. The Open court . rst of its members, probably assisted in this work by thegreat Ionian Bard, who pointed his moral and adorned his tale by]).-iinting the Mycenaean, or Spartan Kings into his story. Homer might well take the hated House from Mycenae to pic- HOMER AND THE PROPHETS. 225 tiire baneful kings, driven to ruin, as an example of what kingsought not to be; he would naturally repeat all that had been toldof them by their enemies, and even add artistic shadows of his ownto heighten the effect. As his story was mainly romantic and alle-gorical, it would be nothing against him that he use
. The Open court . rst of its members, probably assisted in this work by thegreat Ionian Bard, who pointed his moral and adorned his tale by]).-iinting the Mycenaean, or Spartan Kings into his story. Homer might well take the hated House from Mycenae to pic- HOMER AND THE PROPHETS. 225 tiire baneful kings, driven to ruin, as an example of what kingsought not to be; he would naturally repeat all that had been toldof them by their enemies, and even add artistic shadows of his ownto heighten the effect. As his story was mainly romantic and alle-gorical, it would be nothing against him that he used his facts freely,his theme being general, good and had kings, good and bad homes,and good and had men and women. As with the names of the indi-vidual characters, the allegorical name of this house as a whole isnotice on the part of the poet to his hearers and readers that literaltruth, or history, is not his purpose. The name Atreus, derived fromarr/o?, meaning baneful, driven to ruin, like the names Clytemnestra. TROJABURG AT WISBY, K. Brauns Wisbyfahrt, Leipsic, 1882, p. 120. and Agamemnon, would not be used by their friends and supportersir addressing the Kings of this House, but might be used by discon-tented people murmuring against them, in secret so long as the kingscontinued to rule, openly as soon as the kings had been deposed, ordriven out. Or, this name may have been originated Dy some personof a foreign or hostile State, to express his reaction to the Myce-naean House—so Homer might have originated it himself. , Homer certainly did not hold a theory that kings can do nowrong, witness his Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Priam; he did 226 THE OPEN CX)URT. believe that there might be wise and generous kings, witness hisOdysseus, who may be taken as representing what the best kingwould be. Whether or not Homer believed in kings as an institu-tion and preferable to judges, such as had ruled Israel or such aswere to constitute the Court of Areopagus after his d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
