The nature sonorous declamations, with certain simple modu-
and condition of these rhapsodists may be learned lations of the voice, not in singing regularly ac-
from Homer himself, where they appear as singing companied by an instrument, which was the method
at the banquets, games, and festivals of the princes, of reciting lyrical poetry.
and condition of these rhapsodists may be learned lations of the voice, not in singing regularly ac-
from Homer himself, where they appear as singing companied by an instrument, which was the method
at the banquets, games, and festivals of the princes, of reciting lyrical poetry.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
62), the Athe
hear in succession about
cdramas, and as E2ETC
ing that it might be beczne
et over the whole remis
ks of earlier time har
: lijad and Odysses, and
e same festival? Let
our loose and desukary
nind with which a popis
o such enjoyments
, bars
ig strains of the mining
e when the Greek peppe
It festivals, and under the
itary princes, beard and
less ercellent poess, as
e heard and en pred vik
is is credible enough, but
prove it. We know that
the Homeric poems were
festival of the Panatteras
1); and that tbere vete
psodists at Sicron in the
thenes (Herod v. 67), i
homenus
, Thespese, Acre
## p. 504 (#520) ############################################
504
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
were worsted ; how Achilles at last allowed his crisis of the action, and his scanty revelations with
friend Patroclus to protect the Greeks ; and how, respect to the plan of the entire work, he shows a
finally, be revenged the death of Patroclus by kill- maturity of knowledge which is astonishing for so
ing Hector. This simple course of the story Wolf early an age. To all appearance, the poet, arter
thinks would have been treated by any other poet certain obstacles have been first overcome, tends
in very much the same manner as we now read it only to one point, viz. to increase perpetually the
in the Iliad ; and he maintains that there is no disasters of the Greeks, which they have drawn on
unity in it except a chronological one, in so far themselves by the injury offered to Achilles ; and
as we have a narration of the events of several Zeus himself, at the beginning, is made to pro-
days in succession. Nay, he continues, if we ex- nounce, as coming from himself, the vengeance and
amine closely the six last books, we shall find that consequent exaltation of the son of Thetis. At the
they have nothing to do with what is stated in the same time, however, the poet plainly shows his
introduction as the object of the poem,-namely, wish to excite, in the feelings of an attentive hearer,
the wrath of Achilles. This wrath subsides with an anxious and perpetually increasing desire not
the death of Patroclus, and what follows is a only to see the Greeks saved from destruction, but
wrath of a different kind, which does not belong also that the unbearable and more than human
to the former. The composition of the Odyssey haughtiness and pride of Achilles should be broken.
is not viewed with greater favour by Wolf. The Both these ends are attained through the fulfil-
journey of Telemachus to Pylos and Sparta, the ment of the secret counsel of Zeus, which he did not
sojourn of Ulysses in the island of Calypso, the communicate to Thetis, and through her to Achilles
stories of his wanderings, were originally inde (who, if he had known it, would have given up all
pendent songs, which, as they happened to fit into enmity against the Achaeans), but only to Hera,
one another, were afterwards connected into one and to her not till the middle of the poem; and
whole, at a time when literature, the arts, and a Achilles, through the loss of his dearest friend,
general cultivation of the mind began to flourish in whom he had sent to battle not to save the Greeks,
Greece, supported by the important art of writing. but for his own glory, suddenly changes his hostile
These bold propositions have met with almost attitude towards the Greeks, and is overpowered
universal disapprobation. Still this is a subject on by entirely opposite feelings. In this manner the
which reasoning and demonstration are very preca- exaltation of the son of Thetis is united to that
rious and almost impossible. The feelings and almost imperceptible operation of destiny, which
tastes of every individual must determine the the Greeks were required to observe in all human
matter. But to oppose to Wolf's sceptical views affairs. To remove from this collection of various
the judgment of a man whose authority on matters actions, conditions, and feelings any substantial
of taste is as great as on those of learning, we copy part, as not necessarily belonging to it, nould in
what Müller says on this subject :-“ All the laws fact be to dismember a living whole, the parts of
which reflection and experience can suggest for the which would necessarily lose their vitality. As in
epic form are observed (in Homer) with the most an organic body life does not dwell in one single
refined taste ; all the means are employed by point, but requires a union of certain systems and
which the general effect can be heightened. "—“The members, so the internal connection of the Iliad
anger of Achilles is an event which did not long rests on the union of certain parts ; and neither
precede the final destruction of Troy, inasmuch as the interesting introduction describing the defeat
it produced the death of Hector, who was the de- of the Greeks up to the burning of the ship of Pro-
fender of the city. It was doubtless the ancient tesilaus, por the turn of affairs brought about by
tradition, established long before Homer's time, the death of Patroclus, nor the final pacification
that Hector had been slain by Achilles in revenge of the anger of Achilles, could be spared from the
for the slaughter of his friend Patroclus, whose fall Iliad, when the fruitful seed of such a poem had
in battle, unprotected by the son of Thetis, was once been sown in the soul of Homer, and had
explained by the tradition to have arisen from the begun to develop its growth. ” (Hist. of Gr. Lit.
anger of Achilles against the other Greeks for an p. 48, &c. )
affront offered to him, and his consequent retire- If we yield our assent to these convincing re-
ment from the contest. Now the poet seizes, as flections, we shall hardly need to defend the unity
the most critical and momentous period of the of the Odyssey, which has always been admired as
action, the conversion of Achilles from the foe of one of the greatest masterpieces of Greek genius,
the Greeks into that of the Trojans · for as on the against the aggressions of Wolf, who could more
one hand the sudden revolution in the fortunes of easily believe that chance and learned compilers
war, thus occasioned, places the prowess of Achilles had produced this poem, by connecting loose inde
in the strongest light, so, on the other hand, the pendent pieces, than that it should have sprung
change of his firm and resolute mind must have from the mind of a single man. Nitzsch (Hall.
been the more touching to the feelings of the hear-Encyclop. s. v. Odyssee, and Anmerk. z. Odyss. vol.
From this centre of interest there springs a i. pref. ) has endeavoured to exhibit the unity of
long preparation and gradual developement, since the plan of this poem. He has divided the whole
not only the cause of the anger of Achilles, but into four large sections, in each of which there are
also the defeats of the Greeks occasioned by that again subdivisions facilitating the distribution of
anger, were to be narrated ; and the display of the the recital for several rhapsodists and several days.
insufficiency of all the other heroes at the same time 1. The first part treats of the absent Ulysses (books
offered the best opportunity for exhibiting their i. -iv. ). Here we are introduced to the state of
several excellencies. It is in the arrangement of affairs in lthaca during the absence of Ulysses.
this preparatory part and its connection with the Telemachus goes to Pylos and Sparta to ascertain
catastrophe, that the poet displays his perfect ac- the fate of his father. 2. The song of the returning
quaintance with all the mysteries of poetical com- Ulysses (books v. -xiii. 92) is naturally divided
position ; and in his continual postponement of the l into two parts; the first contrins the departure of
ers.
## p. 505 (#521) ############################################
RUS.
505
HOMERUS
HOMERUS.
scanty rerelations rij
entire work, he alears
ch is astonishing rs
earance, the poel, 172
En first overcos, tad
increase perpetual de
ich they have dranza
tiered to Achiies; and
inning, is made
Delf, the Fengeane zad
ne son of Tbetis. At
poet plainly sborib
gs of an attentire beste
lly increasing dette er
red from destructies, is
and more than bisa
chilles should be brains
ained through the first
of Zeus, which be did it
d through her to Achio
would bare giren al
eans), but only to Hez
middle of the poem; 57
49 of his dearest friend
tle not to sure the Greek
Edenly changes his beste
eeks, and is overposer
ings. In this manner the
Thetis is united to the
eration of destior, rid
to observe in all breu
this collection of 2013
feelings any subsazta
belonging to it, sed in
living whole, the purse
lose their vitality. Asi
es not dwell in one sace
ion of certain systems and
al connection of the w
certain parts ; and reite
ition describing the defeat
burning of the shige Per
of atairs brought about by
, nor the final paciente
by could be spared from the
I seed of such a poem bad
e soul of Hember, and by
Towth. ” (Histe of Gr. Le
Ulysses from Calypso, and his arrival and reception judiciously assigns “ two principal motives for
in Scheria ; the second the narration of his wan- ihis extension of the poem beyond its original plan,
derings. 3. The song of Ulysses meditating revenge which might have exercised an influence on the
(book xiii. 92—xix). Here the two threads of mind of Homer himself, but had still more power-
the story are united ; Ulysses is conveyed to ful effects upon his successors, the later Homerids.
