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Title: Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3

Author: W. E. Gladstone

Release date: November 15, 2014 [eBook #47356]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

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STUDIES ON HOMER
AND
THE HOMERIC AGE.

BY THE
RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, D.C.L.
M. P. FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

Plenius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore.—Horace.

OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
M.DCCC.LVIII.

[The right of Translation is reserved.]

STUDIES ON HOMER
AND
THE HOMERIC AGE.
I. PROLEGOMENA.
II. ACHÆIS:
OR,
THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE GREEK RACES.

BY THE
RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, D.C.L.
M. P. FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Plenius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore.—Horace.

OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
M.DCCC.LVIII.

THE CONTENTS.

I. PROLEGOMENA.
SECT. I.
On the State of the Homeric Question.
Objects of this Work	Page 1
Results thus far of the Homeric Controversy	2
Improved apparatus for the Study of Homer	4
Effect of the poems on Civilization	5
They do not compete with the Holy Scriptures	6
SECT. II.
The Place of Homer in Classical Education.
Study of Homer in the English Universities	9
Homer should not be studied as a Poet only	11
His claims compared with those of other Poets	14
Study of Homer in the Public Schools	18
SECT. III.
On the Historic Aims of Homer.
High organization of the Poems	21
The presumption is that the Poet had Historic aims	22
Positive signs of them	23
Pursued even at some cost of Poetical beauty	26
Minuter indications	28
General tone	28
Hypothesis of reproduction inadmissible	30
What is chiefly meant by his Historic aims	35
SECT. IV.
On the probable Date of Homer.
The main question: is he an original witness	36
Adverse arguments	37
Affirmative arguments	39
SECT. V.
The probable Trustworthiness of the Text of Homer.
The received text to be adopted as a basis	42
Failure of other methods	44
State of the Manuscripts	46
Complaints of interpolation	47
Testimonies concerning the early use of the Poems	49
Preservative power of the Recitations or matches	55
Pseudo-Homeric poems	56
Argument from the Cyclic poems	59
The Alexandrian period	60
Amount and quality of guarantees	64
Improbability of wilful falsification	67
Internal evidence of soundness in detail	69
SECT. VI.
Place and Authority of Homer in Historical Inquiry.
Homer paramount as a literary authority	71
He has suffered through credulity	73
And through incredulity	79
Proposed method of treatment	81
Instances of contrary method, (1) Hellen and his family	82
Authority of Hesiod	84
Instance (2), personality of Helen	87
Conclusion	89
II. ACHÆIS.
ETHNOLOGY OF THE GREEK RACES.
SECT. I.
Scope of the Inquiry.
Preliminary objection of Mr. Grote stated	93
Synopsis of national and tribal names to be examined	96
SECT. II.
On the Pelasgians, and cognate races.
The Pelasgians	100
Pelasgic Argos	101
Dodona	106
Thessaly and the Southern Islands	109
Epithets for Pelasgians	113
Use of this name in the singular	114
The Pelasgians and Larissa	115
The Arcadians Pelasgian	119
Why προσέληνοι	121
The Arcadians afterwards the Swiss of Greece	122
The Graians or Greeks	123
Ceres and the Pelasgians	124
The Iaones or Ionians	127
The Athenians in the Catalogue	129
The Catalogue, vv. 546-9	129
The same, vv. 550,	132
The same, vv. 553-5	135
Review of the Homeric evidence as to the Athenians	137
Their relations with Minerva	140
Post-Homeric evidence of the Pelasgianism of Attica	145
The Pelasgians related to Egypt	148
The Egyptians semi-fabulous to Homer	151
Their Pelasgian resemblances, in Homer and otherwise	153
The Greeks of the Iliad why never termed Pelasgian	156
The Θρῇκες and Θρῃίκιοι	158
The Caucones and Leleges	161
SECT. III.
The Pelasgians: and certain States naturalized or akin to Greece.
Minos in Homer	166
His origin	167
His place in the nether world	168
The power of Crete	169
Two of the five races apparently Pelasgian	170
The tradition of Deucalion	172
The extent of the Minoan Empire	175
Evidence of Post-Homeric tradition	176
Circumstantial evidence	178
The Lycians	181
Their points of connection with Greece	183
Elements of the population	185
Cyprus	188
Inhabitants probably Pelasgian	190
No other name competes with the Pelasgian as designating the
first inhabitants of Greece	193
The Pelasgians were the base or substratum of the Greek nation	194
Post-Homeric testimony respecting them	195
K. O. Müller’s Summary	200
The Pelasgian language	203
The Pelasgian route into Greece	205
Probably twofold	206
Route of the Helli	208
Peloponnesus the old centre of power	209
Derivation of the Pelasgian name	211
SECT. IV.
On the Phœnicians and the Outer Geography of the Odyssey.
Tokens of the Phœnicians in Greece	216
Limits of Homer’s Inner or Greek Geography	217
And Greek Navigation	219
His Outer Geography Phœnician	221
The traditions connected therewith also Phœnician	223
Minos the Ὀλοόφρων	225
Commercial aptitude of the modern Greeks	227
The Homeric Mouth of Ocean	228
The two Geographical reports are blended into one	228
The Siceli and Sicania	229
Their site is probably on the Bruttian Coast	231
The Epirus of Homer	234
The Thesprotians in Homer	235
The Cadmeans in Homer	239
Period from which they date	240
Conclusions respecting them	244
SECT. V.
On the Catalogue.
The Greek Catalogue, properly an Array or Review	245
The Preface	246
The List	247
The principle of arrangement	249
The distribution in chief	250
The sub-distribution	251
Proofs of historic aim	255
Genealogies of the Catalogue	256
The Epilogue	259
The Trojan Catalogue	261
SECT. VI.
On the Hellenes of Homer.
The word Hellas the key to this inquiry	264
