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THE ODYSSEY.

the British Arthur, who is slain in battle by his illegitimate son Mordred. The veil which even tradition leaves hanging over the great wanderer's fate is no in-appropriate conclusion to his story. A life of inaction, even in his old age, seems hardly suited to the poetical conception of this hero of unrest. In the fragmentary legends of the Middle Ages there is almost material for a second Odyssey. There, the Greek voyager becomes the pioneer of Atlantic discoverers—sailing still on into the unknown West in search of the Earthly Paradise, founding new cities as he goes, and at last meeting his death in Atlantic waters. The Italian poets—Tasso, Pulci, and especially Dante—adopted the tradition. In the 'Inferno' of the latter, the spirit of Ulysses thus discloses the last scenes of his career:—

"Nor fondness for my son, nor reverence Of my old father, nor return of love, That should have crowned Penelope with joy, Could overcome in me the zeal I had To explore the world, and search the ways of life, Man's evil and his virtue. Forth I sailed Into the deep illimitable main, With but one bark, and the small faithful band That yet cleaved to me. As Iberia far, Far as Marocco, either shore I saw, And the Sardinian and each isle beside Which round that ocean bathes. Tardy with age Were I and my companions, when we came To the strait pass, where Hercules ordained The boundaries not to be o'erstepped by man.[1]The walls of Seville to my right I left, On the other hand already Ceuta past. 'O brothers!' I began, 'who to the west
  1. ↑ The Straits of Gibraltar
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