[259] Iliad, III. 146-244:—
“Attending there on aged Priam, sat
The Elders of the city; . . . .
All these were gathered at the Scæan Gates.
. . . . . so on Ilion’s Tower
Sat the sage chiefs and councillors of Troy.
Helen they saw, as to the Tower she came.”
[260] Iliad, VI. 390-393:—
Ἦ ῥα γυνὴ ταμίη· ὁ δ’ ἀπέσσυτο δώματος Ἕκτωρ
Τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν αὖτις ἐϋκτιμένας κατ’ ἀγυιὰς.
Εὖτε πύλας ἵκανε διερχόμενος μέγα ἄστυ
Σκαιάς, τῇ γὰρ ἔμελλε διεξίμεναι πεδίονδε——
“So spoke the ancient dame; and Hector straight
Through the wide streets his rapid steps retraced.
But when at last the mighty city’s length
Was traversed, and the Scæan Gates were reached,
Whence was the outlet to the plain——”
[261] This edifice, now first laid open from beneath the ashes which covered it in the burning of the city, was found by Dr. Schliemann in the very state to which, in Homer, Agamemnon threatens to reduce it: “The house of Priam blackened with fire” (Iliad, II. 414, 415):
Πρίν με κατὰ πρηνὲς βαλέειν
Πριάμοιο μέλαθρον Αἰθαλόεν, πρῆσαι δὲ πυρὸς δηΐοιο θύρετρα.
[262] In the letter-press to the Atlas of Photographs this object is described as “a brilliant dark-red Vase, 62 centimeters (above 2 feet) high, with the owl-face of Troy’s tutelar goddess, her two breasts, a necklace, and a royal scarf round the whole body. It is remarkable that this vase has not the two uplifted arms of the goddess, which are wanting in no other case, and that it has only two handles.”
[263] The Inscription on this Vase has been discussed by Professor Gomperz, who also pronounces the characters on it as well as on the other vase (No. 221) to be Cyprian writing. (See Appendix.)
[264] Compare the Introduction, p. 50.
[265] See Cut, No. 54, p. 87.