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of the Odyssey were easily interpreted as connected parts of a 
solar myth, describing the journey of the sun to the west, and 
his return, after many struggles and adventures, to his ever- 
young bride in the east, Penelope, the “spinstress,” 2.e. cloud- 
weaver. The general geography of the Odyssey was noticed, as 
pertaining rather to Magna Grecia, while the Iliad is essentially 
Asiatic m its scenery and deseription. The Cyclops was shewn 
to be the Sun's eye, extinguished by Ulysses, i.e. lost by the 
Sun when he sinks into the west. The sorceress Circe, and the 
nymph Calypso, “the coverer,” were interpreted as exercising 
that weird influence over the Sun that is still, by rude raees, 
attributed to magic or to the evileye. The guidance of Athena, 
the goddess of dawn, was shewn to be a fitting companion and 
guide to the Sun in his return. The wreck of Ulysses, and his 
narrow escape from drowning, was shewn to represent the Sun 
sinking in the western ocean. Finally, the killing of the suitors 
with the bow was shewn to be consonant to the usual represen- 
tation of Apollo and Diana, the sun-god and moon-goddess, who 
were thought to slay mortals with their deadly arrows. The 
old Laertes, the father of Ulysses, was compared with old Ti- 
thonus, the bride of Aurora, and the symbolism explained by 
the union of the ever old with the ever new. 
Prof. SELWYN remarked with reference to the small stature 
of Odysseus that the sun became larger on approaching the 
horizon. A passage, however, in the eleventh book shewed a 
connexion with a solar myth, where Circe tells Odysseus he 
will feed the herds and flocks of the sun, which were tended by 
two shepherds (Mercury and Venus). Also a passage in the 
Iliad, where Jupiter says that all the gods together could not 
draw him from his seat, but he could lift them with his left 
hand, the centre of gravity of the system being within the sun. 
Mr Patsy said that loss of strength might be meant, and 
that Plato had referred the myth above named to a solar origin. 
Mr JEBB asked (1) how far the allegory was conscious or 