Ithaca, and is met in the cottage of Eumaeus by In the first place, it is clear that a design mani-
his son, who has just returned from Sparta. 4. fested itself at an early period to make this poem
The song of the revenging and reconciled Ulysses (xx. complete in itself, so that all the subjects, descrip-
–xxiv. ) brings all the manifold wrongs of the tions, and actions which could alone give an inte
suitors and the sufferings of Ulysses to the desired rest to a poem on the entire war, might find a place
and long-expected conclusion. Although we main within the limits of this composition. For this pur-
tain the unity of both the Homeric poems, we can- pose, it is not improbable that many lays of earlier
not deny that they have suffered greatly from in- bards, who had sung single adventures of the Trojan
terpolations, omissions, and alterations ; and it is war, were laid under contribution, and that the
only by admitting some original poetical whole, finest parts of them were adopted into the new
that we are able to discover those parts which do poem, it being the natural course of popular poetry
not belong to this whole. Wolf, therefore, in propagated by oral tradition, to treat the best
pointing out some parts as spurious, has been led thoughts of previous poets as common property,
into an inconsistency in his demonstration, since he and to give them a new life by working them up
is obliged to acknowledge something as the genuine in a different context. ” Thus it would be ex-
centre of the two poems, which he must suppose to plained why it is not before the ninth year of the
have been spun out more and more by subsequent war that the Greeks build a wall round their camp,
rhapsodists. This altered view, which is distinctly and think of deciding the war by single combat.
pronounced in the preface to his edition of Homer For the same reason the catalogue of the ships
(2nd edit. of 1795, towards the end of the pref. ), could find a place in the Iliad, as well as the view
appears already in the Prolegomena (p. 123), and of Helen and Priam from the walls (Teixoo komía),
has been subsequently embraced by Hermann and by which we become acquainted with the chief
other critics. It is, as we have said, a necessary heroes among the Greeks, who were certainly not
consequence from the discovery of interpolations. unknown to Priam till so late a period of the war.
These interpolations are particularly apparent in “ The other motive for the great extension of the
the first part of the Iliad. The catalogue of the preparatory part of the catastrophe may, it appears,
ships has long been recognised as a later addition, be traced to a certain conflict between the plan of
and can be omitted without leaving the slightest the poet and his own patriotic feelings. An atten-
gap. The battles from the third to the seventh tive reader cannot fail to observe that, while
book seem almost entirely foreign to the plan of the Homer intends that the Greeks should be made to
Iliad. Zeus appears to have quite forgotten his, suffer severely from the anger of Achilles, he is yet,
promise to Thetis, that he would honour her son as it were, retarded in his progress towards that
by letting Agamemnon feel his absence. The end by a natural endeavour to avenge the death of
Greeks are far from feeling this. Diomede fights each Greek by that of a yet more illustrious Trojan,
successfully even against gods ; the Trojans are and thus to increase the glory of the numerous
driven back to the town. In an assembly of the Achaean heroes, so that even on the days in which
gods (iv. init. ), the glory of Achilles is no motive the Greeks are defeated, more Trojans than Greeks
to deliver Troy from her fate; it is not till the are described as being slain. ”
eighth book that Zeus all at once seems mind- The Odyssey bas experienced similar exten-
ful of his promise to Thetis. The preceding five sions, which, far from inducing us to believe in
books are not only loosely connected with the an atomistical origin of the poem, only show that
whole of the poem, but even with one another. the original plan has been here and there ob
The single combat between Menelaus and Paris scured. The poem opens with an assembly of
(book iii. ), in which the former was on the point the gods, in which Athene complains of the long
of despatching the seducer of his wife, is inter-detention of Ulysses in Ogygia ; Zeus is of her
rupted by the treacherous shot of Pandarus. In opinion. She demands to send Hermes to Calypso
the next book all this is forgotten. The Greeks with an order from Zeus to dismiss Ulysses,
neither claim Helen as the prize of the victory of whilst she herself goes to Ithaca to incite young
Menelaus, nor do they complain of a breach of the Telemachus to determined steps. But in the begin-
oath: no god revenges the perjury. Paris in the ning of the fifth book we have almost the same pro-
sixth book sits quietly at home, where Hector ceedings, the same assembly of the gods, the same
severely upbraids him for his cowardice and retire complaints of Athene, the same assent of Zeus,
ment from war; to which Paris makes no reply, who now at last sends his messenger to the island
and does not plead that he had only just encoun- of Calypso. Telemachus refuses to stay with Me-
tered Menelaus in deadly fight. The tenth book, nelaus ; he is anxious to return home ; and still,
containing the nocturnal expedition of Ulysses and without our knowing how and why, he remains at
Diomede, in which they kill the Thracian king Sparta for a time which seems disproportionably
Rhesus and take his horses, is avowedly of later long ; for on his return to Ithaca he meets Ulysses,
origin. (Schol. Ven. ad 1. x. 1. ) No reference who had in the meantime built his ship, passed
is subsequently made by any of the Greeks or twenty days on the sea, and three days with the
Trojans to this gallant deed. The two heroes were Phaeacians.
sent as spies, but they never narrate the result of Nitzsch (Anmerk. z. Odyssey, vol. ii. pref. po
their expedition ; not to speak of many other im- xlii. ) has tried to remove these difficulties, but he
probabilities. To enumerate all those passages does not deny extensive interpolations, particularly
which are reasonably suspected as interpolated, in the eighth book, where the song of Demo.
would lead us too far. Müller (Ivid. p. 50) very | docos concerning Ares and Aphrodite is very sur
ent to these convincing it
ly need to defend the rady
has always been adoirada
isterpieces of Greek fena
3 of Wolf, who mald Date
ince and learned copies
n, by connecting loose inde
that it should hare some
single man. Nitesch (HE
, and Anmerk : Damas a
ired to exhibit the
He has divided the shade
s, in each of which there #?
ilitating the distributia of
rhapsodists and sereal ders
8 of the cloezi lipca (bacets
e introduced to the staze i
ing the absence of Creeds
"ylos and Sparta to ascera
2. The song of the na
11. 92) is naturally did
irst contains the departez o
## p. 506 (#522) ############################################
506
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
picious; in the nineteenth, the recognition of transınitted them to their disciples by oral tenching,
Ulysses by his old nurse, and, most of all, some and not by writing. This kind of oral teaching was
parts towards the end. All that follows after most carefully cultivated in Greece even when
xxiii. 296 was declared spurious even by the the use of writing was quite common. The tragic
Alexandrine critics Aristophanes and Aristar- and comic poets employed no other way of training
chus, Spohn (Comment. de extrem. Odysscae Parte, the actors than this oral didaoralia, with which
1816) has proved the validity of this judgment the greatest accuracy was combined. Therefore,
almost beyond the possibility of doubt. Yet, as says Wolf, it is not likely that although not com-
Muller and Nitzsch observe, it is very likely mitted to writing, the Homeric poems underwent
that the original Odyssey was concluded in a very great changes by a long oral tradition ; only
somewhat similar manner; in particular, we can it is impossible that they should have remained
hardly do without the recognition of Laertes, who quite unultered. Many of the rhapsodists were not
is so often alluded to in the course of the poem, destitute of poetical genius, or they acquired it by
and without some reconciliation of Ulysses with the constant recitation of those beautiful lays. Why
the friends of the murdered suitors. The second should they not have sometimes adapted their
Vecyiu (xxiv. init. ) is evidently spurious, and, like recitation to the immediate occasion, or even have
inany parts ut the first Necyiu (xi. ), most likely endeavoured to make some passages better than
taken from a similar passage in the Nostoi, in they were ?
which was narrated the arrival of Agamemnon in We cin admit almost all this, without drawing
Hades. (Paus. x. 23. Ø 4. )
from it Wolf's conclusion. Does not such a con-
Considering all these interpolations and the ori- dition of the rhapsodists agree as well with the
ginal unity, which has only been obscured and not task which we assign to them, of preserving and
destroyed by them, we must come to the conclu- reciting a poem which already existed as a whole ?
sion that the Homeric poems were originally com. Even the etymology of the name of rhapsodist,
posed as poetical wholes, but that a long oral tra- which is surprisingly inconsistent with Wolf's
dition gave occasion to great alterations in their general view, favours that of his adversaries.
original form.
