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OUTLINES OF LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 GENERAL LITERATURE. 
 
 PART II. 
 EPIC POETRY. 
 
 y 
 
 HACKFC 
 
 Professor of Rhetoric and General Literature, Cornell University. 
 
 CHARLES C/SHACKFORD, 
 
 ' ITHACA, N. Y. 
 Printed at The University Ptess. 
 1880. 
 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027140759 
 

 GENERAL LITERATURE. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 EPIC POETRY AND EARLY LITERARY FORMS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 THE MYTH IN LITERATURE. 
 
 1. The mythical era essentially different from the 
 periods when myths are freely handled by lyric and 
 dramatic poets [Blakesley's "Herodotus," Vol. I, p. 
 XXX; "Hist. Value of the Greek Mythical Legend" in 
 Mure's "Crit. Hist, of Anc. Lit", Vol. I, Book I, ch. 2]. 
 
 2. Myths arise in primitive ages from an intuitional or 
 poetic view of nature. They are an unconscious product, 
 like language. 
 
 3. Each different nam^ applied to the same object, 
 viewed under differeht relations, becomes a separate 
 personality, and each has its story.) j. 
 

EPIC POETRY. 2 
 
 4. But this does not fully explain the Greek myths, 
 or the state of feeling and manner of viewing nature as 
 alive, that characterizes a myth-producing era. 
 
 5. The nucleus of the great epic poems and tradi- 
 tional myths to be found in the Hindoo mythology. 
 
 6. The different view now taken of mythological 
 stories, from that of cultivated Greeks and Romans." 
 
 7. The impious and impure stories not originally in- 
 tended to convey any such literal meaning, as applied to 
 them in a period that has outgrown the spontaneous, 
 childlike perception of natural phenomena. 
 
 8. The creation of symbolic language from man's 
 ideal and spiritual nature. 
 
 9. The first step is to connect what is the providence 
 of daily life with the most striking phenomena of the 
 heavens. 
 
 10. Almost impossible to determine what is literal and 
 what symbolical ["Zoological Mythology," by Guber- 
 natis. Vol. I, p. 9]. 
 
 11. The germ of folk-lore, fairy stories, and tradi- 
 tional legends. 
 
 12. Mythology is the earliest form of poetry. It is 
 nature regarded and spoken of as alive in every motion, 
 change, and appearance. 
 
 13. A modern, and a mythical, description of the same 
 natural scene [Longfellow's "Hiawatha" IV, p. 61]. 
 
 14. Mythology is the spontaneous expression of an 
 age of childhood. Every thing is endowed with life. 
 
 15. The survival in festivals and popular customs 
 
EPIC POETRY. 3 
 
 [Gubernatis, Vol. I, p. 51; "L'Inde Franfaise," par E. 
 Burnouf]. 
 
 16. The same primitive method of expression in other 
 than the Aryan races. A Mongol story ["Dub. Univ. 
 Mag.," Vol. LXXIII, p. 595 ; "Zoological Mythology," 
 by Gubernatis, Vol. I, p. 150]. 
 
 17. Similar phenomena produce cognate images and 
 expressions ; literary or oral communication not neces- 
 sary. 
 
 18. Every race passes through the same essential 
 phases of development. 
 
 19. The indigenous nature of many apparently local 
 and special expressions and turns of thought ["The 
 Knights" of Aristophanes, v. 550]. 
 
 20. The natural language in all ages. Carlyle's de- 
 scription of Oliver Cromwell's death. "So stirbt ein 
 held" ["Amazonian Tortoise Myths," by Professor Hartt, 
 p. 17]. 
 
 21. The natural and the learned symbolism. Illustra- 
 tions from Pindar and Herodotus [Herod., B. IV, 131, 
 132; "New Eng. Memorials," by Nathaniel Morton, 
 Boston, 1826]. 
 
 ' 22. A symbolic expression can easily be expanded 
 into a myth. Newton and St. Augustine. 
 
 23. The essential truth in every genuine myth and 
 popular fable. 
 
 ' " The Greek mjfthology contains a treasure of practical wisdom 
 which can be not only profitable to us, but which is very needful at 
 
EPIC POETRY. 4 
 
 the present time. It teaches us to consider nature and the facts of 
 life ideally." — " Griechische Mythologie," von D. Emil Braun, ch. ill. 
 
 But Cicero, in his perplexity at explaining the current stories of 
 the gods, exclaims : " From things natural, which were advan- 
 tageously discovered, have arisen fictions and imaginary deities that 
 have been the foundations of false opinions, pernicious errors, and 
 wretched superstitions. For every thing belonging to the gods is 
 reduced to the level of human weakness : they are represented with 
 our passions, with lust, sorrow, and anger ; and according to the 
 fable, they have had wars and combats, not only as Homer relates, 
 when they have interested themselves in two different armies, but 
 when they have fought battles in their own defense against the 
 Titans and giants. These stories, of the greatest weakness and 
 levity, are related and believed with the most implicit folly." 
 
 In his Encomium of Busiris, Isocrates says : " The poets heap 
 upon the gods charges which are brought only against the greatest 
 criminals. They load these celestial beings with the crimes of theft, 
 assassination, adultery, and incest. They make children devour 
 their parents, and parents murder their children. They picture the 
 gods as chained and tortured ; driven out of heaven, and wandering 
 wretchedly on earth. Let us regard it as no less a crime to believe 
 these monstrous fictions, than to relate them." 
 
 LECTURE II, 
 THE LEGEND AND FABLE. 
 
 1. Miiller's definition of mythology, as "a disease of 
 language" ["Science of Language," 1st series, p. 2i ; 
 2d series, p. 432]. 
 
 2. This theory only explains some of the mythological 
 
EPIC POETRY. S 
 
 names. In mythology, especially the Greek, are to be 
 found the primitive history, poetry, religion, and philos- 
 ophy, in accordance with the national spirit ["The Greek 
 Poets," by J. A. Symonds, 2d series, pp. 1-39]. 
 
 3. The myth and the legend. Illustrated by the 
 mediaeval legends, told in good faith, and the produc- 
 tion of an age of implicit belief. 
 
 4. The spiritual contents of legendary stories. Visions 
 and imaginative examples are related as facts, as what 
 has been seen and heard. 
 
 5. The real meaning is lost, and with a different state 
 of perception comes a bald, literal interpretation. 
 
 6. Examples of this literalizing and sensualizing ten- 
 dency, and of primitive symbolic utterances misunder- 
 stood as facts, to be found in history, religion and science. 
 Many traditional sayings, events, proverbs, and popular 
 superstitions to be explained in this way, "Democritus 
 putting out his eyes" ; "the amethyst" ; "the lion flee- 
 ing at the crowing of the cock"; "the ram lying six 
 months on one side"; "St. Germain and St. Francis, 
 church-pillars"; "the mermaid"; "imprints in the 
 rock"; "the red and black cow"; "the Roman senate 
 meeting in the open air" ; " Pliny's monstrous ant" ; etc. 
 ["Zoological Mythology," Vol. I, p. 174; p. 247; Vol. 
 II, p. 2 and 12 ; Pliny's "Nat. Hist", V and XI, 31]. 
 
 7. The origin of metaphor and poetic language in the 
 transference of some quality by its concrete name to 
 another object or person ; as, a cunning man, is a fox, etc. 
 
 8. Nature, furnishing man with symbols, emblems, and 
 
EPIC POETRY. 6 
 
 mirrors of himself, the fable and allegory spring up. 
 Many of these are understood literally, and account for 
 many, wonderful stories of changes into flower, bird, and 
 beast. , 
 
 9. This use of the inanimate world survives in the 
 fable, parable, and allegory. 
 
 10. The terms ainos, muthos, and logos, applied to 
 fables. 
 
 11. The difference between myth and fable; the one 
 an unconscious product, and the other a conscious in- 
 vention for a moral purpose. In a myth the truth exists 
 only in the concrete form. A fable is an expanded sim- 
 ile. 
 
 12. The primitive and the literary myth ["Encyclo- 
 paedia Britannica," Vol. VIII, p. 837]. 
 
 13. The allegorical and moral fable a subsequent 
 growth to the pure beast-fable [Tylor's "Prim. Cult", 
 Vol. I, p. 41 1]. 
 
 14. The analogy between man and nature a universal 
 perception. Fables not confined to Aryan race [Prof 
 Hartt's "Amazonian Tortoise Myths," 1875]. 
 
