The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-17

. 49, @#e - ANe sSgN 10AgA0 1N NN1l
are defined a. follows: First. we MAJ
asslme that the poet. conscious Of hi
ONCE to please rather than 10 instruct
depicted a life such as had never been OF
hand or sea, drawing from his imagination
his colors a. we'll as his forms. His hsarsr'
would be pleased with accounts OF Utopia
the very odditX and novelty Of the life de-
pieted would add interest to the story. A
second hypothesis would be that the pOei
painted the life OF the earlier generation
OF which, he had heard-the generation which
saw the fall OF Troy and know OdyssSus
Or, hhirdly, We may suppose that the poet
repreaented the life which was familiar
20 himself and his hearers. Each action,
zach event., might be given by tradition. o.
sven might be the product OF the poets
imagination, but the details which show
the customs Of the age and which furnish
the colors for the picture would be taken
from the life OF the poets time. His in
terest would be centred in the action Of
the story. and the introduction OF unusual
manners and standards OF life would only
distract the attention Of his hearers. sit is,
Of course. this third hypothesis which our
author adopts; otherwise he would not have
attempted TO portray the life Of the HO-
neric age with the help OF the poems alone
or with only a slight admixenreof archeo-
logical materials.
A special argument against considering
Homer an archRologist Is the remark that
while he IL artistic he il never artificial.
as In his age he would need TO be IL he were
20 avoid systematically the mention Of
What was familiar to his contemporaries.
The manner Of his references to customs
and life generally differs widely from that
OF Virgil or OF Apollonius RhOdius (who
told the story OF the Argonautsl. both OF
whom were IN a sense a~rchseologists with the
desire to paint pictures of an age whereof
they had only literary knowledge. II one
tries to form a view Of hHe in the heroic
~ according to either Of these learned
poets he will secure but a dull picture with
many broad gaps.
In the fac that the HOmerio poet uses
his references to manners and customs
chtsfy AZ by-wOrk for his story. TO brighten
m illustrate his narratives OF action. may
be found weighty argument for the theory
that the poet paints a picture of the life
Of his own time in the manner OF painters
who have arrived at only a simple stage
Of culture. II he had depicted the life
Of Greeks. and yet q life markedly different
from that OF his own day, the attention OF
his hearers would have been distracted
from that which he thought Of prime mo-
ment 10 that which, for him, was merely
incidental@from the chief action to the
background or setting OF the picture. In
thfs way the poets story would have been
confused and darkened. not illuIoined. So
that, ,sven ifshe himself had been familiar
with the difference Of customs between
those Of his own time and those OF the
epoch OF the Trojan war. he would not
have assumed this knowledge on the part
Of his hearers and would nave avoided
drawing their attention away from what
was Of primary interest to both. the event
which he was narratinR.
While. however, our author assumes
that he IL justified in accepting the life
portrayed in b Homerio poems for that
Of the poets own time. the reader ia eau
toned against inferring that this or that
particular thingl did not exist because the
poet does not mention IL. Many words
In common usage must have been Of a
metrical form either impossible or incon-
venient for hexameter verse. There are
other reasons why il is absurd 70 suppose
that the author Of the Homeric poems
did not know Of a custom because he does
not refer to it. For instance, the art, or
an art. Of writing was known in Greek
lands long before Homer's day. but only
n does he aIlude to it. Again, we are
reminded that the coined money was known
In Homer's day. but tha he passes it by
in silence in order to give his story a more
antique coloring. II is probable enough
that the talent Of gold" which is spoken
of in the Had was a Babylonian coin, and
here, at least. the poet recognizes a money
standard Of value. Neither gold nor silver
was coined in the Greece OF his day. and
even if foreign coins were known to the-I
Homaric Acheans there is no evidence
that they were the ordinary medium Of
exchange in Hellas.
II then the Greeks Of the Homeric period
had no money OF their own the poet may
have been quite accurate in representing
ordinary trade a barter. The silence of
the Homeric poet with regard to PhOenician
trading stations in Greece is admitted 10
be curious. but should not. ia our authors
judgment. be interpreted az an indication of
q desire to give antique color TO the poems.
The burden OF proof rests on those who
that such stations existed in the
poets time. As yet archaeological excava-
lions have not supported the belief in ancient
PhDnician settlements on the shores of
Greece. Why, again. should the poet
shrink from mentioning such trading posts
IL he knew them1 He has no hesitation in
telling Of this or that work Of art as brought
by the SidOnians. That the author OF the
Homeric poems somewhat idealized the life
of his age IL entirely credible. for he is
known to have magniied many times the
size Of the walled city Of Troy. I~deaHzation
and exaggeration are natural TO story tell
ers IN a simple age. When. however, the
poet directly mentions an object or a Gus
tom, he may believe 1t 10 have been known
and somewhat familiar to the Greeks Of his
own day. unless other evidence appears 10
the contrary. With certain limitations. in
deed. Prof. Seymour is convinced that the
and Odyssey offer Trustworthy evil
dence with regard to the life q the Greeks
at the time OF the composition OF the poems.
In a chapter on Homerio cosmoVrapbv
geography our author considers the
whether the Ithaca Of Odysseus
should be identified with the island which
has borne that name in classical and modoro