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 Chapter 6 Repetition

Section 6.1 Do Loops

1. What is wrong with the following Do loop?

Dim index As Integer = 1
Do While index <> 9
lstBox.Items.Add("Hello")
index += 1
Loop
(A) The test variable should not be changed inside a Do loop.
(B) The test condition will never be true.
(C) This is an infinite loop.
(D) Nothing
D

2. What numbers will be displayed in the list box when the button is clicked?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim num as Double = 10
Do While num > 1
lstBox.Items.Add(num)
num = num - 3
Loop
End Sub

(A) 10, 7, and 4

(B) 10, 7, 4, and 1
(C) 10, 7, 4, 1, and -2
(D) No output
A

3. Which While statement is equivalent to Until num < 100?

(A) While num <= 100
(B) While num > 100
(C) While num >= 100
(D) There is no equivalent While statement.
C
4. What is wrong with the following Do loop?
Dim index As Integer = 1
Do While index <> 10
lstBox.Items.Add("Hello")
index += 2
Loop
(A) It should have been written as a Do Until loop.
(B) It is an infinite loop.
(C) The test variable should not be changed within the loop itself.
(D) Nothing
B

5. In analyzing the solution to a program, you conclude that you want to construct a loop so
that the loop terminates either when (a < 12) or when (b = 16). Using a Do loop, the test
condition should be
(A) Do While (a > 12) Or (b <> 16)
(B) Do While (a >= 12) Or (b <> 16)
(C) Do While (a < 12) Or (b <> 16)
(D) Do While (a >= 12) And (b <> 16)
(E) Do While (a < 12) And (b = 16)
D

6. When Visual Basic executes a Do While loop it first checks the truth value of the
_________.
(A) pass
(B) loop
(C) condition
(D) statement
C

7. If the loop is to be executed at least once, the condition should be checked at the
__________.
(A) top of the loop
(B) middle of the loop
(C) bottom of the loop
(D) Nothing should be checked.
C

8. A Do While loop checks the While condition before executing the statements in the loop.
(T/F)
T

9. If the While condition in a Do While loop is false the first time it is encountered, the
statements in the loop are still executed once. (T/F)
F
10. The following statement is valid. (T/F)
Do While x <> 0
T

11. The following two sets of code produce the same output. (T/F)
Dim num As Integer = 1 Dim num As Integer = 1
Do While num <=5 Do
lstBox.Items.Add("Hello") lstBox.Items.Add("Hello")
num += 1 num += 1
Loop Loop Until (num > 5)
T

12. A loop written using the structure Do While...Loop can usually be rewritten using the
structure Do...Loop Until. (T/F)
T

13. A variable declared inside a Do loop cannot be referred to outside of the loop. (T/F)
T

14. Assume that i and last are Integer variables. Describe precisely the output produced by the
following segment for the inputs 4 and –2.
Dim last, i As Integer
last = CInt(InputBox("Enter terminating value:"))
i = 0
Do While (i <= last)
lstBox.Items.Add(i)
i += 1
Loop
(Input 4): 0 1 2 3 4
(Input –2): No output

15. The following is an infinite loop. Rearrange the statements so that the loop will terminate as
intended.
x = 0
Do
lstBox.Items.Add(x)
Loop Until x > 13
x += 2
Move the last statement one line up, before the Loop Until statement
16. What is wrong with the following simple password program where today's password is
"intrepid"?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim password As String
password = InputBox("Enter today's password:")
Do
lstBox.Items.Add("Incorrect")
password = InputBox("Enter today's password:")
Loop Until password = "intrepid"
lstBox.Items.Add("Password Correct. You may continue.")
End Sub
(A) There is no way to re-enter a failed password.
(B) The Loop Until condition should be passWord <> "intrepid".
(C) It will display "Incorrect." even if the first response is "intrepid".
(D) Nothing
C

17. How many times will HI be displayed when the following lines are executed?
Dim c As Integer = 12
Do
lstBox.Items.Add("HI")
c += 3
Loop Until (c >= 30)
(A) 5
(B) 9
(C) 6
(D) 4
(E) 10
C

18. In the following code segment, what type of variable is counter?

Dim temp, counter, check As Integer
Do
temp = CInt(InputBox("Enter a number."))
counter += temp
If counter = 10 Then
check = 0
End If
Loop Until (check = 0)
(A) counter
(B) accumulator
(C) sentinel
(D) loop control variable
B
19. What numbers will be displayed in the list box by the following code when the button is
clicked?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim num As Integer = 7
Do
num += 1
lstBox.Items.Add(num)
Loop Until (num > 6)
lstBox.Items.Add(num)
End Sub
(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 7 and 8
(D) 8 and 8
D

20. __________ calculate the number of elements in lists.

(A) Sentinels
(B) Counter variables
(C) Accumulators
(D) Nested loops
B

21. _________ calculate the sums of numerical values in lists.

(A) Sentinels
(B) Counter variables
(C) Accumulator variables
(D) Nested loops
C

22. The following are equivalent While and Until statements. (T/F)
While (num > 2) And (num < 5)
Until (num <= 2) Or (num >= 5)
T

23. A Do…Loop Until block is always executed at least once. (T/F)

T

24. A counter variable is normally incremented or decremented by 1. (T/F)

T
25. The following program uses a counter variable to force the loop to end. (T/F)
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim r As Double = 1
Dim t As Double = 0
Do While (t < 5000)
t = 2 * t + r
r += 1
lstBox.Items.Add(t)
Loop
End Sub
F

Section 6.2 For…Next Loops

1. When the number of repetitions needed for a set of instructions is known before they are
executed in a program, the best repetition structure to use is a(n)
(A) Do While...Loop structure.
(B) Do...Loop Until structure.
(C) For...Next loop.
(D) If blocks.
C

2. What is one drawback in using non-integer Step sizes?

(A) Round-off errors may cause unpredictable results.
(B) Decimal Step sizes are invalid in Visual Basic.
(C) A decimal Step size is never needed.
(D) Decimal Step sizes usually produce infinite loops.
A

3. When the odd numbers are added successively, any finite sum will be a perfect square (e.g.,
1 + 3 + 5 = 9 and 9 = 3^2). What change must be made in the following program to correctly
demonstrate this fact for the first few odd numbers?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim oddNumber As Integer
Dim sum As Integer = 0
For i As Integer = 1 To 9 Step 2 'Generate first few odd numbers
oddNumber = i
For j As Integer = 1 To oddNumber Step 2 'Add odd numbers
sum += j
Next
lstBox.Items.Add(sum & " is a perfect square.")
Next
End Sub
(A) Change the Step size to 1 in the first For statement.
(B) Move oddNumber = i inside the second For loop.
(C) Reset sum to zero immediately before the second Next statement.
(D) Reset sum to zero immediately before the first Next statement.
C
4. What does the following program do with a person's name?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim name, test As String
Dim n As String = ""
name = InputBox("Enter your first name:")
For i As Integer = 0 To (name.Length - 1) Step 2
test = name.Substring(i, 1)
n = test & n
Next
txtBox.Text = n
End Sub
It displays the name
(A) in reverse order.
(B) in reverse order and skips every other letter.
(C) as it was entered.
(D) as it was entered, but skips every other letter.
B

