The arguments used in this discussion have been of very various calibre. The ancient Chorizontes observed that the messenger of Zeus is Iris in the _Iliad_, but Hermes in the _Odyssey_; that the wife of Hephaestus is one of the Charites in the _Iliad_, but Aphrodite in the _Odyssey_; that the heroes in the _Iliad_ do not eat fish; that Crete has a hundred cities according to the _Iliad_, and only ninety according to the _Odyssey_; that [Greek: proparoithe] is used in the _Iliad_ of place, in the _Odyssey_ of time, &c. Modern scholars have added to the list, especially by making careful comparisons of the two poems in respect of vocabulary and grammatical forms. Nothing is more difficult than to assign the degree of weight to be given to such facts. The difference of subject between the two poems is so great that it leads to the most striking differences of detail, especially in the vocabulary. For instance, the word [Greek: phobos], which in Homer means "flight in battle" (not "fear"), occurs thirty-nine times in the _Iliad_, and only once in the _Odyssey_; but then there are no battles in the _Odyssey_. Again, the verb [Greek: rhêgnymi], "to break," occurs forty-eight times in the _Iliad_, and once in the _Odyssey_,--the reason being that it is constantly used of breaking the armour of an enemy, the gate of a city, the hostile ranks, &c. Once more, the word [Greek: skotos], "darkness," occurs fourteen times in the _Iliad_, once in the _Odyssey_. But in every one of the fourteen places it is used of "darkness" coming over the sight of a fallen warrior. On the other side, if words such as [Greek: asaminthos], "a bath," [Greek: chernips], "a basin for the hands," [Greek: leschê], "a place to meet and talk," &c., are peculiar to the _Odyssey_, we have only to remember that the scene in the _Iliad_ is hardly ever laid within any walls except those of a tent. These examples will show that mere statistics of the occurrence of words prove little, and that we must begin by looking to the subject and character of each poem. When we do so, we at once find ourselves in the presence of differences of the broadest kind. The _Iliad_ is much more historical in tone and character. The scene of the poem is a real place, and the poet sings (as Ulysses says of Demodocus) as though he had been present himself, or had heard from one who had been. The supernatural element is confined to an interference of the gods, which to the common eye hardly disturbs the natural current of affairs. The _Odyssey_, on the contrary, is full of the magical and romantic--"speciosa miracula," as Horace called them. Moreover, these marvels--which in their original form are doubtless as old as anything in the _Iliad_, since in fact they are part of the vast stock of popular tales (_Märchen_) diffused all over the world--are mixed up in the _Odyssey_ with the heroes of the Trojan war. This has been especially noticed in the case of the story of Polyphemus, one that is found in many countries, and in versions which cannot all be derived from Homer. W. Grimm has pointed out that the behaviour of Ulysses in that story is senseless and foolhardy, utterly beneath the wise and much-enduring Ulysses of the Trojan war. The reason is simple; he is not the Ulysses of the Trojan war, but a being of the same world as Polyphemus himself--the world of giants and ogres. The question then is--How long must the name of Ulysses have been familiar in the legend (_Sage_) of Troy before it made its way into the tales of giants and ogres (_Märchen_), where the poet of the _Odyssey_ found it? Entry: XXIV
Our readers have possibly preserved some recollection of this Thenardier woman, ever since her first appearance,--tall, blond, red, fat, angular, square, enormous, and agile; she belonged, as we have said, to the race of those colossal wild women, who contort themselves at fairs with paving-stones hanging from their hair. She did everything about the house,--made the beds, did the washing, the cooking, and everything else. Cosette was her only servant; a mouse in the service of an elephant. Everything trembled at the sound of her voice,--window panes, furniture, and people. Her big face, dotted with red blotches, presented the appearance of a skimmer. She had a beard. She was an ideal market-porter dressed in woman's clothes. She swore splendidly; she boasted of being able to crack a nut with one blow of her fist. Except for the romances which she had read, and which made the affected lady peep through the ogress at times, in a very queer way, the idea would never have occurred to any one to say of her, "That is a woman." This Thenardier female was like the product of a wench engrafted on a fishwife. When one heard her speak, one said, "That is a gendarme"; when one saw her drink, one said, "That is a carter"; when one saw her handle Cosette, one said, "That is the hangman." One of her teeth projected when her face was in repose.
In connexion with the principal object of this cult, Tantric theory has devised an elaborate system of female figures representing either special forms and personifications or attendants of the "Great Goddess." They are generally arranged in groups, the most important of which are the _Mahavidyas_ (great sciences), the 8 (or 9) _Mataras_ (mothers) or _Mahamataras_ (great mothers), consisting of the wives of the principal gods; the 8 _Nayikas_ or mistresses; and different classes of sorceresses and ogresses, called _Yoginis_, _Dakinis_ and _Sakinis_. A special feature of the Sakti cult is the use of obscure Vedic _mantras_, often changed so as to be quite meaningless and on that very account deemed the more efficacious for the acquisition of superhuman powers; as well as of mystic letters and syllables called _bija_ (germ), of magic circles (_chakra_) and diagrams (_yantra_), and of amulets of various materials inscribed with formulae of fancied mysterious import. Entry: A