Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3: I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek RacesGladstone, W. E. (William Ewart)
History
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3: I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek Races
Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart)
Civilization, Homeric; Epic poetry, Greek -- History and criticism; Homer
If any thing be still wanting, the proof is brought to completeness by
two other passages: the one (Il. x. 261-7), which tells us that this
Amyntor, son of Ormenus, dwelt in Eleon; dwelt there permanently, since
Autolycus stole from him an helmet, by breaking into his substantial
well-built house,
πύκινον δόμον ἀντιτορήσας[498]:
and the other the verse of the Catalogue[499], which places Eleon in
Bœotia. These passages therefore clearly appear to carry the name
Hellas as far as Bœotia, and to make it reach continuously from thence
to Phthia. And if Hellas comes down to Bœotia, then it includes
Locris; and the various tribes of these regions may be included in
the general name of Hellenes, though to all appearance they were not
as yet familiarly and ordinarily so called. And if Locris and Bœotia,
with part of Southern Thessaly (the dominions of Peleus), are included
within the range of the name Hellas, we can have no difficulty in
supposing that it included Northern Thessaly also, which must have been
the pathway of the Helli to the South.
But we find Ἕλλας in another combination besides that with Phthia,
in the four passages of the Odyssey, (one of them being a simple
repetition of another,) which we have still to examine.
Now the line Od. iv. 726, repeated 816, is under suspicion, of which it
is not worth while to scrutinise the justice: as the idea and force of
it is just the same with that of Od. i. 344,
Ἀνδρὸς, τοῦ κλέος εὐρὺ καθ’ Ἑλλάδα καὶ μέσον Ἄργος.
This passage describes the fame of Ulysses as spread through the
breadth of Hellas and mid-Argos; (or, from the heart of Argos to its
extremities, right through or _all over_ Argos.) And again in Od.
xv. 80, when Telemachus has proposed to return home forthwith from
the court of Menelaus, his host gently dissuades him from haste, and
counsels a more extended tour, καθ’ Ἑλλάδα καὶ μέσον Ἄργος; offering
to take charge of his horses, and to shew him ‘the cities,’ or secured
dwellings, ‘of men.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account