The bard now aimed at entertaining his listeners; he filled an important place at banquets and festivals, where, in short, poems, he chanted to the accompaniment of flute or lyre the adventures of heroes, or so transformed old traditions that he was looked upon as their maker (poietes, poet). All Greece honored him, regardless of his nationality. Whether Æolian, Dorian, or Ionian, he contributed equally to Hellenic fame, and was entitled to the sympathy and support of all Hellenes. Indeed, he was invested with a sacred character, for he was regarded as divinely inspired.

Thus was laid the foundation of Greek letters. From such rude beginnings, the Greek imagination, by strides unparalleled in history, mounted to the grandest heights ever attained in poetry. Moreover, to original Greek genius we owe the different varieties of literary composition,-epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry, history, criticism, and oratory. Without the Grecian models, nowhere has marked superiority been attained; the originals themselves have never been surpassed.

Tradition has given us the names of many poets belonging to the fabulous age; but their dates are unknown, their very existence may be questioned.

LEGENDARY POETS OF GREECE.

ry; raised stones into the walls of Thebes by the strains of his lyre. PHILAMMON, son of Apollo, and invent

or of choral music.

ORPHEUS, the Thracian minstrel, in- | AMPHI'ON, taught of the god Mercuventor of religious poetry. THAM'YRIS, deprived of his sight and poetical talent for challenging the Muses to a trial of skill on the lyre. EUMOLPUS, a Thracian priest; reputed founder of the Eleusinian Mysteries. O'LEN, earliest prophet of Apollo. CHRYSOTH EMIS, the Cretan. MUSEUS (inspired by the Muses), a son or disciple of Orpheus.

PAMPHOS, author of the first Linus.
OLYMPUS, introducer of the flute.

PHEMON'OE, first priestess at the Del-
phic shrine, inventor of hexame-

ters.

THE HOMERIC POEMS.

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CHAPTER II.

AGE OF EPİC POETRY.

HOMER AND HIS WORKS.

Homer. The oldest literary productions of Greece extant are the poems of Homer, the most ancient monuments of Aryan poetry west of the Persian Gulf. About 1000 B.C., among the legion of ballad-writers, the reciters of battle-songs, myths, and traditions (known as Rhapsodists-ode-stitchers), there arose an Ionian poet who soon towered head and shoulders. above them all—a giant among the giants of literature-HoMER, of unique genius and world-wide fame.

As to Homer's life, we must ever remain in the dark. For the honor of giving him birth, seven cities of antiquity disputed,* Smyrna seeming to have the best claim. If we may believe tradition, he gave early evidence of his divine powers. Chance took him on a sea-voyage, during which he visited many countries, among them Ithaca, the home of Ulysses, one of his heroes. On the island of Chi'os, his favorite resort, he is thought to have written his epics the Il'iad and Odyssey, the first in early manhood, the second in old age.

Legend relates that Homer, twice warned by an oracle to beware of the young men's riddle, went ashore one day on I'os, an island of the Cyc'lades, and there, noticing some boys who had been fishing, asked them, "What luck?" "What we caught we left, what we could not catch we carried with us,"

* "Septem urbes certant de stirpe insignis Homeri,—
Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athenæ."

For all places mentioned in the history of Grecian literature, see Map, p. 132.

was the reply. Unable to guess the riddle, the old poet died of vexation. According to another account, disease carried him off. He was buried on the sea-shore at Ios, where in after years this epitaph marked his tomb:

"Here Homer the Divine, in earthy bed,
Poet of heroes, rests his sacred head."

Homer's Style.-Homer's Iliad was the first Greek poem in which were combined ingenuity of plot, unity of subject, and a faithful delineation of character throughout. He deals with heroes, but they are men of like passions with ourselves. The Odyssey, if less sublime, in its pathos and fine touches of nature shows the same rich gifts of genius as the older poem of loftier flight. Both works are written in hexameter verse, the true metre of the ancient epic.