5. Suppose the days of the year are numbered from 1 to 365 and January 1 falls on a Tuesday
as it did in 2013. What is the correct For statement to use if you want only the numbers for
the Fridays in 2013?
(A) For i As Integer = 3 to 365 Step 7
(B) For i As Integer = 1 to 365 Step 3
(C) For i As Integer = 365 To 1 Step -7
(D) For i As Integer = 3 To 365 Step 6
A

6. Given the following partial program, how many times will the statement
lstBox.Items.Add(j + k + m) be executed?
For j As Integer = 1 To 4
For k As Integer = 1 To 3
For m As Integer = 2 To 10 Step 3
lstBox.Items.Add(j + k + m)
Next
Next
Next
(A) 24
(B) 60
(C) 36
(D) 10
(E) None of the above
C
7. Which of the following program segments will sum the eight numbers input by the user?

(A)For k As Integer = 1 To 8
s = CDbl(InputBox("Enter a number.")
s += k
Next
(B) For k As Integer = 1 To 8
a = CDbl(InputBox("Enter a number.")
s += 1
Next
(C) For k As Integer = 1 To 8
a = CDbl(InputBox("Enter a number.")
a += s
Next
(D) For k As Integer = 1 To 8
a = CDbl(InputBox("Enter a number.")
s += a
Next
D

8. What will be displayed by the following program when the button is clicked?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim a As String, n, c As Integer
a = "HIGHBACK"
n = CInt(Int(a.Length / 2))
c = 0
For k As Integer = 0 To n – 1
If a.Substring(k, 1) > a.Substring(7 – k, 1) Then
c += 1
End If
Next
txtBox.Text = CStr(c)
End Sub

(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 5
C

9. In a For statement of the form shown below, what is the default step value when the "Step c"
clause is omitted?
For i As Integer = a To b Step c
(A) the same as a
(B) the same as b
(C) 0
(D) 1
D
10. What will be displayed when the following lines are executed?
txtBox.Clear()
For k As Integer = 1 To 3
txtBox.Text &= "ABCD".Substring(4 – k, 1)
Next

(A) ABC
(B) CBA
(C) DBA
(D) DCBA
(E) DCB
E

11. Which loop computes the sum of 1/2 + 2/3 + 3/4 + 4/5 + … + 99/100?
(A) For n As Integer = 1 To 99
s += n / (1 + n)
Next
(B) For q As Integer = 100 To 1
s += (q + 1) /q
Next
(C) For d As Integer = 2 To 99
s = 1 / d + d / (d + 1)
Next
(D) For x As Integer = 1 To 100
s += 1 / (x + 1)
Next
A

12. How many times will PETE be displayed when the following lines are executed?
For c As Integer = 15 to -4 Step -6
lstBox.Items.Add("PETE")
Next
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
D
13. What will be displayed by the following program when the button is clicked?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim s As Double
s = 0
For k As Integer = 1 To 5
If k / 2 = Int(k / 2) Then
s += k
End If
Next
txtBox.Text = CStr(s)
End Sub

(A) 12
(B) 9
(C) 15
(D) 6
D

14. How many lines of output are produced by the following program segment?
For i As Integer = 1 To 3
For j As Integer = 1 To 3
For k As Integer = i to j
lstBox.Items.Add("Programming is fun.")
Next
Next
Next
(A) 8
(B) 9
(C) 10
(D) 11
C

15. Assuming the following statement, what is the For...Next loop's counter variable?
For yr As Integer = 1 To 5
(A) 1
(B) 5
(C) To
(D) yr
D
16. What is the value of j after the end of the following code segment?
For j As Integer = 1 to 23
lstBox.Items.Add("The counter value is " & j)
Next

(A) 22
(B) 23
(C) 24
(D) j no longer exists
D

17. A For...Next loop with a positive step value continues to execute until what condition is
met?
(A) The counter variable is greater than the terminating value.
(B) The counter variable is equal to or greater than the terminating value.
(C) The counter variable is less than the terminating value.
(D) The counter variable is less than or equal to the terminating value.
A

18. Which of the following loops will always be executed at least once when it is encountered?
(A) a For...Next loop
(B) a Do loop having posttest form
(C) a Do loop having pretest form
(D) none of the above.
B

19. Which of the following are valid for an initial or terminating value of a Fir...Next loop?
(A) a numeric literal
(B) info.Length, where info is a string variable
(C) a numeric expression
(D) All of the above
D

20. What is the data type of the variable num if Option Infer is set to On and the statement
Dim num = 7.0 is executed?
(A) Integer
(B) Boolean
(C) Double
(D) String
C

21. The value of the counter variable should not be altered within the body of a For…Next loop.
(T/F)
T
22. The body of a For...Next loop in Visual Basic will always be executed once no matter what
the initial and terminating values are. (T/F)
F

23. If the terminating value of a For...Next loop is less than the initial value, then the body of the
loop is never executed. (T/F)
F

24. If one For...Next loop begins inside another For...Next loop, it must also end within this
loop. (T/F)
T

25. The value of the counter variable in a For...Next loop need not be a whole number. (T/F)
T

26. One must always have a Next statement paired with a For statement. (T/F)
T

27. If the initial value is greater than the terminating value in a For...Next loop, the statements
within are still executed one time. (T/F)
F

28. When one For...Next loop is contained within another, the name of the counter variable for
each For...Next loop may be the same. (T/F)
F

29. A For...Next loop cannot be nested inside a Do loop. (T/F)

F

30. The following code segment is valid. (T/F)

If (firstLetter > "A") Then
For x As Integer = 1 to 100
lstBox.Items.Add(x)
Next
End If
T

31. In a For...Next loop, the initial value should be greater than the terminating value if a
negative step is used and the body of the loop is to be executed at least once. (T/F)
T

32. If the counter variable of a For...Next loop will assume values that are not whole numbers,
then the variable should not be of type Integer. (T/F)
T

33. The step value of a For...Next loop can be given by a numeric literal, variable, or expression.
(T/F)
T
34. The variable index declared with the statement For index As Integer = 0 To 5 cannot
be referred to outside of the For…Next loop. (T/F)
T

