No More Learning

In the opening of the twentieth book this interdict is
withdrawn. During the twelve intermediate books it is kept steadily
in view. No interposition takes place but on the part of the
specially authorised agents of Jove, or on that of one or two
contumacious deities, described as boldly setting his commands at
defiance, but checked and reprimanded for their disobedience; while
the other divine warriors, who in the previous and subsequent cantos
are so active in support of their favourite heroes, repeatedly
allude to the supreme edict as the cause of their present
inactivity. "--Mure, vol. i. p 257. See however, Muller, "Greek
Literature," ch. v. Section 6, and Grote, vol. ii. p. 252.

190 "As far removed from God and light of heaven,
As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole. "

--"Paradise Lost. "

"E quanto e da le stelle al basso inferno,
Tanto e piu in su de la stellata spera"

--Gier. Lib. i. 7.

"Some of the epithets which Homer applies to the heavens seem to
imply that he considered it as a solid vault of metal. But it is not
necessary to construe these epithets so literally, nor to draw any
such inference from his description of Atlas, who holds the lofty
pillars which keep earth and heaven asunder. Yet it would seem, from
the manner in which the height of heaven is compared with the depth
of Tartarus, that the region of light was thought to have certain
bounds. The summit of the Thessalian Olympus was regarded as the
highest point on the earth, and it is not always carefully
distinguished from the aerian regions above The idea of a seat of
the gods--perhaps derived from a more ancient tradition, in which it
was not attached to any geographical site--seems to be indistinctly
blended in the poet's mind with that of the real
mountain. "--Thirlwall's Greece, vol. i. p. 217, sq.

191 "Now lately heav'n, earth, another world
Hung e'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain
To that side heav'n. "

--"Paradise Lost," ii. 1004.

192 --_His golden scales. _

"Jove now, sole arbiter of peace and war,
Held forth the fatal balance from afar:
Each host he weighs; by turns they both prevail,
Till Troy descending fix'd the doubtful scale. "

Merrick's Tryphiodorus, v 687, sqq.

"Th' Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,
Hung forth in heav'n his golden scales,
Wherein all things created first he weighed;
The pendulous round earth, with balanced air
In counterpoise; now ponders all events,
Battles and realms. In these he puts two weights,
The sequel each of parting and of fight:
The latter quick up flew, and kick'd the beam. "

"Paradise Lost," iv. 496.

193 --_And now,_ &c.

"And now all heaven
Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread;
Had not th' Almighty Father, where he sits
. . . foreseen. "

--"Paradise Lost," vi. 669.

194 --_Gerenian Nestor. _ The epithet _Gerenian_ either refers to the name
of a place in which Nestor was educated, or merely signifies
honoured, revered. See Schol. Venet. in II. B. 336; Strabo, viii. p.
340.

195 --_? gae, Helice. _ Both these towns were conspicuous for their worship
of Neptune.

196 --_As full blown,_ &c.

"Il suo Lesbia quasi bel fior succiso,
E in atto si gentil languir tremanti
Gl' occhi, e cader siu 'l tergo il collo mira. "

Gier. Lib. ix. 85.

197 --_Ungrateful,_ because the cause in which they were engaged was
unjust.

"Struck by the lab'ring priests' uplifted hands
The victims fall: to heav'n they make their pray'r,
The curling vapours load the ambient air.
But vain their toil: the pow'rs who rule the skies
Averse beheld the ungrateful sacrifice. "

Merrick's Tryphiodorus, vi. 527, sqq.

198 "As when about the silver moon, when aire is free from
winde,
And stars shine cleare, to whose sweet beams high prospects on the
brows
Of all steepe hills and pinnacles thrust up themselves for shows,
And even the lowly valleys joy to glitter in their sight;
When the unmeasured firmament bursts to disclose her light,
And all the signs in heaven are seene, that glad the shepherd's
heart. "

Chapman.

