added, which are either identical or nearly related in the Greek and
Latin languages: but it would not, I think, materially enlarge or
diminish the general effect of those words which have been enumerated.
We have before us about one hundred and eighty words in the classes of
substantive and adjective only. They might nearly form the primitive
vocabulary of a rustic and pacific people. Two exceptions may be named,
which may deserve remark. It will be observed, that the senses are
inadequately represented, only two of them, smell and taste, being
included. The other three are also connected in the two languages as
follows: touch, by the relation of θιγγάνω and _tango_: sight, by εἴδω
and _video_: hearing, by the evident connection of the Latin _audire_
with the Greek αὔδη, the proper name in Homer for the voice.
The other marked exception is that of religion. With slender
exceptions, such as θεὸς = _deus_, the connection of _rex_ with ῥέζω,
of _numen_ with νεύω, of λοιβὴ with _libo_, and that of ἀράομαι,
ἀρητὴρ with _orare_, _orator_, _ara_, there is a considerable want of
correspondence in the leading words, such as ἱερὸς, ἅγιος, θύω, βῶμος,
νῆον, ἄγαλμα, σέβω, μάντις, of the one tongue, and _sacer_, _sanctus_,
_pius_, _templum_, _vates_, _macto_, _mola_, of the other. The greater
part of the Pelasgian vocabulary must have been displaced on the one
side or on the other: and as it is in Greece that we have much fuller
and clearer evidence of the advent of a superior race, which gave its
own impress to life and the mind in the higher departments of thought,
we must conclude that this substitution probably took place in Greece,
and was of Hellenic for Pelasgian words.
The proposition of Niebuhr with respect to terms of war, appears to me
to be in the main well sustained by the facts. Let us take for example
the following list: which appears to show that, in this department,
with the exception of a pretty close relation between βέλος and
_telum_, and a more remote one between πόλεμος and _bellum_, possibly
also between _lorica_ and θώρηξ, there is hardly in any case the
faintest sign of relationship between the customary terms employed in
the two languages for the respective objects.
telum βέλος
ensis } {ξίφος
gladius } {φάσγανον
cuspis }
mucro } αἰχμή
acies }
galea κυνέη
hasta {δόρυ
{ἔγχος
scutum[541] } {ἄσπις
clypeus } {σάκος
lorica θώρηξ
ocrea κνημίς
vagina κολεός
bellum {Ἄρης
{πόλεμος
prælium } {ὑσμίνη
pugna } {μάχη
currus } {δίφρος
rheda } {ἅρμα
rota κυκλός (Hom.)
terno ῥυμὸς
tuba } σάλπιγξ
classicum }
castra κλισίαι
tabernaculum[542] κλισίη
arcus {βιὸς
{τόξον
sagitta {ἰὸν
{ὀϊστός.
It can hardly, I think, be questioned, that this class of words
presents on the whole a very marked contrast to those which were before
exhibited. And as we see the highest martial energies of Greece
manifestly represented in the Hellenes, we may the more confidently
adopt that inference as to the habits of Hellenes and Pelasgians
respectively, which the contrast between the two languages of itself
vividly suggests.
Before quitting this head of the subject, let us notice the wide
difference in the channels by which the two languages arrive at the
words intended to represent the highest excellence. For ‘better’ the
Greeks have βέλτερος, from βέλος, ‘a dart,’ and for ‘best,’ ἄριστος,
from ἄρης, ‘war;’ while the Latins are contented with _optimus_, formed
from a common root with _opes_, ‘wealth.’
There is almost as remarkable a want of correspondence between the two
languages in respect to the higher ideas, both intellectual and moral,
as in regard to war.
In three words indeed we may trace a clear etymological relationship,
but in two of the cases with a total, and in the third with an
important change in the meaning.
1. The μένος of the Greeks becomes the Latin _mens_; so that a
particular quality, and that one belonging to the πάθη rather than the
ἤθη of man, comes to stand for the entire mind.
2. The Greek ἄνεμος is evidently the Latin _animus_: or, that word
which remains the symbol of a sensible object in Greek becomes
the representative of mind in Latin. The adjective ἀνεμώλιος is
indeed capable of a metaphysical application: but it means ‘of no
account[543].’
3. The θυμὸς of the Greeks is the _fumus_ of the Latins: and the case
last described is exactly reversed.
The three great words in the early Greek for the unseen or spiritual
powers of man’s nature are νόος, φρὴν, and ψυχή. They perhaps
correspond most nearly with the three Latin words _mens_, _indoles_,
and _vita_[544]. There is not the slightest sign of conformity
or common origin in any of the cases; although νόος is akin to
_nosco_[545].