35. When Option Infer is set to On, a statement of the form Dim num = 7 is valid. (T/F)
T

36. What is displayed in the text box when the button is clicked?
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles btnDisplay.Click
Dim word As String = "Alphabet"
Dim abbreviation As String = ""
For i As Integer = 0 To word.Length - 1
If word.Substring(i, 1).ToUpper <> "A" Then
abbreviation &= word.Substring(i, 1)
End If
Next
txtBox.Text = abbreviation
End Sub
lphbet

Section 6.3 List Boxes and Loops

1. Which of the following expressions refers to the contents of the last row of the list box?
(A) lstBox.Items(lstBox.Items.Count)
(B) lstBox.Items(lstBox.Items.Count - 1)
(C) lstBox.Items(Count)
(D) lstBox.Items.Count
B

2. Which of the following expressions refers to the contents of the first row of the list box?
(A) lstBox.Items(0)
(B) lstBox.Items(1)
(C) lstBox.Items.First
(D) lstBox.Items(First)
A

3. Each item in a list box is identified by an index number; the first item in the list is assigned
which of the following values as an index?
(A) a randomly assigned value
(B) 1.
(C) a value initially designated by the programmer
(D) 0
D
4. The following lines of code display all the items of lstBox. (T/F)
For n As Integer = 1 to lstBox.Items.Count
lstBox2.Items.Add(lstBox.Items(n))
Next
F

5. The number of items in ListBox1 is ListBox1.Items.Count. (T/F)

T

6. If no item in a list box is selected, the value of lstBox.SelectedIndex is 0. (T/F)

F

7. Which of the statements will unhighlight any highlighted item in lstBox?

(A) lstBox.SelectedItem = Nothing
(B) lstBox.SelectedItem = ""
(C) lstBox.SelectedIndex = 0
(D) lstBox.SelectedIndex = -1
D

8. A list box named lstBox has its Sorted property set to True and contains the three items Cat,
Dog, and Gnu in its Items collection. If the word Elephant is added to the Items collection at
run time, what will be its index value?
(A) 2
(B) 1
(C) 3
(D) 0
A

9. A list box named lstBox has its Sorted property set to False and contains the three items Cat,
Dog, and Gnu in its list. If the word Elephant is added to the list at run time, what will be its
index value?
(A) 2
(B) 1
(C) 3
(D) 0
C

10. If a program contains procedures for both the Click and DoubleClick events on a list box and the user
double-clicks on the list box, only the Click event will be raised. (T/F)
T

11. If a list box has its sorted property set to True and the list box contains all numbers, then the values in
the list box will always be in increasing numerical order. (T/F)
F
12. If a list box contains all numbers, then which of the following values can be calculated
without using a loop?
(A) average value of the numbers
(B) largest number
(C) smallest number
(D) number of numbers
D

13. Which of the following is not a main type of event that can be raised by user selections of
items in a list box?
(A) Click event
(B) SelectedIndexChanged event
(C) FillDown event
(D) DoubleClick event
C

14. The value of lstBox.Items(n) is the nth item in the list box. (T/F)
F

15. The sorted property can only be set to True at design time. (T/F)
F

16. The _____________ data type is most suited to a flag.

(A) Boolean
(B) Integer
(C) String
(D) Double
A

17. A variable that keeps track of whether a certain situation has occurred is called
(A) a counter.
(B) an accumulator.
(C) a switch.
(D) a flag.
D
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 Whatever the cause, Dion Cassius expressly comments on the
abstinence of the Caledonians, although their seas and rivers
abounded with food.[113] In time the example of the clergy and the
ordinance of fast days gradually overcame—save in the case of Eels,
which still remain to the Highlander an abomination—their obstinate
antipathy. Across St. George’s Channel the Irish two centuries ago
“had little skill in catching fish.”[114]
But when the Western Highlanders did go a-fishing, their prayers
and promises—prompted by the same principle of gratitude being a
sense of favours to come—echo the prayers and promises, Dis
mutatis, of the Anthologia Palatina.
The seas differ, but the gods precated are the same. If in the
following verses you substitute for “Christ, King of the Elements”
Poseidon, King of the Waters, for “brave Peter” ruseful Hermes, and
for “Mary fair” Aphrodite, you have the tutelary deities of fishing.
The spirit of the prayer and promise of the firstling remain
unchanged.
For century after century the fishermen of the Isles have handed
down orally to generation after generation the Gaelic prayer with
which they set out to sea.[115]

“I will cast down my hook:

The first fish which I bring up
In the name of Christ, King of the Elements,
The poor man shall have for his need:
And the King of the Fishers, the brave Peter,
He will after it give me his blessing.
Columba, tender in every distress,
And Mary fair, the endowed of grace,
Encompass ye us to the fishing bank of ocean,
And still ye to us the crest of the waves!”
 The rarity—I have not met its mention—and curious nature of a
volume published at Frankfort in 1611, even if more than a century
after The Boke of St. Albans, compels some reference.
Conjecturæ Halieuticæ by Raphael Eglinus consists of a long
dissertation based on the strange markings of three fishes (pictured
on its title-page), two caught in Scandinavia on the same day,
November 21, 1587, and the third in Pomerania on May 21, 1596.
These markings, supposedly chronological, provide their author with
a basis for various prophecies and warnings of the evils to come in
Central Europe, especially in Germany.
As neither text nor type peculiarly tempt to perusal, I have not
found it easy to disentangle the disasters or allot to each country its
individual woe. Deductions from Daniel, the patriarch Joseph, and of
course the Apocalypse enable Eglinus to establish definitely to his
own satisfaction the future advent, in one or other of the Central
Kingdoms, of Antichrist.
Nor, again, is it easy to gather whether a time-limit is set for his
appearance, or whether the prophecies apply to twentieth-century
events. Alas! also, the data do not enable me with certainty from the
very promising entries from Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria to single
out the precise potentate who best fills the bill, or closest answers to
the author’s Antichrist.[116]
Space debars from one fascinating branch of my subject—the
superstitions of Fishing. Their far-flung web enclosed the ancient
piscator more firmly than his brother venator, or, indeed, any class
save only the “medicine men” of Rome.
Nor could their successors disentangle themselves, as witness
the recipe given above by Bassus for inscribing on the limpets’ shell
the Gnostic formula, and Mr. Westwood’s words, “There is, in fact,
more quaint and many-coloured superstition in a single page of Old
Izaak than in all the forty-five chapters of the twentieth Book of the
Geoponika. Silent are they touching mummies’ dust and dead men’s
feet—silent on the fifty other weird and ghastly imaginations of the
later anglers.”[117]
And even the modern angler, if he thoroughly examine himself,
must confess that some shred of gossamer still adheres. Does he not
at times forgo, even if he boast himself incredulous of consequence,
some act, such as stepping across a rod, lest it bring bad luck? If
particular individuals rise superior, the ordinary fisherman in our
present day still avows and still clings to superstitions or omens. Let
him in the South of Ireland be asked whither he goes, meet a
woman, or see one magpie, and all luck vanishes.[118] A dead hare
(manken) regarded as a devil or witch a century ago brought
piscator nigh unto swooning.[119]
Women seem usually fatal to good catches; as one instance out
of many we read in Hollinshed’s Scottish Chronicle, that “if a woman
wade through the one fresh river in the Lewis, there shall no salmon
be seen there for a twelvemonth after.”
Superstitions of every sort and almost incredible dictate to the
ancient and to the modern fisherman what are the good and what
the bad days for plying his craft, or setting his sail. Their cousin,
imitative magic, plays no small part in deciding his bait.
But enough here of fishing superstitions. Are they not writ large
in Pliny, Oppian, Plutarch, in the Folk Lore Records, and larger,
geographically, in that masterpiece, The Golden Bough?
The most incredulous, if there were one chance in a hundred of
the operation ensuring adeptness in our craft, would willingly
sacrifice in conformity with Australian superstition the first joint of
his little finger.[120] Nor, again, if only the most moderate success
resulted, would any of us utter a belated plaint at his mother
imitating her Fijian sister and throwing, when first a-fishing after
childbirth, his navel-string into the sea, and thus “ensuring our
growing into good fisherfolk.”[121]
 GREEK AND ROMAN FISHING
“Noster in arte labor positus, spes omnis in illa.”

