Odyssey XI, 310.
[249]. The blacksmith’s apron.
[250]. Herodotus speaks of a people confederated with the army of Xerxes who employed the noose.
[251]. Kai-kaus, the second Persian king belonging to the dynasty of Kainanides.
[252]. In the Shah Namah, where so much fiction is founded upon so little historic fact, we find, as in Hindu literature, an active race of demons. These are generally defined as being in human shape, with horns, long ears, and sometimes with tails, like the monkeys in the Ramayana. Again, they assume the characteristics of the Rakshasas in Hindu mythology, and appear as enchanters, sorcerers, etc.—(Compare Hindu Literature, pp. 189-232.)
[253]. The gor is the onager, or wild ass of the East, and in its native wilds is a very dangerous foe to encounter. Its flesh is often used for food when the hunter is driven to extremity.
[254]. It was evidently the custom, even among the Greeks also, to harangue their horses, for Homer repeatedly puts these speeches into the mouths of his heroes. Hector addresses his horses in the Eighth Book:
“Be fleet, be fearless, this important day.
And all your master’s well-spent care repay.
Now swift pursue, now thunder uncontroll’d,