Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 161, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1917 — HINT OF WAR GAS IN “ILIAD" [ARTICLE]

HINT OF WAR GAS IN “ILIAD"

Homer Saye That "Fierce Mara Spread a Vapor Over the Battle, Aiding the Trojana." iThyfl wonder, la the word “Homeric” such a favorite with/writers at the front and with the subeditors wbo trick out tbelr narratives? Ih the Homeric days men fought with swords and spears and bows and arrows, with the assistance of an occasional thunderbolt from Jove. What basis of comparison Is there between these toys and the weapons of today? '• Yet there is one curious parallel which has not, I think, been pointed out. In the fifth book of the “Iliad” we are told that “fierce Mars spread a vapor over the battle, aiding the Trojans.” If not exactly poison gas, this may be said to be at least an antidpatlon of the modern smoke screen. — London Observer.