Lastly, let us take the case of the sky, or the heavens. Here Homer had before him the most perfect example of blue. Yet he never once so describes the sky. His οὐρανὸς is starry (Il. i. 317), or broad (Il. iii. 364), or great (Il. i. 497), or iron (Od. xv. 328), or copper (Od. iii. 2. Il. xvii. 425); but it is never blue. This is an important piece of negative testimony.
We have now before us a pretty large, though I by no means venture to suppose it a complete, collection of the facts of the case.
Causes of this peculiar treatment.
I submit that they warrant the two following propositions:
1. That Homer’s perceptions of the prismatic colours, or colours of the rainbow, which depend on the decomposition of light by refraction, and a fortiori of their compounds, were, as a general rule, vague and indeterminate.
2. That we must therefore seek another basis for his system of colour.
But a few words may be permitted on the cause which has led to his treatment of the subject in a manner so different from that of the moderns.
Are we justified in referring it to his reputed blindness?
Are we to suppose a defect in his organization, or in that of his countrymen?