199 This flight of the Greeks, according to Buttmann, Lexil. p. 358, was
not a supernatural flight caused by the gods, but "a great and
general one, caused by Hector and the Trojans, but with the approval
of Jove. "

200 Grote, vol. ii. p. 91, after noticing the modest calmness and
respect with which Nestor addresses Agamemnon, observes, "The
Homeric Council is a purely consultative body, assembled not with
any power of peremptorily arresting mischievous resolves of the
king, but solely for his information and guidance. "

201 In the heroic times, it is not unfrequent for the king to receive
presents to purchase freedom from his wrath, or immunity from his
exactions. Such gifts gradually became regular, and formed the
income of the German, (Tacit. Germ. Section 15) Persian, (Herodot.
iii. 89), and other kings. So, too, in the middle ages, 'The feudal
aids are the beginning of taxation, of which they for a long time
answered the purpose. ' (Hallam, Middle Ages, ch. x. pt. 1, p. 189)
This fact frees Achilles from the apparent charge of sordidness.
Plato, however, (De Rep. vi. 4), says, "We cannot commend Phoenix,
the tutor of Achilles, as if he spoke correctly, when counselling
him to accept of presents and assist the Greeks, but, without
presents, not to desist from his wrath, nor again, should we commend
Achilles himself, or approve of his being so covetous as to receive
presents from Agamemnon," &c.

202 It may be observed, that, brief as is the mention of Briseis in the
Iliad, and small the part she plays--what little is said is
pre-eminently calculated to enhance her fitness to be the bride of
Achilles. Purity, and retiring delicacy, are features well
contrasted with the rough, but tender disposition of the hero.

203 --_Laodice. _ Iphianassa, or Iphigenia, is not mentioned by Homer,
among the daughters of Agamemnon.

204 "Agamemnon, when he offers to transfer to Achilles seven towns
inhabited by wealthy husbandmen, who would enrich their lord by
presents and tribute, seems likewise to assume rather a property in
them, than an authority over them. And the same thing may be
intimated when it is said that Peleus bestowed a great people, the
Dolopes of Phthia, on Phoenix. "--Thirlwall's Greece, vol. i Section
6, p. 162, note.

205 --_Pray in deep silence. _ Rather: "use well-omened words;" or, as
Kennedy has explained it, "Abstain from expressions unsuitable to
the solemnity of the occasion, which, by offending the god, might
defeat the object of their supplications. "

206 --_Purest hands. _ This is one of the most ancient superstitions
respecting prayer, and one founded as much in nature as in
tradition.

207 It must be recollected, that the war at Troy was not a settled
siege, and that many of the chieftains busied themselves in
piratical expeditions about its neighborhood. Such a one was that of
which Achilles now speaks. From the following verses, it is evident
that fruits of these maraudings went to the common support of the
expedition, and not to the successful plunderer.

208 --_Pthia,_ the capital of Achilles' Thessalian domains.

209 --_Orchomenian town. _ The topography of Orchomenus, in Boeotia,
"situated," as it was, "on the northern bank of the lake ? pais,
which receives not only the river Cephisus from the valleys of
Phocis, but also other rivers from Parnassus and Helicon" (Grote,
vol. p. 181), was a sufficient reason for its prosperity and decay.
"As long as the channels of these waters were diligently watched and
kept clear, a large portion of the lake was in the condition of
alluvial land, pre-eminently rich and fertile. But when the channels
came to be either neglected, or designedly choked up by an enemy,
the water accumulated in such a degree as to occupy the soil of more
than one ancient islet, and to occasion the change of the site of
Orchomenus itself from the plain to the declivity of Mount
Hyphanteion. " (Ibid. )

210 The phrase "hundred gates," &c. , seems to be merely expressive of a
great number. See notes to my prose translation, p. 162.

211 Compare the following pretty lines of Quintus Calaber (Dyce's Select
Translations, p 88). --

"Many gifts he gave, and o'er
Dolopia bade me rule; thee in his arms
He brought an infant, on my bosom laid
The precious charge, and anxiously enjoin'd
That I should rear thee as my own with all
A parent's love. I fail'd not in my trust
And oft, while round my neck thy hands were lock'd,
From thy sweet lips the half articulate sound
Of Father came; and oft, as children use,
Mewling and puking didst thou drench my tunic. "

"This description," observes my learned friend (notes, p. 121) "is
taken from the passage of Homer, II ix, in translating which, Pope,
with that squeamish, artificial taste, which distinguished the age
of Anne, omits the natural (and, let me add, affecting)
circumstance. "

"And the wine
Held to thy lips, and many a time in fits
Of infant frowardness the purple juice
Rejecting thou hast deluged all my vest,
And fill'd my bosom. "

--Cowper.