FISHERMEN ON THE VASE OF PHYLAKOPI.

Probably the earliest Greek representation connected with fishing, c.
1500 b.c.
See n. 2, p. 63.
 GREEK AND ROMAN FISHING.[122]
CHAPTER I
HOMER—THE POSITION OF FISHERMEN
It is difficult to define accurately or trace separately the Lure or
the Lore of these two nations, for their methods of fishing were
practically the same or dove-tailed one into the other. Since our
authors in both languages frequently synchronise, or as in the case
of Pliny and Ælian the younger tongue antedates the elder by a
century or more, and since this book is based on no zoological
system, I shall deal with them for the most part in chronological
order.
The opposite page reproduces the figures of the four fishermen
from the famous Fishermen’s Vase of Phylakopi discovered in Melos
some twenty years ago.[123] If the period assigned to this, viz. c.
1500 b.c., be accurate, it seems to be the oldest Greek
representation, at any rate in the Ægean area, depicting anything
connected with fishing, and antedates the earliest Greek author by
four to nine hundred years, in accordance with the varying ages
allotted to the Homeric poems.[124]
It is to Homer, whether written by half a dozen different authors
or in half a dozen different centuries,[125] as the oldest Greek writer
extant that we naturally turn for information about fishermen and
fishing. His evidence is not only the earliest, but also the most
trustworthy, according to Athenæus. “Homer treats of the art of
fishing with greater accuracy than professional writers on the subject
such as Cæcilius, Oppian, etc.”[126] —an endorsement from the
piscatorial side of the Theocritean ἅλις πάντεσσιν Ὅμηρος.
 Neither fishermen nor traders in the Iliad and Odyssey possess
any real status. While farmers, more especially pastoral farmers,
occupy an acknowledged and—next to the chiefs and warriors—the
highest position, no fisherman or trader is regarded as a
representative unit of the body, politic or social, or as a contributor
to the wealth of the tribe or state, a condition with which that of the
fisherfolk in ancient Egypt [127] and in China, both in early times and
in the present day, is elsewhere compared and contrasted.[128]
“For trader Homer knows no word.”[129] As traders he represents
no Greeks, although the Taphians approximate closely (Od., I. 186).
For this three reasons have been assigned:—
First, the Greeks of Homer’s time with the exception of the
Phæacians, “who care not for bow or quiver, but for masts, and oars
of ships, and gallant barques, wherein rejoicing, they cross the grey
sea” (Od., VI. 270), hardly impress us, despite Dr. Leaf’s “The whole
attitude of both the Poems is one of maritime daring,”[130] as
adventurous sailors.
They disliked long sea voyages; they shrank from spending the
night on the water; they would go thrice the distance, if they could
but keep in touch with land—and naturally enough, when we
remember that for the Homeric boat the Ægean was safe for only a
few months of the year.
Their food supply made the sea a hateful necessity. “As much as
a mother is sweeter than a stepmother, so much is earth dearer than
the grey sea” might have been written as appropriately by Homer as
by Antipater centuries later.[131]
Whatever trading existed was in the hands not of the Phæacians,
but of the Phœnicians, to whose great port Sidon Homer makes
reference more than once.[132] Boldness of navigation, plus guile
and gainfulness, characterised the nation; their “tricky trading” (cf.
the Levantines of our day)[133] found frequent comment.
 A comparison of them with the seamen of Elizabeth’s time shows
common traits. Both were “the first that ever burst into the silent
seas,” both committed acts of piracy, both kidnapped and enslaved
freely. Lest it be objected that the evidence of Od., XIV. 297 and 340
occurs in a fictitious account by Odysseus of himself and so is itself
fictitious, let us call as witness the Hebrew prophet Joel[134]: “What
have ye to do with Me, O Tyre and Zidon? The children, also, of
Judah, and the children of Jerusalem, have ye sold unto the sons of
the Grecians.”
The second reason lies in the fact that each Homeric house or
each hamlet, although perhaps not each town, apparently supplied
nearly all its own wants and was practically self-supporting.
The chief crafts existed, as Hesiod shows, but only in a
rudimentary stage; workers there were in gold, silver, bronze, wood,
leather, pottery, carpentry. Although they were not “adscripti glebæ,”
the proper pride or narrow jealousy of each settlement was strongly
averse from calling in craftsmen from outside. Only apparently those
“workers for the people,” such as “a prophet, or a healer of ills, or a
shipwright, or a godlike minstrel who can delight all by his song,”
were free to come and go, as they willed, sure of a welcome: “These
are the men who are welcome over all the wide earth.”[135]
The third reason was due to nearly all ordinary trade being
effected by barter. Payment was in kine, kind, or service. The ox,
probably because all round the most important of possessions,
constituted the ordinary measure of value: thus a female slave
skilled in embroidery fetches four oxen. Laertes gives twenty for
Eurycleia, while much-wooed maidens by gifts from their successful
suitors “multiply oxen” for their fathers.
Mentes sails to Temesa with a cargo of “shining iron” to
exchange for copper.[136] Then again in Il., VII. 472 ff., “the flowing-
haired Achæans bought them wine thence, some for bronze and
some for gleaming iron, and some with hides, and some with whole
kine, and some with captives.” Among the fishermen of the Indian
Ocean, fish-hooks, on the same principle of importance of
possession, “the most important to them of all implements, passed
as currency and in time became a true money larin, just as did the
hoe in China.”[137]
“The talents of gold,”[138] probably Babylonian shekels, whether
Hultsch’s heavy or W. Ridgeway’s light one, implied, according to
some, a money standard of value. But wrongly, because neither gold
nor silver came to coinage in Greece or anywhere else till long after
Homer’s day.
Fishermen seem slowly to have acquired some sort of status.
Ἁλιεύς, at first meaning a seaman or one connected with the sea, in
time denoted also a fisherman. Od., XIX. iii, characterises the well-
ordered realm of a “blameless king” as one, in which “the black
earth bears wheat and barley, and trees are laden with fruit, and
sheep bring forth and fail not, and the sea gives store of fish.”
Any objection that such a kingdom had no actual existence, but
was only invented to heighten the hyperbole of laudation of
Penelope’s fame, “which goes up to the wide heaven, as doth the
fame of a blameless king,” concerns us not at all, for the kingdom
whether actual or imaginary is held up as worthy of all praise and
admiration. In this our Fish and so our Fishermen have attained
some, if small, constituent status.
The period of such attainment cannot be dated, but how and
why the status arrived I now try to trace.
Authorities differ widely as to whether the (so-called) Greeks, on
leaving Central Asia or whatever their Urheimat, established their
first lodgements in Europe or Asia, in Greece Proper or Asia Minor. E.
Curtius maintained that the Ionians at any rate, if not all the Greeks,
founded their earliest settlements on the coast of Asia Minor, and
only later crossed to Greece.
This view finds little favour among most Homeric scholars of the
present day,[139] who reverse the theory. They place the first
settlement of the immigrant Greeks in European Greece, whence by
peaceable permeation or otherwise they subsequently colonised the
coasts of Asia Minor and the Islands.
According to Professor K. Schneider[140] the Greeks, when
swarming from their original Aryan hive and establishing themselves
on the coast of Asia Minor and in the Islands of the Ægean Sea,
carried with them and for a long time closely preserved their original
habits of life and livelihood. Descended from generations of inland
dwellers, eaters of the flesh of wild animals, of sheep, etc., they
were ignorant of marine fish as a food. Only when the population
increased more rapidly than the crops, did they, profiting by their
contact with the Phœnicians, to whom in seamanship[141] and,
according to some writers, in art[142] they owed much, begin to
realise and utilise the wealth of the harvest to be won from the
adjacent seas.[143]
