The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-08
GOLDEN AGES OF LITERATURE.
VH-HoMER AND THE GREEK
EPICS.
BY CHARLES FORSTER SMITH,
PHI. d.


iomer IS one of the three greatest
writer's of the world. and Matthew Ar
Iold Is doubtless right in considering
the Homesic poems the most import
ant poe1cal monuments existing" Ho-
ner gives US an extraordinarily vivid
and interesting picture of the worlds
young springtime. The Greeks were
the trst people that came with eyes
TO see; the world was young and fresh
ana fair; things and ideas were still
IN large part unnamed, and the Greeks
had the instinct to give names that
would describe. Homer portrays a life
tnaI ne Knows, and describes things
nalvely, simply. directly and IN
ashamed. The 'Iliad" and the "Odys-
sey'' are the eternal books of youth,
and perpetual lesson in good taste.
because their form is perfect. But the
/ IliaG' and the odyssey" though the
earliest Greek poems extant. are not the
work or primitive poet, nor do they
describe an initial stage Of Greek civ
llzaton; rather they mark the close
| or an epoch. They presuppOse long
| periods Of development, and the form
/ or the verse was unQuestiOnably the
growth Of centuries Of literary culture.
I The great Achaean age. which Homer
represents, and OF which the siege of
I Troy Was doubtless the most notable
event. eliminated before Homer and its
cataelySm came no great while after
IN the Dorian invasion.
The real theme Of the 'sIliad'' is the
wrath of Achilles Paris Of Troy had
carried away from Sparta Helen. wife
! or MenelauS, and most beautiful of
Greek women, and all the chivalry of
| Hellas, under the leadership of Aga
memnon, was besieging Troy to recov-
er Helen The poem opens in the tenth
year of the war, and the period of the
action is only about fOrty-tyO days.
/ With conSummate art the poet plunges
/ at once in mediaS res, as if all the pre-
/ vious course of the war were known.
| Achilles had advised AgamemaOn to
I stay a pestilence in the camp by re-
| storing his captive Chryseis TO her
/ father, the priest Of Apollo. The
/ maiden, but inSulted Achilles by tax
/ ing his own captive, Briseis. Where
| upon Achilles, obeying the goddess
| AtheEa, had not slain Agamemnon, but
renowned the war. Persuaded by
| Achilles goddess mother, Thetis, the
/ supreme god Zeus sent defeats and dis
asters upon the Greek host, and Aga
memnon soon recognized that without
/ Achilles the Achaeans could not take
| Troy. In vain he Inundated himself
/ by sending an embassy of the braveSt
I and most honored chiefs. to offer fullest
reparatiOn to. Achilles, even Agamem-
mons own daughter as bride. Achilles
was memorable. Worse disasters fol-
low. The greatest Achaean leaders are
/ wounded, Hector is storming the Greek
I camp, and only Ajax saves the ships
from fire. At last Achilles permits Pa
trocluS TO lead out the Myrmidons
against the foe. but he falls victim
! to his own reckleSSneSs, and his body.
I af n 10 rescued
! only by prodigies of valor on the part
of Ajax and MenelaGs. Achilles grief
| was terrific. He threw himself on the
ground, cast dust on his head and dress,
| and Writhed in agony. Desire for re-
venge now took the place Of anger. He
( appeared on the rampant and gave a
| battleshOut which dismayed the brav-
est Trojans and made their very horses
cover and tremble. AS soon as ThetiS
could procure his other armor from He
phaestus, the artificer Of the gods,
Achilles attacked the TrOjanS and slew
/ their bravest, last of all Hector. Pa
troelus' dead body then received Splen-
did funeral rites ana Hector's corpse
was restored to the aged PTiam.
The 'Iliad" and Odyssey are not
didactie poems. but they present a re-
markable picture of Achaean life In
a manner chiefly incidental, says Mr..
Gladstone, there is supplied 10 US a
mass of information in history and
legend, religion. polity, justice, domestic
life and habits, clinical and social re
lations, the conditions of warfare. nav
igation, industry and Of the useful arts
exceeding in amount what has ever al
any other period been brought for use
into one focus by a single mind, except
possibly by the philosophical works OF
Aristotle, if We possessed them entire
The HOmeric poems, says Mr. Glad
stone again, 'have also through the
Intervention of the Greek and then of
the Roman civilization. for both of
which they form an original literary
base, entered far more largely than any
other book. except holy scripture, into
the formation OF modern thought and
life
In the Greek drama. characters are
apt to represent types, but in Homer
tine characters are marked by the clear
est and subtlest distinctions. In the
"Iliad" the protagonist is easily the
most conspicuous and attractive figure
OF all the heroes he is the tallest
strongest, f1eetest and most beautiful
an orator whose supremacy IS ac-
knowiedged by Ulysses, and whose CHIEF
speech lin book 81 is considered by Mr.
Gladstone unsurpassed in the annals OF
eloquence for :, 600 years. A musician
he is, too, and next TO the divine PaeOn
perhaps best understands the art Of
healing. His love for Patroclus passes
that of women; he is the soul Of honor
and above deceit; iraScLple and mex
orable. yet quick 70 pity and gentle u
the helpless. He idealizes the youth OF
the Greek race, "a luStrous figure, ever
potent. ever young, but with the ash
white aureole of coming death around
his forehead" Under the hands Of the
dramatistS his immortal character
never degenerated as did even that Of
Ulysses.
AS Achilles represented the element
of passion, so did Ulysses the function
of intellect. He is prominently dis
tinguished by forethOught. presence OF
mind and Self-contrOl-the shreTdest
and widest of the Greeks, a profound
and aStute man Of the world The
Odyssey especially glOrifieS his
youthful curiosity and spirit OF adven-
ture; his resOurcefulness and manly
endurance. combined with passionate
! yeaFning for home and native land;
but even in the "Iliad" he is second
only TO Achilles. The two prehgure the
manly ideals of the Hellenic race
Other clearly drawn characters are the
stubborn fighter, Ajax, tower Of bat
tie" and the garrulous old NestOr
whose speech flowed sweeter thar
honey" Among the TroJanS most con-
spicuOus are Hector. the knightly gen.
tleman and bulwark of Troy, and his
aged father, Priam, who has suffered
unmeasured ills. and yet must sue tC
Achilles for his sons body, saying: q
have borne such things as no man or
the earth hath ever borne-to lift tC
my lips the hand OF the man who hath
slain my son.
OF women in the "Iliad" two are OF
SURPRISING interest. Helen has exer-
cised more perhaps than any Of the
creations of poetry profound effect
on mems Imagination" Leasing has
pointed out, in the "Laokoon" how Ho-
mer conveys an impression of surpas-