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And it was this supposed unity of authorship which gave these poems their
powerful influence over the minds of the men of old. Heeren, who is
evidently little disposed in favour of modern theories, finely observes:--
"It was Homer who formed the character of the Greek nation. No
poet has ever, as a poet, exercised a similar influence over his
countrymen. Prophets, lawgivers, and sages have formed the
character of other nations; it was reserved to a poet to form that
of the Greeks. This is a feature in their character which was not
wholly erased even in the period of their degeneracy. When
lawgivers and sages appeared in Greece, the work of the poet had
already been accomplished; and they paid homage to his superior
genius. He held up before his nation the mirror, in which they
were to behold the world of gods and heroes no less than of feeble
mortals, and to behold them reflected with purity and truth. His
poems are founded on the first feeling of human nature; on the
love of children, wife, and country; on that passion which
outweighs all others, the love of glory. His songs were poured
forth from a breast which sympathized with all the feelings of
man; and therefore they enter, and will continue to enter, every
breast which cherishes the same sympathies. If it is granted to
his immortal spirit, from another heaven than any of which he
dreamed on earth, to look down on his race, to see the nations
from the fields of Asia to the forests of Hercynia, performing
pilgrimages to the fountain which his magic wand caused to flow;
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