Fishing, followed at first mainly by the very poor to procure a
food in low esteem, gradually found itself.
In the Iliad and Odyssey no fish appear at banquets or in the
houses of the well-to-do: only in connection with the poorest or
starving do they obtain mention.
Meleager of Gadara accounted for this fact—previously noted by
Aristotle—by the suggestion that Homer represented his characters
as abstaining from fish, because as a Syrian by descent he himself
was a total abstainer. The curious omission of fish has been held to
indicate that Homer either lived before the adoption of fish as food,
or, if not, that the social conditions and habits of diet which he
delineates are those of generations before such transition.[144]
The decision, if one be possible, lies for Homeric scholars, and
not for a mere seeker after piscatoriana. Even to such an one,
however, two alternatives seem clear.
First, if Homer did live after the transition occurred, his
descriptions of ancient times and customs unconsciously included
habits and conditions of a more modern society.[145]
Second, if he lived before such transition—a supposition, which
scarcely consists with the presence in Palæolithic débris of copious
remains of fish—passages such as Od., XIX. 109-114, which ranks “a
sea-given store of fish” a constituent of a well-ordered realm, and
Il., XVI. 746, where “This man would satisfy many by searching (or
diving) for oysters,” are interpolations by later writers.
It is difficult otherwise to reconcile or explain conflicting
passages. How, for instance, can the dictum, that “Fish as a food
was in the Poems only used by the very poor or starving,” be made
to harmonise with Il., XVI. 746, just quoted?[146] If it be confined
solely to the Odyssey, a more plausible case may possibly be
presented.
Another suggestion, not quite similar, yet not repugnant, is
Seymour’s. “The Poet represented the life which was familiar to
himself and his hearers. Each action, each event might be given by
tradition, or might be the product of the poet’s imagination, but the
details which show the customs of the age, and which furnish the
colours of the picture, are taken from the life of the poet’s time. His
interest is centred in the action of the story, and the introduction of
unusual manners and standard of life would only distract the
attention of his hearers.”
Mackail, perhaps, concludes the whole matter. “The Homeric
world is a world imagined by Homer: it is placed in a time, evidently
thought of as far distant, though there are no exact marks of
chronology any more than there are in the Morte d’Arthur.”[147]
Homer’s close knowledge of the many devices for the capture of
fish, and his lively interest in the habits of fish quite apart from
actual fishing seem inconsistent with Schneider’s contention of Greek
ichthyic ignorance.
Fish, as we have seen, came gradually to be considered as much
a part of natural wealth as the fruits of the ground or herds of cattle.
And yet in all the pictures with which Hephæstus adorns the Shield
of Achilles, pictures of common ever-present objects, first of the
great phenomena of Nature—Earth, Sea, Sun, Moon, and Stars—and
then of the various events and occupations that make up the round
of human life—in all these pictures, which as a series of illustrations
of early life and manners are obviously a document of first-rate
importance, no form of sea-faring has any place. Ships of war,
maritime commerce, and fishing are alike unrepresented.[148]
No satisfactory explanation of this omission has as yet seen the
light. The design of The Shield, say some, came from an inland
country, such as Assyria. Others that Homer described some foreign
work of art fabricated by people who knew not the sea, but Helbig
points out that the omission consists with the references to ships
and sea-faring elsewhere in Homer. No commerce or occupation,
which could be placed side by side with farming in a picture of Greek
life, then existed. If Mr. Lang’s view—which possesses the pleasant
property of incapacity of either proof or disproof—that The Shield
was simply an ideal work of art had been more generally borne in
mind, we should have been spared endless comment.
In his ascription of The Shield to Assyrian or Phœnician influence
Monro finds himself at variance with Sir Arthur Evans. Even if his
statement, “the recent progress of archæology has thrown so much
light on the condition of Homeric art,” be accurate and the
deductions from such recent progress be justifiable, the still more
recent progress in the same science (according to Evans) ousts the
Assyrian or Phœnician in favour of a Cretan parentage.
“It is clear that some vanguard of the Aryan Greek immigrants
came into contact with this Minoan culture at a time when it was still
in its flourishing condition. The evidence of Homer is conclusive.
Arms and armour described in the poems are those of the Minoan
prime; the fabled Shield of Achilles, like that of Herakles described
by Hesiod, with its elaborate scenes and variegated metal work,
reflects the masterpieces of the Minoan craftsmen in the full vigour
of their art. Even the lyre to which the minstrel sang was a Minoan
invention.”[149]
The suggestion that both authorities are really in agreement and
that the influence at work may be traced back ultimately to the early
Assyrian, i.e. Sumerian, culture, even if Evans holds “that the first
quickening impulse came to Crete from Egypt and not from the
Oriental side,” seems, on present data, untenable.
Till twenty years ago it was generally accepted that no character
of Homer ever sailed for recreation, or fished for sport. They were
far too near the primitive life to find any joy in such pursuits. Men
scarcely ever hunted or fished for mere pleasure. These occupations
were not pastimes; they were counted as hard labour. Hunting,
fishing, and laying snares for birds in Homer and even in the
classical periods had but one aim, food.[150]
The Poet expressly mentions the hardships (ἂλγεα, Od., IX. 121)
of hunters in traversing forest and mountains. Nowhere does he give
any indication of sport in hunting or fishing, except perhaps in the
case of the wild boar and in the delight of Artemis “taking her
pastime in the chase of boars and swift deer,”[151] where the word,
παίζουσιν, would seem surely to indicate pleasure in sport.
 “IN AT THE DEATH.”
See n. 1, p. 73.
But the recent discovery at Tiryns of a fresco where two ladies
are depicted standing in a car at a boar-hunt[152] —perhaps “in at
the death”—certainly makes for considerable qualification, and, if
succeeded by similar finds, for complete reversal of the non-sporting
theory.
On Circe’s Island, Odysseus strikes down “a tall antlered stag” as
“he was coming down from his pasture in the woodland to the river,
for verily the might of the Sun was sore upon him.” He bears the
“huge beast” across his neck to the black ship of his companions,
who soon devour it. This is the only mention of venison in Homer
(Od., X. 158 ff.).
 CHAPTER II
HOMER—METHODS OF FISHING
Whether Homer lived before or after the adoption of fish as a
food, we find in the Iliad and Odyssey several references to fishing
with the Spear, the Net, the Hand-line, and the Rod.
It is a point of curious interest that nearly all the references,
where methods or weapons of fishing find mention, are made for the
purpose of or occur in a simile, which despite the so-called Higher
Criticism Mackail says, “In Homer reached perfection.”[153] A
Homeric comparison, like the parable of the New Testament in its
very nature is intended to throw light from the more familiar upon
what is less familiar. The poet cannot intend to illustrate the
moderately familiar by what is wholly strange. In modern writers the
subjects of a simile, apart from those drawn from nature, are
sometimes modern or new; in the old they are almost invariably
drawn from some well established custom.
If so, it follows that to the Greeks of Homer’s time (as was the
case with the Egyptians before them) fishing with Spear, Net, Line,
and Rod were old and familiar devices.[154] Which of the first three
—Spear, Net, Line—ranks the oldest, has (as shown in my
Introduction) been long disputed and seems doubtful of definite
settlement.
 METHODS OF FISHING.
From Roman Mosaic at Sousse in Revue Arch., 1897, Pl. xi.
The top left corner (destroyed) no doubt showed angling.
The men in the left-hand boat are using (according to P.
Gauckler ‘relève des nasses’) bottle-shaped baskets.