 15. The harmonious adaptation of mind and matter, 
 man's spirit and the external world. 
 
 16. In primitive ages, the simplest objects supply the 
 terms in which truth is embodied, man becoming wise 
 "by deeply drinking in the soul of things." 
 
 17. The moral truths continually taught by the grand- 
 er natural phenomena. Citations from Leroux and 
 Wordsworth. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 7 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 THE FABLE. 
 
 1. The objects of nature reflect the moods and states 
 of man. They impart lessons of prudence, warning, 
 hope, and rebuke. 
 
 2. The particular case is an embodiment of a general 
 truth. The form of expression may be an apologue, a 
 fable, or an allegory.' 
 
 3. The original fable belongs to the mythologic stage 
 of culture [Tylor's "Primitive Culture," Vol. I, p. 372; 
 Vol, I, p. 41 1]. 
 
 4. The fable marks the passage from barbarism to civili- 
 zation, "the line where the quick observant fancy meets 
 the reflecting intellect ["Man's Origin and Destiny," by 
 J. P. Leslie, p. 69]. 
 
 5. The fable brought truth to bear upon the private 
 and public affairs of life. Earliest examples [Herodotus, 
 I, [41; II, 162; Hesiod's "Works and Days," v. 201; 
 "Book of Judges," ch. IX; Plutarch's " Coriolanus " ; 
 Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," Act I, § i ; "Lives of the 
 Ten Orators," under Demostkenes]. 
 
 6. The use of the fable in oratory [Quintilian's " Rhet- 
 oric," Book II, ch. XX, § 5, 6]. 
 
 7. The earliest oriental fables, translated between the 
 Vlth and Xllth Centuries. The Pancha Tantra; The 
 Hitopadesa; The Imperial Book, etc. [" Pantschatantra ; 
 funf bucher indischer Fabeln, Marchen und Erzahlun- 
 
EPIC POETRY. 8 
 
 gen," von Theodor Benfey; "The Hitopadesa," by Max 
 Miiller; "The Anvari-Suhali or Lights of Canopus"; 
 being the Persian version of the "Fables of Pilpay ; or 
 the Book Kalilah and Damnah," by Ed. B. Eastwick]. 
 
 8. Analysis of the Hitopadesa. 
 
 9. The vast number of fables of this sort in India and 
 China at a remote date ["Contes et Apologues Indiens," 
 Tomes I et II, Traduction de M. Stanislaus Julien, 2 vols., 
 i860]. 
 
 10. Similar stories among the Mongols ["Blackwood's 
 Mag.", Vol. LXXIII, p. 596]. 
 
 11. The fable among the Greeks ["The Phaedo" of 
 Plato]. 
 
 1 2. The different names according to its character and 
 supposed origin — Lybian, Cilician, Sybaritic, Cyprian, 
 Lydian, Carian, and Egyptian. 
 
 13. The inadequate and inept moral tacked to many 
 of the fables. 
 
 14. The life-wisdom of the Greek, and the soul- wis- 
 dom of the Hindoo fables. 
 
 15. The apothegms and wise sayings traced back to 
 Homer [Plutarch's "Banquet of the Seven Wise Men"]. 
 
 16. The nature and position of the fable well illus- 
 trated by a literary myth of Apollonius of Tyana.* 
 
 ' Says a French critic : "The apologue is the oldest kind of fiction 
 employed by philosophers ; and while it is the simplest it is not the 
 least expressive. It must have been very natural and attractive to 
 be found among all peoples attaining a certain degree of civilization ; 
 the Hindoos have their Bidpay, the Arabians their Lokman, the 
 Greeks their j^sop." 
 
EPIC POETRY. 9 
 
 " Histoire du Roman," par A. Chassang, p. l6. 
 See also E. Dumeril : " Histoire de la fable dsopique." 
 "Dublin University Magazine,'' 78, 601 ; "'Fables of Bidpai." 
 Loiseleur de Longchamps : " Essai sur les fables indiennes, 1838." 
 " " /Esop was a shepherd, and pastured his flock in the neighbor- 
 hood of a temple consecrated to Mercury. A lover of wisdom, he 
 besought the gods continually that it might be given him. Many 
 worshipers came to the temple, making the same prayer, and bring- 
 ing costly presents of ivory, silver and gold. .iCsop was too poor 
 to make such beautiful g^fts, and he could only bring a little milk 
 and honey, to which he added some sprigs of myrtle, some roses 
 and violets, which were not even tied together in a bouquet. 
 ' Would it be right,' said he to Mercury, ' to neglect my flock and 
 busy myself in weaving garlands .-' ' At last came the day when 
 Mercury was to bestow the gift of wisdom upon his devotees, and 
 he distributed them according to the value of the offerings. ' You,' 
 he said to him who had made the richest gifts, ' be a philosopher.' 
 To him who had made the next richest, ' shine an orator ' ; and so 
 on to the sixth, until he had exhausted his store. jEsop came near 
 being forgotten ; but the god recollected him, and also called to 
 mind a fable which he had learned from the Hours, who brought 
 him up, and watched his cradle on Olympus. ' Hold ! ' he then 
 said to him ; ' a fable is the first lesson that I received, and as a 
 reward for your gifts, I bestow upon you the ability to compose fa- 
 bles.' And this was the last gift that Wisdom had to bestow." 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE LITERATURE OF THE FABLE. 
 
 I. yEsop a generic name for all the floating jests and 
 piquant hints in the form of fable. The popular account 
 
EPIC POETRY. lO 
 
 that he was a slave in the Vlth Century, B.C. [Muller's 
 "Lit. of Anc. Greece," Vol. I, p. 190]. 
 
 2. The fables of Babrias discovered at Mt. Athos 
 ["Fras. Mag.", 41: 529; "Edin. Rev.", 113: 524; 
 "Rev. des Deux Mondes," April 15, 1840]. 
 
 3. The fable, the only kind of Greek literature not 
 imitated in Latin until Phaedrus. His fables brought to 
 light in 1562 ["Fras. Mag.", 17: 188, 147; Nisard's 
 "Etudes sur les poetes latins," Vol. I, pp. 1-53]. 
 
 4. The fable originally in prose, and receives a differ- 
 ent character when turned into verse and using epithets, 
 ornaments, and imaginative incidents. It is thus, epic, 
 lyric, and dramatic. 
 
 5. Phaedrus fails to seize the true moral, and his ap- 
 plication often artificial and far-fetched. 
 
 6. Many of the fables of the Middle Ages, the old 
 fabliaux, and the household stories of Grimm, may be 
 traced back to their oriental parentage. 
 
 7. This specifcs of literature reached its fullest growth 
 in " Reynard the Fox," a Frankish composition of the 
 Xllth Century [Tylor's "Prim. Culture," Vol. I, p. 373 ; 
 Schlegel's "Hist, of Lit", p. 192; Froude's "Short 
 Studies," 1st series]. 
 
 8. The poem, "Reineke Fuchs," by Goethe, is based 
 upon the legend as it existed in the XHIth Century and 
 contains French, Flemish, and German elements. 
 
 9. The common sense of the people photographs it- 
 self in these burlesque images and satires of the vices 
 
EPIC POETRY. II 
 
 and follies of the time. The beginning of the revolt 
 against the mitre and the sword. 
 
 10. Most of the current fables are of men wearing the 
 masks of beasts. 
 
 11. In La Fontaine, born in 1621, the fable has be- 
 come classic in French literature.' 
 
 12. It is a dramatic poem having a plot, variety of 
 characters and incidents with poetic illustration and orna- 
 ment ["La Fontaine's Fables," translated by E. Wright, 
 
 Jr.] 
 
 13. Lessing's criticism of La Fontaine ["Schriften," 
 Vol. V ; " Abhandlungen iiber die Fabel "]. 
 
 14. The four friends, La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine, 
 and Moli^re. 
 
 15. The popularity of La Fontaine and its causes; 
 not invention, elevation of thought, depth of reflection, 
 fertility of imagination, or abundance of humor ; but he 
 was true to his own individuality, simple, natural, and a 
 lover of nature ; sympathetic, genial, and human. He 
 had the gift of imaginative sympathy, like Irving and 
 Dickens. 
 
 16. Voltaire depreciates him, but St. Beuve calls him, 
 "the Homer of the French" ["La Fontaine," in "Caus- 
 series du Lundi," Vol. VII, and "Portraits litt^raires," 
 Vol. I]. 
 
 17. The natural, easy and perfect style of La Fontaine 
 the result of study and elaboration. Illustration of the 
 truth, that "the province of taste is to bring us back to 
 
EPIC POETRY. 12 
 
 our instinct" [M. Nisard's "History of French Litera- 
 ture"]. 
 
