Turning to the various passages in the Homeric poems which refer to dress, we find that there is very little likelihood that they can be intended to describe the kind of costume dealt with above under the name of “Pre-Hellenic Dress.” The words used, and the accounts of the process of dressing, have no meaning, unless we suppose them to refer to the draped type of costume as opposed both to the close-fitting jacket type and to the dressing-gown type, consisting of a loose-sleeved garment opening down the front. The question of the kind of dress actually worn by the Trojan and AchÆan heroes is not one to be entered into here; possibly it may have been the same as that reflected in the art of the Minoan and MycenÆan peoples; indeed, if the Trojans represent the older race which inhabited the shores of the Ægean, and the AchÆans the invaders who came down upon them from the north, there is every probability that the former wore the pre-Hellenic dress, and the latter introduced the new Hellenic draped type. The use of the epithets a?????p?? and a???????, “deep-bosomed” and “deep-girdled,” in the Homeric poems perhaps has some bearing on this point. Referring respectively to the deep hollow between the breasts and to the girdle cutting deep into the figure, they might well be applied to the wasp-waisted ladies of Knossos. It is significant to notice that a?????p?? is used only of Trojan women,[23] a??????? only of barbarian captives;[24] possibly the poet may be unconsciously referring to the difference between the dress of the older race and that of their AchÆan conquerors.

However that may be, in most cases Homer ascribes the same kind of costume to AchÆans and Trojans alike; he is singing of deeds that happened many years, perhaps even two or three centuries, before his day, and being no archÆologist, he imagines his heroes to have dressed as his own contemporaries did; he is acting no differently from the Italian masters, who painted their Madonnas in mediÆval costume.

We find in Homer many differences in the nomenclature used when speaking of men’s and women’s dresses respectively. The words ??t?? and ??a??a are applied exclusively to men’s costume, p?p??? and ???de??? exclusively to women’s, whereas the word f???? is the only one used indifferently for either; both men and women alike fasten their garments with brooches or pins of some kind (pe????, ??et?) and with girdles (????, ??st??). Many of the words applied to articles of wearing-apparel are also used to signify coverings for beds, seats, etc.: such are ??a??a, ???ea, p?p???, f????; the last is used also of sails and of the shroud of Laertes.[25] This being the case, we must infer that they were not made-up garments, but large square or oblong pieces of material which could be used for other purposes besides clothing; the Homeric dress, therefore, must belong to the draped type rather than to any other.

The men’s dress in Homer regularly consists of two pieces—the ??t??, or under-garment, and a cloak called variously ??a??a, f????, or, in one case, ??p?.[26] Warriors sometimes wore a skin instead of the mantle. For example, in Iliad, x., 22, Agamemnon is described as putting on a lion’s skin, and a few lines further on Menelaus appears wearing a dappled leopard’s skin.

The description of the process of dressing in the Iliad is simple and straightforward. Agamemnon[27] awakes in the morning, and prepares to meet the assembly of the AchÆans:

“He sat upright and drew on his soft tunic, fair and new, and threw around him his great cloak: and beneath his shining feet he bound fair sandals, and around his shoulders he slung his silver-studded sword.”

The ??t?? was apparently, then, a garment which could be drawn on (??d??e) while in a sitting position. No mention is made, either in this or other similar passages, of pins or girdle to fasten the ??t??, so we may infer that it was a rather narrow garment sewn up at the two sides, with openings left for the head and arms.

Studniczka[28] gives a diagram of such a garment, which he describes as a sack left open at the bottom, with openings in the top and side-seams for head and arms.

The words ??d???, ??d???, are commonly used for “to put on” and “to take off” a ??t??, which seems to imply that the garment was drawn over the head; although occasionally pe?? is used with the simple verb d??? instead of the compound ??d???.[29] In no case is there any mention of pins or brooches in connection with the ??t??, so we are justified in inferring that it was a sewn garment; and in Odyssey, xxiv., 227, the ??t?? of Laertes is actually described as sewn:

“He wore a sewn tunic, dirty and unseemly.”