In two other very important words we find perhaps derivation from a
common root, but nothing like a near or direct relationship. The Greek
ἀρετὴ may proceed from the same stock with the Latin _virtus_, and in
like manner ἄτη may have the same source as _vitium_.
Upon the whole we may conclude, that in this important class of words
the resemblances are scanty and remote. It will be seen that under
the head of general ideas there is not included any clear case of
correspondence in a mental quality; and all the resemblances appear to
rest, mediately or immediately, upon sensible objects and phenomena.
As respects the terms employed in navigation, it will have been
observed, that they are all connected with its rudest form, that of
rowing; and that they do not include the words for mast, yard, or sail,
in all of which the two tongues appear to be entirely separated.
Again, it may be stated generally, that society in its very earliest
stages has little to do with the use of metals. This rule will be
of various application, according to their abundance or scarcity in
various countries, and according to the facility with which they are
convertible to the uses of man. As the objects of enjoyment multiply
with the continuance and growth of industry, the precious metals become
more desirable with a view to exchange. But the principal metal for
direct utility is iron: and of that, the quantity known and used by the
Greeks would appear, even in the time of Homer, to have been extremely
small. The use of metal for works of art, and probably also for
commercial exchange, would seem to have been derived from Phœnician,
not Pelasgian sources; and we have no proof that when Homer lived they
had acquired the art in any high degree for themselves.
The absence of any great progress in the use of metals may thus be set
down as a sign of Pelasgianism. And now let us compare the Greek and
Roman names for the metals respectively:
1. χρυσὸς, aurum.
2. ἄργυρος, argentum.
3. χαλκὸς, æs.
4. σίδηρος, ferrum.
5. μόλιβος, plumbus: in later Greek μόλυβδος, the form nearest to the
Latin.
6. κασσίτερος, stannum.
Here also there is a great want of correspondence. Only in iron and
lead, and possibly in silver, are there signs of relationship: but in
all it is remote. In the other metals it is entirely wanting; and in
those which are nearest, it amounts only to presumptive derivation from
a common root. The want of community in this class of terms seems to
show, that the race which was the common factor of the two nations,
was probably not advanced in the use of metals beyond their elementary
purposes.
I will only further observe, that while so many names indicative of
social and domestic relations are akin, nothing can be more clearly
separate than the Greek δοῦλος and the Latin _servus_. From this fact
it would be no improbable inference, that slavery was unknown to the
Pelasgians: and their ignorance of it would, on the other hand, be
in the closest harmony with their slight concern in warlike and in
maritime pursuits; since captivity in the one, and kidnapping through
the other, were the two great feeders of the institution. It is also
in close correspondence with the further hypothesis, which represents
the Pelasgians as probably the race that first occupied the Greek soil,
and found no predecessors upon it over whom to establish political or
proprietary dominion[546].
It may, I think, deserve notice in confirmation of the general
argument, that almost all those Greek words, which are in close
affinity with the Latin, are found in Homer. For there can be little
doubt that, after his time, the Greek tongue became more and more
Hellenic: and the fact that a word is Homeric supplies the most
probable token of a link with a Pelasgian origin.
And now let us sum up under this head of discussion.
It may be said with very general truth, that the words which have
been quoted, and the classes to which they belong, have reference to
the primary experience and to the elementary wants and productions of
life: but that they do not touch the range of subjects belonging to
civilization and the highest powers of man, such as war, art, policy,
and song.
But if the evidence goes to show, that the Pelasgian tongue supplied
both the Latin and the Greek nations with most of the principal
elementary words, and with those which express the main ideas connected
with rural industry, the inference strongly arises, 1. That they
constituted the base of the Greek nation; and, 2. that, originally
cultivators of the soil for themselves, there came upon them a time
when other tribes acquired the mastery among them, so that thenceforth
they had to cultivate it under the government of others. The case of
the Pelasgian vocabulary in the Latin and in the Greek languages would
thus appear to resemble the Saxon contribution to the English tongue:
and it is likely that something like the general position, which we
know to be denoted in the one case, is also similarly to be inferred in
the other.
_Evidence from names of persons._
No inconsiderable light may, I think, be thrown upon the character and
pursuits of the Pelasgian and Hellenic races respectively, from an
examination of the etymology of the names of persons contained in the
Homeric poems. For the names of men, in the early stages of society,
are so frequently drawn direct from their pursuits and habits, that the
ideas, on which they are founded, may serve to guide us to a knowledge
of the character and occupations of a people.