The distinguishing features of Homer's style are clearness, a vigor which makes us feel we are in the presence of a master, and a childlike simplicity that well accords with his sublime themes. His fidelity to nature is matched only by Shakespeare's; and imagery, profuse as it is rich, lifelike, and appropriate, lights up every page. Simile is Homer's own figure; and transporting pictures flash ever and anon across the scene, called up by his magic wand. For example:

"As when, high-fed with grain, a stall-bound steed
Snaps his strong cord, and flies, from bondage freed,
Strikes with resounding hoof the earth, and flies
Where the wide champaign spread before him lies,
Seeks the remembered haunts, on fire to lave
His glowing limbs, and dash amid the wave,
High rears his crest, and tossing with disdain
Wide o'er his shoulders spreads his stream of mane,
And fierce in beauty, graceful in his speed,
Snuffs his known fellows in the distant mead:
Thus Hector-"

"As a young olive, in some sylvan scene,

Crowned by fresh fountains with eternal green,
Lifts its gay head in snowy flowerets fair,
And plays and dances to the gentle air;

THE HOMERIC POEMS.

When lo! by blasts uprooted, whirled around,
Low lies the plant, extended on the ground:
Thus in his beauty young Euphorbus lay."

141

Homer astonishes us with his universal knowledge. He names every part of a vessel technically with all the accuracy of a veteran seaman; he is as conversant with the details of a sacrifice as the officiating priest; he describes a conflict between two warriors with the precision of a master of fence; he sketches the forms and usages of palaces as if born and bred in kings' courts, and is equally familiar with the manners of the meanest hind. Everywhere he is at home.

Other poets* may be stars in the firmament, but Homer, as Longi'nus says, is the sun in the zenith. His poetry is all nature, life, action, fire. It breathes an atmosphere of pure morality, and furnishes ideal characters long held up as models to the Grecian youth, who learned his verses by heart and in some cases could even repeat his entire poems. Human genius has left on earth at intervals of centuries a few imperishable monuments; none nobler among these than the marvellous Greek epics.

Plan of the Iliad.-The Iliad, a poem of twenty-four books, is a tale of the siege of Troy (Il'ium), a city on the coast of Asia Minor (probable date of the siege, 1194-1184 B.C.). The cause of the war was the perfidious conduct of Paris, son of Priam, the Trojan monarch. Hospitably entertained at the court of Menela'us, king of Sparta, he eloped with Helen, the wife of his host, the most beautiful of women, and carried her off to Asia with the treasures of her husband. To avenge this outrage, Menelaus, supported by Nestor the sage of Py'los, called upon the Greek princes, collected an armament of a thousand ships, the command of which was conferred upon

* In this category we do not mean to include our own Shakespeare; Homer's pedestal is no loftier than his.

his brother Agamemnon, and set sail for Troy. A war of ten years followed, which ended in the capture of the city by stratagem, the slaughter of Priam and his family, and the enslavement of many of the Trojans.

The special subject of the Iliad is the wrath of the Thessalian Achilles (a-kil'leez), the leading warrior of the Grecian host, and the time of the action is near the close of the war. Agamemnon, compelled to restore to her father, a priest of Apollo, the captive maid Chryse'is who had fallen to his share, seizes upon Brise'is, a virgin allotted to Achilles. A quarrel results, and Achilles withdraws from the camp.

Emboldened by his absence, the Trojans redouble their efforts. Misfortunes to the Greek cause follow; and though many heroes second only to Achilles-the stalwart Ajax, the cunning Ulysses, king of Ithaca, Menelaus, and Diomedeexert themselves to turn the tide of battle, the Greek host is made keenly to feel the loss of its puissant champion. Jupiter, king of heaven, sides with the Trojans; and Hector "of the dancing helm-crest" drives the besiegers to their ships.

At length Achilles, still unwilling to join in the fray himself, allows Patro'clus, his bosom-friend, to lead his Myrmidons to the rescue. Arrayed in the armor of the Thessalian chief, Patroclus puts to flight the deceived Trojans; but, pursuing them too far, receives a death-wound from the hand of Hector. The news of his friend's fall fills Achilles with thirst for revenge. A reconciliation is effected with Agamemnon; Achilles returns to the field; the enemy are thrown into confusion; and Hector, pierced by his spear, is dragged in triumph at Achilles' chariot-wheels. The wrath of the Greek hero is finally appeased by the sacrifice of twelve Trojan captives at the funeral of Patroclus.

To redeem the body of his son, old Priam, alone and unarmed, enters the Grecian camp, is well received by Achilles, who melts into pity at the sight of the grief-stricken suppliant,