As a rule, the ??t?? was worn ungirdled, except when the wearer was engaged in vigorous action, when he is usually described as girding himself for the purpose. For example, in the Odyssey,[30] when EumÆus is going to slay pigs, he prepares himself by confining his ??t?? with a girdle:

Little mention is made in the Homeric poems of the length of the ??t??, but the distinguishing epithet of the Ionians is ???e??t??e?—with trailing chitons—so that trailing garments were evidently customary only among the Ionians; warriors while fighting and slaves occupied in active work would probably wear very short garments reaching only to the thigh, as they are to be seen on the earliest vase-paintings. The princes and elders of the people, engaged in peaceful pursuits, in all probability wore them reaching to the ankles. The word te???e??, applied to the ??t?? in Odyssey, xix., 242, is usually taken to mean “reaching to the feet,” and to be equivalent to p?d????, used by later writers.

With regard to the material of which the ??t?? was made, the word itself is connected with a Semitic root signifying linen;[31] and from the various epithets applied to it in Homer, it is reasonable to infer that the garment was ordinarily made of that material. It is described as s??a??e??, “shining” or “glossy”; and although this particular epithet need mean no more than “dazzlingly clean,” its comparison for softness and brightness with the skin of an onion[32] would hardly be very apt, if it were made of a stuff that did not present a very smooth surface; a hand-woven woollen material might possibly be called a?a???, “soft,” but could hardly be described as shining like the sun. Two passages in Homer show clearly that oil was used in the weaving of linen, which would have the effect of producing a shiny appearance. The maidens in the palace of Alcinous are described as weaving linen from which the oil runs off:

“And from the close-woven linen the liquid oil runs off,” and in Iliad, 596, the youths in the dancing place on the shield of Achilles are described as wearing ??t??a? ?????t???, ??a st????ta? ??a??, “well spun, shining softly with oil.”

The epithet st??pt?? applied to the ??t??[33] requires comment; it was taken by Aristarchus, the grammarian, to mean a coat of chain mail. There is no evidence to show that such a piece of defensive armour was known to the early Greeks, and we find no reference to it until Roman times; there is, therefore, no justification for the inference that st??pt?? ??t?? in Homer means a coat of mail.

The word st??pt?? means primarily “twisted,” and could be applied to a coarse kind of linen whose texture showed very clearly the separate threads of which it was woven; but other uses of the word in Homer, and the second of the two passages in which it is applied to a ??t??, suggest a different interpretation. In Odyssey, ii., 426, in the description of the rigging of a ship, the expression e?st??pt??s? ?e?s?? occurs. The adjective here can very well retain its simple meaning—“well-twisted”; the noun can mean nothing else but “ropes of ox-hide”—that is to say, the whole expression will signify ropes made of well-twisted thongs of leather.

The passage referred to in the Iliad runs as follows:—

The subject is the sacrifice of the twelve boys at the funeral of Patroclus.

Achilles bound their hands behind them with the well-cut thongs which they wore on their twisted chitons. The word ??s? implies leather, and the only kind of chiton which would be likely to have leather thongs attached to it would be a jerkin made of leather, perhaps plaited in some way and fastened by means of leather laces. Such a garment might be worn in war under a metal breast-plate, or if very stoutly made might even serve as defensive armour, without the addition of any corslet; in any case, it would afford more protection than an ordinary linen chiton such as was worn by those engaged in the pursuits of peace.

Another garment worn by men is the ??a, which appears at first sight to mean simply a girdle, but in one or two passages signifies something more. The word is obviously connected with the verb ??????, “to gird on,” and means a “thing girt on.” The word might well apply to a girdle, but it might also be used of anything put on round the waist, and so of a waist-cloth; there can be little doubt that it has this meaning in Iliad, xxiii., 683, where a description is being given of the preparations for a boxing match; and a few lines further on the participle ??sa???, applied to the wrestlers, in all probability means putting on their waist-cloths. In other passages where the word occurs, its meaning is less obvious, although here too there is nothing to render the same interpretation impossible. In Iliad, iv., 186, a weapon is described as not inflicting a mortal wound:

“But the shining belt checked it, and the waist-cloth beneath, and the kirtle which the coppersmiths fashioned.”

