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CONTENTS.
| PAGE
| |||
| § | 5. | The Threnos, or lament for the dead, and the Hymenæos, or bridal song | 20 |
| § | 6. | Origin and character of the chorus | 22 |
| § | 7. | Ancient poets who composed sacred hymns, divided into three classes, viz. those connected, i. With the worship of Apollo; ii. With the worship of Demeter and Dionysus; and iii. With the Phrygian worship of the mother of the Gods, of the Corybantes, &c. | 24 |
| § | 8. | Explanation of the Thracian origin of several of the early Greek poets | 25 |
| § | 9. | Influence of the early Thracian or Pierian poets on the epic poetry of Homer | 28 |
| CHAPTER IV. | |||
| ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POETRY. | |||
| § | 1. | Social position of the minstrels or poets in the heroic age | 29 |
| § | 2. | Epic poems sung at the feasts of princes and nobles, and at public festivals | 30 |
| § | 3. | Manner of reciting epic poems, explanation of rhapsodists and rhapsodising | 32 |
| § | 4. | Metrical form, and poetical character of the epic poetry | 35 |
| § | 5. | Perpetuation of the early epic poems by memory and not by writing | 37 |
| § | 6. | Subjects and extent of the ante-Homeric epic poetry | 39 |
| CHAPTER V. | |||
| HOMER. | |||
| § | 1. | Opinions on the birth-place and country of Homer | 41 |
| § | 2. | Homer probably a Smyrnæan: early history of Smyrna | 42 |
| § | 3. | Union of Æolian and Ionian characteristics in Homer | 44 |
| § | 4. | Novelty of Homer's choice of subjects for his two poems | 47 |
| § | 5. | Subject of the Iliad: the anger of Achilles | 48 |
| § | 6. | Enlargement of the subject by introducing the events of the entire war | 50 |
| § | 7. | And by dwelling on the exploits of the Grecian heroes | 52 |
| § | 8. | Change of tone in the Iliad in its progress | 53 |
| § | 9. | The Catalogue of Ships | 54 |
| § | 10. | The later books, and the conclusion of the Iliad | 56 |
| § | 11. | Subject of the Odyssey: the return of Ulysses | 57 |
| § | 12. | Interpolations in the Odyssey | 60 |
| § | 13. | The Odyssey posterior to the Iliad; but both poems composed by the same person | ib. |
| § | 14. | Preservation of the Homeric poems by rhapsodists, and manner of their recitation | 62 |
| CHAPTER VI. | |||
| THE CYCLIC POETS. | |||
| § | 1. | General character of the Cyclic poems | 64 |
| § | 2. | The Destruction of Troy and Æthiopis of Arctinus of Miletus | 65 |
