The Use of Cortez

In "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", by John Keats, Cortez is credited with the discovery of the Pacific Ocean when it was truthfully Balboa. There are many theories as to why Keats did this. I believe he knew exactly what he was doing. Throughout the poem Keats begins to make a sublime realization about Homer's epics through Chapman's translation. The poem begins by referencing "realms of gold". I believe Keats makes later mention of Cortez so the reader can make the connection of Cortez and the earlier reference to gold. This causes the reader to look back at the beginning of the poem where Keats believes to have a well advanced knowledge of literature, and allows the reader to understand the sublimity of Chapman's Homer to Keats.