The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-05-27
.ors OF LITERATURE.

snfs OF LiTEkAluRE'
en- THE GREEK EPIc'
t1tr rorster Smith. Phi. %
1slln ,,,se Of criticism that Homer
.srcs greatest writers Of the
:. ',.,, x, Arnold is doubtless right
4. Homerlc poems "the most
fit ~. monuments existing"
- extraordinarily vivid and
.,,s Of the worlds youna
ne creeks were the arst peo,
,ith eyes to see; the world
~, fresh and fair; things and
Y IN IN large part unnamed, and
ss.s ,he instinct to give names
s..cribe. Home, portrays a life
W.. and describes things naively'
.',,'Iv AID unashamed. The Had
sodJsssy" are tho eternal books OF
I. ,orm ls perfect. But the "Iliad'
s,,,ssy.'' though the earliest Greek
~ not the work of a primitive
3. ,hey describe an initial stage
.,,,lj,atIon; rather they mark the
I, .rocs They presuppose long pc
,,,slopment and the form of the
.,a,,estionably the growth of CEN
!, literary culture. The great
which Homer represents. and
IN, siege of Troy was doubtless
,ctsble event, cul,ninated before
IA rs cataclysm came no great
..n the Dorian invasion.
I, ,.sue Of the "Iliad" is the wrath
1. Paris Of Troy had carried away
Is. Helen, wife of Menelaus. anc
hautiful Of Greek women, and all
M Of Hellas, under the leadership
anon was besieging Troy to re-
81, Tbe poem opens in the tenth
K. ar and the period of the action
1 ,bout forty-two days. With con-
N the poet plunges at once In
!. as II all the previous course
| !, we're known. Achilles had ae-
,ortnnon to stay a pestilence in the
\ restoring his captive Chryseis to
NJ M priest of Apollo. The naughty
I'm restored the maiden, but In
l,tlles By taking his own captive,
Nbereupon Achilles, obeying the
Z nbsna had not slain Agamemnon,
|r:,srced tho war. Persuaded by
Y rodaess mother Thetis. the supreme
n. sent defeats and disasters upon
Ia host, and Agamemnon soon rec
a ih,t without Achilles the Achaeans
|,s Ike Troy. In vain he humiliated
w sending an embassy of the bravest
II honored chiefs to offer fullest rep
I, IA Achilles, even Agamemnon's own
kua bride. Achilles was MEMORABLE.
disasters follow. The greatest
Y ssders are wounded. Hector is
Il ths Greek camp. and only Ajax
IA, shlps from fire. At last Achilles
kiiroslus to lead out the Myrmidons
Ahe foe. but he falls victim to his
|tlessness, and his body, stripped of
Y amor. Is rescued only by prodigies
h the part of Ajax and Menelaus.
h NTH was terrific. He threw him
4 De ground. cast dust on his head
III md wrlthed in agony. Desire for
b NV took the place of anger. He
lssn the rampant and gave a battle
|stfA dismayed the bravest Trojans
Ihtsr very horses cows and tremble.
h b Thetis could procure his other
I'M Hephaestus, the artiflcer OF the
|gslls attacked the Trojans and slew
'h'ss last OF all Hector. Patroclus'
NV then received splendid funeral
i Hettor's corpse was restored to the
kiu.
|llid' and odyssey" are not dldactic
vt they present a remarkable picture
ssn life I'm a manner chiefly Incl
Fnys Mr.. Gladstone, there is sup
sss mass OF Information in history
e,d religion, pollty, justice, domestic
1,ichl clinical and social relations.
ls1sns Of warfare, navigation, indus
~ The useful arts. exceeding in
'shat hss ever at any other period
hasnt for use into one focus by a
$50 except possibly by the philo-
scEks Of Aristotle, If we possessed
s'ff THE Homeric POEMS" says
H'Sons again, have also through the
aM q the Greek and then of the
"ailatlon, for both OF which they
= ! 'nEinal literary base. entered far
asey than any other book, except
'e'ufe' into the formation of mod
''f'l and life
s'eek drama, characters are apt to
/. vpes, but in Homer the characters
~ 0y the clearest and subtlest dis
I "a me "lliad' the protagonist is
= most conspicuous and attractive
= al the heroes he is the tallest,
" neetest and most beautiful. an
se supremacy is acknowledged
Z saa whose chief speech lin book
! ''sefed by Mr.. Gladstone unsur-
wy annals OF eloquence for 5000
nuslcian he is, too, and next to
I 'seon perhaps best understands tho
'4s his love for Patrocius passes
s-ea' ne is the soul of honor and
Y. irascible and inexorable, yet
NJ shu gentle to the helpless. He
Z. youth OF the Greek race, "a
eve ever potent. ever young, but
4 sa'vnite aureole ,of coming death
IN. .O'enead'' Under the hands of
" ms Immortal character never
M y did even that OF Ulysses.
"A :, represented the element of pas
!. ulysses the function C: intellect.
.ulnently distinguished by fore
~ u'ssnce OF mind aud self-control-
- ana widest of the Greeks, a
i - astate man of the world. The
~. specially glorifes his youth
M. ana spirit of adventure; his
4 and manly endurance com
I. passionate yearnIng for home
ss,r out even in the "Iliad' be
b IN. = achilles. The two preHgure
.ns OF the Hellenic race. Other
\, j. characters are the stubborn
n o"er OF battle" and the gar