212 --_Where Calydon. _ For a good sketch of the story of Meleager, too
long to be inserted here, see Grote, vol. i. p. 195, sqq. ; and for
the authorities, see my notes to the prose translation, p. 166.

213 "_Gifts can conquer_"--It is well observed by Bishop Thirlwall,
"Greece," vol. i. p, 180, that the law of honour among the Greeks
did not compel them to treasure up in their memory the offensive
language which might be addressed to them by a passionate adversary,
nor to conceive that it left a stain which could only be washed away
by blood. Even for real and deep injuries they were commonly willing
to accept a pecuniary compensation. "

214 "The boon of sleep. "--Milton

215 "All else of nature's common gift partake:
Unhappy Dido was alone awake. "

--Dryden's Virgil, iv. 767.

216 --_The king of Crete:_ Idomeneus.

217 --_Soft wool within, i e. _ a kind of woollen stuffing, pressed in
between the straps, to protect the head, and make the helmet fit
close.

218 "All the circumstances of this action--the night, Rhesus buried in a
profound sleep, and Diomede with the sword in his hand hanging over
the head of that prince--furnished Homer with the idea of this
fiction, which represents Rhesus lying fast asleep, and, as it were,
beholding his enemy in a dream, plunging the sword into his bosom.
This image is very natural; for a man in his condition awakes no
farther than to see confusedly what environs him, and to think it
not a reality but a dream. "--Pope.

"There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one cry'd murder;
They wak'd each other. "

--_Macbeth. _

219 "Aurora now had left her saffron bed,
And beams of early light the heavens o'erspread. "

Dryden's Virgil, iv. 639

220 --_Red drops of blood. _ "This phenomenon, if a mere fruit of the
poet's imagination, might seem arbitrary or far-fetched. It is one,
however, of ascertained reality, and of no uncommon occurrence in
the climate of Greece. "--Mure, i p. 493. Cf. Tasso, Gier. Lib. ix.
15:

"La terra in vece del notturno gelo
Bagnan rugiade tepide, e sanguigne. "

221 "No thought of flight,
None of retreat, no unbecoming deed
That argued fear. "

--"Paradise Lost," vi. 236.

222 --_One of love. _ Although a bastard brother received only a small
portion of the inheritance, he was commonly very well treated. Priam
appears to be the only one of whom polygamy is directly asserted in
the Iliad. Grote, vol. ii. p. 114, note.

223 "Circled with foes as when a packe of bloodie jackals cling
About a goodly palmed hart, hurt with a hunter's bow
Whose escape his nimble feet insure, whilst his warm blood doth
flow,
And his light knees have power to move: but (maistred by his
wound)
Embost within a shady hill, the jackals charge him round,
And teare his flesh--when instantly fortune sends in the powers
Of some sterne lion, with whose sighte they flie and he devours.
So they around Ulysses prest. "

--Chapman.

224 --_Simois, railing,_ &c.

"In those bloody fields
Where Simois rolls the bodies and the shields
Of heroes. "

--Dryden's Virgil, i. 142.

225 "Where yon disorder'd heap of ruin lies,
Stones rent from stones,--where clouds of dust arise,--
Amid that smother, Neptune holds his place,
Below the wall's foundation drives his mace,
And heaves the building from the solid base. "

Dryden's Virgil, ii. 825.

226 --_Why boast we. _

"Wherefore do I assume
These royalties and not refuse to reign,
Refusing to accept as great a share
Of hazard as of honour, due alike to him
Who reigns, and so much to him due
Of hazard more, as he above the rest
High honour'd sits. "

--"Paradise Lost," ii. 450.

227 --_Each equal weight. _

"Long time in even scale
The battle hung. "

--"Paradise Lost," vi. 245.

