near the shore of the island of Ios, by his companions, and those citizens who had visited him during his illness. Many years after, when his poems, become public, were admired by all, the inhabitants of Ios inscribed these elegiacs on his tomb; they are certainly not composed by himself.
"The earth here covers the head of divine Homer, whose poetry has immortalized heroes."[1]
XXXVII. It may be seen from what I have said, that Homer was neither a Dorian, nor of the island of Ios, but an Æolian.[2] This may also be conjectured from the great poet only speaking of [what he thinks] the most admirable customs, and he would naturally suppose those of his own country to be the best.[3] It may be judged from these verses:
"They raise the heads of the oxen toward heaven, cut their throats, and sever them in pieces; they separate the thighs, and place over them a double layer of fat, and bleeding morsels from every part of the victim.[4] The kidneys are not men-
- ↑ The translation of Grotius is as follows:
"Ista tegit tellum sacrum caput illud Homeri
Cantibus Heroum qui res cœlestibus æquat." - ↑ Simonides of Kêos calls Homer a Chian. Fragm. 69, ed. Schneidewin.
- ↑ Exactly the idea of Herodotus, iii. 33.
- ↑ Il. i. 459, and ii. 422. Victims were variously sacrificed. In sacrificing to the celestial deities they raised the heads of the victims, while they immolated them to the infernal gods with their heads down. The Grecian ceremonies differed widely from the Jewish, but much resem-
"He was warned by an oracle to beware of the young men's riddle. The meaning of this remained long unexplained to him, till he arrived at the island of Ios; there, as he sat conversing with the fishermen, some of them proposed a riddle in verse to him, and, not comprehending it, he died of grief." Pope, in his Introductory Essay, says, "The story refutes itself, by carrying superstition at one end, and folly at the other. It seems conceived with an air of derision, to lay a great man in the dust after a foolish manner." This completely sets the question of the authenticity of this Life at rest, since the writer plainly refers to this idle tale, recorded by an author of so much later date.
