The Iliad of Homer - Get a Free Blog

mann's 28 modification of his theory any
better. He divides the first twenty-two
books of the Iliad into sixteen different
songs, and treats as ridiculous the belief
that their amalgamation into one regular
poem belongs to a period earlier than the
age of Peisistratus. This, as Grote observes,
"explains the gaps and contradictions
in the narrative, but it explains
nothing else." Moreover, we find no contradictions
warranting this belief, and the
so-called sixteen poets concur in getting
rid of the following leading men in the
first battle after the secession of Achilles:
Elphenor, chief of the Euboeans; Tlepolemus,
of the Rhodians; Pandarus, of
the Lycians; Odius, of the Halizonians;
Pirous and Acamas, of the Thracians.
None of these heroes again make their
appearance, and we can but agree with
Colonel Mure, that "it seems strange that
any number of independent poets should