CHAP,  vii.]  Greek  Lyrical  Poetry.  265

Jupiter.  No  poems  have  ever  been  more  popular,  and
none  have  extorted  greater  admiration  from  critics.  Like
Shakespeare,  Homer  is  a  kind  of  Bible  to  both  the  learned
and  unlearned  among  all  people  and  ages  —  one  of  the
prodigies  of  this  world.  His  poerns  form  the  basis  of
Greek  literature,  and  are  the  best  understood  and  the
most  widely  popular  of  all  Grecian  composition.  The
unconscious  simplicity  of  the  Homeric  narrative,  its  vivid
pictures,  its  graphic  details  and  religious  spirit,  create
an  enthusiasm  such  as  few  works  of  genius  can  claim.
Moreover,  it  presents  a  painting  of  society,  with  its  sim-
plicity and  ferocity,  its  good  and  evil  passions,  its  compas-
sion and  its  fierceness,  such  as  no  other  poem  affords.1  Nor
is  it  necessary  to  speak  of  any  other  Grecian  epic,  when
the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  attest  the  perfection  which  was
attained  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  before  Hesiod  was
born.  Grote  thinks  that  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  were
produced  at  some  period  between  850  B.  c.,  and  776  B.  c.
In  lyrical  poetry  the  Greeks  were  no  less  remarkable,
and  indeed  they  attained  to  absolute  perfection,  owing  to
the  intimate  connection  between  poetry  and  music.  Who
has  surpassed  Pindar  in  artistic  skill  ?  His  tri-

777  i  •    i          •  i  i  Pindar.
