older and those beginning to
surmount them; and, finally, to the traditions extraneous to the poems
of competitions between different deities for the local allegiance of
the people at different spots, such as Corinth, to which Phoenician
influence had brought the Poseidon-worship before Homer's time, and
Athens, which somewhat later became peculiarly the seat of mixed
races. I have spoken of nature-worship as the Pelasgian contribution
to the composite Olympian religion. In the Phoenician share we find,
as might be expected, both Assyrian and Egyptian elements. The best
indication we possess of the Hellenic function is that given by the
remarkable prayer of Achilles to Zeus in Iliad, xvi., 233-248. This
prayer on the sending forth of Patroclus is the hinge of the whole
action of the poem, and is preceded by a long introduction (220-232)
such as we nowhere else find. The tone is monotheistic; no partnership
of gods appears in it; and the immediate servants of Zeus are
described as interpreters, not as priests. From several indications it
may be gathered that the Hellenic system was less priestly than the
Troic. It seems to have been an especial office of Homer to harmonize
and combine these diverse elements, and his Thearchy is as remarkable
a work of art as the terrestrial machinery of the poem. He has
profoundly impressed upon it the human likeness often called
anthropomorphic, and which supplied the basis of Greek art. He has
repelled on all sides from his classical and central system the cult
of nature and of animals, but it is probable that they kept their
place in the local worships of the country. His Zeus is to a
considerable extent a monarch, while Poseidon and several other
deities bear evident marks of having had no superior at earlier epochs
or in the countries of their origin. He arranges them partly as a
family, partly as a commonwealth. The gods properly Olympian
correspond with the Boule or council upon earth, while the orders of
less exalted spirits are only summoned on great occasions. He
indicates twenty as the number of Olympian gods proper, following in
this the Assyrian idea. But they were far from holding an equal place
in his estimation. For a deity such as Aphrodite brought from the
East, and intensely tainted with sensual passions, he indicates
aversion and contempt. But for Apollo, whose cardinal idea is that of
obedience to Zeus, and for Athene, who represents a profound working
wisdom that n