By way of summary proof that a connection prevailed (whether the names
be fictitious or not, I care not, for this purpose, to inquire,)
between the Homeric names, and the pursuits and habits of those who
bear them, I may refer to the names of Phæacians and Ithacans. Of the
latter, which are numerous, not one is derived from the horse; and we
know[547] that no horses were used in Ithaca. The former are chiefly
composed of words connected with the sea: in conformity with the fact
that the pursuits of the people are represented by Homer as thoroughly
maritime.
The names of persons in Homer are extremely numerous, amounting to many
hundreds. It would be hazardous, as a general rule, to assume for them
an historical character, except in the cases of such individuals as,
from general eminence or local connection, or from some particular
gift or circumstance, were likely to be held in remembrance. In some
cases, as we have already seen[548], they bear the marks of invention
upon them. But this question is little material for the present
purpose: and indeed the probability that we ought, as a general rule,
to regard the less distinguished names as fabricated for the purposes
of the poem, makes it the more reasonable that we should turn to them
to see how far they connect themselves with distinctions of pursuit,
character, and race, and what properties and characteristics, when so
connected, they appear to indicate as having been assigned by Homer to
one race or to another.
We must not expect to arrive at anything better than general and
approximate conclusions; for particular circumstances, unknown to us,
may have varied the course of etymological nomenclature, and it may
also happen, that in a great number of cases we cannot securely trace
etymology at all.
Subject to these cautions, I would observe, first, that the evidence
from other sources generally tends to show,
1. That the Trojans, except as to the royal house[549], and perhaps a
few other distinguished families, were Pelasgian.
2. That the base of the Greek army and nation were Pelasgian: with
an infusion of Hellenic tribes, not families merely, who held the
governing power and probably formed the upper, that is, the proprietary
and military, class of the community, in most parts of Greece.
3. That some parts of the Greek peninsula present little or no mark of
Hellenic influences; particularly Attica and Arcadia.
4. That the Lycians appear to approximate more than the other races
on the Trojan side to the high Greek type, and to present either the
Hellenic element, or some element akin to it, in a marked form.
The investigation of individual names occurring singly would be
endless, and often equivocal: but Homer frequently unites many names
in a group under circumstances, which authorize us to assume a common
origin and character for the persons designated: and others, though he
may not collect them together in the same passage, are yet associated
in virtue of palpable relations between them.
An examination of Homeric names, in the groups thus gathered, has
brought me to the following results:
1. Where we have reason to presume an Hellenic extraction, a large
proportion of those names, of which the etymology can be traced,
appear to express ideas connected with glory, political power, mental
fortitude, energy and ability, martial courage and strength, or
military operations.
2. But where we may more reasonably suppose, in part or in whole, a
Pelasgic stock, ideas of this kind are more rarely expressed, and
another vein of etymology appears, founded on rural habits, abodes,
and pursuits, or the creation and care of worldly goods, or on other
properties or occupations less akin to political and martial pursuits,
or to high birth and station.
It is at the same time worth remark that, among the slaves of the
Odyssey, we find names of a more high-born cast than those most
current among the Pelasgians. Such as Eumæus (μάω, to desire eagerly
and strive after), Euryclea, (who moreover is daughter of Ops the son
of Peisenor,) Eurymedusa (in Scheria), and Alcippe (at Sparta[550]).
There were two causes, to which this might be referable: first, that
high-born slaves were often obtained both by kidnapping and by war;
Eumæus, as we know, was of this class. And secondly, that the names
of their lords may then, as now, have been occasionally given them.
So that the high significations connected with servile names do not
constitute an objection to the rules which have been stated.
There is another class of names, which requires especial notice. They
are those which have reference to the horse. The rearing and care of
the horse are in Homer more connected with the Trojans, than with the
Greeks: and his standing epithet, ἱπποδάμος, is more largely employed
on the Trojan side[551]. The horse was not exclusively, perhaps not
principally, employed in war and games. He was used in travelling also:
he may have been employed as a beast of burden: he certainly drew the
plough, though Homer informs us that in this occupation the mule was
preferable.
The points at which we may expect to find names chiefly Pelasgian,
besides those which are expressly given us as such, will be these three:
1. In connection with some particular parts of Greece, especially
Attica or Arcadia.
2. Among the masses of the common Greek soldiery.
3. Still more unequivocally among the masses of the Trojan force, and
of the auxiliaries generally; except the Lycians, whom we have seen
reason to presume to have been less Pelasgian, and more allied, or at
least more similar, to the Hellic races.
On the other hand we may presume Hellic blood, or what in Homer’s
estimation was akin to it, among the Lycians, and likewise wherever
we find, especially on the Greek side, any considerable collection of
names appertaining to the higher class or aristocracy of the army, or
of the country.