Wolf's fundamental opinion is, that the original
We have hitherto considered only the negative songs were unconnected and singly recited. How
part of Wolf's arguments. He denied, Ist, the ex- then can the rhapsodists have obtained their
istence of the art of writing at the time when the name from connecting poems ? On the other hand,
Homeric poems were composed ; 2d. the possibility if the Homeric poems originally existed as wholes,
of composing and delivering them without that art ; and the rhapsodists connected the single parts of
and, 3rdly, their poetical unity. From these pre- these „vholes for public recitation, they might per-
mises he came to the conclusion, that the Homeric haps be called “connecters of songs. " But this ety-
poems originated as small songs, unconnected with mology has not appeared satisfactory to some, who
one another, which, after being preserved in this have thought that this process would rather be a
state for a long tiine, were at length put together. keeping together than a putting together. They
The agents, to whom he attributed these two tasks have therefore supposed that the word was derived
of composing and preserving on the one hand, and from pabbos, the staff or ensign of the bards (Hes.
of collecting and combining on the other, are the Theog. 30); an etymology which seemed counte
rhapsodists and Peisistratus.
nanced by Pindar's (Isthm. iii. 5) expression pablov
The subject of the rhapsodists is one of the most JEOTETIM énéww. But Pindar in another pas-
complicated and difficult of all ; because the fact is, sage gives the other etymology (Nem. ii. 1);
that we know very little about them, and thus a and, besides, it does not appear how pavados
large field is opened to conjecture and hypothesis. could be formed from pabdos, which would make
(Wolf, Proleg. p. 96 ; Nitzsch, Prol. ad Plat. Ion. ; Saboqdós. Others, therefore, have thought of
Heyne, 2. Excurs. ad 11. 24 ; Böckh, ad Pind. páris (a stick), and formed paniwós, pavadós.
Nem. ii. 1, Isthm. iii. 55 ; Nitzsch, Indagandue, But even this will not do; for leaving out of view
&c. Histor. crit. ; Kreuser, d. Hom. Rhapsod. ) that þámis does not occur in the signification of
Wolf derives the name of rhapsodist from βάπτειν ραβδος, the word would be ραπιδωδός. Nothing is
conv, which he interprets breviora carmina modo et left, therefore, but the etymology from ÞÁTTELV
ordine publicae recitationi apto connectere. These wás, which is only to be interpreted in the proper
breviora carmina are the rhapsodies of which the way. Müller (Ibid. p. 33) says that pavadeiv
Iliad and Odyssey consist, not indeed containing signifies nothing more than the peculiar method of
originally one book each, as they do now, but epic recitation," consisting in some high-pitched
sometimes more and sometimes less.
The nature sonorous declamations, with certain simple modu-
and condition of these rhapsodists may be learned lations of the voice, not in singing regularly ac-
from Homer himself, where they appear as singing companied by an instrument, which was the method
at the banquets, games, and festivals of the princes, of reciting lyrical poetry. Every poem,” says
and are held in high honour. (Od. iii. 267, xviii. Müller, “ can be rhapsodised which is composed in
383. ) In fact, the first rhapsodists were the poets an epic tone, and in which the verses are of equal
themselves, just as the first dramatic poets were length, without being distributed into correspond-
the first actors. Therefore Homer and Hesiod are ing parts of a larger whole, strophes, or similar
said to have rhapsodised. (Plat. Rep. x. p. 600 ; systems. Rhapsodists were also not improperly
Schol. aut Pind. Nem. ii. 1. ) We must imagine called otixqbol, because all the poems which they
that these minstrels were spread over all Greece, recited were composed in single lines independent
and that they did not contine themselves to the of each other (otixou). ” He thinks, therefore, that
recital of the Homeric poems. One class of rhap- pártev qdtv denotes the coupling together of verses
sodists at Chios, the Homerids (Harpocrat. s. v. without any considerable divisions or pauses ; in
'Ounpidai), who called themselves descendants of other words, the even, continuous, and unbroken
the poet, possessed these particular poems, and | flow of the epic poem. But q'on does not mean a
3
## p. 507 (#523) ############################################
. HOMERUS.
307
HOMERUS.
I
Dorse ; and besides a reference to the manner of epic / mother-country, to write down parts of the Iliad
recitation, as different from that of lyrical poetry, and Odyssey, although we are not disposed to
could only be imparted to the word payudós at a extend this hypothesis so far as Nitzsch, who
time when lyrical composition and recitation ori- thinks that there existed in the days of Peisistratus
ginated, that is, not before Archilochus. Previous numbers of copies, so that Peisistratus only com-
to that time the meaning of rhapsodist must have pared and revised them, in order to obtain a correct
been different. In fine, we do not see why pár- copy for the use of the Athenian festivals. Whom
TELV 8ás should not have been used in the signifi- Peisistratus employed in his undertaking Wolf
cation of planning and making lays, as partes could only conjecture. The poet Onomacritus lived
Kará is to plan or make mischief. But whatever at that time at Athens, and was engaged in similar
may be the right derivation of the word, and pursuits respecting the old poet Musieus. Besides
whatever may have been the nature and condition bim, Wolf thought of a certain Orpheus of Croton ;
of the rhapsodists, so much is evident that no sup but nothing certain was known on this point, till
port can be derived from this point for Wolf's Professor Ritschl discovered, in a MS. of Plautus
position. We pass on, therefore, to the last ques at Rome, an old Latin scholion translated from the
tion,--the collection of the Homeric poems ascribed Greek of Tzetzes (published in Cramer's Anec-
to Peisistratus.
dota). This scholion gives the name of four poets
Solon made the first step towards that which who assisted Peisistratus, viz. Onomacritus, Zopy-
Peisistratus accomplished. Of him Diogenes La- rus, Orpheus, and a fourth, whose name is cor-
ërtius (i. 57) says, d 'Ouúpou UTO Bon ñs rupted, Concylus. (Ritschl, de Aler. Bill. x. d.
šypaye payądeiodai, i. e. , according to Wolf's inter-Sammlung d. Hom. Gedichte durch Peisistr. 1838 ;
pretation, Solon did not allow the rhapsodists to Id. Corullar. Disput. de Bill. Alex. deque Peisistr.
recite arbitrarily, as they had been wont to do, Curis Hom. 1810). These persons may bave in-
such songs successively as were not connected with terpolated some passages, as it suited the pride of
one another, but he ordered that they should the Athenians or the political purposes of their
rehearse those parts which were according to the patron Peisistratus. In fact, Onomacritus is parti-
thread of the story suggested to them. Peisistra- cularly charged with having interpolated Od. xi.
tus did not stop here. The unanimous voice of an- 604 (Schol. Harlei. ed. Porson. ad loc. ). The Athe-
tiquity ascribed to him the merit of having collected nians were generally believed to bave had no part
the disjointed and confused poems of Homer, and in the Trojan war; therefore II. ii. 547, 552—554,
of having first committed them to writing. (Cic. de were marked by the Alexandrine critics as spurious,
Or. iï. 34 ; Paus. vii. 26 ; Joseph, c. Ap. i. 2 ; and for similar reasons Od. vii. 80, 81, and Od. ii.