 1 8. The reputation of Boileau and La Fontaine with 
 contemporaries and posterity. 
 
 19. La Fontaine lives because nature speaks through 
 him. The genuine love of nature necessary to an artistic 
 representation.'' 
 
 20. The fables of Gay, in English Literature, attract 
 neither by their thought or style ; their commonplace 
 character. 
 
 21. The use of the fable by modern authors — Shake- 
 speare, Defoe, Emerson [King Henry V ; Defoe's "The 
 Shortest Way with the Dissenters"; Emerson'-s 
 "Poems"]. 
 
 22. Lessing's proposal to utilize the .^sopian fables 
 in developing the power of invention and inductive rea- 
 soning ["Vermischte Schriften, Vol. V"]. 
 
 23. The true genius shows itself in construction, and 
 a well-constructed fable will always hold its place. 
 
 ' For the fullest account of La Fontaine, see " La Fontaine et 
 ses Fables," par H. Taine ; " La Fontaine et les Fabulistes,'' 2 
 vols., par Saint-Marc Girardin ; " Revue des Deux Mondes," ist 
 Dec, 1869; "Introduction to the translation," by E. Wright, Jr. ; 
 and " La Fontaine, Seine Fabeln, und ihre Gegner,'' von Wilhelm 
 Kulpe, Leipzig, 1880. 
 
 ' The greatest of French artists, recently deceased, J. F. Millet, 
 recognized this, when he wrote : " To know a thing well, you must 
 belong to it. Nature is always beautiful. On these sad winter 
 days, when the wind moans, it is beautiful to walk in the forest 
 under lofty trees bared of their leaves, to see those poor beings 
 
EPIC POETRY. I 
 
 twisted and tormented by the wind, left alone with the night that 
 envelops them, and to ask yourself: 'What do they feel ? What 
 do they suffer? ' " 
 
 Here is the true poetic or imaginative sympathy at the basis of all 
 art, and which is the secret of La Fontaine's enduring charm. In 
 this spirit he has reproduced the old fables ; but they are no longer 
 the secret wisdom of the ages, they are common sense baptized in 
 La Fontaine's imaginative sympathies. 
 
 No sharpness of wit, keenness of intellectual perception, philo- 
 sophic depth, or critical acumen can ever be the substitute, in works 
 of art, for that sympathy with, and love for, the objects that are 
 transferred to the canvas, to the marble, or the more plastic word. 
 The true artist becomes, for the time, that which he seeks to por- 
 tray. He reproduces it in a living form, because it has been created 
 anew in his own living perception. In La Fontaine ancient fables 
 of all ages and countries re-appear, but many of them have lost 
 their old physiognomy, and have laid aside whatever was local, 
 whatever was peculiar to nation or creed, and are embodiments of 
 human common sense. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 THE EPIC IN LITERATURE. 
 
 1. The epic the natural outgrowth of the mythical 
 and legendary period. 
 
 2. Characters and deeds idealized through the haze of 
 reverence, imagination, and national feeling. 
 
 3. The characteristics of the epic a natural outgrowth 
 of the influences giving it birth and form : 
 
 (a) An element of the marvelous and super- 
 natural, belonging to the mythologic period. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 14 
 
 {b) Gods regarded as actual, living beings, and 
 events the accomplishment of a divine purpose. 
 
 {c) The popular consciousness and living tradi- 
 tions put into a shape to be remembered and sung ; 
 — ^hence unity, as these are embodied in a heroic, 
 living form. 
 
 {d) A mythic grandeur and grotesque simplicity ; 
 these are characteristics of the age itself 
 
 (e) A struggle for national existence and glory. 
 
 4. These epics have common features arid essentially 
 the same mythical framework ["Aryan Mythology," by 
 G. W. Cox, Vol. I, p. 108 and 209]. 
 
 5. But this mythic groundwork of phenomena in nat- 
 ure does not exclude the existence of historic names and 
 events ["Geschichte der Homerischen Poesic," von J. F. 
 Lauer, p. 163]. 
 
 6. Examples showing that fables gather around mod- 
 ern facts that are acknowledged to be authentic ["Rev. 
 des Deux Mondes," 1836, p. 483]. 
 
 7. The removal of all historical ground as absurd as 
 the attempt to find precise, historical data, and a personal 
 characterization. 
 
 8. The primitive epic cannot be produced after analy- 
 sis is applied to religion and life. 
 
 9. Impossible to escape the conclusion that Achilles 
 is a solar hero, in a more significant way than Symonds 
 allows ["The Greek Poets," 2d series, p. 43]. 
 
 10. A hero clad in celestial armor, dazzling all eyes, 
 holding conversation with prophetic steeds, cannot be 
 
EPIC POETRY. 15 
 
 be reduced to purely human characteristics, except by- 
 attributing mere oriental exuberance and hyperbole to 
 Homer [" Iliad," XVIII and XIX]. 
 
 1 1 . The elemental character of the warfare in the epic 
 poets. 
 
 12. This illustrated by the hymns to Hercules, Apollo, 
 Diana, etc. 
 
 13. The gradual development of poetry, from the 
 simple narration of the phenomena of nature, and cries 
 for help and benediction, to the heroic chant by the 
 rhapsodists. 
 
 14. The epic denotes an age of self-conscious activity, 
 freedom, and personal development. 
 
 15. It is not history, but the first form that history 
 assumes : events and persons through the medium of 
 idealizing tradition. 
 
 "Fras. Mag.", 1851 ; Froude's "Short Studies," ist series, p. 
 408 ; " Las Chefs D'CEuvre Epiques, de Tous las Peuples," par A. 
 Chassang at F. L. Marcou. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE GREEK EPIC. 
 
 I. In the centuries between the Homeric Iliad and 
 the expedition against Troy, tradition had interwoven 
 the names of heroes into myths and popular legends, 
 floating among the people ; and these names and deeds 
 
EPIC POETRY. 1 6 
 
 were incorporated into the stories of the variousHtribes 
 of the Hellenic race. These were sung by rhapsodists 
 at feasts, public assemblies, celebrations and festivals. 
 
 2. The Homeric poems embody these popular myths 
 and legends in a form that lives because of its unity, its 
 naturalness, its fidelity to nature and human life. 
 
 3. These poems spring from a soil of popular life, 
 mythical belief, and legendary faith, and are not the 
 artificial production of poetic talent working up at the 
 study-table material for effect. 
 
 4. Whether the work of one individual mind or of the 
 popular consciousness, these poems, the Iliad and the 
 Odyssey, round off into a whole a vast cycle of legends 
 and myths, constituting all that the people had of litera- 
 ture, history, and religious beliefs. 
 
 5. A mirror, as well as product, of the age and nation- 
 al life. 
 
 6. The Homeric poems, even if the work of one 
 genius, were sung or recited in parts, for the entertain- 
 ment of the people ["Homeric Dissertations," in Blackie's 
 "Homer and the Iliad," Vol. I, p. 12]. 
 
 7. Their attraction at the present day, and their 
 living, poetic power.' 
 
 8. Homer the most important poetical monument in 
 existence [Matthew Arnold's "Translators of Homer"]. 
 
 9. This poetry a naive and picturesque representation 
 [Lord Derby's Speech in 1865, quoted in Blackie's 
 "Homer," Vol. I, p. 143]- 
 
 10. In it every object was alive, and by imaginative 
 
EPIC POETRY. 17 
 
 sympathy the poet enters into scenes and events. Spears, 
 waves, mountains, horses have personality ["Iliad," 
 XXIII, 216; I, 482; IV, 424; XIII, 29; XIV, 392]. 
 
 11. The meeting of the different Hellenic tribes in 
 Asia Minor gave the necessary conditions for the birth 
 of such poems [K. O. Miiller's "Literature of Ancient 
 Greece," Vol. I, Book I, ch. iv]. 
 
 12. The interest centres about one man and not any 
 event or series of events. The central nucleus of the 
 Iliad an Achilleis [De Quincey's "Homer and the Ho- 
 meridse," "The Greek Poets," by J. A. Symonds, p. 43, 
 2d series]. 
 
 13. The internal unity of the poem. The Xth Book 
 an essential part, notwithstanding the apparent want of 
 direct connection with the narrated story. 
 
