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The Iliad of Homer - Get a Free Blog

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I have already expressed my belief that<br />

the labours <strong>of</strong> Peisistratus were <strong>of</strong> a<br />

purely editorial character; and there<br />

seems no more reason why corrupt and<br />

imperfect editions <strong>of</strong> <strong>Homer</strong> may not<br />

have been abroad in his day, than that<br />

the poems <strong>of</strong> Valerius Flaccus and Tibullus<br />

should have given so much trouble<br />

to Poggio, Scaliger, and others. But, after<br />

all, the main fault in all the <strong>Homer</strong>ic theories<br />

is, that they demand too great a<br />

sacrifice <strong>of</strong> those feelings to which poetry<br />

most powerfully appeals, and which<br />

are its most fitting judges. <strong>The</strong> ingenuity<br />

which has sought to rob us <strong>of</strong> the name<br />

and existence <strong>of</strong> <strong>Homer</strong>, does too much<br />

violence to that inward emotion, which<br />

makes our whole soul yearn with love<br />

and admiration for the blind bard <strong>of</strong><br />

Chios. To believe the author <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Iliad</strong> a<br />

mere compiler, is to degrade the powers<br />

<strong>of</strong> human invention; to elevate analytical<br />

judgment at the expense <strong>of</strong> the most en-

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