Aelian, V. K. xiii. 14 ; Liban. Paneg. in Julian 308. But how unimportant are these alterations
;
i p. 170, Reisk. &c. )*
in comparison with the long interpolations which
In what light Wolf viewed this tradition has been must be attributed to the rhapsodists previous to
already mentioned. He held it to have been the first Peisistratus ! It must be confessed that these four
step that was taken in order to connect the loose and men accomplished their task, on the whole, with
incoherent songs into continued and uninterrupted great accuracy. However inclined we may be to
stories, and to preserve the union which he had attribute this accuracy less to their critical investiga-
thus imparted to these poems by first committing tions and conscientiousness, than to the impossi-
them to writing. Pausanias mentions associates bility of making great changes on account of the
(Taipoi) of Peisistratus, who assisted him in his general knowledge of what was genuine, through
undertaking. These associates Wolf thought to the number of existing copies ; and although we
have been the diad Kevadtal mentioned sometimes may, on the whole, be induced, after Wolf's ex-
in the Scholia ; but in this he was evidently aggerations, to think little of the merits of Peisis-
mistaken. Als Kevaotaí are, in the phraseology tratus, still we must allow that the praise be-
of the Scholia, interpolators, and not arrangers. stowed on Peisistratus by the ancient writers is
(Heinrich, de Diask. Homericis ; Lehrs, Aris too great and too general to allow us to admit of
tarchi siud. Hom. p. 349. ) Another weak point | Nitzsch's opinion, that he only compared and ex-
in Wolf's reasoning is, that he says that Peisis amined various MSS. If, then, it does not follow,
tratus was the first who committed the Homeric as Wolf thought, that the Homeric poems never
poems to writing ; this is expressly stated by formed a whole before Peisistratus, it is at the same
none of the ancient writers. On the contrary, it is time undeniable that to Peisistratus we owe the first
not unlikely that before Peisistratus, persons began written text of the whole of the poems, which,
in various parts of Greece, and particularly in without his care, would most likely now exist only
Asia Minor, which was far in advance of the in a few disjointed fragments. Some traditions at-
tributed to Hipparchus, the son and successor of
* It is ridiculous to what absurdity this tra- Peisistratus, regulations for the recital of the Ho-
dition has been spun out by the iguorance of later meric poems of a kind similar to those which had
scholiasts. Diomedes (Villois. Anecd. Gr. ii. p. been already made by Solon. (Plat. Hipp. p. 228.
182) tells a long story, how that at one time the 6. ) He is said to have obliged the rhapsodists
Homeric poems were partially destroyed either by | εξ υπολήψεως εφεξής τα 'Ομήρου διϊέναι. The
fire or water or earthquakes, and parts were scat- meaning of the words è unohíbews, and their
tered here and there ; so that some persons had difference from ÚToboxñs, which was the manner
one hundred verses, others two hundred, others a of recitation, ordained by Solon, has given rise to
thousand. He further states that Peisistratus col- a long controversy between Böckh and Hermann
lected all the persons who were in possession of (comp Nitzsch, Alelet. ii. p. 132); to enter into
Homeric verses, and paid them for each verse ; and which would be foreign to the purpose of this
that he then ordered seventy grammarians to ar-
article.
range these verses, which task was best performed Having taken this general survey of the most
by Zenodotus and Aristarchus.
important arguments for and against Wolfs hypo-
## p. 508 (#524) ############################################
508
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
!
1
thesis concerning the origin of the poems of Homer, p. 47; see also Nitzsch, Anm. vol. ii. p. 26),
the following may be regarded as the most probable is not improbable, that Homer first undertook to
conclusion. There can be no doubt that the seed combine into one great unity the scattered and
of the Homeric poems was scattered in the time of fragmentary poems of earlier bards, and that it
the heroic exploits which they celebrate, and in the was a task which established his great renown.
land of the victorious Achaeans, that is, in European We can now judge of the probability that Homer
Greece. An abundance of heroic lays preserved was an lonian, who in Smyrna, where Ionians
the records of the Trojan war. It was a puerile and Aeolians were mixed, became acquainted with
idea, which is now completely exploded, that the the subject of his poems, and moulded them
events are fictitious on which the Iliad and Odys- into the form which was suited to the taste of
sey are based, that a Trojan war never was waged, his Ionian countrymen. But as a faithful pre-
and so forth. Whoever would make such a con- servation of these long works was impossible
clusion from the intermixture of gods in the battles in an age unacquainted with, or at least not
of men, would forget what the Muses say (Hes. versed in the art of writing, it was a natural
Theog. 27)
consequence, that in the lapse of ages the poems
Ίδμεν ψεύδεα πολλά λέγειν ετυμοισιν ομοία,
should not only lose the purity with which they
"Ιδμεν δ', εύτ' εθέλωμεν, αληθέα μυθήσασθαι:
proceeded from the mind of the poet, but should
also become more and more dismembered, and thus
and he would overlook the fact, that these songs return into their original state of loose independent
were handed down a long time before they attained songs. Their public recitation became more and
that texture of truth and fiction which forms one more fragmentary, and the time at festivals and
of their peculiar charms. Europe must necessarily musical contests formerly occupied by epic rhapso-
have been the country where these songs originated, dists exclusively was encroached upon by the rising
both because here the victorious heroes dwelt, and lyrical performances and players of the fute and
because so many traces in the poems still point to lyre. Yet the knowledge of the unity of the dif-
these regions. (See above, p. 500, b. ) It was here ferent Homeric rhapsodies was not entirely lost.
that the old Thracian bards had effected that Solon, himself a poet, directed the attention of his
unity of mythology which, spreading all over countrymen towards it ; and Peisistratus at last
Greece, bad gradually absorbed and obliterated the raised a lasting monument to his high merits, in
discrepancies of the old local myths, and sub-fixing the genuine Homeric poems by the indelible
stituted one general mythology for the whole marks of writing, as far as was possible in his time
nation, with Zeus as the supreme ruler, dwelling and with his means. That previous to the famous
on the snowy heights of Olympus. Impregnated edition of Peisistratus parts of Homer, or the en-
with this European mythology, the heroic lays tire poems, were committed to writing in other
were brought to Asia Minor by the Greek colonies, towns of Greece or Asia Minor is not improbable,
which left the mother-country about three ages after but we do not possess sufficient testimonies to
the Trojan war. In European Greece a new race prove it. We can therefore safely affirm that from
gained the ascendancy, the Dorians, foreign to the time of Peisistratus, the Greeks had a written
those who gloried in having the old heroes among Homer, a regular text, the source and foundation
their ancestors. The heroic songs, therefore, died of all subsequent editions.
away more and more in Europe ; but in Asia the Having established the fact, that there was a
Aeolians fought, conquered, and settled nearly in Homer, who must be considered as the author of
the same regions in which their fathers had sig- the Homeric poems, there naturally arises another
nalised themselves by immortal exploits, the glory question, viz. which poems are Homeric? We
of which was celebrated, and their memory still have seen already that a great number of cyclic
preserved by their national bards. Their dwelling poems were attributed to the great bard of the
in the same locality not only kept alive the re- Anger of Achilles. Stasinus, the author of the
membrance of the deeds of their fathers, but gave a Cypria, was said to have received this poem from
new impulse to their poetry, just as in the middle Homer as a dowry for his daughter, whom he mar-
ages in Germany the foundation of the kingdom of ried. Creophylus is placed in a similar connection
the Hungarians in the East, and their destructive with Homer. But these traditions are utterly
invasions, together with the origin of a new empire groundless ; they were occasioned by the authors
of the Burgundians in the West, awakened the of the cyclic poems being at the same time rhapso-
old songs of the Niebelungen, after a slumber of dists of the Homeric poems, which they recited
centuries. (Gervinus, Poetical Lit. of Germ. vol. i. along with their own. Nor are the hymns, which
p. 108. )
still bear the name of Homer, more genuine pro-
Now the Homeric poems advanced a step ductions of the poet of the Iliad than the cyclic
further. From unconnected songs, they were, for poems. They were called by the ancients a poolus,
the first time, united by a great genius, who, i. e. overtures or preludes, and were sung by the
whether he was really called Homer, or whether rhapsodists as introductions to epic poems at the
the name be of later origin and significant of his festivals of the respective gods, to whom they are
work of uniting songs (Welcker, Ep. Cycl. pp. 125, addressed. To these rhapsodists the hymns most
128 ; Ilgen, Hymn. Hoin. praef
. p. 23; Heyne, ad probably owe their origin. “They exhibit such a
Il. vol. viii
. p. 795), was the one individual who diversity of language and poetical tone, that in all
conceived in his mind the lofty idea of that poetical probability they contain fragments from every
unity which we cannot help acknowledging and century from the time of Homer to the Persian
admiring. What were the peculiar excellencies war. ” (Müller, Ibid. p. 74. ) Still most of them
which distinguished this one Homer among a great were reckoned to be Homeric productions by those
number of contemporary poets, and saved his works who lived in a time when Greek literature still
alone from oblivion, we do not renture to deter- flourished. This is easily accounted for ; being
mine ; but the conjecture of Müller (Greek Lit. recited in connection with Homeric poems, they
1
## p. 509 (#525) ############################################
HOMERUS.