Here the ??st?? and the ?t?? are obviously pieces of armour, and the ??a is a garment worn under the ??st??, and can very well bear the meaning of a waist-cloth. Such garments were worn at all periods; they formed the regular dress of the men of the pre-Hellenic age; they occur also on vases of the classical period.[34] There is no necessity, therefore, to suppose, as Studniczka does, that the word here is synonymous with ??t??. Studniczka supports his interpretation of this passage by another, Odyssey, xiv., 478 f., where EumÆus is describing to Odysseus an occasion when he and comrades had to sleep in the open air, and he felt the cold because he had foolishly left his cloak behind him, and had only his shield and ??a fae????. The expression could here maintain its signification of “waist-cloth”; only, the simple meaning is obscured by a phrase some five lines further on, when EumÆus continues:

“I had no cloak: some god beguiled me to go with only a single garment.”

The simple meaning of ?????t?? is, “wearing only a chiton,” or under-garment; but without stretching the meaning of the expression very far, we can easily suppose its being applied to a man clad only in a waist-cloth; so that even here it is not necessary to suppose that ??a is another word for ??t??.

We must next consider the over-garment worn by the Homeric heroes, for which several words are used, the most common being ??a??a and f????.

The ??a??a was used not only as an article of dress, but also as a blanket to sleep under;[35] as a rug to cover couches and seats;[36] a constant epithet is ????, so that its material was evidently woollen; and the adjectives ??e???e?? and ??e?s?ep??, “warding off winds,” show that it was worn for warmth, as a protection against cold winds.[37] It was thrown off for exercise or when speed in running was required.[38] The style in which the ??a??a was worn varied somewhat; the verbs regularly used for the act of putting it on are ?f????? and ?f??????, “to throw round”; pe?????? also occurs, and sometimes it is described as being placed ?p? ???s?, “upon the shoulders”; for taking it off, ?p????? and ?p?t???? are used, and in one case ??d??? occurs, though this word should more correctly be applied to the ??t??. The constant use of ?f?, “around,” shows that the ??a??a was not a garment which was drawn on over the head, like the ??t??, but was a square or rectangular piece of material wrapped round the figure or laid over the shoulders. We read in Homer of the ??a??a ?p????, “single cloak,” and the ??a??a d?p??, “double cloak”; the former expression must mean a cloak worn single, without being folded over; such a garment might possibly be put on as the himation was in later time, one end being laid on the shoulder, so that the mass of the material hung down towards the back; this mass of material would then be drawn across the back under the arm which was then left exposed, and across the chest, and the end would be thrown over the shoulder towards the back. The garment could easily be drawn up so as to cover both arms if the temperature required greater warmth, or it might be worn over both shoulders like a shawl, without being doubled, and the frequent mention of the shoulders in connection with the ??a??a seem to point to this style as the most common.[39] The ??a??a d?p?? is mentioned twice in Homer—once in the Iliad and once in the Odyssey; in both cases it is described as being fastened with a brooch:

“And about him he fastened a purple cloak, doubled, with no folds.”

“Goodly Odysseus had a purple cloak, woollen and doubled; and it had a brooch wrought of gold, with a double groove for the pins.”

In these cases the ??a??a was obviously folded over double, though in what way is not expressly stated; if the garment consisted of a wide rectangular piece of material, it might be doubled along its length horizontally and fastened with a brooch on one shoulder, like Apollo’s himation in the Thasos relief.[40] This method, however, is not found on the earliest vases, which, though not contemporary with Homer, are yet the nearest monumental evidence obtainable; moreover, the additional expression, ??tad???, seems to be against this interpretation; the meaning of ??tad??? seems to be “stretched out straight,” and the word could hardly be applied to a garment draped in such a way as to fall in many folds; it is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the ??a??a d?p?? consisted of a large square[41] of woollen material folded along the diagonal, so that two opposite corners lay on each other; it would be laid on the shoulders so that these two corners hung down in the middle of the back, no folds being formed (??tad???), and the other two points hung down one on each side of the front; a brooch would prevent the cloak from slipping off the shoulders; this shawl-like method of wearing the mantle is frequently represented on the black figured vases.[42] The d?pt???? ??p??, “double cloak,” which Athena wears, ?f? ???s?, when disguised as a shepherd,[43] is probably a garment worn in this same fashion, and the d?p?a?e? which Helen and Andromache are described as weaving in the Iliad[44] are perhaps intended for cloaks to be so worn.