 14. Illustrations of the unity of tone, coloring, purpose 
 and character ["University Quart", 4: 209]. 
 
 15. The Homeric heroes, women, warriors and gods 
 ["N. A. Rev.", 91 : 301 ; "Fras. Mag.", 44: 76; "The 
 Greek Poets," by J. A. Symonds, 2d series, pp. 40-106]. 
 
 16. The objectiveness, calmness, and natural pathos 
 of the representation. 
 
 ' Lord Chatham asked his son to read to him, a day or two before 
 
 he died, the verses in Pope's Homer describing the death of Hector ; 
 
 and when finished, said : "Read it again." 
 
 Charles James Fox said, "Every thing is to be found in Homer." 
 Gladstone's love and admiration for Homer are evident, and his 
 
 " Homer and the Homeric Age," in 3 vols., a monument of faithful 
 
 study and erudition, rather than of critical insight. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 1 8 
 
 Lord Derby's translation is spirited in parts, but destitute of poetic 
 merit. 
 
 Pope's version is an ornate and ingeniously rhymed poem, enter- 
 taining in its way, but with more of Pope than of Homer in its 
 elaborate and epigrammatic finish. 
 
 Chapman's translation is too cumbrous, quaint, and archaic for 
 general reading, but rich in expression and happy rendering to the 
 student. 
 
 The best translation is that by Bryant. Its diction is neither too 
 formal nor elevated, and the rhythmic flow is graceful, varied, and 
 well sustained. 
 
 The student, wishing to study the "Homeric question," can con- 
 sult " Wolff's Prolegomena ad Homerum," and the " Problem of the 
 Homeric Poems," by W. D. Geddes. A concise resume is also 
 given in Anthon's "Greek Literature," and " History of Greek Lit- 
 erature," by Talfourd, Bloomfield, and others. See also " Lach- 
 mann's Essays on Homer," in " Quart. Rev.", 8i : 381. 
 
 A comprehensive account of the Homeric Poems is to be found 
 in the Histories of Greek Literature by O. MuUer, Bode, Bernhardy 
 •Schoell, and W. Mure. 
 
 The " Homeric Controversy " is treated of in " Quart. Rev.", 87 : 
 235; 125: 441 ; "N. A. Rev.", 71: 387; 127: 511. 
 
 For a discussion of the plan of the Iliad, see "Grote's Greece," 
 Vol. II. 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 THE HOMERIC POEMS. 
 
 I . The invocation to the muse not a conventional for- 
 mula in the Homeric poems ["Epic Philosophy," in "N. 
 A. Rev.", 107 : 501]. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 19 
 
 2. The poet regarded himself as a passive instrument 
 under the influence of a divine musician ["Iliad," II, 
 484, 761 ; "Odyssey," VI, 267; VIII, 43 ; XXII, 347]. 
 
 3. These. poems not isolated mountains, but highest 
 peaks in a vast range hidden in the past. 
 
 4. They bring into communion with a believing, 
 mythic age entirely different from our own. 
 
 5. The different cycles or groups of poems on the 
 Argonauts, the Theban legends, the siege and capture of 
 Troy, and the return of the heroes. 
 
 6. The Iliad dwells on the siege of the city; the 
 Odyssey belongs to the group of Nostoi or legends re- 
 lating to the return to Greece. 
 
 7. Odysseus, or Ulysses, the central figure. 
 
 8. The Odyssey unfolds the social and domestic life of 
 of the heroic age. 
 
 9. The romantic charm of the poem. 
 
 10. A more perfect unity, a more even style of narra- 
 tion, and a more complex assemblage of events and 
 characters ["Rev. des Deux Mondes," 1866; "Ed. Rev.", 
 April, 1 871]. 
 
 11. The Ulysses of the Iliad and Odyssey. 
 
 12. Ulysses, whether present or absent, the unifying 
 point of interest. 
 
 13. The entrance of the hero himself in Book V. 
 
 14. Ulysses on the sea shore and Tennyson's Enoch 
 Arden. 
 
 15. The artistic construction of the poem, compared 
 
EPIC POETRY. 20 
 
 with Other narrative poems containing a multitude of 
 characters and events. 
 
 1 6. Its permanent interest, in the faithful representa- 
 tion of human life and nature under mythic and romantic 
 forms. 
 
 17. Its construction later than the parts of the Iliad 
 containing the Achilles legend. 
 
 1 8. Few abstract terms ; its geographical minuteness ; 
 its more humane tone; its modified social tone; its 
 mythology of Zeus and his relation as omniscient father 
 of the race ["Od.", I, 37; IV, 468; XIV, 444; "II.", 
 XVIII, 184]. 
 
 19. The popular, romantic stories and sagas in the 
 Odyssey, a different atmosphere and age from the primi- 
 tive legends of the Iliad ["Od.", VIII, 556; IX, 94; X, 
 287]. 
 
 20. Its ethical tone, which made it a favorite with 
 philosophic thinkers ["Cicero de Finibus," V, 18 ; 
 "Memorabilia," I, 3, 7 ; II, 6; "Epistles of Horace," I, 
 2,26]. 
 
 21. Ulysses the true representative Hellenic hero. 
 
 22. No poem of the Middle Ages more permeated 
 with the romantic element. 
 
 23. Its symbolic form some justification to the view 
 of it as a Greek "Pilgrim's Progress." 
 
 24. The characteristics of the epic as deduced from 
 these Greek models [Blackie's "Homer," I, 262; "Aris- 
 totle's Poetics "]. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 21 
 
 25. The flippant view of Voltaire ["Essai sur la Poesie 
 Epique"; "N. A. Rev.", Vol. CVII, p. 520]. 
 
 26. The unity of a poem as something more than that 
 produced by a unifying tradition and the same legendary 
 and mythical background ["Ed. Rev.", 1849, p. 89]. 
 
 27. These poems, (i) the most perfect specimens of 
 the primitive epic ; (2) the simple and natural description 
 of an age and mode of thought entirely different from 
 ours ; (3) the embodiment of past ideals of life and 
 character. 
 
 For a discussion of the authorship of the Odyssey, see " The 
 Problem of the Homeric Poems," by W. D. Geddes, and "Fras. 
 Mag." N. S., Vol. VIII, 375. 
 
 In "N. A. Rev.". Vol. CXII, pp. 328-370, April, 1871, is a good 
 estimate of the different translations of Homer, and a good cursory 
 view of the Homeric epic. 
 
 LECTURE VIII, 
 
 THE MEDIEVAL EPICS. 
 
 1. No historical data for the rise of the aoidoi in 
 Greece ["The Hellenes," by J. A. St. John, pp. 319, 
 320]. 
 
 2. The rhapsodists sang the verses of others. 
 
 3. The verses of the Cyclic poets show the infinite 
 distance between imitation and genius. 
 
 4. At the time of these poets, yj6 B. C, the Homeric 
 epics had attained a completed form. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 22 
 
 S- The gradual development of the primitive epic, re- 
 suming in itself the ballad, the hymn, the ancient myth, 
 the heroic legend, and the local tradition. 
 
 6. The combination of these into a whole, like the 
 Odyssey, requires the action of one /poetic mind. 
 
 7. This presence of one creative genius not irreconcil- 
 able with the spontaneous, national, and mythical char- 
 acter of the poems. 
 
 8. The construction of these poems is shown clearly 
 by that of the epics of the Middle Ages in Europe ["De 
 FHistoire de la Poesie," par J. J. Ampere; "Revue des 
 Deux Mondes," Aoiit, 1832]. 
 
 9. These mediaeval poems more nearly related with 
 the Homeric than are the ^neid or Paradise Lost. 
 
 10. The popular passion and imagination in history 
 [Blackie's "Homer," Vol. I, p. 48; "The Poetry of 
 Seven Dials," in "Quart. Rev.", 1867, Vol. CLXVH, 
 
 P- 392]. 
 
 11. The chansons de geste or poems of heroic deeds, 
 of the Xlth Century, which expand and illustrate the 
 songs of the illustrious chiefs who were themselves 
 minstrels like Achilles. 
 
 12. The jongleurs and the rhapsodists exercised simi- 
 lar functions. 
 
 13. The expansion of these chansons into romances, 
 and the modification by introducing contemporary and 
 historic names and events. 
 
 14. The same relative religious development in the 
 
EPIC POETRY. 23 
 
 Homeric and mediasval poems : the same credulity, sym- 
 bolism, and personification. 
 
 15. The points of analogy in the social condition of 
 feudalism and the Homeric age. 
 
 16. The Scandinavian Eddas and the Germanic Nibel- 
 ungenlied ["The Gripis-Spa; from the Elder Edda," 
 "Eraser's Mag.", N. S., 1874, Vol. XI, p. 227; "The 
 Teutonic and Celtic Epic," p. 336]. 
 