309
HOMERUS.
were gradually attributed to the same author, and Mice (Suid. s.
hear in succession about
cdramas, and as E2ETC
ing that it might be beczne
et over the whole remis
ks of earlier time har
: lijad and Odysses, and
e same festival? Let
our loose and desukary
nind with which a popis
o such enjoyments
, bars
ig strains of the mining
e when the Greek peppe
It festivals, and under the
itary princes, beard and
less ercellent poess, as
e heard and en pred vik
is is credible enough, but
prove it. We know that
the Homeric poems were
festival of the Panatteras
1); and that tbere vete
psodists at Sicron in the
thenes (Herod v. 67), i
homenus
, Thespese, Acre
## p. 504 (#520) ############################################
504
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
were worsted ; how Achilles at last allowed his crisis of the action, and his scanty revelations with
friend Patroclus to protect the Greeks ; and how, respect to the plan of the entire work, he shows a
finally, be revenged the death of Patroclus by kill- maturity of knowledge which is astonishing for so
ing Hector. This simple course of the story Wolf early an age. To all appearance, the poet, arter
thinks would have been treated by any other poet certain obstacles have been first overcome, tends
in very much the same manner as we now read it only to one point, viz. to increase perpetually the
in the Iliad ; and he maintains that there is no disasters of the Greeks, which they have drawn on
unity in it except a chronological one, in so far themselves by the injury offered to Achilles ; and
as we have a narration of the events of several Zeus himself, at the beginning, is made to pro-
days in succession. Nay, he continues, if we ex- nounce, as coming from himself, the vengeance and
amine closely the six last books, we shall find that consequent exaltation of the son of Thetis. At the
they have nothing to do with what is stated in the same time, however, the poet plainly shows his
introduction as the object of the poem,-namely, wish to excite, in the feelings of an attentive hearer,
the wrath of Achilles. This wrath subsides with an anxious and perpetually increasing desire not
the death of Patroclus, and what follows is a only to see the Greeks saved from destruction, but
wrath of a different kind, which does not belong also that the unbearable and more than human
to the former. The composition of the Odyssey haughtiness and pride of Achilles should be broken.
is not viewed with greater favour by Wolf. The Both these ends are attained through the fulfil-
journey of Telemachus to Pylos and Sparta, the ment of the secret counsel of Zeus, which he did not
sojourn of Ulysses in the island of Calypso, the communicate to Thetis, and through her to Achilles
stories of his wanderings, were originally inde (who, if he had known it, would have given up all
pendent songs, which, as they happened to fit into enmity against the Achaeans), but only to Hera,
one another, were afterwards connected into one and to her not till the middle of the poem; and
whole, at a time when literature, the arts, and a Achilles, through the loss of his dearest friend,
general cultivation of the mind began to flourish in whom he had sent to battle not to save the Greeks,
Greece, supported by the important art of writing. but for his own glory, suddenly changes his hostile
These bold propositions have met with almost attitude towards the Greeks, and is overpowered
universal disapprobation. Still this is a subject on by entirely opposite feelings. In this manner the
which reasoning and demonstration are very preca- exaltation of the son of Thetis is united to that
rious and almost impossible. The feelings and almost imperceptible operation of destiny, which
tastes of every individual must determine the the Greeks were required to observe in all human
matter. But to oppose to Wolf's sceptical views affairs. To remove from this collection of various
the judgment of a man whose authority on matters actions, conditions, and feelings any substantial
of taste is as great as on those of learning, we copy part, as not necessarily belonging to it, nould in
what Müller says on this subject :-“ All the laws fact be to dismember a living whole, the parts of
which reflection and experience can suggest for the which would necessarily lose their vitality. As in
epic form are observed (in Homer) with the most an organic body life does not dwell in one single
refined taste ; all the means are employed by point, but requires a union of certain systems and
which the general effect can be heightened. "—“The members, so the internal connection of the Iliad
anger of Achilles is an event which did not long rests on the union of certain parts ; and neither
precede the final destruction of Troy, inasmuch as the interesting introduction describing the defeat
it produced the death of Hector, who was the de- of the Greeks up to the burning of the ship of Pro-
fender of the city. It was doubtless the ancient tesilaus, por the turn of affairs brought about by
tradition, established long before Homer's time, the death of Patroclus, nor the final pacification
that Hector had been slain by Achilles in revenge of the anger of Achilles, could be spared from the
for the slaughter of his friend Patroclus, whose fall Iliad, when the fruitful seed of such a poem had
in battle, unprotected by the son of Thetis, was once been sown in the soul of Homer, and had
explained by the tradition to have arisen from the begun to develop its growth. ” (Hist. of Gr. Lit.
anger of Achilles against the other Greeks for an p. 48, &c. )
affront offered to him, and his consequent retire- If we yield our assent to these convincing re-
ment from the contest. Now the poet seizes, as flections, we shall hardly need to defend the unity
the most critical and momentous period of the of the Odyssey, which has always been admired as
action, the conversion of Achilles from the foe of one of the greatest masterpieces of Greek genius,
the Greeks into that of the Trojans · for as on the against the aggressions of Wolf, who could more
one hand the sudden revolution in the fortunes of easily believe that chance and learned compilers
war, thus occasioned, places the prowess of Achilles had produced this poem, by connecting loose inde
in the strongest light, so, on the other hand, the pendent pieces, than that it should have sprung
change of his firm and resolute mind must have from the mind of a single man. Nitzsch (Hall.
been the more touching to the feelings of the hear-Encyclop. s. v. Odyssee, and Anmerk. z. Odyss. vol.
From this centre of interest there springs a i. pref. ) has endeavoured to exhibit the unity of
long preparation and gradual developement, since the plan of this poem. He has divided the whole
not only the cause of the anger of Achilles, but into four large sections, in each of which there are
also the defeats of the Greeks occasioned by that again subdivisions facilitating the distribution of
anger, were to be narrated ; and the display of the the recital for several rhapsodists and several days.
insufficiency of all the other heroes at the same time 1. The first part treats of the absent Ulysses (books
offered the best opportunity for exhibiting their i. -iv. ). Here we are introduced to the state of
several excellencies. It is in the arrangement of affairs in lthaca during the absence of Ulysses.
this preparatory part and its connection with the Telemachus goes to Pylos and Sparta to ascertain
catastrophe, that the poet displays his perfect ac- the fate of his father. 2. The song of the returning
quaintance with all the mysteries of poetical com- Ulysses (books v. -xiii. 92) is naturally divided
position ; and in his continual postponement of the l into two parts; the first contrins the departure of
ers.
## p. 505 (#521) ############################################
RUS.
505
HOMERUS
HOMERUS.
scanty rerelations rij
entire work, he alears
ch is astonishing rs
earance, the poel, 172
En first overcos, tad
increase perpetual de
ich they have dranza
tiered to Achiies; and
inning, is made
Delf, the Fengeane zad
ne son of Tbetis. At
poet plainly sborib
gs of an attentire beste
lly increasing dette er
red from destructies, is
and more than bisa
chilles should be brains
ained through the first
of Zeus, which be did it
d through her to Achio
would bare giren al
eans), but only to Hez
middle of the poem; 57
49 of his dearest friend
tle not to sure the Greek
Edenly changes his beste
eeks, and is overposer
ings. In this manner the
Thetis is united to the
eration of destior, rid
to observe in all breu
this collection of 2013
feelings any subsazta
belonging to it, sed in
living whole, the purse
lose their vitality. Asi
es not dwell in one sace
ion of certain systems and
al connection of the w
certain parts ; and reite
ition describing the defeat
burning of the shige Per
of atairs brought about by
, nor the final paciente
by could be spared from the
I seed of such a poem bad
e soul of Hember, and by
Towth. ” (Histe of Gr. Le
Ulysses from Calypso, and his arrival and reception judiciously assigns “ two principal motives for
in Scheria ; the second the narration of his wan- ihis extension of the poem beyond its original plan,
derings. 3. The song of Ulysses meditating revenge which might have exercised an influence on the
(book xiii. 92—xix). Here the two threads of mind of Homer himself, but had still more power-
the story are united ; Ulysses is conveyed to ful effects upon his successors, the later Homerids.