The place of the ??a??a is frequently taken by the f????, constant epithets of which are ?a??? and ??a, “fine” and “large,” so that we may conclude that the f???? was an ample and somewhat luxurious garment. The word is used not only for an article of wearing apparel, but also for the shroud of Laertes,[45] and for the sails of a ship,[46] so that Studniczka’s conjecture that it was made of linen is probably right, and the difference of material probably constitutes the chief distinction between the f???? and the ??a??a. The f???? is several times described as “white” and “well-washed,” and the epithets ????fe??, ??pt??, ?a??e?, “silvery,” “fine,” and “graceful,” which are used of the f???? of Calypso, are more applicable to a linen than to a woollen garment. F???? is the only word used in Homer for the dress of both men and women. When worn by men, the f???? was in all probability draped in the same fashion as the ??a??a, but the woman’s f???? would be draped differently, as will be shown later.

The ??a??a and the f???? were not worn in battle, since they would encumber the wearer too much; armour was put on over the chiton, or in some cases warriors wore the skin of some wild beast slain in combat; we hear, for example, of Agamemnon wearing a lion’s skin,[47] and of Menelaus and Paris wearing leopards’ skins.[48] A man’s costume was completed by sandals, p?d??a, which we are told were made of leather;[49] no mention is made of any head-covering worn in the pursuit of peaceful occupations; if any protection were needed, a fold of the mantle might easily be drawn up over the head; in battle, of course, some kind of helmet was worn, which was made usually of bronze, or sometimes of hide,[50] covered with boars’ tusks, such as have been found at MycenÆ.

The women’s dress in Homer consists of two garments, the p?p??? and the ???de??? or ?a??pt??, called also in one case the ????a;[51] the word ?a??? which is used sometimes as a substantive instead of p?p???, sometimes as an adjective, simply means “something to be worn.”

The principal garment of the women was the p?p???. The derivation of the word is uncertain; it is probably connected with some root meaning to cover or wrap; the word is used in the Iliad to signify things other than dress; for the covering of a chariot[52] and for the wrappings of the vessel which held the ashes of Hector;[53] the p?p???, therefore, like the ??a??a and f???? consisted of a square or rectangular piece of material which could be used for various purposes. When worn as a garment, it was held in place by means of brooches or pins (pe???a?, ??eta?) and a girdle. A passage in the Iliad[54] gives a description of an elaborate toilette made by Hera when she is setting out to beguile Zeus:

“Then she clad her in her fragrant robe that Athena wrought delicately for her, and therein set many things beautifully made, and fastened it over her breast with clasps of gold. And she girdled it with a girdle arrayed with a hundred tassels; and she set ear-rings in her pierced ears—ear-rings of three drops and glistering—and therefrom shone grace abundantly. And with a veil over all the peerless goddess veiled herself, a fair, new veil, bright as the sun, and beneath her shining feet she bound goodly sandals.”—Lang, Leaf, and Myers.

We gather from this passage that the garment was fastened on the shoulders by brooches or pins inserted, ?at? st????, which Studniczka rightly explains[55] as meaning “down towards the breast,” a method of fastening which is represented on the FranÇois vase[56] and elsewhere; the material is drawn from the back, and wraps over that which covers the front; the pins are then inserted downwards, and hold the two thicknesses of material together; the dress is held in to the figure by a girdle worn round the waist, over which any superfluous length of material could be drawn, forming a ???p?? or pouch. No mention is made in Homer of the ?p?pt??a, or overfold, which is a common feature of the women’s dress in historic times; but from its constant appearance on the earliest monuments, it is not unreasonable to suppose that it formed an element in women’s costume of the draped type from the very earliest times. It is formed by folding over the upper edge of the garment before it is put on, in such a way that a double thickness of material covers the figure from the neck to a distance a little above the waist in front and behind. The original purpose of this overfold may have been either to secure greater warmth, or to prevent the dress from tearing at the points where the brooches were inserted; such a thing might easily happen, if only the single stuff were used, since the whole mass of material hung down from the two points where it was secured on the shoulders.

Another question which arises in connection with the Homeric peplos is as to whether it was worn open or closed at the side; a passage which has been much discussed in this relation is the one which describes the peplos given by Antinous to Penelope, with its twelve brooches:

“For Antinous, his henchman, bare a broidered robe, great and very fair, wherein were golden brooches, twelve in all, fitted with well-bent clasps.”—Butcher and Lang.

