The second vanquished warrior seems also to be wounded, for he is kneeling on one knee before the victor, whilst his other foot is stretched on the ground; but still he is fighting against his antagonist, whose breast he has seized with his left hand, endeavouring to stab him with the long sword which he holds in his right hand. I call particular attention to the large knob at the end of the sword-handle.
The wounded man is not quite naked, because we distinctly see on him a pair of trousers, which, however, reach only down to the middle of the thighs. His head would, no doubt, have been quite well proportioned had not the artist forgotten to remove a small particle of gold; by this a small white line is produced in the photograph, which makes it appear as if there were only a helmet and no head. If we imagine this small white line removed, we at once recognise the true proportions of the head, with its small helmet, which has an upper part (φάλος), but no λόφος or crest. Though this man is also kneeling sideways to the spectator, still we see his whole body in front without any perspective diminution.
The third warrior seems to have taken to flight; we see only his head and his feet, the rest of his body being hidden by an enormous shield, of a peculiar form, which, if the man were standing upright, would cover his whole body from head to foot. We see a border all around this shield, and there appears to be also some ornament on it, which, however, is difficult to distinguish. It is only owing to the curve of the ring that he is not shown standing upright. This shield represents to us, no doubt, one of the large Homeric shields, which were so enormous that the poet compares them to towers:[309]
"Ajax approached; before him, as a tower,
His mighty shield he bore, seven-fold, brass-bound,
The work of Tychius, best artificer
That wrought in leather; he in Hyla dwelt."
LORD DERBY.
This warrior's head is covered with a helmet, having a broad border and a large φάλος and attached to it the λόφος, from which a long and well-represented crest (ἵππουρις) is waving. He appears to have stopped in his flight, and, having turned his head, he is trying to thrust his long lance at the victor. This latter is of gigantic proportions, and has on his head a helmet similar to that of the other man with the tower-like shield; only the crest is different, consisting here of three straps which may represent ostrich feathers. He appears to wear a broad belt, because four long straps are hanging down from his loins: his body is the best proportioned of all. He seizes with his left hand the vanquished man before him, whilst with his uplifted right hand he deals him a deadly blow with a broad two-edged sword, on the handle of which we again see one of those very large knobs, of which we find here so many of alabaster or wood. The posture of the victor is perfectly faithful to nature; he is stepping with his left foot forward and leaning on it the whole weight of his body, in order to strike a more powerful blow. Above the four warriors is an ornament in which Mr. Newton may be right in seeing a rude representation of mountains. I may here add that both signet-rings are but very small, and could only fit on ladies' fingers.
When I brought to light these wonderful signets, I involuntarily exclaimed: "The author of the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' cannot but have been born and educated amidst a civilisation which was able to produce such works as these. Only a poet who had objects of art like these continually before his eyes could compose those divine poems." Mr. Gladstone has already proved beyond any doubt in his celebrated 'Homeric Synchronism' that Homer was an Achæan, and I am constantly bringing to light in the depths of Mycenæ thousands of additional proofs that he is perfectly right.