160 Remarks on the Site of Troy 
“T have stood upon Achilles’ tomb, 
“ And heard Troy doubted: Time will doubt 
of Rome. . Don Juan, Canto IV. 
In the absence of all direct evidence against 
the existence of Troy and the Trojan war, 
we will repose with confidence on the uni- 
versal belief of those ages which approached 
nearest to the time, when the events are stat- 
ed to have occurred, and, above all, on the 
credit given to Homer by the acute historians 
of Greece. Without further delay, therefore, 
let us proceed to the part of the subject more 
immediately before us. 
Troy and the Trojan Plain according to 
Homer. 
Homer sung to those acquainted with the 
places where the action of his poems is laid ; 
(5) and we find no detailed account of the 
scenery of the Iliad. Our knowledge of 
it arises simply from incidental descriptions 
(5) It is worthy of remark that Homer when speaking of Troy or 
its neighbourhood, rarely enters into any description of places or ob- 
jects, but merely alludes to them as to what was equally familiar te 
himself and hearers. In referring to places in Greece, he frequently 
describes them as if addressing those to whom they were unknown. 
