Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 2 of 3
 Olympus; or, the Religion of the Homeric Age

by W. E. (William Ewart) Gladstone

"Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 2 of 3" by W. E. Gladstone is a scholarly work written in 1858. The British Prime Minister and classical scholar examines Homer's epic poems, proposing a controversial theory about ancient Greek color perception. Gladstone suggests that Homer's strange color descriptions—calling the sea "wine-looking" and using "purple" for blood, clouds, and rainbows—reveal that ancient Greeks categorized colors by lightness and darkness rather than hue. His claims sparked debate about whether Greeks might have perceived colors differently than modern readers.