Excerpt from The Lay of Dolon: The Tenth Book of Homer's ILI AN author has been known to palh'ate his boldness in making a book by saying he has written it to supply a want. The same plea is ventured on behalf of the present work. It may, at first sight, seem difficult to make good such a justification for a contribution to the Homeric Question. The literature of that problem is already of a fullness to defy the bibliographer. And it grows incessantly. Those who try to keep abreast of it in its many branches long for a pause which does not come. There was a brief but welcome lull some years ago. Controversy almost ceased for a time, while disputants fell back and sought to reckon up gain and loss. But the Lachmann drum was beaten afresh; and the Cretan discoveries, the novelties of the Saga-searchers, the restless strivings of the Culturists, the speculations of Professor Murray and the arguments of Mr. Andrew Lang, have all helped to stimulate discussion. 73x06 8' Miss Stawell has dealt a heavy blow where it was least expected. The contest is active once more. In Homeric phrase they battle on relent lessly. An enumeration of only the treatises and essays which have appeared during the four years that the present book has occupied, would require a bulky Appendix. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.