_Names of the Pelasgian Class._
The Homeric names, which are given us as expressly Pelasgian, are four
only; and they belong to the Pelasgian force on the Trojan side.
1. Hippothous.
2. Pulæus.
3. Lethus.
4. Teutamus[552].
The etymology of the three first names seems obvious enough: and,
though the persons are all rulers among their people, not one of them
unequivocally presents the characteristics which we should regard as
appropriate in Hellic names: although, from their being of the highest
rank, we should be less surprised if the case were otherwise.
As regards the first of the four, upon examining the class of names
relating to the horse in the poems, we find, as far as I have observed,
only Hipponous[553] among the Greeks. This rank does not clearly
appear: but νόος, the second factor of the word, supplies the higher
element.
On the other side, in addition to Hippolochus, a name meaning
horse-ambush, who was both Lycian and royal, we have Hippasus,
Hippodamas, Hippodamus, Hippocoon, Hippomachus, and Hippotion. We have
likewise,
Melanippus, (Il. xvi. 695.)
Echepolus, (Il. xvi. 417.)
Euippus, (Il. xvi. 417.)
Take again Pulæus, from πύλη. This name may mean porter or gate-keeper:
it is scarcely susceptible of a high sense. In connection with the
character of the Pelasgians as masons and builders of walled places, it
is appropriate to them. Homer has three other names, and no more, which
appear to be founded simply upon the term gate: Πύλων, Πυλάρτης, and
Πυλαιμένης. They are all on the Trojan side.
Next, we have a larger class of names, where a strong infusion of the
Pelasgic character may be expected: namely, those connected with Attica.
Among these, three belong to its royal house, and in them we find no
certain features of the Pelasgian kind. They are,
1. Erechtheus, }
2. Peteos, } From Il. ii. 547-52.
3. Menestheus, }
The last of the three, however, seems, if derived from μένος, to belong
to the higher class of names.
Besides these three there are,
4. Pheidas, }
5. Stichius, } Il. xiii. 690, 1.
6. Bias, }
7. Iasus, }
8. Sphelus, } Il. xv. 332, 7, 8.
9. Boucolus. }
Now the whole of these are commanders or officers; and yet four of
them, Pheidas (φείδω), Stichius (στείχω), Sphelus (σφάλλω), and
Boucolus (βούκολος), are in a marked manner of the Pelasgian class:
Bias (βίη), may perhaps belong to it, as meaning mere physical force:
and on the etymology of the ancient name Iasus I do not venture to
speculate. Boucolus, like Boucolion, which we shall meet presently,
deserves particular attention: we find nothing at all resembling it
among the names which are (on other grounds) presumably Hellic.
Other names in the poems, which there may be some reason, from their
local connection, to presume Pelasgian, are,
1. Lycoorgus, } From Il. vii. 136, 149, where
2. Ereuthalion, } they are described as Arcadians.
3. Dmetor, Lord of Cyprus, from Od. xvii. 443.
And perhaps we may add,
4. An Ion or Ian, as head of the Ἰάονες.
5. An Apis, the early eponymist of the Peloponnesus, or a part of
it[554].
Now, though these are all rulers and great personages, the name Dmetor
is the only one among them which seems in any degree to present
Hellenic ideas: nor need that mean a subduer of men; it may as well
mean simply a breaker of horses. Apis, we have every reason to suppose,
means the ox. Lycoorgus, from Λυκὸς and ἔργον or its root, has all the
appearance of being characteristically Pelasgian.
Let us now inquire if the rules laid down will bear the test of being
applied to the lower order of the Greek soldiery.
In the Fifth Iliad Hector and Mars slay a batch of apparently
undistinguished persons[555]. They are,
1. Teuthras.
2. Orestes.
3. Trechus.
4. Œnomaus.
5. Helenus (son of Œnops).
6. Orestius.
And again in the Eleventh Iliad Hector slays nine more;
1. Asæus.
2. Autonous.
3. Opites.
4. Dolops (son of Clytus).
5. Opheltius.
6. Agelaus.
7. Æsymnus.
8. Orus.
9. Hipponous.
Now out of the seventeen names here assembled,
Four, namely, Autonous, Clytus, Agelaus, and Æsymnus (from its
connection with the word αἰσυμνητὴς, ruler), belong to what I term the
Hellic class.
Three, namely, Teuthras, Asæus, and Helenus, do not immediately suggest
a particular derivation.
Of Hipponous I have already spoken. The other nine appear to conform to
the Pelasgian type. Œnomaus corresponds with the Latin Bibulus.
Again; the names of ordinary Trojans appear to belong generally to the
same type.