The passages referring to fishing number eight. Of the four

methods of fishing mentioned one is with Spear (Od., X. 124) two
with the Net (Od., XXII. 386; Il., V. 487), and one with the Rod (Od.,
XII. 251).
A. The Spear (Od., X. 124): “And like folk spearing fishes they
bare home their hideous meal.” This gives a very lively image,
because the companions of Odysseus, whose boats had been
smashed by the thrown rocks, are in the water, and are being
speared like fish by the Læstrygones.[155]
 B. The Net (Od., XXII. 383 ff.): “But he” (Odysseus after the
slaughter of the suitors) “found all the sort of them fallen in their
blood in the dust, like fishes that the fishermen have drawn forth in
the meshes of the net into a hollow of the beach from out the grey
sea, and all the fish, sore longing for the salt waves, are heaped
upon the sand, and the sun shines forth and takes their life away: so
now the wooers lay heaped upon each other.”[156]
In Iliad, V. 487 ff.: “Only beware lest, as though entangled in the
mesh of all-ensnaring flax, ye be made unto your foemen a prey and
a spoil.”
C. The Rod (Od., XII. 251 ff.): “Even, as when a fisher on some
headland[157] lets down with a long rod his baits for a snare to the
little fishes below, casting into the deep the horn of an ox of the
homestead, and as he catches each flings it writhing, so were they”
(i.e. the companions of Odysseus) “borne upward to the cliff” (by
Scylla).
D. Line and Hook (Iliad, XXIV. 80 ff.): “And she” (Iris on her Zeus-
bidden mission) “sped to the bottom like a weight of lead, that
mounted on the horn of a field-ox goeth down, bearing death to the
ravenous fishes.”
E. Iliad, XVI. 406 ff.: “As when a man sits on a jutting rock and
drags a sacred fish from the sea with line and glittering hook of
bronze, so on the bright spear dragged he Thestor,” etc.[158]
F. Odyssey, IV. 368 f.: “Who” (the companions of Menelaus)
“were ever roaming round the isle, fishing with bent hooks, for
hunger was gnawing at their belly.”
Odyssey, XII. 330 f.: “They” (the companions of Odysseus) “went
wandering with barbed hooks in quest of game, as needs they must,
fishes and fowls, whatever might come to their hand, for hunger
gnawed at their belly.”[159]
The Rod finds one express mention—in passage C. Is its use
implied in passages D. and E.? The answer depends greatly on
whether the adjectives employed are really descriptive of the
qualities and sizes of the fish, or whether they are merely (as often
the case in Homer) ornamental or conventional epithets more suited
for general than particular use, or are redundant.
Our wonder, if the adjectives are really descriptive, grows by the
Rod being only specifically mentioned when “little fishes” are the
prey. If the contention of modern fishermen—the value of the rod as
an implement increases in proportion to the weight of the fish on the
hook—holds good, why does Homer cite the Rod in connection only
with “little” fishes, more especially as the prey in the simile (the
companions of Odysseus) can hardly be classed as “little”?
Four differing explanations are possible:—
1. That “little” is an ornamental or redundant adjective.
2. That ῥάβδος, which is usually translated rod, i.e.
fishing-rod, is (according to Hayman and others) not a
fishing-rod, but merely a staff, or spear, shod with horn,
and that “little” signifies only fish suitable for food, not
large fish, such as dolphins, etc.
3. That the fishermen of Homer (anticipating our
professional deep-sea fishermen in Kent and the Channel
Islands, who for quickness and certainty, especially in the
case of heavy fish, prefer hand-lines to rods), limited the
use of the Rod to “little,” i.e. not large, fish.[160]
4. That “little” is partly ornamental, partly intentional,
because fish caught close inshore are normally smaller
than those caught farther out.
From the adjectives in passages D. and E. can we infer the use of
the Rod? Of the adjective in E., Butcher and Lang write: “It is
difficult to determine whether ἱερός in Homer does not sometimes
retain its primitive meaning of ‘strong’ (see Curtius, Etym., No. 614);
in certain phrases, this may perhaps be accepted, as an archaism....
On the whole we have not felt so sure of the archaic use as to adopt
it in our translation.”
Paley, “ἱερὸς means huge, as if a favourite of or dedicated to
some sea-god.” Was it from this shade of meaning that Theocritus in
his Fisherman’s Dream[161] drew his conception that certain fish
might be κειμήλιον Ἀμφιτρίτας, a pet of the sea-goddess? Faesi
seems to incline to Paley’s view, but for a more general reason: ἱερὸς
equalling ἄνετος earmarks “all herds and shoals of fish, especially
those in the Sea, as consecrate to the Gods.”
Granting this, why should one fish be singled out by the epithet
when the whole “herd or shoal” is equally ἱερός? The infrequent
coupling of the adjective with ἰχθὺς suggests some less general
meaning, if it mean anything.
Athenæus[162] after trying to answer, “But what is the fish which
is called Sacred?” by citing instances where the Dolphin, Pompilus,
Chrysophrys, etc., are so designated, adds a sentence which seems
either to be the authority for, or to confirm the authority of Faesi;
“but some understand by the term ‘sacred fish’ one let go and
dedicated to the God, just as people give the same name to a
consecrated ox.”
Seymour holds that “the epithet ἱερὸς as applied to a fish in Il.,
XVI. 407, has not been satisfactorily explained from ordinary Greek
usage: instead of sacred, it seems rather to mean active, vigorous,
strong. Cf. the same epithet applied to the picket guard of the
Achæans in Il., X. 56.” Curtius connects the word with the Sanskrit
ishirá = vigorous. Ἱερὸς as active, agile, strong is applied to horses,
spies, mind, women, and cows.
Leaf suggests that the word, when applied to night, etc., would
