New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
FROM HOMER TO UELLENISM.

NEW CHAPTERS IN GREEK HISTORY. Historical
Results Of Recent E1eavstions II M Greece apa @
Pp. Nv $50. G.. p. Putnam's Sons
FAMILIAR STUDIES IN HOMER. BY Agnes NJ
Clerke PIP. tx 3O2. Lon9mans, Green d Co.
On the whole the results OF archaeological invesu
CATION In Greece, elsewhere. have been 10 "''
strength to the views OF the more conservative men
OF learning. For full three quarters OF ceh'ui!
after Wolf those who chung to belief in the uhity
OF the Homeric poems and historic kernel not ohlS
In them, but In the legends that pcrtaincd 10 tne
entire mythical period OF lienas, iet thehSeN'''
rightly or not, In q discouraged minority. bot 'N'
cavaton has shown that the Greece OF Ach'ef'''
times characterized by civilization worthy VI
the poets and mythmakers who celebrated IL. IL ms
given meaning TO passages that were oh'c 'oi
strued one may say, almost by rote. IL mas SHOWN
the possibility not only Of the composition OF SUCH
poems as the " lad7 and the 4" odyssey" AT remote
.poch but even Of their having been written ont from
he first instead OF being handed down traduonaiy
by the more or less fallbe memory of public rcciters
through many generations In the next age, II the
present rqte of progress in discovering ana coia.'ns
ANTIQUE facts is kept up people VIII ma IL haN W
realize how a book like Coxe's History OF "ree'''
with its wonderful solar Interpretation OF names anu
occurrences could be taken seriously. Ihose WHO arc
now living may survive TO learn that there never was
any Homeric Question except in the minds OF AleN.
andrian and modern critics. In the two volumes the
titles of which head this article now
ever the disparity of current oPihohs
on the subject are obvious Mr.. Daruher
declares himself "quite ready TO accept the usually
received view that they he llomerc PoemS) gre" up
during a considerable space Of time. ana contain
earlier and later elements; and adds: "WlamowitxS
view, which IebIg. after careful sur
vey of the archaeological side OF The
Homerlc question. is quite ready to accept gives
the latest parts of the Had to the eighth century inc
Ody ssSy 10 the eighth and seventh centuries b"'
both poems doubt incorporate legends ana even
ballads of much earlier period Mr. '"oi'o
And Mr. Leaf are both disposed to think that most OF
the Homeric poems were composed BY Achaeans before
ths Dorian conquest and taken 10 Asia by the colo
nists This cannot conccde. for II seems TO me GER
tain that the poets who wrae them were speaking OF
q past which lay some distance behind 'hen' oh
the other hand the author of Familiar Studies IN
Homer, maintains that IIomerc geography IS en-
tirolv pre- Dsrian Nothing remains. then,
rr@ IA admit that he lived In the pre- Dorian Greece
which he pcrtrayed.s She would date the poems ap-
parently with some hesitation from the eleVen'h
century before Christ and would concede the separate
authorship of the two works, and rStorauohs' eA-
tersive in the Had but less In the odyssey From
this point OF View namely that the poems oeiohs
wholly to the Mycenaean period she discusses Win the
aid not only OF archaeology, but also of folklore the
.s,roromv. zoology botany mctallurgy and social
Ufe representcd by Homer. Her work Is obviously
Intended for the general reader.
Mr. Gardeners aim is more ambitious After EN-.
shaszng the scarcity and unsatisfactory character vi
ancient authorities he proceeds 10 show how historic
tatements can he subjected 10 tests by means OF
geography inscriptions. now obtained In such vast
numbers; WORKS OF art. and coins. Then he taxes
up In successive chapters the revelations made DIV
the spade In Phry ga and tile Troas. Myccnac and the
Islands OF the Aegean, in Cyprus Naucfats Atnchs'
Olympia, Sparta. EpIdaurus, Eleus's and Dodona' IL
will easily be guessed from this list Of names tha'
he discusses the relations OF the Greek conquerhS
TO the prehistoric races Of Phryga. OF the Homeric
poems 10 the relics of civilization found AT HissafhK
Mvcenae and Iiryns. and of Greek coonistS TO the
Phoenicians in Cyprus. and To the Egyptians ABOUT
Naucratis The excavations at Epidaurus lead 10 "a
stady On Greek medicine; at Athens. on the remark
able literature OF the tombs; at olympia, on the
National games Of Greece at Eleusis. on the mys-
teries: at Sparta on the worship OF the dead at
Dodena on the oraces. The appearance OF paper
on Alexander and his successors Is excused by the
author on the ground OF special numis!natic invest
cations but IL is pity that he did not withhold II
and enlarge it to a volume. Mr.. Gardners modera'
ton of statement throughout Is admirable Perhaps
tho principal fAult readers will find with the book
IN that the essays all too short.