 17. The parallel for the Homeric epos in the Lay of 
 the Nibelungs, and the chansons of Saulcourt and 
 Maldon, not in Virgil [Freeman's "Comparative Politics," 
 p. 300]. 
 
 1 8. The mythic background and coloring of the Norse 
 and Germanic poems ["History of Literature," by F. 
 Schlegel p. 154, Bohn's edition]. 
 
 19. The Lay of the Nibelungs not before the Xllth, 
 nor later than the Xlllth Century, though the events go 
 far back into the Gothic era [" Dublin Univ. Mag., 80 ; 
 232]. 
 
 20. In the Xlllth Century these adventures and 
 legends were recited or sung at the assembly of chiefs 
 and warlike princes [" Les Origines de I'epopee du moyen 
 ige," Romans carlovingiens, "Rev. des Deux Mondes," 
 1st Sept., 1832; "Romans de la Table-Ronde," isth 
 Sept., 1832]. 
 
 21. The authorship attributed to Wolfram von Eschen- 
 bach, Henry von Ofterdingen, Conrad of Wurzburg, and 
 Klingsoehr. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 24 
 
 22. The poem contains the Sigfried Saga and a Bur- 
 gundian legend of Attila's conquest. 
 
 23. The Icelandic Saga collected by Ssemund, who 
 died in 1133 ["Rev. des Deux Mondes," Nov.-Dec, 
 1866]. 
 
 24. The Nibelungenlied understood only by compari- 
 son with the Icelandic Saga, where the stories are in their 
 period of formation. 
 
 25. The same primitive traditions, based upon myth- 
 ical data, to be found in Saxony, on the Rhine, the 
 Baltic, in Iceland, and the Faroe islands. The reproduc- 
 tion of myths found in Greece, of Apollo, Adonis, 
 Pegasus and Bellerophon, the Hesperides, the Golden 
 Fleece, the invisible cap, invulnerability, the feminine 
 jealousy, etc. 
 
 26. These localized, and adapted to historical names 
 and events which are gradually substituted for the 
 original. 
 
 27. The minstrels of the Xlllth Century[]had a large 
 body of songs, lays, and poems from which to select and 
 combine. 
 
 28. The lament of Gudrun by Sigurd's corpse ["Fau- 
 riel's Proven9al Poetry," translated by Adler, p. 186]. 
 
 29. The Lay of Roland, a French epic, the oldest of 
 the chansons de geste ["Les Epopees fran9aises," par M. 
 Leon Gautier, 3d vol., 1868 ; "Revue des Deux Mondes," 
 Juin, 1852]. 
 
 30. The four great cycles of legends comprehended 
 in mediaeval epics: (i) Gothic, Frankish, and Burgun- 
 
EPIC POETRY. 25 
 
 dian, including the Nibelungs, the Heldenbuch, and the 
 Elder Edda ; (2) Charlemagne ; (3) King Arthur and his 
 Round Table; (4) The Cid, Champion, or Conqueror, 
 the popular victor over the Moors [Ticknor's "Spanish 
 Literature," Vol. I, p. 13]. 
 
 3 1 . The romantic and classic poems equally based in 
 popular beliefs, life, and traditions. 
 
 For some of this mediasval literature, see " The Nibelung Story " 
 in " Romances of the Middle Ages," by G. W. Cox and E. H. 
 Jones, pp. 276-315, Henry Holt & Co., 1880. 
 
 " Nibelungnoth und Klage," a version into modern German, by 
 A. Zeune. 
 
 " Le Morte D'Arthur," by F. J. Furnivall ; " Morte D'Arthur," by 
 Sir T. Malory. 
 
 "Popular Epics of the Middle Ages," 2 vols., by J. M. Ludlow. 
 
 " Tableau de la Literature au moyen kge," par M. Villemain. 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 THE HINDOO EPICS. 
 
 1. Two epics in India as in Greece. The Mahabha- 
 rata, like the Iliad, has the more primitive elements ; the 
 Ramayana, like the Odyssey, has a more consistent 
 unity and completeness. 
 
 2. Made up of warlike exploits, romantic and mythic 
 legends, but all on a vast scale of exaggeration in ac- 
 cordance with the oriental imagination. 
 
 3. The Ramayana, like the Odyssey, opens with a 
 
EPIC POETRY. 26 
 
 council of the gods consulting how they shall destroy 
 Ravana who cannot be conquered by gods, giants, or 
 demons. Man is not included, and Vishnu agrees to be- 
 come a man. 
 
 4. The fundamental theme, like that of all primitive 
 epics, is the contest with evil, fidelity to a sacred promise, 
 and the persistence in noble virtues. 
 
 5. The immediate occasion is the abduction of a wife. 
 
 6. The Hindoo Sita the type of feminine modesty and 
 wifely devotion. 
 
 7. The religious development the same with that of 
 the Homeric and the mediaeval poems. 
 
 8. The gigantic proportions of the Hindoo legends. 
 The legend of the Ganges. 
 
 9. The moral tone of many reflections. 
 
 10. The Mahabharata a vast conglomerate of 220,000 
 lines ; a banyan tree with branches each forming a sepa- 
 rate root, and itself a forest with underbrush and en- 
 tangled copse. 
 
 1 1. The thread of a continuous story traceable through 
 its many episodes and various legends. 
 
 12. Great national eras and changes narrated under 
 this mythical guise. 
 
 13. The , remarkable episodes of the Bhagavad Gita, 
 and Damayanti and Nala. 
 
 14. These episodes are really metrical novels, notwith- 
 standing Prof Swing's declaration that no novel is to be 
 found in Hindoo literature. 
 
 15. The recovery of their kingdom by the Pandavas 
 
EPIC POETRY. 27 
 
 is not the end. Like Ulysses they set out again, and 
 after many allurements and temptations overcome, they 
 enter the real heaven. 
 
 See " L'Epop^e indienne," par E. Quinet, in " Rev. des Deux 
 Mondes," ist Juil., 1840. 
 
 " Le Bhagavata Purana," Ibid, Nov. 15, 1840. 
 
 "Le Ramayana," Ibid, Sept. 15, 1847. 
 
 "The Mahabharata," "N. A. Rev.", Vol. CIII ; 18-68. 
 
 " Le Bhagavata-Purana," in " La Science et Les Letters en 
 Orient," par J. J. Ampere, pp. 384-412. 
 
 " Nal und Damajanti," von Fried. Riickert. 
 
 " Indisdhe Sagen," von Adolf Holtzmann. 
 
 " Der Raub der Draupad}," von M. Fertig. 
 
 " Yadjndatta-Badha, episode extrait et traduit du Ramayana," 
 par A. L. Chfezy. 
 
 "Fragment du Mahaprasthanikaparva,'' par Ph. E. Foucaux. 
 
 " Bhagavad-Gita, das hohe Lied der Indus," von C. R. S. Peiper. 
 
 " Le Ramayana," in " La Science et Les Lettres," par J. J. Am- 
 pere, pp. 446-489- 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 THE PERSIAN EPIC. 
 
 1. The Persian epic, like the country and the language, 
 occupies an intermediate position between the Greek and 
 the Hindoo. 
 
 2. It is also intermediate between the primitive and 
 the literary epic. 
 
 3. Firdusi, the author of the "Schah Nameh," or 
 
EPIC POETRY. 28 
 
 "Book of Kings," the great Persian epic, lived in the 
 Xth Century. 
 
 4. Written not in Arabic, but in the old vernacular. 
 
 5. The earnest devotion, patriotism, and faith of the 
 national poet, weaving into one poem the traditional 
 history of Persia from the earliest times. 
 
 6. Dynasties and centuries embodied under great rep- 
 resentative names. 
 
 7. His independent and indignant bearing in his pov- 
 erty makes him the peer of Dante, Tasso and Camoens. 
 
 8. Looked upon as having "a divine mission." 
 
 9. The poem begins with the dawn of civilization, and 
 celebrates its successive steps under the names of heroes, 
 of whom the greatest is Djemsched. 
 
 10. The overweening arrogance and humiliation of 
 Djemschid and the successful rebellion of Kahweh, the 
 blacksmith. 
 
 11. His apron becomes the sacred oriflamme of the 
 Persian monarchy. 
 
 12. Zoroaster and the abohtion of idolatry; Isfendiar 
 and the restoration of the old cultus. 
 
 13. Alexander, under the name of Sikander, cele- 
 brated as one of the Persian kings. 
 
 14. The main subject-matter of the legendary treat- 
 ment, like the Greek and the Hindoo epic, is war with 
 alien and savage races. 
 