have developed the meaning of mighty, mysterious, and so later on
sacred. If sacred, the epithet may have arisen out of some sort of
tabu or religious feeling against eating fish, in early times often
regarded as either uncanny creatures living under water and
possessed of superhuman powers, or as divine or semi-divine.[163]
 Gradually the dread of fish as creatures tabu wore off, but
survived for long in a hole-and-corner way, e.g. the veneration of
τέττιξ ἐνάλιος, ‘the lobster,’ at Seriphos,[164] or the deification of
καρκίνοι, ‘crabs,’ in Lemnos.[165]
If ἱερὸς does mean a big, fine, vigorous fish, to most modern
fishermen a Rod would seem implied. This is strengthened by the
nature of the act to which the simile applies: ὣς ἕλκε δουρὶ φαεινῷ,
as Patroclus dragged Thestor on the bright spear from the chariot,
so the fishermen dragged the fish from the sea.
In D. the case, if any, for the implied use of the Rod is very weak.
In this alone of all the references does lead as a weight occur. Here
we have no comparison to action such as dragging up a fine fish, but
simply to swiftness; the effect of it, the splash, makes the point of
the comparison with which Iris sped on her mission. Nor does the
adjective applied to the fish give any aid, for ὠμηστής, if it be not
redundant, signifies ‘raw-flesh devouring’ (rather than ‘ravenous’)
fish, such as shark or swordfish.[166]
But if the early Greeks and Romans only fished for the pot and
not for amusement, the question arises, why should this particular
Homeric piscator “be after” swordfish or shark? Fishing, down to the
early Roman times, continued to be more of a distinct trade than
was the pursuit of animals and birds.[167] Hence the Net with
quicker and surer returns and not the Rod was the favourite weapon
of the fishermen by trade.
In F. (Od., IV. 369, and XII. 330) something in the nature of a
line and of a bait of some sort (though not necessarily of a rod)
attached to the bent, or barbed, hooks, must be implied. Hunger
would assuredly continue to “gnaw at their bellies,” if their only food
was caught by hooks, pure and simple, for, as Juliana Berners pithily
puts it, “Ye can not brynge an hoke into a fyssh mouth without a
bayte.”
Abstention from fish, however general, did not prevail among
Homer’s sailors. Athenæus (I. 22) points out that since the hooks
used could not have been forged on the Island, and so must have
been carried on board the ships, “it is plain sailors were fond of and
skilful in catching fish.”
Basing my surmise on ὄρνιθας in Od., XII. 331 and on the
statement of Eustathius ad loc., that hooks were used for capturing
sea-birds as well as fish, I suggest that the baits on the hooks were
either small fishes (left possibly by the tide in some pool in the
rocks), or shellfish, or oysters. These attached to a line (with or
without a rod) and thrown into the sea were taken by both sea-fowl
and fish.[168]
But all the preceding points dwarf in interest before the term
κέρας βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο, “the horn of a field ox, or ox of the
homestead.”[169] How does the horn of an ox find itself in this
galley? What was its exact use? Where and how was it employed?
Many scholars and fishermen, ancient and modern, have essayed
the problem. The reason for the use of the horn passed early out of
common knowledge and afforded matter for conjecture from
Aristotle downwards.
To enumerate all the theories would necessitate a list almost as
long as Homer’s catalogue of the ships. The following, the most
important, must suffice for our purpose.
(1) Κέρας was a little pipe or collar of horn protecting the line
(which passed through it) just at its junction with the hook, and
served the same purpose as a “gimp” on a trolling line.[170] “This
precaution (according to Arnold) was taken so that the fish might
not gnaw through the line”—a precaution very similar to our use of
wire between the line and the hook, when fishing for tigerfish,
tarpon, shark, etc.[171]
A similar interpretation of the word occurred to Aristotle,
who[172] held that the lower piece of the line was fortified by a little
hollow piece of horn, lest the fish should come at the line itself and
bite it off. But the use of κέρας in the second (Od.) passage appears
to rule out Aristotle’s and Arnold’s interpretations. The fish here are
admittedly, not raw-flesh devouring, which might imply size, but
small. Why then this elaborate contrivance as precaution against
severance of the line?
The above explanation of the use of κέρας derives strong support
from the method even now employed in the Nile.[173] The native
sportsman, as protection against its being bitten off, covers a soft
woollen line, to which is tethered a live rat, a common bait for a big
Nile fish, with a pipe or tube of maize stalk. Here the similarity ends;
on the Nile no hook is employed; the sportsman harpoons the fish
while hanging on to the rat.
(2) Κέρας, according to Paley (quoting Spitzner), was a bit of
horn fastened to the hook and plummet to disguise their
appearance; this, from being nearly the same colour as the sea,
served better to deceive the fish.
(3) Κέρας, according to Trollope and others, was the horn or
tube, but in it only the leaden weight was enclosed.
(4) Κέρας was a kind of tress, made out of the hair of a bull.
Plutarch, however, states flatly, “But this is an error.” Damm and
others insist that the word in this sense is post-Homeric, and agree
with Plutarch that these tresses, if ever used, would have been of
the hair of a horse, and not of a bull.[174]
(5) Κέρας, according to Hayman and others, was simply a prong
of horn attached to a staff to pierce and fork out the fish while
feeding; hence the preliminary baits, εἴδατα (similar to baiting a
swim on the Thames), are of course not on or attached to the horn.
[175]

