The Iliad (tr. Pope) | Page 6

the
image of the goddess, the head and an arm wanting. She is represented, as usual, sitting.
The chair has a lion carved on each side, and on the back. The area is bounded by a low
rim, or seat, and about five yards over. The whole is hewn out of the mountain, is rude,
indistinct, and probably of the most remote antiquity."
So successful was this school, that Homer realised a considerable fortune. He married,
and had two daughters, one of whom died single, the other married a Chian.
The following passage betrays the same tendency to connect the personages of the poems
with the history of the poet, which has already been mentioned:--
"In his poetical compositions Homer displays great gratitude towards Mentor of Ithaca, in
the Odyssey, whose name he has inserted in his poem as the companion of Ulysses,
[Footnote: A more probable reason for this companionship, and for the character of

Mentor itself, is given by the allegorists, viz.: the assumption of Mentor's form by the
guardian deity of the wise Ulysses, Minerva. The classical reader may compare Plutarch,
Opp. t. ii. p. 880; _Xyland._ Heraclid. Pont. Alleg. Hom. p. 531-5, of Gale's Opusc.
Mythol. Dionys. Halic. de Hom. Poes. c. 15; Apul. de Deo Socrat. s. f.] in return for the
care taken of him when afflicted with blindness. He also testifies his gratitude to Phemius,
who had given him both sustenance and instruction."
His celebrity continued to increase, and many persons advised him to visit Greece,
whither his reputation had now extended. Having, it is said, made some additions to his
poems calculated to please the vanity of the Athenians, of whose city he had hitherto
made no mention,[Footnote: Vit. Hom. Section 28.] he sent out for Samos. Here being
recognized by a Samian, who had met with him in Chios, he was handsomely received,
and invited to join in celebrating the Apaturian festival. He recited some verses, which
gave great satisfaction, and by singing the Eiresione at the New Moon festivals, he earned
a subsistence, visiting the houses of the rich, with whose children he was very popular.
In the spring he sailed for Athens, and arrived at the island of Ios, now Ino, where he fell
extremely ill, and died. It is said that his death arose from vexation, at not having been
able to unravel an enigma proposed by some fishermen's children.[Footnote: The riddle is
given in Section 35. Compare Mackenzie's note, p. xxx.]
Such is, in brief, the substance of the earliest life of Homer we possess, and so broad are
the evidences of its historical worthlessness, that it is scarcely necessary to point them out
in detail. Let us now consider some of the opinions to which a persevering, patient, and
learned--but by no means consistent--series of investigations has led. In doing so, I
profess to bring forward statements, not to vouch for their reasonableness or probability.
"Homer appeared. The history of this poet and his works is lost in doubtful obscurity, as
is the history of many of the first minds who have done honour to humanity, because they
rose amidst darkness. The majestic stream of his song, blessing and fertilizing, flows like
the Nile, through many lands and nations; and, like the sources of the Nile, its fountains
will ever remain concealed."
Such are the words in which one of the most judicious German critics has eloquently
described the uncertainty in which the whole of the Homeric question is involved. With
no less truth and feeling he proceeds:--
"It seems here of chief importance to expect no more than the nature of things makes
possible. If the period of tradition in history is the region of twilight, we should not
expect in it perfect light. The creations of genius always seem like miracles, because they
are, for the most part, created far out of the reach of observation. If we were in possession
of all the historical testimonies, we never could wholly explain the origin of the Iliad and
the Odyssey; for their origin, in all essential points, must have remained the secret of the
poet." [Footnote: Heeren's Ancient Greece, p. 96.]
From this criticism, which shows as much insight into the depths of human nature as into
the minute wire-drawings of scholastic investigation, let us pass on to the main question

at issue. Was Homer an individual? [Footnote: Compare Sir E. L. Bulwer's Caxtons v. i.
p. 4.] or were the Iliad and Odyssey the result of an ingenious arrangement of fragments
by earlier poets?
Well has Landor remarked: "Some tell us there were twenty Homers; some deny that
there was ever one. It were idle and foolish to shake the contents of a vase, in order to let
them settle at last. We are perpetually labouring