It is, of course, possible that Mr. Leaf, who has not edited the _Odyssey,_ may now, in deference to his belief in the Pisistratean editor, have changed his opinion of the merits of the poem. If the _Odyssey,_ like the _Iliad_, was, till about 540 B.C., a chaos of lays of all ages, variously known in various _repertoires_ of the rhapsodists, and patched up by the Pisistratean editor, then of two things one--either Mr. Leaf abides by his enthusiastic belief in the excellency of the composition, or he does not. If he does still believe that the composition of the _Odyssey_ is a masterpiece, then the Pisistratean editor was a great master of construction. If he now, on the other hand, agrees with Wilamowitz Moellendorff that the _Odyssey_ is cobbler's work, then his literary opinions are unstable. CHAPTER XVI HOMER AND THE FRENCH MEDIAEVAL EPICS Sir Richard Jebb remarks, with truth, that "before any definite solution of the Homeric problem could derive scientific support from such analogies" (with epics of other peoples), "it would be necessary to show that the particular conditions under which the Homeric poems appear in early Greece had been reproduced with sufficient closeness elsewhere." [Footnote: Homer, pp. 131, 132.] Now we can show that the particular conditions under which the Homeric poems confessedly arose were "reproduced with sufficient closeness elsewhere," except that no really great poet was elsewhere present. This occurred among the Germanic aristocracy, "the Franks of France," in the eleventh, twelfth, and early thirteenth centuries of our era. The closeness of the whole parallel, allowing for the admitted absence in France of a very great and truly artistic poet, is astonishing. We have first, in France, answering to the Achaean aristocracy, the Frankish noblesse of warriors dwelling in princely courts and strong castles, dominating an older population, owing a practically doubtful fealty to an Over-Lord, the King, passing their days in the chace, in private war, or in revolt against the Over-Lord, and, for all literary entertainment, depending on the recitations of epic poems by _jongleurs_, who in some cases are of gentle birth, and are the authors of the poems which they recite. "This national poetry," says M. Gaston Paris, "was born and mainly developed among the warlike class, princes, lords, and their courts.... At first, no doubt, some of these men of the sword themselves composed and chanted lays" (like Achilles), "but soon there arose a special class of poets ... They went from court to court, from castle ... Later, when the townsfolk began to be interested in their chants, they sank a degree, and took their stand in public open places ..." [Footnote: _Literature Francaise au Moyen Age_, pp. 36, 37. 1898.]