Ithaca, and is met in the cottage of Eumaeus by In the first place, it is clear that a design mani-
his son, who has just returned from Sparta. 4. fested itself at an early period to make this poem
The song of the revenging and reconciled Ulysses (xx. complete in itself, so that all the subjects, descrip-
–xxiv. ) brings all the manifold wrongs of the tions, and actions which could alone give an inte
suitors and the sufferings of Ulysses to the desired rest to a poem on the entire war, might find a place
and long-expected conclusion. Although we main within the limits of this composition. For this pur-
tain the unity of both the Homeric poems, we can- pose, it is not improbable that many lays of earlier
not deny that they have suffered greatly from in- bards, who had sung single adventures of the Trojan
terpolations, omissions, and alterations ; and it is war, were laid under contribution, and that the
only by admitting some original poetical whole, finest parts of them were adopted into the new
that we are able to discover those parts which do poem, it being the natural course of popular poetry
not belong to this whole. Wolf, therefore, in propagated by oral tradition, to treat the best
pointing out some parts as spurious, has been led thoughts of previous poets as common property,
into an inconsistency in his demonstration, since he and to give them a new life by working them up
is obliged to acknowledge something as the genuine in a different context. ” Thus it would be ex-
centre of the two poems, which he must suppose to plained why it is not before the ninth year of the
have been spun out more and more by subsequent war that the Greeks build a wall round their camp,
rhapsodists. This altered view, which is distinctly and think of deciding the war by single combat.
pronounced in the preface to his edition of Homer For the same reason the catalogue of the ships
(2nd edit. of 1795, towards the end of the pref. ), could find a place in the Iliad, as well as the view
appears already in the Prolegomena (p. 123), and of Helen and Priam from the walls (Teixoo komía),
has been subsequently embraced by Hermann and by which we become acquainted with the chief
other critics. It is, as we have said, a necessary heroes among the Greeks, who were certainly not
consequence from the discovery of interpolations. unknown to Priam till so late a period of the war.
These interpolations are particularly apparent in “ The other motive for the great extension of the
the first part of the Iliad. The catalogue of the preparatory part of the catastrophe may, it appears,
ships has long been recognised as a later addition, be traced to a certain conflict between the plan of
and can be omitted without leaving the slightest the poet and his own patriotic feelings. An atten-
gap. The battles from the third to the seventh tive reader cannot fail to observe that, while
book seem almost entirely foreign to the plan of the Homer intends that the Greeks should be made to
Iliad. Zeus appears to have quite forgotten his, suffer severely from the anger of Achilles, he is yet,
promise to Thetis, that he would honour her son as it were, retarded in his progress towards that
by letting Agamemnon feel his absence. The end by a natural endeavour to avenge the death of
Greeks are far from feeling this. Diomede fights each Greek by that of a yet more illustrious Trojan,
successfully even against gods ; the Trojans are and thus to increase the glory of the numerous
driven back to the town. In an assembly of the Achaean heroes, so that even on the days in which
gods (iv. init. ), the glory of Achilles is no motive the Greeks are defeated, more Trojans than Greeks
to deliver Troy from her fate; it is not till the are described as being slain. ”
eighth book that Zeus all at once seems mind- The Odyssey bas experienced similar exten-
ful of his promise to Thetis. The preceding five sions, which, far from inducing us to believe in
books are not only loosely connected with the an atomistical origin of the poem, only show that
whole of the poem, but even with one another. the original plan has been here and there ob
The single combat between Menelaus and Paris scured. The poem opens with an assembly of
(book iii. ), in which the former was on the point the gods, in which Athene complains of the long
of despatching the seducer of his wife, is inter-detention of Ulysses in Ogygia ; Zeus is of her
rupted by the treacherous shot of Pandarus. In opinion. She demands to send Hermes to Calypso
the next book all this is forgotten. The Greeks with an order from Zeus to dismiss Ulysses,
neither claim Helen as the prize of the victory of whilst she herself goes to Ithaca to incite young
Menelaus, nor do they complain of a breach of the Telemachus to determined steps. But in the begin-
oath: no god revenges the perjury. Paris in the ning of the fifth book we have almost the same pro-
sixth book sits quietly at home, where Hector ceedings, the same assembly of the gods, the same
severely upbraids him for his cowardice and retire complaints of Athene, the same assent of Zeus,
ment from war; to which Paris makes no reply, who now at last sends his messenger to the island
and does not plead that he had only just encoun- of Calypso. Telemachus refuses to stay with Me-
tered Menelaus in deadly fight. The tenth book, nelaus ; he is anxious to return home ; and still,
containing the nocturnal expedition of Ulysses and without our knowing how and why, he remains at
Diomede, in which they kill the Thracian king Sparta for a time which seems disproportionably
Rhesus and take his horses, is avowedly of later long ; for on his return to Ithaca he meets Ulysses,
origin. (Schol. Ven. ad 1. x. 1. ) No reference who had in the meantime built his ship, passed
is subsequently made by any of the Greeks or twenty days on the sea, and three days with the
Trojans to this gallant deed. The two heroes were Phaeacians.
sent as spies, but they never narrate the result of Nitzsch (Anmerk. z. Odyssey, vol. ii. pref. po
their expedition ; not to speak of many other im- xlii. ) has tried to remove these difficulties, but he
probabilities. To enumerate all those passages does not deny extensive interpolations, particularly
which are reasonably suspected as interpolated, in the eighth book, where the song of Demo.
would lead us too far. Müller (Ivid. p. 50) very | docos concerning Ares and Aphrodite is very sur
ent to these convincing it
ly need to defend the rady
has always been adoirada
isterpieces of Greek fena
3 of Wolf, who mald Date
ince and learned copies
n, by connecting loose inde
that it should hare some
single man. Nitesch (HE
, and Anmerk : Damas a
ired to exhibit the
He has divided the shade
s, in each of which there #?
ilitating the distributia of
rhapsodists and sereal ders
8 of the cloezi lipca (bacets
e introduced to the staze i
ing the absence of Creeds
"ylos and Sparta to ascera
2. The song of the na
11. 92) is naturally did
irst contains the departez o
## p. 506 (#522) ############################################
506
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
picious; in the nineteenth, the recognition of transınitted them to their disciples by oral tenching,
Ulysses by his old nurse, and, most of all, some and not by writing. This kind of oral teaching was
parts towards the end. All that follows after most carefully cultivated in Greece even when
xxiii. 296 was declared spurious even by the the use of writing was quite common. The tragic
Alexandrine critics Aristophanes and Aristar- and comic poets employed no other way of training
chus, Spohn (Comment. de extrem. Odysscae Parte, the actors than this oral didaoralia, with which
1816) has proved the validity of this judgment the greatest accuracy was combined. Therefore,
almost beyond the possibility of doubt. Yet, as says Wolf, it is not likely that although not com-
Muller and Nitzsch observe, it is very likely mitted to writing, the Homeric poems underwent
that the original Odyssey was concluded in a very great changes by a long oral tradition ; only
somewhat similar manner; in particular, we can it is impossible that they should have remained
hardly do without the recognition of Laertes, who quite unultered. Many of the rhapsodists were not
is so often alluded to in the course of the poem, destitute of poetical genius, or they acquired it by
and without some reconciliation of Ulysses with the constant recitation of those beautiful lays. Why
the friends of the murdered suitors. The second should they not have sometimes adapted their
Vecyiu (xxiv. init. ) is evidently spurious, and, like recitation to the immediate occasion, or even have
inany parts ut the first Necyiu (xi. ), most likely endeavoured to make some passages better than
taken from a similar passage in the Nostoi, in they were ?
which was narrated the arrival of Agamemnon in We cin admit almost all this, without drawing
Hades. (Paus. x. 23. Ø 4. )
from it Wolf's conclusion. Does not such a con-
Considering all these interpolations and the ori- dition of the rhapsodists agree as well with the
ginal unity, which has only been obscured and not task which we assign to them, of preserving and
destroyed by them, we must come to the conclu- reciting a poem which already existed as a whole ?
sion that the Homeric poems were originally com. Even the etymology of the name of rhapsodist,
posed as poetical wholes, but that a long oral tra- which is surprisingly inconsistent with Wolf's
dition gave occasion to great alterations in their general view, favours that of his adversaries.
original form.
