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FAMILIAR STUDIES IN HOMER
PREFACE.
Homeric archæology has, within the last few years,finally left the groove of purely academic discussionto advance along the new route laid down for it bypractical methods of investigation. The results arefull of present interest, and of future promise. Theyalready imply a reconstruction of the Hellenic past;they vitalise the Homeric world, bringing it intodefinite relations with what went before, and withwhat came after, and transforming it from a poeticalcreation into an historical reality. Excavations andexplorations in Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor, havethus entirely changed the aspect of the perennialHomeric problem, and afford reasonable hope ofproviding it with a satisfactory solution.
These remarkable, and promptly-gathered fruitsof an experimental system of inquiry deserve the attention,not of scholars alone, but of every educatedperson; nevertheless, their value has as yet beenvirealised by a very limited class. The following chaptersmay then, it is hoped, usefully serve to illustratesome of them for the benefit of the general readingpublic, while making no pretension to discuss, formallyor exhaustively, the wide subject of Homericantiquities. For the proper discharge of that task,indeed, qualifications would be needed to which thewriter lays no claim. The object of the present littlework will be attained if it contribute to stir a widerinterest in the topics it discusses; above all, shouldit in any degree help to promote a non-erudite studyof the noble poetical monuments it is concerned with.Greek enough to read the Iliad and Odyssey in theoriginal can be learned with comparative ease; andwhat trouble there may be in its acquisition meets anample reward in mental profit and enjoyment of ahigh order. These ancient epics have a unique freshnessabout them; they are still open founts ofanimating pleasure for all who choose to apply tothem; one cannot, then, but regret that so few haveintellectual energy to do so.
The author’s best thanks are due to