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 butadmire. 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 Homerin 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 
