A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 
"© To the solid ground 
Of Nature trusts the mind which 
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1886 
HOMER’ S SENSE OF COLOUR 
Le Sens des Couleurs chez Homére. By Dr. Alb. de 
Keersmaecker. Part I., xii.+ 152 pp. (London: 
Triibner, 1885.) 
eee appears to be Part I. of a monograph on the 
colour-sense developed in ancient times, although 
chiefly based on the language of the Homeric poems. It 
is to a large extent a criticism of the essays of Mr. Glad- 
stone and Dr. Magnus (of Breslau) on this subject. It is 
generally admitted that the colour-nomenclature of the 
Homeric poems is far less copious and less precise than 
that of modern times. Various theories have been pro- 
posed about this. The author represents (p. 22, &c.) Mr. 
Gladstone’s view to be that Homer’s fercepi/zon of colour 
was ill-defined, and that his so-called colour-terms are 
often really descriptive of luminosity rather than colour. 
And he describes (p. 6, &c.) that of Dr. Magnus similarly, 
with the addition that the human eye was in those days 
less perfect in colour-perception than now, and has gradu- 
ally improved to its present state. 
After a lengthy criticism of these and other theories, 
the author’s conclusions are briefly that there is no evi- 
dence of any improvement in the human eye itself during 
these ages, and that the progress that had taken place is 
solely one of human knowledge of colour: also that 
Homer’s colour-terms are probably often vague, but not 
more so than is admissible in poetry. 
As to evolution, however, the author goes much further: 
he lays down broadly (p. 32) that no change has taken 
place in any organ in any species, and most certainly not 
inman. It is strange that he also expresses himself as a 
follower of Darwin. After this it will not seem strange 
that the general argument is not particularly convincing: 
the mode of argument, too, is not pleasant ; in fact the 
author pleads guilty to a certain sharpness of manner 
(acescence de la forme) in his criticism of persons. 
Waiving however the form, there is much in the matter 
‘that is interesting. A short account (9 pages) is first 
given of what is known of Homer’s life, and it is argued 
VOL, XXXIV.— No. 862 
builds for aye.” —\WORDSWORTH 
that Homer—as being an illegitimate child—was consti- 
tutionally liable to the infirmity of blindness traditionally 
ascribed to him: it is fairly urged by some that this blind- 
ness, coupled perhaps with colour-blindness, may itself 
be responsible for some of the uncertainty attached to 
Homer’s colour-terms ; but the conclusion is that there 
is no evidence of colour-blindness. 
As to the misuse (?) of colour-names sometimes ascribed 
to Homer, the author points out (with numerous quota- 
tions) that the usage of modern French and English poets 
is often, to say the least, inexact, so that it is absurd to 
expect exactitude of application in ancient poetry. 
Among the detailed criticisms on Mr. Gladstone’s 
essays may be noticed the following :—Exception had 
been taken to the use of the word oimé (usually trans- 
lated ved) as descriptive of a horse; hereon it has been 
urged (by Mr. Prior in NATURE) that this word should 
here be translated Phenician,; but, if this be really a 
colour-term in this place, why not translate it as a day or 
chestnut (horse) if the term ved jars on the English ear ? 
Again, surely a poet may describe a (mythical) serpent as 
dapouds (red ?), and the (mythical) ambrosia as podders 
(rosy ?) without being called to account. In one case 
(Odys. B. VI. v. 163), where the use of hotwé as a colour- 
term had been objected to, the author explains that its 
other meaning, falm-tree, makes sense of the passage. 
Special exception is taken to Mr. Gladstone’s interpreta- 
tion of at@o, which the author considers to be not a 
colour-term but a word descriptive of combustion, so 
covering a wide range of meanings, e.g. fiery, glowing, 
smoky, golden, &c. 
The Homeric expression ovo applied to the sea— 
hitherto far from clear—receives a new explanation from 
a traveller in the A©gean, viz. that that sea has at times 
a blood-red appearance with a red horizon all round. In 
commenting on the word y\epds, which seems to mean 
both gree and fresh or vigorous, the author endeavours 
to connect the syllable « with the meaning of vigour, e.g. 
harit (Sanskr.), saévit (Zend), ide (Greek), vz (Lat.), (to 
which may surely be added the English mzghz), but the 
connection seems very slight ; in fact the syllable « recurs 
in many terms expressing weakness or smallness, ¢.g. 
puxpés, minimus, slight, schlimm, weich, faible. 
