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Article MASONIC VIEWS IN THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. ← Page 4 of 6 →
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Masonic Views In The Iliad And Odyssey.
admiration of the sight , refrain from saying , sotto voce , to his friend , at supper , — " Dearest PisSstrntus , observe , my friend , How all tlle echoing palace with the light Of brass , and gold of brightest lustre shines , Silver , and ivory ; for radiance such The interior mansion of Olympian Jove I deem . What wealth , how various , how immense . Is here . ' Astonished , I survey the sight . '
Such was the magnificent mansion of Menelaus , who seems to hint that he got much of his valuable treasures and decorations in presents , during his long voyage home from Troy , touching at the commercial ports of Cyprus , Egypt , and Phoenicia . The richly-wrought gold cup , in particular , which he gave to Telemachus , was a friendly gift to him from a certain illustrious personage at Sidon , who is supposed , from a passage in Clemens Alexandrinus , to have been no less a
person than King Solomon himself , or at least his Brother Grand Master , Hiram . " Iramus , or Hiram , " says he , " gave his daughter to King Solomon at the time when Menelaus , returning from the seige of Troy , arrived at Phcenice . " It has been considered by Wood , and other competent chronologists and critics , that Homer was born not long after the war of Troy , and had finished both his great poems about half a century after that town
was taken . If so , our belief in the fidelity of his sketches , whether of animate or inanimate objects , must be the stronger , as we may justly infer that he either drew them from ocular inspection , or from the well authenticated reports of others . There is a freshness—indeed a simplicity ancl point—about most of his delineations , that impress us with the persuasion that they are taken from the originals ; and independent of this internal argument for their truthfulness , we have the
authority of Herodotus , whose history of the life of the poet , albeit carped at by some critics , is , nevertheless , deemed genuine and credible by many sound judges , that Homer did actually visit various places and countries which lie describes , in particular Ithaca , wbere he became tbe guest of Mentor , the friend of Ulysses , ancl obtained from him the history of that hero's adventures ; and that after residing there some time he was struck with opthalmia , which rendered him ever after blind .
Assuming this account to be correct—and there seems no good reason to doubt its authenticity—Melesigenes must have seen with his own eyes the city ancl citadel of Ulysses ; and therefore drew from the original itself the following outline : —
Ulysses' house , Eumteus , is , iu truth , A noble pile , discernable with case From all beside : not one alone it seems , But many . Spacious is the court , the walls Crested with curious sculpture ; and well framed The massy folding doors . No man , methinks , Shall e'er achieve by force his entrance here . "
In this picture of the Ithacan palace there is no over working—no attempt at effect , as would likely be the case in any imaginary scene . It is natural and vraisemblable , touched off ivith the hand and eye of a master , and of one giving a veritable view of what existed . True , it is only the principal points that are brought out , yet enough is sketched to have ensured recognition by those to whose mental reason it was meant to be represented , —and many , no doubt , who listened to the description could have instantly detected , from their knowledge of the original , any departure from truth or facts . The portrait was , therefore ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Views In The Iliad And Odyssey.
admiration of the sight , refrain from saying , sotto voce , to his friend , at supper , — " Dearest PisSstrntus , observe , my friend , How all tlle echoing palace with the light Of brass , and gold of brightest lustre shines , Silver , and ivory ; for radiance such The interior mansion of Olympian Jove I deem . What wealth , how various , how immense . Is here . ' Astonished , I survey the sight . '
Such was the magnificent mansion of Menelaus , who seems to hint that he got much of his valuable treasures and decorations in presents , during his long voyage home from Troy , touching at the commercial ports of Cyprus , Egypt , and Phoenicia . The richly-wrought gold cup , in particular , which he gave to Telemachus , was a friendly gift to him from a certain illustrious personage at Sidon , who is supposed , from a passage in Clemens Alexandrinus , to have been no less a
person than King Solomon himself , or at least his Brother Grand Master , Hiram . " Iramus , or Hiram , " says he , " gave his daughter to King Solomon at the time when Menelaus , returning from the seige of Troy , arrived at Phcenice . " It has been considered by Wood , and other competent chronologists and critics , that Homer was born not long after the war of Troy , and had finished both his great poems about half a century after that town
was taken . If so , our belief in the fidelity of his sketches , whether of animate or inanimate objects , must be the stronger , as we may justly infer that he either drew them from ocular inspection , or from the well authenticated reports of others . There is a freshness—indeed a simplicity ancl point—about most of his delineations , that impress us with the persuasion that they are taken from the originals ; and independent of this internal argument for their truthfulness , we have the
authority of Herodotus , whose history of the life of the poet , albeit carped at by some critics , is , nevertheless , deemed genuine and credible by many sound judges , that Homer did actually visit various places and countries which lie describes , in particular Ithaca , wbere he became tbe guest of Mentor , the friend of Ulysses , ancl obtained from him the history of that hero's adventures ; and that after residing there some time he was struck with opthalmia , which rendered him ever after blind .
Assuming this account to be correct—and there seems no good reason to doubt its authenticity—Melesigenes must have seen with his own eyes the city ancl citadel of Ulysses ; and therefore drew from the original itself the following outline : —
Ulysses' house , Eumteus , is , iu truth , A noble pile , discernable with case From all beside : not one alone it seems , But many . Spacious is the court , the walls Crested with curious sculpture ; and well framed The massy folding doors . No man , methinks , Shall e'er achieve by force his entrance here . "
In this picture of the Ithacan palace there is no over working—no attempt at effect , as would likely be the case in any imaginary scene . It is natural and vraisemblable , touched off ivith the hand and eye of a master , and of one giving a veritable view of what existed . True , it is only the principal points that are brought out , yet enough is sketched to have ensured recognition by those to whose mental reason it was meant to be represented , —and many , no doubt , who listened to the description could have instantly detected , from their knowledge of the original , any departure from truth or facts . The portrait was , therefore ,