The point in dispute is the purpose of the twelve brooches. Studniczka maintains that two were used to fasten the dress on the shoulders, and the remaining ten to hold it together down the open side; he states in support of this theory that sewing was not commonly practised by the Homeric women, although he has previously pointed out that the men’s chiton was always sewn; this being the case, it is only natural to suppose that the women applied the art of sewing to their own garments also where necessary. There is no example in early art of a peplos fastened in this way with brooches; it is invariably joined round, the seam being covered by a band of ornament either woven in the edge of the material or embroidered upon it afterwards. In fifth century art we sometimes find representations of the peplos worn open down the side; it may have been worn so also in Homeric times; if the garment were wide, one edge could easily be wrapped over the other and held in place by the girdle, so as not to leave the figure too much exposed. It is more probable that the twelve brooches in question were used to fasten the dress on the shoulders and down the upper arms six on each side, forming a kind of sleeve to the elbow. That the ample Ionic chiton was worn in this way in later times is manifest from the numerous vase-paintings and other monuments of the late sixth and early fifth centuries; it may have been a fashion peculiar to the East in Homeric times, but Eastern fashions and customs were not unknown to the author of the Homeric poems. We read[57] of rich robes that were the work of Sidonian women whom Paris brought from Sidon, and it is not unlikely that Antinous, wishing to offer Penelope some rich gift, would choose a luxurious garment brought from the East.

However, we must regard the use of twelve brooches as exceptional, and consider that the peplos was ordinarily fastened with only two, and with a girdle round the waist. That it was a fairly ample garment and trailed on the ground behind, is proved by the epithets ta??p?p??? and ???es?p?p???, “with trailing robes,” frequently applied to women. Athena finds it certainly too cumbersome to fight in; for when she is preparing for battle, we are told that she lets her peplos slip to the ground, and puts on the chiton of her father,[58] Zeus. A very constant epithet of the peplos is p???????, or sometimes the intensified form, pap???????,[59] The meaning of the adjective is, “bright, varied, covered with patterns.” Whether these patterns were woven in the material at the loom or embroidered is a question not easy to decide.[60]

In some cases they were apparently woven, in others probably embroidered.

The silver-shining f???? which Calypso puts on[61] takes the place of the peplos, and was probably worn in the same way,[62] with the overfold and girdle, over which the superfluous length was drawn, forming the ???p??, or pouch, which varied in depth according to the wearer’s fancy. That it was sometimes fairly roomy is proved by the fact that the nurse of EumÆus was able to hide three cups ?p? ???p?[63] “under the folds of her dress.”

The material of which the girdle (????) was made is uncertain. We hear of golden girdles of Calypso and Circe, and of a fringed girdle of Hera with a hundred tassels, but these are exceptional. The ordinary girdle may have been of metal, or cord, or leather; this last material is suggested by the magic ?est?? ??? of Aphrodite, which may have been a girdle; or, since we are told that the goddess took it ?p? st???sf??,[64] “from her bosom,” and that Hera received it and ?? ????t?et? ???p?, “put it on her own bosom,” perhaps it was something of the nature of Athena’s Ægis, which also possessed magic power. On a vase in the British Museum[65] a goddess is represented wearing an Ægis, and would naturally be interpreted as Athena, were it not that the vase-painter has clearly written her name, “Aphrodite,” by her side. It has been suggested that he has made a slip, and meant to write “Athena”; but in all probability he knew what he was doing, and it was his intention to represent Aphrodite wearing her ?est?? ???.

The second garment which was essential to the completion of a woman’s dress, at least when she appeared in public, was the ???de??? or ?a??pt??,[66] which served both as cloak and veil. It was probably put on over the shoulders like a shawl, without being folded, in such a way that it could be drawn over the head without difficulty, and across the face, serving as a veil.[67] Sometimes it may have been doubled corner to corner diagonally and laid on the shoulder. That it was worn over the head is clear from Odyssey, v., 232, where Calypso puts on her f????; ?efa?? d? ???pe??e ?a??pt???, “and over her head a veil.” From the description of Penelope, when she appears among the suitors “holding her shining veil before her cheeks,” we may gather that it was customary for women to veil themselves before men.[68] No woman would think of leaving the house without her ???de???. Helen, though she quits her house in haste, first veils herself with shining linen,[69] ???e???s? ?a???a??? ?????s??, and it is only when they are far from the town and enjoying the quietude of the river bank, that Nausicaa and her attendant maidens throw off their veils for the ballplay.[70]