When Patroclus commences his exploits in the Sixteenth book, he slays
in succession,
1. Pronous.
2. Thestor, son of
3. Enops.
4. Erualus.
5. Erumas.
6. Amphoteros.
7. Epaltes.
8. Tlepolemus, son of
9. Damastor.
10. Echios.
11. Puris.
12. Ipheus.
13. Euippus, and
14. Polumelus, son of
15. Argeas.
Of these only Tlepolemus and Pronous can with certainty be assigned
to the higher class. Damastor is doubtful, like Dmetor; but perhaps
from its connection with Tlepolemus, we ought to place it in the same
category. Still it must be observed that Homer takes care to bring into
action against Patroclus and the Myrmidons his favourites the Lycians,
as well as the Trojans[556]: and that therefore we are to presume in
this list an intermixture of Lycian names.
The names of ordinary Trojans are for the most part of the same colour.
But we must bear in mind that we cannot so easily trace the Trojan as
the Greek commonalty. Homer rarely allows a Greek of high station or
distinction to be slain: whereas the Greeks continually destroy Trojans
of eminence. We may therefore be prepared to find names of the higher
type somewhat more freely sprinkled among the Trojan than among the
Greek slain.
In the Sixth Iliad[557] a number of the Greek heroes dispatch
consecutively a list of Trojans, which supplies the following names:
1. Dresus.
2. Opheltius.
{ These two were sons of Boucolion,
{ an illegitimate son of Laomedon,
3. Æsepus { who apparently never was acknowledged,
{ but was brought up in the
4. Pedasus { lower class by his mother Abarbaree.
{ I add these names to the list:
5. Boucolion.
6. Abarbaree (mother of Boucolion).
7. Astualus.
8. Pidutes.
9. Aretaon.
10. Ableros.
11. Elatus.
12. Phylacus.
13. Melanthius.
14. Adrestus.
Among all these names there is not one which we can with confidence
place in the higher category except Aretaon. Dresus (compare δρήστηρ,
a domestic servant), Opheltius, Boucolion, Melanthius (from its use in
the Odyssey, supported by Melantho, and both belonging to servants),
are unequivocally of the Pelasgian class: probably Elatus (which
however is found among the Ithacan suitors), Phylacus, Adrestus, should
be similarly interpreted. Astualos (ἄστυ, ἃλς) has no contrary force:
and of the rest the derivation is not obvious.
If we take the second batch of Trojans slain by Patroclus, it gives a
somewhat different result. They are[558],
1. Adrestus.
2. Autonous.
3. Echeclus.
4. Perimus, son of Megas.
5. Epistor.
6. Melanippus.
7. Elasus.
8. Moulius.
9. Pulartes.
Of these Autonous and Epistor would seem clearly to belong to the
higher class; to which we may add Echeclus, if it is derived (like
Echecles, a Myrmidon chieftain) from ἔχω and κλέος: but even this is
not a large proportion.
Now when we turn to the Lycians[559] slain consecutively by Ulysses, we
find a material change. These are,
1. Koiranos.
2. Alastor.
3. Chromius.
4. Alcandros.
5. Halios.
6. Noemon.
7. Prutanis.
_Of the higher or Hellenic Class._
All of these seven visibly belong to the higher or Hellenic order of
names, except Χρόμιος, which I presume may be akin to χρῶμα, and Ἅλιος,
‘mariner.’ But this last named designation is also somewhat Hellic: I
doubt if we find among Pelasgian names any taken from maritime ideas or
pursuits.
Again, when Achilles comes forth, there is provided for him a list of
victims bearing distinguished names[560], though practically unknown as
characters in the poem. At the end of the Twentieth book he slays,
1. Druops.
2. Demouchus, son of
3. Philetor.
4. Laogonus, and
5. Dardanus, sons of
6. Bias.
7. Tros, son of
8. Alastor.
9. Moulius.
10. Echeclus, son of
11. Agenor.
12. Deucalion.
13. Rigmos, son of
14. Peiroos, one of the Thracian leaders.
15. Areithous.
Now of these fifteen names none, if judged by the rules which we have
laid down, would clearly fall into the Pelasgian, or more plebeian,
class, except Dryops, perhaps Laogonus, and Bias: three only. Peiroos
and Rigmos (probably akin to ῥῖγος) are Thracian, and may be put aside.
Six, viz., Demuchus, Philetor, Alastor (contrast with this Lethus),
Echeclus, Agenor, and Areithous, are of the Hellic class. The others,
Dardanus, Tros, Moulius (Il. xi. 739), and Deucalion are repeated from
eminent historical personages.