Homer

appears to have preceded Hesiod by a generation or more. The one is the epik poet, singing heroic deeds of a young race; the other is the Greek Virgil, singing the praises of rural life and religion. As many ages have claimed the Homeric poems, as cities claimed “great Homer dead.” It is enough for our purpose that these poems were written about 800 to 600 Bc. But — the picture they present accords with the civilisation of Troy and Mycenex, recovered in remains supposed to be sometimes as old as 1500 B.c.: and the conclusions of former critics are now modified, in part, by the discoveries of Schliemann. Honix. A name of Vili the brother of Odin. Honover. Pahlavi—the Zend Abina Vairya, or word of Ahiramazda, which was incarnate in King Gushtasp and others, as the Logos was incarnate according to the 4th Gospel. Hor. Horus. Har. The Egyptian god of the rising sun, a name connected with Hru “day.” He is exactly equivalent, says Renouf, to the Greek Huperion, the “ rising” sun. He is the son of Osiris and Isis, the avenger of his father, and conqueror of Set the dark god. But Set, as a black boar, swallows the “eye of Horus,” and the double-headed figure Set-Hor represents the brothers day and night. The hawk is the chief emblem of Horus (see Hawk), Horns. These are universal emblems of power (see Bryant, Mythol., ii, p. 530). The san, the moon, and all river gods have horns, like Dionisos, or like Moses. They stood for rays; but the horn is also the phallus, and the “horn of plenty” is the Yoni. Apollo Karneios is thought to mean “the horned Apollo,” from the Greek Keras “horn.” His festival was the Kereneia, or Karneia; bis priest was Karnas, he is the Latin Granus and Keltik Graine (but see Graine). The altar of Yahveh had horns; and he fills, exalts, or anoints the horns of those he favours, The temple of Diana, on the Aventine, was hung round with horns of bulls and cows, and these sometimes declared divine behests, as when Mar cell us defeated Hannibal, or Scipio subdued Spain; for the sound of the horn is prophetic. From Thrakia to Egypt we find wine drunk from bulls’ horns, at weddings, and other feasts—they were the earliest cups of man. From Italy to India we find women setting up horns, as charms against the evil eye, with horse shoes, and eggs, on doors, and, wells, and at cro roads, In Babylonia Anu, and other gods, wore i { horned head-dre es—seen also on Akkadian seal cylinders—and at Ibreez, near Tyana, in Asia Minor, the giant figure of a horned god, bearing corn and grapes, is accompanied by Hittite texts. 274