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Ægeus watched for the return of Theseus from Crete. In the distance are Salamis and Ægina, and beyond the
purple hills lies Marathon. If the Melian statue be indeed the Victory Without Wings, she had no unworthy
shrine.
There are some other interesting essays in Mr. Stillman's book on the wonderful topographical knowledge of
Ithaca displayed in the Odyssey, and discussions of this kind are always interesting as long as there is no
attempt to represent Homer as the ordinary literary man; but the article on the Melian statue is by far the most
important and the most delightful. Some people will, no doubt, regret the possibility of the disappearance of
the old name, and as Venus not as Victory will still worship the stately goddess, but there are others who will
be glad to see in her the image and ideal of that spiritual enthusiasm to which Athens owed her liberty, and by
which alone can liberty be won.
On the Track of Ulysses; together with an Excursion in Quest of the So-called Venus of Melos. By W. J.
Stillman. (Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston.)
LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES V
(Woman's World, March 1888.)
The Princess Emily Ruete of Oman and Zanzibar, whose efforts to introduce women doctors into the East are
so well known, has just published a most interesting account of her life, under the title of Memoirs of an
Arabian Princess. The Princess is the daughter of the celebrated Sejid Saîd, Imam of Mesket and Sultan of
Zanzibar, and her long residence in Germany has given her the opportunity of comparing Eastern with
Western civilisation. She writes in a very simple and unaffected manner; and though she has many grievances
against her brother, the present Sultan (who seems never to have forgiven her for her conversion to
Christianity and her marriage with a German subject), she has too much tact, esprit, and good humour to
trouble her readers with any dreary record of family quarrels and domestic differences. Her book throws a
great deal of light on the question of the position of women in the East, and shows that much of what has been
written on this subject is quite inaccurate. One of the most curious passages is that in which the Princess
gives an account of her mother:
LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES V 132
Reviews
My mother was a Circassian by birth, who in early youth had been torn away from her home.
Her father had been a farmer, and she had always lived peacefully with her parents and her
little brother and sister. War broke out suddenly, and the country was overrun by marauding
bands. On their approach, the family fled into an underground place, as my mother called
it she probably meant a cellar, which is not known in Zanzibar. Their place of refuge was,
however, invaded by a merciless horde, the parents were slain, and the children carried off by
three mounted Arnauts.
She came into my father's possession when quite a child, probably at the tender age of seven
or eight years, as she cast her first tooth in our house. She was at once adopted as playmate
by two of my sisters, her own age, with whom she was educated and brought up. Together
with them she learnt to read, which raised her a good deal above her equals, who, as a rule,
became members of our family at the age of sixteen or eighteen years, or older still, when
they had outgrown whatever taste they might once have had for schooling. She could
scarcely be called pretty; but she was tall and shapely, had black eyes, and hair down to her
knees. Of a very gentle disposition, her greatest pleasure consisted in assisting other people,
in looking after and nursing any sick person in the house; and I well remember her going
about with her books from one patient to another, reading prayers to them.
She was in great favour with my father, who never refused her anything, though she
interceded mostly for others; and when she came to see him, he always rose to meet her
half-way a distinction he conferred but very rarely. She was as kind and pious as she was
modest, and in all her dealings frank and open. She had another daughter besides myself,
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