thirteen of the enemy, and bringing as 

 booty a noble pair of steeds, a prize in 

 which all Greeks took delight. 



Even in Homer we see the dawning 

 of skepticism, a skepticism of which we 

 approve and the sentiment of which we 

 cannot but admire. The next day after the 

 favorable sign of Athene to her favor- 

 ite, after nine long years of terrible war 

 the Trojans stand at the very edge of 

 the ditch before the Greek ships. Hec- 

 tor their noble leader, a hero who may 

 well inspire modern men to noble deeds 

 of patriotism, stands at their head. 

 One rush more, one impetuous dash 

 through the ditch and against the wall, 

 and the ten years' war may be ended 

 with the weary Trojans victors. But at 

 this critical moment a bird appears, it 

 is the favorite bird in Homer and also 

 the favorite bird with us, for it is our 

 national bird, the Eagle. Homer calls 

 it the bird that is surest to bring fulfill- 

 ment with its omens and tells us that it 

 belonged to mighty Zeus the thunderer, 

 the ruler of gods and men. The bird 

 appeared flying at the left. The people 

 halted. A bird flying at the left meant 

 disapproval. It held in its mouth a 

 snake not yet dead, which, coiling its 

 head, bit at the breast of the bird. The 

 bite was effective, and with a sharp cry, 

 the bird dropped the serpent at the feet 

 of the awe-inspired Trojans and fled 

 shrieking away. Well might the peo- 

 ple halt. What was to be done, an on- 

 ward move against such a portent, or a 

 calm withdrawal when everything was 

 in their favor? One of the common 

 people declared that they must with- 

 draw or death would come upon them. 

 Then noble Hector with frowning brows 

 answered him: " Polydamas, no longer 

 do you speak words pleasing to me. 

 You know how to speak another word 

 better than this. If you speak this 

 truly in earnest, the gods themselves 

 have taken away your senses from you 

 who bid me to forget the counsels of 

 high-thundering Zeus, the promises he 

 made me and the plans to which he 

 nodded assent. You bid me put my 

 trust in long-winged birds which I do 

 not heed or regard at all, whether they 

 fly to the right toward the sun and the 

 dawn, or to the left toward the murky 

 darkness. Let us trust the counselings 

 of great Zeus who holds sway over 



gods and men. One bird is the best 

 to defend one's fatherland." 



In the last book of the Iliad in the 

 sad scenes surrounding the death and 

 burial of this hero we have again an 

 omen. Priam, the aged, feeble man, 

 determined to go to the strange, wrath- 

 ful Achilles and beg for the body of 

 his dear son Hector, which the swift- 

 footed hero had been mutilating in his 

 wrath, dragging it behind his chariot 

 about the city walls. Priam was de- 

 termined to go. His wife tried to dis- 

 suade him from such a dangerous 

 undertaking, he bade her not to be a 

 bird of ill omen in his halls, but she in- 

 sisted, and finally persuaded him to 

 pray to Zeus to send him an omen that 

 his journey would be successful. He 

 prayed; thereupon an Eagle appeared 

 flying at his right. Hecuba was now 

 satisfied and the old lord of windy 

 Troy started out on his errand of love. 

 The omen was true this time for he did 

 persuade the heart of Achilles and re- 

 turned to his city with the remains of 

 his son. 



There are other instances of omens 

 given by the presence and flight of 

 birds, but these are sufficient to show 

 us the great importance which the men 

 of two thousand years ago attributed to 

 them. Although birds are most promi- 

 nent in Homer in this connection, still we 

 find them mentioned many times just 

 as parts of the physical world and with- 

 out divine import. Among the birds 

 thus mentioned we find names which 

 our scholars have interpreted to desig- 

 nate Cranes, Meadow Larks, Jackdaws, 

 Geese, Swans, Nighthawks.Vultures, and 

 Eagles. Birds are especially noted for 

 their quickness in flight, and the horses 

 were most prized which flew like the 

 birds. Birds were always mentioned 

 in connection with the dead, and a 

 favorite curse was to wish that one 

 might be left a prey to the dogs and 

 birds. 



Gods often honored this part of the 

 animal world by assuming their forms. 

 We find Athene and Apollo in the 

 likeness of Vultures settling down upon 

 the Oak tree to watch the battle of the 

 Greeks and Trojans. Sleep watches 

 the wiles of Juno toward her lord while 

 he sits as a Nighthawk upon a tree. 

 But Homer is essentially a poet, and in 



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