 15. The unity is that of a poetic ideal of the national 
 spirit and history. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 29 
 
 16. As in all epics, divine powers mingle in human 
 affairs, accomplishing the purpose of the supreme will. 
 
 17. The invocation to the "Lord of Life and Light." 
 
 18. The voice of the pure, grand, and simple old re- 
 ligion. 
 
 19. Freer from extravagant and high-flown imagery 
 than other oriental poems. Its grace, pathos, and hu- 
 manly tone. 
 
 20. Its view of life as changing and uncertain ; the 
 generations like "passing caravans, one to-day, the next 
 to-morrow"; "The world an ingenious juggler, every 
 moment playing some novel trick." 
 
 2 1 . The descriptions of battle animated, but vague and 
 general ; not minute and specific, like those of Homer. 
 
 22. The insight into spiritual laws and great moral 
 truths under symbolic statements. 
 
 23. The love depicted, that of glowing Eastern passion. 
 
 24. Many of its wonderful legends, tales of magic, 
 astrology, necromancy, giants, dragons, chivalrous ad- 
 venture, genii, and spirits, re-appear in mediaeval ro- 
 mances. 
 
 25. The episode of Zohrab and Rustem [Matthew 
 Arnold's Poems; "L'Histoire litteraire de la France, 
 avant le XII siecle," par J. J. Ampere, quoted in "Demo- 
 geot," p. 22 ; Comparison with the Lay of Hildebrand]. 
 
 26. The powers of light and darkness in the Persian 
 and the Norse mythology. Other points of resemblance, 
 in characters and events, to the Iliad. 
 
 27. The poem embraces the three periods into which 
 
EPIC POETRY. 30 
 
 history may be divided : (i) the mythical ; (2) the heroic ; 
 (3) the historical. 
 
 28. The effect of the old Homeric ballads, in the 
 heroic ages, to be understood "only by him who witnesses 
 the effect of similar compositions upon the wild nomads 
 of the East," according to Layard. 
 
 See " La Science et les Lettres en Orient," par J. J. Ampfire, pp. 
 279-375- 
 
 " Das Heldenbuch von Iran, aus dem Schah Nameh des Firdusi," 
 von J. Gorres. 
 
 Sainte Beuve's " Causeries de Lundi," Tome I. 
 
 Atkinson's English translation, published in London, 1832. 
 
 " Le Schah-Nameh," 6pop6e Persane, traduite par M. Mohl. 
 
 LECTURES XI AND XII. 
 
 THE ^NEID. 
 
 1. The iEneid the chief literary or secondary epic. 
 
 2. Virgil, born at Mantua, 70 B. C, and died 19 B. C. 
 at Brundusium. 
 
 3. The first six books based on the Odyssey, and the 
 last six on the Iliad, with essentially the same mythology 
 and scenes, and some of the same actors. 
 
 4. Shows an advance in civilization and humane char- 
 acteristics. 
 
 5. The poem based upon the national traditions, and 
 related to the past and the future of Rome, Augustus 
 
EPIC POETRY. 31 
 
 himself supposed the direct descendant of lulus, the son 
 of jEneas. The relation with Carthage. 
 
 6. The reflected light of Homeric incidents, characters, 
 scenes, and illustrations. 
 
 7. Not to be depreciated or dismissed as merely an 
 imitation : a graft having the flavor and taste of the 
 Roman soil, with purely Roman characteristics. 
 
 , 8. The Roman practical, ceremonial, destitute of 
 aesthetic imagination, imported epic and dramatic poetry, 
 while satire, didactic verse, annals and oratory were in- 
 digenous. 
 
 9. The perception of literary form received from 
 Greek writers. The new world opened to intellect and 
 taste. 
 
 10. The fate, fortune, glory of the Roman state a per- 
 vading national sentiment, and a fixed political tradition 
 culminating in the deification of the emperor and uni- 
 versal dominion. 
 
 11. The touch-stone of excellence what was useful, 
 and art and learning but a diversion, a toy for leisure 
 hours. His gymnastic training to fit the Roman citizen 
 to bear arms, and not to cultivate manly excellence in 
 every direction like the Greek. 
 
 12. The original literature of Rome reflects these 
 traits of the national character. The modification 
 through Greek and courtly influence. 
 
 13. The age of Augustus, with its luxury, varnish of 
 culture, weariness of war, love of the circus, of magnifi- 
 cence, archaeological learning, and dilettante tastes. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 32 
 
 14. Merivale sees in the .(Eneid a protest against the 
 idea, supposed to be entertained by the emperor, of re- 
 moving the seat of empire to the East. 
 
 IS- Virgil a lover of retirement, country life, books, 
 and simple pleasures, more than of the city and court. 
 
 16. He saw in Augustus a benefactor and friend, a 
 friend of peace and the arts of peace, and a guardian of 
 the national glory and prosperity. 
 
 17. Virgil's poem has Uved, not merely because of its 
 individual poetic beauties, but because it embodied the 
 traditions of Rome, and was rooted in the national life. 
 He connects the latest triumph with the cradle of Roman 
 kings. 
 
 18. The poet sings from himself, and works up in an 
 artistic manner the old forms, consciously arranging the 
 lights, shades, and coloring. The muse he invokes is 
 memory: "Bring to my mind, O Muse, the cause," etc. 
 
 19. The opening of the poem, and the first connection 
 with Carthage, the conquered rival of Rome. 
 
 20. The descent into the mystic shades in the sixth 
 book, the point from which begin the adventures and 
 battles on Italian soil. 
 
 21. ^neas represented not as a warlike hero delight- 
 ing in battle, but compassionate, merciful, obedient to 
 the will of the gods, and an instrument in accomplishing 
 a divine destiny. 
 
 22. Unfortunately, our human interest is on the side 
 of Dido and Turnus, not on that of iEneas and Lavinia. 
 
 23. The eighth book records as prophecy, on the 
 
EPIC POETRY. 33 
 
 shield of .^neas, an idealized picture of an actual impe- 
 rial triumph. 
 
 24. The fourth book not Homeric, but Euripidean in 
 its passion and sentiment. 
 
 25. The poet sacrifices the personal qualities of heroic 
 energy and constancy of .(Eneas to the necessity of 
 making him a representative character, and an executor 
 of the divine decrees. 
 
 26. The heroic Sir Philip Sydney's view of ^Eneas as 
 an example "to be worn in the tablet of the memory." 
 
 27. The heroine Camilla in the eleventh book. 
 
 28. Mr. Gladstone's uncritical and unfair estimate of 
 Virgil as a poet compared with Homer. The "vein of 
 untruthfulness in the .lEneid," for the most part, a neces- 
 sary result, of its being a literary production in a far dif- 
 ferent age, and not a reproduction in a believing age of 
 its manners and modes of feeling and thought [" Homer 
 and the Homeric Age," Vol. HI, p. 507]. 
 
 29. The true position of Virgil as an epic poet [Sainte 
 Beuve's "Etude sur Virgile," p. 62]. 
 
 30. Virgil not a servile flatterer, and JEneas not meant 
 to be a literal copy of Augustus Csesar, as Dunlop main- 
 tains ["History of Latin Literature," Vol. HI, p. 173]. 
 
 31. The mythologic machinery and state-gods of the 
 .^neid very different from the gods of Homer. 
 
 32. Virgil initiated in the learning, the archaeology, 
 and philosophy of the most cultivated era of ancient 
 Rome. 
 
 33. The poetic significance of this descent into the 
 
EPIC POETRY. 34 
 
 realm of ancestral spirits [" Swedenborg, a Biography," 
 by J. J. G. Wilkinson, p. 267, Boston, 1849]. 
 
 34. The Hades of Virgil and that of Homer different 
 as rude, natural superstition is from Platonic or Pythag- 
 orean speculation. 
 
 35. The oriental coloring of Virgil's representation of 
 the "divine immanence." 
 
 36. This visit to the world of shades, and the prophetic 
 utterance of Anchises in regard to the destiny and " im- 
 perial arts " worthy of Rome, bind together the past and 
 the future in one national bond. 
 
 37. The poet has erected a monument not only to his 
 own individual poetic genius, but to Rome, in preserving 
 her traditions, reflecting her glory, and embalming her 
 language. 
 
