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In the early heroic times, the warrior was accustomed to 

 be roused by the songs of the bards, whicii reminded him of 

 the heroic actions of his ancestors, and which, set to music, 

 were impressed upon his memory, and were continually on 

 his lips, whether he joined the choruses of his countrymen, 

 or was in secret stimulated by them to deeds of fame. Thus 

 Homer has introduced Aehilles, sitting on the shore,, and 

 singing to his lyre. 



" Tix a' [Jpoii ^fivcc iifiroiMyo) ^"f^jyyi Xiyitj, 



Triv apir' ff ivajaiv, wloXiv 'HtTtaivos iXia-a-a;' 



Tr &yi flufiM irsfTtv, aah J'«p« x^la av^fuii." II. ix. 



And in a later age, we find Tyrtaeus animating the Spartans, 

 and leading them to battle, by the divine influence of his 

 poetry, in which he sung the renown of ancient warriors, 

 and set before them the rewards of valour ; victory, and its 

 attendants, glory and honour. We also find Solon employ- 

 ing the same means to excite the Athenians ta make war 

 upon the Megareans ; a subject, the bare mention of which,, 

 in sober prose, and stripped of the embellishments of fiction, 

 would have incurred the penalty of death. 



But the poets, as they proceeded to study nature more in- 

 timately, and to seek the most powerful causes of things, 

 finding that the relation of human actions merely, however 

 illustrious, was insufficient for their purpose, sought the in- 

 tervention of supernatural agency. Men of such a profes- 



