NOTE.--I wish to qualify what I have said upon pp. 67-80 by stating that my critique of the linguistic and solar theories is not, as I hope, directed in any impertinent spirit against the illustrious teacher to whom, in common with most Englishmen, I owe nearly all my knowledge of comparative mythology, but rather against notions which have gained currency through a too exclusive attention to the origin of Greek mythology. I want to remind students of Greek literature that, after all they may have learned from Sanscrit, they are still upon the threshold of mythology as it was determined by the genius of the Greek race. There is a danger of diverting the mind from questions of thoughts to questions of words, and leading people to fancy that etymological solutions are final. FOOTNOTES: [8] For this reason the analogy of existing barbarous races will not help us much, inasmuch as they are not Greeks nor destined to be Greeks. This consideration ought to weigh with those who, struck by the depth and beauty of some Greek myths, theorize a corruption of primitive revelation or pure theology to explain them. They ought to remember that they are dealing with the myths of Greeks--our masters in philosophy and poetry and art. [9] The original is quoted in the Notes to Grote, vol. i. p. 474. [10] The dissimilarity between Greek and Roman religion has often been observed, and will be touched upon below. Supposing it to be proved that the Romans can produce one relic of an Aryan myth in Romulus, we find that their most native deities--Saturnus, Ops, Bellona, Janus, Terminus, Concordia, Fides, Bonus Eventus, and so forth--are abstractions which have nothing in common with Greek or other Aryan legends. They are the characteristic product of the Roman mind, and indicate its habit of thought. In like manner it is only by a crasis amounting to confusion that Mercurius can be identified with Hermes, or Hercules with Herakles. [11] ii. 44. CHAPTER III. _ACHILLES._ Unity of _Iliad_.--Character of Achilles.--Structure of the whole Poem.--Comparison with other Epics.--Energy Dividing into Anger and Love.--Personality of Achilles.--The Quarrel with Agamemnon.--Pallas Athene.--The Embassy.--Achilles' Foreknowledge of his Death.--The Message of Antilochus.--Interview with Thetis.--The Shouting in the Trench.--The Speech of Xanthus.--The Pæan over Hector's Corpse.--The Ghost of Patroclus.---The Funeral Obsequies of Patroclus.--Achilles and Priam.--Achilles in Hades.--Achilles Considered as a Greek Ideal.--Friendship among the Greeks.--Heroism and Knighthood: Ancient and Modern Chivalry.--The _Myrmidones_ of Æschylus.--Achilles and Hector.--Alexander the Great.--The Dæmonic Nature of Achilles.