 For brief, general notices of Virgil, see the " Histories of Latin 
 Literature," by Bemhardy, Browne, Pierron and Schoell. 
 
 " Les Pontes du siScIe d'Auguste,'' 15 Dec, 1837. 
 
 "Etudes sur la Poesie Latine," par M. Patin. 
 
 "Revue des Deux Mondes," 15 Mai, 1869. 
 
 "La Religion romaine et la vie future dans Virgile," "Revue 
 des Deux Mondes," i Mars et i Juin, 1873. 
 
 "English Translators of Virgil," by J. Conington, Vol. I, p. 137. 
 
 "Quarterly Review," July, 1861. 
 
 Translation of the .iCneid by Dryden, into rhymed pentameter ; 
 by Conington, into prose ; by Morris, into rhymed English verse. 
 
 "Virgil and his Translators," "Quart. Rev.", no: 73; " Fras. 
 Mag.", N. S., 3 : 162 ; Ibid, 75 : 83 ; " Blackwood," loi : 35 ; " N. 
 Brit. Rev.", 45 : 394. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 35 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 THE CONVENTIONAL EPIC. 
 
 1. The epic, in the hands of inferior poets, like Lucan 
 with Pompey as hero, and Silius Italicus with Hannibal, 
 fail to interest. Eloquent verse is not true poetry 
 ["Translation of Lucan," by Nicholas Rowe, in 1718; 
 "Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography " ; 
 "Etudes de Moeurs et de Critique," par D. Nisard], 
 
 2. The conventional epic hit off by Byron ["Don 
 Juan," Canto I, st. cc]. 
 
 3. The "Art of Epic Composition" ["Blackwood," 
 
 42: ;37]- 
 
 4. The literary, or conventional epic compared with 
 the primitive, or national, wherein is contained the ideals 
 of life, the philosophy and history of past generations. 
 
 5. Each great poet, in each cultivated nation, strives 
 to produce this grandest of poetic forms. 
 
 6. The "Jerusalem Delivered" by Tasso,' 1500 years 
 after Virgil, on Italian soil [" History of the madness and 
 imprisonment of T. Tasso," by R. H. Wilde; "Life of 
 T. Tasso," by R. Milman ; "History of Italian Lit", by 
 Ginguene]. 
 
 7. The subject of the poem contrasted with the .^neid. 
 
 8. The imitative and lyric character of the poem. 
 
 9. Its want of unitj^, its mixed mythologic forms, and 
 unreal spiritual machinery, cannot be compensated by 
 melody of verse, lyric tenderness, and enthusiastic piety. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 36 
 
 10. The supernatural revelation to Godfrey defended 
 on the ground that "the expedition of the Crusaders was 
 infinitely pleasing to God, and it was natural that He 
 should reward the signal zeal and piety of the hero." 
 
 11. The "Lusiad" of Camoens, in middle of XVIth 
 Century ["Revue des Deux Mondes," Avril 15, 1832; 
 "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Camoens," by 
 Adamson, London, 1820]. 
 
 1 2. The best record of the glory of Portugal engaged 
 in discovery and conquest qf the New World. 
 
 13. The incongruous minghng of Heathen mythology 
 and mediaeval superstition. 
 
 14. The apparition of the giant Adamastor. 
 
 15. In this poem the flowering out of the poetic genius 
 of Lusitania or Portugal ["Life of Camoens," "Quart. 
 Rev.", 27: I ; "Poetry of," "Ed. Rev.", ^y. 405]. 
 
 16. The "Henriade," by Voltaire, published in Lon- 
 don in 1728 ["Parallele de la Henriade et du Lutrin," 
 par I'Abbe Batteaux]. 
 
 17. Voltaire and epic poetry sufficiently incongruous. 
 His "Essay on epic poetry" published in English in 
 1726, at London. 
 
 18. The national vanity flattered by possessing a so 
 called epic poem. Pronounced by contemporaries, 
 "beautiful as Virgil," "a marvelous work," "un chef- 
 d'oeuvre d'esprit"; 300,000 copies sold at once ["Hist, 
 of French Literature," by Domogeot; by D. Nisard; 
 by Vinet; "Le Roi Voltaire," by Strauss]. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 37 
 
 19. A telescopic lens required now to bring this star 
 of the first magnitude into view. 
 
 20. The subject, Henry IV and the war of the league, 
 not epic. 
 
 21. The real Voltaire in the description of the Massa- 
 cre of St. Bartholomew, and the Festival of Toleration. 
 
 22. His measureless conceit, vanity, and wit in a letter 
 to Madame . 
 
 23. Tennyson as an epic poet in his "Idyls of the 
 King" ["Ed. Rev.", 90: 388; 110:247; "Blackwood," 
 86: 608; "Quart. Rev.", 106: 454]. 
 
 24. King Arthur as the subject of an epic in one of 
 his earliest poems, "Morte d' Arthur." 
 
 25. Misty and O.ssian-like gleamings of the past, 
 dilettante limning, not breathing and actual forms. 
 
 26. The old legends told in marvelously rhythmic 
 verses, with glimpses of an attempt at unity of purpose 
 and coloring, but no epic completeness or interest for 
 the present age ["The Idylls of the King as an Epic " ; 
 "Quart. Rev.", Vol. CXXVI, p. 336; "Eras. Mag.", 60: 
 301 ; "Dub. Univ. Mag.", 55 : 62]. 
 
 27. The numerous imitations of the conventional epic 
 in English verse will not repay study or criticism. 
 
 ' Translation by Hunt, reviewed in "Quart. Rev.", 25: 246; by 
 Fairfax, in " N. A. Rev.", 14 : 87. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 38 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS EPIC. 
 
 1. Religious, dogmatic subjects unfit for epic treat- 
 ment. 
 
 2. All the primitive epics essentially religious — satu- 
 rated with the deepest belief: earth and sky, the finite 
 and infinite blended. 
 
 3. The eternal laws of justice and love celebrated in 
 Dante, the swan-song of mediaeval faith. The mazes of 
 scholastic divinity unfit for song. 
 
 4. The "Messiah" of Klopstock, a paraphrase of the 
 New Testament history, pious, tender, ^nd lyrical [" For- 7 
 eign Quarterly," 30: 439]. 
 
 5. Milton's "Paradise Lost," first published in its 
 present form in 1674 [Macaulay's "Essays," Vol. I, and 
 "Ed. Rev.", 42: 304; Masson's "Life and Times of 
 Milton " ; "Chris. Exam.", 3 : 29, and Channing's Works, 
 Vol. I; "Review," by R. W. Emerson, in "N. Amer. 
 Rev.", 47 : 56]. 
 
 6. The poem partaking of elevation, an expression of 
 his own self-conscious nobility of purpose and grandeur 
 of thought. 
 
 7. Conversant with a few great ideas and of simple, 
 natural tastes, a lover of art, and the primal affections of 
 human nature. The granite beneath with a covering of 
 earth in which grow flowers [Walter Bagehot's "Literary 
 Studies," Vol. I, p. 173]. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 
 
 39 
 
 8. He deals with stately and majestic sights and sounds 
 that presents themselves to all. 
 
 9. His poetry heavy with the weight of learned allu- 
 sions, epithets, and illustrations. 
 
 10. His preparation for writing his epic, "letting his 
 wings grow and preparing to fly." 
 
 11. The "overshadowing of the heavenly wings," the 
 illumination "with an interior hght," and "the hallowed 
 fire of the altar to touch and purify the lips." 
 
 12. He hoped to celebrate the "divine mercies and 
 judgments " in his own land, but not allowed even the 
 "honor to be admitted among the mourners." 
 
 13. He gathers about him the visions of beauty, jus- 
 tice, and truth, to "vindicate the ways of God to man." 
 
 14. The life, character, and opinions of Milton n'eeded 
 to be known, in order to estimate aright the "Paradise 
 Lost." The true epic does not require such a commen- 
 tary. 
 
 15. The representation of the play of "Adam or 
 Original Sin " at Milan, suggested to Milton a tragedy, 
 of which he wrote the opening scene, but which culmi- 
 nated in his epic. 
 
 16. The dogmatic and metaphysical- projections of his 
 own reasoning and study mar the poetic force and in- 
 sight. 
 
 17. The bald literalizing and materializing of the 
 spiritual in Milton's theological statements. 
 
 1 8. His representation of the Creator, that of a school- 
 
EPIC POETRY. 40 
 
 divine ["History of English Literature," by Taine, Vol. 
 II, ch. VI]. 
 