228 "He on his impious foes right onward drove,
_Gloomy as night. _"

--"Paradise Lost," vi. 831

229 --_Renown'd for justice and for length of days,_ Arrian. de Exp.
Alex. iv. p. 239, also speaks of the independence of these people,
which he regards as the result of their poverty and uprightness.
Some authors have regarded the phrase "Hippomolgian," _i. e. _
"milking their mares," as an epithet applicable to numerous tribes,
since the oldest of the Samatian nomads made their mares' milk one
of their chief articles of diet.
The epithet abion or abion, in this
passage, has occasioned much discussion. It may mean, according as
we read it, either "long-lived," or "bowless," the latter epithet
indicating that they did not depend upon archery for subsistence.

230 Compare Chapman's quaint, bold verses:--

"And as a round piece of a rocke, which with a winter's flood
Is from his top torn, when a shoure poured from a bursten cloud,
Hath broke the naturall band it had within the roughftey rock,
Flies jumping all adourne the woods, resounding everie shocke,
And on, uncheckt, it headlong leaps till in a plaine it stay,
And then (tho' never so impelled), it stirs not any way:--
So Hector,--"

231 This book forms a most agreeable interruption to The continuous
round of battles, which occupy the latter part of the Iliad. It is
as well to observe, that the sameness of these scenes renders many
notes unnecessary.

232 --_Who to Tydeus owes, i. e. _ Diomed.

233 Compare Tasso:--

Teneri sdegni, e placide, e tranquille
Repulse, e cari vezzi, e liete paci,
Sorrisi, parolette, e dolci stille
Di pianto, e sospir tronchi, e molli baci. "

Gier. Lib. xvi. 25

234 Compare the description of the dwelling of Sleep in Orlando Furioso,
bk. vi.

235 "Twice seven, the charming daughters of the main--
Around my person wait, and bear my train:
Succeed my wish, and second my design,
The fairest, Deiopeia, shall be thine. "

Dryden's Virgil, ? n. i. 107, seq.

236 --_And Minos. _ "By Homer, Minos is described as the son of Jupiter,
and of the daughter of Phoenix, whom all succeeding authors name
Europa; and he is thus carried back into the remotest period of
Cretan antiquity known to the poet, apparently as a native hero,
Illustrious enough for a divine parentage, and too ancient to allow
his descent to be traced to any other source. But in a genealogy
recorded by later writers, he is likewise the adopted son of
Asterius, as descendant of Dorus, the son of Helen, and is thus
connected with a colony said to have been led into Creta by
Tentamus, or Tectamus, son of Dorus, who is related either to have
crossed over from Thessaly, or to have embarked at Malea after
having led his followers by land into Laconia. "--Thirlwall, p. 136,
seq.

237 Milton has emulated this passage, in describing the couch of our
first parents:--

"Underneath the violet,
Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay,
'Broider'd the ground. "

--"Paradise Lost," iv. 700.

238 --_He lies protected,_

"Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run
By angels many and strong, who interpos'd
Defence, while others bore him on their shields
Back to his chariot, where it stood retir'd
From off the files of war; there they him laid,
Gnashing for anguish, and despite, and shame. "

"Paradise Lost," vi. 335, seq.

239 --_The brazen dome. _ See the note on Bk. viii. Page 142.

240 --_For, by the gods! who flies. _ Observe the bold ellipsis of "he
cries," and the transition from the direct to the oblique
construction. So in Milton:--

"Thus at their shady lodge arriv'd, both stood,
Both turn'd, and under open sky ador'd
The God that made both sky, air, earth, and heaven,
Which they beheld, the moon's resplendent globe,
And starry pole. --Thou also mad'st the night,
Maker omnipotent, and thou the day. "

Milton, "Paradise Lost," Book iv.

241 --_So some tall rock. _

"But like a rock unmov'd, a rock that braves
The raging tempest, and the rising waves--
Propp'd on himself he stands: his solid sides
Wash off the sea-weeds, and the sounding tides. "

Dryden's Virgil, vii. 809.

242 Protesilaus was the first Greek who fell, slain by Hector, as he
leaped from the vessel to the Trojan shore. He was buried on the
Chersonese, near the city of Plagusa. Hygin Fab. ciii. Tzetz. on
Lycophr. 245, 528. There is a most elegant tribute to his memory in
the Preface to the Heroica of Philostratus.

