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Author : Timayenis Telemachus Thomas
Title : Greece in the times of Homer Life, customs, and habits of the greeks during the homeric period
Year : 1885

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Preface. Repeated requests from readers of my" History of Greece " for a book on the Homeric times, which, as a matter of necessity, were briefly treated in the history, have induced me to undertake the present work. There is, perhaps, no page in the whole history of the Hellenic race so interesting and instructive as the Homeric age. An irresistible charm has always drawn me to that period. When we consider that centuries before Christ, when the rest of the world was steeped in barbarism, the Hellenic people enjoyed a civilization in many respects unsurpassed to this day, thatthey transported large armies across the sea, that they first of all founded institutions which have elevated mankind, that they produced a poet who alone is sufficient to glorify a nation, we may well feel an .interest in investigating more fully such an age. In the preparation of the present volume, I have conscientiously examined nearly every book -Greek, French, German, or English-written on Homer. But my great teacher and guide has been Homer himself, and I have not hesitated to base my judgment upon the poems, as constituting the highest authority. This work is, of course, not intended for specialists. My aim has been to reach that vast class of intelligent readers who have neither time nor inclination to search the voluminous books which thus far have appeared on the Homeric age, and which, as a general thing, are written in too heavy and diffuse a style. I have taken care to tell the story as simply as possible, and to avoid all terms which would be unintelligible to the average reader. The entire Homeric life, from the birth of the hero to his death, is unfolded in a single volume of less than three hundred pages. Scholars are wont to place the Germans at the head of all commentators or expositors of Homer and the Homeric age. This idolatry of everything that springs on German soil is so blind that the most absurd statement that might be made by one of the savants of Göttingen or of Berlin becomes at once a sort of axiom, and alas for him who shall dare to offer a contrary opinion ! I am far from wishing to belittle the almost Herculean labors of the Germans in the field of Grecian literature. Their patience, research, and investigation are much to be admired. But I protest most emphatically against those who seek to ridicule American scholarship, trammel American investigation in the field of classical literature, and scoff at everything that may be antagonistic to Teutonic ideas. Of all the books that have yet appeared on Homer, the best, in my opinion, has been written by a modem Greek, Mr. Kleon R. Rangabe. His work, " 'O KAO' OMHPON OIKIAKOZ BIOZ," has already rendered the name of the author immortal; and not only do I acknowledge my obligations to the work of Mr. Rangab6, but I frankly confess that during the preparation of the present work the "KAOOMHPON OIKIAKOZ BIOZ" has never left my side (see note at the end of the book). I have used Bryant's translation-the prince of the translators of Homer-in quoting passages from the poet. T. T. TIMAYENIS. NEW YORK SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, December I, 1884. ...