 19. The delineations of Satan and Eve alone excite 
 interest ["Dub. Univ. Mag.", 88: 707; "North. Amer. 
 Rev.", 91 ■■ 539]- 
 
 20. The mechanical and slavish loyalty required in 
 the command to transfer reverence, love, and worship to 
 ah unknown power. The Almighty represented as an 
 Absolute Despotic Monarch. 
 
 21. The suggestive character of his descriptions, and 
 the manner in which they are brought before the mind 
 rather than the eye. 
 
 22. Our traditional prepossessions hinder us from 
 judging critically this poem. Criticism of Taine one- 
 sided and exaggerated. 
 
 23. Estimate by HegeP; Scherer^; Coleridge^; F. 
 Schlegel*; Arnold.' 
 
 24. The tendency of our age to neglect this poem as 
 a whole, and all poetry not in harmony with the spirit of 
 modern thought, and the essential laws of human de- 
 velopment. 
 
 ' "In Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' we cannot fail to see how great 
 a discrepancy exists between the subject-matter of the poem, and 
 the reflective views of the poet in his description of events, persons, 
 and conditions. Milton gives us the sentiments and states of a 
 modem fancy, and the moral notions of his age." 
 
 Again, he says : " The new manifestations in the spheres of belief 
 and of actual life have their origin in the principles of the reforma- 
 tion ; but the whole tendency of modern life is more peculiarly 
 adapted to lyric than to epic poetry. Yet there is an after-bloom 
 
EPIC POETRY. 41 
 
 of the epic to be found even here, of which Milton's Paradise Lost, 
 and Klopstock's Messiah are leading specimens. In classic culture 
 and in grace of expression, Milton takes a preeminent rank in his 
 time ; but in depth and energy of thought, in original invention and 
 constructive power he is far inferior to Dante. On the one hand, 
 the conflict and the catastrophe take too much of a dramatic form ; 
 and on the other, the lyric elevation and the moral didactic ten- 
 dency are fundamental features as remote as possible from the nat- 
 ure of the subject itself." — Hegel's "..Esthetik," Vol. Ill, ch. in. 
 
 ' " Paradise Lost is a false, grotesque, tiresome poem ; not one 
 reader in a hundred can go through the ninth and tenth books with- 
 out smiling, or through the eleventh and twelfth without yawning. 
 It does not hold together; it is a pyramid balancing on its point; 
 the most frightful of problems resolved by the most puerile of means. 
 And yet, nevertheless, ' Paradise Lost ' is immortal. It lives in 
 virtue of some episodes which will remain forever famous. Dante 
 we must read as a whole if We wish to possess his beauties ; but 
 Milton we must read only in fragments. Yet these fragments are 
 part of the poetic patrimony of the human race." — "Etudes Cri- 
 tiques," par E. Scherer. 
 
 ' Coleridge's "Works" in Harper's edition, Vol. IV, p. 300. 
 
 * " History of Literature," p. 278. 
 
 ' Arnold's "English Literature," p. 243, 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 THE MOCK EPIC. 
 
 1. The elevated and sublime may be represented in a 
 ludicrous light. The epithets and deeds befitting one 
 character ascribed to the opposite produce the effect of 
 incongruity. 
 
 2. The ideal of one age becomes ridiculous in a differ- 
 
EPIC POETRY. 42 
 
 ent one. Every object is seen through a particular 
 medium. 
 
 3. The "Orlando Furioso" of Ariosto, in the XVIth 
 Century, shows by its hyperbolic extravagance that the 
 reign of chivalry is over [Guingenet's "History of Italian 
 Literature " ; " Rose's Translation " in " Blackwood," 1 3 : 
 299; "Quart. Rev.", 30: 40; "Dub. Univ. Mag.", 26: 
 18;, 581; 27: 90]. 
 
 4. Exquisite irony in "Don Quijote," by Cervantes, 
 but no exaggerated extravagance. The ideal of one age 
 is brought into contact with what is commonplace and 
 real ["Life and Writings of Cervantes," by T. Roscoe; 
 Sismondi's "Literature of the South of Europe"; Tick- 
 nor's "Spanish Literature "; "Revue des Deux Mondes," 
 15th Dec, 1877]. 
 
 5. The comic epic divided into the burlesque and the 
 mock-heroic. The burlesque brings into ludicrous situa- 
 tions, and created incongruity by low associations. The 
 language and images applied to characters the extreme 
 opposite of those originally introduced [The "Virgile 
 Travesti," by Paul Scarron in 1648 ; "The French Hu- 
 morists," by Walter Besant, p. 253]. 
 
 6. This followed by numberless imitations. A trick, 
 like punning, and becomes wearisome. 
 
 7. The enthusiasm of one age furnishes material for 
 burlesque of the succeeding. 
 
 8. The "Turnament of Tottenham" in the XVth 
 Century ["North Brit. Rev." p. 59]. 
 
 9. This sounds like a burlesque, but may have been 
 
EPIC POETRY. 43 
 
 written simply as a description of what actually occurred 
 [Compare "King Henry VI," Part II, Act II, <5, 3, in the 
 same Century]. 
 
 10. The buVlesque entitled "Alma," or the "Seat of 
 the Mind," by M. Prior, in the XVIIth Century ["The 
 Poetical Works of Matthew Prior," "North Brit. Rev.", 
 Vol. XLIII, p. 66]. 
 
 11. The best English burlesque is Butler's Hudibras; 
 but with a special tendency to satirize the Puritans ["N. 
 Brit. Rev.", 24: 50; "Fras. Mag.", 53: 342]. 
 
 12. Uncritically compared with Don Quixote. The 
 laugh raised by each is different. The only similarity 
 that both sally forth with their squires ; but they are on 
 very different errands. Don Quixote has the charm of 
 universal ideas, natural truth, simple goodness, and sym- 
 bolic suggestiveness ["Fras. Mag.", 7: 324, 565]. 
 
 13. The example of the mock-epic in Boileau's poem, 
 "Le Lutrin," written in France in 1683, to prove the 
 theory advanced in his " Ars Poetica" that a heroic poem 
 ought to be burdened with but a small amount of subject- 
 matter, and the interest sustained by the invention of the 
 poet ["Causeries du Lundi," par St. Beuve, VI]. 
 
 14. The "Lutrin," or "Lecterne," excites but little in- 
 terest, and is a fatal argument against the thesis that an 
 epic poem needs few incidents and abundance of witty 
 filling up from the poet's brain. 
 
 15. A perfect example of the mock-heroic in Pope's 
 "Rape of the Lock," in 1714 [Taine's "English Litera- 
 ture," Book III, ch. VII ; "De Quincey, Vol. XV]. 
 
EPIC POETRY. 44 
 
 16. Its exquisite wit, delicacy of touch, fine satire, and 
 sustained flight. 
 
 17. Entirely different from a mere caricature, bur- 
 lesque, or travesty. 
 
 18. The mock-epic poem goes far back in literature. 
 The Batrachomyomachia, ftariioxoi (frog), pivz (mouse), 
 fxaxv (battle), of uncertain date, but not later than the 
 Hid Century, B. C, is no longer ascribed to Homer. 
 A pure parody in 294 verses of the heroic poems and 
 the intervention of the gods, employing the rhapsodic 
 language and images to detail a battle between frogs and 
 mice ["Blackwood," 43: 202, 631]. 
 
 19. The humor consists in the contrast between the 
 external form and the real contents of the poem. 
 
 20. A fanciful playing with the imaginative forms of 
 the epic, with no more special tendency or intentional 
 satire, than children have when they dress themselves up 
 in the garments of their elders. 
 
 21. It must be very remote from the heroic age itself 
 
 22. No parody or burlesque can be ranked as a work 
 of constructive art. Only the earnest, the noble, the 
 sincere expression of feeling and thought awakens a re- 
 sponsive life. 
 
 23. The difference between these wilful, ludicrous in- 
 ventions, and the poetical myths which they burlesque, 
 is readily felt. We laugh, perhaps, at their grotesque- 
 ness, but no breath of poesy comes from their exagge- 
 rated and assumed forms. The old poems, as literally 
 false as the caricatures themselves, are the product of a 
 spiritual power working in the consciousness of the fleet- 
 ing generations, and embody great spiritual truths, which 
 make them a cherished possession of the mind and heart 
 to-day. This poesy it was that endeared them to the 
 millions whose moral and spiritual food they once were. 
 This ideal element still remains. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PN 689.S52 
 
 Outlines of lectures, .^B^ffiliifL™ 
 
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