243 --_His best beloved. _ The following elegant remarks of Thirlwall
(Greece, vol. i, p. 176 seq. ) well illustrate the character of the
friendship subsisting between these two heroes--

"One of the noblest and most amiable sides of the Greek character,
is the readiness with which it lent itself to construct intimate and
durable friendships, and this is a feature no less prominent in the
earliest than in later times. It was indeed connected with the
comparatively low estimation in which female society was held; but
the devotedness and constancy with which these attachments were
maintained, was not the less admirable and engaging. The heroic
companions whom we find celebrated partly by Homer and partly in
traditions which, if not of equal antiquity, were grounded on the
same feeling, seem to have but one heart and soul, with scarcely a
wish or object apart, and only to live as they are always ready to
die for one another. It is true that the relation between them is
not always one of perfect equality; but this is a circumstance
which, while it often adds a peculiar charm to the poetical
description, detracts little from the dignity of the idea which it
presents. Such were the friendships of Hercules and Iolaus, of
Theseus and Pirithous, of Orestes and Pylades; and though These may
owe the greater part of their fame to the later epic or even
dramatic poetry, the moral groundwork undoubtedly subsisted in the
period to which the traditions are referred. The argument of the
Iliad mainly turns on the affection of Achilles for Patroclus, whose
love for the greater hero is only tempered by reverence for his
higher birth and his unequalled prowess. But the mutual regard which
united Idomeneus and Meriones, Diomedes and Sthenelus, though, as
the persons themselves are less important, it is kept more in the
back-ground, is manifestly viewed by the poet in the same light. The
idea of a Greek hero seems not to have been thought complete,
without such a brother in arms by his side. "--Thirlwall, Greece, vol.
i. p. 176, seq.

244 "As hungry wolves with raging appetite,
Scour through the fields, ne'er fear the stormy night--
Their whelps at home expect the promised food,
And long to temper their dry chaps in blood--
So rush'd we forth at once. "

--Dryden's Virgil, ii. 479.

245 --_The destinies ordain. _--"In the mythology, also, of the Iliad,
purely Pagan as it is, we discover one important truth unconsciously
involved, which was almost entirely lost from view amidst the nearly
equal scepticism and credulity of subsequent ages. Zeus or Jupiter
is popularly to be taken as omnipotent. No distinct empire is
assigned to fate or fortune; the will of the father of gods and men
is absolute and uncontrollable. This seems to be the true character
of the Homeric deity, and it is very necessary that the student of
Greek literature should bear it constantly in mind. A strong
instance in the Iliad itself to illustrate this position, is the
passage where Jupiter laments to Juno the approaching death of
Sarpedon. 'Alas me! ' says he 'since it is fated (moira) that
Sarpedon, dearest to me of men, should be slain by Patroclus, the
son of Menoetius! Indeed, my heart is divided within me while I
ruminate it in my mind, whether having snatched him up from out of
the lamentable battle, I should not at once place him alive in the
fertile land of his own Lycia, or whether I should now destroy him
by the hands of the son of Menoetius! ' To which Juno answers--'Dost
thou mean to rescue from death a mortal man, long since destined by
fate (palai pepromenon)? You may do it--but we, the rest of the gods,
do not sanction it. ' Here it is clear from both speakers, that
although Sarpedon is said to be fated to die, Jupiter might still,
if he pleased, save him, and place him entirely out of the reach of
any such event, and further, in the alternative, that Jupiter
himself would destroy him by the hands of another. "--Coleridge, p.
156. seq.

246 --_Thrice at the battlements. _ "The art military of the Homeric age
is upon a level with the state of navigation just described,
personal prowess decided every thing; the night attack and the
ambuscade, although much esteemed, were never upon a large scale.
The chiefs fight in advance, and enact almost as much as the knights
of romance. The siege of Troy was as little like a modern siege as a
captain in the guards is like Achilles. There is no mention of a
ditch or any other line or work round the town, and the wall itself
was accessible without a ladder. It was probably a vast mound of
earth with a declivity outwards. Patroclus thrice mounts it in
armour. The Trojans are in no respects blockaded, and receive
assistance from their allies to the very end. "--Coleridge, p. 212.