From the constant use of the epithets ??pa??? and ?ap???, “shining” or “bright,” we may infer that the ???de??? was usually made of linen, and, in summer at least, it was probably a fine, light garment, possibly even semi-transparent. In no case are any pins or brooches mentioned in connection with it; and from the ease with which it can be slipped off,[71] it is reasonable to infer that it was worn without fastening of any kind, like a shawl or scarf. In the passage where Andromache casts off her head-dress in her anguish at the death of Hector,[72] Studniczka supposes that because the ???de??? is mentioned as falling off last, the other d?sata must have been worn over it and held it in place; this seems to be putting a too literal and even prosaic interpretation upon the lines. There is no occasion to suppose that the poet enumerated the various parts of the head-dress in the order in which they fell; and if we read in that spirit, we shall frequently find that the Homeric heroes put on their cloaks before their undergarments; for more than once the f???? or ??a??a is mentioned before the ??t??.[73]

The various parts which composed this head-dress have given rise to much discussion. The passage runs:

“And far from her head she flung the shining bonds, diadem and kerchief, and meshy net and veil.”

The d?sata s??a??e?ta are explained by the words which follow, and which stand in apposition. No question is raised as to the nature of the ?p??; it was a metal diadem like the stef???, worn across the front of the hair. The ???de??? has already been explained; the ?e???fa??? and the p?e?t? ??ad?s? need some comment. The former is sometimes taken to mean a “net,” but it will be shown later that this meaning is better applied to the p?e?t? ??ad?s?; the word ?e???fa??? is obviously connected with the verb ???pt? to cover, and therefore means “something which covers,” “a covering.” In all probability, then, the ?e???fa??? is simply a kerchief worn on top of the head behind the ?p??. The ??ad?s? is obviously something which serves to bind up (??ad??) the hair and hold it in place, which is the proper function of a net. The epithet p?e?t?, which Helbig[74] has tried to explain as “folded,” means primarily “plaited”; it is applied elsewhere in the Homeric poems to baskets,[75] which shows its perfect appropriateness to the meshes of a net. We need give no other meaning, then, to the p?e?t? ??ad?s?, but can easily explain it as a net that confined the long hair behind. This completes the head-dress proper, the ???de??? being a separate scarf or shawl worn over it.

The women’s dress in Homer is completed by sandals, and for ornament they wore, in addition to the brooches which fastened their clothes, ear-rings and necklaces of varied workmanship; the ??apta? ????e? and ?????e? of which we read[76] are perhaps spiral-shaped brooches and ear-rings or necklaces in the shape of lilies, such as have been found in the later MycenÆan graves.

Few colours are mentioned in Homer in connection with dress. The epithets “white” and “shining” are frequently applied to the chiton and ???de??? and to the f????. F??????e?? and p??f??e?? are frequently used of the ??a??a and the d?p?a?, the former meaning “red,” and the latter probably “dark purple”; the word is used also of the sea and of clouds. The veil of Thetis[77] is described as ????e??, indigo, probably, or blue-black, since we hear immediately afterwards that “no garment ever was blacker.” The dark veil may be a sign of mourning; but in any case, the epithet might be used of the garments of the sea-goddess, just as ??a???a?t??, “blue-haired,” is applied to Poseidon. Only once is yellow mentioned, and that in the case of “saffron robed dawn.” The veil of Hera, that was “bright as the sun,”[78] might have been yellow-gold. Yellow is a favourite colour among the Greek peasant women of to-day for the kerchiefs with which they cover their heads; and in the clear atmosphere and brilliant sunshine of Greece, it is natural to wear bright colours.

The embroidered robes of the women would naturally be worked in various colours, among which red and blue probably predominated, as they do on the sixth century statues on the Acropolis at Athens, and also in more modern Greek embroideries.

Enough has been said on the subject of Homeric dress to show that it differs entirely from the pre-Hellenic type of costume which appears on the monuments from Knossos and elsewhere. The absence of contemporary monumental evidence renders it impossible to make any very definite statements as to the details of Homeric dress; but the poems themselves afford sufficient proof of the fact that it was of the draped type, and resembled Greek dress as we know it from the monuments dating from historic times; the dress of the classical period is simply a development of that described in the Homeric poems, with the addition of some foreign elements which blended with it and somewhat transformed it in its details, while still preserving the main types unaltered.