The epithet in C. is περιμήκης, not merely long, but very long.

The adjective, if not redundant, lends weight to Hayman’s theory of
spear as against fishing rod. Against it, however, in Od., X. 293, the
ῥάβδος, or wand of Circe, which thrice appears (in Od., X. 238, 319,
389) minus any adjective, suddenly takes unto itself περιμήκης, very
long, without apparent reason for the distinction.
(6) Mr. Minchin’s explanation is ingenious, if open to two
objections. “As to the ox horn puzzle,” he writes to me, “I feel no
doubt that the Cherithai (as the Bible calls the Kretans) cut a ring
out of the horn of an ox, and then cut a gap, thus making a crescent
of horn, to the one end of which they attached their line, which is
exactly what the black fellows (in Australia) do to-day with a pearl
shell.”[176]
But against this conjecture weighs the fact that as the grain of
the horn runs from butt to point, if the hook be cut from cross-
section it would probably break, as the cross-section would be
across the grain, and so very frayable. If, however, the hook were
cut from a panel removed from the side of the horn and just where
the curve comes before the point, the substance of the hook might
possibly stand.

MR. MINCHIN’S EXPLANATION OF κέρας.

Anticipating and dissenting from Mr. Minchin’s explanation are
Monro’s note on Il., XXIV. 80 ff., and Professor Tylor’s comment in
the note. “The main difficulty in the ancient explanation of the
passage is the prominence given to the κέρας, which is spoken of as
if it were the chief feature of the fisherman’s apparatus. The
question naturally suggests whether the κέρας might not be the
hook itself, made, like so many utensils of primitive times, from the
horn of an animal.”
On this point Mr. E. B. Tylor writes to Monro as follows: “Fish-
hooks of horn are in fact known in prehistoric Europe, but are
scarce, and very clumsy. After looking into the matter, I am disposed
to think that the Scholiast knew what he was about, and that the old
Greeks really used a horn guard, where the modern pike fisher only
has his line bound, to prevent the fish biting through. Such a horn
guard, if used then, would last on in use, anglers being highly
conservative, and I shall look out for it.”
Maspero,[177] however, states, “Objects in bone and horn are still
among the rarities of our museums: horn is perishable and is eagerly
devoured by certain insects, which rapidly destroy it,” with which
statement may be compared Od., XXI. 395, “lest the worms might
have eaten the horns” (of the bow of Odysseus).
Finally the explanation first suggested by Mr. C. E. Haskins[178]
and adopted by Dr. Leaf, that κέρας was an artificial bait of horn,
appears to me as an angler and as having seen in the Pacific, but
not used, “bait fish-hooks made of shell all in one piece, of a simple
hooked form without any barb,”[179] to be perhaps the most likely
solution of our problem.
According to Mr. Haskins, κέρας means an artificial bait of horn,
probably shaped like a small fish, and hollow at all events at the
upper end, into which a μολύβδαινα (lead) was inserted to sink it. It
had hooks of χαλκός fastened to it and was used by being thrown
out, allowed to sink, and then rapidly drawn through the water to
attract the fish by its glitter and motion. The εἴδατα may either be
the same as the κέρας mentioned in the next line, or more probably
ground bait thrown in to attract fish to the spot, while the use of the
present participle, κατὰ ... βάλλων, seems to imply constant action,
i.e. the fisherman throwing in at intervals a handful of ground bait.
While I have not, like Mr. Haskins, “caught many trout with
artificial baits made of horn,” I can vouch that in England horn
minnows still exist and that horn spoons are even now used for pike.
We find in Homer no special variety of fishes, except eels and
dolphins. Eels are not ranked in a strict sense as fish; the words are
“both eels and fishes” (Il., XXI. 203, 353). Sea calves and seals also
find a place. Other fish occur in the picture of Scylla (Od., XII. 95):
“and there she fishes (ἰχθυάᾳ) swooping round the rock, for dolphins
or sea-dogs, or whatso greater beast she may anywhere take,
whereof the deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds countless flocks.”
Seals[180] greedily devour a corpse in the sea (Od., XV. 480). Il.,
XXI. 122, 203, extend the pleasant practice to fish and eels: “around
him eels and fishes swarmed, tearing and gnawing the fat about his
kidneys.”
It is noteworthy that in Greek and Latin literature the first fish
attaining to the dignity of a name is the Eel.[181]
The sea is called ἰχθυόεις, “fishy,” or perhaps better “fishful,”
twelve times: the Hellespont only once. Plutarch (Symp., IV. 4) had
this probably in mind, when he wrote, “the heroes encamped by the
Hellespont used themselves to a spare diet, banishing from their
tables all superfluous delicacies to such a degree that they abstained
from fish.” Ἰχθυόεις happens but once in connection with a river, the
Hyllus (Il., XX. 392).
Homer seemingly applies it only where he is impressed, not by
the number of fish obvious to the eye or still remaining in, but by
the number already taken out of the water. The proportion of salt
water ‘fishfuls’ to fresh water ‘fishfuls’—13 as against 1—would, if
not quite accidental, accord with the fact that the early Greeks,
whatever be the time at which they became Ichthyophagists, set no
high store on fresh-water fish.[182]