means, the city of Troy was taken at last by the army
of Greeks which issued from the horse, to the utter con-
fusion and undoing of the Trojans. And the student
should follow, too, the fortunes of the heroes who sur-
vived the struggle, at least two of them, -- Æneas, sail-
ing away to found the city of Rome, and Ulysses, reach-
ing home and his faithful Penelope only after ten long
years of wandering. These things he should read if he
would understand the Iliad aright, if he would find the
"open sesame" to the treasures its pages contain.

In taking up the study of the Iliad, the student is ad-
vised, first of all, to read the poem through aloud, so that
he may get the story, absorb the atmosphere of that
early age, hear the music of the lines, and become famil-
iar with and master of the pronunciation of the Greek
proper names. He can hardly go astray in this last re-
spect, since the meter of the verse determines the sound
of the name and a correct rhythmic reading and re-read-
ing of the lines will make the pronunciation not only evi-
dent but easy. For verification he should then consult
the Pronouncing Vocabulary of Proper Names included
in this volume.

In this first reading he will be impressed with the
carefully wrought-out similes and the recurrent charac-
teristic epithets. Such similes as the following, for in-
stance, are to be found on almost every page:

"As when a forest on the mountain-top
Is in a blaze with the devouring flame
And shines afar, so, while the warriors marched,
The brightness of their burnished weapons flashed
On every side and upward to the sky.

"And as when water-fowl of many tribes --
Geese, cranes, and long-necked swans -- disport themselves

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