List of passages where used	265
Some of them admit the narrow sense	266
Some refuse it	268
None require it	272
Hellenes in Il. ii. 684	274
Panhellenes in Il. ii. 530	277
Cephallenes in Il. ii. 631 and elsewhere	278
The Helli or Selli	279
Selli of the Scholiast of Aristophanes	280
SECT. VII.
On the respective contributions of the Pelasgian and Hellenic factors to the compound of the Greek nation.
Contributions to Mythology	285
Correspondences with Rome and Troy	287
The Pelasgian religion less imaginative	289
Their ritual development fuller	290
Order of Priests in Homer not Hellenic	293
Contributions to language	294
Classes of words which agree	298
Classes which differ	301
Evidence from names of persons	307
General rules of discrimination	309
Names of the Pelasgian class	311
Names of the Hellenic class	317
Contributions to political ideas	320
To martial ideas	320
Corporal education and Games	322
Music and Song	329
Supposed Pelasgianism of the Troic age	331
The traditions of Hunting	332
The practice of Navigation	336
Summary of the case	338
States especially Hellic or Pelasgic	342
SECT. VIII.
On the three greater Homeric appellatives.
Modes of formation for names of peoples	346
The three greater appellatives not synonymous	348
Proofs of their distinctive use	350
The Argive Juno, Argive Helen	353
The Danaans of Homer	355
Epithets of the three appellatives	356
The Danaan name dynastic	359
Compared with the Cadmean name	361
Epoch of the dynasty	363
Post-Homeric tradition	366
Application of the name Argos	368
Achaic and Iasian Argos	373
The phrase μέσον Ἄργος	378
The Apian land	379
Summary of geographical conclusions	380
Etymology of the word Argos	381
Its connection with ἔργον	384
The etymology tested by kindred words	388
The Danaan Argeians of Od. viii. 578	391
The Argive Juno	392
Transition to Achæans	393
Relation of Argeian and Pelasgian names	396
The etymology illustrated	397
Different extent of Ἀργεῖοι and Ἄργος	401
Propositions as to the Achæan name	402
Particulars of its use	403
Signs of its leaning to the aristocracy	406
Mode of its application in Ithaca	411
Its local sense in Thessaly	416
In Crete	417
In Pylos	418
In Eastern Peloponnesus	419
Force of the name Παναχαιοὶ	420
The Æolid and Æolian names	423
The Heraclids in Homer	425
The descent of the Æolids	427
The earliest Hellenic thrones in Greece	429
The Danaan and Argive names used nationally in poetry only	431
Summary of the evidence	433
Later literary history of the three great appellatives	436
Their value as primitive History	437
SECT. IX.
On the Homeric title of ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν.
Difference between Epithets and Titles	440
Examples of Homeric titles	443
The Βασιλεὺς of Homer	443
Common interpretations of the ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν	443
Some particulars of its use in Homer	446
How far connected with metrical convenience	447
The κρείων and the ποιμὴν λαῶν	448
Arguments for a specific meaning in ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν	450
Persons to whom the title is applied	453
Persons to whom it might have been applied	455
Associations of reverence with it	456
It may indicate patriarchal chieftaincy	459
Presumptions of this in the case of Agamemnon	461
Propositions respecting his extraction and station	463
Arguments against his Hellenic descent considered	465
Connection of Tantalus with Greece and with Pelops	466
As to the seat of his power	470
Homeric notices of Pelops	471
The Achæans rose with him	472
They came from Thessaly	474
The Dorians appropriate the Pelopid succession	477
Protest against the popular tradition of the Hellenidæ	480
Which, however, bears witness to the connection with Thessaly	481
Case of Agamemnon summed up	482
The cases of Anchises and Æneas	484
Presumptive evidence as to Anchises	486
Presumptive evidence as to Æneas	486
Evidence from the Dardanid genealogy	489
From the horses of Tros	490
Evidence summed up	491
Signs of kin between Trojans and Greeks	492
Signs connected with the Hellic name	496
The Hellespont of Homer	497
The gift of Echepolus Anchisiades	499
Twofold bond, Hellic as well as Pelasgic	499
Case of Augeias stated	500
Notes of connection between Elis and the North	502
Relation of Augeias to the name Ephyre	504
Cluster of apparently cognate names	505
The race of Φῆρες	509
Common root of all these names	510
Probable signification of Ἐφύρη	513
Places bearing the name Ἐφύρη	515
Summary of the evidence for Augeias	519
Case of Euphetes	520
The site of his Ephyre	521
Case of Eumelus	526
The ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν is descended from Jupiter	529
The four notes of the ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν	531
Negative proofs	532
Persons with the four notes but without the title	536
Its disappearance with Homer	538
Signs in the Iliad of political disorganization	539
More extensively in the Odyssey	542
General significancy of the title ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν	543
SECT. X.
On the connection of the Hellenes and Achæans with the East.
The Achæan name has no mark of a Greek origin	545
Means for pursuing the inquiry	546
The two groups of Indo-European languages	547
Corresponding distinction of races	548
Province of Fars or Persia proper	549
Ascendancy of the Persians	550
Relation of the Germani to the Celts	551
And to the Hellenes	552
The Persian tribe of Γερμάνιοι	554
The Homeric traces of the Persian name	555
The Achæan name in Persia	556
Its probable etymology	557
The Persians according to Herodotus	558
The comparison as to religious belief	561
As to ritual, and other resemblances	563
Evidence of the Behistun inscription	565
The organization established by Darius	566
Presumptions from the term Βασιλεύς	567
Hellenic traits in modern Persia	568
The Eelliats	571
Media a probable source of the Pelasgi	571
Addenda	573

