Studies in Homer

Another revision of her History of Astronomy was now due, but before tackling it Agnes Clerke turned ‘as a sort of recreation’ to preparing a little volume on Homer which came out early in 1892. ‘Greek enough to read the Iliad and the Odyssey in the original can be learned with comparative ease’, she wrote, ‘and what trouble there may be in its acquisition meets an ample reward in mental profit and enjoyment of a high order.’ As an adult she had made herself proficient in Greek with a volume of Homer and a dictionary – the best way, she thought, of mastering a dead language, much better than spending months on the disheartening drudgery of committing grammar to memory (though keeping a Grammar always by for reference). Her intention in writing about Homer was to share her own pleasure with her readers and to promote a ‘non-erudite’ study of Homer's ‘noble poetic monuments’ at a time when archaeological discoveries were uncovering actual physical evidence for the existence of ancient civilisations.

Familiar Studies in Homer was a collection of essays on aspects of the Hellenic world as gleaned from the Iliad and the Odyssey. It included one on Homeric Astronomy based on an article originally published in Nature. Other delightful essays dealt with such matters as Homer's dogs and horses, trees and flowers, herbs and food.