New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-13
TREASURE-TOMBS at MYKENE
,vrrrR FROM MIR. E. C. sTEDMAN.

AMERICAN CULrURE-ATfIC VERSION OF THE
ACKNOWLEDGMENT VALUE OF THE DIsCoY-
rp,rs-yt-vTNTUs MUNDI.
=, .ha following article endeavor to give state
-ont Of the significance, from literary point of
-;or of the remarkable discoveries thus far made
r, Dr. ScLlemann in his explorations at the site OF
,y.enn. In order 10 do this we must recur to the
.ric. of Homer aud the majestic drama of the Attic
,r,,.dians-tO the poetry of a race which has fur
n.shed the most exquisite models of all succeeding
TIIE CREDIBILITY OF HOMER.
Children reading tranSlations of Homer with de-
vbt Weld bv instinct TO the charm of hls machleSs
heauty and simplicity They 10 more question his
,orraiiye than they doubt the histories of Caesar
nd NlpOeon. the voyages of Dampier, or the
,les of the Conqustadores But the most of u.s.
,beo once past the age of faith in fairy-laLd and
fable have caSsed the songs of the wrath and vaor
~ Achilles. the Wit and wanderings of Odysseus
and the woes of the house of Atreus. among the
more doubtful legends belonging to the youth of the
World. The theories of Heyne, Wolf, and their
rnpjls. which made the Gomeric poems a growth or
rojec+ion. rather than personal composition have
o,rsed ns almost To distrust the individuality of
Homer himself The best scholars have become re-
lrtnt 70 give any credence TO the historical import
Of the Had and Odyssey, and indeed of the glorious
rrocesson Of the Athenian masterpieces, whose
themes were largely taken from the episodes and
traditions gathered in the measures Of the bind
Ioriqn bard. The geography and narrative of
Uerodotos we're long under similar cloud. The
known absurdities gTavely interspersed throughout
his history stamped him as a marvel-monger, and
served 70 vitate the entire record of the Flerfan
books
Bnt in our own time a change has marked the
o,inion of the critical world The exact research
al. haSn
that Herodotos, while overcrednlous in minor
and hearsay matters, was correct in essentials,
even 10 the general topography and ethnology of the
remote portions of Central Africa. And for Homer,
W. begin TO see in his poems single creation rather
than 4 growth and again TO conceive of his simple
and poetic individUality,-a blind, gTay-boarded,
beaven-endowed minstrel, wandering from Smyrna
70 Greece and there from province to province IDEAL
iziu the history of bis heroic period and race and,
either by oral OF scriptural methods, fastening
ms ballad-epcs upon time itself so that, handed
down from sire TO son, they became the enduring
treasure Of all generations of mankind We begin to
feel-InakIng allowance for the supernaturaiism OF
an age when nothing was known of the earth itself,
beyoud the pillars of Heralles the west and the
CoDges ON the east-whcu the gods were thought to
he the proeenitors and companions of men-allowlnS
for this we not only begin to feel that the HAD and
Odyssey are true to the physical status OF the Med
irerranean islands and shores, but We more than
suspect that their stories of wars and warriors OF
VOYAGES sieges and of civil and domestic life, are
Tie narratives of actual matters which were OF the
highest relative importance in half-baTbaric age;
lastly We look backward to find that hOmers per
souages were living. loving, warning human beings,
and that while yet scarcely having lett the ilesh,
their deeds and sayings, by turns wise and paitry,
ioyous and tragcal. were the most exciting themes
of the minstrel OF that ancient time
sCHLIEMANN n THE TRoAD,
One Of THE TmBUNE's writers has well said thatit
is indeed mos; fortunate thing that this man OF our
time has beIicr,d IN Homer: that Or. Schhemann was
so impressed in youth with faith in the reality Of the
actions and manners depicted in the Ionic verse rs
10 acquire fortune with purpose to become an ex-
porer and to prove by his own exertOns the gen.
era historic truth Of the Had and Odyssey. There
has been much dispute over his achievements IN the
Tread The spot selected, after preliminary expert
ments elsewhere. for his serious efforts TO uncover
the ruins of TrOia chosen against the Judgment
NJ many scholars The unearthed relics although
marked with the sun-emblem which might typlfy
the name of Ilios, were not OF such character as
al once TO remove all skepticism from European
archaologists. Even in his own country his re-
norts were received with criticism. Worn down by
fever contracted on the banks Of the SimOls and
Scamander and hindered by the distTust of the
Turkish authorities, he transferred the scene OF
his operations 10 Greece. Here Curtius has been
achieving wonders at Olympia, and restoring to light
the buried temples and etigies of ali Olympus
hierarchy. But the disciple of Homer has under
taken labors that make the field of Olympian re-
searches seem comparatively modern, and now
tar,les the reading world with the progress Of his
work at Mykene "a city destroyed by the Argues
IN the century after the erection Of Oymplas first
the DOWprtU
chiefa;n III Greece at the time when, with the col
lected Grecian feet and more than hundred thou
sand warriors be sailed from Aulis 20 recover
Helena and demolish the lofty walls If Troy
Among our own experts, Bayard Taylor the trav-
elcr. poet. and Helenist wae one who fully and
heartily declared his belief that DR.. Schhemann
had discovered the true site Of UiOn. His essay,
which first appeared in THE TRIBUNE, was the most
complete and pronounced of all the tributes warded
to the discoverer, and greatly encouraged nm 10
costume IN his chosen career.
scuI1EMANN AT MYKEYE.
No coldness in America at least, attended the re-
ception of the news from Mykene which reached us
Oh the 10Th Of December. The Herald OF that Sun
day contained a teegraphC report Of Schhemann's
dispatch 70 the King OF Greece. dated Nov Is and
thin that the heart of each lover of learning, art,
OF song leapt with wonder and something Ike de-
hight accepting the genuineness and Importance OF
the results obtained and the promise given out. 10
was felt that here was something substantial. lhere
sno dispute over the site of Mykena. over that of
TrJy. The Cyclopean ruins, described by fausanIas
Il centure, ago are stiI partly visible TO the tray
eier The oral and written tradition of bis time as
sumed them to be the very walls and monuments Of
Apamemnons city and, If they were not, their
wa,,emJanoc was the image of reality itself.
AtcproiuU n rhe chrOnOlOgV which scholars