characters dressed in the very last Parisian fashions, -with speech and action accordingly. The total want of breadth and -depth of character, and of earnestness and resolution, as opposed to -mere violence, is such that at parts of the ‘Andromaque’ we are almost -compelled to ask, whether we are reading a tragedy or a burlesque? As, -for instance, when, with the Sixth Iliad yet lingering upon our mental -vision, we hear Andromache say to her confidante, - - Tu vois le pouvoir de mes yeux[1094]; - -[1094] Acte iii. sc. 5. - -and when Hermione threatens her _pis-aller_ lover, Orestes, with -respect to Pyrrhus, - - S’il ne meurt aujourd’hui--je puis l’aimer demain[1095]. - -[1095] Acte iv. sc. iii. - -It is here, too, that we see carried perhaps to the very highest -point of exaggeration the misstatement of the relative martial merits -and performances of Hector and his adversaries. The Greeks Hermione, -herself a Spartan, describes as - - Des peuples qui dix ans ont fui devant Hector; - Qui cent fois, effrayés de l’absence de l’Achille, - Dans leur vaisseaux brûlants ont cherché leur asyle; - Et qu’on verroit encore, sans l’appui de son fils, - Redemander Hélène aux Troyens impunis[1096]. - -[1096] Acte iii. sc. 3. - -It was well that the handling of Homer should cease altogether for -a time, when the characters and scenes belonging to his subject had -become so thoroughly anti-Homeric, that they only falsified what -they ought to have assisted to perpetuate. An interval has followed, -during which they have been allowed to repose. It would be hazardous -to conjecture, after the failures of so many ages, how far they -can hereafter be satisfactorily reproduced. It has been reserved -for Goethe, with his vigorous grasp of classical antiquity, to -tread regions bordering upon that of the Iliad and Odyssey with the -consciousness of a master’s power. In his ‘Iphigenie,’ for example, he -has given to his scenes, events, and characters the tone and colouring, -with which alone they ought to be invested. And, if the study and -investigation of Homer shall henceforward be carried on with a zeal -at all proportioned to the advantages of the present age, they cannot -fail to accumulate materials, which it may be permitted us to hope that -future genius will mould into such forms as, if only they are faithful -to the spirit of their original, must alike abound in beauty, truth, -and grandeur, and alike avail for the delight and the instruction of -mankind. - - * * * * * - -~_Conclusion._~ - -We have now walked, in the train and in the light of the great Poet -of antiquity, through a long, yet, so far at least as he is a party, -not a barren circuit. We have begun with his earliest legends, faintly -glimmering upon us from the distance of an hundred generations. We have -seen the creations of his mind live and move, breathe and almost burn -before us, under the power and magic of his art. We have found him -to have shaped a great and noble mould of humanity, separate indeed -from our experience, but allied through a thousand channels with our -sympathies. We have seen the greatness of our race at one and the same -time adorned with the simplicity of its childhood, and built up in -the strength of its maturity. We have seen it unfold itself in the -relations of society and sex, in peace and in war, in things human -and things divine; and have examined it under the varied lights of -comparison and contrast. We have seen how the memory of that great age, -and of its yet greater Poet, has been cherished: how the trust which he -bequeathed to mankind has been acknowledged, and yet how imperfectly it -has been discharged. We have striven to trace the fate of some among -his greatest creations; and having accompanied them down the stream of -years even to our own day, it is full time to part. Nemesis must not -find me[1097], - -[1097] Il. i. 27. - - ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ’, ἢ ὕστερον αὖθις ἰόντα. - -To pass from the study of Homer to the ordinary business of the world -is to step out of a palace of enchantments into the cold grey light -of a polar day. But the spells, in which this sorcerer deals, have no -affinity with that drug from Egypt[1098], which drowns the spirit in -effeminate indifference: rather they are like the φάρμακον ἐσθλὸν, -the remedial specific[1099], which, freshening the understanding by -contact with the truth and strength of nature, should both improve -its vigilance against deceit and danger, and increase its vigour and -resolution for the discharge of duty. - -[1098] Od. iv. 220-6. - -[1099] Od. x. 287. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - - -Page headers in the printed book have been converted to headings, and -are marked with ~swung dashes~. - - -The map at the back of the book has been moved to accompany its -description in the text. - - -The following apparent errors have been corrected: - -p. 7 "ἀρχιτεκτονική[14]; and that ethical"--footnote marker added - -p. 9 "βασίλεια" changed to "βασιλεία" - -p. 20 "Βασιλεία" changed to "Βασίλεια" - -p. 26 "αὐτός.[43]"--footnote marker added - -p. 28 "no where" changed to "nowhere" - -p. 31 "βασίλεια" changed to "βασιλεία" - -p. 44 "πυγμαχίη ἀλεγείνη" changed to "πυγμαχίη ἀλεγεινὴ" - -p. 52 "Iaolcus" changed to "Iolcus" - -p. 61 "ἀεικές[126]·" changed to "ἀεικές[126]," - -p. 62 "ἄγρος" changed to "ἀγρὸς" - -p. 64 "κλεός" changed to "κλέος" - -p. 70 "δημιόεργοι" changed to "δημιοεργοὶ" - -p. 96 "βούλη" changed to "βουλὴ" - -p. 96 "βούλη" changed to "βουλή" - -p. 96 (note) "408-8" changed to "408-9" - -p. 97 "ἀγόρη" changed to "ἀγορὴ" - -p. 98 "ἦκε" changed to "ἧκε" - -p. 100 "ἀγόρῃ" changed to "ἀγορῇ" - -p. 103 (note) "24, 391" changed to "24. 391" - -p. 104 "ἀγόρη" changed to "ἀγορὴ" (two instances) - -p. 110 "μαλὰ" changed to "μάλα" - -p. 117 "ἀγόρην" changed to "ἀγορὴν" - -p. 119 "Coward that that" changed to "Coward that" - -p. 121 "slighest" changed to "slightest" - -p. 123 "render you”" changed to "render you’" - -p. 131 "ἤνδανε" changed to "ἥνδανε" - -p. 140 (note) "497" changed to "497." - -p. 151 "Ἤως" changed to "Ἠὼς" - -p. 153 (sidenote) "in Troas" changed to "in Troas." - -p. 153 "Ἤφαιστος" changed to "Ἥφαιστος" - -p. 162 (note) "Ibid" changed to "Ibid." - -p. 172 "ἀγόρη" changed to "ἀγορὴ" - -p. 172 "μαλὰ" changed to "μάλα" - -p. 179 "the the same" changed to "the same" - -p. 180 "δημιόεργος" changed to "δημιοεργὸς" - -p. 211 "ἐκυρὴ" changed to "ἑκυρὴ" - -p. 216 "αἶδος ἀγητόν" changed to "εἶδος ἀγητόν" - -p. 226 "colleagues[483]." changed to "colleagues[483]:" - -p. 236 "βούλη" changed to "βουλὴ" - -p. 237 "ἀγόρῃ" changed to "ἀγορῇ" - -p. 237 "ἀγόρας" changed to "ἀγορὰς" - -p. 237 "βουλεύτης" changed to "βουλευτὴς" - -p. 239 "twenty one" changed to "twenty-one" - -p. 239 "βούλη" changed to "βουλὴ" - -p. 239 "ἀγόρη" changed to "ἀγορὴ" - -p. 246 "Ἀϊδὼς" changed to "Αἰδὼς" - -p. 251 "rout" changed to "route" - -p. 254 "arbitary" changed to "arbitrary" - -p. 279 "ἀνέμοι" changed to "ἄνεμοι" - -p. 287 "Ἤως" changed to "Ἠὼς" - -p. 294 the footnote marker after "current of Yenikalè" had no matching -footnote in the printed book; the footnote attached to the preceding -quotation from Od. xi. 13 appears to correspond to this marker. - -p. 320 "(7981)" changed to "(79-81)" - -p. 330 "or Corfu" changed to "of Corfu" - -p. 353 "(95-673)" changed to "(495-673)" - -p. 355 "415" changed to "415." - -p. 357 "εὖρεν" changed to "εὗρεν" (two instances) - -p. 358 "141." changed to "141," - -p. 359 (sidenote) "xii, 239" changed to "xii. 239" - -p. 363 "θωρρήσσεσθαι" changed to θωρήσσεσθαι - -p. 375 "the speech" changed to "speech" - -p. 384 (note) "persongaes" changed to "personages" - -p. 393 "gallant just" changed to "gallant, just" - -p. 410 "βῆ ῥ" changed to "βῆ ῥ’" - -p. 413 "short," changed to "short." - -p. 418 "Though" changed to "‘Though" - -p. 430 "Τετρακὶς" changed to "Τετράκις" - -p. 437 "ἑκατόμβοῖον" changed to "ἑκατόμβοιον" - -p. 459 "and violet" changed to "and blue" - -p. 465 "Od x." changed to "Od. x." - -p. 483 "οὔρανος" changed to "οὐρανὸς" - -p. 514 "thown" changed to "thrown" - -p. 546 "exchantress" changed to "enchantress" - -p. 578 "passage," changed to "passage" - -p. 613 "Boisjermain,’" changed to "Boisjermain," - - -Inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, italics and punctuation have -otherwise been kept as printed. - - -The following are used inconsistently in the book: - -ablebodied and able-bodied - -abovenamed and above-named - -anything and any thing - -battlefield and battle-field - -bonâ and bona - -breastplate and breast-plate - -commonplace and common-place - -control and controul - -cornfield and corn-field - -farfetched and far-fetched - -foulmouthed and foul-mouthed - -fountainhead and fountain-head - -later and latter - -Outer Geography and Outer geography - -pseudo-Ulysses and Pseudo-Ulysses - -reenter and re-enter - -reestablished and re-established - -S.E. and S. E. (etc.) - -semifabulous and semi-fabulous - -tomorrow and to-morrow - -watchfires and watch-fires - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, -Vol. 3 of 3, by W. E. 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