Wolf's fundamental opinion is, that the original
We have hitherto considered only the negative songs were unconnected and singly recited. How
part of Wolf's arguments. He denied, Ist, the ex- then can the rhapsodists have obtained their
istence of the art of writing at the time when the name from connecting poems ? On the other hand,
Homeric poems were composed ; 2d. the possibility if the Homeric poems originally existed as wholes,
of composing and delivering them without that art ; and the rhapsodists connected the single parts of
and, 3rdly, their poetical unity. From these pre- these „vholes for public recitation, they might per-
mises he came to the conclusion, that the Homeric haps be called “connecters of songs. " But this ety-
poems originated as small songs, unconnected with mology has not appeared satisfactory to some, who
one another, which, after being preserved in this have thought that this process would rather be a
state for a long tiine, were at length put together. keeping together than a putting together. They
The agents, to whom he attributed these two tasks have therefore supposed that the word was derived
of composing and preserving on the one hand, and from pabbos, the staff or ensign of the bards (Hes.
of collecting and combining on the other, are the Theog. 30); an etymology which seemed counte
rhapsodists and Peisistratus.
nanced by Pindar's (Isthm. iii. 5) expression pablov
The subject of the rhapsodists is one of the most JEOTETIM énéww. But Pindar in another pas-
complicated and difficult of all ; because the fact is, sage gives the other etymology (Nem. ii. 1);
that we know very little about them, and thus a and, besides, it does not appear how pavados
large field is opened to conjecture and hypothesis. could be formed from pabdos, which would make
(Wolf, Proleg. p. 96 ; Nitzsch, Prol. ad Plat. Ion. ; Saboqdós. Others, therefore, have thought of
Heyne, 2. Excurs. ad 11. 24 ; Böckh, ad Pind. páris (a stick), and formed paniwós, pavadós.
Nem. ii. 1, Isthm. iii. 55 ; Nitzsch, Indagandue, But even this will not do; for leaving out of view
&c. Histor. crit. ; Kreuser, d. Hom. Rhapsod. ) that þámis does not occur in the signification of
Wolf derives the name of rhapsodist from βάπτειν ραβδος, the word would be ραπιδωδός. Nothing is
conv, which he interprets breviora carmina modo et left, therefore, but the etymology from ÞÁTTELV
ordine publicae recitationi apto connectere. These wás, which is only to be interpreted in the proper
breviora carmina are the rhapsodies of which the way. Müller (Ibid. p. 33) says that pavadeiv
Iliad and Odyssey consist, not indeed containing signifies nothing more than the peculiar method of
originally one book each, as they do now, but epic recitation," consisting in some high-pitched
sometimes more and sometimes less.
The nature sonorous declamations, with certain simple modu-
and condition of these rhapsodists may be learned lations of the voice, not in singing regularly ac-
from Homer himself, where they appear as singing companied by an instrument, which was the method
at the banquets, games, and festivals of the princes, of reciting lyrical poetry. Every poem,” says
and are held in high honour. (Od. iii. 267, xviii. Müller, “ can be rhapsodised which is composed in
383. ) In fact, the first rhapsodists were the poets an epic tone, and in which the verses are of equal
themselves, just as the first dramatic poets were length, without being distributed into correspond-
the first actors. Therefore Homer and Hesiod are ing parts of a larger whole, strophes, or similar
said to have rhapsodised. (Plat. Rep. x. p. 600 ; systems. Rhapsodists were also not improperly
Schol. aut Pind. Nem. ii. 1. ) We must imagine called otixqbol, because all the poems which they
that these minstrels were spread over all Greece, recited were composed in single lines independent
and that they did not contine themselves to the of each other (otixou). ” He thinks, therefore, that
recital of the Homeric poems. One class of rhap- pártev qdtv denotes the coupling together of verses
sodists at Chios, the Homerids (Harpocrat. s. v. without any considerable divisions or pauses ; in
'Ounpidai), who called themselves descendants of other words, the even, continuous, and unbroken
the poet, possessed these particular poems, and | flow of the epic poem. But q'on does not mean a
3
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. HOMERUS.
307
HOMERUS.
I
Dorse ; and besides a reference to the manner of epic / mother-country, to write down parts of the Iliad
recitation, as different from that of lyrical poetry, and Odyssey, although we are not disposed to
could only be imparted to the word payudós at a extend this hypothesis so far as Nitzsch, who
time when lyrical composition and recitation ori- thinks that there existed in the days of Peisistratus
ginated, that is, not before Archilochus. Previous numbers of copies, so that Peisistratus only com-
to that time the meaning of rhapsodist must have pared and revised them, in order to obtain a correct
been different. In fine, we do not see why pár- copy for the use of the Athenian festivals. Whom
TELV 8ás should not have been used in the signifi- Peisistratus employed in his undertaking Wolf
cation of planning and making lays, as partes could only conjecture. The poet Onomacritus lived
Kará is to plan or make mischief. But whatever at that time at Athens, and was engaged in similar
may be the right derivation of the word, and pursuits respecting the old poet Musieus. Besides
whatever may have been the nature and condition bim, Wolf thought of a certain Orpheus of Croton ;
of the rhapsodists, so much is evident that no sup but nothing certain was known on this point, till
port can be derived from this point for Wolf's Professor Ritschl discovered, in a MS. of Plautus
position. We pass on, therefore, to the last ques at Rome, an old Latin scholion translated from the
tion,--the collection of the Homeric poems ascribed Greek of Tzetzes (published in Cramer's Anec-
to Peisistratus.
dota). This scholion gives the name of four poets
Solon made the first step towards that which who assisted Peisistratus, viz. Onomacritus, Zopy-
Peisistratus accomplished. Of him Diogenes La- rus, Orpheus, and a fourth, whose name is cor-
ërtius (i. 57) says, d 'Ouúpou UTO Bon ñs rupted, Concylus. (Ritschl, de Aler. Bill. x. d.
šypaye payądeiodai, i. e. , according to Wolf's inter-Sammlung d. Hom. Gedichte durch Peisistr. 1838 ;
pretation, Solon did not allow the rhapsodists to Id. Corullar. Disput. de Bill. Alex. deque Peisistr.
recite arbitrarily, as they had been wont to do, Curis Hom. 1810). These persons may bave in-
such songs successively as were not connected with terpolated some passages, as it suited the pride of
one another, but he ordered that they should the Athenians or the political purposes of their
rehearse those parts which were according to the patron Peisistratus. In fact, Onomacritus is parti-
thread of the story suggested to them. Peisistra- cularly charged with having interpolated Od. xi.
tus did not stop here. The unanimous voice of an- 604 (Schol. Harlei. ed. Porson. ad loc. ). The Athe-
tiquity ascribed to him the merit of having collected nians were generally believed to bave had no part
the disjointed and confused poems of Homer, and in the Trojan war; therefore II. ii. 547, 552—554,
of having first committed them to writing. (Cic. de were marked by the Alexandrine critics as spurious,
Or. iï. 34 ; Paus. vii. 26 ; Joseph, c. Ap. i. 2 ; and for similar reasons Od. vii. 80, 81, and Od. ii.