247 --_Ciconians. _--A people of Thrace, near the Hebrus.

248 --_They wept. _

"Fast by the manger stands the inactive steed,
And, sunk in sorrow, hangs his languid head;
He stands, and careless of his golden grain,
Weeps his associates and his master slain. "

Merrick's Tryphiodorus, v. 18-24.

"Nothing is heard upon the mountains now,
But pensive herds that for their master low,
Straggling and comfortless about they rove,
Unmindful of their pasture and their love. "

Moschus, id. 3, parodied, _ibid. _

"To close the pomp, ? thon, the steed of state,
Is led, the funeral of his lord to wait.
Stripp'd of his trappings, with a sullen pace
He walks, and the big tears run rolling down his face. "

Dryden's Virgil, bk. ii

249 --_Some brawny bull. _

"Like to a bull, that with impetuous spring
Darts, at the moment when the fatal blow
Hath struck him, but unable to proceed
Plunges on either side. "

--Carey's Dante: Hell, c. xii.

250 This is connected with the earlier part of last book, the regular
narrative being interrupted by the message of Antilochus and the
lamentations of Achilles.

251 --_Far in the deep. _ So Oceanus hears the lamentations of Prometheus,
in the play of ? schylus, and comes from the depths of the sea to
comfort him.

252 Opuntia, a city of Locris.

253 Quintus Calaber, lib. v. , has attempted to rival Homer in his
description of the shield of the same hero. A few extracts from Mr.
Dyce's version (Select Translations, p. 104, seq. ) may here be
introduced.

"In the wide circle of the shield were seen
Refulgent images of various forms,
The work of Vulcan; who had there described
The heaven, the ether, and the earth and sea,
The winds, the clouds, the moon, the sun, apart
In different stations; and you there might view
The stars that gem the still-revolving heaven,
And, under them, the vast expanse of air,
In which, with outstretch'd wings, the long-beak'd bird
Winnow'd the gale, as if instinct with life.
Around the shield the waves of ocean flow'd,
The realms of Tethys, which unnumber'd streams,
In azure mazes rolling o'er the earth,
Seem'd to augment. "

254 --_On seats of stone. _ "Several of the old northern Sagas represent
the old men assembled for the purpose of judging as sitting on great
stones, in a circle called the Urtheilsring or gerichtsring"-- Grote,
ii. p. 100, note. On the independence of the judicial office in The
heroic times, see Thirlwall's Greece, vol. i. p. 166.

255 --_Another part,_ &c.

"And here
Were horrid wars depicted; grimly pale
Were heroes lying with their slaughter'd steeds
Upon the ground incarnadin'd with blood.
Stern stalked Bellona, smear'd with reeking gore,
Through charging ranks; beside her Rout was seen,
And Terror, Discord to the fatal strife
Inciting men, and Furies breathing flames:
Nor absent were the Fates, and the tall shape
Of ghastly Death, round whom did Battles throng,
Their limbs distilling plenteous blood and sweat;
And Gorgons, whose long locks were twisting snakes.
That shot their forky tongues incessant forth.
Such were the horrors of dire war. "

--Dyce's Calaber.

256 --_A field deep furrowed. _

"Here was a corn field; reapers in a row,
Each with a sharp-tooth'd sickle in his hand,
Work'd busily, and, as the harvest fell,
Others were ready still to bind the sheaves:
Yoked to a wain that bore the corn away
The steers were moving; sturdy bullocks here
The plough were drawing, and the furrow'd glebe
Was black behind them, while with goading wand
The active youths impell'd them. Here a feast
Was graved: to the shrill pipe and ringing lyre
A band of blooming virgins led the dance.
As if endued with life. "

--Dyce's Calaber.