STUDIES ON HOMER
AND
THE HOMERIC AGE.

I. PROLEGOMENA.[1]

Sect. 1.—On the State of the Homeric question.

We are told that, in an ancient city, he who had a new law to propose made his appearance, when about to discharge that duty, with a halter round his neck. It might be somewhat rigid to re-introduce this practice in the case of those who write new books on subjects, with which the ears at least of the world are familiar. But it is not unreasonable to demand of them some such reason for their boldness as shall be at any rate presumably related to public utility. Complying with this demand by anticipation, I will place in the foreground an explicit statement of the objects which I have in view.

These objects are twofold: firstly, to promote and extend the fruitful study of the immortal poems of Homer; and secondly, to vindicate for them, in an age of discussion, their just degree both of absolute and, more especially, of relative critical value. My desire is to indicate at least, if I cannot hope to establish, their proper place, both in the discipline of classical education, and among the materials of historical inquiry. When the world has been hearing and reading Homer, and talking and writing about him, for nearly three thousand years, it may seem strange thus to imply that he is still an ‘inheritor of unfulfilled renown,’[2] and not yet in full possession of his lawful throne. He who seems to impeach the knowledge and judgment of all former ages, himself runs but an evil chance, and is likely to be found guilty of ignorance and folly. Such, however, is not my design. There is no reason to doubt that Greece

Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3 / I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek Races

About This Book

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3

STUDIES ON HOMER
AND
THE HOMERIC AGE.
I. PROLEGOMENA.
II. ACHÆIS:
OR,
THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE GREEK RACES.

THE CONTENTS.

I. PROLEGOMENA.[1]

Sect. 1.—On the State of the Homeric question.

Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3 / I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek Races

About This Book

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3

STUDIES ON HOMER AND THE HOMERIC AGE. I. PROLEGOMENA. II. ACHÆIS: OR, THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE GREEK RACES.

THE CONTENTS.

I. PROLEGOMENA.[1]

Sect. 1.—On the State of the Homeric question.

STUDIES ON HOMER
AND
THE HOMERIC AGE.
I. PROLEGOMENA.
II. ACHÆIS:
OR,
THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE GREEK RACES.