Aelian, V. K. xiii. 14 ; Liban. Paneg. in Julian 308. But how unimportant are these alterations
;
i p. 170, Reisk. &c. )*
in comparison with the long interpolations which
In what light Wolf viewed this tradition has been must be attributed to the rhapsodists previous to
already mentioned. He held it to have been the first Peisistratus ! It must be confessed that these four
step that was taken in order to connect the loose and men accomplished their task, on the whole, with
incoherent songs into continued and uninterrupted great accuracy. However inclined we may be to
stories, and to preserve the union which he had attribute this accuracy less to their critical investiga-
thus imparted to these poems by first committing tions and conscientiousness, than to the impossi-
them to writing. Pausanias mentions associates bility of making great changes on account of the
(Taipoi) of Peisistratus, who assisted him in his general knowledge of what was genuine, through
undertaking. These associates Wolf thought to the number of existing copies ; and although we
have been the diad Kevadtal mentioned sometimes may, on the whole, be induced, after Wolf's ex-
in the Scholia ; but in this he was evidently aggerations, to think little of the merits of Peisis-
mistaken. Als Kevaotaí are, in the phraseology tratus, still we must allow that the praise be-
of the Scholia, interpolators, and not arrangers. stowed on Peisistratus by the ancient writers is
(Heinrich, de Diask. Homericis ; Lehrs, Aris too great and too general to allow us to admit of
tarchi siud. Hom. p. 349. ) Another weak point | Nitzsch's opinion, that he only compared and ex-
in Wolf's reasoning is, that he says that Peisis amined various MSS. If, then, it does not follow,
tratus was the first who committed the Homeric as Wolf thought, that the Homeric poems never
poems to writing ; this is expressly stated by formed a whole before Peisistratus, it is at the same
none of the ancient writers. On the contrary, it is time undeniable that to Peisistratus we owe the first
not unlikely that before Peisistratus, persons began written text of the whole of the poems, which,
in various parts of Greece, and particularly in without his care, would most likely now exist only
Asia Minor, which was far in advance of the in a few disjointed fragments. Some traditions at-
tributed to Hipparchus, the son and successor of
* It is ridiculous to what absurdity this tra- Peisistratus, regulations for the recital of the Ho-
dition has been spun out by the iguorance of later meric poems of a kind similar to those which had
scholiasts. Diomedes (Villois. Anecd. Gr. ii. p. been already made by Solon. (Plat. Hipp. p. 228.
182) tells a long story, how that at one time the 6. ) He is said to have obliged the rhapsodists
Homeric poems were partially destroyed either by | εξ υπολήψεως εφεξής τα 'Ομήρου διϊέναι. The
fire or water or earthquakes, and parts were scat- meaning of the words è unohíbews, and their
tered here and there ; so that some persons had difference from ÚToboxñs, which was the manner
one hundred verses, others two hundred, others a of recitation, ordained by Solon, has given rise to
thousand. He further states that Peisistratus col- a long controversy between Böckh and Hermann
lected all the persons who were in possession of (comp Nitzsch, Alelet. ii. p. 132); to enter into
Homeric verses, and paid them for each verse ; and which would be foreign to the purpose of this
that he then ordered seventy grammarians to ar-
article.
range these verses, which task was best performed Having taken this general survey of the most
by Zenodotus and Aristarchus.
important arguments for and against Wolfs hypo-
## p. 508 (#524) ############################################
508
HOMERUS.
HOMERUS.
!
1
thesis concerning the origin of the poems of Homer, p. 47; see also Nitzsch, Anm. vol. ii. p. 26),
the following may be regarded as the most probable is not improbable, that Homer first undertook to
conclusion. There can be no doubt that the seed combine into one great unity the scattered and
of the Homeric poems was scattered in the time of fragmentary poems of earlier bards, and that it
the heroic exploits which they celebrate, and in the was a task which established his great renown.
land of the victorious Achaeans, that is, in European We can now judge of the probability that Homer
Greece. An abundance of heroic lays preserved was an lonian, who in Smyrna, where Ionians
the records of the Trojan war. It was a puerile and Aeolians were mixed, became acquainted with
idea, which is now completely exploded, that the the subject of his poems, and moulded them
events are fictitious on which the Iliad and Odys- into the form which was suited to the taste of
sey are based, that a Trojan war never was waged, his Ionian countrymen. But as a faithful pre-
and so forth. Whoever would make such a con- servation of these long works was impossible
clusion from the intermixture of gods in the battles in an age unacquainted with, or at least not
of men, would forget what the Muses say (Hes. versed in the art of writing, it was a natural
Theog. 27)
consequence, that in the lapse of ages the poems
Ίδμεν ψεύδεα πολλά λέγειν ετυμοισιν ομοία,
should not only lose the purity with which they
"Ιδμεν δ', εύτ' εθέλωμεν, αληθέα μυθήσασθαι:
proceeded from the mind of the poet, but should
also become more and more dismembered, and thus
and he would overlook the fact, that these songs return into their original state of loose independent
were handed down a long time before they attained songs. Their public recitation became more and
that texture of truth and fiction which forms one more fragmentary, and the time at festivals and
of their peculiar charms. Europe must necessarily musical contests formerly occupied by epic rhapso-
have been the country where these songs originated, dists exclusively was encroached upon by the rising
both because here the victorious heroes dwelt, and lyrical performances and players of the fute and
because so many traces in the poems still point to lyre. Yet the knowledge of the unity of the dif-
these regions. (See above, p. 500, b. ) It was here ferent Homeric rhapsodies was not entirely lost.
that the old Thracian bards had effected that Solon, himself a poet, directed the attention of his
unity of mythology which, spreading all over countrymen towards it ; and Peisistratus at last
Greece, bad gradually absorbed and obliterated the raised a lasting monument to his high merits, in
discrepancies of the old local myths, and sub-fixing the genuine Homeric poems by the indelible
stituted one general mythology for the whole marks of writing, as far as was possible in his time
nation, with Zeus as the supreme ruler, dwelling and with his means. That previous to the famous
on the snowy heights of Olympus. Impregnated edition of Peisistratus parts of Homer, or the en-
with this European mythology, the heroic lays tire poems, were committed to writing in other
were brought to Asia Minor by the Greek colonies, towns of Greece or Asia Minor is not improbable,
which left the mother-country about three ages after but we do not possess sufficient testimonies to
the Trojan war. In European Greece a new race prove it. We can therefore safely affirm that from
gained the ascendancy, the Dorians, foreign to the time of Peisistratus, the Greeks had a written
those who gloried in having the old heroes among Homer, a regular text, the source and foundation
their ancestors. The heroic songs, therefore, died of all subsequent editions.
away more and more in Europe ; but in Asia the Having established the fact, that there was a
Aeolians fought, conquered, and settled nearly in Homer, who must be considered as the author of
the same regions in which their fathers had sig- the Homeric poems, there naturally arises another
nalised themselves by immortal exploits, the glory question, viz. which poems are Homeric? We
of which was celebrated, and their memory still have seen already that a great number of cyclic
preserved by their national bards. Their dwelling poems were attributed to the great bard of the
in the same locality not only kept alive the re- Anger of Achilles. Stasinus, the author of the
membrance of the deeds of their fathers, but gave a Cypria, was said to have received this poem from
new impulse to their poetry, just as in the middle Homer as a dowry for his daughter, whom he mar-
ages in Germany the foundation of the kingdom of ried. Creophylus is placed in a similar connection
the Hungarians in the East, and their destructive with Homer. But these traditions are utterly
invasions, together with the origin of a new empire groundless ; they were occasioned by the authors
of the Burgundians in the West, awakened the of the cyclic poems being at the same time rhapso-
old songs of the Niebelungen, after a slumber of dists of the Homeric poems, which they recited
centuries. (Gervinus, Poetical Lit. of Germ. vol. i. along with their own. Nor are the hymns, which
p. 108. )
still bear the name of Homer, more genuine pro-
Now the Homeric poems advanced a step ductions of the poet of the Iliad than the cyclic
further. From unconnected songs, they were, for poems. They were called by the ancients a poolus,
the first time, united by a great genius, who, i. e. overtures or preludes, and were sung by the
whether he was really called Homer, or whether rhapsodists as introductions to epic poems at the
the name be of later origin and significant of his festivals of the respective gods, to whom they are
work of uniting songs (Welcker, Ep. Cycl. pp. 125, addressed. To these rhapsodists the hymns most
128 ; Ilgen, Hymn. Hoin. praef
. p. 23; Heyne, ad probably owe their origin. “They exhibit such a
Il. vol. viii
. p. 795), was the one individual who diversity of language and poetical tone, that in all
conceived in his mind the lofty idea of that poetical probability they contain fragments from every
unity which we cannot help acknowledging and century from the time of Homer to the Persian
admiring. What were the peculiar excellencies war. ” (Müller, Ibid. p. 74. ) Still most of them
which distinguished this one Homer among a great were reckoned to be Homeric productions by those
number of contemporary poets, and saved his works who lived in a time when Greek literature still
alone from oblivion, we do not renture to deter- flourished. This is easily accounted for ; being
mine ; but the conjecture of Müller (Greek Lit. recited in connection with Homeric poems, they
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HOMERUS.
309
HOMERUS.
were gradually attributed to the same author, and Mice (Suid. s.