257 Coleridge (Greek Classic Poets, p. 182, seq. ) has diligently
compared this with the description of the shield of Hercules by
Hesiod. He remarks that, "with two or three exceptions, the imagery
differs in little more than the names and arrangements; and the
difference of arrangement in the Shield of Hercules is altogether
for the worse. The natural consecution of the Homeric images needs
no exposition: it constitutes in itself one of the beauties of the
work. The Hesiodic images are huddled together without connection or
congruity: Mars and Pallas are awkwardly introduced among the
Centaurs and Lapithae;-- but the gap is wide indeed between them and
Apollo with the Muses, waking the echoes of Olympus to celestial
harmonies; whence however, we are hurried back to Perseus, the
Gorgons, and other images of war, over an arm of the sea, in which
the sporting dolphins, the fugitive fishes, and the fisherman on the
shore with his casting net, are minutely represented. As to the
Hesiodic images themselves, the leading remark is, that they catch
at beauty by ornament, and at sublimity by exaggeration; and upon
the untenable supposition of the genuineness of this poem, there is
this curious peculiarity, that, in the description of scenes of
rustic peace, the superiority of Homer is decisive--while in those of
war and tumult it may be thought, perhaps, that the Hesiodic poet
has more than once the advantage. "

258 "This legend is one of the most pregnant and characteristic in the
Grecian Mythology; it explains, according to the religious ideas
familiar to the old epic poets, both the distinguishing attributes
and the endless toil and endurances of Heracles, the most renowned
subjugator of all the semi-divine personages worshipped by the
Hellenes,--a being of irresistible force, and especially beloved by
Zeus, yet condemned constantly to labour for others and to obey the
commands of a worthless and cowardly persecutor. His recompense is
reserved to the close of his career, when his afflicting trials are
brought to a close: he is then admitted to the godhead, and receives
in marriage Hebe. "--Grote, vol. i. p. 128.

259 --_Ambrosia. _

"The blue-eyed maid,
In ev'ry breast new vigour to infuse.
Brings nectar temper'd with ambrosial dews. "

Merrick's Tryphiodorus, vi. 249.

260 "Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He
stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth
upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the
cloud is not rent under them. " Job xxvi. 6-8.

261 "Swift from his throne the infernal monarch ran,
All pale and trembling, lest the race of man,
Slain by Jove's wrath, and led by Hermes' rod,
Should fill (a countless throng! ) his dark abode. "

Merrick's Tryphiodorus, vi. 769, sqq.

262 These words seem to imply the old belief, that the Fates might be
delayed, but never wholly set aside.

263 It was anciently believed that it was dangerous, if not fatal, to
behold a deity. See Exod. xxxiii. 20; Judg. xiii. 22.

264 "Ere Ilium and the Trojan tow'rs arose,
In humble vales they built their soft abodes. "

Dryden's Virgil, iii. 150.

265 --_Along the level seas. _ Compare Virgil's description of Camilla,
who

"Outstripp'd the winds in speed upon the plain,
Flew o'er the field, nor hurt the bearded grain:
She swept the seas, and, as she skimm'd along,
Her flying feet unbathed on billows hung. "

Dryden, vii. 1100.

266 --_The future father. _ "? neas and Antenor stand distinguished from
the other Trojans by a dissatisfaction with Priam, and a sympathy
with the Greeks, which is by Sophocles and others construed as
treacherous collusion,--a suspicion indirectly glanced at, though
emphatically repelled, in the ? neas of Virgil. "--Grote, i. p. 427.

267 Neptune thus recounts his services to ? neas:

"When your ? neas fought, but fought with odds
Of force unequal, and unequal gods:
I spread a cloud before the victor's sight,
Sustain'd the vanquish'd, and secured his flight--
Even then secured him, when I sought with joy
The vow'd destruction of ungrateful Troy. "

Dryden's Virgil, v. 1058.

268 --_On Polydore. _ Euripides, Virgil, and others, relate that Polydore
was sent into Thrace, to the house of Polymestor, for protection,
being the youngest of Priam's sons, and that he was treacherously
murdered by his host for the sake of the treasure sent with him.

269 "Perhaps the boldest excursion of Homer into this region of poetical
fancy is the collision into which, in the twenty-first of the Iliad,
he has brought the river god Scamander, first with Achilles, and
afterwards with Vulcan, when summoned by Juno to the hero's aid.