THE HOMERIC COSMOGONY. 19 



bold enough to quit the coast, which he had hitherto hugged 

 with timorous prudence, and venture out into the open sea. 

 Thenceforth, the darkness disappeared ; new countries were 

 revealed to one another, and nations, which from time imme- 

 morial had remained apart, were brought into frequent com- 

 munication. 



It was with eyes fixed upon the Bear, which alone does not 

 bathe itself in the waters of Ocean, that Ulysses set out from 

 Calypso's enchanted island. 



According to Homer, who reflects in his immortal work the 

 condition of scientific knowledge among his contemporaries, 

 the ocean was a great broad river, surrounding the earth with 

 circumfluent volume, and in its waves the stars were bathed 

 or extinguished in the evening, to be rekindled in the morning 

 on the opposite side. 



By saying that the Bear alone does not bathe in the waters 

 of Ocean * 



Ouj 5' &/j,fji.op6s ten \oerpuv 'fl/cecwoto 



the poet plainly shows that Ursa Minor, and the other circum- 

 polar constellations, were unknown in his time. 



If the knowledge of these constellations was from the 

 beginning so useful and so necessary to navigation, the con- 

 stellation nearest to the pole could not, at first, have served 

 as a guide to any but a people essentially maritime. And here 

 we find the Phoenicians, or Tyrians, in the foremost rank. 



After reminding us that Ursa Major was also called Helice, 



* Homer, "Odyssey," Book v. ; 275. 



